My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 147 Hongli's words awaken Yongzheng

After leaving Prince Yi's residence, Hongli never spoke to Nian Gengyao again.

Nian Gengyao never spoke to him again.

However, through the informants sent by Yongzheng to the Imperial Household Department, Hongli learned a great deal about Nian Gengyao's rampant interference in court affairs during his time in Beijing.

The most typical example is that Nian Gengyao began to interfere in the personnel appointments of the Ministry of Personnel and the financial policies of the Ministry of Revenue.

In terms of personnel, in addition to recommending Qian Mingshi for the position of Imperial Recorder, Nian Gengyao also recommended other important officials.

This greatly displeased Longkodo, who viewed personnel appointments as a private domain of personal power.

In terms of finance, Nian Gengyao was dissatisfied with Prince Yi, Yunxiang, who was concurrently in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, for refusing to exempt Sichuan and Shaanxi from various compensations and for refusing to exempt Shaanxi officials who were in debt from being dismissed on the spot.

He also clashed with Yunxiang over his advocacy for the establishment of a system of awarding official positions through donations in the Northwest.

However, Nian Gengyao did not interfere in court affairs for too long.

Because he had to get back to the Northwest before the New Year.

On this day, after seeing Nian Gengyao off from the capital with other princes and ministers and returning to the princes' quarters, Hongli was reading the "Yuanjian Leihan" when Laibao from the sticky rod office came to Hongli's side again.

Hongli put down the "Yuanjian Leihan" and went into the courtyard, stepping on the snow and letting the crunching sound under his feet fill the air.

"Go ahead."

At the same time, Hongli said something to Laibao.

At this moment, Lai Bao knelt down on one knee before Hongli and said:

"When Nian Gengyao left the capital, he met the Third Master again. It is said that the Third Master asked Nian Gengyao to borrow 10,000 taels, but Nian Gengyao only gave him 3,000 taels."

Hongli nodded, but couldn't help wanting to laugh.

Is Hongshi in such dire financial straits that he has to borrow money from Nian Gengyao?

The key question is, why was Nian Gengyao so stingy, only lending three thousand taels?

Hongli was somewhat confused about the operation, and even felt that it might be a smokescreen, deliberately making others think that the two of them only had minor issues involving borrowing money.

Moreover, this smokescreen seems to be deliberately suggesting that Hongshi is very poor and frugal, and has not received much respect from princes and ministers, which has led him to have to borrow 10,000 taels of silver from a servant like Nian Gengyao.
Nian Gengyao was also very honest and upright, so even though he was willing to lend money to Hongshi, he could only give the Third Prince three thousand taels of silver as a token of his appreciation.

Subsequently, Lai Bao reported: "After Nian Gengyao left the Prince Yi's residence, he told officials such as Qian Mingshi that 'the Prince Yi's residence looks grand on the outside, but is sloppy and unbearable inside. His pretense and disingenuousness reveal his true intentions.' Qian Mingshi and other civil officials from Jiangnan who had pledged allegiance to him suggested that they should take this opportunity to retain the virtuous and dismiss the wicked!"

Upon hearing this, Hongli frowned deeply.

Who is virtuous?
Who is the traitor?
These Jiangnan civil officials are quite audacious! Do they want to replicate the Ming Dynasty's story in the Qing Dynasty, learning from the Ming Dynasty's civil officials to manipulate cabinet ministers, and now they want to manipulate the advancement, retreat, and reputation of the prime minister and other ministers as well?
The key question is, who is virtuous and who is wicked? How can they possibly determine that?

Or is it that many gentry in Jiangnan, like Wang Tan, still dreamt of the literati being able to manipulate all major national policies during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty?

Not awake yet?

If you want to go back to the late Ming Dynasty, you should have tried harder to prevent the Ming Dynasty from falling.

Do they really think that by attaching themselves to Nian Gengyao, they can control Yongzheng and, in turn, control the court?
However, when Hongli thought about the special treatment Yongzheng had recently given Nian Gengyao, allowing princes and ministers to greet him with the highest honors due to a subject, and agreeing to almost all of his requests, and even taking the initiative to let him participate in central decision-making, and to receive imperial edicts and convey imperial decrees together with the prime ministers and grand secretaries, it did seem easy to misunderstand.

They mistakenly believed that they could gain control of the Qing court by colluding with Nian Gengyao.

And now...

