34. Chapter 34
"none"
When they arrived at the Imperial Study in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Kangxi asked Liang Jiugong to move two desks, one tall and one short, and place them next to each other by the window, so that the Crown Prince and Qi You could sit opposite each other and do their homework.
Gui He delivered the package, as Qi You had instructed, containing Qi You's books. Kangxi watched his two sons laughing and whispering, their writing brushes, inkstones, and paper spread out before him. This rare and heartwarming scene brought a constant smile to his face.
The prince saw the pile of books on Qi You's left hand and asked in surprise, "Seventh brother, are you going to do so much homework tonight?"
Qi You pointed down from above and explained one by one: "These are the books I need to do, these are the books I need to read, and here are the references I will use later. The Mongolian dialogue is enough for today, and there is also the Latin dialogue."
As Qi You introduced the story, the prince's eyes widened. He turned his head and looked around, then asked in confusion, "Who are you talking to, Latin?"
Qi You was never afraid of starving himself by teaching his apprentices, and was willing to pass on all his experience so that everyone could make progress together.
It would be best if they could all be influenced by him and learn with him, both in terms of study and thinking.
Qi You pointed at himself and replied with a smile, "Myself. I asked myself questions and answered them myself. It's mainly about practicing pronunciation. When learning a language, the most important thing is to be able to speak. Prince, your Mongolian foundation is very good. I guess you stutter because you don't speak much. In your mind, you know exactly how to say this sentence in Mongolian and how to pronounce it. But when you open your mouth, you find that you can't say it, and it sounds weird when you say it, right?"
The prince's eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously. "Seventh brother, you are absolutely right. When I heard Ukuma Ma and the others talking, I always felt that what I said was the same as theirs when I was thinking about it in my mind. But when I opened my mouth, it sounded different."
Qi You said, "This is the reason. You need to speak out loud. Don't be afraid of embarrassment, and don't be afraid of not speaking well. Speaking is different from thinking. After speaking more and more, your tongue will become more flexible and fluent, and you will naturally speak fluently. Brother Crown Prince, you can give it a try later. Let's do our homework first, and then we can discuss it in detail when we have time."
The prince smiled and said yes, and Qi You lowered his head and started to do his homework seriously. He couldn't help but smile when he heard the prince muttering Mongolian words across from him.
Kangxi was not in the mood to review the memorials, but he watched Qi You and the prince.
The prince was doing his homework, frowning slightly and writing quickly, and he would occasionally glance in his direction. When he found that he was looking at him, he would quickly lower his head, his face tense, and look quite uneasy.
Qi You also wrote swiftly, his mind focused and his expression calm. After writing for a while, he put down his pen, stepped lightly and stood up.
Put your hands on your waist and twist them, tilt your head back and blink, and flex your wrists. Once you're done with these little movements, sit back down and write quickly.
He was completely focused from beginning to end, as if he was the only one in the room. He didn't even pay attention to the prince opposite, let alone look in his direction.
About half an hour later, Qi You began to pack up his pens, ink, paper, and inkstone. After he had everything tidy, he finally looked around.
She met his gaze, smiled at him silently, pointed outside the door, and said something silently.
Kangxi understood that Qi You was going to go outside. Glancing at the prince who was still struggling with his head down, Kangxi smiled and nodded.
Qi You walked out of the door lightly. Kangxi stared at the door for a moment, really curious, and followed him out.
The prince had already noticed that Qi You had finished his homework. Seeing that Kangxi and he had left, he subconsciously looked at the neatly stacked paper that Qi You had casually placed on the right side of the desk.
The top stack contains large characters written by Qi You.
In the competition in Cining Palace, Qi You won by memorizing the characters. There was no competition in large characters, and Kangxi directly announced Qi You as the winner.
The prince was quite disapproving at the time. They all knew that Qi You could recite quickly, but writing large characters was different. It required hard practice every day.
Qi You is young after all. Let’s not talk about the Third Prince for now. The Eldest Prince has been writing for a few more years than Qi You. How can he not be as good as him?
The prince glanced out the window furtively, then listened intently for a moment, hearing nothing. He held his breath, stood up, and leaned forward to read the large characters Qi You had placed at the top.
When I saw this, my heart skipped a beat.
The prince had read the large characters on the paper: "Records of the Grand Historian: Biography of the Xiongnu." It wasn't like they practiced writing large characters, writing entire passages on a single character.
The prince frowned in thought, guessing that when Qi You was writing in large characters, he also copied down the books he had read. His eyes could not help but glance at the pile of books that Qi You had placed on the table, and he carefully searched from top to bottom.
Qi You's books were all wrapped, with the titles neatly written in small characters on the sides.
