New Shun 1730

The emperor came prepared, and soon the seventh prince Li Xi came in from outside.

Although he was a prince, he had not been given a title and had not married.

After entering, he saluted the emperor and called him father, then bowed to Liu Yu and called him by his title.

After taking a look, Li Xi looked about 17 or 18 years old, with an eye patch on his left eye.

The Queen of Pox obviously did not bless him well. He did not have to wear an eye patch when he had acne, but if the pus grew on his eyes and caused blindness, he had to wear it. It was quite scary to take it off.

Liu Yu thought that Li Xi was in the palace all day, and was afraid that his scary eyes would disgust the emperor, so he simply put on the eye patch. Although it did not look aesthetically pleasing, it was not scary at all.

He was quite tall, not stout, and not very strong.

Thinking about such a life experience, and being born in an imperial family, one can either be completely despaired and indifferent; or one can be self-reliant and strong-willed.

Liu Yu didn't know much about it, so he couldn't jump to conclusions.

"I heard of Ying Suo Bo's name when I was young, and I have seen the balloon flying to the sky. Even those Western missionaries praised Ying Suo Bo all day long for being better than his teacher. He studied under Minister Dai, but his actual knowledge is higher than Minister Dai. Today, I am really lucky to be allowed by my father to study with Ying Suo Bo."

This kind of formal words can't tell anything. Who knows how many times it has been rehearsed? But Liu Yu thought that this might be someone who really wanted to learn, because he didn't have the right of inheritance, so he didn't have to pretend to be studious to please the emperor.

He praised Liu Yu a few times, and it sounded very useful.

After praising Liu Yu, Li Xi said, "Since I read the Western Countries Survey written by Ying Suobo, I know how big the earth is and how vast the ocean is. I have also read some naval pamphlets written by Ying Suobo, and I know that naval warfare used to be mostly boarding battles, so some brave men wore eye patches so that they could enter the dark cabin from the sun, and they could fight by just changing the side of the eye patches; later, when sailing thousands of miles, they had to rely on sextants to identify the latitude and watch the sun all day, and often had the scorching sun burning their eyes, so they also had many eye patches."

"I lost my left eye when I was young, and I had a lot of resentment before, but now I think, is this a sign from God that I should join the warship?"

This is also a beautiful statement, and the emperor nodded approvingly to show encouragement.

Li Xi looked at Liu Yu in front of him, and couldn't help but think of the autumn many years ago when the hot air balloon first flew in the capital.

That year, he was only eight years old, and it was a rare opportunity to see his biological mother, who, as always, loved this disabled child since childhood.

In the autumn garden, the birth mother told stories from the Bible.

One day, Jesus and his disciples were walking on the road and saw a man who was born blind, sitting on the roadside begging for food. The disciples asked Jesus, "Teacher, this man was born blind. Who sinned? Was it him or his parents?"

Jesus said, "He was blind not because of his own sin, nor his parents' sin, but because God's power was reflected in him. As long as I am in the world, I will bring light to this world."

Li Li was still young at that time and did not have many opportunities to contact his birth mother. The palace had its own system. He only knew that he was baptized shortly after he was born. At that time, he did not have the power to choose. His Christian name was the same as that of Sun Yuanhua, a firearms expert in the previous dynasty, called Ignatius.

That day, it was not the first time that Li Li heard this story.

It is said that children speak without restraint. Li Li still remembers asking his birth mother a question that made him feel heartbroken when he thought of his birth mother's desperate eyes many years later.

"Mom, I was blind when I was very young. But God didn't send Jesus to heal me... Am I guilty?"

After saying this, Li Li still remembers his mother's tears falling down, holding his face and saying: "It's my fault, it's my fault..."

He wanted to go to his mother's arms and wipe her eyes, but when he looked up, he saw the hot air balloon floating in the sky in the distance.

For a moment, he really believed that it was a miracle of God to save his eyes.

Her biological mother also prayed devoutly, begging Jesus Christ to restore the blind eye of her child.

However...

After that day, Li Li knew that it was just a hot air balloon flying into the sky. The only faith that had just grown in his heart was shattered.

From hope to disillusionment, it only took a few days.

So the hot air balloon left a deep impression on him, and he wanted to know how that thing flew into the sky.

The prince had to learn, and he asked the teachers who taught him classics, history, and collections, but the teachers could not answer.

He also asked the missionaries who taught them Western knowledge at that time, but the missionaries could not answer.

It was not until a long time later that someone told him that the people who made this thing gave an explanation, just like Kongming lanterns, the air expands when heated, like a wooden board floating on the water, lighter than air. It is better to say that it floats to the sky than to say that it flies to the sky.

Li Xi remembered Liu Yu's name very early.

And in the following years, this name would always appear in his ears from time to time.

During the period when Luosha started the war and his father was in the palace, news about Liu Yu would come; later when the palace began to replace glass on a large scale, Liu Yu's name was also indispensable; Navy, Zhunbu, Jinghai Palace, Western Envoys...

This name is very loud among the princes. Li Xi felt that he might not know who the several Pingzhang Junguoshi of the dynasty were, but he remembered this name firmly.

From time to time, some newly printed pamphlets on practical learning would flow into the palace. Li Xi read them with great interest, immersed in another world that would not be touched by the classics and histories - why is the world like this? Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? Why are there four distinct seasons? Whose power is it that drives this world?

