My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 117 The All-Powerful Fourth Prince

In the first year of the Yongzheng reign, at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Hongli finished his mission of offering sacrifices at the imperial tombs and officially embarked on his journey back to the capital.

On the way back to Beijing, the land and mountains were covered in silver, and all was quiet.

Two columns of guards were in front, and two more columns followed behind, forming a long procession that stretched for thousands of paces across the land.

As night approached, the guards lit up lanterns, which looked to be about a thousand in number.

The lights were also turned on inside Hongli's carriage.

Bound all over and kneeling under the candlestick, the young eunuch Deng Chengwei watched helplessly as Hongli translated Nian Gengyao's letter to the Ninth Prince, word by word, using the Ninth Prince's self-created secret code.

He truly hadn't expected that the late emperor's ninth son would betray him without hesitation in front of Hongli.

Although he was a servant of Emperor Yongzheng when he was still a prince, it was Nian Gengyao who truly did him a great favor.

Because it was Nian Gengyao who rescued him back then and arranged for him to enter the Prince's residence, he has always played the role of keeping an eye on many things around Yongzheng for Nian Gengyao.

However, he did not expect that Yongzheng would arrange for him to keep an eye on the Ninth Prince at Jingling, but coincidentally, this gave Nian Gengyao an opportunity to contact the Ninth Prince through him.

Because he secretly told Nian Gengyao through clandestine channels that he and other eunuchs had been taking turns monitoring the Ninth Prince, letting Nian Gengyao know that he had been sent to Jingling by Emperor Yongzheng.

Nian Gengyao thus got in touch with Lao Jiu through him.

As for why Nian Gengyao contacted Lao Jiu?

After translating Nian Gengyao's letter to the Ninth Prince, Hongli finally understood.

Therefore, Hongli looked at Deng Chengwei and asked, "Do you know why your General Nian contacted Uncle Jiu?"

Deng Chengwei shook his head: "This servant does not know. This servant only begs Fourth Master to have mercy and give this servant a quick death."

"Your General Nian just wants to know if my father is targeting Uncle Jiu to seize Haili, and what he intends to do with Haili?"

After Hongli answered, he rubbed his eyes and said, "Your General Nian is quite audacious. He actually tried to glean the Emperor's will through Ninth Uncle, and he's even eyeing Hailey, this juicy piece of meat!"

"As expected, money can move people's hearts!"

"It's just a pity that you became a small pawn sacrificed in this game."

Hongli sighed for a moment, then reached out and lifted the carriage curtain. He saw that the Longfu Temple Palace, not far from Jingling, was already in sight, but there were a few more people peeking and looking around in front of the palace.

Deng Chengwei looked bewildered. He was just a lowly eunuch; he had no interest in Haili.

Right now, he is just heartbroken, heartbroken that the late emperor's ninth son would betray his family's general, causing him to also be condemned to death.

When Hongli saw Deng Chengwei's bewildered expression, he simply smiled faintly.

He never expected that in this life, the effect of his own butterfly flapping its wings would leave Lao Jiu with no chance to contact the outside world except with Nian Gengyao. As a result, Lao Jiu had no choice but to tell him about Nian Gengyao's contact with him in order to maintain a good relationship with him and pave the way for his descendants. After he tricked him, Lao Jiu had no choice but to tell him about Nian Gengyao's contact with him.

This also led him to unexpectedly obtain evidence of Nian Gengyao's connection with the Ninth Prince and his planting of his own people among the servants around Yongzheng.

Chen Shishun and Li Yu, who were by Hongli's side, never expected that their fourth master would make such an unexpected contribution by simply visiting a tomb.

The two men now admired Hongli even more for his divine wisdom and intelligence. As a result, they became even more respectful and cautious in front of him, feeling that they couldn't have any ulterior motives in front of this young master, because he was too powerful!

When the carriage stopped at the Longfusi Palace, Hongli had just gotten out when Chen Shishun slid down and knelt on the snow in front of him, holding a hand warmer: "Fourth Master, it's cold, hold this."

Hongli nodded and accepted it.

Li Yu, who got off the bus, was surprised to see this scene.

Before he could even react, Chen Shishun had already taken a large oil-paper umbrella from one of his servants and held it over Hongli's head, shielding him from the snowflakes, and accompanied him towards the Longfu Temple Palace.

