Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Insidious and Cunning
When Qianlong was just beginning to understand things, the battle for the throne among the nine princes had entered its later stages. After Khan Ama ascended the throne, he was troubled by the Yunsi faction. He saw it all.
He made up his mind at that time that when he succeeded to the throne, he would completely kick the royal family out of the center of power.
Not to mention that there can't be members of the royal family in the Grand Council, even important departments like the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War cannot be controlled by members of the royal family.
Fortunately, Uncle Sixteen and Uncle Seventeen are not the kind of people who like to seize power. If there is a task assigned to them, they will handle it diligently. If there is no task, they will not jump around. They also keep a distance from outsiders and are very sensible.
But not all members of the royal family are like the sixteenth uncle, seventeenth uncle, and fifth brother. If you encounter someone like Prince Chao'an Yue Le, who has a large family and military merits, it will not be so easy to weaken his power.
He had planned to wait until Yonglian grew up before explaining these things to him in detail, but unexpectedly the little fellow had already taken the initiative to guide his sixth uncle.
That’s right, Yonglian had never seen the royal family’s say in the court during the reigns of Emperor Kangxi and the previous emperor, and he thought that the royal family was just like his sixteenth uncle.
If Hongzhou is trained according to this idea, if he is talented, he will become the Sixteenth Uncle; if he is mediocre, he will be the next Fifth Brother. He will not be able to provide much help, but he will not cause trouble either.
It seems that Hongzhou has a very smart brain. He started to recite "Hundred Family Names" after the New Year, and occasionally learns imperial poems with Niu Lun.
Seeing that the Hui Muslim canteen received a good response, Emperor Qianlong naturally wrote a poem to commemorate the event.
This poem not only says that the idea came from the Second Prince, but also says that everyone in the palace supports it. The emperor's imperial meals and the people's meals come from the same imperial kitchen. Isn't this sharing the joy with the people?
Qianlong asked his twenty-first uncle Yunxi to copy the poem twice and post it at two places where food was distributed.
Most of the people were illiterate, and it was only after the servants in charge of distributing food read the content of the poem to them that the people realized that the person who proposed this matter was the second prince, who was only seven years old.
Even the seven-year-old princes in the palace know how to promote frugality and care for the people, and the emperor and empress love the people like their own children.
When everyone expressed their gratitude to the Second Prince, they would mention the Emperor and Empress. And because Emperor Qianlong wrote about it in a poem, all the palaces were very supportive.
The people also praised all the ladies in the palace as female Bodhisattvas.
Not only would Luang Pu write down these words and tell his masters, but some officials or their families would also write a memorial to praise this matter after hearing it.
In mid-February, Qianlong received many such memorials.
He was delighted at first, until some ministers were vague about the real issue he was asking about, praising the Huimin Canteen for half a page. Qianlong grew annoyed and issued an edict stating that the Huimin Canteen was merely a trivial project, benefiting only the people of the capital. The court's ideal was to ensure peace and prosperity for all citizens. No more praise for the Huimin Canteen was necessary.
The young men in the Shangshufang heard the content of the imperial edict from Agui. Yonglian sighed in his heart that Khan Ama was so capable. Now everyone's respect for Khan Ama was not just on paper, but was remembered in their hearts.
Although Agui is a Manchu teacher, the course content is not limited to Manchu. He also talks about some history from the founding of the Qing Dynasty to the present.
This involves the atrocities committed by the Qing army when they entered the pass, which is difficult to talk about.
What surprised Yonglian was that Agui did not avoid these sensitive topics. He talked about the shaving order and the enclosure order.
The teachers would present a teaching content to Qianlong in advance. In this content, Agui said that he would talk about the history of the founding of the country by his ancestors.
Qianlong did not expect that he would even talk about all this. It was not until he accidentally tested Yonghuang's homework that Yonghuang mentioned the ten days in Yangzhou and Qianlong knew about it.
"Agui talked about these in class, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Qianlong first pulled Yonglian over and questioned him.
Yonglian tilted his head innocently, "Khan Ama didn't test his son on any of the relevant questions."
Qianlong stared, "Agui... he is..."
He wanted to say that Agui was slandering the ancestors. Could he tell the royal princes about the things that the ancestors did?
Yonglian asked, "Master Agui didn't lie. These are all true."
