My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 363 Emperor Qianlong will not argue, he will only retaliate in kind!
In September of the tenth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, the persimmons in Hongli's outer study were already as red as lanterns.

However, Cao Zhan, who was serving in the outer study, no longer rushed to pick persimmons as soon as they turned red, as he had done in previous years.

During this period, he worked very hard to complete the tasks assigned to him by Hongli.

He even voluntarily worked overtime, writing scripts late into the night based on the materials in the Red and Black Books.

Hongli did not stop him, nor did he suppress his creative desires; in fact, he even increased his monthly allowance.

He was delighted to see this literary giant do something for him that others would probably find difficult.

Cao Zhan himself was also very happy. He felt that being a bondservant to Hongli was much more pleasant than being a young master in the Imperial Textile Bureau.

After all, when he was in the Imperial Textile Bureau, he was constantly under the control of his parents and forced to take the imperial examinations and flatter the powerful.

"These are ten short essays that your servant has just written, as well as a storybook."

"Please take a look, Master!"

That day, just after Hongli returned from saying goodnight, Cao Zhan came running over, full of energy, and presented Hongli with a large stack of manuscripts.

Hongli first flipped through the short article, and nodded with satisfaction after reading it.

Because Cao Zhan is only eighteen years old, a time when he is full of youthful vigor.

Therefore, after reading it, Hongli found that Cao Zhan's sarcasm towards the gentry in the article was very impolite and his criticism was very sharp, lacking the tolerance and magnanimity that comes with age.

But what Hongli needs now is an article with strong offensive power.

After all, the Han gentry were also quite aggressive towards him in their denunciations.

Hongli is now eager to use Cao Zhan's unparalleled talent to fight this war without gunpowder.

Next, Hongli also read the story he had written, which was titled "The Crab's Sideways Journey".

Hongli glanced at it briefly and found that Cao Zhan's vernacular style still satirized the gentry and powerful in a very explicit way, unlike the subtle and implicit style he used when writing "Dream of the Red Chamber" in history.

But it is indeed very infectious and immersive.

After reading it, Hongli specifically asked Cao Zhan to give the storybook to Yitong'a, who had a basic understanding of literature, so that Yitong'a could also take a look.

Yitong'a couldn't help but laugh and say to Cao Zhan, "You're so young and you can already write storybooks? Aren't you afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of the Crown Prince!"

"Isn't writing a story something anyone with hands can do?"

Cao Zhan shrugged.

Yitong'a was slightly taken aback, but he didn't bother arguing with Cao Zhan, who was younger than him. He simply looked at Cao Zhan's storybook, intending to find one or two mistakes to suppress Cao Zhan's arrogance.

But Yitonga became increasingly silent as he looked at her, occasionally baring his teeth and then chuckling.

Seeing this, Cao Zhan had no choice but to ask him, "How is it?"

Itonga ignored him.

Cao Zhan pushed again: "What exactly happened? I need to report back to my master!"

"Great, great! I want to marry my girl to you!"

Yitong'a returned.

"That's not something you can decide."

Cao Zhan then went to see Hongli.

When Hongli learned that even the Manchus with a basic understanding of literature thought Yitong'a was very good, he naturally became even more convinced of Cao Zhan's influence in writing.

But shortly after Cao Zhan met him, Song Shou and Liu Tongxun came to see him again.

"Your Highness, Sheng Mingkun has sent a letter saying that there are more posts defaming you, and the language used is even more outrageous, claiming that you are into male homosexuality!"

Upon meeting Hongli, Songshou reported to him and gave him the invitation.

Upon hearing this, Hongli couldn't help but rub his forehead, thinking to himself, "This is all so gossipy and bizarre. If I don't cooperate, should I just say that my children aren't actually my offspring?"
Liu Tongxun, his face contorted with rage, said, "Your Majesty, I request that the local officials in Henan be ordered to thoroughly investigate this matter! If that fails, suspend the provincial, prefectural, and even county-level examinations, or implement a red and black list system!"

"Because this is clearly aimed at the Crown Prince, and it's also aimed at his desire to promote the new phonetic alphabet!"

Hongli waved his hand, then smiled slightly, and stood up, supporting himself on the armrests of the chair, saying, "This won't work!"

"Because this time it is different from the previous disappearance of Yue Zhongqi's eldest grandson. When Yue Zhongqi's eldest grandson disappeared, we knew what kind of people we needed to ask some local gentry and powerful families who opposed the court."

“But this time, we don’t know who wrote the petition behind the scenes, and we can’t just conclude that everyone in Guide Prefecture, Henan who can write is guilty. Besides, you can’t rule out the possibility that the petition wasn’t written by someone from out of town.”

"So even if we do this, it will only force local officials to hand over a few scapegoats to settle the matter."

Hongli put his hands behind his back, sighed deeply, and then said, "Therefore, give Sheng Mingkun a reply, and let him speak up for me and warn me not to let villains cause chaos in the world. If the world is in chaos, it will not benefit anyone!"

"I also send a personal edict to Yin Jishan, the Governor of Henan, instructing him to work with Yu Hongtu, the Provincial Education Commissioner of Henan, to encourage all scholars in the schools to study the classics diligently in order to serve the court. Any posters found that slander the court, insult the emperor, or the Crown Prince should be promptly reported and destroyed in order to rectify the atmosphere!"

"Whoo!"

In October of the tenth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, snow fell in Henan, turning the entire region white.

Most people stayed indoors during the winter to save cotton-padded clothes for those who had to go out.

