Kangxi was impatient with hearing repetitive words, so he got up with a smile,
“The banquet will be held at noon in the Qianqing Palace, the Taihe Hall, and the Baohedian. I have some matters in front of the throne to attend to and will go back to take care of them first. I will come back later to escort you and the empress dowager to the Qianqing Palace.”
Xiaozhuang laughed, “You don’t have to go through all this trouble. We will go there by ourselves in a while, and there are so many people to serve us. We don’t need you.”
Kangxi: “…………” So you won’t mention that troublemaker?
He was clear in his heart that the empress dowager must have been deliberately teasing him, waiting to see his embarrassment, and also wanted him to compete and actively keep Fang He.
Was he the kind of emperor who would be led by the nose?
Hmph……
Kangxi strode out of the Cining Palace with an unmoved expression and instructed Liang Jiugong,
“Later, you tell Eunuch Gu that he should take back the student he sent out himself and not cause any more gossip!”
Liang Jiugong: “…………”
Does Eunuch Gu know how difficult you are?
However, although Liang Jiugong had now come to terms with it and was quite pleased to see Gu Jiugong get into trouble, he immediately responded crisply.
When Kangxi returned to the Hongde Hall, he subconsciously glanced at the screen in the corner as soon as he entered the door, and suddenly felt that the screen was a bit of an eyesore.
With the person no longer in front of the throne, even if she came back, she would be sent to the side room.
So why keep a screen in the corner?
That dog Liang Jiugong probably deserved another scolding.
He walked with a stern expression to the imperial desk.
Li Dequan whispered beside him, “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, the eldest prince, and several high officials are waiting in the side hall.”
Kangxi steadied himself, faintly hummed in acknowledgment, and walked towards the sand table.
“Let them in.”
The Crown Prince, who was already twelve years old, had grown much taller this year and looked much more mature than last year.
He walked at the forefront.
Yin Ti did not compete with him and walked ahead of Mingzhu.
Mingzhu was followed by the commander of the Bordered White Banner, Gu’erjia Langtan.
Suo Eaton stood with the First Rank Duke and the Minister of War, Dong’e Pengchun, next to the Crown Prince.
Kangxi directly asked,
“How has the Deliberative Assembly of Princes and Ministers and the Cabinet discussed the matter of attacking the Russians?”
Suo Eaton stepped forward first and said,
“Your Majesty, the Ministry of War currently has five thousand soldiers available for deployment. Our opinion is still to act as soon as possible.”
“Strike, otherwise once the Russians have gathered enough supplies and abandon Yaksa to move upstream of the Heilongjiang River, both Shengjing and the surrounding tribes will surely suffer!”
Nalan Mingzhu frowned and said,
“But from our previous battles with the Russians, we know that the Erguna River area experiences frost in July. The Ministry of War needs time to deploy troops.”
“Especially during the spring planting season, the Ministry of Revenue’s supplies are not abundant, and we cannot use the grain seeds. The supply of military provisions is difficult”.
“By the time the troops are assembled and reach the Erguna River, the climate will be extremely unfavorable for the Qing army’s operations.”
Suo Eaton sneered coldly,
“So your Ministry of Revenue plans to just sit by and watch the Russians bully our Qing citizens?”
Nalan Mingzhu retorted disdainfully,
“I didn’t say we shouldn’t fight. We just need to think it through carefully. How about asking the Heilongjiang General to first guard the upstream city of Huihui and ensure the safety of Shengjing?”
“Let the soldiers set out at the end of the year when the supplies are sufficient. Launch a surprise attack on Yaksa at the beginning of next year. It will be more stable for all parties”.
“Taking advantage of the hottest weather, we might be able to capture the Russians in one fell swoop!”
Suo Eaton, seeing the look in Nalan Mingzhu’s eyes, knew he was mocking him for being a reckless fighter and was about to retort.
Kangxi didn’t want to see them argue.
He suddenly turned to the Crown Prince and the eldest prince.