There is no "Records of the Grand Historian" among this pile of books.
The prince was shocked. It seemed that Qi You not only finished reading "Records of the Grand Historian", but could also recite any article fluently.
Suo Etu was nicknamed "Suo Sanyan" because of his excellent memory, which made him seem like he had a third eye. However, he could not recite the "Records of the Grand Historian" easily.
After looking at the words again, the prince let out a low cry, widened his eyes, and stood there in a daze.
Qi You's calligraphy is like a trickle of water, or like the ripples on the surface of the North Sea when there is no wind.
Kangxi once taught the crown prince that a person's handwriting reflects his personality: it is very strong and easily broken. Writing with a sharp knife-like handwriting is also a skill, but it is too obvious and can be aggressive.
Qi You was so young, but he could write big characters without showing off. Not to mention that the eldest prince lost, he also thought he was far behind.
The prince knew that people had different talents and not everyone could become a master of calligraphy. Then he thought of Qi You's unreserved guidance to him earlier and burst out laughing.
Perhaps, because Qi You is young and his mind is pure and simple, the words he writes are as sincere as a newborn baby.
The prince's expression kept changing. He turned and looked outside the door. There was still no movement. After hesitating for a moment, he simply put down his pen, stood up and walked out.
Kangxi and Qi You stood together, the two of them seemed to be talking in low voices. Qi You's face was normal, while Kangxi's face was flushed, his expression was embarrassed, and his brows were furrowed, thinking about something.
The prince saw this and secretly cried out, "Oh no!" He was about to turn around and go back to his room without making a sound. But Kangxi had already noticed the prince, his expression suddenly relaxed, and he called out to him with a smile, "Have you finished your homework?"
"Just a little bit more, I want to go to the bathroom." The prince grunted, thinking quickly and came up with an excuse.
Kangxi smiled and said, "Go quickly, and come back to continue writing after you're done."
The prince secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly agreed, and walked towards the palace. Hearing Qi You speaking something in Latin behind him, Kangxi laughed dryly and replied in Chinese: "Let's stop practicing here tonight. It's cold outside. Let's go back to the house."
The prince paused, thought about it, and suddenly understood, and couldn't help laughing.
Qi You said that he wanted to practice speaking Latin on his own, so Kangxi must have gone to talk to him in Latin and was stumped in the end.
Thinking that Kangxi was also humiliated in front of Qi You, the prince completely relaxed. After finishing his work, he happily returned to the house.
Kangxi ordered Liang Jiugong to bring some snacks. Qi You nibbled on the chestnut cake, drank milk, and flipped through the booklet he brought.
The prince's happiness quickly disappeared, and he didn't even bother to have tea or snacks, and hurriedly buried his head in writing. When he finished writing, Qi You had already finished eating and drinking, ground the ink, and started writing the details he had mentioned earlier.
Not only the prince was curious, but Kangxi was even more curious. The two of them walked over and stood behind Qi You.
When the prince saw Qi You pick up the pen and write the big words "The Current Situation of Shunyi Huangzhuang" on the paper, he summarized and described it in a few very simple and easy-to-understand sentences.
Next, Qi You used a ruler and Western painting charcoal to draw a table with vertical and horizontal lines on the paper.
Ten years ago, the number of bondservants, the area of land, the yield of the three main crops (rice, wheat, and corn), the yield per mu, the per capita yield, and the number of babies born were recorded in a table according to the items.
The prince glanced at Kangxi and saw that he was staring intently. He couldn't hide his surprise and excitement either. He tried to hold it back, but finally couldn't help asking, "Seventh brother, what do you want to use this for?"
Qi You replied, "Khan Ama will summon the court officials and the manor owners tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to use it. Khan Ama won't have to bother arguing with the court officials then. Just give them a copy and let them read it first. Let the data and facts speak for themselves and see what they have to say."
The court's efficiency was appallingly low. When doing something, people would argue back and forth and talk nonsense, and it would take months to produce any results.
Even if the enemy was invading and was about to reach the capital, they would still have to discuss for a long time who to send to fight.
With winter approaching, the bond servants would be unable to plant winter wheat on their contracted land. However, during the spring plowing season, the land contract system must be implemented. Even if it cannot be implemented entirely, it must be implemented for at least half of the land.
Furthermore, Qi You had previously seen the physical condition of the Empress Dowager. Although he was sad, the reality was right in front of him.
Winter is always difficult for the elderly. If the Empress Dowager did not survive, Qi You would have to face the issue of mourning. The Bannermen were not so strict about mourning. As a great-grandson, Qi You was not the eldest son, so he only needed to observe the 57th day after the 11th month.
