Chapter Fifty-Three

  Kangxi 49 years September Changchun Garden

  Since returning from Mongolia in August, Kangxi had been worried. Fujian's Zhang and Quan prefectures suffered a severe drought, with no harvest to speak of, but local officials embezzled disaster relief grain, resulting in many people starving to death on the roads. Upon hearing this, Kangxi was outraged and ordered Fan Shi-chong to serve as Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang to oversee disaster relief efforts. He also arranged for 300,000 dan of grain from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to be transported to Zhang and Quan prefectures in Fujian, and exempted the two prefectures from paying their remaining taxes for the year.

  The aftermath of this matter had not yet subsided when in September another case involving the Ministry of Revenue's embezzlement of silver for purchasing hay and beans broke out. After more than a decade, the total amount of embezzled silver reached over 400,000 taels, implicating 120 officials from former ministers to minor functionaries. Upon hearing the report, Kangxi was stunned and sat silently in his dragon throne for some time without uttering a word.

  The people we serve with lowered heads are extremely cautious, for fear of making any mistakes and inviting disaster. One day, after carefully cleaning up the tea utensils and leaving the tea house, I didn't go far before seeing the 13th prince's face looking anxious, as he was instructing several eunuchs including Wang Xi to do something. After finishing speaking, the eunuchs immediately dispersed in all directions.

  What could make the Thirteen Prince so anxious? Without being able to help himself, he quickened his pace and asked An: "What's happened?" The Thirteen Prince hastily replied: "The Emperor wants to see the Fourth Prince, but the Fourth Prince is nowhere to be found!" I muttered: "You don't even know where the prince is?"

  His face was tinged with a hint of sadness and anger, and he said to me in a low voice: "You weren't on duty at the palace today, so you don't know what happened earlier. Everyone was discussing how to deal with the Ministry of Revenue's deficit, but Fourth Brother and Emperor Kangxi had differing opinions. Emperor Kangxi scolded him, saying 'Your actions are cruel and heartless, lacking in kindness and generosity! You've wasted years reading the classics, without any sense of righteousness or noble character!' At that point, he ordered us to kneel down and take our leave!" I let out a soft "oh" and thought to myself, how could he, who usually kept a low profile and was cautious with his words, have had a direct confrontation with Emperor Kangxi?

  Thirteen took a deep breath and continued: "After Fourth Brother and I came out, he said he wanted to be alone for a while, so I went ahead. As soon as I left the garden, Wang Gonggong hurriedly came looking for me, saying that the Emperor wanted to see Fourth Brother again. The guards at the gate all said they hadn't seen Fourth Brother come out, so he must still be in the garden, and quickly ordered someone to go find him!"

  After finishing, he looked around and said urgently: "I don't know if I can find it or not in a short while." My heart moved slightly, and I quickly told Thirteen: "Follow me!" After saying that, I took quick steps. Thirteen followed closely behind, asking: "Where are we going?"

  I didn't answer, I just hurried along, and when I reached the lake shore, I bent down to look under the bridge pier. Sure enough, that small boat was gone! I let out a sigh of relief, turned around and smiled at Thirteen: "Fourth Master is probably on the lake!" After finishing speaking, I looked up towards the lake surface. Unlike last time when it was all green with just the tips of the flower buds showing, now the whole lake was covered in lotus flowers, although they had already begun to wilt and were slightly worn out, but still elegant and charming.

  Thirteen looked up and asked me how I knew that the Fourth Prince was on the lake, standing on the arched bridge, gazing out at the endless lotus flowers covering the entire lake, and sighed: "How can we find him?" I helplessly said: "We'll just have to take a boat and try our luck!" As I spoke, I quickly turned around and rushed out to call for someone to bring a boat.

  The boatmen brought the boat over, and as soon as the thirteen of them grabbed the oars and got on board, I hastily jumped up too. Before I could even sit down properly, he started rowing with great force.

  He rowed the boat, I kept shouting "Fourth King", the small boat circled around, but never heard anyone respond. The two of us were anxious in our hearts, he rowed even faster, I strained my throat, just shouting "Fourth King".

