My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 40: Granting Silver to Ertai

Hongli then asked Ortai with a smile: "How did you manage to make the Zuoling you have been in charge of so prosperous?"

"My Lord, as a servant working for the Imperial Household Department, I have access to many exotic plants, so I was able to experiment with planting them to develop new varieties. I eventually discovered that barley is particularly well-suited to growing in barren mountainous areas."

"I bought a lot of low-priced mountain land at a low price and regarded it as banner property. Then I recruited refugees as my subordinates, so that they could use this land as food and pay for it, thus supporting more banner households."

"Besides this, although bannermen are not allowed to farm, it doesn't mean they must be knowledgeable about agriculture. Therefore, I have also asked the Han Chinese farmers in my households to teach the bannermen how to make fertilizer cakes, raise cattle, and understand water conservancy. This way, although the bannermen under my command may not farm, most of them are specialized in helping with agricultural work."

Ortai told Hongli everything he had done as if he knew it by heart.

Hongli nodded with satisfaction.

Only after he came to this world did he realize that the so-called corn was actually maize.

Of course, the first written record of corn being called "fanmai" in the Qing Dynasty was during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods.

Ma Guohan, a poet during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, wrote a poem titled "Occasional Poem While Sleeping on Horse Hoofs", in which he included the line "The foreign wheat is supported by a pestle high, and the fragrant wormwood is adorned with fine beads."

And Hongli now understood why Ortai advocated the reform of the native system and the development of the southwest during the Yongzheng period in history.

It turns out that this man had already been trying to promote new crops that could develop mountain agriculture and promote agricultural productivity under his leadership when he was still a Deputy Minister of the Imperial Household Department.

The southwest is mostly mountainous. If the land reform is to be valuable, first of all, these areas must be worth developing.

The court's deployment of military forces in this area would not result in costs outweighing benefits.

"Very good, a reward of five hundred taels of silver! Also give E'ertai the books I recently compiled, 'Military and Civilian Dual-Use Manual,' 'Hygiene and Treatment Manual,' 'Southwest Geography and Climate,' and 'New Compilation of Mathematics and Physics.'"

Hongli then ordered a generous reward for Ortai, and also gave him some general knowledge reading materials he had recently written based on some superficial knowledge he knew about later generations.

(Note: The protagonist did not really memorize the books such as the Hygiene Manual. He just borrowed the title and wrote about the superficial knowledge he knew.)
Not to mention that Ortai had great potential, even if he had no potential, Ortai was his first slave and the first one to pay him respects.

Naturally, he would reward him with a large sum of money.

Five hundred taels is not a small number.

Because during this period, the emperor's reward of silver usually did not exceed one thousand taels, and many times it was not even a hundred taels.

But there is one exception, which is when sacrificial silver is given to an important official who has passed away.

Hongli knew that Ortai was a man who worked seriously and liked to do things and build achievements, so he gave some of the books he had written to Ortai.

He hoped that these books would help Ortai in managing his zuoling.

The Eight Banners affairs, because they are essentially the management of military units with independent manor economies, also involve military, political, economic, medical, customs, ethnic relations and other matters, which can be described as complicated and comprehensive.

"Your servant, Ertai, thanks the master for his great grace!"

Ortai also hurriedly slapped his horse-hoof sleeves and performed a great salute.

Hongli smiled slightly and asked Ortai to stand up.

After receiving the silver and these books, Ortai was initially happy because he received a large amount of reward silver, but after reading the books given to him by Hongli, he no longer felt that five hundred taels of silver was nothing.

"How bizarre! How did Lord Beizi know all this? Could it be that he really learned a lot of knowledge from His Majesty in the inner palace that is unknown to the outside world?"

For this reason, Ortai read diligently by lamplight that night, secretly marveling at the book.

What interested Ortai the most was the book "Geography and Climate of Southwest China", because Hongli mentioned in it the idea of ​​transforming Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan into Han people in the future.

Originally, Hongli wrote this to use as a reference when Yongzheng reformed the system of natives.

He gave it to Ortai now because he wanted Ortai to understand the situation in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and even Southeast Asia in advance.

Ortai did indeed glean some ideas from this, and while reading the book, he stood up excitedly and said, "This should be a major plan for the country! I am lucky enough to be able to recognize Hongli Beizi as my master!"

