My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 362 The things a new emperor should do upon ascending the throne: to promote new policies!

After speaking, Yongzheng washed his face to make his complexion rosier.

Hongli glanced at the petition in his hand again.

He could imagine how much such words would affect Yongzheng, who was sensitive, fragile, and very concerned about the opinions of others.

No wonder Emperor Yongzheng didn't sleep all night!
"Father, I have suffered this humiliation for the sake of my son and the people of the Qing Dynasty!"

Upon hearing this, Hongli immediately bowed his head and let out the tears that had been brewing for so long.

When Yongzheng showed him this post, he immediately understood Yongzheng's thoughts. He knew that Yongzheng was feeling increasingly lost and lonely after offending even the lower-class Manchus, and was in great need of recognition.

After all, Emperor Yongzheng had already offended the Han people after implementing the land tax reform.

Because once the poll tax is incorporated into the land tax, the burden of poll tax levied on the land will eventually be transferred to ordinary Han Chinese farmers, forcing them to abandon their land and become wealthy households to avoid corvée labor, unless they truly stop farming and do something else.

In the era of small-scale farming, most people were destined to rely on farming. Even if they didn't rent land from landlords, they still had to leave their hometowns to reclaim wasteland.

At the same time, the gentry also lost their privilege of exemption from corvée labor and could no longer rely on accepting donations to acquire more land at low cost.

Therefore, it can be said that Yongzheng had offended Han Chinese from all walks of life.

His policy of replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials offended ethnic minorities such as the Miao and Yao people in Southwest China.

Whether they were chieftains or ordinary people.

First, the chieftains were no longer the only exploiters within their jurisdictions.

Ordinary ethnic minorities also bear a greater burden because they have to acknowledge the dual oppression of the central government and the local chieftains.

The previously agreed-upon border also offended the Mongols.
Mongolian princes were no longer allowed to conduct private trade outside the border.

Ordinary Mongolians are no longer allowed to cross the border to escape their service without permission.

Because of his previous purges and various harsh measures, Yongzheng had offended almost all the Manchu nobles.

Many members of the royal family felt he was too harsh and cruel because he imprisoned his brothers and sons.

Now, he not only forces the Manchu bannermen to farm, but also forbids ordinary Manchus from leaving the banner, and he is willing to punish them to the fullest extent of the law for this.

It can be said that Yongzheng's reforms forced people of all classes and ethnicities to work harder than ever before.

Even though he did his best to maintain the minimum living standard for the lower classes of the Qing Dynasty, freeing many people from their lowly status so they would be less likely to freeze or starve to death, which in turn boosted the population, he did not make any class of people feel comfortable.

Including himself!
If Hongli doesn't show him some understanding, then Yongzheng probably won't be able to hold on any longer.

However, historically, Emperor Yongzheng did indeed do some ruthless things that few emperors would dare to do on their own.

The land tax system was merged into the poll tax system, the local chieftain system was abolished and replaced by centrally appointed officials, boundaries were agreed upon, brothers and sons were imprisoned, and even the eighth and ninth sons died prematurely in the imprisonment.

The trusted minister Nian Gengyao was ordered to commit suicide, and Longkodo was imprisoned and died.

The Northwest campaign ended in a major defeat, with a large number of military officers, including Yue Zhongqi and Fu Erdan, being imprisoned and sentenced to death. Even his trusted Grand Councilor Marseille was eventually beheaded by order of him.

It can be said that Emperor Yongzheng was fortunate to die in the thirteenth year of his reign; otherwise, who knows what the consequences would have been.

Fortunately, in this life, there was no major defeat in the Northwest. The core members of the Eight Banners and the Han generals of the Green Standard Army who were still willing to fight and make meritorious contributions on the battlefield were still willing to accept his rule.

Because of Hongli's performance during his regency, those who held the sword still had the hope of continuing to make contributions in the future.

In addition, Yongzheng had already made Hongli the crown prince, and he himself was getting old and in very poor health. Although he had recovered from a serious illness, he was still suffering from old ailments and minor illnesses.

Therefore, even if those who held the knife also felt that Yongzheng was cruel and mean, they could still tolerate it and were willing to endure it until Yongzheng died and Hongli succeeded to the throne, rather than risk doing something disloyal and disobedient.

The same applies to others who were dissatisfied with Yongzheng; they were all willing to tolerate him because he was getting old.

