Chapter 86
During this period, Yinzuo found something new to do, which was to talk to missionaries every day.
During this period, these missionaries had become celebrities because of their great contribution to Kangxi's offering of medicine. They were in great demand wherever they went and received invitations every day.
But every time Yinzuo went to look for them, they would wait patiently. After getting to know a little about the important figures of the Qing Dynasty, this person was the first one on the list.
Yinzuo had many questions and was very curious about the distant place across the ocean. He had seen a world map and knew a little about the outside world, but it was far less specific than asking these missionaries at this time.
These missionaries knew that Yinzuo was a favored prince in front of Kangxi, and they had always hoped that Yinzuo could speak for them in front of Kangxi. They had just made great contributions, and with Yinzuo's help, their goal of preaching in this area would be achieved.
Yinzuo always listened with a smile, and then asked the questions that interested him: "How fast did you say your ship could go?"
"You just mentioned the cast cannon. We in the Qing Dynasty also have cannons. How far can your range be?"
“What does constitutional monarchy mean?”
"Oh, so sailing is very popular in your country? Is it the same in many countries?"
Several missionaries felt that the Sixth Prince had too many questions and would not give them clear answers. However, every time they brought it up, he did not show any intention of refusing, so they felt that they could still push the Sixth Prince further.
But after a few days, they both wondered if this smiling Sixth Prince was deliberately keeping them hanging.
The missionary with golden curly hair said with a bitter face: "Sixth Prince, have you told the emperor about that matter?"
Yinzuo finally responded positively this time: "I understand, don't worry, I will find a good time next time when the emperor is in a good mood and I will tell him about your affairs."
The golden curly-haired man nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, we have to find a time when your emperor is in a good mood."
Yinzuo left with a smile. He wouldn't really bother to tell them.
Although he had not read much, he had heard some stories from his brother, the prince. In history, there were cases where Taoism and Buddhism ruled the country. If these religions were too prosperous and believers spread all over the world, would the believers believe more in what the emperor said or what the leaders of their religion said? Wouldn't that cause chaos?
Since the Emperor Father did not agree to this kind of thing, there must be a reason why he did not agree, so he would not cause trouble.
However, Yinzuo did not go back on his words. He mentioned it in front of Kangxi, and Kangxi was in a good mood at that time.
But he said so. Yinzuo smiled in front of Kangxi and said, "They always talk to me. I want to know more about the outside world from them, so I can't refuse."
"But my son only said this casually in front of the emperor, so the emperor can just pretend he didn't hear it and let it go in one ear and out the other."
Because of his smiling and frivolous look, Kangxi hit him on the head in an unpleasant manner.
Yinzuo dodged skillfully by tilting his head, and continued to talk to Kangxi nonchalantly, "Father, I want to find a few people who study medicine. We don't have to use those people from the Imperial Hospital. They have good medical skills and are smart. I'm thinking whether we can ask them to learn the good medicines from the missionaries."
This time, Kangxi got malaria during the march, and he was saved. But in fact, many other soldiers also got the disease, but there were not enough medicines.
Kangxi had just suffered a great deal from illness, so when he heard what Yinzuo said, he agreed easily. It was not a big deal. He had some Western medical books presented by missionaries and could let them take a look.
In fact, before this, Kangxi did not think highly of Western medicine, because there were so many Chinese medical books and prescriptions, so there was no point in using other people's medicine.
But after my own experience this time, I have changed my mind.
At the dinner table, Yinzuo continued to talk to Kangxi about what he had heard from the missionaries and what he had been thinking about during this period.
Kangxi listened.
But as he listened, Kangxi suddenly felt that something was wrong. Why did he feel that Yinzuo's words were quite praising others?
Kangxi frowned and said to Yinzuo, "Do you think those countries are good?"
"Better than the Qing Dynasty?"
Yinzuo said: "Yes, they have some very good things."
“I want to learn and get their good stuff.”
It is uncomfortable to hear that your son believes that other countries are better than the one you govern.
Moreover, it is the surrounding small countries that come to learn from them. It has always been the weak and poor countries that have to learn from others.
Yinzuo saw Kangxi frowning, but he continued, "Our sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, and pumpkins are all good things that came from across the ocean, right?"
"My son thought it would be great if we could gather all the best things in the world."
When Yinzuo mentioned sweet potatoes and corn, Kangxi was relieved. After these crops were promoted, it was reported that the hunger situation of the people had indeed improved significantly.
But Kangxi also said: "There aren't that many good things."
Yinzuo said: "There are so many countries, we can always find more." Then he told Kangxi that he and the missionaries had found out that some countries' ships were bigger and faster than ours, and some countries' cannons were also very well made. They also had muskets, and he said that their muskets were not bad either.
Talking about other people's homes being better than your own would make competitive people very unhappy. This kind of provocation would work well on most people, but although Kangxi was also a TOP cancer, he was not that easy to be provoked.
