by Poon, Alice;
“Calm down, Regent Oboi,” said Kangxi in a flat tone, “The memorial is substantiated by evidence and witnesses. As for executing Scholar Hung, it is out of the question. He has done nothing but speak the truth.”
“Then are you going to throw me into jail?” Oboi bellowed.
“I wish the Court to deliberate on this and present a decision.” He looked over at the Court officials. “Have you come to any conclusion?”
No one dared to utter a word. Silence sailed from the four walls. But Kangxi knew better than press the issue at that moment. He had intended to use the memorial to test the waters and now he had the answer. Shrewdly, he adjourned the meeting to a future date.
He then convened a secret meeting with all the Han Ministers and Court Officials who, in the absence of Oboi, all expressed earnest approval of the memorial.
The Verbiest investigation, on the other hand, which had the full backing of a commission whose members Kangxi had hand-picked, went ahead smoothly. The Court Magistrate who had presided in the case and those who had backed him were found guilty of falsifying charges against Schall von Bell, and were sentenced to imprisonment or exile. Schall von Bell was exonerated. But apart from causing Oboi some slight embarrassment, this did nothing to restrict his power one bit. By that time, Schall von Bell had already been dead for over two years. On Bumbutai’s recommendation, Kangxi ordered that he be given a belated grand funeral, and he personally wrote a long epitaph for his tomb eulogizing his contributions to the Qing Empire.
While Court matters were not all going smoothly, the young Kangxi did not let the setbacks dishearten him. In his free time he would go hunting in South Park, or read Chinese poetry with his Empress. After all, he still possessed the magic of youth and was in robust health. Lively as he was, thoughts of posterity were a constant source of vexation. His Empress of almost four years had not yet given him a son.
It had always been his secret regret that there had been no strong male figure in his life to look up to. He had hardly known his own father, and his only elder brother, Fuquan, was too pampered to be a good role model for him. Fathering a large family of his own thus became almost an obsession. Often he would fantasize about how he would select from his sons the most talented ones and personally mentor them. They could be his loyal friends and could assist him in his imperial duties. In time, he would groom the best to be the heir… Such were his cherished dreams.
Not long after his wedding, he had fallen for a beautiful woman from his harem, Concubine Hui from the Manchu Nalan clan. She was Mingju’s niece and a cousin of Mingju’s son Xingde, a talented poet. Her alluring beauty and dancing skills cast a spell on Kangx.
It was a lovely early spring evening, the air buoyant with the trilling of birds as they darted back and forth from their nests. Kangxi strolled from his Residence, feeling relieved after having completed a hard day’s work. His thoughts strayed to Concubine Hui and he quickened his steps toward the West Palace where she resided. As he approached the front garden, he heard a male voice conversing with his Concubine. Kangxi strode in and Xingde jumped up from a bench, startled. He had been sitting side-by-side with Concubine Hui. His face turned crimson and, after making quick obeisance, scurried away. Kangxi knew Xingde to be a very shy man but was still surprised by his precipitous retreat.
“What were you two talking about?” he asked casually.
“…. Nothing much… just poetry,” the Concubine stammered a little, apparently discomfited by Kangxi’s unexpected appearance. He was suspicious now, but didn’t want to reveal it on his face. Then he noticed a white kerchief with some writing on it lying on the stone garden table beside them. He picked it up and saw it was a love poem written in seven-character regular verse, eight lines in total. Concubine Hui’s face turned ashen and she dropped on her knees.
“Your Imperial Highness, there is nothing between Xingde and me,” she half-pleaded, half-sobbed. “You have to believe me!”
“I know you two were close in your childhood,” he replied, beset by a wave of jealousy. He threw the kerchief down on the table.
“Since becoming your concubine, I have laid down the past and have never given a thought to him. I promise you that I will never allow him to enter this Palace again.”
Her shaky but earnest voice had an effect on him.
