My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 119 Consort Xi
Hongli deliberately put on a serious, thoughtful expression.

As a result, Yongzheng became even more energetic and pulled Hongli in front of him, handing him a stack of chestnut flour cakes.

Then, Yongzheng took a piece himself, took a bite, chewed and swallowed it.

"For example, this 'pollination of land tax' will certainly cause landlords to pass on the increased poll tax to tenant farmers, but for the imperial court, it is more important for the imperial court and local governments to guarantee the poll tax revenue than to increase the burden on tenant farmers!"

"As for the tenant farmers, those who are timid but can endure hardship can endure more hardship; those who are bold but unwilling to endure more hardship, I can only tacitly allow them to migrate to other places to reclaim wasteland, or even leave the pass, that is also permissible! But I will not issue an edict to encourage them to leave the pass."

Hongli nodded after hearing this, and chewed on the pastries that had just been fed to him, to fill his stomach, which was prone to hunger in the winter.

He recalled that in history, Emperor Yongzheng had indeed secretly instructed the governors and generals of various provinces and Fengtian to not pursue fugitives and to allow them to be protected. This effectively rendered the law, which had already begun to reduce the punishment of fugitives during the Kangxi era and exempted them from death by exile even if they fled more than three times, completely useless.

But he also knew that Yongzheng could not openly encourage it, because if he did, there would be a lot of opposition, not only from Han gentry but also from the Eight Banners nobles!

Furthermore, the Qing court would have no reason to further prohibit the Solon people and others from freely migrating outside the Great Wall, thus forcing them to pay taxes to the Qing Dynasty and preventing them from growing in strength to threaten the court.

In short, as Emperor Kangxi once told Hongli, the Qing emperors were not only wary of Han rebellions, but also of the Solon people and even the Jurchens from beyond the Great Wall, who would also enter the pass in large numbers, come into contact with Han gentry, and repeat the history of the Eight Banners entering the pass.

This was a dilemma for the Manchu emperors. They were willing to grant more land outside the Great Wall to absorb more refugees and alleviate the class conflict caused by the land and population problem, but they did not want another Eight Banners military group to rise outside the Great Wall as a result.

Hongli simply asked Yongzheng, "Doesn't that mean the timid become even poorer, while the bold become rich?"

"That's right!"

“We are not bodhisattvas and have no obligation to save anyone. Let alone Han people, even Manchu people are the same. Whether the people can live a good life depends on their own wisdom.”

Yongzheng replied.

Hongli nodded: "Your subject understands. The words of the Sage can only be spoken, not actually acted upon. Anything not strictly prohibited by the decree can be done!"

Yongzheng's eyes lit up as he looked at Hongli.

Then, Yongzheng summoned Su Peisheng.

"Summon Zhang Tingyu!"

A short while later, Zhang Tingyu arrived at Yongzheng's place.

Yongzheng then instructed: "Draft an imperial edict to promote Niohuru to the rank of Consort Xi, elevate her clan to the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, and promote her father Lingzhu to the rank of Fourth-Rank Official. As for Lady Geng, she shall be promoted to the rank of Consort Yu."

"Whoo!"

Zhang Tingyu's gaze lingered on Hongli for a moment.

Hongli himself pretended to be stunned.

Emperor Yongzheng is in a great mood.

Because he not only satisfied his psychological need to teach his children, but also discovered that Hongli, whom he was teaching, indeed had the potential to become a wise and virtuous ruler.

This prompted Emperor Yongzheng to take advantage of the situation and, after promoting Consort Nian to Imperial Noble Consort and Consort Li to Consort Qi, directly issue an edict to promote Consort Niohuru to Consort Xi.

Logically, as a princess, Niohuru should have been promoted to the rank of concubine upon her first promotion.

Li was able to be promoted to the rank of Consort for the first time because she was originally a secondary consort.

Consort Nian was different; she was not only a secondary consort, but also had an older brother who was leading a large army for the court in the northwest.

Emperor Yongzheng made an exception and, when he first promoted a concubine, bestowed upon her the title of Noble Consort.

Niohuru's first promotion to the rank of Consort was clearly an exception.

The key point is that they also elevated his status, moving him from the Lower Five Banners to the Upper Three Banners.

Hongli's maternal grandfather, Lingzhu, previously held a low-ranking official position, but has now been promoted to a fourth-rank official in charge of ceremonies.

Although the fourth-rank official in charge of ceremonies had no real power, it was still much more respectable than the previous minor official position of clerk in the Ministry of Rites, as he could present his credentials to the palace.

Hongli naturally knew that this was because his performance had pleased Yongzheng, and that Yongzheng was also intentionally showing the outside world that he, the fourth prince, was different from others.

"Your son thanks Father for his great kindness, Mother and Guo Luoma!"

After feigning surprise, Hongli then expressed his delight and gratitude to Yongzheng for his great kindness.

