The morning court was particularly lively today, and it lasted more than an hour longer than usual.
"Your Majesty! Galdan coveted Khalkha and wantonly plundered various tribes this spring. Now the tribes are in urgent need of food. The herdsmen are short of food. We request the court to allocate food for relief!"
Kangxi asked loudly: "What do you think, ministers?"
"Your Majesty, we can't allocate grain! Not to mention that the national treasury is not well-off now. Since spring, floods have occurred frequently in the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins. In the past few years, the war in Taiwan cost a lot. In addition, because of the war, the people fled everywhere. In order to appease the people, the court exempted taxes for three years, so the taxes collected were not much. Khalkha is located in a remote area, with a vast land and sparse population, and scarce products. It would be better to let the tribes move inland!"
"Your Majesty, I think that food relief should be allocated. Since the tribes have already submitted to the Qing Dynasty, they are naturally the people of the Qing Dynasty. Galdan's wanton killing and robbing of women is truly a punishment from heaven and man!"
Kangxi slapped the armrest of the dragon throne, stood up, and paced back and forth.
"Galdan has evil intentions. I have received secret reports. He has also shown goodwill to Russia and intends to go south to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. If we give in now, won't people think that the Qing Dynasty is easy to bully? What if he really joins forces with other countries in the future?"
There were endless debates in the court, with the pro-war and pro-peace factions arguing to no end. It was time for a break and lunch at noon, and Yinzuo did not see the emperor come to the study to check everyone's homework. Everyone was discussing what happened on Galdan's side.
"Brother, is there going to be another war?" Yinzuo asked in a low voice while eating.
"Well, probably."
Yinzhen was very sure in his heart but he couldn't say it bluntly in front of so many people. What he admired most about the emperor was his decisiveness, wisdom and courage. He was not afraid of swords and guns and had extraordinary courage. He captured Oboi with his wisdom, intimidated the four regents and gathered the imperial power in his own hands, to the Sino-Japanese War, killing Galdan and defending against Russia. Each and every one of these was admirable. The emperor was in power for more than sixty years and made unparalleled achievements.
The imperial court issued an imperial decree to distribute grain according to population to provide relief to the tribes that had been invaded.
In June, Galdan defeated the imperial army guarding the border and marched south all the way to Ujumchin, which was only 900 miles away from the capital, shocking the court and the public.
Kangxi was determined to lead the troops in person, and anyone who spoke out against it was directly dismissed from his official position.
Prince Yu Fuquan was appointed General Fuyuan and commanded the three armies, with the eldest son of the emperor Yinzhen as the deputy commander-in-chief and assisting him. Since late June, all parties began to prepare for war.
In mid-July, Kangxi set out from the Forbidden City and went to the front line with the crown prince. The war was about to break out.
Everyone's mind was caught up in this war and no one had time to care about anything else.
Princes like Yinzuo who stayed in Beijing and the concubines in the harem were even more anxious and worried about the safety of Kangxi.
But not long after, the prince suddenly came back first.
After some time, Kangxi returned, but he was seriously ill and unconscious. The concubines and princes and princesses all knelt in the Qianqing Palace to serve him.
Only then did Yinzuo learn that his royal father had suddenly fallen ill and developed a high fever as soon as he arrived at Gurufuljian Jiahunga Mountain. The fever did not subside for several days. So, at the request of all ministers, he was the first to return to the capital to receive treatment in case of any emergency.
At such a critical moment, the Empress Dowager personally issued an order that no outsiders were allowed to approach the emperor, and that all medicines and meals used by the emperor had to be checked one by one.
The prince has to help handle state affairs and it is impossible for him to stay in the Qianqing Palace all the time.
The queen had just recovered from a serious illness and her body could not bear it. At this time, Yinzuo, as the queen's nominal son, was naturally the first choice to serve medicine to the queen in front of the emperor.
