My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 207 First time hearing the government, officials change color!
Tian Wenjing walked up to these scholars.

Put your hands behind your back.

His eyes were resolute and cold.

With each step he took forward, his soldiers would raise their spears and step forward.

These scholars also took a step back at this moment.

"Don't back down, that's undignified!"

"We are here to establish a moral order for heaven and earth, and to secure a destiny for the people! Do not be afraid of them!"

"The dead man has died, and he deserves a worthy death!"

Some scholars, unable to bear it any longer, shouted out loud.

"Let's go!"

But the scholar holding the memorial tablet couldn't bear the pressure of those long gun barrels pointing at him. After angrily uttering those words, he turned and left.

Seeing this, the other scholars also turned and left.

Tian Wenjing was then able to return to the Henan Fuyangya (a government office for raising children).

Let’s get back to the topic.

After finishing his evening lessons and leaving his thirteenth uncle's place, Hongli returned to Langrun Garden.

But not long after he returned, the eunuch Su Peisheng brought Xiao Fuhui over: "His Majesty has decreed that Eighth Prince should stay with Fourth Prince for two days and be sent back at 5 PM the day after tomorrow."

"Whoo!"

After replying, Hongli saw Su Peisheng off, then smiled and pinched Xiao Fuhui's cheek: "Are you happy?"

"happy!"

Xiao Fuhui also gave him a bright smile.

At the same time, Hongli also sent Li Yu to the Fucha family to convey his message, asking Fuheng to come and stay with him for two days.

Then, he led Xiao Fuhui into his Langrun Garden.

As soon as Xiao Fu Hui came in, she said to Hongli, "Fourth Brother, may I see my cousin?"

Hongli knew that the cousin Xiao Fu Hui mentioned was Nian Yirou.

Because Nian Yirou often received instruction from her aunt, Consort Nian, during her studies in the palace, Xiao Fuhui and Nian Yirou had a good relationship.

"it is good!"

Hongli agreed and brought him to Nian Yirou's place.

When Yirou heard that Hongli had brought Xiao Fuhui, she was so excited that she immediately came out to greet him with Nianzhu.

"Greetings to Fourth Master and Eighth Master."

After Nian Yirou and Nian Zhu performed the curtsy, they looked at Xiao Fuhui and couldn't help but shed tears.

Xiao Fu Hui was also momentarily lost in thought when she saw Nian Yi Rou.

Then, Xiao Fuhui walked over to Nian Yirou, stretched out her arms, and asked for a hug.

Seeing that Xiao Fu Hui had been reaching out for a long time, and that Hong Li had nodded in agreement, Nian Zhu quickly and gently tugged at Nian Yi Rou's sleeve.

Nian Yirou then came to her senses, wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, and hugged Xiao Fuhui.

At this moment, Xiao Fu Hui asked Nian Yi Rou, "Cousin, are you still afraid now that you're by my fourth brother's side?"

Nian Yirou's face turned deathly pale.

Hongli pretended not to hear and said at this moment, "Let's take Fu Hui inside first."

"Whoo!"

So Nianzhu responded and walked over to Fu Hui: "Eighth Master, shall we go in first?"

"Hey, Fourth Brother, what's my cousin doing here too?"

Xiao Fu Hui turned around in surprise and asked Hong Li.

Hongli smiled slightly: "You'll understand when you grow up."

"Oh!"

Xiao Fuhui still let Nianzhu lead him into the house.

Hongli glanced at Nianzhu at this moment and saw that her back was graceful and her small buttocks were slightly upturned under her jacket, suggesting that she would be a woman with a big butt in the future.

A large buttock is good for childbearing.

When Hongli thought about this, some unusual ideas came to mind.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Because, after all, Nian Zhu was Nian Gengyao's daughter.

He still doesn't know if Yongzheng's dislike for Nian Gengyao has lessened.

If Emperor Yongzheng were to find out that Nian Gengyao's daughter was pregnant with his child, he didn't know whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing.

Hongli has no shortage of beauties to bear him children, so there's no need for him to rush into anything to Nianzhu.

