My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 217 It's an honor to be Fourth Master's dog!

Longkodo supports not yielding an inch of land.

Because he himself is a hawk and does not advocate ceding territory.

He had long planned to take advantage of the opportunity to go north for negotiations to thoroughly survey the border region.

However, Hongli encouraged him to find a way to snatch food from the Russian kingdom and get as much as possible, which was something he hadn't expected.

"This new Fourth Prince has quite the ambition!"

Upon returning, Longkodo said this to his son, Yuzhu.

Upon hearing this, Yuzhu asked with great curiosity, "How do you know, Father?"

"Fourth Master told me to try to get some benefits from Russia when we go to negotiate in the future."

"But the Rakshasa Kingdom has always been unwilling to suffer losses. Even if they don't gain an advantage, they will consider it a great loss."

"Therefore, this shows that Fourth Master is not afraid that Russia will find a way to settle old scores with our Great Qing in the future. He even hopes that Russia will start another border conflict in the future, so that he can have an opportunity to send troops to teach Russia a lesson."

Longkodo stood up, put his hands behind his back, and sighed, "That's why I said our Fourth Prince has great ambitions, just like Emperor Kangxi back then!"

"Originally, I thought that the Fourth Prince was a weak monarch who was timid and cowardly, only daring to bully his subordinates and not daring to offend his superiors. He only had the courage to protect the rites, but not the courage to confront foreign aggression and internal traitors. But now I think that's not the case."

Longkodo continued.

Upon hearing this, Yuzhu was astonished and said, "So, Father, what you said about the good days for officials and gentry coming when the Fourth Prince ascends the throne is impossible?"

"That's not entirely true, but officials and gentry who lack ambition will likely still not have an easy life. So, you must also strive to improve yourself!"

Longkodo replied.

Yu Zhu nodded.

then.

Yu Zhu then asked Longkodo, "Father, what I don't understand is why the Fourth Prince told you his true thoughts. Shouldn't he continue to hide them, since the throne is not yet settled?"

"Because your father handed over the heads of the whole family to Fourth Master! The reason why our heads are still on our necks is only because Fourth Master has not yet accepted them."

Longkodo replied.

Upon hearing this, Yuzhu felt a chill run down his spine and frowned, saying, "Father, I don't understand what you mean!"

“Your father presented me with the ledger recording my bribery and extortion, including the over-standard treasures I offered, such as the pair of chrysoberyl cat's-eye stones that you liked so much, and the panoramic map of the imperial empire that I liked so much myself.”

After Longkodo answered, he raised his eyebrows and looked at his son: "Tell me, under these circumstances, what is there that Fourth Master wouldn't dare to say to your father?"

Yu Zhu immediately took a few steps back.

He couldn't quite understand his father's actions.

Yu Zhu lost his composure and asked, "Father! How could you do this? Aren't you afraid that if Fourth Master gets hold of these things, he'll turn around and accuse the Tong family of plotting a rebellion?"

"What's there to be afraid of!"

"Your father has always adhered to one rule in doing things: put yourself in a do-or-die situation and you will survive."

"If you're afraid of death, don't even think about getting rich or becoming a high-ranking official."

Longkodo waved his hand dismissively and replied.

Yu Zhu slumped into the chair and touched his neck:

"Father, with this huge gamble, your son has no choice but to be his Fourth Master's lackey."

"There's nothing wrong with being Fourth Master's dog!"

"At least the Emperor is willing to see this, otherwise he wouldn't have sent the Fourth Prince to deliver this message."

"Besides, Fourth Master doesn't take in just any dog. He's only interested in your father right now, not you. So, if you can become Fourth Master's dog, that would be your honor!"

After saying that, Longkodo happily went to Li Si'er's room, without showing the slightest regret.

Even after Longkodo left, Hongli continued to peruse the account books that Longkodo had given him.

He did indeed see some of the treasures that Longkodo had received, treasures that only emperors and princes could enjoy.

"That Longkodo, he's really risked everything, his life and his fortune."

Hongli was even more pleased by this.

He is not afraid that these officials have a lot of problems; what he fears is that these officials cannot be controlled by him.

Therefore, upon learning that Longkodo possessed many forbidden items, he was not angry, but rather overjoyed.

The next day.

When Hongli came to see Yongzheng, he also brought with him the account book that Longkodo had given him.

He naturally wanted to share such a fine item with Emperor Yongzheng.

He believed that Yongzheng would be very happy and would not do anything to Longkodo because of this.

At that moment, Emperor Yongzheng was writing furiously on a memorial to the throne.

Even when Hongli greeted him, he merely raised his hand in response.

After getting up, Hongli glanced at the memorial and saw that it was from Cao Zhaoye, the Imperial Textile Commissioner of Jiangning.

This reminded Hongli of the matter he had seen in Longkodo's ledger, where Cao Zhaoye had bribed Longkodo with 200,000 coins.

At this point, Yongzheng also spoke up, saying, "Next year is the last year of the five-year deadline given to the Cao family of Jiangning. Not only has Cao Zhaoye failed to make up for the original deficit, but he has also incurred an additional deficit of 370,000 taels!"

Hongli found this laughable. The Cao family controlled a highly profitable monopoly in Jiangning, yet they had consistently suffered losses.

Logically, this should be impossible, but it does exist, so it's no wonder that Emperor Yongzheng was angry.

