My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 374 Yongzheng Resolves to Abdicate, Hongli Becomes Emperor!
At this moment, Yongzheng put his hands behind his back and sighed, "I am getting old. Lately, I often feel dizzy and my hands tremble."

Hongli's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this.

But he quickly understood the meaning behind Yongzheng's words, realizing that Yongzheng was putting him to the final test.

Therefore, Hongli decisively cupped his hands and said, "Your subject requests that the Fifth Brother be allowed to return to the capital!"

"After my fifth brother returns to the capital, my fifth brother, eighth brother, and I can all stay by Father's side to care for him and fulfill our filial duties until Father is fully recovered!"

After Hongli said this, Yongzheng turned and left. After a while, he said to Hongli, "Then you should write a secret letter to Hongzhou."

"Whoo!"

Hongli was even more delighted.

He guessed it right!

It seems that Yongzheng now intends to recall Hongzhou at this time so that he and Fuhui can attend to him while he is ill.

Because such a terrifying fiscal revenue of 80 million per year would not only excite Hongli, but also make others excited!

This will make the throne even more alluring.

Everyone knows how great it must have been to be an emperor with such immense power in an era of such vast fiscal revenue!
It's fair to say that many emperors in history would be incredibly envious if they traveled back to this time.

After learning that the annual revenue in the twelfth year of Yongzheng's reign had reached more than 80 million taels of silver, Hongchun said to Hongzheng with great emotion, "With such a high annual revenue, whoever inherits the throne in the future will be even more fortunate than Emperor Wu of Han!"

"What if Hongli still inherits the throne?"

Hongzheng asked him about it with a smile.

Hongchun sighed and said, "Then Hongli is still the person I admire most!"

"Eighty million!"

"During the Kangxi era, when the annual revenue was 40 million, how many great things did Khanmafa accomplish? You know that."

"Now that Fourth Uncle has implemented such strict measures, bringing the annual revenue to such a scale, it is undoubtedly certain that the next emperor will have a more comfortable reign!"

Hongchun stretched out his thumb and forefinger and gestured towards Hongzheng.

Hongzheng nodded as well.

Hongxi, knowing about this year's income, didn't sleep a wink all night.

Even when Hongsheng and Hongjiao came to see him, he took the initiative to ask them, "Do you think there might really be another possibility for the throne?"

"It's hard to tell!"

Hongsheng replied.

Hongxi smiled and said, "Eighty million in annual revenue! Anyone who became emperor would be a benevolent ruler that the world will remember for a long time!"

"My fourth uncle often visits our Prince's Mansion to see my father. He talks to my father about many things that he doesn't tell outsiders. I try my best to find out, and I'll tell you, my eldest brother, as soon as I find out anything!"

Hongjiao then volunteered.

Hongxi was overjoyed upon hearing this.

Hongsheng also laughed and said, "That's great!"

"Actually, my fourth uncle might have other ideas, because he has said to my father many times that among all his nephews, the most virtuous one is you, eldest brother! He also said that only you do things in a way that suits his wishes the most."

"My father also chimed in, saying that my second uncle was able to regain his position as crown prince because you, eldest brother, were valued by the late emperor."

Hongjiao then continued speaking, and even took the initiative to reveal some of the private conversations between his father, the thirteenth prince, and Yongzheng to Hongxi.

"Perhaps, the throne really will return to the late emperor's direct line!"

Upon hearing this, Hongsheng became excited and said the following.

Hongxi, however, still retained some rationality and quickly waved his hand, saying, "Let's stop here!"

But he couldn't help but clap his hands and raise his eyebrows, saying, "Some things shouldn't be taken too seriously."

“That’s true. I know a Taoist priest who’s incredibly accurate with his calculations. Why don’t we have him do it?”

Hongsheng then made a suggestion.

Hongxi nodded: "Then let's try it first and see if he's accurate!"

Often, the most sophisticated tactics are employed using the simplest methods.

