My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 214 The Changes in the Maternal Relatives

Longkodo was standing outside Langrun Garden, the garden bestowed by Prince Bao.

Outside the garden, the autumn sun shines brightly.

His mood was as bright, radiant, and warm as the autumn sun.

Because he now feels that when Fourth Prince Hongli hit him before, it was out of love for him, for his own good, and because he had high hopes for him.

Therefore, he no longer harbors any resentment.

Only gratitude!

He then decided to take the initiative to seek an audience with Hongli.

"not see?"

Longkodo felt a sudden sense of loss as he stood outside Langrun Garden.

He never expected that after staring longingly at the garden gate for so long, he would receive a reply from Hongli that he did not want to see him.

But he knew that if he could demonstrate his sincerity to this Fourth Master today, then immense wealth and honor awaited him.

Let alone borrowing 30,000 taels, even if he borrowed 300,000 or 3 million, he would still be able to pay it back.

God knows how hard it was for Longkodo, with his natural gambler's mentality, to resist such an immense fortune.

Therefore, the fact that Hongli did not see him only made him more restless.

Bang!

The moment the garden gates closed, Longkodo's desire for this great wealth intensified.

Therefore, he wasn't angry; he only felt that he should try harder to show sincerity and that this wealth was truly worth fighting for.

Hongli exploited this psychology to get him to invest even more.

Hongli knew that although Longkodo sometimes acted recklessly, he was not stupid and naturally understood how much profit he could make if he were to manage real estate development.

Therefore, Hongli is not in a hurry to see Longkodo. Instead, he deliberately gives him the cold shoulder, so that he will understand that if he acts foolishly in front of him, he will suffer more. He will also understand that if he does not show enough sincerity, he should not expect to get this opportunity from him.

"Whoo!"

After Li Yu left, Hongli began reading in the outer study.

When the time was almost right, he rode his horse to the Yuanmingyuan Garden to continue his political training.

"This servant pays his respects to the Fourth Master!"

"Uncle, please rise."

When Hongli arrived at the Yuanmingyuan, he happened to meet Wu Ge, the Grand Minister of the Interior, who was finishing his shift.

Wu Ge now has a very good impression of Hongli, the fourth prince and son-in-law.

After all, Hongli slapped the Minister of State, Longkodo, for his sake.

This sense of righteousness is more valuable to Wu Ge, who comes from a military background, than any wealth or status.

Although Wu Ge had heard that the fourth prince, Hongli, was very afraid of the current emperor and appeared somewhat timid, yet dared not offend the officials, he might become a gentle and benevolent ruler in the future.

However, after seeing Hongli's performance at Longkodo and his previous actions in upholding etiquette, Wuge believed that although the Fourth Prince was afraid of the Emperor and dared not overturn the table with the officials, he would still dare to show his power when it came to protecting his maternal relatives and upholding etiquette.

That's enough for five grids!
He didn't expect the Fourth Prince Hongli to be as arrogant as the former Crown Prince Yinreng.

That would make him worried.

Because he knew that although the fourth prince, Hongli, was very likely to become the next emperor, things were still unpredictable until the very last moment.

After all, it was a secret selection of an heir, and no one could say for sure whether the emperor might suddenly change his mind.

Moreover, in the Qing Dynasty, even the officially designated heir could change, and could be deposed and reinstated, only to be deposed again.

Therefore, Wu Ge is now very happy to see Hongli being both gentle and firm, as the Empress reminded him, so that his daughter might not be in a bad situation in the future.

After Hongli helped Wuge up, Wuge also took the initiative to bow to Hongli and say, "I haven't thanked Fourth Master for standing up for this servant yet."

"Uncle, you don't need to be so polite. We're family. Saying thank you would make us seem distant."

Hongli smiled and said.

Wu Ge said, "Fourth Master has given me face and treated me like a relative. I dare not be arrogant or forget my place."

Hongli was quite satisfied with Wu Ge's answer and smiled.

Wu Ge continued, "Since I have met Fourth Master today, I will tell you something."

"Uncle, please speak."

The more sensible Wu Ge was, the more willing Hongli was to give him some face as an uncle, and thus he used the word "please".

Wu Ge naturally felt even more pleased, after all, people also have a need to be respected, but his behavior became even more respectful:

"This servant has figured it out. Rather than letting our own children stay in the capital and be led astray by some shady characters, which could implicate Fourth Master in the future, it would be better to send them to the Northwest for training."

"If they can achieve one or two merits in the future, it will be a way to repay the Fourth Master's kindness in taking care of them."

"Therefore, when I met His Majesty today, I asked for His Majesty's permission to transfer my sons Ba Wu and De Bao to the Northwest."

Hongli glanced at Wu Ge with considerable surprise.

He naturally wanted to see these relatives of his maternal relatives strive for advancement.

But he never expected that this strong and powerful Wu Ge would have such a brain.

Then I thought about it.

He thought it might be the Empress's doing. However, Hongli didn't ask any more questions, and just nodded and said, "That's good. When are my cousins ​​leaving? Uncle, please remember to let them know. I'll prepare a travel allowance for my cousins ​​on behalf of Minxuan."

Then, Hongli also promised, "In order to avoid suspicion, I have not spoken up for my cousins ​​in front of the Khan, but please rest assured, Uncle, if my cousins ​​are truly capable, I will do my best to recommend them to the Khan."

"This servant obeys the order and thanks Fourth Master for his kindness."

Wu Ge was about to kneel and kowtow when he heard this, but Hongli excused him from the formalities, exchanged pleasantries and inquired about his health before leaving.

