My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 178 Gifting Hongli Temple Property, Leaving the Seclusion!

After hearing what the Eighth Prince said, Hongli immediately understood that the Eighth Prince was definitely testing his attitude on behalf of some princes and ministers who opposed abolishing these two corrupt policies.

He simply asked Lao Ba this one question.

Old Eight chuckled and said, "I invited you here to tell you the reason. It's not that I want to go against your father, but your father insists that I do something I don't want to do."

Hongli smiled faintly.

He sighed inwardly, "Uncle, you are indeed a wise king. You have worked so hard for the good life of all the princes and ministers in the world. But will they really remember your kindness?"

“Hongli! Your Eighth Uncle is not lying to you. You should understand your Eighth Uncle’s thoughts. Your Eighth Uncle is not afraid of losing or dying, but he does not want to involve too many innocent people or start too much fighting.”

"Our Great Qing Dynasty has committed too much bloodshed in conquering the world. Therefore, if we want long-term stability, the first priority is to reduce bloodshed in order to unite the people's hearts!"

After Hongli laughed, the Eighth Prince continued to explain his thoughts.

Hongli did not refute, but pretended to be naive: "I don't understand what you're saying either. I just think that even if some people don't understand what Father Khan is doing, he probably has his reasons. It's just that we don't understand them yet."

When the Eighth Prince heard Hongli say that even if some people didn't understand, they could still guess his meaning, he nodded in agreement.

But he didn't say anything more, only telling Hongli to eat first, and even let him try the dishes.

The meal was finished shortly.

The eighth prince then said to Hongli, "What I admire most about you is your constant caution!"

"Uncle Ba is joking."

Hongli replied.

Then, the eighth prince took out a contract and said to Hongli:

"Uncle Ba knows you don't lack good things, but Uncle Ba has to give you something in return for your filial piety in protecting Uncle Ba through your Sixteenth Uncle."

"Uncle Ba, you're too kind!"

Hongli replied with a smile.

The eighth brother countered, "How can those who are most filial not be rewarded?"

Subsequently.

The eighth brother said, “This contract is for the ownership of a temple in western Beijing. It was originally purchased by a servant family for the purpose of worshipping Buddha and doing good deeds. Now I am giving it to you as a way of repaying your kindness to your eighth brother, and also because your eighth brother hopes that you will do more good deeds.”

"Yijiao Temple has always been prosperous in its incense offerings and attracts many scholars and commoners. You can rely on the temple's abundant incense money to spread your benevolence and virtue."

Hongli knew that many famous temples and ancient monasteries were the private property of powerful and wealthy people.

Many powerful and wealthy people also used the construction of temples and monasteries for charity, finance, and even as hotels.

Many officials and gentry would borrow money from famous temples and monasteries, especially those in the capital.

Many officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants would also donate incense money to famous temples and ancient monasteries in order to bribe the powerful figures behind them.

In this way, even a powerful person can still appear to be honest and upright.

The eighth brother gifted him a Buddhist temple, which was also to make it easier for him to lend money, collect money, and even do charity to win people's hearts.

of course!

As the Eighth Prince himself said, he knew that Hongli was not short of money, but rather lacked more means to win people's hearts and attract talent.

"The elders give it to me and I dare not refuse it."

"Nephew thanks you in advance, Eighth Uncle."

Emperor Qianlong performed a grand ceremony in response.

Before he could finish, Lao Ba straightened his head and said with a smile, "No need for formalities. Have a few more drinks with your Uncle Ba. Uncle Ba has a lot to say to you!"

"Nephew, I am all ears."

Hongli replied with a smile.

The eighth prince drank a cup of tea first, and then said to Hongli, "Your cousin Hongshi has always felt guilty towards you. He even mentioned that he deliberately overturned the tea soup on you in the Prince's mansion to bully you back then, and he regrets it deeply."

Hongli naturally didn't believe it, but he still told the virtuous and capable Eighth Prince, who was trying to ease the tension between him and Hongshi, that he had forgotten about the matter.

After having another drink, Lao Ba continued, "You want to protect your Uncle Ba. Although Uncle Ba is very touched, you really don't need to. Uncle Ba doesn't deserve your treatment, because Uncle Ba has also wronged you!"