"Moreover, Cao Zhaoye even implied in his memorial that the huge deficit was related to the late emperor's southern tour back then, and he was still blaming the late emperor. If it weren't for the late emperor's reputation, would I have given him a five-year grace period?"

"Besides, can he blame this new deficit on the late emperor? The quality of the dragon robes is getting worse and worse. This Cao Zhaoye is a hopeless case!"

At this point, Yongzheng continued to reprimand Cao Zhaoye.

Hongli also thought of a saying about this.

That is, damn it, Cao Zhaoye is incompetent!
So Hongli handed over Longkodo's account book: "Father, it's possible that Cao Zhaoye never intended to solve the deficit problem by improving management and reforming the Jiangning textile industry. Instead, he wanted to use underhanded methods. As far as I know, he has already given Longkodo 200,000 taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng raised his head.

His face was as cold as ice.

Then, upon seeing the account book in Hongli's hand, Yongzheng asked, "What is this?"

"The account book that Longkodo presented to me is a detailed record of the bribes he received, and it contains many items that were overstepped of his authority."

Hongli handed the account book to Yongzheng and replied.

Emperor Yongzheng hurriedly took it personally and began to carefully peruse it.

When Yongzheng looked at it, he was not angry at all. On the contrary, the more he looked, the more he smiled: "This Longkodo really has a big gambling spirit."

“Ama is right.”

Hongli replied.

Yongzheng then said with a solemn expression, "However, people who don't value their own lives and property often don't value the lives and property of others either."

Hongli nodded again.

He understood the meaning behind Yongzheng's words.

Although Longkodo gambled everything and risked his life, he lost all value to Emperor Yongzheng because of this.

"Father, let's fatten them up first."

Hongli made this suggestion.

Yongzheng smiled and nodded.

Yongzheng continued to look at the account book.

When he actually saw Cao Zhaoye bribing Longkodo with 200,000 taels of silver, he frowned.

"No wonder Cao Zhaoye has incurred an additional deficit of 370,000 taels of silver. He must have bribed officials with silver! He would rather believe that central ministers like Longkodo could persuade me to drop the investigation into the Cao family's deficit than believe that he could make up the deficit himself."

Emperor Yongzheng said, utterly speechless.

Hongli nodded: "Some people do indeed prefer to believe that they can solve their problems by spending money to ask someone for help, and this has become a habit. They feel that relying on others or money is more useful than relying on themselves."

Yongzheng said, "It seems we should teach these people a lesson."

Then, Yongzheng returned the account book to Hongli: "As you said, keep Longkodo's account book here for now, and we'll deal with it when he's rich."

"Whoo!"

Hongli replied.

He knew that Yongzheng wouldn't do anything to Longkodo yet.

But Yongzheng had undoubtedly made up his mind to confiscate the Cao family's property.

However, since he has already issued a decree granting the Cao family a five-year grace period, and the time has not yet expired, it is estimated that they will wait until next year to see.

Hongli then went to the East Study to continue learning about politics.

During his apprenticeship in government affairs, Hongli was quite pleased to see a memorial to the throne.

That is, the Zhejiang Governor Fahai reported that Sun Jiagan, who had been promoted to Circuit Intendant, had organized more than a thousand households of Zhejiang people of low social status who were willing to go north to reclaim wasteland, and requested the court to allow them to receive travel expenses from the Provincial Treasurer.

Emperor Hongli naturally agreed.

Abolishing the status of "lowly people" was a benevolent policy of Emperor Yongzheng to improve the plight of ordinary people. Now, allowing people to leave the country is an even greater good, as it allows these people of lowly status to gain freedom and bring greater value to the court.

After completing his political training, Hongli suddenly received a message from his third son, Yunzhi, inviting him to his home.

Hongli didn't know why the third brother had invited him over, but the third brother was, after all, his uncle. In the Qing Dynasty, where etiquette was paramount, he couldn't really refuse to give the third brother this respect, so he went to the third brother's place that very night.

"I wonder what business Uncle has with me?"

Hongli asked a question, while glancing at Hongsheng, who was also there.

The third brother then said directly, "It's like this. Well, the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination is just around the corner, and many scholars who have come to the capital have asked me to lend them some money to tide them over. But the total amount they need to borrow is quite large, and I can't come up with that much cash right now. How about you lend me 100,000 taels?"

Hongli sneered inwardly. He knew that his third son was not so much asking him for money so that he could help scholars, but rather asking him for silver so that he could maintain his reputation for being courteous to scholars.

As far as he knew, the third brother had never repaid the money he borrowed.

Back when he and the thirteenth prince were both henchmen of the former crown prince, the rift between them stemmed from the fact that the third prince initially borrowed money and never repaid it. He would then pretend to be respectable by saying that he never used his brothers' or nephews' money, and that even if he needed to make a living, he would always borrow rather than ask for it back, but he never actually paid it back.

Of course, the third son and his ilk did not repay the money they borrowed from the national treasury; otherwise, they wouldn't have had to wait for Emperor Yongzheng to press them for repayment.

Seeing that Hongli remained silent, Hongsheng, who was standing next to the third prince, asked Hongli with displeasure, "Fourth Prince, are you unwilling?"

Hongli glanced at Hongsheng, feeling a surge of disgust, but still smiled and said:
"It's not that I'm unwilling, but before we talk about this, I have to mention something else. I'm sure Third Uncle already knows that I was present when my cousin acted disrespectfully towards Thirteenth Uncle, and I was right next to Thirteenth Uncle at the time."

(End of this chapter)