My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 225 The concubine's steward persuades Emperor Yongzheng to grant her a favor!
Fu Peng then stood up and replied, "The message sent by the Duke of Zhenguo, Man Duhu, to his grandchildren is that my father was punished because Prince Cheng wanted to annex my maternal clan, the Cao family. Therefore, he presented my father's past misdeeds to the Emperor."

After Fu Peng answered, Hongli nodded, then frowned slightly.

Hongli was not surprised that the third son would target the Cao family. He asked Fu Peng simply to confirm how Fu Peng had learned about this matter.

And because of this, he knew for certain that Manduhu and the third brother had indeed begun to have a falling out.

But what he didn't know was what reason the third prince would use to persuade Yongzheng to grant him the Cao family as bondservants.

"I can ask the Khan for this because you, Fu Peng, are quite ambitious and have been my classmate for a time. I will try my best to persuade the Khan to grant me the Cao family as a bondservant."

"But I have to be upfront about this: your uncle is really useless, and some people in your maternal clan may also have all sorts of bad habits."

"So, when the time comes, if they really become my bondservantes, I will not be lenient with them because of you, Fu Peng. Those who deserve severe punishment will be punished severely, not only by expelling them from the bondservant captaincy but also by exiling them or ordering their execution."

At this point, Hongli gave Fu Peng a heads-up.

Fu Peng lowered his head and said, “If anyone in the maternal clan offends Tang Mafa, and Tang Mafa decides to punish them, then the grandchildren will naturally have no complaints!”

"The grandchildren also know that there are many good-for-nothings in their maternal clan, and it is right for Tangmafa to punish them. The grandchildren have come to Tangmafa to ask to become bondservants, only so that their mother, Enemama, and her cousins ​​will not be too heartbroken."

After listening, Hongli nodded: "It is rare to find someone with such filial piety. But if you are truly filial, you should take your father's example, study diligently, and strive to achieve great things in the future, instead of just relying on the titles and honors left by your ancestors to get by. You should understand that in our Great Qing, one can elevate one's relatives to the banner based on military merit."

Fu Peng knelt down solemnly and bowed, saying, "Your grandchildren will certainly follow the words of your great-grandfather!"

Hongli knew that Fu Peng was currently very busy with his studies at the military academy, and he did not intend to keep him for long, so he waved for him to leave.

After Fu Peng left, Hongli sighed slightly.

He had to admit that Kangxi was truly good to the Cao family. In addition to allowing the Cao family to continue inheriting the official position of Jiangning Textile Commissioner, he also gave the Cao family, who were registered as bondsers, the opportunity to form a marriage alliance with Prince Ping, one of the iron-capped princes of the Qing Dynasty, and made a woman from the Cao family the primary wife of Prince Ping, Narsu.

This means that even though Emperor Kangxi has passed away, the Cao family can still receive some protection through this marriage alliance.

Unfortunately, Fu Peng, Cao's nephew, became his study companion, thus linking the fourth prince with the Cao family.

……

……

"From now on, large clocks will be added to the main courtyard of the Fourth Master and the back courtyards of each princess, as well as the inner gatehouse and inner storeroom. All those in charge will need to come to me at 3:45 a.m. to report any late arrivals or leave requests in their respective courtyards."

"Anyone who dares to delay will be fined silver for the first offense, fined silver plus forced to kneel for the second offense, and expelled from the prefecture for the third offense, but kept under the supervision of the sergeant..."

"You should all know that without rules, there can be no order. I'm doing this for your own good, so that you don't become so lazy that you cause a big disaster, which would implicate your families!"

"Besides, the day of moving into the Prince's Mansion is fast approaching. If you continue to be as lax as before, only showing enthusiasm when the Fourth Prince returns, you will embarrass him and ruin your family's reputation for good manners!"

Hongli then returned to the backyard.

But he heard Nara Minxuan's voice from behind a corridor in the backyard. Although her tone was not loud, it carried an unassailable authority.

He then witnessed that many of the maids and nannies in the mansion had been gathered in a side room by her, and they were all serious and respectful, being reprimanded by Nara Minxuan.

Nara Minnuan had a stern face, cold as ice, showing none of her former gentle charm.

Hongli stopped and listened for a while, then smiled faintly and took a detour to another place.

That evening, Hongli visited Nara Minxuan again.

"Madam, the Fourth Prince is here!"

As soon as Hongli arrived, a maidservant hurried to Nara Minxuan's room to announce his arrival, while the others knelt down to pay their respects.

Hongli could tell that these girls who had just entered the palace were much more orderly than before, when they were all flustered and unsure whether to kneel down to greet him or to inform the prince.

