Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 560
The holy driver departed from Changchun Garden on April 26 this year. The empress dowager was escaping the summer outside the Great Wall. The princes who accompanied him included the third elder brother, the fourth elder brother, the seventh elder brother, the fifteenth elder brother, the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother. .

Arrived at the Rehe Palace on the fourth day of May, and had been stationed for more than a month in the blink of an eye.

In May, in addition to the princes of various Mongolian tribes coming to the court one after another, the military situation in the northwest was also reported to the imperial court quickly.

As early as April 29, Kangxi decreed that 50 taels of Yanke silver from Hedong would be used as money and food for the Northwest War.

In the middle of May, before the military information was reported to the imperial court, another decree was issued one after another.

In addition to ordering the three groups of troops sent by the imperial court to defend the enemy in the northwest, Kangxi also ordered the leader of the city named Chukubai on the border of Oros to defend the border more carefully. , that is, it should be kept.

At the same time, he also ordered the Ministry of War to give each Zhasak [-] command arrows to the western princes of Khalkha. In case of emergency, they can hold the command arrows and send them to the neighboring Zhasak princes for help.If the command arrow is received and the rescue is delayed by the leader, he will be punished according to the military law.

In June, news came from the northwest that the war was still stalemate.

Although He Shuo's army said that they had prepared rice grains for one year, Kangxi knew it well, not to mention one year, but there was no rice for half a year, it was just a few months of chewing.

In desperation, Kangxi had no choice but to make an order in the name of storing military rations. First, he ordered Zhili and Shanxi to open official warehouses, use regular money and grain, buy 1 horses and mules, and transport [-] shi of rice. He drove to the garrison in Heshuo for a while, and then ordered Shandong and Henan provinces to do the same, to buy horses and mules, and send them to the army when the grass is green next year.

The mules and horses that transported the rice and stone these two times stayed in the army to drive the load.

When Kangxi remembered that Galdan had corrupted the Northwest for several years, he felt a little uncertain.Therefore, it was decreed that the Artillery Bureau made [-] imperial cannons, [-] of which were shipped to General Xizhu in Xi'an, and [-] were sent to General Fei Yanggu for backup.

This place uses money from the inner treasury.

At the beginning of this war, only more than [-] soldiers and horses were assembled, and the money and food were already running out.When Kangxi thought of this, his heart was extremely heavy.

Now, I just hope that Cewang Allah Butan can surrender, so that the court can have some leeway.

It’s just that the Jungar people are unruly and unruly, and Tse Wang Ala Butan has always been ambitious. Since he violated Hami this time, apart from the snow disaster last year, he presumably took the opportunity to open up the road to Tibet.

Lhazang Khan's eldest son is still in his hands. If he used the name of escorting his son-in-law to Tibet to "protect education", then the court's troubles would not be limited to the Northwest...

Kangxi is worried about the overall situation in the Northwest, so the third and fourth elder brothers are naturally willing to share his father's worries and remotely control the affairs of the capital.

The other elder brothers who followed him were very relaxed.

Especially the seventh elder brother, it was the first time to come to Rehe after the summer resort was repaired, and he lived a leisurely life.

He is the prince who has already established a mansion, and he also has his own house outside the villa. This time, the side Fujin Nala family and his concubine Chen family came with him.

The Chen family is Xiyu who married Dagege in the early years, and she is the daughter of Chen 49, the royal palace coat in Chunjun.Because of her docile temperament and good looks, she has been favored by the seventh elder brother in the past two years.

It's already summer, the prince's elder brother and the clan's officials don't have to stand in front of the imperial court, and they leave after discussing the matter every morning.

Seventh Elder Brother doesn't like human relations, and every day after returning from Yuqian, he leisurely fishes and sips tea in his yard.

Nala's taking Chen's with him, it's quite comfortable.

Although it was unavoidable to be a little jealous at times, Nalashi didn't show it at all, and seemed more virtuous and considerate.

Compared with Qi Fujin, she is more like the wife of the seventh elder brother.Two people, three sons and two daughters, all five children have grown up one after another.

Today, Hongshu has not registered the eldest son of the county prince, but in the past few years he has started to work as an errand, and outsiders treat him as the heir of the county prince's mansion.

On the Seventh Elder Brother's side, he had long since acquiesced, and Hong Shu would take care of them when he impatiently showed up.

Hongzhuo is already sixteen, and this year is the year of the draft, and at the end of the year it is time to get married and get a wife.

