My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 262 Yongzheng grants great power to the Ministry of Personnel and bestows upon it a silver seal equivalent to that of a high-ranking official!

"Your Highness, I have actually fully recovered."

Nayantai gritted his teeth and replied.

Hongli narrowed his eyes at this.

Tegut and the others opened their eyes wide.

Bandi, looking both disappointed and angry, directly questioned him: "Nayantai, do you know what you're saying?!"

"Fourth Master! This servant has always wanted to save the people of the Mongol banners from their suffering. This servant is willing to help the court stabilize Mongolia by re-landing and redistributing pastures, and is even more willing to do everything in my power to eradicate the long-standing abuses of the feudal system for our Great Qing! I am willing to give my life for it!"

"Besides, this servant has now fully recovered, so please grant my request, Fourth Master. This servant is willing to follow your lead without question!"

Nayantai then began to explain, and after speaking, he kowtowed heavily to the ground.

For him, being a good official is nothing difficult!
He can be patriotic as long as he can keep his power!
boom!
Hongli gazed at Nayantai.

Before long, he couldn't help but laugh.

He suddenly found Nayantai much more endearing.

"very good!"

"It's rare to find someone with such unwavering loyalty to the imperial court!"

Therefore, Hongli affirmed Nayantai's merits.

Then, Hongli added, "Then you'd better not disappoint me next time."

"If this servant dares to outwardly comply with the Fourth Master's wishes and inwardly defy the imperial court, even if I am torn to pieces, it would be my just deserts, and I would never dare to complain."

Nayantai replied.

Hongli then said to Nayantai, "Then you should follow the suggestion of Vice Minister Bandi and do this well, and be sure to eliminate the long-standing problems of the previous division of land among the Mongol banners."

"Whoo!"

Hongli then smiled slightly and waved for these people to leave.

But before these people could take their leave, the chief eunuch Zhang Qilin came over and said, "By imperial decree."

Upon hearing this, Hongli and the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs immediately knelt down, wondering what imperial decree Yongzheng had come to deliver.

"Prince Guo, Yunli, shall no longer manage the Court of Colonial Affairs, but shall instead manage the Imperial Academy. The fourth prince, Prince Bao, Hongli, shall cease assisting in the management and shall, from this day forward, manage the Court of Colonial Affairs."

"A silver seal entitled 'Loyalty, Filial Piety, and Clear Observance' is hereby bestowed upon the fourth prince, Hongli, who may use this seal to make decisions on minor matters and to report major matters in secret. This is the imperial decree!"

Hongli was secretly delighted upon hearing this.

This means that he is no longer just assisting in the management of a department, but is now in charge of the department.

The reason he was granted a silver seal was that he was not the nominal Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, so he naturally did not have an official seal. However, when exercising power, such as sending letters to local authorities or issuing imperial edicts to Mongol princes, he needed a corresponding official seal to indicate that the power was granted by the emperor.

After all, if he used his private seal to communicate with foreign officials, it would constitute illegal factionalism.

Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng bestowed upon him a silver seal, which also meant that he had been given a formal post.

This silver seal, besides allowing the official authority to issue orders to foreign officials and vassal states, also allowed for the legitimate submission of secret memorials to the Court of Colonial Affairs.

As for the name of the silver seal, it was merely an imperial designation given to him by Emperor Yongzheng to corroborate his authority.

The phrase "loyal, filial, wise, and discerning" means that Emperor Hongli was not only loyal and filial, but also wise enough to understand all issues, thus making him worthy of the respect and trust of officials and the people.

This actually means that he has officially entered the periphery of the Qing Dynasty's decision-making level.

In the previous dynasties, he was one of the Nine Ministers!

Although they cannot directly interfere in major policies, they have a great deal of influence over specific national policies.

Moreover, for a vast empire like the Qing Dynasty with its many affairs, most matters were actually decided by the powerful officials in charge of that category, and the emperor would generally not object.

After all, the emperor wasn't that free, and he wouldn't handle every matter, big or small, by himself alone, and he didn't trust his important ministers at all.

"My sons and ministers accept the order."

So Hongli raised his hands to receive the imperial edict, and then accepted the silver seal wrapped in brocade.

He knew that this meant that Emperor Yongzheng had clearly affirmed his practical abilities in managing the ministry.

