Qing Yao

Chapter 456 There's a knife, take a look.

No sooner had Heshen left than the stunned expression on Zhao An's face vanished, replaced by a mocking smile.

No matter what Heshen said, he simply wouldn't believe it, not a single word.

Caution is the boat.

Heshen used him, and he used Heshen. Even though they are now like brothers and share a common enemy, they are still essentially enemies.

As long as this enemy-us relationship does not fundamentally change, we must be vigilant and never be deceived by Heshen's "sugar-coated bullets".

Heshen's current power and status are not solely due to the old master's favor; he was truly capable and shrewd, more so than anyone else.

If he doesn't keep his guard up, he, Zhao An, will be the one who suffers a great loss.

In short, there can be no ambiguity on matters of principle.

What needs to be done must be done.

He returned to his desk and picked up the list that Heshen had placed on it.

The list contains nineteen people, the highest-ranking of whom are two captains, and the rest are lieutenants.

The Eight Banners military system in Beijing consisted of a three-tiered command structure: Commander-in-Chief, Assistant Commander, and Captain.

The Eight Banners stationed in various places had different structures, consisting of a four-tiered command organization: General, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Assistant Commander, and Zuo Commander.

The Zuo Ling was a basic unit of the Eight Banners. A full Zuo Ling consisted of 300 men. These 300 men referred to the official banner soldiers who could go to war, but did not include the families of the banner soldiers.

Over the course of more than a hundred years, the population of the Eight Banners has increased several times compared to when they entered the Central Plains, but the number of banner officers assigned at the beginning of the dynasty has not increased. As a result, many adult males in each banner cannot become official banner officers and become "idle men" who receive a meager salary as "support soldiers" and have nothing to do. Gradually, they have become the most troublesome public security problem for local governments.

The people who stage accidents, extort money, and swindle others on the streets are mostly these idle and unemployed individuals. Conflicts between Han and Manchu people frequently erupt in various places, but the old man's handling of the situation is always the same: Han people are beheaded, and Manchu people are fined.

Therefore, some conscientious Han local officials would try to smooth things over when faced with such situations, otherwise, even if the Han people were the victims, they would ultimately be the ones who suffered.

This situation was not improved until the Daoguang era in Zhao An's previous life, when the Qing court was able to treat the Manchu and Han conflicts fairly.

After the Daoguang Emperor, the Manchus became nothing, and they had to consider the consequences before engaging in conflicts with the Han Chinese.

There was no other way; they were terrified of being killed by the Han Chinese from the south, and they became obedient to the killing.

As the emperor's personal banner and the head of the three upper banners, the Bordered Yellow Banner is currently organized into five deputy commanders and eighty-four lieutenants. According to this organization, the number of banner soldiers should be more than 25,000, plus their families, totaling more than 100,000 people.

The actual population was more than that. The most recent census of the Eight Banners population was in the twenty-third year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, more than thirty years ago. Zhao An specifically went to the archives to see that the population of the Manchus in the Bordered Yellow Banner at that time was more than 190,000.

After the twenty-third year of Qianlong's reign, the Upper Three Banners basically did not launch large-scale expeditions. Therefore, he conservatively estimated that the Manchu population of the single Bordered Yellow Banner might be close to 250,000, or even possibly 300,000.

The Upper Three Banners have more people, while the Lower Five Banners have fewer. Not counting the Han Eight Banners that have been almost completely cut, Zhao An believes that there are at least three million bannermen in the capital at present, just counting the Mongol Eight Banners.

With the addition of the Eight Banners population stationed in various places, the total number is probably around five million, a figure that is significantly different from the one million Bannermen at the time of the Qing Dynasty's demise.

The reasons are related to the large-scale anti-Qing uprisings during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns, and also to the large-scale adoption of Han surnames by Manchus to become Han people before the end of the Qing dynasty.

This time, Zhao An made a big fuss about Zhang Changbao's embezzlement of Manchu funds and grain, launching a thorough investigation. On the surface, it was to rectify the atmosphere of the Eight Banners and make his image as a capable minister more convincing, but in reality, he also wanted to find out how many people were actually in the Eight Banners.

How many are actually capable of donning armor and going into battle?
Total population and adult males in military service have always been the top priorities in military intelligence.

If the Eight Banners could still muster two or three hundred thousand armored soldiers, then Zhao An would have to use the White Lotus Sect as a weapon to slowly erode them until the Eight Banners were completely driven out of the historical stage.

