My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 81: Proposing Advice to Yongzheng (Part 3)
Yongzheng looked up at Hongli and stopped writing.

After a while, Hongli saw that Yongzheng did not move or speak, so he took the initiative to ask: "Is what I said wrong?"

"To correct a wrong cannot be done without going too far, and if one goes too far, the wrong cannot be corrected."

"That's very well said! It shows that you have truly learned the essence of the wisdom of those who have governed throughout history."

"Since you've mentioned this, Hongli, I'll tell you something that only the two of us can know."

Yongzheng pulled Hongli to his side, held his hand, and said in a deep voice:
"Although the current efforts to make up for the deficit have already resulted in the loss of a full doctor and a full minister in the court, I still don't think it's enough! Someone in the royal family must die anyway!"

"Because, if the people are not killed, we cannot call it a purge of the government! If the people at the top are not killed, we cannot call it a thorough purge!"

Hongli listened to this, looked at Yongzheng's cold and resolute expression, and nodded slightly.

Then, Yongzheng smiled again: "It's good that you can think the same as my father. After all, my father did all this for your sake. If you can understand, it will naturally be better!"

At this moment, Yongzheng seemed to have taken stimulants, and his whole face was flushed.

Seeing this, Hongli took the initiative to bow and said: "Khan Ama, since you say so, then I will boldly offer a few more opinions on your new policy. Who told you to do it for your son? Since it is for your son, I must not be careless!"

"you say!"

"It doesn't matter whether what you said is right or not. What's important is that I know what you think."

"Privately, you can just call me Ama."

Yongzheng looked at Hongli and said with a smile.

Hongli hummed, accepting his special title. He looked up at him solemnly and said, "Father, have you ever considered whether suddenly and severely restricting the deficit and allowing large amounts of precious metals like gold, silver, and copper, which can be used as civilian currency, to enter the national treasury will cause the people to suffer from a shortage of money?"

"The inconvenience of transactions is secondary to the lack of money among the people. The biggest problem is that it allows wealthy individuals with large sums of money to exploit them for huge profits."

"At the same time, grain prices will drop too low, making silver and money even more expensive. The value of people's products will also depreciate, while taxes remain unchanged. This will force people to exchange more grain for silver and money to pay taxes!"

"Furthermore, this is actually not conducive to increasing annual revenue. It would be better to release some money into the hands of the people through loans and the construction of various projects that benefit the people!"

Hongli then expressed his concerns.

He mainly encountered this problem when he was doing math problems related to economics. He remembered someone mentioned that when dynasties rectified their finances, they would collect a large amount of money from local governments and the private sector into the court, and then often accumulate it instead of letting the money flow out, resulting in private currency deflation.

This resulted in a reform that was originally a good law having the natural side effect of deflation in the economy.

In the end, good laws become bad laws.

So, Hongli expressed his concerns at this time.

Yongzheng wasn't particularly surprised, but he couldn't help but laugh. "No wonder the late emperor valued you so much in his last two years. Your talent in governing the country has truly amazed me, Father."

"But Hongli, you should remember a sentence in 'On the Overthrow of Qin'."

"This sentence is: Collect all the soldiers in the world, gather them in Xianyang, melt them down, and cast them into twelve golden men, so as to weaken the people of the world."

"Throughout the dynasties, the rectification of government and the reform and elimination of corruption were certainly intended to enrich the country and strengthen the military, but they also had the purpose of weakening the people."

After Yongzheng said this, Hongli nodded and said: "But father, times are changing. As the saying goes, it is better to have no books than to believe in them blindly. We cannot stick to the old ways. What we want to weaken in the Qing Dynasty is the 'people', the bureaucrats and landlords, not the common people!"

"Firstly, our Great Qing is a minority ruling the majority. We must use the people as a check and balance, and we must achieve great achievements to win the hearts of the people. At the very least, we must maintain the basic survival of the people and prevent the world from being flooded with refugees."

"Secondly, the Qing Dynasty has too many people. It's no longer comparable to previous dynasties. Today, the gap between the number of scholars and common people is even greater. It's no longer comparable to the Qin, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties. The population is too large and the land is too small. Many people make a living from industry and commerce. If we really want to deprive the people of their money, it will only create more chaos. After all, there is not much land to divide!"

"Thirdly, the population of the Qing Dynasty is growing rapidly, and many lower-class people have reached the point of poverty. If we continue to increase the price of money and goods among the common people, and let the wealthy among the people be more active in withholding their money and wages, then the foundation of the Qing Dynasty will be lost."

At this time, Hongli explained his views to Yongzheng from the perspective of the Qing Dynasty's political and historical particularities and its basic foundation.

