Chapter 50 Chapter 50 Candidates for the Prince Consort
When Hongxiao learned that Yonglian was coming, he had the palace cleaned early in the morning, and the Thirteenth Lady also prepared to welcome him early.
Everyone knew that Yonglian was the designated crown prince, so no one dared to neglect him.
Hongxiao hadn't married yet, leaving him and his mother alone at home. While they waited, they discussed how the Emperor valued the Second Prince too much. Even when the deposed Crown Prince was so favored, the Emperor didn't let him take up a position until he was eight or nine.
"But this matter is different. This was Yonglian's idea in the first place," Hongxiao said. "The newspaper may seem like it's just about promoting poetry and prose, but it actually has many uses. If it works, the impact will be far-reaching. If Second Prince didn't understand the Emperor so well and know what he wants, he would never have come up with this idea."
The current emperor is different from the previous emperor. He cares very much about the gentry's opinion of the court. Firstly, this is because of the education he received since childhood, and secondly, during the reign of the previous emperor, he opposed the gentry, which led to the intensification of the conflict between the gentry and the court. Now the conflict must be eased.
But easing conflicts does not mean simply showing favors. The emperor is no less wary of the gentry than the previous emperor.
This newspaper was one of the means used by the imperial court to guide the gentry class.
There may be no visible results in one or two months, but in one or two years, three or five years, the effects will be more subtle and effective than the tough measures used during the previous emperor's time.
Hong Xiao does not participate in political affairs, but that does not mean he does not understand them, especially when it comes to education, he knows a lot about it.
"Then you should follow the Second Prince and work hard, but don't get too close to him. Just do your job well." The Thirteenth Lady advised her son.
Hongxiao understood what his mother meant. Because of the matter of the fourth brother, the emperor was already wary of them. If he got too close to the second prince, he would inevitably be labeled as a member of the second prince's party in the future. His father suffered a lot when he supported the prince, and he didn't want to repeat the same mistake. Starting from the emperor's generation, the purpose of the Prince Yi's Mansion was to not support anyone and keep a distance from the crown prince.
While the mother and son were talking, Yonglian arrived.
The weather was cold, and Yonglian wore a furry hat and a fox fur cloak, revealing a fair and handsome face. When he saw the Thirteenth Lady and Hongxiao, he greeted them with a smile, being very well-behaved.
The Thirteenth Lady instantly forgot all her precautions and kept saying that Yonglian was cute. She pulled him to sit next to her and brought him snacks and fruit.
Seeing that Prince Yi's Mansion was also enjoying baked cakes, Yonglian curiously tried a piece and said, "Wow! It's even better than what the imperial kitchen makes!"
Hong Xiao said hurriedly, "How can the chefs in the palace compare to the imperial chefs? It's just that my mother likes the taste of red dates, so the chef added some red date juice to the dough when kneading it."
"No wonder it smells like red dates." Yonglian said.
"If you like it, my dear prince, I will ask the chef to roast some and you can take it back to eat." The Thirteenth Lady said with a smile.
"Mother..." Hong Xiao quickly winked at the Thirteenth Lady. Who had just told him to keep his distance?
Yonglian was not polite at all and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, I'll bring it back for big brother to try. Big brother likes to eat date cakes anyway."
After chatting with the Thirteenth Lady for a while, Hongxiao and Yonglian went to the study to discuss things.
As a future book collector, Hongxiao's study has now taken shape. Yonglian took a tour of it. The classics, history, and Buddhist scriptures were all left by the Thirteenth Master, and some stories about talented men and beautiful women were collected by Hongxiao.
"If I want to read a storybook in the future, I can come and borrow it from you, uncle," Yonglian said.
Seeing the little guy's eyes shining with anticipation, Hong Xiao couldn't help but touch his head and said, "You can't read these, they are just idle books."
"Then why can you read it?" Yonglian was dissatisfied.
"Because I have free time, and idle people can read idle books." Hong Xiao said with a smile.
