Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 38 Discussion on Rent Reduction, Monarchs and Ministers, Discussion on Civil Affairs, Eating Blessings, and the Trouble in the East Palace (1)
Looking at Agui's back, Zhang Tingyu felt very emotional in his heart. In the past, officials like him were only summoned routinely, and they would leave after asking a little about their duties.In today's interview, Qianlong hardly asked Ah Gui to say anything, but he confided his heart and poured out all his thoughts.Only now did Zhang Tingyu understand that Qianlong's refusal to let him go back to the mountain was not because he was inconsiderate, but because there was no suitable candidate to replace him.Thinking about it, Zhang Tingyu said: "The emperor governs the country with prudence and boldness in employing people, and this servant admires him very much. But according to the servant, if you see it right, it can be used to great effect. In the past, Gao Shiqi was less than 30 years old, and the ancestor moved seven times in one day. The slaves also entered the study room in their 20s. The emperor has great talents, and following the emperor to do errands day and night is also a matter of experience, not necessarily qualifications."

"I've thought about what you said before." Qianlong pondered, "The Holy Patriarch was in power at the beginning, and the small imperial court of the Southern Ming Dynasty was still there, and there were San Francisco separatists in it. In fact, it was still a troubled time. Now the country has been at peace for a long time. The benefactors are mixed in, not as easy to identify as in troubled times. And now you can choose the good and use them calmly, which is different from the time of the ancestors. The year before the year before the year before the Prince Guo's house performance, he sang "The Case of Guillotine Beauty", a knife Going down, the red water flowed all over the stage. Yun’s son was called—Hong’s, right?—he fainted from fright at that time. The second son of the [-]th uncle’s family, Hongming, even the cook butchered chickens covered his face and dared not look at it. Isn’t that a big joke? During the military parade in Wuhu, Fu Heng killed two late generals without permission. The general of Wuhu said, “Fu Heng’s method of making the three armies tremble”, which means it’s too harsh. I called him a “martial arts show” in the official version. What a joke, if you don’t even dare to kill an officer who violated discipline, you’re called a general? If you want to do good deeds, why not become a monk!”

Zhang Tingyu was convinced by his long speech, and sighed: "The slave is the one who has followed the master for three generations, and he is about to die, and he will not be able to witness the heyday of the Qing Dynasty."

"Maybe you can see it, maybe you can't." Qianlong looked into the distance with piercing eyes, "but I hope you can see it. Your generation has the achievements of your generation. , without the hard work of the ancestors and the emperor, I can only be ambitious." He got off the kang, paced slowly, as if he wanted to bring back the distant thoughts, meditated for a moment, smiled relaxedly, and said : "The Miao border has been pacified, but the big and small Jinchuan, Celing, Cerengbut, and Zhungeer are not always rebellious. I must eradicate the source of chaos in these borders. What matters now is that the politics of the interior has not yet been clarified, and many things are not clear. If we start from this root, we will get twice the result with half the effort." Zhang Tingyu said with a smile: "Is the Lord worried about the White Lotus Cult in the Mainland?" Qianlong shook his head and said: "The White Lotus Cult is not the source. The land is merged, the labor is uneven, and the landlord and tenant are in the same position. Water and fire, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. What can’t people do if they are so poor? The cult can establish itself in the Central Plains and the South because it helps each other within the church and buys people’s hearts. Get politics right, If the relationship between all parties is settled, the rich will be kind and the poor will be able to make a living, and the White Lotus Sect will have no basis for rebellion—have you read some of Fu Heng's papers?" "The slave has read it." Zhang Tingyu hurriedly Dao said, "There is also the incident of the seizure of tenants in Gansu. The country exempts all living beings from taxation. This is a great good governance, and more than half of it was swallowed up by the rich. This is not a trivial matter."

"What do you think?"

