In this room of the traveling palace in Jinan, apart from the imperial guards and palace maids and eunuchs who served as background walls, the remaining occupants were Qianlong, the old dog, Niu Gulu · Heshen, Zhangjia · Agui, Fucha · Mingxing, and Ji Xiaolan, the iron egg and bronze chicken of the five daily imperial consorts.
Among this combination of four masters and one dog, the one with the lowest IQ and EQ should be Fucha Mingxing. Slightly better than Mingxing would be Ji Gou, and a bit better than him would be Agui, with Heshen and Qianlong, the old dog, being the strongest.
Therefore, upon hearing Qianlong, the old dog, say that Agui deserved to die a thousand or ten thousand times over and still not atone for his sins, Chancellor He proposed that Agui be allowed to redeem himself through service.
As expected, after hearing Heshen's proposal, Qianlong, the old dog, immediately let out a cold snort and said, "If it weren't for Heshen pleading for you, I would have your head cut off!"
Agui was overjoyed. He immediately moved his sleeves in a horse-hoof style, knelt down in a posture of a dog and horse, and bowed, saying, "This servant thanks Your Majesty for his grace!"
Qianlong, the old dog, still gave a lukewarm "hmm," and ordered, "Get up, and tell me more about that rebel Zhu."
Agui responded with a "Zhe," first respectfully kowtowing to Qianlong, the old dog, to express his gratitude, then stood up, considered his words carefully, and replied, "After this servant's defeat, I deeply reflected on my mistakes and combined them with the lessons learned from Mingxing and others' previous defeats, finally allowing this servant to summarize something."
Agui carefully organized his language: "In this servant's opinion, the rebel Zhu relies on nothing more than his superior firearms. If the enemy is at a distance, Rebel Zhu will use long-range firearms to blast them; if they are close, Rebel Zhu will use close-range firearms to blast them. In short, he relies on the advantage of firearms to sow chaos among the people, and then launches a general assault."
"Whether it was Mingxing's previous defeat, or the驸马 and Ashar sacrificing themselves for the nation, or this servant's recent defeat, it all amounts to the same."
"According to the firearms unit soldiers who escaped from the驸马's command, Rebel Zhu seems to possess a type of flintlock rifle with an extremely long range and great accuracy. Within two to three hundred paces, it hits almost wherever it is aimed."
"This servant believes it would be better to have the Ministry of Works rush the production of a batch of cannons and muskets, and order our Eight Banners soldiers to practice the Nine-Nine Consecutive Ring formation. Perhaps this can overcome the advantage of Rebel Zhu's firearms?"
Qianlong, the old dog, again gave a lukewarm "hmm," and began to ponder Agui's proposal in his heart.
Qianlong, the old dog, was not unaware of the advantages of firearms, nor did he not know how far firearms had developed in the West. For the Qing Dynasty to have the Ministry of Works mass-produce firearms was not a difficult matter.
However, when it came to firearms, especially muskets, controlling their power to the level of shooting a chicken was acceptable. But if they were to truly create something like the muzzle-loading rifled Minié ball flintlock rifles that Zhu Xiaosong had developed, Qianlong, the old dog, would be unwilling.
After all, at a distance of two to three hundred paces, they could hit almost anywhere they were aimed. What if some madman took such a weapon and aimed it at the Emperor...
Furthermore, firearms like muskets and cannons were quite troublesome to manufacture, and it seemed a bit unrealistic to re-equip all the Eight Banners soldiers in a short period of time?
After secretly calculating in his mind, Qianlong, the old dog, was about to toss the problem to Heshen when a scout from the Sticky Rod Guard hurried in from outside the hall door. After arriving in front of Qianlong, the old dog, he first performed a curtsey and knelt, then kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, a swift report from six hundred li away in Gansu! Tian Wu, a remnant of the Jejilireniye, has raised a rebellion at Shifengbao. The rebel army has captured the earth fort, and Gansu is shaken!"
Qianlong, the old dog's face darkened. His body, which had been leaning on the couch, straightened up. He asked sternly, "Remnants of the Jejilireniye? How did the Gansu local government offices handle their duties!"
Heshen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. The Hui people in Gansu rebelling is not a new occurrence. This servant believes that sending people to suppress them is sufficient. Why should Your Majesty be angered by a mere Hui person?"
