My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 320 tells Yongzheng what the foundation of the Qing Dynasty is, and it has won praise from the central government!
Hongli never expected that Yongzheng would test him again.

But he could also understand why Yongzheng did this.

Hongli knew that Yongzheng needed more people to understand him, not just the thirteenth prince, Yunxiang.

Hongli also knew that if his answer was too superficial, it would not impress Emperor Yongzheng, who had a high level of understanding.

Only by using more insightful and strategic language could he gain Emperor Yongzheng's favor.

Furthermore, since this was an internal meeting of the core power structure of the Qing court, he had nothing to fear and spoke frankly: "In my humble opinion, to understand the essence of the Great Qing, we must first understand the essence of Han learning!"

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng's eyes lit up.

"To understand the essence of Sinology, we must start from objective reality and derive its inherent rather than fabricated regularities."

"Just like the phrase mentioned in the Book of Han when praising Liu De, the Prince of Hejian, that he 'studied and loved antiquity, and was pragmatic and realistic.'"

When Hongli finished speaking, Yongzheng and the other princes and ministers all looked at him with curiosity.

Emperor Yongzheng even picked up his pen again, continuing to practice the saying that a bad pen is worse than a good memory.

"To be realistic, the foundation of Han learning was not unified before the Qin Dynasty."

Therefore, before the Qin Dynasty, it was impossible to specifically summarize what the essence of Han learning was, because it was the time of the contention of a hundred schools of thought.

"Although Qin unified the six states, it was a very short period of time. Therefore, the true unification of the foundation of Han learning began in the Han Dynasty. And looking at the learning of the Han Dynasty, the emphasis was on seeking truth from facts."

"Because when the Han Dynasty was restoring people's livelihood, it took Huang-Lao philosophy as its foundation; when it was eliminating the threat of the Xiongnu, it took Confucianism as its foundation."

"From then on, the essence of Sinology has been changing according to reality."

"The very foundation of our Great Qing Dynasty has always been changing according to reality."

"When the Taizu Emperor first established the Eight Banners, there were only the Manchu Eight Banners. At that time, the Manchus were the foundation of the Eight Banners."

"Later, Emperor Taizong added the Mongol Eight Banners and the Han Eight Banners. At that time, the original Eight Banners were expanded into the Manchu, Mongol and Han Eight Banners, and they were no longer divided by ethnicity."

"After entering the pass, the shaving of heads and changing of clothes determined who was loyal and who was not. Only those who shaved their heads and changed their clothes were considered our own people. Only they could participate in the imperial examinations, enter the court as officials, and then govern the country together with our Eight Banners, thus becoming the foundation of the Great Qing. Our Great Qing no longer relied solely on the Eight Banners to govern the country."

"Therefore, it can be said that the very foundation of our Great Qing Dynasty has been constantly changing."

"As for now, Father Khan asked his son, what is the foundation of the Great Qing?"

At this point, Hongli glanced at Yongzheng and said, "In my humble opinion, those who are willing to support and unite around the Holy Emperor are the foundation of our Great Qing!"

Although Hongli knew that the Eight Banners were still the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, he also knew that Emperor Yongzheng, an ambitious emperor, actually had higher demands for imperial power.

He wanted more than just the Eight Banners as his base to check and balance the Han gentry; he also wanted the Eight Banners aristocratic group to completely submit to him and be absolutely loyal to him!
This is also the ideal that autocratic monarchs all share.

Therefore, when the fundamental differences between the Manchu-style Eight Banners co-governance and monarchical centralization further emerged, Hongli said that only those who were absolutely loyal to the emperor could be considered the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, rather than requiring Emperor Yongzheng to only take the Eight Banners as the foundation and act only for the interests of the Eight Banners as a whole.

In that case, he would be like Ma Qi, placing the overall interests of the Eight Banners above everything else, even above the interests of the emperor himself.

In reality, both Kangxi and Yongzheng only wanted to be the sole ruler and to have the Eight Banners help them achieve a level of dominance that was greater than that of any other emperor in history.

In other words, even the Eight Banners had to be loyal enough to the emperor to be considered one of his own!

The emperor wanted to control the Eight Banners to serve his centralized rule, not the other way around.

Therefore, after Hongli said these words, Yongzheng couldn't help but stop writing and rest his chin on his hand in thought.

"So, who are the people who are willing to support and unite around the Holy Emperor?"

"Is it based on race, local ties, or personal relationships?"

At this point, Hongli took the initiative to ask.

