Stormy Weather (Part 1)

  He furrowed his brow, looking at Yunzhu who had changed into a light green cheongsam, and found that her small face, which was rosy and tipsy earlier, had turned pale with discomfort. He couldn't help but feel some sympathy: "How did you get here? Do you have a headache?" His restless heart felt somewhat soothed that she could make it over.

  "How can I not come." She smiled and said softly: "It's okay, don't worry. How is Fucha Gege?"

  She never called his concubine "sister" in front of him, Hongli hooked the corner of his mouth and said: "Qi Taifu has already taken labor-inducing medicine, and Ping is also inside, so nothing should go wrong."

  "Qī Tàiyī's medical skills are exceptional, she can definitely ensure the safety of Fùchá Gé Gé and her child." Yúnzhū recalled, "I just heard that it was Chūnhuā, the palace maid by Fùchá Gé Gé's side, who saved her. How is she?" As she spoke, she looked at Gāo Lòuwèi and Kēlíyètè.

  Gao Lü Wei and Ke Li Ye Te. Guo Xin was taken aback, who would pay attention to a lowly servant girl, let alone one not even serving them personally. Hong Li naturally wouldn't bother with a minor palace maid either, but he didn't think he had done anything wrong, yet his attitude towards Gao's and Ke Li Ye Te's families was different.

  To the master, a slave's life and death are naturally unimportant; is human kindness able to distinguish between rich and poor? Their self-blame and concern for Fucha were all just an act in front of him, merely to win his favor and shirk their own responsibility.

  Yunzhu saw their expressions and knew that Chunhua was no longer being cared for, so she calmly walked up to Qi Taifu and said: "There's also a palace maid who got injured here, would you please take a look at her?"

  Qizaiyi covered up his surprised eyes and didn't think it was beneath him to take the pulse of a palace maid, and humbly said: "Yes."

  "Take Qi Taifu away." Yunzhu summoned a small palace maid and instructed her, exchanging the small palace maid's grateful and excited gaze. These slaves, regardless of whether they are useful or not, with or without background, being loyal to their masters, also have times when they sympathize with each other. Without looking, she could already sense it, seeing this scene, the hearts of the slaves had already stored her impression of being considerate of others. From now on, as the legitimate mistress, taking advantage of the convenience of hosting the banquet, rewarding and punishing would only increase her good reputation for being generous and strict in rules.

  Unexpectedly, Chunhua's situation seems to be more critical than Fucha's. She fell and hit her head, suffering a concussion with internal bleeding. Dr. Qi is not very skilled in this area, so he only prescribed a few doses of medicine to calm the mind and dissolve the blood stasis, instructing someone to brew it for her to drink. If she can wake up within three days, there will be no problem; if she cannot wake up, she will become a living dead person.

  What is called a living dead person is actually a modern vegetative state, and there have been medical examples of this throughout history, although they are not common.

  Yunzhu said calmly after hearing this reply: "He's a loyal and devoted servant, take good care of him."

  "Yes."

  Even Fu Cha's confidant, Qiuyue, who grew up with Chunhua, couldn't help but feel grateful to her. With Ping's attention focused on the mistress in the delivery room, she had to handle everything inside and outside the courtyard, and Chunhua was not only unable to care for herself but also didn't have the right to ask a doctor for medicine... In that case, Chunhua would definitely not make it. Now, with Yunzhu's words, Chunhua has a glimmer of hope.

  At sunset, Empress Fuca gave birth to the first son of Emperor Qianlong, Yonghuang.

  Such an eldest son, due to the inauspicious birth date, Hongli's initial expectation turned into dislike. Yongzheng had some taboos about ghosts and gods in his heart, but he didn't do anything that would humiliate the imperial bloodline for a ignorant child, and just rewarded Fuling'a with several pieces of silk and medicine as usual.

  The Empress and Xi Fei also symbolically rewarded some Hangzhou silk and Korean cloth, but it's unknown whether they deliberately avoided sending someone to see the child. Yunzhu didn't pay attention to these things and just followed the rules. To prevent future troubles, she specifically told Shang Ayi in front of Hongli: "Fuca Gege also worked hard, so I chose this year's new rewards for her."

  Hongli slightly furrowed his brow, but also couldn't say anything. Yongheng's birth date was unlucky, but it wasn't entirely Fuca Fulinga's fault either... forget it.

  "Leave some for yourself too."

  "Can I still lose myself?" She smiled and pulled his hand, "Aren't you happy yet? Don't worry too much, a gentleman strives to improve himself, one's fate is mainly in their own hands, as long as they are well-educated, the child will also grow up successfully."

