My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 342 Emperor Qianlong's governing style impressed the Grand Councilors!

After saying this, Yongzheng looked outside the hall, seemingly imagining Galdan Tsering's reaction upon learning the news.

Hongli pursed his lips and looked at him intently.

In his memory, Emperor Yongzheng would bestow all sorts of incredible favors and honors upon him.

For example, let the thirteenth prince choose a plot of land in the imperial mausoleum, and let the thirteenth prince's entourage be doubled and then doubled again, until it was on par with the empress.

Yongzheng seemed to be acting willfully, and also seemed to be intentionally challenging the boundaries of imperial power.

This is good, as it will benefit him by giving him greater imperial power when he becomes emperor in the future.

Thinking of all this, Hongli said nothing more and simply accepted the imperial decree and expressed his gratitude.

With these five thousand Miao soldiers, he could also perform more sophisticated micro-management.

It is said that since he took over as regent, he has become increasingly fond of micro-management.

Deciding the appointment of provincial governors and provincial administration commissioners, and deciding where and how many troops to station, is more exciting than playing games in later generations.

Therefore, at this moment, Hongli was in a very good mood, and even began to think about how to make these five thousand Miao soldiers bring him greater value.

The key point is that he can directly control these 5,000 Miao soldiers, allowing him to freely transform and upgrade them, making them an important source of new resources for him in the future.

And he had indeed figured out how to support these five thousand soldiers.

That is……

Mining for gold!
Because the area around Tannu Uriankhai Yenisei River and Lake Khövsgöl in Khalkha Mongolia was found to have large gold deposits by the Russians in the 19th century.

Many of them are placer gold deposits that are easy to mine.

However, when the gold mines here were discovered in history, the Qing Dynasty's actual control over the area had greatly diminished. In addition, some areas around Tannu Uriankhai were later ceded away, so the gold mines were also taken over by the Russian Empire.

Hongli should take advantage of the fact that the Qing Dynasty still has real control over this area to mine all the gold in advance, and take the opportunity to immigrate people to this area to solve the problem of overpopulation in the interior.

Let’s get back to the topic.

Hongxi and Hongchun, who had not yet left, were also stunned by Yongzheng's decision.

Hongxi even showed envy towards Hongli.

Hongchun was the same.

"Galdan Tsering is indeed no match for the Emperor. If he knew that the Emperor trusted Hongli so much, I wonder whether he would be surprised or impressed."

But Hongxi still smiled and said some nice things at this time.

Hongli listened from the side and smiled slightly. He admired Hongxi's ability to say nice things in front of others.

However, he also knew that Hongxi was probably thinking at this moment whether he, as a prince, would also receive such trust if the emperor were Yinreng.

Hongli glanced at Hongchun again.

He felt that Hongchun might also be thinking the same thing, wondering if he, as a prince, could also gain such trust if the emperor were the fourteenth prince.

But the reason why Hongli was able to gain Yongzheng's trust was because he had always been very accurate in understanding Yongzheng's pulse.

"When I told my thirteenth uncle about Galdan Tseringrang's spies spreading rumors, he didn't take it seriously."

At this point, Hongli took the initiative to mention his thirteenth uncle.

When Yongzheng heard the name of the thirteenth prince, his face lit up and he became even more serious.

Upon seeing this, Hongli secretly thought that the thirteenth prince truly held a significant place in Yongzheng's heart.

"But the reason why Uncle Thirteen disagreed was that he believed Father was not easily fooled, and that Father would trust me even more than I imagined."

"Now that I see it, it's definitely true!"

Hongli smiled brightly as he said this.

After Hongli said this, Yongzheng sighed heavily: "The one who understands me best is still your thirteenth uncle!"

"Does Father miss Uncle Thirteen?"

"Uncle Thirteen is recovering well recently, so we can summon him."

Hongli spoke up.

Yongzheng took Hongli's hand and said, "I'm going to see him. Hongxi, you and Hongli help me up."

"Whoo!"

Hongli and Hongxi both responded.

So, Yongzheng got out of bed with difficulty, supported by Hongli and Hongxi.

Hongchun, standing to the side, looked quite embarrassed.

After Yongzheng got into the sedan chair, he waved to the three of them and said, "You can go about your business."

"Whoo!"

The three responded.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the two men, Hongli went to the Grand Council.

Hongxi did not leave immediately, but stared at Hongli's back in a daze.

Seeing this, Hongchun asked curiously, "What are you thinking about, cousin?"

"Hongli understands the Emperor better!"

Hongxi sighed softly and left with his hands behind his back.

When Yongzheng saw the thirteenth prince, he pressed the prince back down as he was about to rise and pay his respects, saying, "I heard from Hongli that you are feeling better, so I came to see you."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Fourth Brother."

The thirteenth brother forced a smile and said.

