My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 204 Fucha Fuheng: Brother-in-law!
Fu Heng pursed his lips even tighter.

He looked again at the gilded music box in his hand.

This music box is beautiful.

He liked it very much, and he also liked the music playing inside, and the singing seemed to be encouraging him.

"Brother-in-law!"

Fu Heng finally looked at Hongli and called out to him.

then.

Fu Heng couldn't help but blush.

Hongli couldn't help but beam with joy.

Fucha Fuqing and other members of the Shaji Fucha clan laughed along, and grew to love their little brother even more.

Hongli also felt a sense of pride after successfully teasing a child, and stood up, patting Fuheng on the shoulder: "Good boy!"

After bidding farewell to Ma Qi, Hongli returned to the palace.

After Fuheng and his elder brothers and cousins ​​respectfully saw Hongli off, Fuheng returned to the backyard and went to his sister, Lady Fucha.

After Fuheng's parents passed away, he was taken care of by his elder sister, Lady Fucha, and lived and ate with her.

After all, he was only five years old, so Fucha could only take care of him personally.

Historically, after marrying Hongli, Lady Fuca even brought him into the palace with special permission from Emperor Yongzheng, taking care of him and having him study there.

One theory is that Emperor Yongzheng felt there were too few children in the palace, and since Fuheng had no parents and had grown up with his older sister, he allowed him to live in the palace with Hongli and Lady Fucha.

This led to people in the palace affectionately calling Fuheng "Sixth Master".

Because Fuheng, Qianlong's brother-in-law, grew up by his side, the emperor and Fuheng had a good relationship throughout history.

After returning to his familiar backyard, Fu Heng relaxed considerably.

This allowed him to play with the music box in front of him with more confidence and boldness.

He is clearly very smart.

Hongli only demonstrated how to operate the gilded music box once, but he memorized it and followed along, causing the gilded music box in his hands to play "Jade Plate" again.

Fu Heng sat down on a rock next to an artificial hill and listened intently, his face full of rapt attention.

When Fu Heng did not return for a long time, Lady Fucha went to the front yard and found him by the rockery. He was holding a gilded box and pretending to be asleep with his eyes closed.

This made Lady Fucha frown.

But before she could scold Fu Heng, she was momentarily stunned by the music from the music box in his hand.

Lady Fucha listened attentively to this.

But Fuheng opened his eyes at that moment and saw Lady Fucha. He hurriedly got up, bowed deeply, and said, "Greetings to my elder sister!"

"no!"

After speaking, Lady Fucha asked Fuheng, "Where did you get this box that can make sounds?"

Fu Heng brought the box to his sister and said, "It was a gift from the Fourth Prince, and it's called a music box."

"Sister, look, after you turn this, the music box will play music."

Fuheng then demonstrated it to Lady Fucha.

Lady Fucha did not watch Fuheng demonstrate, but simply smiled and couldn't help but recall that first glimpse of her.

However, she never expected that the Prince Bao she was going to marry would give her younger brother a gift.

Empress Fucha could tell that the music was unfamiliar to her, so she assumed it was an original composition by Hongli and murmured softly:

"I never expected that he was also an expert in music."

Lady Fucha then asked Fuheng, "Did the Fourth Prince say anything to you?"

"He didn't say anything, he just told his younger brother to call him brother-in-law!"

Fu Heng replied.

Fucha immediately felt her face getting hot, and lowered her head as a result.

Fuheng then looked at Lady Fucha and asked, "Sister, why are you blushing?"

"Go back!"

After returning to her room, Lady Fucha mustered her courage and asked Fuheng curiously, "So, did you shout?"

"Shouted."

Fuheng looked at Lady Fucha intently.

Fucha's face turned even redder.

At this moment, Fu Heng's second sister, who was also by Fucha's side and was called the Ninth Miss in the mansion, took Fucha's arm and said with a smile, "Congratulations, sister! This shows that the Fourth Prince is very satisfied with you as his primary consort!"

"Otherwise, Fourth Master wouldn't have had my younger brother call him brother-in-law the first time they met. He probably did this to express his feelings to you through my younger brother."

After saying this, Ninth Sister released Fucha's arm, turned to look at Fucha, clapped her hands and laughed, "Sister, you don't need to worry about having a hard time after you marry into Prince Bao's mansion."

Then Ninth Sister added, "However, that's not surprising. With your beauty, it's impossible for Fourth Master not to be tempted!"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

"How can we presume to know what the Fourth Master is thinking?"

Lady Fucha frowned and began to scold her younger sister.

Ninth Sister pouted, feeling wronged: "I'm not lying! Isn't it obvious? If Fourth Master wasn't pleased with you, why would he treat my younger brother so well? He gave him such an exquisite and valuable gift on our first meeting, and even told my younger brother to call him brother-in-law, rushing to treat him with the courtesy due to a family member." "You have no idea what Fourth Master's true intentions are!"

Lady Fucha rolled her eyes at her younger sister, then sat down on the couch, pulled Fuheng to her side, and straightened his cuffs.

At this moment, Ninth Sister, unconvinced, sat down next to Lady Fucha and said, "Then tell me, what is Fourth Master's true intention?"

Fuheng then looked over at Lady Fucha.

Lady Fucha smiled and looked at Fuheng, saying, "Fourth Master has high hopes for our little brother, hoping that he can be successful and work for him, so he first shows him kindness and affection."

"Really? I don't believe it!"

"Ninth Sister replied."

Lady Fucha then took the music box from Fuheng's hand: "Because the music in this box has profound meaning, and it represents the hope and pursuit of knowledge."

Through this music, Lady Fucha felt that Hongli was an ambitious man, and that his intentions were not merely to deliberately show affection to Fuheng because of her.

