Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 362: Forcing Yongxiang to death, forcing Agui to leave, and forcing Qianlong to take action himself
No one could answer Yongxiang's question.

According to the normal market price during the Qianlong period, a load of raw silk was about 300 taels.

The people sent to negotiate with the Jiangnan merchants lowered the price from 200 taels to an incredible 20 taels, but still failed to impress the other party.

Yongxiang sat dejectedly in the pile of raw silk, smelling the disgusting rotten smell, and suddenly asked:
“What about the other warehouses?”

"There are several warehouses in Panyu that received goods late, and the quality is still good. The others are rotting and turning yellow."

……

Yongxiang jumped up with a grunt:
"We don't want to sell it anymore. Why don't we produce it ourselves? Yes, we can make all the raw silk into silk and sell it after two years. We still have hope!"

Several servants lowered their heads and spoke with difficulty:

"Master, I'm afraid that's not possible."

"Why not? I can recruit craftsmen and pay them for their work instead of doing it for free!"

"Master, you don't know that 6% of the silk workshops in our Qing Dynasty are in Jiangnan. Now all the silk workshops in Guangzhou are working overtime, but even so, they will not be able to consume all the raw silk materials on the market in another five years."

Yongxiang's face turned pale.

A surge of blood rushed upwards from the soles of his feet, puff!

The snow-white raw silk was dyed red by the spurting blood, the red and white colors were very eye-catching!

"Master~"

Yongxiang spat out blood and muttered to himself:
"I have been wondering for the past few months why the Jiangnan merchants did not take over. Now I finally understand, because they set up this game. They are too cruel, too cruel."

"Emperor Qianlong, you shouldn't~"

……

A group of household servants watched in horror as Yongxiang, a capable man in the Imperial Household Department, Heshen's confidant, and a well-known figure in the city of Beijing, breathed his last.

It would be more accurate to say that he was crushed to death by the mountain of debt rather than being angry to death.

When Yongxiang was the supervisor of Guangdong Customs, he was very optimistic about maritime trade.

He then took out all his assets and borrowed money to buy a large amount of tea and silk.

If it weren't for the "Swindlers' Mission" incident, he could have earned enough to last for ten lifetimes, perhaps even enough to buy the Qianmen building.

And now,
The Shanxi merchants are dead, but the banks they founded are still there.

A mysterious person from the capital took over the bank, changed the signboard and the name, and continued to operate.

All previous deposits will not be recognized, even deposit certificates.

But the debts that were previously lent out must be recovered.

……

2 days ago,

A prince's steward has issued an ultimatum to Yongxiang!

Repaying debts is a matter of course!

Even if you are Heshen's dog, the emperor's dog, you will be beaten. If you can't pay back the money you borrowed from the bank, you will pay with your life!

Emperor Qianlong lent silver to salt merchants every year and collected interest.

Heshen was even more ruthless. He often lent Beijing debts to poor Beijing officials and those who were about to be sent to other places!
Yongxiang was not an outsider, but an expert. That was why he was desperate and knew that he had no way out.

What if Yongxiang doesn’t have to pay back the money?

The Yangzhou salt merchants don’t have to pay back the money!

Officials who borrowed money from Beijing don’t have to pay it back!
Therefore, the two masters will never help him, but will tacitly allow the creditors to use any means.

In this matter,

The relationship between master and servant cannot outweigh the debt and credit relationship.

Who said that the Qing Dynasty does not abide by contracts? In this matter, Qianlong and Heshen would especially emphasize contracts.

……

Yongxiang was not the first person to be forced to death, nor would he be the last.

All of these people were reported to have "died suddenly of illness", and then the Ministry of Personnel re-selected candidates, and the people who were ranked as substitutes were very happy.

but,

As Li Yu expected,
6% of the Qing Empire's annual silk production eventually rotted and became soil fertilizer.

