Chapter 17 Chapter 17 The Emperor's Ghost
Celeng had also praised the Second Prince in front of the Emperor before. That was because the Emperor liked the Second Prince, and the Emperor was happy when he praised the Second Prince.
The Second Prince's performance in horseback archery was mediocre. The little guy was a bit delicate and would rest immediately when he was tired. As long as the task was completed, he would never practice more than that.
Celeng also discussed this privately with several of his younger brothers. They all said that the second prince resembled the emperor except for his activeness. With the second prince's level of effort, it would probably be difficult for him to master the emperor's riding and archery skills.
But today, Celeng sincerely praised the second prince and finally understood the emperor's thoughts.
"I've said it before, when choosing a crown prince, literary attainments, archery, and horsemanship aren't the most important. What matters most is the ability to employ people and a broad mind."
After hearing his eldest brother's account of today's events, Aibida also felt that the second prince was extraordinary. To be able to offer such words of encouragement to his companions at such a young age must mean he possessed a broad mind. Unlike his brothers, who excelled in archery, he had loved reading since childhood. He aspired to pursue a career in the civil service.
"Let's not talk about the distant past. Among the sons of the Holy Ancestor, weren't the deposed Crown Prince and the Third Master both capable of both civil and military skills? But what was the outcome?"
No one dared to mention the late emperor's skills in archery, horse riding, and shooting, but he still became emperor.
Celeng nodded, "That's exactly the point. I thought about it and realized that although the Second Prince was young, the other three all listened to him."
Nianqin, who had been silent all this time, finally couldn't help but rolled his eyes and said, "Brother, if you don't have anything important to do, I'll leave first. Things between children are not worth discussing." He stood up and left on his own.
The remaining four brothers: ...
Amin Ertu couldn't help but curl his lips, "He's the only one who's busy."
"Isn't he busy? Where is the regent?" Aligun said.
"Hey, hey, hey, stop talking. Your brother is capable, you should be happy." Celeng knocked on the table. Of the Niuhulu brothers, Nianqin was the most promising, having joined the Grand Council at a young age. After the emperor ascended the throne, although the Grand Council was abolished, Nianqin, like Zhang Tingyu and Ortai, was a minister of general affairs.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor intended to train Neqin to succeed Ortai.
Now Aminertu, Aibida, and Aligun were either serving as imperial guards or studying at the Imperial Academy. Their future prospects would inevitably depend on Neqin.
Even the eldest brother, Lian Celeng, was able to serve as a guard in front of the emperor, which was also due to the contribution of Nianqin.
You can't rely on Neqin and be jealous of others at the same time. Celeng taught his brothers, "Respect your second brother more and don't be so sarcastic."
"He was the one who looked down on us first. Look at his attitude just now. He rolled his eyes to the sky." Aminertu said.
"He's been like that since he was a child. You've seen it before." Celeng said, "Alright, alright. I didn't call you here today for any serious business. I was so happy today that I went to praise the Second Prince to the Emperor, and casually talked about Junggar. Junggar has always been a major concern for the court. The Emperor wants to fight, but he won't mobilize troops in the next few years."
"Then when will the battle begin? I'm still waiting to make military achievements." Aligun asked.
The family title was given to Nianqin, and the other brothers had to earn their own titles. He didn't like studying and just wanted to lead troops to fight.
"Have you forgotten what the Second Prince said? Don't be greedy for credit!" Aibida looked at his fifth brother with a smile.
Aligun: “…”
Celeng said: "Let's serve the emperor well. If he really wants to mobilize the army, he will definitely think of us."
The Niuhulu brothers were discussing today's events. In the prince's residence, Emperor Qianlong was asking Yonglian, "Where did you learn those words today?"
"I learned it from the Emperor and Khan." Yonglian said.
Although Qianlong did not remember discussing the war with his son, he had no way of knowing whether Khan Ama had mentioned it.
"You are very good at encouraging people," Qianlong touched his son's head, "even Celeng was inspired by your words."
Yonglian: "..." It turned out that it was Celenganda who told Khan Ama about this.
Qianlong: "But I heard that you don't want to run with them?"
"They have to run ten laps, which is too much." Yonglian wrinkled his nose.
"Your elder brother really wants to run with us." Qianlong had just gone to Yonghuang's yard. It was rare for the child to make a request. He wanted to run with his two study companions. He also wanted to serve in the army in the future.
It was common for princes to go to the battlefield and gain military merit. When Emperor Kangxi went to fight against Galdan, several of his older sons were brought along to gain military merit. Later, Fourteenth Uncle's General Fuyuan was even more powerful in Qinghai.
Qianlong was delighted that Yonghuang had this ambition. However, there was no need to practice running specifically for the battlefield. If anyone's horse was missing in the army, the prince's horse would not be missing.
"Brother, if you want to exercise by running, that's fine," Yonglian said. Historically, Yonghuang died young from illness. Besides depression, it was definitely related to his body's resistance, so exercise is essential. "But don't overdo it. It should be gradual."
Qianlong nodded. "That's what I told him too. Run three laps every day. If you run too much, you won't have the energy for the subsequent horseback riding and archery. You, run one lap first as a warm-up."
One round was very easy, and Yonglian immediately agreed happily.
When Qianlong saw Yonglian practicing calligraphy, he walked to the desk and said, "Come, Khan Ama will teach you how to write."
Yonglian remembered that netizens in later generations mocked Qianlong's ugly handwriting, especially when it was written next to Song Huizong's handwriting. It was simply... There is no harm without comparison.
But no matter how ugly Qianlong's handwriting was, it was definitely better than that of a kid who had just learned to write with a brush. Yonglian leaned over to watch Khan Ama demonstrate to him.
