My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 130 The Thirteenth Prince Praises Hongli as a Good Nephew!
"How ridiculous! How shameful!"

"In the middle of the Lunar New Year, you all have children, yet you're fighting outside Donghua Gate!"

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Yongzheng looked at his third son, whose face was bruised and swollen, and his fourteenth son, whose skin was slightly scratched, and spoke with a cold face.

The fourteenth prince said dismissively, "Anyway, there wasn't any fighting in the palace."

Yongzheng said sternly, "That's still wrong! Besides, you are all members of the royal family. You, the fourteenth prince, are still the younger brother. There's no reason for you to lay a hand on your own brother! Have you wasted all your education?!"

"I don't have a brother like that!"

"He stirs up trouble behind people's backs, is petty and narrow-minded, can't tell right from wrong, and is a complete scoundrel!"

The fourteenth prince directly retorted to Emperor Yongzheng.

The third brother covered his face, glaring angrily at the fourteenth brother: "Say that again?"

“Fine, I’ll say it. You’re not fit to be the elder brother. You’ve learned all that from those literati and scholars, and you’re full of wicked and immoral thoughts. That’s why Father has never considered letting you take over the throne!”

The fourteenth brother spoke again without any politeness.

Snapped!
Yongzheng threw a memorial at the fourteenth prince and angrily rebuked him, saying, "Prince Xun, Yunti, you cannot speak to your own brother, the Prince Cheng of the Great Qing, in such a manner!"

The fourteenth prince didn't even turn his head, letting the memorial fall on his head.

However, when he saw that Yongzheng's face had truly turned red, and realized that Yongzheng was now only addressing him by his title and name, he prostrated himself on the ground and said, "Your subject knows his crime!"

After his anger subsided somewhat, Yongzheng put his hands on his hips and said, "Issue an imperial decree: Yinzhen has been disrespectful; he is hereby stripped of his double salary and fined six months' salary!"

The third brother's mouth dropped open.

That's it?

As far as the third brother was concerned, he felt that the fourteenth brother should be imprisoned no matter what, or at least stripped of his title.

Because the fourteenth prince beat him up, and beat him up badly.

But Yongzheng had already helped him up: "Third brother, the fourteenth brother beat you so badly. I apologize to you on his behalf. Please be magnanimous and don't hold it against the fourteenth brother for my sake."

The third son could only nod: "Your Majesty is right."

However, the third prince was very unhappy. He did not want Yongzheng to just apologize verbally on behalf of the fourteenth prince, but rather to strip the fourteenth prince of his title and imprison him.

However, he dared not make the request openly. He knew that the other party was, after all, his true brother. Therefore, Yongzheng still favored his younger brother.

The third brother could only harbor resentment towards one more person in his heart.

Then, Yongzheng said, "But Third Brother, you shouldn't have instigated the beating or even cursing of Fourteenth Brother at that time. To show fairness, I have to issue an edict to punish you with three months' salary. You have no objection, do you?"

The third brother opened his eyes wide again, feeling extremely aggrieved.

In his view, this meant he had suffered a loss at the hands of the fourteenth prince for nothing.

But the third brother knew that the more polite his fourth brother was to him, the more he would harbor ill intentions, so he should cooperate obediently.

Therefore, he could only nod and say, "No objection. Your Majesty's judgment is fair. I did act impulsively at the time and deserve to be punished!"

"It's good that Third Brother understands the bigger picture."

Yongzheng said with a smile.

Then, Yongzheng dismissed the third and fourteenth princes.

"Humph!"

As the two were leaving the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the fourteenth prince snorted and then turned and left.

The third brother took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and whispered two words: "I'll endure it!"

"Humph!"

A moment later, the same voice came again.

It turned out that the thirteenth prince was at the Hall of Mental Cultivation at that moment and happened to meet the third prince.

But the thirteenth brother just snorted and didn't hit the third brother again.

Firstly, his temper has been much milder now; secondly, he already knows that Hongli has persuaded the fourteenth prince to stand up for him; and thirdly, this is the imperial forbidden garden, near the Hall of Mental Cultivation, so he has to give Yongzheng face.

Therefore, the thirteenth brother did not lay a hand on the third brother again.

The third brother felt even more frustrated after seeing the thirteenth brother. He covered his face and hurried away, afraid that the thirteenth brother would mock him.