At the same time, Hongli also noticed that most of these girls had become much more serious and were clearly starting to fear making mistakes and being punished by Nara Minxuan in the future.

This made him nod in satisfaction, and he said with a smile, "Alright then!"

Just as Hongli dismissed the formalities from some of the maids, Nara Minxuan had already led her people out of the courtyard.

Seeing this, Hongli excused Nala Minxuan from the formalities and asked with a smile, "What are you doing?" "Your Highness, I am calculating how many servants we will need after we move to the Prince's Mansion."

"After all, the Prince's Mansion is not as grand as the Qianxi Mansion. It has more courtyards, and there must be people to sweep and guard it at all times."

"Moreover, there are two princesses who are already pregnant, and Sister Fucha is about to give birth. In the future, there will undoubtedly be more people to serve them. It would be better to make a total of them so that we can ask the Fourth Prince to select some suitable people from his subordinates, including the bondservant captains and banner captains."

Nara Minxuan replied.

Hongli nodded and asked, "How much manpower are we short? Do we need to buy them from outside?"

Nara Minxuan looked at Hongli and said seriously, "We may still have to buy from outside, but if they are still our own bondservants and banner officers, they will naturally be easier to manage and we will be able to find out their background more clearly."

Upon hearing this, Hongli couldn't help but think of Fu Peng's request for him to make the Cao family his bondservants.

In his view, perhaps taking over the Cao family would be a good way to make up for the lack of people in his backyard.

In any case, it's more reassuring to use people from the Cao family than to use outsiders, unless the Cao family doesn't want their privileges as bondservants of the Manchu bannermen.

Therefore, that very night, Hongli drafted a memorial requesting that he be granted a position as a bondservant to take care of his grandson. The next morning, he went to the palace to present it to Yongzheng, asking him to grant him the Cao family property so that he could confiscate it in the future.

Meanwhile, after leaving Hongli, Fu Peng returned to the Qing Military Academy.

After arriving here, Fu Peng also met Hong Sheng, who worked at the Qing Dynasty Military Academy.

Hongsheng greeted him with a smile, saying, "You've arrived! Congratulations on inheriting the title of Prince Ping!"

Fu Peng chuckled awkwardly, "You flatter me!"

"We should visit each other more often in the future, because who knows, we might become even closer in marriage."

Hong Sheng said with a smile.

Fu Peng felt a surge of anger.

He knew what Hong Sheng meant; it simply meant that he was very likely to become the master of his maternal clan, the Cao family.

So, he might make one of his cousins ​​from his maternal clan his concubine in the future, so that they could become relatives.

But the prerequisite is that Fu Peng must first get close to Hong Sheng, otherwise his maternal cousins ​​might not become concubines, but would suffer torment from Hong Sheng.

The thought of Hongsheng abusing the maids in his household made Fu Peng even more worried about his cousins ​​from his maternal family, and he hoped even more that Hongli could prevent this from happening.

But Fu Peng was still worried that Hongli had failed to stop him, so he smiled and asked Hongsheng, "Grandson is stupid, I don't know how Grandfather wants grandson to move around?"

"Simple. Tell me everything you know about Hongli, so I can also learn how to curry favor with this Fourth Prince!"

Hong Sheng held Fu Peng's hand and said with a smile.

Fu Peng felt a pang of anxiety. He didn't want to betray Hongli and secretly monitor him for Hongsheng.

After meeting with Yongzheng, Hongli handed the memorial to Yongzheng: "Since Father has decided to confiscate the Cao family's property, I request that Father grant the Cao family to me as bondservants. I already have one son, and two princesses are pregnant. Once they give birth to children, there will not be enough bondservants to serve them."

"Do you know that your third uncle also wants the Cao family's assets?"

Yongzheng said.

Hongli replied, "Does Third Uncle also lack bondservantes, or is he more lacking in captains and people who can contact me privately?"

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng thought of the fact that the Cao family's in-laws, the Prince of Ping, had fifty banners and their commanders, and frowned as he asked him, "Have you heard anything recently?"

Hongli replied, "Your subject did not hear anything. It was only on the day that Third Uncle deliberately came to my garden late that he saw Cousin Hongsheng trying to pinch Yonglin."

"It turns out that both father and son are vicious!"

Yongzheng also recalled the scene of the third prince arriving later than the seventh prince that day, and for this reason he said this and made up his mind: "Then I will make the Cao family your bondservants, and when the time comes, you will be the one to confiscate the Cao family's property!"

(End of this chapter)