My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 18: Raising the Serious Issue of Annexation to Kangxi

"When Daiyu heard these words, she was struck by thunder and lightning. After careful consideration, she found them more sincere than what she had said from the bottom of her heart. She had a thousand words to say..."

On a bright autumn afternoon, golden light shone on the clamshell window, and the sparse shadows of the bamboo outside slanted across Hongli's back.

He was concentrating on telling Princess Shushen about "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Princess Shushen also listened attentively, with a look of fascination on her face.

Only when she noticed that the Ding kiln cup beside Hongli was almost empty did Princess Shushen look up and wink at the official woman beside her.

Therefore, Hongli did not really follow the wishes of Concubine De and the Fourteenth Prince to make Princess Shushen hate living in Changchun Garden and then ask to leave on her own initiative, nor did he instigate Kangxi to let Princess Shushen leave.

Hongli only followed Yongzheng's wishes and let Princess Shushen stay here with him more at ease.

Of course, Hongli did not delay his studies in Changchun Garden.

Whether it is learning to handle government affairs or learning riding and archery.

He was conscientiously completing the tasks assigned to him by Kangxi.

"For provinces that do not use military forces, all practices of recommending and appointing officials should be stopped."

Xunjianzhai.

Hongli was silently reading a memorial from Jin Lun, the Left Vice-Chief Censor of the Censorate. After reading it, he analyzed his views to Kangxi and said:
"Han Mafa, according to this memorial, there have been too many governors and prefects recommended for appointment lately, but initially they were limited to prefecture and county officials, and commanders of the thousand-man army. Now, even provincial governors and deputy provincial governors have been recommended for appointment!"

"But the local government, after all, is involved in military affairs, so it is appropriate to follow the relevant authorities' discretion. In addition, in my humble opinion, as long as the local procedures are reasonable, the Ministry of Personnel should not interfere in the affairs of an existing local government and should not replace local talents."

"It's progressing rapidly, and is almost identical to what I approved."

As Kangxi spoke, he uncovered his own red-ink comments.

Hongli smiled.

then.

Hongli looked at a memorial submitted by Zhao Hongxie, the former governor of Zhili.

"According to my subordinates' reports, I personally went to inspect the crops and consulted the people nearby. They all said that the harvest in the upper fields was 10%, and in the middle fields it varied from 70%, 80%, to 90%.

"In the current market, wheat is only selling for 4.23 cents per shi, and barley is selling for 2.45 cents per shi. The price of rice is currently 7.3 cents per shi for high-quality rice, and 6.78 cents per shi for medium-quality rice..."

After reading the memorial, Hongli looked at Kangxi and said, "Is it just approved? But is the grain price really that cheap?"

"This kind of memorial should be boldly questioned for exaggeration."

"Your governance skills have improved by leaps and bounds, which has truly surprised Khan Mafa."

Kangxi said with a smile.

Afterwards, Kangxi solemnly said to Hongli, "But many times, we cannot just look for problems in memorials and documents, we have to look for them at the grassroots level."

“What you learn from books is always shallow, but you must practice it yourself to know it.”

"Hongli, do you want to go to the market with Khanmafa?"

to this end.

After Kangxi sighed, he asked about Hongli.

Hongli knew that Kangxi, seeing his great progress in analyzing written materials, wanted to take him to the people to practice his ability to conduct on-the-spot investigations of various social classes. He said, "Of course I will."

then.

The next morning, Kangxi took Hongli out of Changchun Garden in disguise.

From beginning to end, Hongli never took the initiative to tell Kangxi that he kicked Yinshuang at Defei's place.

Because Kangxi did not ask him about this matter.

He believed that since Kangxi, who was well-informed, did not ask him about this matter, it meant that he did not want to know, at least not from him.

Therefore, Hongli did not make himself unhappy.

After Hongli and Kangxi drove out of the north gate of Changchun Garden, they headed west, passed the Blacksmith Silver and Gun Factory Hutong, then turned right and headed north to the Huguo Temple.

Since the 20th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, when merchants from outside the city were allowed to come to this area to conduct business and set up stalls, this place has been densely populated with shops and stalls.

Hongli hadn't arrived yet when he heard voices and shouts like boiling water.

Soon, he saw that on the streets where cars and horses were crowded and people were lined up one after another, many people in coarse cloth and short clothes appeared, walking back and forth in an endless stream, flowing like a river.

The occasional sounds of gongs and cannons made people tremble with fear.

