A thorough understanding of worldly affairs is knowledge
Perhaps everyone has a hope for their homeland, hoping that it will become better and better, more and more... evolving in line with their ideals. The difference is that some people work hard to realize their dreams, some truly just dream, and some constantly express dissatisfaction.
Kangxi was also a man with ideals. Fortunately, he had the resources to build the country according to the blueprint he designed.
The actual division between Manchus and Han people was more accurately described as the division between bannermen and civilians. As the basis of rule, it was emphasized countless times that we should not forget the martial spirit of our ancestors.
Work hard to eliminate the surrounding dangers, pacify the Three Feudatories, recover Taiwan, and eliminate Galdan...
In terms of culture, we must also act like a wise and enlightened person, and firmly win over the Han intellectuals through the imperial examination system.
The most important thing is the idea of the power structure. The crown prince is in the middle, the eldest prince assists in military affairs, the third prince is in charge of literature, and the fourth prince handles miscellaneous affairs... At the same time, the concubines' sons must be allowed to serve as nails in the Eight Banners when they grow up.
One final point requires clarification. Imperial sons were required to be enfeoffed upon reaching adulthood. Specifically, the Upper Three Banners would never contain a member of the royal family with a high nobility. They were all enfeoffed as lords of various banners, and from then on, their families were relegated to the Lower Five Banners. The Jurchens who could remain in the Upper Three Banners were of such low rank that their lineage was very distant. No princes ever remained in the Upper Three Banners.
The Eight Banners are divided into upper and lower levels, but it does not mean that anyone from the upper three banners is nobler than the lower five banners.
There are so many talented people in the Lower Five Banners, iron-hat princes, relatives of the founding fathers... tons of them. Even if you are a prince, being enfeoffed doesn't necessarily mean you can run rampant. Shareholding system, comrades, this is a shareholding system.
Having been emperor for decades, Kangxi's desire for control was naturally growing stronger. He wouldn't be the emperor if he didn't want to hold more shares. A byproduct of centralization is the desire to control everything. Therefore, the mission of the eighth prince, Yinsi, was particularly important.
In recent years, the Prince An's Mansion has become incredibly powerful. Its influence is indeed immense; Yue Le's sons have produced several princes, along with titles like Beizi (Beizi), while Kangxi's sons held similar titles. Having a powerful position that's too powerful to be eliminated is a taboo; it must be cut off.
Emperor Kangxi was very strict with his sons: I have enfeoffed you guys, and you, as princes, still have to look at the faces of people other than your father. You, you, you... you are embarrassing me so much, I will beat you!
That's it. If you don't want to be criticized, you must stand firm; if you want to be praised, you must have achievements to show for it.
Fortunately, his sons are all very capable people.
Kangxi smiled as he listened to reports from his subordinates that the Eighth Prince's reputation for virtue was growing and that he was enjoying a comfortable life in the Zhenglan Banner. He smiled at Yinreng and said, "It seems that it was right to enfeoff him in the Zhenglan Banner."
Yinreng twitched his lips and said, "Eighth brother is a kind person and has always had a good reputation."
Kangxi twirled his beard in silence. Another major reason he chose the Eighth Prince to join the Zhenglan Banner was because he could be humble. The one being appointed was the eldest prince. Regardless of whether his age was a good match for Guo Luoluo, the eldest prince's temper alone would have him stabbed before he could even succeed.
The Prince An's Mansion has always been well-regarded among literati, and Yue Le's sons all have good literary attainments. Choosing the eighth son, who has a very friendly appearance and a mother of humble origin, is also to relax their vigilance.
Because the Eighth Prince had done things to his liking, Kangxi was generous in rewarding him. Wei was about to be canonized as a concubine, and the Eighth Prince was also promoted to the rank of Beile.
Oh, what a wonderful country, running according to its own will, becoming more and more prosperous. My descendants will continue to enjoy prosperity and wealth for generations to come. What a beautiful thing!
The prince gradually began to develop. Kangxi narrowed his eyes, surveying his son. He seemed to be growing calmer, more honest, and more considerate. His youthful arrogance was fading, and he was maturing. The prince was increasingly displaying a virtuous demeanor, one that favored virtuous ministers and distanced himself from villains. He was honest and upright, and Kangxi was determined to cultivate this successor.
The Crown Prince was relatively familiar with government affairs and officials. However, this wasn't enough. The ministers Kangxi currently employed were all roughly his own age, some even older! Even if the Crown Prince was familiar with them, they would still be useless. By the time he took over, they would have mostly died. He needed to encourage the new generation of court officials to align with the Crown Prince, providing him with a talent pool.
"Promote Chao Ketuo, the Chancellor of the Imperial Household Department, to be a Cabinet Scholar and concurrently a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites."
Yinreng remained noncommittal. Not all those who left the Zhanshi Mansion were pro-Princeling Party members. For example, Wang Hongxu and Fulun had both worked part-time for him. What was the result? The former still ignored him, and the latter was simply from his sworn enemy's family.
Yinreng withdrew from Kangxi's presence and invited Xiong Cili to talk.
Yinreng had no objection to Kangxi's arrangements for him. What made him depressed was that Kangxi supported his brothers in this way.
Xiong Cilü had only one thing to say to the crown prince: "All under heaven belongs to the king; all the people in the world are his subjects. It is not for me, your subjects, to have any say in matters that require my independent decision."
Yinreng suddenly realized: I just put myself at the center again! Extended meaning: To achieve self-centeredness, you must first put the emperor at the center. You can't be like an ignorant child, rolling on the ground and asking for candy, I want this, I want that. You have to know that if you get an excellent grade on the exam, you can still get candy even if you don't make a fuss.
You are not the head of the family, so why should everything revolve around you?
Yinreng diligently practiced his basic skills, and for the next period of time, he devoted himself to government affairs. This year's focus was river engineering, and he devoted most of his attention to this, figuring out where to build the embankment, how long and wide it would be, how much labor would be required, and how many days it would take to complete.
Shujia accompanied him in solving math problems for over a month. This taught her that even within the vast expanse of our country, several mighty rivers flood and several scenic mountains become slippery and muddy every year.
Kangxi was pleased to see a crown prince who was committed to getting things done. He said, "Although the river work is important, don't forget other things." Then he'd nitpick about a poorly calculated or inadequate allocation. He was still pleased. This son possessed perseverance and patience, and his work always made him trustworthy. This reaffirmed that the crown prince was a promising candidate for handling government affairs! He was also very well-behaved, fully understanding his superiors' intentions and refraining from interfering with assigned tasks and disrupting order. Excellent.
