Chapter 34 Chapter 34 British Factory
Few in the court, civil or military, were unaware of the secret succession plan.
Official sons like Erdeng'e had heard of it. He thought that people in the palace must have known about it a long time ago, but they just kept it a secret like the other officials in the court.
But now it seems that the two princes are completely unaware of it.
Erdeng'e went back and told Ama Yongchang about this.
Yong Chang laughed and said, "Even if the two young masters know, they have to pretend not to know. Otherwise, it will be awkward to be together. Wasn't it the same with the Emperor and Prince He back then? Who didn't know that the imperial edict of succession had the Emperor's name written on it? The Emperor and Prince He also knew it in their hearts, but this layer of window paper couldn't be broken. Prince He sometimes even joked with the Emperor."
Now that I think about it, Prince He was very smart. He took this opportunity to develop a relationship with his brother, hoping that his brother would not treat him too badly when he became emperor.
The eldest prince will probably follow the path of a prince in the future.
"Then the second prince..." Erden'e felt that the second prince was very smart. He must have known that he was the designated crown prince, but he could still get along with the eldest prince as if he knew nothing.
"Second Prince must feign ignorance. If he dares to show any arrogance, it would mean that the secret succession plan has failed, and that would be a slap in the face of the late emperor and the emperor." Yong Chang said, "Second Prince, for the sake of his own life, must feign ignorance."
Erden'e couldn't help but sigh, "It's not easy for the two princes to be carrying such a big secret at such a young age." If it were him, knowing that his brother was the prince, he would definitely be subconsciously cautious and respectful.
Yong Chang patted his silly son's head. "So, masters are not ordinary people. Second Prince is only seven years old this year! When you were seven, you were still playing in the mud outside."
Erdeng'e said, "Well, not really. My son had already finished learning the Thousand Character Classic when he was seven."
"Thousand Character Essay? How dare you say that?" Yong Chang tapped his son's head. "I heard from the Emperor that the Second Prince not only wants to study the courses at the Shangshufang, but also wants to learn about the various vassal states of the Qing Dynasty. Furthermore, the Emperor wants him to learn Western painting and is currently selecting a master for him from among the Western painters at the Ruyi Pavilion."
Erdeng'e opened his eyes wide. The Second Prince usually seemed to be making about the same progress as them, but sometimes he was even behind him and the First Prince. It turned out to be because he had so much to learn! No wonder.
"Will the eldest prince feel disappointed if the second prince is the only one learning painting?" Erden'e asked.
Yong Chang thought, doesn't this reflect the difference between the crown prince and ordinary princes?
Of course, Qianlong would not give extra lessons to Yonglian alone. At first, he wanted Yonghuang to learn along with him.
But Yonglian suggested that Yonghuang could make his own choice.
"If big brother doesn't want to learn Western painting, Khan Ama can arrange for him to have another teacher, okay?" Yonglian discussed with Khan Ama, "From now on, the one hour after school will be called... interest class time. Everyone can learn what they want to learn."
Qianlong: "Whatever you want to learn?"
Yonglian nodded.
Qianlong: "You wish."
Yonglian: "...But the princes should all have their own strengths. It would be boring if everyone had the same skills."
Qianlong thought about it and agreed, so he called Yonghuang and asked him what he wanted to learn.
Yonghuang was confused for a moment and then said, "My son wants to learn Western painting with his younger brother."
The young boy didn't know what talent he wanted to learn, but he liked studying with his younger brother, so he decided to learn Western painting first.
Yonglian tried to give his elder brother some inspiration: "Brother, do you want to learn music? Or calligraphy? Farming? Foreign languages? Astronomy?"
Qianlong: “…” This kid is really good at making arrangements.
Yonghuang: "Brother, what do you think I should learn?"
"It's not about what I think, it's about what you think." Yonglian couldn't help but smile. "Think about it again. If it really doesn't work, go to Jingyang Palace and find some books to see what kind of knowledge you are most interested in."