Now that Niohuru has been promoted to the rank of Consort, he can naturally call Niohuru "Empress" and Lingzhu "Guo Luo Ma Fa," which means maternal grandfather.

Seeing Hongli's overjoyed expression, Yongzheng was also quite pleased with himself.

Hongli reciprocated by taking out the letter and secret message that the Ninth Prince had given him regarding Nian Gengyao: "Father, there is something I must tell you. Nian Gengyao has been secretly contacting Uncle Jiu!"

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng frowned and immediately pulled the letter and secret message aside.

But Emperor Yongzheng discovered that the text was written in Latin.

"This needs to be translated. This is the letter as translated by your son."

Hongli took out the translation again. Yongzheng took it once more and began to read it.

As Yongzheng read on, his lips began to twitch.

"How did you manage to get your Ninth Uncle to reveal his affair with Nian Gengyao?"

After reading it, Yongzheng looked at Hongli seriously.

Hongli smiled and said, "I tricked him a little. I knew that Ninth Uncle was good at making up stories, so I asked him if he still had contact with people outside, such as Nian Gengyao. In addition, I persuaded him with the promise of his future, and he confessed."

Yongzheng nodded: "Well done. I didn't send you there for nothing. Now it seems that it would be better to put your Ninth Uncle under house arrest, but don't announce it beforehand. It's enough that you and I know."

"My son understands!"

"The eunuch guarding the tomb, Deng Chengwei, was one of Nian Gengyao's men."

"Su Peisheng, have the Imperial Censorate beat this scoundrel to death and display his head at Jingling!"

"Whoo!"

Yongzheng then beckoned to Hongli and said, "Kneel down and take your leave! Go tell your mother about being made a concubine."

"My son, please retire!"

Hongli ran out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

When Yongzheng saw this through the window, he couldn't help but chuckle. Then he stared blankly for a moment, as if he were seeing his younger self.

When Hongli returned and told Niohuru about the news, Niohuru pursed her lips for a long time, then hugged him and began to sob.

"Mother?"

Hongli asked a question.

Niohuru simply loosened her grip on Hongli, shook her head, and said it was nothing.

Then, Niohuru said with undisguised joy, "Your Majesty Guo Luo has been promoted to the fourth rank of ceremonial official, which just meets the requirement that you can present your nameplate and bring your family to the palace to meet us. From now on, your mother will be able to see you, Majesty Guo Luo!"

"Yes, my son is very happy about it too."

Hongli nodded and said.

Niohuru smiled and patted Hongli's arm: "My son, this is all thanks to you. If you hadn't behaved so well in front of your father, your mother wouldn't have this blessing!"

"It is my blessing that I can repay even a fraction of Mother's kindness through this."

Hongli also replied with a smile.

Haitang, standing to the side, couldn't help but shed tears, and at the same time looked at Hongli with even more affection.

She never expected that the Fourth Prince she was following would bring such great honor to her birth mother, leading the Emperor to promote her to the rank of Consort.

This made Haitang herself have more expectations for her future.

The Empress soon learned of this as well.

Because Niohuru was always well-behaved, and because she also had a good impression of Hongli and never dared to go against Yongzheng's wishes, she naturally came to congratulate Niohuru herself, addressing her as her younger sister.

In addition, since Niohuru was promoted to the rank of concubine, she naturally had to move to the main palace.

The Empress thoughtfully arranged for Consort Xi to live in Jingren Palace, which is not far from Qianqing Palace and Yangxin Palace.

In this way, Hongli wouldn't have to travel too much distance to perform his morning and evening greetings.

When Hongli's maternal grandparents learned that Consort Xi had been promoted to the rank of Consort, their clan had been elevated to the banner, and the head of the family had been promoted to the position of Master of Ceremonies, they were naturally overjoyed.

On the day he received the imperial edict, Lingzhu presented his nameplate to the palace to express his gratitude. Afterwards, as was customary, he requested permission to bring his family to meet Consort Xi and Hongli.

Emperor Yongzheng naturally approved it.

So, one day in the middle of the twelfth lunar month of the first year of the Yongzheng reign, Jingren Palace became very lively.

Besides Lingzhu, a man brought into the palace by a eunuch, many female relatives of Hongli's maternal grandfather's family also came, especially Hongli's cousins, and even his aunt's cousins.

Hongli naturally understood the true meaning behind his maternal grandfather bringing so many cousins ​​into the palace.

Although I am not yet of age to be a trial bride, I only have less than two years left. If I can persuade Consort Xi and myself to accept one or two of my cousins ​​as brides in the future, it would naturally be a good thing for these cousins ​​and their parents.

After all, he was not only a prince, but also a Beile, and even had a good chance of becoming emperor in the future.

Therefore, when Hongli came to Jingren Palace to see his maternal relatives by imperial decree, he saw many girls of similar age standing in the palace.

(End of this chapter)