My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 26: Yongzheng Grants Ten Thousand Acres of Good Farmland

Chaoyang Tower.

When Hongli arrived here in high spirits, he saw Hongxi and a scholar in elegant clothes waiting for him here.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, big brother."

Hongli therefore bowed and expressed his apology.

Hongxi took Hongli's arm with one hand, put the other hand behind his back, and led him upstairs, saying, "Between brothers, there's no need for any empty formalities."

Then Hongxi asked Hongli, "How are the servants in the house I gave you? Are they doing a good job serving people?"

"Thanks to my elder brother, they take good care of my younger brother."

Hongli replied with a smile.

Hong Xi also laughed evilly after hearing this: "When you need to leave the house, they will serve you more comfortably!"

Hongli knew what Hongxi meant.

But now he could only pretend to be confused and frown deliberately.

Hongxi stopped teasing Hongli and pointed to the scholar beside him: "He is Wang Yiqing, the eldest son of the Wang family, also known by his courtesy name Youfen. He is currently a Hanlin scholar. He and I have always been close friends. I would like to introduce him to you."

"I've long heard that the Fourth Prince is intelligent. Seeing him today, I find him truly handsome and truly worthy of being a descendant of the royal family."

Wang Yiqing then paid great respects to Hongli and flattered him at the same time.

Hongli smiled and helped Wang Yiqing up: "Since you are my good friend, you are also my friend. There is no need to be so polite."

Afterwards, Hongli went upstairs with Hongxi and Wang Yiqing to a private room with unique decoration.

After entering the private room and taking a seat, Hongli heard melodious music coming from the carved red windows opposite his seat, and from time to time he saw graceful dancing accompanied by a row of beauties.

At this moment, Hongxi said to Hongli, "Hongli, you don't know that this Chaoyang Tower was owned by Youfen's family during the Wanli Dynasty. His ancestor was a Grand Secretary and even the Prime Minister during the Wanli Dynasty. It is precisely because of this that we can enjoy the food here today. If it were someone else, even if they had to pay several times the original price, they would have to wait until next month."

Hongli nodded after hearing this.

These days, he also got to know some important officials of the Qing Dynasty and knew that the Wang Ge Lao mentioned by Hongli was Wang Fan, a descendant of Wang Xijue, the chief minister of the Wanli Dynasty.

From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, several generations of scholars.

At this time, he also saw that there were indeed many calligraphy works by famous Ming Dynasty scholars, such as Shen Yikuan and Ye Xianggao, on the surrounding walls.

From this, Hongli couldn't help but sigh in his heart that, as expected, the change of dynasties had little impact on the landlords.

Before and after the change of dynasties, the rich and powerful are still the same group of people.

In any case, for Hongli now, his trip to Chaoyang Tower was not in vain.

The music and dancing alone are very memorable, not to mention the delicious food that was served afterwards, which really made Hongli admit that there was a reason why it was passed down from the Wanli Dynasty to the Kangxi Dynasty. It was really memorable and had a different flavor from the Shandong cuisine he had eaten at the Yongwang Mansion's wife's house.

What made Hongli feel more at ease while enjoying the food was that although the hungry people outside the city might never know what the delicacies in Chaoyang Tower tasted like, they could now have a bowl of hot porridge to drink for the time being.

Yu Deli made up for the grain withheld by Shuntian Prefecture.

After Hongli and Hongxi finished their dinner in Chaoyang Tower, they continued to focus on distributing food and cooking porridge, without making any mistakes in the entire hunger relief process.

The elderly living outside the city have discovered that there is more food to cook porridge than in previous years, and there are more hungry people queuing up to get porridge than in previous years.

Shuntian Prefecture Governor Yu Huapeng himself discovered this phenomenon while assisting in famine relief, and burst into tears: "The Fourth Prince is indeed extraordinary!"

Kangxi also approved the reform measures proposed by Hongli and Hongxi.

For Kangxi, he just didn't want to make trouble anymore, but that didn't mean he would not allow his descendants to make trouble.

