The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 128: Two cunning men, one old and one young

Sun Jiagan, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, wrote to the new emperor a letter a few days after Li Yan ascended the throne, advising him on three things: be close to one's own flesh and blood, stop donations, and withdraw the Western troops. He also pointed out the malpractice of minting copper coins in the new dynasty. Li Yan appreciated his courage to speak out and promoted him to the Dean of the Imperial Academy, which is equivalent to the Dean of Academic Affairs of the highest institution of learning.

Li Yan thought that Sun Jiagan was young and promising, the same age as himself, a capable and remonstrant minister, and a rare honest official.

He investigated corrupt officials, redressed injustices, repaired rivers, and reconciled ethnic conflicts. He did many outstanding things. He served as the Minister of War, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Works. He also served as the Governor-General of Zhili and Huguang. When he died, he was the Minister of Personnel and the Associate Grand Secretary.

After such a capable official has been trained for a few years, he will be placed in the Censorate as the Left Censor-in-Chief, in charge of supervision.

In this way, the Manchus mostly command the army, and the Han people mostly govern the country. With the checks and balances between the Manchus and the Han people, the world can remain stable!
Reform has always been a major event that can’t be taken lightly. When it comes to the interests of the Han people, the Manchus are used to suppress it, and when it comes to rectifying the affairs of the banners, the Han people are used to suppress it.

When the local areas are disturbed, the capital must be pacified; when the capital is disturbed, the local areas must be kept peaceful.

The same is true when it comes to reforming the civil service and rectifying corruption. When it comes to touching civil servants, the army must be stabilized, and when it comes to rectifying the army, the court must be united.

You even need to divide the steps more carefully, and don't rush.
Take it step by step, finish one piece before doing the next one. You have plenty of time. You can't be like the fourth brother in the original drama, who was in a hurry to get by. The Manchus and the Han people in the capital, the local officials, and the army all came together to make the world boil and make everyone your enemy!
Although reform is difficult, the most important thing is actually the general trend. As Sun Tzu said in The Art of War, those who are good at fighting win first and then seek battle; those who are not good at fighting fight first and then seek victory!

In simple terms, a good fighter always adjusts the various factors that determine victory or defeat before the battle begins, strengthens his own strength and destroys the enemy's strength. When the overall situation is determined, the final victory is reflected through the specific situation on the battlefield.

People who are not good at fighting always bet on the outcome of a bloody battle like gamblers, trying to win by chance through direct combat, which is not advisable.

When did the reform begin? It was not when the specific measures were promulgated for local implementation, nor when they were discussed in the court. Instead, the battle had already begun from the moment Li Yan decided to reform.

What Li Yan needs to do is to change the situation in the court subtly and silently without most of the vested interests realizing it.

In the name of "a new emperor has his own ministers" or under the pretext of party struggles, the court officials who might support the reform were gradually put in important positions without anyone noticing, and then the officials with vested interests who might oppose the reform were attacked and weakened.

Because there are the least number of people who oppose in this name, by the time the ministers realize that they are paving the way for reform, and by the time they propose to discuss the change in the court, the overall situation has been decided and the reformists have already gained the upper hand.

Then, the reform was proposed by the old fourth and others who had performed well and were released early, while he stood aside and maneuvered in the name of neutrality. He was the weight that swayed the scales, and only when both sides were most likely to reach an agreement could he control the situation.

Instead of personally balancing the other end, you put your life and property in the hands of others.

When did the reform begin?

It was not when the decree was issued, nor when it was first proposed for discussion in the court; it was when Li Yan ascended the throne, or when Kangxi decided to make the fourth or tenth prince the crown prince, or perhaps even earlier when he first deposed the crown prince. In the minds of Kangxi and the fourth and tenth princes, the reform had already been implemented.

Perhaps Kangxi chose me in the end because he valued me, because I was better at hiding myself than the fourth brother, more decisive in handling matters, and on the surface I could make friends with the other princes and ministers.

The emperor cannot offend his ministers, otherwise, at best he will be replaced, at worst he will be replaced by another emperor.
Kangxi finally chose to succeed the throne himself and gave up the fourth son. The fundamental reason was not because of the fourth son’s mistakes, but a comprehensive consideration after weighing the overall situation and personal ability.

To put it bluntly, Kangxi thought Li Yan was a shady old man who could handle those cunning profiteers. But the fourth brother was a little too straightforward, he was ruthless but not sinister enough.

Li Yan was also a little ashamed. He had won the battle with his brothers ten years ago.

During these ten years, he was just fighting with Kangxi, fighting for the overall situation of conspiracy. The two of them could be said to be evenly matched. It was not until the last six months that Kangxi won a half-move by luck. The two of them fought for ten years, and the other princes did not even notice it. It would be strange if they did not lose.

Kangxi is the number one scoundrel in the Qing Dynasty, and Li Yan is the second scoundrel!

Li Yan really wanted to say to the old man that he was wronged. The second person to be tricked was Wu Sidao, and he was just a little bit cunning.

Some people are afraid of death
In short, since he was the emperor, he could not take any risks. He had to stay above others in future struggles. He would stand on the side that won and he must not take part in the battle himself. This was the most valuable political wisdom he had learned from Kangxi.

When collecting the debts owed to the treasury, Kangxi clearly wanted to recover the debts owed by those ministers, but even he did not expect that the opposition would be so strong. In the end, even Kangxi had to succumb to the trend and compromise, punishing the fourth son who was only focused on his job and appeasing the ministers who owed money. It was really cowardly.

It was clearly silver from the national treasury that was borrowed, and now asking for it back has caused public outrage. Those people beat up Tian Wenjing and made a fuss at Wei Dongting's funeral. Were they against the fourth brother?
Not
The fourth brother was doing Kangxi's work. They openly opposed the fourth brother, but in fact they were secretly opposing Kangxi.

The old man knew it very well that no matter how angry he was, he could do nothing about it. Throughout history, those in power were unwilling to admit the fact, but they were unwilling to admit it either, which was that it was really hard to offend public anger.

We cannot afford to offend the people!

Even Kangxi, who had been the emperor for his whole life, had to push the blame onto the fourth son in the end, and act as a good man himself to clean up the mess he had caused. He dealt with two typical elements, suppressed the fourth son and Tian Wenjing, and finally promoted Nian Gengyao. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was Kangxi's way of making up for his guilt towards the fourth son.

This is also the old man’s last stubbornness and arrogance!
The poor old man couldn't see the situation clearly. He thought that the fourth brother was finished and wanted to grab the olive branch thrown by the eighth brother. How foolish!

The problems of old age are similar to those of Longkodo, that is, lack of experience and poor vision. One can only see the surface of things and cannot understand the essence of things.

(End of this chapter)