My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 336 Qianlong's open scheme succeeds, and the Qing Dynasty welcomes an even stronger ruler!

After meeting with the thirteenth prince, Hongli secretly instructed Fuerdan: "Send another twenty-one candidate guards to go with him to investigate, for the purpose of supervision. If it is found that the guards have neglected their duties during their tenure as imperial envoys, they can be promoted to guard positions."

This is a variant of the system of alternate imperial envoys.

Later, the same system was used by the imperial envoys and censors who investigated various affairs.

Because doing so yielded remarkable results.

Almost all the substitutes are hoping that the main player will make a mistake.

"The imperial court truly regards us gentry as traitors!"

The gentry reacted very strongly when they learned of this.

At this moment, Yuan Yingxing, a local gentry from Sichuan, couldn't help but sigh at home.

"Absolutely! How could there be such a corrupt court!"

His brother, Yuan Yingqian, angrily denounced the Qing court.

"We only betrayed the Ming Dynasty, not the Qing Dynasty."

"The imperial court treats us as traitors and persecutes us. What was the point of our ancestors supporting the Qing Dynasty back then?"

The Yuan family ancestors were descendants of Yuan Tao, a general who surrendered to the Qing dynasty and plotted to kill Yang Zhan, a general of the Ming dynasty.

That's why Yuan Yingqian said that his family had only betrayed the Ming Dynasty.

However, in recent years, many members of the Yuan family have switched to taking the imperial examinations, which has transformed the Yuan family from a military family into a gentry family.

Yuan Yingxing gave a bitter laugh, then looked at Yuan Yingqian: "Brother, how about we sue the Wu family?"

"Are you crazy! They're family relatives by marriage, a long-standing family business. Even though your aunt is gone, your uncle is still alive!"

Yuan Yingqian's expression changed on the spot.

"However, reporting that his fifth son was colluding with bandits in the western mountains is also a good deed."

"If the imperial envoy has secretly marked us with black circles, they cannot be removed. In that case, we can only earn more red circles to make our Yuan family appear more virtuous."

"Moreover, not only does this kind of red circle for reporting not cost money, but it also makes it easier for the court to recognize it as a good deed that aligns with loyalty and righteousness."

"Maybe it can count as two red circles!"

Yuan Yingxing said very seriously.

After hearing this, Yuan Yingqian still hesitated: "Do we really have to do this?"

"What else can we do?"

"The Fourth Prince in the imperial court is using open strategies, brother!"

"But now, the Qing Dynasty is not the Ming Dynasty, and it is not easy to evade taxes! The current dynasty has also implemented the land tax system, and the exemption from corvée labor is no longer a possibility; therefore, wealthy gentry and noble families with extensive fertile land cannot acquire much land unless they do a few shady things."

"Furthermore, if we don't sue them, they'll probably sue us!"

"In that case, the red circle will be theirs, the black circle will be ours, and the family whose property was confiscated will be our Yuan family!"

After Yuan Yingxing finished speaking, Yuan Yingqian nodded and then sighed.

Not long after, the two went to the governor's office at the invitation of Governor Chalanga.

Meanwhile, Cha Lang'a, the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, was also deeply shocked when he learned that Yue Zhongqi's eldest grandson, Yue Jun, had been arrested, knowing that this would anger the powerful figures in the court.

Although he also had some reservations about Yue Zhongqi being appointed as the Grand General.

But he wouldn't actually risk his life and career to make things difficult for Yue Zhongqi.

Therefore, after this incident, he immediately ordered the officials of the Chengdu prefectural and county government to conduct a thorough investigation, and demanded that they solve the case within a specified time. He also asked the Eight Banners generals of Chengdu to cooperate.

However, the officials and soldiers of Chengdu Prefecture searched the entire city but could not find Yue Jun's whereabouts.

Chalanga was so worried about this that he couldn't eat or sleep.

He knew, of course, that someone who could be found out by the government must have local gentry or other powerful figures involved.

Therefore, Cha Lang'a summoned all the powerful local officials in Chengdu to the governor's office for questioning and warned them not to think that the court would let the matter rest just because they couldn't find out.

These powerful local officials naturally cried out that they were wronged.

Because he was an official and not a bandit, Cha Lang'a couldn't act forcefully, so he could only wait anxiously for his soldiers to find out Yue Jun's whereabouts.

However, Chalanga did not expect that before he received news about Yue Jun's whereabouts, he first received an imperial decree stripping him of his double eyelids and ordering him to investigate Yue Jun's whereabouts while under punishment.