Especially when allowing his grandchildren to gain practical political experience, he would encourage them to try new methods in order to achieve deeper experience.

Moreover, Kangxi was also paying attention to his grandson's experience in practical politics.

For this purpose, Kangxi secretly summoned Shuntian Prefecture Governor Yu Huapeng that night.

"How are Hongxi and Hongli doing with the famine relief?"

Kangxi asked Yu Huapeng about this with a smile.

Yu Huapeng bowed and said, "Your Majesty, both princes are dedicated and capable, and are truly admirable. This is especially true of the Fourth Prince. Shuntian Prefecture Governor Yu Deli and his companions attempted to exploit his youth and inexperience by giving him the account book that showed the embezzled grain for famine relief, and had him sign it, making him believe that there were indeed 20,000 dan of grain. However, the Fourth Prince was not deceived and instead quickly calculated the shortfall in the account book, forcing Yu Deli to replenish the grain supply."

"Really?" Kangxi was overjoyed to hear that his grandson had not been successfully cheated by the officials.

Because he was very familiar with the situation in the officialdom, he was so accustomed to the situation where bureaucrats would cheat his way into office that he was not surprised or angry about it. Instead, he was just happy that Hongli was able to avoid being cheated with his keen eyes.

Yu Huapeng: "How dare I hide this from Your Majesty?"

"very good!"

"However, Yu Huapeng, there is one thing you didn't tell me, right?"

Kangxi then asked about Yu Huapeng.

Yu Huapeng knelt down hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not lie to you. The eldest prince did hit me, but fortunately the fourth prince persuaded him to stop."

"My grandson has the same temper as his father!"

Kangxi sighed.

Then Kangxi asked Yu Huapeng: "You said that the Fourth Prince persuaded him to stop?"

"Your Majesty, yes, the Fourth Prince was able to persuade the First Prince."

Yu Huapeng answered in accordance with what Kangxi wanted.

After hearing this, Kangxi nodded and said nothing more. He just let Yu Huapeng leave.

But after Yu Huapeng left, Kangxi laughed to himself: "Hongli actually managed to persuade Hongxi?"

……

……

That night, Hongli met Yongzheng through Sui Hede.

Yongzheng asked Hongli: "What's the matter?"

"I have something to give to Ama."

Hongli handed over to Yongzheng the detailed account books and warrants given to him by Yu Deli, which contained the money and grain owed by the nobles and officials to Shuntian Prefecture.

After Yongzheng took it and looked at it, he immediately stood up and looked at Hongli in astonishment: "How did you get it?"

Hongli told Yongzheng the whole story.

"very good!"

"Ama is very happy and likes it very much that you can do this!"

Yongzheng spoke to Hongli very excitedly.

Hongli deliberately asked Yongzheng: "What do you plan to do with these things, father?"

"Keep it! It will be very useful in the future!"

Yongzheng did not say that he wanted to destroy it, and this did not surprise Hongli.

He knew that if Yongzheng got this, he would definitely plan to break the window paper in the future and take the opportunity to carry out a grand reform.

But because of this, Yongzheng now likes Hongli more and more.

Especially when he compared Hongli and Hongshi.

So, Yongzheng stopped looking stern and asked Hongli with a smile: "You must have worked hard these days, right?"

"For the sake of the Qing Dynasty, this little hardship is nothing."

Hongli replied.

Yongzheng nodded solemnly: "It's good to have this kind of heart."

Then, Yongzheng said to Hongli: "Since Hongxi has given you a house and a family, you can no longer let him support you."

"Su Peisheng, let the family know that the rent from the 10,000 mu of high-quality water-irrigated farmland in Huangcun will all belong to the Fourth Prince for his own use! When the Fourth Prince gets married in the future, the land deeds and the landownership will be transferred to him!"

Hongli was slightly stunned after hearing this, and secretly thought to himself, "I have suddenly become a big landlord with ten thousand acres of fertile land?"

(End of this chapter)