Upon seeing the fourteenth brother, the thirteenth brother proactively cupped his hands in a fist salute and said, "Fourteenth brother, thank you!"

The fourteenth prince waved his hand: "If you want to thank someone, thank Hongli. I didn't mean to stand up for you."

After saying that, the fourteenth brother walked away with a proud look on his face.

But after he left, he couldn't help but grin.

The thirteenth prince nodded slightly, smiled, and then entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Upon entering the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the thirteenth prince saw Hongli first.

"Nephew greets his thirteenth uncle!"

It turned out that when the third and fourteenth princes came to see Yongzheng, Hongli had already met with Yongzheng first and told him the whole story. Yongzheng then told him to hide in the inner room.

Therefore, Hongli had taken to heart what Yongzheng had said to the fourteenth prince and the third prince.

Now, Hongli has just come out, and because Yongzheng went to relieve himself, he also met with the thirteenth prince alone.

The thirteenth prince helped Hongli up, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a solemn expression, "You've avenged your thirteenth uncle! You're truly my good nephew!"

“I don’t want anyone in the royal family to be too arrogant and unruly. Of course, I do favor my thirteenth uncle because he is my teacher and my future support.”

Hongli replied with a smile.

The thirteenth prince nodded gratefully and asked Hongli, "Where is the fourth brother?"

"looking for me?"

At this moment, Yongzheng walked over, sat directly on the table, put on his hat, held a dog in his arms, and then picked up a memorial.

"Grain prices have been brought down! The rice that Lao San and the others hoarded at high prices is now stuck with them."

The thirteenth prince replied with a smile.

Subsequently, the thirteenth prince handed a secret memorial from the Zhili region to Emperor Yongzheng.

After receiving the secret report, Yongzheng got up and walked to a locked cabinet. While unlocking it with his key, he said to the thirteenth prince, "Can't you address Prince Cheng as Third Brother in front of me?"

"Not calling him a traitor is already being polite."

The thirteenth prince spoke frankly. Hongli, standing there, couldn't help but smile.

Now that it's the Lunar New Year, he doesn't have to attend classes, so he can stay in the Hall of Mental Cultivation a little longer.

"Thirteenth brother, I don't know what to say about you. Your third brother has made contributions to civil administration."

Yongzheng said something.

The thirteenth prince said, "What use is that little bit of contribution to the country! A few words of praise from scholars are not as reliable as feeding a few common people. That third prince just loves to do all sorts of empty things! Back then, Father Khan really looked down on his impractical and unrealistic style!"

How were grain prices brought down?

Yongzheng took out the secret memorial, pointed to the seat opposite him, and gestured for the thirteenth prince to sit down.

The thirteenth prince sat down and said, "I sold all the rice I had stockpiled in advance at the market price. I also kept a close eye on the Ministry of Revenue, sending my own soldiers to watch them distribute the rations and telling them that if they found a corrupt official, they would be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver!"

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng laughed and said, "Then you've lost out?"

"Whether I lose money or not doesn't matter. The important thing is that he, the third brother, won't be able to make a single penny off the national disaster!"

The thirteenth brother crossed his legs and said.

Yongzheng didn't mention the matter again, but handed several memorials he had prepared to the thirteenth prince: "Take a look at these secret memorials from the Northwest, and give your opinions. You understand military affairs better than I do, so don't hold back."

"Ok!"

The thirteenth prince responded.

Yongzheng then looked at Hongli and said, "You brat, how did you manage to get your fourteenth uncle to stand up for you?"

The thirteenth prince also glanced at Hongli.

Hongli bowed and said, "Your subject only promises that he will strongly urge Father to establish a high-level martial arts school to train military talents in the future, and that the Fourteenth Uncle will specially select and train outstanding members of the Eight Banners to become future generals of the Qing Dynasty."

"That's it?"

Emperor Yongzheng asked.

Hongli replied, "Your subject also said that he would fulfill his fourteenth uncle's dream of pacifying the Dzungars in the future."

Emperor Yongzheng remained silent after hearing this.

after awhile.

Yongzheng then looked at Hongli and said, "Do you know how much money your idea will cost? There was a Hanlin official named Sun Jiacheng who criticized the damage that the Northwest campaign caused to the people's livelihood because of this."

"Know!"

"However, Hammafa once said that our Great Qing cannot allow the existence of a formidable enemy outside the Great Wall, just like our Great Qing did back then! Nor can we allow the existence of a formidable enemy even stronger than our Great Qing did back then!"