  "Four...", I suddenly saw the Fourth Brother rowing a boat and emerging from behind the lotus leaves of the Thirteenth Brother. I hastily called out to the Thirteenth: "Stop! Stop!", while pointing behind him.

  The thirteenth prince turned around and happily said: "Found you! The emperor wants to see you!"

  The fourth brother slowly stopped beside our boat, I hastily bowed to greet him, he glanced at me and calmly said to Thirteen: "Let's go back!" After finishing speaking, he took the lead in rowing away.

  Thirteen sat on the boat, his body motionless. I was just about to remind him to row when he suddenly clenched his fist and slammed it onto the shipboard, causing a chaotic rocking motion. I hastily grasped the side of the boat for support.

  His face was gloomy, his fists were clenched, and the veins on his forehead throbbed. After a while, he slowly relaxed his fists, picked up the oars, and quietly rowed after him.

  I gazed at him for a while, then turned my head to look at the figure in front of me. His back was straight, as if nothing could ever bring him down, but his thin and gaunt back seemed to be hiding a deep sorrow and desolation.

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  In the evening, in the room, I thought for half a day and finally went to find Yutan. I asked him quietly: "Why did Master Wan scold Fourth Prince today?" Yutan hastily replied in a low voice: "When discussing how to deal with the Ministry of Revenue's deficit, both Crown Prince and Eighth Beile said that these officials had no other faults besides this one, and they had been diligent for many years. It wouldn't be bad to let them off lightly. Master Wan had already agreed to let Crown Prince handle the matter, but Fourth Prince knelt down and requested a thorough investigation, severe punishment of the officials involved, saying that being lenient would only condone their corruption. He listed the embezzlement and bribery in the officialdom over the years, saying it was getting worse and worse, and even the folk songs sang 'Nine heavens supply taxes to Donghai, all nations' gold and jewels are offered to the emperor'. The Emperor was furious, scolded Fourth Prince, and ordered him and Thirteen A'ge to kneel down!"

  I nodded and asked, "What did the Emperor say when he summoned the Fourth Prince later?" Yutan hesitated before saying, "He didn't say much, just instructed the Fourth Prince and the Fourteenth Prince to assist the Crown Prince in investigating this matter!"

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  Not yet on the second floor, I saw the fourth brother with his hands behind his back, leaning against the railing and standing in the wind, his robe fluttering, thirteen leaning on the railing, both of them silently looking outside.

  I hastened to slow down my pace, wanting to quietly retreat downstairs, but the Thirteenth had already turned his head towards me. I had no choice but to step forward and bow in greeting. The Fourth Prince seemed not to have heard, his body unmoving, his head unturned. The Thirteenth raised a hand in my direction, patting the spot beside him, indicating that I should sit. I smiled at him, rose from my bow, and walked over to stand beside him, gazing out at the layers of trees below, their colors a mix of yellow, red, and green: "What a wonderful place to take in the view!"

  Neither of them spoke, so I just stood there quietly. Just as I was about to leave, suddenly Shi San asked: "Ru Xi! Do you think corrupt officials should be severely punished?" I let out a surprised "ah" and looked at Shi San in confusion, but he still had his back turned, leaning against the railing with an expression that couldn't be seen. Thinking of this case of corruption, I smiled and said: "I'm just a palace maid, how would I know what to do? Thirteenth Brother, don't tease me!"

  Thirteen looked at me with a smile that wasn't quite a smile and said, "Don't try to fool me! I roughly know how much stuff is in your brain!" After finishing speaking, he just stared at me.

  I furrowed my brow, thought for a moment and said: "Since ancient times, the two words 'corruption' have always been followed by 'perverting the law'. Embezzling people's money is detestable! But what's even more hateful is 'perverting the law', for the sake of personal gain, it's inevitable that there will be collusion between superiors and inferiors, mutual cover-ups, violation of laws and discipline. There are even cases of taking lives, deceiving heaven and earth."

  Thirteen faintly said: "Don't play too much, answer the question!" I pondered for a moment and felt that Thirteen was not quite right today, seemingly full of anger. It's better to speak the truth: "Of course it should be handled strictly! Otherwise, once corruption starts, the official system will become chaotic, officials won't be officials, and in the end, the people will suffer."

