Chapter 89 4. Emperor Kangxi granted Wu Sangui the title of Prince

The eight-year-old Emperor Kangxi sat on the throne, looking uneasy. Emperor Kangxi's thin body is extremely disproportionate to the large, luxurious and rich dragon chair, giving people a feeling of being overwhelmed. However, it was this eight-year-old boy who ruled the vast Qing Empire.The 80 million people in the Qing Empire, old and young, had to bow down to him and shout long live when they saw him. In fact, Emperor Kangxi was not the real ruler.Emperor Kangxi was ruled by his mother, the Empress Dowager.The four auxiliary ministers ruled the Qing Empire. Emperor Kangxi scanned the ministers kneeling in front of him with childish eyes, and then asked the empress dowager: "Mother, when can I go out to play?"

The empress dowager lightly reprimanded each other: "Xuan'er, don't talk nonsense! You are now the king, how can you play casually!" Emperor Kangxi said: "What is a monarch?" The empress dowager said: "You are the king, and everyone in the world is a minister!" Emperor Kangxi said: "Is that why they bowed down to me?" The Empress Dowager said, "Exactly!" Emperor Kangxi said softly: "Mother, I don't want to be the emperor!" The Empress Dowager asked, "Why?" Emperor Kangxi said: "I was a little scared when I saw these people bowing down to me in a daze."

The Empress Dowager lightly reprimanded: "Don't talk nonsense!" Then she raised her voice and said to all the ministers: "Prince Pingxi killed the Yongli thief and destroyed the Ming Dynasty. How should the reward be rewarded? The ministers will discuss it!" Sony said: "King Pingxi has already been proclaimed king, and he is guarding Yunnan, so it is difficult to give rewards. However, King Pingxi has made great achievements in killing the Yongli bandits and destroying Daming. It is really difficult to convince the public without rewards!" The Empress Dowager was confused by Sony's words, so she said, "According to your opinion, should I reward you or not!"

Sony repeatedly said: "It should be rewarded, of course it should be rewarded!" The Empress Dowager asked, "How should I reward you?" Sony said: "According to the old system..." However, Sony couldn't go on anymore.Because, the Qing Dynasty has been established so far, although Nurhachi, Huang Taiji, Emperor Shunzhi, and Kangxi have passed through the four dynasties, but I have never met a Han who has made such great military exploits as Wu Sangui!Naturally, there is no precedent for rewards, so how can we follow the old system?Sony naturally can't tell.According to the practice of the Qing Dynasty, the prince is the highest prince, and is generally bestowed on the nobles of the Manchu.And kings are next, and the Han people can seal them, such as Pingxi Wang Wu Sangui, Pingnan Wang Shangzhixin, and Jingnan Wang Geng Jingzhong belong to this list.

Seeing Sonny's hesitant speech, Sukesaha couldn't hold it back any longer, and said anxiously: "I think that King Pingxi killed the Yongli thief and wiped out the Ming Dynasty, which shows his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty. In terms of merit, he should be named a prince!" Everyone was shocked.Because there has never been a precedent for giving the title of prince to the Han people. Ye Bilong said: "Although King Pingxi has made great achievements, as a Han Chinese, should he postpone the matter of becoming a prince?" The Empress Dowager scolded lightly: "When the late Emperor was here, he warned us not to make unreasonable remarks about the Han people and the Manchus. Both the Han people and the Manchus are my subjects of the Qing Dynasty. How can we treat them differently?"

Ye Bilong hurriedly confessed his crime. When Hong Chengchou heard it, he secretly smiled.When did you Manchu put the Han people in your eyes?But now it is said that one cannot be more expensive than the other!Hong Chengchou was watching the situation quietly, waiting for the opportunity. Sukesaha saw that the empress dowager made a speech to rebuke Bilong, so he said: "The emperor is newly established, and the government has just started, and rewards must be rewarded for meritorious deeds. There are limits to rewards and punishments. Only by messing with the law can you inspire everyone! If you talk about the Han people The difference with the Manchus is that they are not rewarded for meritorious service, but they are granted titles because of their birth, who would be willing to work for the court in the future!"

The Empress Dowager asked, "What should you do?" Suksaha said: "Add the prince!" The empress dowager saw that Oboi had been silent all this time, she seemed to have some deep meaning, she paid attention in her heart.When Emperor Shunzhi was there, he once said to her: "When the affairs of the court cannot be resolved, you can ask Oboi; when the affairs of the court cannot be resolved, you can ask Hong Chengchou." superior.Now when encountering difficulties, it is time to ask these two people. So, she shouted to disperse the court, and then ordered Aobai and Hong Chengchou to stay.

