There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 51 The Perfect Old Man
Forbidden City, Hall of Nourishing Heart.

It was a rare occasion for Emperor Qianlong, the Ten Perfect Men of the Qing Dynasty, to move back here.

One point that many later Qing palace dramas deliberately overlooked is that the Manchu emperors rarely lived in the Forbidden City, but preferred to live in the Old Summer Palace.

Even when Emperor Yongzheng died, he died in the Old Summer Palace.

The Old Summer Palace was built in the late Kangxi period. At first, there was only the Old Summer Palace. Later, during the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, it was continuously expanded and incorporated into the Changchun Garden and the Qichun Garden, gradually forming the basic pattern of the three Old Summer Palaces.

The Old Summer Palace is not just a garden for viewing the scenery. In addition to the proper residential area (Jiuzhou Qingyan), it also has office areas for court sessions, the Grand Council, the princes' study, Buddhist temples, and all the other buildings that the Forbidden City should and should not have.

Even in terms of scale, it is much larger than the Forbidden City and costs more money.

The reason for this is very simple. People love to live in new houses. The palaces left over from the Ming Dynasty were already very old by the Qing Dynasty. After Yongzheng mourned for Kangxi in the Forbidden City for three years, he could not wait to move to the Old Summer Palace to live.

So, don’t just watch “The Legend of Zhen Huan” and think of it as nonsense.

Moreover, although the three main halls in the front of the Forbidden City are magnificent, the back garden is really cramped and narrow. It only takes a few minutes to tour the Imperial Garden (the harem buildings in the Ming Dynasty are less than a quarter of the front halls, which is indeed a bit small. This should be a rule passed down by Emperor Zhu).

Kangxi and Yongzheng lived in the Forbidden City for many years. By the time of Qianlong, he had almost completely forgotten about it. He lived in the Old Summer Palace 250 days a year, and from time to time he would go to the Mountain Resort in Chengde or go to the south of the Yangtze River for inspection. It can be said that he would not return to the Forbidden City unless it was an important occasion or a major festival.

The reason he came back now was because the New Year was approaching, and three months ago, Emperor Qianlong had officially issued an edict to appoint his fifteenth son, Aisin Gioro Yongyan, as the crown prince and move him to Yuqing Palace.

Qianlong summoned ministers from the Grand Council, the Cabinet, and the Southern Study to discuss matters in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and also allowed Crown Prince Yongyan to sit in.

The Qing Dynasty has now reached the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. Heshen, Fukang'an (currently fighting outside), Agui, Zhu Gui, Wang Jie and other important ministers and veteran officials are all old.

The first three sound familiar to everyone: Heshen, the greatest corrupt official in history; Fu Kang'an, the in-law of Empress Fucha (the late Emperor Qianlong's white moonlight), a military "genius" with outstanding military achievements; and Agui, the "Iron General" who destroyed the Dzungar Khanate and recovered Xinjiang.

Speaking of which, contrary to the stereotype of later generations, Heshen’s opponents in the party struggles during the Qianlong period were never the likes of Ji Xiaolan and Liu Yong. These two were not even worthy of carrying Heshen’s shoes.

Among the three people mentioned above, two were real rivals of Heshen: Fu Kang'an and Agui. The former was a relative of Heshen and had made great military achievements, so Heshen didn't dare to challenge him at all; the latter was Heshen's old superior, and he was promoted to the Zhengbai Banner because of his military achievements. His achievements, status, and qualifications were all a level higher than Heshen (Zhenghong Banner).

As for the last opponent, it was Wang Jie, a Han official. The reason this guy could become Heshen's opponent was all because of his integrity. Heshen wanted to deal with him, but he couldn't find any weaknesses or key points because Wang Jie was not corrupt or power-hungry. He was also a disciple of the emperor who was appreciated by Emperor Qianlong and promoted to the top scholar.

In addition to these important and senior ministers, the six ministers were also summoned to discuss the matter.

The Manchu Minister of Revenue, Fu Chang'an, was Fu Kang'an's brother and a relative of Heshen. The Han Minister of Revenue, Dong Gao, was the eldest son of the Minister of Works, Dong Bang'an, and a man who was very cautious and self-protective.

The Manchu Minister of Personnel, Baoning, was a member of the Plain White Banner of Mongolia and had no connection with Heshen because he was Mongolian. The Han Minister of Personnel, Liu Yong, was a famous "Grand Qing official".

The Manchu Minister of Justice Su Ling'a was a member of Heshen's party, and the Han Minister Hu Jintang was also one of them.

Helin, the Manchu Minister of Works and Heshen's brother, is currently absent because he is away with Fukang'an to pacify the Miao people. Peng Yuanrui, the Han Minister of Works, is temporarily in charge.

The Minister of Rites was Manchu Deming, and the Minister of Rites was Han Ji Xiaolan.

The Manchu Minister of War, Qing Gui, was a member of Heshen's faction, but he was a fence-sitter. The Han Minister of War, Zhu Gui, was serving as the Governor of Guangdong.