He knew that the ancients were not stupid.

After all, Wang Anshi’s “Qingmiao Loan” was similar to loans from the imperial court.

The concept of "stacking capital" similar to reserve funds also appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty.

However, since people of this era tended to think in terms of previous generations, they were very reverent towards the idea of ​​"poor people" which was Confucian in appearance but legal in nature, and defensive in nature but empty in appearance. Therefore, Hongli needed to make Yongzheng look at things from a developmental perspective.

Yongzheng had obviously taken Hongli at his word, and after he finished speaking, he smiled and said, "You are right. I also know that only by making great contributions can we prolong the country's prosperity and eliminate the gap between Manchus and Han people. After all, only in this way will everyone be willing to unite as a new ethnic group, and only divide people into bannermen, not Manchus and Han people."

"And the weak people I'm talking about are also the weak wealthy families in the world, which are what you call the bureaucrats and landlords."

"But you're right about one thing. We can't just stick to the old ways when governing a country. The Qing Dynasty is not exactly the same as the previous dynasties."

"The power of the common people is no longer comparable to that of previous dynasties. We cannot ignore their lives for the sake of the poor and wealthy."

When Yongzheng said this, he looked at Hongli and said, "So, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Hongli first suggested the simplest solution: "First, we should purchase more silver and copper from overseas for civilian use. The Qing Dynasty's demand for silver and copper is enormous! People love to save, and there are few large mines, so we have to purchase more."

He remembered that in history, in the late Yongzheng period, a large amount of copper was purchased from overseas to solve the problem of people's lack of money and inconvenience in transactions. He knew that Yongzheng would not object to increasing the circulation of copper coins in the market, so he took the initiative to tell him in advance the method he had adopted in his later years.

Yongzheng smiled and said, "That's right! It's really good that you thought of this!"

But then, Yongzheng sighed again: "Unfortunately, the maritime trade is mainly controlled by your uncle. If you want to purchase more silver and copper for civilian use, you have to ask him."

Then, Yongzheng asked: "What's next?"

Hongli gritted his teeth and said, "Secondly, set up a government-run silver shop! The profits from this will also make up for the ever-increasing expenses of the Imperial Household Department."

"To safeguard the imperial power, Father is reluctant to vigorously crack down on corruption within the Imperial Household Department. However, as the number of members of the imperial clan increases, the expenses of the Imperial Household Department will only increase, and sooner or later, it will become a burden on the national treasury and the people's finances."

"Let the government run the silver shop, and let trusted people run it independently, instead of handing it over to the government office, to avoid the problems of Anshi Qingmiao. The profits can be used to subsidize the Imperial Household Department, which can at least further reduce the burden of the Imperial Household Department on the national treasury and the people's finances, and also allow the Imperial Household Department to not rely solely on rent from the imperial farms and other means of maintenance."

"Furthermore, it can curb the trend of private minting of coins by wealthy individuals."

"As for the final goal, it is to build some projects that benefit the people."

After saying this, Hongli frowned and looked at Yongzheng: "But this will inevitably offend the bureaucrats and landlords. After all, lending money for profit and monopolizing transportation and water conservancy are their tools to annex the people's wealth. If you do this, you will be charged with competing with the people for profit."

"I'm not afraid of what they say!"

"During my reign, we can do this."

Yongzheng waved his hand.

Hongli smiled. He knew that Yongzheng was a man who was not afraid of gossip.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have said these words so boldly.

Of course, Hongli knew that when Yongzheng said "I will do this during my reign", he was simply hinting that he could cancel it in the future to ease the conflict between the emperor and the landlords.

But we’ll talk about the future later.

Hongli only supported Yongzheng's decision and continued, "Even if you don't mind gossip, it's still better to set the interest rate lower than the loans from officials and gentry. This way, you will be in the right place, and people with common sense will understand you."

Yongzheng nodded.

Soon after, Yongzheng drafted a handwritten edict to Su Peisheng, saying in a deep voice, "Let the cabinet draft an edict. Prince Hongli has been recklessly discussing the drawbacks of the new policies and interceding for those who owed the national treasury. He is arrogant and lacks clarity in his dealings with others. He values ​​personal feelings over the state. I hereby fine him half a year's salary!"

"Your son accepts the punishment!"

Hongli was very happy.

He knew that this punishment was more of a protection for him than a punishment, allowing him to gain a great advantage and making people outside think that he was really pleading for those who were persecuted by the new policy.

Yongzheng smiled, then waved his hand and asked Hongli to retreat.

"Whoo!"

Hongli now only wants to seize the opportunity and let his three lieutenants get the first low-interest loan as soon as possible to develop and grow stronger.

(End of this chapter)