Li Yu stared blankly for a moment before quickly following with the glass lantern, secretly lamenting that her skills in serving her master were far inferior to those of Eunuch Chen!
Although Hongli was only a prince, he could still stay at the Longfu Temple Palace, but he could not stay in the place where the emperor lived.

Because when the emperor traveled with his princes, these princes who accompanied him would also stay in the imperial palace, and the imperial palace had accommodations arranged for the princes and the accompanying princes and ministers.

When Hongli got off the carriage and walked towards the Longfusi Palace, he saw Manduhu's younger brother Haishan and Ablan's younger brother Fabulan (Sunu's son) appear before him.

"Greetings to the Fourth Prince!"

Fabrizio even knelt down in front of him.

Haesen looked at Fabrin with great surprise.

Both Fabulan and Hongli were members of the imperial family, and Fabulan was of the same generation as Hongli, so he did not need to kneel before him.

Historically, Fabulan's cousin, Abulan, was severely reprimanded by Emperor Yongzheng for kneeling before General Yinzhen, the Grand General of Pacification. Hongli, however, was not surprised by this; he merely smiled slightly.

As far as he knew, the two brothers, Ablan and Fabulan, were notorious opportunists within the Aisin Gioro imperial family.

To curry favor with the fourteenth prince, Abulan, who had once knelt before Yinzhen, it was not surprising that his brother Fabulan would kneel before him now.

Although Fabulan was older than Hongli, he was his cousin by blood.

Hongli quickly helped Fabulan up, saying, "Cousin, please get up. Please don't do this."

Then, Hongli greeted Haishan, saying, "Greetings, Uncle!"

According to royal kinship, Fabrizio was his cousin, while Haeshan was his uncle.

Therefore, Hongli addressed the two of them in this way.

Hai Shan also helped Hongli up.

Then, Hongli asked Haishan and Fabulan, "I wonder why my uncle and cousin have come here to see me?"

“I was sent by my elder brother to tell you that the Emperor has issued an edict to execute Orondai and Arsona.”

Hai Shan replied.

Upon hearing this, Hongli feigned shock: "How could such a thing happen!"

"I need to go back as soon as possible and see if I can persuade Khan."

Hongli then said another sentence.

Fabrán was deeply moved upon hearing this and added, "That's right, but they've already been executed at Caishikou."

Hongli deliberately opened his mouth on the spot, and then sighed.

Hai Shan's expression grew increasingly solemn as he said, "This is also Orondai's own fault for throwing the imperial edict at the Qianqing Gate!"

"How could he do such a thing?"

Hongli feigned surprise again: "How dare he?"

"He has always been arrogant, so this is quite unexpected. It's a pity that Arsona has been implicated by him."

Hai Shan replied.

Hongli asked, "And why is Arsona doing this?"

Hai Shan replied, "What the Emperor's fourth brother meant was that he harbored evil intentions and failed to point out the flaw of the overly exquisite copper coin molds, so he was imprisoned. Meanwhile, Orondai said that he had bewitched Arsona, so he was also identified as an accomplice."

"That idiot Orondai!"

Hongli still feigned surprise and cursed, but inwardly he was delighted, thinking to himself that his father would indeed not disappoint him.

Then, Hongli said to the two men, "Uncle and cousin, it's getting late. You should go to the guest quarters of the temporary palace to rest for the time being. I will return to the capital with you tomorrow."

The two nodded.

The next day.

Hongli then returned to the capital with Haishan and Fabulan.

On his way back to the capital, Hongli discovered that the closer he got to the capital, the more refugees he encountered.

These refugees, walking in twos and threes far from the official road, and collapsing as they walked, were like silent accusations against the so-called prosperous era.

Seeing the look of pity in Hongli's eyes, Hai Shan replied, "Last year, there was a severe drought in Beizhili, resulting in a serious reduction in winter wheat production. Many people had no choice but to flee to the capital again, and the price of rice in the capital has soared to three taels per shi."

Hongli nodded after hearing this: "Has the court issued an edict to exempt taxes?"

"The imperial decree has already been issued, but famines frequently occur in the northern Zhili region, and the tax exemption cannot be granted every year. Without annual revenue, local government offices are becoming increasingly inoperable. In addition, land annexation is rampant. Therefore, Li Weijun, the governor of Zhili, has submitted a memorial requesting the imperial decree to implement the land tax reform in the northern Zhili region next year, thereby ensuring tax revenue."

Hai Shan continued.

Hongli knew that Haishan was just testing his attitude towards the land tax reform.

(End of this chapter)