My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 415 Changes in the Scholar-Officials After Being Exiled, and They Even Wept for the New Emperor!

The location of Heilongjiang City outside the pass, which later became the old Aihui City.

Although this place was burned down in the early 20th century and no longer belonged to the Qing Dynasty.

But today it is an important town of the Qing Dynasty on the north bank of the Heilongjiang River, and the residence of the Heilongjiang General.

The convicted official Xie Jishi had been exiled here for many years. His hair had turned as white as snow, and his body was hunched over like a crooked tree that had only grown a few years ago.

But his new wife here was much younger and stronger than him.

That's right!

Not long after he arrived, the government forcibly assigned him a wife.

Because the Qing Dynasty was too ruthless, it kept conscripting men from various ethnic groups outside the Great Wall who had not yet joined the Eight Banners to serve in the Eight Banners' forbidden troops and participate in battles throughout the country, including the Jurchens who were also Manchus.

As a result, the male-to-female ratio in the area outside the Great Wall is severely imbalanced.

Many women were left unmarried.

After Xie Jishi was exiled here, he was forcibly assigned to one of the old maids here.

These young women, whether Jurchen, Oroqen, or Daur, are generally very strong and robust, with the strength of an ox. They are also very skilled hunters, daring to team up to hunt tigers and bears. Most of them, like the men, admire violence.

Xie Jishi's face still had bruises that hadn't subsided; those were from the night before last when his wife caught him and beat him after he tried to escape.

Yes.

Xie Jishi thought about escaping every moment.

Even though he had a wife and children here.

But he would rather be eaten by wild beasts during his escape than stay in this place where he was worse than dead.

Because he felt little dignity and respect that a scholar-official should have here, and not even a trace of the dignity and respect a husband should have.

The patriarchal system seems to be too weak here.

He also tried to beg his wife to let him go.

But his wife refused, even though he was nearly fifty and could offer her very little physical pleasure.

But he was, after all, a Han Chinese, and had the right to farm. This allowed his family to accumulate wealth through both fishing and hunting, as well as through farming, thus maximizing their survival capabilities.

More importantly, he was a literate Han Chinese.

Because he was, after all, a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and not lacking in intelligence, he was very creative in improving local agricultural productivity, enabling many families of the Pijia people near his village to learn how to grind grain, thresh grain, make fertilizer, and even make various agricultural tools.

At the same time, the local children also learned about the five cardinal relationships (heaven, earth, ruler, parents, and teacher) and the four virtues (origin, prosperity, success, and perseverance) because of him, and gradually developed an awareness of etiquette and norms.

These wild children began to greet their elders, bow to their peers, and take care of those younger than themselves, instead of fighting every day. They were no longer like savages, without any sense of right and wrong. They not only robbed merchants and even their own clansmen and fellow villagers, but were also easily bribed by Russian spies who infiltrated Heilongjiang City.

Their parents were overjoyed, and they themselves gradually realized that they were different from the uncivilized natives further north.

Moreover, these large minority groups, which still belong to primitive or slave societies, have also integrated and identified more quickly after being ruled by the same regime and receiving education from a new civilization, gradually becoming a new ethnic group with a community.

This community consists of people who all use Chinese characters, take Confucian ethics as their common moral standard, consider China as their country, and believe themselves to be Chinese people.

Because of this, the internal order is more harmonious.

Xie Jishi's wife also became a highly respected figure among the various ethnic groups within the organization because of him. Within the internal order, she belonged to a relatively high social class, and although she did not have the title of "Imperial Consort," she had the substance of one.

Therefore, his wife will not let him go, whether for material or emotional reasons.

Although many tribes here have become more civilized and more like Han people in a visually pleasing way, Xie Jishi still felt that this place could not compare with the area inside the Great Wall. The people here were still not as docile as the Han people inside the Great Wall who had been influenced by Neo-Confucianism.

Because here, the Confucianism he preached would always go astray, and would be selectively absorbed by the local people who were naturally capable of independent thinking, based on the local conditions, without being fully accepted, and some of his views would even be criticized and questioned.

