Chapter Four: Studying at the Academy

Hongli responded with a hum and then fell silent.

Hongshi, meanwhile, entered the study hall ahead and took his seat on the official chair with the imperial cap on the left side, waiting for their tutor’s arrival.

Hongshi appeared somewhat impatient.

Once seated, he tugged irritably at his robe’s collar. "Where is Tutor Pan? Why hasn’t he arrived yet?"

“Bring the tea!” he ordered sharply.

“Do you have no sense of propriety?” Hongshi continued to scold the servants attending in the study hall.

At that moment, a small yellow-robed eunuch hurriedly placed the tea, which he was about to serve, onto the side table next to Hongshi.

Hongli and Hongzhou also took their seats then.

As the elder brother of Hongzhou, Hongli naturally sat to the lower left side, close to Hongshi.

Yet, just after Hongli sat down, Hongshi suddenly reached out and knocked over a cup of tea from the table onto Hongli’s robes.

Hongli’s garment was instantly soaked in a large patch of tea.

Hongzhou stood by wide-eyed, staring at Hongshi.

The servants below turned pale with fright and quickly knelt down, afraid that Hongli might vent his anger on them or that a conflict might erupt between the brothers.

But Hongli chose to endure silently. He stood, left the room, and had his attendant bring him a change of clothes while he went to change in the eastern side chamber.

For Hongli knew very well that Hongshi’s act was a deliberate provocation, designed to enrage him and create grounds for accusing him of insulting and assaulting his elder brother.

It was meant as a lesson for not informing him proactively about what Yongzheng had said to him the previous day.

Even the reprimand about servants lacking insight was a veiled admonition, implying that Hongli lacked the tact to report Yongzheng’s words to him.

Yet Hongli refused to become Hongshi’s informant.

Moreover, though Hongshi was the elder brother, Hongli looked down upon his political acumen. He had no intention of risking offense to Yongzheng by currying favor with Hongshi or willingly acting as his spy.

Though Hongshi appeared to be Yongzheng’s eldest son now, no one would guess that this firstborn would be forced to his death by Yongzheng as early as the ninth year of Yongzheng’s reign.

Fortunately, the servants had prepared the tea to be warm rather than scalding.

So, while Hongli’s robes were drenched, his skin was spared any burns.

“Oh, dear Fourth Brother, I sincerely apologize. I was just about to lift my sleeve and accidentally spilled tea on you,” Hongshi said as Hongli returned to the study hall proper.

Hongshi even rose and bowed with a certain disappointment in his expression.

Hongli forced a smile. “Third Brother, it was an accident. How could I be angry?”

He motioned for the servants to rise.

“Good that you’re not upset, Fourth Brother. Between brothers, there should be respect and harmony,” Hongshi said.

“When the Fourteenth Uncle ascends the throne and Eighth Uncle takes charge of the court, placing me in power, I will surely support you,” Hongshi chuckled and then sat back down, grinding his teeth.

Hongzhou remained frowning nearby.

Hongli smiled faintly, thinking that history’s judgment of Hongshi as reckless was not unfounded. The Fourteenth Uncle had not yet become emperor, yet Hongshi already acted more brazenly than the core members of the Eighth and Fourteenth Uncles’ faction.

His underhanded tactics disgusted even Hongzhou, who was his peer in age.

Such a man was hardly likely to earn the favor of the strict Yongzheng.

Hongli also discerned that Hongshi’s promise to support him if the Eighth and Fourteenth faction won power was a veiled threat: if he disobeyed, Hongshi would deal with him severely when their faction finally triumphed.

Hongli, naturally, paid no mind and even vowed inwardly that once Yongzheng ascended, he would not hesitate to strike Hongshi when the time came.

After all, there were only two years left.

Two years later, when Yongzheng unexpectedly became emperor, Hongshi, who had recklessly bet on the Eighth and Fourteenth faction, would not even have the honor of representing Yongzheng in ancestral rites.

For as early as the first year of Yongzheng’s reign, it was the underage prince Hongli who had been sent to perform the imperial ancestral rites for Emperor Kangxi’s anniversary, not Hongshi.

This showed how much Yongzheng despised Hongshi from the very beginning of his reign.

