My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 159 The End of Nian Gengyao
"It is your own fault and you will not live!"

Emperor Yongzheng smiled coldly, not losing his temper or getting angry. After saying just that, he continued to review the memorials.

Hongli understood that this was actually the worst possible outcome for Nian Gengyao.

This means that Emperor Yongzheng had completely given up hope on Nian Gengyao.

If Yongzheng could still get angry for him, it means he still harbored a sliver of hope for him.

no way.

Emperor Yongzheng gave Nian Gengyao several opportunities.

But Nian Gengyao himself was incompetent.

However, for Hongli, this time he truly established his authority with the support of Yongzheng.

With Nian Xing being granted an official post and ordered to commit suicide, all the princes and ministers in the court finally understood that Hongli was not only capable of showing benevolence, but also capable of killing people without hesitation when he held a grudge.

At the same time, this also forced all the princes and ministers in the court to respect his attitude, his position, and his propositions even more.

Even if a prince has great influence over the emperor's decisions, he will still not be respected or revered if he is kind and gentle.

After all, on this land of the Qing Dynasty, the only thing everyone respected was your right to legally harm him.

Therefore, even if you voluntarily give up the right to legally harm others, they still won't respect you. In fact, given the chance, they might even take advantage of you, feeling that you don't deserve that right.

However, one cannot have only power without kindness, otherwise people will feel uneasy while respecting one, and because they cannot feel at ease, they will turn their fear into hatred.

That's why Hongli initially cooperated with Yongzheng in giving the Nian family a chance.

Longkodo, along with Yuzhu, also sought an audience with Hongli after the Nianxing incident.

When Hongli saw him, he asked Longkodo, "What brings you here to see me, Uncle?"

Longkodo pulled Yuzhu down to kneel: "This servant has also brought my son to apologize to Fourth Master!"

"is it?"

Hongli glanced at the jade pillar beside Longkodo.

Yu Zhu then replied, "That day, I had a quarrel with Nian, which disturbed Fourth Master's peace and quiet. Afterwards, I even forgot to come and apologize to Fourth Master. I deserve to die! Fortunately, Father found out and gave me a lecture. Only then did I realize how impolite I had been. So today, I have come with Father to apologize to Fourth Master!"

Why did you forget?

Hongli asked.

Yu Zhu lowered his head and continued, "This servant is afraid! I'm afraid I don't know what to say to Fourth Master. That's why, under my father's urging, I mustered up my courage to come and beg for an audience with Fourth Master. I beg Fourth Master to have mercy."

"Don't be afraid!"

"I am not an unreasonable person. As long as they follow the rules and know their limits, I will forgive them whenever possible."

Hongli helped Longkodo and Yuzhu rise to power.

Longkodo continued to bow and chuckle, saying, "Fourth Master is magnanimous, but servants cannot be ungrateful. My son did not come to apologize in time, which is a sign of poor upbringing. I have failed to properly teach my son."

"To express my apologies, this servant respectfully presents the Dongyuan Garden and three hundred hectares of farmland in Suzhou that I acquired in Jiangnan."

"These were all prepared by your servant when he accompanied the late emperor on his southern tour. Now I present them to you, Fourth Master, so that you may have more time and convenience if you have the opportunity to travel south in the future. This is also as an apology. I hope you will accept them."

As he spoke, Longkodo took the gift box and opened it in front of Hongli.

When Li Yu placed the gift box in front of Hongli, Hongli glanced at it and saw that it contained a garden map and land deed.

Hongli first picked up the garden plans and looked at them.

To Hongli's surprise, the layout of this garden was very similar to the Lingering Garden, which he had visited in his previous life.

Therefore, Hongli couldn't help but suspect that the East Garden was the predecessor of the Lingering Garden.

Considering that he would indeed need a secret residence in Jiangnan in the future, and given that Longkodo was currently favored by the emperor, he nodded and said:

"I'll accept your kind offer, and there's no need to mention this matter again."

"This humble servant, along with my son, thanks Fourth Master for his mercy!"