Planting mulberry trees, raising silkworms and reeling silk have become livelihoods that farmers are reluctant to avoid.

half year later,
Mulberry farmers in Sichuan, Guangdong, Fujian and many other provinces cut down their mulberry trees with tears in their eyes.

If no one buys raw silk, no one will raise silkworms. If no one raises silkworms, what is the point of raising mulberry trees?

Farmers work hard for a year or two, but if there is no harvest, they have to change their careers immediately.

It’s not that the farmers are short-sighted, but that your hungry stomach won’t give you a chance to think long-term, and the messengers who are collecting grain won’t give you a chance to think long-term either.

……

This cut,
This means that within 3 years,

The silk industry was discontinued in all regions except Jiangnan.

Because it takes three years for a mulberry seedling to grow from being planted to maturity and ready for harvesting mulberry leaves!
For the feudal peasant economy,

Planting mulberry trees is a huge investment. After cutting down the trees, this family will not be able to plant them again for 10 or even 20 years.

The tea farmers in Wuyi Mountain are relatively better off.

We only endured a one-year price trough, and then things returned to normal.

Because tea bricks had no market in the Qing Dynasty. No decent person would drink brick tea, they had to drink fresh tea!

……

Hall of Mental Cultivation, West Warm Pavilion.

Heshen knelt down and said nothing.

"Show it to him."

"Yes."

The chief eunuch Qin Si handed several memorials to Heshen, then quietly stepped aside.

"Your Majesty, this, this~"

Heshen's forehead was covered with sweat and his expression was full of surprise.

"What do you think about these pieces of southern military intelligence?"

"I am a stupid servant and don't know much about military affairs. For a moment, I didn't know who was right or wrong."

Qianlong did not get angry. He thought it was normal that Heshen did not understand military affairs.

How can I sleep well with a financial expert who is also proficient in military affairs?

"Give me a seat."

Qianlong took a sip of ginseng tea slowly and said:

"I estimate that it is only a matter of time before the entire province or most of Jiangxi falls. The Green Camp soldiers cannot stop the Wu bandits! Fortunately, there are 2 Mongolian cavalry concentrated in Hubei. The Jingxiang Plain is safe for the time being."

"The Emperor's Holy Might."

……

Qianlong seemed to be thinking:
"Ma Zhongyi, this servant, still has some brains. He said that Jiangxi is basically undefendable, and it is better to go into the mountains early than late. I agree, the Military Affairs Council will draft an edict to let him concurrently serve as the governor of Jiangxi!"

"I will do it right away. Ma Zhongyi has served in Suzhou before, so he must know something about the fake King Wu."

"Well, he told me the truth and spoke highly of Li Ni!"

Heshen did not dare to continue speaking. In short, Ma Zhongyi was currently in the emperor's favor and it was not appropriate to slander him.

The person he cares most about is Agui.

Sure enough, Qianlong stared at him and asked:
"What do you think of Ah Gui's idea?"

"I think Lord A's strategy of defending the west and crossing the north is brilliant, but it requires a suitable opportunity."

"Well, although you don't understand military affairs, your last sentence is right. With such a big situation, it's hard to grasp the timing of when to close the net." Qianlong seemed to be very emotional, "The heat is the most important. If the heat is not enough, the rice will be half-cooked, and if the heat is too much, it will be burnt."

The house fell into silence.
Qianlong suddenly whispered:

"Agui, this servant, is a qualified commander. However, he has disappointed me~"

……

Heshen and Qin Si both understood what the emperor meant by disappointment.

The emperor was critically ill and summoned the front-line commander back to the capital.

The commander-in-chief, however, was slow and delayed, meeting with many of the frontline generals, a behavior that was dangerous in itself.

Are you concerned about the war situation or do you have other intentions?

Qianlong could not rule out the possibility of the latter. For an emperor, the loyalty of his subjects is more important than their ability.

So, Agui must be eliminated.