Now Nalashi has accepted the heart of competing for favor, and only plans for the children, and treats Qifu Jin with more sincerity and respect than in the past.She really doesn't want to make further twists and turns and affect the children's future.

The Chen family has been favored for the past two years, but she knows that her family background is low, and these Fujin and concubine Fujin in the inner house are not something she can afford to offend.She acted very restrained, not daring to go beyond the slightest presumptuousness.

Seventh elder brother has a temperament of love and tranquility, and always avoids flamboyant women.

Due to the discordant relationship with Fujin Fujin these years, apart from having a favorite Fujin, he also couldn't stand the somewhat arrogant temperament of Fujin Qi.

Qifujin is the direct branch of Emengge, one of the sixteen ministers of the Taizong Dynasty. His father, Faka, was an official to the deputy capital, and he was a noble daughter.

The side Fujin Nala was said to be her next-door cousin, but because she was a side branch, her father was a lowly official and his status was not obvious.

Seventh elder brother himself is not tall, and because of his inconvenient legs and feet, he is somewhat inferior and depressed.In addition, he has no ambitions, and he doesn't expect his wife's family to take advantage of him, so his relationship with the Yue family is only mediocre.

Today was lucky. After sitting by the pond in the garden for a while, Seventh Brother caught several chi long carp.

Nalashi put the fish in a basin and filled it with clear water, smiled and said to Seventh Brother: "In less than half an hour, I have caught six fish. Today's lunch can be done with my help. Have a taste of river delicacies."

Seventh elder brother turned sideways, looked into the water basin, shook his head, and said: "It's too fat, and the fish is too dense. How many tails the housekeeper threw into this small pond, it's hard to see what to eat. I wish I could jump out of the water."

But he lost his interest in fishing, so the seventh elder brother put away the fishing rod, wondering if he would send someone to give him two books, and cool off in the summer pavilion by the pool, when he saw sixteen elder brothers and seventeen elder brothers following the stewards Come in.

Seeing the two princes coming, Nala saw each other, and took Chen to retreat.

The seventh elder brother sent people to bring the seats, and entertained the two younger brothers for tea under the shade of the trees by the pond.

Seeing the two younger brothers changing into gauze robes and holding folding fans in their hands, like rich sons, Seventh Brother said: "Even if you are really leisurely, you don't need to show it with such a big fanfare. Huang Ama is working for the northwest. Things are bothering you, be careful not to be punished."

Among the elder princes, the seventh elder brother is notoriously "reclusive" and does not get close to his brothers.However, the sixteenth and seventeenth elder brothers are about the same age as his eldest daughter, so they are considered younger brothers, while the seventh elder brother still has some genuine concern for him.

Elder Sixteen shook the folding fan in his hand, raised his chin, and said with a smile: "Who said brothers are free? Even Huang Ama has already spoken, as long as I and the two 17 and 17 take care of the Queen Mother, the old man will be fine." Yes. The third brother and the fourth brother are busy with government affairs, so of course they are sharing the worries of the emperor; [-] and I entertained relatives in two colorful clothes, and we are also acting as filial piety on behalf of the emperor, right?"

Seventh elder brother listened with a smile, but he was a little envious of their freedom.

Although the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother are also in their twenties and have married, but because they don't have a separate mansion, they live in the palace, and they still talk and act like children.

The seventeenth elder brother was drinking tea, and the sixteenth elder brother shook the folding fan violently, pointed at the fan, and said to the seventh elder brother: "Seventh elder brother, please take a closer look, the provincial sixteenth brother is showing off endlessly." .”

The seventh elder brother was quite puzzled when he heard the words, the sixteenth elder brother has already presented the opened folding fan to the seventh elder brother, and said with a bit of pride: "Seventh elder brother, what do you think this is?"

Seventh elder brother just looked at his hand, but it was a piece of red, all kinds of seals, "five clouds", "the master of body element", "ten thousand opportunity spare time", what else are there "cherish every inch of Yin", "I think The ancients", "Jixi Jingzhi", and then look at the back after turning it over, "Tianlu Yongchang", "The cooperation of children and grandchildren", "Taiping", "Guangbei" and so on.

Among them, some of them have been seen by the seventh elder brother, for example, the "Master of Tiyuan" and the "Guangbei" both know that they are the private seals of the emperor's father.

This fan is an imperial gift after the Dragon Boat Festival.

This is also an old practice in the palace. Every year on the Dragon Boat Festival, the princes and ministers of the inner court will bestow Gesha and folding fans.Even the foreign ministers, who have the holy family Julong, will also receive this seasonal reward.

