Chapter 83 Chapter 83 Happy New Car
Reforming the imperial examination system could only be done step by step. Qianlong made a plan in his mind, aiming to get it done within ten years.
Yonglian didn't know Khan Ama's plan yet. He didn't expect to select technical talents through the imperial examination, so he could only train them from the Eight Banners first.
This way, it will not involve the Manchu-Han dispute and the Huayi debate, and will not cause too much impact.
The Manchus had only been exposed to Confucian culture for about a hundred years, so it wasn't deeply ingrained. Many people were immediately drawn to learning how to make money by manufacturing machines.
This year, Wuerzhan has been promoted to the Minister-General of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Manufacturing Bureau, and he took dozens of craftsmen to Sichuan and Shaanxi to build a factory.
The Minister-in-Chief of the Manufacturing Bureau branch was a second-rank official, equivalent to a vice minister. Yonglian, however, was a first-rank official, the same rank as the Minister-in-Chief of the Imperial Household Department.
Because of this matter, Li Wei and others even submitted a memorial to dissuade Emperor Qianlong. Since the Manufacturing Bureau was affiliated with the Imperial Household Department, its rank should be lower than that of the General Manager of the Imperial Household Department. How could they be the same?
Qianlong’s answer was, the Minister in charge of the Imperial Household Department is not dissatisfied, why are you saying anything?
Li Wei: “…”
The current head of the Imperial Household Department, Yunlu, was the Second Prince's mathematics teacher and also a relative. Everyone knew that the Sixteenth Prince liked this little nephew of the Second Prince; Fuheng, the Second Prince's uncle; Gao Bin, in the past, this guy might have been willing to say a few more words, but ever since Gao Heng was dismissed and the Imperial Noble Consort passed away, this old man has been living in a very timid manner, as cautious as Zhang Tingyu.
These three people would not say anything even if they were dissatisfied, not to mention that they would not be dissatisfied at all.
Li Wei sighed inwardly, and Zhang Tingyu came to persuade him not to say anything about such matters. Not only would it displease the current emperor, but it would also offend the future master.
When Ortai was alive, Li Wei and Zhang Tingyu had a good relationship. After Ortai died of illness, Zhang Tingyu was old and was about to retire in the next two years, so some Han officials began to curry favor with Li Wei.
Rumors began to spread that Zhang Tingyu and Li Wei had a bad relationship.
Zhang Tingyu and Li Wei did not explain. In fact, they had a pretty good relationship in private. Both of them came from wealthy families and were old ministers of the previous emperor. The two old men occasionally got together to reminisce about the time of the previous emperor, and lamented that the environment was changing so fast nowadays.
Neither of them understood what Fu Heng and the others were discussing.
Li Wei also wanted to retire. He was already satisfied to be able to work in the Grand Council for a few years in his life.
But Zhang Tingyu and Li Wei were both considering who could take over from them and become the next leader of the Han Dynasty.
Several highly respected Han officials in the court were aging and would not be able to serve for many more years. Zhang Guangsi and Huang Tinggui were both very capable, but only in handling local issues. They might not be able to handle the situation if they were to move to the central government.
The two of them looked around among the Han officials and finally decided on Liu Tongxun, who had just been transferred to serve as the Governor-General of the Grain Transport Administration.
This man had been Qianlong's teacher, and Qianlong respected him very much. Qianlong would listen to what he said.
Let’s see how Liu Tongxun performs in the Canal Transport Office. If he performs well, Li Wei plans to recommend him.
The people working in the Grand Council now are mainly Fuheng and Li Wei, while Zhang Tingyu and Hai Wang basically do not express any opinions.
Qianlong was very satisfied with the attitude of these old ministers. This is how people should behave when they get old. They should not cling to power.
Fuheng's performance was also very good. Based on the revenue of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway last year, the Railway Department planned a new plan to build it from Xi'an to Sanmenxia, Henan.
This is mainly to facilitate the transportation of food and grass from the Central Plains to the west. Whether it is future wars with Junggar, suppressing the chieftains in Sichuan, or transporting food to Tibet, it all needs to pass through Xi'an.