Although Hongxi still harbored aspirations for the throne, the only thing he was ultimately willing to let his supporters do was to have a Taoist priest perform a divination for him.

However, what Hongchun and Hongxi, these members of the imperial clan, did not expect was that Hongzhou suddenly returned to the capital in February of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng's reign and stopped investigating and collecting customs duties in the south.

Immediately afterwards, Yongzheng issued an edict ordering Hongli, Hongzhou, and Fuhui to move into the Yuanmingyuan Garden and take turns attending to him when he was ill.

Because Yongzheng felt that his health was still not very good.

"Hongzhou's sudden arrival in the capital, and his presence alongside Hongli and Fuhui in attending to the ailing princes, prevents the three princes from having any contact with officials from outside the capital!"

After learning about this, Hongzheng analyzed for Hongchun the purpose of Yongzheng's actions.

Hongchun nodded with a look of surprise: "That's right, this makes it impossible for outsiders to contact the princes for the time being."

Upon learning of this, Hongxi was extremely anxious, like an ant on a hot pan. He took the initiative to send someone to invite Hongjiao over and asked, "Has the Emperor told Uncle Thirteen why he suddenly only summoned three older princes to attend to him during his illness?"

"They did tell me, but only that it was to ensure an orderly succession to the throne!"

Hongjiao nodded in reply.

"How can we say that the inheritance is orderly?"

Hongxi muttered to himself. At that moment...

Wang Tingcheng then reminded him, "Your Highness, what is certain at the moment is that this is to prevent the princes and ministers from colluding with the older princes in the event that the emperor is ill in his later years and an accident may occur at any time, thereby affecting the future emperor's rule."

"After all, His Majesty himself suffered from this loss. Now, to prevent the older princes from doing anything foolish with the princes and ministers at the last moment, we must first prevent them from having any private contact with the princes and ministers!"

Wang Tingcheng then added, "But no matter how you look at it, this is good news for His Highness!"

"If His Majesty truly intends to select someone from among his nephews, then he will naturally first ensure that the princes do not associate with the ministers."

"Makes sense!"

"That makes perfect sense!"

Hongxi nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and couldn't help but rub his hands together.

After Emperor Yongzheng issued this decree, Hongli, Hongzhou, and Fuhui moved into the three rooms on the left side of the Hall of Mental Cultivation and served Emperor Yongzheng day and night.

In fact, since the autumn of the eleventh year of Yongzheng's reign, Hongli had rarely had contact with ministers outside the court.

However, it is worth mentioning that on February 14th of the twelfth year of Yongzheng's reign, Yongzheng, just like in the original history, suddenly designated Hui-fa-na-la clan member as Hongli's secondary consort.

On the eighth day of the eleventh month of the same year, Hongli and Huifa Nara got married.

Hongli knew that Yongzheng's sudden assignment of another concubine to him was essentially an attempt to give him a representative of the maternal relatives in the lower five banners of the Manchu Eight Banners.

Because Hui-fa-na-la was a candidate for the imperial concubine selection from the Lower Five Banners.

However, because the Hui-fa-na-la clan was not prominent, many people had not yet guessed much of Yongzheng's thoughts.

Many people only noticed that Hongli, Hongzhou, and Fuhui began to attend to the ailing Emperor Yongzheng day and night in February of the thirteenth year of his reign.

This has made many people with ulterior motives uneasy.

However, after the thirteenth year of Yongzheng's reign, his illness did indeed begin to worsen.

Because the Miao situation was getting worse and worse, the effect of Yongzheng's policy of replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials was far from ideal.

In July of the twelfth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, an incident occurred in which Bao Li, a native of Liping, went to Guzhou, the heart of Miao territory, and used the slogan "The birth of the Miao King" to create anti-Qing public opinion.

