Qing Yao

Chapter 472 Stripped of Banner Status, Never to be Employed Again

The truth about how Taiping prospered cannot be kept secret. Even if Commander Fan doesn't reveal it to outsiders, plenty of people will.

The news spread in just half a day.

However, before everyone could recover from the shock and bitterness of "three thousand taels for a first-class shrimp", the General's Office issued the first official personnel document of the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign. The document clearly stated that Mingshan, Bayar, Dalier and the other five Zuo Ling were to be dismissed from their posts, investigated and punished, and stripped of their banner status.

The affairs of the Eight Banners were only under the jurisdiction of the General's Office. As long as Heshen, the Manchu General in charge of the work, stamped the document, it would take effect immediately.

The news caused an uproar throughout the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner region once again.

"Cut...cut the status!"

Upon hearing the news, Qi Bao, the second commander, turned deathly pale.

For Manchu officials, being dismissed and investigated was not a particularly severe punishment. It was normal to be dismissed and investigated for offending superiors, choosing the wrong side, or doing something wrong. Even being exiled to Ningguta or the Western Regions was not a big deal.

Basically, it's just a formality; you can come back after two or three years. During this period, you'll still receive your salary, all the benefits you enjoyed as a member of the Eight Banners, and most of you will even be reinstated to your original position, or even promoted further.

But losing one's banner status is not as simple as losing an official position; it means being completely cut off from one's roots, a fall from the clouds into the mire of eternal damnation!
Once you are stripped of your banner status, you will no longer be a bannerman. From then on, the bannermen's livelihood will be completely gone, and the judicial and official privileges that only bannermen could enjoy will vanish in an instant.

Not only is the person himself doomed, but the future of his descendants is also completely cut off, whether it's recruiting soldiers or infantrymen, passing the imperial examinations to become scribes, attendants, or bodyguards, or even receiving hereditary titles.
In short, there was nothing!

They went from being high and mighty Manchu lords to being treated as lowly commoners, just like the Han people, or even worse, because those stripped of their official status were considered criminals.

How will this family make a living outside after their household registration is revoked?
He couldn't bring himself to do small business, nor did he have the ability. And would a former Manchu lord like himself tolerate such treatment as working as a laborer?

They can't exactly solicit customers in the Eight Great Hutongs or perform tricks on Tianqiao Bridge.

The inevitable outcome was hunger, cold, poverty, and illness.

"This is worse than beheading! Is that Zhao guy determined to uproot our old Manchuria?"

Lahada, who was in the same command as Qi Bao, slammed his fist on the table in anger. "Back then, my great-grandfather followed Prince Rui from Guangning City to Shanhaiguan, risking his life to earn this stable livelihood for us! What kind of scum is Zhao Youlu? What gives him the right to call for war against us old Manchus?"

"That's true, but Mingshan's family ancestors were founding heroes, so even if they were to be stripped of their official status, they were still stripped."

Qi Bao didn't have the guts to pull the Hada. He took out the self-criticism letter that had been rejected countless times from his sleeve, swallowed hard, and said in a low voice, "Second Master, to be honest, I'm really nervous."

Lahada glanced at the self-criticism in Qi Bao's hand, his face full of disdain, and spat: "You actually wrote this piece of garbage? What a disgrace!"

Qi Bao said awkwardly, "There's no other way. How about we learn from Taiping and spend money to avoid trouble? If we keep trying to tough it out, we might end up like Mingshan and the others. Master La, no matter what, losing money is better than losing your family, right?"

"Losing money? What money! We men have spent so many years in the Manchu banners, and now we have to bow and scrape to some bannerman? How could the Emperor allow such a scoundrel to ride roughshod over the old Manchus!"

As he spoke, Lahada rolled up his sleeves and stood up abruptly: "No matter how much that Zhao fellow can cause trouble, can he really turn our Bordered Yellow Banner upside down? Damn it, I don't believe so many old Manchus can be intimidated by this newly promoted bannerman! If all else fails, we'll go to the Meridian Gate to lodge a complaint with the Emperor! Let that Zhao fellow know that we old Manchus are not to be trifled with!" Qi Bao, however, trembled on the spot. How could he dare to go with Lahada to lodge a complaint with the Emperor? He stammered, "Well... I still have medicine brewing at home, I'll take my leave first."

Before Lahada could speak, he fled the teahouse as if he were running away.

Seeing Qi Bao's cowardly appearance, Lahada became even angrier. He picked up the cold teacup and poured it into his mouth, only to choke and cough repeatedly. In a fit of anger, he grabbed the teacup and smashed it on the ground, startling a passing shopkeeper.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. After the news spread that the five men from Mingshan had been stripped of their banner status, some officials who were relatives or friends of the five men couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"Damn! Zhao Youlu is really ruthless! Even if Mingshan and the others were wrong, wouldn't it have been enough to just strip them of their official hats and investigate? Did they really have to resort to such a despicable tactic as stripping them of their official titles?"

Chao Ha'er, the fifth lieutenant under the First Commander, grew up with Ming Shan in the alley and even peed in the latrine. How could he not feel indignant that his good brother had ended up like this?

"This is clearly an attempt to kill someone, they'll even dig up their ancestral graves! Grandma, we're all from the old Manchu roots, what's this newly promoted bannerman showing off for? What the hell is he acting like!"

Chao Ha'er, growing increasingly angry, looked at the commander Buyandalai and said, "Sir, please judge this. Is it any way to treat us old Manchus so cruelly?"

Muketu, the First Military Commander's Secretary, chimed in, "Indeed, how many people from Mingshan's family died fighting for our Great Qing? How can we bear to eradicate their lineage like this? Although Zhao is a Deputy Commander-in-Chief, how is his behavior any different from that of a cruel official?"

"Hmph, to ruin the future and families of five lieutenants all at once, just to establish the prestige of Deputy Commander Zhao, that's a really ruthless tactic!"

"They say you should leave a way out for others, but this guy surnamed Zhao has really gone too far!"

The officers surrounding Buyandalai became increasingly agitated as they spoke, as if the misfortune of being stripped of his official rank was about to befall them.

"Do you really think this is what the person surnamed Zhao means?"

As the first commander of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner, Buyandalai's vision was certainly farther than that of these other commanders.

Chao Ha'er was taken aback: "Sir, if it wasn't Zhao who meant it, whose would it be?"

“Our banner’s commander-in-chief isn’t someone with the surname Zhao; there’s a real Buddha sitting above him.”

Buyandalai snorted softly, "They're using the Zhao family as a tool to make an example of us."

"Killing the chicken to scare the monkey?"

The officers looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Taiping’s ‘top-grade shrimp’ is just a sweet treat for you to see, while Mingshan and his five are just dead chickens for you to see. Otherwise, how could you people be both envious and afraid?”

After saying this, Buyandalai placed the jade snuff bottle in his hand on the table, tapped it lightly, and after a moment looked up at the group and said, "Given the current situation, we probably need to ask that gentleman to step in. Our gentleman values ​​the old Manchu system the most and is very soft-hearted. If he knew that someone was treating our Manchu youths so badly, resorting to stripping them of their titles and threatening to take away their land and crops, he probably wouldn't stand by and watch."

(End of this chapter)