After the fourteenth son left Datong Mansion, the imperial court specially sent Tang Bing, the Minister of Rites, to go to Xuanhua Mansion in advance to welcome him.
In the Qing Dynasty, sending the Minister of Rites to welcome a prince from afar was obviously very suggestive.
After lunch, Yuzhu wandered around the bamboo forest to eat and overheard a conversation between the eunuchs.
"Let me tell you, when the Fourteenth Master returns to Beijing this time, he will probably be established as the crown prince, right?"
"Not necessarily. I have heard that the emperor's eldest grandson is particularly favored."
"The emperor's eldest grandson has never been in charge of the ministry or errands. If he becomes the crown prince, which of these gentlemen would be willing to become uncles?"
"That's not certain. Not only did the eighth master manage the ministry back then, but many people also supported him. Wouldn't he still be rejected by the long live master?"
"Well, from what you put it, I really can't say for sure."
"Shh, be careful, you two don't want your heads anymore?"
Yuzhu stood there without moving. After all the eunuchs had left, he slowly returned to the duty room.
As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while insiders watch the door.
The more courteously the old emperor treats the fourteenth old man, the greater the possibility that Hong Xi will ascend the throne.
For more than ten years, Yuzhu has been thinking about a major event. Maybe the fourth child is not usurping the throne, but the old emperor wants the fourth child to pave the way for Hong Xi to ascend to the throne in the future?
Others may not know it, but Yuzhu knows it very well. At the beginning of Qianlong's accession to the throne, a major and bizarre case occurred: the Hongxi counterattack.
There were quite a few people involved in this horrifying case.
The mastermind is naturally Hongxi, and his collaborators include: Prince Zhuang Yinlu and his son Hongpu, Lao Wu's eldest son Hongsheng, Lao Shisan's two sons Ningjun Wang Honghu and Beile Hongchang.
These people actually set up a small Ministry of Internal Affairs, made all kinds of forbidden royal items, and planned to make Hongxi the new king.
If you want to usurp the throne without enough troops to help, isn't that looking for death?
When Lao Si came to the throne, he relied on the troops and horses controlled by Long Keduo and Nian Gengyao as his backing.
Old Fourteen controlled more than 100,000 of the most elite field regiments of the Qing Dynasty, but he did not dare to raise troops to resist Old Four. In addition to Nian Gengyao's restraint, more importantly, the families of Old Fourteen's soldiers were all in the capital.
inside.
Yuzhu, who is also the commander of the Yongrui Battalion and the commander of the infantry, still dare not act rashly. The reason is actually not complicated.
In addition to the basic base of Yongrui Battalion, most of the 20,000 Eight Banner Soldiers and 10,000 Green Battalion soldiers in the Infantry Army Yamen cannot follow Yuzhu to rebel against the old emperor.
Moreover, outside the capital, there are more than 600,000 Eight Banners soldiers and Green Camp soldiers, as well as more than 100,000 Mongolian cavalry.
Not only is the difference in strength too great, but regicide and rebellion naturally do not have the appeal to the Eight Banners soldiers.
Throughout history, those who initiated the initiative have become stepping stones for others. For example, Zhang Zhenwu, the great hero of Wuchang's first uprising.
At the fourth quarter of Shenshi, after Yuzhu went off duty, he did not go back to his house, but went straight to the house of Sai Leng'e, the left minister of the Ministry of War.
Seleng'e was born in the 20th year of Kangxi's reign. His surname was Guarjia, and he was under the banner of Zhengbai in Manchuria. He and Yuzhu were Jinshi in the same discipline.
Objectively speaking, Sai Leng'e's rapid rise to prominence was due to Yuzhu's strong support and Shangsanqi's background.
Today is Seleng'e's mother's 60th birthday. He specially visited the house in advance and respectfully invited Yuzhu to attend.
In the Yudang clique, apart from Seleng'e, the only best friend Yuzhu single-handedly promoted was Acton.
In the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, the relationship between Jinshi of the same discipline was extraordinary.