Of all these people, the one who most challenges his academic authority is his wife.

After all, his wife abused him.

It should be noted that this would be considered a grave offense within the Great Wall. But here, no one cares.

Even the General's Office in Heilongjiang City, as the highest ruling institution of the Qing Dynasty here, turned a blind eye to this behavior that seriously challenged the legal principles of the Qing Dynasty's rule. It also indirectly supported this behavior by prohibiting criminals from escaping and imposing joint liability on them, and by encouraging the public to spontaneously capture the fugitives.

Meanwhile, Xie Jishi now knew that Yongzheng had abdicated, Hongli had ascended the throne, and the era name had been changed to Qianlong.

This made him very hopeful that the new emperor would issue an edict to allow him to return.

However, he has not heard any news yet, and can only comfort himself by saying that the new emperor is very busy and has not yet thought of people like him.

"The people here are extremely wicked, ignorant and barbaric, like beasts, and even more so, they are licentious and bloodthirsty; it can be said to be a place where human ethics have been completely lost and where etiquette is difficult to cultivate. How unfortunate I am to have come from this place and suffered misfortune. Although I have tried my best to correct and educate them, I have only made sacred learning distorted and defiled."

"Such a barbaric place can only grow trees and flowers of evil! It should be abandoned and not corrupted, only then can peace and lasting stability be achieved!"

Besides trying to escape and waiting for the new emperor to let him return to the interior, Xie Jishi also continued to write notes, in which he bluntly denounced the impressions of this land.

At this moment, Xie Jishi was writing notes on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), while his wife went out fishing and hunting because the weather was getting warmer.

He dared not write notes in front of his wife, because although she was illiterate, she would make him read them aloud.

At that time, he would have to improvise some nice words and read them to his wife.

This was naturally very painful for him.

Although he was talented enough to handle making up stories while reading texts that didn't fit the narrative.

Xie Jishi then began to write, and after finishing, he hid the book in his book box and left the house.

Another reason he disliked the place was the long winters, which meant he had to stay home most of the time and eat nothing but cabbage for every meal.

Xie Jishi should also take advantage of the arrival of summer to go out for a stroll and enjoy the green fields.

However, as soon as Xie Jishi came out, many Han Chinese who had also been exiled here stared at him warily.

Because if he escapes, all the Han Chinese officials and scholars who were exiled here for various reasons will also be beaten.

Therefore, everyone was afraid that Xie Jishi would implicate them again.

Xie Jishi ignored the Han Chinese scholars and officials who had also been exiled here, and their suspicions made them strangers to each other.

He just squinted and looked straight ahead.

Ahead, in the open field, one group of people after another appeared.

These people were all bound handcuffs, and the clothes they wore were several sizes too big for their bodies; some even had long hair.

Xie Jishi was surprised by this.

In his memory, growing hair meant being beheaded.

Because he had lived outside the Great Wall for a long time, he was not fully aware of many things, including that Emperor Yongzheng had issued an edict abolishing the ban on shaving heads and changing clothes.

Therefore, although the habit of wearing queues for generations still exists, some Han people have begun to restore their old appearance.

"Sir, you may not know this, but they are Han Chinese from the south who were exiled here. The General's Office has already taken them in, and they are to be incorporated into the households of this village."

Because Xie Jishi was exiled here and was responsible for teaching the children of many armored people, he was often captured by his wife and the armored people, but he was still respectfully addressed as "Sir" by them.

When the armored men escorting these exiled Han Chinese were asked by Xie Jishi about the situation of the newly arrived prisoners, they explained the reason to Xie Jishi in this way.

Xie Jishi looked surprised upon hearing this: "So many Han Chinese from the south have been exiled again. What crimes have they committed?"

"It is said that a member of the family who held an official position was involved in disrupting the government and was therefore exiled here."

Xie Jishi froze on the spot, then sat down on the ground with a dejected look on his face, and then covered his face and cried bitterly, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I can never go back!"

He seemed to have guessed something.

(End of this chapter)