You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 105 Comrades still need to work hard!

Flower Hall.

Jiang Qingyun repeated his old trick, walking silently like a calico cat, then suddenly turned around, taking in the unprepared expression on Wu Yingxiong's face.

Then, he coughed twice.

Wu Yingxiong immediately stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and smiled.

"Imperial Censor Jiang, I apologize for disturbing you."

"Your Highness, you're too kind. What brings you here?"

"I heard that a new member has been born into your household. On behalf of my father, I would like to present a small gift. It is just a humble token of my respect. Please bring it up."

Five large chests were opened, revealing gold and silver jewelry, jade and agate, ornaments and antiques, gemstones and coral, as well as a stack of silver notes.

……

Jiang Qingyun grabbed the banknotes and counted them one by one.

"Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand, forty thousand, fifty thousand, sixty thousand, seventy thousand~"

Then take a look at those big crates.

"Your Highness, isn't that too much?"

"Congratulations, please accept this as a gift."

Jiang Qingyun suppressed her smile.

"How dare I, a mere fourth-rank official, accept such a generous gift from the Prince of Pingxi? If word gets out, what will become of our hierarchy? What will become of our moral principles? What will become of reason?"

“After I returned yesterday, my father scolded me severely. He really wants to be your friend, so please don’t refuse.”

"Is Your Highness well?"

"Okay~ But he always says that as a Han Chinese prince who commands a large army, he is bound to be envied and ostracized. Over time, it's like walking on thin ice."

Jiang Qingyun remained silent.

Wu Yingxiong continued speaking.

"My father is leading troops in the south, far from the central government. If we could befriend someone like Imperial Censor Jiang, we wouldn't have to worry about anyone secretly slandering us and making him live in fear on the front lines. After all, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. Being a prince is difficult, and being a prince of the Qing Dynasty is even more difficult."

……

Jiang Qingyun also sighed softly, remaining silent.

Wu Yingxiong continued speaking.

"Actually, when you think about it, both the Wu family and the Jiang family are from military families in Liaodong. Our two families should be closer."

"Your Highness flatters me. My father and grandfather were nothing more than poor soldiers in the Ming Dynasty's border army. They tightened their belts with hemp ropes and their legs would cramp from hunger after swinging two big swords. How could they be compared to your Wu family, a military family in Liaodong?"

"Alas, the Ming court is incompetent. Without pay, there are no soldiers. Even the northern border troops are starving. How can the country not perish?"

"Yes."

"When the rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked; when the birds are gone, the bow is put away. But Emperor Chongzhen was different; before the hunt was even over, he let the hunting dogs starve to death."

"Actually, we can't blame Chongzhen entirely for this."

"All ears."

"The Donglin Party members only cared about embezzling military pay and never thought about the bigger picture."

"Censor Jiang is right. The problems in the world are caused by people who don't care about the big picture. They don't care about life or death on the front lines; they only care about factional infighting. And people like this exist in every dynasty."

Let’s talk here.

The two fell silent and looked at each other.

Wu Yingxiong continued to probe:
“My father often said that when a general is fighting on the front lines, the enemy is not scary; what is scary is having no friends behind him. I only regret that I have few close friends in this life. With the cooperation of civil and military officials and the coordination of internal and external forces, the king’s cause will surely be accomplished.”

"My father also said that he is the most generous, the most trustworthy, and the most visionary person."

……

Jiang Qingyun walked to one of the large chests, grabbed a handful of gems, and opened his palm. The gems fell and collided, making a series of crisp, pleasant sounds.

“The Prince of Pingxi is too kind, so I will respectfully decline.”

"Good, brother, that's straightforward."

"Your Highness, why not stay for a drink? We've become friends through this unexpected encounter, and I'm sure we'll become good friends in the future."

"I can't ask for it."

hahaha~
The two burst into laughter, their understanding unspoken.

Wu Yingxiong got extremely drunk and spent the night in a guest room at Chiang Kai-shek's residence.

The next day at noon, the two had another drink before staggering away, seemingly putting into practice once again the theory that men become friends through conflict. In short, the Jiang-Wu cooperative relationship was beginning to take shape.

San Shunwang remained completely unaware of the truth, and in private conversations, they all harbored deep resentment towards Jiang Qingyun.