  Thirteen smiled slightly and nodded, beckoning me to lean in. I bent down to listen, and he asked: "If it were Ninth Brother who had committed the crime, what would you do?"

  I was taken aback and said, "Whatever will be, will be!"; Thirteen curled up the corner of his mouth and said in a low voice, "You can't really believe 'The prince breaks the law and is punished equally with commoners', do you?";

  Alas! Today, thirteen must be forced to the wall corner! After some thought, I said seriously to thirteen: "Let him return all the silver he took away, beat him severely with a board, let him not get out of bed for half a year, and punish him to beg on the street for three months, let him experience how poor people live. From now on, also understand 'putting oneself in another's shoes'! As for those who commit crimes, all will be heavily punished, warning others, no one can protect lawbreakers. From then on, I'm afraid he won't even think about being greedy again!"

  Thirteen smiled and nodded, saying: "You've come up with a clever plan! But you'd better remember what you said today!" I looked at him for a moment and asked: "Is this matter related to Ninth Brother?" He replied: "Not for now. Today, the Emperor has already said 'this matter will stop here, officials involved will be exempt from interrogation, as long as they pay their due'."

  Kangxi actually handled such a large corruption case, just letting the officials return the silver and that's it? I couldn't help but stand there in stunned silence. Thirteen sighed: "Just on the surface, they've already found over 400,000 taels of silver! A good field only costs 7 to 8 taels of silver, one more tael is enough for a common family of five to eat and wear for a month!"

  "It flashed through my mind that this amount could feed and clothe about 2 million people for a month! Thinking of the natural disasters and deaths from starvation in recent years, I have nothing more to say. Although it's detestable that modern officials are corrupt, compared to ancient times, it's still relatively mild. After all, with advanced productivity, corruption won't lead to starvation. Nowadays, it's truly a matter of exchanging people's lives for silver and enjoyment."

  The Fourth Prince seemed to have come back to his senses, turned his head and said to Thirteen: "Things are already over, what's the use of thinking about it?" Thirteen tapped on the railing, opened his mouth as if to speak, but stopped. In the silence, there was only the sound of tapping growing more urgent.

  I followed the two of them down from the loft, just about to bid farewell, when the Fourth Prince said calmly to Thirteen: "You go back first!" Thirteen glanced at me, nodded and turned around to leave with big strides.

  The fourth brother ordered: "Follow me!" and quickly walked towards the forest, I glanced at his back for a while, then followed him. He entered the forest, turned around and stood still, one hand took out a small wooden box from his bosom and handed it to me, saying: "I had intended to return it to you as soon as I came back from Saiwai, but so many things delayed me!" I looked at the wooden box in his hand, roughly knowing what was inside, and found that after circling around, I had returned to the original place.

  He looked at me, just staring at the wooden box, but didn't reach out to take it, nor did he speak. His hand remained stubbornly stretched out. The two of us stood there for a while, and I said softly: "I won't accept!" His hand didn't move, he just stared at me fixedly, his gaze seemed to be piercing directly into my heart, with a hint of sourness and coercion.

  He suddenly looked at me with a surprised expression, and exclaimed: "Fourteenth brother?!" I was startled, didn't care about anything else, looked at the wooden box in front of me, and my instant reaction was to hurriedly snatch it over, hastily hiding it in my arms. After calming down, I mustered up the courage to turn around and pay respects.

  "Is nobody there?! I was stunned for a moment, and after carefully scanning the surroundings again, there was still no one! It wasn't until then that my mind reacted and I realized I had been deceived! I suddenly turned around, looked at him and shouted: "You cheated me?!" For an instant, it wasn't anger, but rather disbelief!"

  He sneered and said, "It actually works! You're really afraid of fourteen?" I muttered, "Not afraid, but..." Shaking my head, I didn't say anything more.

  After a moment of silence, he suddenly reacted and quickly took out the box, wanting to return it to him. He glanced at me sideways and walked away quickly. I hurriedly ran after him. Without turning his head, he said: "Do you plan on chasing me all the way out of the garden? That would probably make Fourteenth Brother really see us!"

  My footsteps slowed down and I stopped, watching as he walked away with big strides.