Moreover, he also clearly established a crown prince, which made the nobles and commoners from all walks of life who longed for a peaceful life even less willing to impulsively take the lead, and more willing to endure until Yongzheng died and a new emperor ascended the throne.

They were willing to believe that the new emperor's ascension to the throne would surely bring about a complete transformation.

People are naturally inclined to have hope for the future, and use this as an excuse for their cowardice and escapism in the present.

The people of the Qing Dynasty were no exception.

Because of this, even those who are truly filled with resentment only dare to write an anonymous post to express their dissatisfaction.

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

That's why such a post appeared, and was seen by Yongzheng, and now it has been seen by Hongli.

After Hongli said this, Yongzheng was stunned, and his face twitched slightly as he looked at Hongli.

Don't you think I'm cruel and heartless?

Emperor Yongzheng couldn't help but ask.

"Let alone the notion that there are no bad rulers or fathers in the world, even if we were to point out the faults of rulers and fathers, I am the only one who is not qualified."

"Because I am already the Crown Prince!"

Hongli replied earnestly.

After pondering for a moment, Yongzheng said, "I am very pleased that you think this way!"

"Get up."

Yongzheng raised his hand.

"Thank you, Ama!"

Hongli stood up.

Then Yongzheng beckoned to him and said, "Come here."

Hongli then walked up to Yongzheng.

Yongzheng then took out another petition from his desk and gave it to Hongli: "Here is another petition, it's about you."

"The Crown Prince has committed three major transgressions."

"First, they are fond of fame and achievement. To gain temporary fame, they spend millions of taels of silver; to gain merit in the Northwest, they spend tens of millions of shi of grain; and to promote the reputation of literature, they even drastically change the method of phonetic notation!"

"First, he was greedy for money, opening fertilizer factories, coal factories, and horse-drawn carriage factories, competing with the people for profits."

"Firstly, he was lustful, so even when he was just over twenty, he already had several children."

"They said all this in order to promote the new phonetic system and improve the literacy rate of the people."

Hongli read it aloud, and then smiled and spoke to Yongzheng.

Yongzheng glanced at Hongli with surprise.

"I am very pleased that you can still laugh."

"This shows that you are indeed highly perceptive and will not be harmed by a few rumors in the future."

Yongzheng then began to praise Hongli.

Hongli cupped his hands in greeting: "Father, you flatter me. I just feel that the angrier you are when faced with such a situation, the more likely you are to fall into their trap."

"you're right!"

"I'm not angry."

Yongzheng forced a smile, then looked at Hongli seriously and said, "These two petitions have further convinced me who my true enemy is."

“Ama is right.”

"In my humble opinion, strictly speaking, our enemies are the same."

At this time, Hongli intentionally guided Yongzheng to continue doing more for his future.

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng was somewhat surprised: "The same?"

"That's right!"

"They are all people who seek only personal comfort and disregard whether the country and its people can enjoy lasting peace and stability."

"Although the proclamation cursing Father was discovered in the capital, at a time when many Manchus who had fled their registered residence were executed, it was most likely written by a Manchu;"

"Those who slander your son are signed by a lay Buddhist from Henan, which is undoubtedly the work of a Han Chinese; but they are essentially the same kind of people."

Unlike Qianlong, who wrote the essay "On the Power of Lenientness to Win Over the People" when he was a prince, Hongli expressed the same view as Yongzheng when they met alone: ​​he regarded those who only wanted to live in peace as enemies.

Historically, Emperor Qianlong was criticized by Emperor Yongzheng for writing an article titled "On the Power of Lenientness to Win Over the People" during his time as a prince. Emperor Yongzheng said that Qianlong was "by nature lenient" and "repeatedly admonished" him, which forced Qianlong to "repent with remorse" during his time as a prince and to "reveal his true intentions" through strict measures.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yongzheng was very pleased and simply smiled and instructed, "You should think this way in your heart, but you should always keep the word 'benevolence' on your lips."

"Whoo!"

After Hongli responded, Yongzheng smiled for a moment and then suddenly his face froze: "You can even follow the path of benevolence in the future."

“Each generation has its own tasks. Not every emperor should advocate strict and clear governance. The one who can win the hearts of the people and make them happy to live in our Great Qing, and who hopes that the Great Qing will last forever, is ultimately a ruler who advocates benevolence and leniency.”