……

……

After leaving Ma Qi, Hongli went to the Yuanmingyuan Garden to report to Emperor Yongzheng about his visit to Ma Qi.

But he had only been riding his horse to the Yuanmingyuan for a short time when he saw a long-faced official with an air of seriousness lift up his robe and run quickly toward him.

As soon as the official arrived in front of Hongli's mount, he performed the full salute: "This humble servant, Tian Wenjing, Governor of Henan and Fourth Banner of the Bordered Blue Banner Han Army, pays his respects to Your Highness!"

Hongli never expected that the official would be the famous Tian Wenjing.

It should be noted that Tian Wenjing was mentioned in a TV series as having only been a student of the Imperial Academy, but he was actually a Manchu, and a Manchu from outside the Great Wall at that.

Otherwise, Tian Wenjing could not have risen to the rank of governor with only the background of a student of the Imperial Academy.

Because the Qing Dynasty prioritized banner affiliation over ethnicity, the Upper Three Banners were not only the Plain Yellow, Bordered Yellow, and Plain White Banners of the Manchus, but also the Plain Yellow, Bordered Yellow, and Plain White Banners of the Mongol and Han ethnic groups.

When the emperor appointed officials, he distinguished between people of the Banner system based on their kinship and ethnicity. Therefore, when officials introduced themselves, they would first introduce their Banner system and then their ethnicity.

Tian Wenjing was no exception.

However, as far as Hongli knew, Tian Wenjing would later be incorporated into the Han Army's Plain Yellow Banner, and thus would only have the emperor as his master.

But he still has another banner leader, namely Yarjan.

"Get up."

Hongli asked Tian Wenjing to stand up.

He knew that Tian Wenjing was now also working hard in Henan to promote the integration of land tax and poll tax.

However, while implementing the land tax reform, Tian Wenjing also established a system where officials and gentry were required to pay taxes and perform corvée labor together.

This is because Henan suffered severe flooding this summer, with many sections of the river breaching their banks.

While requesting that the taxes of the disaster-stricken people be waived, Tian Wenjing also solemnly assured Yongzheng that the total amount of taxes to be paid would not be delayed, and that no people would starve to death because of the disaster.

That's right, it's not just about ensuring that no people starve to death, but also about preventing popular uprisings.

Clearly, Tian Wenjing was eager to advance his career and wanted the emperor to see him as an outstanding official; otherwise, he wouldn't have put himself through such a difficult task.

In order to fulfill these promises, Tian Wenjing chose to target the gentry. While implementing the land tax reform, he also required officials and gentry to pay taxes and perform corvée labor together. In addition to making them pay more money, he also drove them to the river embankment and forced them to participate in the work of repairing the river embankment.

As a result, Tian Wenjing naturally offended the gentry and many officials who sympathized with them.

Even Emperor Qianlong in the capital heard many rumors about Tian Wenjing's exploitation of the gentry.

After Tian Wenjing rose to express his gratitude, Hongli asked him, "When did you return to the capital?"

"Your Highness, I returned to the capital yesterday."

Tian Wenjing replied.

Hongli nodded, inwardly marveling at Tian Wenjing's diligence. He had arrived in the capital yesterday and was already meeting with Yongzheng to report on his duties today. This meant that the earliest he could have submitted his petition was yesterday.

He's practically the most diligent official ever!
The term "presenting a plaque" refers to the process by which an official had to present a plaque before requesting an audience with the emperor. Only then would the emperor issue an edict allowing the official to meet with him at a specific time and place.

Normally, local officials, after arriving in Beijing, would not rush to present their credentials, but would first rest or meet with relatives and friends in Beijing before presenting their credentials to request an audience.

But Tian Wenjing did not do that. Despite the fatigue of the journey, he sent the imperial edict directly to the emperor. One can imagine how difficult it must have been for the local officials and gentry in Henan to have such a diligent governor.

Even other officials who were not under Tian Wenjing's control would find his shrewish behavior unbearable, since who would want their colleague to be such a shrew?

of course!

Hongli had to admit that Yongzheng himself was also very indecisive. Even if Tian Wenjing submitted his memorial yesterday, he would see Tian Wenjing today, without delaying for three or five days. Clearly, he did not want to delay important matters at all.

It's no wonder that officials in the Qing Dynasty had such a monarch and colleagues; their lives were bound to be difficult.

“I heard that you are hated in Henan. Even in the capital, there are many people who criticize you and say that you are a cruel official.”

Hongli then smiled and spoke to Tian Wenjing about it.

Tian Wenjing then bowed and said, "This servant is wronged! This servant doesn't understand either. I'm just being kinder to the people and stricter with the gentry. How did that make me a cruel official? If being a champion for the people and loyal to the court makes one a cruel official, then this servant would rather be a cruel official!"

As Tian Wenjing was explaining to Hongli with a wronged expression, another official, who was walking towards them, also came to greet Hongli with a calm demeanor.

"Lu Shengnan, the Chief Clerk of the Ministry of Works, greets the Fourth Prince."

The visitor was Lu Shengnan, who was holding a memorial to the throne. Hongli guessed that he was there to get the imperial comments on the memorial, so he nodded and said, "No need!"

However, upon seeing Tian Wenjing, Lu Shengnan suddenly frowned. After Hongli nodded that he was exempt from formalities, he thanked him and prepared to leave.

According to the etiquette and rules of the Qing Dynasty, even those of lower rank had to show great respect to those of higher rank.

Seeing that Lu Shengnan hadn't greeted Tian Wenjing, Hongli naturally wanted to ask him immediately, "Wait! Why are you looking so long-faced? Why aren't you greeting Tian Wenjing?"

(End of this chapter)