My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 296: The Eight Banners soldiers are punished with caning, and the famous minister Agui is richly rewarded!
"Your humble servant, Yin Jishan, a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and Minister of the Imperial Academy, under the First Banner of the Bordered Yellow Banner, pays respects to Your Highness!"

Then, after Hongli excused himself from the formalities and entered the main hall of the Imperial Academy, he first summoned Yin Jishan to come in.

Yin Jishan then greeted Hongli.

"That's it!"

Hongli raised his folding fan and asked Yin Jishan to stand up, "Which year were you a Jinshi, and what was your rank?"

"Your Highness, I was the twenty-fourth Jinshi in the second class of the imperial examination in the year Gui Mao of the first year of the Yongzheng reign, and was selected as a Shujishi by imperial grace."

Yin Jishan replied.

"Your Highness, he was born to me!"

At this moment, among the Eight Banners students in the outer room, one of them chuckled and shouted.

Yin Jishan's face instantly turned as black as ink.

Hongli's face darkened immediately, and he asked, "Who is making a fuss?"

"Your Highness, it is Enli, the brother-in-law of Minister Marseille!"

At this moment, another member of the Eight Banners replied.

Upon hearing this, Hongli said, "Let these two in."

"Your humble servant, Guarjia Enli, Fifth Zuoling of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner, greets Your Highness!"

"Your humble servant, Zhangjia Agui, a junior officer of the Ninth Banner of the Manchu Plain Blue Banner, greets Your Highness!"

Influenced by Hongli, Emperor Yongzheng increased the number of candidates for the provincial examinations in the provinces, and also increased the number of students for the Eight Banners official schools. As a result, Agui was able to enter the Eight Banners official schools a few years earlier than in history.

However, what Hongli did not expect was that he would get to know Agui, an important minister during the Qianlong era, at this time.

But Agui is only twelve years old and still in his learning and developmental stage, so Hongli did not intend to interfere too much with his life trajectory. He simply gave a deep order at this moment:
"Give him twenty strokes of the cane as a sign of respect, and strip him of his official rank!"

“Agui protected his classmate before me without regard for personal feelings, which shows that he has a loyal and upright heart even at a young age. He is hereby rewarded with fifty taels of silver!”

Eun-rye's mouth dropped open when she heard this.

Agui immediately thanked the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I am ashamed. It is not that I am unwilling to protect my classmates, but that I cannot stand Enli's habit of gossiping, slandering teachers, and bullying classmates of lower social standing! Therefore, I do not deserve Your Majesty's praise!"

Hearing what Agui said, Hongli grew to like Agui even more, thinking to himself that Agui was a born general, with clear likes and dislikes, and knew when was the best time to attack those he disliked.

At the same time, A-Gui's honesty was something he found truly rare.

"Since you are so honest, I will reward you with another fifty taels of silver! You must not refuse!"

Hongli then spoke again.

Upon hearing this, Agui stood there speechless, but could only kowtow and express his gratitude amidst the rising and falling sounds of caning and screams.

Then, Hongli asked Yin Jishan, "How are the students of the Eight Banners official schools doing in their studies?"

"Your Highness, it's a long story. I am ashamed that I failed to ensure that all the children of the Eight Banners official schools would study diligently."

"This is because the children of the Eight Banners official schools know that even if they are just students, they will be more likely to be promoted and given official titles after graduating from the official schools than Han Chinese who are commoners and become Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), and it will even be easier for them to become governors-general and ministers."

"Therefore, many children of Eight Banner officials, after being admitted to the Eight Banner official schools, no longer studied seriously, but indulged in pleasure, just waiting to graduate so that they could scheme to get a good official position."

Yin Jishan then elaborated on the current state of the Eight Banners official schools.

The reason he spoke in such detail was not only because he was in charge of this area, but more importantly, because he himself was a graduate of the Eight Banners official school.

According to the Eight Banners official school system, the children of the Eight Banners could take the examination of the Eight Banners official school after the age of ten, after being examined by the commanders of each banner, and thus become students of the Eight Banners official school of the Imperial College.

That's how Tian Wenjing, a student of the Imperial Academy, came to be.

However, those Eight Banner children who continued to take the imperial examinations after entering the Eight Banner official schools, such as Nian Gengyao, Yin Jishan, and Cai Ting, were actually a minority. Regardless of their personalities, they were willing to work hard in their studies.

Therefore, most Manchus could become officials after obtaining the title of "student" and started as scribes.

Hongli nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

He was not surprised by the phenomenon that those who enjoyed privileges were more likely to become decadent and seek comfort.

After all, this has been how things have always unfolded throughout history, and sometimes even the powerful second-generation heirs were feared if they wanted to advance their careers or start their own businesses. Nian Gengyao is a typical example of this; he was too eager for advancement, to the point that he dared to challenge imperial authority.