  "You're right." He smiled and held her soft little hand, anyway, the one who could inherit everything from him in the future could only be his legitimate son, his and Yunzhu's child. As for others, why should he care too much? The only thing that made him unhappy was the fear that this matter would affect his position in the emperor's heart... It was also his own overthinking, as long as he was excellent enough, how could the emperor care about a small grandson of a minor concubine? What he valued would only be his and Yunzhu's children.

  Until Fucha and her mother were safe and sound, and everything was settled, Yunzhu's reward and punishment arrived.

  For the two servants of Koriyate who caused Fulinga to give birth prematurely, since it cannot be determined whether they did it intentionally (this is clear in their hearts), they were punished with half a month's salary. Koriyate was ordered to copy "Nü Jie" and "Xin Jing" twenty times each, and Lan Xi was given ten strokes of the cane as a warning.

  "Unintentional killing is also killing, and cannot be used to escape punishment." These words stunned everyone in the Qianxi Second Department, as long as a mistake was made, whether intentional or unintentional, they would have to accept punishment.

  The Gao family's master and servant handled the matter properly, and Yunzhu was rewarded with many new year's brocades. Unfortunately, most of the brocades that fell into Gao's hands were those containing dyeing agents that her brother Gao Heng had smuggled into the palace through Suzhou Weaving Factory, which not only could not be used but also might become evidence of her poisoning others in the future if given to someone else.

  Cui Lian carefully checked all the brocades that had been bestowed, and then walked to Gao Luomi's ear and whispered a few words. Gao Luomi felt a chill in her heart, sat down on the couch, and after a long time asked: "Cui Lian, do you think Furen will find out?"

  "This can't be, right?" Such a secretive matter, even if they were the trusted aides of the Gong family in the Imperial Household Department, and hadn't served by their master's side, it was still unimaginable to them.

  Gaolü Wei nodded, "You're right, it's just a coincidence." She guessed that Furen was showing off her favor with the master by giving her the new good things she had received. Unfortunately, the generous reward seemed like a useless trinket to herself, and she didn't know when she would be able to use it.

  ……

  Yunzhu's calm and peaceful attitude and handling of affairs were both seen by Yongzheng and Hongli.

  Chunhua didn't make it, and after a few days she died. Fu Linga was already deeply hurt by the fact that her son had been born with an unlucky birthdate, and when she heard this news, she became even more despondent. She only allowed people to generously reward Chunhua's family, but did not dare to spread the news publicly.

  Fuling Ah cried: "Chunhua saved me and Xiao Age's life, but I couldn't even handle her funeral properly, I owe it to her..."

  Spring flowers are loyal and dedicated, having followed her for over a decade, like an arm to her side. Now that she's gone, the two of them in this desolate place have lost a reliable helper, their situation even more difficult.

  "Master, don't cry anymore, you'll hurt your eyes." Ping Mama, who had been holding on for days and was exhausted, comforted him, "This is also unavoidable. The young master should have received more attention as the eldest son of the Beile Master, but unfortunately, he was born at an inopportune time. If we add the Spring Flower incident to that... I'm afraid it will bring even more rumors and gossip, which won't help matters, not to mention bringing even more trouble."

  "Don't be sad, master. I think this might be a good thing." Qiu Yue brought over a bowl of nourishing soup for Fuheng and said, "Master's original intention was to have an heir to rely on, wasn't it? Originally, Master having a young son already stirred up jealousy in others. If the young son's birth chart was auspicious and took the position of the eldest son, who knows if he could be raised safely... Now, the young son has avoided these risks. Secondly, how Master gave birth to the young son, I believe Beile Ye and the Emperor are both clear about it in their hearts, and they must have some guilt towards Master and the young son. This is also a guarantee. Although the young son may not be favored, he is still the Emperor's grandson, and his future title will not be lacking."

  "Miss Qiu Yue is right." Ping's nanny looked at Qiu Yue with approval and advised, "Master should take good care of himself, carefully raise Xiao A Ge, wait for the storm to pass, and then try to conceive another child, which is the proper thing to do."

  Fuling gave them a piece of advice, and they deeply agreed. She suppressed the resentment and sorrow in her heart, quietly hiding in her own room to recuperate her body. Even when Yunzhu held a simple "three baths" and "full moon" ceremony for Xiao Age, she didn't make a sound. However, her hatred for Gaoshi and Keliyueci was deeply buried in her heart.

  The Goguo Fucha of the fourth son Hongli, who unexpectedly gave birth to a long-awaited son on May 5th, was like a gentle breeze that ruffled the surface of the river, causing only a slight ripple before being quickly suppressed and faded away by the imperial family.

