My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 166 Hongli is rich!

When Hongli heard that Nian Xiyao was going to donate 300,000 catties of copper to the Imperial Household Department, he was happy for Yongzheng. After all, the court was currently short of copper and needed more copper to lubricate the economy and promote productivity.

Therefore, Hongli acknowledged that Nian Xiyao did know how to demonstrate loyalty, and only after hearing Nian Xiyao mention the Kong family did he ask, "Are you aware of Nian Gengyao's marriage alliance with the Kong family?"

"This servant was unaware of this until the Kong family broke off the engagement."

"Fourth Master, please forgive me. My younger brother's marriage to the Kong family was originally requested by the Kong family. However, my younger brother is fond of empty fame and felt that marrying into the Kong family would bring glory to our family and let the world know that he was valued by the sages. In doing so, he violated a taboo."

Nian Xiyao replied.

At this moment, Hongli spoke up, saying, "Father has issued an edict that the man who married the daughter of Nian Gengyao is to be exiled to Ningguta!"

"Therefore, this does not mean that the Kong family can escape by breaking off the engagement when things go wrong. But after all, they are a family of sages. The Khan, considering the need of the country to respect Confucius and Confucianism, did not punish their clan severely."

"Your Majesty is truly a holy ruler, but our servant clan has failed to live up to His Majesty's grace!"

Nian Xiyao looked north and kowtowed.

Hongli then helped him to his feet and went outside himself, watching the military academy students coming and going, carrying out boxes of gold and silver jewelry.

Not long after, Hongli saw a group of female relatives and servants being escorted over.

Among the women were those dressed in Mongolian and Goryeo attire.

He heard from Nian Bin's confession that the women his father kept in his Baoding residence included Yangzhou "slim horses," Datong "aunties," and West Lake boat girls.

Now, all the women are weeping and wailing, looking pitiful.

Hongli had to admit that Nian Gengyao was quite cunning, and he thought that the officials' accusations that he even slept with concubines were probably not unfounded.

Now, apart from Nian Gengyao's own wife, daughter, and granddaughter, who belong to the master level, the rest will be treated as family property and packaged up as Hongli's vassals.

How to deal with these concubines and servants, who were considered as valuable as gold and silver in this era, was something that Hongli would have to consider in the future.

At this point, Kajir reported: "Preliminary estimate is that we have seized a hundred thousand taels of silver."

Hongli has no shortage of gold and silver now, so he simply nodded.

He then unconsciously went to the temporary place where Kajir had arranged to display antiques and calligraphy.

The dazzling array of antiques and calligraphy dazzled Hongli.

He never expected that Nian Gengyao would have so many antiques and calligraphy.

But now, all of these belong to him, Hongli.

This greatly surprised and delighted Hongli.

He had to admit that with all these antiques and paintings, he could have built a private museum in his own palace and appreciated them at his leisure.

Lately, perhaps because he has collected a lot of antiques and calligraphy and has been influenced by classical Chinese culture for a long time, he now likes these antiques and calligraphy with cultural heritage more and more.

However, Hongli was used to hiding his inner emotions, so he did not lose his composure. After looking at the antiques and paintings, he calmly went to Nian Gengyao's female relatives and servants.

Although Hongli also liked beautiful women, he wasn't insatiable at first sight. So even after seeing Nian Gengyao's concubines in Baoding, he only glanced at them before turning back to the main hall with his hands behind his back and saying, "Bring Nian Zhu here!"

"Whoo!"

Not long after, Nian Gengyao's daughter, Nian Zhu, was brought before Hongli.

Hongli glanced at it and found that Nian Zhu and Nian Yirou were somewhat similar to Consort Nian.

This is naturally related to the daughter resembling her father, but since the father is a man, it's not too obvious. However, since the aunt is the father's sister, the resemblance is more easily seen.

And Nianzhu was naturally quite beautiful as well.

Upon seeing Nianzhu, Hongli said, "The imperial edict is to send you to the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for serving in the Imperial Household Department) because your father, Nian Gengyao, betrothed you to a Han Chinese nobleman, which broke the rules. Although this was not something you could decide on your own, the sins of the father must be paid by the son, so you must also suffer this punishment!"

Upon hearing this, Nianzhu kowtowed with tears in her eyes, saying, "This servant understands!"

"As for whether to send you to the palace as a maid in the Xin Zhe Ku or to the Prince's residence, the imperial decree allows me to make the decision. I am now giving you the power to decide for yourself."

Hongli then began to speak.

