My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 21 Sending Grand Secretary Hongli to his Residence
Kangxi asked him to choose an adult uncle to take care of him.

Logically, the adult Hongshi is the most suitable among them.

After all, Hongshi is his elder brother from the same father.

But Hongli could not choose Hongshi, who was close to the eighth and fourteenth princes.

But at the moment, for Hongli, Hongxi is the most suitable choice.

Firstly, Hongxi currently has a good relationship with him. They have a common enemy and are suitable for working together.

Secondly, this would continue to send the wrong signal to the outside world, making them more suspicious of the possibility of the deposed crown prince being reinstated;

Thirdly, he knew that Kangxi himself meant this! He wanted to make it even harder for the outside world to guess his thoughts. Otherwise, he wouldn't have abolished the crown prince while doting even more on Hongxi and Shushen. He didn't say it now because he wanted to test himself.

Kangxi burst into laughter and looked at Hongli with increasing satisfaction.

"Can you remember what I said?"

Kangxi asked another question about this.

Hongli looked up and said with a deliberately innocent look, "I remember every word of Khan Mafa! How dare I forget the teachings of the Holy Prophet?"

"very good!"

Kangxi patted Hongli's shoulder with great joy.

Afterwards, Kangxi ordered someone to call Zhang Tingyu over: "Hengchen!"

"Chen is here!"

"Draft an imperial decree, ordering the emperor's grandsons Hongxi and Hongli to organize famine relief efforts in the capital."

Hongli received the imperial edict soon after.

He knew that the reason why Kangxi chose famine relief as his first task in his apprenticeship in government affairs was because if this matter was not done well, the cost would not be too great.

Because in the Qing Dynasty, the common people were not treated as human beings and their lives were worthless.

The number of people who starved to death is just a number.

Even if he did not do a good job in providing famine relief, it would only result in a few more people starving to death, and the consequences would not be serious.

Of course, if he is good at providing hunger relief, it will naturally be a meritorious deed.

But in general, letting this ten-year-old grandson of the emperor follow the eldest grandson Hongxi to be responsible for famine relief is indeed the least risky thing to do, and it will also provide some experience without too much pressure.

Naturally, Hongli still hoped that he could prevent more refugees from dying of cold and hunger this winter.

Even though these refugees were as worthless as cattle and horses in this era, or even worse than cattle and horses.

After receiving the imperial edict, Hongli went to see Hongxi. To Hongli's surprise, Hongxi actually greeted him personally outside the side door with a smile on his face.

This is because Hongxi also received an imperial edict that asked him to be responsible for famine relief together with Hongli.

As a prince who had also been taught by Kangxi, Hongxi naturally guessed that he had an opportunity to do some work and improve his political achievements. It was undoubtedly Hongli who proposed this to Kangxi.

This made Hongxi, who had been an idle member of the royal family for many years, realize that this was a good opportunity to make Kangxi recognize him again and strive to obtain a title.

Therefore, out of gratitude, Hongxi gave Hongli enough face and chose to go out to greet him.

This kind of reception etiquette is the greatest etiquette except for opening the middle door.

After all, as the elder brother, he should just wait in the hall for Hongli to come. Even if he stood up when Hongli came, it would be considered giving Hongli face.

As for opening the middle gate, Hongxi could only use it when the emperor himself or the prince's men came to visit him.

However, Hongxi seemed to think that personally going out the side door to greet Hongli was not enough. When Hongli came, he personally went down the steps and bowed to Hongli: "Good brother, please accept my respect!"

"Big brother, please don't do this. How can I accept your kindness?"

Hongli quickly supported Hongxi without showing any arrogance.

Because he knew that neither Kangxi nor Yongzheng liked this kind of person. Yinreng was deposed as the crown prince because he was too arrogant and even dared to sleep with his "stepmother". Kangxi also deposed him because of his brutality and arrogance. He was so arrogant that even high-ranking officials and soldiers were affected by him.

The biggest reason why Hongshi was not liked by Yongzheng was not that he was bad, but that he was frivolous.

In history, Emperor Qianlong mentioned that the thing that his father disliked most about the third prince was his frivolity.

Therefore, Hongli was very tactful and stopped Hongxi from being too respectful to himself.

Hongli also knew that Hongxi was so grateful to Hongli now because the crown prince was deposed and he, the former eldest grandson, was about to be forgotten and completely lost his power.

If the crown prince had not been deposed, Hongxi would not be so grateful to him.

Hongxi admired Hongli even more and even felt a little guilty because Hongli treated him, the son of the deposed Crown Prince, with great respect and without any disrespect or rudeness when he was favored by Kangxi.

After all, when he was taught by Kangxi himself and was favored by Kangxi, he was not as mature as Hongli is now. At that time, he was always finding fault with everyone.

After Hongli followed Hongxi into the house, Hongxi immediately ordered his servants, "Bring out the Biluochun tea that I treasure and brew it for the Fourth Prince!"

"Whoo!"

Then, Hongxi said to Hongli: "I really didn't expect that you would think of me."

Hongli smiled. He would not say that he chose you because he guessed what Kangxi and Yongzheng meant. He only said:

"My father and Uncle Thirteen have both told me that my eldest brother is the wisest among all the brothers, so naturally I can only ask him to guide me through the training first."

"I remember the kindness of Fourth Uncle and Thirteenth Uncle."

"I will remember your kindness, brother."

Hongxi took out a house deed that he had prepared long ago from his sleeve and said to Hongli:

"Now that I've started working, it's bound to be hard work. Luckily, I have a house in Li Ge Lao Hutong in the city. It was left by a minister of the former Ming Dynasty. It's very elegant!"

"Now, I will give it to you as a temporary resting place after you come back from work. The servants are ready."

This was something Hongli had not expected. He did not expect that Hongxi would not only make empty promises but also give him direct benefits.

Hongli still declined: "How can this be done?"

"Why are you being so polite, brother? I'm just being considerate. It's freezing cold, and ordinary people are suffering from hunger and cold. But can a noble like you withstand the cold?"

"Besides, my brother is also protecting his talented younger brother for the sake of the Qing Dynasty."

"Unless your brother doesn't really like me."

Hongxi's face turned stern as he spoke.

And he now knows that if he wants to regain power, he can't just rely on empty promises, he needs to give some tangible benefits, so he is very generous and wants to give Hongli a house.

As the former eldest son of the Eastern Palace, Hongxi had many officials fawning over him, so naturally he had a lot of good properties in his hands. It was easy for him to use them to win people's hearts now.

Hongli said, "Since that's the case, I'll accept it to ease your heart."

As he said this, he took the house deed, glanced at it, and put it into his sleeve.

"That's good. When my brother grows up, he will know the benefits of having an outhouse."

Hongxi was in a very good mood, so he chatted with Hongli with a playful look on his face.

Hongli understood what Hongxi meant. It was simply that having a concubine would make it easier for him to keep a mistress without telling his parents and wife.

Of course, Hongli was happy about this because he did not waste his time on Hongxi's cold stove.

After chatting for a while, the two men took the officers and soldiers of Shuntian Prefecture out of the city to check the situation of the starving people outside the city.

As soon as Hongli arrived outside the city, he saw that there were very few people standing on the vast white ground. The hungry people were lying on the ground, some of them were even buried in the snow, with frost on the corners of their eyes.

(End of this chapter)