Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 23 The Fugitive Slave of the Xu Family
On the fourth day of October in the 48th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, Daying at Gaoling Station (near Gaoling Town, Huludao today), where the emperor stayed.

More than four months ago, the 72-year-old Emperor Qianlong started his fourth east tour to Shengjing, which was also the last east tour in his life.

Because Qianlong's Wensu Pavilion, which was built for Shengjing a few years ago, has been completed, this time he needs to come to Shengjing to celebrate and show his ancestors his achievements in Wenzhi.

Different from the previous east tour, this time Qianlong started from the Yuanmingyuan, and stopped at the Summer Resort first.Because of the hot weather, there are many people, vehicles, horses, and luggage, making it inconvenient to walk.Therefore, it was not until the [-]th day of the eighth lunar month that after joining the Mongol princes of the Zhuosuotu tribe who came to Chengde, did they start their journey to Shengjing again.

At the same time, he also ordered Prince Yi Yong Lang to carry jade books and jade treasures (actually called posthumous treasures and posthumous books, which were made by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty when he was the emperor of the previous generation and the posthumous title. Customized in the Qing Dynasty: All emperors respectfully examine the posthumous title of the concubine and the name of the temple, and the Ministry of Industry will make jade albums and jade treasures, plus the posthumous titles of saints and queens, and will remake the jade album and change the jade treasure. After the officials sent by the Ministry of Industry bowed down at the Taimiao Temple, they departed from Beijing on August [-] and met in Changjiatun on September [-].

In the emperor's tent, a minister with a handsome face, wearing an official hat with flowers and feathers on his head, and wearing a court uniform was reciting the decree prepared by the military aircraft office.

"Sa Zai and Min Eyuan played five criminals including Deng Er and others who were jailed by the Inspectorate of Jiangsu Province. They escaped together on August 29 and captured them on the third day of September. It has been declared that they are going to be executed. The details are on the record. It belongs to Su Song, the Inspectorate. Qin Xuepu of the Grain Storage Road asked the Ministry of Communications to strictly discuss and deal with it..."

In the middle of the large tent, sat an old man in a maroon-colored lake silk padded gown.This person's hair was already grey, but judging from his complexion and appearance, it was well maintained, and he looked no more than 50 years old.

He was the 72-year-old Qing emperor, Qianlong.

Qianlong quietly listened to He Shen, who was standing below, reciting the prepared imperial decree, and nodded slightly before saying, "This Qin Xuepu has really failed my promotion to him. Let Sa Zai and Min Eyuan conduct a thorough investigation. Other matters of love and abuse will be made separately. You will make up your will according to my intention."

"Hey, the servant obeys the decree." He Shen, who had finished reciting the decree, and Fu Kangan, who was standing beside him, both kowtowed and led the decree.

"Excuse me."

"Hey. The slave thank the master."

After saying this, Qianlong frowned again and said to Fukang'an: "I received a report from Li Fenghan (the Governor of Jiangnan River) today that the copper ship transported from Yunnan to the capital had sunk in Jiangning. Fukangan, You were the governor of Yungui, what happened to this copper ship?"

At this time, Fukang'an was only 29 years old. Since the 36th year of Qianlong, he assisted Agui in fighting the chaos in Jinchuan and Dajinchuan, and served as the governor of Sichuan in the 46th year of Qianlong. He already has the title of "famous general".

He successively served as Minister of the Household Department, Deputy Commander of the Yellow Banner of Manchuria, Minister of Internal Affairs, General of Jilin, General of Shengjing, Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Governor of Sichuan and General of Chengdu.In the 47th year of Qianlong, because of his meritorious service in arresting bandits in Sichuan, he was promoted to the imperial minister and added to the crown prince and Taibao.

This year, he was ordered to return to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Science and Technology. In May, he was awarded the title of Minister Luan Yiwei, Minister of Military Parade, and General Manager of Jianrui Camp affairs. He accompanied him to Shengjing.

Fukangan, who was standing opposite Heshen, heard the emperor talking to him, and knelt down quickly.

"Exemption."

Fukangan immediately got up and replied: "Back to the master, the copper and lead things shipped from Yunnan and Guizhou to the capital have always been built in Chongqing separately, and sailors are hired. After they are unloaded, the ships are dismantled and sold."

Qianlong said: "Is there such a thing?"

Fukangan replied: "When the slaves were in Sichuan and Yunnan before, they sent people to inquire about this matter. The previous local committee members who were responsible for this matter did the same. There is a lot of copper and lead in each ship, so it is necessary to The only way is to thicken the plates of the hull, so every time a new boat is built.

The minions thought that there were originally many large ships in the ship that shipped goods in Sichuan, and many of them were solid and usable.In the future, you only need to choose a solid and durable cargo ship, and hire the ship and related boatmen according to the market price. There is really no need to manufacture it separately. "

The opposite Heshen glanced at Fukangan and said nothing, but Fukangan didn't realize it.

"New ships are built every year, and then dismantled and sold after unloading copper..." Qianlong was silent.He knew that there must be many evils here, but at this time, corruption in officialdom has become the norm.

