My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 427 The old eunuch was beaten to death, and the fourteenth prince chose to be loyal to Qianlong!
Because Shanxi is mountainous, the main grain transport routes to the Northwest would pass through Henan.

At this moment, Yunti was standing on the official road, looking at the fields on both sides that were being dyed golden by the setting sun. After asking the old eunuch Ren Chang.

Ren Changzheng was kneeling on the ground, his head pressed against the stone slabs of the official road, his expression very solemn.

"A full million taels! It seems there's something fishy going on in Henan! I just don't know where they got the ability to extort a million taels for me!"

Yunti suddenly said these words.

He had already questioned Ren Chang and knew that Ren Chang had indeed accepted bribes from these officials, which was why he said those words at this time.

"Tie him up."

Yunti then pointed at Ren Chang behind him.

"Whoo!"

As a result, Yunti's guards tied Ren Chang up.

"Your Majesty!"

Ren Chang cried out, "I only did this because I didn't want to put you in a difficult position!"

Yunti ignored him, mounted his horse, and rode off in the sunset.

Not long after, Yunti met with Governor Chang An, Provincial Treasurer Jin Guotai, Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Fang Zhaolun, and other Henan provincial officials in Zhangde Prefecture.

"You're so generous, giving that lackey Ren Chang a whole million taels of silver. Tell me, where did this silver come from?"

Upon meeting these Henan officials, Yunti went straight to the point and asked them questions, his tone tinged with amusement.

Chang An's expression changed slightly, but he still bowed first and then replied with a smile, "These are all gifts from wealthy families in this province to Your Highness. After all, you are the current emperor's uncle. Even the emperor treats you, his esteemed relative, with respect. How could we, as his subjects, dare not show you the utmost filial piety?"

"is it?"

Yunti smiled faintly: "Then how did they manage to raise one million taels so quickly?"

"As you know, Ninth Prince has friends all over the world. They already knew about your arrival from Ninth Prince, so they made preparations in advance."

Chang An replied with a smile.

Yunti snorted: "So it's Ninth Brother! He's still as restless as ever."

Chang An and the others smiled awkwardly, but didn't say much. They could only sigh inwardly that the legendary Fourteenth Prince was indeed very straightforward, criticizing his own brother without any hesitation in front of outsiders.

"The Ninth Imperial Uncle also entrusted his servant to you."

Chang An then took out a letter from his sleeve.

Yunti took it, opened it and looked at it, raising his dark eyebrows with a hint of disdain in his eyes.

He saw in the letter that the Ninth Prince wanted to borrow 200,000 taels of silver from him to cover the household expenses.

Yunti naturally understood that this was the Ninth Prince implying that he, the Ninth Prince, needed money very much and hoped that his Fourteenth Brother could earn this money with him.

This made him despise Lao Jiu even more.

However, since he no longer had any intention of becoming emperor, he no longer needed to care about what the Ninth Prince thought. Therefore, while he looked down on him, he did not feel as troubled as before.

"I remember you're one of Prince Yi's men, so why are you starting to pass messages to the Ninth Prince?"

Therefore, Yunti coldly questioned Chang'an, while keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead. He did not tell Chang'an to get up, but instead made the governor kneel down.

Chang An was not displeased by this, but continued to smile and say:
"Now that His Majesty has pardoned criminal members of the imperial clan and promoted harmony among relatives, he is showing respect for his relatives. We servants should naturally follow His Majesty's wishes and treat all the imperial uncles with the same respect as our masters. We should not be as excessive as before. So if there is anything that Ninth Imperial Uncle needs us to do, we will do it to the best of our ability."

"It's good that you know His Majesty wants harmony among the imperial family, but I hope you understand even more the significance of the court's expansion of the post stations and roads. Don't deliberately misunderstand His Majesty's meaning on this matter."

Yunti, with a serious expression, continued to gaze at the plaque in front of him that read "A Clear Mirror Hangs High," and said.

Then, Yunti walked to the large table under the plaque, flicked his golden ribbon, and sat down with an air of authority. He then took out a golden token from his sleeve and said, "Come on, beat that dog of a servant, Ren Chang, to death!"

