Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 67 Protecting Weaknesses, Being Greedy, Arrogant and Handsome
On the Buddha Bathing Festival on the eighth day of April, the Military Aircraft Department received a memorial to Fu Heng from Shanxi to report victory with a red flag. At the same time, it received a memorial from Sichuan Governor Zhang Guangsi to impeach Fu Heng for his military exploits and to punish the commander-in-chief of the army.Neqin was a little at a loss when he received these two documents, so he hurriedly ordered Xiaoluzi to invite Zhang Tingyu outside the Xihua Gate to discuss how to enter the performance.Xiaoluzi turned around and came back within a moment, saying that Zhang Tingyu had entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation by order.Neqin thought about it, this kind of excerpt was the most concerned by Qianlong, and it was absolutely impossible to write an abbreviation, so he ordered the eunuch on duty at the military plane to go in and report "I have something important to see the emperor".I took these two copies with me and waited at Yongxiangkou to be summoned.Not long after, Gao Wuyong came out to deliver an order: "The emperor calls in."

"Yes." Neqin bowed and agreed, followed Gao Wuyong in, and asked as he walked, "Is Zhang Xiang at the emperor's place?" Gao Wuyong smiled and said, "Not only Zhang Xiang, but Ertai Xianggong is also inside! You want I'm not on duty today, so I have to go in." Neqin hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?"

Gao Wuyong smiled at Neqin, and said, "We slaves don't know about the master's affairs." Knowing that he was cautious, Naqin didn't ask any more questions, and followed Gao Wuyong to Danchi. Before he could sign up, he listened to Qianlong In Dongnuan Pavilion, he said: "Is it Neqin who is here? Come in!"

"Greetings to the master!" Because he saw Qianlong every day, the Minister of Military Aircraft was exempted from kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times. Neqin threw up his horseshoe sleeves and knelt down to salute. He said with a smile on his face, "Mr. Ertai went to the old ministers first, and they all sat on the edge of the kang, nodding to Neqin.Qianlong smiled and said: "The two prime ministers are fighting with me! You came just in time. Today is the Buddha Bathing Festival, and the Queen Mother has a decree, asking me to lead the ministers of the study and the military aircraft department to accompany her to the Great Buddha Temple to offer incense and bathe the Buddha. Do you think it is feasible?"

Neqin was stunned for a moment, and then noticed that Qianlong was dressed neatly today: a white silk tasseled crown on his head, a camel-colored single satin gown, a white jade hook and a ponytail tie, a fasting sign around his waist, and a pair of robes over his gown. A single gold dragon coat made of stone green silk silk, and blue satin cool-leather soap boots under the feet are also new.Naqin thought that these two scholars must be admonishing him not to believe in Buddhism, so he deliberately turned aside and said with a smile: "The servant has a more important happy event. I have played the role of the master. We can discuss the rest, can it be done?" Fu Heng's memorial was handed over.

"Well, it's Fu Heng's." Qianlong took it over and weighed it, and said with a smile: "Fu Heng will either not write it for a while, or write it as a ten-thousand-word book." The minister Fu Heng knelt down and played "Dangping Heicha Mountain Tuotuo Peak White Lotus Sect Bandit Over 5000 Bandits Capture Qu Kui Piao Gao Shi Alive".Before I could read it, I was already overjoyed, so I asked for tea, and read each page carefully.The three military ministers watched from the sidelines, and saw that Qianlong sometimes frowned, sometimes had a gloomy face, sometimes closed his eyes in thought, and sometimes sighed.When the time shifted, he gently pushed the memorial, walked down the ground, and muttered: "More than five thousand people! There are [-] people? This?..." "There is still a copy," Neqin muttered and said again, "It's from Zhang Guangsi, governor of Sichuan, and he's also talking about this." Neqin said, and handed over Zhang Guangsi's brochure.Qianlong took it and looked at it, with no expression on his face, folded the two copies, and said to Zhang Tingyu and Ertai: "You also have a look." He asked Neqin, "What do you think of this matter?"

Neqin kowtowed and replied: "This matter is easy to distinguish. It should be decreed that Fu Heng and Zhang Guangsi come to Beijing, and they will tear the captives face to face." Zhang Guangsi's bullets are very short, and Zhang Tingyu has already read them. After hearing this, Said: "Naqin's suggestion is not feasible. Our army has won a complete victory. I have told the people of the world that rewarding meritorious ministers is the first priority. It is common to cut generals before the battle, and we should not forget the big for the small."

