Chapter 45: Concern and confusion
Yonglian had thought about having the glass factory produce a large amount of glass tableware before.
The Imperial Household Department also fired a batch of glass cups, but these glass cups could only hold cold water and would crack if hot water was poured into them.
Soon, the palace eliminated this set of glasses.
Compared to making glassware, glasses do not require as high hardness and high temperature resistance of glass, and are more challenging to polishing technology.
This is the specialty of the craftsmen in the Imperial Household Department. During the reign of the late emperor, the Imperial Household Department made a lot of glasses.
Moreover, polishing spectacle lenses according to the different needs of customers may also promote the development of optics and ophthalmology.
Hong Zhou didn't know that his nephew had thought so much. He only knew that selling glasses was very profitable. Glass lenses had low costs, but there were many things that could be done with glasses frames and cases.
The same pair of glasses, if paired with a rosewood carved box, would cost more than ten times as much, right?
Hong Zhou is good at this kind of business, but he is responsible for producing the raw materials for glass. What the glass is made of depends on the emperor's wishes.
He went to discuss with Qianlong and asked Xinji to sell glasses.
When Qianlong heard that this was Yonglian's idea, he was proud, but he snorted, "This brat, instead of putting in the effort in his studies, he's just thinking about useless things."
After he finished muttering, he discussed the production of glasses with Hong Zhou.
Hong Zhou knew that this was a huge profit, so he also wanted to take part in it.
Beijing is so big, it's impossible to open just one Xinji restaurant, and Xinji can't just be located in Beijing. How can relying solely on internal funds be enough? Sooner or later, we'll have to let others participate in the business.
If it were someone else, they would be too embarrassed to mention it to the emperor. Hong Zhou wouldn't care so much. When the emperor wanted to recruit people to make money together, he would definitely be the first one to think of!
Qianlong indeed thought so, and he also said that he would help Hongzhou to invest as well, so that the three brothers could make money together.
"Why should Hongzhou's share come from the imperial treasury?" Hongzhou pretended to be dissatisfied.
Qianlong glanced at him and asked, "Hongzhou is six years old. How old are you?"
Hong Zhou chuckled, "That kid Hong Zhou is really lucky. But after the new year, he should be able to enter the Shangshufang, right?"
This was a headache for Emperor Qianlong. He had to let Hongzhou and Yonglian attend classes together, but the little one couldn't keep up. It would take another two years for Yongzhang to enter the Shangshufang. Without a companion, Emperor Qianlong was a little worried that the little one wouldn't be able to adapt.
"By the way, your Yongbi is the same age as Hongzhou, and he should be studying next year. Why not let him study with Hongzhou? Master can teach one or both of them."
Hong Zhou was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly expressed his gratitude on behalf of his son.
Yonglian was also very happy to learn that Hongzhou and Yongbi would be joining the Shangshufang after the new year. He patted his chest and said, "My son will supervise Uncle Six and Brother Yongbi and not let them slack off."
Qianlong pinched his son's chubby face and said, "You are the one who loves to slack off the most, and you still supervise others?"
"I'm not lazy. I finished all my homework on time." Yonglian snorted in dissatisfaction.
Qianlong thought about it carefully and realized that it was true, but he would not write an extra word or read an extra page. "Your elder brother has finished reading the Records of the Grand Historian himself, what about you?"
"My eldest brother said he couldn't sleep at night, so it was a good time for him to read. But my son falls asleep as soon as he touches the pillow, so he has no chance to read." Yonglian sounded innocent.
Qianlong: “…”
Qianlong: "Your elder brother is trying to comfort you. He is either unable to sleep or secretly studying hard." Although Yonghuang was an honest child, he was very diligent in his studies.
Qianlong even wondered if the child was so ambitious because he also wanted to compete for the throne.
But Yonglian has no sense of crisis at all.
"Big brother doesn't need to study secretly. He studies openly. Only when Khan Ama knows about it will he praise him." Yonglian said, "It seems that he read the "Records of the Grand Historian" simply because he couldn't sleep and just picked up a book to read."
Qianlong; “…”
Qianlong thought that Yonghuang might not say this in front of him, so he went for a stroll in the prince's residence in the evening and asked Yonghuang why he was reading "Records of the Grand Historian".
Yonghuang was a little embarrassed. "There was a strong wind a few nights ago, and my son couldn't sleep. He wanted to find a book to read. He tried to read the Four Books and Five Classics... but he couldn't get into it. The stories of the characters in "Records of the Grand Historian" are very fascinating, and my son couldn't stop reading." The more he spoke, the lower his voice became. He really read "Records of the Grand Historian" as a story, and skipped over the parts he didn't understand.