But he can't say this yet, otherwise how can he be worthy of the "prosperous world" advertised by himself and his courtiers?
After Qianlong's later years, he wanted to create a prosperous world, but at the same time he became very slack in politics.Especially after Yong Yan, the fifteenth son of the emperor, was established as the crown prince in November of the 38th year of Qianlong, he no longer set up a big prison to kill people because of corruption like he did when he was young.In many cases, he can only order the local governor to strictly handle the officials in the instructions of the memorial.

In the case of Jiangsu Deng Er and other five prisoners who escaped from the prison mentioned earlier, five robbery felons were able to escape from the heavily guarded prison.Simply ridiculous.

And the sinking of the Yunnan copper ship that he just asked about is a national event related to the casting of money.The amount of copper and lead on the ship Jiangning drowned in this time was as high as [-] catties. Qianlong himself would not believe it if he said there was no fraud.But at this moment, he just asked Sa Zai, the governor of the two rivers, and Li Fenghan, the governor of the river, to quickly find a way to salvage them.

Thinking of this, Qianlong asked Heshen again: "Heshen, you are in charge of the household department. How much copper is shipped from Japan in Qing Dynasty every year?"

He Shen replied: "Master, as far as I know, my Qing Dynasty imports about 200 million catties of refined copper from Japan every year."

Qianlong nodded slowly, and habitually stretched out his right hand. The eunuch on the side quickly handed a cup of warm human milk to Qianlong's hand.Qianlong took a sip and said slowly: "Although the annual output of copper in Yunnan has exceeded [-] million catties, the copper imported by Japan every year is still important to me in Qing Dynasty, and we must ensure the purchase quantity."

Heshen suddenly remembered something at this time, and knelt down and said: "Master, the servant received a report from the Korean envoy from the Court of Lifan today, saying that the volcanic eruption in the eastern part of Japan is very serious, and I am afraid it will affect the Japanese copper. transaction.”

Qianlong nodded slightly: "Well. I know. You go down and prepare a statement to submit. Since I ascended the Dabao, I have always strictly prohibited the sale of rice to foreign countries, and ordered the governors of various provinces to inspect all the important points."

"Hey." After the two kowtowed, they got up and exited the tent.

Qianlong looked up at the two ministers who had left, and smiled with satisfaction.But when he saw the ensemble of memorials on the table, he sighed indistinctly, picked up the pen, and began to give instructions.

After saying goodbye to Fukangan, Heshen returned to his residence.

At this time, Heshen was deeply trusted by Qianlong, so he held many positions, which made others sigh.In addition to managing the tax customs at Chongwenmen in the capital, acting as the secretary of the Ministry of War, managing the three treasuries of the Ministry of Households, and the minister of the Court of Lifans, Heshen, the vice president of the National History Museum and the minister of Wenyuan Pavilion, is the most important to follow Qianlong's eastern tour this time. The task is to send the compiled "Quanshu of the Siku" to the Wensu Pavilion in Shengjing for storage, which is also one of the celebration activities of this Eastern Tour.

The 32-year-old He Shen is tall and thin, with a delicate mustache on his lips, and a very delicate and handsome face.If you change your clothes and walk on the street, those who don't know you will think that you are a scholar.

After entering the house, the accompanying servants came up and took the hat he just took off.

"I'll write a letter, and you'll send it back to the mansion in person overnight and give it to your father." He Shen instructed his servants.

"Hey." Liu Yin, the eldest son of the housekeeper Liu Quan, took the hat and put it on the hat rack, and immediately responded.

Liu Quan, He Shen's housekeeper, nicknamed Liu Bald.After the death of Heshen's father, Changbao, Liu Quan once protected nine-year-old Heshen and six-year-old Helin, accompanied them, and borrowed money to live everywhere.It wasn't until Heshen was 15 years old that he could stand on his own as the head of the family, that Liu Quan became the housekeeper of Hefu.And He Shen has always regarded Liu Quan as his own relatives, and never called him a housekeeper.

Liu Yin did not ask what was the matter.Since the master asked to send a letter to his father, there must be something important.

He Shen did not explain to Liu Yin, washed his face, and came to the front of the book to write a letter.Soon, the letter was written, and Heshen put the letter in the envelope and affixed it with varnish.After waiting for a while for the varnish to dry, it was handed over to Liu Yin.

"Master, do you have any other orders?" Liu Yin asked in a low voice after receiving the letter.

"Just tell him that what I said in the letter, let him ask Mr. Izumi first."

This Mr. Quanzhi is Wu Xinglan, the former teacher of Heshen, whose word is Quanzhi.Together with his elder brother Wu Shengqin, he served as a teacher in Xian'an Palace.Both of these brothers later took refuge in Heshen, of which Wu Xinglan was the most shameless.

The reason why Heshen asked Liu Yin to send a letter to his father Liu Quan was because he was worried that the matter of the copper cargo ship in Yunnan had something to do with Liu Quan.He remembered that Liu Quan had once mentioned to him that he wanted to intervene, but he didn't take it too seriously, so he agreed.

