Chapter 26: The world's trend Before the time travel, thanks to my parents and teachers...
Before the time travel, thanks to the guidance of her parents and teachers, Mu Xue had always had a broad vision. She was willing to read domestic news reports and foreign journals and magazines. It was interesting to know what was happening in another corner of the world. Later, when she entered university, she also went abroad for exchange once or twice, staying in the United States and Europe for a few months each, and saw different customs and cultures, as well as the stories of the rise of these countries.
At that time, her world was very big, and the whole world slowly unfolded before her eyes for her to browse and appreciate.
But once she traveled to the Qing Dynasty, her situation was completely different. Although she was a princess, her horizons became narrower and narrower.
The Qing court did not attach much importance to the education of princesses, especially compared with the princes. In addition to the daily life of reading, riding and shooting, Emperor Kangxi occasionally gave guidance to the growth of the princes, and even took these boys with him when he went out to let them broaden their horizons. When the prince was ten years old, he was taken by him to patrol Shengjing, and when he went to fight against Galdan, Kangxi also took turns to take his sons with him.
Princesses were different. They could read a few words and were not blind, so no one expected them to do anything in the court. They were just sent away when they got older, or married to meritorious officials to show the emperor's grace.
Some princesses were required to do embroidery all day long. It didn't matter whether their embroidery skills were exquisite or not. The main thing was to be busy and not have to think too much, so as not to cause trouble. For example, the third princess grew up like this. Some princesses were also taught housekeeping, such as how to treat different relatives, what kind of clothes to wear on different occasions, and what kind of gifts to give during the New Year. There are also some princesses, such as Mu Xue, who are simply not taken care of. They are idle all day long, accompanying their mothers, sitting on their laps, and having fun. Days pass by leisurely like this. It is easy, but there is one bad thing. How the future will be seems to depend largely on God's will. Those who are lucky are spoiled by their fathers and husbands and have a peaceful life. Those who are unlucky encounter all kinds of difficulties in the world and are crushed into dust.
But Muxue didn't want this. She wanted to have more control over her future, but when she really wanted to plan and prepare for it, she was at a loss.
Having been kept behind these high walls for years, Mu Xue knew very little about how many major events were run and what the court was like. In addition to feeling sad about her own situation, what she could see and hear in her daily life was the discussions of the palace people, such as which concubine the emperor favored more, which palace the best pearls were given first, or which food the emperor rewarded to whom. Over time, it was easy for her to regard the emperor's favor, the most beautiful clothes, and which palace the jewelry was given first as the whole world.
Actually, it is not. Outside the palace walls is a vast land, and the people's situations are different, and outside the land is an even wider world. If you calculate carefully, this time should be the time when all countries in the world start their own path to rise.
The banquet was over, and all the bustle and noise gradually returned to silence. In such a quiet night, she lay on her side on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
She should make her world bigger, she thought. After all, she still missed the feeling before she traveled through time.
This missionary Zhang Cheng is more like a window.
But Zhang Cheng was a man after all, and although Mu Xue wanted to ask him about it, she couldn't always summon him to her side. Now she was still in the wedding procession, with many eyes watching her, and she didn't know what gossip would spread.
I have to think of a way to ask Zhang Cheng legitimately.
The joke between the Fifth Prince and Dorje was picked out from memory. "Didn't you say you wanted to learn Chinese? This foreigner is good at learning Chinese and can teach you."
This seems to be a reasonable reason. It seems feasible to use the excuse of learning the language and bring the prince consort to meet Zhang Cheng together.
After tossing and turning for a long time, I finally fell into a drowsy sleep, but it was a restless sleep.
The next day, before dawn, Muxue woke up by herself.
Rong'er, who was on night duty, called the people outside, some bringing water basins, some handing out handkerchiefs, some combing hair... They all came in quickly and helped Muxue wash and dress in an orderly manner.
The people in the kitchen also started to get busy, boiling milk, steaming bamboo buns, cooking porridge, etc. After Muxue had cleaned up, they brought in two dining tables for her to have breakfast.
Mu Xue took a look and asked, "Is the prince consort awake yet? Go and ask him to come have breakfast with you."
Dorji had already gotten up. He was used to going to bed early and getting up early. He was a little surprised to hear that the Fourth Princess invited him to have breakfast with her. After all, if she was in the capital, she would always wake up after the sun rose for a while. Therefore, except when they just got married, they rarely had the opportunity to have breakfast together.
As he changed his robes, he wondered why the Fourth Princess suddenly changed her mind and called him over today. Having lived in the same mansion for half a year, he had a certain understanding of this little fox. As the old saying goes, people's minds will not change for no reason. The Fourth Princess specially summoned him, most likely for something.
Maybe it was to act like a loving couple in front of their two brothers?
Dorji sneered softly, wondering how long it would take before the little fox would summon him simply because he wanted to see him.
Never mind. It’s a good thing after all. Looking at her can help me eat more.
In the big tent, the food had been reheated, a lot of new food had been added, and two more tables had been set up.
Mu Xue waited in boredom in the big tent. The door curtain was rolled up. She could vaguely see the small tent in the distance being dismantled. The guards tidied it up and piled it back on the car. They would use it when they arrived at the next scheduled camping site.
Suddenly, a cock crowed, breaking the silence, and then many chickens followed suit with a "cock-a-doodle-doo"
"Why are there chickens in the camp?" Mu Xue asked Nanny Wu.
Madam Wu said, "We need to make food on the way. At the end of the team are pigs and sheep, and there are also chickens and ducks in cages."
Mu Xue then realized that they could get all kinds of fresh meat in this wilderness because they brought livestock with them. Then she asked a few more questions about how they replenished their supplies. It turned out that after eating a batch, they would get an extra batch when passing through the imperial farm or the big city.
