My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 316 Strengthening Imperial Power: Hongli Forces the Gentry to Longing for the Ming Dynasty!
Liu Tongxun and Huang You then led a group of scholars to Xian'an Gate to welcome Hongli.

"Greetings to Fourth Master!"

"That's it!"

After these people bowed, Hongli raised his hand and then stepped into Xian'an Gate, heading towards Xian'an Palace.

Liu Tongxun and Huang You followed.

The palace was divided into several small rooms, each categorized by academic discipline, such as Confucianism, mathematics, history, pharmacy, and agriculture.

Each group has a distinguished scholar responsible for compiling advanced teaching materials for the subject, with the aim of perfecting the systematic and professional education of the Eight Banners descendants.

The Eight Banners descendants belonged to the aristocratic class of the Qing Dynasty.

The reason why Hongli was able to persuade Yongzheng to support his plan to establish the Imperial University of Peking was that Yongzheng agreed to set a unified standard for the Sinicization education of the Eight Banners children, thereby strengthening the imperial power's control over the aristocratic class and preventing the aristocratic class and the Confucian-based scholar class from merging into one.

Therefore, the purpose of Hongli's establishment of the Imperial University of Peking is to allow the Eight Banners children to receive Chinese studies education in multiple disciplines, rather than being limited to Confucianism.

However, the standards have all become fixed.

As a result, in the humanities, there was inevitably the drawback of restricting the thinking of the Manchu bannermen.

Science is alright, because science has a unified answer; right is right, and wrong is wrong.

But that's just how politics is.

Especially for Emperor Yongzheng and Emperor Hongli, who aimed to strengthen their control over the aristocratic class, strengthening the education of the Eight Banners children was merely to make them more proactive and courageous in paying taxes for the empire, rather than to truly cultivate independent and free consciousness in each of the Eight Banners children.

Besides, the Eight Banners descendants had no right to talk about independence and freedom in the Qing Dynasty.

Because they enjoyed the privileges and guaranteed income granted to them by the Qing Dynasty, they rode on the backs of most people, and not just the Han people.

Therefore, if they truly want independence and freedom, they should renounce their citizenship, earn their own money, and start from scratch, instead of enjoying the various privileges granted by the Qing emperor while demanding freedom from manipulation.

The reason why Han Chinese with civilian registration could study only Confucianism, and even choose different schools of Confucianism, was that most of them did not need the government to provide them with free education.

of course!

In reality, even those Han Chinese who could afford to go to school were not truly independent and free, since their education expenses were mainly borne by their clans and the powerful gentry in their families.

These gentry were only willing to study Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism.

Firstly, they admired and excelled at this; secondly, the imperial examination system forced them to focus solely on this.

The Qing Dynasty at present is naturally not yet at the point of abolishing or reforming the imperial examination system.

After all, many lower-class Han Chinese rely on this opportunity to transcend social classes.

Although the success rate is very low, this is currently the most suitable, most accepted, and fairest method.

Because in many rural areas where educational resources are scarce, only Confucian textbooks are widely available, and only those who know how to teach the Four Books and Five Classics are available.

The Qing court could only afford to pay for the education of the Eight Banners children, so it had to change the education model for them.

Moreover, changes could only be made after Yongzheng carried out a major purge.

Otherwise, conservatives within the Eight Banners would have stood up to oppose it long ago, saying that giving equal importance to various disciplines and miscellaneous studies with Confucianism would corrupt the sacred teachings, shake the foundation of the nation, and forget one's roots and ancestors.

Believe it or not, when the Imperial University of Peking was established in the late Qing Dynasty, Gangyi of the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner and Xu Tong of the Han Plain Blue Banner said these things.

Hongli's actions now have little opposition, entirely due to Yongzheng's iron-fisted suppression.

After entering Xian'an Palace, Hongli went to the nearest mathematics group and picked up a newly compiled textbook to read.

"Use a chord to find the arc back, use a sine to find the arc back, and use a sine to find the arc back."

As Hongli looked at it, he read it aloud.

He knew that finding the arc back was the same as finding the arc length opposite a side of a polygon inside a circle, which involved trigonometric functions and was suitable for advanced students.

Therefore, Hongli then asked, "Who wrote this?"

At this moment, Liu Tongxun stepped forward and reported, "Your Highness, this is a compilation by Ming Antu, the five officials of the Imperial Observatory and the Censorate."

An official with a flat face and narrow brown eyes followed and came up: "Ming Antu, the sixth banner commander of the Plain White Banner Mongol Army, requests instructions from the Fourth Prince."

Hongli smiled slightly. He hadn't expected that among the Mongols, besides those who were proficient in Buddhism and Confucianism, there were also those who were proficient in mathematics.

Therefore, Hongli said, "That's right, but 'exhaustion of a circle' is a finite operation. Have you thought about using the ideas of 'approximating curves with straight lines' and 'infinite approximation' to calculate the arc back?"

Ming Antu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then his eyes lit up, and he quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "Please enlighten me, Fourth Master!"

Hongli then briefly explained the mathematical ideas of calculus, and connected the "length of a discrete regular polygon chord" with the "length of a continuous circular arc" through limits, so that Ming Antu could understand it.

The Imperial University of Peking was intended by Hongli to be a base for cultivating top talents, in order to make more preparations for his future imperial career.

Therefore, he naturally hoped that the teachers at the Imperial University of Peking could impart more knowledge to the students that was not yet widespread in the Qing Dynasty. Ming Antu and even the officials and scholars present who were fond of mathematics listened attentively, and as they listened, they all showed expressions of admiration.