Although Seventh Elder Brother had never seen most of the other seals, but since they were buckled on this imperial fan, it goes without saying that they were designated as the imperial father's.

"If the third brother sees this, I'm afraid it will be secret." Seventh elder brother sighed looking at the brushwork of these seals.

Brother Sixteen raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "If it were anything else, he dared to keep secrets. I'm afraid that my younger brother sent it to him, so he should avoid suspicion."

The seventh elder brother didn't like to hear these things, so he took the fan from the sixteenth elder brother and said, "You built it yourself? The fans given out by the palace this year are all stamped by you, right?"

Elder Sixteen nodded, then shook his head and said, "I built the big guy's fan, but not this one. I begged for it while watching Huang Ama playing with these private seals."

The two brothers poked their heads and roughly commented on the seals on it.Among them, two parties looked familiar, as if they were written by masters of gold and stone.

Elder Seventeen heard them talking about other things, couldn't help wondering, and said: "Brother Sixteen, didn't we come here at the order of the Queen Mother? How can this be beside the point?"

Only then did the sixteenth elder brother put away the folding fan, and said to the seventh elder brother: "Seventh elder brother, the tribute in June has arrived in Rehe. There are red bayberries, Korean ginseng and so on. The queen mother has a decree, and some of them will be rewarded. Needless to say, besides Fifth Brother, this year Seventh Brother has taken up the majority."

Seventh elder brother heard it, but he was completely puzzled.

Why did the Queen Mother think of rewarding him with something?Although he is the grandson of the Empress Dowager, he does not occupy the eldest son, and he does not show his face in front of the Empress Dowager more than Brother Sixteen and the others.

"Cough!" Brother Sixteen cleared his throat and said, "Brother Seven is here, but half of them are on Brother Seven's side, and half of them are directed to Big Gege."

Speaking of this, the two brothers were a little speechless.

Since the end of April, when Cao Yin's wife entered the palace, there have been rumors spreading indistinctly.It is said that the Empress Dowager disliked Li Shi and reprimanded him; it was also said that it was the Empress Dowager who had a temper with Li Shi and looked up to him...

I don't know if the Queen Mother's method of rewarding is "curve to save the country".

Before this, it was the emperor's father who also used this method to reward Cao Yong.

Thinking of this, Seventh Brother felt quite strange in his heart, always feeling as if there was something that he didn't know about himself.

It's not only the seventh elder brother who feels weird, but also the sixteenth elder brother.

Although the empress dowager stayed in the harem for most of her life, she did not suffer much due to the protection of the empress dowager in her early years, and she was not a smooth and sophisticated person.

Like an ordinary old man, her emotions are all displayed on her face.

When talking about Cao's family with Elder Sixteen, the old man showed unabashed concern on his face.That kind of concern is no less than that of her personally taking care of the eldest fifth elder brother.

It is this way of rewarding the great-granddaughter and rewarding the Cao family. No one can see this discerning person.

The Empress Dowager is the mother of the country, the most noble woman in the Qing Dynasty, she can do whatever she wants, but it makes the Cao family inevitably attract the attention of others.

Brother Sixteen, in his heart, did not want the Cao family to get into trouble.

Cao Yong's brother is the only one in Cao's parents' room. If something goes wrong, Cao Yong will have a headache in the end.

For this reason, the sixteenth elder brother tactfully dissuaded the queen mother, saying that the road is far away, and the transportation is not cheap.

How could the queen mother understand this, the sixteenth elder brother Quan Dang said that because of the hot weather and the long distance, but he felt a little worried.

Only then did I remember that the seventh elder brother came and asked the sixteenth elder brother to come out and pass the decree, and asked the seventh elder brother to order two proper people to send these tributes back to Beijing.

The seventh brother knew the cause and effect, and the doubts in his heart deepened. When he thought of his son-in-law Cao Yong who was on a business trip to Mongolia, he really missed him...

*
Cao Yong, who is far away in Outer Mongolia, has already started to trek again, following the great lama, heading towards the southwest direction of Hami.

This is the hard work when he didn't come, because Cao Yong is now kept in his felt tent by the great lama, and he no longer has to ride around on horseback.

The big lama's felt tent was not dismantled, and it was directly moved to the bullock cart every day during the day, and was pulled by more than a dozen oxen.

Although the speed of the ox-drawn cart is maddening, Sheng started at dawn and rested at sunset, and after a long time, he could walk dozens of miles a day.