The civil officials in Jiangnan were probably already dissatisfied with the reforms, so when they saw an opportunity to take advantage of Nian Gengyao, they developed the ambition to repeat the events of the Ming Dynasty.

After all, Yongzheng's reforms had already affected their fundamental interests.

This violated the taboo of Han Chinese landlords and high-ranking officials.

They don't object to foreigners ruling China, but they object to them seizing their wealth under the guise of enriching the country and strengthening its military.

After all, if they were willing to make concessions, they wouldn't be willing to let outsiders become their masters.

Furthermore, when Hongli thought of the folk song "The Emperor emerges from the Three Rivers Estuary, Jiaxing and Huzhou become the battlefield" that would appear in the third year of Yongzheng's reign, as well as the new policy that had just forcibly abolished the lowly status of lazy people in the Liangzhe region, he became even more suspicious that the powerful bannermen in the military, represented by Nian Gengyao, were beginning to form an alliance with the large landowners in Jiangnan.

There may also be Manchu princes and nobles involved!

Because of the principle of "retaining the virtuous and dismissing the wicked"!
The "virtuous" one here must be someone whose status is similar to that of Prince Yi, who is considered a "treacherous" one.

However, although this person was a Manchu prince, in reality, he was already their agent in the central decision-making level.

"Furthermore, I learned from the drunken words of Shi Yizhi, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, that Nian Gengyao is secretly plotting to encourage Prince Lian to convene another meeting of princes and ministers to discuss the removal of Prince Yi from his post and the cessation of the fire tax to be returned to the public treasury."

Lai Bao continued his sermon.

After Lai Bao said this, Hongli frowned even more and walked towards a wintersweet tree in the courtyard.

But soon Hongli regained his composure and stopped under the wintersweet tree: "I understand. Does Father have any message for you to convey?"

"As Fourth Master expected, Your Majesty sent me to ask whether Nian Gengyao truly did not have any closeness with Fourth Master?"

Lai Bao replied at this time.

Hongli gazed at the crimson clouds ahead: "Then tell Father that Nian Gengyao has indeed not been close to me, and even tested my attitude toward the new policy of ordering the proletarian bannermen to settle and cultivate land."

"Whoo!"

After Lai Bao left, Hongli returned to his study.

He now fully understands Nian Gengyao's stance.

But Hongli had no worries about this.

Because he believed that Yongzheng was capable of handling all of this.

As the fourth prince, he only needed to wait for Yongzheng to give him the opportunity to gain fame and power.

He believed that Yongzheng must have been prepared in advance and would make everyone who opposed the new policies suffer.

From imperial princes and nobles to Manchu, Han, and Mongol ministers, and then to gentry and foreigners.

Not one of them will escape!
Moreover, he knew that with Yongzheng's methods, he would give these people a big surprise, letting them understand what it meant to be a frog slowly boiled in water.

Those who couldn't resist Yongzheng's "sugar-coated temptations" and opposed the new policies in their hearts, even though they initially felt that Yongzheng made them feel very comfortable and good, so comfortable that they would look down on this emperor and think that he was easy to fool.

In reality, Emperor Yongzheng was waiting for you to become complacent so that he would slowly escalate the situation, making you increasingly miserable. And even when you were in so much pain, you might still harbor illusions about Emperor Yongzheng, believing that he had feelings for you and would eventually show leniency, so you wouldn't dare to fight back.

After all, in this situation, you would think, how could the emperor who is so good to you be so harsh and heartless to you!
This is impossible!

This is absolutely impossible!

And you will transform into Cao Cao.

Hongli was helpless about this and could only watch the show from the sidelines, saying, "Father gave you a chance, but you were useless. Unlike me, I can withstand the test of the highest decision-maker at any time!"

The next day.

Emperor Yongzheng then summoned Hongli.

When Hongli arrived, Yongzheng wiped his clothes with a handkerchief and glanced at him calmly: "Nian Gengyao really didn't align himself with you?"

"no!"

After Hongli answered, Yongzheng simply nodded slightly.

But Yongzheng didn't say much, he just suddenly looked at Su Peisheng:

"Summon Prince Yi!"

"Whoo!"

Not long after.

Yunxiang came here.

"Fourth brother!"

"Uncle Thirteen!"

Yongzheng then pointed to the seat opposite him and asked the thirteenth prince to sit down.

The thirteenth prince suffered from severe rheumatism in his legs, so when Emperor Yongzheng summoned him, he would usually have the thirteenth prince sit on a soft cushion opposite him.

