Emperor Kangxi sent me to marry

After writing the secret sheet and holding it in his arms, Sibeile walked out of the sky-high guest room alone without waiting for Haifeng to finish writing.

Qibele heard the commotion and moved quickly. She even ran out of the next door without even wearing boots.

"Fourth Brother!"

"It's the seventh brother. When did he come?"

"I've been here for a while. Fourth Brother, please admit your mistake to Fourth Sister! She"

Sibeile interrupted his brother directly.

"I am not wrong. What do you want to admit? Khan Amar has justice in his heart. Let me ask you, have you seen my followers?"

Qi Baylor is not satisfied with this at all. It is rare for his words to be accurate and sharp.

"I'm locking him up in the back. Just search people and steal money. What's the point? He also smashed so many large pieces of porcelain from the fourth sister. Not to mention it was unjust, my brother-in-law found it out on the spot."

Sibeile knew that he was being unreasonable, but he still spoke harshly.

"Tell them to come back to Beijing with me. I can't pull the horse and make the bed myself, can I?"

"If fourth brother needs someone to take care of him, I have someone by my side who can take care of things on the road. I will take care of these things myself. It is becoming more and more unruly, and Princess Heshuo's shop dares to offend at will."

Dobu took advantage of the opportunity and walked out slowly at this time to help Qibele speak.

"Fourth brother, please feel free. My brother-in-law plans to send them to help in the training palace as a small punishment. If the fourth brother doesn't know how, he can't bear to part with it, right? That is the place where Khan Ama will live in the future. Even the seventh brother sometimes does it himself. Add bricks and mortar to show your filial piety. Are your followers more valuable than him?"

Seeing that his subordinates were not coming back, Sibei gave up the blackmail and made an appointment with Qibeile to go to the construction site in Xincheng together.

"Before I left the capital, Khan Amma told me that if the palace cannot be built before July, it will be the result if we do not meet the construction deadline. The waste of people's power is only for the enjoyment of the royal family and is not the behavior of a wise king."

"Don't worry, fourth brother, the palace is being built smoothly. What I'm worried about is the city wall. I can't explain it in two or three sentences. Let's go and have a look. Brother-in-law, are you going?"

Dobu shook his head repeatedly and pointed at Tianzi Fang.

"Your fourth sister is in a bad mood, I have to comfort her."

Sibeile really didn't like his look of being obsessed with women, so she dragged Qibele out and walked out.

"I will set off back tomorrow. My time is limited, so hurry up and leave."

Seven Beile's personal entourage brought a good horse to Four Beile. The two princes flew on the horse, whipped a few times, and ran towards Guihua New City.

Sibeile originally thought that it was just a small city outside the wall. What kind of extraordinary city could be built by adding more buildings?So I never took it to heart.As a result, he saw from a distance that the city wall made of green bricks was about two feet tall. He was so shocked that he stopped his horse.

"Why is it built so high? The city wall in the capital is less than three feet!"

Qibele had no choice but to rein in his horse and slowly explain to his brother.

"Khan Amma means that since he needs to be kept to defend himself against the enemy, it won't work if he is too short."

"The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs reported to the Qianqing Palace, isn't this the number?"

"How high the wall can be built depends on how much money can be generated. The money from the household department can be allocated to Guihua City, more or less, but there is only so much money to go back and forth. If the money is raised, the accounts will not be reconciled. The fourth sister thought Qiao Zong'er, in the new city, built hundreds of houses in advance, and then rented them to Shanxi merchants as shops. He made a lot of money and filled them in so that the walls could be as high as they were."

"This is nonsense. If Khan Amma wants to live in a place where lowly merchants are allowed to enter, wouldn't it make the place dirty?"

Since Qibele started the project here last year, it has received help from Shanxi merchants in everything and has a good impression of them.Hearing his brother's disparaging remarks about Shanxi merchants, I felt that there was no need to continue to explain to him and waste my time and words, which was true.

"Khan Amma has made all these arrangements one by one. Originally, Khan Amma came to live in the palace once, and left it to the fourth sister in the future. If the Holy Emperor does not come, who dares to let Shanxi merchants in? As for the fourth sister, she will not Don't worry about these things. My brother is stupid and can't tell what is going on in the city. Fourth brother can see for himself."

Fourth Beile became interested in the new city, and did not care too much about Seven Beile's dissatisfaction in his words, and drove forward again.

When they reached the foot of the city wall, many leaders in charge of the fortifications recognized Qibele and knelt down to pay their respects.Several of Qibele's personal followers, who were familiar with the situation, took out a few purses and distributed them according to the number of people as rewards.Si Beile looked around and roughly understood what Seven Beile was worried about.

This city has many wall stacks, which will facilitate the installation of bows, arrows, and firearms in the future to defend the enemy from a high position.It is probably these private craftsmen who missed the point and built something specious.

"Seventh brother, why don't you ask the Ministry of War for a few people to supervise the work?"

"Fourth brother has a good eye. But the most difficult problem is not here. The higher the wall is built, the harder it is to transport materials, the progress is getting slower day by day, and more money is consumed. It is not a long-term solution. Fourth sister asked me to wait. Wait, there is a man named Huang Luzhuang in Yangzhou who is quite ingenious. He might be able to make some equipment to help transport bricks, tiles and soil up the wall."

Having said this, Seven Beile turned around, shunned the followers who were following him, and invited Four Beile to join him. They walked side by side, casually strolling on the spacious main road of the new city.Fine gravel rustled under the hard soles.

