Chapter 24 Chapter 24 New Year's Eve
In November, the Shoukang Palace, located west of the Forbidden City, was completed, and Emperor Qianlong moved there with the Empress Dowager.
Now the empress dowager and the concubines no longer have to squeeze into one palace.
Now there are not only the concubines of the late emperor in the palace, but also many concubines of the Emperor Kangxi.
The Dowager Consort Wenhui, surnamed Guaerjia, and the Dowager Consort Shouqi, surnamed Tongjia, had taken care of Emperor Qianlong in the past, so the Empress Dowager had to be respectful and polite when she met them.
But the Queen Mother was in such a position that she was too polite, which made the two old concubines feel uncomfortable.
In order to show his filial piety to his own mother, Emperor Qianlong built the Shoukang Palace and let his mother and the concubines of the previous emperor move in to live there. The concubines and imperial concubines of Emperor Kangxi lived in the Ningshou Palace on the east road.
Little Hongzhou and his mother, Concubine Qian, also followed him to Shoukang Palace.
Shoukang Palace isn't very big, but it's next to the Cining Palace and has a garden behind it. My little one plays there every day.
Gradually, I adapted to life in the palace.
After the little guy recited a passage from "Three Character Classic" every day, the Empress Dowager and other mothers would praise him.
When the emperor's sister-in-law comes over, she will also say that he is smart.
Little Hongzhou became more and more confident, and later he would take the initiative to ask to learn "Three Character Classic" after breakfast every day.
When Yonglian heard his sixth uncle reciting the "Three Character Classic" to him with his chest puffed out, he thought that encouraging education was indeed very useful.
The mourning period for the late emperor has not yet ended, so all officials are exempted from paying New Year's greetings and performing rituals.
The Shangshufang also had a day off, and Yonghuang and Yonglian went to Shoukang Palace early in the morning to wish the Empress Dowager a happy new year.
The queen has arrived with little Niu Lun.
Lian Yongzhang was also brought over by Concubine Chun.
"When will Khan Ama come?" Yonglian asked.
The queen said, "Your Khan Ama will come over after paying his respects in the hall."
Yonglian looked outside the door and said, "When we first arrived, several places were frozen." Khan Ama had promised to take them to play ice skating.
Before he could finish the second half of his sentence, the Empress Dowager laughed and said, "Look at how filial our Yonglian is. He's just worried that the Emperor might slip on the road."
"Don't worry, the eunuchs have already gone to clean it up." The queen smiled. The road the emperor was going to take would definitely not be covered with ice, snow or mud.
Yonglian: “…”
The Empress Dowager praised Yonglian, and Concubine Yu quickly followed suit, and of course Concubine Chun also had to chime in.
Yonglian felt extremely guilty and changed the subject, "Madam, I want to roast sweet potatoes and potatoes on the stove outside where we boil water."
"Didn't you have breakfast in the prince's residence just now?" asked the queen.
"Yes, but my son wants to try roasted sweet potatoes." Yonglian said. He craves roasted sweet potatoes when the weather gets cold. He originally thought that there were no sweet potatoes in the palace, at least they were not included in the prince's ration.
But the last time he returned to Changchun Palace, he found that his mother had prepared a steamed sweet potato for dinner.
My mother said that this was for the people to fill their stomachs, and she took the lead in being frugal, so she asked the kitchen to replace the cream-filled puff pastry rolls with steamed sweet potatoes.
Since there are sweet potatoes in the palace, we must let all the children eat roasted sweet potatoes.
"I heard there's a roasted sweet potato stand on the street outside, and the aroma wafts from far away." The Queen Mother said, "I've never tasted it, so I don't know what it tastes like."
Yonglian thought that the Empress Dowager was really pitiful. Not only was she reluctant to eat lychees, she had never even eaten roasted sweet potatoes.
The queen was still a little hesitant, but when she heard the queen mother say she wanted to eat, she asked someone to go to the kitchen to get some sweet potatoes.
When Qianlong entered the house, the sweet potatoes were almost baked.
Several children gathered around the stove, their mouths watering.
Seeing Khan Ama coming, the little ones hurriedly saluted.
"Greetings to Khan Ama."
Every time this happened, Hongzhou would slow down a bit, otherwise he would be led by his nephews and nieces and start shouting "Khan Ama".
He had called out the wrong words twice before and was hit on the head by his fourth brother. Only then did the little guy pay attention.
"Khan Ama is so lucky! The roasted sweet potatoes are just ready and you came." Yonglian said with a smile.
Qianlong glanced at him and asked, "Is this another idea you came up with?"
