Qing Yao

Chapter 279 Who is the Emperor and Whom Should We Be Loyal To?

Fu Chang dared to say that his youngest son was guarding the stove, but Master Chen would never dare to say that, and this matter seemed absurd from any angle.

But how many absurd things have happened to Zhao Youlu?
Hasn't the Emperor's behavior over the years been absurd?

Last year, in order to make up for the deficit in the national treasury, the practice of paying "punishment money" was made a regular practice, openly allowing officials to spend money to redeem themselves. Later, under the pretext of avoiding a lack of capable officials, the threshold for filing corruption cases was raised from 1000 taels to 1 taels. It was also stipulated that those who embezzled more than 2 taels could be exempted from criminal punishment and retain their positions if they had a record of commendation or paid "punishment money".

In which dynasty or era has such an absurd thing ever happened?

Two years ago, Wu Ying, a scholar from Guangxi, presented a "Policy for People's Livelihood" suggesting tax reduction and simplified administration. As a result, he was executed by slow slicing by the emperor, and his relatives were implicated and either beheaded or enslaved.

After this incident, the emperor publicly issued an edict to the world, declaring that any suggestion from the people would be considered "treason."

Whether you speak well or badly, even if you have official rank and title, if you are not an official qualified to submit a memorial to the emperor, you will all be executed.

Is this something a wise ruler would do?
Master Chen had his own circle of friends. In one of those friends, a minister mentioned that he had eaten four eggs for breakfast when he presented his memorial to the emperor. As a result, the emperor was furious and scolded the minister for being "so extravagant." In a fit of anger, the emperor dismissed the minister from his post.

The reason was that the price of eggs reported by the Imperial Household Department was ten taels of silver per egg.

The market price is three coins.

In the past, would the Imperial Household Department have dared to deceive the Emperor like this?
No matter how you put it, the Emperor is getting more and more senile as he gets older.

If he hadn't become senile, he wouldn't have allowed people like Heshen and Fu Chang'an to control the government and create such chaos in the court.

How many foolish things have aging emperors done regarding their successors?

Even a wise emperor like Emperor Xuanzong of Tang killed three of his own flesh and blood in a single day in his later years.

Therefore, even Master Chen was unsure how the Emperor would treat "Wu Fu'er," this illegitimate son.

It's clearly impossible for an illegitimate child to inherit the throne, given that the child's mother is a Han woman. However, judging from current events, this illegitimate child may be of immense importance.

Didn't you see that Sanfu'er controlled the military power of the Qing Dynasty, and Sifu'er controlled the financial power of the Qing Dynasty?

What is Wu Fu'er Zhang?
What do the princes who are granted the title of kings control?
If all the power is distributed, what will happen to the future ruler?
Even if the emperor feels sorry for his illegitimate children, he can't divide the family property like this.

In short, the Emperor's actions over the years were simply inexplicable and incomprehensible to Master Chen.

The special privilege of granting the "Five Blessed Ones" the status of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) is a joke that has been around for ages.

If even the title of Jinshi (进士) from the imperial examination can be granted so easily, then what is the point of the imperial examination and what is the point of scholars?
This is like someone trying to undermine the Qing Dynasty's foundation with a shovel!

"Old people are like children," that's absolutely true.

The problem is that, once his benefactor, Lord Fu, made that connection, he got himself into a ditch again.

They actually thought about it from a different perspective.

It wasn't that the emperor was senile and wanted to use the throne to make up for his illegitimate son who had been living among the common people for more than 20 years; rather, he felt that the Qing Dynasty was staging a grand drama of illegitimate sons fighting against their own children.

Otherwise, why would "Fourth Blessing" stand up for "Fifth Blessing"?
With three blessings, there are soldiers; with four blessings, there is money; with five blessings, what more could one ask for? Furthermore, with Heshen's faction controlling the government, even if princes succeed to the throne in the future, they probably won't be able to defeat the illegitimate sons.

In other words, this ginseng harvesting incident is far more complex than it appears.

