My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 242 Jiangnan gentry beg for mercy, Hongli cuts off the fuel supply!
In fact, Zhejiang Governor Fahai had already sent troops to surround Pan's residence in advance, and only after arresting Pan Shi did he put him in prison.

Because Fucha Fuqing had the county government send someone to Hangzhou to meet with him and inform him of this matter.

Pan Shicai was also frightened. He hadn't expected that his act of forcibly seizing a horse would attract the governor's troops.

"how so!"

He couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Your Excellency, we are all from the civil service examination system. Could you please spare the lives of my entire family for the sake of this 500,000 taels of silver and deny that my son stole the imperial horse and uttered any treasonous words?"

His father, Pan Jianbin, managed to secure a private meeting with Fahai at his own home, and upon seeing Fahai, he pleaded with him.

Pan Jianbin also had 500,000 taels of silver brought out in advance and placed in the hall where he met Fahai.

Fahai sighed slightly: "You gentry of Jiangnan can give this academy a lot of money, but you can't give me a status more noble than yours!"

"So, Master Pan, if you were also of Manchu origin, I might consider denying that I found the imperial horse in your house, and also denying that I heard your son's treasonous words."

But you are not!

At this point in Fahai's speech, Pan Jianbin raised his head and looked at Fahai.

Fahai stood up from his chair and closed the box full of silver ingots.

"Then this academy has no reason to deceive the imperial court, or even to deceive itself!"

"Because, the thoughts of this academy are actually the same as those of the Fourth Prince and the Emperor."

"That is, we demand absolute obedience from you Han gentry! Anyone who harbors disloyal intentions must be severely punished! Moreover, we would rather kill three thousand innocent people than leave a single troublemaker behind!"

"you!"

Upon hearing this, Pan Jianbin's face hardened.

"Don't be angry!"

"This is the result of your own choice. If you want to continue to be superior to the Han people, then you have to accept the rules of us Manchus!"

"Because the fates of the Song and Ming dynasties have already shown that you alone cannot ensure long-term stability and peace for the country!"

Fahai laughed.

Pan Jianbin blushed; he was furious!
But for a long time, he didn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

Because he couldn't refute it.

In the end, he just gave a bitter laugh.

"The Censor is indeed more knowledgeable than I am; it is I who have been confused!"

"Now that I think about it, what I should have done was to beat my son to death when I discovered how unruly he was! Only then could I have avoided today's disaster!"

Pan Jianbin took a few steps back, looking dejected, frustrated, and heartbroken.

“That’s right. If you Han gentry want to live a peaceful life, you have to be ruthless to your own people, especially your family.”

Pan Jianbin nodded, and then knelt down tremblingly: "The entire Pan family confesses their crimes and accepts punishment!"

For the conservative and reactionary Han landlord elites, they would rather see the Han people perish than allow them to have a spirit of resistance. Therefore, they were willing to suppress their own spirit of resistance.

Therefore, Pan Jianbin gave up struggling.

at the same time.

Pan Jianbin's son, Pan Shichang, also sought an audience with Fucha Fuqing in the outer courtyard.

"Fight! Fight them to death!"

Pan Shicai also ordered the servant who slapped Fucha Fuqing to be tied to a bench and beaten with a stick in front of Fucha Fuqing.

The beaten servant screamed for a short while before vomiting blood and dying.

Pan Shicai himself lost his arrogance and slid down to kneel before Fucha Fuqing: "I, Pan Shicai, have already beaten the disrespectful servant to death to vent your anger, and to prove that I truly had no intention of offending you. Please see this clearly!"

“Your rebellious words were nothing before they were brought to the table; but now that they have, it’s not as simple as killing a servant.”

“In the Qing Dynasty, we Manchus were just servants of our masters, and you were not even qualified to be servants, so naturally you had no right to say that I am the law.”

"Therefore, I hope you understand that the Qing Dynasty will not spare Han Chinese who lack a respectful and dutiful heart."

Fucha Fuqing replied.

Pan Shicai felt somewhat aggrieved after hearing this: "But if you hadn't concealed your identity, I wouldn't have done this!"

"That doesn't give you the right to claim you are the law!"

"The imperial court has not granted you such power, allowing you sons of officials to control local governments, trample on the law, and wantonly oppress ordinary people!"

Fucha Fuqing immediately shouted sternly.

Pan Shicai gritted his teeth, his face turning purplish-red.

At this moment, he hated the Qing Dynasty to the core and missed the Ming Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty. He regretted not being born in those dynasties.

At that time, he saw that his father, Pan Jianbin, had been put in shackles and was being dragged out.

He looked shocked.

Pan Jianbin also looked at him kneeling on the ground.

"father!"

Pan Jianbin couldn't help but shout first, and stood up from the ground. "Kneel! You can't get up unless the adults tell you to!"

"We must be respectful and observe proper etiquette!"

Pan Jianbin suddenly reprimanded Pan Shicai.

Pan Shicai was stunned, looking puzzled.

"You unfilial son, are you going to drag my whole family into an even worse situation?!"

Pan Jianbin grinned and asked.

Pan Shicai then knelt down with tears in his eyes: "Father, why?"

"There must be a proper order between superiors and inferiors, and etiquette must be observed. Only in this way can treacherous officials and villains not bring disaster to the world."

Pan Jianbin replied.

