My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 322: Yongzheng is going to write "The Great Righteousness and Awakening from Delusion," and Hongli becomes the big winner!

"The new Minister of State Affairs will be Zhang Tingyu!"

After thinking for a moment, Yongzheng made his decision in an unquestionable tone.

Hongli was slightly taken aback, but then he understood.

This is Emperor Yongzheng!
The more Han gentry opposed him, the more he trusted the Han people.

Moreover, the current Yongzheng Emperor is even more enlightened in his thinking than in history, influenced by him.

Therefore, making Zhang Tingyu, a Han Chinese official, the first Minister of State Affairs was entirely a matter of course for Emperor Yongzheng.

It should be noted that historically, Emperor Yongzheng even appointed Zhang Tingyu as the leading Grand Councilor and granted him the honor of being enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, which was tantamount to stepping on the face of the Eight Banners nobility.
"I'm going to be this willful, what can you do about it?"

Yunxiang and other ministers of the Council of State naturally had no way to do anything to Yongzheng, nor did they intend to oppose him.

Hongli naturally had no objection; he simply hoped that Yongzheng would successfully push imperial power to its peak.

When he becomes emperor, he will be able to arrogantly and wantonly control the entire world.

At this moment, Yunxiang asked again, "According to Yue Zhongqi's report, Lü Liuliang is now involved. What should be done with Lü Liuliang, his family, and his students?"

“I heard Cha Shenxing mention that Lü Liuliang is no longer alive.”

Yunli then added.

After hearing Yunxiang mention Lü Liuliang, Hongli looked at Yongzheng.

He recalled that, historically, although Emperor Yongzheng did not kill Zeng Jing, he dealt harshly with Lü Liuliang and his family and students.

Lu Liuliang, his eldest son Lu Baozhong, and his student Yan Hongkui were exhumed and their corpses mutilated. Lu Liuliang's son Lu Yizhong and his student Shen Zaikuan were also beheaded.

The reason is that Lü Liuliang believed that a monarch who follows the rites is a true ruler of China, while a monarch who does not follow the rites is a barbarian ruler.

Lü Liuliang's ideas influenced Zeng Jing and others.

Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng severely punished Lü Liuliang and those associated with him in history.

Now, Hongli wanted to know how Yongzheng would deal with Lü Liuliang in this lifetime.

At this moment, Yongzheng also glanced at Hongli.

Then, Yongzheng said: "The most important thing for a ruler is to distinguish who the enemy is, to understand the contradictory nature of things, and to understand that taking a stand is a fundamental issue, the fundamental basis of the methodology of governing the country and the epistemology of the world."

"Therefore, the Zeng Jing case that occurred today is not because Lü Liuliang's heresies are so good at bewitching people, but because the entire scholar class is destined not to stand with me, and after I chose to put the people first."

"Even if it weren't for Lü Liuliang, there would still be Zhao Liuliang or Qian Liuliang."

"As my thirteenth brother just said, since the foundation of the Great Qing Dynasty has been established on the people, we cannot be too harsh in restricting speech; otherwise, too many people will be confused and easily fooled."

"Therefore, the deceased Lü Liuliang and others will no longer be pursued. Only his family members who are scholars and disciples will be escorted to the capital, and their books and manuscripts will be confiscated and brought to the capital for me to review and refute. Of course, if there are one or two good ones, I will allow them to do so."

"In short, I am not trying to shut the world out of its sight and hearing, but only to make the world understand the true meaning of righteousness!"

"I intend to wait until Zeng Jing and these people come to the capital for trial, and then, based on their confusion, compile a book to awaken the people."

"Let's call this book 'The Record of Awakening from Delusion'!"

"But everything has to wait until they arrive in the capital, so tell the officials not to torture or force confessions, and not to let anything happen to these people."

"I have no intention of executing a few fools to vent my anger. What I want is for the world to understand what true righteousness is and what a true ruler of China is."

When Yongzheng spoke, he looked very serious.

Apart from Hongli and Yunxiang, all the ministers present were speechless with astonishment.

Seeing that Hongli and Yunxiang did not show any surprise, Yongzheng nodded with satisfaction and dismissed them.

Hongli was not surprised, for a simple reason.

He knew that Emperor Yongzheng in history had compiled the "Record of Awakening from Delusion" because of the Zeng Jing case.

Sun Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Master, although we won't pursue the dead for their crimes, will their manuscripts really not be burned?"

"Don't burn it!"

"Heaven has no favorites, but only virtue is its guide. The main purpose of governing a country should be to change the attitudes of the people through moral education. If they do not follow moral education, they should be punished!"

"The purpose of leaving this heretical doctrine is twofold: first, to make those with impure hearts reveal their despicable nature as soon as possible; and second, to encourage people to write books and establish doctrines, so as to make moral education more successful."

"That's what Yongzheng replied."

Sun Zhu remained silent.

