My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 245: Having copied a large number of precious books, Hongli was extremely excited!
"Where are all these books going?"

"Don't you know that I have already sent people to keep an eye on you at various key land and water routes?"

The main hall of the Viceroy of Liangjiang's yamen.

With a nonchalant smile, Li Wei asked Chen Qiao.

Chen Qiao was extremely flustered. Hearing Li Wei's words, he suddenly raised his head and his facial muscles twitched slightly.

He naturally dared not say that he was going to give the books to the Western barbarians so that they would have the opportunity to see these classic texts; he only replied, "To Huguang."

Li Wei took out a piece of paper covered in Western writing that he had taken from Chen Qiao's son: "Do you think I don't understand foreign languages?"

"Although I don't understand, Fourth Prince does. You know, the Qing imperial family has learned a lot."

Li Wei said another sentence.

Chen Qiao immediately prostrated himself on the ground and banged his head against the ground: "Governor, please have mercy! We are all Han Chinese. Can you spare my Chen family? My Chen family is willing to repay you with a large sum of money."

"Now that we're thinking of ourselves as Han Chinese, isn't it too late?"

Li Wei asked again with a smile.

Chen Qiao looked up at Li Wei and said, "Governor, you are an official of the Qing Dynasty, and my Chen family also has officials of the Qing Dynasty. You know why we became officials, and so do I!"

"Your family may also have relatives who are not officials, but who have committed crimes and are in the hands of the authorities. So why not let each other off the hook?"

Li Wei continued, "I, Li Wei, don't understand many grand principles, but one thing I do understand is that the world must not be in chaos again, and the barbarians outside must not be allowed to grow stronger!"

"That would be bad for any of us, and even worse for the Li family."

“My grandfather and father also contributed to the stability of the Qing Dynasty, and I have never done anything to betray the country.”

"This time, I only wanted to temporarily entrust some books and collections to my Western friends for safekeeping. The letter in the foreign language also conveyed this meaning. It is not an act of treason. Governor, you understand!"

Chen Qiao suddenly opened his mouth wide, then kowtowed and replied.

Li Wei smiled and waved the letter: "Do you think the court will believe that you are simply handing these books over to the Western barbarians for safekeeping, or that you are intentionally giving the Western barbarians the opportunity to copy Han dynasty classics?"

……

……

"That's obviously unbelievable!"

"And we must assume the worst about them."

"Make them afraid! Make them regret it, even make them regret supporting outsiders to rule the Central Plains, and make them fear that the new outsiders will be even more ruthless than the Qing Dynasty!"

“Li Wei, you are a wise man. Now you have risen to the rank of Governor-General. Both the Emperor and I trust you. We will not beat around the bush with you. At least since the late Emperor, the monarchs of our Great Qing have been most wary of foreign barbarians following the same path that led to the founding of our Great Qing!”

"The future assimilation and integration of the Manchus, Han Chinese, and even Mongols is inevitable and cannot be resisted by the personal will of the monarch."

"The power of Han civilization is greater than imagined."

"Therefore, the approach of a wise ruler is to completely block outsiders from continuing down the path of our Great Qing, to suppress the gentry in every way, and even to make them regret choosing our Great Qing."

After Li Wei came to report on the Chenqiao incident, Hongli spoke at length with a stern expression.

Speaking of it.

Hongli looked at him with even greater seriousness: "Until another powerful outsider appears, no matter how much we coerce or entice them, no matter how greedy they are for wealth and power, they will not dare to follow the example of the Southern Ming!"

The core purpose of Hongli's words was to prevent others from following the same path as his Qing Dynasty.

Li Wei also looked solemn and then cupped his hands, saying, "Your subject understands!"

He supported Hongli's proposal in his heart, because he also knew that history had chosen the Qing Dynasty, and that could not be changed.

However, as the world stabilizes, it is inevitable that the Manchu and Mongol bannermen will gradually become as complacent and conservative as the Han landlords and gentry. And if the world repeats the same mistakes, no one knows whether an even more tragic hell on earth will emerge. Hongli patted Li Wei on the shoulder with great satisfaction and continued, "Therefore, the more obedient the gentry are, the more ruthless we must be towards them, and the more we must strengthen the common people. The more common people there are, the more the gentry and the common people will need our Great Qing Dynasty. Only in this way can the world enjoy lasting peace and stability."

Li Wei nodded: "Fourth Master is right. Having served as an official for so long, I understand more and more that the more people there are, the more the gentry need to support the government."

"Go, copy all their books!"

Hongli waved his hand.

"Whoo!"

Li Wei then continued to order officials at all levels to send troops to key land and water routes to guard against gentry attempting to move or hide books and collections, while also ordering officials at all levels to confiscate books and collections according to the list of debtors.

Because Emperor Qianlong had already instructed Li Wei to relocate officials from various parts of Jiangsu, it was easier for him to copy the letters of the gentry.

……

……

"Wan Juan Lou!"

At this moment, Hu Qiheng, the prefect of Suzhou, walked with his hands behind his back to the Shen family, a famous official. Looking at the plaque of the library in the house, he read a sentence and then waved his hand: "Go upstairs immediately and copy everything out of the books. Do not leave a single piece of paper behind!"

The local gentry Shen Wei rushed to Hu Qiheng and cried out, "You can't confiscate the Wan Juan Lou! This is the culmination of the hard work of my ancestors!"

"Isn't the imperial property you embezzled the hard-earned wealth of the people? Besides, didn't your ancestors want you to contribute to the cultural and educational undertakings of the Qing Dynasty?"

"Lord Shen, we who have received the imperial favor must be fully aware and know how to be grateful! The court is only confiscating your books and articles and not your homes, which is already a great favor from heaven. We must not have any displeasure!"

As Hu Qiheng spoke, he went upstairs himself, took down the "Not for Lending" sign, threw it on the ground, then went into the room, randomly picked up a book, and began to read: "Mingyi Daifanglu, by Huang Lizhou."

Hu Qiheng then threw the book into a box and said to Shen Wei, "Shen Gong, you need to keep a statement explaining why this book appeared in your residence."

"This this."

Shen Wei felt a pang of heartache and was in a state of utter confusion. He then knelt down and said, "Prefect, I truly had no idea this book existed."

As Hu Qiheng continued scanning the books, he said, "It doesn't matter if you don't know. You just need to admit that these books were copied from your residence."

Then, Hu Qiheng took out another book: "Complete Treatise on Agricultural Administration".

"This book is good; you shouldn't keep it to yourself."

As he spoke, Hu Qiheng also threw the book into the box.

Shen Wei could only manage a bitter laugh.

……

……

"The Burning of Books, The Record of Survival, The Chongzhen Calendar, The Bell of a Thousand Autumns, The Record of Forgetfulness, and The Commentary on Reading the Zizhi Tongjian".

Weaving Bureau.

Li Wei sent Hongli a large number of copied books.

As Hongli perused the copied books, he couldn't help but chuckle, "Many of these are books that aren't even available in the Imperial Palace!"

talking.

Hongli looked at the several volumes of "Yongle Hall" in his hands and asked Princess Jin to put them together. At the same time, he picked up a book with illustrations.

"The Complete Story of the Lantern Flower Dream!"

Afterwards, Hongli flipped through it briefly, his eyes widening in surprise, and handed it to Li Zhenxia: "Take it to my bed. I will examine this book carefully tonight."

(End of this chapter)