My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 163 Prince Yi is too tired, you should take on more responsibility!

Yongzheng looked at Longkodo: "What crime have you committed?"

When Longkodo saw the sixteenth prince come to arrest him, he guessed what was going on and replied, "This servant should not have suggested that Prince Zhuang resign from his position as Minister of the Imperial Household Department."

Why are you implying this?

Emperor Yongzheng then inquired about Longkodo.

Longkodo pursed his lips, his eyes fixed intently on the Yongzheng Emperor's boots in front of him. He noticed that the boots didn't press the ground very firmly.

He mustered his courage and replied, "Because I fear that if things continue like this, the domestic turmoil will worsen, which in turn will affect border security!"

Hongli had not yet left. He was looking at several memorials on river management that Yongzheng had given him, and was preparing to have him inspect the situation on the spot to see if the situation reported in the memorials was true.

For example, a large number of refugees were recruited by the government to repair rivers, and a plague broke out after they gathered.

Yes, increased population movement led to the emergence of epidemics, especially as the weather turned colder.

This is mainly because people in different places carry and tolerate different types of germs and viruses. When people from different places live together, germs and viruses from different places mix and give rise to new germs and viruses.

A virus that was originally not very virulent may become a more virulent one.

Recently, this situation has occurred in the capital, and even the number of severe colds in the palace has increased. Emperor Yongzheng himself has caught a cold several times, and although he has improved recently, he still coughs from time to time.

Many other members of the royal family also suffered from worsened colds, such as Consort Nian, who basically never stopped taking medicine.

However, Hongli never caught a cold. It's unclear whether it was because he was young, or because his birth mother, Consort Xi, was in good health or had strong genes, which gave him a good foundation.

Because, among all of Yongzheng's concubines, apart from Consort Yu, of the Geng clan, even Consort Xi, of the Niohuru clan, never caught a cold.

Moreover, Consort Xi was able to give birth to him because Niohuru, who was considered a dead person at the time, took care of Yongzheng, who had suffered from a serious infectious disease, and was favored by Yongzheng, which led to his birth.

However, despite being extremely exhausted from taking care of Yongzheng day and night, Niohuru did not catch any infection from him and instead gave birth naturally.

This led both Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng to say that Niohuru was a blessed person.

Of course, besides the strong genes from his mother, it may also be related to the fact that he came from a later generation.

Perhaps all of these reasons apply.

Even so, Yongzheng still instructed him to be careful and not to go to the epidemic area in person, and to always have an imperial physician by his side.

At this moment, Hongli couldn't help but look up after hearing Longkodo mention border security in the East Warm Pavilion.

At this point, Yongzheng instructed Longkodo, "Continue speaking."

"Whoo!"

"Your Majesty, the Russian Empire has long coveted our Great Qing territory. I have even learned that their ambitions are so great that they want to annex our homeland of Shengjing, hoping to gain a foothold in the interior!"

"Furthermore, the Dzungar Khanate is not entirely at ease and is likely to be instigated by the Russian Kingdom to launch another military campaign."

"Therefore, I do not want to weaken the ambitions of powerful figures too hastily at this time, so as to avoid collusion between insiders and outsiders. Therefore, I have instigated the Sixteenth Prince to resign from his position as Minister of the Imperial Household Department."

"In this way, even if it doesn't necessarily succeed, we can at least let His Majesty know that the Sixteenth Prince is also starting to be afraid and has to restrain himself."

After Longkodo answered, Hongli couldn't help but feel admiration for him.

Because he had to admit that Longkodo was good at finding reasons, and those reasons were quite plausible.

As a minister who had led troops for many years and was familiar with border affairs, he was able to pay attention to border affairs at any time and find reasons to do so.

Of course, Hongli knew that what Longkodo said was true.

In this era, the polar bear on the north side of the emperor's bed was indeed a headache for the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty spared no effort in trying to resolve the Dzungar issue starting with the Kangxi Emperor, which was fundamentally related to the fact that this polar bear had always been too ambitious.