Yonglian: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Qianlong coughed lightly, "I am still here, why did I listen to him?"
When Yonglian heard this, he was startled at first, wondering if Khan Ama would be suspicious again.
Yonghuang also reacted and said quickly: "Son, I will listen to my father."
Qianlong: "You two don't know what books to borrow when you go to Jingyang Palace. I will write a list."
Qianlong is not so sensitive now. It is a good thing that Yonghuang listens to Yonglian. Yonglian is so young, but he can not only guide the little Hongzhou, but also make Yonghuang, who is older than him, listen to him. Isn't he born to be an emperor?
There was another thing that made Qianlong very satisfied. Although Yonglian had his own ideas, he listened to him very much. He asked the little guy to learn painting from Western painters, and the little guy agreed without saying a word.
Qianlong didn't think the child liked painting very much. Apart from those two drawings, he had never painted anything else.
Yonglian agreed readily, of course not because he liked Western paintings, but because he wanted to find an opportunity to come into contact with missionaries.
Qianlong originally wanted to send Lang Shining to teach Yonglian, but Lang Shining was not good at sketching.
Qianlong simply asked the Western painters who were good at sketching in Ruyi Pavilion to take turns teaching Yonglian.
Yonglian was even happier now. He could get in touch with foreigners from different countries and learn about the development status of their countries. Although he was a little behind, he could ask them to write letters back to inquire about him once he got to know them better.
These missionaries were different from foreign merchants. They could not go back easily without the permission of the Qing emperor, so they devoted themselves to living in the Qing Dynasty.
As long as there are people who understand foreign languages, there is no need to worry about them leaking court secrets in letters home.
At this time, Yonglian didn't care about privacy. Of course, he had to protect what he needed to protect.
Learning painting is definitely more interesting than studying the Four Books and Five Classics. Yonglian looked forward to the end of the riding and archery classes so that he could return to the Shangshufang to learn Western painting.
Mingrui no longer needed to be by his side, only the young eunuch could serve him with writing materials.
At this time, Yonghuang could go back to study at the prince's place. Qianlong said that he would let him choose what he was interested in. In fact, the scope he set for him was very narrow. Farming was not something the prince should learn, and learning music was of no use. It was enough to have Yunlu, who was proficient in music, in the royal family. The rest were calligraphy, astronomy and foreign languages.
Yonghuang thought of the heliocentric theory and the spherical earth theory that his sixteenth uncle had told them, and he wanted to study astronomy. However, these were introduced from the West, and it would be difficult for him to learn without knowing foreign languages. Finally, Yonghuang decided to learn foreign languages.
Qianlong: ...Why are all these brats interested in the West?
There are many foreign languages, and Yonghuang doesn't know which country's to learn.
Yonglian suggested that he learn English.
"But I read in a book that France was very powerful," Yonghuang said. "They sent the most missionaries during the Kangxi era."
Yonglian said, "But France's powerful Sun King is dead, and the current king is very young. He may not be able to maintain France's glory in the future."
Yonglian remembered that Louis XV was notorious, and Louis XVI was beheaded. The French monarchy was coming to an end. Rather than establishing diplomatic relations with France, it would be better to learn more about the rising England.
"Oh, then let's learn English."
When Qianlong heard that it was Yonglian's idea for Yonghuang to learn English, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Although it was a good thing that Yonghuang listened to Yonglian, the child was too indecisive and it would be difficult for him to achieve great success in the future.
There was only one British painter named Leo in Ruyi Pavilion, so Qianlong asked him to teach Yonghuang.
This British painter is the least noticeable in Ruyi Pavilion on weekdays, because British paintings are far less famous than those of Italy and France.
His painting skills were really ordinary, especially watercolors. The palace did not have much need for oil paintings and sketches, so he could only occasionally help Lang Shining and others.
Unexpectedly, he suddenly became busy. Not only did he have to teach sketching to the second prince, but he also had to teach English to the eldest prince.
Leo cherished this opportunity very much. When teaching the two princes, he answered every question and did not hide anything, even if it was something unrelated to the class content.