Yonglian snorted and sat back in his seat. "Once the newspaper is published, you won't be idle anymore."
The uncle and nephew discussed everything from the paper used and layout of the newspaper to the review standards and sales channels for most of the day.
Dinner was also served in Hongxiao's study. Yonglian discovered that Uncle Hongxiao was not only knowledgeable and talented, but also had a meticulous mind.
I feel very relieved to leave the newspaper matters to him.
After reviewing the memorial, Qianlong asked and found out that Yonglian had not returned yet. He was a little anxious, thinking that this kid had disappeared after going out to play. He should not have let him go out.
Anyway, today's government affairs had been dealt with, so he ordered people to prepare to go to Prince Yi's Mansion to pick up his son.
Hongxiao and the Thirteenth Lady never expected that the emperor would come, and hurried to welcome him.
Qianlong was also a respectable man. Since he was here, he naturally asked about the health of the Thirteenth Lady and encouraged Hongxiao a few words before he went to see his own son.
"It's getting late. We should go back. We can discuss anything we haven't finished another day."
Yonglian nodded obediently, "We have almost finished discussing it. I'll ask Uncle Prince to take care of the next matter."
Hongxiao hurriedly said that it was his honor to be responsible for such an important task.
Only then did Qianlong take Yonglian away, and the Thirteenth Concubine did not forget to ask Yonglian to take the red date cake with him.
On the way back to the palace, Qianlong asked Yonglian what they had discussed today. There was nothing to hide, so Yonglian told him briefly.
"Are you missing your son? You come to pick me up in person." After Yonglian finished his business, he went up to Khan Ama and acted coquettishly.
Qianlong pushed his head away and said, "How is that possible? I just heard that Hongxiao has a lot of books, and I want to take a look."
"But you haven't even been to his study."
Qianlong: "..." Qianlong quickly changed the subject, "You were talking in the study, did you see his book?"
Yonglian nodded, "They are all storybooks. I can't read them."
"I'm glad to know." Qianlong rubbed his son's head through his hat.
As the father and son talked, they opened the red date cakes sent by the Thirteenth Lady. When they were about to get off the carriage, there were only two pieces left in the food box.
When Yonglian saw Yonghuang, he complained to his elder brother, "I only ate two pieces, and the rest was eaten by Khan Ama."
Yonghuang: “…”
"But it doesn't matter. I know how to make red date cake." Yonglian asked Ma Rui to instruct the small kitchen of the prince's residence to bake some red date cakes tomorrow morning.
"So, big brother, please don't be angry with me," Yonglian moved closer to Yonghuang, "Please lend me your notes."
Yonghuang couldn't help but laugh, "Why would I be angry? The cake was eaten, that's also sweat..." He couldn't say, "I'll go get you the notes."
Yonglian stayed in Yonghuang's yard to do homework with his elder brother, and shared some gossip that Hongxiao told him.
"My two cousins, Hongchang and Hongsheng, are now making money with my fifth uncle. They plan to open Xinji in Tianjin next year. My twenty-fourth uncle wants to invest in it, but they won't take him."
"Why?"
"They said they didn't dare do business with their elders, so they asked my twenty-fourth uncle to go find my sixteenth and seventeenth uncles," Yonglian said.
"But my sixteenth uncle and seventeenth uncle both receive double salary as princes, so they are definitely not short of money." Yonghuang said.
"Yes, Uncle Hongxiao said that the twenty-fourth uncle came out of the sixteenth uncle's house crying." Yonglian had a gloating expression on his face. "The twenty-fourth uncle must have been scolded."
Yonghuang: “…” After all, he is the youngest.
Yunmi didn't cry because of Sixteenth Brother's scolding, he cried because Sixteenth Brother scared him.
Some time ago, Zhengjiazhuang's eldest nephew invited him to watch a play. He heard that Hongxi's family's opera troupe was famous, so he agreed and wanted to go and see it.