Yongzheng said with a helpless expression.

"But I will always remember what Father said about the foundation of the Great Qing."

"A single monarch cannot resist the will of the people, but the people are not all of one mind. The powerful and wealthy are mostly concerned with maintaining their own peace, but the hungry and cold may not be able to maintain their own peace. Naturally, they must strive to achieve wealth and longevity."

"Therefore, I do not intend to let this phenomenon of posting anonymously go easily. Even if we cannot find the person behind it because it is anonymous, we can still make the posts more interesting."

"It's like letting everyone in a room talk; the noise will be as chaotic as a marketplace, and you won't be able to hear what anyone is saying." "Even if, according to the rules, scholars and commoners cannot speak ill of the emperor or father, they can post notices to reflect the hardships of the people and expose the crimes of the gentry and bullies."

"This is what we call, let them fight their battles, we fight ours. They may anonymously slander the emperor and the crown prince, but we can also expose their crimes in a real and tangible way."

At this point, Hongli began to explain his own thoughts.

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng chuckled and said, "This will require a lot of money! You really are generous with your money when it comes to doing great things."

"It is taken from the people and used for the people."

"Furthermore, money kept in the vault will not generate wealth. Only when it is used for the benefit of the people can it generate more benefits and continue to grow."

"Without uniting the majority, we cannot strike at the very few heinous criminals hiding in the shadows."

Hongli replied.

Yongzheng remained silent for a moment, then muttered to himself again: "Unite the majority and strike at the minority."

Then Yongzheng said, "Then go and do it."

"Whoo!"

After returning to his Langrun Garden, Hongli said to Cao Zhan, who was serving in the outer study, "Now that you're older, having you spend all your time outside interacting with all sorts of people and doing things like gathering information is a bit of a waste of your talent for extensive knowledge, excellent memory, and literary skills that are good at both refined and popular topics."

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhan trembled slightly and hurriedly asked, "Does Master intend to give this servant an official position?"

Hongli looked at him and asked, "Do you want to be an official?"

"This servant does not wish to!"

"Being an official is boring; it's too restrictive."

"This servant is only willing to serve his master."

Cao Zhan knew that the court and his superiors would not fail to assess him like Hongli had, nor would they allow him to be eccentric and dissolute.

Therefore, he directly expressed his desire not to become an official.

Hongli said, "I'm not asking you to become an official. I'm just asking you to write short articles about the evil deeds in the Red and Black Books that I had collected before. The articles should be the kind that can be understood by people of all ages and tastes, and be appreciated by both the refined and the common people."

Before Hongli, in addition to sending guards to Sichuan to investigate the good and bad deeds of Han gentry and compile a red and black register, he also sent some of his own bondservants to accompany Liu Tongxun on his southward journey to collect information on the good and bad deeds of gentry and compile a red and black register along the way.

During his regency, he said that he would not promote the implementation of the red and black register system for the time being because the gentry in Jiangnan took the initiative to donate grain to help the army. However, this meant that he would not secretly stop making the red and black register in preparation for future propaganda warfare.

Emperor Qianlong kept these red and black books in his outer study.

Cao Zhan, who was employed in the outer study and was granted permission to read there, had naturally already read through these red and black stories that were even more exciting than the plots of vernacular novels.

Cao Zhan can now recount many of the scandals involving local gentry, such as incest, keeping a younger brother-in-law, accepting bribes to interfere in major cases, and running a brothel and thievery in his family temple.

Now, Hongli asked him to use this as material to write a short essay.

He was quite interested and eager to try.

Because he had long harbored a strong desire to develop these materials and spread them widely.

Therefore, after Hongli gave this instruction, Cao Zhan agreed without hesitation: "Yes, sir!"

Moreover, he never even considered whether he could achieve a balance between highbrow and lowbrow appeal.

Cao Zhan even took the initiative to ask Hongli, "Master, would you like me to write more types of stories, poems, and plays? I'd be happy to write more."

"You can write anything else you want, it will be used later! But you need to write a short article first, something that can be posted on the notice board to spread the word."

"Furthermore, for novels with a lot of words, you must finish writing them. You must never stop writing halfway and ask someone else to fill in the rest for you!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! This servant understands!"

Hongli knew that Cao Zhan was a great literary figure in history, skilled in various literary styles, so he responded to him with a smile.