At this point, the sixteenth prince, Yunlu, couldn't help but interject, asking, "That's right, what kind of person qualifies?"

The other princes and ministers also looked over at Hongli.

Yongzheng glanced at Hongli and said, "Stop keeping me in suspense and tell me your thoughts!"

"Whoo!"

Hongli knew that an emperor like Yongzheng could not be convinced without some unprecedented and profound arguments. Besides, what he was about to say had actually been raised by Yongzheng himself in his book "The Great Righteousness Awakens from Delusion".

Otherwise, Emperor Yongzheng would not have had the confidence to promote "The Great Righteousness and Awakening from Delusion" throughout the country.

This was clearly because Yongzheng had great confidence in his own ideas.

However, while Yongzheng's understanding was quite advanced for his time, it was not yet fully mature.

Therefore, even Emperor Qianlong initially did not understand Emperor Yongzheng and did not respect Yongzheng's methods. He admired his grandfather, Emperor Kangxi, more and despised Yongzheng's approach. It was not until later, after being tricked by members of the imperial family and officials many times, that Qianlong realized that he could not compare with Yongzheng in domestic affairs.

By then, Emperor Qianlong could no longer completely turn back, as the conservative faction he had nurtured had become too powerful to control, leaving him with no choice but to seek confidence in military matters.

However, it's not too late now.

After all, he has not yet ascended the throne, and he is no longer the Qianlong Emperor of history.

Therefore, he could instill some more mature theories in Yongzheng that were consistent with his own.

"Then it depends on what stance the Holy Emperor is willing to take and with whom he is willing to unite."

Hongli then answered with his own question.

At this moment, Yongzheng said to himself, "I understand what you mean. You are saying that the foundation of the Great Qing has been changing, and the foundation of Han learning has also been changing, but in reality, they have never changed and have always followed reality."

As Yongzheng spoke, he looked at Hongli and said, "So, our ancestors throughout the Qing Dynasty have always governed the country based on Han learning?"

“What Ama is right. They are all of the same lineage; it’s just a matter of how you choose to go about it.”

Hongli replied.

Yongzheng nodded: "This is something that needs to be chosen."

"But I believe that the Qing Dynasty is now the dynasty of China, and should put the people first."

Hongli did not say much about this.

He knew that Yongzheng's statement was merely a politically correct expression to conceal his true intention of wanting the monarch to have more centralized power, rather than genuinely valuing the people of all ethnic groups above all else.

of course!

Since these two are already intertwined, even if Yongzheng was lying, saying and doing more of it is still much better than not saying or doing it at all.

After all, if the emperor only cared about the Eight Banners nobles and ignored the lives of people of all ethnicities, allowing the Eight Banners nobles to exploit the people, then it would be questionable whether the Qing Dynasty could even last a hundred years.

At this point, Yongzheng pointed at Hongli and laughed, "Hongli is right, it's rare that he agrees with me! But the words of the sages cannot just be talked about, they must be applied to reality. If the words of the sages are needed to govern the country, then of course we still need to use the words of the sages."

At this moment, Yongzheng looked at the other princes and ministers in the council and said, "You all have something to say as well."

"Hongli's understanding of Chinese studies is more thorough, and only Hongli truly understands the wisdom of his fourth brother."

"The foundation of our Great Qing Dynasty, without a doubt, is now the people of all ethnic groups in our country."

"In that case, the Holy Emperor should naturally prioritize the interests of all the people of the world. Even if the Holy Emperor abolishes the system of shaving heads and changing clothes, it would be in accordance with the will of the people and would not be considered a violation of the foundation of our Great Qing!"

When Yunxiang answered, he also did not expose Yongzheng's true intentions, and agreed that the Qing Dynasty should be ruled by all ethnic groups.

Yunli chimed in, "Indeed, it seems that Fourth Brother's decision to put Hongli in charge of the Ministry of Rites was a wise one!"

"But now, we need to make more people realize that the foundation of our Great Qing has changed, so that fewer ignorant and pedantic people will oppose the shaving of heads and changing of clothes."

"Then we can't restrict speech too much, lest there be too many people who are confused and muddle-headed, and become even more muddled."

Yunxiang continued.

When Yunxiang and Yunli got to this point, Yongzheng glanced at Ma Qi.

Ma Qi then gritted his teeth and knelt down, removing his official hat: "This servant is old and begs Your Majesty to grant me permission to retire!"

Hongli was slightly taken aback.

He did not expect that Mazi would directly request to retire, which was clearly an attempt to express his opposition in a dignified way.

(End of this chapter)