Yet Hongshi remained oblivious to the fact that his father would become emperor. Seeing that Hongli showed no fear at his threats, he sulked and cursed inwardly, “Fool! You’ll regret this one day!”

With Tutor Pan still absent, Hongli began reviewing his lessons.

He first took up the “Ancient Texts Compendium.”

Hongli knew this book had been personally selected by Emperor Kangxi and annotated by scholars like Xu Qianxue to help royal offspring better grasp Chinese classics.

Clearly, Kangxi placed great importance on royal education.

Of course, Hongli was aware that the Aisin Gioro clan, a minority ruling over Han officials and landlords through a more autocratic system, had to strengthen royal education to govern China effectively.

“I have heard from Zouzi: ‘Governance, education, culture, and substance serve to save the state. When necessary, they are employed; when excessive, they are discarded; when change is needed, change is made. To cling rigidly to one without transformation is not true governance.’ Today, the people indulge in extravagant spending—carriages, horses, furs, and palaces all compete in adornment. The five-tone music is regulated, and five colors combined to create art. Rich flavors are laid out in front to satisfy desires of the world.”

Hongli silently recited the passage he was studying, his thoughts drifting unconsciously to the current state of the Qing dynasty.

He had to admit that the Qing was entering a time when the Eight Banners aristocracy was becoming generally decadent and corrupt.

Thus, reformers like Yongzheng covertly embraced the idea of “use when necessary, discard when excessive, change when needed,” ready to overhaul political and economic systems that had lasted for centuries.

For example, abolishing the thousand-year-old head tax, ending the hereditary privileges of officials and landlords, and eliminating the despised class system that had persisted through multiple dynasties.

This would enable the original owner of this body, in the future, to finance multiple military campaigns—against the Dzungars, in the Himalayas, and in the Great Jinchuan wars—seemingly with boundless funds.

At the same time, he could launch six expeditions to the south and undertake massive construction projects, causing the population to surpass 300 million.

As Hongli’s mind wandered, Tutor Pan Shiquan arrived, hands clasped behind his back.

“Greetings, Tutor Pan!” Hongli, Hongshi, and Hongzhou stood and bowed.

Though Pan was secretly a confidant of Yongzheng, officially he was merely a lecturer invited by Yongzheng to educate his sons.

Pan had noticed Hongshi’s deliberate spilling of tea on Hongli earlier.

Yet neither brother mentioned the incident, and Pan waited deliberately until Hongli had changed before appearing.

After the three completed their bows, Pan instructed them to sit and said, “Let’s first review your lessons.”

“Third Brother, your homework is terribly done!” Pan began with Hongshi, frowning upon finding much of his work incomplete.

“Please punish me, Tutor Pan!” Hongshi scoffed but extended his hand.

Though willing to accept punishment for poor homework, he believed that standing firmly in the political faction was far more important than academic diligence, for he never truly considered himself likely to become emperor.

He firmly believed the general leading the northwest campaign, the Fourteenth Uncle, was the most likely to ascend.

“Enough,” Pan said, choosing not to punish Hongshi, knowing his ambitions lay elsewhere, and turned to examine Hongli’s work.

After reviewing Hongli’s homework, Pan smiled. “Fourth Prince, your work is excellent. It’s rare that you even completed the math problem.”

“Thank you for your praise, Tutor Pan,” Hongli replied with a bow.

Hongshi merely sneered.

Pan then checked Hongzhou’s work and nodded with satisfaction. “Fifth Prince, though not quite on par with the Fourth Prince, you completed all your assignments, which is commendable.”

Hongzhou smiled.

Pan continued, “Today we will proceed with the Ancient Texts Compendium.”

Hongli returned to his seat and opened the book.

After the lesson, Hongli, Hongshi, and Hongzhou went together to pay respects to Yongzheng and his primary consort, Ulanara.

Though none of them were born to Ulanara, legally she was their mother.

Thus, they all needed to pay their respects to her.

Usually, when they came to pay respects, Ulanara would not personally receive them.

After all, they were not her biological children, and she was not particularly fond of them.

But today was an exception—Ulanara allowed only Hongli to be brought into her private chamber.