"I never expected that Fourth Master's knowledge is so extensive. With the ideas provided by Fourth Master, we can not only calculate small arcs, but also large arcs. In the future, whether it is artillery operation or astronomical surveying, it will be more convenient."

After Hongli finished inspecting Xian'an Palace, Ming Antu also sighed with admiration for Liu Tongxun and Huang You.

Liu Tongxun and Huang You exchanged a smile.

After inspecting Xian'an Palace, Hongli went to the Imperial Household Department to arrange the specific details of the three reforms and one strengthening.

The thirteenth prince adopted Hongli's suggestion and obtained imperial decree to establish the National Tax Bureau, which was responsible for collecting taxes on the extra income of the three textile bureaus under the Imperial Household Department.

Hongli, on behalf of the Imperial Household Department, requested permission for the three textile bureaus in Jiangnan to use their retained profits to independently operate other legitimate businesses.

Upon receiving this imperial decree, the textile bureaus in Jiangning, Suzhou, and Hangzhou began to establish restaurants, shipping companies, and pawnshops one after another.

Because these three textile bureaus were backed by the Imperial Household Department, they naturally had advantages that local gentry did not have.

For example, when the Jiangning Textile Bureau was running a restaurant, it took advantage of the Imperial Household Department's monopoly on famous tea and wine producing areas to use better tea and wine. It also hired the disciples of the imperial chefs and even had foreign women from places like Russia who served the drinks, giving the local playboys a unique experience.

The Suzhou Textile Bureau, on the other hand, ran its own shipping company to transport goods for merchants. By leveraging the bureau's reputation, these merchants were able to avoid being excessively exploited by officials along the way and thus earn substantial profits.

As for the Hangzhou Textile Bureau, it took advantage of its role in sourcing foreign copper for minting coins on behalf of the Imperial Household Department. This gave it more leverage than ordinary pawnshops when it opened pawnshops, allowing it to quickly expand its pawnshops throughout eastern Zhejiang.

As a result, the mere delegation of expanded management authority brought a large amount of revenue to the Imperial Household Department.

But this naturally infringed upon the interests of the gentry class.

"This dynasty has become increasingly harsh in its governance and disrespectful of the sacred teachings, and it has also recklessly competed with the people for profit!"

After witnessing his business decline drastically, Jia Wenbao, a local gentry member from Huzhou, complained to his nephew Jia Shengcai, slamming his cane heavily into the ground:
“Back then, Wu Sangui and others should never have welcomed the Eight Banners into the pass, and later, the gentry of Jiangnan should never have accepted such a barbarian dynasty!”

Jia Shengcai chimed in, "Uncle is right, we really should rebel against the Qing Dynasty!"

“We have quite a few tenants in the Jia family. Why don’t we just rebel? Whoever dies in battle, we can give him the land he rents. This way we can surely gather a brave and fighting army! What do you think, Uncle?”

As Jia Shengcai spoke, he looked at Jia Wenbao.

Jia Wenbao's expression immediately changed: "You really dare to think like that. We can't give away our ancestors' land to others no matter what. We'd rather earn less."

"But that makes it impossible to retaliate!"

"You know those tenants in this village, they're cunning and short-sighted. You can talk to them about the great principles of Chinese and foreign relations, but they won't listen. But if you ask them to risk their lives for the land, they'll be more fearless than anyone else!"

Jia Shengcai said.

"Who said we should rebel?!"

Jia Wenbao scolded him, saying, "We'd rather earn less than rebel. This kind of thing, which could lead to the extermination of nine generations of your family, is not something a family like ours can do!"

"It's better to hope that the next emperor will change his ways, or that the next emperor will change the country's policies!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Shengcai gritted his teeth: "That's truly frustrating!"

Jia Wenbao could only sigh, "At times like this, I always miss the Ming Dynasty even more!"

Hongli could guess that his reforms of the Imperial Household Department would make the gentry and officials of the country miss the Ming Dynasty even more.

However, he was not worried that these gentry would rebel on a large scale, so he only intended to continue to assist Yongzheng in strengthening imperial power without any worries, laying a more solid foundation for him to become emperor in the future.

However, during his time in the Imperial Household Department, Fu Hui suddenly fell seriously ill and had a persistent high fever. The imperial physicians were at a loss, and many precious medicines were used, but none of them had any effect.

Many princes, officials, and gentry who were dissatisfied with Emperor Yongzheng felt quite pleased after learning about this.

"I just received news that the Eighth Prince is seriously ill this time. He has had a high fever for several days, and the imperial physicians are at a loss."

When Hongxi met Wang Tingcheng, a gentry from Jiangnan, he excitedly told him about this matter.

Wang Tingcheng could not hide his joy upon hearing this.

"It's time for my fourth uncle to suffer a bit, to teach him a lesson for not practicing benevolent governance!"

"It would be even better if Hongli also fell seriously ill!"

As Hongxi spoke, he rubbed his hands together, revealing a look of longing on his face.

Wang Tingcheng smiled slightly. He also wanted to agree with Hongxi, but he still solemnly reminded Hongxi, "Your Highness, you should immediately request permission to go to the palace to visit him, so as not to make the Emperor feel that you do not care enough about the Eighth Prince. After all, our Emperor has always been very particular about these things."

"I am here to request permission to enter the palace to visit my uncle. It would be even better if I could see how grieving for my fourth uncle after losing his beloved son!"

"You know, this Fu Hui was born to his beloved Nian Shi, and he's always kept her by his side!"

(End of this chapter)