The gentry also put on warm hats and carried hand warmers.

Sheng Mingkun even covered his ears. After entering Yu Hongtu's study, he took off a thick fox fur felt hat, greeted Yu Hongtu with a smile, and said, "Your Highness has replied."

talking.

Sheng Mingkun then gave the reply to Yu Hongtu.

Yu Hongtu sneered after reading it: "The Crown Prince is a wise man; he knows everyone fears chaos in the world! But we scholars are precisely afraid of chaos, which is why we are reminding him like this!" "That's right!"

"Promoting this new phonetic system will cause chaos in the world, just like banning foot binding! If commoners can easily recognize many characters and read articles and newspapers, they will be even more difficult to manage and will become even more unruly and lazy."

"Only by first enduring hardship, toil, and hunger can one live up to the teachings of the sages!"

Yu Hongtu nodded.

"Reading and writing are meant to speak on behalf of the sages. Can those who learn to read and write through opportunism speak on behalf of the sages?"

Then he asked the same question himself.

"cannot!"

He then answered his own question.

"The Grand Chancellor requests that you come over, sir."

But at this moment, Yu Hongtu's aide came to report that Yin Jishan wanted to see him.

"understood!"

After replying, Yu Hongtu looked at Sheng Mingkun and smiled, "It seems that the Crown Prince has also put pressure on the Grand Chancellor!"

Sheng Mingkun smiled and said, "This shows that the Crown Prince is really anxious!"

Yu Hongtu stood up and said, "It's good that you're anxious! I'm afraid the Crown Prince doesn't care about these public opinions, then there's really nothing we can do about him, just like the former Ming Emperor Shenzong."

Because Tian Wenjing was dismissed from his post and no longer served as the governor of Henan, Yin Jishan was appointed as the governor of Henan shortly after the end of his mourning period.

After receiving the Crown Prince's edict from Hongli, Yin Jishan immediately sent someone to invite Yu Hongtu.

The reason it was called "please" is because, according to the Qing Dynasty's official system, the governor and the education commissioner were not in a superior-subordinate relationship; both were Beijing officials directly responsible to the emperor, only their responsibilities differed.

However, in terms of power, the governor's power was much greater than that of the education commissioner.

Therefore, when Yin Jishan invited him, he still went and took the initiative to greet Yin Jishan first.

After returning the gift, Yin Jishan explained his purpose and Hongli's intentions.

"I'm sure you understand what the Crown Prince means: he wants all the scholars in this province to behave themselves."

Yin Jishan replied.

Yu Hongtu said, “I understand, and I also intend to take the initiative to persuade the scholars of this province to behave themselves. After all, the lessons of the previous land tax reform and the unified system of paying taxes and corvée labor are still fresh. But as the saying goes, the one who tied the knot must untie it. The Crown Prince is a wise ruler and I think he understands that simply persuading the scholars of this province to behave themselves may not be very useful.”

"We still have to do it! At least we can't let the Crown Prince think we haven't done our best!"

Yin Jishan said in a deep voice.

Yu Hongtu nodded: "I will go to the prefectural school and schools in various prefectures and counties tomorrow to persuade them."

Yin Jishan nodded: "I'll go west, you go south, how about that?"

"can!"

The Qing Dynasty's Henan Provincial Governor was stationed in Kaifeng Prefecture, which was located in the northeast of Henan Prefecture. Therefore, the two men decided that one would go west and the other would go south.

Before leaving Kaifeng Prefecture to persuade the scholars, Yin Jishan sent a document to Hongli.

"The Governor of Henan, Yin Jishan, reported that he had persuaded Yu Hongtu to go and persuade the scholars, but he also said that he estimated that the effect would be limited, indicating that he could only do this much for the Crown Prince."

At the end of the month.

Songshou reported Yin Jishan's reply to Hongli in the study outside Yuqing Palace. Hongli nodded after listening: "It's alright. Instruct him to always keep the country and the people in mind, to be fair in his official duties, to promptly eliminate harm for the people, and to report the actual situation in the local area to the court!"

Hongli said some seemingly worthless platitudes.

But he believes that what is happening in Henan now will make Yin Jishan understand the deeper meaning of his words.

In Kaifeng, Henan, because Yu Hongtu was going south to various prefectures and counties to persuade scholars, he returned to Guide Prefecture with Sheng Mingkun.

However, as soon as the two arrived in Guide Prefecture, they saw many notices posted on the city walls.

Some of the local gentry and commoners outside the city were pointing and whispering about Sheng Mingkun.

Sheng Mingkun was puzzled. After having someone read it, he learned that the post contained his own content, which was about his rape and murder of his aunt.

Sheng Mingkun stood there, stunned.

Who wrote this notice?

"Go and tear it off!"

Yu Hongtu was greatly shocked by this. He first asked about the servants of the Sheng family, and then shouted at the soldiers guarding him.

Before long, the soldiers brought over the notice.

Although Yu Hongtu really wanted to tear down the poster for his friend, his strong curiosity prevented him from taking a look.

Once he started looking, he didn't stop.

The writing of this exposé was so good that he almost didn't want to tear it up.

Sheng Mingkun ignored Yu Hongtu and walked directly into the city. He then saw that red posters were posted in many places in the city, as if the entire Guide Prefecture had blossomed overnight.

He suddenly noticed that there was also a poster on the wall in front of him, and the title contained the eye-catching character "盛" (prosperous)!

(End of this chapter)