Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Civilian Route
Qianlong had long heard of the conflicts between the European Catholic Church and the imperial courts of various countries.
Qianlong had seen many missionaries, and these people were very respectful to him. They kept praising the vastness of the Qing Dynasty and the wisdom and bravery of the emperors of the Aisin Gioro family.
When asked to talk about their own countries, the French missionaries were quite normal and looked proud when talking about their Sun King Louis XIV. However, the missionaries from some other countries did not seem to have much respect for their kings and courts.
I heard that Austria, France, Portugal and other countries were often at war, and their kings were also in contact with each other. Many people were dukes in one country for a few years, and then ran to another country to become king two years later.
Qianlong was initially very dissatisfied with this. He thought, "Isn't this similar to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? It's too backward."
But even such backward barbarians could send people thousands of miles to the Qing Dynasty to buy large quantities of porcelain, tea and silk.
They didn't know how to farm, and they often went to war. The nobles lived a luxurious life.
Aren’t the treasuries of European countries empty?
But no missionary mentioned this to him?
Although Qianlong looked down on the barbarians, he also knew they were not stupid. Take, for example, Louis XIV, who corresponded with Emperor Kangxi. Could such a wise monarch not have recognized such a predicament?
How will he solve it?
There were only two options that Qianlong could think of: one was to expand the territory, and the other was to make money from other countries.
The Qing Dynasty was not interested in those Western tricks and ingenuity, but some small countries that had never seen the world must have been interested in them.
But how much money can those small countries give them?
Qianlong, who was prone to insomnia, thought about it for most of the night and always felt that some things didn't make sense.
The next day, he wrote a secret decree ordering the Supervisor of the Guangdong Customs to send two merchants to Beijing, as he had something to ask them in person.
The trade between the Qing Dynasty and foreigners was conducted by merchants from the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou and foreign merchants.
Merchants often deal with foreign merchants and have some understanding of Western affairs.
Qianlong wanted to know, besides coming to the Qing Dynasty to do business, where else did they go to do business?
Rakshasa? Ottoman?
During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the Qing Dynasty was invaded by the Rakshasa Kingdom, and the imperial court was very wary of it.
I heard that they have been fighting a war in recent years. How can they have money to buy Western things?
If they run out of money, will they invade the Qing Dynasty again?
Qianlong was not afraid of Westerners, as Westerners could not expand their territory to the extent of the Qing Dynasty. However, it was different for Russia. The weather there was freezing cold, and they must have envied China's climate and environment.
Yonglian didn't know how complicated Khan Ama's thoughts were, he only knew that Khan Ama had someone find the globe and the map of the Kangxi Dynasty.
After they finished school, he called them to the Yangxin Palace and personally taught them how to read maps.
Yonghuang looked at the distance between Daqing and Xiyang, then pointed to the location marked "Leviia" and asked, "Xiyang is also very close to here. Are they doing business here as well?"
Qianlong said: "I heard that the weather here is hot and the land is barren, so foreign products can't be sold here."
Yonghuang nodded his head, "So that's how it is."
"And the people here are dark-skinned," Qianlong said, "and even more barbaric. Even foreigners look down on them."
Seeing his second son holding his fat chin and frowning in thought, Qianlong poked his forehead and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Yonglian came back to his senses and said, "My son was thinking that if Europe wants to expand, it will probably start with Libya." The Libya in the picture is Africa.
Qianlong disagreed, "I have already said that this piece of land is very poor."
"No matter how poor a place is, you can always grow something. Even if the land is barren, you can still control the people in these places and make them work for them." Yonglian was referring to the slave trade.
What Qianlong thought was that the foreigners asked these blacks to help them fight.
This is a bit scary!
"What you said makes sense, but Europe is constantly fighting internally, and I'm afraid it won't have time to occupy Libya," said Qianlong.
Yonglian remembered that France had established colonies in Africa in the 17th century, and Khan Ama had really underestimated the strength of European countries.
"I don't know, but if this area is full of foreigners, it would be a bit dangerous!" Yonglian said.
Yonghuang was puzzled, "Why is it dangerous?"
