Chapter 25 Chapter 25 A common thread
"Khan Ama, Khan Ama, it turns out we live on a sphere."
Since Emperor Qianlong did not need to review memorials today, he called Lang Shining to discuss painting skills with him.
Anyway, Lang Shining is a foreigner and doesn't need to celebrate the Spring Festival.
It was almost 11:00 PM when Qianlong finally managed to draw a decent bird.
As soon as I returned to Changchun Palace, little Niu Lun ran up to me, jumping and saying.
Qianlong frowned, "Who told you that?"
"Brothers, they learned it in the Shangshufang." Niu Lun said.
The Queen was helpless: "As soon as the two children came back, they excitedly told their sister about it. They also said that the earth rotates every day, which is why there are day and night."
She had heard of the heliocentric theory before. It was one of the issues that Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Alexander von Bell debated.
Whenever something caused a big stir in the court, the children of noble families would hear about it from their elders.
But it was the first time the Queen had heard that they lived on a sphere, and that this sphere not only revolved around the sun, but also rotated on its own.
This statement is incredible, but it makes sense when you think about it carefully.
Qianlong sat down and drank a sip of hot tea. "It must be Uncle Sixteen who taught them again."
Chen Dehua would not be interested in such things, let alone tell his children.
"Khan Ama, my second brother also said that the time in other countries is different from ours. It may be daytime in our Qing Dynasty, but it may be nighttime in the West." Niu Lun said.
Qianlong subconsciously asked: "Why?"
"Because when the sun shines on the Qing Dynasty, it cannot shine on the West." Niu Lun said.
When little Niu Lun heard this, it was as if he was listening to Pangu creating the world. He didn't realize the importance of this matter at all.
Qianlong thought about it. According to the foreigners, the earth revolves around the sun, but the earth itself does not rotate, so one side will always face the sun, and there will be no sunrise or sunset.
Therefore, the earth must rotate on its own for there to be sunrise and sunset.
As for the different sunrise and sunset times in different places, even if you don’t know the heliocentric theory, everyone knows that the sun rises early in my hometown outside the Great Wall, and late in Uliastai.
The difference in sunrise time between the West and the Qing Dynasty is definitely greater.
Let Uncle Sixteen teach math to the children. What is he talking about?
It wasn't that Qianlong didn't understand these Western astronomical sciences; he simply had no interest in them. Heliocentrism or geocentrism didn't matter; it didn't affect his reign or the livelihoods of the people.
"Where are those two brats?" Qianlong asked the queen.
The Queen said, "After the two children have had their snacks here, I will send them back to rest early."
It was getting dark early now and the roads were occasionally icy. The Queen was afraid that they would fall if they walked carelessly.
Besides, it’s so cold today, so it’s better to finish your homework early and lie down comfortably in bed.
Qianlong nodded. "In winter, we should go to bed early." He then discussed with the empress the painting project. Western painting techniques were quite difficult. He didn't want to learn them anymore.
But Qianlong was unwilling to admit that he could not learn it. He only said that Western paintings only pursued resemblance in form and lacked spirit.
The queen agreed and said that writing poetry and painting were not important matters anyway, and the emperor could learn whatever he wanted.
Yonghuang and Yonglian returned to the prince's residence, but both couldn't sleep. Yonghuang had difficulty falling asleep every day, and lying in bed, he pondered the "heliocentric theory" he had just learned that day. The more he thought about it, the more incredible it seemed to him: what if the earth stopped rotating one day?
Yonglian was thinking that he could use this class to ask Khan Ama for a globe to look at.
He remembered that there were globes in the palace during the Kangxi period, but perhaps Qianlong was not interested in these things, so he never saw one when he went to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Yonglian also wanted to see the astronomical instruments from the Kangxi period.
When Mingrui got home, he couldn't wait to share the new knowledge he had learned that day with his uncle.