Zhang Tingyu said: "Since the first emperor, land and land have been merged, no matter what dynasty or generation. After a long period of peace, this kind of thing is inevitable. We can only act according to the situation. According to the slave's knowledge, we can issue a clear edict to explain The state loves to support the common people, and because of the general grace of exempting money from taxation, the landlord is clearly ordered to share some benefits with the tenants. It will be divided into half, and the landlord will get a lot, and the tenants will also get the benefits." Qianlong was silent for a long time and said: "I'm afraid we can't generalize. Among the rich, there are those who are kind and generous, and some who are rich and unkind; It is impossible to explain the reason for the decree to distribute the profit to the tenants according to the headlines. Here is the edict, and those stupid and arrogant tenants below have nothing to do, and they have to pick the owners. Don’t you give them more grounds to resist rent and food? What should we do if there are disputes and fights everywhere?” Zhang Tingyu thought for a while, then said: “What the emperor said is true. How about an imperial edict to persuade you to reduce the rent?"

"You can give it a try." Qianlong knew that this was a matter that the emperors had not dealt with well before. Since Fu Heng's notes came up, he had thought about many ways over and over again, but he still felt that it was not appropriate.Zhang Tingyu's "persuasion to reduce the rent" was indeed a mild and moderate measure. Qianlong replied: "You will draw up a manuscript for me to read now."Qianlong had seen it a long time ago, and quickly asked: "Heng Chen, is it not useful? Your face is a little pale." Zhang Tingyu forced a smile and said, "It's easy to get sick when you are old. I just got up a little bit harder, so it's okay." Su Hexiang wine, a good medicine for heart disease, was taken out from a small medicine bottle in his arms, and he took a sip, and gradually returned to color.Qianlong wanted to dissuade him, but Zhang Tingyu already had a pen in his hand, thinking and writing.

The way to rule the world is to love the people.The way to love the people is to reduce taxes and rents as the first task.However, most of the money and food are transferred from business households, so the code of exemption is probably mostly those who invite benefactors from business households.If you want to remove the rent according to the number of acres you have claimed, and bring it to the official law, you will be unable to do so, and it will only cause trouble.However, it is not impossible for the business households who receive my favor to donate five out of ten dogs to share the benefits with the tenant households.I have recently heard that there are tenants in the south of the Yangtze River who are willing to donate to Yile, and those who are willing to donate the rent of the tenants.The department where the order is located is good at persuading all business households to reduce the rent of their tenants according to their discretion, without limiting the fraction, so that the farming poor can have surplus food to support their wives.If there are seasoned Fengye households who can embody this idea well and benefit the tenant households, they will be rewarded according to their discretion;You Si should be kind to understand my intentions, enlighten with an open mind, and share benefits with Xingren.If the stubborn tenant takes this opportunity to wait and see the delay, he will still be punished with the crime of resisting rent.I regard the business households and tenant households in the world as my own sons, and I wish them all the same.The business households benefit from my grace, so that the tenants can also benefit from the business households, so that the monarch and the people will be united, sympathetic to each other, and the harmony of people will inspire the harmony of the sky.
After writing, he lifted it tremblingly, blew it carefully, and held it to Qianlong with both hands.Qianlong took it over and examined it carefully, and said: "Forget it, it's just that the reason doesn't seem to weigh much." Then he took a pen and added a sentence after "Probably most of the business owners invite benefactors": "The unemployed poor work hard all year round, Transporting grain without being favored by the state is not the meaning of public justice."He handed over the draft to Gao Wuyong and said, "Give it to Neqin, and send it to the provinces immediately." Then he said to Zhang Tingyu, "Heng Chen is also exhausted. If you are allowed to eat, you will not be good, and you will leave. Zhuang Yougong looks at it." The writing style is not bad, I will ask him to enter the military office tomorrow, and he will draft the general edicts, you just have to read it to see if there are any changes. He has also experienced, and you have shared the labor, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"

Zhang Tingyu retreated, Qianlong took out his pocket watch to look at it, and just after Shenshi, he took a car and rushed to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to pay his mother's respect.At this time, the snow had stopped for a long time, and there were large and small snowdrifts everywhere beside the palace of Ci Ning. The eunuchs who cleaned the palace were all experts. , or deer or cranes, vying for strangeness, the courtyard is full of snow sculptures.More than a dozen eunuchs were in front of the main hall, some were chopping with axes, some were shoveling, some were chiseling. They were busy playing with a snow elephant that was as tall as a house. Seeing Qianlong coming in, they all stood with their hands down.Qianlong ignored it and went in, only to see the Empress Dowager sitting on the kang, Nalashi and Concubine Dun were busy beating her back and legs one by one.Qianlong took a step forward and knocked down Qian'er and said with a smile: "Son pays respects to Lafayette!"