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While Kangxi promoted the eighth prince and continued to train the crown prince, he did not forget his other sons.
Of course, Kangxi could not hide the fact that the Fourth Prince was seeking to remove the throne for the father of his concubine.
Once again, I admire Kangxi's memory.
The more honest the Crown Prince was, the more Kangxi would tell him about his political schemes, and the longer he kept him by his side. He picked up the list submitted by the Ministry of Personnel, which was filled with names of people waiting for promotions, appointments, and transfers. The transfer of state officials was not only carried out after the imperial examinations every three years, but also in which month of the year when officials were not transferred?
This time, when he turned to a certain page, Kangxi stopped and turned in another direction: "Come and look at this."
Yinreng followed the fingernail marks Kangxi had made and saw the words "Li Wenbi." "?" he asked, puzzled. "Is this person Khan Ama is talking about talented? Or has he committed a crime before?"
Kangxi shook his head and said, "Neither."
"Khan Ama? You should tell your son the truth. I really can't remember it."
"I have appointed a daughter of Li Wenbi to the Fourth Prince."
"Oh? Maybe they have the same name?" You remember all this? Because Li Shi didn't have the status of a concubine, even though she gave birth to a son and a daughter, Yinreng did know that the fourth son had a concubine named Li. Unexpectedly, Kangxi actually remembered who the father of this concubine was! Amazing!
Kangxi smiled. "No doubt, the Fourth Prince contributed to his rise to this position." He had known about this for a long time. The emperor had a wide range of sources for information. "Li gave birth to a son and a daughter for the Fourth Prince. I remember that."
“…” I didn’t even know that the fourth brother was doing this.
"The prefect and the county magistrate are officials who are in charge of the people and should not be treated lightly. When encountering such a matter, we must first consider the person's usual conduct." As he said this, he actually circled the person's name to show his agreement.
Yinreng was very surprised: "This Li Wenbi is a capable person? Why has he wasted so much time until now?"
Kangxi explained in depth, "I have carefully selected your wives. They are both of acceptable appearance and character. The same goes for concubines. While the selection isn't as rigorous as for the first wife, they still have to be acceptable. Since I chose Li, she was already very acceptable, meaning...she had good upbringing! The Li family isn't from a wealthy family, so they might not be able to afford a good tutor. The fact that they were able to raise their daughter well must be the credit of their parents."
Yinreng showed an expression of understanding and listened to Kangxi's continued analysis.
"It's just that his abilities are probably limited. If he were truly capable, he would have risen to prominence long ago (the emperor's grandson's grandfather is quite impressive). He's no more than this. He's a decent person, and his jurisdiction isn't too large. Even if his abilities are limited, he can't do anything wrong. I'll also give Fourth Brother this respect."
The focus is on the last sentence. Yinreng keenly grasped the unspoken meaning in Kangxi's words.
After thinking for a moment, Yinreng slowly spoke, "The purpose isn't big. Perhaps the Fourth Brother is just trying to save face for his son or daughter? This respect should be given." Yinreng tried to connect with Kangxi's brainwaves. He was good at handling things according to the rules, and it took him less time to go through these twists and turns. "Their rank isn't high either. Even if there's something wrong, demotion or demotion won't hurt their reputation. Besides... my son, just pretend you don't know about this?"
Kangxi nodded approvingly: "I didn't know either." He pulled the list over and continued to circle it.
Yinreng kept replaying Kangxi's analysis in his mind. This old man was truly amazing. He needed to improve his memory and analyze the clues to recover the truth. Kangxi's handling of the incident also taught Yinreng a lot: some things, even if known, do not need to be disclosed to the parties involved.
By the way, when I get home later, I'll ask my wife. She should have the list of names and status. Yinreng clearly remembered that when he was studying the New Year's gifts last time, he saw the detailed family information of almost every important person in the capital marked on it. Although he only looked at the head of the family, the information of other family members was indeed on the list.
So, gift-giving is a science! You can use the gift-giving as a legitimate way to find out how many people there are in the family, how many acres of land each person has, how many cows they have on their land, whether they have enough cows, and whether they should get a cow as a gift...
Oh, that's wrong. You can openly learn about someone's family structure, whether there are suitable boys and girls in the family, and whether the wife or the mother-in-law is the head of the family...
Even the Yellow Book of the Ministry of Revenue and the Jade Book of the Imperial Clan Court only record who is in your family and who gave birth to whom, but they will not tell you that there is a feud between brothers in the family. When "rewarding", remember to treat everyone equally - if you want to sow discord, of course you can make some small moves.
Details determine success or failure.
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In Wuyi Zhai, Shujia was reading. It was so stimulating! The mathematical formulas of this era were different from what she'd learned before, with some localized details. The day before yesterday, she was almost having a brain cramp while calculating earthwork. No, she had to sort out her thoughts!
It was quiet all around. The ice basin in the corner of the room slowly melted, bringing a cool breeze. The fat boy was practicing calligraphy on the table next to her, very serious. Hongyang was gradually recovering. He had gone to class with Hongxi today and had not returned yet. Li Jia had been saying she was sick recently, partly out of embarrassment and partly because she was hurt. Li Jia was sewing. Mid-Autumn Festival was less than two months away, and whether it was for the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, or the little princes, needlework was a must.
Since the master needs a quiet environment, the eunuchs and palace maids even COS as wooden men.
In the vast Wuyi Zhai, only the chirping of cicadas could be heard from the trees outside. They chirped twice and then stopped. It was the people at the sticking place, using gluten to stick the cicadas down to avoid disturbing their master.
When Yinreng came back, the eunuchs led the way in advance, whistling softly on the way, and when they arrived at the door, they clapped their hands softly.
Shujia emerged from the pile of numbers, finally able to toss them aside with a clear conscience. She was good at calculating household expenses, but these... she'd never scored high in math since she was a child! If it weren't for the fat boy writing beside her, she would have given up long ago because she had to set a good example for her son.
"Look at all the sweat." As he said this, he took the wet towel and wiped Yinreng's face.
The height difference became less obvious with the help of the standard high-heeled shoes in the palace. Yinreng just bent down slightly and enjoyed his wife's loving service.