Therefore, Hongli quickly regained his composure. After entering the room, he simply sat on an official's hat chair, took a cup of tea from Nianzhu, and did not look at her much. Instead, he looked at Xiao Fuhui, who was wandering around the room.

For Xiao Fuhui, everything seemed new and exciting in the new environment.

In addition, Nian Yirou and Nian Zhu were people he knew well, so it was as if he had returned to the Changchun Palace that he used to know.

So, before long, Xiao Fuhui started running around the room, picking up interesting ornaments and playing with them.

"Is this a kite?"

"Is this a wind chime?"

"Is this a bamboo dragonfly?"

Xiao Fuhui couldn't stop talking, and Nian Yirou, who was following behind him, kept nodding, like a chick pecking at rice.

In early autumn, the summer heat has faded, and the sky is high and the clouds are light.

Next, Hongli and Nian Yirou took Xiao Fuhui to fly kites, and then played Eagle Catches Chicks, with Hongli as the eagle.

This made Xiao Fuhui, who rarely interacts with others, very happy, and she kept smiling.

However, Hongli knew that he was weak, so even though Xiao Fuhui lacked outdoor activities, he still didn't let him play outside for long. After only two incense sticks, he took him back to the house to listen to Nian Yirou play the zither for them.

After Nian Yirou finished playing a piece, Fu Heng arrived, which piqued Xiao Fu Hui's interest, who had been feeling a bit bored.

Although the two were initially a bit awkward, they were the same age, and Fu Heng had even brought the music box that Hongli had given him, which gave Xiao Fu Hui a topic to start a conversation with, and she said, "I have one too, did yours also come from Fourth Brother?"

Fu Heng nodded: "Just as Eighth Master predicted."

Xiao Fu Hui then took Fu Heng's hand and led him to a place to sit down, asking him in a low voice, "I heard from Fourth Brother that you also lost your mother?"

Fu Heng nodded.

Xiao Fu Hui asked, "Do you miss your mother?"

Fu Heng frowned slightly, then said, "I want to! But this servant doesn't know what she looks like!"

Xiao Fuhui was very surprised after hearing this: "Why?"

"Because my mother passed away when I was very young, and then my father passed away too."

Fu Heng replied calmly.

Xiao Fuhui stood up in surprise, looked at Fu Heng, and for the first time in her life, she felt "sympathy".

Fu Heng found Xiao Fu Hui's stunned expression strange.

At this moment, Xiao Fuhui took the initiative to walk over and hug Fuheng: "So you're in a worse situation than me. At least I still have my father."

Fu Heng said, "But I have an older sister!"

Xiao Fuhui sat back down, placed her hands on her knees, and asked Fu Heng, "Is your sister good to you?"

Fu Heng nodded.

Then, Fu Heng started turning the music box in his hand.

Listening to the music, Xiao Fuhui asked Fu Heng again, "Do you know the name of this piece of music?"

Fu Heng shook his head.

“This is called ‘Jade Plate.’ My fourth brother told me about it. I also have one. I even know the lyrics. If you want to know, I can write them down for you and teach you how to sing it.”

Xiao Fu Hui said. Fu Heng, like a little adult, respectfully cupped his hands and bowed, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Eighth Master."

Xiao Fuhui then led Fuheng toward Hongli's inner study, saying, "Then come with me."

Xiao Fuhui clearly liked Fu Heng, who had a similar experience to her.

Meanwhile, Hongli was reading in the inner study. After learning the purpose of their visit, he asked Haitang to prepare writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone for Xiaofuhui.

"Brother-in-law, what is this?"

However, while reading Xiao Fuhui's poem "Jade Plate", Fu Heng noticed the blunt knife on Hongli's desk and the map with a deliberately drawn, stiff line.

Hongli looked up at Fuheng in astonishment.

"This is a disgrace."

Then, Hongli solemnly replied with this sentence.

Young Fuheng didn't quite understand what he was hearing.

Similarly, Xiao Fu Hui, who came over with the written poem "Jade Plate," was also somewhat confused.

Hongli then explained it to them.

