I, Kangxi, am here to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming!

"Strategy?"

Miao Tong sneered, turned to look at Hong Xiguan, her eyes calm:

"Your Majesty, while I was compiling the 'Veritable Records of Emperor Shunzhi' in the Hanlin Academy, I personally reviewed the official archives from the first year of Shunzhi's reign. The proclamation issued by the Qing army when they entered the pass to the officials and people of the north clearly stated: 'The righteous army has come to avenge your sovereign and father, not to kill your people. The only one to be punished is the rebel Li Zicheng... We must annihilate Li Zicheng to bring peace to the world and establish a new Ming heir to serve the ancestral temple.'"

Miao Tong spoke each word clearly and deliberately, his voice resounding throughout the palace.

"These four sentences are recorded in black and white in the Veritable Records. They were set by the Emperor himself. I merely repeated the words of our ancestor, yet Lord Zhe accused me of rebellion. Does this mean that the Emperor's proclamation back then was also a rebellion?"

Hong Xiguan was overjoyed.

Good heavens, isn't this a scene from a massive "partnership scam" orchestrated by the Qing Dynasty? Back then, in order to enter the Central Plains, they promised to return the empire to the Zhu family, but as soon as they entered, they started hunting down the Zhu family's descendants. Now that Miao Tong has brought up that old declaration, these Manchus are in a panic.

"Is this really true?"

Hong Xiguan feigned great surprise and suddenly stood up: "Liang Jiugong, go to the Hanlin Academy and bring me the 'Veritable Records of Emperor Shunzhi'! I want to see for myself what the late emperor actually said!"

In less than half an hour, the thick, ink-scented record was presented on the sacred table.

Hong Xiguan pretended to flip through a few pages, then slammed the book shut, his expression becoming unusually grave.

"Guards, announce the imperial decree: court will be held at noon today!"

……

noon.

Upon learning of the topics to be discussed at the midday court session, the atmosphere inside the Fengtian Hall became extremely strange.

The Han officials looked at each other in bewilderment, while the old fox, the Imperial Tutor Xiong Cili, lowered his head and counted the patterns on the floor tiles.

Grand Secretary Chen Tingjing frowned, his palms sweating.

The Manchu officials were all filled with murderous intent. Prince Kang, Jieshu, and First-Class Duke Wadai stood at the front, wishing they could tear Miao Tong apart with their eyes.

"You all saw it, right?"

Hong Xiguan patted the "Veritable Records" on the table and said in a low voice, "When our ancestors entered the pass, they announced to the world that after the Qing Dynasty helped Emperor Chongzhen avenge his father, they would 're-establish the Ming heir.' Now that the revenge has been taken, the rebel Li Zicheng has been defeated, and Wu Sangui is in a cage, shouldn't we consider... returning this empire to the Zhu family?"

The hall erupted in chaos.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

Prince Kang, Jieshu, was the first to jump out, his voice trembling: "This empire was won by the brave warriors of our Eight Banners with their lives, countless lives lost! Why should it be returned to those subjugated slaves?"

"Yes! Miao Tong is a traitor! He's bewitching the Emperor!"

Wadai gritted his teeth and clenched his fist: "How can we hand over the land of our ancestors?! Besides, it's against ancestral rules..."

"Is it another ancestral rule?"

Hong Xiguan snorted coldly, his gaze sharp as he stared intently at Wadai: "Wasn't Emperor Shunzhi an ancestor? His words are recorded in the Veritable Records, which are inviolable laws and ancestral rules. What, when it's in your favor, you keep talking about ancestral rules, but now that ancestral rules tell you to be honest and abide by contracts, you treat your ancestors' words like they're just farting?"

Zuzhi Gewadai, his neck stiff with pride, declared: "No matter what, the Qing Dynasty, established by the founding emperors Taizu and Taizong, must never be surrendered!"

Hong Xiguan pointed at Wadai's nose and cursed, "You bunch of people, you really don't treat our ancestors like human beings! You used their name, reaped their benefits, and now you want to treat their words as worthless paper? Do you want me to bear the infamy of 'betrayal' and have all the scholars in the world gossip about me behind my back?"

Wadai was completely stunned by the scolding, his mouth agape, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

The Han officials remained silent, but many of them had a glimmer of hope in their eyes, a hope that had been suppressed for thirty years.