  When Li Guangyao heard the news, he had a mind to take advantage of it and fabricate some rumors unfavorable to Li Heng. However, he coveted the rich profits from the maritime trade and put more weight on his power at court and future interests. Therefore, he made every effort to mediate, striving to let his own clansmen and officials compete for the official positions, and if possible, take control of one or two customs offices.

  In August of the sixth year of Yongzheng, the General Administration of Customs was formally established. The General Administration of Customs set up customs offices in Tianjin, Qingdao, Ningbo, Quanzhou, Fuzhou and Guangzhou, which were responsible for tariffs and checking imported and exported goods for prohibited items.

  A long list of prohibited items has also been drawn up, and severe penalties have been imposed for the number of prohibited items brought in. If the customs office finds that there is a phenomenon of leakage inspection, the disposal will be strict, and the responsibility will be investigated.

  The number of officials, ranks and relevant rewards and punishments required by this newly established and independent institution are all recorded in the Qing Code and strictly enforced. Yongzheng appointed Guo Xinwang Yunli as the first head of the Maritime Customs Office, with a rank of second-grade official. Under him were two deputy heads, one Manchu and one Han, both with a rank of third-grade official, and the heads of each customs office had a rank of fourth-grade official...

  The Yongzheng Emperor was able to bring peace and prosperity to the country, but in order for the Qing dynasty to be revitalized, new policies had to be implemented. Both human resources and public support were essential, and the current situation has gradually reached his ideal state. The reforms of returning firewood to the public, merging land taxes with grain taxes, changing the system of hereditary posts, and rectifying official corruption have achieved good results in recent years under the assistance of high-ranking officials such as Ortai, Li Wei, Tian Wenjing, Yue Zhongqi, He Shiyuan, etc. Although there are still some imperfections, they have alleviated the pressure on people's lives, stabilized many places, and slightly increased the national treasury.

  But these are still not enough. For the time being, external troubles have not been eliminated, and the use of troops is imminent. Only after dealing with this can he free up his hands to clean up corruption, rationalize taxes, and dredge rivers...

  He's not as foolish as he used to be, worrying day and night, exhausting himself without getting any sympathy from others. As a member of the Aixinjueluo family, he is indeed the emperor, but he doesn't have to bear all the weight alone, nor can he put it all on his 13th brother's shoulders, who is still not strong enough. He lays out the current situation and unsolved problems in front of his brothers and trusted ministers: "I want to create a prosperous Qing dynasty, but I'm not a god. State affairs, local taxes, military supplies... what do you say? Are you willing to put in some effort?"

  Hongli's blood was boiling with excitement, he didn't think that an emperor who wasn't famous in history wasn't a good one. With these kinds of difficulties and the beautiful prospects for the future, he wanted to create them together with his imperial father.

  Solving the problem of the Eight Banners' livelihood and rectifying the affairs of the Eight Banners has been an issue since the previous emperor's time... As sons, they cannot say no to it. The various new policies promoted by the Emperor, if not for the sudden appearance of a "divine omen", at this time, the reputation among the scholars, old ministers and imperial clansmen would be extremely bad. Even if the common people are grateful and the civilians celebrate, what's the use? The brush that writes history is forever in the hands of the scholars...

  Is it possible for them to withstand the pressure of being criticized by thousands of people, causing public debate and even student movements, just because they are going to implement one of these policies: unifying official ranks, reforming taxes, or abolishing the Eight Banners' stipends?

  ……

  Looking at the determined and resolute face of his imperial brother, Yunlu suddenly remembered his reputation as a cold-faced Yan Luo from a few years ago, and the various signs of fatigue hidden beneath his cold exterior. He didn't know what to feel in his heart, and after a long time, he said: "Whatever Your Majesty wants to do, I will definitely support it; whatever Your Majesty wants me to do, I will also try my best to complete."

  I always thought that the 13th brother's reuse by the emperor was due to their close relationship, but now it seems that the 13th brother actually understood the emperor's ideals better and has been silently supporting him all along?! He loves XinYue Luo. Yunlu is not a person who only thinks of personal gain in his heart, he is also a child of the XinYue Luo family!!

  The Prince of Zhuang made a statement, and all the princes and kings came out to kneel down and express their determination to follow him.

  Ma Qi and Zhang Tingyu, among other trusted ministers of Yongzheng, also quietly knelt down beside them. Most of them had gained their current power and titles by firmly following the emperor's footsteps, whether or not they still held onto that ideal was no longer important.