My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 327 Truly abolish the shaving and changing of clothes system, for the convenience of the people!

Upon hearing this, Hongli couldn't help but secretly applaud himself.

Hehe, you guessed right!

Emperor Yongzheng truly enjoyed testing his ministers in the smallest ways!

Even if he is the one historically determined to inherit the throne, he will still face some tests.

Especially now that he is being put in charge of military power.

This forced the already sensitive Emperor Yongzheng to become even more cautious.

"Whoo!"

Hongli responded with a sound of agreement.

But he didn't intend to let Yongzheng test him like this for nothing.

Moreover, he knew that Yongzheng liked people with tempers.

So, after holding a bright yellow porcelain bowl with a silver spoon in his hand, Hongli turned to look at Yongzheng and said, "Father, if you want to test your son, then test your son. Why did you also test Su Peisheng? Don't you trust him? He almost offended your son!"

Yongzheng chuckled: "Is this a test for me?"

"It's a test!"

"The more virtuous a ruler is, the more likely he is to conceal profound meanings in his words and actions."

"Your Majesty, I've not only seen it in history books, but I've also seen it many times in real life. Father, don't you get tired of doing this?"

Hongli asked.

Yongzheng raised his hand and said, "Eat your porridge, don't let it get cold."

"What about Fucha Fuqing?"

Hongli did not eat the porridge immediately, but asked a question.

"Look at the arrangements."

"Since I have put you in charge of the Ministry of War and the Eight Banners Commandery, how can I not trust you?"

"Besides, you are my son."

Yongzheng smiled as he asked the question.

Fucha Fuqing immediately stepped forward and said, "This servant thanks Your Majesty for your kindness!"

"Get up."

How is your uncle now?

Yongzheng asked.

Fucha Fuqing recounted Ma Qi's recent situation after retiring from office.

After hearing this, Yongzheng said nothing more.

Hongli has already started eating the porridge with a silver spoon.

He had been performing the sacrificial ceremony for a day and was indeed starving, so he moved quite quickly.

Upon seeing this, Yongzheng instructed Su Peisheng, "Bring a plate of freshly steamed mutton buns from the Imperial Kitchen to your Fourth Prince."

"Whoo!"

Su Peisheng soon brought over the mutton buns, and with a grateful and relaxed expression, he placed them on the table in front of Hongli, saying with a smile, "Fourth Master, please enjoy."

Hongli didn't stand on ceremony and took a bite as soon as he picked it up.

Emperor Yongzheng smiled slightly at this.

After having breakfast at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Hongli went to the Eight Banners Commandery.

Fucha Fuqing is now a second-class imperial bodyguard and has been transferred to the Eight Banners Firearms Battalion. He is qualified to be in charge of the defense battalion.

The mid-level generals of the Eight Banners' various Imperial Guards were generally appointed by princes or commanders who were appointed as the chief ministers of the Eight Banners' firearms battalions.

Therefore, after Yongzheng agreed, Hongli needed to inform Fupeng so that Fupeng could complete the appointment procedure.

After Fu Peng inherited the title of Prince of Ping, Hongli, in order to promote the use of self-propelled muskets in the firearms camp, arranged for him to be placed in the Eight Banners Commandery as a prince in charge of the firearms camp.

Fu Peng's main responsibility was to train the Eight Banners firearms battalion.

Because Hongli valued this matter, and because he was also grateful for Hongli's care for his maternal clan, the Cao family, he trained very diligently.

Having received specialized training at the military academy, Fu Peng also had experience in firearms training, so he wasn't just groping in the dark.

After Hongli arrived, he inspected the place and informed Fu Peng of his appointment of Fucha Fuqing as the commander of the left-wing defense battalion.

The Eight Banners Firearms Battalion was divided into two wings: the left and right wings.

The left-wing battalion was responsible for training the self-propelled muskets.

The right-wing battalion is still equipped with muskets.

