"Fei Aiqing, who do you think can take over from you as the Yin of Fengtianfu?"

There are many things that are not easy to say in front of the ministers, so after Kangxi sent the ministers away, he ordered Old Man Fei and Gao Shiqi to follow him to the Heart Cultivation Palace. At this time, the Yangxin Palace was not as famous as it would be in the future, and it was not the residence of the emperor, but the territory of the palace office. Here, skilled craftsmen produced all kinds of royal items for the royal family to use. Because of this, it is more like a workshop. Kangxi's arrival shocked the craftsmen here, and it took a while to regain their senses. Kangxi asked these people to continue working, and he took Old Man Fei and the two of them around this small place in a circle.

"Back to the emperor, the minions don't know!" After listening to Kangxi, Old Man Fei pondered for a moment, shook his head and replied.

"Oh? Isn't Tong Bao good? Kangxi asked. Tong Bao has followed Old Man Fei as a Fengtian Mansion for many years, and he has rarely heard of any mistakes, especially when Old Man Fei also said that he had handed over most of the work to Tong Bao, Kangxi naturally thought that Old Man Fei had the intention of delegating power, but he didn't expect Old Man Fei to say this again.

"Back to the emperor, although Tong Bao's ability is not bad, and he has been under the minion for many years, he knows how to do things, but unfortunately he is too selfish, if no one presses him, something will definitely happen!" Old man Fei replied.

"Since Tong Bao can't do it, what about Yang Zhongne?" Kangxi asked again.

"Yang Zhongne's temperament is soft, it's good to have a slave to back him up, if not, with his Han identity, there will definitely be people in Fengtian who will not sell his account, and he will definitely not be able to suppress all kinds of people in Fengtian!" Old man Fei replied again.

"Tong and Yang can't take over this position, so I don't know who Lord Fei wants?" Gao Shiqi asked.

"I don't know!" Old man Fei shook his head and replied.

"Don't know?"

"That's right. The position of Fengtianfu Yin needs a person with a firm personality but is good at change, especially this person must be fair and able to do things in a good way, if one of these items is missing, it is difficult to preside over Fengtian's affairs! Old man Fei said again.

"This doesn't sound difficult, but the whole world may not be able to find a few!" Gao Shiqi glanced at Kangxi, who was walking in front of him and Old Man Fei, and said with a wry smile. He knew that Old Man Fei was not deliberately exaggerating. Fengtian is now full of Manchu and Han people, and the situation is complicated, especially when it also involves the eight banners of Jingying that have moved over, if the people of Fengtian Mansion Yin do not have these conditions, it is indeed difficult to cover it.

"Ma Qi has a brother named Ma Wu, have you ever heard of Fei Aiqing?" Kangxi was silent for a while, then suddenly turned his head to ask Old Man Fei.

"I seem to have heard of this name, but I don't know it!" Old man Fei replied.

"Ma Wu is the Minister of the Yellow Flag Guard, and he is also the deputy commander of the unified position, his ability is not bad, and some people call him and Ma Qi 'Erma'!" Gao Shiqi gave a brief introduction on the side. (In the later period of Kangxi, there was a saying that "two horses eat all the grass in the world", referring to the brothers Ma Qi and Ma Wu!) Their fourth brother, Li Rongbao, is Fukangan's grandfather! ）

"Does the emperor want this Ma Wu to be the Yin of Fengtian Mansion? Isn't that a bit condescending? Old man Fei listened to Gao Shiqi's words and asked Kangxi. The Minister of the Guards is the post of a first-grade military general, but Fengtianfu Yin is a third-grade civil official, if Kangxi wants Ma Wu to go to Fengtian on an errand, it is indeed difficult to justify. After all, Ma Wu is not like Old Man Fei, who started from Fengtian step by step, and there is a good reason for him to take up a position.

"Of course, I know that this arrangement is inappropriate, so I plan to build a province in Mukden!" Kangxi said.

"Fengtian Province?" That's too soon, isn't it? Old man Fei couldn't help but secretly exclaimed.

