My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 177 Abolish Two Major Malpractices!
The next day, after arriving at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Hongli told Yongzheng about receiving the map and the broken sword.

However, Emperor Yongzheng did not fly into a rage, as if he had anticipated this.

Moreover, the undisguised seriousness between Hongli's brows made Yongzheng unable to help but chuckle, and he suddenly had the idea of ​​taking the opportunity to teach Hongli a lesson.

Don't be too upset!

Yongzheng patted Hongli's increasingly sturdy shoulder.

Then, Yongzheng said: "My Great Qing is still regarded by many people, both at home and abroad, as a non-Chinese dynasty. Among them, there are even many members of my Great Qing's imperial family and nobles who actively regard themselves as foreign invaders who have seized the Chinese land."

"In this way, foreign barbarians will also think that our emperors and nobles only want to unite with Han gentry to enslave the people and live the most comfortable and happy life, and will not deal with them harshly."

"Therefore, even though we have defeated some barbarian countries and taught them a lesson, they still dare to threaten us at will."

At this point, Yongzheng pushed up the audacity on the bridge of his nose, looking completely unsurprised.

At this point, Hongli asked, "So, according to Father, the reason why foreign barbarians act so recklessly is that we ourselves do not regard this land as our own home, but only as a place temporarily occupied and demanded, and we treat the people as cattle and horses, or even worse than cattle and horses?"

"That's the truth!"

"They know that many of our nobles and officials are more concerned with preventing the common people from becoming thieves than with conquering the barbarians; at most, they are only concerned with preventing the barbarians from becoming too powerful."

"But in general, in the eyes of many nobles and officials, preventing the common people from becoming thieves was still more important than preventing the barbarians from becoming too powerful. If they could not have both, they would rather accept the barbarians becoming too powerful and then become dependent on the powerful barbarians, while continuing to exploit the common people to the bone."

At this point, Yongzheng concluded, "This is the drawback of an emperor who considers himself a conqueror from elsewhere!"

Hongli understood what Yongzheng meant, and knew that Yongzheng was teaching him the underlying logic behind the arrogance of the Russian Empire.

“If we are unwilling to bear this humiliation, we must quickly unite all the ethnic groups of the Qing Dynasty into a true whole, so that from the emperor down all are subjects, and there is mutual checks and balances!”

Yongzheng said another thing.

Hongli nodded and then bowed: "Your subject thanks Father for his teachings! Your subject understands. As long as one does not strive for progress and only colludes with Han gentry to live a comfortable life, let alone a great country like Russia, even a small country can make trouble for our Great Qing."

"That's right, that's the key!"

Yongzheng nodded as well.

"However, there are other reasons why we cannot teach the Rakshasa a lesson, namely, that the Dzungars have not yet completely submitted."

“If our Great Qing Dynasty were to completely offend the Russian Kingdom now, the Russian Kingdom would support the Dzungars even more openly.”

"So, for now, we can only endure it and pretend we don't know who gave us the map and the blunt knife."

Yongzheng then brought up the current predicament.

Hongli smiled helplessly at this.

He acknowledged that the Dzungar Khanate is now a powerful nation, otherwise, the Kangxi Emperor would not have been able to completely subdue or even eliminate it from the beginning of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

The Qing Dynasty could not afford to wage war against the Dzungars while simultaneously waging a major military campaign against the Russian Empire.

Fighting on two fronts has always been a major strategic taboo.

In particular, traditional agrarian empires, which were primarily based on small-scale farming, had very fragile economic systems and were highly dependent on climate and weather conditions.

If you're fighting on two fronts when the weather is bad, it's very easy for things to collapse.

Seeing that Hongli's smile was forced, Yongzheng kindly comforted him: "Father knows you are ambitious and wish you could send someone to kill this Russian envoy right now, but the more powerful a person is, the more cautious they must be in their actions and not act impulsively, because if their words and deeds are unrestrained, the damage they will cause to the court will be greater."

"And this is even more true of Father, who, with his words and actions, can bring prosperity or disaster to the world."

Yongzheng did not directly say that Hongli would become emperor and that he should be even more cautious after assuming supreme power; he only said that he himself should be more cautious.

