My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 361 The Great Changes Made by the Qianlong Dynasty: Manchus Who Commit Crimes Are Executed Without Pardon!

Hongli could only sigh inwardly, thinking to himself that Yongzheng was indeed the emperor of this era.

Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng deeply resented the non-violent non-cooperation of the Eight Banners households, even going so far as to accuse them of disloyalty and filial impiety, and intended to deal with them severely.

really!

Yongzheng then said, "I have issued an edict appointing your sixteenth uncle as the leading Grand Councilor, in charge of investigating and rectifying the banner affairs."

"I will instruct him to thoroughly investigate any Manchus who have impersonated Han Chinese and fled the Banner; in addition, I will have Hongxi act as the head of the Eight Banners Commandery and the Ministry of Revenue to assist him."

"Can Uncle Sixteen's body handle it?"

Upon hearing this, Hongli hurriedly asked.

Yongzheng said helplessly, "His health is at least better than your thirteenth uncle's!"

"Besides, there aren't many princes who can keep the Eight Banners nobles in check and are willing to do these things! And besides, there's still Hongxi!"

"He is capable, and he performed very well in the matter of appointing you as the crown prince."

“Ama is right.”

Hongli replied with a smile.

Hongli had to admit that the sixteenth prince and Hongxi were quite capable and had a high level of political acumen.

However, if Hongxi hadn't known history, he would never have imagined that this imperial nephew, who was highly trusted by Yongzheng in his later years, would have such thoughts.

After all, judging from Hongxi's current performance, there are very few things to criticize.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Hongxi was able to deceive Emperor Yongzheng and the early Emperor Qianlong in history, and even gain the favor of his sixteenth uncle Yunlu and childhood friend Fupeng.

But then again, it might not be a bad thing to let Hongxi do something that would offend the Manchus.

If he does well, he will naturally offend the Manchus, and the weight of the former crown prince's eldest son will be further diminished.

If it's not done well, it could arouse more suspicion from Emperor Yongzheng.

What Hongli cares more about now is how he will adjust the fate of the Qing Dynasty if he becomes emperor in the future.

Because, according to historical trends, as the Qing Dynasty became more and more like a Central Plains dynasty, the Eight Banners system became increasingly outdated.

Throughout the Qing Dynasty, everyone just wanted to live a peaceful and comfortable life.

The Manchu and Mongol peoples were not afraid of being Sinicized or even becoming new ethnic groups; what they feared was that the imperial court, in order to maintain its military capabilities, would forcibly isolate and restrict their interactions, forcing some ethnic groups to pay blood taxes and others to pay money taxes.

However, since everyone wanted to live a peaceful life, those who paid the blood tax were unwilling to pay it and only wanted to become scholars, farm, do business, or mine.

Now, Yongzheng's Eight Banners reform has encountered this problem.

There are no opponents to reform!
However, some groups complained that your reforms were not fair and just enough, and even felt that you were too conservative, not directly allowing all banner households to leave the banner.

A fundamental divergence arose between the interests of the empire and those of the ruled.

Hongli also realized that his enemy was not Hongxi, not even Yongzheng, let alone bureaucrats or foreign barbarians.

His real enemy was the historical destiny of the Qing Dynasty, which, the longer it remained in the Central Plains, resembled the political situation of the late Central Plains dynasties. It was also the mentality of the upper landlord class, who generally wanted to live in peace and be doves.

If he follows the trend and becomes a dove in seeking peace, the consequence will naturally be the emergence of the historical cycle.

Same as the Ming Dynasty.

First, scholars were valued and soldiers were despised; then, scholars became complacent and soldiers became idle, leading to increasing corruption.

Its military strength is declining day by day.

Moreover, with the rise of the West, in the future, there will be situations where foreign invaders can tremble with fear just by setting up a few cannons, or even just by making a casual threat, and you can cede a large area of ​​territory outside the Great Wall without batting an eye.

Historically, in his later years, Emperor Qianlong did indeed begin to follow the trend and adopt a laissez-faire attitude.

The key event was the "Fake Sun Jiagan Memorial Case".

A memorial that vehemently criticized Emperor Qianlong, even more harshly than Hai Rui's criticism of Emperor Jiajing, ultimately failed to find the culprit!

Manchu officials conspired with Han officials to deceive the emperor, forcing Qianlong to compromise and admit defeat, and hastily end the matter by finding two scapegoats.

This incident led Emperor Qianlong to completely conform to the prevailing trends, actively leading the way in corruption, and waging wars merely to save face for himself, rather than genuinely reforming the empire.

If Hongli wanted to go against the trend and reverse it, he naturally had to seriously consider what to do.