Qianlong's handwriting was indeed not very good when he was a child. After several years of hard practice, even Khan Ama said that he had made rapid progress.
As he wrote, he told Yonglian about his experience in practicing calligraphy. Before he knew it, he had written half a page.
"Okay, just practice like Khan Ama, and in the long run, your handwriting will definitely look beautiful." Qianlong put down his pen, rubbed his son's head, and went back to the Yangxin Palace.
Yonglian finished writing the remaining half of the page and then wrote another one. It was already time for bed as usual.
Sleep is extremely important, Yonglian immediately washed up and lay down.
The next day, Chen Dehua took the second prince's two homework assignments and looked at them from left to right.
The Second Prince and Mingrui were both just learning to write. Children's hands lacked control over the brush, so their writing was inevitably crooked. But among the Second Prince's homework today, one was surprisingly neat. It was obviously not written by the Second Prince.
Chen Dehua thought this font looked familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.
After the Chinese class, he met Agui, who came to teach Manchu, at the door of the Shangshufang, and the two masters chatted for a while.
Talking about the four students' homework, Chen Dehua showed the Second Prince's exceptional calligraphy work from last night. "The top few lines don't look like they were written by the Second Prince. The bottom few are a little worse, but still neater than the Second Prince's usual handwriting."
As soon as Ah Gui saw the homework, his eyes widened. "This, this, this...isn't this the Emperor's calligraphy?"
Chen Dehua: "...Now that you mention it, it's true. I was thinking it looked familiar. Why did Second Prince hand in the Emperor's calligraphy? No, no, this is the homework I assigned yesterday. The Emperor actually helped Second Prince write his homework?"
Ah Gui quickly winked at Chen Dehua, "Brother Chen, keep your voice down."
"I can't even write comments on this homework." Chen Dehua frowned. He was the prince's teacher, not the emperor's teacher. How dare he comment on the emperor's handwriting?
"Just pretend you didn't notice it and write your comments truthfully." Ah Gui said with a smile, "Perhaps the emperor just wants to hear your comments."
Chen Dehua: “???”
Even Ah Gui himself felt that this speculation was unreasonable. He thought about it seriously and said, "Isn't the homework assigned by Master Chen a bit too much every day? It's getting dark early. Why not reduce it by one or two pages?" Ah Gui said, "It's better to prevent the two young masters from damaging their eyes by writing under the lamplight."
Chen Dehua: "I only arranged two pages in total..."
Agui: "..." The emperor shouldn't be so spoiled to the two little princes, so why did he help the second prince with his homework?
The students were still waiting inside, so Agui had to go in and attend class first.
Chen Dehua returned to the Hanlin Academy alone, thinking so hard that his head ached, but he still couldn't figure out the emperor's intention.
But no matter what, what Agui said is right. We can only pretend that we didn’t notice it and write the comments as we should.
He then praised the homework carefully, commenting on the top few lines and the last two lines separately.
The general idea is that although the following two lines are neatly written, there is a lack of strength in the brushstrokes.
The day before yesterday, Qianlong taught his sons to write by himself, and wanted to see if the little guy had made any progress in his studies in the past few days. Before dinner that day, he strolled into the Shangshufang to check the homework of the four children in the past few days.
Everyone, please show us your calligraphy you've practiced these past few days. Qianlong will start with Yonghuang. This kid's handwriting is improving rapidly, and it's neat and beautiful. Erden'e's is a little off; he needs more practice. Little Mingrui is just starting to learn calligraphy, so the expectations shouldn't be too high. Yonglian... this is amazing! Wait... isn't this the demonstration I made the other day?
Yonglian noticed that Khan Ama was looking at the page of words without saying anything for a long time. Suddenly he remembered something and cried out inwardly that something was wrong.
"Yong!!! Lian!!!"
——
"The Second Prince was punished by copying the 'Learning Chapter' fifty times. The 'Learning Chapter' has a lot of words."
In the evening, Xiao Mingrui returned home with a sad face. Fu Heng asked him what was wrong, and he told his uncle.
"I really want to help Second Prince write it twice, but Second Prince won't let me."
For an adult, reading "Xue Er Pian" fifty times might not seem like a lot, but for a child who has just learned to write, it takes a long time to write once. They probably don't even recognize some characters and can only copy them. Fifty times, who knows how long it will take to finish.
"Did the master punish me by making me copy it?" Fu Heng was puzzled. Hadn't the Second Prince always performed well in the Shangshufang?
"It's the Emperor. He came to the Shangshufang today to check on the students' homework." Mingrui frowned. "Speaking of this, it's even more strange. I thought the Emperor punished the Second Prince by making him copy because he didn't do well in his homework. But when I saw the Second Prince's handwriting, it's very beautiful! The teacher even praised the Second Prince in his comments."
Fu Heng: “???”
This doubt lingered in Fu Heng's mind for several days until he went to the palace to pay his respects to his sister, and only then did he get the answer.
The Queen was at a loss for words. "...If you ask me, Yonglian didn't think too much about it. He just wanted to write a couple of words and that was it. It wasn't intentional laziness."
Fu Heng: "Yeah, a small punishment is enough. Fifty times is too much."
"Second brother hasn't finished writing it fifty times yet." Little Niu Lun beside him couldn't help but say.
Fu Heng was stunned. It had already been four or five days.
The Queen laughed and said, "Yonglian said that if I don't sleep well, I will miss my lessons during the day. I only do the copying during breaks and have to go to bed on time at night. I haven't even finished half of it yet."
Fu Heng: "...Is it still possible?"
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