As a result, when Hongxi's eldest nephew met him, he talked about the glass factory. The gist of it was that Hongzhou was not a good boy. He only brought his cousins with him to make money and left his uncles aside.
Yunmi was rejected by Hongchang, so he agreed with a few words.
Hongxi said that he was willing to open an eyewear store with Yunmi. Hongxi would invest the money and he would only be responsible for connecting with the glass factory, and they would split the profits 40% to 60%.
Yunmi was so happy that his nephew Hongxi was so sensible.
When good things happen, we can’t forget our brothers, so Yunmi went to find Brother Sixteen and wanted to get him along.
Then he was frightened by the Sixteenth Brother. Hongxi had no one to fool, so he set his sights on his uncle who was stupid and had a lot of money.
If he dared to agree, he would lose his title as prince.
Moreover, Sixteenth Brother also revealed to him that one-third of the guards in Zhengjiazhuang were the emperor's men, and the servants in Zhengjiazhuang also had spies sent by the emperor. The emperor probably already knew that Hongxi invited him to watch the play.
Yun Mi had never witnessed the Nine Dragons' fight for the throne, and he had no clear memory of the late emperor's eradication of the Eighth Prince's party in his early years.
This is the first time I realized that there are such big pitfalls in interacting with relatives.
Yunmi was so frightened that he dared not have any contact with Zhengjiazhuang anymore. He borrowed some storybooks from Hongxiao and stayed at home to study.
Qianlong certainly knew that Hongxi had set his sights on Yunmi.
However, he wasn't too worried about his younger uncle. Khan Ama had raised him, and he'd played with him and his fifth brother a lot when they were little. He knew the difference between close and distant relatives.
But it was not a good thing for Yunmi to be idle all the time. At the end of the year, Qianlong called his uncle into the palace to test his academic performance.
Yun Mi secretly criticized his nephew just because he wanted to see him make a fool of himself, but on the surface he could only answer the questions obediently.
Under the strict guidance of the two Hanlin scholars, Yunmi made great progress in his studies and also learned to write poetry with Hongxiao.
"After the New Year, I will bring a few Mongolian young taijis to the palace to educate them. You will be responsible for teaching them poetry, literature and etiquette." Qianlong said.
He originally wanted to let Hongxiao go, but Hongxiao was now helping Yonglian run a newspaper, so this job had to be handed over to Yunmi. Moreover, Yunmi had a good relationship with the first wife, so he felt relieved to let him teach his future son-in-law.
Yun Mi was stunned when he heard this, "Whose child is this? He is so honored that the emperor actually wants him to be brought to the palace for education?"
Qianlong couldn't directly say that he was Niu Lun's candidate for the title of Prince Consort, so he just said, "It's similar to what Ce Ling did back then."
"What? Which Ce Ling?" Yun Mi was still confused. There were too many people named Ce Ling.
Qianlong: "...Prince Chaoyong Ce Ling!" Will the twenty-fourth uncle turn his future son-in-law into a fool?
After much thought, Qianlong felt uneasy and had to ask Yonghuang and Yonglian to keep an eye on the situation.
When the two brothers heard that Khan Ama had already started looking for a husband for his sister, they were stunned.
It’s too early!
But after hearing Khan Ama's intention, the two brothers nodded repeatedly, believing that Niulun's son-in-law must be carefully selected and trained.
Yonglian patted his chest and promised, "Don't worry, Khan Ama, I will keep my eyes open and observe the new friends carefully to help you choose the best husband for your sister."
Qianlong currently favored four Mongolian boys. These four children, whom he had learned about from Mongolian nobles, were of noble status, intelligent, and pleasing appearance. The oldest was eleven years old, and the youngest was nine.
Prince Bingtu's son, Alawangbu, was said to have enjoyed reading the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood and was quite talented. Such a child was rare among the Mongolian nobility, and Emperor Qianlong was very eager to see him.