Being sent to the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for slaves) meant becoming the lowest-ranking bondservant, only fit for manual labor.

Now, if Hongli lets her choose between going to the palace or the prince's residence, it's simply a matter of finding a different place to do manual labor.

"This servant begs Your Highness to have mercy and allow me to serve as a maidservant to Sister Yirou."

After pondering for a while, Nianzhu pursed her lips and then kowtowed again, sobbing.

After hearing this, Hongli looked at her and asked in a low voice, "Don't you want to go to Consort Dun's side?"

"This servant is the daughter of a disgraced official. I beg Your Highness for mercy and protection. I dare not have any improper thoughts about serving the Imperial Concubine!"

Nianzhu then bowed and kowtowed again, saying, "Please grant me permission, Fourth Master!"

Hongli could guess that Nianzhu resented Yongzheng even more for causing her family to fall into such a state, and did not want to see Yongzheng. However, she did not say it outright, so she used the excuse that she was not worthy to serve the Noble Consort and could only serve a low-ranking princess.

If she were to enter the palace, she would certainly be assigned to the Xin Zhe Ku (a place for menial laborers), and her aunt, Consort Nian, would likely arrange for her to do menial work by her side. In that case, she would inevitably see Emperor Yongzheng.

Since Hongli had agreed to give Nianzhu the choice, he naturally wouldn't refuse. He then instructed his eunuch Li Yu, who was in charge of the beadwork, "From now on, you can assign all the miscellaneous tasks on the road to her and make her follow your orders."

"Whoo!"

"Thank you so much, Fourth Master!"

Nianzhu bowed again here.

"That's all."

Hongli replied, only to find that Nian Xiyao was nodding at Nian Zhu with a look of satisfaction.

Hongli didn't ask Nian Xiyao why he nodded. After confiscating the Nian family property and rewarding the accompanying officers, soldiers, and servants as per custom, he inspected the canal. Nian Gengyao's family, servants, and property were escorted back to the capital by a troop of soldiers dispatched by Kajirshan. The family members were to be detained at the Infantry Commander's Office to await further action, while the servants and property were to be sent to Prince Bao's residence and placed under the custody of the Prince Bao's chief eunuch.

As for the real estate in Baoding, Hongli ordered Li Yu to temporarily send his personal servants from the Imperial Household Department to guard it there.

Emperor Qianlong's purpose in raiding the Nian family's property was essentially to make a fortune.

However, he did not expect to acquire so many antiques and paintings, and he also received an extra 300,000 catties of copper that Nian Xiyao was going to present to the imperial court.

Because most copper is mined from high-quality copper mines overseas, it is mostly of extremely high purity, making it very suitable for making copper coins.

Hongli believed that based on this performance alone, Nian Xiyao should be able to please Yongzheng and, out of respect for Consort Nian, make an exception for him.

Hongli also submitted a memorial, pleading for Nian Gengyao and his family again, and asking Yongzheng to show leniency and benevolence, considering that Nian Xiyao was relatively honest and upright, and that Consort Dun's mother was cautious and respectful.

While inspecting the waterways to the north, Hongli encountered a man being escorted north by soldiers. This man and his escorts were traveling north by boat, and he was kneeling and kowtowing to Hongli with tears streaming down his face.

"Kong Chuanyong, the 68th generation descendant of the sage, begs Fourth Master to save my life!"

Hongli ignored it and just watched the ship sail away.

The sound disappeared shortly afterward.

Kong Chuanyong was extremely disappointed, and cried out in his heart, "I am a descendant of a sage! Besides, I have already broken off the engagement!"

"Although they are descendants of a sage, they have never brought honor to their ancestors!"

At this moment, Hongli said something and then looked towards the riverbank.

The wheat fields stretching along both sides of the river are particularly striking against the snowy plains.

Along the riverbank, people lived in groups due to river workers, and smoke from their cooking fires was ever-present.

This pleased him greatly. He took a deep breath of the cool air, which smelled of wheat, and then, seeing several people being carried out of a shack further away, he couldn't help but ask Governor Cai Ting, "How is the plague under control now?"

"The results are not ideal. Although we have tried to treat patients by boiling willow bark according to medical books such as the Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, there are still some who have fallen ill or even died."

Cai Ting replied.

Hongli nodded, recalling Newton's discovery that crushed willow bark was more effective, and then said to Cai Ting:

"The most terrifying thing about the epidemic is the persistent high fever. Willow bark is good for clearing heat and detoxifying, but simply boiling the bark is not enough to make it effective. Let them try crushing it into powder and then boiling it dry. If conditions are right, mix the broth with strong liquor, filter it with broken cotton wool, and then try giving the resulting crystalline substance to those with high fever."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will have them try."

