My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 87 A Prince with an Iron Hat For Free

The next day.

According to a memorial submitted by the Imperial Clan Court, Prince Zhuang, Boguoduo, had passed away without an heir. It was also stated that the title he inherited belonged to Prince Chengze, Shuo Sai. Prince Chengze was the son of Emperor Taizong and the elder brother of Emperor Shizu, and was very close to the Emperor. Therefore, the title should rightfully be inherited by the son of the late Emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng issued an edict stating: "I have petitioned the Empress Dowager for her consent, and by imperial decree, the sixteenth prince, Yinlu, shall inherit the title of Prince Zhuang, in recognition of his merit in protecting the palace and ensuring the smooth conduct of the late emperor's coffin during the great mourning period."

Qiu Lin, grandson of Prince Bowengguonuo of Hui County, was granted the title of Dorobele.

All the officers and subordinates originally under Prince Hui were given to him.

At the same time, Emperor Yongzheng also issued an edict stating that Yinxi and Hongli were among those who had rendered meritorious service in protecting the palace during the mourning period.

Therefore, Yinxi was granted the title of Prince of Gushan and given a house and land on the west side of Jiangyangfang Hutong, and ordered the Imperial Household Department to build a residence for him.

Hongli was promoted to Dorobele.

Upon receiving this imperial edict, Hongli slightly grinned.

He knew that by following Yinxi and Yinlu in guarding the palace, he would have a chance to be promoted.

In any case, it was impossible for Emperor Yongzheng not to reward those who worked during the mourning period for the late emperor.

However, because he had already been granted the title of Beizi during the Kangxi era, he was also able to be promoted to Beile.

Since this was Yinxi's first time being granted a title, and he was still young and underage, and was being raised by Yongzheng in the harem, he was initially only granted the title of Beizi.

As for Yinlu being directly granted the title of Prince, it didn't surprise Hongli much.

He knew that Emperor Yongzheng would never mistreat the sixteenth prince!
After all, among his brothers, apart from the thirteenth, the sixteenth was the closest to him and the one who listened to him the most.

of course!

Hongli also understood that Yongzheng's decision to let the sixteenth prince succeed to the title of Prince Zhuang was not only because the sixteenth prince held a special place in his heart and because he was never stingy with honors for his own people, but also because of political considerations.

Because Prince Zhuang was the highest banner lord of the Bordered Blue Banner!
The sixteenth prince succeeded to the title of Prince Zhuang, which was equivalent to becoming the banner lord of the Bordered Blue Banner.

This was tantamount to Emperor Yongzheng turning the chief of the Bordered Blue Banner into his own people, which was beneficial to the centralization of his imperial power.

Of course, the Imperial Clan Court said that Prince Zhuang had no heir and his title should be inherited by Kangxi's son, because Prince Zhuang had a close relationship with Emperor Shunzhi.

This was simply a pretext fabricated by the Imperial Clan Court after being instructed by Emperor Yongzheng.

Even if the royal family was close to Prince Zhuang, Boguoduo, they were not as close to the descendants of Prince Zhuang's younger brother, Bowenguonuo.

After all, if we only consider the degree of kinship between the recently deceased Prince Bogotard and Prince Bogotard, Boongono and Prince Bogotard were brothers.

But since the emperor agreed with what the Imperial Clan Court said, who would dare to openly oppose it?

Therefore, Yinlu got the title of Iron-Cap Prince for nothing.

However, in order to balance public opinion and make Boguoduo's brother's branch feel better, Yongzheng still granted Boguoduo's grand-nephew the title of Dorobele, allowing him to continue serving as a minor banner lord.

In any case, for Hongli, he himself has now been promoted to a noble title and become a Beile.

But what he found disheartening was that Yongzheng had not changed his opinion of Hongshi, because, as in history, he, as the younger brother, had already become a Beile (prince), while Hongshi had not yet been granted a title!

According to regulations, a prince could travel with a retinue of thirty people and reside in a main hall with five rooms.

However, Hongli still lives in the palace, so there is no question of building a new residence yet, and he rarely goes out.

For him now, the biggest benefit of being promoted to Beile is that his salary will increase significantly, and he will no longer have to give way to anyone except for those of the rank of Junwang or above.

On the contrary, many princes and ministers, namely those of the rank of Beizi and below, had to make way for him.

Before we knew it, it was May of the first year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, and the capital city welcomed its summer.

On a sweltering summer day, Emperor Yongzheng issued an edict, citing the vast lands beyond the borders that could be cultivated, and ordered the Grand Councilors and other ministers, together with the Ministry of War, to discuss in detail the relocation of unemployed bannermen from the capital to the border areas for farming.

This imperial decree caused quite a stir.

Because this means breaking the ancestral rule that Manchus cannot farm!
This also means that Yongzheng was truly putting into practice his principle of preferring the growing number of Manchu people to be self-reliant rather than letting them drag down the court's finances or the Han people.

Many banner chiefs, captains, and even bannermen who only wanted a leisurely life panicked and began to criticize the new policy.

In a teahouse.

Many Manchu people, who usually come here to drink tea, chat, play cards, fight crickets, and play with birds, started chatting excitedly.

