NFBE Chapter 311 War Victory
Chapter 311 War Victory
Chapter 311 Victory in the War
Since Yinreng was involved in the matter, it was easy to find out the evidence and the whole story. Sure enough, it was that group of people who did it.
Their purpose was simple, to strike first. They would use the imperial concubine in the palace as a test, and when the time was right, at the New Year banquet, no matter whether it was the emperor or the prince, as long as they found a chance to lure them to the plum garden, they would be able to find a way to get many people over and catch the adulterer on the spot.
It would be even better if something really happened. Both the emperor and the prince would be able to break some of their ideas, and then the day when their daughter would enter the palace would be just around the corner.
Even if nothing happened, it would not matter. In front of everyone, a young and beautiful concubine and an emperor/prince were having a secret meeting in this plum garden. There was no way to avoid this matter no matter what.
As long as they can get a handle on it, they will have a lot of room to maneuver in next year's draft, whether it is the general election or the minor election.
I can only say that their plan is very good and the idea is good. If Yinreng had not had the sudden idea to go to the Plum Garden today, this might really have succeeded.
After all, during this period, there was no movement in the Western Six Palaces, so Bu Erhe basically didn't pay much attention to it. If this matter was really discovered at the New Year's Banquet, even if Yinreng and Bu Erhe dealt with it quickly, they would not be able to shut everyone up, and the rumors naturally could not be completely dealt with.
By then, for the sake of the royal reputation, wouldn't that be what they wanted?
Rules are like an insurmountable wall. Once broken, it is more difficult than you can imagine to put them back together.
The palace's handling of this incident was exceptionally swift and decisive. Once again, witnessing such swift and decisive action, everyone marveled at the Queen's methods.
Coinciding with the Spring Festival, the imperial family took the opportunity to directly announce the granting of welfare, allowing a large number of palace maids and eunuchs to leave the palace and return home. Among them, only a small number of people left the palace naturally due to old age. For example, those eunuchs were directly sent to the manor where Liang Jiugong lived, so that they would not have to worry about their retirement.
The vast majority of the rest were spies or minions of certain people, and Yinreng was not polite at all. He sent those who were bribed or planted by someone directly back to the other party's mansion.
So, just before the annual banquet, the palace suddenly emptied out nearly half of its servants. Buerhe took advantage of this opportunity to cleverly manipulate the palace, re-registering some of the young concubines and preparing travel permits for them to travel to the more pleasant climate of the south.
These concubines had all left the palace willingly, and they all came from clean families. As for what kind of life they would lead in the future, it all depended on their own efforts and luck.
After all, in the Qing Dynasty, it was extremely difficult for a married woman to return to her family, unless she was a family that particularly loved her daughter. However, how many of those who were willing to send their daughters to the palace truly loved them?
Not only were they escorted south by special personnel, but Burhe also generously gifted each of them a generous dowry. As long as they were willing to work hard, their future would surely be far more exciting than being confined to the inner palace.
With a two-pronged approach, these servants in the harem were just small fry. In the previous dynasty, the three princes also took emergency action to arrest those who should be arrested and seize those who should be captured.
Surprisingly, the Tong family was actually involved in this, but they didn't do much. They just used the people in the palace who had previously worked for the Tong family to pass on information to them.
The day after this incident, Concubine Tong Gui came to the palace to apologize and beg for mercy. Buerhe was a little troubled by this Concubine Tong Gui who had been secretly taking care of Buerhe since she married into the palace.
From the Tong family's perspective, Yinreng and Bu'erhe really don't want to forgive them. They have been provoking and touching the bottom line time and time again. They have been treated leniently before for the sake of the emperor's face, but now they are still not honest. The family now basically relies on Fahai to maintain their dignity, and they still cause trouble.
But thinking about his fourth brother Yinzhen and Concubine Tong, Buerhe suggested: "However, we should exile the culprit. As for the Tong family, we will give them one more chance. If they dare to make a move again, we will never forgive them."
Yinreng was also a little troubled, but when he thought about the fact that Concubine Tong Gui had already retired in the Ninth Sister Princess's mansion, and now she came back to plead for mercy for this matter, and also because his fourth brother had secretly wanted to plead for mercy before, Yinreng agreed to Buerhe's suggestion.
But this was only limited to this family. As for the other families involved, even if his twelfth brother Wan Liuha pleaded for mercy, Yinreng handled the matter directly and impartially without any leniency.
This year's annual banquet was unprecedented in grandeur. Although the emperor specially issued an edict allowing many ministers to bring their families into the palace to celebrate together, the entire banquet process was orderly and there was no mistake at all.
What is even more surprising is that the one or two pieces of advice that would always appear every year, advising the emperor to take a concubine or suggesting that the prince take a concubine, have disappeared this year!
Faced with this situation, Bull and his only response was a sneer of contempt: "Humph, what a bunch of scoundrels! They must be severely punished, beaten until their skin is torn and the pain is unbearable, so that these guys will learn to fear and never dare to easily stretch out their dirty claws to meddle in other people's affairs again!"