There were gambling houses, opium dens, brothels, teahouses, stalls, fortune-telling booths, and circuses with the sound of gongs, which were all too numerous to be seen.

"Freshly steamed taro and freshly fried melon seeds, come and have a try, everyone."

"Elm seed cakes, pine yellow cakes, mixed fruit cakes, fried rice cakes, flower cakes, all kinds of cakes, all on sale at low prices." "Wanchun incense, hibiscus incense, ambergris, jade flower incense, gauze hat incense, everyone come and take a look at the new incense. After using my incense, some sons have passed the imperial examinations and some daughters have been granted imperial titles!"

……

Soon, clearer hawking sounds began to fill Hongli's ears.

The entire street seemed like two completely different worlds from the Forbidden City Gardens, which were not far away.

But Hongli discovered that Kangxi was extremely familiar with the area. After getting off the car, he took him for a walk through the streets and alleys. He visited many rice and cloth shops, asked about the prices, and bought some.

However, when Hongli got out of the car, he smelled an even more pungent smell.

This made him pinch his nose.

He knew that in the capital of the Qing Dynasty, urinating and defecating in public was common, and there was no public health management system. Even if residents and vendors would get up early to clean the front of their homes, there would still be a bad smell.

It’s actually not that bad now because it’s a sunny day. If it rains, it is said that the entire inner and outer city will be like an uncleaned pigsty.

Kangxi also frowned here, but he was used to it, so he didn't show too much anger. Instead, he took Hongli into a noodle shop and ordered two bowls of noodles with soybean paste. Then he smiled and asked Hongli:
"Did the smoke hit you?"

Hongli nodded.

“This is the market!”

"As soon as you set foot here, you will understand how bad the living conditions are for ordinary people."

Kangxi said with a smile.

Hongli nodded.

After a while, the noodles were ready, and Hongli and Kangxi started eating them with big mouthfuls.

For Hongli, it just felt particularly delicious at the moment.

After all, he had been eating delicacies from land and sea in the palace for a long time, so suddenly trying the food in the market felt very different.

Hongli discovered that Kangxi also thought the noodles were delicious, so he kept picking noodles with his chopsticks.

But suddenly, a group of officers came in carrying a skinny, pale-skinned man, and following behind them was a man in mourning.

"Mr. Zhong, someone died after eating at your noodle shop, and the victim has come to the county government office. Your Excellency wants to know for sure: do you want to settle the matter privately with the ward head at the Shenming Pavilion, or do you want to go to court?"

"Give me something!"

At this time, the owner of this noodle shop came over and bowed:

"Privately, privately."

The officer didn't insist after hearing this, and simply said, "Then remember to invite your general to the county government office!"

The boss quickly agreed.

As Hongli was leaving the noodle shop, he said to Kangxi, "Khanmafa, is he blackmailing the owner?"

"That's right. The unruly people colluded with the yamen runners to extort some money from the shop owner. So, Hongli, you must remember to be compassionate to the people as a whole, but be wary of them individually."

"Especially the people in the capital. Those who can survive in the capital are not simple people."

Kangxi spoke to Hongli earnestly.

Hongli nodded after hearing this, and then continued: "If that's the case, then the owner of this shop is no ordinary person, otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep his shop in this capital."

Kangxi smiled and nodded: "Say what you want to say, it doesn't matter if you say it wrong."

Hongli added, "But the fact that these yamen runners are colluding with local thugs to extort the shop owner only shows that they are truly short of money. They can no longer squeeze much out of the common people, so they have to plunder the merchants. Even though these merchants may have already given benefits to the local officials, they still come to extort money every now and then."

"Khanmafa, can I infer from this that annexation has intensified significantly in the capital area, and that the gap between the rich and the poor has reached a point where it threatens the stability of the country?"

Hongli simply spoke out what was in his mind.

Kangxi's face darkened after hearing this, but he nodded and said to Hongli with a smile: "It is good to see the big picture from the small details. Our Hongli is indeed a promising talent!"

Kangxi was really happy.

Because he had already decided in his heart who to choose as his successor, he was very willing to see Hongli's keen understanding of the current situation in the world.

"You guessed right. The time has come for the Qing Dynasty to rectify its annexation."

"But you, Khanma Pharaoh, are old and your energy is running low. The people you trust are also old and gone."

"So, we can only rely on you, the later generations."

Kangxi said this quite meaningfully, then smiled and said:
"Come on, I'll take you to visit a great scholar. His knowledge is beyond doubt. More importantly, it was these Han gentry who helped us conquer this land, so we can't ignore them."

(End of this chapter)