sbdcsierra Chapter 39 Father, Uncle Wang is an honest man
Chapter 39 Father, Uncle Wang is an honest man
Although Emperor Kangxi's health has visibly improved, the war is still ongoing and his depleted body needs rest and recuperation. Therefore, he did not immediately return to the capital as was done in history. Instead, Yinreng, who was in charge of overseeing the country, was sent back after Emperor Kangxi's condition stabilized.
You asked about Yinzhuo? Of course he didn't go back. With Liang Jiugong present, what happened in the imperial tent that day couldn't be kept from Kangxi. Now that he knew what happened that day, he naturally knew what Yinzhuo said during his argument with Crown Prince Yinreng: he would rather be the emperor's son than the emperor's younger brother. Kangxi laughed at this cunning fellow, but at the same time, he felt extremely gratified. After all, his two sons' attitudes toward deciding his life and death were too clear. Who wouldn't like a child who is loyal to them?
Speaking of his son, Kangxi couldn't help but think of Crown Prince Yinreng. Although he could rationally understand Yinreng's thoughts at the time, he couldn't accept it. After all, what could be more painful for a father than the successor he had painstakingly cultivated not thinking about saving him when he was seriously ill, but thinking about making him die quickly?
Although Kangxi has not mentioned anything about what happened in the camp these past few days, it doesn't mean he is without resentment. He may not even realize that he is starting to feel some dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince.
"Hahahaha~~ Father, come and see what your son hunted today! We can have an extra meal at noon. Let me tell you, this pheasant is so fat..."
Well, as soon as Kangxi heard the voice, he knew that his rascal had returned from hunting again. Yes, Yinzhu had become obsessed with hunting these past few days. Every day he would take people to run around in the surrounding woods. Sometimes they would bring back a few rabbits, sometimes a few pheasants. No matter what they caught, he was happy. In his words, he no longer relied on hunting for a living, so it didn't matter whether he caught any prey or not. What he enjoyed was the process of hunting.
"What are you yelling about? It's just a few pheasants. People would think you've shot down a tiger. And look at the pheasant in your hand, it's almost riddled with arrows. It's amazing that you had so many arrows to kill it, but it's not necessarily your fault. After all, your arrows might not even be able to hit a pheasant."
Seeing that Kangxi was actually criticizing him, Yinzhu picked out one from the pheasants next to him, pointed to an arrow on the pheasant and showed it to Kangxi.
"Father, you're belittling your son with those words. Look closely, this arrow was shot by your son, right in the neck..."
Kangxi looked at the bloodied pheasant standing right in front of him and, too lazy to listen to Yinzhuo's boasting, beckoned Liang Jiugong over.
"He has no sense of propriety at all. Didn't he see that the Sixth Prince brought this chicken back, and even told them not to send it to the kitchen, to tell them that the Sixth Prince personally brought it back, and that I would eat this chicken for lunch today..."
Liang Jiugong had served Emperor Kangxi for many years, and the two had a certain tacit understanding. Upon hearing Kangxi's words, he quickly walked up to Yinzhuo and took the chicken from his hands.
“Your Majesty is right. This old servant will personally deliver the pheasant that our Sixth Prince hunted to the kitchen and instruct them to cook it well.”
While Emperor Kangxi and his son were enjoying their leisure time—one recuperating and the other traveling—the battle raged fiercely on the front lines.
On July 29, Prince Yu Fuquan learned through reconnaissance that the Dzungar army was currently stationed and resting in Ulan Butong. So he mustered his troops and went there overnight. After arriving, he sent people to scout again and found that the Dzungar army's camp was located on the opposite hillside, with no cover on any side, so there were no barriers on the east and west flanks.
Galdan simply ordered his men to tie the feet of more than 10,000 camels together and place them on the outermost perimeter of the military camp to block the wind. Boxes and cages were then placed on the camels' backs and covered with wet felt blankets, forming what they called a "camel city".
