Perhaps it was the Aisin Gioro bloodline, or the incorporation into the Heavenly Reason Sect, or the excessive consumption of opium, but Yufeng's mind was not particularly sharp.
It wasn't until a good while later that Yufeng suddenly reacted, pointing at Heshen with a face full of shock and exclaiming, "Er He, you want to rebel!"
Heshen, with the eyes of a dead fish, glared at Yufeng and said, "Look, look, what is Your Highness the Beile saying? Although I, Er He, am not a good person, my loyalty to our Great Qing is as clear as the sun and moon! How could I possibly do something like rebelling."
When it came to rebellion, Yufeng's mind finally became a bit clearer. Hearing Heshen speak of his loyalty to the Great Qing as clear as the sun and moon, Yufeng couldn't help but snort, "If Heshen's loyalty to our Great Qing is as clear as the sun and moon, does that mean his loyalty to His Majesty is not clear as the sun and moon?"
Heshen chuckled, picked up his tea, took a sip, and after putting down the cup, sighed again, "If I speak of my past loyalty to His Majesty, naturally it was unwavering. But now, our Great Qing..."
"The eighteen provinces of Han have been abandoned by His Majesty, and now even the remaining Zhili has consecutively lost Daming Prefecture and Guangping Prefecture, and even Shunde Prefecture is visibly in danger."
"Even in Shunde Prefecture, there are those who are staunch supporters of our Great Qing, raising banners for the restoration of the Ming and the overthrow of the Qing."
Heshen sighed again, lamenting with great sorrow, "Agui, Fuheng, and Lord Fu led troops to suppress the Zhu rebels in Shandong, but they were turned into 'Jingguan' (piles of heads). The Fifteenth Prince, along with Eledunbao, marched to suppress the Zhu rebels in Shanxi, even resorting to using civilians to attack the city, yet they suffered losses and had their troops depleted."
"This afternoon, His Majesty even considered personally leading the expedition."
"Your Highness the Beile, can you tell this servant, without the Green Standard Army and the Solon troops, what can our Great Qing rely on to suppress those two rebels, Zhu Jinsong and Zhu Zhongzhi?"
"Can our Great Qing withstand such turmoil?"
Upon saying this, Heshen stated resolutely, "Our Great Qing cannot withstand such turmoil!"
With every word Heshen spoke, Yufeng's expression grew more unsightly. By the time Heshen finished, Yufeng's face was as foul as dog excrement.
Yufeng sneered and looked at Heshen, "What, has your Second Emperor forgotten that this Beile is also surnamed Aisin Gioro?"
Heshen did not seem annoyed; instead, he smiled and said, "This servant naturally knows that Your Highness the Beile is surnamed Aisin Gioro, how could this servant forget? However, it is precisely because this servant knows that this servant has sought out Your Highness the Beile alone to discuss these matters."
Hearing Heshen's words, Yufeng's heart began to pound.
Because he knew this Beile was surnamed Aisin Gioro, he sought out this Beile to discuss these matters. Did this not make the meaning behind Er He's words very clear?
Thinking this, Yufeng took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and looked at Heshen, "His Majesty's health is still robust, and he has four princes at his side..."
Heshen waved his hand with a smile, interrupting Yufeng's words, "It is true that His Majesty's health is still robust. However, His Majesty is already seventy-four years old."
"As for those four princes..."
"The Eighth Prince, Prince Yixian, Duoluo Yongxuan, behaves frivolously."
"The Eleventh Prince, Yongxing, has superior literary talent, especially in calligraphy, but he does not value archery and riding, and enjoys imitating the scholarly habits of Han literati. He can be a ruler of the established order, but not a ruler of expansion."
"The Fifteenth Prince, Yongyan, has excessive ruthlessness and insufficient benevolence."
"The Seventeenth Prince, Yonglin, enjoys traveling incognito, occasionally seeking pleasure in narrow alleys, which His Majesty also strongly disapproves of."