He found that this kid had a lot of clever ideas, and it was he who taught Niu Lun how to make sweet tofu pudding last time.
"I just want to try what roasted sweet potatoes taste like." The Queen Mother quickly came to the rescue of her grandson.
It was New Year's Day, so of course Qianlong wouldn't argue with the children over such a small matter. Besides, the roasted sweet potatoes were indeed delicious. He had gotten up early and had just a bowl of porridge, so he was really a little hungry now.
Little Niu Lun asked his second brother, "Besides roasting sweet potatoes, what else can we roast?"
"You can also roast chestnuts and potatoes." Yonglian said, "You should be able to roast buns and corn, too."
"These are very filling things." Yonghuang said.
Yonglian nodded.
"Mother, I will eat roasted corn for dinner every day from now on, so we can save money." Niu Lun looked at the queen and said.
The queen was at a loss for words. "How can this be? Roasted corn cannot be eaten as a meal."
The Queen Mother laughed and said, "It must be that the Queen always talks about saving money, and the child has remembered it."
Yonglian almost forgot that his mother was famous for her frugality.
But because the palace was in mourning, the concubines all wore plain clothes and wore no makeup. Their meals rarely contained meat, so the empress's frugality seemed less prominent.
As for the reduction in palace expenses, Yonglian certainly didn't know about it.
Qianlong smiled and picked up his precious daughter. "Our little Niu Lun is really sensible, but no matter how frugal you are, you can't just eat roasted corn for your meal."
"But my second brother said that many children outside the palace eat corn as their meal." Niu Lun said.
"Those are the common people outside the palace, who rely on sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes to fill their stomachs." The Queen Mother laughed and said, "We in the palace have no shortage of food."
"What does 'filling hunger' mean?" Hongzhou asked his little nephew beside him.
"That is to say, the people can't afford rice, flour and other food, and when they are hungry they can only fill their stomachs with sweet potatoes, potatoes and other things." Yonglian said.
When the adults in the room heard this, their smiles froze.
The queen glanced at the emperor's expression and saw that he looked a little gloomy.
Sweet potatoes and potatoes can be quickly popularized among the people because they can satisfy hunger.
Even with these crops, many people still went hungry.
He asked the children, "Tell me, how can we ensure that all people have enough food to eat?"
Yonghuang was caught off guard. Why would Khan Ama suddenly ask such a difficult question? He thought for a moment and said, "We should reduce taxes and allow the people to keep the crops they grow for themselves."
Light taxes and levies are what the masters often talk about.
It is also the most typical measure of Confucian benevolent government.
Yonglian secretly complained that Khan Ama's question seemed to be a casual one, but this was a problem that emperors of all dynasties had failed to solve.
"Tax reductions are ultimately limited. The court also needs money for military expenses and construction." Yonglian said, "A simpler and quicker solution is to have the people reclaim wasteland."
He looked at Qianlong and said, "My son, Master Agui told me that the imperial court doesn't allow Han people to move outside the Great Wall. Isn't that vast and sparsely populated? Besides, we Manchus aren't good at farming, so there must be a lot of wasteland that hasn't been reclaimed."
That's the fertile land of Northeast China! Even if we cultivate it and grow some corn and soybeans, it can feed a lot of people.
Qianlong frowned, "Agui didn't say why the Han people were not allowed to go outside the Great Wall?"
"Yes," Yonglian said, "but I think those reasons are not as important as ensuring that the people have enough food to eat."
Qianlong was stunned when he heard this. When it came to matters of state and people's livelihood, neither the Empress Dowager nor the Empress dared to interrupt. Hongzhou, Niu Lun, and Yongzhang still didn't quite understand.
Yonghuang understood and nodded in agreement.
Seeing that Khan Ama remained silent for a while, Yonglian blinked innocently and asked, "Don't you think Khan Ama wants the people to have enough to eat?"
Qianlong: “…”
There can be no other answer to this question.
Even a tyrant ruler wouldn't want his country to be plagued by starvation. Furthermore, he was determined to be a wise ruler.
Qianlong: "Of course I want to. But reclaiming wasteland is not as easy as you think."
Although he said this, he was a little shaken in his heart.
Yonglian didn't expect to convince Khan Ama to let the Han people go outside the Great Wall. He looked at Hongzhou and said, "It's time for Sixth Uncle to answer."
Hong Zhou was confused. "What's the answer?"
The Queen Mother laughed and said, "Your Sixth Uncle is only so old, he wouldn't be able to do that."
"Then let Niu Lun answer!" Yonglian said.