For the first time, the two realized that beyond personal and family matters, there were also emotions related to the nation and its people.

This made the two of them more solemn when they listened to Qu Mo sing "Jade Plate" later.

However, childhood is always an innocent and carefree time. With the appearance of a butterfly, the two forgot about such a heavy thing and began to chase butterflies in the garden, and occasionally chase dragonflies, and then catch fish in the stream in the garden.

While Fuheng was still catching fish, he whispered to Xiao Fuhui, "Eighth Master, we can't just catch them randomly like this. We need to be strategic and catch them when they're not paying attention."

Xiao Fuhui nodded as if she understood.

That evening, Hongli told the two a story about Journey to the West. Before he finished telling the story, the two fell asleep.

The following day, when Hongli arrived at Yongzheng's place, Yongzheng asked about Xiao Fuhui's situation: "How is he doing with you?"

“I’m quite happy. This is the homework you assigned to my eighth brother before he left.”

As he spoke, Hongli took out the calligraphy copybook written by Xiao Fuhui.

After taking the text and reading it, Yongzheng nodded: "There is a lighter tone in the text. It seems that it was right to send him there to relax."

As he spoke, Yongzheng stood up, put on his hat, and said, "Come with me to the Qianqing Gate. Today, I will hold a court session at the gate. You should also go and listen."

Imperial audience with the emperor?

Hongli couldn't help but wonder what political matters they were going to discuss, and why he wanted him to come along.

Before Hongli could ask, Yongzheng took the initiative to say, "It's about Tian Wenjing's implementation of the policy of requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes and perform official duties together in Henan. You must have heard about it recently."

"I have heard that there are many people who speak ill of him."

Hongli replied.

Yongzheng suddenly said seriously, "It is precisely because so many people speak ill of him that we cannot grant their wishes!"

Hongli cupped his hands in greeting: "Father is right."

He knew that Tian Wenjing's policy of requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes and perform corvée labor together in Henan had truly affected the fundamental interests of the gentry class.

It is said that Tian Wenjing originally intended to only promote the land tax system in Henan.

However, since the land survey was required before the land tax could be transferred to the land, Tian Wenjing, during his tenure as the governor of Henan, first surveyed the land and then discovered a large number of hidden lands belonging to gentry.

This already greatly angered the gentry class.

Otherwise, during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng's land survey would not have incurred the deep hatred of the gentry.

However, Tian Wenjing wanted to implement a policy that required officials and gentry to pay taxes and perform corvée labor together, based on the land survey conducted under the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" policy. This was an even more excessive policy for the gentry and large landowners.

However, Tian Wenjing had no other choice but to do this.

After all, when the land was surveyed to implement the land tax reform, Tian Wenjing discovered that most of the land in Henan was already in the hands of the gentry.

The gentry, on the other hand, had the privilege of exemption from corvée labor.

Therefore, even with the conversion of poll tax into land tax, the poll tax could only be distributed to the land of commoner landlords who did not hold official titles.

Of course, the same situation exists in other provinces across the country.

But most other provinces across the country did not want to do this.

Emperor Yongzheng had no intention of doing so.

Because his original intention was not to offend the gentry to the point of death.

His only intention was to use the "equalization of land tax and corvée labor" policy to survey the hidden land of the gentry, so that they would pay the land tax on their hidden land and increase the national treasury's revenue. He did not want to actually deprive the gentry of their exemption from corvée labor, and thus deprive them of their ability to annex land through this exemption.

It should be understood that the biggest advantage of the gentry's exemption from corvée labor was that they could accept donations from the people.

Moreover, compared to land tax, poll tax was not a major expense, which is why Emperor Kangxi issued an edict stating, "In prosperous times, the population increases, and taxes will never be increased."

In other words, new people born after the Kangxi Emperor were exempt from paying the poll tax, and the total amount of the poll tax for the Qing Dynasty was fixed from then on.

Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng could not increase the total amount of the poll tax, thus increasing its proportion in tax revenue.

Thus, for Yongzheng, it was not important whether this fixed and not-so-large amount of poll tax was borne by commoners and landlords or jointly by gentry and commoners and landlords.