At first glance, except for a Mongolian, almost all of the six ministries were controlled by Heshen.

Qianlong glanced at him, a hint of fatigue beneath his graying beard. He said, "When I return to power next year, all memorials I submit will be addressed to the Retired Emperor. The memorials will be addressed to the Retired Emperor."

"Whoo!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Agui, Heshen and Wang Jie took the lead in receiving the imperial edict, followed by the six ministers and Manchu and Han ministers.

Crown Prince Yongyan, who was standing by and listening to the government, quickly followed his teacher Zhu Gui's instructions and said, "Khan Ama was a great ruler in his time, and his benevolence and good governance are comparable to the wise kings of ancient times!"

Qianlong nodded slightly. Although his expression did not change, there was a hint of relief in his eyes. As for this prince, although his qualifications were not very good, he was filial and kind, and was the most like a son.

Qianlong rarely taught: "Benevolence and good governance are important, but a ruler cannot only be benevolent, he must also have military prowess!"

"Your son will remember your instruction!" Yongyan nodded quickly.

After the two finished speaking, Heshen stepped forward to report on the matter. The main thing he reported was that Fukang'an and Helin were leading troops outside and had already conquered the Miao Tianxing Village and captured the Miao bandit leader Wu Bansheng.

Upon hearing the good news, Emperor Qianlong nodded in approval and issued an edict to confer the title of Prince Helin on the crown prince. He also rewarded Fu Kang'an and Helin with a yellow-lined black fox-shaped mask each. At the same time, he also issued an edict to provide relief to refugees in areas where the Miao rebellion had been quelled.

This was all a face-saving project, because wherever the Miao people were in chaos, the Qing soldiers would definitely kill nine out of ten households, especially when the troops were led by the extremely brutal Fukang'an.

It is called relief, but there are no common people in these places who can ask the government for relief. It is nothing more than an excuse for the lower-level officials to embezzle money.

However, providing relief to these Miao and Han people can be a face-saving project, but small-scale droughts have broken out in the three cities of Fengtian Jinzhou, Xiongyue, and Jinzhou outside the Liaodong Pass, and in the three counties of Ninghai. These are the foundations of the banner people and cannot be taken lightly.

Qianlong thought for a moment and said, "Instruct the military headquarters outside the Great Wall to provide relief to the bannermen as soon as possible and exempt them from taxes."

"Yeah!" Heshen responded.

After finishing the serious business and asking for grace and reward for the brother, a bunch of miscellaneous matters followed.

"Guangdong Governor Zhu Gui reports that he has received a tribute from the British merchant, Paul, to the King of England. Your Majesty, please make your decision!"

Qianlong nodded and said, "I approve it. I grant an imperial edict and send it to the British merchant, Bo Lang, to take back. I also want to use his letter to persuade the Gurkhas to surrender, and to inform them that no British troops are needed." "The Ryukyu Kingdom sent an envoy to announce the death of King Shangmu and request that his grandson Shangwen be appointed as the successor to the throne!"

Qianlong added, "I grant the King the imperial edict. Next year I will abdicate and become the Supreme Emperor. For the time being, I will not send an envoy to confer the title on you!"

……

The atmosphere in the hall was a little quiet because all the matters related to Heshen had been discussed.

Most of the Manchu ministers of the six ministries were Heshen's followers, while all the Han ministers were non-stick pans who were only concerned with protecting themselves.

This is also an old tradition of the Qing Dynasty. In order to prevent the Han people from controlling power, they directly set up a seat between Manchu and Han ministers. There were twelve regular ministers in the six ministries, and the number of those who held concurrent positions was even more complicated.

Strictly speaking, the Manchu and Han ministers are of equal rank, both are ministers, but the status of Manchu ministers is naturally higher than that of Han ministers, and this is consistent throughout, so the Han ministers can only be like non-stick pans, not caring about anything when encountering problems, just like clay sculptures of ministers.

During the sixty years that Qianlong was in power, he successively favored corrupt officials such as Li Shiyao and Heshen to amass wealth for himself. The six ministries, the cabinet, and the Southern Study had long been infiltrated by Heshen like a sieve.

It is said that Agui, Fukang'an and Wang Jie could compete with him, but even if these three joined forces, they could not defeat Heshen.

There is no way. Who made him good at making money and could help Qianlong make money?

In particular, in the 55th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, Heshen, in order to curry favor with Emperor Qianlong and make a fortune for him, proposed the Qing Dynasty's most audacious and successful system of paying a certain amount of silver to waive punishment. Officials who broke the law could be pardoned by paying a certain amount of silver. All the money collected was deposited into the Imperial Household Department treasury for Emperor Qianlong's use.

If this system continued, it was natural that a minister (Yin Zhuangtu) would want to impeach him, and then... this guy was dismissed from office and sentenced to death. Qianlong hypocritically said: "It's okay to treat it as a rule, it's not worth punishing him severely."