"Who came up with this crazy idea? Making us Manchus farm the land? Don't we care about the laws and traditions of our ancestors?!"

At this moment, a Manchu named Changjue spoke first.

"that is!"

Another Manchu named Debaohe echoed this sentiment, adding:

“From the time my grandfather’s generation followed Emperor Shizu into the Central Plains, he did all the work I was supposed to do! Now if I’m asked to farm, wouldn’t my grandfather have been doing all that work for nothing?”

"The rule established by our Great Qing Dynasty after its founding is that Manchus fight and shed blood, while Han Chinese farm and pay taxes. This is an unchangeable foundation of the nation!"

"How did the Ming Dynasty disappear?"

"It's because they didn't understand the fundamentals of the nation. They made military households both fight and farm, so no one wanted to be a military household anymore. They would rather be offered to wealthy families as household slaves than fight for the country."

"Whoever proposed such a strategy is undermining the very foundation of our Great Qing Dynasty; they are a traitor to our Great Qing!" "This person should be executed!"

At this point, more Manchus joined in.

But another Manchu man stood up and said, "But I heard that it was the Emperor who made the decision."

"emperor?"

Everyone fell silent, their faces filled with panic, or they looked at each other in bewilderment.

suddenly!

"Even the Emperor can't do this!"

An old man's voice came from the distance.

Everyone saw a person with a cane walk in.

Many Manchus recognized this man and quickly exclaimed, "Oh my, it's Master He from Ninth Master's residence! Master He, may you be blessed!"

Unlike a certain TV series, the Manchu people who have been working hard for Lao Jiu are mainly He Tu, not Da, as depicted in that TV series.

However, He Tu was a Manchu bannerman, not a Han Chinese.

He Yuzhu, who was also close to Lao Jiu, was just a eunuch.

He Tu held the title of Tongzhi, and his main task was to spread rumors among the middle-ranking Manchu bannermen on behalf of Yin Tang.

At this moment, after everyone bowed, He Tu let Li walk over, sat down to one side and said, "You were right just now. The Manchu people do not farm or do business. It is an ancestral rule. As long as it is an ancestral rule, it cannot be changed. The Ming Dynasty perished because it arbitrarily changed the ancestral rule!"

"That's what you said."

These Manchus echoed this sentiment.

He Tu then said, "There's something you might not know yet. Our current Emperor not only confiscated the property of Master He, who was under the Ninth Prince's patronage, but also stripped Prince Zhuang of his title and gave it to the Sixteenth Prince."

"Hey! This childless heir shouldn't be left for the Sixteenth Prince to eat. I remember Prince Zhuang has a grandnephew!"

At this moment, Changjue couldn't help but say something.

De Bao and the others also started discussing it.

He Tu nodded and said, "That makes sense, but the emperor wants to seize the flag and distribute it to his own people, and we can't say anything about it. But he can't act recklessly in matters of state! Do you think these ancestral rules can be changed?"

Everyone shook their heads, saying no.

"We have also heard that the current emperor is disliked by the late emperor because he is unpredictable and capricious."

He Tu said another thing.

"Is that so? Then why did the late emperor pass the throne to the current emperor?"

At this point, someone couldn't help but ask a question.

He Tu glanced around and lowered his voice: "I heard that the late emperor originally did not intend to pass the throne to this current prince!"

"Who is that for?"

One of the most curious Manchus, who was so fearless he was willing to risk his life, asked the first question.

He Tu wanted this effect, so he got up, walked to the table, dipped his brush in tea, wrote the number "fourteen," and said, "This was originally meant for this gentleman."

Many people nodded in agreement, finding some truth in the statement.

"Then why is it this gentleman now?"

He Tu smiled and said, "The reason is that the late emperor died too quickly and couldn't wait for the fourteenth prince to return to the capital, so he had to let the current prince become emperor. That's why so many unbelievable things have happened, such as giving the title of Prince Zhuang to the royal family, making the Manchus farm, and forcing the tenth prince to sell his wares at Huguo Temple."

"Sigh, there's no use saying all this. Even if we knew, we'd be full of resentment, but we couldn't change anything."

At this point, someone else chimed in, looking rather helpless.

He Tu said, "Although we can't do anything, we are about to convene a meeting of the Eight Banners. If most of the banner lords want to oppose it and say that the emperor is violating ancestral rules and that we should obey the decision made by the Eight Banners, then we should obediently cooperate with the banner lords above us. We can't really agree to the court's request to farm!"

"Right!"

"We'll cooperate with the banner lords; we're not going to farm any of that damn land!"

The Manchus echoed their sentiments.

Because allowing bannermen to farm involves banner affairs, it is indeed necessary for the banner chiefs of the Eight Banners to discuss it together.

Therefore, during the court council, Hongli, as a junior banner lord, was fortunate enough to participate in the meeting along with many other banner lords, both large and small.

The parliament was to be held in the cabinet.

The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Wang Yinzhi.

When Hongli arrived at the cabinet, although he was the youngest banner lord, and many banner lords were either princes or dukes, they were all very polite and warm to him because of his special status.

Prince Narsu of Ping County walked towards him and bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you, Uncle, for getting the Emperor's grace on behalf of my nephew's family, granting them a five-year grace period!"

(End of this chapter)