"Their territory is so vast," Yonglian gestured on the map. "All together, it's even larger than the Qing Dynasty."
"But Europe is made up of many small countries, they can't be added together, right?" Yonghuang frowned.
Qianlong thought that might not be the case. The kings of those European countries were related to each other. What if a powerful one emerged and unified the whole of Europe, just like Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms?
"Khan Ama, should we send a merchant ship to Libya to have a look?" Yonglian looked at Qianlong.
Qianlong frowned when he heard this, "Do you mean to steal business from foreigners?"
Yonglian shook his head. "No, the foreigners probably don't have what we sell. Besides, we're not going there to make money, we just want to see what's going on there. We can also stop by Nanzhang and Siam along the way."
Qianlong frowned and thought for a moment, "Going to sea is no simple matter."
"It's not easy, but it's not difficult either. Foreigners can do it. We in the Qing Dynasty are full of talented people. Why can't we do it?" Yonglian looked at Khan Ama with a smile. How could the Celestial Empire admit defeat?
Qianlong: “…”
Qianlong planned to meet with the merchants first. He was not going to Libya to do business, but just wanted to see what the situation was like there.
Are there any imperial troops? If so, the Qing Dynasty wouldn't mind selling them some weapons to help them resist the foreigners.
Wouldn’t it be great if the Qing Dynasty could make money on both sides?
The markings on the Southern Hemisphere on maps and globes are very vague, but the maps indicate that the Portuguese have been there.
Yonglian thought thoughtfully, "I don't know what's in this place."
Qianlong: "It has nothing to do with our Qing Dynasty. It's too far away."
Yonglian said, "If we take a boat and go downstream, it might be faster. Once we've explored Libya and Europe, there will surely be more skilled sailors by then. Let's send them over here to have a look. Zhang Qian, during the Han Dynasty, brought back so many delicious foods from his mission to the Western Regions. If we go to the Southern Hemisphere, we might be able to bring back a lot of food seeds as well."
As he spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, by the way, I heard from Huang Mafa that there's a food called chili pepper that was discovered by foreigners in the Southern Hemisphere!"
Qianlong had also heard that some people in the south grew this thing. It was said that it was spicier than dogwood and not very edible.
Khan Ama doesn't like chicken, duck, fish or meat, but he likes to try new things. He wants to try all kinds of fruits introduced from the West.
It seems that local officials had sent chili peppers before, but this ingredient never appeared in the imperial cuisine again, probably because it was not tasty.
"Khan Ama, I have never eaten chili peppers. I want to try what they taste like." Yonglian took the opportunity to act coquettishly.
This is a small matter, it's just chili peppers, not lychee fish.
"Okay, I'll go back and tell the weaving house to find some chili peppers." Rather than asking local officials for help, Qianlong preferred to ask the bondservants in the weaving house to help find food.
Yonglian: “…”
Isn’t this too easy?
Then I thought again, in history, Emperor Qianlong often asked local officials to help him find food.
"The Emperor said that dried chilies are still edible, so there's no need to rush them to send fresh ones." Yonglian was truly worried that the local officials would send them an expedited delivery. It wasn't worth it just to eat a few chilies.
Qianlong lowered his eyes to look at his son. "Is it really your Madam who said that?" When did Khan Ama know so much about chili peppers? Had he even eaten dried ones? As far as he knew, only two or three were sent at the time, and not even the Empress Dowager's palace received any.
Yonglian nodded his head, but his eyes glanced around guiltily.
"Huh? You're lying!" Qianlong frowned upon seeing this.
Yonglian: "My son doesn't want to waste time and money on chili peppers."
Qianlong: “…”
"Wow! Brother, you are so sensible!" Yonghuang on the side couldn't help but say.
Qianlong nodded. Yes! His beloved son was so well-behaved!
He rubbed his son's head with satisfaction, "Okay, okay, I will tell them."
Chili peppers are easier to preserve than lychees, and the weather is not too hot now. After more than half a month, a basket of chili peppers was delivered to the capital.
Qianlong kept half for himself and gave one each to the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and the concubines in each palace.
The chefs in the small kitchens of each palace were all in a dilemma. How to make this thing?