"Besides, it's better for the Eight Banners' descendants to die on the battlefield than to stay in the interior raising birds, listening to operas, and interfering in politics by seizing land."

Hongli spoke sincerely about his views.

Yongzheng naturally understood this principle, so he looked at the thirteenth prince and asked, "Thirteenth brother, what do you think?"

"I think it's time to give the Fourteenth Brother something to do, so he doesn't have nothing to do all day."

"Otherwise, if this continues, Hongli will really incite him to cause even bigger trouble."

"Now that he has offended the third brother, I heard he has also offended the eighth brother. We can let him do some serious work."

The thirteenth prince laughed as he said this, and looked at Hongli.

Hongli smiled inwardly, knowing that the thirteenth prince was helping him.

“Then let his fourteenth brother take the test and train a group first. When the time comes, thirteenth brother, you should also check and select a group of seeds for our Qing Dynasty that can stand alone on the frontier in the future.”

"I am good at recognizing talent in domestic affairs, but I have difficulty recognizing talent in military affairs."

Yongzheng replied.

The thirteenth prince rose and bowed, saying, "Your subject obeys the decree!"

Yongzheng gestured for the thirteenth prince to sit back down.

Hongli was very pleased to hear this, and then immediately informed his fourteenth son.

The fourteenth prince was also very excited: "Well, since the late emperor and Mother are no longer here, the only purpose of my life is to cultivate some sons for our Great Qing."

“Fourteenth Uncle, you are right to think this way. Your value lies in the future, not in the present.”

"Just you wait and see, who knows, in the future all those who will be admitted to the Lingyan Pavilion of my Great Qing Dynasty will be your students, and at that time, if you become an Iron-Cap Prince, absolutely no one will dare to say a word against it."

Hongli also took the opportunity to continue making empty promises to his fourteenth son.

He knew that the fourteenth prince was proud and strict, intolerant of any wrongdoing, and liked to say whatever he wanted. He was undoubtedly more suited to be a teacher than an official, as being an official would only lead to offending people unintentionally.

Of course, when he said that the value of the fourteenth prince lies in the future, he was also saying that the fourteenth prince was laying the foundation for his future.

As Yongzheng told him, his reliance in the imperial clan was still on his uncles after the tenth prince; those like the third prince were nothing but bones in a tomb, of no value.

The fourteenth prince, who always held himself in high esteem, nodded, not doubting Hongli's praise of him!

Soon, it was February of the second year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign.

Since Li Weijun was not impeached, the land tax reform was officially implemented on a trial basis in Beizhili.

Following Hongli's suggestion, Emperor Yongzheng officially issued an edict on the day of the Dragon Head Raising Festival to establish the Great Qing Military Academy and to implement an application system, with the thirteenth, fourteenth, and sixteenth princes examining eligible Eight Banner children who were eligible to apply.

The reason why the Sixteenth Prince was added was that Hongli suggested that the applicants' mathematical and scientific abilities should also be tested, arguing that artillery handling and logistical accounting should not be neglected.

The sixteenth person is used to test the applicants' mathematical and scientific abilities.

At Hongli's suggestion, Fu Peng, who was also studying with him, applied to the school.

Hongli also came to the school on the day of registration under the pretext of sending blessings to Peng.

"Tang Mafa, He Shuangqing has been found. As you know, she has excellent calligraphy skills. She has an uncle in a private school. Moreover, because her father was seriously ill and her mother died early, and her uncles and elders in the clan refused to help her, she was supported by her uncle."

“Now, his father has agreed that his uncle will bring this girl to my Prince Ping’s mansion. His uncle will be a tutor, and she will be temporarily fostered in the mansion as my mother’s niece.”

When Fu Peng came to the military academy with Hongli, he told him about the situation of He Shuangqing that he had just learned.

Hongli nodded after hearing this, "Understood."

"My junior, Wuya Zhaohui!"

"My father's name is Fobiao. He currently serves as a secretary in the Imperial Household Department, with the additional title of Commander-in-Chief, and is in charge of training the bannermen and soldiers in the Rehe reclamation area..."

Just then, Hongli heard a young man at the registration desk answering a question from a martial arts academy student.

Hongli couldn't help but look over, and saw that the boy was about sixteen or seventeen years old, but was already quite tall and strong.

(End of this chapter)