Hongli smiled slightly, thinking to himself that Yongzheng was indeed Yongzheng, and his path was not the same as that of Qianlong. Moreover, he was clearly very confident in his own attainments in Confucianism.

However, Yongzheng's actions were clearly incomprehensible to many of the princes and ministers in the council.

As Longkodo was leaving the Hall of Mental Cultivation after the meeting concluded, he couldn't help but ask Hongli, "Fourth Prince, what do you think the Master's intention is in doing this?"

“The Emperor’s will is indeed wise and insightful.”

Hongli smiled meaningfully and replied. Longkodo then said, "But this servant truly cannot understand."

"If you don't understand, it means your awareness is not high enough. It's your problem, not your master's problem."

Hongli said calmly.

Longkodo then remained silent.

And next.

Emperor Yongzheng then issued an edict to forward Yue Zhongqi's memorial to Li Wei through the Grand Secretariat, ordering Li Wei to personally oversee the case and arrest Lü Liuliang's family members as ordered. At the same time, he also ordered the arrest of Zeng Jing and other involved personnel.

At the same time, Emperor Yongzheng personally wrote an edict to publicize the Hua-Yi ideology proposed by Lü Liuliang and Zeng Jing, which stated that "following the rites makes one a Chinese ruler, while not following the rites makes one a barbarian ruler." He ordered officials and scholars throughout the country to discuss whether or not to stop the ancestral system of "shaving the head and changing clothes," which was criticized by Lü Liuliang, Zeng Jing, and others.

Once this edict was promulgated, it resounded like a thunderclap throughout the Qing Dynasty.

Upon seeing the contents of the imperial edict, Xiao Yongzao could no longer contain himself and ran to Emperor Kangxi's tomb, where he knelt down and cried out loudly:
"Your Majesty, open your eyes and see! When has our Great Qing ever had such a master? He actually took the initiative to use an imperial edict to let the world know about the heresies of those traitors!"

After saying this, Xiao Yongzao began to sob and cry, and then said, "He still wants to use the national policies that our ancestors upheld to please all the southerners in the world, so that they will support him in changing the sacred rites!"

……

……

"He is truly Emperor Jiajing reborn!"

Fahai, who was transferred to Beijing to serve as Minister of Justice, eventually changed his opinion of Yongzheng because of this imperial edict, and thus uttered these words.

Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, who at the age of fifteen, forced his officials to accept his rites.

Fahai even went directly to see the fourteenth prince, Yunti: "Prince Xun, have you seen the imperial edict issued by the master?"

Yunti nodded.

"What do you think?"

Fahai asked.

Yunti gave a bitter smile: "I can only say that this is something your master is capable of doing! Don't try to say that some treacherous minister is instigating him, or even try to pin this on the thirteenth prince. I bet he made the decision to do it himself!"

"But what should we do? Are we just going to stand by and watch our master behave so improperly?"

Fahai asked.

Yunti rolled his eyes at Fahai: "What else can you do? Do you really expect him to retract the edict? You'd be better off hoping that Hongli will bring the Qing Dynasty back to the right path of governing the country and bringing peace to the people!"

……

……

What is the right path?

"Serving the people and following the will of Heaven is the right path."

“Ancestral rules are not enough to be considered proper etiquette; only the words of the emperor, who speaks on behalf of the sages, are proper etiquette.”

While many Manchu nobles were shocked and angered by Yongzheng's actions, many Han Chinese officials also began to discuss the edict.

After all, this edict involved two issues that were of great concern to Han Chinese officials and scholars throughout the land.

One is the relationship between ritual and ancestral system.

One is the issue of shaving one's head and changing one's clothes.

When Liu Tongxun brought up the matter in front of his fellow scholars at Xian'an Palace, he expressed his opinion.

However, Huang You, who had always been on good terms with Liu Tongxun, offered a different perspective: "Loyalty and filial piety are the foundation of propriety, and adhering to ancestral rules is adhering to loyalty and filial piety. Since shaving one's head and changing one's clothes has already become an ancestral rule, why should we violate it again and disrupt the ancestral rites?"

"Didn't you oppose feudalism?"

Liu Tongxun couldn't help but ask Huang You about it.

"I do not support feudalism because the ancestral system does not support it."

Huang You answered directly.

Liu Tongxun glanced at Huang You with a complicated expression, then remained silent.

Emperor Yongzheng's edict did indeed put Han Chinese officials in a difficult position.

They could either accept a more centralized monarchy and gain the right to restore Han Chinese clothing, or continue with the shaving of heads and changing of clothes, acknowledging that ancestral rules were superior to imperial power.

Emperor Qianlong also intended to collect the opinions of Manchu and Han officials regarding this edict, and secretly recorded their attitudes one by one.

“Father is making them distinguish between friend and foe, and your son is also distinguishing between friend and foe.”

Hongli also informed Yongzheng of his actions and explained his reasons for doing so.

(End of this chapter)