Qianlong's subsequent personnel arrangements were quite surprising:

"Issue an order that Ah Gui's suppression of the bandits is ineffective. Remove all his positions in the capital, deprive him of his title, and leave the capital today to serve as the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou. Tell him that while in office, he should select officers, train soldiers, build weapons, and be on guard against the invasion of the Burmese king."

"The slave obeys the order."

Heshen was secretly delighted as this day had finally arrived.

Agui was a huge mountain on his head, but it was finally removed. From then on, he had the final say on whether the capital city would be in chaos or not. …

"The work of the Ministry of Revenue is quite difficult. You have to work hard to keep the business going."

"Yes." Heshen's eyes were slightly red.

Qianlong also sighed:

"No matter what, the salaries of the soldiers on the front line must be guaranteed."

"I have signed a military order. If you cannot guarantee the military supplies, I will bring my head to you."

"well."

Qianlong was obviously in a good mood and actually stood up to inspect the Imperial Household Department in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The eunuchs carried a sedan chair and held up a parasol. Heshen and the fifteenth prince Yongyan accompanied them.

The Yangxin Palace Workshop
It is one of the institutions under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, producing many types of products, and the matchlock is just one of them.

Seeing the bright yellow emperor coming,

The huge crowd immediately knelt down to greet him and shouted "Long live the king".

"The Imperial Household Department Doctor, Ming En, pays respect to the Emperor."

"How is the supervision going?"

"Your Majesty, since I received the order on December 12 last year, I have supervised the production of 3100 matchlock rifles, 800 muskets, and 50 submachine guns. It cost 61500 taels of silver and 4 kilograms of fine iron."

Heshen was very sensitive to numbers.

He glanced at this guy and said with an expression on his face:
"The Emperor is inspecting the Imperial Household Department. You, cooperate with the inspection of the guns."

"Whoo."

……

Several blue-feather guards randomly selected four muskets and two flintlock rifles from the warehouse.

Then load and shoot skillfully.

The gunsmiths around them watched with twitching eyes, thinking that these guards were really bold, loading large amounts of gunpowder and aiming close to the face.

Bang bang, gunshots rang out one after another.

The thick wooden target was smashed into pieces.

The matchlock gun is very powerful and the technology is very mature.

however,
When it came to the test firing of the flintlock rifle, the style of the painting suddenly changed.

A blue-feathered guard pried open the hammer, took aim, turned his head and shot.

As expected, the lead bullet missed the target.

Qianlong frowned:

"Why are you so cowardly? The lead bullets are all going off into the sky."

no way,

The Blue Feather Guard reloaded and aimed and fired in a standard posture.

bang~
The moment the gunshots rang out, screams were also heard.

The hot gunpowder gas spurted out from the spark hole and burned his eyes. The unfortunate guy rolled on the ground, covering his eyes.

……

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Soon, the injured guard was carried away to see the imperial physician.

If nothing unexpected happens, there will be a new one-eyed regular customer in the teahouse in the capital.

Heshen said nothing.

Ming En, a doctor in the Imperial Household Department, fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Is this how you do your job?"

"Your Majesty, it's not that I didn't try my best. It's just that flintlock rifles are really difficult to make." Ming En quickly defended himself, "Matchlock rifles are all copied from existing ones, and the blueprint room has ready-made blueprints. The parts of this flintlock rifle are too delicate, and it takes the time of three matchlock rifles to make one flintlock rifle."

Qianlong asked:

"How did the bandits in Jiangnan manage to have a spear in each hand?"

"Your Majesty, those were all provided by the Western Barbarians. The Western Barbarians are good at making flintlock rifles. I suggest recruiting them with a large sum of money~"

"Shut up." Qianlong said coldly, "We are a great country, we don't need to learn from the barbarians. Let's concentrate our manpower on producing matchlock rifles and put the flintlock rifles aside for now."

"Whoo."