"In order to revitalize the Eight Banners and reduce the financial burden, I had no choice but to take advantage of this great victory to reform the Banner system and allow some Han Bannermen to leave the Banner and become civilians."

"You must not easily reform the banner system again, or easily open the door to allow people to leave the banner to live among the people."

"Let me handle the matters of replenishing the national treasury and reforming the Eight Banners as much as possible by myself!"

When Yongzheng got to this point, he also sighed.

Hongli knew that Yongzheng also realized the difficulty of going against the trend.

Moreover, unlike him, Yongzheng knew the development trajectory of the next three hundred years, so he naturally felt it was even more difficult. Therefore, he did not require him and the emperors after him to carry out too radical reforms, as long as they were not confused or fooled.

"Your son will remember your teachings, Father!"

Hongli replied.

During this period, Yunlu and Hongxi did indeed uncover many cases of Manchus impersonating Han Bannermen and leaving the Banner to become commoners, as well as cases of Manchu nobles actively using their power to have their relatives impersonate Han Bannermen and leave the Banner.

"The Minister of War, Orchi, relying on his relationship as Ortai's younger brother, had his three grandsons change their registration to the Han Army under the Bordered Red Banner, and then apply to be transferred to the Green Standard Army as military officers."

"If it weren't for my brother discovering in the Ministry of War's new household register that they all shared the surname Xi and held lucrative positions in the Green Standard Army, we wouldn't have been able to find them."

On this day, Yunli spoke to Yongzheng at the Grand Council about the Manchus impersonating Han Bannermen in an attempt to leave the Bannermen and become civilians.

After hearing this, Yongzheng gave Ortai a cold look: "Everyone wants to become a Green Standard Army general because they think they can arbitrarily embezzle military pay and steal military rations! Then who will manage the Eight Banners?!"

"Issue an edict to immediately dismiss Erqi from his post, imprison him, and his three grandsons as well."

"Your nephew has also discovered that many Manchus are impersonating Han Chinese who are actually Han Chinese and have left the banners to become civilians."

"The current list of seized items is here."

“These Manchus include Zhang Dabao, Wang Sihutong, and He Gouzi, but they run pawnshops, gambling dens, teahouses, and wineries.”

"Logically, Han Chinese who own property in the capital are either gentry or gentry family members. There is no reason for them to have such vulgar names. Because, let alone anything else, even the officials of Shuntian Prefecture could bankrupt those who own property in the capital."

"Therefore, after careful investigation, I learned that they were Manchus who had relatives with official positions and titles in the various Han Chinese banners!"

Hongxi replied, holding a roster in both hands.

Emperor Yongzheng accepted the list with great pleasure: "Very good. Hongxi is very meticulous. The Grand Council shall issue an edict to the Imperial Household Department to reward the Emperor's nephew, Prince Li Hongxi, with a string of nine-coiled red agate court beads!"

Hongxi was slightly taken aback. He knew that his fourth uncle wanted all the Manchu nobles in the capital to know that he, Hongxi, had done a great deal of work in this matter.

But Hongxi dared not disobey, so he immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "Your subject thanks Your Majesty for your grace!"

"You, along with the men of the Eight Banners Commandery, will coordinate with the Military Commander's Office to arrest all the Manchus on this list and execute them on the spot at the banner schools for betraying their ancestors and deceiving the emperor, as a warning to others!"

Yongzheng then spoke very seriously.

Yongzheng then looked at Ortai and said, "As for Orchi and his three grandsons, they shall also be executed without pardon! As a Manchu minister, he disregards the country's interests and only cares about his own family's long-term interests, truly failing the country's grace!"

"As your elder brother and uncle, I have failed in my duty to teach you properly, and I beg you to punish me!"

At this moment, Ortai also pursed his lips and bowed his head in pleading.

Yongzheng waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities. I know that you were busy with the reform of the native chieftain system in the southwest and then sent by Hongli to the northwest to handle affairs after you joined the Grand Council. You spent little time at home, so the blame cannot be placed on you. However, you must take this as a warning and never let your Xilin Gioro clan betray your ancestors and disregard the country again!"

"This servant thanks Your Majesty for Your great kindness and will remember Your Majesty's teachings!"

Ortai choked up as he spoke.

Emperor Yongzheng then said, "I will grant you a day's leave. Go and see them."

"This servant thanks Your Majesty for your kindness!"

Ortai then went to see Orchi, after Orchi had been imprisoned in the Infantry Commander's Office.

"Brother, tell me, what was the purpose of us Manchus in conquering this land for the Qing Dynasty?"

"Is it to restrict oneself?"

"All I want is for my three grandsons to live a peaceful and carefree life in the future. This is only human nature. Why is Master so concerned about this?"

