My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 263 Hongli performs great deeds, and his son-in-law submits!
It was no surprise that Yongzheng agreed, and Yongzheng's instructions made Hongli feel a rare warmth from Yongzheng.

Because, generally speaking, emperors would not go to the trouble of giving instructions to anyone.

But what can you do when he's the son of Emperor Yongzheng?

Hongli replied with a moved expression, "Your subject dares not!"

"It's good that you don't dare!"

Yongzheng smiled, then suddenly became serious, looked at Hongli, and patted him on the shoulder, saying:
"Hongli, do a good job!"

"It is not easy to manage the affairs of a ministry well, but if you manage it well and the people of the world benefit from your kindness, you will gain merits that even I cannot give you. I can only give you one chance!"

Hongli understood Yongzheng's meaning: in the Qing Dynasty, where politics and religion were separated, one's birth was only a basic requirement, and even had little effect, if one wanted all ethnic groups to submit to him. The key was to achieve meritorious service and be believed to be able to bring about change for them.

After expressing his gratitude as was customary, Hongli returned to his palace.

"Congratulations, Fourth Master, on taking office and managing the government!"

After Hongli returned to the mansion, his primary consort, Lady Fucha, who had received advance notice, led everyone in the mansion to congratulate him.

"Happy together, rejoice together."

"Give the order that everyone in the manor be rewarded with double the monthly allowance, as is customary!"

"Thank you, Fourth Master!"

The people in the manor were naturally overjoyed, and in their spare time they began to discuss what to buy with the extra monthly reward.

Because Hongli's financial gains have been steadily increasing over the years, his servants have never been owed monthly wages and have received frequent rewards, so they no longer pay as much attention to saving as before.

When Hongli was expressing his gratitude to the bondsers in these mansions, he noticed Nianzhu.

There was no way around it; when Nianzhu and the group of young girls knelt down to express their gratitude, her hip lines were still too eye-catching, making one want to hug her from behind.

However, although Nian Xiyao had regained Yongzheng's favor, he was still unsure whether Yongzheng's hatred for Nian Gengyao had subsided. Therefore, he had no intention of having relations with Nian Zhu. After his gaze lingered on her briefly, he turned to his two children and began to tease them.

When the primary consort, Lady Fucha, saw this, she smiled and touched her lower abdomen. Therefore, that night, when Hongli came to make love with her, she was very enthusiastic.

"Tell them that I'm taking an extra ten days off this time, so please don't send them gifts for now."

So the next day, while having a meal with Lady Fucha, Hongli rubbed his knees and gave her this instruction.

Lady Fucha readily agreed, her bright eyes smiling gently as she said, "It is a blessing for the entire household that Fourth Master cherishes his health!"

"Since you understand, why were you so affectionate last night?"

Hongli then asked her about it with a smile.

Lady Fucha lowered her head and replied, "I wish to give birth to a child for Fourth Master as soon as possible. Naturally, I should be affectionate when I should be affectionate and restrain myself when I should be restrained. I also ask Fourth Master to understand."

"Well said."

Hongli liked Fucha's unpretentious manner, so he replied with this remark.

After finishing his breakfast, he left Lady Fucha's room and prepared to take a carriage to the Lifan Yuan (Court of Colonial Affairs) office.

But before he could even board his new carriage, the chief master of ceremonies of the Prince's Palace, Yitong'a, knelt down and presented a memorial from the Office of Transmission—a memorial in which he pleaded for leniency for Celing.

After getting into the carriage, Hongli began to read the imperial annotations on the memorial.

After reading the imperial edict, Hongli couldn't help but smile.

As Yongzheng had predicted, he granted his request and issued an edict to release Celeng, exempting him from serious punishment due to the precedent of family ties, and demoting him from his title to Beile.

Upon arriving at the Court of Colonial Affairs, Hongli went directly to the Director of the Court of Colonial Affairs who was imprisoning Celeng.

In a certain TV series, the thirteenth prince was imprisoned here.

But in reality, many Mongolian princes who committed crimes were imprisoned here.

At this moment, Celing felt extremely frustrated and terrified. Looking at the dark and gloomy prison, he even had the idea of ​​killing himself right there.

But when he thought of his child with the princess, he ultimately did not do so, thinking that as long as Yongzheng spared his life, he would still live on.

However, Celing also regretted that he had made such a mistake, not realizing that signing a private agreement with the Russians behind the back of the court and even tacitly allowing the nobles under his banners to pay tribute to the Russians would be such a serious problem.

He realized that he was not as politically as the Fourth Prince.

When Celing thought about his few interactions with Hongli, he was quite amazed, amazed that he had been troubled by Hongli's silver tongue twice in a row.

The first time, he was reprimanded for his rudeness and for not taking Yongzheng seriously, not for looking down on Hongli, which frightened him so much that he knelt down on the spot.

