Between ruler and minister

  "Cough, cough, cough...", Hong Duan coughed for a short while before finally managing to catch his breath. He patted his chest gently and cleared his throat. His face, already flushed from drinking too much wine, became even redder. "I've been busy all this time and haven't had a chance to attend the funeral yet."

  Long Hanyan just gave Hong Yu a faint glance, apparently not too satisfied with his younger brother's composure. One sentence could scare him like this, it seems he still needs to be tempered.

  He also poured himself a bowl of milk tea, and Long Yintian continued: "I see that you've been quite busy lately, running out every now and then. Once the 16th uncle has recovered from his illness, I'll give you a long vacation, let you rest for two months."

  "Ah, that's great." Hong Yu heard the emperor wanting to give himself a holiday, and his heart naturally felt expectant, he had been looking forward to that kind of leisurely life for a long time. However, soon after, he thought of a big problem again, and the mood that had just improved instantly sank back down: "But before coming to Mulan, I had just gone to visit my sixteenth uncle, his illness this time came suddenly, and after nursing him for half a year, there was no sign of improvement. I am really worried..."

  "This is also my fault, I knew that the sixteenth uncle was old and yet gave him such a troublesome task...", although Long Yintian said this with his mouth, in fact, he did not have any apology in his heart. For Zhuang Qinquan Wang Yunluo, his nominal sixteenth uncle, it can be said that he had mixed feelings of love and disgust.

  Because Yunlu is the son of Emperor Kangxi, not only has he received the teachings of Emperor Kangxi, but also experienced the event of Nine Dragons fighting for the throne, so his vision in political affairs is absolutely incomparable to those younger officials. This is also the reason why Long Yitian will transfer Yunlu to the Ministry of Punishment.

  But on the other hand, Long Yintian was not at ease with this sixteenth uncle of his. After all, Yunluo had indeed harbored those thoughts that he shouldn't have, especially in the face of great power. It's just that he was somewhat out of luck and missed the good opportunity to seize the throne, which is why he settled down to be a prince.

  Compared to Yunlu, Hongye's temperament and ideas are easier to grasp, so Longyitian plans to let Hongye take over the position of Zhuang Qinqing Wang. At the same time as serving in the Ministry of Punishments, he will also take on the position of Zhenghuang Banner Manchu General, making it more convenient for him to continue implementing his own plans in the future.

  Long Yitian raised his ceramic bowl, slightly lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying meaningfully: "Fifth brother, after returning to the capital, you go visit Sixteenth Uncle again and bring some good medicine as a gift. Just say... it's my intention."

  The emperor's words were clearly laced with an underlying tone, but Hong Duan was momentarily unable to see through it, so he could only respond based on the surface meaning: "Don't worry about this, Your Majesty. After returning to the capital, I will make sure to visit the residence of my sixteenth uncle as soon as possible."

  Long Hui nodded slightly, he dared to confirm that Hong Zhao couldn't hear the meaning behind his words at all, but Shi Liu was able to guess it, so letting Hong Zhao act as a messenger was also a good choice.

  After finishing the matter of Sixteenth Uncle, Long Yitian added another sentence: "Oh, right, if you want to hold a funeral again, be sure to notify me, I'll make time to attend and give you some face."

  Hong Duan suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart, "It turns out that Your Majesty still hasn't forgotten about this matter. In the past, you always scolded me for being slow to hold the funeral; now it's good that I'm not rushing to do it, but instead, you're urging me from behind. It seems that all the words inside and outside are all said by you alone."

  Although he was full of complaints in his heart, Hong You still had a playful smile on his face and said with an air of nonchalance: "Of course this matter is settled, at that time I will be the first to inform Your Majesty."

  Then, Long Yitian picked up a memorial from the ones scattered around him and put it on the table. He turned his head to look at Hong Yu and said: "Take a look, this is the memorial presented by the supervising censor to impeach Prince Duan some days ago. I remember that the Ministry of Justice handled the case involving Prince Duan three months ago, so this time I want to hear your opinion."

  When the Emperor took out the memorial, Hong Ye knew that the Emperor was finally going to talk about serious matters, so his expression naturally became more restrained and much more solemn than before.

  After carefully reading the memorial, Hong Ye smiled wryly and explained the situation as he knew it: "Actually, when it comes to that case, my younger brother also felt helpless. The case was originally caused by the second son of Prince Duan, and had nothing to do with Prince Duan himself. However, Prince Duan is extremely doting on his two sons, and spent a lot of money to bribe people to calm down the situation. Since the victim withdrew their complaint, the case naturally came to an end."

  Hong You's words were roughly the same as what Long Yintian had heard from the Ministry of Punishment, and that case was originally handled by Hong You himself. Although Hong You also accepted the gift sent by Duan Qinwang, he was smart enough not to deliberately conceal it, so Long Yintian didn't plan to pursue it further, and just said lightly: "In that case, what this memorial says is probably somewhat exaggerated..."