The palace is the darkest place in the world. Most of the princes who grow up here are either perverts or lunatics, even if they behave like normal people.

But Li Xi is different. No one in the palace bullies him.

It is precisely because of his disability that he has received many preferential treatments that other brothers have never enjoyed.

If you lack something, you have to say it.

Just like the palace where brothers kill each other, the emperor values ​​​​the four words "brotherly friendship and brotherly respect" the most for his children.

A disabled brother, a brother who poses no political threat at all, is the best person to show brotherly friendship and brotherly respect in front of his father.

Li Xi has a good relationship with each of his brothers. At least no one dares to make fun of him or bully him openly.

As his brothers grew up, he was completely excluded from all kinds of intrigues, especially after the ban on religion.

Without conflicts of interest, there would be no unwarranted hatred.

Li Xi, who grew up in this environment, can be regarded as a slightly normal person.

Under the influence of his mother and the impression that completely disillusioned him that day, he began to focus more on Western learning - at this time it was renamed practical learning, because the emperor made a distinction between Western learning and practical learning in terms of name.

What is effective in the East and the West is called practical learning; what is normal in the West but unacceptable in the East is called Western learning.

After the ban on religion, many books were implicated and needed to be strictly examined before they could enter the palace. Liu Yu's was not included in this list, so Li Xi read many pamphlets written by Liu Yu and knew the world's geography and history far better than his brothers - his brothers had to read more classics, history, and collections, but he did not have such a need.

The palace is like a birdcage, and the normal people in this birdcage are eager to see a bigger world. Especially when he was growing up, someone told him how big the world was.

In his heart, Li Li was grateful to Liu Yu.

If there hadn't been that coincidental hot air balloon that autumn, perhaps he would have really placed his hope on God's salvation, just like the story his mother told him, one day Jesus would touch his eyes.

However, if that were the case, perhaps after the ban on religion, his fate would have completely become a waste of the palace.

It was also because of that coincidental hot air balloon that he became the best among the many princes in practical learning, and the emperor also praised him a lot.

Because of this foundation, after the emperor wanted someone to take over Liu Yu's navy, the first person he thought of was this disabled son.

There was no threat to the position of the prince, and no matter who came to power in the future, they would have a good relationship with him; he was the emperor's own son, no matter what, the fleet was surnamed Li, and a person who could not inherit the throne had no need to stand in line and engage in a coup or rebellion.

A blessing in disguise, disability and the disadvantage of being baptized since childhood actually became an advantage this time.

The navy is thriving, and it is rumored that the Navy Department will be established in the future, which will be under the Privy Council, and the Army Department and the Navy Department will be listed under the Privy Council.

The princes can go to the Privy Council to train as advisers, and go to the military academy after the military reform to learn the knowledge of war, but they have almost no chance to hold real military power.

And he may be the first of many princes to really have military power.

Li Xi has not tasted the taste of power, but he knows what kind of magical thing it is that makes people intoxicated, so that those brothers who were friendly and respectful in their childhood will change when they grow up.

Li Xi feels that he is lucky.

Compared with those brothers who failed in the competition, they may be trapped in the capital for the rest of their lives in the future, and they will not have a bit of real power. And he, no matter which brother comes to power, he will always be the first to be won over.

All this luck seems to be traced back to the person in front of him and the hot air balloon that rose to the capital in the golden autumn.

He himself, don't do anything, and don't need to do anything.

No matter which of his brothers will become the emperor after his father's death, he only needs to be loyal to the emperor, not to a certain person. Whoever will be the emperor in the future will be his closest brother, and he will be the closest younger brother of that brother.

At this moment, standing in front of Liu Yu, Li Xi's mood was a bit complicated. Facing Liu Yu, his mentality was also a bit strange.

Some mysterious thoughts that were destined in the dark; some respect for military exploits that he often heard; some prophet who seemed to have cured his heart disease... and some fear that he knew in his heart.

As for the few words he said to Liu Yu, they were not all polite words. But he was not sure whether Liu Yu believed it.

The emperor did not say that he should "see Liu Yu as a teacher", but just let him follow Liu Yu to train and learn. Perhaps for some deep meaning, he did not want to delve into it, but he understood that the emperor did not say "see him as a teacher" because he did not want him to have a formal teacher-student relationship with Liu Yu, but it did not mean that he did not have to do so in practice.

After a short silence, Li Xi heard Liu Yu ask him what books he had read.

"I have read many of Ying Sober's books. A Brief Study of Western Countries, Force and Inertia, and an Introduction to Universal Gravitation, Common Physics, On the Momentum Pendulum and the Measurement of Cannonballs Leaving the Cannon and the Calculation of Artillery, The Rise and Fall of the Dutch Nation, The Advantages and Disadvantages of Spanish Gold and Silver, and Triangular Trade..."

He recited a lot of Liu Yu's booklets like a treasure trove of dishes. He had been taught mathematics by a missionary, so some of his articles seemed easier to understand than ordinary people. As for those that seemed to be talking about trade but were actually talking about political economy, there was no other way to think about it. He could only read through and accept and subconsciously agree with it. It was like a sudden enlightenment.

Of course, there was nothing in it that could be reversed.