If he had not accidentally mentioned the Biographies of Exemplary Officials in the Records of the Grand Historian when answering Khan Ama's question yesterday, he would not have intended to let Khan Ama know.
Now Qianlong was speechless. If Yonghuang had ambitions, there was no need to hide his incompetence in front of him, and he should not say that he could not read the Four Books and Five Classics.
Okay, this son is really honest.
Qianlong was also worried that his son was too honest. Yonghuang was ten years old, but he was still ignorant. He only knew the homework of the Shangshufang, knew nothing about the affairs of the court, and did not know how to read people's faces.
In addition, his mother died early, so the queen was reluctant to explain many things to him.
Qianlong was wondering if he had protected his two sons too well.
Yonghuang will be like a blank sheet of paper in the future. What if he gets fooled?
After leaving Yonghuang's courtyard, Qianlong thought that since he was already here, he might as well go and see a little fat guy next door.
But when we got to the next yard, the brat had already washed up and was ready to go to bed.
Qianlong: "...How come bedtime is earlier?"
Yonglian didn't expect that Khan Ama would come at this time. He put on his clothes while answering Khan Ama, saying that he must not catch a cold.
"The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says that in winter you should go to bed early and get up late."
In history, Prince Duanhui died young due to a cold this winter. Yonglian has been worried about this and has been extra careful recently, eating more, wearing more clothes, and sleeping more, not daring to let himself down at all.
Qianlong snorted: "I never see you go to bed late and get up early even in summer."
Yonglian chuckled and asked Khan Ama if there was anything wrong, saying that he had finished all his homework.
Seeing that he was still wrapped up tightly for a while, Qianlong couldn't help but frown, "Why are you so afraid of the cold this winter?"
He had noticed before that the little guy was wearing big woolen clothes at the end of September and carrying a hand warmer to school.
Yonglian said, "My son is afraid that getting sick will delay his studies and make Khan Ama and Mother worry."
"I'm not worried. No other child can take care of themselves as well as you do." Qianlong then ordered Ma Rui to bring a basin of water and put it on the ground. "The ground trap is too hot. The room is dry and it's easy to get angry."
Yonglian felt warm in his heart when he saw Khan Ama who said he didn't have to worry about it in the previous sentence and made arrangements in the next sentence.
Like a puppy, he went over and rubbed his head against Khan Ama's shoulder, saying, "I will honor you when I grow up."
"How do you plan to show your filial piety?" Qianlong asked with a smile.
"Son will build you a fast car so that you can go to Jiangnan for fun." Yonglian thought that Khan Ama liked to tour the south. If there was a steam train at that time, it would be faster and would not be so wasteful and costly.
When Qianlong heard this, the smile on his face froze. When the emperor went to Jiangnan, wouldn't the court need him, the crown prince, to be the regent?
This kid is so cunning, he must have guessed that he was the crown prince a long time ago, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't be taking care of the Huimin Canteen like a little master.
"I'm going to Jiangnan, what are you doing?" Qianlong said with a smile.
Yonglian: "Of course I'll go with you!" The child looked at Han Ama eagerly, "It's okay to take your son with you two out of three times."
"What should we do about the affairs of the court?" asked Qianlong.
Yonglian thought about it and realized that in history, whenever Emperor Qianlong went on tour, it seemed that his sixteenth uncle was always the one who looked after the house. So he said, "Let my sixteenth uncle help you look after it."
Qianlong: “…”
Qianlong slapped his son's head away and said, "Go to sleep now. Dream about going to Jiangnan to play."
As he said this, he stood up and walked away angrily.
Yonglian: ???
The little guy couldn't figure out what his father was angry about because he couldn't sweat. Once he lay down in the warm bed, he quickly put the matter behind him. Sleeping was more important.
Both sons were too simple, and Qianlong felt very complicated. This proved that the secret succession was very effective. Both children were not arrogant, nor did they set their sights on the throne at such a young age.
But for some reason, Qianlong wanted to shake Yonglian's shoulders and tell him, "You are the prince!"
By then, the kid will definitely be shocked, and then he will study hard and never dare to slack off again.
Before going to bed, Qianlong still had this thought in his mind, and then he had a dream. In the dream, he really shook Yonglian's shoulders and told him that he was the crown prince.
But in the dream, Yonglian was lying on a small bed with his eyes closed and his body cold.
There was a lot of crying nearby, and someone was trying to persuade him, "Your Majesty, please accept my condolences."