After the thirteenth prince sat down, Yongzheng asked him, "Are you close to Nian Gengyao?"

"No, I was ordered to entertain him, but he didn't seem very satisfied. He kept saying that he was highly regarded during the late emperor's reign, implying that I was not as senior as him in terms of governance."

After saying this helplessly, the thirteenth prince waved to Hongli.

Hongli then came before the thirteenth prince.

The thirteenth prince, holding Hongli's arm, smiled and said to Yongzheng, "Fourth brother, Hongli handled the questions Nian Gengyao asked him at the banquet that day, which I was ordered to host."

The thirteenth prince then relayed his words to Emperor Yongzheng.

After hearing this, Yongzheng smiled and then sighed.

Hongli knew that Yongzheng still regretted Nian Gengyao's choice.

Because he genuinely hoped that Nian Gengyao would follow his arrangements and stand on his side.

After all, although Nian Gengyao was a Grand General, his title was different from that of the Grand Generals of the Han Dynasty. He only had temporary command authority and no appointment authority.

Moreover, Nian Gengyao's main elite forces in the Northwest were Green Standard Army elites drawn from various regions.

Unlike the Qing court, which maintained the loyalty of the Eight Banners soldiers through exemptions from corvée labor and taxes, the Qing court maintained the loyalty of the Green Standard Army, which was mainly composed of Han Chinese, purely through money.

Therefore, Yongzheng was not afraid that Nian Gengyao would get close to Hongli.

After all, he had always entrusted the money bag to his most trusted thirteenth brother, who determined how much silver the Green Standard Army generals could receive.

Therefore, Yongzheng only hoped that if he really died too early, Nian Gengyao could become an assistant to Hongli, helping him to deal with military crises at any time and to check the power of the Manchu nobles.

After sighing, Yongzheng couldn't help but smile bitterly: "In the end, Nian Gengyao still prefers the Eighth Prince!"

Why does everyone like Lao Ba so much?

"Am I not generous enough?"

Emperor Yongzheng inquired about this with the thirteenth prince.

Then, Yongzheng looked at Hongli and asked, "Hongli, do you think I am generous?"

"Generous!"

"As soon as the Khan ascended the throne, he conferred the title of Prince on his Eighth Uncle, and also conferred the title of Beizi on Yanxin, and promoted him to Beile of Sunu. He also overruled the objections of the majority and made Nian Gengyao, a Han Bannerman who had not yet been promoted to a higher banner, the Grand General of Pacification!"

Hongli then answered earnestly with examples, not giving Yongzheng a perfunctory response.

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng's expression softened somewhat, and he said, "But they don't appreciate it; they still prefer the Eighth Prince! If they simply admired the late Emperor more, that would be one thing, but the Eighth Prince hasn't even become Emperor yet, and they still praise him so highly!"

Hongli knew that Yongzheng must also know that Nian Gengyao had close ties with the Eighth Prince, otherwise, he wouldn't have repeatedly mentioned the Eighth Prince at this time.

Hongli, not wanting Yongzheng to remain trapped in the vicious cycle of thinking that he was not as charming as the Eighth Prince, spoke up: "Father is not less charming than Eighth Uncle, it's just that Eighth Uncle and Father took different paths. It's just that many people who were also favored by the late Emperor have now chosen to follow the same path as Eighth Uncle."

Emperor Yongzheng was stunned.

The thirteenth prince nodded, looking like he was thinking seriously.

Upon seeing this, Hongli decided to continue persuading Yongzheng.

"Now that you, Father, are wondering why some people cannot be won over no matter how much fame and fortune you offer them, or even how much you are treated with the utmost respect and deference?"

"Then I will boldly speak frankly!"

"It's impossible to satisfy everyone when implementing new policies! But who are the enemies and who are the friends? In my humble opinion, this is the primary question we must address when implementing these new policies!"

After observing the expressions of the two men, Hongli continued, "This issue cannot be ignored!"

"Khan Ama may have already understood, and he is not afraid of any dissatisfaction. However, it is inevitable that he feels somewhat disappointed because he has given his heart to some people but has not been treated with the same sincerity in return."

"But I think there's no need for that. We only need to unite with our true friends to attack our true enemies! And we should remain optimistic while implementing the new policies, believing that the Qing Dynasty will prosper even more because of them!"

(End of this chapter)