Even if he is not the emperor in the future, the new emperor will no longer be able to say that he is incompetent.

Just as Emperor Yongzheng could say how the Eighth Prince harbored evil intentions and how hypocritical and treacherous he was, he never said that the Eighth Prince was incompetent.

"rise!"

Zhang Qilin, still representing Yongzheng, replied calmly.

"Thank you Lord for your grace!"

Hongli and the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs stood up.

After Hongli stood up, Zhang Qilin hurriedly knelt down and bowed deeply to him, saying, "This servant greets Fourth Master!"

Hongli personally helped Zhang Qilin up, saying, "Eunuch Zhang, there's no need for such formalities."

He addressed Su Peisheng as "Eunuch Su," and naturally he addressed Zhang Qilin the same way.

But Zhang Qilin didn't dare to compare himself to Su Peisheng, fearing that Su Peisheng would say, "What level are you to deserve being called 'eunuch' by the Fourth Master like me?"

Therefore, Zhang Qilin quickly smiled obsequiously at Hongli and said, "Fourth Master is humble and polite, but this servant dares not presume. Please, Fourth Master, just call me by my humble name from now on, so as not to offend this servant."

"Okay, from now on I'll call you Old Zhang."

As he spoke, Hongli gave Zhang Qilin a reward of silver.

Zhang Qilin was extremely grateful and congratulated Hongli before withdrawing.

After Zhang Qilin left, Tegut and other officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs came to congratulate Hongli.

They all expressed that they would do their utmost to support Hongli's leadership of the Court of Colonial Affairs, and even exclaimed that Hongli's leadership of the Court of Colonial Affairs would make it better, and the future of the Court of Colonial Affairs would be brighter!
Tegut and others understood that this meant the emperor had recognized the fourth prince's ability to manage the ministries.

Among them, Dase, who was not keen on re-surveying and redividing the land of the Mongol banners, had to admit that he had even less reason to stop the Fourth Prince from using Bandi to carry out this reform. Bandi, on the other hand, was even more excited.

He knew he had made the right bet. The Fourth Prince was not only capable enough to uncover the flaws in the Court of Colonial Affairs, but he also gained the Emperor's trust and became the prince in charge of the Court of Colonial Affairs!

His desire to reform and eliminate abuses will receive even stronger support.

"I am young and not as experienced as you gentlemen. Although I am in charge of the Court of Colonial Affairs, I still need your help."

Hongli also expressed his modesty, and then instructed Li Yu: "Tell the Chief Secretary to choose a date, I want to host a banquet for the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs!"

"Whoo!"

"This servant thanks Fourth Master for his kindness and will do his utmost to serve you. Serving you is serving His Majesty, and I would never dare to harbor any disloyal thoughts!"

Tegut also bowed in gratitude.

Then, as was customary, Hongli went to the palace to express his gratitude and request imperial instructions.

Emperor Yongzheng met him in the main hall of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"It is remarkable that you were able to discern the lack of loyalty of the Mongol princes to the court during this border negotiation. This demonstrates that you have a serious understanding of the vassal state's policies and have not neglected your duties."

"What's even more commendable is that he was willing to plead for Tsering, who was being targeted at you. This shows that you have a broad mind and consider the overall situation. If you are put in charge of the Court of Colonial Affairs, you will not let personal matters interfere with public duties."

Emperor Yongzheng explained to Hongli his reasons for deciding to put him in charge of the Court of Colonial Affairs.

Hongli said, "This is all thanks to Father's excellent guidance."

"You need to earn the world's recognition that you have the ability and vision to handle real governance, not just some empty reputation!"

Yongzheng then said.

Hongli replied, "Your subject will remember."

"Speaking of your uncle Celing, I originally intended to have him replace Longkodo."

"Fortunately, out of caution regarding the demarcation of the borders, I allowed him to come to the capital to attend the Council of Princes and Ministers. Otherwise, if he had directly replaced Longkodo, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"

"However, you are not wrong either. Our Great Qing Dynasty now governs the country by not granting kingships in the south and not severing kinship ties in the north."

"Therefore, we cannot let the matter of arranging a marriage alliance with a Mongol prince appear worthless for Tsering."

At this point, Yongzheng continued, "But Celing's concerns are not without merit. As long as the negotiations fail, the border will remain unsettled, and the Mongol princes will become increasingly alienated from our Great Qing. To win them over, we must treat your uncle and other princes who have formed marriage alliances with the Great Qing with great respect."

