There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 59 The First Year of Jiaqing
The first day of the first lunar month in the first year of Jiaqing (the sixty-first year of Qianlong’s reign).

The reign titles of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty were very "particular". It is said that Qianlong reigned for 61 years, but in fact it is really hard to say.

Because according to the edict issued by the old man Shiquan himself, Jiaqing was established as the successor emperor at the end of the 60th year of Qianlong's reign, and he officially changed the era name and ascended the throne the following year, which is today.

But in reality, Jiaqing ascended the throne and changed the reign title, and then Qianlong abdicated and became the emperor emeritus. After that, the civil and military officials of the Manchu court, important officials of the Eight Banners, and Mongolian princes continued to submit memorials to Qianlong, and the original "×× kowtows and respectfully wishes the emperor good health" was changed to "×× kowtows and respectfully wishes the emperor emeritus good health."

(In this picture, Yongzheng changed the word "slave" to "minister", implying that Yang Zongren was unworthy, and also commented that "it is appropriate to call you a minister" to show his magnanimity)

Then again, that's not too far-fetched.

What is really outrageous is that the palace's calendar and daily records also use "the 61st year of Qianlong's reign" instead of "the first year of Jiaqing's reign."

(Just kidding, Qianlong reigned for 63 years.doge)

However, it is said that in the general's mansion in Jingzhou, Nie Yu rarely slept until noon.

I have been busy with the rebellion these past few months and have hardly been able to sleep well every day. Fortunately, after traveling through time, my body has become much stronger than before, and I am at the age when I am most energetic and have nowhere to vent.

"Young master, you're up now. I'll bring you some water to wash up." The maid Xiaohong said hurriedly when she heard the noise in the house.

Nie Yu was somewhat helpless: "Xiaohong, I have told you many times that you are no longer a slave of my Nie family. You don't need to call yourself a slave anymore, and you don't need to call me Master anymore."

The maid Xiaohong blinked her watery eyes: "But the young master is the young master! Daddy said that I must remember the young master's kindness and serve him wholeheartedly, and..."

At the end of his speech, his voice unconsciously became softer and his cheeks turned red.

After hearing this, Nie Yu stopped talking. He knew what Uncle Liu (the housekeeper) was thinking.

The drunkard's intention is not to drink!

As mentioned before, his personal maid Xiaohong was the only daughter of Uncle Liu, the housekeeper. She was sent to be his personal maid with the intention of making her his concubine.

Uncle Liu has followed his father for most of his life and grew up with him. He has been dedicated and always at his beck and call, and has worked his way up from a personal servant to the manager of the Nie family. He has a close relationship with the Nie family.

Uncle Liu has no sons, only one daughter. It is unlikely that he can marry her as his principal wife, but she is more than qualified to be his concubine. It can be regarded as a closer relationship with Uncle Liu and a reward for his hard work over the years.

But now, Nie Yu has embarked on a great cause to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Han Dynasty. In order to unite as much human and material resources as possible, he first distributes land and registers the refugee tenants, dismantles the clan landlords, and then takes the lead in liberating domestic slaves and restoring them to hired workers.

This is not shocking, because almost all founding emperors of previous dynasties have done similar things. For example, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty issued an edict prohibiting the powerful from owning slaves and prohibiting local governments from engaging in human trafficking.

Strictly speaking, until the early years of the Qing Dynasty, human teeth were considered illegal and anyone caught doing so would be exiled or beheaded.

The reason they did this was very simple, which was simply to increase the labor force and the population under their rule. This included the famous "Three Martial Destructions of Buddhism", which was essentially because the people all became monks to avoid taxes and no one farmed the land.

Don't be surprised or think that the ancients could not implement the "equality for all" policy, because their underlying logic was not for "equality", but to allow more people to farm for the dynasty. The slave-holding behavior of the wealthy families actually affected normal farming.

Nie Yu collected his thoughts. Xiaohong came in with a basin of water. She reached out to wring out the wet wipes and was about to stand on tiptoe to wipe his face.

"Ouch~!"

Xiaohong screamed because Nie Yu grabbed her little hand.

