The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 260 Imperial Meeting
After Tong Guowei's death on the seventh day of the seventh month, to everyone's surprise, Kangxi did not grant Ye Keshu the right to inherit the title of First-Class Duke as requested in his will.

Unlike the primogeniture system of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty's system of hereditary titles consistently adopted the principle of selecting the most virtuous rather than the eldest son.

Whether someone is virtuous or not has no clear and unified standard; it all depends on the emperor's attitude.

Tong Guowei's eight sons, including Longkodo, all had the opportunity to inherit the title.

In this way, Kangxi gained absolute dominance.

"My lord, perhaps this servant also has a slight chance?" Longkodo hesitated for half a month before finally running to ask Yinwu.

Yinwu knew perfectly well that Kangxi was deliberately withholding the title of First-Class Duke in order to lure Longkodo into his trap.

As long as Longkodo obediently complies and ensures that the fourth prince successfully ascends the throne, the hereditary dukedom of the Tong family will inevitably be inherited by him.

However, Kangxi couldn't say it outright, so he could only let Longkodo guess.

Previously, Emperor Kangxi had several critical illnesses where he intended to pass the throne to the deposed crown prince, but later changed his mind.

Based on Yinwu's understanding of Kangxi, Kangxi would never truly relinquish power unless absolutely necessary!

After all, Li Yuan knew better than anyone what it was like to be an emperor emeritus!
"What's the panic? I guarantee that as long as you obediently follow the Emperor's orders, the title will be yours sooner or later." Yinwu deliberately spoke vaguely, not specifying who the Emperor was referring to.

Longkodo's spirits lifted suddenly, and he subconsciously asked Yinwu, "Really?"

Yinwu looked displeased and was about to speak when Longkodo smiled and said, "You never lie, this servant trusts you."

Previously, even for things that were easy to accomplish, Yinwu never spoke definitively.

This time, however, Yinwu was unusually certain that the title would belong to Longkodo.

How could Longkodo not be overjoyed?

“My lord, this servant is the most honest and always obeys His Majesty’s orders.” Longkodo mistakenly thought that the Emperor referred to Emperor Kangxi, and actually patted his chest and said, “Whatever His Majesty tells me to do, this servant will do.”

Yinwu certainly wouldn't expose the truth behind it and let Longkodo misunderstand. Anyway, Longkodo siding with the fourth prince is a historical fact.

As long as Yinwu doesn't interfere, given Longkodo's opportunistic nature, if he wants to curry favor with someone from the wrong side, he will inevitably choose the fourth prince's side.

Now, at this critical juncture, because Kangxi deliberately misled the public and staged a drama involving a Grand General and the use of the imperial banner, the senior officials in the court generally believed that the fourteenth prince would be the next emperor.

However, Longkodo and the fourteenth prince were merely acquaintances and had no special relationship.

Even if Longkodo supported the fourteenth prince to become emperor, the fourteenth prince would take it for granted that he was following the trend and would not treat Longkodo differently.

Besides, the Eighth Prince's faction is so numerous that there aren't enough good positions for them to fill, so how could Longkodo possibly get a share?
In the Qing Dynasty, only the one who had the last laugh was the true winner!
Things haven't even started yet, and you're already spouting nonsense. You're bound to make a big mistake sooner or later!

In the morning, Yinwu attended the Imperial Military Council as a minister before the emperor.

Today's attendees include none of the Han officials; they are all key ministers under his command.

Led by Songzhu, the chief Grand Secretary of the Manchus, the seven men—Grand Secretaries Ma Qi, Xiao Yongzao, the Third Prince, the Fourth Prince, the Twelfth Prince, and Yinwu—stood with their heads bowed and held their breath on either side of Kangxi's desk.

Kangxi glanced at the crowd and said coldly, "Seleng and Erlunte underestimated the enemy and advanced recklessly, leading to the annihilation of the entire army. What should their punishment be?"

Yinwu knew that after the fourteenth prince won a battle at the front, Kangxi was planning to settle scores later.

However, the defeats of Sereng and Erlend were essentially a serious consequence of Kangxi's misguided command.

