My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 175 Prince Zhuang's Gift
Brother's place.

Hongli stood with his hands behind his back, looking at his new carriage.

The carriage was exquisite, and when pulled by horses, it made far fewer creaking noises.

"From now on, when we go out in the summer, we won't need to use such a thick mattress as we do in the winter."

Hongli then smiled and talked about this with Hongzhou, who was standing beside him.

Hongzhou replied with a smile, "Fourth Brother is right. For this reason, Father Khan also ordered the Imperial Workshop to build one for him, and also to build one for each of my Thirteenth Uncle and Sixteenth Uncle."

Hongli nodded.

The Imperial Household Department is not short of money now, so building a few more new carriages is not a big problem, and it can also increase the income of the craftsmen who actually build the carriages.

"It would be great if the manufacturing time could be shortened. Also, the wheels are made of wood. It would be better if they could be replaced with a more wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant material, preferably one that is also very flexible."

However, Hongli offered a different perspective.

"Is it the rubber mentioned in the storybook that Fourth Brother gave us?"

Hongzhou then asked a question.

Hongli nodded: "It seems that foreigners know about this. You can try to get them to help you find some rubber and even rubber trees. You can have people plant them in Yunnan, Guangdong and Guangxi, where the climate is warmer. In the future, you may be able to use the rubber sap from these rubber trees to make some interesting new objects."

Hongzhou nodded, and after taking his leave, he actually went to see Prince Yi's residence, hoping to get to know some foreign missionaries through Prince Yi.

After Hongzhou left, the sixteenth prince came to Hongli's place:

"You are indeed here."

"Greetings, Sixteenth Uncle!"

Hongli immediately bowed.

The sixteenth brother waved his hand nonchalantly: "No need!"

then.

The sixteenth prince then experienced the carriage before him, and even had Hongli explain it to him. He pulled Hongli onto the carriage as well, marveling at it and saying to Hongli:
"I've come to give you something new and interesting!"

Hongli was also very curious after hearing this: "What new and interesting things will Uncle Sixteen give his nephew?"

The sixteenth prince jumped off the carriage, and Hongli followed suit.

Then, the sixteenth prince pointed to a musket wrapped in a brocade handkerchief in the hand of the eunuch who had come with him and said, "This is the musket."

Having said that.

The sixteenth son then lifted the brocade cloth covering the musket.

Hongli noticed that the musket had no match cord, was entirely gilded, engraved with patterns and capital English letters, and had a hammer that looked like a bird's beak.

"This is a self-propelled flintlock pistol!"

"After your sixteenth uncle took charge of the Ministry of War, the English specially sent two self-igniting muskets. They were quite novel, as they didn't need matchlocks and could hit birds from a hundred paces away."

"I know you like firearms too."

"So, I didn't even think about offering it to your father and your thirteenth uncle. I just gave you one. After all, Fourth Brother doesn't like practicing with firearms, and Thirteenth Brother prefers riding, archery, and swordsmanship."

"In any case, the fact that your sixteenth uncle was spared punishment and was even allowed to ride a horse in the Forbidden City is all thanks to you, Hongli."

As Hongli's firearms teacher, the sixteenth prince naturally knew that Hongli was very interested in firearms and did not reject imported products. So he gave Hongli a self-propelled flintlock pistol he had obtained as a token of his gratitude.

Hongli naturally bowed in gratitude, while carefully stroking the flintlock pistol: "This is indeed ingenious. However, some Han Chinese in China have also made this, but for some reason, it has not become widespread."

"Really? I didn't know that."

The sixteenth brother replied.

Hongli smiled and said, "I remember that a former Ming Chongzhen official named Bi Maokang also made self-propelled flintlock guns. During the reign of the late emperor, a Han official named Dai Zi even made these self-propelled flintlock guns fire continuously."

The sixteenth brother became more and more curious as he listened.

It is said that since the sixteenth prince was born several years after Kangxi exiled Dai Zi, and by then the string-gun and related technical data had already been locked away in the storeroom by Kangxi, the sixteenth prince had never heard of this person.

The sixteenth prince, assuming that Hongli had learned of this from Kangxi in his later years, nodded and asked, "Bi Maokang should be no longer alive, so is Dai Zi still alive?"

"He might still be around. However, although Bi Maokang is no longer here, I heard that he wrote a book called 'Illustrated Explanation of Military Weapons.' I wonder if we can find it."

Hongli replied.

The sixteenth prince nodded: "Then I will have the Ministry of War issue a document to the provincial governors to search for this book and this person."

Hongli was quite surprised upon hearing this: "Does Father Khan really want to find such books and people?"

"You don't need to worry about that!"

"Fourth Brother is different from your Khanmafa back then. You could say their attitudes were opposite in many ways. For example, your Khanmafa did not reject Western religion, but Fourth Brother did reject Western religion, although he was very willing to promote firearms."

"Because what Fourth Brother is most worried about is that Western religions will bewitch people, corrupt etiquette and morality, and disrupt the orthodox tradition of Chinese culture; one of the reasons why Fourth Brother does not tolerate the Sunu family and even your Ninth Uncle back then is that they believe in Western religions."

“Even when my thirteenth brother and I came into contact with foreigners, my fourth brother would always remind us not to blindly believe in their scriptures, but only to study their tools, saying that the teachings of the sages are the foundation of knowledge!”

At this point, the sixteenth prince patted Hongli's arm and said, "You should be careful when you interact with foreigners. You can play with the novel objects they make, but don't be like the Sunu family, who are interested in baptism. In particular, you must not let your fourth brother know that you want to be baptized!"

Hongli nodded and solemnly bowed to the sixteenth brother, saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Uncle Sixteen."