Wu Sangui didn't think much of the Three Shun Kings, after all, there was a difference in their backgrounds. He was from a military family in Liaodong, while the other three were coal miners.

……

Jiang Qingyun was very busy before the Spring Festival.

The threshold of the mansion was almost worn down by people bringing gifts.

They can be broadly divided into two categories:
The first category is his former subordinates from the Five Cities Military Command who were promoted by him and are now serving in the capital and surrounding areas.

The second category is colleagues in the capital.

The third category consists of the bannermen from various banners who were selected as imperial concubines.

He personally received the first group of people, keeping some of the less valuable gifts and returning the more valuable ones. He also had private conversations with them for varying lengths of time, and sometimes even invited them to stay for a meal.

The second category is the rejection portion.

The third type accepts all gifts, but never sees the person.

It's impossible to be all-encompassing; otherwise, even if you didn't sleep or eat for 12 hours a day, it wouldn't be enough to arrange for receiving guests.

……

Inside Chaoyang Gate.

A group of officials arrived and immediately dismounted and knelt in worship.

"Greetings, Your Excellency the Censor."

"They've all arrived. Good. Today, they will accompany me on an inspection tour of the capital."

"Whoo."

Because the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, Sony, was ill and unable to perform his duties.

Therefore, he was accompanied by the Vice Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, the Prefectural Administrator of Shuntian Prefecture, the Magistrate of Daxing County, the Assistant Magistrate of Daxing County, the Magistrate of Wanping County, and the Assistant Magistrate of Wanping County.

More than twenty officers and clerks from the South City Military Command also arrived.

Jiang Qingyun set a rule that once a month, he would lead the way, with all the officials accompanying him, to patrol the streets routinely, without banging gongs or clearing the way.

When he reached the vicinity of the Six Ministries, he deliberately spoke loudly:
"With the Spring Festival approaching, for the safety of the Forbidden City, the Five City Garrison must be strictly in their duties, and the work of fire prevention, theft prevention, and bandit prevention must be implemented in a practical manner."

"Remember, anyone who violates the 'Internal Management Regulations of the Military Command' will be fined the first time, demoted the second time, and imprisoned the third time. Do you all understand?"

"As ordered."

……

After walking through a few more alleys, we saw soldiers from the Fire Battalion carrying buckets of paste, painting notices on the walls—the "Regulations for the Administration of the Capital."

300 notices were posted all over Beijing.

The regulations cover eight major categories and twenty-eight specific issues, detailing everything from urban appearance, traffic, sanitation, water and fire safety, livestock, and garbage disposal.

The soldiers looked at the Manchu bannermen who had gathered around and chanted loudly.

"...Anyone who violates the 'Regulations for the Administration of the Capital,' regardless of rank (sixth grade or below) or whether they are Manchu or Han, shall be subject to immediate enforcement; those who refuse to comply shall be arrested on the spot. Those of rank (sixth grade or above) shall be recorded for later handling. Jiang, Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, hereby proclaims this."

Jiang Qingyun watched this scene silently.

If this had happened a few years ago, these Manchu bannermen in the inner city would have been furious, torn down the notices, and beaten the patrolling soldiers.

But nowadays, they are quite docile.

There's no other reason than fear of being tricked.

The Five City Garrison Command was practically a hellish place, and the more than 500 bannermen who had to report to the You'anmen Prison once a month served as a cautionary tale.

……

"Let's go over and have a look."

Upon seeing their superior arrive, the soldiers of the Fire Battalion immediately knelt on one knee.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

“Get up. Posting notices is only the first step; enforcement is the second. We will start implementing this from the fifth day of the first lunar month. Those who should be punished will be punished, and those who should be arrested will be arrested. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Under the emperor’s nose, in the capital city, how can we function without rules? Everything we are doing now is to protect the Forbidden City.”

After speaking, Jiang Qingyun surveyed the surrounding Manchu people.

More than half of them lowered their heads and dared not look at each other, five or six people were resentful and dissatisfied, and the rest had neutral eyes, probably because they dared not hate or love.

Jiang Qingyun silently thought to himself: Comrades, we still need to work hard!

(End of this chapter)