Fu Heng was also unsurprised. He simply warned his nephew, "These aren't important things to know. Just know them. Don't show them off everywhere, and don't even mention them to your Chinese teacher."
Mingrui tilted his head in confusion, "Why?"
Fu Heng thought that most scholars who grew up reading books of sages could not bear to hear such things, as it was inconsistent with what was said in Confucian classics that heaven is superior and earth is inferior.
"Because this set of doctrines is different from what Master Chen and the others learned, there is nothing to discuss."
He thought for a moment and offered an analogy, "It's like monks and Taoists arguing over whether the Buddha or the Three Pure Ones is more powerful. It's a dead end."
Mingrui thought about it and felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put it into words for the moment. He could only nod and agree not to tell Master Chen.
The next day, he told the second prince his uncle's instructions.
Yonglian said, "My uncle is wrong. This is different from the story of the Buddha and the Three Pure Ones."
Yonghuang and Erdeng'e also came over curiously to listen.
Yonglian explained to his three friends, "It's difficult to prove who is more powerful, the Buddha or the Three Pure Ones. At least, there's no other evidence besides textual evidence. But heliocentrism can be proven."
Mingrui said, "It's just like Johann Adam Schall von Bell measuring the sun's shadow."
Yonglian nodded.
"Then how do you prove that the earth rotates?" Yonghuang asked.
Yonglian remembered that the Earth's rotation was proved through the Foucault pendulum experiment.
The long pendulum is a bit complicated to make and requires some mathematical assistance.
Yonglian said, "It seems that there is no way to prove this. You can think of a way."
Yonglian was no longer in a hurry because he knew that this would not have any substantial effect on the development of the Qing Dynasty in the short term.
The other three children thought for a while but couldn't come up with a solution and gave up.
Qianlong continued to rest today. He talked with the empress dowager for a while in the morning and then went to see the imperial concubine.
After having dinner in the Imperial Concubine's Palace, Qianlong strolled to the Shangshufang.
The master has left, and Erden'e, Mingrui and Yonghuang are doing their homework conscientiously.
Yonglian felt sleepy and took a nap on the table.
Qianlong grabbed Yonglian by the back of the neck and woke him up.
"Why are you the only one feeling sleepy?"
Yonglian was still dazed and said softly, "I don't know."
Qianlong: “…”
Yonghuang hurried to help his brother out, "Khan Ama, I am also sleepy. I just want to finish my homework before dawn so that I don't have to write under the lamp when I go back."
Mingrui and Erdeng'e actually had the same idea, which was to finish their homework early and go to bed directly when they got home.
"This arrangement is good. Writing under the lamp is tiring for the eyes." Qianlong first praised Yonghuang, then looked at his second son who was still rubbing his eyes.
There were several marks on the little guy's face, and it was obvious that he had been sleeping very soundly.
Qianlong had no choice but to arrange a rest room for the children, but he got busy and forgot about it.
Taking advantage of this free time, Qianlong went to take a look at the other rooms in the Shangshufang.
The Shangshufang has five rooms in total. Since there are only these four children in the palace who need to study, and there are no royal family members raised in the inner court, it is entirely feasible to set aside a room for rest.
As soon as he returned to the Yangxin Palace, he ordered four small couches to be placed in the Shangshu's landlord's side room.
If you need to rest, go to the couch and rest for a while. If you are in good spirits, you can continue studying.
When Qianlong thought of Yonglian who wanted to sleep after eating, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
How come this child is so energetic and unlike me?
It must be because the food is not good enough.
The next morning, before Yonghuang and Yonglian had started breakfast, they received several dishes sent from the imperial kitchen.
Because the two brothers had breakfast separately, Yonglian didn't know that he had an extra dish of bird's nest porridge than his elder brother.
The rest of the mutton hot pot and hanging oven duck are the same.
When Yonglian first came here, he was particularly not used to the breakfast in the Qing Palace.
Who among modern people eats hot pot and roast duck at six or seven in the morning?