This time, the copper ship had an accident in Jiangning, and more than 9 jin of copper fell into the water. This is not a trivial matter.If Qian Feng, who is in charge of the supervisory censor of Jiangnan Road, finds out that Liu Quan has been involved in it, it will be troublesome.

Heshen did not intervene in the interests of Yunnan Copper Mine, but he intervened in the shipping business of Japanese copper mines.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the traditional copper mines left over from the Ming Dynasty had been exploited. At that time, the copper mines in Yunnan were still in the initial development stage.The severe copper crisis caused the Qing government to be overwhelmed, and the copper mines in Yunnan were scattered deep in the mountains, making transportation very difficult; even if the entire province of Yunnan was exhausted, it could only transport 300 million jin of copper a year.In addition, the fineness of Yunnan copper in the early stage of mining was insufficient, so since the seventh year of Yongzheng, Jiangsu began to purchase copper produced in Japan.

At this time, a merchant ship set off from Zhejiang to Nagasaki, and it took only fifteen days.Each copper ship can carry 17 catties of copper, so sailing twice a year, the transport volume of 200 copper ships exceeds the quantity of copper from Yunnan to Beijing.By the end of the [-]th century, there were as many as [-] merchant ships coming to Nagasaki Port to sell copper every year, and there were nearly [-] Chinese merchants engaged in copper-selling business in Nagasaki.

The loss of a large amount of copper in the island country has made the copper price of the island country under the shogunate upside down.

So since 300 (the fifth year of Zhengde), the Tokugawa shogunate implemented the "New Order of Zhengde".It is stipulated that the number of Qing Dynasty ships entering Nagasaki for trading is limited to [-] ships each year.Those who are allowed to enter Hong Kong for trade are limited to those merchants who hold the "letter card" issued by the shogunate, and the annual trade volume is limited to [-] guan of silver and [-] million catties of copper.

In order to accumulate capital for the struggle against the other three factions in the DPRK (the military attachés headed by A Gui, the censors headed by Liu Yong, and the opposition headed by Qian Feng), Heshen wanted to intervene in various trades in Jiangnan, and secretly demanded the great powers of Jiangnan. Merchants must pay Heshen a fee.If they do not comply, they will send people to disguise themselves as robbers, raid their homes and destroy their homes, and no one in Jiangnan dares to obey.

Therefore, in the matter of selling copper in Japan, Heshen stepped in severely.

It was still early, and He Shen thought for a while, then returned to the back room, and asked the servants to serve and change into court clothes and hats.He had to go to the emperor's side to serve.In the more than a year since he returned from Gansu, Qianlong became more and more fond of him, and always asked him to accompany him to serve.

When He Shen arrived outside Qianlong's tent, he saw the eunuch in charge come over.

"And your lord, the emperor is looking for you."

Heshen hurriedly entered the tent, came to the emperor, was about to kowtow, but heard Qianlong say: "Heshen is exempted from the ceremony."

"Thank you for the master." He Shen looked up and saw Qianlong holding a memorial in his hand with a hesitant expression on his face.

"Master, is there something bothering you?"

"The book that Qinggui handed you over, take a look."

Heshen heard the words, and immediately bowed forward, took the book from the eunuch's hands with both hands, and opened it to watch.

This is a document jointly sent by Jilin general Qinggui (son of Yin Jishan) and Ningguta deputy capital Tong Anlin to plead guilty. Zi and the others escaped one after another, and at the same time, the two had sent troops to arrest them.

He Shen saw two names from the bottom of the list of fugitives: Xu Shounan and Xu Funan.

This is?He Shen's eyes focused on the name, and he recalled it carefully. In a moment, like a flash of lightning, a name appeared in his mind.

No wonder Qianlong was unhappy, it turned out to be these two people.

However, in Heshen's memory, the two brothers were three years old and one year old when they were distributed. Five years later, they are now only eight and six year old children.

How on earth did they escape?There must be a hidden secret in it, or maybe someone should cooperate with the inside and the outside.

After trying to understand the joints, He Shen returned the memorial to the eunuch.Immediately he said, "Master, this servant thinks there is no need to worry about this matter."

"Huh? How do you say it?" Qianlong asked curiously when he saw Heshen say this.

"The slave thinks that the two sons of the rebels are only eight years old, and the youngest is only six years old. Even if someone responded before the incident, how far can they run with two children? And Ning Guta was originally The bitter cold land is nearly ten thousand miles away from the capital. Those adults who are exiled here are still hard to bear in winter, let alone two children? I won't be able to survive this winter. Therefore, the master only needs to order Qinggui and Alin to send troops to guard the road and arrest them."

After listening to Heshen's remarks, Qianlong's expression turned a little dark. In fact, what he was most worried about was that someone should cooperate with each other and rescue the two sons of the Xu family.The mastermind behind it was what Qianlong cared about most.

Thinking of this, Qianlong had no choice but to put this matter aside, and later he would draw up a decree for Qinggui, ordering him to arrest and interrogate the relevant people.

Without mentioning the troubles, Qianlong immediately raised his brows and said to Heshen, "Tell me, how are the arrangements for the Southern Tour next year?"

(End of this chapter)