Hongli knew that Yongzheng brought this up to see how he planned to negotiate and agree on the border after taking charge of the Lifan Yuan (Court of Colonial Affairs), while ensuring national prestige and imperial power.

Hongli, however, already had a plan, and at that moment replied, "Father is right, your son is thinking of using chaos to promote peace!"

"How can we use chaos to force peace?"

Yongzheng looked at him.

"The biggest advantage of the Russian Kingdom is that it can use the future division of the eighteen provinces of Han land to win over the Mongol princes and nobles, and it can also exempt the Mongol refugees from taxes, so that the Mongol refugees will depend on them and expand their territory for them while they are plundering."

“Our Great Qing has already occupied Han lands, so we cannot use them to bribe Mongol princes. We must also prevent them from plundering Han lands. In order to win over Mongol princes, we cannot exempt Mongol refugees from taxes.”

"But our Great Qing can use money to buy off the Mongol people to retaliate against the Russians, reclaim their own homeland, and use the land they have reclaimed or even seized from Russia as bait to encourage the Mongol people to fight abroad, support them in acquiring wealth in Russia to supplement their own income, and not collect tribute."

"Let the Russians also experience the pain of being harassed."

Hongli replied.

Emperor Yongzheng frowned and said, "This would allow one of the Mongol tribes to grow too powerful, and even have the strength to unify Mongolia. The policy of our Great Qing is to divide and rule Mongolia!"

“What Father says is true. So what I mean is not to keep bribing them, but to regularly spend two or three million taels of silver to subsidize one league and one banner.”

"In this way, we can ensure that each alliance and each banner has the ability to harass the Russians, while also ensuring that they cannot continue to wage wars abroad. We can also continue to check and balance each other, because the subsidies will stop once the money is spent."

"For example, this year, we can subsidize the Tushetu Khanate's external campaigns, and next year we can subsidize the Chechen Khanate."

"At present, whoever has the closest kinship with the Qing Dynasty will receive subsidies first."

"While the Rakshasa possess the immensely tempting bait of the eighteen provinces of Han territory, it is ultimately nothing more than a pie in the sky, with no end in sight."

"However, the Rakshasa Kingdom itself is very poor. So as long as we spend some money in a short time and also mobilize some Mongol people to retaliate against its border towns and even towns and villages in the country, cut off its grain and tax routes, and stop trade, they will inevitably collapse and seek peace."

"Moreover, they are currently waging large-scale military operations in the west, fighting against Sweden, Persia, and others."

"But our Great Qing Dynasty is powerful, so spending a few million is nothing."

"Therefore, at that time, the Rakshasa Kingdom will surely make concessions and compromises in order to seek peace!"

Hongli replied.

After thinking for a moment, Yongzheng said, "But there is no reason to only give silver to support one league or one banner in retaliation. As the saying goes, it is not the scarcity that is the problem, but the inequality. If we do this, the Mongol princes will have even greater objections."

"Your Majesty is wiser than I am. Your subject means to provide unsolicited support, but to secretly give some silver to the Mongol princes who are loyal to our Great Qing."

"For example, right now, while my uncle is in the capital, we can give him money to support his people in their outward attacks."

“My uncle is actually loyal to the Qing Dynasty and has always cared for the Mongolian people. He has been committed to reducing taxes and corvée labor for the people under his jurisdiction and has a high reputation among ordinary Mongolians. Therefore, it is entirely believable that he will use the money for reciprocal retaliation.”

At this point, Hongli bowed his head and said, "Your son is willing to use the annual allowance he receives from officials and gentry to support my uncle. Please grant me permission, Father!"

Hongli knew that in doing so, he would form a community of shared interests with Celing.

After all, Celing had secretly taken his money and led his people to become his mercenaries.

If Yongzheng agreed to his request, it would mean that he was allowing him to form factions with some Mongol princes.

If Emperor Yongzheng truly desired him to inherit the throne, he would naturally agree without hesitation and would be willing to see him gain the support of the Mongol princes.

"I'm sure!"

"But you need to tell me how much silver you give him each year. If I find out that you have secretly increased it, I will be very disappointed in you!"

Yongzheng did not hesitate, but he also gave Hongli a few instructions.

(End of this chapter)