"The emperor sees it clearly! Nowadays, the population of Fengtian has been a lot, and the annual tax paid is more than many wealthy provinces. Gao Shiqi interjected.

"What does Fei Aiqing think?" Hearing that Gao Shiqi agreed with his idea, Kangxi showed a slight smile on his face, and turned to ask Old Man Fei.

“…… Your Majesty, the minions are against it! Old man Fei frowned and thought for a while, then bowed down and replied.

"Oh? Do you think that Mukden is not suitable for a province? Kangxi asked.

"Your Majesty, Fengtian is indeed not suitable for building a province. …… Let's not talk about anything else, just now Gao Xiang said that the population of Fengtian is already quite large, and the slave does not dare to agree. Fengtian now has a population of only one million, but there are several big cities with a population of one million in the Qing Dynasty alone, and once the province is established, the various yamen may not even have a place to use it. Moreover, Fengtian is the land of Longxing in the Qing Dynasty, named after Shengjing. If a province is established, in order to increase the population and make it worthy of its name, how many people does the imperial court need to release from the customs? Gathering too many people in a short period of time is bound to be prone to accidents, and if the previous achievements are destroyed, wouldn't it be a great loss? Old man Fei said.

"Lord Fei's words seem to be a bit contradictory to what you have done!" Gao Shiqi said with a smile.

"What do you mean by this?" Old man Fei asked rhetorically. It's a good thing to build a province! But building at the wrong time is a big deal. His years of hard work didn't want to be ruined because of Kangxi's impulsiveness. Especially now that many things have not met his requirements, something happens in the northeast, the Qing court will inevitably suppress it, and it will definitely be able to suppress it, when the time comes, everything will return to zero, won't he play for so long? In his mind, the Northeast must develop, and it must continue to develop, but this sustained development must be premised on a steady growth of population. In this way, it is possible to make the Han people become the largest ethnic group in the northeast without being constrained by the Qing court, and it is also possible to let these Han people get more equal rights with those banner people in a peaceful environment, and if something happens at that time, the Han people may become the victors, at least, the possibility of his achievements in the northeast will be greatly increased. …… Since most of the Qi people were reluctant to engage in research, ninety percent of the craftsmen and scholars he trained were Han Chinese.

"Lord Fei has been acting as Fengtian for so long, and every year he has attracted a lot of people from the Guannai to make a living, and all along, the Lord doesn't seem to think that there are too many people. Moreover, Fengtian has a vast area, fertile land, and a lot of wasteland, and it seems that increasing some population is not a big deal for Gao. Moreover, the two things that Lord Fei was worried about about the rapid increase in population, and the fact that the officials had nothing to do and would waste money and food were not unsolvable, as long as the imperial court formulated some regulations first, everything could naturally be worry-free. Even if there is some trouble, compared to the great benefits brought by the establishment of Fengtian Province, I'm afraid it is nothing, right? Gao Shiqi smiled.

"Gao Xiang's statement is indeed reasonable, but there is always a discrepancy between the expectation and the reality! Fei is only worried that you are 'talking on paper'! Old man Fei said angrily.

"On paper? Master Fei really looks down on me Gao, but Gao doesn't dare to accept it! Gao Shiqi was still smiling, not caring at all about Old Man Fei's ridicule.

"Your Majesty, why did you suddenly decide to build a province in Mukden?" Old man Fei ignored Gao Shiqi's ridicule and asked Kangxi again. Kangxi's thought really made him feel a little sudden, and he was a little caught off guard. Ma Qi is a good person, and his prestige in the Qing court is not low, as long as that Ma Wu can maintain a similar image as Ma Qi, maybe he can really sit firmly in the position of the ruler of Fengtian. And having such a heavyweight figure sitting in the formation, but his plan to sit in Beijing and control Fengtian remotely was a little frustrated. On the contrary, if he wanted to do something in Mukden, he had to be careful not to let that Ma Wu feel that something was wrong in the future. This situation is really depressing.