Orchi asked Ortai for an explanation after Ortai came to see him, instead of asking Ortai to plead for him. He knew that Yongzheng's decision could not be easily changed.

Ortai said coldly, "Our master doesn't like this kind of common practice!"

"For the sake of their own children and grandchildren, they disregard the safety of the nation. The Eight Banners are the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, especially the Manchu Eight Banners. To ask them to become Han Chinese is truly to forget one's ancestors!"

"It's because the Manchus were restricted too much, and in many ways they were not as good as the Han people."

Erqi replied.

Ortai said, "Where are you inferior to the Han people? Do you only see the Han gentry and not the Han common people?! Or do you mean that in your eyes, the Han common people are not human beings?"

Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!

"Over the years, you have made a lot of money by colluding with the gentry of Jiangnan to embezzle military funds; that's why you're thinking of sending your three grandsons out to start their own businesses, using the money they've earned to buy land, open shops, and train a few more scholars to become Jinshi or Juren."

Ortai suddenly spoke sternly to Orchi.

Furthermore, since the Eight Banners group was composed of masters and servants, in terms of the system, the bannermen did not have their own private property. The fields and houses were allocated by the masters, and they only had the right to use them.

No matter how much money the Manchus made or how many properties they acquired, strictly speaking, they were still the masters' property.

After all, the Manchus themselves were the private property of their masters.

Therefore, Ortai said that Orchi did this in order to turn the money he had obtained through abuse of power into his own legitimate private property.

Erqi didn't want to continue the topic, so he simply said, "Let me put it this way: what did we Manchus fight for when we conquered the Qing Dynasty? Is it wrong to want our descendants to live a better life?"

"From what you're saying, you think our ancestors shouldn't have fought for the Qing Dynasty, and that we Manchus shouldn't have followed the dragon into the Central Plains?"

Ortai asked in a cold voice.

"Now that I have no descendants, I am not afraid that you will tell the master what I have said!"

"I'll continue to speak the truth. I just don't understand why the Aisin Gioro family gets all the benefits. What's the point of entering the pass?"

Erqi replied.

Ortai said, "It's just that you don't understand, but that doesn't mean our ancestors didn't understand! Let me tell you why: it's because we can't survive without doing it this way. It's the same now. If our master doesn't do it this way, the Qing Dynasty will perish, and the world will be in chaos again! It will repeat the mistakes of the Ming Dynasty!"

"If that's the case, then the Aisin Gioro family shouldn't have started their rebellion against the Ming Dynasty in the first place. The chaos that ensued during the Ming Dynasty was not unrelated to the Aisin Gioro family's repeated plundering after their rebellion!"

Erqi replied.

Ortai said, “Our ancestors rebelled against the Ming Dynasty in accordance with the will of Heaven and the times; now that our master forbids us Manchus from leaving the banners, it is also the times. Whether you understand it or not, you must obey!”

"Fine, I admit defeat!"

"Before I die, I give you a piece of advice: the decline of the Eight Banners is inevitable, and they may even perish! You must make plans early, because our master cannot stop this trend!"

"I ask my brother to convey a message to the Crown Prince when he has the chance: I, Erqi, have failed him and let him down."

Erqi smiled as he spoke.

Both he and Ortai were bannermen under Hongli, the banner lord, so while they addressed Yongzheng as their master, they would also address Hongli as their master.

Just to distinguish himself, Erqi took the initiative to address Hongli as his master, the Crown Prince.

……

……

"Master, this morning many Manchu people were taken to the execution ground, including the younger brother of Lord Ortai."

On the outskirts of Beijing, Hongli, who had been suddenly ordered by Emperor Yongzheng to inspect the autumn flood prevention situation on the Yongding River, saw Cao Zhan running towards him in the autumn rain, reporting the news that had been brought to him by fast horse.

Hongli nodded after hearing this, and then asked, "Is there any unrest in the city?"

"No, it's just that the Manchus we met on the road didn't look too good."

Cao Zhan replied.

Hongli didn't say much, but he knew very well that it was fortunate that the Northwest War had resulted in a great victory, and that many brave and willing Eight Banners backbone members were still alive, which allowed Yongzheng to control the pace of reform so forcefully.

Otherwise, the Manchus, who had suffered greatly because of this reform, would not have tolerated Yongzheng.

Hongli returned to the capital immediately the next day. When he met Yongzheng, he found Yongzheng's face ashen and Yongzheng handed him a letter of denunciation: "Take a look at this letter!"

"When will this day end? We will both perish!"

After Hongli received the letter, he saw the following sentence written on it.

"This is insulting me, calling me a tyrant like Jie and Zhou!"

"We Manchus have now truly learned the tricks of the Han people."

(End of this chapter)