With that, Heshen smiled at Yufeng and said, "In this servant's opinion, who else can rectify the current chaos and bring back a bright universe to our Great Qing, if not Your Highness the Beile?"
Yufeng felt that Heshen's words made a lot of sense.
The old dog Qianlong was surnamed Aisin Gioro, and I, Yufeng, am also surnamed Aisin Gioro. If that old dog Qianlong can be emperor, then I, Yufeng, certainly can as well.
However, upon further thought, Yufeng couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged. "In terms of military command, I might not even be as good as the Fifteenth Prince. Now the Fifteenth Prince has suffered a great defeat under the Shanxi Zhu rebels..."
Heshen smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness the Beile may be overestimating that Zhu rebel."
"Yes, this servant also admits that whether it is the Zhu rebel in Shandong or the Zhu rebel in Shanxi, both are extremely difficult to deal with."
"But the reason these two rebels are so difficult to deal with is not because they are inherently powerful, but because our Great Qing's Eight Banners are now corrupt beyond repair, and we have lost the reliable Green Standard Army and Solon troops, allowing these two groups of rebels to grow strong."
"This servant believes that as long as Your Highness the Beile can reorganize the Eight Banners, it will not be particularly difficult to suppress a mere two rebels."
Yufeng let out a dry laugh, "If our Eight Banners could be so easily reorganized, how would the Fifteenth Prince and Eledunbao have failed to take even a small county like Lingqiu? And how would our staunch supporters of the Eight Banners have gone to join the rebels under the banner of restoring the Ming and overthrowing the Qing?"
Seeing that Yufeng still had some reservations, Heshen thought to himself, "This won't do. If you don't take the bait, my head will be in danger!"
Thinking this, Heshen smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness the Beile is overthinking. In this servant's opinion, even if our Great Qing's Eight Banners are unusable, are there no others in this world who can be used by us besides the Great Qing's Eight Banners?"
Seeing Yufeng's gaze turn towards him, Heshen continued, "Before I sent someone to summon Your Highness the Beile, I had already sent people to Shandong and Shanxi to enfeign the Shandong Zhu rebel as the Little Ming King and the Shanxi Zhu rebel as the Great Ming King."
"Once these two rebels accept our Great Qing's enfeoffment, any talk of restoring the Ming and overthrowing the Qing will be illegitimate and unfounded. It's even possible that the two will fight over the enfeoffment of a Ming King."
"Even if these two do not accept the enfeoffment of our Great Qing court, and do not fight over the title of Ming King, it doesn't matter."
"This servant has heard that those red-haired barbarians are always greedy for money and will serve anyone who offers them. As long as our Great Qing is willing to offer money, we can hire them to fight for us."
Yufeng let out a mocking laugh, "Offer money to hire red-haired barbarians to fight for us? I think you've eaten lamp wick ash and are talking nonsense!"
Seeing Heshen looking at him blankly, Yufeng sneered, "Do you think this Beile truly doesn't know how much silver is left in our Great Qing's treasury? Nowadays, even the stipends of Beiles like myself cannot be fully disbursed. Where does our Great Qing have the money to hire barbarians?"
Heshen smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness the Beile is mistaken. Yes, our Great Qing's treasury is indeed short of money, but while our Great Qing's treasury is short of money, those red-haired barbarians have it."
"As long as Your Highness the Beile can guarantee our Great Qing's customs duties and mines as collateral, how much silver can we not borrow?"
"Once we hire some barbarians to fight for us and recover the seventeen provinces of Han, how much tax revenue will we receive each year?"
"Think about it, what did our Emperor rely on for his six tours to Jiangnan? It was the confiscated silver from the surcharges. How much money can it cost to hire a few barbarian soldiers?"
"Furthermore, money is something that you cannot bring with you when you are born, nor can you take it with you when you die. For the sake of our Great Qing's empire, it is not a big deal to spend some money."