So Qianlong soon found out that the second prince was asking about British textile factories during the painting class.
"Master Leo said that most British factories are built by rivers and use water wheels to drive textile machines." The young eunuch relayed everything he heard in class to Qianlong.
Qianlong had heard from missionaries before that the workshops there were called factories, and there were many female workers in the factories.
Why did Yonglian ask this?
Yonglian had long anticipated that the content of the class could not be hidden from Khan Ama, so he asked Li Ao to teach him how to draw a waterwheel.
When Emperor Qianlong reviewed his son's homework, he didn't know what to say. He simply tapped his son on the head and said, "Focus on learning painting. After learning Western painting, you should also learn ink painting in two years." Qianlong hoped that his son could learn the combination of Chinese and Western painting styles of Lang Shining.
He really couldn't learn it, so he had to rely on his son. He would send a painting to France and let the King of France see the artistic level of the Qing imperial family.
Because of the extra hour of classes, Yonglian could only officially finish school at the beginning of the evening every day. He would go to Changchun Palace to talk to his mother and sister for a few words before returning to his residence to rest.
When he arrived at Changchun Palace that day, the queen was asking the palace maids to sort the fabrics in the warehouse.
While Yonglian was eating snacks and listening to the palace maid's report, he heard a familiar name - Duolane.
This kind of cloth, a type of wool, appeared in the Dream of the Red Chamber. It turns out it was also used in the palace.
He enthusiastically shared with the Queen, "That dolomite was originally produced in an English factory."
Doloni was a tribute from the West, but because its surface was not smooth and not light enough, the palace was unwilling to use it to make clothes. It was usually only used to make kang blankets.
When these duola cloths were presented as tribute, they were solid colors and looked too ordinary, so the palace would have people embroider patterns on them.
Only in the palace was there such luxury. Many women in officials' families used dorothea to make clothes. After all, sable and fox furs were limited, and they were worn by the men in the family who often went out. The women could only settle for the second best and wear this less comfortable Western fabric.
"So it's from England. I heard it's very cold there, so it's really suitable to wear a dora." The queen had heard her elders talk about some Western countries, and England seemed to be in the north. She subconsciously felt that the north was colder.
"Master Leo said that English factories can mass-produce doro cloth, and many ordinary people can afford to wear doro cloth, which proves that this fabric is not difficult to weave." Yonglian said, "We can give it a try, but those foreigners are very cunning and won't tell us how to weave doro cloth."
Britain's first industrial revolution began with mining and textiles, and the Qing Dynasty could try the same. When there's an urgent need to increase productivity, people will find ways to update their production tools.
"Of course, we won't tell them how to weave silk." The queen laughed.
Yonglian said, "But doro can keep out the cold. If it can be mass-produced, the people will not be cold in winter."
While the imperial court and the wealthy possessed clothing made of various animal furs to protect them from the cold, ordinary people could hardly even afford a cotton coat. Xinjiang wasn't under Qing rule yet, so if they wanted to cultivate cotton in large quantities, they would have to wait until the Pacification War was over. It would be better to research a variety of fabrics that could protect against the cold.
The queen touched her son's little head with satisfaction, thinking that he really always thought about the people.
The queen also felt that doroni weaving was not a very complicated craft, so she asked someone to find a doroni kang rug and discussed it with the palace maid who was good at weaving.
The people in Changchun Palace didn't come up with anything new, but the next day, when the imperial concubine came to pay her respects, she heard the empress discussing Western fabrics like damask and satin. She said, "There are some families of foreign merchants in Macau who might know how these fabrics are woven."
These Western tributes were very expensive in the Qing Dynasty. When the imperial concubine was at home, she only had one or two pieces of foreign satin and dolomite clothes. Before she entered the palace, she gave these clothes to her sisters. Her sisters fought over the clothes, and even now some sisters still blame her for being partial.
If the Qing Dynasty could produce these fabrics, the women in the family would not have to fight over a few pieces of clothing.
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