He cried and told his sixteenth uncle, fifth brother and others who had come rushing over, "Second Prince Yonglian was born to the Empress. He is my legitimate son. He is intelligent and noble, with an extraordinary bearing. Back then, my Imperial Father named him Yonglian, implicitly indicating his intention to inherit the family lineage. After I ascended the throne, I did not immediately carry out the ceremony of appointing the Crown Prince. This was because I was afraid that his ambitions were not yet settled, and he might rely on his status to be arrogant, or flatter others, and even lose his moral integrity. There were even those who were trying to shake him. Therefore, on the second day of the seventh month of the first year of the Qianlong reign, I followed the Imperial Father's established ceremony and personally appointed him as the Crown Prince. "Write a secret decree. Summon all ministers to speak in person. Keep it behind the plaque in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Although Yonglian has not yet been enthroned, I have already appointed him Crown Prince. On the twelfth of this month, he contracted a cold and has been unable to recover. I mourn deeply. As the ruler of the nation, how can I be saddened by the loss of a young child? However, Yonglian is my legitimate son, and the plan to establish him as the crown prince has already been decided. He is different from my other sons. All ceremonies shall be conducted according to the rites for the crown prince. The decree hidden in the plaque from the first year of the reign shall be retrieved and announced to all my subjects."
Qianlong suddenly woke up, his body covered in cold sweat.
"Your Majesty," Li Yu's worried voice came from outside.
"What time is it?" Qianlong asked.
"Your Majesty, it's only the beginning of the year." Li Yu said, "Should I help you change clothes or...?"
Qianlong calmed his rapid heartbeat and let Li Yu in after a while.
After washing up, he told Li Yu without even ordering breakfast, "Tell Zhang Tingyu and the others to wait while I go to the Shangshufang to take a look."
Li Yu just heard the emperor calling "Yonglian" in his dream. He probably had a nightmare about the second prince and was worried.
Li Yu agreed and ordered someone to pass the message to the Military Affairs Office.
Yonglian went to school early in the morning, wrapped himself up in a furry and round shape, holding a small hand warmer in his hand.
In comparison, Yonghuang was not wearing such thick clothes and looked like a tall and upright young man.
The weather was too cold, so the two brothers didn't talk much on the road and walked very fast.
When I got closer, I saw a group of people surrounding Qianlong coming towards me not far away.
"Hey, why is Khan Ama here?" Yonglian said as he ran forward, and Yonghuang also quickened his pace.
Yonglian bowed to Khan Ama and asked, "Didn't you test our homework last night?" Khan Ama came to the Shangshufang for no other reason than to test our homework.
Qianlong breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his son was still alive and well.
He thought with some self-mockery that he was not Yonglian and could not distinguish between dreams and reality, but the grief in the dream was too real, as if a big hole was suddenly dug in his heart. In addition to the grief of a father losing his son, there was also the anxiety of the emperor losing his crown prince.
Even seeing Yonglian now, Qianlong still felt uneasy. Today was October 11th, and Yonglian in his dream had died on October 12th. Anyway, there were only two days left, so he decided to let the child hide.
"The weather has been too cold these past two days, so I'll give you two days off." Qianlong said, "Go to Changchun Palace to play with your sister." With the Queen taking care of the children in Changchun Palace, the children would be fine.
"Ah, why?" Yonghuang asked subconsciously.
Yonglian didn't care about the reason and said happily: "Thank you, Khan Ama!"
Qianlong always felt that this kid would be able to run around and have fun at any moment. In such a cold day, it would be easy for him to get sick if he ran around outside and sweated.
Qianlong reached out and pulled Yonglian over, "Don't go yet. Come with me to the Yangxin Palace to recite the text."
This time it was Yonglian's turn to ask: "Why?"
Qianlong: "Because when I tested you yesterday, you didn't recite it fluently."
Yonglian: “…”
Yonghuang was also a little puzzled and felt that this arrangement was strange, but he did not dare to ask too much. After paying his respects, he went to Changchun Palace.
Yonglian was brought back to the Yangxin Palace by Khan Ama with a drooping head, and the eunuchs brought him breakfast.
Qianlong always felt that his son's face lacked flesh, so he kept picking up food for him.
Yonglian ate with great relish. The imperial meals were much more exquisite than the meals served by the princes.
Yonglian was forced by Khan Ama to drink a bowl of bird's nest again.
"I'm going to attend the morning court in a while. You stay in your room." Qianlong warned: "Don't run around outside."
Yonglian: "Why? Did something happen outside today?"
"What could possibly happen?" Qianlong tapped his son on the head. "I'll check your homework when I get back. You must memorize Gongsun Chou's Commentary."
Yonglian agreed obediently and sat down at the desk after dinner.
Qianlong changed his clothes and prepared to go to the morning court. Before leaving, he looked back and saw his son who had already picked up the book. He said, "If you are tired, go lie down on the Luohan bed for a while."
Yonglian: ???
What on earth am I here for?
As Qianlong walked out, he instructed the eunuch outside, "Make the trap hot."
