My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 432 The Qianlong Emperor's political machine directly turns the tables!
Jiuzhou Qingyan Hall.

Inside the magnificent main hall, wisps of white smoke curled upwards, and a gentle breeze rustled through the air.

Cao Lu, wearing a green jade bracelet, gently shook the fan, letting the gentle breeze caress Hongli's deep face.

As Hongli gazed at the map showing the Northeast, Sakhalin Island, half of Korea, the Japanese islands, and the sea in between, he was earnestly devising a grand plan.

Afterwards, Hongli went to the Hall of Diligent Governance and Appreciation of the Worthy, where he summoned Grand Councilors such as Ortai and Zhang Tingyu.

"I wish to send a minister to Korea. Your Grand Council should discuss who is suitable to send."

Hongli then explained the purpose of his summons to these Grand Councilors.

"Whoo!"

After the Grand Councilors agreed, they all looked hesitant to speak.

Upon seeing this, Hongli frowned and asked, "What's wrong with you all?"

Finally, Ortai stepped forward: "A military secretary unexpectedly obtained a proclamation and was about to inform the master."

"What manifesto?"

Hongli pursed his lips, revealing a serious and thoughtful expression.

Ortai took out a proclamation from his sleeve: "It is signed by Prince Xun and is a proclamation to unite the Chahar, Khorchin, and Khalkha Mongols, as well as the Eight Banners of the Han Army in Liaodong and the Bordered Blue Banner of Manchuria, to attack the Emperor Emeritus and the Master."

Hongli took the proclamation and read the text. He saw that it was indeed written in the voice of his fourteenth uncle, listing the crimes of the retired emperor and himself.

But instead of shouting "Rebellion!", Hongli asked Ortai, "How did the Grand Council secretary obtain this proclamation?"

"The officer was found inside his own house, along with a letter signed Ren Li, who said he was Ren Chang's godson and wanted to avenge his godfather, so he gave the imperial court this document that Prince Xun had entrusted to him for safekeeping."

Ortai replied.

Bang!
Hongli suddenly slammed his hand on the table, his face darkening: "What a vicious scheme!"

Then, Hongli looked at the Grand Councilors and said, "This matter must not be known to the Emperor Emeritus. He is prone to anxiety."

"But there are no secrets that stay hidden forever. I'm afraid we can't keep it from the Emperor Emeritus forever."

Zhang Tingyu then replied with a sentence.

"I will find a suitable opportunity to personally inform the Emperor Emeritus."

"This kind of thing is obviously fake. If the Fourteenth Uncle wanted to rebel, he would have done so long ago. I'm just worried that the Emperor Emeritus might act impulsively and lose his mind."

"But more importantly, many people in the court will stir up trouble because of this, and I'm afraid local officials in Henan will deliberately refuse to cooperate and question the loyalty of the Fourteenth Uncle."

"Ortai, go to Xi'an in person, take the selected candidates with you, and give them the opportunity to be officially appointed on the spot."

"Furthermore, I hereby grant you a golden token and an imperial edict to the officials and people of Henan. Anyone who distrusts my fourteenth uncle at this time is distrusting me, his master and father, and will be executed without mercy!"

"Whoo!"

Hongli naturally did not believe that the fourteenth prince would have any intention of rebelling, nor did he believe that anyone from the Manchu and Mongol Eight Banners or the Han Eight Banners would truly support him.

He knew very well that this was someone who didn't want the fourteenth prince to take the project too seriously, deliberately stirring up trouble to give the world a legitimate reason to criticize and distrust him.

Those who didn't want the fourteenth prince to take the project too seriously wanted to exploit the fact that everyone in a centralized dynasty abhorred risk, feared risk, and couldn't tolerate even the slightest internal instability, so they could use this to prevent the fourteenth prince from doing anything.

Because the idea of ​​prioritizing internal stability over external expansion is almost ingrained in the bones of those who accept authoritarian rule, and there is also much theoretical support for this idea.

Hongli could remain deaf to these things in court, but he couldn't be sure if some Henan officials would use this opportunity to question the fourteenth prince, thereby angering him and forcing him to make a mistake.

He needed Ortai, the Grand Councilor, to make the trip for him.