  Hong Yu couldn't believe that the Emperor hadn't investigated, but now the Emperor was asking his opinion, which clearly meant he wanted to see his attitude towards this matter. So, he didn't dare to be biased and said truthfully: "In my humble opinion, Prince Duan at most is guilty of indulging and covering up for him, or being a poor teacher."

  "Alright... let's just leave it at that for now." Hearing Hong Ye's response, which was more or less in line with his thoughts, Long Yitian didn't say anything else and instead took out two more folded papers from the side and put them on the table, saying casually: "I have two more documents here, take a good look at them."

  "It's really not easy to chat with the emperor, indeed. Out of ten sentences, eight are about state affairs, and the remaining two aren't exactly pleasant conversations either. Sigh... being a person is hard, but being the emperor's brother is even harder......" Hong Duan resignedly picked up the folded paper and began to carefully read it from start to finish.

  It's better not to look, but once he looked, Hong Yu felt his head swelling up, and what was written on the folded paper wasn't anything else, but the Eight Banners issue that gave the Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Revenue a headache.

  The drawbacks of the Eight Banners system have been around for a long time, and since the time of Emperor Kangxi, there has been no letup in the efforts to reform the Eight Banners. However, if the Eight Banners system is not thoroughly reformed, then all these efforts will be nothing more than treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. Over time, things will naturally revert to their old state.

  The problem is that the Eight Banners system isn't something that can be changed just by saying so, and the Guangxu Emperor's opposition is absolutely insurmountable. This is a matter that even Emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng couldn't handle.

  The emperor didn't seem to be in a hurry to ask him anything, so Hong Duan carefully weighed his words and remained silent for a long time before slowly opening his mouth to say: "Your Majesty, the Eight Banners system was established by the previous emperor, if we act rashly, I'm afraid..."

  Long Hui Tian had long guessed that Hong Yu would say such a thing, so before he even finished speaking, he interrupted him: "Fifth brother, you've been in the Ministry of Justice for many days, and you should have seen more things than I have. As for this matter, whether it's beneficial or not, I know you must also have your own thoughts."

  Hong Dou was blocked by Long Yitian's words and suddenly didn't know how to respond, because some things were not something he could say out loud with his current identity.

  Because Long Yitian was indeed not wrong at all, in his days in the Ministry of Justice, he had handled the most cases of the Eight Banners' sons, so naturally, he also understood the situation of the lowest level of each department of the Eight Banners. Although the court allocated a lot of money every year to improve the lives of the Eight Banners' sons, this could only alleviate temporary difficulties.

  As the Eight Banners' sons in Beijing did not engage in production, they could neither farm nor trade, so apart from that little grain allowance every year, there was no source of income at all, and it was inevitable that life became increasingly difficult.

  Actually, many Manchu families now have some private shops and businesses, but these are all relatively well-connected big families, so naturally they turn a blind eye.

  "Hehe, I'm just chatting with you casually, don't rush to make a statement." Long Yintian saw Hong Yu's difficulty and spoke out to comfort him, but the meaning between his words was already very clear. "Today's sky is already late, you should also go back and rest early, and take your time to think about it carefully, many things are uncertain at this moment."

  Hongdai now seems to have fully understood, the emperor this time just wanted to give him a reminder, after all, how to deal with the Banner matter, I'm afraid the emperor had already made up his mind.

  At the same time as he let out a sigh of relief, his heart couldn't help but feel some worry. After all, if this matter wasn't handled properly, it would lead to endless troubles later on. Even Emperor Yongzheng didn't dare to take action easily, and just thinking about it made him feel uneasy.

  He let out a faint sigh and put down the memorial in his hand, looked at Long Yitian with a complex expression, then stood up and said: "Then... I'll take my leave."

  Long Hui Tian had been observing Hong Yao discreetly since just now, knowing that his goal had already been achieved and he had gained some extra benefits. He rarely revealed a hint of a smile and nodded slightly, saying: "Mm, you can go."

  Not far from the big account, Hongyu stopped his footsteps again, turned his head and gazed at the big account for a moment, with a thoughtful expression in his heart. In the end, he still clenched his fists slightly, turned around abruptly, and walked quickly towards his residence without saying a word.

  That night, Long Yitian slept well, but Hong Zhao was tossing and turning all night, unable to fall asleep. The next morning, he went to the hunting ground with two big panda eyes, which made Yong Yao and Yong Bi laugh for a long time. Even Yong Yao laughed and said: "I don't know what people think, Your Highness must have done something sneaky last night."

  Facing these two annoying little guys, Hong Ye was both angry and helpless, and in the end, this bill was still counted on his fourth brother, the emperor.

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