In Changchun Palace, the Queen learned that Yonglian was called to the Yangxin Palace to recite, and her heart suddenly lifted. She asked Yonglian in detail whether Yonglian had performed poorly when Yonghuang tested his homework yesterday.
Yonghuang said, "My brother just didn't memorize one or two passages well. He is like this all the time. Khan Ama never got angry before."
Previously, the Queen thought that the Emperor had lowered his expectations of Yonglian. Could it be that he had been enduring it all this time, and finally couldn't bear it anymore today and planned to teach Yonglian a lesson?
But Yonglian didn't make any big mistakes, he just didn't study hard enough.
Niu Lun was also worried about his second brother getting beaten up, "Mother, how about I go to the Yangxin Palace to take a look?"
"Your Khan father has gone to the morning court now. You can go over later." The emperor loved Niu Lun the most, and only Niu Lun dared to plead for mercy at this time.
Yonglian recited books in the Yangxin Palace for a while and felt a little sleepy. Khan Ama said he could sleep, so he put down the book and ran to lie on the Luohan bed. He fell asleep in a short while.
The Yangxin Palace was very warm, and the Luohan bed was more comfortable than the beds used by the princes. When Yonglian woke up, Qianlong had already returned.
He jumped up and saw Khan Ama reviewing memorials. He was a little confused and said, "Khan Ama, when did you come back? Why didn't you send someone to call me?"
"I want you to sleep a little longer." Qianlong put down his pen and said, "Go rinse your mouth and have a cup of milk tea."
Yonglian frowned. Why was Khan Ama so gentle? He was not used to it.
Yonglian was angry when he thought about Khan Ama leaving the prince's residence last night, and always felt that this was the calm before the storm.
But until he finished drinking the milk tea, Khan Ama did not criticize him, but just asked him to recite and practice calligraphy.
Under Khan Ama's supervision, Yonglian was very well behaved and recited the poem honestly.
But soon, he couldn't continue studying.
"Khan Ama, I feel bad."
When Qianlong heard this, his heart skipped a beat. He immediately stood up and helped him into the inner room. "It's okay, it's okay. You lie down first." Then he asked Li Yu to quickly call the imperial physician.
Yonglian saw that Khan Ama was a little flustered and said hurriedly: "Khan Ama, I'm fine, I just feel a little uncomfortable in my stomach."
Qianlong was stunned. Didn’t the dream talk about catching a cold?
Could it be that my son’s symptoms are special?
He comforted himself in his heart that as long as the imperial physician treated him in time, he would be fine.
"The imperial physician will be here soon, just bear with it." Qianlong sat beside the bed and held his son's hand tightly.
He was just thinking about going outside to find a famous doctor if the imperial physician couldn't help, when he heard Yonglian groaning, "Well, but my son can't hold it anymore. My son wants to go to the toilet."
Qianlong: “…”
The imperial physician came trotting over, thinking that the second prince had some acute illness.
After paying his respects to the emperor, he didn't pay attention to his expression. He immediately took the pulse of the second prince on the couch. After checking for a long time, he frowned in confusion. The second prince was in good health.
He looked at the second prince's tongue coating again.
"Imperial Physician, am I okay?" Yonglian asked.
"The Second Prince is in good health and is fine. He just has some indigestion. Drink some hawthorn tea and he will be fine soon." said the imperial physician.
Yonglian turned to look at Khan Ama, "Khan Ama, you see, I'm fine, I just ate too much for breakfast. I said I shouldn't have eaten that bowl of bird's nest."
Qianlong: “…”
In Changchun Palace, the Queen was sending Niu Lun to the Yangxin Palace to check on her when she heard someone announce, "The Second Prince is back."
The queen ignored the rules and stood up to greet her son. Yonghuang and Niu Lun also ran to the door.
Without waiting for Yonglian to salute, the empress pulled him aside and asked, "Did your Khan-father scold you?"
Yonglian shook his head and said, "No." Khan Ama did not scold him, but seemed to be sulking when he sent him away.
"Then my second brother must have passed the test." Niu Lun also breathed a sigh of relief for his brother.
Yonglian scratched his head and said, "Khan Ama forgot to test me." As soon as the imperial physician left, Khan Ama sent him back to Changchun Palace. Of course, he didn't remind Khan Ama that he would test his homework. He just ran away with his small schoolbag on his back.
Queen: ???
Niu Lun: ???
Yonghuang: ???
"Oh, never mind. It's a rare opportunity for me to rest, so let's make the most of it and have some fun." Yonglian skipped into the room, "Brother, Niulun, let's play a crossword puzzle."
The queen looked at her son's smiling face and couldn't tell for a moment whether the child was heartless or just too good at hiding his emotions.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