The two sons were now older and should have their own opinions.
“What do you think?”
The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment, lowered his eyes, and softly said,
“Your Majesty, haste makes waste. Spring farming is more important”.
“After the supplies are abundant, we can then attack the city with greater chances of success. If we can capture the Russian capital, it will also enhance the prestige of the Qing Dynasty.”
Suo Eaton: “……” Is the Crown Prince boosting the morale of the enemy?
The Emperor clearly wants to fight.
What is the Crown Prince thinking!
Mingzhu’s face flickered with a smile as he raised his eyebrows at Suo Eaton, infuriating him so much that Suo Eaton wanted to spit in his face.
Yin Ti, however, disagreed.
His face showed a hint of urgency as he spoke loudly,
“Father Emperor, I still think we should attack immediately. Otherwise, after the Russians burn, kill, and plunder the Northern Mongolian tribes, they will become stronger. We can’t wait!”
Mingzhu: “……” Damn it, I forgot about this stubborn guy.
Now it was Suo Eaton’s turn to sneer at Mingzhu.
You can raise your eyebrows again.
If you run out of eyebrows, you still have a beard to blow.
Kangxi’s expression was inscrutable.
He didn’t bother to watch the eye games between Suo Eaton and Mingzhu.
He directly asked Langtan.
“If we deploy troops this year, in your opinion, what is the latest time we can start the war?”
Langtan, who had long been stationed in Shengjing, immediately replied,
“Your Majesty, the latest we can start is the beginning of June. In the twenty-first year, when the troops set out in August, most of the Qing army’s losses came from frostbite and hunger. Another such experience might affect the morale of the soldiers.”
Kangxi frowned.
The beginning of June.
It would take at least a month to march.
We can’t alert the enemy.
The time for stealthy movement needs to be extended.
That means we have to deploy the troops in April.
Mobilizing the troops also takes time.
“Nalan Mingzhu, how many supplies can the Ministry of Revenue raise now?”
Mingzhu sighed and said,
“Your Majesty, if we don’t use the grain seeds and disaster relief supplies, at most we can support five thousand people for half a month.”
Kangxi then asked,
“Pengchun, I’m giving you two thousand men this time, plus another thousand from Heilongjiang, thirty red-coat cannons, and all the muskets. How long do you think it will take to defeat the Russian troops?”
Dong’e Pengchun knelt on one knee and said,
“Your Majesty, a month will be enough!”
Kangxi pondered for a moment and instructed:
“Take two thousand men from the Western Suburb Camp, with Langtan as the deputy general, and set out for Huihui City at the latest by mid-April to join forces with Sabul.”
“Deploy five hundred men each from Heilongjiang and the Mongolian Eight Banners, and move stealthily to Yaksa. We must not let them escape!”
As for the supplies, that’s also easy.
“I will negotiate with the Northern Mongolian and Khorchin tribes. Part of the supplies will be taken from the Khorchin ten banners and the Xibe and Ula official villages. When we reach the Solon area near Yaksa, they will provide cattle and sheep.” [Note]
Mingzhu’s brows were tightly furrowed,
“But it’s just the beginning of spring, and the Northern Mongolian supplies are also insufficient.”
“No problem. Have Shandong, Henan, and other places send twenty thousand piculs of grain to the capital. I will personally go to the Northern Mongolia in June to replenish their supplies,”
Kangxi interrupted Mingzhu.
“I will personally negotiate the supply of grain with the Northern Mongolian tribes. You just focus on fighting fiercely for me.”
“After this campaign, I don’t want to hear any more news of the Russians invading the borders!”
The four ministers heard the determination in the Emperor’s words and dared not say anything else.
They knelt down crisply.
“We will strictly follow Your Majesty’s orders!”
After discussing this matter, it was almost time for lunch.
Kangxi waved his hand and asked the Crown Prince and the eldest prince to go to the Cining Palace first to escort the Grand Empress Dowager to the Qianqing Palace.
He then opened the map of Heilongjiang and continued to study it until almost noon, when he went to the front.
