My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 282 Zeng Jing says the Qing Dynasty is doomed, and Yongzheng breaks down!

Sertu immediately opened his mouth wide and looked up at Hongli.

Then, Sertu hurriedly denied it, saying, "No, of course not! My master only told me not to offend Fourth Prince! He was praising you as a powerful prince that I cannot afford to offend!"

"So, this is how you obey your master?"

"He told you not to anger me, but you angered me the moment you arrived!"

Hongli asked in a deep voice.

Sertu immediately kowtowed repeatedly: "Fourth Master, please forgive me! Fourth Master, please forgive me! This servant was just afraid that you, Fourth Master, might have been instigated by some Han officials and have truly misunderstood my master!"

Do you think I would be easily instigated by anyone?

Hongli chuckled coldly and asked.

"Who can be easily swayed? If you were a sensible person, you should know better than I do!"

"You can see for yourself whether I have been easily instigated by Han officials!"

Then, Hongli said a couple more sentences, his tone very stern.

Before he could continue, Hongli said, "Let's get up and get down to business."

"Whoo!"

Sertu then got up.

Hongli then sent someone to summon Wei Tingzhen, the Han Minister of Rites, and his left and right vice ministers and other officials.

"The most important thing for the Ministry of Rites right now is to hold the Imperial Examination for Learned Scholars."

"The Khan has also issued a decree that the Ministry of Rites must handle this matter well in order to win people's hearts and promote education."

"Who is in charge of this matter, and how many scholars have registered to participate in the erudite scholars examination?"

As Hongli spoke, he began to ask questions.

At this moment, Wei Tingzhen, the Han Minister of Rites, stepped forward and reported: "Your Highness, the registration for the erudite scholars examination is currently being handled by Wang Jingzeng, the Han Vice Minister of Rites."

At this moment, Wang Jingzeng stepped forward, bowed his head, and reported: "Reporting to Fourth Master, there are currently 176 scholars applying for the examination."

Hongli nodded after hearing this: "We should ask the provinces to recommend more candidates. The Ministry of Rites will cover the travel expenses. I have already submitted a memorial requesting funds for the 'Erudite Scholars' examination, and the imperial approval has been granted. From now on, there is no need to worry about the money."

"Whoo!"

"Your Highness, you treat all the virtuous scholars of the land with such respect; we are deeply grateful."

Wang Jingzeng hurriedly smiled and flattered him.

Sertu then rolled his eyes at Wang Jingzeng.

Chuck filed a complaint against his master, Yunzhi, which made him dislike these Han officials.

Hongli was quite pleased to see this.

He would be uneasy if Manchu and Han officials formed an alliance out of mutual goodwill.

He knew that Emperor Yongzheng, as the emperor, also did not want Manchu and Han officials to collude in private, especially not the imperial family and Han gentry to collude together and oppose imperial power.

Furthermore, because Emperor Yongzheng adopted Hongli's suggestion, he increased the number of provincial examination slots and student slots for the hometowns of scholars who participated in and passed the erudite scholars examination.

Therefore, many renowned scholars who originally did not want to participate in the Imperial Examination for Learned Scholars had no choice but to go to the capital to take the exam after being persuaded by their relatives and friends in their hometowns.

This has resulted in the Ministry of Rites receiving applications from over 170 scholars.

These scholars were mostly candidates or students who had failed the imperial examinations for a long time but were quite famous in their localities.

Zeng Jing is one of them.

He also went to Beijing at the urging of his relatives and friends in his hometown.

Originally, he didn't want to come.

Influenced by rumors and the scholarship of Lü Liuliang, as well as his own extreme personality, he believed that the Qing Dynasty was nearing its end and it was time to be overthrown.

However, after thinking about it, Zeng Jing felt that this was an opportunity to find out the true strength of the Qing Dynasty.

So Zeng Jing still took her disciple Zhang Xi with her to the capital.

Zhang Xi was well aware of Zeng Jing's advocacy that "the Qing Dynasty must perish."

Therefore, after arriving in Beijing, Zhang Xi, upon hearing that Prince Cheng had fallen ill, specifically asked Zeng Jing, "Sir, have you heard? Prince Cheng is ill because Chak has filed a complaint against him."

Zeng Jing snorted: "This shows how cruel the current emperor is! Even his own brother, Prince Cheng, who is peaceful and unassuming, has been terrified by him. The imperial clan is in turmoil, and this is a sign of the Qing dynasty's demise!"

"First it was Prince Yun Tang, then Prince Lian, and now it's Prince Cheng's turn."

"Then why did he still establish the erudite scholars' course?"

Zhang Xi asked, puzzled.

Zeng Jing said, "It's very possible that they are deliberately trying to mislead people, but it's also possible that they have realized their mistake and want to implement benevolent governance."

"In any case, if he can accept governing the country with Confucianism, then there is still hope for the Qing Dynasty; if he cannot accept it, then the Qing Dynasty will perish one day!"

Zeng Jing said, stroking his beard with his hands behind his back.

