My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 425 Something only the Qianlong Emperor could do: remove all official hats!
"Are you trying to make me deceive the emperor as well?"

After hearing this, Liu Tongxun looked sternly at the seemingly very mature provincial inspector.

The Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Yuan Zhancheng looked rather displeased by this, and forced a smile as he said:
"Your Excellency, you can't say that. Can you really guarantee that you won't make the slightest mistake while serving as governor of Shanxi?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Tongxun simply bowed to the north and said, "If I ever make any mistakes in the future, the Emperor will handle them!"

Then, Liu Tongxun picked up his teacup and said, "Of course, the Yuan Provincial Judicial Commissioner can also submit a memorial."

"see a visitor out!"

After taking a sip of tea, Liu Tongxun slammed the teacup down on the table.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhancheng stood up, his face stern, and stared at Liu Tongxun for a long time.

"Before taking up his post, the Censor-in-Chief had already caused Zhang Zhongtang to lose face by deliberately making Zhang Zhongtang's letter public; now, the Censor-in-Chief is determined not to show any respect to his colleagues and insists on driving everyone to their deaths."

"I know that even if I said I was Zhang Zhongtang's man, the Grand Secretary would not be willing to help."

"But please understand, Your Excellency, that doing this is not good for you; His Majesty will not replace all the officials in Shanxi just because of the forced donation and deception of the emperor! So even if you report what you said today to His Majesty, His Majesty can only turn a blind eye."

After speaking, Yuan Zhancheng glanced at Liu Tongxun in front of him.

Liu Tongxun smiled and said, "I know that you just want to deliberately do nothing while nitpicking everything I do."

"But I, Liu, believe in His Majesty!"

After speaking, Liu Tongxun looked at Yuan Zhancheng with a righteous expression.

Yuan Zhancheng said nothing more after hearing this, but shook his head when he saw other Shanxi officials:
"Liu Tongxun is truly impervious to reason. We can only proceed as planned and let His Majesty choose between Liu Tongxun and all the officials in Shanxi."

"Then impeach Liu Tongxun to the death!"

“He’s made it impossible for us to have a peaceful life as soon as he arrived in Shanxi. Well then, none of us should have a good life! It’s as if we didn’t have anyone around him laying the groundwork. It’s time for someone like him, who basically only serves as an official in the capital, to know how to be an official in the local area.”

“That’s right, aren’t we supposed to make up for the deficit? Then let’s just do this one thing for now: make money to cover the deficit! We can put everything else off for now and see who gets anxious first when the summer and autumn taxes are delayed, disaster relief is delayed, and thieves run rampant!”

As a result, a group of officials in Shanxi were outraged and regarded Liu Tongxun as the public enemy of Shanxi's officialdom.

then.

Soon after, Hongli received a memorial from Shanxi.

"Yuan Zhancheng, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Shanxi, impeached Liu Tongxun's servant for thievery, saying that a thief claimed to be Liu Tongxun's servant."

"Li Ruyun, the censor of Shanxi Circuit, impeached Liu Tongxun for allowing his servants to sell smuggled salt, which greatly violated the salt law and made huge profits."

"Liu Tongxun only just finished investigating Shi Lin's major case in Shanxi, and he's already committed so many crimes?"

After speaking, Hongli asked about the Grand Councilors Ortai and Zhang Tingyu.

After asking, Hongli looked at Zhang Tingyu and said, "Hengchen, what do you think we should do about this?"

"Your Majesty, I do not believe that Liu Tongxun knew about these matters, but I think that these Shanxi officials would not make false accusations. The reason is that they probably wanted to bring down Liu Tongxun, so they would naturally have to be confident in producing actual evidence of his crimes."

"Therefore, it's not that Liu Tongxun became corrupt as soon as he arrived in Shanxi, but rather that his servants may have been corrupted first, or even secretly framed and harmed."

"As for how to handle this matter, it seems that the only appropriate course of action is to send a minister to investigate in order to show impartiality. However, we must make the minister merely go through the motions and not rush to find out the truth."

Zhang Tingyu replied.

Hongli nodded: "Then your Military Council should discuss who to send to investigate."

Then, Hongli asked Ortai, "Has the selection of the alternate officials been completed?"

Ortai immediately cupped his hands and said, "The selection has been made, and we are just waiting for the Ministry of Personnel to request an imperial decree to reinstate and appoint the new officials."

"Then urge the Ministry of Personnel immediately! These people dare to target Liu Tongxun like this because they think they can't be replaced yet, and they think I can't be replaced either!"

Hongli gave the instructions accordingly.

"Whoo!"

The Grand Council had the authority to urge the Six Ministries to act.