Hongli understood even better that although Yongzheng wanted to be the emperor of China, he was even more resistant to foreign cultures than Kangxi, and encouraged the absorption of the value of imported products in application fields such as firearms.

It can be said that Emperor Yongzheng and Emperor Kangxi were truly emperors with very different styles in every aspect.

At this moment, Yongzheng was wearing a foreign wig and having his portrait painted while listening to a report from the Sticky Rod Office about the faith of the Sunu family.

“After Sunu’s death, his son Surkin and others set up a chapel directly in the home of his right guard.”

"Even the women and servants in his household were baptized."

“On important days, people of all genders gather here.”

"There was also a military officer named Marco from the Right Guard who was baptized under the influence of the baptism. He frequently traveled between the capital and the Right Guard to pass on messages to foreigners."

"In addition, Hongzheng in the capital had dealings with this Marco." As many scholars have said, he liked to cosplay various characters, boldly try new clothes and headdresses, and also liked various imported items such as snuff bottles, but he was particularly conservative in terms of cultural beliefs.

Therefore, after hearing this report from the Sticky Rod Office, Yongzheng's face immediately turned as black as coal: "I originally thought that their family would behave themselves after they were placed in the Right Guard, but now it seems that they intend to turn the entire Right Guard into a Right Guard for foreigners!"

Emperor Yongzheng removed the fake painting from his head and refused to allow the painter to paint it again.

He could accept the Sinicization of the imperial family and the Eight Banners, and their decreasing self-identification as conquerors, but he could not accept that they not only failed to Sinicize but also became the claws and teeth of foreign civilization on this land.

"If things continue like this, the Qing Dynasty is doomed!"

Emperor Yongzheng muttered something to himself about this.

But since it was already night, he decided to take the opportunity to discuss with the thirteenth prince how to prevent the matter from escalating further within the imperial clan and the Eight Banners.

However, during the period when Chinese and Western civilizations were beginning to come into contact and collide, Yongzheng was most worried about whether his only hope, the fourth prince Hongli, would develop an interest in Western civilization.

He then came to the Empress's place.

Because he wanted to find out about Hongli's private affairs through the Empress.

"How are things going between Hongli and Nara Minxuan lately? Have they gotten along in any intimate matters?"

Even between husband and wife, Yongzheng would ask the Empress questions directly.

The Empress smiled and nodded, saying, "I already know how to do it. Haitang secretly showed me Minxuan's handkerchief."

"That's good."

"Did he indulge in any form of misconduct?"

Yongzheng then asked about the Empress.

The Empress said, "No, according to the maids below, he does listen to Haitang's advice."

Yongzheng nodded in satisfaction: "I've heard that your niece is skilled at commenting on poetry and prose?"

"Fourth Master is joking. The little girl only looks at it occasionally to pass the time. She's not really good at it."

The Empress replied with a smile.

Yongzheng said, “There is no need to be so careful. ‘Ignorance is a virtue’ is a requirement of Han scholars and officials. For the sake of the ancestral foundation, Manchu women have always been encouraged to learn riding and archery and Han studies. As long as they do not make mistakes in etiquette, it is fine. Before Shushen got married, I did not allow her to give up all the things that her father allowed her to do when he was alive.”

"Whoo!"

Then the Empress said, "She and Hongli have talked about poetry and such in private."

"Has the study of Western classics been mentioned?"

Yongzheng asked.

The Empress shook her head: "I've mentioned it occasionally."

Yongzheng frowned immediately: "How did you bring this up?"

"Hongli said that it would not save the Qing Dynasty, but would instead cause the Qing Dynasty to be abandoned by the Han people."

The Empress replied.

Upon hearing this, Yongzheng breathed a slight sigh of relief, followed by a sudden surge of joy: "Really?"

"That's right. When Hongli occasionally talked about these things with them in private, he said that the majority of people in the Central Plains are Han Chinese. The reason why the Han Chinese can tolerate the Manchus ruling the country is because the Manchus are also an ethnic group that has been dominated by Chinese culture since the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the Han Chinese believe that they can integrate the Manchus into one."

The Empress simply repeated the statement without offering her own opinion, leaving it to Yongzheng to make his own judgment.

Yongzheng's dark eyebrows relaxed slightly, and he felt a sudden sense of "This boy is like me!" He said, "It's rare that he has this awareness!"

The Empress smiled and said, "Minxuan also knows one of his new poems. When Minxuan talked about it, she seemed to like it quite a bit."

"Really? What poem?"

Yongzheng asked curiously.

The Empress then gave the eunuch Chen Shishun a wink.

So Chen Shishun took his leave and then brought a piece of paper with a poem written on it.

"Fallen petals are not heartless things; they turn into spring mud to nourish the flowers."

After reading the poem, Emperor Yongzheng silently recited one of the lines.

The Empress then said, "According to what he told Minxuan, this was not a statement of his own ambition."

The Empress's words made Yongzheng smile, and tears welled up in his eyes: "I guessed it."

"I am now truly convinced that what he said about Western doctrines in front of Minxuan was not meant for me to hear."

Even when Emperor Yongzheng was having a late-night talk with the Empress, he solemnly mentioned Hongli with his hand under his neck.

The Empress smiled and said, "It's late, Fourth Prince, you should go to sleep."

"Ok!"

The next day.

Emperor Yongzheng then summoned Ma Qi.

Do you know why I summoned you?

As soon as Yongzheng saw Ma Qi, he asked him about him.

Ma Qi replied, "This servant is foolish and humbly requests Your Majesty's clarification."

"I have summoned you on behalf of Hongli."

"I have decreed that my niece shall be Hongli's primary consort. You should understand my profound meaning."

Yongzheng spoke to Ma Qi in a solemn and serious tone.

(End of this chapter)