Qing Yao

Chapter 182 Master, my dog ​​has been beaten!

The capital city was covered in a heavy snowfall yesterday, turning the city into a silver-white wonderland overnight.

The heavy snow inspired the old master, who had just celebrated his 80th birthday, to write poetry. Early in the morning, he summoned the eunuchs to tell the fifteenth prince, Prince Jia, his favorite minister Heshen, Grand Councilor Dong Gao, Vice Minister of Personnel Liu Yong, and the youngest prince, the seventeenth prince Yonglin, to accompany him to visit Fengze Garden.

Fengze Garden was specially built by the great-grandfather, Emperor Kangxi, in hopes of a bountiful harvest for the Qing Dynasty every year. However, the name of the garden was written by the great-grandfather's grandson.

The previous plaque was blown away by strong winds because of its age.

Prince Jia, Yongyan, had just returned from paying respects to his elder brother, Crown Prince Duanhui. To make up for his "unfilial" failure to understand his father's heart, Yongyan specially wrote a poem to mourn his deceased elder brother and wept bitterly at his brother's grave.

The old master was delighted to hear this and ordered the Imperial Household Department to allocate a pawnshop to Prince Jia's residence.

Because it was a last-minute decision, the procession was kept simple, with only a hundred or so guards and a dozen or so eunuchs escorting the old master over.

The old man was old and his legs were not very strong, so he was carried in a sedan chair by sixteen people. There was a charcoal stove in the sedan chair, and people inside felt as if they were bathed in a spring breeze and did not feel cold at all.

Upon receiving the notification, the princes and ministers went directly to Fengzeyuan to wait.

As soon as the old master arrived, the princes and ministers came to kowtow. The old master smiled and told everyone to dispense with the formalities. With Heshen's help, he stepped into the garden that he had known so well since childhood.

After strolling around the garden for a while, we arrived at the Chrysanthemum Fragrance Study.

"I studied in this Chrysanthemum Fragrance Study for several months when I was young. My grandfather often came to test my studies. Now, more than sixty years have passed. Whenever I recall my grandfather's voice and smile, and his earnest teachings, they are still vivid in my mind."

Looking at the couplet written by his grandfather, Emperor Kangxi, in front of the Chrysanthemum Fragrance Study, which reads "The pine trees in the courtyard remain evergreen, and the chrysanthemums in the pot still rely on their pure fragrance," the old man's thoughts instantly returned to his childhood, and his eyes became quite moist.

It seems they miss their ancestor.

None of the sons and ministers who accompanied the old man could understand what he was saying. It was Heshen who repeated the old man's words to everyone, word by word, before they finally understood what the old man had said.

As winter approached, the old man's hearing became increasingly impaired, and his speech became increasingly unclear. If it weren't for Heshen, the old man wouldn't have been able to communicate with his ministers.

That's how it is when you get old; you can't deny it.

The more the old master relied on Heshen, the more unshakeable Heshen's position became. In addition, the chief Grand Councilor Agui had not paid much attention to the affairs of the Grand Council in the past two or three years, which truly made Heshen the de facto "second emperor" of the Qing Dynasty.

Even Prince Kang, Yong'en, the head of the Plain Red Banner to which Heshen belonged, had to treat Heshen with utmost respect and dared not show any disrespect to him despite his status as the banner head.

On one occasion, Prince Kang's sedan chair passed by Heshen on the way back. The prince actually ordered the sedan chair bearers to give way to Heshen, which startled Heshen so much that he quickly got out of the sedan chair and asked the prince to go first.

If even the "King of Hats" is like this, one can only imagine how others are.

However, no matter how favored Heshen was by the Emperor or how much he manipulated power, the seventeenth prince Yonglin didn't care. In any case, the Emperor didn't like him much, otherwise he wouldn't have made his brothers princes and only given him the title of Beile.