The Eight Banners were not a political or administrative organization, but a military organization. Therefore, apart from clerical staff, all other officially employed personnel in the Eight Banners were called officers.

Excluding the three supreme commanders, there were a total of 89 officers, including lieutenants and colonels.

However, the list of Heshen's cronies only included two captains and seventeen lieutenants, which means that although Heshen was the Manchu commander of the Bordered Yellow Banner, he actually controlled less than a quarter of the officers.

Or rather, only a quarter of the officers explicitly pledged their loyalty to Heshen, while the others did not side with him. Heshen's distribution of this list of nineteen men was clearly intended to have these cronies assist Zhao An in his investigation, while also protecting them.

Zhao An made it very clear at the time that the most important purpose of the investigation was to eliminate dissidents.

Who are the dissidents?

After a moment's hesitation, Zhao An did not rush to summon the members of the Hedong Party on the list. Instead, he called over Fan, the military officer who was interrogating Zhang Changbao while serving his sentence, to inquire about the case.

"I'm humble enough to bow to you, sir!"

Fan Canling was a descendant of Fan Wencheng, a founding hero of the Qing Dynasty, but he was not one of Heshen's men, so his "political stance" should be considered neutral.

I will listen to whoever is in power.

Zhao An raised his hand to signal Fan Canling to stand up and asked, "How is the interrogation of Zhang Changbao going? Have you managed to get him to talk? Besides the fraudulent registration of money and grain, who else did he confess about? What is the relationship between those Niohuru family members who pleaded for him and him?"

Asked several questions in a row.

"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief!"

Commander Fan dared not be negligent. “At first, Zhang Changbao was stubborn, but after I used some methods, he finally revealed some information. According to his confession, a supervisor from the salary office and a clerk from the printing office were his accomplices. The three of them colluded to falsely report and claim illicit gains. I have already ordered the supervisor and clerk to be arrested.”

Zhao An nodded: "Is Mukton involved in this matter?"

Commander Fan hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Sir, Zhang Changbao confessed that he did this under the orders of Mukton, and it seems that Mukton ordered more than just him to do this."

"Oh?"

A glint of light flashed in Zhao An's eyes. "The confessions have all been verified and signed?"

“Zhang Changbao and the other two have all signed the agreement, but,”

Fan Canling hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"Just what?"

Zhao An's expression turned cold.

Seeing this, Commander Fan dared not remain silent and stated frankly that Mukden had a very powerful background. He was the nephew of Aligun, a famous general who had served as the former Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard, Associate Grand Secretary, and Painter of the Ziguang Pavilion, and who was posthumously honored by the emperor as the "Duke of Guoyi Jiyong". His father was Neqin, the chief Grand Councilor who was executed in the fourteenth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign for failing to achieve any success in the campaign against Jinchuan.

That's not all. Mukden also has two cousins, one named Feng Sheng'e and the other named Buyandalai.

Feng Sheng'e was honored for his meritorious service in pacifying the Greater and Lesser Jinchuan regions, and his portrait was painted in the Ziguang Pavilion. He died of illness while serving as Minister of Revenue.

Buyandalai inherited the title of First-Class Viscount from his elder brother Fengsheng'e. He is currently the First Commander of this Banner and concurrently serves as the Minister of the Military Equipment Department of the Imperial Household Department. He holds the rank of Third Grade and is the first of the Five Commanders of this Banner.

The real complexity doesn't lie here, but rather in the fact that Mukden has a grandson-in-law named Na Yanbao.

Na Yanbao's grandfather was named Agui.

The problem was very real for Zhao An: if he made a move against Mukden, he would not only make an enemy of Neqin and Aligun, the descendants of the Manchu nobles of the Bordered Yellow Banner, but also offend the Qing Prime Minister Agui.

Agui was someone even Heshen dared not easily pluck.

Zhao An, dare you?

The mere matter of embezzling money and grain has implicated so many important figures. Commander Fan was troubled just thinking about it. Out of good intentions, he wanted to advise the Deputy Commander to focus on the minor offenses and let the minor ones go, and just deal with the clerk and the scribe. There was no need to offend Agui and the First Commander Buyandalai because of Mukton.

It's not worth it, really not worth it.

What was the Deputy Commander's reaction at this moment? His expression was very solemn, as if he was thinking about something. Then he raised his hand and pointed at Commander Fan: "Go and tell Mukton that his old man has a knife with me. Ask him to come and verify it."

(End of this chapter)