Fu Chang felt he might not be able to handle the situation, so he asked Master Chen for advice: "This is a matter of great importance. What do you think I should do?"

The solution proposed by Master Chen was that there was no need to favor either side; all that was needed was to report the facts truthfully.

Regardless of whether it was a case of princes killing each other or there was another truth, as long as Emperor Qianlong was sitting on the dragon throne, his subjects had to follow his wishes.

Under no circumstances should one explicitly side with either the illegitimate child or the biological child. Fu Chang wholeheartedly agreed: "Indeed, with the Emperor still alive, how can I, Fu Chang, as a subject, harbor such wild thoughts?"

To translate, it means "I support whoever is the emperor."

Since the decision has been made to report the truth, it is necessary to find out whether Fan Wentong committed suicide or was murdered.

Fu Chang immediately pushed open the door and went out. In the courtyard, Jing Daoqian, the acting governor of Anhui, had a livid face because he was inextricably linked to Fan Wentong's death.

Firstly, Fan Wentong was the one who first sought out Lord Jing to report and expose him; secondly, Fan Wentong had always been under Lord Jing's watchful eye.

Now that the man is dead, how is Lord Jing supposed to explain this to the governor and the imperial court?

What's even more troublesome is that the imperial envoy died as soon as he arrived, and everyone would suspect that it was Jing Daoqian who had done it.

The two forensic experts from the Fengyang Prefectural Government Office, whose formal name was coroner, examined the body at the scene.

After two experts examined the case repeatedly, one of them reluctantly reported the findings: Fan Wentong had not committed suicide, but had been strangled and then hung from the roof beam.

It was visible to the naked eye because Fan Wentong had obvious strangulation marks on her neck.

The time of death would not have exceeded three hours, which, in terms of timing, would have been around the time when Imperial Envoy Fu first arrived in Fengyang.

The coroner reported the case in front of Jing Daoqian and Fu Chang.

This was also Jing Daoqian's request. He had been busy with disaster relief these days and had neglected Fan Wentong, which led to someone overlooking him.

But this matter has absolutely nothing to do with him, so he must distance himself from it to avoid being misunderstood by Fu Chang.

Fu Chang glanced at Fan Wentong's body, which had been covered with a white sheet and was about to be carried away, and said indifferently, "Lord Jing, it seems that some people in Anhui do not want me to meet with Fan Wentong and investigate the truth of the case."

Jing Daoqian sighed softly, speechless.

No matter how he explains it, this statement is plausible.

Fu Chang knew that Jing Daoqian was an honest official and would not commit murder to cover it up. Moreover, he suspected Zhu Gui, the governor of Anhui. So he did not make things difficult for the acting governor and only asked him if he had anything else to say or if he needed to explain anything to the court.

Jing Daoqian shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to explain to the court, but rather that he didn't know how to explain.

"In that case, I will report the facts to the court and request Your Majesty's wise decision!"

Without a word, Fu Chang turned and left. Jing Daoqian wanted to stop him, but ultimately gave up the idea and instead ordered someone to quickly inform the governor about Fan Wentong's murder.

He then gave a wry smile to those around him: "This province is suffering from a natural disaster, but now it's also caused by human error. It seems I won't be able to serve as the acting governor for much longer."

After saying this, he put away his worried expression and ordered his men to immediately go to Suzhou, the hardest-hit area. No matter how the court dealt with it, as long as he, Jing Daoqian, was still acting as the Provincial Governor of Anhui, he would do his best for the people of Anhui.

A few days later, the Office of Transmission received an urgent memorial from Moergenge, a Hanlin Academician and Second-Class Imperial Guard.

The memorial was titled "A Memorial on the Honest and Upright Conduct of Circuit Intendant Zhao Youlu."

It's clearly a memorial praising Zhao Youlu.

Because it was a secret report, the Office of Transmission dared not delay and sent it to the Grand Council immediately.

Even secret reports are not to be opened or read by Grand Councilors without authorization. Left with no other choice, the Grand Councilors on duty, Dong Gao and Song Yun, had to put aside their official duties and go to the palace to report first.

(End of this chapter)