You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 209 Without Jiang Qingyun, no one is willing to do dirty work for me?
On the day.

Emperor Shunzhi found out, but he pretended not to know.

That's right~
Mandahai, the banner chief of the Plain Red Banner, and Lekedehun, the junior banner chief, died suddenly one after another.

I have long coveted the Plain Red Banner.

His plan was to take advantage of the great victory in the southwest and this case of blatantly assassinating a high-ranking official to strip Prince Li's lineage of their titles and plunge them into the abyss.

Emperor Shunzhi's dream was to eliminate all factions during his lifetime, so that the imperial power would be absolute and the affairs of the world would be decided by the emperor alone, without the need for others to nag.

This was not only his own dream, but also the dream of his father, Huang Taiji, when he was alive.

What's wrong with a son taking over his father's business?
Louis XIV once said: "A good emperor is one who does not want to rule arbitrarily! A good emperor is one who is not ruthless by nature!"

……

Wu Liangfu sent another secret box.

With the Thirteen Offices, Shunzhi only needed half a quarter of an hour to get a general idea of ​​the activities of the major mansions in the capital within five days.

Suddenly, he asked:

"Wu Liangfu, I ordered you to place people in the Cining Palace. Have you done so?"

"Your Majesty, this servant is still pondering it."

"Is it difficult to handle?"

"This servant thinks that if we suddenly send a new face there, it will be too conspicuous. This servant thinks it would be more appropriate to develop an old face among the eunuchs serving in Cining Palace to act as an informant."

Shunzhi remained noncommittal and continued reviewing the intelligence.

Information regarding Jiang Qingyun includes:
Before his triumphant return, his wife, Jiangnan, selected four beautiful concubines for him.

After his triumphant promotion, Jiang Zhongcheng took two new concubines in Daming Prefecture.

During his convalescence, countless people visited Yuquan Mountain under the pretense of visiting him, but in reality, they brought him gifts. This was jokingly referred to as "the cloud selection" in the capital.

The first two points are not a big deal, and the third point cannot be simply judged as black or white.

Emperor Shunzhi pondered for a moment.

"Wu Liangfu, how is the Nancheng Orphanage, which was sponsored by Jiang Qingyun, doing now?"

"Your Majesty. He has been raising those abandoned babies for years for nothing. The half-grown boys have eaten their fathers out of house and home. Who can stand feeding them without them doing anything? Many of the boys have left the orphanage. Some went to farms, some to mines, and some were assigned to the Five Cities Garrison as assistants."

Shunzhi suddenly became a little nervous.

"Whose farm? Whose mine?"

"The emperor bestowed 3000 mu of land, and his father bought another 5000 mu in the suburbs of Beijing. The mine was an official coal mine under the Guangxi Department of the Ministry of Revenue, located in the mountain valley of Mentougou."

"He made these children work in the fields and mine coal?"

"It doesn't seem like it. These children receive a monthly allowance, and our informants speculate that they are being groomed to become farm managers, field managers, or mine managers."

Does he usually interact with these children?

"He basically only provides money, and rarely has any contact or visits with us."

Emperor Shunzhi was somewhat relieved.

"What about those who are mute, blind, or deaf?"

"They are still being cared for in the orphanage."

Where is the girl?

"Someone teaches some simple needlework and cooking skills, seemingly to marry off the girls when they grow up. Heh, heh heh, maybe he'll pick a few pretty ones out of them first."

Wu Liangfu's smile was lewd.

Shunzhi laughed and scolded:
"You old lewd eunuch."

This topic ends here.

Throughout the entire process, Wu Liangfu's words were basically objective and fair, without any mudslinging, mainly because he had his own concerns.

……

On the day.

Fan Wencheng, a Grand Secretary of the Secretariat and Minister of Rites, hurriedly entered the palace.

"Long live my emperor."

"No courtesy, sit down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Your Excellency and your son serve in the same court, yet you are neither partisan nor biased in your actions, and you are both honest and upright. I greatly admire you." "Your Majesty flatters me. These are simply the duties of a subject."