Chang An and other Henan officials were shocked to see this.

Yunti smiled faintly.

Ren Chang had already been brought over and pressed onto the bench. "Your Highness, spare my life!"

"Killing this servant is a small matter; what's serious is that this servant has implicated Your Highness!"

Ren Chang shouted a few more times at this moment.

Yunti understood what Ren Chang meant; he knew that by doing this, the emperor would have a handle to use against him.

After all, back then, the Eighth Prince was punished by Emperor Yongzheng for arbitrarily executing the Ninety-Sixth Guard.

"I will send a document to the Emperor and inform the Ministry of Justice that Ren Chang has been involved in massive corruption, to the point of plotting to disrupt the government! Therefore, I must punish him severely to achieve a decisive effect. If any of you feel that something is amiss, you may submit your own memorials to impeach me!"

However, Yunti genuinely intended to demonstrate his determination to ensure the effective implementation of the national policy of expanding the post station roads, so he insisted on having Ren Chang beaten to death as a demonstration to these Henan officials.

He was also willing to believe that Hongli was telling him the truth.

"beat!"

After Yunti gave the order, Ren Chang howled in pain.

After Ren Chang was beaten to death and carried away, Yun Ti spoke again: "I only have one thing to say: there can be no mistakes in the expansion of this post station, and every penny of the allocated funds must be used for this! Don't even mention his ninth brother's hints, even if my ninth brother and Prince Yi hint together, it won't make a difference!"

"No one can stop me from making up my mind!"

“You may not care about the future of the Qing Dynasty, but I, Yunti, do. I believe that Ninth Brother is not truly indifferent! Otherwise, he would only make me despise him more!”

After saying that, Yunti stood up, put his hands behind his back, and strode out.

Chang An and the others were left standing there, looking dejected.

The fourteenth brother's seriousness surprised them.

They were not very clear about the power struggles at the top, and still believed that the fourteenth and ninth princes had always worked together harmoniously, but they did not know that people can change.

The change was facilitated by Emperor Qianlong's empty promises and the shared military ideals of his fourteenth son.

Before his fourteenth son left, Hongli told him that the prerequisite for the complete realization of military ideals was that the people could benefit from them. After all, if it was just a military occupation of Dzungar, it would be useless to the people and there would not be enough people to migrate there. Such a military victory would easily become a mirage.

Therefore, Hongli wanted his fourteenth son to treat the people as human beings and not allow local officials to exploit the people for money, harming them and affecting the realization of future military ideals.

Meanwhile, in Xinxiang County of Weihui Prefecture, since Yunti had not yet arrived, the government was still making a fuss over the people in order to make money, and the local government offices and jails were already overcrowded.

The laborers forced to work on the official road construction site were also filled with resentment. They were so angry that they were about to dig out a one-eyed stone statue from the ground or jump out of the water with a fish hiding a message in its belly, or they would really rise up in rebellion.

Prefect Xu Shilin, however, was oblivious to this scene. He simply ordered the counties to continue arresting people, ensuring that the project would be completed on schedule.

"Officer, please have mercy! I'm an only child, and my mother is still lying in bed, waiting for me to go and harvest the new wheat so she can get a doctor!"

"We're doing good deeds, but the higher-ups won't allow it. If they don't have enough people to conscript, we'll have to fill the gaps ourselves. If you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck. Who wants to expand the post station and roads but won't pay the workers?"

On his way to Xinxiang County, Xin Youmai saw a man being dragged out by three constables in a village.

The man pleaded incessantly.

The officers escorting him, seemingly afraid of provoking resistance, did not reprimand them but instead offered explanations.

However, one of the constables also saw Xin Youmai and asked him warily, "Where are you from?"

"From out of town."

Xin Youmai replied with an awkward laugh.

The constable had no doubts after hearing this, because the locals wouldn't stand idly by when they saw them. He just asked more cautiously, "What are you doing here?"

"They came to volunteer for road repair work."

Xin Youmai replied.

The constable replied, "Go back, we've recruited enough people."

Xin Youmai was very surprised and disappointed after hearing this, and muttered to himself in bewilderment, "I thought I came early? How come they filled all the positions so quickly?"

(End of this chapter)