Longkodo and Yuzhu bowed in gratitude.

Hongli raised his hand to let them stand up.

Then Longkodo took the initiative to speak up, saying, "This servant has another matter to ask Fourth Master."

Hongli then asked Longkodo, "It's not about Nian Gengyao, is it?"

"Fourth Master is wise!"

"Many gentlemen in the court hate Nian Gengyao to the bone. Not only is he arrogant and disrespectful, but he also frames loyal officials. Now, His Majesty has shown him great favor by only sending him to Hangzhou, but he has not restrained himself. He continues to live a life of luxury, associate with officials and gentry, manipulate the officialdom, and scheme to seize official benefits!"

"This servant and the court officials want to continue to instigate the officials of the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice to impeach this traitor until His Majesty decides to get rid of this villain. However, we do not know what Your Highness thinks about this. We ask for Your Highness's instructions."

Longkodo bowed to Hongli, his dark eyes darting around as he secretly glanced at Hongli.

Hongli knew that Longkodo was trying to destroy Nian Gengyao, but he didn't want to make him feel that he hadn't informed him beforehand, so he made the gesture of asking for his permission, as if he were following his lead.

Hongli would not actually consider himself Longkodo's party leader and make decisions for Longkodo, the minister in charge of the government, just because Longkodo took the initiative to lower his status.

If Emperor Yongzheng found out, he would think that he had become arrogant and thought he was really the emperor, daring to give advice to the ministers in charge.

At the same time, Longkodo would also look down on himself because of this. He would either find an opportunity to tell Yongzheng that he, the fourth prince, had also given him instructions, and then stab him in the back, or he would actually push him to the front and say that he was the one who advocated taking drastic measures against Nian Gengyao.

Therefore, Hongli simply smiled and said, "I am not in a position to make decisions on matters of state unless my father asks me, and I would not dare to advise a senior minister like you, my maternal uncle!" Longkodo's smile froze.

"I only have one thing to say: as long as it is truly out of loyalty to the Khan and to the Qing Dynasty, then there is nothing that is not allowed, and naturally there is no need to consider my feelings."

At this point, Hongli asked Longkodo, "What do you think?"

"Fourth Master is right."

Longkodo smiled awkwardly and bowed, saying, "After listening to Fourth Master's words, this servant has gained a much clearer understanding and knows how to proceed."

"Slave, please resign!"

Longkodo then left with Yuzhu.

"Li Yu will see you off."

After Li Yu saw the two off, Yu Zhu couldn't help but say to Longkodo, "Father, this Prince Bao is very cautious."

"The more this happens, the less we should underestimate it. We still shouldn't easily try to take advantage of this Prince Bao in the future."

Longkodo replied.

Yu Zhu nodded.

Then Longkodo added, “Fortunately, he is willing to cooperate with the Emperor in presenting a benevolent image. If he were to succeed to the throne, the current Emperor has already eliminated all the accumulated problems for him. I believe he will also do as the Emperor wishes and be a benevolent ruler who maintains the status quo. At that time, the lives of the princes and ministers will be much better.”

Yuzhu asked with some curiosity, "Why does Father think that?"

"Because being an emperor is just like being an official. If it weren't for those privileges, nobody would want to work so hard."

"After living all these years, my father has only come to understand one thing: 'If a person doesn't look out for themselves, they'll be doomed!'"

"The current emperor is working hard to govern and reform, even at the cost of offending princes and ministers. To put it bluntly, it's because he ascended the throne in middle age and doesn't know how many more years he has left to live."

"Therefore, the current emperor is eager to seize power and is willing to use ruthless methods."

"In order to make their seizure of power appear righteous, they can only do so in the name of national rejuvenation, because only in this way can they have a legitimate reason to act."

"Otherwise, it would be difficult to find a pretext for the ruthless and cruel acts of imprisoning the late emperor's ninth son, killing Arsona and Orondai, and reprimanding Prince Lian."

