My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 403 Qianlong's Eldest Princess
Zhu Shi looked at Hongli, who was standing with his back to him by the carved lattice door, and couldn't help but show his admiration.

He could tell that the Qianlong Emperor before him was not content with the status quo and was not a ruler who merely maintained the status quo; he had a strong desire to strive for improvement.

In response, Zhu Shi said, "As long as Your Majesty can ultimately realize the rites you advocate, it is not necessary to care who achieves them."

"The prevailing bureaucratic mentality of complacency has led them to actively attach themselves to Ortai and Zhang Tingyu, forgetting the great duty between ruler and subject; but Your Majesty only needs to maintain a balance, preventing one faction from gaining the upper hand, and completely defeating the other faction, while at the same time seeking opportunities to cultivate more of your own people."

"In the future, as the number of positions available for both sides decreases, they will inevitably fall into disarray and will naturally have no choice but to rely on His Majesty."

After Zhu Shi said this, Hongli simply smiled and turned to look at his teacher.

"This is also the wisdom of the officials in the court. They know that only by relying on the two elders, Ortai or Zhang Tingyu, can I avoid severely punishing any of them!"

"After all, if the Hubei faction is severely punished, the Zhang faction will gain the upper hand; and if the Zhang faction is severely punished, the Hubei faction will gain the upper hand."

"If I were a wiser emperor, I would know how to maintain balance in the court. I would be impartial and not punish anyone from any faction too harshly. Naturally, there would be no need to eradicate them completely."

"As a result, I too will be trapped in this quagmire of maintaining balance, unable to extricate myself, unable to uphold the dignity of the imperial laws and the national constitution, and unable to advocate for the people!"

"How can this continue!"

Hongli shook his head at this point.

Zhu Shi, meanwhile, stared intently at Hongli.

"Your Majesty's wisdom is boundless, and you do not become complacent because of your ability to maintain balance; this is something I never expected!"

"I suppose none of the officials expected this."

"But I still maintain that as long as Your Majesty is willing to wait, they will surely descend into chaos. Those who seek only comfort will be destroyed by their own comfort, just as those who are impatient for quick success will be destroyed by their own impatience."

Zhu Shi replied with a calm and unhurried smile.

Hongli nodded: "Your advice is right. I have plenty of time to wait, and I am not afraid that they can really drag me down. The Qing Dynasty is said to be vast and rich, but if you look closely, there are not many opportunities for people to be rich and secure, and the lower you are, the fewer there are!"

"But the population of our Great Qing is growing day by day, even far exceeding that of previous dynasties. So the lower the population is, the less they can afford to be complacent. They have no choice but to fight tooth and nail for every grain of rice and every drop of food. They also have to resort to any means to get ahead."

"A door hinge that is frequently used will not rust, and flowing water will not become stagnant."

"Anyone who becomes complacent and unambitious after achieving great wealth and status will naturally have plenty of people trying to pull them down from that position!"

"Only the virtuous can attain wealth and honor in this world."

"What is virtue? It is not about benefiting oneself!"

After Hongli said this, Zhu Shi's expression gradually became serious.

However, Hongli did not actually mention the threat of future Western colonizers, the threat of the East rising after being stimulated by the West and intending to annex this land, or the threat of the Russian Kingdom in the north always eyeing this fertile land.

Zhu Shi became increasingly aware that his student was deeply versed in the fundamental nature of this land.

On this land where the belief of "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?" has been held since ancient times.

Most ordinary people are hawks in disguise.

The people's temporary resilience is only because the profits from plundering are temporarily less than those from farming.

Because the per capita resources available to ordinary people are severely insufficient.

Only the ruling class, who possess the majority of resources, are willing to be doves at heart, hoping that everyone will be honest and law-abiding, that struggles will be fought without breaking down, that the table will not be overturned, that room for maneuver will be left, and that even if they become the losers, they will admit defeat with dignity.

Based on his experience of living two lives, Hongli indeed understood the rules of this land very well.

After visiting Zhu Shi and returning to his garden, Hongli went back to the Jiuzhou Qingyan Hall.

At that time, Fu Nai, the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department, reported: "The newly arrived strawberries from Jiangnan have arrived at the Imperial Household Department. Please give Your Majesty's order to distribute them."

After hearing this, Hongli recalled his conversation with Zhu Shi. After pondering for a while, he picked up a memorial and ordered, "In addition to the usual distribution, send a basket to Master Zhu."

However, as soon as Hongli picked up a memorial, he saw that it was from Gao Bin. He couldn't help but recall Gao Bin's memorial from the day before, in which he mentioned that Sishui in Anhui had suffered from floods, but fortunately, a newly dug flood discharge channel had been dug in time to release the floodwaters, so the floods in Sishui were not serious. So he ordered, "Send a basket to Shaojingxuan as well."

