My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 319: Yongzheng was persuaded by Hongli to stop the forced hair-shaving and clothing-changing policy!

Hongli sighed inwardly that the matter involving the debate between the Chinese and the barbarians had finally come to pass.

If he hadn't come into this world, he would never have imagined that he would be involved in this matter as a Prince Regent of the Qing Dynasty.

In fact, as far as Hongli knew, this matter had already begun in July of the third year of Yongzheng's reign.

The reason for this was that Emperor Yongzheng boldly appointed Yue Zhongqi, a Han Chinese who was not of Manchu origin, as the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

This important position, established in the nineteenth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, was reserved exclusively for key officials of the Eight Banners.

Yue Zhongqi's promotion to this important position was unprecedented and met with opposition from many high-ranking officials, especially Cai Ting, the former Governor-General of Zhili.

Cai Ting immediately submitted a memorial to Emperor Yongzheng, stating that Yue Fei "should not be too close to him."

But Yongzheng didn't listen and even reprimanded him for being too deeply involved in factionalism.

Cai Ting even tried to sow discord between Yue Zhongqi, saying, "Prince Yi is very dissatisfied with your appointment as Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi. Fu Nai, a former retainer of the Emperor, warned you to be careful."

This was one of the reasons why Emperor Yongzheng had previously decided to execute Cai Ting.

As the thirteenth prince was Yongzheng's most trusted brother, Yue Zhongqi later reported that Cai Ting's words made him very uneasy.

Coincidentally, in the summer of the sixth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, a madman named Lu Zonghan shouted in the streets of Chengdu, "Lord Yue is leading troops from Sichuan and Shaanxi and wants to rebel!"

Then, Lu Zonghan called on the people to rise up and respond, saying, "Since Lord Yue rebelled, there have been black shops outside the West Gate that want to kill people."

Yue Zhongqi then killed Lu Zonghan and formally reported to the court, saying, "This humble official dared not issue a formal interrogation, nor did he dare to conceal anything." He also resigned to show that he had no intention of rebelling.

Yongzheng did not blame him, and continued to trust Yue Zhongqi, allowing him to continue serving. He said, "Over the years, there have been many slanderous letters submitted to me in secret, but I have never paid any attention to them."

Emperor Yongzheng also instructed Yue Zhongqi to "further encourage his spirit, assist the Emperor, benefit the nation and its people, ensure the stability of the empire, solidify the Qing Dynasty, and leave boundless blessings for future generations!"

Clearly, Yongzheng at the time only understood this incident as someone trying to use the difference between Manchus and Han Chinese to prevent Yue Zhongqi from being appointed Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, and thought it was just an internal power struggle within the bureaucracy.

Emperor Yongzheng himself would naturally not fall for this trick.

Hongli thought to himself that if he hadn't known that someone was actually trying to instigate Yue Zhongqi to rebel, he would have thought the same thing.

After all, even if Yue Zhongqi truly harbored rebellious intentions, he wouldn't dare to rebel after becoming the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi. Not only would the Eight Banners troops in Sichuan and Shaanxi not listen to him, but many Green Standard Army generals would also not listen to him.

Moreover, Yue Zhongqi had no need to let a madman openly rally the public on the street.

This is clearly just officials who are trying to sideline Yue Zhongqi putting pressure on him.

But now it turns out that some people actually believed it, that Yue Zhongqi was willing to rebel.

Zeng Jing is a representative of these people.

"I never imagined that even after so long since the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, there are still so many Han Chinese who have not truly submitted to the Qing!"

Yunlu then spoke, revealing a dejected expression.

Chief Councilor Wang Yunxiang spoke first: "That depends on whether the Han people of the world are considered human beings. If the Han people of the world are considered human beings, then there are not many Han people!"

“Thirteenth Brother is right. Even among Han Chinese scholars and officials, not all of them hold this view.”

"Having heard some rumors and seen the court use harsh policies to suppress the gentry, I feel that the Qing Dynasty's fortunes have declined for more than eighty years, and that the earth is raging and the gods are crying out?"

"This Zeng Jing is a madman! He's so opposed to our Great Qing that he's slandering the emperor and father. If he really was so opposed, why would he participate in the imperial examinations of our Great Qing?"