The reason for this was that there were distrustful voices in the army regarding the self-propelled muskets, and for the sake of caution, only the left wing battalion was given the new firearms.

After informing Fu Peng about this matter, Hongli went to the Ministry of War.

This time, instead of sending someone to notify the Ministry of War in advance that Yongzheng had already issued an edict appointing him as acting head of the Ministry of War, he came directly to the Ministry of War, aiming to catch them off guard.

Because at present, both Manchu and Han officials are debating whether to "follow ancestral rules" or "follow the emperor's rules."

On the Manchu side, most were doing well and had begun to take the lead in "following the emperor's etiquette."

This was not because the Manchu officials were particularly enlightened, but because Emperor Yongzheng had just carried out a major purge, which eliminated many conservatives among the Manchu officials, leaving only those who lacked strong principles, the pro-Japanese faction, and those who supported "respecting the emperor's rites."

Of course, this doesn't mean there were no voices advocating for following ancestral customs, but they were few and far between. This actually caused further division among Han officials. Faced with the temptation of lifting the ban on "shaving heads and changing clothes," many Han officials still insisted on the principle that "rites should follow ancestral customs," even though they knew that this was not the emperor's intention.

However, precisely because they were Han officials, they persisted in their stance without explicitly stating it.

Emperor Qianlong also intended to take this opportunity to distinguish among his court officials who were conservative and who were enlightened.

Therefore, Hongli launched a surprise attack on the Ministry of War.

then.

When Hongli arrived at the Ministry of War, he witnessed a miraculous scene.

Minister of War, Erqi, was wearing a magnificent wide-sleeved robe, enjoying the snow and drinking Laba porridge bestowed by the emperor inside the house.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhenyang, the Minister of War, was wielding a large sword in the courtyard, attracting many officials from the Ministry of War to stop and watch.

Hongli knew without asking what these two people's views were on "rites".

Orchi was Ortai's younger brother and a servant under Hongli.

Because of Ortai's connection, Hongli had met him and naturally recognized him. Moreover, he had long heard Ortai himself say that his younger brother was fond of luxury and refined tastes.

As for Lu Zhenyang, Hongli knew that he was a military general. Because of his outstanding performance in local military and political affairs, Yongzheng transferred him to a civil post and appointed him as the Minister of War.

It was possible for a military officer to switch to a civil service position during the Qing Dynasty.

Yue Zhongqi transitioned from a military officer to the position of Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi.

Lu Zhenyang, who came from a military background, was no exception in his appointment as Minister of War.

This is something that officials who came from the civil service examination system have always deeply abhorred.

After all, in the previous dynasty, military officers were simply not qualified to hold positions such as Minister and Governor-General.

For this reason, although Lu Zhenyang was a Han Chinese of commoner status, he did not reject the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty and even supported it.

He feared that if the Qing emperor did not abide by the ancestral rules, a military general like him would not be able to become a governor-general or minister, let alone a grand secretary or minister of state.

Therefore, Lu Zhenyang had a strong dislike for Erqi, a Manchu nobleman who was more interested in the refined pursuits of Han Chinese scholars and officials.

He felt that Erqi, a degenerate member of the Eight Banners, was naturally a traitor to the ancestral system.

"Greetings to Fourth Master!"

Upon discovering Hongli's arrival, the two men and other officials from the Ministry of War hurriedly greeted him.

"That's it!"

Hongli replied, then put his hands in his sleeves and entered the main hall. He then turned to look at the officials and said, "Father has issued an edict appointing me to concurrently serve as the Minister of War."

After that.

Hongli then had the imperial edict made public.

After reading the imperial edict, Lu Zhenyang, along with other officials from the Ministry of War, suddenly spoke up, saying, "Since Your Highness is now acting as Minister of War, I dare to request Your Highness to submit a memorial requesting the execution of Minister Erqi!"

Minister Erqi looked astonished and couldn't help but ask, "Lu Zhenyang, think carefully, who should be in charge here!"