"Whoo!"

Shaojingxuan was the residence of Consort Gao in the Yuanmingyuan Garden.

Hongli's words naturally meant that he would reward Lady Gao with a basket of strawberries.

When Ms. Gao received the basket of strawberries, she was overjoyed, and her eyebrows immediately curved into a smile.

After all, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, especially in the capital, it was not easy to get a taste of this.

of course!

More importantly, the intelligent Gao could naturally guess the divine meaning behind it.

Unlike in the past when Lady Gao had no children, in this lifetime, she gave birth to a son and a daughter for Hongli. The daughter was Hongli's eldest daughter and is now known as the Grand Princess in the palace.

When Gao received the fresh strawberries, she naturally shared some with her son and daughter.

After receiving the strawberries, the eldest princess was about to instruct her maids to wash them and share them when the head maid, Ning Ci, spoke up: "Wait!"

The eldest princess then looked at Ning Ci and asked, "What's wrong, Aunt?"

"Please forgive my impertinence, Your Highness, but you are not the legitimate daughter and your maternal clan still bears the Han surname. You should strive to be more virtuous in this regard, so that you will not be casually assigned to some Mongol prince in the future."

Ning Ci smiled and offered some advice.

Upon hearing this, the eldest princess frowned and asked, "Please enlighten me, Aunt."

"If the eldest princess is sensible, she should give the strawberries bestowed by the Empress to the head nanny. This will surely win praise from the servants and will naturally reach the ears of the Empress and even the Emperor, who will praise you for treating the elderly with respect."

Ning Ci spoke with a forced smile about her true purpose.

However, the eldest princess did not refuse, but nodded: "Then let's do as Aunt says and give all these strawberries to the head nanny."

"The eldest princess is intelligent and graceful; this is a blessing for us servants!"

Ning Ci immediately hugged the strawberries to her chest, beaming with joy. She then walked out, saying she was going to deliver them to the head nanny and bring her along to express her gratitude.

The highest-ranking nanny serving a Qing Dynasty princess was the chief nanny, who was usually referred to as the head nanny.

The head matriarch had the authority to manage all the servants around the princess.

After receiving the strawberries, Ning Ci met Wenxi, the head nanny of Princess Hongli.

Wenxi, with her legs crossed, squeezed herself into a chair and was cracking sunflower seeds when she saw Ningci come in carrying a basket of strawberries. Her eyes lit up immediately: "Where did these come from?"

"Tell the head nanny that it came from the eldest princess."

"It must be because Your Highness received a reward from the Emperor that you were able to come to the Eldest Princess's place. I would like to advise the Eldest Princess to be filial to you, Grandma."

"You're about to have another chance to make a fortune."

Ning Ci smiled and presented the strawberries.

Wenxi's eyes lit up as he looked at the ruby-red, glistening strawberries: "Outside, many wealthy families are waiting to buy these seasonal delicacies from us at high prices. This is indeed a chance to make a fortune!"

"You're a sensible person. I'll give you 30% of the benefits later. Next time there's an opportunity, please remind the princess for me again."

Wenxi then spoke to Ningci about this.

Ning Ci smiled obsequiously, "Don't worry, our eldest princess is the easiest to bully. She'll listen to anything we teach her."

"Hey!"

"That's not right. This isn't about being easy to bully. This is about our eldest princess, who is kind-hearted, intelligent, and virtuous! You're not bullying her; you're teaching her manners!"

"You're right!"

Wenxi clapped her hands, brushed the sunflower seed crumbs off her hands, and then took the basket of strawberries.

Hongli also visited Gao's quarters that evening, and after their second encounter the next morning, he jokingly asked Gao, "Did you taste the strawberries?"

"I've tasted it. Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I've also shared some with the Third Prince and the First Princess."

Mr. Gao replied with a smile.

Hongli nodded upon hearing this: "Let them come and see me, have breakfast with me, and have breakfast with you, Xiao Gao."

"Whoo!"

Gao agreed.

After Hongli finished washing up, the Third Prince and the First Princess went to Shaojing Pavilion.

Hongli then asked the two with a smile, "Are the strawberries delicious?"

The Third Prince Yongkun nodded first: "It's delicious, but there's not enough!"

"Just trying something new, how could that be enough?"

"Do you know how much manpower and resources it takes to make this dish available to the palace? If it weren't for etiquette and filial piety, I would have stopped it."

Hongli smiled and looked at the eldest princess: "Big girl, why didn't you say anything?"

(End of this chapter)