Qianlong frowned upon hearing this, "Who told you that?"
"The Imperial Law," Yonglian said, "The Imperial Law says that the reason so many Han people still hate the imperial court is because Dorgon slaughtered so many people when he led his troops into the pass."
Qianlong: “!!!”
Why did Khan Ama say all this to Yonglian when he was fine?
"When did your Majesty tell you all this?" Qianlong did not doubt Yonglian's words at all. After all, apart from the emperor Khan, no one in the palace dared to bring up such a sensitive topic.
Yonglian frowned and thought for a moment, "I don't remember clearly, I just remember that the Emperor Mafa wrote a book about it, big... big what was it?"
"Da Yi Jue Mi Lu."
"Yes, that's the name." Yonglian nodded. "The Imperial Law says that killing people can only make them submit temporarily, but the dissatisfaction in their hearts will sow the seeds of disaster and cause endless trouble."
Qianlong: “…”
Khan Ama, do you mean that the Zeng Jing case was a disaster planted by our ancestors?
Don’t say it, it’s true. Zeng Jing was reading Lu Liuliang’s books. Wasn’t Lu Liuliang a Ming Dynasty loyalist?
Qianlong thought that his own Khan Ama's words were always shocking, and that was his style. But could he say such words to a child like Yonglian?
This idea is buried in the heart of little Yonglian. When he inherits the throne, won’t it be...
Thinking of this, Qianlong's expression froze. Perhaps it was because Yonglian had the possibility of inheriting the throne in the future that Khan Ama told him all this.
It is right for the subjects to avoid talking about those things that happened in the past, but the emperor cannot turn a blind eye to them. At least Khan Ama is not one who would do so.
He dared to write a book to debate this issue, which shows his attitude towards this matter.
Qianlong agreed with the explanation of the debate between China and the barbarians in "Da Yi Jue Mi Lu", but Khan Ama's subsequent refutation of his own rumors did not make the matter clearer, but made it worse.
Qianlong did not want the palace secrets to become a topic of conversation among the people, so he banned the book as soon as he came to power.
But he knew in his heart that the matter of Khan Ama could be put behind him, but the conflict between Manchus and Han people could not be put behind him.
The root of the disaster back then has forced every generation of emperors to handle this matter with caution.
If Yonglian could succeed to the throne smoothly in the future, he would inevitably face this problem.
Khan Ama told Yonglian that he was not asking Yonglian to be disrespectful to his ancestors, but to let Yonglian understand from a young age how many crises and difficulties their Qing emperor faced.
The Han emperors achieved 50%, and they had to achieve 80%, 100%, and 120% to gain the people's true submission...
Yonglian was actually a little nervous when he said this, but he didn't want Agui to be punished for it, so he had to bring up the imperial law. Besides, this was also what was in his heart. If he didn't say it when he was young, he would have no chance to say it when he grew up.
He remembered that many years later, Qianlong overturned the verdict on the Dorgon brothers, saying they had made contributions to the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, when later generations evaluated Qianlong, they often used this as evidence of his nationalism.
Not only in the Qing Dynasty, but even in later generations, the things that Dorgon and Dodo did are always mentioned as the black history of the Qing Dynasty. Those killings cannot be erased by covering up or overturning the verdict.
Instead of overturning the verdict, it is better to face the problem and make amends in another way.
His heart was beating fast, but he looked at Khan Ama with an innocent face. If Khan Ama was really angry, he would pretend to be stupid and put the blame on Huang Mafa.
Alas, there is no way, Huang Mafa has a lot of unconventional ideas, which makes him a good candidate for shifting the blame!
Yonglian saw Khan Ama was silent for a long time, then he sighed and patted him on the shoulder.
Qianlong had a lot to say, but seeing the little guy's confused face, he swallowed his words back. If he said too much now, his precious son would not be able to sleep.
And I am still here. I have allowed the people to live in peace and prosperity for decades. When Yonglian succeeds to the throne, the "Haircut Order" and "Enclosure Order" will not be so important.
At this time, the voice of little Niu Lun came from outside, "Mother said it's getting late, and second brother should go back to the prince's residence to sleep."
Qianlong laughed when he heard this and pushed Yonglian, "Alright, go back. Second Prince's bedtime is fixed and I can't delay him."