Yin Zhuangtu was spared the death penalty, and continued to make money by negotiating the fines.

Interestingly, after Yin Zhuangtu was exposed, Ji Xiaolan was about to plead for him because of their friendship, but was scolded by Emperor Qianlong: "I appointed you to be in charge of the Sikuquanshu because of your literary talent, but in fact I only appointed you as a prostitute. How dare you talk nonsense about state affairs!"

Now, Fukang'an is fighting outside to suppress the Miao people, and he has taken Helin with him, while Agui has already fallen asleep. He even ignores the collusion between his fellow clansman Qinggui and Heshen. Wang Jie is completely keeping a low profile, waiting for Qianlong to abdicate before taking action.

"Cough cough!"

Qianlong coughed twice, as if his throat was a little uncomfortable.

Heshen, realizing what Qianlong was hinting at, quickly changed the subject and said, "A White Lotus rebel has appeared in Hubei. His name is Nie Jieren. He is said to be a local landlord from Yidu County. He seized Jingzhou Prefecture the other day, and the prefect and other officials died for their country. Hubei Governor Huiling and Manchu Right Commander Chengde led the relatives of the Manchu Eight Banners to break out of the siege and have now fled to Wuchang Prefecture. At the same time, we impeach Huguang Governor Bi Yuan for fostering the enemy and draining the Hubei Green Camp and Eight Banners, leaving Jingzhou City's defenses vulnerable."

Qianlong had been indifferent at first, but now he finally took it seriously.

"Jingzhou is gone?"

Heshen replied, "This is a joint petition by Hubei Governor Huiling and Right Commander-in-Chief Chengde, along with a joint petition from relatives of the Eight Banners in the city, impeaching Huguang Governor Bi Yuan."

Qianlong pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Approved. According to the regulations, the Jingzhou prefect and other officials who died for their country will be posthumously honored, and the prefect will be granted the hereditary title of Third Class Light Cavalry Commandant."

After he finished his posthumous reward, he continued, "Bi Yuan's title of Governor of Huguang will be removed and he will be taken to the capital to await trial!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Yongyan, who was standing by, immediately stepped forward to plead for mercy.

"Khan, no! This impeachment is full of doubts. I request that someone be sent to conduct a thorough investigation!"

Qianlong shook his head. "Yongyan! This is a joint report from Hubei Governor Huiling and Right Commander-in-Chief Chengde, and also signed by all the Eight Banners relatives in Jingzhou. Therefore, this Huguang Governor Bi Yuan must be a corrupt official who perverts the law and harbors enemies to his own benefit."

Even with this explanation, Yongyan, who later became Emperor Jiaqing, naturally still didn't quite understand it, but seeing Qianlong's expression, he didn't say anything else.

Qianlong sighed inwardly. He could certainly see that there were problems with the memorials from Huiling and Chengde, but it was not important. What was important was that there was a joint signature from the Manchus in Jingzhou, and this was the crux of the problem.

Although the memorial did not give details, it was possible to break out, and the Manchus in Jingzhou must have suffered heavy casualties.

Someone must be held responsible for this matter. It cannot be the Manchus or the Eight Banners, but Bi Yuan, the Governor-General of Huguang.

Qianlong was not wrong. Whether Bi Yuan harbored enemies or not was not certain, but he was definitely corrupt and committed lawlessness, and he was extremely corrupt, and he was corrupt together with the former governor and the former governor.

Qianlong then asked, "The White Lotus sect is a fierce bandit. Who can go and quickly suppress the bandits?"

Heshen said, "I have read the report of the Miao army and found that General Fu Zhina of Zhenxian Town in Hunan is brave and good at fighting. He can be transferred to Jingzhou to lead the troops to assist in the suppression. We can also send reinforcements from all over Hubei and order the governor of Hubei to recruit soldiers and collect grain as soon as possible to cooperate in suppressing the bandits."

"Yes." Qianlong nodded.

Even if this matter was exposed, the White Lotus Sect's attack on the provincial capital seemed to have caused quite a stir, but in Qianlong's eyes it was nothing.

During the reign of Emperor Qianlong alone, there were many major battles. The change of the governor on the battlefield did attract some attention, but it was just a little attention. He was just a Han Chinese governor, so it was removed.

Even a famous general like Zhang Guangsi could be killed on the battlefield, let alone Bi Yuan, a Han governor. It was his honor to let him bear the blood debt for the Manchus. No one else was qualified to do so!
The most urgent task was to prepare for Jiaqing's ascension to the throne next year. This old man, who had accomplished all his merits after abdicating, had reigned for sixty years in a "prosperous era" and had not violated his previous promises, nor had he exceeded the reign of his grandfather, the Emperor Kangxi.

If Song Zhenzong had not brought discredit upon Mount Tai, Qianlong would have wanted to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth and show off his achievements.

Unfortunately, I went there three times and still couldn't bring myself to do it.

What a shame!

(End of this chapter)