At the same time, the Crown Princess also took advantage of the opportunity and experienced the taste of being a fox borrowing the power of a tiger. With this precedent, at least in the upcoming general election, she did not have to worry about those ministers with ulterior motives secretly plotting to trip her up.
Shortly after the Spring Festival, when everyone had not yet recovered from the festive and peaceful atmosphere, an exciting piece of news spread throughout the capital like a spring breeze - the fierce battle between the Qing Dynasty and the Russian Empire ended with a great victory for the Qing Dynasty!
Even in this bitterly cold winter, our soldiers remained brave and fearless, fighting bravely and defeating the enemy, leaving them in ruins and leaving them fleeing in disarray.
However, Yinreng still had a lingering doubt in his mind: Why did the Maoists dare to launch an offensive against the Qing in such a bitterly cold season? The weather in Mao was freezing cold, with temperatures dropping to over 20 degrees Celsius below zero all day long. To launch a war in such harsh conditions was simply asking for trouble and sheer nonsense.
You know, the Qing Dynasty brought countless valuables for this battle! Even if they stayed firmly in the city and refused to leave, as long as the Mao Dynasty dared to launch an attack rashly, they would definitely end up with no return.
The final mystery of why the Russians braved the severe cold to launch an attack in winter was revealed when the vanguard of the army returned to the capital.
It turned out that the information conveyed by Yinsi and his gang was seriously distorted, which made Damao anxious to take the initiative, trying to take advantage of people's usual thinking loopholes and launch a fierce offensive during the cold winter.
However, the reality was cruel and merciless: their army suffered greatly in the extremely cold climate, and many soldiers were frozen to death in the ice and snow.
Immediately afterwards, when they were charging towards the Qing Dynasty with great momentum, they encountered an upgraded artillery attack. In an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and a large number of troops were blown to pieces.
In the end, the remaining defeated soldiers were unable to keep up with their food and fodder supplies, and had no choice but to surrender and became prisoners of the Qing Dynasty.
To sum up, this carefully planned full-scale offensive by Russia ended in complete failure.
But this time, Yinreng was not like Kangxi who foolishly signed the inexplicable Treaty of Nerchinsk!
After all, because of his relationship with Bull, he knew clearly that the mineral resources in Damao were an inexhaustible treasure trove.
If we don't seize the opportunity to make a fortune at this moment, it will not only be unfair to those brave soldiers who fought bravely on the battlefield, but also waste so much manpower, material resources and financial resources spent on the battlefield!
In this way, with Yinreng's tacit approval, cartloads of minerals were brought back to the capital from Damao, providing a steady supply of materials for the Ministry of Works' research. This also allowed the Qing Dynasty's railway tracks to be built and put into operation several years earlier.
Let's put this aside for now and return to the exciting news of victory. When the good news spread throughout the capital, Yinreng naturally would not miss such an opportunity. He not only solemnly announced Hongchang's previous great invention, but also took the opportunity to promote all the generals who had made great military achievements by one rank.
Among the promotions, Hong Chang was undoubtedly the most dazzling one. He was rewarded for his merits and was able to jump from his original status to the extremely noble Prince of a County. From then on, everyone would change his title to "Prince Rong of a County".
However, the generals who attacked Russia this time had no complaints. If it were not for the upgraded artillery shells provided by Prince Rong, not to mention defeat, even victory would have been much more difficult. What's more, in such an extreme climate, the Qing Dynasty could be said to be unscathed this time. They had never seen such a battle situation even in the past few hundred years!
However, everything in the world has two sides. As the saying goes, merits must be rewarded and faults must be punished. This is an iron law that never changes.
At this very moment, as the capital was filled with the joy of victory, the late emperor's Eighth and Fourteenth Princes were once again imprisoned! Furthermore, the person who issued the order was none other than the current emperor himself. Even more devastating, there was no set time limit for the imprisonment.
In this way, anyone with some knowledge and insight would know: these two must have made a big mistake!
Think about it, since the emperor ascended the throne, so many years have passed, and those brothers who once fought with the emperor and were as hostile to him as water and fire, such as Yinzhen who fought a life-and-death battle with the emperor in his early years and were inseparable, are still sitting safely on the throne of princes.
Furthermore, this time, Yinzhen, through his outstanding military exploits, successfully secured the title of Duke of Feng'en Zhenguo for his second son. Although he failed to be promoted to the rank of Beizi, this honor was enough to make him stand out from the crowd among the many ordinary clan members in the capital.
As the saying goes, a rich man in remote mountains has distant relatives, while a poor man in a busy city has no one to care about him. The Lianjun Prince Mansion and Xun Beile Mansion, which had been bustling with people because of the fight against the Mao regime, were suddenly deserted.
Now even ordinary people know that they have no chance of turning things around.