Before Cha Siting and his entire clan were escorted to the capital after being reported by Yunzhi, Yongzheng saw the materials presented by Cha Siting's son, which alleged that Yunzhi had framed the prince and slandered the emperor.

Falsely accusing a prince naturally meant falsely accusing Hongli.

In his memorial, Chak said that when a prostitute appeared at the Ministry of Rites, Yunzhi deliberately said that Hongli had summoned her, which was clearly an attempt to frame the prince.

At the time, Wu Qikun and Yunzhi, officials of the Ministry of Rites who were present, had records of going to the Ministry of Rites that day, which can serve as evidence.

As for the defamation of the emperor and father, it was a document widely circulated among the people that accused Yongzheng of murdering his father, forcing his mother, harming his brother, being greedy, bloodthirsty, and lustful. This document was submitted to the emperor by Cha Ke. The document was signed by Meng Guangzu, a disciple of Yunzhi.

Therefore, Chuck said that this was Yunzhi framing Yongzheng.

Emperor Yongzheng was naturally furious when he saw this document.

After all, he has always cared a lot about how others perceive him.

Even Han scholars of low social status in this era.

So, his face flushed red and then turned pale, and he still managed to read the memorial several times.

"It's reversed!"

"It's really the opposite!"

Emperor Yongzheng even slammed his fist on the table and stood up, his eyes wide open.

Although he knew that there were certainly many people who were dissatisfied with him.

Members of the imperial family, nobles of the Eight Banners, gentry, clerks, wealthy merchants...

But when he saw with his own eyes the materials that were spreading all sorts of negative things about him in private, he couldn't help but break down.

Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng then took up his pen and began writing furiously on this document.

He wants to defend himself! He wants an explanation!

He couldn't let his subordinates smear him like this.

He wanted his subordinates to know the truth, rather than to believe that he was disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unjust.

He had to tell everyone that he was the true wise and benevolent ruler!
But not long after Yongzheng wrote it, he remembered the person who provided the material.

Therefore, Yongzheng immediately summoned Chak.

"Are you sure you got this from Yunzhi?"

Yongzheng asked about Chak.

Chuck replied, "I did indeed obtain it from Prince Cheng."

"You didn't make this up yourself?"

"I asked coldly."

Chuck said, “Your Majesty is wise. I am but a Han official. How could I possibly fabricate such cryptic content? This involves many secrets of the inner court, which I could not possibly have made up. If I had fabricated it, Your Majesty would surely have seen through it at a glance!”

Yongzheng frowned.

He believed what Chuck said.

Because these details involving Emperor Kangxi, Consort De, the Eighth Prince, the Ninth Prince, and the Fourteenth Prince are indeed not something anyone can fabricate.

Emperor Yongzheng asked, "Why did Yunzhi give you these?"

Chuck glanced cautiously at Yongzheng: "Your subject dares not speak!"

"I must say it!"

"Otherwise, I will first punish you for sowing discord among the imperial brothers, and have you cut in half at the waist!"

Yongzheng roared, then glared at Chuck with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire.

Chuck looked aggrieved and replied, "Prince Cheng said that this way Prince Yi can go before him!"

"Because if Prince Yi sees such content, he will be furious, but he has to keep quiet so that Your Majesty will not find out and become angry as well."

Clearly, Chuck knew how to provoke Yongzheng and was trying to sow discord between Yunzhi and Yongzheng.

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng's eyes widened even more in anger!
"Summon Prince Yi!"

"Come back and pass the throne to Hongli!"

suddenly!

Yongzheng was genuinely afraid that if Prince Yi found out about these things, it would seriously harm his health, so he changed his mind and sent Hongli instead.

He felt that with Hongli's current qualifications, he was capable of knowing some deeper inside information, and it was necessary for him to know it, so as not to be influenced by others to misunderstand him and Prince Yi.

Not long after, Hongli came to Yongzheng's place and learned about the materials provided by Chuck that were smearing Yongzheng.

Hongli was not surprised by this.

Because he knew that in history, Yongzheng's reforms had long been hated to the point that gentry spread rumors and slanders against him, accusing him of usurping the throne and murdering his father, and even instigated Han generals to rebel against Yongzheng.

These scandals are just the tip of the iceberg; the bigger ones are yet to come.

Therefore, in his view, it was not surprising that these gentry in Chuck produced any terrible material.

However, he found it difficult to determine whether these materials were made by the gentry themselves or were actually provided by Yunzhi voluntarily.

However, it is certain that no member of the imperial clan would proactively provide relevant information about the inner palace, and it would be difficult for the gentry to fabricate materials to smear Emperor Yongzheng.

Because the speed of information flow in this era was not as fast as in later generations, especially in an empire like the Qing Dynasty where Manchu and Han people were governed separately, it was very difficult for Han gentry to know the secrets of the inner palace without the help of the imperial family.

“You did a great job!”

"If you hadn't requested permission to see this person, he wouldn't have had a chance to produce so many shocking items before he was silenced!"

After Hongli learned of these things, Yongzheng told him about them.

(End of this chapter)