My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 112 Questions him about the crime of forming a clique and deceiving the emperor.

Lao Ba chuckled awkwardly, looking extremely embarrassed.

At this moment, Yongzheng solemnly said, "He must be severely punished! If such a wicked person is not severely punished, how can we maintain discipline?"

"Eighth brother, what do you think?"

Yongzheng asked about the Eighth Prince.

The eighth brother pursed his lips and gritted his teeth, saying, "Fourth brother is right!"

Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng issued an edict to arrest Arsona, the Minister of Revenue.

This day was the 23rd day of the 11th month of the first year of the Yongzheng reign (1728).

On the same day, Emperor Yongzheng also issued an imperial edict ordering his fourth son, Prince Hongli, to offer sacrifices at the Jingling Mausoleum.

Although Hongli already knew about this arrangement beforehand, those around him were still overjoyed when the actual imperial edict was issued.

Hongli himself was well aware that this meant his influence in the court would be further enhanced.

After all, the fact that a prince was performing the sacrificial ceremony on behalf of the emperor, especially since he was an underage prince who bypassed his elder brother Hongshi to perform the ceremony at Jingling, undoubtedly had a more special meaning.

It's almost as if Emperor Yongzheng was openly stating that he, Hongli, was the one who would succeed to the throne!

However, performing the ritual at the mausoleum is not an easy task.

Emperor Kangxi's Jingling Mausoleum is located in the Eastern Tombs, in Zunhua Prefecture. It takes about six days to travel there from the capital.

In addition, after arriving at Jingling, Hongli had to fast for three days, during which he would not have any contact with anyone and would remain in solitude.

This could be a very painful thing for an ordinary twelve or thirteen-year-old boy.

Fortunately, Hongli's soul was not that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old, so he didn't suffer too much from this.

However, the Empress and Empress Dowager Niohuru treated this as a very serious matter.

"Remember to tell the servants to add or change your clothes. Although you are supposed to fast, it doesn't mean you can't eat. Don't starve yourself just because you don't want to eat. If you really can't, have them give you some sugar water to drink."

"This time, we can't bring Haitang along, for fear that Li Yu and the others might be careless in taking care of you."

Therefore, on the day Hongli left the palace, Niohuru gave him a very serious talk.

Hongli nodded and said, "I understand, Princess!"

Niohuru then gave some instructions to Li Yu, the eunuch who had accompanied Hongli.

After Niu Gulu gave his instructions, Haitang quietly called Li Yu aside and whispered the same words: "Don't forget, the master likes to kick off the covers at night and always sticks his arms out. Be careful."

"I understand, Sister Haitang, don't worry."

Li Yu replied.

After Niohuru and Haitang gave their instructions, the Empress also summoned him and gave him some instructions, pointing to the large satchel in Chen Shishun's hand and saying:

"This contains medicines prepared according to various miraculous prescriptions, as well as ready-made pills."

"Going to the Jingling Mausoleum alone, in such a windy and snowy weather, it's inevitable that your companions might make mistakes. I'll have Chen Shishun take these medicines with you. If you feel unwell, consult the imperial physician and use them to treat any emergencies."

"Your subject will remember. Thank you for your concern, Mother. Please rest assured, Your subject will pay attention."

Hongli bowed again.

And he didn't actually go alone.

There were actually quite a few people accompanying them.

But in the Empress's eyes, he was naturally the only one who counted as a person.

However, Hongli did not expect that the Empress would be so worried as to send her chief eunuch Chen Shishun along.

The chief eunuchs of the Qing Dynasty were different from those of the Ming Dynasty.

Even though Chen Shishun was the chief eunuch serving the empress, his actual power was probably less than that of a junior eunuch in the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the Empress's decision to send him to Jingling with Hongli would not have rendered Yongshou Palace unable to function.

After asking a few more questions, the Empress allowed Hongli and the others to leave.

Hongli still had some expectations for leaving the palace.

After all, he rarely left the palace, especially not to such a far place.

As soon as Hongli stepped out of the inner court and stood on the white marble platform outside the Qianqing Gate, he saw snow falling heavily under the leaden sky. Hongli tightened his cloak, glanced at the sky, and smiled at Chen Shishun, saying, "It's snowing."

Chen Shishun smiled and nodded: "You're right, sir. I'm afraid we'll have to rest in Tongzhou for another day."

"Yes."

Hongli replied.

Then, Hongli walked towards Jingyun Gate.

However, before he even reached Jingyun Gate, he saw a high-ranking official with a red hat being escorted out of the Nine Ministers' quarters by guards.