Yongzheng sighed, "How could I not worry about you? I'm hoping you'll get better so you can assist Hongli in the future. I can't really rely on that immature brat, the fourteenth prince, can I?"

The thirteenth brother smiled and said, "After going through so much, the fourteenth brother should have undergone a sex change too!"

"Let's not talk about him anymore. You've heard about the rumors circulating outside that Hongli is going to force the emperor to abdicate, haven't you?"

Yongzheng asked.

The thirteenth prince nodded.

Emperor Yongzheng slapped his knee: "I don't believe it at all!"

Then, Yongzheng sighed and said, "But what is remarkable is that Hongli has dealt with this sneak attack so effectively! He used the honest and upright bannermen under the Eight Banners to find many spies, and today he found that Baduoming, who served in the inner court during the late emperor's reign!"

The thirteenth prince was delighted upon hearing this: "Hongli is meticulous and more composed than I was back then. He knows to start from where others would not think of, and to start from the true foundation of the Great Qing!"

The thirteenth prince then looked at Yongzheng and said, "Fourth brother, so you can rest assured. This shows that even if we can't conquer the Dzungars, the next generation can!"

Yongzheng nodded: "Let's see how the war in the Northwest goes. If he can do a good job, I'm thinking that we can officially establish a crown prince, or even abdicate ahead of schedule! My health has really deteriorated since last winter."

……

……

After arriving at the Grand Council, Hongli informed the Grand Councilors of Yongzheng's decision.

For a moment, the Grand Councilors all looked astonished.

After a moment of astonishment, Marseille bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise, and the Emperor is brilliant. This is truly a blessing for our Great Qing! Because no one can sow discord between the Fourth Prince and Your Majesty!"

Hongli smiled slightly at this: "That's right, Father Khan is just trying to show Galdan Tsering. As for the military expenses of these 5,000 Miao soldiers, I already have a plan."

Upon hearing that Hongli had a solution, Jiang Tingxi asked first, "What solution does Fourth Master have?"

Hongli said, "I have already sent my servants to explore the Qianhe area, and it is rich in gold mines."

Upon hearing Hongli's words, Zhang Tingyu froze on the spot.

Marseille, Jiang Tingxi, and Fu Erdan looked at each other in bewilderment.

"You don't need to flatter me for being able to plan ahead!"

Before the three of them could speak, Hongli suddenly spoke up.

Besides Marseille, Zhang Tingyu, Jiang Tingxi, and Fu Erdan were even more astonished.

Because Zhang Tingyu, Jiang Tingxi, and Fu Erdan had no intention of flattering Hongli for his foresight.

In particular, the two Han officials, Zhang Tingyu and Jiang Tingxi, were secretly astonished. They discovered that the Fourth Prince did not seem to think there was anything wrong with this kind of thinking that was focused on the benefits of gold and silver.

However, the two also had to admit that the Qing Dynasty was no longer the same as before, and the tradition that the emperor should value righteousness over profit was no longer necessary.

After saying this, Hongli also instructed regarding the gold mining: "You should devise a method for mining gold in this area. The main principle of the method is that the court should only be responsible for sharing the profits and collecting taxes at important checkpoints along the way, while merchants are responsible for contracting the work and the common people are responsible for mining."

"Of course, the Mongolian princes also need to get a share of the profits, otherwise they wouldn't support the mining."

"Whoo!"

After speaking, Hongli continued, "Now let's continue discussing military matters. Since the five thousand Miao soldiers do not need to be disbanded and will remain stationed in the capital, let's also transfer the right battalion of the original Eight Banners Firearms Battalion to Koshetu and let Fu Peng take unified command!"

Clearly, Hongli had begun his micro-management again.

Jiang Tingxi, who was very sensitive to finances, immediately saw a large amount of money and grain leaving the national treasury when he heard that Hongli wanted to increase troops again. He asked, "Fourth Master, there is no shortage of troops in the Northwest at present."

"It will be too late once shortcomings appear!"

"We must be prudent in our assessment of the enemy. As long as we wage war in the Northwest, Koshetu will be the lifeline of our Great Qing. We must be prepared to keep reserve troops there at any time!"

Hongli replied.

Jiang Tingxi had no way to refute it, so he had to shut up.

Zhang Tingyu also remained silent, not daring to speak further, because he realized that this Fourth Prince indeed had great ideas about military affairs.

Marseille then laughed and said, "How could this servant not have thought of that?"

talking.

Marse bowed respectfully: "As expected of Fourth Master! No wonder you insisted on not disbanding these five thousand Miao soldiers."

Fu'erdan rolled his eyes at Marseille. Hongli simply smiled at Marseille, then asked, "Has there been any news from Kobdo?"

