My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 221 Ancestral Blessing, Hongli is Tough Enough!
As soon as Hongli said this, the entire hall became even quieter.

Yongzheng couldn't help but grin as he looked at the thirteenth prince.

The thirteenth prince smiled as well.

"What a fine Hongli! He is truly blessed by Heaven and his ancestors!"

At this point, the sixteenth brother couldn't help but speak up, saying with a smile.

Even the third brother couldn't help but smile and say, "Hongli is indeed blessed by heaven and his ancestors, which is why another princess is pregnant so quickly."

Hong Sheng, standing next to the third brother, stared wide-eyed at this.

He couldn't believe this was true!
"Is that right?"

At this moment, Emperor Yongzheng asked the imperial physicians a question for confirmation.

The imperial physicians all knelt down and said, "We dare not deceive Your Majesty, Princess Gao is indeed pregnant!"

Emperor Yongzheng naturally understood that these imperial physicians would not dare to joke about the royal family.

"Very good. Issue the decree to reward these imperial physicians double as usual."

At that moment, Yongzheng smiled and gave his instructions.

"Your Majesty, we thank you for your great favor!"

Although the pregnancy of a princess serving a prince was not a particularly joyous occasion, the reason why Emperor Yongzheng doubled the rewards for the imperial physicians who examined the princes was because the news was reported in the presence of many members of the imperial clan, which undoubtedly brought great honor to Emperor Yongzheng.

Therefore, when Emperor Yongzheng was in a good mood, he rewarded these imperial physicians twice over.

After all, Yongzheng always cared about what others thought of him. Now, seeing how much these members of the imperial clan envied his son, especially the surprised looks on the faces of his nephews of the Hong generation, made Yongzheng very satisfied.

You refuse to believe that the late emperor valued Hongli highly!

Now, with his son Hongli having given birth to a child with one of his concubines, another concubine being pregnant, and yet another concubine by his side also pregnant.

This shows that his royal bloodline was truly blessed by Heaven and his ancestors, and the prosperity of his descendants also shows that his ascension to the throne and the new policies he implemented were understood and supported by Heaven and his ancestors.

Therefore, those who have opinions can be silenced. Otherwise, they would not only be going against Emperor Yongzheng, but also against Heaven and their ancestors!
"Furthermore, Gao Bin, the Director of the Imperial Household Department, is hereby awarded the additional official rank of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."

Emperor Yongzheng then bestowed further favors upon the Gao family.

Hongli also expressed his gratitude on behalf of Lady Gao.

Yongzheng was undoubtedly in a great mood, and his expression as he looked at the imperial relatives was much more confident.

"It seems that, just as Thirteenth Brother said, the Gao family is indeed a blessed person."

to this end.

Emperor Yongzheng then added with a smile, "Of course, Empress Nara is also a blessed person, as is Empress Fucha. All of this is due to the blessings of Heaven and our ancestors."

"Hongli, you must not fail to live up to the blessings bestowed upon you by Heaven and your ancestors. Always be loyal, filial, benevolent, and loving!"

At this time, Emperor Yongzheng gave instructions to Hongli.

Hongli cupped his hands in respect: "Your subject will remember."

Next, Yongzheng left Langrun Garden with the Empress.

After that, the members of the royal family left their congratulatory gifts and departed one after another.

After seeing these people off, Hongli first went to Lady Nara's place, talked with her for a while, and then went to Lady Gao's place.

"Fourth Master!"

When Lady Gao saw Hongli, she smiled and was about to bow.

Hongli helped her up, pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed, and held her soft hands, saying, "I never expected that you would find out you are pregnant at this time today."

"I never expected that I would be so disrespectful in front of Her Majesty the Empress and the Imperial Concubine. I even felt nauseous on the spot. Fortunately, Her Majesty the Empress and the Imperial Concubine are very magnanimous and did not hold it against me."

Mr. Gao replied with a smile.

Now that you're pregnant, you should be more careful from now on.

"Your father has already issued an edict, granting your father the official title of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."

Hongli replied at this time.

Gao was somewhat surprised after hearing this: "His Majesty's favor is truly too great."

"It's all because you got pregnant at the right time."

Hongli said with a smile.

Ms. Gao lowered her head shyly, but couldn't help glancing at her stomach.

Meanwhile, the Russian envoys, including Lagudinsky, finally arrived in Ningguta, the Qing Dynasty's territory, before winter set in. Their next step was to continue south to the Qing capital for preliminary consultations with Qing officials in charge of negotiations.

However, after entering Qing territory, Lagudinsky felt depressed and unhappy because the border towns of Qing had become much more populated.

Therefore, when Raguginsky secretly met Qian Mingshi in Ningguta, he specifically mentioned this situation, saying: "I didn't expect that in just one year, so many farmers have started cultivating the land in this area. What is your emperor planning to do? Is he planning to use this manpower to devour more territory in the north in the future?"

"How would I know? The only thing I'm certain of is that the Emperor did this against the wishes of all the officials and gentry within the pass."

"Because so many people can come to the area outside the pass to farm, it means that many people inside the pass who could have been slaves or servants no longer need to be slaves or servants."