When his brothers divided their estates, their father gave them piles of money shops, pawnshops, and land. But when it came to his youngest son, he had nothing but a pawnshop. How could Yonglin not be angry?

If his father hadn't sent someone to summon him today, he wouldn't have bothered coming out.

It's freezing cold, wouldn't it be better to stay home and use the stove?

With this thought in mind, Yonglin didn't approach his father at all, as if he didn't exist.

Fifteenth Brother Yongyan saw this and felt sorry for his younger brother, but he couldn't do anything about his father's arrangement. He also saw Heshen, who could accurately recite what his father said as if he knew the emperor inside and out, chatting and laughing with his father. He felt extremely uncomfortable.

Two of his masters have already been killed by this lackey.

If it weren't for Heshen's interference, Master Zhu would be the Governor-General of Sichuan right now, and Master Hu wouldn't have been transferred from a provincial education commissioner to the Ministry of War to sit on the sidelines.

Now, Heshen, in order to protect his relative Wulana, has extended his reach to Kuilun, which makes Yongyan even more furious.

Because Quelen was the person he had his eye on.

The old man over there, inspired by poetry, recited two lines: "Left of the vegetable patch, behind which lies the field, the garden is named Fengze, a tribute to the Yao era."

Perhaps due to his advanced age and the resulting slowing of his thinking, he couldn't think of the next two lines for a moment. Seeing this, Heshen hurriedly invited the old man in for a cup of hot tea to warm his heart.

We entered Ziyunxuan, located inside Juxiang Study, a very elegant courtyard house.

At the courtyard gate, the old man suddenly stopped, pointed to the three characters "Ziyunxuan" on the gate, and asked everyone, "Does anyone know what the Emperor meant by naming this place Ziyun?"

"Your Majesty, I believe that the Holy Ancestor named this place Ziyun (Purple Cloud) to signify that our Great Qing Dynasty entered China from the East, and that this purple aura came from the East."

The one speaking was Liu Yong, who had been playing a supporting role the whole way and had very few lines.

In the past two years, Lord Liu has had a lot of bad luck. First, he was impeached by the censor for cheating in the provincial examinations while he was in charge of the Imperial Academy. Then, as the chief tutor of the Imperial Study, he was reprimanded by the old master for failing to supervise the princes' studies. After that, an imperial edict demoted him from Assistant Grand Secretary and Governor-General of Zhili to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

The old master didn't invite Lord Liu to his 80th birthday banquet, which nearly drove Lord Liu crazy with worry.

Therefore, being suddenly summoned by the old master to accompany him on a stroll through the garden today undoubtedly filled Lord Liu with great excitement. The fact that the old master even thought of him meant that Lord Liu still had room for improvement.

Standing next to Liu Yong was Dong Gao, a Grand Councilor. He was the eldest son of Dong Bangda, the former Minister of Works, and was known as "Big Dong" and "Little Dong" with his father.

He had beautiful handwriting and ranked third in the first class of the imperial examination, earning the title of Tan Hua (third-ranked scholar). However, his grandfather personally changed his ranking to first in the second class and made him the top scholar in the imperial examination hall.

It appears to be a demotion, but in reality, it's a promotion in disguise.

Because the top student in the second-class ranking receives better treatment than the third-ranked student.

After that, Lord Dong's career was extremely smooth. Before he was forty years old, he became a Grand Councilor in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, a position he still holds today. His portrait was painted twice by the old master for the Ziguang Pavilion, which shows how much the old master liked him.

However, as the Grand Councilor in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, Lord Dong was not as excited as Vice Minister Liu at this moment.

My heart is heavy.

This year's grand octogenarian birthday celebration, far exceeding previous years and exceptionally lively, concluded seven days ago. The Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Household Department jointly estimated the expenditure at over 16.85 million taels of silver, more than 2.6 million taels more than the amount spent on the old master's 70th birthday celebration.

Although the governors and viceroys of various provinces "paid tribute" of more than two million taels of silver, and many projects were directly undertaken by the governors and viceroys of various provinces, the large amount of silver used put a strain on the national treasury.