Hongli was even more aware that in history, the northern bear's ambition to annex more territory would continue throughout the Qing Dynasty and even longer, and many of its ambitions were indeed realized later, wiping out many border areas inhabited by Qing subjects.

As for the claim that the Rakshasa Kingdom wanted to annex Shengjing, he didn't think Longkodo was exaggerating.

Later history has proven that they always coveted Lushun.

Therefore, he had to admit that Longkodo truly understood Russia. No wonder he was a hardliner who fought for every inch of land in historical negotiations with Russia over border issues; he clearly understood Russia's nature.

Hongli himself was somewhat inclined to persuade Yongzheng to forgive Longkodo, not for any other reason than his strategic vision!

At present, among the majority of the Eight Banner nobles who are living a life of debauchery, very few are aware of this.

It should be noted that, according to historical developments, Fucha Maqi, who was about to become his wife's uncle, as one of the ruling ministers, lacked this vision. Instead, he was greedy for short-term gains and sold the secret to the Russian Kingdom, allowing the Russian Kingdom to successfully take over the Uriankhai region that Longkodo had insisted on refusing to cede.

In fact, after Nian Gengyao was arrested in the third year of Yongzheng's reign, Yongzheng did not severely punish Longkodo. He only gave him a symbolic warning, because he needed Longkodo to handle the border affairs with Russia.

However, Yongzheng then sneered: "Why don't you say that you also intend to sow discord between me and the Sixteenth Prince, so as to win over the Sixteenth Prince and even promote Hongli together, and use my heavy reliance on Hongli to form a new Fourth Prince Party, so that you can sideline me and end the new policies as soon as possible?"

Bang!
Yongzheng suddenly slammed his fist on the table and stood up, pointing at Longkodo: "You say it is or isn't it!"

Yongzheng's face was contorted with rage, and his voice boomed like thunder, lingering in the air.

As he was recording the relevant questions from the memorial on paper, and was preparing to leave the capital, Hongli reminded himself not to forget to ask the local officials, he couldn't help but stop writing again.

He knew that Yongzheng's sudden question was not without reason; he must have learned many secrets through his own secret office and confidential reports.

Next.

Hongli discovered that Longkodo seemed to know Yongzheng very well, and he did not deny it, because he directly admitted: "This servant had this thought, and indeed did so. Your Majesty is wise!"

After Longkodo gave his answer, the entire Hall of Mental Cultivation became even quieter, so quiet that he could hear the wind rattling against the windowpanes.

Hongli gave Ma Jiayun a wink.

Ma Jiayun understood and closed the window.

"Therefore, this servant is guilty, this servant deserves to die!"

"But Your Majesty, you are wise enough to know that I am not doing this for myself, but for the sake of our ancestors' empire!"

"The Russian Kingdom bribed me today, saying they hoped to get information about how much concessions my Great Qing would make to the Northwest and Northeast territories. I did not agree, but only intended to report this matter to you, and also to remind you to be wary of the humiliation of ceding territory during a prosperous era!" Longkodo said, then banged his head on the ground and burst into tears.

At this point, Yongzheng's tone softened: "Get up."

"Whoo!"

Longkodo stood up.

Yongzheng then handed over the handkerchief.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Longkodo then began to wipe the corner of his eye.

Yongzheng then said, "I have repeatedly warned you not to follow Nian Gengyao's example of forming cliques and acting arbitrarily, and to deceive and conceal everything, but you never change! In your eyes, am I so unworthy of your support that you have to form a new Fourth Prince Party? Where do you intend to place us, father and son, in this situation?"

"You keep saying it's for the sake of our ancestors' country and its people, but do you really think doing this will make our ancestors' country and its people better?"

Emperor Yongzheng questioned Longkodo.

Longkodo looked up with a look of sudden realization, then knelt down again: "This servant was foolish, less knowledgeable about domestic affairs than His Majesty, and almost caused a great mistake. I deserve to die!"