“I know I can trust you, Hui’er. But can I trust him?” Kangxi was struggling between a sense of inviolable male vanity and a sense of fair judgment. But unable to put his doubts aside, he chose not to stay the night with her as he had planned. He left Concubine Hui and headed to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility to look for comfort in his Empress.
A month later, having mulled the situation with a cool head, Kangxi decided that Xingde was an honorable man, albeit lovelorn, and that he had no cause to doubt either him or Concubine Hui. Yet it didn’t escape him that Xingde was an acclaimed poet and literary talent, aside from being very handsome. One night Kangxi summoned Concubine Hui to his bed chambers. As soon as the lovemaking was over, he presented her with a seven-character quatrain that he had earlier written in Chinese, expressing his affections for her. The short verse was simple in style and form, unpretentious in tone.
Reading it over and over as if it had cast a spell on her, she was speechless for a long while. Savoring the sentiment that Kangxi had poured into the writing, she silently cried. He gazed into her unshielded eyes and knew for certain that his suspicions had been unnecessary. They held hands throughout the night, their love bond renewed. Meanwhile, he secretly vowed that he would appoint the best Han scholars to be his teachers to help him master Chinese language and literature.
Early the following year, both his Empress and Concubine Hui would each deliver him a son. But to his desolation, both would die in their infancy. The sad events would reinforce for him the notion of having an expanded harem, not for pleasure, but for reproduction’s sake.
Events at at Court were also moving, albeit slowly, and the air was thick with a sense of foreboding. One early summer day, Oboi wrote a message to Kangxi asking for permission to be excused from attending Court for an indefinite period, citing ill health. His intention was to test how Kangxi would react. Three days later on a sunny afternoon, having given a day’s advance notice, Kangxi appeared at Oboi’s residence with three bodyguards. He was paying the ill Regent a compassionate visit. True to form, the healthy-looking Oboi did not bother to rise from his bed to make obeisance to the Emperor. Kangxi didn’t let this snub discomfit him the slightest. He approached the bed, and courteously conveyed his get-well wishes. Then, seating himself on a stool a few steps from the bed, he started chatting about trivial things.
While they were talking, one of Kangxi’s bodyguards suddenly jumped forward.
“It’s a blade!” he shouted, pointing to the end of the bed where a pile of quilts lay. One of the other two guards dashed forward and fished out a dagger with a gilded hilt, inscribed with Oboi’s name.
The commotion jolted the supine Oboi into an upright position. He knew he could be immediately arrested for an attempted assassination of the Emperor. The three guards would have pounced on him, had Kangxi not ordered them to stand down.
“I apologize for my guards’ ignorance,” he said soothingly with a smile. “They should know that it is the habit of every Manchu warrior to carry a weapon at all times. There is no call for alarm.”
Even so, it took some time for the Regent to calm himself after this stunning drama. He was confused. He had a habit of stashing a couple of daggers in his bed, one under his pillow and one under the quilts, but he thought he had removed them the previous day in anticipation of the Emperor’s visit. All his house servants and maids had strict orders never to touch his daggers. It was also true, though, that lately his memory sometimes played tricks on him.
In a much more polite tone now, he assured the Emperor that it was his grave oversight to let a weapon lie
about on the day of his visit.
“Let’s not dwell on this triviality,” Kangxi replied. “The reason I have come to see you is actually to try and persuade you to attend Court as soon as you feel a little better, because there are a couple of urgent matters that I need your expert advice on.” Kangxi’s tone was steady and he watched Oboi’s face closely.
“Your Imperial Highness, I am always at your service. My physician will be coming later to check on me. But no matter what he says about my condition, my duties always come first. I will make every effort to attend Court the day after tomorrow.”
With this, the Emperor and his guards left the mansion. Once inside his carriage, Kangxi’s lips curved in a faint smile.
Oboi appeared in the Audience Hall as he had promised. He tramped over the golden brick flooring with his usual swagger, his sheathed sword dangling by his side. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The usual bunch of rowdy kids were wrestling with each other in the flanking sections of the hall. The usual wave of somber Court-attired officials occupied the middle section. The Emperor appeared stiff in his sitting posture.