Yunli then joined in the conversation.

At this moment, Yongzheng looked at Hongli and asked, "Hongli, what do you think?"

Hongli replied, "Your Majesty agrees with what you said. People like Zeng Jing are fundamentally different from Your Majesty's stance on governing the country, and even different from the Qing Dynasty's policy of shaving heads and changing clothes after entering the pass."

At this internal meeting of the Eight Banners imperial family and nobility, Hongli naturally did not shy away from discussing the issue of shaving heads and changing clothes. "Since its implementation, the shaving of heads and changing of clothes has provoked fierce resistance from the Han people."

"But Sun Zhixie's reasons for doing so were very necessary, and facts have shown that the Han people did not find it completely unacceptable."

Ma Qi then spoke up.

Yunli, whose birth mother was Han Chinese, also spoke frankly because it was an internal meeting: "That being said, the shaving of heads and changing of clothes did indeed create great obstacles for the Qing Dynasty to win over the hearts of the Han people, and also caused a lot of killings."

Yongzheng nodded.

Yunlu chimed in, "That's true. I've noticed this in my interactions with Han Chinese scholars and officials. Although they've become more respectful because of this, they still harbor some resentment about it."

"The position of Han Chinese scholars and officials is that we Manchus should follow Chinese etiquette, not that China should follow our Manchu etiquette."

"Whether our ancestors did this right or wrong is debatable, but what is clear is that shaving one's head and changing one's clothes was an ancestral custom, and according to Chinese etiquette, ancestral custom is inviolable."

"So, which one is actually violating Chinese etiquette: disobeying ancestral rules or shaving one's head and changing clothes?"

At this point, Yongzheng also took the initiative to speak eloquently and even asked questions of the princes and ministers in the Council of State.

Then, Yongzheng called on Hongli again: "Hongli, you go first."

"Whoo!"

Hongli understood Yongzheng's meaning. He knew that Yongzheng wanted to be the ruler of China, otherwise he wouldn't be so obsessed with Hanfu. But Yongzheng only wanted to be the ruler of China with greater imperial power.

At this point, Hongli replied to Yongzheng, "Then we can only first unify our understanding of Chinese etiquette, and determine whether ancestral rules or imperial power should be the master of etiquette!"

After hearing this, Yongzheng nodded.

None of the ministers present responded.

Because none of them were likely to become emperors, and they all belonged to the aristocratic class.

Therefore, they naturally rejected imperial autocracy.

Only Hongli, who was very likely to become emperor, and Yongzheng, who was already emperor, were not so averse to imperial autocracy.

However, they would not openly express their support for ancestral rules, especially before they knew Yongzheng's true intentions.

However, the thirteenth prince, Yunxiang, still spoke up at this time: "Is there any need to ask? We have all studied Han studies for many years. We should know that the Han people believe that the one with the strongest army is the emperor. The words of the sages are just for talk. Do you really think they can be used to govern the country and the world?"

"Does Prince Yi mean that the shaving of heads and changing of clothes can be abolished as long as the master is willing?"

Ma Qi then asked the thirteenth prince a question.

The thirteenth prince said, "Of course!"

Ma Qi's expression changed: "Prince Yi, you must not forget the foundation of my Great Qing!"

The thirteenth prince retorted without backing down, "Then we must discuss the essence of our Great Qing Dynasty. Is it the joint rule of the Eight Banners, or the monarch and his subjects? If we ourselves cannot understand this, then the Han people will naturally be even less able to understand it, and there will only be more people like Zeng Jing who take the opportunity to cause trouble!"

Hongli couldn't help but widen his eyes.

He was unaware that after the Zeng Jing case broke out and Lü Liuliang's theory of the distinction between the Chinese and the barbarians was brought up again, there was a debate among the Manchu nobles about whether China came from the Manchus or the Manchus came from China.

In this life, however, as a Manchu prince and regent, he witnessed his wife's uncle and his uncle begin to argue fiercely over this matter.

"Hongli, tell me, what is the foundation of my Great Qing Dynasty?"

At this point, Emperor Yongzheng called on Hongli by name again.

(End of this chapter)