The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 67: Pleading for Old Thirteen

Li Yan arrived at the palace, reported to Li Dequan, and entered the imperial study. He bowed and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father. May your Highness be blessed!"

"The tenth brother is here. What brings you here today?" Kangxi saw a smile on Li Yan's face.

Li Yan stood up and said with a smile: "I wonder if you have seen the secret letter I sent to you a few days ago?"

"You mean to ask Brother Zhang Wu to present it on your behalf. I have read it and you have done a very good job. You did not deceive me and told the truth. I am very satisfied." Kangxi nodded with satisfaction.

Li Yan took out two pieces of paper from his arms and placed them on Kangxi's desk. "Father, this is the deed to the Wanyong Pawnshop and the 100,000 taels of silver that my ninth brother gave to me on behalf of my eighth brother. I have not touched a cent. I am presenting this to you, Father."

Kangxi took it in his hand and looked at it, his expression darkened. The Eighth Prince spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver just to win over the Tenth Prince for the position of Crown Prince. He was really willing to spend the money.

It is said that Laojiu is good at making money. His family has more silver than the national treasury. It seems that this is true!
Kangxi thought for a moment, and then gave Li Yan the house deed and banknotes: "I am very happy that you can serve the emperor with sincerity, without deceiving or getting involved with them. I will give you these properties as a reward. Take them!"

"Father, there was a flood in the south of the Yangtze River some time ago. You wanted to allocate funds for disaster relief, but you didn't have the money. Later, you asked my fourth brother to collect the arrears from the treasury, but the money collected was less than 30%. The treasury is empty. If something happens to the country again, what should we do? We don't even have money for emergencies. I suggest that you add these to the treasury. Although it's not much, it can make up for some of the deficit."

Kangxi was very happy when he heard this: "It's rare that you have such a kind heart. I heard that you still owe the national treasury 200,000 taels of silver. In this case, I will give these to you, and you can pay back your debts, so that it can be counted as returning to the national treasury."

"Thank you, Father Your Majesty. I will accept it. When I return home later, I will go to the Ministry of Revenue to pay back the money I owe." Li Yan was happy. He was back again. Once he passed the eyes of Kangxi, the dirty money would be cleaned up, and no one would be able to say anything about it in the future. Even if the eighth and ninth brothers wanted to put on some eye drops in front of the emperor, it would be of no use.

I guess the emperor didn't know how much this pawnshop was worth. In the emperor's eyes, a shop was worth at most a few thousand or tens of thousands of taels of silver. He never imagined that Lao Ba's Wanyong Pawnshop could earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year.

Li Yan thought of something: "Father, I have something to tell you. Should I tell you?"

"What do you think."

Kangxi was in a good mood and seemed to be in a mood to let you speak freely.

"Father Emperor, you see, you have already decided to restore the second brother, the Crown Prince. The Thirteenth Brother did nothing wrong. He just saw his brothers fighting and said some inappropriate words in a fit of anger. You also know that the Thirteenth Brother is a chivalrous and emotional man, and he doesn't mean what he says. Why don't you consider releasing him? The New Year is coming soon. If the Thirteenth Brother stays in jail, his family may not be in the mood to celebrate the New Year." Li Yan pleaded carefully, looking at Kangxi's expression.

Kangxi looked at Li Yan steadily, as if he wanted to see what was in Li Yan's mind. He didn't know what he was thinking about, and for a moment he felt as if he was in a trance.

Li Yan looked at Kangxi's distracted look, wondering if he heard what he said, so he called out carefully, "Father Emperor?"

"ah!."

"Oh, I was a little distracted. It's rare that you have the heart to protect your brother. I promise you, go to the Lifanyuan later and tell you my order to release Yinxiang!" Kangxi agreed to Li Yan's request with a smile on his face. Li Yan knelt on the ground happily: "On behalf of my thirteenth brother, I thank the emperor for his grace!"

Kangxi had imprisoned the Thirteenth Prince before just to create false information for the Eighth Prince. Now that the Eighth Prince is dead, there is naturally no need to imprison the Thirteenth Prince anymore, and he will be released sooner or later.

Li Yan's plea for Old Thirteen at this time was just a favor.

Just to establish his image as a loyal and affectionate person, Kangxi valued his own flesh and blood more in his later years. The Eighth Brother was disgusted by the eagle sending him to die, and Kangxi was furious, but he didn't do anything to the Eighth Brother.

Li Yan was constantly brushing up his character, almost saying, "Old man, please hand over the throne to me! From now on, I will not touch any of your sons, and I will also take care of them."

Just go ahead and don't worry!
After Li Yan finished his request for mercy, he saw that Kangxi was busy reviewing memorials, so he was ready to leave. Unexpectedly, Kangxi stopped him and said, "Old Ten! You are not a child anymore, you should do some serious work. What is the point of wasting time in the mansion every day? Don't get involved with Old Eight and the others. I have a job for you, do it first."

"Father Emperor, have you forgotten that you gave me a task, which was to investigate the matter of the fake Crown Prince's handwritten edict?" A puzzled expression emerged on Li Yan's face, and he was thinking in his heart, it seems that good people will be rewarded!
I just asked for a favor for Old Thirteen, and in the blink of an eye, good things happened to me. The reward was quite quick.

"There's no rush for that matter. I think it will take a while for you to figure out anything, so just pay attention to it. I'm going to give you a regular job. You're not young anymore, so you have to learn to handle political and military affairs. You can't just sit there doing nothing all day."

"All right!"

"Father, please don't make things too difficult for me. It's no big deal if I can't do it well myself, but I'm afraid I'll mess up your important affairs of the court." Li Yan scratched his head.

Kangxi thought for a moment and said, "I will give you the Zhenghuang Banner. You should organize it for me!"

"Pure Yellow Flag?"

Kangxi saw Li Yan's puzzled expression and explained, "Yes, of the eight banners of Manchuria, the other seven are stationed outside the Great Wall to intimidate the Mongolian tribes and the western regions of Korea. Only the Zhenghuang Banner is under my personal control. It is usually stationed in the Xishan Camp, also known as the Xishan Ruijian Camp, to guard the important areas of the capital. It is an important guard force for the safety of the capital. It is composed of the elite forces of Manchu, Mongolian and Han, with a total of 50,000 people. Now I hand it over to you for management, you must manage it well for me."

"Ah, Your Majesty, this is such an important task. I am afraid that I am young and impetuous and cannot shoulder such a heavy responsibility." Li Yan was shocked. This is military power!

He was extremely excited and had agreed to it a thousand times, but he still looked apologetic and frightened.

Li Yan thought to himself, remembering that Kangxi only let Yin take over the affairs of the Plain Yellow Banner in the fifty-seventh year, and he only asked him to intervene. Now because of his excellent performance, it has been advanced by ten years. With these ten years, he can manage the Plain Yellow Banner into his own loyal troops.

Kangxi smiled and said, "The camp is usually well-trained. You don't have to do anything. I am in charge of it. But I have to manage such a big country. I don't have the time. I may not be able to go to the camp once a year. You go and watch it for me. Watch more and learn how to command the army. My ancestors of the Qing Dynasty won the world on foot, and this descendant must not be ignorant of military affairs."

(End of this chapter)