On the first night back in the capital, Zhang Tingyu lay on his warm kang, but he couldn't sleep. Mrs. Wang was unwell, and it was the second grandmother Zitong who was waiting to go to bed this night. Zitong has become a three-grade lady, but she is still a young woman in her twenties. Besides, she has been in the house for many years, and she has not seen a star of the Zhang family, she can't wait for the master to have sex with her as soon as he returns home. She didn't believe that she couldn't have children, but suspected that the old man was tired and tired every time and hurriedly coped with things, and he didn't come seriously once. Zitong fell short again this night, the old man left home for two or three months, helped him take off his robe and lie on the bed, it was like an empty skin bag that had drawn out the essence of blood, lazily and sadly, staring for a while, pretending to close his eyes for a while, and sighing. She caressed him and teased him with all kinds of tenderness. He looked like a clay wood carving, cold and unresponsive. Zitong secretly wiped away his tears, thinking, is it that the old man is accompanying the emperor, and the emperor has rewarded him with a beautiful woman, and he has had enough sex outside? The house flowers don't have the fragrance of wild flowers, and even her young and beautiful second mother is not interested in moving when she comes back?

"Master, you have worked hard with the emperor."

"Hmmm......"

"Who did the emperor bring this time?"

"The prince's elder brother and the harem concubines are all gone......" he turned his body uneasily, turned his back to her and said, "Later, something happened, Banzai sent all the concubines back to Beijing." ”

"What happened?" She thought of the jealousy among the concubines, "Is there something wrong with a certain beauty?" There are so many concubines of the emperor, and there are so many beautiful women, he can take care of this, but he can't take care of that, a palace concubine can't take the turn of a year and a half, and it is inevitable that nothing will happen......"

"Oh, oh...... What did you say? Zhang Tingyu suddenly raised his head. Ever since Kangxi issued a decree in Chengde to depose the crown prince Yinren, he has been thinking about such a question: What happened to the prince that made the emperor angry! If you want to say that the so-called "prince's edict" transferred troops into the garden, Kangxi obviously knew that it was not Yinren who did it, so why did the emperor move to a deserted place like Burhasutai? Are you really afraid that the prince will rebel and perform a palace drama? There is really a prince forcing the palace, isn't it easier to get it in a place like Burhasutai that can't reach the sky and the ground? Then why did the emperor choose to go to that kind of place? He also thought about whether there was some kind of secret thing in the harem, and Kangxi was angry and took the attendants and others to the desert, which could not only keep the scandal secret, but also give him enough time to think about how to deal with Yinren.

Zitong's unintentional sentence suddenly made him suddenly: Kangxi asked him to depose the prince on his behalf, and in the edict, there were words of "tyrannical **" and "tyrannical and lewd" personally instructed by Wan Sui, and he also thought that Yinren might live a corrupt and debauched life, but he never dreamed of having a family rebellion with one of the emperor's favorite concubines, his mother. Zitong was very strange, the old man never paid attention to what she said, she repeated it again, and said with ulterior motives:

"I said that the emperor has so many concubines, and it is not his turn to be favored, so don't you want to go out to find wild food? What kind of brother, minister, or even eunuch, hehe, eunuch...... I don't have that thing, I have a weak heart, and I scratch the itch through my boots......"

Zhang Tingyu suddenly woke up: In the Chengde Palace, Kangxi's favorite Liu Guiren suddenly disappeared, and some eunuchs said that Liu Guiren was sick and was sent back to Beijing; Tong Guowei said that Liu Guiren was imprisoned in the Xin Zheku. Yes, Prince Yinren must have been with Liu Guiren**, and was arrested by Kangxi before he ended up like this.

Zhang Tingyu, with the vision of an increasingly mature politician, of course knew what a shock, and even a bloody fight, would be caused by the abandonment of the crown prince! This is not only a life-and-death battle between dozens of princes to compete for the crown prince, but also how many factional ministers, harem concubines, relatives, and feudal officials from other provinces are involved behind each prince! It was a redistribution of power and authority. It involves the vital interests, future destiny and future of almost everyone inside and outside the court!

How could Zhang Tingyu fall asleep? He copingly comforted Zitong a little, and Zitong fell asleep sweetly after being satisfied. But Zhang Tingyu's mind became more and more excited, and there were always terrible scenes of dynasties and dynasties since ancient times, killing kings and usurping the throne, brothers fighting against the wall, and blood mark palaces......