Ertai thought while reading the notebook, and said: "Zhang Guangsi is far away in Sichuan, and the distance from Heicha Mountain is about the same as our Beijing. He also wrote this notebook because he heard some nonsense and favored his old subordinates. Zhang Tingyu said: "Zhang Guangsi also said that Fan Gaojie was blocked by [-] bandits, not including the enemies surrounding Lin County. It seems that the [-] bandits are true."

"Fu Hengjuan has no reason to deceive me." Qianlong suddenly thought of Fu Heng's first memorial and Yun Yun's words at that time. Fu Heng is not a person who is greedy for merit. An imperial envoy who dares to act decisively, borrows [-] troops and horses, directly attacks unexpected places, destroys Piao Gao's old nest, and rescues the camp, Fu Heng has the style of a general!"

The emperor has his own opinion, so it's easy to talk about it below.Zhang Tingyu said with a smile: "Master, you can see clearly that Piao Gao was captured alive. If you go to Beijing for the first trial, who is right and who is wrong will be innocent?" Qianlong pondered for a while, and said: "This Li Shiyao is very familiar to me, where does he seem to be?" As if I've heard of it..." Naqin laughed as soon as he heard it: "Master forgot. His little pass is still sealed by the imperial mouth! It was selected by Wansui from the papers, and the 'Weng Zhong' in it was wrong. Written as 'Zhong Weng'..."

"Is it him?" A spark flashed in Qianlong's eyes, and then he laughed, "It seems that I have a good appreciation after all! He is such a talent! Well, since 'Pan Tong' did a good job, Fu Heng commissioned him to do it' Consultant said, "I will approve it. You send a letter to Fu Heng, add the title of Li Shiyao's servant, and walk in front of him, bring it when you report on your duties, and I will summon it in person."

Zhang Tingyu pondered for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, the Tuotuo Peak is already military, and the political appeasement must follow. Linxian, Xingxian, Lanxian, and Xixian are remote places, and local officials have acted recklessly, extorting money and filling their pockets. The incitement is actually because the people have no food and clothing and have no choice but to follow the thieves. If the emperor acts benevolently and opens warehouses to release food, the trouble will disappear. There are so many thieves in these places, and if one is not careful, trouble will arise. According to the taboo, the crime of robbery will be imminent The county magistrates of the counties of Xing, Xing, and Lan were dismissed and returned home, and ordered Taiyuan to allocate 30 stones of grain to the local poor. With food to eat, the people would not rebel even if the bad guys persuaded them."

"It's really old-fashioned to seek the country!" Qianlong was so happy that his eyes lit up. He turned to Kang and picked up his pen happily, and wrote an edict on Fu Heng's notebook, saying in his mouth: "Zhang Guangsi will not pursue it anymore. His notebook will not be published. When I report on my work in the future, I will have a good talk with him, and you will accompany me to see Lafayette in a while, and talk about this, the old man may be very happy!"

When it came to accompanying the emperor to worship and bathe the Buddha, the three ministers were silent.Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, it has been passed down for four generations. Since Shunzhi’s mother Borjizit, almost all the concubines in the harem worshiped and believed in Buddhism. Among the emperors, Shunzhi and Yongzheng also believed in Buddhism.It's just that these two emperors who believed in Buddhism were both "great" and unclear.Zhang Tingyu is a master of Confucianism. Although Ertai and Neqin are Manchus, they also have profound attainments in Sinology. The three of them disapprove of this matter from the bottom of their hearts.However, Qianlong was hesitant to worship Buddha from his mother because he was "filial".After being stunned for a while, Neqin said: "The slave is on duty at the military plane, and he came in temporarily to play something. The emperor has no other orders. The slave has to go back. I dare not miss the state affairs." Ertai also said: "Just now is the emperor's order. Those counties need relief, the original county magistrate needs to remove the seal, and the official department needs to select a few capable people to fill the vacancies. The slaves have to discuss these matters with the official department and the household department, and hand over the plaque tomorrow to play the emperor." Zhang Tingyu also laughed. : "Your Majesty, this servant is old and his waist and legs are hard. The Emperor is the Buddha of this life, and if he has pity on this old slave, he can't kneel down three times and kowtow nine times in the hall. Those Buddhas in the next life, with pottery bodies, made no sound, two Dull eyesight, no food for three meals, no movement of the four limbs, abnormal facial features, unreliable relatives, ignorance of the seven senses, majesty in all directions, sitting still for a long time (nine), very useless, the servant not only does not believe it, but also really cannot bow down to this waist, I beg the emperor to spare this slave from suffering."

