I, Kangxi, am here to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming!

Summer of the eighteenth year of the Shunzhi reign.

The weather in the capital is getting hotter and hotter.

Although the new emperor has ascended the throne and the reign title has been changed to "Kangxi", according to the rules, the reign title of the previous emperor will still be used in the first year of the new emperor's reign, and it will not be until the first day of the first lunar month of the following year that the first year of Kangxi will officially begin.

Damn it, Emperor Shunzhi was supposed to be killed by a cannon last year, but in the history books, he is supposed to "live" for another six months.

Even in death, they still have the reign title. The emperors of this country are truly more prestigious than me, even in death!

Hong Xiguan sat in the South Study, complaining as he flipped through the mountain of memorials piled up in front of him.

He is not yet in power, and these memorials have already been "drafted" by the four regents, who have written down their opinions on how to handle them.

What Hong Xiguan needs to do now is to learn how to handle government affairs through these memorials, and... to glean the political leanings of these four bigwigs.

Just as he was getting drowsy from reading, an urgent military report from Fujian instantly snapped him out of his daze!

The report, consisting of only a few lines, stirred Hong Xiguan's blood.

"Report: The traitor Zheng Chenggong, on the 23rd day of the third month of this year, led more than 400 warships and 25,000 soldiers from Liaoluo Bay in Kinmen on an eastward expedition to Taiwan..."

"On the second day of the fourth month, Zheng's army landed at Luermen and launched a surprise attack on the Dutch, inflicting a major defeat on them..."

Holy crap! It's here! It's here!

National hero Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan!

These momentous events, which I had only read about in history books, are now vividly presented to me in the form of a memorial to the throne!

This feeling is fucking amazing!

Hong Xiguan was so excited he almost slammed his fist on the table and cheered!

Looking at the three characters "Zheng Chenggong" on the memorial, I was filled with mixed emotions.

In order to weaken the legitimacy of the Southern Ming regime, the Qing court always referred to him as "Zheng Chenggong".

But in the Southern Ming Dynasty, in the hearts of all Han people, he was called "Lord of the Imperial Surname"!

His original name was Zheng Sen. Because Emperor Longwu bestowed upon him the imperial surname "Zhu" and the given name "Chenggong," he became known as "Zhu Chenggong." He was respectfully called "Lord of the Imperial Surname" by the world.

Later, Emperor Yongli bestowed upon him the title of Prince of Yanping.

Zheng Chenggong, Guoxingye, Zheng Yanping... every name represents the last bit of backbone and indomitable spirit of the Han people!

He is a true national hero!

But now he himself sits on the opposite side of this hero, becoming the "Qing demon" and "Tartar" in his words.

This identity is truly ironic.

……

The following day, he held court at the palace gates.

This military report from Fujian was placed before all the councilors and ministers, instantly igniting an uproar in the entire court.

The atmosphere was more serious than ever before.

For the Qing Dynasty today, although the country has been basically pacified, there are still two major threats.

First, there was the Southern Ming Yongli regime, which fled to Burma. Although it was already in decline, it still had appeal as long as the emperor was still alive.

Secondly, there was Zheng Chenggong, who was entrenched in the Kinmen and Xiamen area, eyeing the southeast!

Especially Zheng Chenggong!

This man was the "real culprit" who personally sent the late Emperor Shunzhi to his death!

Although only the Qing court's top brass knew about this, to Ao Bai and his ilk, Zheng Chenggong was the Qing Dynasty's number one mortal enemy, the one who had desecrated their ancestral graves! He was a thorn in their side, a thorn in their flesh, whom they were determined to eliminate as soon as possible!

Sure enough, as soon as the meeting began, Ao Bai's booming voice rang out like thunder.

"That traitor Zheng is a wolf in sheep's clothing! The late Emperor's body is barely cold, yet he dares not repent and instead seizes Taiwan, intending to establish his own dynasty! If this villain is not eliminated, our Great Qing will never have peace! I implore Your Majesty to immediately dispatch troops to wipe out the Zheng family and tear them to pieces!"

Ao Bai's words were so menacing that the temperature inside the hall seemed to drop several degrees.

Don't get excited, buddy! If you really had that ability, the Eight Banners Navy wouldn't have been completely wiped out in Xiamen.

Hong Xiguan was secretly delighted.

An elderly minister with gray hair stepped forward, bowed, and said:

"Lord Ao, please calm down. In my opinion, although Zheng Chenggong has landed in Taiwan, according to reports, he has only captured Provincia and is currently besieging the stronghold of the Red Barbarians, Fort Zeelandia."

"The fortress of Zeelandia is a stronghold that the Dutch have built up over many years. It is well-fortified and has powerful cannons, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It will take Zheng's army more than a day to conquer it. Presumably, they are now adopting a long-term siege strategy. We still have time to plan our strategy."