Yinren was killed, the crown princess Shi fell beside her fleshy husband, and the prince and the prince Fu Wang slammed to death on the dragon pillar of the Jinluan Palace. His poor brother, Zhang Tingzan, the young man of the Prince's Mansion, spurted blood from his mouth and died of depression; His sister-in-law and nephews hugged the body of their eldest brother, and cried and cried as they hit the ground and cried...... Kangxi was killed by a certain prince again, and his father Zhang Ying came from the sky - he was thrown down from Jiutian and fell next to the emperor's corpse, his heart was broken, and blood gushed like ......

"Father—" he shouted, and was hugged tightly by Zitong.

"Sir, sir! You wake up......"

"Ahh

"Master, what's wrong?"

When he opened his eyes, it turned out to be a nightmare. He patted the numb and aching forehead fiercely, he knew that the battle in front of him in the court might be even more dangerous than what he had seen in his dreams. He secretly made up his mind: to brake with static, to respond to all changes with unchanged, and to watch from the wall for the time being!

Wake up from a nightmare, and it's dawn. Zitong served the old man to lie down again, she put on a cheongsam and quietly slipped out of bed, and tucked the corners of the quilt for the master. She knew that the old man had not slept well all night last night, and with a kiss on the corner of his forehead, she kissed his mother and said as if she were doting on her child:

"Get some better sleep!"

She quietly came out of the room like a cat.

Zhang Tingyu stared at the bed, his body was very tired, but how could he sleep? Thinking of last night's nightmare, thinking of the treacherous court in front of him, his heart was like a frying fire. Suddenly, he remembered his father and brother he had seen in his dream, and he was shocked into a cold sweat and couldn't help but sit up. When I thought it was just a dream, I fell down again......

"Master, master!" Zitong walked in in a panic, looking frightened and sad.

"What's the matter?" Zhang Tingyu sat up again.

"Uncle's news is here!"

"What's the news?"

"Great, uncle, he-"

"What's wrong with Brother Tingzan?"

"Uncle ...... last night He's gone......" Zitong hid her face and cried. At this time, Mrs. Wang and several old family members all sobbed and hugged in.

Zhang Tingyu straightened up and slid out of bed, with no shoes on his feet. muttered to himself:

"What was going to happen, it really happened...... Nightmare! Nightmare ......"

Zhang Tingyu finished the funeral of his eldest brother Tingzan, took his sister-in-law to the house, and accompanied Mrs. Wang. He also sent a confidant of his old family and two family members of his eldest brother's family back to Tongcheng to report his father's funeral.

Before leaving, he repeatedly admonished:

"When you go back to your hometown, depending on your father's physical condition, you should be smart. If the old man is in good health, you should tell the old man about the death of the old man, and comfort the old man to mourn; If—" He remembered the appearance of his father in his dream, and couldn't help but tremble, "If the old lady is sick, you won't talk about it for the time being." It is only said that the eldest master and the second master sent you back to ask the old lady for peace, and you will stay in Six Feet Lane to serve the old lady, and you don't have to rush back to Beijing, and send someone back at any time to send the news back. ”

"Yes, sir!"

"Got it?"

"Understood."

After his family left, Zhang Tingyu was still worried. On this day, Kangxi called him to the Qianqing Palace, and after doing a few pieces of the governors of the provinces, the monarchs and ministers drank tea together in the warm pavilion, and Kangxi asked casually:

"Hengchen, I heard that your eldest brother Tingzan has passed away?"

"Yes, thank you for your inquiry."

"What's the disease?"

"The eldest brother has always been thin," Zhang Tingyu replied cautiously, "The slightest wind chill caused a lung cough for a long time, but this time it killed him." ”

"Ahem-" Kangxi sighed, "You Zhangmen father and son are both loyal and honest people. I remember that Zhang Tingzan was a Jinshi in the eighteenth year of Kangxi, and I still had some impressions of the palace test, the top three in Tingzan. began to grant the Hongwen Academy to edit, and later the East Palace Prince's Mansion was an important person, so he was asked to be a young James......"

"The emperor is as kind to him as a mountain."

"I hurt him." Kangxi said with a look of sadness, "He is loyal and sincere, and the pearl secretly casts, so that he can follow a prince who is not angry!" I heard that in Burhasutai, when the announcement was made to depose the prince, he usually followed the prince like a pug, wagging his tail and begging for a piece of the pie, but none of them dared to say a word. Zhang Tingzan was the only one who cried and fainted on the snow...... Its feelings are sad, and its virtues are lamentable! ”

Zhang Tingyu thought of the death of his eldest brother and was speechless.

