On the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, the day of the Little New Year in the north, when the sky was dark, fine snow began to fall in the capital.
Considering that there were many things during the Chinese New Year, it was too inconvenient to travel between the Prince's Mansion and the Forbidden City every day, so Yinreng took Guarjia and Xiao Hongxi back to Yuqing Palace to stay temporarily.
Qingyan thought that her eldest son was not in the mansion, so she also took Sifujin and Xiao Honghui to Chuxiu Palace to stay temporarily.
Seeing that the two grandsons that Kangxi liked were entering the palace to celebrate the New Year, they didn't know that Kangxi suddenly couldn't think about it and what was wrong with him.
On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Emperor Kangxi ordered Prince Yinreng to take care of the ancestor worship at the Imperial Ancestral Temple during the New Year, and then took Prince Yu and Liang Jiugong out of the palace to go to Mount Wutai to worship Buddha.
All the civil and military officials of the previous dynasty and the concubines and mistresses of the harem were deceived by Kangxi's unreasonable behavior. Not only did most of the courtiers not understand that Long Live the Lord did not stay in the palace to celebrate the New Year comfortably, they ran to
What was going on in the deep mountains and old forests? Even the empress dowager and the imperial concubine didn't know exactly what kind of medicine was sold in Kangxi's gourd.
On Xiaonian, it snowed intermittently for several days.
On New Year's Eve, because Long Live Lord, Si Beile, Eight Beile and Xen Beile were not in the capital, the royal family was not fully staffed, and the family banquet was not held on New Year's Eve.
At the end of Xu Shi, the night was dark, and the howling cold wind carried snow particles and crackled against the glass windows of Chuxiu Palace.
It was so cold outside that the dripping water turned into ice, but it was warm and cozy in the main hall.
The imperial concubine, the crown prince, the crown prince, the fourth prince, the tenth prince, the tenth prince, and the thirteenth prince gathered together and sat in the warm hall to watch the New Year.
Three-and-a-half-year-old Xiao Hongxi and one-and-a-half-year-old Xiao Honghui were both wearing festive bright red auspicious clothes. They were placed on Qingyan's lap, one on the left and one on the right, and held in her arms. The one and two children sat on the soft
On the couch, the others were sitting on carved armchairs.
The two young brothers both wore gold necklaces inlaid with rubies around their necks, and the maid had painted red dots between their eyebrows with rouge. They sat shoulder to shoulder, looking very much like the Fu dolls with chubby faces in New Year paintings.
Of all the people present, Xiao Honghui was the youngest. He listened to the chat between Madam Huang and her uncles, uncles, mothers, aunts, and aunts. His slender red phoenix eyes blinked, and soon his furry little head started to blink.
Wai, he leaned in the arms of the imperial concubine and fell asleep with glistening saliva hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Xiao Hongxi, who was sitting next to him, kept widening his auspicious eyes. He wanted to accompany the elders to watch the New Year's Eve, and also wanted to hear what the elders guessed. He, Khan Mafa and his fourth uncle,
Approximate time for Uncle Eighth and Fourteenth to return to Beijing.
It has been more than two months since the three brothers Yinzhen, Yinhu, and Yinzhen went to the south of the Yangtze River, but it is almost the end of the year, and there is no good news from the south. Everyone can see that Sifujin Ulana
La Shi was very worried, and the smile on his face was very forced.
Qingyan was also worried about the three brothers in her heart. Even though the young couple Yin'er and Shadali were trying to stir up the atmosphere of the New Year's Eve, everyone was still slightly depressed and couldn't bring it up even if they wanted to.
Get excited.
At the same time, Kangxi, who was far away on Mount Wutai, sat with his Khan Ama Xingchi, his second brother Fuquan, and his father and son in a cave in the back mountain of Qingliang Temple.
The cave was kept very clean, and a large fire was lit near the entrance of the cave using dried wood from Qingliang Temple.
Liang Jiugong and a group of secret guards with high martial arts skills were guarding the cave, protecting the father and son inside.
The last time the three fathers and sons got together to celebrate the new year, Xing Chi was still Shunzhi and had not yet left the palace to become a monk.
Now, nearly forty years have passed. The father and son sat cross-legged on the futon around the fire tonight, looking at the heavy snow falling outside the cave, all silent.
Since the death of Empress Xiaozhuangwen, Xingchi has obviously aged several years, and the beard on his chin has turned a little white.
He did not ask why his third son suddenly came to see him with his second son. He turned the string of beads in his right hand while admiring the falling snow outside.
Fuquan, who was sitting next to him, took a piece of firewood with his right hand and poked it into the fire, sending some oxygen to the bottom of the fire, and the flames suddenly burned brighter.
To be honest, Fuquan didn't really understand why his emperor's third brother suddenly called him to Mount Wutai a few days ago, but he could vaguely feel that Long live the Lord has been thinking about a big thing in his heart in the past few years. It is very likely that this big thing
It will be revealed tonight.
Sure enough, the next moment, Kangxi was stroking the imperial green jade ring on his hand, looking at the heavy snow outside the cave, and suddenly spoke in a low voice with a hoarse voice:
"Khan Ama, second brother, I plan to have the Qianqing Palace renovated next spring. After the Wanshou Festival in March of the following year, I will abdicate and let Baocheng ascend the throne. At that time, I will take the concubines to Changchun Garden.
If you have nothing to do, I can take the juniors to Wutai Mountain for a walk."
As soon as Kangxi finished speaking, Fuquan's right hand holding the firewood paused. He was too surprised and failed to control the strength of his hand. The firewood in his right hand almost knocked over the blazing fire in front of him.