"Give it a try. The initial process for the new antipyretic drug produced by the Imperial Household Department in the capital was done in this way, and the results were good."

"I also requested permission to bring some this time. You can send someone to Li Yu to collect them later and distribute them free of charge to the critically ill."

Like Hongzhou, Hongli would also ask the Imperial Household Department to make some new gadgets for him, but he would ask them to test new medicines for him more often.

Emperor Hongli instructed the pharmaceutical craftsmen of the Imperial Household Department to try extracting higher purity salicylic acid crystal powder from willow bark. He also had the Imperial Pharmacy under the Imperial Household Department sell the powder to the public.

Emperor Hongli commissioned the development of these new drugs so that he could better resist diseases in the future.

Of course, epidemic prevention cannot rely solely on having good medicine.

So, Hongli handed Cai Ting a book on epidemic prevention that he had brought with him: "This is an epidemic prevention manual that I compiled by referring to Wu Youke's 'Treatise on Plague' and corresponding medical cases. You can have your officials take it for reference, and hopefully it will reduce the number of people who die from the disease."

"Fourth Master's benevolence is as vast as the heavens, a blessing to all living beings!"

"On behalf of the people suffering from the plague along the river, this humble servant thanks Fourth Master for his great kindness!"

Cai Ting then performed a grand salute to Hongli.

Hongli then told him to stand up: "Your Majesty has a heart that loves the people and a heart that wants to strengthen the people and the borders. How can we not understand His Majesty's intentions?"

"Fourth Master is right."

The thought that the Russian Empire was now eyeing the north with hostility, and that its new ruler, Catherine I, was particularly coveting the northwest and northeast border regions of the Qing Dynasty, was unbearable.

Furthermore, there are issues such as the Junggar Basin's intention to expand eastward and the changing mainstream civilization in the border regions.

In this generation, Emperor Yongzheng actually hoped that the population would explode as soon as possible, and that people would be moved to the border areas.

As for the increased difficulty of management due to the larger Han population, it was not important to Hongli, because there were far fewer Manchus than Hans to begin with. Besides, a larger Han population was easier to manage than population increases of other ethnic groups.

Hongli continued to inspect the river. Although the epidemic worsened in the cold winter, the river had been dredged and the riverbanks had become stronger.

The saline-alkali land on both sides of the river has been improved by the reintroduction of water into the dried-up irrigation canals. It is believed that several more wheat fields will be available next year, and rice can be grown in areas with sufficient water.

Many unemployed young men survived because of the large-scale river repairs, and they were able to become the main force for land reclamation the following year.

Some hardworking young men have even started planting winter vegetables along the coast, while others have been bold enough to volunteer for the task of reclamation in the northwest.

Indeed, Emperor Yongzheng issued an edict ordering the government to recruit Han Chinese to settle and cultivate land in the Northwest. Following the example of the Huguang Filling Sichuan campaign, reserve officials were responsible for recruiting people to go to the Northwest, and the more people recruited, the higher their official rank would be.

Not long after Hongli was inspecting the waterways, he received news from the capital that Hongshi had been adopted by the Eighth Prince.

"It still happened!"

Hongli was not surprised by this, but sighed and thought to himself that he had indeed been right to be cautious.

Therefore, Hongli decided to be more careful and take the initiative to understand Yongzheng's needs and concerns. At this moment, he gave the order: "Grind the ink!"

Afterwards, Hongli sat down behind his desk and began writing memorials for Yongzheng.

"Your Majesty, I have passed through Baoding and Hejian and seen that all the abandoned waterways have been repaired, from the main channels to the tributaries. Winter wheat has been planted everywhere, and within a ten-mile stretch along both banks, everything is lush and green. With the nourishment of the snow in December, we can expect a bountiful harvest next year..."

"Your Majesty, I have consulted with poor farmers along the way. They all say that since the conversion of poll tax to land tax, the poll tax has mostly been borne by large households. Moreover, the harvest has been good this year, so there is a surplus. Although the tenant farmers say that the rent has increased slightly, they are happy that the interest has been greatly reduced and the poll tax in the treasury is sufficient. They are also more diligent in repairing the canals. So even though there is little rain in winter, the canals are full of water, and there is no delay in transplanting rice seedlings and irrigating. On the contrary, they have more food."

(End of this chapter)