"Does Tingzan have any heirs?" Kangxi asked sympathetically.

"Back to the emperor," Zhang Tingyu kowtowed, "the eldest brother only married one main family and gave birth to two daughters; The side room is not included, so there is no heir to pass on the incense. ”

"Tingzan, a righteous gentleman!" Kangxi sighed, "Someone! ”

Li Dequan came out in response. Kangxi says:

"Message! The Ministry of Internal Affairs gave Zhang Tingzan a relic—" he asked Tingyu, "Is there a seal?" ”

"Nope." Zhang Tingyu shook his head, "The Xu family didn't have a seal. ”

Kangxi thought for a while, and said to Li Dequan: "Seal Zhang Xu's four products to be respectful, give fifty taels of platinum, and five horses of Su silk." As for Zhang Tingzan, the person is gone, so there is no need to seal it. ”

Zhang Tingyu immediately knelt down, kowtowed with tears and said:

"The slave brother thanked the emperor!"

Kangxi raised his hand and said:

"If you have something to do in the house, you don't have to be on duty every day for the time being. Something is summoned, kneel down! ”

Zhang Tingyu walked out of the palace gate and couldn't help but burst into tears in the car. In order to consolidate and continue the imperial system of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi was as hard as iron, and whoever dared to provoke him would never be soft on his killing; But as an ordinary person, he is kind-hearted, extremely sympathetic and humane. The elder brother cried and fainted on the snow for the abolished prince, this was originally an offense to Long Yan, Kangxi didn't think it was excessive, but praised it. It shows that he has no choice but to abolish the crown prince, but in fact, his heart is still full of strong father-son love. But he can't enjoy this kind of "love" like ordinary people. Because in his mind, imperial power is always more important than the love of children.

He was sad for his brother that he was talking about "pearl secretly casting" as the emperor said, and he followed the wrong master. The elder brother is not below him, but the two brothers are very different: one is the prime minister above ten thousand people under one person, and the other is depressed all his life and dies in despair of young James. Since ancient times, politicians have never had the room to make their own choices, and they have never been able to grasp their own destiny and future. It's not about your talent and morality, but on what kind of position Renjun puts you in and what kind of boss he hands you over, and you will be both prosperous and ruined with him. Yinren's misfortune is the root of Tingzan's misfortune, if Yinren is fortunate enough to inherit the unification, Tingzan will be the auxiliary minister, above his younger brother.

Kangxi is well versed in this, so he can treat things and not people, and treat those who do not endanger his imperial power with magnanimity. Kangxi's generosity and benevolence are more manifested in his care for the common people. The water can carry the boat, or it can capsize the boat, and his love for the people is precisely to consolidate the national fortune and prevent the imperial sword of the Qing Dynasty from capsizing under the water of the people. He made private visits, sympathized with the people's feelings, found out about the disaster, and poured relief into the house; It is strictly forbidden to "enclose land" that began with the Eight Banners of the former dynasty, so that farmers and herdsmen have land to cultivate and grass to graze; severely punish corrupt officials and corrupt officials, so that the people of Li will be less harmed by looting; Particularly dredge the river to control the water, spare no effort, dozens of times braved the summer and winter cold, the south patrol the river, footprints all over the Yellow River, the north and south of the Yangtze River, and the ministers to discuss the river management strategy, and finally make the Yellow River clear, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River harvest year after year, the Kangxi prosperous era.

Zhang Tingyu admires today's saint from the bottom of his heart, and it is precisely this point. Reading the ancestors, it is difficult to find a Ming Junyi who is strict with the law, and it is difficult to choose a benevolent monarch who loves the people and protects the people. Kangxi has such a commendability, Zhang Tingyu, who has been influenced by Confucianism since he was a child, has no regrets at all about being a cow and a horse for today. He really hopes that God can add longevity to Kangxi and let the prosperous country continue. As for who among the princes will win the throne, he can't guess and doesn't want to guess right now. He will not do anything that is unfavorable to the present in order to please the "kings" of the future.

This is his way of being an official!