Kangxi intended to negotiate supplies with the Northern Mongolia.
At the lunch banquet, his attitude was particularly gentle.
Kangxi even used the excuse that the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager missed their hometown to invite the Khorchin prince and several marquises, along with their families, to attend the evening banquet at the Qianqing Palace.
At the banquet, Kangxi had a very pleasant conversation with Bandi, the nephew of Xiaozhuang and the Dalhan Prince of Khorchin.
They toasted frequently and decided on the Mulan autumn hunting trip in July during their cheerful chat.
It was a win-win situation.
Knowing that Kangxi would bring twenty thousand piculs of grain to the Northern Mongolia, Bandi did not refuse at all to borrow grain.
Before coming to the banquet, Xiaozhuang had already informed the prince’s wife in advance and said a lot of good words for Kangxi, hinting that it would not burden Khorchin.
Even if Kangxi did not mention it, Bandi would have to bring it up himself.
The old ancestor’s body obviously couldn’t last much longer.
The Empress Dowager was from the left-wing Zasaqi branch, which did not have a close relationship with their central banner.
If they couldn’t get closer to the Son of Heaven while the old ancestor was still alive, their influence in the Qing Dynasty would only decrease in the future.
Therefore, when Kangxi showed his closeness, Bandi was even more enthusiastic in toasting than Kangxi himself.
The men of the Northern Mongolia grew up in alcohol.
If it were not for Changning and Fuquan by Kangxi’s side, Kangxi himself would probably not be able to cope.
Xiaozhuang and the Empress Dowager were old and couldn’t hold on.
They left the banquet halfway.
The consorts and their families also couldn’t get involved in such important matters.
The emperor was going to tour the north.
The consorts and female relatives were calculating in their hearts and left early.
Therefore, even with Changning and Fuquan there, no outsiders would see it.
Plus, they were happy, so Kangxi let go and drank heartily with Bandi.
When the banquet was over, Kangxi could barely walk straight.
Changning, Fuquan, and Bandi were all carried out by the imperial guards.
Only Kangxi insisted stubbornly that he did not want a sedan chair.
Liang Jiugong had no choice and, along with Li Dequan, barely helped him back to the Zhaoren Hall.
As soon as the cold wind blew and he entered the eastern warm chamber, Kangxi vomited.
There was another round of chaos to clean up.
By the time Kangxi lay down again in the western warm chamber, it was almost the second watch of the night.
Liang Jiugong and Li Dequan were exhausted.
They called Wei Zhu and Qi Sanfu to clean up the eastern warm chamber and then leaned on the hanging flower frame in the western warm chamber to guard the master.
Unexpectedly, hearing the faint noise of cleaning outside, Kangxi, who had closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep, suddenly sat up again, sat on the dragon bed with his legs wide apart, and without making a sound, he kept knocking his hand on his knee.
Liang Jiugong’s heart trembled.
He carefully approached and said,
“Your Majesty?”
Kangxi half-lifted his eyelids and looked at Liang Jiugong with a deep gaze.
“Liang Jiugong will attend to me. The others should leave!”
Liang Jiugong quickly agreed, waved his hand, and asked Li Dequan to take the night-duty palace people away.
After there were no other people in the hall, Liang Jiugong carefully approached and asked,
“Your Majesty, would you like to change clothes – oops!”
Unprepared, Liang Jiugong was kicked squarely, right on his side waist, causing him to fall backward like a turtle, landing on the ground with his tailbone aching so much that he almost shed tears.
He gasped for air but didn’t dare to take advantage of the emperor’s drunkenness and act recklessly.
He knelt down with a bitter expression.
“Your Majesty, did I do something wrong? Please calm down. I will go and receive my punishment -“
“Shut up. I said, call Liang Jiugong!”
Kangxi was impatient with his ups and downs.
What he wanted to hear was something gentle and nagging.
Liang Jiugong: “…………” So I’m kneeling in front of a ghost??