My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 224 Regent and Hereditary Iron-Capped Titles
After receiving the imperial decree that she had been made a concubine, Nara Minxuan was naturally overjoyed, and her expression softened as she looked at Hongli.

Hongli smiled at her, walked over, and took her fair hands, saying, "From now on, I can bring you home to greet my uncle and aunt on their birthdays."

"Ok!"

"This is all thanks to His Majesty and the Fourth Prince!"

Nara Minxuan smiled and nodded, and then respectfully curtsied to Hongli.

Now that she has become a secondary consort, it means that she is no longer Hongli's lowly concubine, but his wife, and her family will naturally become royal relatives.

When her grandparents or parents had birthdays, Hongli would take her back to pay respects and celebrate.

This is something that Nara Minxuan, who hasn't been home or seen her parents for several years, is naturally something to look forward to.

Moreover, now that she has her own child, her desire to go back and visit her parents has intensified.

Therefore, Nara Minxuan looked at her child Yonglin again, her eyes overflowing with maternal love.

For Hongli, it was also a good thing that Nara Minxuan was able to be made a secondary consort.

In this way, he could legitimately hand over all the internal affairs to Nara Minxuan without worrying about any objections from the other princesses.

This is undoubtedly better than letting Haitang manage things, because although Haitang has been with him the longest, she is still just a princess, and it is often inconvenient for her to strictly manage the people in the inner quarters.

However, Hongli now has a large number of princesses, maids, and eunuchs in his back garden.

With more people, it's inevitable that there will be bumps and disagreements.

After all, different people have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses.

To prevent internal strife, one cannot rely solely on grace without authority; strict discipline is necessary when it is required.

However, most of the people in the backyard were those who worked within ten steps of Hongli.

Within ten steps, the power of authority will become ineffective.

Even an emperor, to ensure the safety of those within ten steps, had to be tolerant of those around him.

Therefore, even if he really wanted to strictly manage the people in the inner quarters, Hongli naturally couldn't directly enforce strict discipline. Instead, he needed someone in charge of the inner quarters to punish them severely first, and then he would slightly reduce their punishment to show leniency. In this way, he could ensure that while strictly managing them, he wouldn't damage the loyalty from the bottom up and avoid direct conflicts between himself and those within ten steps.

Therefore, Nara Minxuan becoming a secondary consort was undoubtedly a good thing for Hongli.

"Before the primary wife arrives, you'll have to work hard and manage this household well. Don't be afraid of offending people. Just remember, the better you manage it, the safer our children, and you and I will be."

"You also come from a prominent family, so you should understand the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in the inner quarters."

That evening, when Hongli came to Nara Minxuan's room, he gave her a few words of advice.

Nara Minxuan nodded in agreement, then frowned slightly.

Upon seeing this, Hongli asked, "Why are you frowning?"

Nara Minxuan blushed and said, "I dare not hide it from you, Fourth Master, but my breasts are engorged."

"Then let me help you."

Hongli grinned mischievously and picked up Nara Minxuan.

Nara Minxuan blushed even more and took the initiative to hug Hongli.

The next day.

Hongli saw that Nara Minxuan had already gotten up and was sitting behind her desk, writing.

Hongli simply draped his outer robe over his shoulders and then walked behind Nara Minxuan to see what she was writing. He discovered she was drafting family rules and regulations.

Regulations related to access control, procurement, roll call, monthly allowances, festival gifts and rewards, family visits, and inspections are being planned, and management structures are being established. It has also been decided which women will serve as stewardesses and which maids will serve as stewardesses.

Hongli nodded in satisfaction. Seeing how skillfully Nara Minxuan handled the situation, he felt much more at ease.

Hongli then went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to learn about government affairs, and later went with Yongzheng to the Qianqing Gate to listen to government affairs.

According to Yongzheng, although he was not yet married, he already had his own children, and now that he had a concubine to help manage the household, he should participate more in the discussion of state affairs, rather than just communicating with the court officials through memorials.

However, things were far from peaceful in the imperial court during this period.

First, Prince Manduhu was demoted to Duke of Zhenguo because he sent an eunuch to the residence of the Fourteenth Prince without authorization. He was reprimanded by Emperor Yongzheng in court for sowing discord between his brothers.

Secondly, Duke Ablan was stripped of his title and removed from his post by Emperor Yongzheng for expressing his gratitude in court in violation of regulations.

Subsequently, Prince Yu, Guangning, was impeached for forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices, stripped of his title, and imprisoned in the Imperial Clan Court for life.

It can be said that in order to strengthen imperial power, Yongzheng continued to do his best to crack down on Manchu nobles who were not loyal to him.

On the day that Hongli was about to move into the Prince Bao's mansion, Prince Ping, Narsu, was stripped of his title and placed under house arrest for corruption and bribery. His title was inherited by his son, Fupeng.

Because Fu Peng was Hongli's study companion, he came to see Hongli after Narsu was stripped of his title and imprisoned.

After Fu Peng arrived, Hongli asked him, "Speak, what is it?"

At this moment, Fu Peng knelt down with a thud and kowtowed, saying:
"Please, Grandfather, find a way to make your grandchildren's maternal family members bondservants of the royal family!"

Hongli was taken aback upon hearing this: "So, you know about your maternal clan, the Cao family?"

"My grandchildren have already found out that my father was found to have embezzled and accepted bribes in front of the Xining army and was therefore stripped of his title and imprisoned. This was all in preparation for the subsequent investigation and confiscation of my maternal clan's property. They wanted to first deprive my maternal clan of any support in the court, and then use this as a pretext to uncover more crimes committed by my maternal clan!"

Fu Peng replied.

Hongli nodded: "This matter is not the fault of the court. Father has been more than kind to the Cao family. However, your uncle is not only dishonest and embezzled funds, but he also secretly bribed high-ranking officials. Therefore, no one can protect him, not even my thirteenth uncle and I."

"I know it's inevitable that my maternal clan will be raided and brought back to the capital, but I don't want them to fall into the hands of Prince Cheng!"

"Therefore, my grandchildren asked Tangmafa to find a way to bring my mother's clan under his command. In this way, given Tangmafa's benevolence, my mother's clan may be preserved."

Fu Peng replied, his eyes welling up with tears.

The Cao family, who were in charge of the Jiangning Imperial Textile Bureau, were registered as bondservants of the Manchu Plain White Banner and were considered servants of the emperor.

Therefore, the emperor could bestow all members of the Cao family upon members of the imperial clan, making them into bondservant officers under the command of these princes.

During the Kangxi era, he often bestowed gifts upon his son's family members who were bondservants.

Hongli now also has his own bondservant captain.

But at this moment, Fu Peng would take the initiative to ask him to find a way to get Yongzheng to bestow the Cao family upon him, which was something he had not expected.

However, upon closer reflection, Hongli was not surprised, because in this case, he would certainly not wrong the Cao family out of consideration for Fu Peng. At the same time, he was likely to be the next emperor in the future, which would not prevent the Cao family from continuing to be the emperor's bondservants.

Hongli was willing to accept the Cao family, so that he could encourage Fu Peng to make more military achievements in the future under the guise of elevating the Cao family's status.

"You should get up first."

"Tell me first, what's the story behind my third uncle wanting the Cao family to become bondservants?"

Hongli then asked.

(End of this chapter)