Marse immediately replied, "Not yet. The Prince Consort and Yue Zhongqi sent a memorial saying that perhaps Xiao Celing Dunduobu was not fooled, so they requested permission to take the initiative to advance and seek out his main force for a decisive battle."

"I also think it is more appropriate to take the initiative to advance. It is not a good idea for the army to stay in Kobdo and keep consuming food and supplies."

Jiang Tingxi then spoke.

Zhang Tingyu added, "The capital is far from the northwest. It would be more appropriate to follow the opinions of the Prince Consort and Yue Zhongqi."

Hongli then questioned, "The Northwest is so vast, if we take the initiative to advance, won't the other side avoid us?!"

"Eliminating their manpower is the key!"

"Otherwise, even occupying Urumqi and Yili would not be enough to intimidate them and secure peace!"

"As for what Hengchen said, it's not without reason."

"But since they have taken the initiative to submit a memorial reflecting this, it means that they dare not make decisions on their own and need me, the regent, to make decisions for them!"

"In this way, even if I make a mistake, the government and the public will naturally not dare to clamor for my execution. When it comes to national war, they will have to be very cautious!"

When Hongli finished speaking, the Grand Councilors all looked at him with deep respect.

They didn't expect that Hongli would be so understanding of their situation.

Hongli then tapped on the table, pretending to be deep in thought, and said, "Wait a little longer, and have them reduce the number of scouts they send out."

"Whoo!"

A little over a month later in Kobdo, it was the height of summer.

The weather was fine and sunny, and the water plants were lush.

Kobdo.

Celing stood atop the newly built wooden city tower, looking out at the fertile fields, his brow furrowed.

"If we continue to wait like this, it will be very difficult to find the Dzungar army before winter!"

Yue Zhongqi also walked over at this moment and said to Ce Leng.

Celing said, "Fourth Master told us to wait a little longer and further reduce the number of scouts."

Yue Zhongqi did not say anything more after hearing this.

……

……

"The Qing army didn't have many scouts. It seems they really didn't expect us to come to Kobdo on our own initiative!"

During his advance, Xiao Ce Lingdun Duobu spotted a few Qing scouts retreating and spoke to Bulun with a smile.

Bren said, “The Qing army was indeed too careless. I heard that Yue Zhongqi’s Western Route Army is still in Kobdo. There is news from Xi’an that the newly arrived governor, Ortai, has blocked the Western Route Army’s food supply. It is said that he intends to prevent Yue Zhongqi, a Han general, from making any more great contributions. So now Tsering’s Northern Route Army has deployed more than 10,000 elite Eight Banner soldiers in Kobdo.”

"These Manchu officials still ostracized Han officials."

"No wonder our scouts didn't spot the Yue character flag!"

Xiao Celingdunduobu sneered, then said, "We're almost at Kobdo. Pass down the order: the cavalry will speed up and charge into Kobdo by surprise!"

Whoosh!
As Tsering Dondub's Dzungar army approached Kobdo.

The Qing scouts around Kobdo immediately sent out signals, firing several whistling arrows in succession toward Kobdo.

Celing looked at Yue Zhongqi with excitement and exclaimed, "Here you are!"

Yue Zhongqi also excitedly rubbed his hands together and ordered, "Raise my banner!"

Meanwhile, Celing led his cavalry out of Kobdo City and headed to the valley west of the city.

When Xiao Ce Lingdunduo rushed into Kobdo city, about a hundred paces away, he saw that the city was surrounded by large banners with the character "Yue" on them, and a large number of cannons were aimed at him from under the banners.

Boom boom!

As the cannons roared, Xiao Celingdunduobu's cavalry were caught off guard, and many fell halfway down the road, while those who came closer were also killed by a large number of firearms.

Before he could even get a foothold, the cavalrymen around him charged forward, relentlessly inflicting casualties with short muskets and swords.

Xiao Ce Lingdun Duobu was utterly astonished.

He knew he had been fooled.

So he had no choice but to retreat hastily, but as he was retreating through the valley to the west, he found that a large number of Mongol cavalry were also charging towards him from both sides.

As a result, Xiao Celingdunduobu's cavalry suffered heavy losses in the valley.

When he charged out on his own, he had only a few hundred cavalrymen. He couldn't even protect his artillerymen as they retreated. He could only watch helplessly as his artillery units were overwhelmed by the pursuing Mongol cavalry.

"What do we do now?"

After arriving at the south bank of the Kobdo River in a disheveled state, Xiao Celingdunduobu glanced at the approaching Mongol cavalry behind him and asked Bulundao.

Bren shook his head: "I don't know, how about we surrender?"

Xiao Ce Lingdun Duobu grabbed Bulun's collar: "You don't know? Then how do you know that the Qing army's western route army isn't here? How do you know they weren't waiting here for us to fall into their trap?!"

Brun smiled wryly: "I never expected that the Qing army would spread false information to deceive us!"

"hateful!"