The little fat boy put down his pen and came over to greet him obediently: "Ama."
"What did you do today?"
"In reply to Father, my son has memorized the Analects."
"Where's the word?"
"I'm writing it now. It's almost finished."
Yinreng patiently commented on the fat boy's handwriting: "The penmanship is a little lacking, but it's quite standard." He circled a few of the good ones with a pen and asked the fat boy to recite them.
The 120-repetition Dafa reappeared in Yuqing Palace after the fat boy began reciting it. Even if you had an IQ of 60, you could have memorized it just by reflex.
After checking their son's homework and letting him continue writing, the Crown Prince and his wife moved to the east room to "discuss adult matters."
"What do you want that for?" Even after asking, Shujia still called out, "Zichang."
Zichang agreed, went into the bedroom, took out a booklet from the box and handed it to Shujia.
Shujia took it, opened the cover and looked at it: "This is it," and handed it to Yinreng, "What are you looking for?"
"Let's take a look." Yinreng answered casually, but judging from his attitude, he planned to study it as a textbook.
Shujia was a little upset: "I don't know what you are thinking. You are so obsessed with these women's affairs."
"You don't know," Yinreng raised his head from the booklet, "there is a lot of knowledge here, don't underestimate the trivialities of family life..."
The black line is squared.
"You've misread it. You should read that page together with the next one."
"Huh? What do you mean?" He tilted the booklet in his hand and asked Shujia to point at it.
"Here, Longkodo," Shujia explained to Yinreng while rummaging through the books, "He and his first wife were not on good terms. Tsk, they had already given birth to a child... It was their parents' decision. Longkodo's mother was Hesheli, and here, he married a woman from this family. Their family background isn't very high, but they're well-off." After flipping through N pages, they finally came to Long's father-in-law's family, which was almost not qualified to be included in the book.
"Well, it's connected. Go on."
Shujia sneered: "He fell in love with his father-in-law's concubine and snatched her away by force!" [1]
Crack! Yinreng was petrified. Stealing his father-in-law's concubine? I've heard of XX concubine mothers, but this is the first time someone has snatched someone from their father-in-law. Longkodo, that's your mother-in-law! Where are you going to put the dignity of both families?
"After getting her back, she's been controlled by this concubine. She won't go east or west, like she's been fed rice soup!" She's much more cruel than the time-traveling woman. Even the almighty Mary Sue can't compare to her. After messing with her father-in-law and son-in-law, she also dealt with the wife, and... Who the hell is Tong Guowei? !!! He doesn't even clean up the mess at home! This woman is like a golden finger! How can I, a real person who traveled through time, feel embarrassed?
"How do you know such a secret?"
"That's what women talk about when they get together." She hadn't expected such big news. "Last time, my mother brought my second sister-in-law here, saying that my second brother wasn't respectful to his superior, and they were at their wit's end. This fourth son took money from others and used it to influence Longkodo, forcing a clueless fool into the job, only to cause more trouble. After doing something like this, he couldn't be respectful even if he wanted to."
"Hmm."
"It's their family. If it were someone else, the censors would probably criticize him to death. Apart from other things, just this background..."
She had almost forgotten Longkodo's historical role, but the Tong family's stance was now clearly visible. Orondei was a rather emotional man with a straightforward temper, and he got along well with Qingde, which in turn softened his stance towards Yuqing Palace. However, the Tong Guowei family was incredibly calm, with absolutely no hidden goodwill.
It’s just right, I have this handle in my hand, I can use it when needed!
Thinking of the same thing, Yinreng folded the page and said, "Tell me any news about their family in the future."
"Well?"
It's inconvenient to send someone to inquire! Although the prince has now trained some reliable people to use, it is done secretly after all, and the manpower is limited. The Tong family is not a random cat or dog that you can just ask about, so it is not as convenient as these gossips in the capital. "I want to know."
"Oh, okay..." A worried look.
Yinreng reached out and rubbed Shujia's cheek, whispering in her ear, "Even if I want to enforce justice, I have to wait and see. Even if he says she's a maid given as a dowry by my uncle, I can't get away with it. But this woman looks restless and will definitely cause trouble again. When the time comes..."
Aren't you good friends with the eldest brother? (Big mistake, I think the eighth brother is friendly.) If you dare to jump out, I'll hit you with a brick! Khan Ama is fed up with this kind of thing! He hates anything that's disobedient, scandalous, or anything that sounds bad! Of course, it won't work now. Concubine Tong is about to be canonized as a noble concubine, so it's better to slow down now.
This is so fucking terrifying! Even more terrifying than solving a hundred earthwork problems! Can anyone tell me what happened to him?
"Huh? What is this?"
"Ah? Oh... this..." This was another small slip, half-written and not yet moved to the other notebook, "The fourth, fifth, and seventh sons' families all have twins, and the date is in the second half of the year. I'm preparing to make a list according to this when I go to the wedding ceremony."
Yinreng flipped through the booklet noisily: "No news from the eighth brother... yet?" he pointed to the list on the small piece of paper.
"Ah... yes."
Yinreng curled his lips. In other families, after being married for several years, even if the first wife didn't give birth to a son, she would still give birth to a daughter. Even if the first wife couldn't give birth, the second wife would still be fertile. But when it comes to the Eighth Brother, he still doesn't have anything. It's really... Eighth Brother, are you having tracheitis?
Huh? This is actually... good news!
Kangxi disliked strong women, and even more so, women who interfered with men's affairs. He made it clear that no matter how weak the Ming Dynasty was, there was no female ruler interfering in politics, which is truly commendable! By extension, if a woman holds herself to the standards of a man, then she'll be beaten to death by Master Kang.
Lao Ba, you are in danger. If you don't stay away from your eldest brother, your second brother will attack your wife.
Shujia was still thinking, this gentleman is becoming more and more difficult to understand. Has her IQ deteriorated? To be so confused by him, this is really a bad sign.
No, she has to urge her son to do something more. I can’t understand you, so I’ll ask my son to figure you out!
When she came back, the Crown Princess wrote a banner for the fat boy: "Understanding the world is knowledge, and understanding the human nature is writing." Go and guess your father!
(Arya, you have fallen!)
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Overall, the prince is constantly evolving and becoming more and more sinister, cunning, black-bellied and scoundrel.
However, the prince is not the emperor after all, and there are some things he cannot decide. When things happen, his heart will beat again.