But Henan was hit by a disaster.

If the poll tax in Henan province is borne solely by ordinary people and landlords, it will bankrupt them, turning them into refugees, as they are already suffering from disasters. It will also allow the gentry in Henan to take the opportunity to accelerate land consolidation, further impacting the total amount of land tax collected by the Qing government in Henan.

Therefore, Tian Wenjing petitioned for the implementation of a system in Henan Province where officials and gentry alike pay taxes and perform corvée labor.

Because of the special circumstances in Henan, Emperor Yongzheng did not want the court's revenue to be affected again when other places suffered disasters. He also wanted to make sure that the gentry in the disaster-stricken areas knew that if they did not cooperate with the court's large-scale disaster relief efforts, the court would have no choice but to implement a policy in the disaster-stricken areas where officials and gentry paid taxes and performed corvée labor together to ensure revenue. Therefore, he approved Tian Wenjing's more radical reforms.

At the same time, Yongzheng did this to see if the Qing imperial power could completely suppress the power of scholars formed by relationships such as students, fellow townsmen, and classmates, and be able to collect more money from the people to solve the crisis when it was in the event of a major financial crisis.

Now, this is why Yongzheng took Hongli to listen to government affairs.

Before long, Yongzheng and Hongli arrived at the main hall of the Hall of Diligent Governance.

The ministers of state and the ministers of the six ministries and nine departments had all arrived at this time, along with the censors.

As ordered, Hongli was placed after his sixteenth uncle, Yunlu.

After performing the grand ceremony, Yongzheng first called out the name of Xie Jishi, the Censor of Zhejiang Circuit: "Who is Xie Jishi, the Censor of Zhejiang Circuit?"

"Your subject is right."

Xie Jishi arrived in front of Yongzheng.

Yongzheng then looked at him and said, "You impeached Tian Wenjing for ten major crimes, saying that he was corrupt, greedy, and lawless, and that he did not respect Confucius and Mencius."

"But I have already said that although Tian Wenjing has implemented a new policy in the localities that requires officials and gentry to pay taxes and perform duties together, it is not without its reasons. So I told you not to cause trouble. Why are you still causing trouble and submitting a memorial to impeach him?"

“You have ignored my decrees and are still going to impeach me.”

"Do you even respect me as the Son of Heaven?!"

"As an official responsible for remonstrating with the emperor, it is my duty to impeach treacherous officials and villains, not to cause trouble."

"We beg Your Majesty to see the truth!"

Xie Jishi then replied.

When Hongli saw that Xie Jishi was beating around the bush and not dwelling on the matter of whether he had deceived the emperor, he knew that Xie had clearly prepared for Yongzheng's questioning when he decided to submit a memorial to impeach Tian Wenjing, and therefore knew how to respond.

In Hongli's view, this person was not simple either; although he seemed audacious and reckless, he was actually brave and resourceful.

However, Hongli felt that this person would underestimate Yongzheng's determination to maintain imperial power.

At this moment, Yongzheng also clenched his teeth, then took a deep breath:

"Because Henan suffered a disaster and was flooded, Tian Wenjing had no choice but to implement the policy of requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes and perform corvée labor together on the basis of the land tax reform. Why do you all misunderstand him and insist on nitpicking him?"

"Your Majesty, it's not that I'm holding a grudge against him, but that Tian Wenjing is not letting go of those in official robes and is preying on them!"

Xie Jishi continued in reply.

Hongli frowned, thinking that Xie Jishi was indeed prepared, knowing that Yongzheng would respond to force but not persuasion, and continued to argue stubbornly.

He had even noticed Xie Jishi's slightly upturned lips.

Hongli then glanced at Yongzheng.

He didn't know how the easily self-conscious and argumentative Yongzheng would respond, or whether he would actually fall into the trap of trying to prove whether Tian Wenjing had exploited the gentry, and instead try to prove whether Tian Wenjing had eaten an extra bowl of noodles.

"This Xie Jishi is amazing!"

Hongli sighed inwardly, but he hoped that Yongzheng would not fall for it.

(End of this chapter)