The Imperial Tutor, Xiong Cili, was indeed experienced and saw through the Emperor's intentions. He boldly asked, "Then... according to Your Majesty's wishes, how should we follow this 'ancestral rule'?"

Hong Xiguan sat back on the dragon throne and sighed softly, "I have thought it over. Returning the entire country to the emperor would indeed be unfair to the soldiers who shed their blood on the front lines, but I cannot ignore our dynasty's promise to 're-establish a Ming heir to uphold the ancestral temples'!"

He paused, then dropped a bombshell that would send everyone reeling: "Since you've promised to continue the Ming dynasty's lineage, then my idea is... we must take some action. I think we should change the country's name to 'Great Ming,' and I will be the Emperor of the Great Ming from now on. This is called the Qing inheriting the Ming system, unifying the legal system. What do you all think?"

"Clang!"

An elderly Manchu scholar rolled his eyes and fainted.

"Your Majesty! You mustn't!"

"Our ancestors will jump out of their tombs!"

"This is a calamity that could wipe out our entire clan, Your Majesty!"

The Manchu nobles knelt down in unison, their cries deafening, as if Hong Xiguan were about to bury them all alive.

Just then, Tong Guowei, the Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard who had been standing by observing the wind direction, suddenly stepped forward.

As the emperor's "maternal uncle," and as the speculator who had seen the "Kangxi Emperor of the Ming Dynasty" porcelain plate in Xiamen and had completely decided to go all in on Hong Xiguan, Tong Guowei remained unusually calm.

"Everyone, don't rush to cry!"

As soon as Tong Guowei spoke, the crying subsided.

He turned to look at the group of royal princes, his tone calm yet carrying a strange logic:

"The Emperor changed the name of the country, not the ancestral name. The Emperor is still the Emperor, and your dukes are still dukes. Their stipends will remain the same, and their landholdings will remain the same. It's just a name change! Anyway, foreigners now only recognize the 'Great Ming' brand when buying porcelain. By changing the name, we can say 'keeping our promises and being virtuous enough to match the world,' which is a beautiful phrase that will be recorded in history. We won't lose out on this deal!"

As he spoke, Tong Guowei secretly gave the Emperor a thumbs up in his heart: "Such vision! This is true vision for the Emperor! Strip away the Qing Dynasty's shell and put on the Ming Dynasty's clothes, and the world will completely become the Han people's world, right? At that time, with the Emperor holding military power, wouldn't those Han generals treat the Emperor like their second parents? As for us Manchus who follow the Emperor... changing our roles as loyal subjects doesn't seem so bad."

Hong Xiguan was stunned when he heard Tong Guowei say this.

I never expected this thick-browed, big-eyed Manchu lackey to be so shrewd! He truly deserves to be my number one sycophant!

Good work deserves to be rewarded!

Tong Guowei's words caused a huge shock. Many Manchu nobles pointed at Tong Guowei and cursed him as a traitor to the Manchus, asking how he could say such outrageous things.

Some people saw the situation clearly and supported Tong Guowei, such as Yilibu, who had just been granted the title of First-Class Duke Zhaoyi. He knew that this was the emperor's will, so he immediately jumped out to support Tong Guowei.

For many years, Yilibu had been ostracized by the Manchu nobles. It was Hong Xiguan who transferred him to the position of Commander of the Upper Three Banners and appointed him as Minister of State Affairs. Now he has been granted the title of First-Class Duke and Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard, reaching the pinnacle of power. Even if the emperor wanted to change the name of the country, or even if he dug up the mausoleum of the founding emperor, Yilibu would not hesitate to personally grab a shovel!

Faced with the chaotic state of the court, Hong Xiguan waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, stop wailing! The Ministry of Rites should draft a plan for changing the country's name!"

He turned to look at Zhekune, the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy, who was completely dumbfounded: "Grand Secretary Zhekune, didn't you like to debate the distinction between Chinese and barbarians? Perfect, now that the country's name has been changed, we are all subjects of the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no more debate between Chinese and barbarians. You won't have to worry about losing to Miao Tong anymore. Are you satisfied now?"

Zhekune plopped down on the ground, his eyes vacant, muttering to himself, "It's collapsed... the sky has collapsed!"