This kind of relationship of the same age, where we share weal and woe and share the same spirit, is even closer than that of ordinary brothers.
There is a happy event at the home of a close and old subordinate, and Yuzhu naturally has to come to congratulate him with generous gifts.
When Yuzhu arrived, Seleng'e, Akdon, Xie Sheng, Qian Mingding and others stood outside the gate to welcome his arrival.
"Please prime minister Guoan."
"Meet the Prime Minister."
Yuzhu quickly cupped his fists and said, "Brothers, we are not outsiders, so there is no need to be so polite."
After a round of greetings, Yuzhu discovered that Sai Leng'e was really a caring person.
Today, almost all of the people greeting Yuzhu outside the door were Jinshi scholars in the same discipline as Bingxu Enke in the 45th year of Kangxi's reign.
What is more interesting is that the three tripod armors of this department gathered in front of the Sai Mansion.
Among them, Yuzhu was the number one scholar, Xie Sheng was the second best scholar, and Qian Mingding was the third best scholar. All three of them were Jinshi.
In addition, Seleng'e and Acton were also very knowledgeable. They were both from the second-level scholarships, not the third-level scholarships.
Everyone gathered around the jade pillar, first went to pay homage to Eni of Seleng'e, and then sat together in the West Flower Hall.
After sitting down, Yuzhu realized that Zhao Donghe was not present.
Although they were both members of the Jade Party clique, Seleng'e and Zhao Donghe had serious disagreements.
However, Se Leng'e did not invite Zhao Donghe to his biological mother's sixtieth birthday. This shows that the two people have completely broken up.
However, what surprised Yuzhu was that Wu Xiang was also invited.
Wu Xiang was the third son of Wu Jun. After he passed the imperial examination, he failed in the Jinshi examination many times.
Before Wu Jun died, he entrusted the Wu family to Yuzhu.
Therefore, Yuzhu spent a lot of money to hire Wu Xiang as his son's first teacher.
When beating a dog, it depends on the owner!
In any case, as long as Wu Xiang is the teacher of the old Tong family, no one will dare to bully the Wu family casually.
Unexpectedly, Seleng'e, a serious Manchu banner man, would actually get along well with Wu Xiang, a typical Han Chinese.
In the West Flower Hall, the core members of the Jade Party clique were all present.
It is completely different from the situation in Lao Ba's place where the whole house is full of nobles and dignitaries. The small group of the Jade Party is full of people, which is only a dozen people.
I think back then, when Suo'etu and Mingzhu were in power, whether it was the Suo's Party or the Ming's Party, who didn't have a large number of party members and respond to everyone's call?
"Prime Minister, this is a rare opportunity. Everyone wants to hear your advice face to face."
Actun, who was already the left minister of the Lifanyuan, deliberately made a fool of himself.
The so-called face-to-face meeting, placed in the current court environment, naturally leads to a big and fatal question: How should the Jade Party clique stand in line?
During the autocratic dynasty, all positions involved imperial power.
To put it bluntly, the question Acton asked is a butt question that everyone is generally concerned about, namely: Who should we support?
Yuzhu was not in a hurry to answer. He picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and then said slowly: "I am a pure minister. No matter how big or small the affairs are, I will obey the emperor's orders."
After listening to Yuzhu's statement, everyone understood that Yuzhu did not intend to support any prince.
"I will obey the orders of the Prime Minister." Seleng'e immediately expressed his position.
"That's right, I will do whatever the Prime Minister orders." Qian Mingding jumped in front of Acton and also expressed his position.
Yuzhu glanced at Qian Mingding and said to himself that compared with Zhang Tingyu, the main difference between Lao Qian, who was very knowledgeable and discerning, was that he did not have a good father who had served as a cabinet bachelor.
In a society where fathers are fighting for each other, if fathers are not good enough, they will be missing a crucial stepping stone.
Yuzhu dared to vigorously promote Seleng'e and Actun because they were both Manchu bannermen.
No matter how capable Qian Mingding was, he was a Han official after all, and he was in the same year as Yuzhu, so the old emperor deliberately did not include him in the South Study Room.