Although Hongli was happy to see these sons of imperial relatives go out to gain experience rather than stay in the capital to raise birds and listen to operas, he couldn't help but think of the defeat at Hetongbo in history when he thought of Wuge saying that he had sent his two sons to the northwest.

As far as he knew, after that defeat, almost every household in the Eight Banners of Beijing was in mourning.

lost heavily.

Although the Qing army that was severely damaged by the Dzungars was small in number, it was the elite of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty.

It can be said that the defeat cast a shadow over the Yongzheng era, which should have been glorious due to the vigorous reforms.

Hongli was unaware whether Empress Ulala's clan had also suffered heavy losses in this war.

However, he recalled that after the eighth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, there were very few records of members of that clan.

Coincidentally, Empress Ulala also died suddenly from illness in the ninth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign.

If the defeat at Hetongbo also caused heavy losses to the Empress Ulalara clan, then the Empress's illness might be related to this.

Thinking of this, Hongli couldn't help but feel that he might be able to find a way to avoid this defeat in advance.

Upon arriving at the Hall of Diligent Governance and Appreciation of the Virtuous, Hongli greeted Emperor Yongzheng and then went to the East Study to continue his study of government affairs.

Hongli saw Li Wei's memorial first.

Although Jiangnan did not implement a policy of officials and gentry paying taxes and performing official duties together like Henan, and there were no cases of scholars boycotting the exams, the intensity of the resistance was still considerable.

According to Li Wei, some prefectures and counties in Jiangnan have experienced tax resistance incidents and serious tax arrears.

The conversion of land tax into poll tax led to tax resistance incidents, which did not surprise Emperor Hongli. He simply instructed Li Wei to take the opportunity to form a special tax team and reminded him to take advantage of Jiangsu's scattered nature to recruit tax collectors from other places. At the same time, he instructed Li Wei to postpone the Jiangsu provincial examination indefinitely on the grounds of local unrest.

“You’ve hit a nerve with the rich people of Jiangsu. Everyone knows that the culture of Jiangnan is flourishing, almost every family is educated, and the pursuit of fame and fortune is more prevalent than the pursuit of wealth.”

"By postponing the provincial examination indefinitely, won't you be affecting the ability of people from Jiangsu to take the metropolitan examination next year?"

"How could they possibly stand this?"

Yongzheng spoke with a smile about Hongli, after seeing Hongli's ink annotations.

Hongli said, "Strike the snake at its vital point. Furthermore, I have always believed that it is not that our Great Qing needs the gentry of Jiangnan more, but that the gentry of Jiangnan need our Great Qing more. If they did not want to be superior to others, how could our Great Qing rule the majority of scholars with a minority of Manchus?"

Emperor Yongzheng nodded: "That makes sense!"

Yongzheng then copied Hongli's ink comments into vermilion comments and wrote them on Li Wei's memorial.

Upon receiving the imperial edict, Li Wei couldn't help but smile, and he bowed deeply towards the north, exclaiming, "Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is truly wise!"

"Someone, summon Deng Xuezheng here."

Deng Zhongyue, the Jiangsu Provincial Education Commissioner, soon learned of the indefinite postponement of the provincial examination. He hurriedly bowed to Li Wei and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency, I will go and persuade the local officials to assist the government in paying taxes. But could you please not postpone the provincial examination for now?"

"Postpone it first, then try to persuade them!"

"The academy will post a notice tomorrow stating that since the imperial edict has granted permission for the postponement of the provincial examinations, all matters related to the provincial examinations are suspended, and all candidates should wait for notification of the resumption of the examinations!"

Li Wei replied.

The Confucian scholars of Jiangsu were immediately alarmed.

"The person who came up with this idea clearly understands us better than we understand ourselves!"

"We must never allow such a capable person to exist in the imperial court!"

“What’s the point of not allowing it? We can’t directly influence the imperial family and the Eight Banners, except to try to influence the court.”

Many gentry in Jiangnan discussed this matter.

That same evening, when Emperor Yongzheng met with the thirteenth prince alone, he also mentioned this matter: "One can imagine how difficult it will be for the scholars of the world when Hongli truly succeeds to the throne!"

"At that time, they might miss you, Fourth Brother."

The thirteenth prince replied.

Emperor Yongzheng sighed, "People always take their blessings for granted!"

After learning about political affairs, Hongli took Nara Minxuan by carriage to the Yuanmingyuan.

Because the Empress had obtained imperial permission to host a dinner party for the two of them in the garden, citing her desire to see her niece.

As Hongli led the heavily pregnant Nara Minxuan into the Yuanmingyuan, they happened to see Yunzhi and Hongsheng leaving Yongzheng's residence from afar.

Since men were not allowed to enter the inner garden without special permission, neither of them came over to greet them, and Hongli did not need to go over either; they simply pretended not to see each other.

But Hongsheng couldn't help but say to Yunzhi, "Father, Hongli's princess is probably due to give birth in two or three months."

"I reckon it'll be soon!"

"Your fourth uncle is very much looking forward to this, and he is also very relieved. After all, his favorite son seems to be performing well in terms of offspring, so he is working even harder to promote the new policies."

"It is said that he also plans to allocate government land to Han Chinese people outside the city to build houses and sell, in order to retain the hundreds of thousands of people who have moved here!"

Therefore, the third brother, Yunzhi, said.

Hongsheng said, "If Heaven has eyes, it shouldn't have allowed Princess Hongli to give birth smoothly; it would have been better if she had given birth to a monster!"

The third brother immediately stood still.

(End of this chapter)