But gradually he got used to it. He couldn't eat duck or roast goose, but he could eat mutton hotpot, especially in winter. After drinking a bowl of mutton soup and then going to Shangshufang, he wouldn't feel cold on the way.
He first drank bird's nest porridge, then a small bowl of mutton soup, and ate some hot pot meat. He put down his chopsticks only when his stomach was full. There were still many dishes left, which he gave to the servants.
According to the rules set by the late emperor, food cannot be wasted in the palace.
But in fact, Yonglian found that even if the food was rewarded to the servants, there was still a lot of leftover food. It was said that it was for cats and dogs to eat, but it was still quite a waste.
The people outside couldn’t even get enough rice or flour to eat, but the cats and dogs in the palace had endless amounts of chicken and duck meat to eat.
Yonglian sighed in his heart. His mother wanted to save money all day long, but with the allocation system in the palace, the Khan and the Empress were only allocated a pig a day, and dozens of kilograms of various meats a day. How could they save money like this?
He couldn't ask the Queen Mother and the Khan to save money.
But he could start with himself. When he met Qianlong in the evening, Yonglian first thanked Khan Ama for the imperial meal he had given him that morning. Then he said with some distress: "But my son has a limited appetite. After eating the meal Khan Ama gave me, I can't eat the regular dishes."
"If you can't finish it, give it to the servants." Qianlong said.
"There are few servants in my courtyard, and we can't eat it all." Yonglian said.
The eunuchs and maids always had breakfast before their shifts. Although they wouldn't eat greasy food, the palace certainly wouldn't let them go hungry. They wouldn't be able to finish another meal in less than half an hour. Yonglian specifically asked Chen Fu about some of the leftover food, and he told them that any leftovers were sent to the cat and dog kennels.
"My son wants to remove two items from the breakfast menu," Yonglian said.
Qianlong pinched his son's cheek and said, "Don't be picky about food. You've lost weight recently." He always felt that his son had lost weight since returning from Tai Mausoleum and had never gained it back.
Yonglian: "Even if we remove two of them, it will be enough for my son to eat."
Qianlong certainly knew what the prince's standard dishes were. For a six or seven-year-old child, it was definitely too much to finish.
It just so happens that the palace advocates frugality, so there is nothing wrong with removing two things.
Yonglian removed the pork and fat duck.
"As expected of our son, he inherits the frugality from generation to generation." Qianlong said to the queen.
The Queen said, "It's all because of the Emperor's example."
Yonglian thought to himself that you have nothing to do with saving.
The next moment, Qianlong said, "Then I'll remove two dishes as well." He asked Li Yu to bring the menu and cross out the two dishes. "From now on, just count these two dishes directly into the Grand Council's allowance."
Yonglian took this opportunity to ask his mother, "How much food is left in the palace every day? The cooked food is sent to the cat and dog room, but what about the raw food?"
Qianlong wanted to ask why the prince was curious about this, but then he thought that managing a family was like managing a country, so Yonglian should know more about it.
The queen explained to the children that some waste is inevitable every day. Some food can be kept for the next day or the day after, but some is not fresh on the second day and has to be thrown away.
Yonglian said, "There are fewer dogs in the palace now, and cats can't eat many cooked foods and vegetables. We can give some of the leftover food to beggars on the street." The cat and dog room would prepare food specifically for the cats and dogs, and even if there were leftovers, the food for the cats and dogs would still be included in the allotment. It was unknown where those ingredients ended up.
Upon hearing this, Qianlong frowned and said, "How can things from the palace be sent outside?"
"Doesn't Khan Ama often give food as a reward to officials?" Yonglian asked, "Even if the palace gives the people a bowl of rice as a reward, they will be grateful to Khan Ama for his kindness."
Qianlong originally thought that his son was giving blind advice, but after hearing this, he had an idea and decided to discuss this matter carefully with the empress.
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