In February of the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, the Miao people of Bamei, Gaobiao and other villages in the Guzhou area rose up in rebellion due to the officials' excessive collection of taxes and grain. Bao Li took the opportunity to gather more than 20,000 Miao people and besieged Wangling Xun, north of Guzhou City, on the 26th. Although they were defeated by Yan Xun, the general of Guzhou, Bao Li gathered the remaining people and moved north to the Qingjiang and Taigong areas, and his army grew to more than 20,000 people again.

Ortai even resigned his countship because of this, saying that he was not worthy of the merit of pacifying the Miao people.

Emperor Yongzheng himself was also very frustrated.

He never expected that the "reform of local chieftains and the replacement of local officials with centrally appointed officials" would lead to a series of Miao rebellions, which were growing larger and larger, and showed a trend of rebellion after suppression.

However, as an observer, Hongli was actually very clear about the situation.

However, now that he is the crown prince, it is not appropriate for him to get involved in actual politics, let alone question the ministers trusted by Yongzheng at this time.

However, in Hongli's view, the reform of replacing native chieftains with centrally appointed officials had essentially become a case of bureaucrats over-implementing the reform!

Officials in charge of Miao affairs, especially those from the Eight Banners, deliberately levied exorbitant taxes, exacerbating ethnic tensions. Instead of following Emperor Yongzheng's plan after the abolition of the hereditary chieftain system, they failed to utilize the power of the government to spread advanced agricultural productivity among the Han people and organize manpower to build water conservancy projects.

This meant that the reform of replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials failed to bring about the benefits of centralized power; instead, it exacerbated the drawbacks of centralized power in the context of a multi-ethnic society.

One day in March of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng's reign, Hongli had just accompanied Yongzheng out of the palace to pray for a good harvest in the southern suburbs when a commoner suddenly rushed in from outside the curtain, knocking aside the guards and charging toward Yongzheng's imperial carriage.

"Escort!"

Su Peisheng, who was outside, was the first to react and shouted.

Before long, the guards of the Imperial Guard also realized what was happening.

Before long, the civilian was pinned to the ground by the guards who had reacted. He struggled incessantly, baring his teeth at Yongzheng and saying things that the people around him couldn't understand.

After Ortai ran over, he understood what he was saying.

Because these people speak the Miao language.

However, Ortai's expression changed drastically. He knelt directly before Yongzheng, prostrated himself, and cried, "This servant is guilty! I failed to resolve the Miao matter properly, which led the Miao people to plot against my master!"

Emperor Yongzheng's face darkened as well.

However, Yongzheng did not say much, only saying, "Get up first. We'll discuss this matter after the Prayer for Grain ceremony is completed! Detain this person who attempted to assassinate the emperor for now in the Shenxing Division!"

"Whoo!"

After answering with a sob in his voice, Ortai stood up and returned to his original position.

At this moment, Hongchun, who was among the princes and ministers in the court, couldn't help but grin, glanced at Hongli, and then gave a cold smile.

Hongli was also somewhat dumbfounded at this moment.

He didn't know whether it was the 80 million taels of revenue that made the Qing throne more tempting, or the Yongzheng reforms that made the opponents more dissatisfied, or a combination of both that led to the regicide.

Although, this act of regicide was essentially just a scare tactic.

In the Qing Dynasty, successfully assassinating the emperor was extremely difficult, practically impossible.

Even during the Ming Dynasty, setting aside conspiracies, many events were simply acts of intimidation, such as the incident during the Wanli Emperor's reign where someone stormed the Eastern Palace with a stick.

However, this intimidation also indicates that the desire to seize power and the dissatisfaction with reforms are intensifying.

This made Emperor Yongzheng very unhappy.

After suppressing his anger and completing the Prayer for Grain ceremony, he went to the Yuanmingyuan Garden and secretly summoned Yunxiang, Yunli, Yunlu, Zhang Tingyu, and Ortai there.

As soon as these people arrived at the Yuanmingyuan, Yongzheng said, "My mind is made up. I hereby order the abdication of the throne and allow the Crown Prince to ascend the throne ahead of schedule!"

(End of this chapter)