Chapter 14: Using Things to Their Fullest

  Long Yinheng stayed by Yongzhen's bedside all night, on the one hand, he was indeed worried about Yongzhen's condition, if the medicine didn't work and the fever couldn't be brought down, then Yongzhen would be in a precarious situation; on the other hand, he also wanted to take this opportunity to calm down by himself.

  Just this afternoon, Longyin Tian received two memorials from Zunsheng, the Governor of Sichuan, and Nu Qin, the Minister of War. In summary, they both said the same thing - Zhang Guangxian, the Governor-General of Sichuan and Shaanxi, did not cooperate with Nu Qin, resulting in the Tibetan chieftain, Salaoben, successfully launching two surprise attacks on the Qing army. Although the Qing army's losses were not great, if this continues, defeat is inevitable.

  This campaign in the Small Jinchuan was the first battle that Qianlong encountered after arriving here. In the eleventh year of Qianlong, Zhāo Rùn plundered and seized control of the Small Jinchuan chieftainship from Ze Wang, and then went on to occupy the territory of the Mingzheng chieftainship and other places. The wolfish ambitions are clear as day, but at present, considering the financial resources of the national treasury, this war can only be won quickly, and the longer it is dragged out, the more unfavorable it will be for the entire country.

  Furthermore, the predecessor of this body was not an emperor who knew how to use people. Long Yitian had always been puzzled as to why Qianlong would let Nian Gengyu, after concurrently holding the positions of Minister of War and Minister of Revenue and the Three Treasuries, still have to take charge of Sichuan's military affairs to assist in suppressing the rebellion of the Sarooben army.

  This official is a diligent and honest official, and there is no suspicion of forming cliques or seeking personal gain. However, the more such people are, the more they tend to be sharp in their actions, and their relationship with the many ministers in the court will not be very good either.

  Moreover, the most important thing is that Nian Gengyao not only controls the Ministry of War but also takes charge of the Ministry of Revenue. Now he is also in control of Sichuan's military affairs. Can it be that Qianlong has never thought that if Nian Gengyao harbors evil intentions and wants to rebel, it would be as easy as turning over his hand?

  Due to the innate nature of the Qinglong clan, Long Hanyi was a born fighter. Now that there's a battle to be fought, he naturally wanted to take to the field and slay his enemies personally.

  But the affairs of this court are really too many and too thorny, especially in terms of personnel issues, there are big problems and hidden dangers. Even if Long Yintian wanted to go, he didn't have the time, so at most, he could only think about it in his heart.

  After thinking for a whole night, Long Yitian felt that there were still many people he could use, but the Manchu and Han officials in the court had always been at odds, and those high-ranking positions were mostly held by Manchus, so it would appear that there was a shortage of talent.

  In Longyitian's heart, the distinction between Manchu and Han is purely nonsense. What matters is a person's ability, not their bloodline. If the Manchus are incompetent, then talented Han people should be appointed to office. This way, hidden dangers in the court will also decrease greatly.

  The sky had already brightened, and Long Hui also gathered his thoughts, then reached out to touch Yong Zhu's forehead, seeing that the heat on Yong Zhu's body had completely dissipated, he finally put his mind at ease.

  Although Yongzhao's physical condition makes it unlikely for him to ascend to the throne, Long Yitian still intends to continue teaching him. After all, even if he is physically weak, he can still serve as a civil official; and in the future, his identity will be that of a prince, so if he doesn't have some ability, he'll likely find it difficult to even protect himself.

  Watching Yongzhao, it seemed like he wasn't going to wake up, so Longyue Tian didn't continue to stay for long. He quietly got up and left the door, instructing Gao Wuyong to send a few clever and capable eunuchs to take care of Yongzhao. As for him, he left the side hall of Yangxin Hall without even returning to his own bedroom, heading directly towards the Imperial Study.

  For several months, Longyitian summoned the ministers of the Military Department to the Imperial Study every morning to discuss matters, and in the afternoon, he would issue a batch of imperial edicts. Except for a small part that dealt with current political affairs, the rest were all about promotion and transfer issues of officials from various departments.

  Among them, most Manchu officials were demoted to varying degrees, while Han officials began to be gradually appointed to some important positions, and the transfer of these officials was almost all concentrated in the Ministry of Revenue.

  Long Yitian's move was like a drop of water falling into a hot oil pan, completely blowing up the calm imperial court for a long time. Various speculations and rumors flew everywhere, and it also unexpectedly triggered dissatisfaction among some Manchu officials in the imperial court.

  Looking at the large stack of memorials on the table presented by the imperial censors from the Ducha Yuan and the nobles, Long Yinhuan just smiled faintly, then instructed Gao Wuyong to send all these memorials to the Heqin Wangfu, and also brought an edict to Hongyou, letting him handle these matters properly. Otherwise, in the future, he would not be able to be so idle again.