The eighth prince gave a bitter laugh as he said this, then drank a few more cups, and shortly after, waved his hand at Hongli and said:
"So, don't let your sixteenth uncle do anything bad to protect your eighth uncle anymore! That's not good for your sixteenth uncle, and you can rely on your sixteenth uncle in the future, so you should think more about your sixteenth uncle."

"Uncle, you're drunk. You don't understand anything about security."

Hongli continued to play dumb.

The eighth brother nodded, seemingly understanding why Hongli was pretending to be stupid: "Uncle Eight knows why you say that, Uncle Eight understands."

Hongli neither confirmed nor denied this.

It was only about 15 minutes later that Hongli left the Prince Lian's residence, reeking of alcohol.

However, Hongli was not drunk. This was mainly because the eighth prince had a very low alcohol tolerance and seemed to be pretending to be drunk.

However, Hongli did not expose him. After returning to his prince's quarters, he instructed Haitang and Nara Minxuan to prepare for his bath, while he himself went to the inner study to wait.

During this period, out of respect for the Empress, he basically had Haitang and Nara Minxuan serve him.

As soon as Hongli entered the inner study, he saw the map and the chipped blunt knife in the box on the desk.

This made Hongli clench his fist.

When Nara Minxuan and Haitang arrived, they both noticed this and exchanged a glance, then pursed their lips.

So, that night, when Hongli asked Nara Minxuan to stay with him until bedtime, Nara Minxuan once again took the initiative to crawl towards him.

“Cousin, please forgive my presumption. In my humble opinion, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Although you have lofty ambitions, the most important thing now is to have children as soon as possible to put the minds of your parents and ancestors at ease.” “I dare not accept your favor alone. I also ask that you, cousin, also invite the other princesses to serve you in bed.”

Nara Minxuan said while unbuttoning Hongli's clothes.

Hongli felt as if his heart was on fire. As the other party began to adjust him, he turned over and pulled her into his arms.

"You deserve a lot of credit for preventing the Russian envoy from bribing Ma Qi this time. Your older brother has decided to reward you handsomely and try to get you pregnant first!"

He knew that Nara Minxuan was right; his most important task now was to have a baby, and then he would just wait.

The reason why procreation was so important was that, having already been paired with a princess for trial marriage, he needed to prove to Emperor Yongzheng and the world as soon as possible that he had the ability to impregnate women.

Waiting meant waiting for the population to grow, especially in the border regions, and for Yongzheng to further reorganize domestic affairs.

Furthermore, after Emperor Yongzheng issued an edict abolishing the law against fugitives and the ban on border crossings, the governors and viceroys of various provinces released many fugitives who had just been arrested. Many people who had been exploited too much by local wealthy families also had more courage to flee to other places.

People venturing into Northeast China began to boldly and openly cross the border in broad daylight!
General Garbi, a confidant of Emperor Yongzheng, understood that Yongzheng was strengthening the defense of the border as soon as he learned that Yongzheng had abolished the ban on the passes. He immediately mobilized the Eight Banners troops stationed in Shengjing and dismantled the border walls that were originally used for the ban in various places.

Because these walls were built using willow branches, they were called willow borders.

Gahari himself was actually very happy to see many people leave the pass.

The main problem is that there are too few people outside the pass, so few that even a high-ranking official like him is not used to it. He always feels that he has seen more wolves than people.

If a place has no people, no matter how much land it has, it will not be able to be developed into a valuable area.

Therefore, he didn't care about whether they were Manchu or Han, as long as enough people came, he could collect more taxes and make up for the shortage of soldiers.

General Chen Tai of Heilongjiang also felt that there were too few people in his jurisdiction.

Therefore, in order to attract more people to settle in Heilongjiang and not let them stop after migrating only to the jurisdictions of the two generals of Shengjing and Jilin, he specially took out three thousand taels from his own allowance to buy a large amount of rice. He also sent people to post notices along the only way out of the pass, saying that in addition to the existing tax exemption and labor exemption policies of the Xuanjiao court, those who crossed the pass to Heilongjiang would be given one shi of rice, until the rice ran out.

Upon hearing this, the people felt that whether they went a hundred miles or a thousand miles beyond the pass, they were already leaving their ancestral land, so it didn't matter where they went. They all headed further north to the Heilongjiang region.

General Hada of Jilin followed suit and even set aside an extra two thousand taels of silver as a reward for honesty and integrity to attract the people.