"If all else fails, we can also sell the Great Ryukyu to the Dutch. After all, the Great Ryukyu is not in our Great Qing's hands now, so there's no need to feel heartache over selling it."
Hearing Heshen's words, Yufeng couldn't help but be tempted.
Indeed, as long as they could hire the red-haired barbarians, wouldn't it be easy to reclaim the seventeen provinces of Han? Once the seventeen provinces of Han were recovered, with hundreds of millions of taels of tax silver flowing in each year, how many barbarian soldiers could they not hire?
As for the Great Ryukyu... that wasn't originally ours, so selling it wouldn't matter. After all, Emperor Kangxi sold Albazin, and Emperor Yongzheng sold Kyakhta, so what was another Great Ryukyu?
With this thought, Yufeng's heart began to burn with enthusiasm.
However, as much as his heart burned, Yufeng was still somewhat aware of the situation. After all, the old dog Qianlong had been emperor for decades, and his prestige within our Great Qing court was still considerable. Changing the dynasty would not be so easy.
Seeing Yufeng lost in thought, Heshen did not hurry or urge him, but simply smiled, holding his tea and sipping it.
Heshen was fully confident that Yufeng would find a way to get rid of the old dog Qianlong, as it was a foregone conclusion. If Yufeng did not get rid of the old dog Qianlong, Heshen would expose Yufeng's collusion with the White Lotus Sect to the old dog Qianlong, and in the end, only Yufeng would suffer.
As for whether Yufeng would first run to the old dog Qianlong and accuse him of instigating rebellion, Heshen was not worried at all.
The reason was simple: this useless Yufeng, without absolute certainty, would not dare to report him to the old dog Qianlong.
One was lost in thought, the other sipped his tea. After a long while, Yufeng finally looked up and said to Heshen, "The Fifteenth Prince is currently leading troops outside with Eledunbao. What if he returns to the capital, what then?"
Heshen chuckled and said, "The capital city is high and its moat is deep. Even if the Fifteenth Prince returns, what can he do!"
Yufeng nodded and continued to ask, "If that is the case, does Heshen have any advice for me?"
Heshen chuckled and said, "Your Highness the Beile's insight is far-reaching, how can this servant presume to teach you? However, this servant has heard that the Commander of the Infantry, Jilun, and the general guarding the Meridian Gate, Celeng, both are leaders of the Heavenly Reason Sect. If Your Highness the Beile can make good use of them..."
Yufeng nodded again and continued to ask, "This matter is of great importance. What if the wind leaks and the Sticklers (Zhan'gan Chu) get wind of it?"
Seeing Yufeng's hesitant and cautious demeanor, Heshen couldn't help but feel pleased.
Hesitant and cautious, good! Cowardly and afraid of trouble, good! Otherwise, how could I, Er He, control you?
Thinking this, Heshen chuckled and said, "The Sticklers? The Sticklers are too busy to worry about the capital now. Besides, even if the Sticklers can still care about the capital, why would they pay attention to Your Highness the Beile? Don't forget, Your Highness the Beile is surnamed Aisin Gioro."
Upon hearing Heshen's words, Yufeng couldn't help but feel relieved and nodded, "If that is the case, then please have Heshen send someone to summon both Jilun and Celeng?"
Heshen quickly said obsequiously, "This servant cannot accept such a title from his master. It is this servant's fortune to be able to serve his master."
After saying this, Heshen left the study and instructed Liujuan to send someone to summon both Jilun and Celeng.
At first, Jilun and Celeng were somewhat confused.
However, when they met Yufeng and were then intimidated by Heshen, the two who were already deeply entangled with the Heavenly Reason Sect immediately made up their minds.
If they could get rid of the old dog Qianlong and make Yufeng the emperor of the Great Qing, they would at least gain the merit of assisting the dragon.
Not to mention achieving titles like Heshuo Prince or Duoluo Prince, at least they could get a Duoluo Beile, right?