Kangxi felt that Yinzuo thought he was ignorant of Western things. Kangxi glanced at Yinzuo and said to him, "I was exposed to those things earlier than you."
"I have done Western physics experiments with Nan Huairen and others before."
Yinzuo scratched his head. Since the emperor knew about this, why didn't he quickly develop their muskets, cannons, and large ships? He couldn't let others surpass him.
Moreover, he himself was familiar with muskets and felt that they had great destructive power. During this war, he thought that more muskets could be equipped to the soldiers. Although they had a firearms battalion in the Qing Dynasty, the scale of the firearms battalion was very small.
Kangxi was silent for a moment, then said to Yinzuo, "Yinzuo, you also know that the fire guns and cannons you mentioned are dangerous weapons. Have you ever thought about what would happen if they were spread out?"
"Especially if it falls into the hands of the Han people, what will happen? We Manchus are few in number, and although we teach you that Manchus and Han are one family, you must know that you should be friendly to the Han people and employ Han officials, but you must remember in your heart that you must be more cautious."
After Kangxi's words, Yinzuo fell silent for a long time. After a long silence, he said, "But, but, if those Western guns and artillery are stronger than ours, shouldn't we be more defensive?"
But obviously for Kangxi, the country separated by thousands of miles of ocean was far less worthy of attention than the potential crisis within.
Yinzuo left Kangxi with a heavy heart. He did not quite agree with what his royal father said and always felt that something was not right.
Yinzuo was still full of worries until he went to bed at night.
But Yinzuo did not sleep well that night and was found to have a fever the next day.
Kangxi came over, touched Yinzuo's forehead, and asked worriedly, "What happened? Wasn't he fine yesterday? Did he catch a cold when he slept at night?"
Yinzuo's face turned pale, and he said to Kangxi: "My son had a nightmare."
Hearing that it was just a dream, Kangxi wanted to laugh, but Yinzuo's expression prevented him from laughing. He said to his spoiled son in a gentle voice: "It was just a dream. It was not real. Now I am awake."
Yinzuo knew that dreams were not real and would be over when he woke up.
But that nightmare gave people a very bad feeling. It made people hateful in the dream and terrified when they woke up.
Yinzuo said to Kangxi, "Father, I dreamed of many soldiers with Western faces. They came ashore on huge ships and crossed the ocean. They destroyed our city walls with cannons and killed our people with muskets, regardless of whether they were Manchus or Han Chinese."
"There was fire everywhere, blood everywhere."
"Our men fell before they even got close with knives."
"We can't beat them."
Yinzuo didn't know why he had such a dream, and even after waking up, he couldn't ignore it as a dream. He felt that this dream was scary, but also very important.
Kangxi looked unhappy when he heard what Yinzuo said.
Yinzuo grabbed Kangxi's sleeve and said to him, "Father, although this is a dream, if their ships are much bigger and faster than ours, if their cannons can shoot farther than ours, and their muskets are more powerful than ours, then this dream may not just be a dream."
Yinzuo pursed his lips, thought for a moment, and continued to Kangxi: "Also, although the missionaries' countries are far away, Tsarist Russia is not far from us, Goryeo is not far away, and Japan is not far away."
"Not to mention that Tsarist Russia was already quite large, even Korea and Japan had fewer people, but -" Yinzuo said: "There were not many people before we entered the pass either."
Yinzuo tried his best to persuade Kangxi. There was a stubbornness in his eyes when he looked at Kangxi, which made Kangxi stunned.
Kangxi finally said to Yinzuo: "I have heard what you said. I will think about it carefully."
But Yinzuo always felt that this matter was very important, so even though Kangxi said so, he still said to Kangxi: "Are you serious, Father Huang? Are you not kidding me?"
Kangxi said: "Really."
"Take your medicine."
Yinzuo then smiled a little and said, "Father, please take care of me. I am relieved. I am taking medicine now."
Kangxi said to him: "I think you can be a censor in the future. You have a lot to say about admonition and you will not stop until you succeed."
Yin Zuo smiled and said, "Father, don't think I don't know. Father, I have also said bad things about the censors in private, especially Mr. Zhao from the Censorate. Father, I hate him so much that I get a headache just by looking at him."
Kangxi was embarrassed to hear his son say such damaging words to his image, and asked unhappily, "Where did you hear that?"
Yin Zuo smiled happily: "My son must keep this matter a secret, otherwise no one will dare to talk to me in the future."
Yinzuo pulled Kangxi's sleeve, smiled and quickly changed the subject, saying: "My son thinks being an imperial censor is good, and I want to receive the salary from my father."
"Father, how much is the salary of the censor? Father, please give your son more money so that he can use the salary to honor you."
Kangxi: “…”
My son is quite filial.
(End of this chapter)
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