"Haha, I'll do the washing myself!"

Nie Yu took the wet wipes very naturally and wiped his face three times according to his habit in his previous life, which was considered washing his face.

Xiaohong's ears turned red, and she hesitated for a long time before turning around and jogging to get the toothbrush (they were available in this era, but Nie Yu bought one himself, mainly because he was not used to it).

After a while.

Nie Yu brushed his teeth and wiped his face with a towel. He felt refreshed and the initial embarrassment had disappeared.

"Xiao Hong."

"Master, I'm here." "Xiaohong, I told you that you are no longer a slave. From now on, you can call yourself "I" instead of "slave."

"But……"

Nie Yu smiled and said, "Well, Xiaohong, you grew up with me, Young Master. I don't even know your name yet."

"To answer the young master, I... I don't have a name. Before I came to the young master, my father often called me young mother." Xiaohong wanted to call herself a "slave", but when she saw Nie Yu's expression, she quickly changed her words.

Nie Yu continued to smile and said, "In that case, I will call you Young Lady from now on!"

Youniang, to be honest, is not really a name, but more of a maiden name.

The so-called "waiting for a courtesy name in the boudoir" means that after a girl gets married, she has to choose a new courtesy name to use when communicating with others, while her boudoir name can only be used within the family.

Nie Yu now asked Xiao Hong's maiden name, his attitude was already very clear: "Alright, come with me to have dinner!"

As he said that, he pulled Xiaohong, who was already shyly lowering her head, and went to the living room.

Anyway, he has figured it out. Youniang has been his personal maid since childhood, and they have a very close relationship. Even if he really lets her leave the house, it will be difficult for her to get married.

Nie Yu is not a scumbag, nor is he an idealist. He knows that in the future he will either be executed along with his entire family, or he will become emperor.

Monogamy was destined to be impossible for him. Now it was nothing more than an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks, and it could also tie Uncle Liu firmly to his Nie family's anti-Qing chariot.

When he came to the living room and saw Xiaohong being pulled into the house by Nie Yu, Nie Jieren did not feel disgusted, but smiled instead. At least his efforts were not in vain, as he had come all the way from Yidu to pick her up.

Old Liu! I, your master, have done my best to live up to your expectations.

"Dad, Happy New Year!" Nie Yu bowed with a smile.

They went up to pay New Year's greetings as usual, which was not much different from later generations. It might also be that Nie Yu's family was too country bumpkins and did not understand the rules of the wealthy families in the city.

Nie Jieren was very happy and distributed copper coins.

This is a tradition of celebrating the New Year in the Ming and Qing dynasties, where copper coins are distributed directly to younger generations and servants to express New Year greetings.

The concept of red envelopes only officially appeared during the Republic of China. They don't exist yet, and their main purpose is not to give money, but just to get a good start in the new year.

Afterwards, Xiaohong was pulled over by her father to talk alone. It was obvious that he was not treating her like an ordinary maid. Nie Yu was too lazy to ask about it since he had already let her go anyway.

When we arrived at the front hall of the General's Mansion, we saw that all the civil and military officials and generals who could come had come, and everyone had a happy face.

It's the New Year, even if you are a rebel, you have to be happy.

It should be said that in today's Hubei, the only area that can celebrate the New Year in such a peaceful way is probably Jingzhou.

Other places were either in rebellion, in turmoil, or the pseudo-Qing government was suppressing the people to the point where they could not survive.

"Your humble servants and I respectfully wish the General and the old master a long and healthy life, and great military success!"

Led by Feng Xiuyong, a large group of civil officials and military generals bowed and spoke auspicious words.

Nie Yu also raised his hand and responded with a smile, and distributed the New Year's money he had prepared in advance one by one.

At the same time, the army had already made arrangements and issued orders. They should have started having a meal and eating meat, and taking the New Year's bonus money. These were not some lucky charms, but real bonus money and military pay, as well as the opportunity to eat meat in big mouthfuls.

After everyone finished their New Year's greetings according to the rules, they started to discuss formal matters (working overtime during the New Year).

……

　This chapter is a transition!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)