An Old, Bewhiskered Friend Trinket returned from Nerchinsk to Peking in total triumph. All the chief ministers of state came out to the city gates to greet his carriage. He went immediately to see the Emperor, together with all the other mandarins who had accompanied him on his mission, including' Songgotu, Pengcun, Sabsu, and Lin Xingzhu. Kang Xi expressed his enormous pleasure at the success of the negotiations, and elevated Trinket (yet again!) to Duke of Luding First Class. There was nowhere higher for him to rise now, other than to a Princedom of the Realm. The others were also rewarded with appropriate promotions. In a private audience, Trinket gave a truthful enough account of the taking of Fort Albazin and the final settling of the border treaty. Kang Xi, to express his pleasure, gave presents for Trinket's wives and children, and threw a grand banquet for him that very evening. After the banquet, Trinket was carried home in great state, with a number of official criers clearing the way for him and others following in the rear. Suddenly, from the depths of his palanquin, he heard a very familiar voice, shouting from the roadside: There goes Trinket Wei-I know him! I'd know that little guttersnipe anywhere, the filthy, rotten knave, the dirty, ungrateful scoundrel!'

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