When General Galbi discovered that many people were unwilling to stay in Fengtian and continued to go north because of the recruitment policies of Heilongjiang and Jilin, he was furious and immediately sent a secret memorial to Emperor Yongzheng to complain.

at the same time!

He himself had no choice but to pay the "anti-corruption allowance" to retain the people.

The main reason they were so willing to spend their allowances on maintaining integrity was that there were indeed too few people in the Northeast at that time, especially few Han Chinese skilled in farming and weaving. On the contrary, there was a lot of arable wasteland after the climate warmed up.

Furthermore, since they are outside the Great Wall, there are few places where they can spend their money. It would be better for them to use the allowance for maintaining integrity as a tool to help them achieve more political achievements, so that they can be promoted back to the capital or other warmer places as soon as possible.

then!

The three generals in Northeast China who held both military and political power were all involved. They not only used the "anti-corruption allowance" to supplement local government finances, but also prepared farm tools and oxen for the able-bodied men who came to the area.

In the end, the people who had crossed the border first remained in Fengtian.

However, many of the people who came later went to Heilongjiang and Jilin because they hadn't finished receiving all the benefits from Jilin and Heilongjiang.

As a result, the entire Northeast, regardless of its distance from the interior, saw the influx of newly migrating Han Chinese.

Garbi, Hada, and Chen Tai were all very pleased to see the increasing amount of cooking smoke and the presence of cattle and horses in their jurisdiction.

"In just one year, Heilongjiang will definitely be able to increase its granaries significantly, allowing for the stationing of more troops and deterring the Russians from advancing south!"

Chen Tai stood atop the city wall of Shengjing, hands on his hips, speaking with a determined expression.

"In just three years, Jilin will have many more market towns, and then commerce will flourish."

Hadda looked expectantly at the vast new settlements around Vladivostok and said to his colleagues.

"In just five years, Fengtian will see even more children running around, and they will make Fengtian more prosperous in the future!"

On his way back to Shengjing from Xingjing Hall, Galbi saw some children's faces and smiled as he spoke to his entourage.

On his way back to Russia, Lagudinsky, a Russian, saw that after the Qing government abolished the law against fugitives and the ban on crossing the border, local officials began to openly encourage Han Chinese to leave the country. They even actively instigated tenant farmers and slaves to escape. As he saw large crowds appearing in front of and behind him every day, his expression became increasingly solemn.

"I really don't want a monarch like Yongzheng to continue ruling the Qing Dynasty!"

Lagudinsky remarked to his assistant, Lank, about this.

Lang Ke said, "I am reminded of the Fourth Prince that Scholar Qian mentioned. I hope he will end these two hateful policies in the future! With so many Han people leaving the pass, the local people will also be assimilated by them. In that case, we may be facing a more unified Far East."

Lagudinsky nodded: "We must tell our king that it might be more appropriate to drag out the negotiations until the fourth prince ascends the throne."

……

……

The Fourth Prince, Hongli, was unaware that princes, ministers, gentry, and even foreign barbarians placed high hopes on him.

He had just learned from the sixteenth prince that the ninety-sixth guard of Prince Lian's mansion had been beaten to death by Prince Lian.

"Such a thing actually happened! Why did Uncle Ba have to beat Ninety-Six to death?"

Hongli asked.

Old Sixteen said, "He said he had been drinking, so he lost control and said something about killing Ninety-Six on the spot."

As soon as the sixteenth prince finished speaking, Yongzheng sent someone to summon Hongli and the sixteenth prince.

Yongzheng's face was ashen, and he seemed very angry. He then said to Hongli and the sixteenth prince, "Tell me, what do you think we should do about this?"

"Although Ninety-Six is ​​Prince Lian's bodyguard, he is a bodyguard appointed by the Infantry Commander, not a servant. To kill him is a serious crime, and he should be stripped of his title and imprisoned!"

Hongli thought for a moment and said, "Imprisoning Uncle Ba may not be enough, because my cousin Hongshi has a very good relationship with Uncle Ba and has always been greatly influenced by him. If we only imprison Uncle Ba, my cousin Hongshi may cause trouble by running around for Uncle Ba, such as using the Western encoding technique that Uncle Jiu once invented to contact foreigners for help."

(End of this chapter)