The Queen must have been worried that her son would be scolded, so she asked Niu Lun to deliver the message.
The father and son knew what was going on, but neither of them said anything. Yonglian chuckled, ran to open the door for his sister, and then skipped to the front to say goodbye to his mother.
After Yonglian left, Qianlong remembered the reason why he questioned Yonglian today.
Yonglian will inherit the throne in the future, so it's reasonable for him to have a sense of crisis. Is it necessary for the other children in the Shangshufang to know this?
The next day, Qianlong summoned Ah Gui again and asked, "What is your intention in telling these things to the princes in the Shangshufang?"
"Your Majesty, if you two princes don't understand what happened back then, they won't be able to comprehend the difficulties faced by our Holy Ancestor and the Late Emperor, and it will be difficult for them to appreciate their wisdom and greatness." Agui knelt down and said.
Ah Gui's idea was simple. Who didn't know about those things back then? Even if the Shangshufang didn't tell them, the younger brothers would know them sooner or later. There was no need to hide it. History was a mirror. Didn't the history of the founding of the country by his own ancestors count?
He grew up reading the Four Books and Five Classics of the Han people, and strongly disapproved of the atrocities committed by the Qing Dynasty when it entered the Pass. If the Manchus wanted to maintain their rule, they had to learn from this and implement benevolent policies.
Of course, you have to say it differently when talking to the emperor.
When Qianlong heard this, his brows frowned and then relaxed, as if there was some truth to it!
If we don't mention the Enclosure Order, it would be hard to explain the Emperor's removal of Oboi. There's also the Emperor's intention to go south of the Yangtze River and his series of measures to win over the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.
If you don't know how powerful the anti-Qing and pro-Ming forces in Jiangnan are, you can't see how successful Emperor Kangxi's series of measures were.
Who is the Holy Ancestor? He is his idol, and must also be the idol of all the descendants of Aixinjueluo!
In the end, Qianlong did not blame Agui at all and even invited him to have dinner.
During the meal, the emperor and his minister talked about Huimin Canteen again, and Agui had to flatter it.
The emperor only said that this matter should not be praised in memorials, but he did not say that it should not be praised in person.
After praising the kindness of the Emperor, Empress, Queen Mother and all the masters in the palace, Ah Gui casually said that some officials also came to taste the cooking skills of the imperial chef.
Qianlong: "...? Officials don't have anything to eat, but they have to fight with the common people for a bowl of stew worth three cents?"
Ah Gui said, "You all want to appreciate the grace of Your Majesty. No matter how delicious the delicacies at home are, they are not even one ten-thousandth of the food sold in Huimin Canteen."
Qianlong frowned. If some officials really asked people to buy it, the people would definitely not dare to compete with these people, and the people in the Imperial Household Department would not want to offend them either. If this continued, the word "benefiting the people" would become a joke.
After Agui left, Qianlong personally wrote the four big characters "Hui Min Canteen" and made an annotation. The so-called "Hui Min" means that he hopes it can benefit the common people. From then on, all bannermen and officials of high rank in the court are not allowed to go to Hui Min Canteen and the place where leftovers are distributed to grab from the people. Once discovered, they will be severely punished.
Since the founding of the country, most government decrees were things that were allowed by bannermen but not by common people, and things that were allowed by officials but not by common people. This was the first time I heard that common people could do something but officials and bannermen could not.
Many people were dumbfounded after reading the regulations written by the emperor himself. They immediately burst into tears and knelt down to kowtow.
When Emperor Qianlong moved the coffin of Empress Xiaojingxian to Tai Mausoleum in late February, he also exempted the people along the way from their land taxes for the year.
The tax exemption had already been implemented in the first year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, which meant that the people along the way did not have to pay taxes for two years. Coupled with the previous incident of the Huimin Canteen, the people near the capital had indescribable respect for the new emperor Qianlong.
When the imperial carriage passed by, the people would kneel down to greet it spontaneously. Even if the officials and guards would not let them get close, they would still welcome the emperor in their own courtyards.
When Yonglian learned about this, he felt very complicated. Khan Ama used the leftovers from the palace to win the sincere love of the people.
How sinister and cunning were the feudal emperors?
And how miserable and lamentable were the people of the feudal dynasty?
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