"The emperor gets up," said the queen mother, "sit over there. Have you eaten yet?"

Qianlong was sitting by the coffee table, and glanced at the concubine, and Concubine Qia Dun also glanced over, and immediately moved away as soon as he touched it, then smiled and said to the queen mother: "My son just saw someone coming down, and he hasn't eaten yet. The unscrupulous cook in the imperial dining room can only make warm fire food, it doesn't taste good, it just makes you feel tired, and I just want to give Lafayette some use!" The Queen Mother smiled, and said to Concubine Dun: "Go, cook yourself, and do something for the emperor. Specialties!"

"Yes!" Concubine Dun lied to get off the kang, blessed both Qianlong and the queen mother, and then whispered: "I wonder what the emperor wants to use?" There was still trembling, and he didn't dare to look at Qianlong directly, and stood aside obediently with lowered brows, and Qianlong felt pitiful and cute with that kind of coquettish and remorseful expression.As if she had done something wrong, she blushed and said, "Be light, only one meat dish is needed. Remember that your fried pork liver is not bad, and one dish of frying now is enough." Concubine Dun actually What I was most afraid of was that Qianlong would ignore him. Seeing that Qianlong was soft-spoken and kind, he was immediately relieved, and hurriedly retreated after two blessings.

The queen mother waited for her to go out, and said with a smile: "She is a chili-tempered person, and this time she suffered a big loss. Dai Ying told me what you said, and I gave her a hard time, and she cried here just now. Punishment She is yours, I can't say anything, I just feel sorry for a person who is so hot on weekdays, it's like being hit by frost all of a sudden. Women, face is as important as life. Do you think so?" Qianlong knew that there must be such a thing. As soon as he said it, he was confident, sipped tea and smiled: "Mother said it is very true. According to my son, no matter you, the queen, concubine or concubine, you love your son and want to make him a virtuous son. Here are some There is a reason, and there is a festival. You are a Buddhist. The Buddha said that you have compassion. Is it because the gods see whether they will use it or not? My son just made a decree not long ago—you know, Shi Jiabao, the third-class guard with a red flag, attempted to rape his family’s wife, Jin Shibu, and killed her husband. Lafayette, your decree, saying that killing people and killing them, is too light a punishment, and my son obeyed the order and sent him to Heilongjiang—human life is the most important thing, it is our Tianjia, and there is no punishment at all. That will really sweep away our face. So, what my son meant, we need to be punished a little bit, but the 'concubine' has become a 'concubine', and there are a few less people around me, that's all, it will be changed in a few days Well, resealing is just a one-sentence matter. The predecessors scattered the soil, and it is easy to confuse the future generations. The son is so thoughtful. Thinking about it, the mother thinks it is too heavy. It is also feasible for you to issue an order to avoid her punishment. "

His words were eloquent, twists and turns, and reasonable. The queen mother, who had been bent on persuading her son to cancel the punishment, couldn't help smiling, and said, "What you said is really reasonable." The side listened blankly, and then said: "Son, you just admit it. Your master has his difficulties, even if he is wronged, it fulfills his dignity outside, eh!" Concubine Dun agreed with "Yes", and put the vegetable cloth on the coffee table Go up, turn your face away and wipe your tears.Qianlong wanted to comfort him with gentle words, but when he saw the eunuch Wenda bringing the two princes Yonghuang and Yonglian in, he stopped and asked, "Just finished school? Have you seen your empress?"

(End of this chapter)