  At this time, Hongdawn was at home peeling peanuts and drinking wine, secretly pondering whether the emperor had gone mad again, how could he suddenly remember to use the Ministry of Revenue as a scapegoat, before that there was no sign at all, even during the morning court session, not a word was mentioned by the emperor.

  After some deliberation, Hong Yu still called Yong Bi into the house as soon as he returned from the upper study room. After all, Yong Bi had more contact with those brothers in the upper study room and might have heard some rumors.

  Yongbi inherited the same carefree personality as Hongyue, and after entering the house, he directly sat on the chair next to Hongyue, casually picking up a peanut and asking with a smile: "I say, Ama, what's the hurry in calling me over? What's going on?"

  Hong Duan saw this virtue and naturally had a temper, raised his hand and patted Yongbi's back of the head, "You little boy, don't be rude in front of me."

  Yongbi didn't dodge, and after being hit, he immediately pouted, rubbing his head while complaining: "Ama... you don't have to be so rough, Dragon Warrior Longkong will go crazy."

  "Alright, you little scamp, stop trying to deceive me in front of your grandfather. In our household, you're even more cunning than a monkey." Hong Yu glared at Yong Bi with annoyance, having long since become immune to all his tricks, which only worked on outsiders anyway.

  Hong Yu took another sip of wine before starting to talk about the main topic, "Yong Bi, have you heard anything during this time while you were in the upper study room?"

  "Is it about the imperial study?" Yongbi was quite sharp, and although Hongzhao didn't say it explicitly, he immediately understood what Hongzhao was getting at. He lowered his head and thought for a long time before responding: "I haven't actually heard any news, but Third Prince has been coming to the imperial study recently to attend classes. Could it be related to this matter?"

  Yongbi and Hongzhao both understood the meaning behind each other's words, although they didn't explicitly state it. Yongbi was also very intelligent and similar to Hongzhao in terms of his character and behavior, so many things Hongzhao didn't deliberately hide from him, as if intentionally cultivating him.

  "This is not entirely impossible...", Hong Duan pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned serious and warned Yong Bi: "Yong Bi, the one in the palace right now is on a roll, who knows what might happen tomorrow. You should be more careful with your actions, and don't get too close to those princes either, just maintain a decent appearance."

  Yongbi smiled and picked up the wine jug to fill Hongyue's cup, saying with a hint of meaning: "Ama, you can rest assured, I'm not a child anymore."

  Actually, Yong Bi said only half of it, but he knew that even if he didn't say the other half, his mother would still understand.

  Just then, the steward of the Prince's mansion hurried in and whispered a few words in Hongye's ear. As soon as he heard this, Hongye understood that these things were probably unavoidable now, because Gao Wuyong had brought the emperor's edict himself.

  In the thirteenth year of Qianlong's reign, on July 24th, the Emperor formally enthroned Ulanara Weiyun as Empress, granting her the Phoenix Seal to oversee the six palaces. From that day forward, she took up residence in the Kunning Palace. On the same day, a grand ceremony was held to establish her position, and all the concubines in the palace knelt down to pay their respects. At this moment, Ulanara Weiyun felt extremely proud and honored.

  The grand ceremony after the establishment of the imperial court was just a mere formality for Long Yintian, as the empress had already prepared everything and even simplified some of the complicated procedures according to his wishes, so it only took one morning to basically finish everything.

  In the afternoon, Long Yitian went to the imperial study as usual to review the memorials. However, he was no longer alone in the imperial study, for Yongzhang had been arranged to enter the imperial study and would look at the memorials with him every day, learning how to handle government affairs.

  As Yongzhang was just starting to learn, Long Yitian only picked some simple folded papers that he had already done well in Zhu Pi, and let Yongzhang write down his own opinions on paper after reading them. After he finished handling government affairs, he would patiently read what Yongzhang wrote and then add comments.

  Recalling the first time he entered the imperial study, Yongzhao was truly nervous from the bottom of his heart and couldn't write a few words for half a day. He originally thought that Emperor Ama would blame him for this, but who would have thought that after reading what he wrote, Emperor Ama only made some comments and didn't say anything else, and even had dinner with him in the evening.

  This matter left a very deep impression on Yongzhang's mind, and with the various things that had happened before, he finally learned to put down the inexplicable anxiety and tension he felt when facing Huang Ama. At the same time, it also made him more and more affirming of Huang Ama's kindness towards him, which unknowingly made his smile a lot more frequent.

  Moreover, his brothers who studied with him in the upper house were also very envious of him for being able to live in the Nurturing Heart Palace and see the Emperor every day. Especially Yongyao would often pull him aside to ask questions about the Emperor, which left him at a loss as to how to answer properly.

  It was precisely because of this that he gradually realized that Yongyan and Yongyu were also more affectionate towards him than before, allowing him to rarely feel the kind of fraternal bond that brothers should have.

  Although he still doesn't know whether such a result is good or bad, but he indeed feels much more at ease because of these.