Sereng had served as a bodyguard for many years and was considered one of Yinwu's old subordinates, so Yinwu knew him very well.

To put it bluntly, what's the difference between Seleng, who had never led troops into battle, and Zhao Kuo, who only knew how to talk about war on paper? However, Seleng, who was particularly good at talking, managed to fool Kangxi with his silver tongue.

Even Emperor Kangxi made a mistake, actually believing that Seleng was an unparalleled military talent.

As a result, due to Sereng's greed for merit and recklessness, his and Erlend's two Qing armies were successively surrounded and defeated by the Dzungars.

Of the nearly 10,000 Qing troops, only a handful managed to escape back to Xining, a truly humiliating defeat.

Fortunately, most of Sereng and Elunte's men were Green Standard Army soldiers. The pure Eight Banners troops in the Northwest did not suffer heavy losses.

Sereng and Erlente were both trusted confidants of Emperor Kangxi.

Especially Erlend, who had served as the commander of the Tongzhou camp for a long time and was one of the emperor's most trusted confidants.

After these two men were defeated, Kangxi delayed punishing them, mainly because he feared that if the fourteenth prince were also defeated, things would be difficult to handle in the future.

Now that the fourteenth prince has won the battle, Kangxi feels no qualms about punishing outsiders.

Of the seven people present, who didn't know Kangxi's little scheme?
"Third Prince, what do you think?" Seeing that no one spoke, Kangxi simply called out the name of the third prince.

In the thirty-seventh year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, when the third prince was granted the title of Prince of the Second Rank, the fourth and eighth princes were merely Princes of the Third Rank.

It is no exaggeration to say that among all the princes, the third prince was the oldest, the most senior, and had the most princely rank.

In particular, after the eldest and second eldest sons were completely out of the picture, the third son's status as the eldest son of a concubine attracted a lot of attention.

With the gradual passing away of the older generation of royal princes, the current head of the princes is none other than the third prince!

"Your Majesty, I believe that Sereng and Erlunte not only failed to live up to Your Majesty's grace, but also underestimated the enemy and acted rashly, leading to a great defeat. They should be severely punished." The third prince, following Kangxi's wishes, deliberately put the failure to live up to His Majesty's grace first.

Yinwu, standing in the crowd, sneered inwardly.

The third kid is a typical example of someone who's both bad at the game and loves to play around; he always tries to take shortcuts.

Based on Yinwu's understanding of the third prince, the word "cunning" perfectly encapsulates the man's character.

When the eldest son advocated killing his son in place of his father, the third son discovered Kangxi's true intentions and realized that the eldest son was doomed. So he went to report Xiao Hei to Kangxi, accusing the eldest son of hiding in the Prince's mansion and using evil magic to bewitch the Crown Prince.

Ultimately, this led to the leader being placed under house arrest!
However, Kangxi was not stupid. Afterwards, he realized what was going on and became suspicious: "Since you, the third prince, already knew about the eldest prince cursing the deposed crown prince, why didn't you report it to me?"

"Fourth Prince, what about you?" Kangxi ignored the Third Prince and turned to ask the Fourth Prince.

The fourth prince, who had managed the Ministry of Revenue for many years, was notoriously ignorant of military affairs. Kangxi had summoned him today primarily to inquire about the crucial matter of logistical support; this was merely a casual question.

The fourth prince said firmly, "They must be severely punished without leniency; otherwise, who will be willing to serve the court?"

Kangxi had long anticipated the fourth prince's attitude, so it was not surprising at all.

When the twelfth prince saw Kangxi looking at him, he cupped his hands and said, "Clear distinction between rewards and punishments is the foundation of our Great Qing Dynasty. Please, Father, understand."

Rewarding those who have made meritorious contributions and punishing those who have committed wrongdoings has always been a fine tradition of the Qing Dynasty.

Kangxi didn't speak, but deliberately skipped over Yinwu and asked Songzhu directly, "And you?"

The fourth prince was quite worried about Yinwu, but because Emperor Kangxi was present, he dared not go to see Yinwu.

Yinwu knew that Cao Jia had given birth to several of his illegitimate children, which angered Kangxi.

(End of this chapter)