"Of course I know that it's Fourth Master's place to call the shots here now!"

Lu Zhenyang replied curtly, then said to Hongli, "Fourth Master, you saw it just now. Erqi, a Manchu, was wearing Hanfu and a Han turban. Such a treasonous act deserves to be killed!"

After hearing this, Hongli touched his nose and then looked at Erqi.

He wanted to hear how Erqi would explain it.

Although he knew that the Manchus were becoming Sinicized very quickly, and many of them could not even write Manchu or speak Manchu.

Erqi then knelt down: "Fourth Prince, you are wise. The laws of our Great Qing Dynasty only stipulate that Han people must shave their heads and change their clothes. There is no rule that says Manchus cannot change their clothes, cannot wear Han clothes or Han headscarves. Even the master wears Han clothes!"

After hearing this, Hongli had to admit that the Qing Dynasty's laws were very double-standard, but Erqi had indeed successfully exploited a loophole in the laws. Therefore, he said to Lu Zhenyang, "He is right. His not wearing official clothes in the duty room can only be considered as being impolite."

Lu Zhenyang was speechless for a moment.

At this moment, a guard arrived at the Ministry of War with an imperial edict: "By imperial decree! After a meeting of the Ministry of Rites, the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial Academy, the Censorate, and the six ministries, it has been decided that the rites should follow the Emperor's. The request to compile the 'Grand Ceremony of National Rites' has been granted. Furthermore, considering that all ethnic groups are Chinese citizens, we will no longer force them to change their clothing. They can do as they please. Only officials must wear official robes to show respect!"

Everyone present was shocked.

Hongli did not expect that Yongzheng would reach a consensus with the upright officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy so quickly.

But he knew that Zhang Tingyu was likely responsible for this, and he didn't know how much of it was due to forced obedience to imperial power or to concessions made to restore Hanfu.

In any case, few people could stop Yongzheng from doing what he wanted to do.

Hongli could only admit that Yongzheng was completely suspending the power of the princes and bannermen. The Manchu governor and others had died suddenly, and the fourteenth prince had been imprisoned. Seeing that the Manchu imperial family and the Eight Banners nobles still could not cause any trouble, he simply laid his cards on the table while giving him military power, and let the Han gentry choose their own sides.

History was undoubtedly altered by the influence of Hongli, the time traveler, leading Yongzheng, who sought to unify understanding, distinguish stances, and determine the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, to do things even bolder than those in history.

Emperor Yongzheng decreed that the forced shaving of heads and changing of clothes would not only help increase the goodwill of Han Chinese intellectuals at the grassroots level, but also facilitate his reform of replacing native chieftains with centrally appointed officials in the southwest.

It should be noted that the biggest reason for the fierce resistance from ethnic minorities in Southwest China during the reform of replacing native chieftains with centrally appointed officials was the forced shaving of heads and changing of clothing.

Historically, it was only during the Qianlong era that the Qing court compromised with the ethnic minorities in the southwest due to the excessively high military costs. They were no longer required to shave their heads and change their clothing, but were only required to wear Hanfu on formal occasions, such as when meeting officials or attending school.

It is worth mentioning that while ethnic minorities in Southwest China do not object to wearing Hanfu on formal occasions, they do object to wearing Manchu clothing.

Moreover, after the Qianlong Emperor made such a concession, the intensity of the resistance from the indigenous people in the southwest who were subject to the policy of replacing native chieftains with centrally appointed officials was indeed greatly reduced.

Let’s get back to the topic.

At this moment, Lu Zhenfei was frozen in place.

Hongli walked over to him and said, "In fact, relying on ancestral rules cannot guarantee the status of military generals. During the Ming Dynasty, many people in the court and the countryside also emphasized ancestral rules, but they could not prevent the civil officials from being valued more than the military. In the end, it still depends on the emperor, the situation, and adapting to the changes."

(End of this chapter)