But Hongli understood what Yongzheng meant and bowed, saying, "Your subject has learned a lot; Father's instructions are very correct!"

then.

Hongli then took the initiative to explain his own views: "But I humbly believe that those in power should be patient in order to strike back later, not for the sake of being patient. Instead, they should take advantage of this period to play a strategic move, build up momentum, and turn disadvantages into advantages."

"well said!"

Emperor Yongzheng, who was reviewing memorials, praised him and then turned to Hongli with a smile: "So, you may speak your mind."

Emperor Yongzheng seemed unable to bear seeing Hongli unhappy, and intentionally appeared even more enlightened than before.

Hongli boldly stated, "Your Majesty, I request the abolition of the nominal law against fugitives and the ban on border crossings, so as to completely remove the ropes binding those people who are willing to go to reclaim wasteland and strengthen the border!"

Now that Qinghai in the northwest has been pacified, and Yongzheng has used the Nian Gengyao incident to bring all the governors and viceroys under his control, thus greatly strengthening his imperial power.

Therefore, it was not inappropriate for Hongli to take the initiative to abolish the law against fugitives and the ban on entering the country at this time.

The law against fugitives and the ban on entering ports were among the six major malpractices of the early Qing Dynasty, and also constraints that hindered the outward expansion of Chinese civilization.

The reason why Emperor Qianlong said that the law was merely nominal was that the law against fugitives and the ban on crossing the border were simply impossible to enforce under the increasingly severe reality of the conflict between people and land. A large number of landless people and servants would rather die than leave the border.

Plus.

The rise of external forces during the reigns of Kangxi and Yongzheng led both emperors to be less stringent in their enforcement of these two decrees, even to the point that Kangxi once took the initiative to grant titles and honors to those who left the pass, and Yongzheng also took the initiative to protect refugees who had left the pass.

Aside from the fact that the law against fugitives became increasingly ineffective over time, the ban on entering and leaving the country was strengthened again in the early years of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.

However, in this life, Hongli is not the Qianlong Emperor of history.

In terms of governing philosophy, he and Yongzheng had many things in common, unlike the historical Qianlong, who only acted like Yongzheng before becoming emperor, but began to show his true colors once he ascended the throne.

Emperor Qianlong proactively made this suggestion in the hope of further promoting the migration of Han Chinese people from within the Great Wall to the outside, thereby achieving the goal of strengthening the border.

Don't underestimate the significance of securing the borders. The fact that Xinjiang was able to be recovered and the rebellion in Shaanxi and Gansu was largely due to the fact that many Han Chinese had already migrated to the Northwest at that time. Otherwise, the manpower and resources for soldiers and civilians would not have been so abundant.

Yongzheng did not immediately agree, but instead appeared to be seriously considering the matter.

“Father, I believe that simply having the ministers discuss Nian Gengyao’s crimes is not enough to determine whether they are truly loyal. Rather, they should know how to choose between ancestral precepts and imperial instructions,” Hongli said again.

Emperor Yongzheng nodded: "I grant your permission!"

Then, Yongzheng said with a smile, "You're in a bad mood, so I'll give you a day off. You don't have to go to class today."

"Thank you, Ama!"

Hongli was very happy.

He knew that Yongzheng wanted to take advantage of his absence to implement the suggestion he had just made.

Although he was the emperor and had the power to decide everything, if he wanted to abolish a law, in order to show that he was making a careful decision, he would naturally have to convene the central government to discuss it, or even have someone spread the word first to hear the reaction in the court.

Therefore, when Emperor Yongzheng deliberately spread the news that he intended to abolish the law against fugitives and the ban on border crossings, the Russian envoy, Laguginsky, soon learned of this as well.

This greatly shocked and instilled fear in Lagujinsky regarding the Yongzheng Emperor.

"Your Emperor is indeed a wise and ambitious ruler! He has such great courage and determination."

Laguchinsky even praised Emperor Yongzheng in front of Qian Mingshi for this.

Qian Mingshi nodded in agreement: "He is indeed a wise and virtuous ruler."

"It is rare to have such courage, and any wise ruler would definitely strengthen the borders in this situation to prepare for the future; the best course of action is something that anyone can think of, but what is rare is that he is willing to choose the best course of action."