The Empress Dowager was of noble status, and Emperor Kangxi respected her highly. Qi You estimated that it would take more than two months to complete the solemn and complicated rituals of stopping the body, crying, and moving the coffin.
The crops and food were not the main point. The main point was that every day of delay meant one more day of suffering for the bondservants in Shunyi.
I wonder how many more dead bones will be piled up in the mass graves in the cold winter.
The dignitaries in the capital enjoyed the snow in winter, went on outings in spring, and held banquets with singing and dancing.
For the poor, snow is just a fig leaf to bury their corpses. Spring has never been the beginning of hope for them, but rather the hardship of facing a shortage of food and the embarrassment of not having enough to eat.
Qi You actually had no plans to build the city wall of Shunyi. He only planned to build roads, water conservancy projects, and houses in the county town.
There are many refugees in the spring. If he can deal with these court officials as soon as possible, he can send them to Shunyi to work in exchange for relief.
Even if he can't leave at that time, Shunyi still has Lin Yicheng, and Xia Shiye is there to help him, so he can go back to Shunyi.
The prince carefully examined Qi You's figures and saw a clue. While the amount of farmland remained constant, the population of bonded servants decreased year by year, and so did the grain output. It was still good in good years, but unusually low in bad years.
Except this year, wheat production has not increased much, but rice production has increased dramatically. The population of bond servants has also decreased, but not as much as in previous years.
Especially the column on the number of baby births, which has been one or two for many years, but this year it has increased to twenty-five.
The prince didn't understand where these figures came from, and regardless of Kangxi's opinion, he asked in confusion, "Seventh brother, could your figures be wrong? The grain output seems to be higher than what the village head reported."
Qi You replied: "These figures are all first-hand and detailed data I got from the imperial farm. They are at least 99% accurate." After saying that, he looked up at Kangxi and quickly lowered his head.
Kangxi's expression froze, and he glared at Qi You angrily. This little bastard, even at this moment, still didn't forget to laugh at his own joke.
The production figures reported by Qiyou and Dachun were certainly different; the excess was taken by Dachun. Adding in the population of bondservants, Dachun's figures were 35% higher than the actual figures.
Kangxi knew where these 35% had gone.
Behind those cold numbers were countless lost lives. Kangxi couldn't explain his feelings. It was getting chilly after dark, a chill that seemed to rise from the soles of his feet and shiver down his back. He subconsciously pulled his clothes closer.
The prince looked around suspiciously and asked, "Seventh brother, where did you put your numbers? I can't see them. Where did you copy them from?"
Qi You smiled and said, "Brother Crown Prince, when I was in Shunyi, I built houses for all the bondservants. I visited every household and knew them all. I remember the population, the land, and the grain production."
The prince was stunned, his expression complicated. If Suo Etu was "three eyes", then Qi You was four eyes, five eyes, and ten eyes.
Qi You was not afraid of the prince's questions. He learned his way of doing things and was even willing to patiently explain more: "When I was building a house in Shunyi, I learned a lesson. The numbers used must be accurate. It's like building a house. The numbers are the foundation of the house. If the numbers are inaccurate and the foundation is not solid, no matter how fancy you are, it will only be a facade. The house will collapse soon with a bang."
The prince pondered for a moment and soon figured it out. He was so excited that he simply ran to move two chairs over, one for Kangxi and one for himself. He stood aside, craning his neck to watch with great interest, and asked questions from time to time.
Qi You patiently explained the prince's question, thought for a moment, and said, "Brother Prince, please help me. I need both Manchu and Chinese versions. I'm writing the Chinese version now, and you can write the Manchu version, okay?"
The prince was overjoyed and agreed immediately. He picked up the pen, paused, and asked, "Why write in both Manchu and Chinese? The court officials should all be able to read Chinese."
Qi You smiled and said, "The village heads may not understand it. In fact, Manchu is difficult to understand. Prince, please do not change the numbers. You should not follow the Chinese text, but write it in a simpler way."
The prince chuckled along as he listened. Those powerful and wealthy landowners were truly uneducated. They struggled to learn Chinese, spoke Mandarin fluently, but their reading and writing were barely up to par.
Kangxi felt sympathetic. Some Manchu ministers wrote memorials in Manchu, which were full of typos and were simply unbearable to read.
"The hereditary nobility and wealth will have to rely on hard labor to earn a living in a few years." What Qi You once said echoed clearly in Kangxi's ears.
A bunch of unproductive bastards, bastards!
Kangxi was so angry that he cursed a few words in his heart and listened carefully to his two sons asking and answering questions.
The prince asked, "Seventh brother, why do you want to do this?"
