Qing Yao

Chapter 230 This promotion was a mess
The irrefutable facts prove that Zhao An's strategy was entirely correct.

No matter what kind of rebel he is, even if he is incredibly strong-willed and can stay up for days and nights, he can still confess to stealing peaches from someone when he was a child.

The advanced methods were immediately promoted, thereby obtaining a large amount of irrefutable evidence.

They felt no moral guilt whatsoever, and even a sense of accomplishment.

Ultimately, what appears to be a fabricated case is actually a way to rid the people of Yangzhou of a scourge.

To speed things up, Lao Ding brought in a group of professionals from the county government to help, with clerk Jiang in charge. By the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, a complete evidence chain had been formed.

There were more than 200 testimonies alone, using more than 5,000 sheets of paper.

Ninety-seven people, including the principal offenders Chen Gong and Wei Hai, and one hundred and sixty accomplices were identified.

Zhao An originally planned to have 100 principal offenders and 300 accomplices, but Lao Ding reduced the number to 160 accomplices.

It wasn't that Old Ding was soft-hearted, but rather that the New Year was approaching, and everyone in the government office was looking forward to the holiday. If this continued, how long would it ever end?

“You have already swept away the leader’s backbone. I think this matter should end here. There is no need to increase the killing.”

Old Ding felt that if the emperor really reported three hundred accomplices, he would definitely not spare a single one, given the emperor's temperament. Therefore, he decided to report only the most heinous criminals and spare the lives of the rest who did not deserve to die.

Zhao An had no objections and wrote two summary reports on the relevant cases. One report was sent to the capital by express messenger, and the other was sent to the Suzhou governor's office by express messenger.

Then he went to the prefectural government office to give a briefing on the case.

In principle, cases handled by the Imperial Censor should not require notification to local officials. However, since the case occurred in Yangzhou and involved too many people, it was only right and proper to inform the Prefect.

After listening to Zhao An's report, the prefect was generally positive about the case, but he was a little confused about one thing: capturing Qianlong alive was understandable, since you have to capture the king first, but what was the point of capturing Heshen alive?
Zhao An explained, "According to the rebels' confessions, they believed that Heshen was a major traitor who aided and abetted the wicked, so he had to be executed."

The Prefect's advisor, Master Xie, was incredulous upon hearing this: "Lord He is clearly a Chinese, how did he become a traitor?"

Zhao An explained that the rebels were all helping the ignorant masses, but little did they know that He Zhongtang's surname was Niu Hulu, and they only thought that He Zhongtang's surname was He and given name was Shen.

The explanation is quite reasonable.

In fact, Zhao An was flattering him.

To flatter Heshen.

The slogan "Capture Emperor Qianlong alive and take Heshen to prison" sounds infuriating, but if you think about it calmly, Heshen would definitely feel very honored.

It's a kind of seemingly negative but actually affirmative flattery.

Zhecha were personnel from various local post stations who were specifically responsible for delivering memorials to the capital. They would change horses along the way but not their riders, ensuring that the memorials could be delivered to the emperor as quickly as possible.

Even so, Zhao An's memorial arrived in the capital on the 30th of the twelfth lunar month, which is New Year's Eve.

All government affairs in the capital had been suspended seven days ago. The only government office still in operation was the Office of Transmission, which received memorials from various regions and military intelligence.

However, the Office of Transmission usually holds onto memorials until after the New Year, unless they are very important.

Rebellion was an important matter to report, so Zhao An's memorial was sent to the Grand Council immediately.

The Grand Council would definitely continue to operate, but a rotation system would be established, usually with one Manchu and one Han member on duty.

Today's Manchu Grand Councilor is Fu Chang'an, while the Han Grand Councilor is Sun Shiyi, Minister of Personnel and Associate Grand Secretary.

The two high-ranking officials had nothing to do at the moment, so they played chess in the warm pavilion's duty room.

Sun Zhongtang was clearly a cut above Fu Zhongtang in chess skills. Fu Zhongtang lost two games in a row, but he was not annoyed. He happily shouted that he would play another game with Sun Zhongtang.

