My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 72: Dealing with the Traitor
The eighteenth day of the twelfth year of the Kangxi reign.

Yongzheng suddenly issued an edict: abolish the Guangshanku Yamen, stop the practice of internal and external officials borrowing salaries, and investigate the deficit of the Imperial Household Department!

Hongli was quite amazed by this.

The day before yesterday, the direct provinces were asked to make up for the deficits, and today the redundant offices in the Imperial Household Department were cut, officials were not allowed to borrow money from the Imperial Household Department, and the deficits in the Imperial Household Department were investigated.

Emperor Yongzheng was so quick in rectifying the government!
Of course, Hongli would not object, but would only applaud secretly!
Because the more active Yongzheng was in rectifying the government, the better it would be for his future as emperor.

Therefore, every time Hongli went to pay his respects to Yongzheng, he felt particularly at ease when he saw Yongzheng carefully reviewing memorials and calculating accounts of all sizes.

Although Yongzheng was eager to revitalize the government as soon as possible, he did not reduce his attention to his son.

Hong Zhou would go to the Imperial Household Department whenever he had nothing to do and communicate with many craftsmen there. Eventually, Yongzheng learned about it through Hong Shi.

"My son is worried about his fifth brother, so he's become even more obsessed with gimmicks and tricks, and has even less interest in learning the lessons he should have mastered."

"So, today I have the courage to present this to Khan Ama."

When Hongshi said this to Yongzheng, Yongzheng nodded and said, "I will talk to him. As an older brother, it is commendable that you care about your younger brothers' studies, but you should not believe everything you hear. Your fifth brother is just not a good student, not a failure to study hard."

Hongshi nodded: "Khan Ama is right, I am just worried about my fifth brother."

Yongzheng glanced at Hongshi and said, "I believe that you are here to report this matter out of concern for your brother. I also hope that you are truly concerned about your brother."

"Kneel down and pay your respects!"

talking.

Yongzheng waved his hand and asked Hongshi to kneel down and pay his respects.

After Hongshi left, Yongzheng met Hongzhou and asked:

"I heard that you've been going to the Imperial Household Department a lot lately?"

"Yes."

Hong Zhou raised his eyes slightly, and then answered Yongzheng's question truthfully.

Yongzheng was not angry. He continued to review the memorials without looking up: "Why do you always go there?"

"Because I have very poor qualifications, I am not good at studying classics or riding and shooting, but I don't want to be a landlord who just eats and waits for death."

Hong Zhou replied.

After hearing what Hong Zhou said, Yong Zheng looked up in surprise and stared at Hong Zhou: "Tell me, why don't you want to be a landlord who eats and waits for death?"

"Because I feel that landlords are the biggest obstacle to the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty!"

"The more landlords a country has, especially the more large landlords it has, the less motivated it is to make progress!"

"Even though I have no talent, I cannot rely on my royal descent to be content to be a landowner living a life of idleness and waiting for death. I only want to acquire practical skills so that I can meet my ever-increasing expenses without relying solely on annexation of land, and without having to borrow money from the court to fill my own holes."

Hong Zhou replied.

Yongzheng nodded and smiled, "It's rare for you to have such insight!"

"Having a skill is definitely better than living off the people."

Then, Yongzheng said something else, and turned back to review the memorials: "How did you come up with this?"

"Fourth brother gave me some advice. He told me that the landlords' demands for the people's dependence were too high. So the more landlords there were, especially the larger landlords, the less they wanted the people's benefits to flow out. Even if it meant the imperial court mobilizing the people to build water conservancy projects, transport grain to the border, or even suppress rebellions—major national policies—they would resist in every possible way."

"And Khan Ama is working hard to govern the country. I don't want to become just a big landlord in the future and then go against Khan Ama's hard work."

"I only think that if I can make some exquisite things, I can make a fortune from them in the future, and make my Qing Dynasty more prosperous and well-off, which would be a good thing."

After Hong Zhou answered, Yong Zheng smiled in surprise: "So it was Hong Li who gave you this advice!"

"However, it's truly remarkable that you don't give up on your country just because you feel you lack the talent! I'll allow you to learn a wide range of trades. As the saying goes, many skills are always a burden!"

“But the lessons still need to be learned.”

"I don't ask you to be proficient in it, but at least you should understand a little bit. Who knows, this may still help you in the future."

Yongzheng spoke to Hongzhou earnestly.

Hong Zhou bowed and said: "I will remember Khan Ama's teachings!"

Yongzheng waved his hand and said, "Kneel down and pay your respects."

"My son, please retire!"

Yongzheng sighed after Hongzhou left and said to himself, "This Hongli has good intentions!"

to this end.

Yongzheng also mentioned this matter to the Fourth Lady when he went to Yongshou Palace to see her next time, saying, "This Hongli has given me another surprise! He knows how to take care of his younger brother, and he really loves his younger brother!"

"Fortunately, Hong Zhou himself has this awareness."

The Queen also smiled and said something. Yongzheng nodded.

……

……

Hong Zhou's face darkened after he left the Yangxin Palace.

"Greetings to Fourth Brother!"