However, there are too many mountains to the north of Xi'an, so digging a tunnel is not easy now, and the detour is too long. So we can only build the section from Henan to Shaanxi first.
After a period of discussion, officials in the DPRK also agreed to this plan.
The next step was to survey the specific route, prepare lumber and pig iron, and recruit laborers. With the experience of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the preliminary preparations were much smoother this time, and construction was expected to begin in the spring of the 12th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.
Although the merchants in Shaanxi and Henan were not as wealthy as the merchants in Shanxi, they saw the benefits of the railway and were willing to donate money.
The merchants from the two provinces collected a total of 300,000 taels.
But this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of building this railway.
The Ministry of Revenue still had to pay the lion's share, but officials from Shaanxi and Henan were all eagerly waiting, so the officials from the Ministry of Revenue had no choice but to grit their teeth and pay the money.
Hai Wang muttered to Yong Lian, "It would be great if I could make a few hundred thousand or even a million dollars right now."
Yonglian said, "The Manufacturing Bureau recently made a car that's much more beautiful than my uncle's. Wouldn't it sell for over a hundred thousand taels? If one car sells for over a hundred thousand, ten cars would sell for a million."
Hai Wang: "...a car worth hundreds of thousands? Who can afford it?"
Yonglian smiled and said, "Don't worry, there will definitely be people who will buy it. Two people have already made reservations with me."
Someone so wealthy and willing to spend money like this must not be an ordinary official. Hai Wang guessed, "Is it Prince Zhuang?"
Yonglian nodded, "Guess another one."
Hai Wang: "It's either Prince Guo or Prince Zhen." Both of them have wealthy families and should be able to come up with hundreds of thousands of silver coins.
"Although Seventeenth Uncle's family is rich, he is now thinking about saving money for Sixth Uncle and will not spend it carelessly. Twenty-fourth Uncle doesn't know yet that we have made a new car." Yonglian said.
"That must be the Prince." Haiwang said.
Yonglian smiled, "Khan Ama said to have the manufacturing bureau build one for Fifth Uncle and not charge him for it." Seeing that Haiwang couldn't guess, he announced the answer, "It's Fourteenth Uncle."
Hai Wang was shocked. The Fourteenth Master was just a Beile. Where did he get so much money?
Yonglian said, "Khan Ama said that his family is wealthy and if he is willing to pay, we will take it."
Although Yunli held a low rank, he was a highly sought-after general in Fuyuan. Many people paid him tributes, and his ninth brother left him tens of thousands of taels of silver. Later, he was imprisoned, but his property was not confiscated.
The mess totaled several hundred thousand taels, and Yunzhen was uneasy with such a large amount of money at home. He couldn't just hand it over to the emperor, as that would inevitably bring up the previous fight for the throne.
He had recently offended many members of the imperial clan by reforming the imperial school, and was afraid that these people would bring up old scores. So when he went to the palace to report on the reform of the imperial school, it happened that Emperor Qianlong was going to test drive a car, so he went along to take a look. On the spot, an idea struck him: he wanted to use the excuse of buying a car to spend the money.
Qianlong immediately agreed and instructed the manufacturing bureau to build a nice one for Yunli.
Qianlong now had a royal car, but he rarely used it. With just one car, it would be too conspicuous to leave the palace, and the guards would have difficulty protecting it. Wouldn't he be a sitting duck?
Qianlong then asked someone to drive him, the empress dowager and others for a stroll in the Old Summer Palace.
"With the advent of cars, won't two-wheeled vehicles become obsolete?" Niu Lun sat in the car, feeling excited but then a little worried.
Yonglian laughed and said, "You sound a bit like, 'Why don't you eat meat?' How can anyone afford a car?"
Niu Lun thought about it and said, "That's right. The cost of the car is here. Even if the production volume increases, it won't be much cheaper."
Qianlong looked at his daughter and said, "When you get married, I will give you a car as a dowry, okay?"