"Fei Aiqing, what you said is not quite right, you shouldn't ask me about this!" Kangxi smiled.

"Your Majesty, please forgive the slave for not understanding what you mean!" Old man Fei said confusedly.

"I once said that the Qing Dynasty should ride and shoot heirlooms, Fei Aiqing, didn't you refute me and have nothing to say?" Kangxi smiled.

"This ......" Old man Fei was stunned at first, and then he could only smile bitterly.

He and Kangxi did have a dispute about "riding and shooting", and their argument was not only about the "small" topic of "riding and shooting", but they were involved in a wide range of things that time.

Here's the thing: it was when Kangxi once visited Fengtian and visited the Mukden Gun Factory. At that time, Kangxi did not have many people around him, only a few princes and close ministers such as Tong Guowei, and almost all of them were born in the Eight Banners. The people of Yigan are very appreciative of the power of the guns produced by Mukden. However, it is precisely because of this that some people saw that Old Man Fei was appreciated by Kangxi and felt psychologically unbalanced, so they proposed that the reason why the Manchus were able to conquer the Central Plains was because of their unparalleled riding and archery skills, while the Han people were mostly weak. He Fei old man made so many guns, the power is great, but if it is obtained by the Han people, it will inevitably make the Han people's resistance intensify, especially the Manchu people's ability to ride and shoot is difficult to display in the face of guns, and the strength of the two ethnic groups will undergo a huge change, which is greatly unfavorable to the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Based on this reason, those people proposed to abolish the firearms factory that manufactured guns, and this proposal was also approved by many people present at the time, even Kangxi.

Of course, Old Man Fei can't let this kind of thing that pulls history backwards and allows the whole country to be buried together. So, he argues with those who hold this opinion.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he pointed out very sharply: The Manchurian cavalry is very powerful, but the main reason why the Qing court was able to conquer the Central Plains was not because of this, but because the former Ming rule was corrupt, and the state affairs had been eroded to an uncontrollable state, coupled with the fact that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's generation only knew about looting and the failure of their strategies. Otherwise, why could one Yuan Zhenghuan block the Manchu Eight Banners for so many years? Isn't Manchurian Cavalry Invincible? Why can't you defeat that person surnamed Yuan? If Yuan Zhenghuan doesn't die, isn't there a rebellion of Wu Sangui in the Central Plains, and the Manchu Qing can enter the customs? Even, if it weren't for the dispersion of Mongol power, it was still unknown whether the Manchus would be able to conquer Mongols. What's more, the current Manchus are no longer the horseback people they used to be. After decades in the customs, the Eight Banners have fallen extremely quickly, and they have long ceased to be usable. When the "Three Feudatories" rebelled, if Kangxi hadn't boldly used the green battalion of the Han army, Wu Sangui would not have been able to support it for so many years, and how many things would have happened in a few years? Therefore, the manufacture of guns in Mukden and the distribution of them to the Eight Banners army helped to improve the military strength of the Eight Banners and consolidate the dominance of the Qing court. The Manchurian Sailor is a striking example.

As for some people's worries that if the guns were obtained by the Han people, the Manchus would have no reason to resist in the face of the huge Han population, and the old man Fei directly scoffed. Are the Mongols powerful? When Genghis Khan conquered the territory, if he wanted to go from the east to the west, he had to ride a horse for a year, and at that time, almost the whole world had to crawl under the hooves of the Mongols. Moreover, until the moment of its destruction, the Mongolian iron cavalry of the Great Yuan Dynasty was still strong. But what about the end result? Wasn't he driven out of the Central Plains by Zhu Yuanzhang's gang of mud legs? What is the reason? Fools also know that it is because the Mongols are unpopular. Therefore, whether a country can continue or not depends on the word "popular support" in the final analysis, not who gets the guns. Besides, if there is really a day when the Han people rebel, even if they are bare-handed, the Manchus will be able to fight? I don't look at what the Eight Flags are like now. What's more, a few years ago, the Heaven and Earth Society gathered people to plot rebellion, and it had already been shown that they were proficient in the manufacture of firearms, but now, the manufacturing methods of these firearms have long been unknown to what extent. The reason why Yu Zhong was able to easily defeat Qin Baoqi at the beginning was not to take advantage of the better firearms? Therefore, in order to maintain a dominant position, the advanced weapons are very important, especially now that many countries in the world are developing firearms, the imperial court must not lag behind. If you fall behind, you will be in a disadvantageous position; If you are in a disadvantageous position, you are naturally likely to be beaten. Between countries, there is nothing to talk about benevolence and righteousness.