"This servant is innocent! Your Majesty, this servant is innocent!"

Hongli didn't ask any more questions. He just stood there for a while, waiting for the group to leave Jingyun Gate before continuing towards it.

The high-ranking official with the red hat who was taken away was none other than the newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Arsona.

Because of the fact that Hongli promoted a series of officials and bestowed titles upon them in the matter of choosing an heir, Arsona was also promoted to Minister of Revenue by Yongzheng after being recommended by the Eighth Prince.

However, as a member of the Eighth Prince's faction, Arsona seemed not to have considered that Yongzheng would not have promoted him to Minister of Revenue for no reason, and was unaware that this was actually a huge trap. Or perhaps, when he received the design of the new dynasty's copper coins, he did not think to remind Yongzheng of the drawbacks of this new copper coin design.

Therefore, after Yongzheng received the copper coin design, he soon imprisoned him on the grounds that he harbored evil intentions.

The news of Arsona's imprisonment greatly shocked Orondai, the Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard.

Because Orondai and Arsona's father, Alinga, were the two leaders of the Eighth Prince Party in the past, and Orondai had a good relationship with them, and they were all very clear about each other's background.

Therefore, Orondai wanted to save Arsona and had no choice but to do so. Naturally, he did not want to see Arsona punished.

Orondai first went to the Eighth Prince, Yinzhi, to ask: "Eighth Prince, why was Arsona suddenly imprisoned? Wasn't he just promoted to Minister of Revenue?"

"The reason lies in the newly made copper coins. As soon as Fourth Brother saw the new copper coins, he pointed out the problem. Not only did Arsona not remind him, but the censor also obtained evidence of his crime of accepting bribes from unscrupulous merchants."

Yinzhi then spoke up, sighing, "He's so foolish!"

Orondai was even more astonished upon hearing this: "What kind of censor could obtain evidence of his crimes and still dare to impeach him?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

"Fourth Brother must have known about the problem with the new copper coins long ago, which is why he promoted him to Minister of Revenue, waiting for Arsona to jump into the trap."

Yinsi said.

Bang!
Upon hearing this, Orondai slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "How could he be so insidious? Arsona is, after all, the Empress Dowager Renshou's nephew and his cousin!"

The eighth brother glanced at Orondai and said, “Be careful what you say! If anyone is to blame for this, it’s Arsona. He knew that the unscrupulous merchants were bribing him to ensure the implementation of the new copper coins, but he didn’t remind his fourth brother. His fourth brother wasn’t wrong to say that he had malicious intentions.”

Orondai chuckled coldly: "But if it were the Eighth Prince who inherited the throne, he wouldn't be so meticulous and inquisitive! After all, Arsona is also a member of the royal family!"

Old Eight said helplessly, "Why say all this! The winner is king and the loser is a bandit. Right now, the best course of action is to compromise and wait and see."

Orondai retorted, "This servant does not think so. Giving in will only embolden this new emperor!"

After saying that, Orondai left Lao Ba's place.

On the day that Orondai was on duty in the palace, Emperor Yongzheng summoned him and gave him a handwritten edict: "Take this edict to see Arsona!"

Orondai glanced at the edict, which was an order for Arsona to commit suicide as an apology.

Emperor Yongzheng's order to deliver the imperial edict was undoubtedly a way of making him watch Arsona commit suicide.

Orondai gritted his teeth for this, never expecting that Yongzheng would send him to urge Arsona to commit suicide.

So Orondai went directly to the outside of the Qianqing Gate and threw the imperial edict with the vermilion annotation to the ground.

Snapped!
Then, Orondai knelt outside the Qianqing Gate and said loudly, "Arson's crime was caused by your instigation. If you want to kill him, you should kill me instead!"

Outside the Qianqing Gate were the offices of the Imperial Household Department, the Nine Ministers, and the Imperial Guards, so many ministers came out upon hearing the noise, looked at Orondai, and began to point and whisper at him.

Marseille, the other rotating Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard, immediately picked up Orondai's edict and returned it to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

When Yongzheng learned of this, his face turned cold, yet he smiled and said to Marseille:

"Marse, hear my decree! Orondai has committed blatant disrespect to the Emperor and has colluded with Arsona. You are hereby ordered to lead the guards to immediately arrest him and imprison him. With my imperial edict, the Ministry of Justice is to deliberate on the two men's crimes of forming a faction and deceiving the Emperor, punishable by death. Tomorrow, they shall be escorted to Caishikou for execution!"

Not long after he finished speaking, Yongzheng gave the drafted edict to Marseille.

"Whoo!"

(End of this chapter)