Qianlong, the old dog, snorted coldly and reprimanded, "In Shandong, there is Rebel Zhu and Chen Tailai, White Bagua; in Hubei, there is the White Lotus Society; and now in Gansu, there is Tian Wu. I wonder where the next disturbance will be?"
Heshen did not dare to respond. Ji Xiaolan, with his iron teeth and bronze mouth, took two puffs from his dry pipe and said, "Your Majesty, this subject believes that whether it is Rebel Zhu's rebellion, or the White Lotus Society's rebellion, or Gansu's Tian Wu's rebellion, the fundamental reason is that the local government officials have excessively oppressed the common people."
"Especially the Governor-General of Gansu, Li Shiyao, who has always been extremely greedy. If he had not extorted the land in Gansu, why would the people of Gansu have risen in rebellion?"
"This subject requests Your Majesty to dispatch an inspecting censor to investigate all unlawful officials in the empire and restore a clear and bright sky for the people!"
When Ji Xiaolan first spoke of the local government officials excessively oppressing the people, Qianlong, the old dog, could still listen, thinking that perhaps he should send someone to execute a few local officials to appease public resentment to some extent.
However, when Ji Xiaolan mentioned Li Shiyao, Qianlong, the old dog, became furious. He no longer bothered to put on the pretense of the Manchu and Han rulers being one family, and directly pointed at Ji Xiaolan and cursed, "I made you in charge of the Siku Quanshu because of your literary excellence, but it was merely to keep you as an entertainer. How dare you talk about state affairs!"
Ji Xiaolan was stunned by the scolding.
The last time he was cursed and kicked out by Qianlong, the old dog, because of Mingxing's matter, Ji Xiaolan thought that Qianlong, the old dog, was merely acting out of temporary anger, and that after Qianlong, the old dog's anger subsided, he would still be Qianlong, the old dog's confidant, and still a capable minister and official of the Great Qing.
Especially in the White Dragon Temple, Ji Xiaolan thought that Qianlong, the old dog, valued him greatly.
Now, being cursed at so directly, Ji Xiaolan finally understood that he was merely a literary slave kept by Qianlong, the old dog, just a dog kept by Qianlong, the old dog, for amusement.
With a clang, Ji Xiaolan's dry pipe fell to the ground due to his distraction. Ji Xiaolan snapped back to reality with this clang. He quickly moved his sleeves in a horse-hoof style, knelt down in a posture of a dog and horse, and kowtowed, saying, "This subject, for losing decorum before the Sovereign, deserves death a thousand times!"
Qianlong, the old dog, snorted angrily and ignored Ji Xiaolan. Heshen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Ji Xiaolan is also concerned about state affairs, which is why he lost decorum before the Sovereign. I hope Your Majesty will show leniency?"
Qianlong, the old dog, snorted coldly and pointed at Ji Xiaolan, cursing, "The prefectures and counties are the parents of the people. How can a son beat his parents? Just as a grandfather loves his grandson, he will not allow him to defy his parents out of indulgence. Such a degenerate practice must not be allowed to continue! Get out!"
Ji Xiaolan kowtowed again and responded, "Zhe!"
After Ji Xiaolan withdrew, Heshen bowed again with a fawning smile and said to Qianlong, the old dog, "Your Majesty, that Ji Da Yandai is just a bookworm who has read himself silly. Your Majesty, don't pay attention to him."
Agui of Zhangjia and Mingxing of Fucha were both shocked.
Everyone in the court of the Great Qing knew that Ji Xiaolan, Ji Gou, was always clueless and often found trivial reasons to impeach Chancellor He. But now that Ji Gou had angered His Majesty, Chancellor He was still willing to intercede for Ji Gou?
Thinking back to the Li Shiyao case a few years ago, when Chancellor He, despite the pressure from others who wanted Li Shiyao executed, only sentenced him to death with reprieve, Agui and Mingxing looked at Heshen with different eyes.
It seemed that seeking refuge under Chancellor He was also not bad?
Little did they know that Heshen, who was all smiles, was inwardly cursing Ji Xiaolan for being reckless, and at the same time pondering whom he should find to impeach himself in the future. If Ji Gou, this unlucky fellow, were to stop impeaching him, and there was only Liu Guozi left, that wouldn't be much of a thing either.
