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

Summer of the fifth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

The cicadas' chirping in the Forbidden City was so loud it was irritating.

Since accepting the surrender of the thirteen families of Kuidong, Hong Xiguan's mentality has changed.

With cards in hand, one naturally becomes more assertive. Although one still has to act subservient on the surface, this subservience becomes increasingly sophisticated.

He began to take the initiative.

Previously, he would agree with whatever Ao Bai said, but now he uses court assemblies to deliberately throw out some "poison pills" coated with sugar.

This morning's court session took place in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"My lords."

Hong Xiguan sat on the dragon throne, his face filled with compassion, holding a memorial in his hand, his voice soft and gentle:

"I have read the reports from Jiangnan. The coastal people are struggling to make a living due to the evacuation and sea ban, and there have even been tragic cases of people starving to death. My heart aches deeply... I am thinking, could we appropriately relax the sea ban and reduce some taxes so that the people can also have enough to eat?"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the Han officials in the court lit up.

This is benevolent governance! This is a sage ruler!

But Ao Bai, standing at the head of the military officers, suddenly raised his eyebrows like two sharp swords.

"No!"

Ao Bai took a step forward, and the floor seemed to tremble.

"Your Majesty! The evacuation of the border and the ban on maritime trade are national policies! They are to guard against the Zheng family's traitors in Taiwan! If the maritime ban is relaxed, it will give the traitors an opportunity! These Han Chinese are most adept at colluding with foreign enemies! Your Majesty is young and must not be blinded by the womanly compassion of those pedantic scholars!"

His shout made the entire hall reverberate.

Hong Xiguan shrank back abruptly, like a frightened rabbit, his face turning deathly pale, and he even shrank further into the dragon throne.

"Ao...Lord Ao, I...I was just speaking casually, why...why did you have to shout so loudly? You scared me to death."

His submissive and aggrieved demeanor was heartbreaking to see in the eyes of the court officials.

Especially the Han officials, seeing the young emperor being reprimanded by the powerful minister, dared not speak out in anger, and their hatred for Ao Bai deepened.

"I am doing this for the sake of the Qing Dynasty!"

Ao Bai didn't think he had done anything wrong at all; on the contrary, he felt the young emperor was too weak and needed to be disciplined strictly: "This matter is not to be mentioned again! Court adjourned!"

Good heavens, they've practically called for the emperor to adjourn the court.

……

After the court session, at Cining Palace.

Hong Xiguan ran to Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang with a wronged expression to complain.

"Grandmother...Lord Ao is too fierce. All I wanted to do was reduce the taxes for the people, and he yelled at me in court, saying that I was misled by pedantic scholars..."

As he spoke, he pulled a stack of incriminating material from his sleeve.

These were all secretly handed in by Suksaha, and they were all solid evidence of Aobai forming cliques for personal gain, oppressing his colleagues, and accepting bribes.

"Grandmother, look, this is what Suksaha presented. Aobai is outside..."

However, the scene of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's furious outburst that was expected did not occur.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang sat cross-legged on the couch, counting her prayer beads in her hand, without even lifting her eyelids.

"Xuan Ye!"

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang's voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger: "You have already assumed power."

Those six short words chilled Hong Xiguan to the bone.

"The affairs of the court are your concern as the emperor. I am an old woman and have long since ceased to concern myself with politics. If I cannot even control a single minister, how will I govern the entire realm in the future?"

Hong Xiguan was taken aback for a moment, then understood.

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was trying to maintain a balance, and also to temper him.

In her view, although Ao Bai was arrogant, as long as he did not rebel, he was just a vicious dog of Manchuria, and keeping him around would still make him bite people.

Moreover, if she were to help the emperor eliminate Ao Bai now, the emperor would never grow up and would forever remain under the protection of women.

Alright, so the old lady wants me to solo the dungeon!

Hong Xiguan put away his aggrieved expression, and his eyes instantly became clear.