Ming En wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and knelt down to watch the imperial carriage leave.

He is a distant relative of the Queen Mother. He is not very diligent in his duties, but it is not too ridiculous.

He was considered a qualified bannerman in the Imperial Household Department system.

As for the servants of the upper three banners, Emperor Qianlong would generally not take any action unless they committed serious faults.

after all,

These are the Aisin-Gioro family’s base.

……

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is usually too busy to handle this matter, and I neglected to discipline my children."

"This is not your fault. The Ministry of Revenue is already giving you enough headaches. Let Helin come to help and make him the chief contractor of the Imperial Household Department's Gun Division. And give him the Jingshan Gun Division, which is part of the Yangxin Palace's Workshop."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight together in battle. The key to fighting the bandits in Jiangnan is money and time! Tell Helin to have matchlock guns, handguns, and mother-and-child cannons, the more the better."

"Your Majesty is wise. My brother and I will sacrifice our lives to repay your kindness."

Qianlong nodded with satisfaction and went back to take a nap.

After the major setbacks he had suffered some time ago, he felt that he was one step closer to becoming a saint, and his originally extremely sensitive self-esteem and sense of honor and disgrace had also been reduced a lot.

He will not get angry easily again, and will not allow his dragon body to be damaged by the trouble caused by the untouchables.

……

Just returned to the East Warm Pavilion,

A servant from the clan house came over, knelt down and said in a low voice:
"Your Majesty, Princess Heshuo Heke has passed away."

Qianlong was stunned, and then asked:

"What's the reason?"

"The doctor said it was liver deficiency and lung dryness, which caused the cough and spitting red vomit, and the long-term consumption led to tuberculosis."

"I, got it."

……

The servants of the Imperial Clan Court felt as if they had been pardoned and quickly slipped out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Qianlong looked out the window blankly.
Seeing Yongyan crying, he was naturally saddened since he and the Ninth Princess and Princess Heshuo Heke were born to the same mother (Concubine Ling).

"Qin Si, let Prince Jia in."

"Whoo."

As soon as Yongyan came in, he knelt on the ground, extremely sad.

"Huang Ama~"

"Dry your tears and sit down." Qianlong looked at the green treetops outside the window and said calmly, "Concubine Ling gave me three sons and two daughters in her lifetime. Now only you and Yonglin are still alive. It's a pity that she passed away two years ago."

Yongyan's face was covered with tears as he looked at the emperor's father's back and white hair.

"A person's life span is determined by heaven. Don't be sad. Sadness harms the body and shortens life. As a member of the royal family, you should be indifferent to life and death in this world."

"Yes, I will follow the instructions of my father."

"Yongyan, I know everything that happened to you during your time in Jiangsu. You are too immature."

After saying this,

Qianlong turned around and looked at his somewhat dazed son.

Upon seeing this, Qin Si immediately lowered his head and left the Yangxin Palace, and at the same time asked the guards not to approach within 50 steps.

……

Qianlong's expression gradually became serious, and he pulled over a brocade stool and sat down.

"Yongyan, what do you think a good emperor should be like?"

"Be kind, righteous, and moral, and love the people like your own children."

Qianlong laughed silently, and his gray hair trembled.

"This is my fault. I neglected your education. I want to tell you solemnly today that morality is the biggest deception in the world. It is a big net woven by my Aixinjueluo family for the people of the world."

Yongyan felt a chill on his back, clenched his fists, and listened with wide eyes.

"Since Pangu created the world, no king has ever lost his country because of his lack of benevolence, righteousness and morality. On the contrary, they all have one common problem: they are not ruthless enough!"

Qianlong's tone suddenly became fierce:
"They are not cruel enough to their subjects! They are not cruel enough to the people of the world! They are not cruel enough to themselves!"

[The company held a quarterly dealer meeting. Grandchildren from all over the world gathered in Suzhou. I would like to take a day off! ]

(End of this chapter)