"Therefore, your Emperor Yongzheng was a terrifying emperor."

Laguchinsky continued.

Qian Mingshi gave a bitter laugh: "You're right. Because the current emperor is no ordinary man, what you did actually led to the emergence of these two national policies."

Laguzinsky waved his hand and said, "I can't worry about that!"

“I understand that you are more concerned about whether the Fourth Prince can be frightened by you.”

"Because, in any case, although the current emperor is a wise ruler, his life is not long, and the attitude of this fourth prince is the answer you need most right now."

Qian Mingshi smiled and cupped his hands in reply.

Laguchinsky nodded and smiled.

Then, Lagujinsky added, "I wonder if your fourth prince has been frightened, and whether he will be willing to change the national policy after he becomes emperor, and be willing to adopt a strategy of concession to our great nation in order to protect the interior and weaken the exterior."

"I firmly believe that the Fourth Prince will be a ruler who dislikes conquest and prefers to maintain peace and stability."

"Because he showed reluctance when dealing with Nian Gengyao and others, and was very willing to be lenient with princes and ministers, but he had to put on a show because the emperor now preferred him to be strict."

Qian Mingshi then replied.

Laguchinsky was quite willing to believe Qian Mingshi's analysis.

Because he had spent a considerable amount of time in the Qing court and had heard that the current Fourth Prince possessed the benevolent legacy of the late emperor.

So Raguginsky continued, "I hope so! I hope he can become emperor soon so that we can see his true colors! In any case, I can't scare him for nothing!"

"The Fourth Prince is too cunning. Although he is kind, he is not as honest as the Third Prince."

"It's a pity that the Third Prince has lost his qualification to compete for the throne, so the court and the public can only focus on the Fourth Prince."

Qian Mingshi was deeply moved.

Raguginsky asked, "Don't you have an older brother as well?"

Qian Mingshi smiled bitterly: "The Fifth Prince is even more unpredictable; few people can see any ambition for the throne in him!"

Then, Qian Mingshi added, "In any case, the Fourth Prince is a smart man and is willing to blend in with the world. If he really inherits the throne in the future, he will likely choose to maintain a policy of internal stability while neglecting external affairs, treat nobles and officials with kindness, and not compete with a large country like yours that is thousands of miles away for borders."

Lagujinsky smiled and said, "Let's not talk about him. Right now, your emperor is indeed a troublesome ruler. I have to go back first. You keep an eye on this fourth prince for me in the capital!"

Soon, Lagudinsky submitted a petition to the Yongzheng Emperor requesting permission to return to his country, which was granted.

He needs to return to his home country.

Because he needed to have a good talk with his monarch, to discuss the attitude and capabilities of the new emperor, Yongzheng, and to hope that his monarch would allow him more room for concessions.

After all, Emperor Yongzheng had already abolished the law against fugitives and the ban on border crossings to strengthen border control.

As for whether this was Yongzheng's own idea or a suggestion from someone else, it was no longer important to him, because Yongzheng's agreement was enough to prove his attitude.

After issuing the decree to abolish the law against fugitives and to restrict entry into the country, Emperor Yongzheng instructed Hongli, "You must not tell anyone that you suggested abolishing the law against fugitives and allowing entry into the country. You can only say that you did not understand and that you could only believe that what I did was a wise move."

"My son obeys the order!"

Hongli agreed with tears in his eyes.

"In any case, deceiving the emperor is a crime, but deceiving the people of the world is not!"

Yongzheng smiled slyly.

Hongli had just received these instructions from Yongzheng and was at the Prince's residence when he received an invitation from the Eighth Prince.

Hongli had no idea what the Eighth Prince was up to, but he still went to the Prince Lian's residence.

Because Emperor Yongzheng allowed him to contact the Eighth Prince in private.

When Hongli arrived, the Eighth Prince had already prepared a sumptuous banquet for him. When Hongli said that he did not deserve such treatment from his Eighth Uncle, the Eighth Prince said to Hongli, "Hongli, your Eighth Uncle is moved by your painstaking efforts to protect your Eighth Uncle."

"If Uncle Ba is moved, why does he have to go against the Khan?"

(End of this chapter)