Pan Shicai broke down, bursting into tears and roaring, "To hell with this dynasty! To execute a noble family for a single word, what kind of holy dynasty is this!"

"You unfilial son, shut up!"

"Do you want my Great Qing Dynasty to be overthrown by the likes of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in the future?!"

"Or do you want those servants and maids around you to one day humiliate you, bully you, or even kill you?!"

Pan Jianbin stretched his neck, his face flushed, and for the first time reprimanded his only son in a very stern tone, increasingly regretting that he hadn't beaten him to death when he first made a mistake.

Pan Shicai fell silent.

He glanced at the servants around him, remembered the rumored "Jiangnan slave rebellion," and then knelt down with a thud.

Next, Pan Shicai, along with his father Pan Jianxuan and others, were taken to the governor's office, and later he was sentenced to immediate execution.

After Hongli instructed Li Wei to take Fan Shiyi's IOU to collect the debt from the gentry in Jiangnan, Li Wei first summoned a group of Jiangnan gentry from Jiangning to the Governor's Office.

At the same time, Li Wei also announced to these people that he was acting as the Governor-General of Liangjiang, and also informed them of the IOU provided by Fan Shiyi.

After saying all this, Li Wei said, "You colluded with the evil servants and corrupt officials of the Cao family to embezzle so much imperial property. There has to be an explanation, right?"

"Your Excellency, you are wise enough to know that these imperial properties were not solely seized by us."

At this point, Chen Qiao, a gentry member and wealthy businessman, spoke up, revealing a bitter expression.

The other gentry from Jiangnan also looked grim.

"Yes, we can't just ask us!"

Li Wei's expression changed: "If I don't ask you, who should I ask? It's all in black and white, so it can only be traced back to you. Can you produce any other evidence?"

These people were immediately speechless, their expressions filled with extreme frustration.

Li Wei continued, "Fourth Prince is benevolent and said he would ask the Emperor for a favor. If you are willing to repay the remaining amount after offsetting the debts of the Imperial Textile Bureau with the embezzled imperial property, he will not punish you and will leave you with some dignity."

"Therefore, you should be grateful and actively repay the embezzled royal property in silver according to the amount listed on the IOU!"

"Don't be ungrateful."

Even after Li Wei said that, the gentry from Jiangnan still looked miserable.

But then, they held a secret meeting to discuss and negotiate this matter.

"The governor has been replaced by Li Wei, and Fan Shiyi has also betrayed us. These officials from Manchu backgrounds are indeed unreliable and not of one mind with us!"

"Yes, but it's no use talking about it now. If we really want to pay back that money, it would cost tens of millions, which is several times the cost of the grain transport!"

"In the Qing Dynasty, you can't directly refuse to pay. After all, the lessons of the tax evasion case are still fresh in our minds. It would be better to go and beg the Fourth Prince. Just say that if you pay back this money, you won't be able to pay taxes!"

"That's true. Even if Fourth Master doesn't consider us, he should at least consider the court's tax revenue, right?"

"This is the only way. We should go and beg the Fourth Prince to forgive the debts owed by the Imperial Textile Bureau. We only ask that he forgive the debts we owe for embezzling imperial property, so that we will still have the financial resources to pay the taxes to the court."

……

After discussion, these gentry from Jiangnan ultimately chose to seek help from Emperor Qianlong.

It is clear that the Jiangnan gentry of the Qing Dynasty were more submissive than those of previous dynasties. They did not dare to directly refuse to pay, or even accuse the court of competing with the people for profit. Instead, they chose to beg the rulers above for mercy.

Soon after, many gentry knelt outside the Imperial Textile Bureau, all of them tearfully begging Emperor Hongli to submit a memorial urging the court to grant leniency.

"Please understand, Fourth Master, if we return this money, there will be no way to pay the summer taxes and autumn grain, which may affect the grand plans of the court!"

"We have long heard of Fourth Master's benevolence and virtue, why not bestow even a little bit of grace upon the people of Jiangnan? We will be grateful for Fourth Master's great kindness and will pray for his blessings for the rest of our lives!"

Emperor Hongli was surprised that these gentry would collectively come to plead for leniency, so he asked Li Wei, "What do you think?"

Li Wei pursed his lips and said, "In my opinion, Fourth Prince cannot completely disregard the sentiments of the gentry in Jiangnan. In any case, since they have come to plead for help, even the Emperor cannot truly fail to show some benevolence and give these gentry a legitimate reason to default on their taxes!"

Hongli nodded; he knew Li Wei was right.

In response, Hongli smiled and said, "I have also thought about this issue. Therefore, I have submitted a memorial to the Khan, requesting that the gentry of Jiangnan repay the imperial property they have embezzled by handing over books and articles."

"After all, Jiangnan has always been a place of great literary tradition. Many wealthy families have libraries, and many famous scholars have their own collections of writings. It's not unreasonable to ask them to provide books and articles. It would also help the court to revitalize its literary administration. And the court doesn't necessarily have to squeeze every last drop of wealth from the wealthy families!"

Speaking of it.

Hongli stood up and said, “Tell them my idea and let them go back and wait for news. They can either offer the books to pay off their debts or wait for the government troops to come and confiscate the books, but not their property. However, if they offer the books themselves to pay off the imperial property they have embezzled, it will certainly be more dignified.”

(End of this chapter)