My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 422: He has made significant military contributions and is awarded a peacock feather!
Because of the large population of the Qing Dynasty at present, Emperor Hongli also put the widening of the post roads to the Northwest on the agenda.

However, the weather is getting hotter, and everyone is feeling restless. Moreover, Hongli has been spending money excessively lately, almost like Emperor Yang of Sui squandering Emperor Wen of Sui's savings.

Therefore, after receiving this imperial edict, Man Haiwang, the Minister of Revenue, said to Shi Yizhi, the Minister of Revenue, "We spare no expense in disaster relief, and now we spare no expense in widening the post stations and roads. Even if the national treasury is full, I'm afraid it can't withstand such spending!"

Shi Yizhi nodded slightly and said with a smile, "But His Majesty must have his own reasons. We don't necessarily have to openly remonstrate. We can just report the flow of money more often. Although His Majesty is eager to govern, he is wise and intelligent and will be able to see that the national treasury is rapidly shrinking."

"You are right!"

"Our master is a wise and benevolent ruler who seeks good governance. He probably wouldn't really want the world to see that the national treasury has become less full year by year since he came to power."

Haiwang deeply agreed with this and also expressed his hope that Hongli would realize the situation when he saw that the national treasury was increasingly inferior to that of the Yongzheng era.

He could even imagine the scene of Hongli regretting it at that time.

However, Hongli did consider how to make money in a big way while spending money lavishly.

Hongli devised three solutions to this problem:

One was an imperial edict issued to the officials and deputy commanders of Marseille and the Northeast region, instructing them to continue organizing Han merchants to mine coal and sell it.

One was to issue an edict to the Imperial Household Department, which, in conjunction with local governments, was to prepare for attracting investment and to establish trade zones with corresponding incentive policies. The plan was to ensure that the laborers involved in the expansion of the post station road could spend the money they earned in the same place.

Another aspect is to broaden foreign trade channels and engage in trade dumping with Korea, Japan, and Annam; once the imperial court controls more grain, raw silk, cotton cloth, and cabbage and potatoes, which are very important to Korea and Japan, a northern maritime trade circle will be established, consisting of Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese islands.

This was something that would have been difficult to achieve in later generations due to geopolitical conflicts, but Hongli wanted to do it to achieve the goal of making the Northeast take off completely.

exactly.

After Emperor Hongli issued an edict rebuking the Russian envoy Malov, he also received news of the pacification of the Miao rebellion.

"Zhang Guangsi has indeed not disappointed me!"

"Hengchen, draft an imperial edict to appoint him as Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou and concurrently Governor of Guizhou, with the additional title of Minister of War, and bestow upon him a double-eyed peacock feather."

"In addition, we must let Zhang Guangsi take advantage of the peace and stability of the war to quickly promote production in Yunnan and Guizhou, and promote terraced field technology and new fertilization technology."

Emperor Hongli rubbed his hands together and gave these instructions to the Grand Councilors.

The pacification of the Miao people signifies the basic success of the major undertaking of replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials.

Next, all that's left is to wait for the local Miao people to resume production, learn the farming methods of the Han people, and thus raise the grain output in the southwest to a new level.

Putting aside everything else, if the Yunnan-Guizhou region can become self-sufficient, allowing more grain from Sichuan to be transported to the north, it will lay a solid foundation for the future defeat of the Dzungar Khanate and the stabilization of Tibet!

Therefore, Hongli appointed: "Zhao Hui has rendered meritorious service in pacifying the Miao rebel chieftain and is promoted to Sichuan Grain Commissioner; Yue Zhonghuang is transferred to the capital as a second-class imperial bodyguard to assist Minister of War Yue Zhongqi in training the cloud ladder battalion; both are granted a single-eyed peacock feather."

"Whoo!"

Ortai and Zhang Tingyu responded, and at the same time, they both secretly envied Zhang Guangsi.

Because very few ministers in the Qing Dynasty were awarded the peacock feather.

Historically, throughout the entire Qing Dynasty, only seven princes and ministers were granted the honor of being awarded the Three-Eyed Peacock Feather.

The double-eyed peacock feather was only bestowed upon ministers who had made significant military achievements.

Even the single-eyed peacock feather was not awarded lightly; it was only bestowed upon those with outstanding military achievements.

Emperor Qianlong bestowed such generous gifts upon Zhang Guangsi, Zhao Hui, and Yue Zhonghuang, naturally demonstrating his emphasis on military achievements.

Besides, this was the first major military and political event he accomplished after taking the throne, and it also proved the correctness of his past decisions.

Therefore, Emperor Hongli was naturally generous with his rewards.

Hongli now only hopes that after the southwest is pacified, production can be restored and developed as soon as possible.

For him, military victory was just the beginning.

However, another memorial from Zhang Guangsi poured cold water on his hopes.