The throne is obviously too large for this lanky kid, Oboi thought contemptuously. The Ministers will never take him seriously. The Qing Empire needs a resolute leader, not a naïve suckling.
He almost pitied the poor lad and stifled a chuckle rising in him.
But sometimes things were not as they seemed.
He waded as usual through the throng of blue-robed Courtiers, who moved quickly to let him pass. When he got to his reserved spot right in front of the marble steps leading up to the dais, he heard three loud handclaps and wondered where they came from. Just then, five of the wrestling kids lunged at him like a pack of wolves, three from one side and two from the other. Before he had time to figure out what was happening, they had pinioned him, and the Courtiers were scampering away from the brawl.
One robust lad snatched the sword from Oboi’s belt and flung it far away. Oboi tried with brute force to shake off the four brawny wrestlers clutching each of his limbs. Even at his advanced age, he had the feral energy of two hardy warriors. But the buku kids were well-trained and just as ferocious in muscular strength. They yanked him down, pinning him hard on the floor and with lightening speed and practiced agility, they tied his hands behind his back and bound his feet with thick ropes.
“How dare you? Who are these kids?” he rasped. “Release me at once!”
Kangxi, wearing a grave expression, said loudly:
“If you must know, they are my bodyguards. Regent Oboi, you are under arrest on thirty counts of charges, seven of them treasonous.”
“What treasonous crimes are you accusing me of? I have served the Empire all my life and I was loyal to the two late Emperors. How dare you say such ungrateful things to me?”
He was yellng with the full force of his lungs, his forehead throbbing with blue veins.
“Your most nefarious crimes include a brazen assassination attempt on my life only two days ago, the murder of Regent Suksaha and his family in my name, the private execution out of vengeance of the former Minister of Revenue and his subordinates for having opposed your land exchange proposal and the operation of a clique aimed at overriding my imperial power,” said Kangxi in a calm voice. “These are in addition to all the crimes listed in the memorial prepared by Scholar Hung.”
The Emperor turned to Mingju, the Minister of Punishments.
“Minister Mingju, will you please read out the list of charges against Oboi, the list of his accomplices and…...”
Before he could finish his sentence, Oboi erupted in a raucous laugh.
“Ahh, so you’ve learned my trick!” He snorted. “I see you are a good imitator….”
Oboi had no doubt that Kangxi had planted spies in his residence.
Mingju ignored Oboi and did as he was told. When he had finished reading the list, Kangxi turned to the full Court.
“Ministers, I now ask you to be judge. Do you find Oboi guilty or not guilty of the said charges?”
“Guilty!” the previously quiet audience gave out a roar.
“Does he deserve a death sentence?”
“Yes, he does! Yes, he does!” the even-louder roar ricocheting from the walls.
“I hear you. But in order to give Oboi and his fourteen principal accomplices a fair trial, I will delegate the responsibility to the Privy Council and allow them to consider the verdicts and recommend the appropriate sentences. Upon their guidance, I will then make the final decision. Songgoto,” Kangxi added in an authoritative voice, “take the prisoner to jail and arrest his accomplices.”
He was certain that the Privy Council would now switch allegiance back to himself. But as a safety measure, he would have Mingju preside every Council meeting and oversee all the trial procedures.
Bumbutai had all this time been behind the painted partition at the back of the throne, listening intently to the whole proceedings. When the session adjourned and Kangxi retired to the rear chambers, she gave him a tight, congratulatory embrace. He became emotional and cried on her shoulder in cathartic relief. When he had settled down, she said gently to him:
“You are a marvel, Xuanye. We’ve finally done it. But we must not relax as there are still many loose ends to tie up. There’s a lot of damage to be repaired.”
“Nana, I couldn’t have done this without your sagacious advice and support. You are my goddess,” he said modestly as he wiped away his tears, still shaken by the traumatic experience.