Xing Chi's fingers that were turning the beads also stopped.
Even though the third son has tried his best to speak out this important state matter in a calm and indifferent tone, there is no better son than a father. For Xing Chi, who also served as an emperor, he still listened to the words of the third son.
I felt a sense of indescribable melancholy.
This kind of melancholy is the confusion and emptiness in the heart that arises when the king of a country suddenly decides to put down his supreme majestic power and cannot control the unknown future.
Xing Chi did not turn to look at Kangxi, but turned the jade ring on his hand again, looked at the falling snow outside the cave, and said calmly:
"In my opinion, the emperor's decision is good for the Qing Dynasty and the royal family."
"The emperor will be forty-eight the next year, nearly fifty years old. Looking at history books, most wise monarchs will always make various mistakes in the later period. They are either old and fatuous or lazy and neglectful in their administration, thus setting a record for them in the early stage.
His great achievements have been cast a shadow, and it has also caused turmoil in the country below, and the people of Li have suffered."
"If we take a detailed look at the political achievements that the Emperor has achieved over the years, these achievements are enough for the Emperor to leave his name in history and be praised as a great leader by future generations."
"Now if the emperor decides to transfer the imperial power to an outstanding adult prince in advance, it will not only avoid the political tragedy of royal heirloom and brotherly fratricide, but also give the emperor a reputation in the history books of future generations as not loving power, no matter where he comes from.
From all aspects, this is an extremely wise decision.”
Fuquan also nodded in agreement.
Hearing that Kangxi was planning to "retire", he couldn't help but raise his head and said to Xing Chi:
"Khan Ama, Changquan also has a son now. I also plan to find an opportunity in the next two years to let Changquan receive my title. At that time, I will take Fujin to Tsarist Russia to see Muldenge and Xiao An'an.
, from now on the two of us will take turns living in the capital and Tsarist Russia."
After listening to Fuquan's words with a smile, Xing Chi also commented on Fuquan's planned retirement life:
"The prince is a man who will be blessed and will enjoy happiness. His life is only a few decades. In my opinion, experience is the most important. The customs and habits of Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty are very different. If the prince can experience more in his lifetime,
Different lives, this has never been a kind of happiness."
When Fu Quan heard this, he couldn't help scratching his head and grinning honestly, his face turned red by the firelight.
After Kangxi listened to the conversation between the two, he couldn't help but turn his head and glance at the satisfied smile on his second brother's face, and then at the smile on the corner of his mother's mouth.
He took a deep breath and once again moved his gaze to the heavy snow outside the cave.
In the past two years, because of the Jiangnan incident, his whole heart has been a little messy. He can clearly feel that he has really grown old and softened in the past few years!
Even though people like Cao Yin and Li Xu were committing corruption in the south without telling him, he still felt that he was not able to deal with his close confidants.
The king's reason and childhood friendship were desperately torn in his heart, so he simply chose to spare two years for the officials in Jiangnan to reflect on themselves.
If the Cao and Li families have restrained themselves in the past two years, he will make some concessions as appropriate and let them make up for the financial shortfall and just demote them. But if they are still lucky after his second southern tour,
He didn't discover the hidden tricks in the south, so he went even harder to steal money from his family, so he left these people to his sons to deal with...
He had feelings for these people, but in the eyes of his sons, they were just rats that gnawed at the finances of the Qing Dynasty. When they were fattened and slaughtered together, they could also enrich the national treasury!
Kangxi's eyes were lowered, and his eyelids were half-closed as he turned the jade ring on his hand, listening to the sound of falling snow outside and the peaceful conversation of his second brother, Khan Amma.
He suddenly felt that the restless emotions inside him finally calmed down on this snowy New Year's Eve.
Perhaps after he abdicates, he can take Yan'er out to sea while his arms and legs can still move, and his mind is still clear, and take a look at the Japanese country that he has circled with a red pen on the map that he has not yet had time to deal with.
Look at Tsarist Russia under the rule of Peter, and King Louis XIV of France who always wrote to him and called himself his long-time good friend...
He has worked hard for the Qing Dynasty for half his life, and now it is time for him to live a relaxed, free and undisciplined life for the rest of his life.
…
New Year's Eve in the thirty-eighth year of Kangxi's reign was destined to be an extremely extraordinary day. Except for the father and son sitting cross-legged on a futon in the cave and chatting, no one knew about Liang Jiugong outside the cave, the imperial concubine and others in the Chuxiu Palace.
What kind of amazing changes will happen to the Qing Dynasty in two years' time?
But when that day came, not even Kangxi himself knew what kind of new era he would be lucky enough to enter after he abdicated and while his precious son was in power.
Turning over to the next year, time has entered the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi.
In early February, the three brothers who went to the south to collect evidence finally embarked on their way back north.
The road back to the north was very dangerous. The three brothers and Wei Zhu encountered various assassinations along the way. Most of the secret guards brought to the south died on the way.
In early March, the three brothers Yinzhen, Yinzhen and Yinzhen, who had lost a lot of weight, finally returned to the capital with unshaven beards after going through hardships as if they were on the run.
Si Beile, who had the weakest force value, even hung his right arm with a bandage. His slender Danfeng eyes were full of anger. He didn't even stop when he passed by Si Beile's house. He held the blood-stained account book placed on his heart and took it with him. The two younger brothers came to the Palace of Qianqing to find their Khan Amma, who was tired of their travels.
After receiving the news, Yinti, Yinreng and other eleven emperor elder brothers also put down what they were doing and hurried to Qianqing Palace.