Niu Lun: "...Well, the sweet potatoes are burnt. Let's eat them first."
Everyone laughed, and the Queen Mother hurriedly asked people to take out the baked sweet potatoes and distribute them.
Yonghuang and Yonglian each took half. The freshly baked sweet potatoes were indeed very sweet.
The Queen Mother asked how people eat sweet potatoes.
"I heard that besides steaming sweet potatoes, you can also make porridge."
The Queen Mother and Concubine Yu both liked to drink porridge, so the Queen Mother looked at Concubine Yu and said, "Let's try it some other day."
Everyone chatted and laughed for a while, and little Yongzhang felt sleepy, so Chunpin took the child and left first.
The Empress Dowager knew that Emperor Qianlong and the children rarely got a rest, so she let them go back, even if it was just to catch up on some sleep.
Yonghuang and Yonglian did not return to the prince's residence, but went to Changchun Palace to play with their sister.
During this period, not only did Hongzhou learn to recite the "Three Character Classic", but little Niu Lun also learned a lot of new things. After memorizing the "Hundred Family Surnames", he also learned the beginning of the "Thousand Character Classic".
"My mother taught me how to write the other day." Niu Lun said, "I know my brothers' names."
Yonglian said he wanted to see his sister's handwriting, and the three children ran to the study.
Qianlong and the empress were painting in the study.
When Yonglian saw Khan Ama's painting, he thought of Qianlong's imitation of Shen Zhou's "Rabbit on Orchid Stone". He saw the comparison picture with the original on his phone and laughed for a long time.
Khan Ama not only wrote a lot of poems, but also painted a lot. Three hundred years later, all of them became black history.
"Khan Ama, what are you drawing? I want to draw too." Niu Lun said as she was about to climb onto Khan Ama's lap and let Khan Ama lead her in drawing.
"Niulun, don't disturb your Khan-Ama." said the queen who was helping to grind the ink.
"It's okay, it's just a pastime. Why not bring the children along?" Qianlong asked his daughter in his arms, "What do you think Khan Ama is painting?"
Niu Lun looked at the painting on the table, his eyes shining as he said, "It's the chicken that Khan Ama drew."
Qianlong: “…”
Yonghuang and Yonglian were also watching. Yonglian tilted his head in confusion, "Why is the chicken standing on the branch?"
"Is this really a chick?" Yonghuang felt that something was not quite right.
Qianlong: “…”
Queen: “…”
Qianlong took a deep breath, put aside the half-finished drawing of a magpie climbing a branch, spread out a new piece of paper, and let little Niulun hold the brush. He held her hand and said, "Come, Khan Ama will teach you how to draw a chick."
Queen: “…”
Yonglian wanted to find a chair to sit down, and when he looked up, he saw a smile in his mother's eyes.
He couldn't help but curl his eyes. The first year after traveling through time was not very lively, but he was very happy.
However, the happiness was short-lived. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, classes in the Shangshufang resumed as usual.
Today was the day for math class, and Yunlu was unusually listless. "All the officials are on holiday, and even your Khan Ama isn't reviewing memorials. Only I have to come and teach you."
"Your Highness, you have worked hard," Mingrui said sweetly immediately.
The remaining three children followed suit.
Yunlu smiled and said, "Let's just keep it simple today." He took out a round plate and said, "Today I'm going to teach you how to recognize a Western clock."
Western clocks were no longer a rarity during the Qianlong period. Noble families like the Fucha family and the Dong E family all had one or two Western clocks in their homes.
Erden'e and Mingrui already knew how to read a Western clock, and the two children thought, why do they still need to learn this?
But the two princes didn't say they didn't want to learn, so they didn't dare to speak up.
Of course, Yonghuang and Yonglian both knew how to look at their watches, but they still listened carefully to Yunlu's explanation. Yonghuang thought Mingrui and Yonglian didn't know how to do it.
Yonglian was waiting to ask questions.
Yunlu originally planned to let the children discuss it on their own after teaching them how to read the watch so that he could take a break and get through the class.
As he was talking about how the West divides a day into 24 hours, little Yonglian raised his hand and asked, "Why is a day 24 hours? Not 23 hours? 22 hours?"
Yunlu: "Because 24 hours is exactly a cycle. You see, from noon today to noon tomorrow, there are exactly twelve hours, twenty-four hours. This makes it convenient to tell time."
"Then why is there such a pattern? The sun is so punctual." Yonglian said.
Yunlu thought about it and decided to tell the children about the heliocentric theory he learned from missionaries.
Even Khan Ama accepted this statement, so there should be nothing that cannot be discussed.
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