Sun Sike is dead. He was the only surviving of the Four Generals of Hexi, and he is dead too!
Kangxi decisively launched his plan to train the next generation. In terms of military affairs, he asked the eldest prince to come forward to offer wine, and gave him two saddled horses and 1,000 taels of silver. In response, Yinreng could only raise his middle finger to the sky and silently endure it!
Another thing is that he must express his opinion.
The third prince Yinzhi came to see him.
It's been almost a year since Yinzhi made his mistake, and things have cooled down. Aside from the Thirteenth Prince, who still looked at him with a smirk, few people mentioned his embarrassing incidents. But the pearl on his hat, the house he lived in, and the salary he received all clearly indicated one fact: You've been demoted!
If you don’t want to turn over, you are a turtle!
Although a dragon's nine sons may not all become dragons, there cannot be genetic mutations!
Seeing that things had cooled down, Yinzhi, knowing that he was on the list of people accompanying the emperor on his journey to the frontier this year, wanted to make some moves. He didn't dare to bring up the past with Kangxi without any reason, even to review it.
If you want to get promoted, besides your own performance, you also need connections and people to speak up for you. Yinzhi set his sights on Yinreng.
"Prince, do you think it's okay?"
Yinreng wanted to vomit blood! What do you mean by "can't it be done"? You haven't cleared yourself yet, can you please stop thinking about helping Chen Menglei first?
What Yinzhi asked Yinreng for was not to ask him to speak for his title, but to help Chen Menglei say a few good words to Kangxi.
"Khan Ama also appreciated Chen Menglei, otherwise he wouldn't have brought him back to the capital himself. Now he's being raised by me, so what's the big deal?" The truth is: Yinzhi was very happy to raise someone for Kangxi, and they had a lot of good conversations. Chen Menglei was well-educated and quite considerate. The two of them had a good relationship!
The reason why Yinzhi spoke for Chen Menglei was that he wanted to push Chen Menglei forward and then have Chen Menglei plead for him.
During this period, Yinzhi and Chen Menglei also had several conversations. Chen Menglei pointed out clearly: "Although the Crown Prince treats you well, the Thirteenth Prince is also his brother. The Emperor values filial piety and brotherly love, and your mistake is quite conspicuous. The princes dare not plead for mercy on this matter."
"What do you want to do?"
"The court officials can have a say." Chen Menglei believed that Yinzhi would not be doomed to failure for the rest of his life. As long as he listened carefully and achieved some results, and someone praised him for his achievements at the appropriate time, Kangxi would go along with it. After all, it was not a big deal to suppress an adult son, and Yinzhi only committed this one crime.
After all the calculations, no one would say this.
Chen Menglei sighed: "It's a pity that I can't see the emperor..."
Yes! And him! Yinzhi looked Chen Menglei up and down, and it happened to be you!
How could he have known that Chen Menglei was intent on getting rid of Li Guangdi? The two had similar beginnings; a wax ball offering a book had helped Li Guangdi and ruined Chen Menglei's career. Over a decade later, he was still able to convince Emperor Kangxi to bring him back based on his knowledge. His crime back then was collaborating with the Three Feudatories!
Judging from Chen Menglei's current literary attainments, his IQ has not decreased even though he was exiled to the Northeast. If Li Guangdi had not taken all the credit for himself back then, if he could be commended together with Li Guangdi, and Li Guangdi had now been promoted to the position of Governor of Zhili, he would not be left out either!
It’s not like now. During the exile, I was nearly dead from illness, my wife died, my parents died in my hometown and I couldn’t go to their funeral, and my children were not well taken care of… [2]
Who is to blame for this? ! !
Fuck Li Guangdi! We agreed that I would gather the truth and you would report it to the capital. It would be more dangerous for me to stay in Fujian, okay? And what happened? You took all the credit, then hypocritically said a few words about my crime not being worthy of death, thinking you'd saved my life and that was it?
Return my parents and my wife to me...
This hatred was truly deeper than the mountains and the sea. During his exile in Fengtian, he cursed Li Guangdi countless times for death. It would be best if his parents died, his wife was gone, and he lived a miserable life alone, returning from work to find the pot cold and the dishes from the previous meal unwashed. He'd been using his quilt for a year, and no one had even washed it, so he had to use the other end and continue using it, only to have to smell the lingering stench of his own feet.
Chen Menglei was convinced that his abilities were no less than Li Guangdi's; he simply needed a fulcrum. Even though Li Guangdi enjoyed the emperor's favor, he was currently away, even in Zhili, still some distance from the capital. Kangxi wouldn't consult Li Guangdi on everything; Mr. Li was busy discussing the imperial examinations with Guo Xiu and others, a task Kangxi had assigned him.
Such a great opportunity, if he didn't take advantage of it, when would he wait? For a year, he had tried his best to get along well with Yinzhi, so that the Third Prince would have a better impression of him, just waiting for this gentleman to recommend him.
It just so happened that Yinzhi needed someone like him. Furthermore, Kangxi did appreciate Chen Menglei's knowledge. But he couldn't recommend Chen Menglei himself. If he recommended Chen Menglei, and Chen Menglei spoke well of him, would Kangxi really think he was a fool? This circle of events led him to Yinreng.
Recommend Chen Menglei?
That's like arguing with Li Guangdi!
If I really did that... I would be beaten by Teacher Xiong! Li Guangdi is still my master!
If interests cannot be balanced and differences exist, it will be impossible to seek common ground.
The negotiations broke down.
Yinzhi walked away with his head hung.
Yinreng stared blankly with a stiff face. Chen Menglei was nothing. With Li Guangdi around, Chen Menglei wouldn't be allowed to succeed. He needed to consider how to bridge the gap between him and Yinzhi. The Third Prince rarely asked him for anything and had always been close to him. He couldn't alienate him because of Chen Menglei.
He didn't care that his brothers weren't close enough to him. What he cared about was whether Kangxi would see something wrong with him if his brothers stopped being close to him. Was the Third Brother just being embarrassed? Did he feel I'd offended him? So, should I tell him to come back and give me some real advice?
The third brother's title... No, Khan Ama doesn't have that intention yet...
Chen Leimeng, you are a troublemaker!
The author has something to say:
[1] This is true. This woman is much more powerful than the time-traveling woman! So, time-travelers should not look down on the natives.
[2] Chen Menglei was really miserable... Seventeen years passed like this.