Niu Lun was overjoyed when he heard this, but unfortunately he couldn't kneel down to express his gratitude in the car. He could only hug Khan Ama's arm and act like a spoiled child.
Qianlong not only agreed to send one to Niu Lun, but also said two days later that he would send one to Fei Ya as well as his good brother who he had played with since childhood... and his good uncle Yunxi, who also had to have one.
Yonglian looked at the string of orders that Khan Amaga had added and couldn't help complaining, "I haven't made a penny, but I've already spent hundreds of thousands of taels."
The Manufacturing Bureau belonged to the Imperial Household Department and used silver from the imperial treasury.
Qianlong glared at his son and said, "Don't be stingy. It's not your money."
After he finished speaking, he felt that what he said was not right. The money in the treasury would eventually become this kid's money. No wonder he felt distressed.
But that's for the future. For now, you should make your own decisions about the treasury. "You can put Niu Lun and Fei Ya's cars aside. First, build the cars for your twenty-first great-uncle and your fifth uncle. If these two take them out for a spin, more people will surely come to you to buy cars."
Hong Zhou has good connections within the imperial clan, and Yun Xi has a certain influence among the literati. They can indeed help bring in goods.
Yonglian then agreed.
At the same time, several cars had to be built for Khan Ama's guards so that Khan Ama could ride in a car to leave the palace.
Fu Heng had rarely driven his car in the past two years. One reason was that the steam engine broke down from time to time, and the other was that it was too conspicuous for him to drive to court, which would easily arouse jealousy.
It’s better to keep a low profile and take a carriage like everyone else.
In the summer, Hong Zhou, Yun Xi, Yun Lu and Yun Zhi all picked up their cars one after another.
The Manufacturing Bureau will send a special driver, and Yunlu and the others will have to pay this driver's wages.
Hong Zhou and Yun Xi were happy to pay the small fee for getting a car for free, while Yun Lu and Yun Lu felt that they had already spent 100,000 taels and did not care about the small fee.
When the driver only needs to understand the principles of the steam car, know the numbers on the dial, and be familiar with the roads in the capital.
Some people have keenly discovered that the driver, like the butler and coachman, becomes someone who is closer to the master.
However, Yonglian disagreed with selecting drivers from among the imperial household's bondservants, which would have made them essentially the same as charioteers. He insisted on having the manufacturing bureau assign the drivers, at least in the days before cars became commonplace. Firstly, cars at that time were prone to breakdowns and difficult to operate, and those unfamiliar with their principles could easily make mistakes, leading to safety issues. Secondly, Yonglian wanted to gradually replace the master-servant relationship with an employee-employee relationship.
The drivers of bannermen could use their servants, but when commoners got cars in the future, they would have to hire slaves to drive them. So what would they do if they encountered a public car?
Furthermore, with the increasing prevalence of cars, drivers have to learn more and more, and they also need a driver's license. However, if these people are just domestic servants, it will be difficult to professionalize and standardize them. It would be better to separate the identities of drivers and servants from the outset.
Since there are fewer drivers needed now, the manufacturing bureau can send apprentices. In the future, a school specializing in driver training can be established, which can be regarded as a new way for the people to make a living.
But Qianlong saw another benefit in Yonglian's method. In the past, if one wanted to monitor someone, one had to find a way to place servants in their house or bribe the servants in their house.
It’s easy now. Just send a driver over and at least we can know this person’s itinerary.
Yonglian is such a cunning guy!
Qianlong was very pleased. This was how a prince should be.
As Qianlong expected, Hongzhou and Yunxi rode in a car for a while on the street, and members of the royal family came to Qianlong one after another, wanting to buy a car.
One hundred thousand taels of silver was a bit expensive for a carriage, so some relatives wanted to buy one together. The brothers Hongchang and Hongxiao each paid fifty thousand taels.
However, conflicts are inevitable. When Hongchang wants to use the car, he finds that Hongxiao has already driven away.
The Thirteenth Lady is already old, and she still has to resolve disputes among her children.
Just when she was having a headache, the palace received news that Hongtao was coming back and was already in Taiwan. He would be able to reach Beijing before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
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