The soldiers used these camels and crates to launch arrows and firearms to block the enemy. Fuquan promptly adjusted his deployment, preparing to use firearm soldiers as the vanguard, followed closely by infantry, with cavalry on the left and right flanks to attack Galdan's camel fortress.
On the first day of the eighth lunar month, the Qing army concentrated all its artillery and set it up not far from Galdan's camp. The artillery bombarded the camels, which were frightened and fled in all directions. The war lasted from day to night. The Qing army finally defeated the Dzungar army's "camel city". Then the infantry launched several rounds of attacks from the front, while the cavalry attacked from the left and right. After several rounds of attacks, the Dzungar army suffered heavy casualties.
Galdan was cunning. Seeing the situation was unfavorable, he devised a delaying tactic. He sent someone to Fuquan to sue for peace while he secretly led his troops to retreat north of Shalamulun under the cover of night. Along the way, he set fire to the grasslands to hinder the Qing army's pursuit. Prince Yu believed Galdan's pleas for peace and missed the best opportunity to track Galdan, allowing Galdan to escape. For this, Emperor Kangxi was furious and ordered that his title be stripped.
"Father, have a cup of tea to calm down. Uncle Yu is an honest man. How could he have imagined that Galdan was so cunning, pretending to surrender while secretly leading his men to provoke us? You've already punished him, he's already knelt down, why not let him off this time? You've just recovered, you can't get angry. If you get angry and hurt yourself, you'll suffer the consequences. Besides, Uncle Yu is one thing, but my brother is still injured. Even if you don't care about Uncle Yu, don't you care about my brother? Why don't we get them up first, what do you think..."
The eldest prince, Yinqi, knew that Yinzuo was also in the military camp, and sent people over several times that morning, essentially asking him to go to Kangxi and try to smooth things over and gather information. Originally, Yinzuo didn't intend to get involved, after all, Kangxi was currently furious, and he might end up getting himself into trouble instead of smoothing things over.
But just when he went out for a stroll at noon, he was caught red-handed by the eldest prince, who was kneeling outside the imperial tent with Prince Yu and a group of generals. He couldn't refuse anymore and had no choice but to come in with his nose in his hand.
"Hmph~~ How serious are your older brother's injuries?"
That's why it's said that it's better to be the emperor's son. Kangxi ignored all the things he said about Prince Yu, but when he mentioned that the eldest prince, Yinti, was still injured, Kangxi felt sorry for him.
“It’s serious. My son saw it when he came in. His arm was still covered in blood. I advised my brother to have the imperial physician treat it, but he stubbornly insisted that I come in first to see if Father has calmed down. Although the weather is cool now, what if he gets infected if he takes it off like this? He’s a great general with only one arm. I don’t know if he can still go to the battlefield with you next time. Besides, my brother isn’t married yet. I wonder if my future sister-in-law will look down on him because he only has one arm…”
Kangxi knew, of course, that Yinzhuo was exaggerating. He didn't believe that if Yinti's arm injury was serious, he would leave it untreated. But he couldn't help feeling sorry for his son. Just thinking about how Yinti's arm was still covered in blood made him angry. Even though he was angry, he still told Liang Jiugong to go outside and wake them up, to go back to where they came from, and not to get in his way. But in the end, he still told Yinzhuo to go out and call Yinti in.
"Yinzhuo, this is what you called bloody and infected. I was afraid that if the imperial physician had arrived any later, your elder brother's arm wound would have healed by now..."
Although Kangxi knew beforehand that there was some exaggeration in Yinzhuo's words, he did not expect it to be this much. To put it simply, only the first part of the three words "bloody" was true, and it was just a small cut that drew a little blood.
"Sigh, Father, why are you blaming me? If I hadn't exaggerated a bit, would you have been able to get Uncle Yu and the others to get up? Brother, I told you I didn't want to get involved in this, and look, I've gotten myself into this mess..."