It is said that Jinjiang will be better today, but when I tried the backend, I got all kinds of 404s. Next, I will continue to prevent being pulled. Damn, I had to reply to one comment five times!
Perhaps everyone has a hope for their homeland, hoping that it will become better and better, more and more... evolving in line with their ideals. The difference is that some people work hard to realize their dreams, some truly just dream, and some constantly express dissatisfaction.
Kangxi was also a man with ideals. Fortunately, he had the resources to build the country according to the blueprint he designed.
The actual division between Manchus and Han people was more accurately described as the division between bannermen and civilians. As the basis of rule, it was emphasized countless times that we should not forget the martial spirit of our ancestors.
Work hard to eliminate the surrounding dangers, pacify the Three Feudatories, recover Taiwan, and eliminate Galdan...
In terms of culture, we must also act like a wise and enlightened person, and firmly win over the Han intellectuals through the imperial examination system.
The most important thing is the idea of the power structure. The crown prince is in the middle, the eldest prince assists in military affairs, the third prince is in charge of literature, and the fourth prince handles miscellaneous affairs... At the same time, the concubines' sons must be allowed to serve as nails in the Eight Banners when they grow up.
One final point requires clarification. Imperial sons were required to be enfeoffed upon reaching adulthood. Specifically, the Upper Three Banners would never contain a member of the royal family with a high nobility. They were all enfeoffed as lords of various banners, and from then on, their families were relegated to the Lower Five Banners. The Jurchens who could remain in the Upper Three Banners were of such low rank that their lineage was very distant. No princes ever remained in the Upper Three Banners.
The Eight Banners are divided into upper and lower levels, but it does not mean that anyone from the upper three banners is nobler than the lower five banners.
There are so many talented people in the Lower Five Banners, iron-hat princes, relatives of the founding fathers... tons of them. Even if you are a prince, being enfeoffed doesn't necessarily mean you can run rampant. Shareholding system, comrades, this is a shareholding system.
Having been emperor for decades, Kangxi's desire for control was naturally growing stronger. He wouldn't be the emperor if he didn't want to hold more shares. A byproduct of centralization is the desire to control everything. Therefore, the mission of the eighth prince, Yinsi, was particularly important.
In recent years, the Prince An's Mansion has become incredibly powerful. Its influence is indeed immense; Yue Le's sons have produced several princes, along with titles like Beizi (Beizi), while Kangxi's sons held similar titles. Having a powerful position that's too powerful to be eliminated is a taboo; it must be cut off.
Emperor Kangxi was very strict with his sons: I have enfeoffed you guys, and you, as princes, still have to look at the faces of people other than your father. You, you, you... you are embarrassing me so much, I will beat you!
That's it. If you don't want to be criticized, you must stand firm; if you want to be praised, you must have achievements to show for it.
Fortunately, his sons are all very capable people.
Kangxi smiled as he listened to reports from his subordinates that the Eighth Prince's reputation for virtue was growing and that he was enjoying a comfortable life in the Zhenglan Banner. He smiled at Yinreng and said, "It seems that it was right to enfeoff him in the Zhenglan Banner."
Yinreng twitched his lips and said, "Eighth brother is a kind person and has always had a good reputation."
Kangxi twirled his beard in silence. Another major reason he chose the Eighth Prince to join the Zhenglan Banner was because he could be humble. The one being appointed was the eldest prince. Regardless of whether his age was a good match for Guo Luoluo, the eldest prince's temper alone would have him stabbed before he could even succeed.
The Prince An's Mansion has always been well-regarded among literati, and Yue Le's sons all have good literary attainments. Choosing the eighth son, who has a very friendly appearance and a mother of humble origin, is also to relax their vigilance.
Because the Eighth Prince had done things to his liking, Kangxi was generous in rewarding him. Wei was about to be canonized as a concubine, and the Eighth Prince was also promoted to the rank of Beile.
Oh, what a wonderful country, running according to its own will, becoming more and more prosperous. My descendants will continue to enjoy prosperity and wealth for generations to come. What a beautiful thing!
The prince gradually began to develop. Kangxi narrowed his eyes, surveying his son. He seemed to be growing calmer, more honest, and more considerate. His youthful arrogance was fading, and he was maturing. The prince was increasingly displaying a virtuous demeanor, one that favored virtuous ministers and distanced himself from villains. He was honest and upright, and Kangxi was determined to cultivate this successor.
The Crown Prince was relatively familiar with government affairs and officials. However, this wasn't enough. The ministers Kangxi currently employed were all roughly his own age, some even older! Even if the Crown Prince was familiar with them, they would still be useless. By the time he took over, they would have mostly died. He needed to encourage the new generation of court officials to align with the Crown Prince, providing him with a talent pool.
"Promote Chao Ketuo, the Chancellor of the Imperial Household Department, to be a Cabinet Scholar and concurrently a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites."
Yinreng remained noncommittal. Not all those who left the Zhanshi Mansion were pro-Princeling Party members. For example, Wang Hongxu and Fulun had both worked part-time for him. What was the result? The former still ignored him, and the latter was simply from his sworn enemy's family.
Yinreng withdrew from Kangxi's presence and invited Xiong Cili to talk.
Yinreng had no objection to Kangxi's arrangements for him. What made him depressed was that Kangxi supported his brothers in this way.
Xiong Cilü had only one thing to say to the crown prince: "All under heaven belongs to the king; all the people in the world are his subjects. It is not for me, your subjects, to have any say in matters that require my independent decision."
Yinreng suddenly realized: I just put myself at the center again! Extended meaning: To achieve self-centeredness, you must first put the emperor at the center. You can't be like an ignorant child, rolling on the ground and asking for candy, I want this, I want that. You have to know that if you get an excellent grade on the exam, you can still get candy even if you don't make a fuss.
You are not the head of the family, so why should everything revolve around you?
Yinreng diligently practiced his basic skills, and for the next period of time, he devoted himself to government affairs. This year's focus was river engineering, and he devoted most of his attention to this, figuring out where to build the embankment, how long and wide it would be, how much labor would be required, and how many days it would take to complete.
Shujia accompanied him in solving math problems for over a month. This taught her that even within the vast expanse of our country, several mighty rivers flood and several scenic mountains become slippery and muddy every year.