Hongli was unaware that, after being influenced by him, Yongzheng might still be considering reforming the system that allowed Manchu bannermen to be easily granted official positions after becoming students, and even to be given priority over Han Chinese scholars who had passed the imperial examinations in the future, such as being selected as governors-general and ministers.

However, he planned to set some thresholds for the Eight Banners descendants to become high-ranking officials after he became emperor, otherwise, if they only knew how to play around, it would affect his future expansion.

"The Khan appreciates those who are determined to reform and eliminate abuses, so you and Xi Gong can write a memorial on reforming the Eight Banners official schools for me to see, and then submit it."

Although Hongli could not directly reform the selection system for the Eight Banners' sons, he could reform the official schools of the Eight Banners, so he spoke to Yin Jishan in this way.

Through Yin Jishan's answer, he also realized that Yin Jishan, who had become a Grand Councilor during the Qianlong era, clearly had the intention to reform the Eight Banners official schools, rather than being a mere figurehead. Therefore, he deliberately spoke frankly about the problems of the Eight Banners official schools, not concealing the problems of his own Eight Banners group, in order to test whether his fourth prince had the determination to support his reform efforts.

More importantly, Yin Jishan did not lose his composure because of Enli's words. He quickly got to the important matter of addressing the problems in the Eight Banners' official schools, which made Hongli see his maturity and composure. He felt that this was undoubtedly the quality that Yin Jishan should have to become a central government leader in the future.

"Whoo!"

Yin Jishan and Sun Jiagan could not hide their joy when they heard what Hongli said.

What moved Yin Jishan was that Hongli did not give Enli any special treatment just because Enli was the brother-in-law of the Minister of State Affairs, Marsai, nor did he discriminate against him like many princes and ministers did because he was born to a maid.

Therefore, after Hongli inspected the Eight Banners official schools and left, Yin Jishan said to Sun Jiagan with great feeling: "Fourth Prince is indeed Fourth Prince, a prince with backbone and strength!"

Sun Jiagan agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "You've always wanted to reform the Eight Banners official schools just like I did with the Han students of the Imperial Academy. Now you can finally have your wish."

"It's difficult, because of my background, it's hard to convince the Manchu scholars!"

Yin Jishan sighed.

Hongli also knew that Yin Jishan was born to Xu, a maid of Yin Tai, and was therefore often looked down upon by those who valued legitimate and illegitimate children.

Of course, just like Fahai of the Tongjia clan, they wouldn't have worked so hard in the imperial examinations if their mothers hadn't been of lowly status.

However, Hongli did not look down on Yin Jishan because of this.

Emperor Yongzheng did not have this intention, but instead placed great importance on Yin Jishan.

This is because Consort De, the birth mother of Emperor Yongzheng, was actually born into a bondservant family.

Hongli also hoped that rules such as birth order should not supersede imperial power, and that imperial power must become increasingly stronger.

Regardless of who it was, their social status was determined by the emperor.

If the emperor wants you to be honored, he can elevate you and your parents to the banner system; if he doesn't want you to be honored, he can demote you to a bondservant or even remove you from the banner system.

In fact, this trend of imperial power in the Qing Dynasty had already begun during the reign of Emperor Kangxi.

When Emperor Kangxi valued the Eighth Prince, he allowed him to oversee the country. When he did not value him, he would say that the Eighth Prince was a lowly prince born to a woman from the Imperial Household Department.

The main theme is "I decide everything."

To Hongli's surprise, as soon as he left the Eight Banners official school, he met Yin Tai and several friends coming out of a teahouse and summoned him for an audience.

Yin Tai then greeted Hongli.

After letting Yin Tai stand up, Hongli said, "I saw your son at the Imperial Academy. He is your family's shrewd and kind son."

"Your Highness is too kind. It is my honor and destiny to meet you today."

Yin Tai answered in a mature and sophisticated manner.

Hongli was displeased with Yin Tai's words, because Yin Tai's mention of fate clearly showed that he was not clear about his own position.

Therefore, Hongli did not want to say anything more and prepared to leave.

But Yin Tai then said, "Now that I have met Your Highness today, I dare to plead with you to intercede for Lord Lu. I have read his 'Commentary on Reading the Zizhi Tongjian' by imperial decree and I feel that although he has been arrogant and rebellious in his life, he is truly loyal to our Great Qing. Your Highness has always treated scholars with great kindness and is currently enjoying the Emperor's favor. Therefore, it is only Your Highness who can save Lord Lu from this predicament!"

As Yin Tai spoke, he choked up.

It is clear.

He genuinely sympathized with Lu Shengnan, a Han Chinese scholar-official, and even after being dismissed from his post for supporting Confucianism in governing the country, he still spoke up for Lu Shengnan.

(End of this chapter)