No, he still had to find more people who could impeach him. He had to find more people who disliked him and support them. Otherwise, if all the voices in the court of the Great Qing were praising him, wouldn't he be destined to die?
Qianlong, the old dog, naturally did not care about the life or death of a mere Ji Xiaolan, nor did he care about Heshen's trifling schemes. He merely let out a cold snort and said to Chancellor He, "Now that rebellions are occurring in many places, even if the Ministry of Works rushes the production of firearms, it will be insufficient. Heshen, do you have any good ideas?"
Heshen bowed and said with a fawning smile, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this servant has a tiny, not-yet-mature idea?"
Qianlong, the old dog, let out a ha-ha laugh and said, "What, are you and Er still going to play coy with me?"
Heshen fawned, "Oh, Your Majesty, what are you saying? Your Majesty is wise and mighty, illuminating the vastness of the world. This servant has always been loyal to you, so how could I dare to play coy before you?"
"What this servant is thinking is, since the Ministry of Works cannot produce them in time, and the Western barbarians have always excelled in firearms, therefore, this servant thinks, perhaps we can send people to contact the Western barbarians and directly purchase finished firearms from them?"
Qianlong, the old dog, snorted, "If your idea is only this, then do I still need you to tell me? Don't you know that the national treasury is also quite tight?"
Heshen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This servant also knows that the national treasury is tight, especially after Chen Tailai raised his rebellion. It has been difficult to escort the annual silver from Jiangnan to the national treasury, making the national treasury even tighter."
"However, since this servant dares to propose this method, it is because this servant has a certain grasp of being able to raise enough silver."
Qianlong, the old dog, "hmm"-ed and asked, "What method?"
Heshen continued to answer with a fawning smile, "Your Majesty has bestowed many rewards upon this servant over the years, and I have always intended to pass them down to Feng Shenyin De as heirlooms. Now that the national treasury is tight and firearms are urgently needed, this servant is thinking of taking out all the silver Your Majesty has bestowed upon this servant to purchase firearms."
"This servant believes that as long as this servant is willing to take the lead, other officials from various regions will surely follow suit, and the issue of silver will be resolved?"
Having said this, Heshen turned his head to look at Agui and Mingxing and asked, "What do Your Excellencies, the Imperial Commissioner and the Governor, think?"
Agui immediately bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this servant has also received many rewards over the years and, like Chancellor He, intended to keep them as heirlooms. Now that the national treasury is tight, this servant is also willing to follow Chancellor He's example and take out this silver to purchase firearms."
Mingxing also bowed and said, "This servant is the same."
Qianlong, the old dog's expression softened a bit, and he said to Heshen, "Fine, this matter will be entrusted to you. Be sure to handle it properly."
Heshen immediately bowed and accepted, then took his leave with Agui and Mingxing from Qianlong, the old dog.
After leaving the palace where Qianlong, the old dog, resided, Heshen smiled and asked Agui and Mingxing, "I, Heshen, took the lead in donating, and then forced you two to donate as well. Do you two have any objections in your hearts?"
Agui and Mingxing exchanged a glance, then bowed together and said, "Your Excellency the Chancellor is loyal to the nation, so how could we have any objections?"
Heshen let out a "ha" laugh and said, "Whether you two have any or not, it doesn't matter. In any case, this official is giving you an opportunity to get rich. Whether you can seize it depends on you."
Mingxing was startled and asked, "Please enlighten me, Your Excellency?"
Heshen chuckled and said, "Go and contact the missionaries in Jinan city to see who has channels for purchasing firearms. It's just about suppressing bandits, so buying any decent firearms is enough. It's not worth making a big fuss about in court."
Don't think that only Advisor Tang could play the game of "returning the money of the local gentry in full." In fact, Chancellor He's methods of playing this game were enough to make Advisor Tang sigh in admiration—
His own money was returned in full, while other officials' money was divided three-seven between him and Qianlong. Three parts for him and Qianlong, and the remaining seven parts were used to buy firearms, with another kickback taken during the purchase.
A three-seven split, eating the buyer and then the seller, and after all the back and forth, the money was obtained, wasn't it?