"Now, the reason why there are so many people outside the pass is not only related to the emperor's abolition of the ban on border crossings and the law against fugitives, but also to the abolition of the status of lowly people, which made the destitute households of Shaoxing and the musician households of Shanxi become good citizens."

Qian Mingshi replied with a bitter smile.

Snapped!
Raguginsky slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "So, I can strongly protest against His Majesty the Emperor's frantic migration of people to the border towns, which is intended to provoke war in the future, thereby causing panic among your nobles and making them even more unwilling to see him do this."

"You could think of it that way."

Qian Mingshi nodded.

Ragujinsky then added, “I also have to protest how your emperor treats you people of status, making you do the work of the lowly in this bitterly cold land.”

Qian Mingshi didn't say much, but simply bowed and took his leave.

Ragujinsky arrived in Beijing in March of the fifth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign.

Subsequently, he formally submitted a memorial to Emperor Yongzheng requesting the agreement on the border, and began preparations to consult with the ministers appointed by Emperor Yongzheng on the matter of agreeing on the border.

The decisive Emperor Yongzheng quickly issued an edict ordering Longkodo, the Minister of Personnel and concurrently a Minister of State Affairs, Tegut, the Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, and Tulichen, the Vice Minister of War, to conduct preliminary consultations.

The chief minister is Longkodo.

Longkodo sent a letter requesting an audience with Hongli, hoping that Hongli could give him some instructions regarding this consultation.

After all, he had entrusted his life and fortune to Hongli, so he had to follow Hongli's advice in everything he did.

He also knew that Yongzheng would certainly want to see him obey Hongli's orders; otherwise, Hongli would never have dared to privately pass on important court decisions to him in advance.

The reason why Yongzheng did this was because he cared a lot about what others thought of him, including Hongli, whom he secretly designated as his successor, and the opinions of historical records.

Therefore, in this lifetime, since he has encountered a matter that requires further clarification of boundaries, he naturally hopes that Hongli and his descendants will not feel that he suffered a great loss in this negotiation, and thus look down on him and no longer regard him as a wise ruler.

Therefore, on the second night after his grandson was born, Emperor Yongzheng specifically mentioned this matter to Hongli and instructed him: "Although Longkodo is in charge of the border negotiations, you should also keep a close eye on it. If you have any thoughts on the negotiations, you can tell me directly."

"My willingness to negotiate the border with the Russians is not only to deal with the Dzungars first, but more importantly, to use the negotiations to punish the Tong Party!"

"I know that Longkodo has never been willing to yield to foreigners, which is certainly at odds with the views of the Mongol nobles, Han gentry, and even many nobles of our Eight Banners who hope for peace!"

"Therefore, as long as Longkodo takes a tough stance during negotiations, he will offend all the nobles and officials. By dealing with him and his cronies, I will gain the support of all the nobles and officials!"

"But I am also worried that Longkodo will see this and take the initiative to compromise, thus pandering to all the nobles and bureaucrats who advocate concessions, and being blamed by future generations. Therefore, I want you to keep an eye on things for me. If Longkodo does not meet your expectations during the negotiations, you must tell me immediately!"

At this point, Yongzheng patted Hongli on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Now that you are a father, you should start thinking about your descendants."

"Your subject will remember this."

Hongli bowed.

He has been paying close attention to the issue of agreeing on the border.

After all, this concerns territory.

Moreover, he had already communicated with the Sixteenth Prince and Tulichen, and had Tulichen arrange for spies to infiltrate the Russian Empire to investigate its current situation and the attitude of its decision-makers.

In addition, regarding the land in the area under discussion, he also persuaded the sixteenth elder of the Ministry of War to agree to send people to continue surveying and mapping.

His purpose in doing all this was to prevent Yongzheng from repeating his previous mistake of unknowingly ceding a large territory due to his unfamiliarity with the geography of the area west of Lake Baikal and north of Tannu Tuva, as well as his lack of understanding of the international situation. This would have led to Russia mocking Yongzheng, saying that he was their filial son and that's why he gave them such a large territory.

Now that Yongzheng had instructed him to secretly keep an eye on the matter through Longkodo, he was naturally happy to do so.

Therefore, after returning from the Yuanmingyuan, Hongli met with Longkodo.

"This servant is about to discuss matters with the envoys of the Russian Kingdom. I humbly request Your Highness to provide guidance on this matter, so as not to cause any miscalculation that could jeopardize the fate of our Great Qing Dynasty!"

Longkodo then bowed deeply and kowtowed, saying, "This servant thanks Fourth Master first."

"Uncle, please rise!"

Hongli helped him up and handed a booklet to Longkodo: "This booklet contains information about the situation in the Rakshasa Kingdom. It was prepared in advance by the Ministry of War through spies sent by my sixteenth uncle. You can take a closer look."

"As for what I mean, no matter how much the Russian envoy threatens you, don't be afraid, because the Russians simply don't dare to wage war in the east! They have the same problem as our Great Qing, which is that they also have an opponent in their west that they urgently need to deal with!"

“If the Russian envoy is truly disrespectful, you can even arrest him for disrespect, imprison him, request an imperial decree to determine his guilt, and demand that the Russians send a different envoy!”

"In short, we must be firm! If they refuse to submit and clamor for force, we should directly state that they can send a large army, and our Great Qing will be ready to fight!"

(End of this chapter)