My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 191 Hongli, I shall reward you handsomely!

Hongli smiled and said, "There's nothing that can't be done, and this must be done! Twenty-first Uncle, don't worry, Father won't be unhappy."

"Although exposing the crimes of the Eighth Brother may please the Fourth Brother, the details are too detailed! He even knows about the Eighth Brother burning the late Emperor's imperial edicts. No one close to him would know such details."

Yunxi was still quite hesitant.

Hongli chuckled inwardly: "This was revealed by the Fourth Brother, who was once the Eighth Prince's most trusted advisor. How could it not be detailed?"

"Also, this Huiqing Layman's praise of Thirteenth Brother is too nauseating. He actually said that without him, the Qing Dynasty would have perished. Won't Fourth Brother be unhappy with such praise?"

Yunxi then continued to ask Hongli questions.

Hongli said solemnly, "This must be done! As for whether Father Khan will be unhappy, I dare say, absolutely not, absolutely not!"

After saying this, Hongli went to look at other manuscripts.

Yunxi seemed to have guessed the origin of the article, so she wisely refrained from asking any further questions and published it in the newspaper, placing it in a prominent position.

A few days later, Emperor Yongzheng saw the article published in the *Jingshi Xinbao* and nodded in approval, saying, "Very good!"

then.

Yongzheng then instructed Hongli, "Take a copy to your eighth uncle and have him take a look."

The Eighth Prince was eating noodles inside the high walls of the Imperial Clan Court when Hongli arrived.

These noodles were naturally ordered by Emperor Hongli to be made by the Imperial Clan Court for the Eighth Prince.

After finishing his noodles, the Eighth Prince took a sip of the hot soup in his bowl, then exhaled and smiled at Hongli, saying, "These noodles are indeed excellent. I should thank my fourth brother, the Emperor, for allowing me to eat such good noodles."

"I have to thank you, Hongli."

Lao Ba then added.

Hongli replied, "These were all grown by the Manchus themselves. Father Khan's intention was also to let you know that we Manchus can also grow good wheat."

“I know, he also wanted me to understand that his new policies were very successful. The Manchus did not complain about his new policies. On the contrary, they began to actively rely on themselves and could directly offer grain to their masters.”

At this point, Lao Ba chuckled awkwardly and said, "But if it weren't for you, Hongli, coming up with fertilizer, the Manchus might not have been so supportive of this new policy that allowed them to be self-reliant."

"Uncle, you can't say that. Not all Manchus are lazy. Even without fertilizer, many of them are willing to be self-reliant. Nevertheless, we can't let them have too much surplus grain to increase their wealth."

Hongli refuted the Eighth Prince's words.

The Eighth Prince waved his hand: "Let's not talk about this anymore. Tell the Emperor that the guilty minister Yinzhi acknowledges his merits in serving the people."

"Qimin" means governing the people.

The Eighth Prince said that acknowledging Yongzheng's merit in governing the people was a form of admitting defeat.

However, Hongli noticed a hint of disappointment in the eyes of the Eighth Prince when he said this.

Hongli grinned slightly, then handed the Eighth Prince a copy of the "Beijing News" containing an article by Yongzheng: "Father also wants you to take a look at this."

Old Eight then took it over.

The Eighth Prince first saw the content praising Yongzheng, and frowned at it: "I felt something was wrong when this newspaper appeared! Because this newspaper always interviews ordinary people, and this time is no different. It even directly encourages ordinary Manchu people who farm to talk about the new policies."

“It is the business of the emperor and his ministers to comment on the government. The common people are usually ignorant and easily misled. How can they be encouraged by this newspaper to comment on the government?”

After saying this, Lao Ba looked at Hongli and said, "Moreover, this is different from the Imperial Gazette. The Imperial Gazette only publishes information without commenting, but the Capital News does comment. Regardless of whether the comment is right or wrong, the disorder of hierarchy shown here is inappropriate enough."

"Uncle, don't worry. This 'Capital News' was only published after Uncle Twenty-One, in his capacity as a prince, and several cabinet scholars were ordered to review it personally. The purpose was to guide public opinion. So, even if it's for the common people to comment, it's equivalent to the court investigating public sentiment, not allowing the common people to make unwarranted comments on the government."

"Therefore, this is essentially the same as a popular official reporting the people's conditions to the emperor in the form of a memorial."

"Even some slang circulating among ordinary people more or less represents public opinion."

Hongli replied.

After hearing this, Lao Ba did not refute it further, but continued to look at the content published above.

When he saw Yongzheng's article, he frowned even more.

"I think I should be able to guess who this Huiqing Layman is."

suddenly!

The eighth prince spoke to Hongli, his expression particularly cold.

This was the first time Hongli had ever seen the Eighth Prince with such an expression.

But Hongli didn't say much, only cupped his hands and said, "Please calm down!"

He shouldn't have done that.

Lao Ba said this.

"Calm down your anger!"

Hongli replied in the same way.

The eighth brother waved his hand violently: "Your eighth uncle can't calm down right now!" "Are these things from the royal family's internal strife back then something you can talk about?"

Lao Ba stood up and questioned him.

Hongli could only sigh inwardly, thinking to himself, "You, the Eighth Prince, are well aware of Yongzheng's style."

That's right!

When Emperor Yongzheng was in a fit of emotion, he never cared about anything else.

He's just revealing things that Lao Ba did that shouldn't be told to outsiders.

However, it should be noted that, according to the course of history, in the future, Emperor Yongzheng would also take the initiative to expose the shameful things he had done because of Zeng Jing, and then personally explain why he did so. Not only would he explain, but he would also print it out for the whole country so that the world could see how wronged he was.

In short, Yongzheng was somewhat similar to his father Kangxi in this respect; he was prone to emotional outbursts and liked to contradict himself.