At that time, the debate could be said to be very intense, and in the end, even Kangxi joined in, and Old Man Fei committed the taboo of the Qing court several times. However, because he is "loyal", although many people seized on this point and asked Kangxi to punish him when they could not refute it head-on, Kangxi did not listen. On the contrary, Kangxi also summoned Old Man Fei again in private and deepened the debate. Old man Fei took advantage of the rare opportunity to analyze the international situation of Kangxi, as well as the huge advantages and hidden disadvantages of the Qing court. It can be said that the reason why Old Man Fei was able to say that Kangxi allowed him to open an iron mine in the Northeast later also played a great role in this in-depth discussion.

Kangxi's sudden decision to establish a province in Mukden this time was made after careful consideration of the "contradiction between population growth and land" raised by Old Man Fei. Don't think that this decision is easy to make, Kangxi has been thinking about this for several years. From the occasional mention of this point when Yu Zhong justified himself for the seizure of Hokkaido, and then to the direct point of the old man Fei, Kangxi made it hard to give up the ancestral territory of Fengtian. …… Kangxi is well aware of history, so he naturally knows what terrible consequences will be caused by serious land annexation, and he also knows that if there is really a large-scale anti-Qing riot in the Central Plains, it is impossible for the Eight Banners to resist with only a million people, and even if the Eight Banners retreat outside the customs, they may not be able to escape...... Will the Han people of the Central Plains, who have learned their lesson, let such a bane continue to be at large outside the Guan? Therefore, in order to prevent land annexation, and on the other hand, for the sake of emergency planning, he decided to "expand" the Eight Banners! …… Establish a province in the northeast to attract a large number of landless or landless people to enter Manchuria, and then gradually absorb these people into Manchuria into the Eight Banners, and at the same time, make some regulations to prevent land annexation and other disasters, such as not allowing land to be bought and sold in various forms, and so on! Let these people become a new group of banner people who do not enjoy the privileges of the Eight Banners, but at the same time have their hearts towards the imperial court. As long as this is done successfully, then, even if something happens in the future, the bloodline of the Manchu people can at least be preserved, and the foundation of the Qing Dynasty can be preserved to the greatest extent...... Back then, Huang Taiji succeeded in forming the Eight Banners of the Han Army, and now his plan may not necessarily fail. Of course, this is just Kangxi's idea of what to expect. It can be said that if he was not now old, and he was often nervous by his sons competing for the storage position, he might not have made this decision with strong self-confidence.

And this whole thing, only Gao Shiqi, an overly smart guy, occasionally guessed a little from Kangxi's tone. However, Gao Shiqi also didn't know everything, he only knew that in order to alleviate the pressure of land annexation in the world, especially in the northern provinces, and maintain the stability of the northern provinces, Kangxi made a great determination to break the rules of his ancestors and officially immigrate to Manchuria...... And because he has been trapped in the whirlpool of power and intrigue for many years, almost by inertia, he also thought of another point:

Kangxi sent Ma Wu to Fengtian, and there is a great possibility that he saw that the influence of Old Man Fei, Yu Zhong, and Ma De has become more and more great, especially Old Man Fei is almost a response in Fengtian. Therefore, I wanted to take precautions and support the people of Ma Qi's family to achieve a balance, especially in the balance of power in Manchuria. Among the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, it is true that only Ma Qi can temporarily suppress the old man and the three of them in terms of status, and at the same time have the loyalty that can reassure Kangxi.