The Empress Dowager asked: "I have heard about the discussion in the early court, what high opinion does Hong Aiqing have?" Hong Chengchou glanced at Oboi and said, "I am a Han Chinese, so I dare not speak!" The Empress Dowager said: "Don't mention Han people and Manchus in front of me from now on, Hong Aiqing just speak straight!" Hong Chengchou said: "In terms of merit, no one in the court can match King Pingxi!" Hong Chengchou said, glanced at the Empress Dowager, saw the Empress Dowager nodded, and then said, "However, there are many people in the court who can be named princes. , but why can’t King Pingxi?”

The Empress Dowager asked: "What do you mean by Yi Aiqing?" Hong Chengchou did not speak bluntly, but adopted a strategy of playing hard to capture and said: "In the past, it was not that the late emperor did not want to be named King Pingxi, but because King Pingxi did not kill the Yongli thief, so that the late emperor could not believe his loyalty! Now, King Pingxi punishes Killing the Yongli thief and his son, and taking his mother and his wife into the capital, shows that King Pingxi is loyal to the court, if he still does not grant rewards, the hearts of the officials may be chilled!"

The Empress Dowager said: "What Hong Aiqing said is very true. Then according to Aiqing's wishes, how should I add a reward?" Hong Chengchou said: "The minister believes that not only should King Pingxi be added as a prince, but he should also be allowed to govern Guizhou!" The Empress Dowager asked, "Why?" Hong Chengchou said: "It is true that the Yongli thieves have been punished and the Ming Dynasty has been destroyed. However, Li Dingguo's subordinates are still there, and the chieftain has always had contacts with Li Dingguo. I am afraid that he will take the opportunity to riot on the border, which is not conducive to long-term stability. King Pingxi has lived in Yunnan and Guizhou for a long time. Naturally, he is familiar with its environment and has rich experience in suppressing thieves and calming chaos, so I think that King Pingxi should also be in charge of Yungui!"

The Empress Dowager saw that Hong Chengchou's intentions were very clear, so she asked Obai: "What is Yi Aiqing's intention?" Aobai glanced at Hong Chengchou.The Empress Dowager naturally understood what she meant, and said: "If Ai Qing doesn't have a mature view, go back and think about it first. I am also tired today, and we will discuss it tomorrow!" How clever Hong Chengchou is!Seeing the queen mother talking like this, he hurriedly bid farewell to the queen mother and ran out first. Seeing that Hong Chengchou had left, Aobai said: "The former emperor ordered Wu Sangui to send troops to quell the chaos, mainly because he had doubts about Wu Sangui, so he sent Shi Tu and Malji to supervise, and then sent Ai Xing'a to Containment. When the first emperor was leaving, he specially asked the four of us to say, if Wu Sangui captures the Yongli thief and does not kill him, it means that he still has a different heart, and we must kill Wu Sangui at any cost; if Wu Sangui kills Yongli Emperor It shows that he is loyal to the imperial court and should be rewarded heavily. Now, Wu Sangui not only punished the Yongli thief and his son, but also escorted his mother and his wife to the capital. From this, it can be seen that Wu Sangui is already loyal to the imperial court. Since In this case, we should confer Wu Sangui and reward him heavily. Otherwise, we fear that the hearts of the Han officials will be chilled and it will not be conducive to the unity of the Manchu and Han!" After hearing this, the empress dowager nodded and said yes.Then asked: "According to your opinion, how to award?" Aobai said: "According to Hong Chengchou's intention, we can make Prince Pingxi the prince and order him to govern Guizhou as well!" The Empress Dowager asked, "Why do you want to follow Hong Chengchou's wishes?" Ao Bai said: "One is because Hong Chengchou is a veteran of the three dynasties, and he has a high prestige among the Han officials, so what he means is the meaning of the majority of the Han officials; The Empress Dowager said: "Okay! Let's do it according to your opinion!" Therefore, Oboi imitated an imperial decree in the tone of Emperor Kangxi, and then asked the Queen Mother to add the seal of Emperor Kangxi.After finishing all these, Obai went out. After reading all this, Emperor Kangxi was confused, so he asked the Queen Mother: "Queen Mother, why do you want to add my seal?" The queen mother said: "Because you are the king of a country!" Emperor Kangxi said: "What does adding my seal mean?" The queen mother said: "It means that it is an imperial decree issued by you!" Emperor Kangxi said: "However, I didn't say a word. It was all said by the queen mother and them. How can it be my imperial decree?" The queen mother said: "Although you didn't say it, it won't work if you don't add your seal!" Emperor Kangxi asked, "Why is that?" The Queen Mother said: "Because no one will listen!" Emperor Kangxi said: "But, isn't this fooling people?" After hearing this, the Queen Mother was speechless.