"We haven't even tried to cheat yet, and they've already tricked us!"

Frustrated, Xiao Ce Lingdun Duobu flicked his whip into the air and shouted, "Cross the river!"

Clearly, he would rather risk crossing the river than surrender.

Tsering, leading his Mongol cavalry, did not continue to approach. Only when he saw that the remaining troops of Little Tsering Dundobu were halfway across the river did he ride forward again, drawing his bow and shooting arrows.

In a short time, a large number of Xiao Celingdun Duobu's remaining troops fell into the water, and the river water turned red.

As a result, Xiao Celingdunduobu was eventually captured.

Meanwhile, in the capital, they were unable to receive the latest battle reports from the Northwest army.

The atmosphere in both the government and the public was becoming increasingly irritable.

Because almost all of the Eight Banners' elite troops were deployed for this expedition, even the lower-ranking Bannermen were uneasy because they had not heard news from the Northwest for a long time.

Inside the Grand Council, Hongli also noticed that the Grand Councilors were becoming increasingly solemn.

Fortunately, Hongli mobilized the lower-level Manchu bannermen to control the spread of rumors.

Therefore, the situation has not yet reached the point of being out of control.

However, when Hongli visited Yongzheng that day, Yongzheng also asked him about the war in the Northwest: "Is there any news from the Northwest?"

"not yet."

Hongli replied.

After hearing this, Yongzheng said nothing more, but suddenly took off the fever-reducing cloth from his forehead and threw it hard on the ground: "It's still not getting better! It's either cold or hot, and even quinine doesn't work!"

"The recovery from illness is gradual and slow, so please don't be impatient, Father."

Hongli had no choice but to offer words of comfort.

Yongzheng suddenly looked at Hongli and said excitedly, "How can I not be anxious?"

"Every day the war in the Northwest drags on, the more we have to spend several times the cost of transporting grain to the Northwest!"

"Grain prices are already high, and the Northwest gets cold early, so we can't fight after winter sets in. If we don't succeed in the campaign before August, it will have to be delayed until next summer! The expenses will be enormous, and the opposition to the campaign will be even stronger!"

"Moreover, since our Great Qing Dynasty is now based on the interests of all ethnic groups, we cannot continue to squander the people's wealth and let their resentment boil over!"

"Furthermore, if I can recover immediately, even if the war in the Northwest drags on and we need to continue to replenish funds and supplies, it would be better for me to step in than for you to do so. You are still a prince and need to cultivate your reputation!"

As Yongzheng spoke, his face flushed, and he began to cough incessantly.

Hongli immediately picked up a cup of tea and came to Yongzheng.

Yongzheng took the cup, and after his cough subsided slightly, he was about to drink it when he immediately stopped and asked Hongli, "Was it really wrong to choose these two as commanders-in-chief?"

Hongli was stunned.

"The Left Censor-in-Chief Shen Jinsi previously reported that it was not the right time to launch a campaign against the Dzungars."

"I am thinking that the fact that no divination was performed when selecting the commander-in-chief suggests that the timing of the event may not have been taken into account."

When Yongzheng said this, Hongli immediately realized that Yongzheng was truly worried and confused, and actually doubted the general he had appointed, because he hadn't consulted the oracle.

Hongli simply replied, "Father is the Emperor, and what Father says is the mandate of Heaven. They are acting on behalf of the Emperor to punish the rebels, so how could they be contrary to the will of Heaven?"

After hearing this, Yongzheng nodded, thinking that the emperor should think this way, and then he began to drink his tea.

Even Hongli himself had to admit that launching such a large-scale military campaign was a national undertaking that truly required a strong heart.

Victory or defeat is secondary; the key is the waiting period, which is the easiest time to cause anxiety and irritability.

The key point is that communication conditions were limited in this era. To communicate with the capital from such a far place as the Northwest, he even considered requesting permission to go to Xi'an to take charge, because that would at least reduce a lot of communication costs.

But considering his status, and the fact that leaving the capital wouldn't be good, he abandoned the plan.

After covering Yongzheng with a fever-reducing cloth again and helping him to sleep, Hongli went to the Grand Council again.

Although it was already evening, the geothermal heat had not subsided.

Although Hongli was riding a horse, he soon started sweating on his back and couldn't help but tilt his head to the side. He then took off his hat.

But before he reached the military headquarters, he saw Marseille running towards him, and because he was running so fast, he fell to the ground.

Hongli walked over, frowned, and asked, "Why are you running so fast? You're not young anymore, it wouldn't be good if you fell and hurt yourself!"

"This servant thanks Fourth Master for his concern!"

"We have received tremendous good news! We have achieved a great victory in our first battle in the Northwest! Little Tsering Dondub has been captured! Our two armies in the Northwest have killed more than 10,000 Dzungars!"

(End of this chapter)