“Prince Bao is young, and if he were to ascend the throne, he would probably not be middle-aged. Naturally, he would not be in a hurry to seize power. In addition, with the foundation of the revival laid by the current emperor, he would be happy to bestow favors. Even the current new policies will only show their great effect when he becomes emperor.”

"At that time, he only needed to win people's hearts with his boundless imperial favor, so that for at least twenty or thirty years, the princes and ministers would not have to worry about living a peaceful life."

Longkodo stepped down from the platform and sighed, "But I was too old then, and only people like you could enjoy leisurely days."

"Let's not talk about that. Although the current emperor is eager to seize power, he hasn't caused chaos in his haste. He wants to kill Nian Gengyao, but we ministers will have to bear the blame for forcing a meritorious official to commit such a crime. So we need to find more serious crimes against Nian Gengyao and report them to the emperor as soon as possible!"

Before Yuzhu could say anything nice, Longkodo waved his hand and started talking about the important things he needed to do right now.

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhu also looked excited: "That's perfect! Let Nian Gengyao and his sons die without a burial place, and teach them a lesson for their past arrogance!"

……

……

As Longkodo said, all the officials in the country understood Yongzheng's thoughts. They knew that Yongzheng wanted to kill Nian Gengyao, but he did not want to bear the unsavory reputation of killing Nian Gengyao. He also wanted to see the attitude of these high-ranking officials.

then.

Next, on the first day of the ninth month of the third year of Yongzheng's reign.

Fan Shijie, the commander of the Han army of the Bordered White Banner, impeached Jin Qixun, the transport commissioner of the East River, for flattering and supporting Nian Gengyao, causing trouble and disturbing the people, resulting in the deaths of more than 700 innocent men, women, and children, which is tantamount to killing innocent people and claiming credit.

Then, on the third day of the ninth month, Yue Zhongqi, the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, submitted a memorial impeaching the former Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, Nian Gengyao, for falsely claiming that the officials of Ganzhou and Balkul should have submitted a petition for money and grain, and for failing to explain the matter clearly, thus ruining the overall policy.

to this end……

On September 22, Emperor Yongzheng issued two imperial edicts to the Ministry of Personnel, ordering the ministry to discuss and handle the matter.

The Ministry of Personnel deliberated and replied that Nian Gengyao's official rank and titles should be downgraded. Emperor Yongzheng then issued an edict to strip Nian Gengyao of all his official positions and titles.

At the same time, officials from the cabinet, the nine ministers, the censorate, and other departments began to petition for severe punishment of Nian Gengyao.

Emperor Yongzheng ordered the Grand Secretariat to issue an edict to inquire about the opinions of the generals, governors, commanders and generals of various provinces, requiring them to submit their opinions publicly and express their attitudes toward the annual case.

Ultimately, after receiving the same advice from local officials, Yongzheng issued an edict on the fifth day of the tenth month of the third year of his reign, ordering Nian Gengyao to be brought to the capital in chains, where he would be thoroughly investigated and interrogated upon his arrival.

Nian Gengyao had just received the imperial edict stripping him of all his official titles and ranks, which made him even more devastated. He cried out to Wang Jingqi, a gentry member from Jiangnan, "What exactly does he mean by this?"

"Master Dong, I think I understand now."

"He probably wanted to kill you, but when he did, he had to make it look like the world was forcing him to kill you, and he had no choice but to do so."

Wang Jingqi looked at Nian Gengyao and said.

Nian Gengyao is currently blinded by his own involvement, and he is indeed bewildered by Yongzheng's perplexing actions.

Because he was a military leader, he knew that when he held great power, he would kill anyone who displeased him without hesitation, and he never believed that an emperor with even more power than him would kill people in a cat-and-mouse manner.

Therefore, after hearing this, Nian Gengyao simply asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's obvious, Master!"

"Your Majesty is killing me by attacking my spirit!"

"The goal is to ensure that no one will be willing to clear your name in the future, since this time it was all the princes and ministers who forced you to be killed!"

(End of this chapter)