I don't know whether the great lama discovered that Cao Yong had the "wisdom root", or he was used to accepting and teaching disciples after being a living Buddha for many years, so he talked about Buddhism to Cao Yong.

On Cao Yong's side, with a bit of laziness and a little curiosity about Tibetan Buddhism, he half pushed and half became a temporary disciple of the great lama and listened to his lectures on Buddhism.

The sect believed by the Great Lama is the "Gelug Sect", also known as the "Yellow Sect". It is the same sect as the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. This sect is already the mainstream sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

They advocated that monks should observe the precepts, not marry wives, drink alcohol, kill animals, or do farming.What they believe in is "holding the view of dependent origin and emptiness", thinking that "all dharmas are dependent to arise, after all, they are empty and have no self-nature".

In their eyes, the heaven and the earth are a web of interdependence, no matter what calamity they have experienced, the cause and effect are not chaotic, and the reason is always coherent, because no matter what the reason for the calamity, there is only one true heart, which is what they call "the nature of the mind" .

Cao Yong stayed in Qingliang Temple in Jiangning for three years in his early years, and he is no stranger to Buddhist scriptures.

Although I feel that the sect that this great lama believes in is more in line with human nature than the Buddhism that has become more empty talk in the Central Plains civilization for more than a thousand years, but Cao Yong is not a Buddhist disciple after all, and he is unwilling to comment on it at will.

He just listened to the scriptures explained by the great lama, and asked a question or two when he was puzzled.

The great lama seemed to regard himself as the "origin" of persuading Cao Yong to Buddha, and wanted to save him as an apprentice.

Cao Yong followed the great lama, and ate the meat and milk tofu in a sudden, and the face that had been thinned due to the long journey had meat again.

As for Buddhism, Cao Yong only read it as a knowledge that he was not familiar with. If he knew more, it would be more. It really has no other meaning.

He has parents and parents, and he has a beautiful wife and a weak son. His life is full of happiness in the toil, how can he have the heart of abandoning the world?

Sometimes, he also envies the ease of monks, not physically, but spiritually.

But envy is envy. People live in the world and always have to bear responsibilities, which is unavoidable.

When the great lama travels, there are not a few monks and believers accompanying him, and there are hundreds of them.In addition to the 70 people who came with Cao Yong, this team is mighty and quite spectacular.

Because the nomads are used to migrating on the grassland, the cattle and sheep follow the crowd, so there is no need to worry about food along the way.

Zasak, the right wing of Khalkha, has four hereditary princes, one prince, one prince, one Beizi, and one king, and the rest are Zhutaiji.

When encountering the residences of these Mongolian princes, the Great Lama and Cao Yong will receive grand hospitality.

Cao Yong just borrowed the name of "imperial envoy", but the great lama was respected and treated as a god and Buddha by Mongolian subjects.

Not to mention all kinds of hada, there are several carts of butter, kumiss, fried fruit, etc. that the believers sent.

There are also some devout believers who have already driven the livestock and traveled with the great lama.

The great lama used to ask people to persuade him, but in the end he said it twice to no avail, so he didn't say any more.

Cao Yong has nothing special about butter, kumiss, etc. The most happy thing is that the Mongolian nobles offered rice.

There are so many "free food" and "red food" in the sky, and occasionally some pasta, and they are all pasta fried in mutton fat. Cao Yong really lost his appetite.

With rice, cooking a pot of white porridge while in the station, and then eating other things, is considered delicious in the eyes of Cao Yong and others.

Cao Yong is a dignitary, but he eats a pot of rice with his servants. In the eyes of the great lama, Cao Yong is more and more sure that Cao Yong is a person with "wisdom roots".

When Cao Yong was free, he sat at the door of the raised felt tent, staring at the grassland along the way in a daze.

This green one, if it was small rape or something, how good would it be?Seeing the sky, eating meat and vegetables can also clear the stomach.

However, watching, watching, Cao Yong felt that something was wrong, and only felt that the scenery in front of him was getting more and more barren.

In other places, although the green grass cannot be said to be without knees, it is also possible to grow to the calf.

Here, it is sparse, and there is not much greenery to be seen.

Some of the Mongols noticed something was wrong. Two middle-aged monks urged their horses to the tent and said something in a low voice.

The ox cart had stopped, and the big lama stepped down from the tent with a solemn expression. Even Cao Yong noticed the strange atmosphere, and followed him down from the tent.

Ahead, as far as the eye can see, there are buns everywhere...

*
Roll around for tickets. .Cough, let me ask another question, why is there no grass growing on this grassland. . .

(End of this chapter)