Kangxi was pleased to see a crown prince who was committed to getting things done. He said, "Although the river work is important, don't forget other things." Then he'd nitpick about a poorly calculated or inadequate allocation. He was still pleased. This son possessed perseverance and patience, and his work always made him trustworthy. This reaffirmed that the crown prince was a promising candidate for handling government affairs! He was also very well-behaved, fully understanding his superiors' intentions and refraining from interfering with assigned tasks and disrupting order. Excellent.
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While Kangxi promoted the eighth prince and continued to train the crown prince, he did not forget his other sons.
Of course, Kangxi could not hide the fact that the Fourth Prince was seeking to remove the throne for the father of his concubine.
Once again, I admire Kangxi's memory.
The more honest the Crown Prince was, the more Kangxi would tell him about his political schemes, and the longer he kept him by his side. He picked up the list submitted by the Ministry of Personnel, which was filled with names of people waiting for promotions, appointments, and transfers. The transfer of state officials was not only carried out after the imperial examinations every three years, but also in which month of the year when officials were not transferred?
This time, when he turned to a certain page, Kangxi stopped and turned in another direction: "Come and look at this."
Yinreng followed the fingernail marks Kangxi had made and saw the words "Li Wenbi." "?" he asked, puzzled. "Is this person Khan Ama is talking about talented? Or has he committed a crime before?"
Kangxi shook his head and said, "Neither."
"Khan Ama? You should tell your son the truth. I really can't remember it."
"I have appointed a daughter of Li Wenbi to the Fourth Prince."
"Oh? Maybe they have the same name?" You remember all this? Because Li Shi didn't have the status of a concubine, even though she gave birth to a son and a daughter, Yinreng did know that the fourth son had a concubine named Li. Unexpectedly, Kangxi actually remembered who the father of this concubine was! Amazing!
Kangxi smiled. "No doubt, the Fourth Prince contributed to his rise to this position." He had known about this for a long time. The emperor had a wide range of sources for information. "Li gave birth to a son and a daughter for the Fourth Prince. I remember that."
“…” I didn’t even know that the fourth brother was doing this.
"The prefect and the county magistrate are officials who are in charge of the people and should not be treated lightly. When encountering such a matter, we must first consider the person's usual conduct." As he said this, he actually circled the person's name to show his agreement.
Yinreng was very surprised: "This Li Wenbi is a capable person? Why has he wasted so much time until now?"
Kangxi explained in depth, "I have carefully selected your wives. They are both of acceptable appearance and character. The same goes for concubines. While the selection isn't as rigorous as for the first wife, they still have to be acceptable. Since I chose Li, she was already very acceptable, meaning...she had good upbringing! The Li family isn't from a wealthy family, so they might not be able to afford a good tutor. The fact that they were able to raise their daughter well must be the credit of their parents."
Yinreng showed an expression of understanding and listened to Kangxi's continued analysis.
"It's just that his abilities are probably limited. If he were truly capable, he would have risen to prominence long ago (the emperor's grandson's grandfather is quite impressive). He's no more than this. He's a decent person, and his jurisdiction isn't too large. Even if his abilities are limited, he can't do anything wrong. I'll also give Fourth Brother this respect."
The focus is on the last sentence. Yinreng keenly grasped the unspoken meaning in Kangxi's words.
After thinking for a moment, Yinreng slowly spoke, "The purpose isn't big. Perhaps the Fourth Brother is just trying to save face for his son or daughter? This respect should be given." Yinreng tried to connect with Kangxi's brainwaves. He was good at handling things according to the rules, and it took him less time to go through these twists and turns. "Their rank isn't high either. Even if there's something wrong, demotion or demotion won't hurt their reputation. Besides... my son, just pretend you don't know about this?"
Kangxi nodded approvingly: "I didn't know either." He pulled the list over and continued to circle it.
Yinreng kept replaying Kangxi's analysis in his mind. This old man was truly amazing. He needed to improve his memory and analyze the clues to recover the truth. Kangxi's handling of the incident also taught Yinreng a lot: some things, even if known, do not need to be disclosed to the parties involved.
By the way, when I get home later, I'll ask my wife. She should have the list of names and status. Yinreng clearly remembered that when he was studying the New Year's gifts last time, he saw the detailed family information of almost every important person in the capital marked on it. Although he only looked at the head of the family, the information of other family members was indeed on the list.
So, gift-giving is a science! You can use the gift-giving as a legitimate way to find out how many people there are in the family, how many acres of land each person has, how many cows they have on their land, whether they have enough cows, and whether they should get a cow as a gift...
Oh, that's wrong. You can openly learn about someone's family structure, whether there are suitable boys and girls in the family, and whether the wife or the mother-in-law is the head of the family...
Even the Yellow Book of the Ministry of Revenue and the Jade Book of the Imperial Clan Court only record who is in your family and who gave birth to whom, but they will not tell you that there is a feud between brothers in the family. When "rewarding", remember to treat everyone equally - if you want to sow discord, of course you can make some small moves.
Details determine success or failure.
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In Wuyi Zhai, Shujia was reading. It was so stimulating! The mathematical formulas of this era were different from what she'd learned before, with some localized details. The day before yesterday, she was almost having a brain cramp while calculating earthwork. No, she had to sort out her thoughts!
It was quiet all around. The ice basin in the corner of the room slowly melted, bringing a cool breeze. The fat boy was practicing calligraphy on the table next to her, very serious. Hongyang was gradually recovering. He had gone to class with Hongxi today and had not returned yet. Li Jia had been saying she was sick recently, partly out of embarrassment and partly because she was hurt. Li Jia was sewing. Mid-Autumn Festival was less than two months away, and whether it was for the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, or the little princes, needlework was a must.
Since the master needs a quiet environment, the eunuchs and palace maids even COS as wooden men.
In the vast Wuyi Zhai, only the chirping of cicadas could be heard from the trees outside. They chirped twice and then stopped. It was the people at the sticking place, using gluten to stick the cicadas down to avoid disturbing their master.
When Yinreng came back, the eunuchs led the way in advance, whistling softly on the way, and when they arrived at the door, they clapped their hands softly.
Shujia emerged from the pile of numbers, finally able to toss them aside with a clear conscience. She was good at calculating household expenses, but these... she'd never scored high in math since she was a child! If it weren't for the fat boy writing beside her, she would have given up long ago because she had to set a good example for her son.
"Look at all the sweat." As he said this, he took the wet towel and wiped Yinreng's face.