Some are chopped up and used to stir-fry meat, some are added to soup, and some are directly fried in a frying pan.
In the imperial kitchen, several pieces were cut for scrambled eggs.
Qianlong specially summoned his two sons to the Yangxin Palace for dinner.
"Look, the chili you want to eat is just a seasoning, similar to pepper."
Yonglian looked at the plate of fried eggs with chili peppers and couldn't help swallowing his saliva. This dish was the perfect dish to go with rice!
Qianlong took a bite and said, "Hiss... it's not tasty."
Yonglian quickly took a bite and it was obviously delicious!
What happened to Khan Ama?
Qianlong took a bite and didn't like the fried eggs with chili peppers, so he stopped eating. However, Yonghuang and Yonglian ate it with their chopsticks, enjoying it very much.
Seeing that most of the dish had been eaten, Qianlong reminded his two sons, "This is bad for your health. Don't eat too much."
Yonglian: "...How about putting the chili peppers in a hot pot?"
Qianlong: "That's even more disgusting."
Yonglian: "...Try it, add some peppercorns."
Qianlong: "Food cannot be wasted."
Yonglian: "..." How can he clear the name of chili pepper?
Chili peppers were also unpopular in other palaces, of course it might also be because the cooks were not cooking them properly.
No one liked the bowl of soup with chili peppers in Shoukang Palace, and even when it was given to the maids and palace servants, no one could get used to it.
The Changchun Palace kitchen's attempt to make chili peppers into tiger-skin chili peppers also failed. The empress tasted one and found it too pungent and did not dare let Niu Lun eat it.
Therefore, there were a few more dishes with chili peppers in the food distributed to beggars in the outer city that day.
The beggars ate so much that sweat broke out on their foreheads.
"What kind of dish is this? It warms me up."
"Is it related to mustard seeds? I had the same feeling when I ate mustard seeds before."
The beggars even asked the food distributor about this, but the officer didn't know what the dish was.
The next day, chili peppers also appeared in the stew at Huimin Canteen.
Qianlong did not allow the imperial kitchen to prepare dishes with chili peppers anymore, and simply told them to dispose of the chili peppers together with the leftovers.
Because the remaining peppers were a bit wilted, the royal chef chopped them into small pieces, stir-fried them with minced garlic, and put them in the stew.
That night, the stew at Huimin Canteen was as popular as ever. However, the next day, many people came to ask what the spicy dish in the stew was.
"We just want to know the name. If it's not a precious vegetable, we can grow it at home." An old lady who often comes to Huimin Canteen to buy stewed vegetables said that she was not used to it when she took the first bite last night, but she didn't want to waste it. As a result, it tasted better and better. The mother-in-law at home, who usually has a poor appetite, ate half a bowl of rice yesterday.
"It seems to be called chili pepper. It's a vegetable sent from the south." Lumpu said, "There's not even any seeds here in the capital. How do you grow it?"
Someone immediately said, "That's easy. I'm from Zhejiang and I'm going back to worship my ancestors. I'll bring back some chili seeds."
Everyone said it was good, and that planting one or two of these vegetables shouldn't take up much space, just like planting garlic sprouts and green onions at home.
Luang Pu reported to Yonglian that the people liked chili peppers.
Yonglian: “…”
Well, chili peppers were originally popular in history.
It’s a pity that he and his elder brother won’t be able to eat chili peppers for a while.
Yonglian discussed with Yonghuang, "When my eldest brother leaves the palace and sets up his own residence, I will get some chili seeds and plant them there. When I want to eat chili, I can go to your house and get some."
Yonghuang wondered why his brother didn't grow his own crops, but he didn't ask. Perhaps his brother was just looking for an excuse to hang out with him, so he happily agreed. "Okay! When we leave the palace and start our own business, we can enjoy scrambled eggs with chili peppers."
The young boy couldn't help but look forward to it, and during dinner, he shared this matter with his study partner Erden'e.
Erden looked at the young master with an expectant look on his face and was confused.
Isn't the Second Prince the Crown Prince? How could he possibly leave the palace and start his own household?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