For a whole day and night, Yinzuo personally helped to serve Kangxi, catching his vomit, wiping his body, changing his clothes, and feeding him medicine.
"Father Emperor, please wake up soon. Xiaoliu is so tired and scared..." Yinzuo, who was accompanying the emperor in bed again, lay down beside the bed and fell asleep in a daze.
Kangxi actually knew everything, but he just hadn't woken up yet. He understood everyone's thoughts and was disappointed with the prince. This was his son he had raised, and now the prince was seriously ill and bedridden, and hadn't woken up yet. He heard everything clearly, and when he was serving him, there was no worry in the prince's tone, but rather a kind of impatient joy.
"Liang Jiugong."
"emperor!"
Kangxi glanced at Yinzuo who was lying beside him, and Liang Jiugong understood what was going on. He quickly asked someone to carry the Sixth Prince to the next room to have a good rest.
"Be gentle." Kangxi looked at Yinzuo with particularly kind eyes.
The palace servants were very careful and Yinzuo was carried away without being awakened.
Kangxi spoke to Liang Jiugong alone for a while, and then Liang Jiugong disguised himself and hurried out of the palace.
The next day, at dawn, Yinzuo woke up from a nightmare where everything was white and sat up suddenly.
"Emperor Father!"
"Sixth Prince, you are awake. The Emperor is fine."
"Why am I sleeping here? I have to hurry back to guard my emperor father." Yinzuo didn't even bother to wash up. He just put on his boots and went out. He was afraid that my emperor father would be like Ukuma Ma and die of illness.
When he went in, nothing had changed. He walked forward, held the emperor's hand and put it against his face.
"Fortunately it was a dream, the Emperor is fine."
Kangxi, who was still pretending to be asleep, felt the slightly cool and wet air. His heart softened, and he couldn't bear to let his filial son worry about him any longer, so he pretended to cough and slowly opened his eyes.
Yin Zuo shouted with joy the first time: "Father Huang, you are awake! Call the imperial physician! Father Huang is awake!"
The imperial doctors who had been waiting next door all rushed in quickly, felt the patient's pulse and asked questions.
"Your Majesty, this is caused by the unfamiliar climate and water, so you have a high fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Fortunately, you have woken up now. You must take medicine on time. At the same time, remember not to eat an empty stomach. You must eat something."
Yinzuo repeated what the imperial physician had said, and then asked him again, "Is there anything I should avoid eating? I am worried that some foods may conflict with the herbs used in the imperial physician's prescriptions. It turns out that when the Empress Dowager was ill, I missed this and almost made a big mistake."
Kangxi looked at his nervous and worried appearance, raised the corner of his mouth, his eyes were very gentle, and nodded with satisfaction. This was his good son.
The imperial physician said, "Sixth Prince is right. There are dozens of kinds of medicines used this time. I am afraid it will take a while to tell which ingredients are incompatible with each other. I will go back and make a list so that the imperial kitchen can avoid these incompatible ingredients."
Yinzuo finally felt relieved and let go of his hand.
"That would be great."
He thought for a moment and told the attendants, "Your Majesty, please have some white porridge for now. Ask the imperial kitchen to bring it over as soon as possible."
"Yes! I'll go right away!"
The news that the emperor had awakened spread throughout the Forbidden City in an instant, and everyone rushed over, fearing that if they were too late, the emperor would think they were disrespectful.
When the Queen helped the Queen Mother in, Yinzuo was trying earnestly to persuade Kangxi to eat more porridge.
The Empress Dowager was quick-witted to begin with, and when she got anxious, she said, "The Emperor is already such an old man, yet he still needs the younger generation to worry about him. Now the entire Qing Dynasty still depends on you to support it. Do you really want me to feed you myself?"
The Queen tried to smooth things over, saying, "People eat grains, so it's normal for them to have some minor illnesses. The Queen Mother is worried about you, Your Majesty."