The height difference became less obvious with the help of the standard high-heeled shoes in the palace. Yinreng just bent down slightly and enjoyed his wife's loving service.
The little fat boy put down his pen and came over to greet him obediently: "Ama."
"What did you do today?"
"In reply to Father, my son has memorized the Analects."
"Where's the word?"
"I'm writing it now. It's almost finished."
Yinreng patiently commented on the fat boy's handwriting: "The penmanship is a little lacking, but it's quite standard." He circled a few of the good ones with a pen and asked the fat boy to recite them.
The 120-repetition Dafa reappeared in Yuqing Palace after the fat boy began reciting it. Even if you had an IQ of 60, you could have memorized it just by reflex.
After checking their son's homework and letting him continue writing, the Crown Prince and his wife moved to the east room to "discuss adult matters."
"What do you want that for?" Even after asking, Shujia still called out, "Zichang."
Zichang agreed, went into the bedroom, took out a booklet from the box and handed it to Shujia.
Shujia took it, opened the cover and looked at it: "This is it," and handed it to Yinreng, "What are you looking for?"
"Let's take a look." Yinreng answered casually, but judging from his attitude, he planned to study it as a textbook.
Shujia was a little upset: "I don't know what you are thinking. You are so obsessed with these women's affairs."
"You don't know," Yinreng raised his head from the booklet, "there is a lot of knowledge here, don't underestimate the trivialities of family life..."
The black line is squared.
"You've misread it. You should read that page together with the next one."
"Huh? What do you mean?" He tilted the booklet in his hand and asked Shujia to point at it.
"Here, Longkodo," Shujia explained to Yinreng while rummaging through the books, "He and his first wife were not on good terms. Tsk, they had already given birth to a child... It was their parents' decision. Longkodo's mother was Hesheli, and here, he married a woman from this family. Their family background isn't very high, but they're well-off." After flipping through N pages, they finally came to Long's father-in-law's family, which was almost not qualified to be included in the book.
"Well, it's connected. Go on."
Shujia sneered: "He fell in love with his father-in-law's concubine and snatched her away by force!" [1]
Crack! Yinreng was petrified. Stealing his father-in-law's concubine? I've heard of XX concubine mothers, but this is the first time someone has snatched someone from their father-in-law. Longkodo, that's your mother-in-law! Where are you going to put the dignity of both families?
"After getting her back, she's been controlled by this concubine. She won't go east or west, like she's been fed rice soup!" She's much more cruel than the time-traveling woman. Even the almighty Mary Sue can't compare to her. After messing with her father-in-law and son-in-law, she also dealt with the wife, and... Who the hell is Tong Guowei? !!! He doesn't even clean up the mess at home! This woman is like a golden finger! How can I, a real person who traveled through time, feel embarrassed?
"How do you know such a secret?"
"That's what women talk about when they get together." She hadn't expected such big news. "Last time, my mother brought my second sister-in-law here, saying that my second brother wasn't respectful to his superior, and they were at their wit's end. This fourth son took money from others and used it to influence Longkodo, forcing a clueless fool into the job, only to cause more trouble. After doing something like this, he couldn't be respectful even if he wanted to."
"Hmm."
"It's their family. If it were someone else, the censors would probably criticize him to death. Apart from other things, just this background..."
She had almost forgotten Longkodo's historical role, but the Tong family's stance was now clearly visible. Orondei was a rather emotional man with a straightforward temper, and he got along well with Qingde, which in turn softened his stance towards Yuqing Palace. However, the Tong Guowei family was incredibly calm, with absolutely no hidden goodwill.
It’s just right, I have this handle in my hand, I can use it when needed!
Thinking of the same thing, Yinreng folded the page and said, "Tell me any news about their family in the future."
"Well?"
It's inconvenient to send someone to inquire! Although the prince has now trained some reliable people to use, it is done secretly after all, and the manpower is limited. The Tong family is not a random cat or dog that you can just ask about, so it is not as convenient as these gossips in the capital. "I want to know."
"Oh, okay..." A worried look.
Yinreng reached out and rubbed Shujia's cheek, whispering in her ear, "Even if I want to enforce justice, I have to wait and see. Even if he says she's a maid given as a dowry by my uncle, I can't get away with it. But this woman looks restless and will definitely cause trouble again. When the time comes..."
Aren't you good friends with the eldest brother? (Big mistake, I think the eighth brother is friendly.) If you dare to jump out, I'll hit you with a brick! Khan Ama is fed up with this kind of thing! He hates anything that's disobedient, scandalous, or anything that sounds bad! Of course, it won't work now. Concubine Tong is about to be canonized as a noble concubine, so it's better to slow down now.
This is so fucking terrifying! Even more terrifying than solving a hundred earthwork problems! Can anyone tell me what happened to him?
"Huh? What is this?"
"Ah? Oh... this..." This was another small slip, half-written and not yet moved to the other notebook, "The fourth, fifth, and seventh sons' families all have twins, and the date is in the second half of the year. I'm preparing to make a list according to this when I go to the wedding ceremony."
Yinreng flipped through the booklet noisily: "No news from the eighth brother... yet?" he pointed to the list on the small piece of paper.
"Ah... yes."
Yinreng curled his lips. In other families, after being married for several years, even if the first wife didn't give birth to a son, she would still give birth to a daughter. Even if the first wife couldn't give birth, the second wife would still be fertile. But when it comes to the Eighth Brother, he still doesn't have anything. It's really... Eighth Brother, are you having tracheitis?
Huh? This is actually... good news!
Kangxi disliked strong women, and even more so, women who interfered with men's affairs. He made it clear that no matter how weak the Ming Dynasty was, there was no female ruler interfering in politics, which is truly commendable! By extension, if a woman holds herself to the standards of a man, then she'll be beaten to death by Master Kang.
Lao Ba, you are in danger. If you don't stay away from your eldest brother, your second brother will attack your wife.
Shujia was still thinking, this gentleman is becoming more and more difficult to understand. Has her IQ deteriorated? To be so confused by him, this is really a bad sign.
No, she has to urge her son to do something more. I can’t understand you, so I’ll ask my son to figure you out!
When she came back, the Crown Princess wrote a banner for the fat boy: "Understanding the world is knowledge, and understanding the human nature is writing." Go and guess your father!
(Arya, you have fallen!)