"Fourth brother, you used to gather some Taoist priests to pray for Khan Amma. My younger brother thought it was not a big deal and just pretended that he didn't know about it. Pills won't work. If this method can lead to immortality, how many emperors have been consuming the country since ancient times? Who can achieve immortality if you strive for it? No one who takes elixirs will live long. Khan Ama cannot take them, fourth brother, you should stop too!"

"My ears are very good."

"I didn't hear a word you said. You and the fourth sister were arguing too much. My brother-in-law heard every word and told me again. That Huang Luzhuang really doesn't know how to make alchemy. If he stays here, he can benefit thousands of people. If you follow You will be useless when you return to the capital."

"That's enough! Seventh brother, fourth brother really didn't expect that you would be deceived by fourth sister to this extent!"

Sibeile looked around and saw several tall and elegant brick buildings. Although they were not yet completed, the windows had small pieces of glass, pointing them out to Sevenbeile.

"The fourth sister is very cunning and knows how to use Khan Amma's name to benefit herself. For example, these glass windows have not even been replaced in the Forbidden City yet. She has given Shanxi merchants such honors. If I were those merchants, I would also He willingly gave her money. It is unheard of since ancient times for a businessman to live a more dignified life than the royal family!"

"Why is Fourth Brother so messed up? This glass is not specially made for Shanxi merchants, is it?"

"I know! You wrote the note, and my fourth brother saw it in the South Study. Glass is not easy to burn, and there are often defective products. The palace is in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the finished product must not have any flaws. Then you write the note and tell me how to deal with these defective products. Use it on other houses in the new city. So what? Just smash it! Losing the dignity of the royal family for a few pieces of glass, which is more important? You dare to say that the idea of ​​​​this glass window was not encouraged by the fourth sister. ?”

No matter how good-looking Seven Beile was, he couldn't bear it after being criticized by Four Beile.

"Fourth brother, do you know how valuable glass is? Yes, there are workshops now, but it doesn't mean that you can make as much as you want. My younger brother said in the book that breaking it would be a waste of natural resources. Khan Ama even praised me a few words. The fourth sister really didn't encourage me. Her idea was to wrap it carefully in cotton and transport it to the capital for sale. Khan Ama was afraid of the sudden trend of comparison and extravagance in the capital, so she didn't do it. You ordered me to do whatever I want. You, why do you always come face to face with the fourth sister? You don’t even ask about the ins and outs, you just open your mouth.”

"Because the fourth brother has long seen through the fourth sister, she, she is very ambitious! Bigger than you, bigger than Lao Shi! Forget it, I don't have to wait for tomorrow, I will leave for Beijing immediately. If she continues to toss like this, she will The Qing Dynasty will be defeated by her sooner or later! This time, I have to get Huanglu Village out of her hands!"

Sibeile was so determined that he didn't even ask for the personal entourage that Sevenbeile planned to give him. He grabbed his horse and galloped straight towards the killing tiger's mouth.

Anyway, there are Eight Banners soldiers there, so it's the same thing to pull a few to escort him on the road.

Seven Beile's followers saw the two princes arguing from a distance and were too frightened to come near. They waited until they saw Four Beile riding away before they dared to come closer step by step.

"Master, minions, do you want to chase the Fourth Master?"

"No! If he wants to leave, just let him go! Prepare pens and paper, and bring over a table and chairs."

The men agreed and went to look for it. Qi Beile picked a room at random, went in and waited.

Could it be that the fourth brother is a prince and he is not?

Is it necessary to confuse black and white, not to distinguish between right and wrong, and to build a city, which is a serious matter that will last forever, but to shy away from such frivolous things as alchemy?
The paper, pens, tables and chairs were all here. Qibele sat down and scribbled a secret letter.

"Don't alert anyone. Send it quietly to Jingzhong's home. Let Fujin find a way and deliver it to the palace."

After accepting the order personally, Qi Beile felt extremely happy and planned to return to Kejing Bank and see Huang Luzhuang with his own eyes.

Let the fourth brother act as he pleases!
This new city was only one step away from completion, and he had to build something famous!

Continuation of notes from previous chapter

The phenomenon of using "rails" to improve the efficiency of transportation appeared earlier than the steam engine in the world.

The "rail carriage" that has been active in Britain for almost a century is the most typical example.

Even after the advent of the steam engine, the tramway remained active for a long time. (It is generally believed that the world's first railway was the Stockton-Darlington Railway, which was built in 1825 and used steam engines for traction. However, the appearance of iron tracks occurred long before 1825)
Notes for this chapter:

About glass.

Reference source: Xue Lu. Research on the Glass Factory and Site of the Qing Palace Building Office, Journal of the Palace Museum, 2023, (Issue 4).
In the 35th year of Kangxi's reign, the Manufacturing Office built a glass factory near the Western Missionary Church and the entrance of Xi'an Gate to Canchichi.

It can be inferred that the West did not block glass manufacturing technology and directly shared it with the Qing court.

Judging from the records of missionaries, Kangxi had no intention of promoting glass production and bringing it to the people to bring convenience. He only used it as a rare material to bake exquisite works of art for the use of the court.

According to the archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the first place where glass windows were used in the Forbidden City was the Yangxin Hall, the residence of Yongzheng.But these pieces of glass were not fired in a glass factory, nor were they the work of a glass manufacturer established around the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign. They were most likely imported from overseas at a high price.

That’s right, nearly 30 years have passed and the building office has not even built a single glass window.

Of course, it's not because the craftsmen are poor in craftsmanship, but because of backward feudal ideas that hindered the popularization of glass windows.

(To be continued)