Yongzheng merely raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked Longkodo in a deep voice, "Is there anyone else who shares your thoughts in this regard?"

“Since Your Majesty has asked this question, I will dare to speak frankly: the Third Prince and I share such thoughts.”

Longkodo replied.

After hearing this, Yongzheng looked at Longkodo and asked very calmly, "Is this true?"

"How dare this servant sow discord within the imperial family?"

"If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can search the home of Third Master's tutor, Wang Maohong. You will find that he keeps a skinny horse for Third Master, as well as some official documents that servants sold to Third Master."

"The reason for confiscating the property is readily available; the servant has a list of gifts he gave to the servant."

Longkodo bowed and said.

Yongzheng suddenly looked at the East Warm Pavilion and said, "Hongli, come here."

Hongli then came over: "Father!"

"Did you hear that? Your third brother wants to rely on you now."

Yongzheng smiled and began to speak to Hongli.

Hongli immediately knelt down and said, "Your subject has said that your subject has never dared to form a faction, nor dared to have a faction. Even if your subject had a faction, it would only be your father's faction!"

"Longkodo, did you hear that? My son understands better than you do."

Yongzheng looked at Longkodo and said something.

Longkodo lowered his head even further: "Your Majesty is right."

"But I will consider that you did have the well-being of the nation and were worried about the dangers on the border. So I will just say that you were not thinking things through and will not punish you severely."

Then Yongzheng summoned Zhang Tingyu: "Hengchen, draft an edict: My uncle Longkodo has formed a clique and acted arbitrarily. Remove him from his position as Grand Tutor, but keep him in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and the Southern Study. Prince Zhuang, Yunlu, is honest, wise, and cautious in his dealings. He should be given more experience and is to concurrently manage the Ministry of War!"

Longkodo feigned a sob, saying, "Your Majesty is so kind and benevolent, this humble servant kowtows in gratitude for Your Majesty's grace!"

"Whoo!"

The sixteenth brother responded.

Then, Yongzheng dismissed them and asked Hongli, "How did you find the memorials to be reviewed?"

"I'm almost finished reading it."

Hongli replied.

Yongzheng nodded and said to Hongli, "The only thing I can be comforted by now is that you have always been quite sensible and have not been two-faced with your father. You have also made me see your sixteenth uncle in a new light. Therefore, I have put him in charge of the Ministry of War. However, he is sometimes too naive and loses his vigilance. You should remind him more often in the future."

"Whoo!"

Yongzheng then waved his hand and said, "Go down."

After reading it, Hongli left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

However, as soon as he left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the sixteenth prince came to him.

It turned out that the sixteenth brother had been waiting for him all along.

Now, thanks to Hongli's reminder, the Sixteenth Prince has gained even more power and has not been implicated by Longkodo. As a result, he relies on Hongli even more and takes the initiative to say to him, "Hongli, this time, your Sixteenth Uncle really owes a great debt to you, which is how you turned misfortune into blessing!"

Hongli smiled and said, "Nephew, this is for the sake of the Qing Dynasty and for Father. Besides, Uncle Sixteen has always treated me well, so I am naturally willing to do my best to prevent Uncle Sixteen from being harmed."

The sixteenth prince smiled and patted Hongli on the shoulder: "Then tell me, why did Fourth Brother suddenly put me in charge of the military and put me in charge of the Ministry of War?"

"It should be to lighten Uncle Thirteen's burden a bit."

"Uncle Thirteen is too tired, and his health is not good."

"Khan Ama must really hope that more brothers can help him."

The sixteenth brother nodded thoughtfully, his expression gradually becoming serious.

The next day, Hongli left the capital.

After Hongli left, Yongzheng summoned Hongshi to the palace and asked him, "Do you know about Longkodo being stripped of his title of Grand Tutor?"

"Your subject has never heard of it."

Hongshi replied.

Yongzheng snorted: "But he did admit that you intended to support your fourth brother in ending the new policies as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)