"Grandson understands, Grandmother's words are wise."

Since we can't rely on the Empress Dowager, we'll have to form our own team.

……

Back at the Qianqing Palace, Hong Xiguan began to weigh his options.

The situation regarding the four regents is now quite clear.

Sony, that old tortoise, has been sick ever since his granddaughter became empress, and he's been waiting to die at home. It's obvious he wants to sit back and watch the two sides fight, without offending either of them.

Ebilun is a notorious opportunist, always siding with whoever is stronger. Now that Aobai is powerful, Ebilun has become Aobai's yes-man. Expecting him to turn against Aobai is like asking the sun to rise in the west.

All that's left is Suksaha.

This guy was the banner lord of the Plain White Banner, and the only one who dared to confront Ao Bai head-on in the imperial court.

This was not because Suksaha was particularly loyal, but because he and Aobai had irreconcilable class conflicts and historical hatred.

"The enemy of my enemy is the best cannon fodder."

Hong Xiguan tapped his fingers on the table, looking at Suksaha's name on the list, a cruel smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Besides Suksaha, he also needed to promote newcomers. Soetu and Mingzhu, these new generation of Manchu nobles, were ambitious and were the best candidates to counterbalance the old noble families.

Just then, Zhao Chang rushed in to report:

"Your Majesty, Sukesaha requests an audience! He says... he has a momentous matter to impeach Oboi!"

"Oh?" Hong Xiguan's eyes lit up. "Let him in! I was just looking for an excuse to start a group tour."

Suksaha slid to his knees as soon as he entered, holding a thick memorial in his hands, tears streaming down his face.

"Your Majesty! I have a memorial to present!"

"Your Majesty, I impeach the regent, Aobai! He disregarded the late Emperor's ancestral decree of 'perpetually prohibiting land enclosure,' acted lawlessly, and forcibly seized over 310,000 mu of land belonging to the Plain White Banner in the capital region and surrounding civilian lands! This has left tens of thousands of bannermen homeless and the people displaced! I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

Land grabbing case?

Hong Xiguan's eyes lit up, as if he were deep in thought.

Land enclosure was the most sensitive, bloody, and core interest dispute in the early Qing Dynasty.

When the Manchus entered the pass, they brought horsewhips with them. In order to establish themselves in Beijing, they carried out a large-scale land enclosure movement in the first year of the Shunzhi Emperor's reign.

The rules were simple and brutal: the Eight Banner soldiers would ride around on horseback, plant their flags, and that land was theirs. No matter who originally lived there, Han Chinese or anyone else, they were all kicked out, and anyone who resisted would be killed.

This is blatant plunder.

But there's a historical issue behind this.

When Dorgon was regent, he was the banner chief of the Plain White Banner. He was protective of his own and used his power to allocate the most fertile farmland in the surrounding areas of Beijing, such as Jizhou and Zunhua, to his Plain White Banner.

Although the Bordered Yellow Banner, where Aobai was located, was the emperor's personal army (the head of the three upper banners), Dorgon deliberately and disgustingly assigned him to the saline-alkali and rotten lands of Baoding and Hejian.

The people of the Bordered Yellow Banner had been holding this grudge for over a decade.

Later, Dorgon died and was purged. Although Emperor Shunzhi was also from the Bordered Yellow Banner, in order to stabilize the situation, he ordered a "ban on land enclosure" and forbade any further disturbances.

But Ao Bai did not swallow his anger.

Now that Emperor Shunzhi is gone and Aobai has seized power, he sees Sukesaha occupying good land while his own people are still farming rotten land, and he can no longer suppress his anger.

On what grounds?

I am now the First Regent! I want to change the territory!

Give up your good land in the Plain White Banner and give us our bad land in return!

This is the essence of this "land exchange case"—it's not about justice, but a belated brawl triggered by a dispute over the unequal distribution of spoils among robbers.