Tumed Beile's son, Dadu, was a famous young Baturu in the Tumed tribe. At only eleven years old, he was skilled in archery and horseback riding, and could even shoot a bear at such a young age. Emperor Qianlong was impressed by this boy's bravery.
Princess Gulun Kejing's grandson, Lashi, had been with his grandmother since childhood and was raised by Princess Kejing herself. A child who could win the favor of her powerful fourth aunt, who commanded the utmost respect in the Khalkha region, must have extraordinary qualities.
The youngest was Sebuteng Balzhuer, the son of Darhan Prince Lobzang Gunbu. Balzhuer's grandmother was Princess Duanmin, who dominated the grasslands in those days. His two older brothers both married Yunlu's daughters.
Qianlong had seen the two princes-in-law, both of whom were of extraordinary bearing. Therefore, he was quite confident about Balzhuer's appearance.
When Qianlong introduced Yonghuang and Yonglian, he praised each of them, saying, "It would be great if these children could get together. They are well-read, skilled in archery and horsemanship, and handsome. Only then would they be worthy of your sister..."
Although Yonglian knew that Khan Ama was dreaming, he also felt that this was the case, "and he had to have a pleasing personality, be able to talk, and make his sister happy."
Yonghuang said: "This is the most important point, you must be understanding!"
Qianlong nodded, his two sons were not confused about this matter.
"But those who are too attentive and flattering are not good either. They tend to say one thing to your face and another behind your back." Qianlong said, "You must not only observe them carefully, but also guide them." This is the time for the prince to win over people, especially Yonglian. If you have a good relationship with your future brother-in-law, you will have a capable helper in the future.
"Don't worry, Khan." Yonglian said, "As they say, 'A red flower becomes redder when it's near a red flower, and a black flower becomes blacker when it's near a black flower.' When they come to the palace, they will learn from me and my elder brother, and they will definitely become more and more outstanding!"
Qianlong: “…”
Qianlong patted his son's bald forehead and said, "What should I learn from you? Go to bed on time?"
Yonglian: "...Going to bed on time is a virtue!"
"Yes, yes, your elder brother and I want to learn it but we can't." Qianlong said sarcastically.
Yonghuang couldn't help laughing beside him.
The mourning period for the late emperor has passed, and this year is the first time that Emperor Qianlong has hosted a banquet for the Mongolian vassal states.
Before New Year's Eve, Emperor Qianlong gave a banquet to the foreign vassal states in the Baohe Hall. The scene was very lively and grand. Almost all the princes, dukes and small taijis from Khorchin, Kharchin and Khalkha who could come were there.
Among them were four little boys that Qianlong favored.
But these four children were not qualified to speak before the emperor, and it was not convenient for Qianlong to summon them in front of so many people.
We could only call their father to help point out the children.
Just by taking a glance from a distance, Qianlong had already eliminated Princess Kejing's grandson. Although the fourth aunt was very capable, her husband's genes were not very good. The child's eyes were too small and did not meet Qianlong's aesthetic standards.
The remaining three children were just as the rumors said, with outstanding looks, especially Balzhuer, who was more handsome than his two brothers, and Qianlong liked him at first sight.
At this time, Balzhuer did not dare to hope to marry a princess. His eldest brother married the fourth daughter of Prince Zhuang, and his second brother was engaged to the sixth daughter of Prince Zhuang and would get married next year. He was neither the legitimate son nor the eldest son, so it was impossible for him to marry a princess before his brothers.
Although he could not marry the princess, Balzhuer wanted to stay in the inner court to study. This was an opportunity that others dreamed of. Not only could he be classmates with the princes, but he could also often receive personal guidance and examinations from the emperor.
As long as he performs well, there is still hope for him to stay in the capital and become a royal guard.
Even if I couldn't stay, I'd seen the world of Beijing and could brag about it to my friends who had never been to Beijing.
In any case, Balzhuer was very happy to come to the capital.
The next day, the emperor summoned him to the Yangxin Palace for questioning, and the young boy was not very nervous.
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