Qi You replied, "When I went to Shunyi before, I rode a horse for a while on the road. The horse got tired, so we stopped to rest. At that time, I was thinking, if you get a good horse, you need to feed it with good hay and beans, so that the horse can run fast. No matter how good the horse is, you can't run day and night. After riding for a while, you have to stop, feed it, give it water, and let it rest, otherwise it will die of exhaustion. Even if it is a good horse, if it is not taken care of from a young age, it will still not run. You can whip it to death with a whip. Are the bondservants and the owner of the manor like horses and the people who raise them?"
The prince thought about it and laughed, "That's true. He used it too hard and exhausted himself. The gain is not worth the loss."
Qi You said, "It's a pity that some people don't think that way. They only see the little piece of land in front of them. Even if the old ox is exhausted, he will finish plowing it. As for tomorrow, we can talk about it then. Or maybe they think that this land can grow gold, which they can enjoy for generations to come."
The prince laughed and cursed him under his breath, saying, "Idiot!" Then he asked, "What if they don't agree?"
Qi You replied, "You can disagree, but you can't just jump in opposition unless you can come up with a better solution and propose feasible measures to improve the current situation. Everyone knows how to make sarcastic remarks. Whoever has the ability can do it. Don't just focus on finding fault."
The prince thought so too, but he was still a little hesitant. Qi You turned to Kangxi and smiled, "There is also Khan Ama. They can't just be perfunctory in front of Khan Ama."
Kangxi laughed. This little bastard never forgot to assign him tasks.
By the time it was finally finished, it was already late at night and well past the usual bedtime.
Kangxi looked at the two booklets, one in Manchu and one in Han, in his hands, and felt a surge of excitement and mixed emotions.
Kangxi stroked the booklet gently and could hardly let it go.
Qi You clearly explained the current development status of Shunyi Huangzhuang, the existing problems, what will happen in the future, how to improve it, and the benefits that will be brought about by the improvement.
There's no empty rhetoric here; everything is backed up by data. Anyone who reads this, unless they're being foolish or deliberately provocative, will be convinced and accept change.
When Kangxi saw the nonsense letters of greeting that the officials had spent a lot of money to send, he wanted to behead them all.
The reason why Kangxi called the prince earlier was simply because he wanted the prince to be closer to Qi You so that he could become his helper in the future.
At the same time, Kangxi had to acknowledge the differences between the two, and selfishly wanted the prince to learn from Qi You and see how he handled things.
Qi You lived up to expectations, was patient and meticulous, and taught the prince almost hand-in-hand.
If the prince had not been there, given his understanding of Shunyi and his familiarity with various numbers, he would have finished it long ago and would not have been disturbed from sleeping and resting.
Kangxi sighed secretly, thinking that it is difficult to have everything perfect in the history.
Seeing that Qi You was almost unable to open his eyelids, Kangxi said gently: "Go back and rest. Get up later tomorrow and get some rest before getting up."
Qi You forced himself to say okay, "Khan Ama, I'm leaving it to you. You have to be quick." After that, he covered his mouth with his hand and yawned slightly.
Kangxi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He waved to the two brothers and said, "Go back quickly. It's time for me to rest."
Qi You and the prince took their leave and went back to rest. The prince was so excited that he didn't feel sleepy at all and wanted to discuss with Qi You.
Turning around, he saw Qi You dragging his feet forward with his eyes half-open and half-closed. He laughed at the sight and hurriedly called out to Gui He Degao who was following behind him, "Why don't you carry your master back? Be careful not to let him fall."
Degao and Guihe were already used to seeing Qi You like this. When he was busy, he would go to bed later. After his usual rest time, no matter how sleepy he was, he would walk on his own and never ask for help.
Qi You was sleepy, but he could still hear the prince's words clearly. He said, "Brother Prince, I'm fine. I'll be there soon. I can walk back by myself. Brother Prince, don't worry about me. Go back to the palace and rest first."
Right in front of them was the Qianqing Gate. Once outside the Qianqing Gate, the two would go their separate ways. The prince had no choice but to give up and say goodbye to each other.
The prince stood in the night, watching Qi You's leaving figure. In the dim light of the lantern, he staggered left and right, but he remained steady and did not fall down.
The prince withdrew his gaze, calmed himself down, and strode towards Yuqing Palace.
The lights in the imperial study of the Palace of Heavenly Purity were on almost all night long.
Kangxi stared at the booklet in front of him, as well as the correspondence between him and the Russian Empire during the peace talks in Nerchinsk, and fell into deep thought.
The author has something to say:
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solution between 2022-10-04 19:30:57 and 2022-10-05 18:47:48~
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Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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