In the winter of October, Kangxi finally found out the eighth son of the emperor, Yinren, forged the crown prince's "hand edict", transferred Ling Pu into the forbidden garden to disrupt the government, framed Yinren's crime, and ordered Zhang Tingyu to draft a decree to take away the titles of Yinxi County King and Baylor.

At the beginning of November, the eldest son of the Emperor of Shangcha, Yinren, gloated, and fell into the well for the abolished prince Yinren, without any brotherhood, and in a fit of anger, he seized the prince of Yinfu Zhijun and entered the Zongren Mansion for solitary confinement.

Just as Zhang Tingyu drove Kangxi to the siege of Nanyuan, dealing with the reinstatement of the crown prince by all parties day and night, he was so busy that he did not return to his home for more than a month and did not reunite with his family. On this day, the head of Zhang's mansion rode straight to Nanyuan, and came in through the eunuch, saying that there was an urgent report in Tongcheng, Prime Minister Zhang's hometown. At that time, Zhang Xiangzheng was discussing with the emperor, Kangxi listened to it, and said with concern:

"Tell the family to come in."

Zhang Tingyu was already staying aside, he knew that there would be no good news in his hometown: either his father was seriously ill, or- he was worried about the death of his brother, and the white-haired man sent the black-haired man, and his father couldn't stand the blow.

Sure enough, what the family sent in was a funeral post from their hometown:

In November, Zhang Yinggong, a scholar of Zhishi University, was refuted, unfortunately passed away, and the family wept sadly. Hurry

The brothers Tingyu, Tinglu, and Tingyu returned to their hometowns for funeral and petitioned the emperor for a funeral.

Zhang Tingyu read the funeral post, and he was already sad and burst into tears. Unexpectedly, in less than two months, my brother and father died one after another. As he expected, his father's sudden death was caused by the death of his eldest brother, which caused the old man's illness. He walked into the Qianqing Palace with the funeral post, Kangxi wanted to take a look at the funeral post, sat silently for a while, and suddenly said to Li Dequan who was standing aside:

"Spread my will, and named Zhang Ying, a scholar of Zhishi University, as Wenduan, and went to Tongcheng to pay tribute to the third son of the emperor, King Chengjun, and Yinzhi, the prince of the guards. The Zhang family is a clean official, and the internal affairs government mourns five hundred taels of silver and platinum, and twenty satin horses on the inside and outside. The general of the good battalion, Oro Dai, led fifty horsemen to escort the third son of the emperor and Zhang Zhongtang back to Tongcheng to mourn, and the government and post stations along the way greeted and sent them off. Chin this! ”

Zhang Tingyu knelt on the ground, thanked the emperor for his kindness, and Li Dequan passed the decree. Kangxi seemed to be unsatisfied, paced a few steps in the hall, and looked back at Zhang Tingyu and said:

"Hengchen, I and Lingzun are not only monarchs and ministers, but also poets. His poems are elegant and idle, although they are not as good as Wang Shizhen, but they are also as good as his people. Now that he's gone, I'll send him two words to express my gratitude! ”

"Emperor Xie!" Zhang Tingyu wanted to kowtow again.

Kangxi stopped him and said, "Reluctantly, you have to knock when you go home." Xing Nian, who turned to wait for Li Dequan, shouted: "Silk, pen waiting!" ”

After a while, Kangxi waved his pen and wrote two lines of big characters on the yellow silk. Zhang Tingyu's eyes were blurred with tears, and he saw those two lines, which was a portrayal of his father's life, which also showed that the emperor knew his father deeply.

The elegiac couplet written by Kangxi is:

Dian Wenduan Gong Zhang Ying University Scholar

The prime minister is not ashamed,

The coffin is still an old scholar.

Forty-seven years of November Jiachen day Xuan Ye knowledge

Zhang Tingyu knelt down to accept the couplet given by Kangxi, he was really grateful for the "emperor's grace", and Kangxi's comment on his father's life of "closing the coffin" was not exchanged for any amount of gold and silver. The father has a spirit in the sky, and he can also smile at Jiuquan. He kowtowed to the Long Live Lord three times, Kangxi stretched out his hand to support him and said:

"Hengchen, go home and get ready to go! Generally, the minister's father Ding Wei can be allowed for a maximum of three years, but I can only give you three months, and you will definitely be able to understand my intentions. The study and the court can't do without you. ”

Zhang Tingyu deeply felt the grace of Kangxi's acquaintance, and said goodbye:

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will definitely return to Beijing in March."