Cao Zhan rubbed his hands together excitedly. After Hongli left, he went to the side room of his outer study, picked up a pen and spread out paper, as if his thoughts were flowing like a spring.

Hongli then went to the Ministry of the Imperial Household to check on the progress of compiling a general dictionary.

However, after Hongli arrived at the office of the Grand Chamberlain, the Grand Chamberlain Songshou came to report to Hongli, saying, "We have received a petition from Sheng Mingkun, a retired Hanlin scholar from Henan, which contains treasonous words that slander the Crown Prince."

Han Dynasty Grand Master of Ceremonies Liu Tongxun then handed over the invitation: "Please take a look, Your Highness."

Hongli waved his hand: "No need, I have already read one in front of the Emperor."

"Does this Hanlin scholar have any explanation for what happened in his hometown?"

Hongli then looked at Songshou and Liu Tongxun and asked them about it.

Song Shou replied first: "Sheng Mingkun only asks His Highness to be magnanimous and not to hold a grudge against this local rascal, but to show his magnanimity and thus demonstrate the demeanor of a crown prince! If officials are ordered to investigate, it would be too disturbing to the people and would not be conducive to the crown prince's reputation."

Hongli was slightly taken aback after hearing this.

then.

Hongli nodded: "Very well! This does reflect public opinion to some extent. You should reply to him and let him secretly investigate who wrote the anonymous post."

"Whoo!"

As the crown prince, Hongli was naturally entitled to issue imperial edicts to the officials and gentry.

Moreover, those who disobey will be treated as treason.

After all, the Crown Prince was the heir apparent officially recognized by the Emperor through a decree.

And a month later.

Guide, Henan.

After receiving Hongli's reply, Sheng Mingkun smiled and reported to his friend and education commissioner Yu Hongtu, "The Crown Prince is indeed still wary; he can't do anything to us!"

"Then we can continue to encourage scholars to do this until Your Highness abandons the idea of ​​promoting literacy among the common people!"

Yu Hongtu spoke in a deep voice, stroking his beard, and said with a smile, "As for the Crown Prince, if he is really furious, we'll find two scapegoats to appease him."

Sheng Mingkun nodded: "I will try to find as many as possible, so that the Crown Prince will have even less power to do anything to us."

"That's right. Now that the traitors have been found, we can't blame the local officials and gentry."

Yu Hongtu then smiled and said.

A month later, Emperor Yongzheng also received many more posts cursing him.

The chief Grand Councilor, Yunli, also reported to him that "some posts are written directly in Manchu, and some are even more outrageous."

"Even worse?"

"What's even more outrageous?"

After hearing this, Yongzheng asked with a cold face.

Yunli said, "It's better if Fourth Brother doesn't know."

"Say!"

Yongzheng shouted sternly.

Yunli could only reply in a deep voice: "You were not originally a Manchu. You were adopted by Empress Xiaogongren from outside the Manchu people. That's why Empress Xiaogongren has always disliked you!"

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Good, very good! They've even started insulting the late Empress Dowager and the late Emperor! They're really something!"

"Fourth Brother, if all else fails, then stop investigating the Manchus impersonating Han soldiers and marching with banners. At least don't punish them so severely, like executing them outright?"

Yunli suggested.

"no!"

Yongzheng opened his eyes wide and shouted sternly.

Then, Yongzheng added, "I am not an emperor who can be easily intimidated! The more rebellious they are, the more it proves that I am right!"

"However, I do not know what other treasonous words will continue to appear and tarnish your holy reputation, Fourth Brother!"

Yunli also began to speak with some emotion.

"If I say no, then no!"

Snapped!
Yongzheng slammed his hand on the table.

Cough!

Yunli also started coughing violently as a result.

Therefore, Yongzheng had to soften his tone slightly and said: "Even if Manchus are allowed to leave the banners and become commoners in the future, it must be done when the time is right, and there must be a national policy to openly allow them to leave the banners and become commoners, rather than allowing them to leave the banners and become commoners in secret!"

"And this opportunity must be when enough new Manchu bannermen can be selected from the poor families who have no connection with the aristocratic families."

"I may not live to see that opportunity, but Hongli may have a chance."

"Therefore, as for the specific national policy of allowing Manchus to leave the banners, perhaps we should wait until Hongli inherits the throne in the future; or it would be better to leave it to him to do!"

After Yongzheng said this, Yunli did not argue further, but simply cupped his hands in response, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)