In early spring, troops will be deployed to the plateau. Sichuan Governor Li Shijie has already dispatched 500 Eight Banner soldiers and 2600 Green Standard Army soldiers stationed in Chengdu, as well as more than 1,000 surrendered Jinchuan soldiers to the plateau. More Green Standard Army soldiers will be sent there after the New Year, along with the Solon soldiers under the command of Fukang'an and the troops that were sent to the plateau the year before last. It is estimated that about 15,000 troops will be mobilized.

Fifteen thousand men may not seem like much, but warfare on the plateau is not like fighting on flat ground; the cost is staggering and should be estimated at 150,000.

The expenses would amount to at least several million taels of silver, and we couldn't wait until next summer's tax season. Where would the money come from?

Heshen had collected millions of taels of silver from officials across the country for their crimes, but once the money went into the Guangchu Department, he was as stingy as a miser and couldn't get a single penny out. This angered Dong Gao so much that he had a fight with Heshen a few days ago.

What could he do if Heshen refused to give it to him?

Concerned about national affairs, Dong Zhongtang thought it over and decided to take advantage of the old master's good mood to mention it briefly, hoping that it might be approved.

Unexpectedly, after praising Liu Yong a couple of times, the old master went into Ziyunxuan to drink tea. While drinking, he probably couldn't think of how to write the next two lines of poetry, so he said to Heshen, "Come on, let's go to your house and see my precious daughter and son-in-law."

When the Emperor decided to visit his daughter and son-in-law, Heshen was overjoyed and immediately ordered his guards to make the arrangements.

Left with no other choice, Dong Zhongtang had to put the matter aside for the time being.

Heshen's house was not far from Fengzeyuan. Before long, the old master's sedan chair stopped in front of the He family's gate. The He family members, who had been notified in advance, quickly stepped forward to pay their respects. Leading the group were Heshen's eldest son, Fengshen Yinde, who had just gotten married last year, and the old master's most beloved daughter, the Tenth Princess.

The two are truly a perfect match, a handsome man and a beautiful woman.

Upon seeing his beloved daughter again, the old man was overjoyed. He took his daughter's hand with his left hand and his son-in-law's hand with his right hand and went into the mansion to enjoy family time.

The princes and ministers who had accompanied him on his stroll through the garden also followed him in, making the He residence incredibly lively.

Heshen was busy running around, but although he was related to the old man by marriage, he dared not act like one. He consciously gave the "main role" to his son and daughter-in-law, and stood by like a kind old man.

He would occasionally join the old man in hearty laughter and chat about family matters. However, Liu Quan, lacking any discernment, secretly slipped something to his master.

After reading it, Heshen's face immediately turned ugly. Then he remembered that the old master was visiting his home today, and he couldn't let the old master's mood be disturbed, so he asked Liu Quan to leave first.

He'll deal with this tomorrow.

Unexpectedly, the old master noticed a change in his favorite minister's expression. Though he was deaf, he was not blind.

He couldn't help but release the tenth princess's hand, and asked Heshen with a smile, "What happened that made you look so upset?"

Prince Jia, Yongyan, along with Liu Yong and others, looked at Heshen with great curiosity upon hearing this.

Heshen quickly shook his head: "Master, it's alright, this servant looks fine."

He forced a smile after saying that, and it looked completely genuine.

This displeased the old man, who tried to get up but found it difficult.

"Father,"

Upon seeing this, the Tenth Princess quickly stepped forward to help her father-in-law to his feet, and then helped him walk to her father-in-law.

"What happened?"

The old man's voice wasn't loud, but it was full of magic, an undeniable magic.

Helpless, Heshen glanced intentionally or unintentionally at Prince Jia, who was looking at him, and then, steeling his heart, said, "Master, someone outside beat up my men, and even said that they beat up my dog!"

(End of this chapter)