Kangxi coughed, feeling a little embarrassed for once. He had been teasing Yinzuo on purpose to see how he would coax him, but he didn't expect to be caught by the Empress Dowager and the Queen.
He took the tasteless white porridge from Yinzuo and quickly ate it in two or three mouthfuls.
"I am sorry for making the Empress Dowager worried. It is my fault."
The empress dowager also realized that what she had just said was a bit too much. After all, she was not the emperor's biological mother. Sometimes, she had to be careful to avoid any rift between mother and son.
"Your Majesty, you must take care of yourself. This almost scared your concubines, princes and princesses. How do you feel now? Are you feeling better?"
"Much better. With Yinzuo taking good care of me, I am fine now. Please rest assured, Madam."
As they were talking, the Crown Prince and the Third Prince arrived.
"Your son pays respects to the Queen Mother, to the Emperor, and to the Empress Dowager."
"The prince is here." Although Kangxi had a smile on his face, the smile did not reach his eyes.
"Good luck to my Crown Prince brother, and good luck to my third brother." Yinzuo bowed and greeted according to the rules.
"Fortunately, Xiaoliu helped me stay by the emperor's bedside. Seeing that the emperor is now safe and sound, I am really happy."
Kangxi didn't say much. He lowered his eyes and pressed his forehead.
The Queen noticed it immediately and asked softly, "Does the Emperor have a headache? Do you need to call the imperial physician to take a look?"
"No need, I am just a little tired, Madam, please go back and rest, the Queen and Yinzuo will be here to take care of us."
"Okay, I'll go back first."
Although the court seems calm on the surface, the situation underneath is turbulent. A fierce battle is raging in front, but all parties are maintaining the illusion of peace.
The war was tense and the situation was serious. Kangxi's uncle, the first-class duke Tong Guogang, was shot by the birdshot of Galdan's side and died. Kangxi was so angry that he overturned the imperial desk on the spot and vowed to avenge him.
It was not until a month later that Kangxi's other uncle, Tong Guowei, the queen's father, led his troops to break through Galdan's camp, but Galdan escaped under the cover of night.
When the battle report came back, Kangxi resolutely ordered: "I want them to send troops to encircle Galdan! Completely wipe out the rest of his gang in one fell swoop!"
However, General Fuyuan, Prince Yu Fuquan, thought it was inappropriate and ordered a pause in the attack and a short rest. However, Galdan took the opportunity to retreat northward, setting fire to the grassland along the way to stop the pursuers. In the end, he disappeared without a trace, and only sent an oath of "never to invade Khalkha again" to Beijing.
As a result, the imperial court had no choice but to withdraw its troops, and Kangxi sent the eldest prince Yinzhi to bring Tong Guogang's coffin back to Beijing and posthumously named him Zhongwu.
Although the army did not fail in this expedition, it cannot be said to have won either. In the end, the army did not capture Galdan, which was the ultimate goal of the expedition. It was not achieved, but the court lost a loyal minister, and Kangxi lost his uncle who had always supported him.
Ministers who participated in the war, including Prince Yu Fuquan, Prince Gong Changning, Tong Guowei, Suo'etu, and Mingzhu, were all punished, stripped of their qualifications for participating in politics, fined and required to reflect on themselves.
The Crown Prince and the eldest prince were repeatedly reprimanded. When they were offering sacrifices in the Fengxian Hall, the Crown Prince's kneeling mat was moved outside the hall for the first time.
However, the Sixth Prince was often summoned to the imperial court to accompany the Emperor in dining. The Emperor would only smile slightly in front of the Sixth Prince.
Therefore, in the following years, whenever the emperor was in a bad mood, Liang Jiugong would send someone to invite the Sixth Prince to come and talk to the emperor, have a meal with him, and guarantee that no matter how angry the emperor was, he would calm down.
The author has something to say:
This chapter is basically based on historical facts. Except for the part about Yinzuo, the rift between Kangxi and the prince also began to become more and more serious from then on.
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