That is, after several years of Miao turmoil, the number of indigenous Miao people in the Yunnan-Guizhou region has decreased significantly.

The main reason was that during the period when Ortai advocated suppression, a large number of Miao people were massacred.

If people are killed, how can they reproduce?

Hongli then threw Zhang Guangsi's memorial on the table in front of Ortai: "What a mess you've made!"

After reading the memorial, Ortai blushed and had no choice but to kneel down and kowtow: "This servant has ruined Master's grand plan and deserves to die!"

"That's it!"

Hongli waved his hand, gesturing for Ortai to stand up, and asked, "What remedial measures are there?"

"The only solution is to exempt the Miao people from taxes for one year, regardless of whether they are Han or Miao, as long as they go to the southwest to cultivate and reclaim wasteland, they will all be exempted," Ortai replied.

Hongli smiled and said, "Exempt for three years! Order the Ministry of Revenue to allocate silver to the governors and viceroys, and provide a certain amount of settlement silver to all Han people who are willing to go to the southwest to settle in Yunnan and Guizhou as new citizens."

Both Ortai and Zhang Tingyu widened their eyes upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, the court now distributes millions of taels of silver at a time, which amazes both officials and common people. This is all because the former emperor amassed too much wealth back then, which is why Your Majesty is so extravagant."

Zhang Tingyu had no choice but to remind Hongli of external opinions.

Hongli chuckled: "How could a common man like you understand the profound meaning between me and the Emperor Emeritus?"

"Just do it this way."

"In addition, an imperial edict was issued to Zhang Guangsi, instructing him to be vigilant against unscrupulous merchants and people infiltrating the region and taking the opportunity to engage in illicit trade with Annam and Burma while he is in charge of production in Anmin, Southwest China."

"I granted Yunnan and Guizhou a three-year tax exemption and spent money on immigration, not so that they would sell all their grain to Annam and Burma for expansion purposes."

Hongli continued to give instructions.

"Whoo!"

After arranging matters in the southwest, Hongli brought up the matter of expanding the post station roads in the northwest.

“I am worried that local officials along the way will take the opportunity to corrupt the government and will not be proactive in expanding the post stations and roads. Therefore, I still need to send members of the imperial family to supervise the work.”

"Issue an imperial decree to have Prince Xun, Yunti, oversee the matter."

After Hongli gave this order, both Ortai and Zhang Tingyu's faces twitched.

They could only sigh in admiration at how truly wise Emperor Hongli was.

Everyone knows that expanding this road is for the purpose of better eliminating the Dzungar Khanate and strengthening control over the Western Regions in the future.

Yunzhi's greatest political ambition in his life was to destroy the Dzungar Khanate.

Therefore, other members of the imperial clan might not be subject to serious supervision for various reasons, but Yunti certainly wouldn't be.

Furthermore, Yunti also enjoys prestige among the Manchu and Mongol armies in the Northwest, and he is not afraid that he will be unable to suppress the local powerful figures because of the expansion of this road.

"By imperial decree!"

"Prince Xun, Yunti, is known for his quick wit and high prestige. He is hereby appointed to oversee the expansion of the post roads. This is the imperial decree!"

When the imperial decree was announced to Yunti, his expression froze, and after a moment he kowtowed deeply to accept the decree.

Then, as was customary, Yunti entered the palace to express his gratitude to Hongli.

Hongli met him at Rugu Hanjinxuan.

"Uncle Fourteen, you must know why I am spending huge sums of money to expand the post roads to the Northwest?"

When Hongli met the fourteenth prince, he first asked him about him.

Yunti replied, "Your subject understands!"

"How can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed?"

"What I want has never been just to subdue the Dzungars!"

Hongli nodded and reiterated his thoughts. He then looked at a global map hanging on the wall and pointed it out to Yunti, saying, "Fourteenth Uncle, look, if we can completely control the Dzungar region, our Great Qing will undoubtedly save a lot of effort in our future campaign against the Russian Empire."

Yunti looked over, and at the same time, his chest heaved violently.

Hongli's words had deeply moved him.

He never expected that his emperor nephew would want to conquer the Rakshasa Kingdom in the future.

"Furthermore, it will be easier to contact the Western countries and cause trouble for the Russian Kingdom."

At this point, Hongli added, "But the Western Regions are such a large area, why can't they produce their own cotton to keep warm in the winter?"

Hongli clearly remembered that this area produced a lot of cotton in later generations, but the information he received now was that cotton could not be grown on a large scale here, which is why he asked this question.

To this end, he has also instructed his border officials near the Junggar region to try cultivating the species along the border and to select varieties from countries in colder regions such as Russia.

The goal is to enable this area to produce cotton on a large scale ahead of schedule.

After all, although he didn't know the specific reasons, he did know that this area would become a major cotton-producing region in later generations.

(End of this chapter)