No wonder they say that food and fodder must be sent before troops move forward. She thought that this wedding procession of more than a thousand people was actually a scaled-down version of a military march, except that it was more luxurious and the pace was much more leisurely.
It’s quite interesting to think about it this way. The eating, drinking, defecating and urinating of the entire wedding procession, as well as the peace of mind of the people, are all full of knowledge.
She should observe more and think things through more clearly. Now, there are the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince and an official to help her sort out and think through each link. But after the wedding is completed, she has to rely on herself to consider the omissions in all aspects.
Just when she was full of wild thoughts, Dorji came. After paying his respects, Muxue asked him, "What did you eat when you were marching outside?"
"It's not that rich," Dorji said, "milk tea, fried rice, dried meat, biscuits, and if it's not urgent, there's fresh mutton and the like."
He thought for a moment and added: "At that time, the emperor even had one meal a day in the army."
"This...Isn't it possible that ordinary soldiers eat even worse?"
"Of course. How to supply food and grass in time has always been a problem."
Dorji recalled his experience of accompanying the emperor to fight against Galdan, and said, "But last time, some merchants followed the army to transport food. I was worried about the trouble these merchants would cause, because the forced march was very hard, and some recruits wanted to escape. I didn't expect them to stick with it and actually supply food and grass, although they did it for the sake of silver."
Muxue originally wanted to do business on the grassland to increase her income. When she heard Dorji talking about the grain transport merchants, she thought that they were also a group of hardworking people who might be of use to her, so she asked, "Where are these merchants?"
"I'm not sure. It seems to be from a neighboring province."
From a neighboring province? Mu Xue thought for a moment and said, "A businessman from Shanxi?"
"Yes, approximately."
It turned out to be a Shanxi merchant. She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. Then she picked up a bamboo-jointed steamed bun with chopsticks and put it into Duoerji's bowl: "Have breakfast, don't let it get cold."
Mu Xue ate while thinking. She had heard about the fame of Shanxi merchants. Did it start to show from this time? Shanxi was indeed very close to the grassland. If she wanted to do business, she might be able to rely on Shanxi merchants. The Fan family who sent her Gu Xiu clothes before seemed to be from Shanxi.
Dorji, who was standing by, ate very quickly because of the habit he developed in the army, and finished his meal in no time. He was not in a hurry, but supported his head with his hands and stared at the fourth princess quietly.
She always seemed to have a lot of things on her mind, hiding them in her heart and unwilling to tell anyone. Dorji originally thought that she was like this because he was not very familiar with her. But even to the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince, the Fourth Princess seemed unwilling to reveal her true feelings.
How can one gain the trust of such a cautious person?
It is indeed a bit tricky, but he has plenty of time and can just take his time.
After thinking for a while, Mu Xue put down her chopsticks and raised her eyes, meeting Dorji's gaze.
Was he looking at him just now? Mu Xue frowned, feeling very unhappy about being spied on, and was a little annoyed for a moment: "You went out after you finished eating, what are you waiting for?"
"Waiting for you." Dorji said with a smile, "Princess, what were you planning just now?"
Mu Xue didn't look at him, but just wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said, "I'm not thinking about anything."
By the way, you can take this opportunity to talk to him about learning languages.
She then said, "Didn't you say before that you wanted to learn Chinese? I think the Fifth Prince's suggestion yesterday is very good. Let Zhang Cheng teach you, and I will accompany you. Maybe we can even learn some Rakshasa language."
Dorji raised his eyebrows and said with a look of understanding: "So this is what the princess was thinking."
"What am I planning now?"
"Why does the princess want to learn Rakshasa language?"
Mu Xue rolled her eyes at him and imitated his tone from yesterday: "Because the prince consort I married lives in a territory bordering Luosha. If he has any ideas, it's better for me to understand them than not to understand them."
Dorji burst into laughter, turned around and informed the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince, and asked Zhang Cheng to teach him and the Fourth Princess while the team was resting.
This was a small matter and no one raised any objection.
Zhang Cheng then took on the job of a language teacher.
He was worthy of being the person selected by France and sent to the Eastern Empire to preach. He was highly educated and taught Dorji some Chinese and Muxue some Russian in a very professional manner.
The professional level is very good, and if the occasional evangelical sentences can be removed, the teaching level can be called perfect.
While Mu Xue was studying, she asked many questions, such as who the Rakshasa Emperor was, what was the situation in the country, what was the current situation in France, and what was the situation in our old friend Britain.
Zhang Cheng answered fluently.
In the 37th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, which was 1689 in the Western calendar, nothing major happened in the Qing court.
In the far north, the Russian emperor at that time was Peter I. It is said that he once used a pseudonym to travel around Europe and learn advanced classics from various countries. In recent years, he returned to Russia and was fighting against the old aristocracy and preparing for reform.
In Europe, Britain was said to be experiencing a struggle, a conflict between the king and the nobles, and the East India Company had been established and was thriving. France, on the other hand, was thriving under the leadership of Louis XIV - Mu Xue thought this was Zhang Cheng's description of his countrymen after adding a filter.
The entire wedding procession started at sunrise and stopped at sunset, so Zhang Cheng's classes were mostly held at night. The Fifth Prince listened to the class twice out of curiosity at first, but then he got bored and went back to play with his followers. The Fourth Prince, on the other hand, would come to listen every one or two days, coming in silence and leaving in silence.
It was not until Zhang Cheng once mentioned Louis XIV's mercantilist policy that he highly praised it and added many flattering words.
The Fourth Prince frowned and said, "Your emperor is simply making a fuss. Agriculture is the foundation and commerce is secondary. Emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is what we should do."
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