——————————————————————————————————————————
Overall, the prince is constantly evolving and becoming more and more sinister, cunning, black-bellied and scoundrel.
However, the prince is not the emperor after all, and there are some things he cannot decide. When things happen, his heart will beat again.
Sun Sike is dead. He was the only surviving of the Four Generals of Hexi, and he is dead too!
Kangxi decisively launched his plan to train the next generation. In terms of military affairs, he asked the eldest prince to come forward to offer wine, and gave him two saddled horses and 1,000 taels of silver. In response, Yinreng could only raise his middle finger to the sky and silently endure it!
Another thing is that he must express his opinion.
The third prince Yinzhi came to see him.
It's been almost a year since Yinzhi made his mistake, and things have cooled down. Aside from the Thirteenth Prince, who still looked at him with a smirk, few people mentioned his embarrassing incidents. But the pearl on his hat, the house he lived in, and the salary he received all clearly indicated one fact: You've been demoted!
If you don’t want to turn over, you are a turtle!
Although a dragon's nine sons may not all become dragons, there cannot be genetic mutations!
Seeing that things had cooled down, Yinzhi, knowing that he was on the list of people accompanying the emperor on his journey to the frontier this year, wanted to make some moves. He didn't dare to bring up the past with Kangxi without any reason, even to review it.
If you want to get promoted, besides your own performance, you also need connections and people to speak up for you. Yinzhi set his sights on Yinreng.
"Prince, do you think it's okay?"
Yinreng wanted to vomit blood! What do you mean by "can't it be done"? You haven't cleared yourself yet, can you please stop thinking about helping Chen Menglei first?
What Yinzhi asked Yinreng for was not to ask him to speak for his title, but to help Chen Menglei say a few good words to Kangxi.
"Khan Ama also appreciated Chen Menglei, otherwise he wouldn't have brought him back to the capital himself. Now he's being raised by me, so what's the big deal?" The truth is: Yinzhi was very happy to raise someone for Kangxi, and they had a lot of good conversations. Chen Menglei was well-educated and quite considerate. The two of them had a good relationship!
The reason why Yinzhi spoke for Chen Menglei was that he wanted to push Chen Menglei forward and then have Chen Menglei plead for him.
During this period, Yinzhi and Chen Menglei also had several conversations. Chen Menglei pointed out clearly: "Although the Crown Prince treats you well, the Thirteenth Prince is also his brother. The Emperor values filial piety and brotherly love, and your mistake is quite conspicuous. The princes dare not plead for mercy on this matter."
"What do you want to do?"
"The court officials can have a say." Chen Menglei believed that Yinzhi would not be doomed to failure for the rest of his life. As long as he listened carefully and achieved some results, and someone praised him for his achievements at the appropriate time, Kangxi would go along with it. After all, it was not a big deal to suppress an adult son, and Yinzhi only committed this one crime.
After all the calculations, no one would say this.
Chen Menglei sighed: "It's a pity that I can't see the emperor..."
Yes! And him! Yinzhi looked Chen Menglei up and down, and it happened to be you!
How could he have known that Chen Menglei was intent on getting rid of Li Guangdi? The two had similar beginnings; a wax ball offering a book had helped Li Guangdi and ruined Chen Menglei's career. Over a decade later, he was still able to convince Emperor Kangxi to bring him back based on his knowledge. His crime back then was collaborating with the Three Feudatories!
Judging from Chen Menglei's current literary attainments, his IQ has not decreased even though he was exiled to the Northeast. If Li Guangdi had not taken all the credit for himself back then, if he could be commended together with Li Guangdi, and Li Guangdi had now been promoted to the position of Governor of Zhili, he would not be left out either!
It’s not like now. During the exile, I was nearly dead from illness, my wife died, my parents died in my hometown and I couldn’t go to their funeral, and my children were not well taken care of… [2]
Who is to blame for this? ! !
Fuck Li Guangdi! We agreed that I would gather the truth and you would report it to the capital. It would be more dangerous for me to stay in Fujian, okay? And what happened? You took all the credit, then hypocritically said a few words about my crime not being worthy of death, thinking you'd saved my life and that was it?
Return my parents and my wife to me...
This hatred was truly deeper than the mountains and the sea. During his exile in Fengtian, he cursed Li Guangdi countless times for death. It would be best if his parents died, his wife was gone, and he lived a miserable life alone, returning from work to find the pot cold and the dishes from the previous meal unwashed. He'd been using his quilt for a year, and no one had even washed it, so he had to use the other end and continue using it, only to have to smell the lingering stench of his own feet.
Chen Menglei was convinced that his abilities were no less than Li Guangdi's; he simply needed a fulcrum. Even though Li Guangdi enjoyed the emperor's favor, he was currently away, even in Zhili, still some distance from the capital. Kangxi wouldn't consult Li Guangdi on everything; Mr. Li was busy discussing the imperial examinations with Guo Xiu and others, a task Kangxi had assigned him.
Such a great opportunity, if he didn't take advantage of it, when would he wait? For a year, he had tried his best to get along well with Yinzhi, so that the Third Prince would have a better impression of him, just waiting for this gentleman to recommend him.
It just so happened that Yinzhi needed someone like him. Furthermore, Kangxi did appreciate Chen Menglei's knowledge. But he couldn't recommend Chen Menglei himself. If he recommended Chen Menglei, and Chen Menglei spoke well of him, would Kangxi really think he was a fool? This circle of events led him to Yinreng.
Recommend Chen Menglei?
That's like arguing with Li Guangdi!
If I really did that... I would be beaten by Teacher Xiong! Li Guangdi is still my master!
If interests cannot be balanced and differences exist, it will be impossible to seek common ground.
The negotiations broke down.
Yinzhi walked away with his head hung.
Yinreng stared blankly with a stiff face. Chen Menglei was nothing. With Li Guangdi around, Chen Menglei wouldn't be allowed to succeed. He needed to consider how to bridge the gap between him and Yinzhi. The Third Prince rarely asked him for anything and had always been close to him. He couldn't alienate him because of Chen Menglei.
He didn't care that his brothers weren't close enough to him. What he cared about was whether Kangxi would see something wrong with him if his brothers stopped being close to him. Was the Third Brother just being embarrassed? Did he feel I'd offended him? So, should I tell him to come back and give me some real advice?
The third brother's title... No, Khan Ama doesn't have that intention yet...
Chen Leimeng, you are a troublemaker!
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