This made Chalanga even more panicked, as it meant that the imperial court already knew about it. If he couldn't prove his innocence, he might really lose his head because of this.

What Chalanga didn't expect was that an imperial decree came from the capital to exempt Sichuan from arrears in taxes, and there were also rumors that guards had been dispatched to enforce the "red and black register" system.

After learning about the Red and Black Register system in detail, Chalanga realized that it was a blatant scheme by the Fourth Prince Hongli, who was in charge of the country, against the Han gentry.

"As expected of Fourth Master!"

"It's remarkable that he could come up with such a national policy."

Chalanga couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, and then once again summoned all the powerful local officials of Chengdu to the governor's office.

After these powerful local officials arrived, Chalanga said with a stern face, "I believe you are all aware of the system of red and black registers, right?"

These powerful local officials all bowed their heads, as if they had lost their parents.

At this moment, Chalang Aze chuckled coldly: "Now you know how powerful Fourth Master is, don't you?"

Look what you've done!

"The Fourth Prince has only just assumed the regency, and you're already making things difficult for him like this."

"Of course, there's also the matter of the anonymous posting before; you scholar-officials have been making things difficult for our master!"

Chalanga pointed at these powerful local gentry and angrily rebuked them, then asked, "And what was the result? A single book of red and black records was enough to take your lives!"

The local gentry simply lowered their heads.

However, not long after that, Yuan Yingxing first sought a private audience with Cha Lang'a and said, "The Governor is right. Some of us have failed the court and have completely forgotten loyalty, filial piety, integrity and shame."

"Now, Fourth Master wants to implement the red and black register system in the countryside, which is exactly what is wrong and will be of great benefit to correcting the evil trend and promoting the way of the sages!"

"This is a blessing for the villagers and a good strategy for the country to raise soldiers and educate the people; it can be said to benefit the country and the common people."

After praising the "Red and Black Book" system, Yuan Yingxing said, "Therefore, I have decided to no longer conceal the truth for my relatives and am willing to expose the fact that Wu Yikang, a local official in this prefecture, has colluded with mountain bandits and has repeatedly robbed ordinary people along the mountains to seize their land."

After hearing this, Chalanga looked at Yuan Yingxing.

"Master, Wu Jiawu requests an audience, saying he has a major case to expose and that he knows the whereabouts of Yue Zhongqi's eldest grandson."

At this moment, Chalanga's trusted advisor came outside to report that Wu Yikang was requesting an audience.

When Chalang Ain heard that it was about the whereabouts of his wife's eldest grandson, he immediately became interested.

Yuan Yingxing's expression suddenly tightened. He didn't understand why the Wu family suddenly knew about Yue's eldest grandson.

"You stay here for now."

Cha Lang'a gave Yuan Yingxing some instructions, then adjusted his official hat and went out to see Wu Yikang.

Now, three months after Yue Jun was captured, he thought he would never be able to go home again. So one night, looking at the full moon in the sky, he couldn't help but cry, and he cried louder and louder.

The burly man guarding him couldn't take it anymore, so he grabbed a rattan cane and started hitting Yue Jun.

Snapped!
"what!"

With a flick of the cane, Yue Jun jumped up and down in the moonlight, then cried even louder: "I want to go home! I want to go home!"

The burly man then beat him even more fiercely: "Go home? Let me tell you the truth, they can kill you at any time. You've been disturbing my sleep!"

Yue Jun had no choice but to beg for mercy: "I won't cry anymore, I won't cry anymore."

Then, Yue Jun forced himself to hold back his tears and covered his mouth with his hands. However, a rattan cane suddenly struck his finger, causing it to bleed and bounce off.

But Yue Jun's mouth deflated at the last second before he opened it.

However, Yue Jun did not expect that a few days later, the burly man took him away and sent him to the back of a house: "Wait for the master to see you."

Yue Jun didn't see any master behind the house; instead, he spent the whole night alone there.

Just as dawn was breaking, a group of soldiers arrived and found him. After understanding his situation, they took him back to his wife's family home.

When Yue Zhongqi's wife, Madam Song, saw her eldest grandson appear before her, she immediately burst into tears and hugged Yue Jun tightly.

"My poor grandson! I've been searching for you so desperately these past few days!"

After Yue Jun returned home, Cha Lang'a met with Yuan Yingxing, who had been kept at the Governor's Office for quite some time: "Lord Yuan, tell me, why did that scoundrel send Yue Jun's eldest grandson to your old residence?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yingxing turned pale and immediately knelt down: "Your Excellency, please understand! Someone is trying to slander my Yuan family!"

(End of this chapter)