Ortai then asked someone to go to the Ministry of War to get a map of the southwest. While looking at Hongli's book, he compared it with the map.

But Hongli actually wanted more than just to reform the local people in the southwest.

But he shouldn't extend his ambitions too much now.

After all, it was still the 61st year of the Kangxi reign, and his golden age had not yet arrived.

After meeting Ortai, Hongli returned to the courtyard where he and his daughter Niu Hulu lived.

But when Hongli arrived at the back garden of Prince Yong's mansion, he saw Hongzhou running towards him with a smile. "Fourth brother!"

Hongli couldn't help but stop and walked towards Hongzhou with a smile.

But what Hongli didn't expect was that Hongshi was also in the back garden at this moment, and walked out of a pavilion and shouted to Hongzhou who was passing by him: "Hongzhou, stop!"

Hong Zhou had no choice but to stop and bow: "Third brother!"

"Come back and don't get too close to certain people!"

Hongshi said as he gave him a cold look.

After hearing this, Hong Zhou asked, "Who are you talking about, Third Brother?"

"Anyone who asks questions knowing the answer is short-sighted. They are the people I'm talking about. They rely on their age and intelligence to gain favor, and they don't know how to be respectful!"

Hongshi spoke of Hongzhou with a stern face, and at the same time glanced at Hongli.

Hongli raised the corner of his mouth slightly at this.

But he didn't argue, nor did he try to change anyone's opinion.

Because the prejudice in people's hearts is like a mountain and cannot be easily changed.

Teaching people with words is often of little value; it is better to teach people with actions.

Hongli only heard Hongzhou say to Hongshi, "Third brother, Fourth brother is not short-sighted, nor does he not know how to respect others. Otherwise, Khan Mafa and Ama would not dote on him so much, don't you think?"

"Maybe you just don't know Fourth Brother well enough, or you don't have the same insight as Khan Mafa and Ama, so you think this way!"

Hongshi was speechless after hearing what Hongzhou said, but he was unwilling to admit that a younger brother like Hongzhou seemed to know more than him, nor was he willing to admit that Hongli understood politics better than him, so he could only argue with Hongzhou, saying, "I'm doing this for your own good!"

"It's no good for you to get too close to him!"

Hongshi then said something else in a deep voice.

Hong Zhou thought for a moment and said, "Third brother, how could you possibly do this for my own good? You don't even care about my birthday."

Having said that, Hong Zhou continued to walk towards Hong Li without hesitation.

Hongli was stunned.

He didn't expect Hong Zhou to answer like this.

"Who told you to talk like that?"

Hongshi's face turned red on the spot.

Seeing that Hongshi was about to get angry again, Hongli hurried over to bow to Hongshi, preventing him from continuing to focus on Hongzhou: "Greetings to my third brother."

The Bannermen are very polite, and even a younger brother has to show respect when meeting his older brother.

Now is the critical period when the result of the succession struggle will be announced. Hongli did not want to be criticized for such etiquette. Who knows whether Kangxi also has spies in Prince Yong's Mansion.

Hongshi ignored Hongli and just sneered, then walked away with his hands behind his back, leaving behind a sentence: "You two can wait to regret it."

After Hongshi left, Hongzhou suddenly frowned again and asked Hongli, "Fourth brother, who will be the emperor in the future? Is it really possible that it will be Fourteenth Uncle?"

Seeing this, Hongli also smiled and asked Hongzhou: "Why do you ask this suddenly? Weren't you quite brave enough to confront Third Brother just now? I thought you didn't care about this."

"I'm tired of him!"

"He's been asking me to stay away from you lately, saying that you've offended Hongchun and disappointed Uncle Eight and Uncle Nine."

"He also said that Khan Mafa is seriously ill and has issued an edict to summon Fourteenth Uncle back to Beijing. Therefore, my Qing Dynasty may be in turmoil. If Fourteenth Uncle returns and becomes emperor in the future, anyone who gets close to you will definitely suffer."

"But I don't want to be so worldly!"

"It's just that Third Brother keeps talking about it to me, and everyone's been discussing it lately. Even the servants are discussing it in secret."

“So I started to get a little worried.”

"Just now, Third Brother said it was for my own good in order to get me to stay away from you. But that really disgusted me because I was sure he wasn't doing it for my own good! That's why I replied to him like that."

(End of this chapter)