The second time was when he was directly exposed for his private contact with the Russians, and accused of damaging the prestige of the country and the imperial power. He was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and confessed his guilt before Emperor Yongzheng.

If he could turn back time, he truly wouldn't want to come to the capital again and engage in verbal sparring with Hongli once more.

He genuinely felt a sense of fear towards Hongli.

After all, Hongli was too good at finding excuses to attack him and too good at seizing his weaknesses.

He didn't know how many more loopholes Hongli would exploit if he clashed with him again. This forced him to admit that if he were to die at Hongli's hands this time, it wouldn't be a shameful death.

Bang!

Bang!

Then came the sound of a lock being opened and a door being opened.

A blinding light shone in the instant the door opened, causing Celing to close his eyes and raise his hand to shield himself.

"Uncle, you are a brave and skilled warrior, how could you do such a cowardly and tolerant thing?"

Hongli came up to Celing and asked him this question first.

Celing opened his eyes wide with surprise. After a moment of stunned silence, he smiled bitterly and said, "I don't want to compromise, but the Qing Dynasty has no choice but to compromise now. Fourth Prince, you are in the capital and often accompany the Emperor. You should know better than this servant that the Qing Dynasty cannot wage war against Russia and Dzungar at the same time."

“I know better than you, which is why I didn’t choose to support your appeasement and forbearance, and Longkodo didn’t choose to appease and forbearance either.”

Hongli replied.

Celeng smiled in surprise: "But isn't the Qing Dynasty currently facing the threat of the Dzungar Khanate in the northwest? Doesn't it also need to implement new policies, rectify the court, and clarify the finances?"

"Does the imperial court now have the power to strike with both fists? If so, why bother negotiating?"

"You can't use both fists to punch someone right now!"

"It's true that the military expenditure in the Northwest is considerable, the supply lines are too long, and the climate is too complex!"

As Hongli finished speaking, Ce Ling raised his eyebrows, thinking to himself that the Fourth Prince was indeed sensible!

"but!"

"After years of hard work and governance, the Khan can still silence troublemakers with a punch before he can throw a punch himself."

Hongli then continued.

After hearing this, Celing asked, "What do you mean?"

“Every year I receive a lot of tribute from officials and gentry, and some of it may even come from your Mongolian princes. This amount of silver is more than the grain tribute that Jiangnan pays to the court.”

“But I have so much silver, but I don’t have much use for it, and there’s nowhere to make money from it. So, I might as well use it to buy some people and land.”

"Now, Khan has allowed my uncle and me to do this deal. You promise to exempt the families of the tribes who are willing to go to fight the Russians in the grasslands from taxes and corvée labor. In return, I will give you a total of three million taels of silver as rewards for going to war and subsidies for those who die in battle. The northern expedition to the bitter and cold lands cannot be accomplished without the lure of substantial money and benefits."

Hongli said with a smile.

Celing was very surprised: "Although you are very respectful to Fourth Master, this servant does not understand why you are wasting so much money?"

"I like!"

"Besides, if we don't do it this way, Rakshasa won't compromise or give in!"

"If I don't spend this money in this way, it will be worthless to me, even less than dirt!"

“I believe that my uncle is one of the few princes in Mongolia who is willing to implement a tax exemption policy for the people under his rule, and he is also willing to distribute the money I subsidize in a real and tangible way.”

"Instead, like many Mongolian princes, they would only embezzle subsidies and would only wish to levy more taxes and labor!"

Hongli said.

Celing gave a bitter smile and said, "But I am already a person awaiting punishment!"

Hongli helped him up: "I have pleaded for you, Father, and have forgiven you. I will only demote you to Beile."

"Hegemon Celing, listen to my decree!"

Hongli's face suddenly darkened.

Celing immediately knelt down, looking astonished.

When Celing heard that he had only been demoted to Beile and not stripped of his Taiji status, his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

At this moment, Celing also kowtowed deeply to Hongli, saying, "This servant thanks Fourth Master for pleading for me!"

"This servant is now completely in awe of Fourth Master!"

"Even though I was the one who targeted Fourth Master first and misunderstood him, Fourth Master did not hold a grudge, did not kick me when I was down, still treated me as his uncle, pleaded for me, and was willing to believe me and support me in avenging the people's blood feud! I could never repay Fourth Master's kindness even if I died a hundred times!"

Hongli helped him up, saying, "Uncle, please don't do this. I'm doing this for the sake of the Qing Dynasty and all the people!"

"This servant understands! Therefore, this servant feels even more ashamed and respectful. This servant should not have underestimated Fourth Master before, and should not have been so arrogant in front of Fourth Master!"

"From now on, this servant's life belongs to Fourth Master. If I ever betray Fourth Master, may Heaven punish me!"

Celing looked at Hongli with tears streaming down his face and said.

He is now truly convinced of Hongli's abilities. After all, Hongli not only pleaded for him but also believed in his loyalty and was willing to cooperate with him.

(End of this chapter)