“When you consider the sentencing, you should bear in mind that Oboi did serve your father and grandfather well as a loyal Bannerman,” she said. “As for his accomplices, try not to turn the purge into a bloodbath. Where forgiveness is possible, forgive. The strongest of men are the ones who can forgive, Xuanye. A kind ruler is an invincible ruler.”
His grandmother’s advice agreed with his instincts perfectly. Though he believed in severe punishment for heinous crimes, he was generally disposed to the idea of rehabilitating criminals.
After twelve days of deliberation, the Privy Council recommended that Oboi, Ebilun and all fourteen of the principal accomplices named and ten other senior clique members be sentenced to death, with their property and assets confiscated and their women and children enslaved.
After consideration, Kangxi commuted many of the sentences. He decreed that Oboi be incarcerated for life, Ebilun be reprieved but censured for aiding Oboi, nine principal accomplices who were of ministerial rank be put to death because of their reckless murder of innocents, with the remaining offenders each sentenced to a hundred lashes. Their families would all be spared. Thereafter, Kangxi granted a general amnesty for all those who had been involved in Oboi’s clique and its affairs. Due to his magnanimity, a great number of Oboi’s followers thereupon welcomed the young Emperor into their hearts.
In the following couple of years, Kangxi acted swiftly to address cases of social injustice, including harsh penalties for tax evasion and illegal land grabs. He also moved to implement equal emoluments for Manchu and Han government officials who occupied the same rank. Then he issued an imperial edict banning Manchu aristocrats from seizing Han farmers’ land. He reinstated the civil service examinations which Shunzhi had put in place but which the Oboi regency had obviated. He also revived the Hanlin Academy and made Scholar Hung Chili its head.
On the administrative side, he was cautious to only promote those in whom he had the most trust. Songgoto was made Grand Secretary, Mingju, Chief of the Imperial Household Department and Tuhai, Minister of Revenue. These three Manchu aristocrats had all been his loyal Senior Imperial Guards. To reward Scholar Hung for writing the anti-Oboi memorial, he appointed him Minister of Rites.
Despite his efforts to show himself to be a benevolent ruler to the largely Han society, Kangxi could not but sense that many Han scholars had been so ill-treated by the Manchus during
the Dorgon and Oboi Regencies that they still resented the Qing rulers, let alone having any desire to serve as Court officials. To remedy this, he initiated a project documenting the Ming dynastic history, in the hope of enticing Ming scholars to engage in a positive way. He hoped that such a project would be viewed as a gesture of respect for Han society.
Not forgetting his grandmother’s comment about the need for a Manchu version of Extended Meaning of The Great Learning, he assigned the Bureau of Translators under the Hanlin Academy to translate the book into Manchu. He wanted the translated book to be read by all Manchu Princes and officials.
To inculcate Confucian values throughout society, he issued a Sacred Edict containing sixteen maxims based on Confucian ideology, to be studied and observed by all subjects. The Sacred Edict was widely distributed in the form of posters to all towns and villages. Twice a month, local officials would read aloud and explain the sixteen maxims at a public audience.
When the Bureau of Translators presented Kangxi with a Manchu edition of his favorite book, he ordered a leather-bound copy to be made immediately. One day a month later, in the early hours of dawn, he took the beautifully-bound copy with him to Cining Palace. Words could not describe her joy when Bumbutai saw the book.
“My dear Xuanye, my dear dear child,” she said emotionally, taking his hands in hers. “Words fail me…. This book is of such great value, and now because of your initiative, it can nourish the minds of our Manchu subjects. I am so proud of you. I will reward the translators with a thousand silver bars for their invaluable work. You, my dear grandson, as always and ever, have my unalloyed love and adoration!”
Twenty-seven
Soon after the removal of his formidable enemy, a second crisis surfaced in Kangxi’s young life. He began to feel the lurking threat of the three powerful warlords who occupied the fertile regions of south and southwestern China. The Lords were Wu Sangui in Yunnan, Shang Kexi in Guangdong and Geng Jingzhong in Fujian.