"I have summoned you here today to discuss a matter with you. Mandahai's servants openly attempted to assassinate Jiang Qingyun, which has had a terrible impact. If this is not dealt with seriously, it may sow the seeds of future disaster. Tell me, how should the court deal with the Prince Li's mansion?"

Instantly, every hair on Fan Wencheng's body stood on end.

In the blink of an eye~
He then sorted out the current predicament, bowed his head and said, "I believe that beheading the assassin and displaying his head to the public, and sending someone to the Prince's residence to reprimand him, is sufficient."

Shunzhi's expression immediately changed.

"Three cups of wine as a punishment? And this is a one-time exception?"

……

Fan Wencheng gritted his teeth, got off the stool, and knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty, I risk my life to offer this advice: Although the late Prince Li may have acted foolishly, he is now gone, and the court should not pursue the matter too deeply. Otherwise, the Eight Banners will feel resentful, and the court will be unstable."

"I remember that you are also a Confucian scholar."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I always keep in mind the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues. I believe that the imperial power is supreme and I admire the emperor's absolute authority, but you must not be too hasty."

Fan Wencheng kowtowed all the way down and dared not get up.

Emperor Shunzhi was speechless, and could only awkwardly turn away.

After a while.

Wu Liangfu approached with a forced smile: "My lord, the Emperor has already left. You may return now."

"Thank you, father-in-law."

Fan Wencheng got up and silently left the Qianqing Palace. He had of course understood the implication in Shunzhi's words, but he was unwilling and dared not accept the deal.

He had offended Emperor Shunzhi in this matter, and at most he would be demoted.

By complying with Shunzhi's wishes, he was dragged into the vortex, and his whole family was destined to die without a burial place sooner or later.

Although the Council of Princes and Ministers has been severely weakened, it is far from being uprooted by the imperial power, and the banner princes still wield considerable influence.

……

The day.

Unwilling to give up, Shunzhi summoned Ning Wanwo, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and used both soft and hard tactics to try to persuade him to stand up and impeach Prince Li and guide public opinion in the court.

Ning Wan, and I inexplicably agreed.

But as soon as he stepped out of the Forbidden City, the cold wind outside sobered him up, and he was filled with regret and remorse. He couldn't accept this hot potato.

Wealth and honor may not come, but the confiscation of property and the extermination of one's clan are possible.

After returning home, he thought about it over and over again, tossing and turning, and the more he thought about it, the more regretful he became. When he had no other choice, he gritted his teeth and simply ate some rotten food and then stood in the rain in the yard.

Sickly and hiding away~
The thirty-seventh of the Thirty-Six Stratagems in Officialdom.

That day, he began to have a fever, accompanied by severe vomiting and diarrhea.

The family first invited a renowned doctor to their home, and then invited an imperial physician.

Emperor Shunzhi's face turned black with anger. He could roughly guess what had happened, but he couldn't show it.

What can dispel sorrow? Only the Red Palace.

After another period of unbridled indulgence, he lay sprawled out on the red carpet, gazing absently at the Moser lamp dome.

Without comparison, one cannot appreciate the value of a loyal minister.

If Jiang Qingyun had not been injured, I would only need to give him a look, and he would immediately take over the banner, cheer for me, and charge into battle for me.

Emperor Shunzhi suddenly remembered a line from Hong Chengchou's last will and testament: "The Qing Dynasty cannot be without the Han Army flag for a single day, and the Han Army flag cannot be without Jiang Qingyun for a single day."

He couldn't help but sigh: Hong Chengchou's moral character wasn't great, but his judgment of people was quite good.

……

After returning to the palace, Shunzhi became increasingly angry and depressed.

"Wu Liangfu".

"The slave is here."

"Tomorrow, select a pair of century-old ginseng from the Imperial Treasury and present them to Jiang Qingyun. Also, ask Wu Yong how long it will take for his arrow wound to heal, and whether it can be cured quickly."

"Whoo."

Wu Liangfu was extremely envious, exclaiming that this treatment was comparable to that of a blood brother.

(End of this chapter)