Honghui is reborn in Legend of Zhen Huan, I will protect my mother

Under the vigorous promotion of the imperial court with the whole country's strength, the common people were familiar with all kinds of scams in the book, but at least they had some knowledge of them. All the so-called "true sovereigns", "masters" and "monks" in the folk had lost the ground for their frauds!

They either had to hide away from the spotlight or were handed over to the authorities, and their lives were miserable.

Seeing this, Yinzhen, who had gone to the Old Summer Palace to row a boat on the lake and enjoy the fun, nodded with satisfaction. Well, you dare to deceive me, I will expose your "past"!

As for his reputation, it was certainly preserved, because Honghui tried his best to deny the discovery of the Taoist's fraud and attributed the credit of the incident to his father, the emperor.

Well, yes, in the eyes of outsiders, the Taoist priest committed fraud, the Emperor became suspicious, and Prince Zhao wrote the book of fraud later. The whole process was reversed.

Although the concubines in the harem had some speculations, the Emperor had already set the tone, so how dare they continue to talk nonsense?

……

In August of the 13th year of Yongzheng's reign, Prince Zhao Honghui again proposed abolishing the chastity arch, and the emperor finally agreed.

In fact, this matter was brought up several times in the past few years, but Yinzhen had many concerns and suppressed the matter for a while. However, the performance of the gentry in the matter of the elixir of immortality made him feel resentful, which led to the abolition of the chastity arch today.

After the imperial edict was issued throughout the country, there were constant voices of opposition in various places. The gentry and clan forces resisted desperately as never before, causing a lot of trouble.

In their eyes, the chastity arch is a powerful tool to enhance the family's reputation and the foundation for the prominence of their descendants. If the imperial court abolishes the chastity arch, it will cut off their foundation!

However, Yinzhen was a man who could not stand provocation. He immediately issued an edict that prohibited clans from privately disposing of clan members and that only the government had the right to do so. This was a slap in the face to the elders of each clan.

This not only shook the foundation, but also shook the very existence of the clan. Immediately, the momentum of resistance increased in various places, and civil and military officials continued to advise against it. Some imperial censors even wanted to hit their heads against the wall and commit suicide to persuade the monarch to revoke his order.

Seeing that if no mediation was made, the former dynasty would be in chaos, Honghui quickly stopped the censor who wanted to die to prove his resolve, and then smiled faintly to appease the angry emperor, "Father, I request that a few imperial doctors be summoned. These old men are not young anymore. If something happens, wouldn't you be known as someone who forced the ministers to death?"

Tricky! Cunning! However, Yinzhen felt relieved and decisively accepted his eldest son's request, and even generously invited a few more imperial doctors to come.

After a while, all the doctors were in place. Honghui cleared his throat and began his speech today. "Censor Lai, I heard that there is a chastity arch in your family, right? It is said that it is your second daughter-in-law. How is she now?"

"Your Majesty, I missed my husband so much that I committed suicide for love at an early age..."

"Oh? Then how did I hear that your second daughter-in-law was strangled to death by you and your wife?"

Censor Lai's face changed drastically and he retorted flatly: "This is nonsense. How dare I commit such a serious crime as murder? Someone must have made it up. You must not believe it!" How did Prince Zhao know about this old story after so many years?

Honghui sneered: "Now that I have spoken, do you still think that I have not found out your details? To tell you the truth, there are witnesses and evidence, and you cannot deny it!"

After saying this, he looked around, ignoring the cold sweat on the face of the man in front of him, and said, "My lords, there are those who are upright and innocent, and there are also those who are guilty and want to fish in troubled waters. I know a person's face but not his heart. I wonder if any of you have anything to be guilty of?"

"Go back..."

"Oh, wait a minute, everyone, think about it first. After all, I may know a little more out of curiosity." In fact, all this information was told to him by the Emperor's father. How could he have the ability and time to investigate the details of the civil and military officials in the court?

One road was blocked completely, and the censors who wanted to die for their remonstrances did not dare to do so. They were afraid that they would not have a clean reputation after death. After all, Prince Zhao really dared to do something tricky and announce their dark history to the world.

However, if this road is blocked, can't we take another one?

"Your Majesty, for thousands of years, clans have been the ones that have stabilized the various parties. Now that the clans' right to deal with their clan members has been abolished, if this continues, the people will be filled with resentment and civil unrest will break out. The Qing Dynasty will be unstable and the world will be in turmoil!"

Yinzhen rested his chin on his hand, not intending to reply. Instead, Prince Zhao spoke again, "Then why did I hear that the public's opposition was loud but ineffective? It seems that only the elders and clan leaders are making trouble at this critical moment, right? But the ordinary clan members are all well-behaved, and few of them are causing trouble, right?"

"That's not the case. The elders and clan leaders have always been in charge of all clan affairs, so they should be the ones to take the lead."

Honghui shook his head: "Don't fool me with this. I have been handling government affairs for many years. I know all about human nature and the ways of the world! The clan members have suffered from the clan for a long time, and they have no ability to resist. They can only endure it. Now that the court has abolished the clan's right to deal with things, few people have come out to cause trouble. Doesn't this mean that they have tacitly accepted the court's will?"

Everyone looked unhappy, wanting to retort but not knowing what to say. At this time, Zhang Tingyu spoke up, "Your Majesty, Prince Zhao, the chastity arch has been around for a long time and should be abolished. But we can't do it all at once. We should take it slow."

"Master Zhang is right, but if these stubborn problems are not eradicated at once, they will surely cause endless harm in the future. After all, how can you be sure that your descendants will always be glorious and not be controlled by the clan?"

As far as he knew, among the dozens of courtiers in the palace, less than five were from the direct lineage of the clan leader. It was only because these people held high positions and prominent titles that they would have been controlled by the clan long ago, and would have worked hard for many years to have the clan's leaders in charge!

As expected, as soon as these words were spoken, everyone's faces turned green. Those who came from poor backgrounds immediately remembered the hardships of their early years and the embarrassing faces of their clansmen, and they were deeply afraid that their descendants would follow in their past footsteps.

Yinzhen, who had watched the whole process, waved his robe, stood up suddenly, and looked directly at the people in the hall. "The Qing Dynasty now has a population of 180 million. Tell me, do they listen to the court? Or do they listen to the clans?"

Without waiting for the court officials to reply, he continued, "I am the ruler of a country, how can I allow government orders not to reach the countryside? Each clan is a country within a country, and the government has to act according to the wishes of the local clans. If ordinary people slightly offend the prestigious clan members, they will lose money at the least, and their families will be destroyed at the worst. I didn't say anything about these things, but that doesn't mean I don't know!"

As a capable Qing emperor who wanted to accomplish great things, Yinzhen had long wanted to take action against the clan, and now it was just a coincidence!