The Ministry of Personnel, urged by the Grand Council, dared not delay and immediately submitted a memorial requesting the emperor to reinstate and select a group of dismissed officials and newly appointed scholars to serve as probationary officials in Shanxi. "Probationary officials?"

"Should we pilot this in Shanxi first?"

Yuan Zhancheng and other Shanxi officials soon learned of this new policy through their own information channels in the capital.

After learning about this from Li Ruyun, Yuan Zhancheng frowned and appeared deep in thought.

Li Ruyun nodded and said, "Yes, His Majesty is using the opportunity of bestowing favors upon the dismissed officials and newly appointed scholars to replace us all!"

"Official Candidate"

Yuan Zhancheng, his face grim, sighed as he read, "Your Majesty, are you really not afraid of creating an overabundance of officials in our Great Qing? You even want to establish reserve official positions."

"Yes!"

"His Majesty is truly treating all officials in the world as if they were foreign enemies like the Dzungar Khanate, so that we officials cannot conform to the world."

“They distrust us even less than the retired emperor did back then. At least the retired emperor wouldn’t be so inconsiderate of what others think of him.”

Li Ruyun sighed helplessly, opening and closing the folding fan in his hand repeatedly.

Yuan Zhancheng said, “When I was an official in Zhejiang, I had a deep experience with the trial censor system used in the foreign copper trade. To be honest, it was not the atmosphere that colleagues should have. They really wanted to set a trap for you first, let you fall into it, and then expose you to gain credit.”

Yuan Zhancheng said, "So, we still have to go see Liu Tongxun. Right now, we can only hope that Liu Tongxun can persuade His Majesty to stop doing this."

"Please forgive me, Your Excellency!"

"We were only able to report to the court what the Censor's servant had done because of our sincere loyalty."

"I urge Your Excellency to consider this carefully: if the system of probationary officials is truly implemented, I fear that our Great Qing Dynasty will suffer from a serious problem of redundant officials. If this continues, how can the court afford the expenses of supporting so many bureaucrats?"

"The Grand Secretary is a minister who plans for the country; he will surely not tolerate this happening."

"We are but insignificant people, and our words carry little weight. We are not enough to persuade His Majesty to reconsider his decision. Only the Grand Secretary can do so!"

Upon meeting Liu Tongxun, Yuan Zhancheng respectfully bowed and began to express his thoughts.

Liu Tongxun did not angrily rebuke Yuan Zhancheng and the others for having the audacity to come to him after their falling out with him. Instead, he stroked his beard and said, "I will not blame you for impeaching me; it is your duty!"

"On the contrary, I should be grateful to you, for it is you who have given me the opportunity to get rid of the traitor within my own ranks!"

"You all should receive a bow from me, Liu!"

As Liu Tongxun spoke, he clasped his hands and bowed deeply. He then said to Yuan Zhancheng, "I have already sent troops to escort the offending servant to the Provincial Judicial Commissioner. I request that the Commissioner verify this upon his return to prove that I have no intention of protecting the servant."

Yuan Zhancheng and other Shanxi officials looked at each other in bewilderment.

At this moment, Liu Tongxun picked up a stack of warrants stamped with the governor's seal from the desk beside him: "Whether the system of waiting for appointments is appropriate or not, I have my own opinion. But now, regardless of whether this system is right or wrong, since the decree has been issued to implement it, I naturally have to exercise my authority according to the system."

"Yuan Zhancheng, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Shanxi, has been extorting money from the people and has been creating prisons indiscriminately, resulting in the deaths of many people. Moreover, he has not been proactive in making up for the embezzlement of public funds. He is hereby suspended from his post. Wang Xingwu, the Acting Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, shall be appointed as the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Shanxi."

Liu Tongxun picked up a lottery ticket and read it aloud himself in front of the Shanxi officials.

“Li Ruyun, the censor of Shanxi Circuit, is seriously extorting donations. He has ignored the grievances of the people. He is hereby suspended from his post and replaced by Pan Anli, a probationary censor of the Circuit.”

"Huang Siming, the Grain Commissioner of Shanxi, has been embezzling funds for a long time and has been excessively demanding donations. He is hereby suspended from his post and replaced by Liu Dongning, a probationary Grain Commissioner."

……

Then, Liu Tongxun read out the other lottery tickets, and after finishing, he looked at the candidates for official positions in the room, whose faces were already filled with determination: "I hope you will all be wholeheartedly devoted to the people and loyal to the country!"

"I dare not fail the trust placed in me by the Grand Secretary!"

These candidates immediately bowed deeply in respect.

Meanwhile, Yuan Zhancheng and other Shanxi officials were all stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

They didn't expect that Liu Tongxun would actually remove all the official hats from these candidates for official positions just because they had come to Shanxi by imperial decree.

(End of this chapter)