"Okay." Qianlong laughed when he heard it, "When it comes to worshiping Buddha, it really feels like a rebellion. The cow does not drink water and presses the head, and I don't force others. In fact, I don't believe in Buddha myself. Lafayette is People always love to be lively, and want to make more merit, so I want to take you with me. Some of you are 'something', some of you are 'sick', and I can explain to her old man. But you think for me I have an idea, Lafayette must kneel to wash the Buddha when he arrives at Zhongcui Palace. Will I be kneeling or standing?"

The three ministers all laughed when they heard this.Neqin said: "This is easy to handle. The master faces the queen mother, and the queen mother salutes the master. Don't move. After the queen mother's Buddhist service is over, the master will give the queen mother a big gift. If the mother and child are as good as they are, the queen mother will not pick the emperor's gift." Qianlong had no choice. He waved his hand and said with a smile: "Kneel down!"

After the three of them filed out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Qianlong removed the court clothes.In fact, the emperor does not need to wear court clothes to meet close ministers in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.He originally wanted to please his mother, so he took him to the study room and went in with the Minister of Military Aircraft Department to pay homage to Guanyin Bodhisattva.Now that everyone does not follow the edict, it feels nondescript to wear this outfit, so they only wear camel satin robes inside, tie a crouching dragon bag, put an azurite buttoned vest on the outside, and move out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.As soon as he left the Chuihua Gate, he saw Yun Lu, Yun, Hong Zhou, Hong Xi, Hong Xiao and his uncles and brothers waiting at the door.They also obeyed Yi's decree and accompanied the emperor to the Ci Ning Palace to meet the Empress Dowager.This group of people were all dressed in court dresses, and when they saw the emperor dressed up, they couldn't help but all knelt down to pay their respects.

"Forget it." Qianlong said with a smile, "Follow me to the Palace of Compassion and Ning to greet Lafayette. I wish the Buddha and Bodhisattva bless her for a long life and good health. Those who believe in Buddhism can go with her to bathe in Buddha rituals, whether there are errands or other You can do whatever you want." Yun Lu was surprised to hear that Qianlong's tone was very different from the edict issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs that "all princes, ministers, clansmen and nobles will accompany the emperor to accompany the queen mother to worship the Buddha".When he was about to ask, Qianlong had already walked forward, and everyone had no choice but to follow him to the Palace of Compassion.

The Compassionate Ning Palace is already full of court wives.Lily incense is burned in the bronze cranes, tortoises and tripods in the courtyard.This group of women was all dressed up beautifully, but they didn't stand on shifts. They ordered them to have good friends on weekdays, and they gathered together to whisper.Some are pious, and take a lot of incense to add to the imperial furnace, some are not sociable, stand alone and think, wandering around with thoughts, and those who have never seen the emperor want to pay homage to the sky, peeking around in circles Hanging flower door.There were only a few respectable wives who helped the queen mother arrange incense mountings in the palace, and talked with the queen and noble concubines with the queen mother.As soon as Qianlong entered the Chuihua Gate, he said with a smile: "This is the fairyland of the Queen Mother of the West, so many fairies!" Said: "Slaves and servants greet the master!"

"Okay, okay, get up! It doesn't matter about the national ceremony today." Qianlong waved the bamboo fan of the Concubine Xiang with clay gold in his hand, and smiled amiably, "Dharma is equal, we are all incense burners!" Everyone got up one after another, Qianlong As he walked towards the hall, he searched for Tang'er with his eyes, but he didn't see it. It was expected that he didn't come, so he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.In a blink of an eye, he saw a woman in her 40s knelt in front of the bronze tortoise, adding fragrance bit by bit, but it was Tweety, so Qianlong walked over and said softly, "Tweety..."

"Tweety..." Seeing that Tweety's face was tear-stained, Qianlong added incense silently, but he didn't hear himself speak, so he called softly.Cui'er turned her face away suddenly, only to see that the emperor was talking to her, she was startled, she hurriedly wiped her tears and kowtowed: "It's the emperor! You are auspicious..." Qianlong gave his hand a little help, and said: "Get up, your Qianxin has arrived. Compared with the last time I saw you, you are haggard."

(End of this chapter)