The following day, just after Ortai left Beijing, Hongli received another report from Liu Tongxun in Shanxi, saying that a peasant uprising had occurred in Shanxi, with the bandit leader Wang Wu leading thousands of people in rebellion, capturing Yuncheng, and that it was in response to the Fourteenth Prince.

Upon receiving this memorial, Emperor Hongli frowned. Liu Tongxun's memorial was indeed very persuasive.

This made him unable to disbelieve that the matter was true, and that Wang Wu's rebellion was in response to the Fourteenth Prince.

But Hongli still refused to believe that the fourteenth prince would rebel.

After all, the Mongol princes, the Han Banner troops stationed in Liaodong, and some Manchu Eight Banners troops still outside the Great Wall wouldn't do something so uncertain, only responding to the Fourteenth Prince after so many years.

Why did you go early?
Hongli knew that someone was deliberately trying to unsettle him and the court officials.

"Zhao Hui is hereby appointed as the Governor of Shanxi and ordered to go to Shanxi immediately to assist in suppressing this rebellion."

Emperor Qianlong immediately issued the following imperial edict.

He wasn't sure about Liu Tongxun's military capabilities, so he simply sent a reliable general to assist him.

After all, he still trusted Zhao Hui's military capabilities.

The government and the public soon learned of the appearance of the proclamation of the fourteenth prince's rebellion and the peasant uprising in Shanxi.

"This must be because the officials forced the people to rebel!"

“Prince Xun must have secretly contacted the princes and other former officials of the Mongol tribes in Henan, which caused the people of Shanxi who were dissatisfied with the court because of the previous forced donations to rebel.”

"Liu Tongxun is just a scholar, I'm afraid he can't handle this kind of popular uprising. I guess the former governor of Shanxi, Jue Luo Shilin, is more suitable for this position."

to this end.

Some court officials were talking about it privately.

"So, does that mean Prince Xun is really going to rebel?"

"Regardless of whether Prince Xun wants to rebel or not, we must first recall him. As long as Prince Xun is willing to come back, the rumors will naturally fall apart, everyone will be at ease, and the rebellion may be quelled quickly."

"The conflict between Prince Xun and the current Emperor Emeritus runs too deep! It was sown as early as the Kangxi era. Otherwise, the Emperor Emeritus would not have imprisoned his own brother, who shared the same mother. This brother must have harbored resentment because of this, which is why he rebelled!"

"His Majesty is too rash. Just because Prince Xun is his uncle, he dares to give him an important position. In fact, who knows, he might be there to win people's hearts in preparation for a comeback."

"That's right. Even if we want to foster good relations with the imperial family and put aside old grudges, we should only provide them with comfort and support, not entrust them with important responsibilities."

"Yes, members of the imperial clan should not be used casually, and it is best not to use them at all. The best thing about the Ming Dynasty was that it did not allow members of the imperial clan to participate in politics, which allowed the dynasty to last for nearly three hundred years before it lost its mandate of heaven."

"Let's petition the Emperor to issue an edict allowing Prince Xun to return to the capital for the sake of stabilizing the empire."

"It should be reported to the emperor."

Following this, many princes and ministers began to discuss the matter privately.

Emperor Hongli subsequently received these memorials one after another.

But he only wrote "I understand" for all of them.

He was too lazy to argue with these princes and ministers. On this day, when he held court at the palace gate, he stood up and walked down the steps: "My lords, you must all know about the proclamation and the Shanxi peasant uprising."

"But I am very disappointed that many of you ministers are so easily swayed by rumors, showing none of the integrity of ministers of old!"

"Not only are they cowardly and easily swayed by others, but some even harbor malicious intentions. Don't think I can't see through them!"

"The key point is that they are incredibly stupid. Even a three-year-old could see that this is a conspiracy by the Dzungars to disrupt our Great Qing Dynasty. How come you can't see it!"

At this point, Hongli made a forced conclusion, claiming that the incident was a conspiracy by the Dzungars.

He knew, of course, that this was essentially an internal strife and had nothing to do with the Dzungars. The Dzungars were currently recovering and were behaving themselves.

But he is the emperor, and when an emperor wants to divert attention and shift blame, no one can stop him.

(End of this chapter)