Hongli, who was on his way to attend evening classes, met him on the road and noticed that Hongzhou looked a little unhappy, so he asked him, "What's wrong with you?"

"Fourth brother, tell me, am I guilty of not coveting the throne?"

Hong Zhou asked Hong Li about this.

Hongli smiled after hearing this and said: "Everyone has their own aspirations. It's not a question of guilt or innocence. Did the Khan say that to you?"

"Khan Ama didn't, but he suddenly asked about my frequent visits to the Imperial Household Department. I think someone must have gossiped about it in front of him."

"But, Fourth Brother, I'm only confiding in you. I really just want to emulate my Fifth Uncle, Seventh Uncle, Twelfth Uncle, Fifteenth Uncle, and Seventeenth Uncle. I want to be an idler in the future, but not someone who only sucks the people's money!"

Hongzhou suddenly expressed his feelings to Hongli.

Hongli smiled. He knew that Hongzhou said this to him to reassure him.

"I know. Since Khan Ama didn't blame you, then you don't have to worry about anything else. You don't have to be angry about it."

Hongli said a few words about this and went to Maoqin Hall in Qianqing Palace first.

After returning to the palace, Hong Zhou went back to his study and drew the blueprints of the clock he designed.

"Princess, our silver silk and charcoal allowance for next month has been severely withheld. Nanny Jin refused to let us speak out, saying that our master is no better than the Fourth Master who lives with the Concubine, nor the Third Master born to the Concubine. It would be bad to make a fuss."

But when Hong Zhou was drawing the blueprint of his own clock design, he heard Xiao Lou, the maidservant of his biological mother Geng, complaining to Geng that the Imperial Household Department had withheld silver, silk and charcoal from him and Geng.

The Nanny Jin that Xiaolou mentioned was the Jingqi Nanny who was beside Hongzhou.

Nanny Jingqi was assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If the master was weak, Nanny Jingqi could rely on the support of others to suppress the master and control everything in the name of education and discipline.

It was also common for the Imperial Household Department to withhold the allowances of concubines and royal family princes.

This was mainly because the people in charge of the Imperial Household Department were all close to the emperor, and not many people dared to speak out and make enemies, especially the weak concubines and royal princes, so over time, it became a routine.

As long as it's not too excessive, no one will make a fuss.

Now that Xiaolou has started to complain, it means that the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been too embezzling.

Meanwhile, Hong Zhou heard that Geng agreed with Nanny Jin: "Nanny Jin is right. It's better to save trouble than to worry about more. Less charcoal, at most, means I'll just get out of bed less."

"Gege is right."

"You are such a talkative little bitch. If you really want to feel unfair, go and make a scene. You might be the first one to die."

"If you ask me, don't blame the Imperial Household Department. If our master had just put in more effort and shown more performance, those in charge of the Imperial Household Department wouldn't have dared to deduct money even if they had a hundred guts. They would have just given more!"

Suddenly, Nanny Jin's voice was heard outside, and her tone seemed to be deliberately higher than Xiaolou's voice just now.

Hong Zhou was a young man after all, and his heart was burning with anger. He stood up and walked out quickly.

But when Geng saw him coming out, she grabbed him and pulled him inside, saying, "Since you've decided not to fight, don't pay attention to these gossips. Don't even mention Hongli, so as not to make enemies. Do you understand?"

Hong Zhou nodded and loosened his clenched fists.

Upon seeing this, Nanny Jin left somewhat disappointed.

Xiaolou was even more disappointed and muttered a little, but didn't say anything else.

It didn't take long for Hongli to learn about this from Lai Bao.

For this reason, Hongli shook his head slightly, secretly sighing that in this power field, not fighting or getting involved does not mean that everything will be peaceful.

Coincidentally, after Hongli learned about this, he found out that Yongzheng was in Yongshou Palace, talking with the Fourth Lady.

So, Hongli naturally couldn't pretend not to know, so he went to the main hall and saluted Yongzheng: "Your son greets Khan Ama!"

Yongzheng came to see the Fourth Lady to investigate the deficit in the Imperial Household Department and needed the assistance of the harem. Therefore, he specifically instructed the Fourth Lady, "The most important thing right now is to make up for the deficit, but I cannot just strictly order the outsiders to make up for it. To show my determination to treat everyone equally, I must also investigate the thieves within my own family."

"So, I want to investigate the Imperial Household Department. Of course, my family is special after all, so it's impossible to completely purge them. For the sake of stability in the palace, I only need to make one or two examples to deter the corrupt officials in the Imperial Household Department."

"In this case, it's best to have some involvement with the harem, and at the same time, to intimidate the harem! So, have your people investigate more seriously, and catch the big ones and let the small ones go!"

The Fourth Lady naturally agreed.

At that time, because of Hongli's appearance, Yongzheng did not say anything to the Fourth Lady. He just nodded to Hongli, asked Hongli to stand up, and asked him some questions about his studies.

When seeing him off, Hongli found an opportunity to talk to Yongzheng alone and said to him, "Khan Ama, I learned something about my fifth brother today."

(End of this chapter)