For example, regarding the matter of Nian Gengyao, when he favored Nian Gengyao, he praised him so much that if he were to betray him, he would be the most incompetent ruler in the world, and future generations would only despise him. However, not long after, he contradicted himself and described Nian Gengyao as so bad that even he, as benevolent as Heaven, could not tolerate it.

Just like how Emperor Kangxi reinstated his deposed crown prince in his later years.

To put it nicely, this kind of person is a man of character, not yet completely turned into a political machine, unlike Qianlong, who was completely alienated and never explained himself, even demanding that you kneel down and be grateful when he explicitly accused you.

However, as Kangxi's son, Yongzheng inherited this personality trait, but he also had more extreme aspects than Kangxi.

That is, he really didn't think he had done anything wrong, so he wasn't afraid of being exposed and would even take the initiative to expose himself.

Similarly, he would proactively reveal the things he had done, while Kangxi, after his outburst, would admit that he was indeed impulsive, but would try to make amends. For example, when he appointed the second crown prince, he said that he was indeed confused, but that his confusion was because the eldest prince had used a spell to suppress him.

After getting angry, Lao Ba sat back down.

It was clear that he had regained some of his senses.

So, at that moment, Lao Ba said, "Go back and tell him that he won."

"Uncle! There are no parents who are wrong, nor are there rulers who are wrong. You should not hold a grudge against them."

At this moment, Hongli reminded the Eighth Prince.

The Eighth Prince looked up in astonishment, stared at Hongli for a long while, and then gave a bitter laugh: "You're right!"

"Hongli, you really know how to come up with ideas and how to handle people. Your Eighth Uncle has to thank you!"

Then, with tears of unease glistening in his eyes, Lao Ba said something to Hongli.

Hongli then took his leave.

On the night Hongli left, the Eighth Prince couldn't eat anything for the first time.

After leaving the Imperial Clan Court, Hongli told Yongzheng about his contact with the Eighth Prince.

When Yongzheng learned that the Eighth Prince had lost his composure, he was very pleased: "It seems that even he has moments of fear!"

But not long after, Yongzheng frowned again and asked Hongli, "Was it too hurtful for me to criticize your eighth uncle like that in the Capital Daily?"

Hongli was slightly startled.

He had to admit that Yongzheng truly loved and hated the Eighth Prince. He would berate him mercilessly and expose his private affairs to outsiders, only to regret it later.

If someone who doesn't understand Yongzheng were to encounter this situation, they would undoubtedly fall into a trap when faced with his questions. In fact, they might end up speaking well of the Eighth Prince while offering well-intentioned criticism of Yongzheng.

After all, the emperor himself has begun to reflect, so shouldn't the person being questioned also reflect along with the emperor and keep pace with him?
But Hongli understood Yongzheng's personality and knew that Yongzheng was not actually asking if it would hurt the Eighth Prince too much, but rather whether he could understand why he was scolding the Eighth Prince like that.

At that moment, Hongli replied, "No, because it was Layman Huiqing who scolded him, not you, Father!"

Emperor Yongzheng fell into deep thought after hearing Hongli's words.

After a while, Yongzheng nodded and said, "That's right, it was the lay Buddhist Huiqing who scolded him. It has nothing to do with me. I am still his fourth brother! I am waiting for him to reflect on his actions and repent!"

After Hongli reminded him of this, Yongzheng suddenly realized that criticizing the Eighth Prince under a pseudonym in the *Jingshi Xinbao* newspaper would perfectly satisfy his conflicted feelings of both dissatisfaction with the Eighth Prince and a desire to continue to influence him. Therefore, he summoned Su Peisheng and instructed him:

"Issue an edict to the Imperial Clan Court: Although Yinzhi harbors treacherous intentions and has never taken me, his elder brother, seriously, I cannot disregard him for the sake of our Consort Mother. Therefore, although he is confined within high walls, his daily meals will be upgraded to the level of a Beizi (a princely title). He will also be allowed to choose two young concubines from his own household to serve him. Tell him that now that his jealous wife is gone, he should make up for the lack of offspring and must not betray my trust!"

Hongli knew that the concubine's mother mentioned by Yongzheng was Consort Liang, née Wei.

Because Consort Liang and Consort De were close friends who entered the palace in the same year, Consort Liang took good care of Emperor Yongzheng when he was young. This led Emperor Yongzheng to say to his eighth son, "Don't let our mother be sad," when he mentioned Consort Liang. It was clear that Emperor Yongzheng had a lot of affection for Consort Liang, and it was at this time that he improved the treatment of his eighth son in the name of Consort Liang.

The jealous woman that Yongzheng mentioned was naturally the Eighth Prince's wife.

Compared to the Eighth Prince, Yongzheng hated his Eighth Prince's wife even more.

He had always felt that the Eighth Prince was distant from him when he was a prince, because it was the Eighth Prince's wife who instigated it.

Therefore, even though Yongzheng was using the pseudonym "Huiqing Jushi" to curse the Eighth Prince to vent his dissatisfaction, and at the same time expressing his benevolence in the name of "Fourth Brother Emperor," he was still indirectly expressing his dissatisfaction with the Eighth Prince's wife. This also served to prove how magnanimous he was and how much he cared about the Eighth Prince, as he was still worried about the Eighth Prince's offspring, which should have been the Eighth Prince's wife's concern. This was enough to show how domineering and immoral the Eighth Prince's wife was, and how benevolent and virtuous he was.

Hongli naturally couldn't comment on Yongzheng's actions.

But Yongzheng himself was very satisfied with this, and therefore said to Hongli: "This 'Capital News' is well done, I will reward you and your twenty-first uncle well."

(End of this chapter)