The old man is right. Fort Zeelandia is a classic turtle shell; historically, Zheng Chenggong besieged it for more than half a year before taking it down.

While everyone was discussing whether to immediately send reinforcements or postpone the plan,

A sinister voice echoed in the hall.

"Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, your subject Huang Wu has five strategies for eliminating the rebels, which I wish to offer to share Your Majesty's burdens!"

Hong Xiguan looked in the direction of the sound and saw a middle-aged man with a gloomy face, dressed in a duke's robe, stepping out from the queue.

It was the newly appointed Duke Haicheng, Huang Wu.

Huang Wu?

Holy shit! That beast!

Hong Xiguan's brows furrowed instantly.

This guy was originally a general under Zheng Chenggong and was deeply trusted by him. However, in the thirteenth year of the Shunzhi Emperor's reign, Huang Wu killed Zheng Chenggong's general for wealth and glory, and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty with the entire city of Haicheng!

Because of this "pledge of allegiance," he was granted the title of Duke of Haicheng by the Qing court and given the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, thus gaining absolute power and influence.

Such traitors, who betray their former masters for wealth and glory and use the heads of their colleagues as a pledge of loyalty, are the most hateful!

Now, in order to prove his loyalty to his new master, Huang Wu is going to start biting his former master again!

Huang Wu knelt in the hall and, in a tone that seemed to be seeking credit, said loudly:

"Your Majesty! The reason why the traitor Zheng was able to occupy the seas and contend with our Great Qing is simply because he relied on the advantage of ships and secretly colluded with coastal merchants, mutually supporting each other. If we want to cut off his foundation, I have five poisonous... uh, five foolproof plans!"

"Firstly, relocate residents from the coast and ban maritime trade! Relocate all residents within thirty li of the coast inland! Burn their houses, destroy their boats, and prevent them from even taking to the water! In this way, Zheng's rebels will have nowhere to plunder and no way to trade, becoming like water without a source or a tree without roots!"

"Secondly, sever their ancestral lineage! Zheng's ancestral home is in Nan'an, Quanzhou, where his ancestral graves and ancestral halls are located. We can send people... to dig up all his ancestral graves and expose his corpses in the wilderness! In this way, we can not only vent the hatred in the hearts of our Great Qing, but also disrupt the morale of his army and cause his troops to become disloyal!"

Before Huang Wu could finish listing the five points, Hong Xiguan's heart sank to the bottom.

Relocation of coastal areas and ban on maritime trade?!

Is this some kind of plan even a human could come up with?!

This is not a radical solution; it's tantamount to pushing millions of innocent people along the southeast coast directly into a fire pit!

To deal with Zheng Chenggong, is it necessary to destroy the entire coastal economy and people's livelihood? Is it necessary to displace millions of people and cause their families to be torn apart?

Relocation and maritime bans weren't enough; now they want to desecrate people's ancestral graves?!

This is absolutely outrageous! It's like they've committed a terrible sin!

That Huang Wu is the worst of the worst! He's even more hateful than a traitor!

Hong Xiguan felt that his values ​​were being repeatedly rubbed into the ground by these feudal-era beasts.

However, what chilled him even more was that when Huang Wu proposed these wicked schemes, the Manchu nobles, led by Ao Bai, not only did not rebuke him, but instead showed expressions of great admiration!

"Excellent!" Ao Bai clapped his hands and laughed. "What a brilliant plan to relocate the borders and ban the seas! A truly ingenious, ruthless, and brilliant scheme!"

"Lord Haicheng is truly a pillar of the nation! If this strategy can be implemented, how can we fear that the Zheng rebels will not be defeated?!"

Suksaha nodded in agreement: "Although this method is against the will of Heaven, it is a swift and decisive measure! To eradicate the traitor Zheng and eliminate this great threat, a small price is worth paying!"

cost?

You fucking talk the talk without any sense of the consequences!

It wasn't your Manchu bannermen who died, and it wasn't your ancestral homes beyond the Great Wall that were destroyed! In your eyes, the lives and property of millions of Han people are merely a price that can be "spared"?!

Sitting on the dragon throne, Hong Xiguan felt a surge of anger rising straight to the top of his head!

He almost slammed his fist on the table and started cursing Huang Wu and Ao Bai.

But he can't.

He gripped the armrests of the dragon throne tightly, his fingernails turning white from the force, barely managing to control his emotions.

I'm just a "mascot" right now, and my words don't carry much weight.

If Hong Xiguan were to openly oppose the decisions of Ao Bai and others for the sake of those Han Chinese people he didn't know, not only would it not yield any results, but it would also expose his "heart toward the Han people" stance, attracting even greater suspicion and danger.