At that moment, the sound of firecrackers came from the direction of the Imperial City outside. It was the old emperor leading the princes and grandsons in setting off firecrackers for the "New Year's Eve" celebration. Afterwards, the old emperor was going to host a banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony to entertain the Mongolian princes who had come to Beijing for the festival. The Hall of Supreme Harmony was very cold, and the officials, considering the old emperor's advanced age, suggested that the banquet be moved to the warmer Palace of Heavenly Purity. However, the old emperor insisted on hosting the banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, because this was a rule established by the Holy Ancestor when he was alive.

The emperor and his ministers drinking and raising their cups in the cold wind is a tradition inherited from the Manchu people.

In his later years, the old emperor valued the various rules and regulations passed down from the Manchus. However, he listened to the advice of his ministers and changed the matter of going to the Fengxian Hall to worship ancestors in the early morning. He sent his eleventh son, Prince Cheng, Yongxing, to lead his younger brother, nephew, and other members of the imperial clan to the temple instead.

This sent a strong signal to many officials, and Prince Yongxing's market value soared overnight.

The military secretary who delivered the memorial to the inner chamber was Hai Cheng, whose career had a somewhat high start but a low finish.

In the thirty-seventh year of the Qianlong reign, Hai Cheng was already the governor of Jiangxi. Six years later, he was transferred to the position of Minister in Charge of Affairs in Karashar. Five years ago, he was recalled to the capital to serve as a secretary in the Grand Council and concurrently as an assistant director of the Department of Agricultural Settlements.

From a second-rank governor to his current fourth-rank clerk position, Hai Cheng has clearly been neglected by the old master.

Knowing that his career was coming to an end, Hai Cheng kept a low profile at the Grand Council. After bowing to the two Grand Secretaries upon entering the room, he presented the memorial he had just received.

Where did it come from?

Fu Chang'an took the document, opened it, glanced at it a few times, and then handed it to Sun Shiyi.

After reviewing the document, Sun Shiyi said, "I felt there was something wrong with the Yangzhou section of the canal before, and now it seems that the canal gang was indeed problematic."

Fu Chang'an nodded: "His Majesty is currently celebrating the New Year with the princes and grandsons. Grand Secretary Sun will stay here. I'll go and speak with him."

After speaking, Fu Chang'an took the memorial, put on his warm coat, and went into the palace alone.

All around us were the sounds of firecrackers. Upon arrival, we saw a large group of imperial grandsons setting off firecrackers on a platform, while the emperor sat in his sedan chair, smiling as he watched his children and grandchildren.

A sharp-eyed eunuch saw Fu Chang'an approaching and quickly said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, Minister Fu has arrived."

"what?"

The firecrackers were too loud, and the old man's hearing was failing, so he couldn't hear them clearly.

The eunuch had no choice but to repeat himself, pointing to Fu Chang'an who was approaching.

"Oh."

The old man beckoned Fu Chang'an to come closer, "It's New Year's Eve today, if you have nothing to do, go home early."

"Master, there is a small matter."

Fu Chang'an handed the memorial to the emperor into the sedan chair.

The old master was not displeased. Instead, he took the magnifying glass handed to him by the eunuch and opened the document to read it. He knew that unless it was an important matter, Fu Chang'an would not disturb him and his children and grandchildren.

After reading it word by word, the old master closed the memorial and said to Fu Chang'an: "All those involved in the treason case should be beheaded. As for the case of Zhao Youlu, it was handled well. I hereby issue an imperial decree to have the Imperial Guards award him a yellow riding jacket and order him to supervise the grain transport for me."

"Whoo!"

Fu Chang'an seemed to agree, but apart from clearly hearing the words "beheading" and "yellow jacket," he didn't hear the rest clearly, though it seemed they mentioned the grain transport route.

What kind of grain transport route?
Back at his office in the Grand Council, Sun Shiyi inquired about the Emperor's opinion on how to proceed.

"The Emperor decreed that all those involved in the case beheaded, and that Zhao Youlu, the official in charge, be awarded a yellow riding jacket."

At this point, Fu Chang'an hesitated for a moment, "Also, promote Zhao Youlu to be the grain commissioner of Jiangsu."

(End of this chapter)