Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

“This seems inappropriate.” Zhao Lian was curious, but he also had concerns.

"What's wrong with it?"

Solovyov wasn't afraid of trouble; he often encountered difficult situations along the way.

As for the two Hanlin scholars, even when facing the Prince of Li who had been stripped of his title, they still had to be somewhat respectful.

After all, Emperor Jiaqing had not yet made a final decision. What if the emperor, after confining and stripping the person of their title, took pity on their reputation for talent among the imperial clan and restored their title of Iron-Cap Prince?

It was precisely because of his talent that everyone in the Hanlin Academy was willing to befriend him.

Not to mention that this time the entire Hanlin Academy was mobilized, and it was by imperial decree that they were feasting and entertaining foreign envoys.

"The Yuanmingyuan was an imperial garden, suitable for entertaining envoys, but does the general know how dangerous such a matter is?"

"The first hot air balloon took to the skies was in the 48th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. It was displayed in front of the French King and Queen in the palace. There were many performances afterward. As for the Montgolfier brothers, they later flew over Paris, the capital of France, which was admired by everyone at the time. I wonder what Your Majesty's opinion is? This is also a tribute item. I suppose Your Majesty would like to see it for yourself."

The scholars were also discussing it animatedly, and Solovyov, watching from there, noticed that most of them were shaking their heads.

It seems that they also have some doubts about new things and flying.

"You are all learned men, and you know this method. I wonder if you have any doubts? I will personally board the hot air balloon and show it to you."

“We understand the general’s intentions. However, there are many dangers involved. The general is also carrying out the emperor’s orders and is quite favored by the emperor. It is not appropriate for him to put himself in danger.”

“Oh dear, when waging war, the Dharma King often uses hot air balloons to flank the army from behind. What’s wrong with me seeing this in front of the army?”

Solovyov still felt that they were mostly pedantic and pedantic.

Zhaolian sat to the side, still somewhat interested.

If someone is fond of gossip, they probably won't be too different in other aspects either.

In short, he was still very curious, and he only advised Solovyov that the matter was too dangerous.

"How about we select a fine young man to lead the way? What do you think?"

"That's fine then, but I'm willing to go anyway."

The next day, when Emperor Jiaqing was reviewing memorials, he saw the memorials submitted by both Manchu and Han scholars of the Hanlin Academy.

It's obvious they had a dinner party in Dashilan yesterday, and something came up in the end.

As a result, quite a bit of intelligence was gleaned from this meal. The scholars all need to go back and organize it, select the key points, and present it to us later.

However, there were some amusing incidents. Jiaqing saw Solovyov propose to Zhaolian that they should release a hot air balloon in the Yuanmingyuan.

Among the tribute items was indeed a flying object. Emperor Jiaqing's curiosity about various mechanisms was actually not as great as Emperor Qianlong's, but flying things were indeed quite interesting.

Moreover, this hot air balloon can carry four people and can be tethered to the ground, making it a clever way to enjoy panoramic views.

Many members of the French and Russian armies are already using this observation equipment.

The scholars of the Hanlin Academy were probably more interested in textual research of the classics in the past, but this time they picked up Zhu Xi's concept of "investigating things to extend knowledge".

However, Neo-Confucianism has long been distorted. Although in modern times, foreigners like Joseph Needham believed it contributed to the scientific and technological progress of ancient China, others criticized it, arguing that it hindered the progress of the times.

Regardless of the viewpoint, people are generally quite curious about hot air balloons these days.

Because of the incident with the British envoy, Emperor Jiaqing was unhappy during his autumn hunt at Mulan.

Subsequently, envoys from Russia and France arrived, and he hurriedly returned from Chengde, resulting in a hasty conclusion to the inspection at Gubeikou.

He continued his political activities without pause.

He had been paying close attention to the intelligence provided by Russia and France regarding Britain, and he even allowed them to spend the winter in the capital in order to learn more about the situation in various European countries.

Solovyov's intimidation tactic actually worked; the British relied on their powerful navy, which allowed them to land anywhere.

Therefore, it's not a big deal to form an alliance with the two countries.

However, Emperor Jiaqing felt that it would damage the reputation of the Celestial Empire.

The Qing army was larger than the Russian army, only its navy was weaker.

Although this was Jiaqing's personal opinion, he also wanted to know the strengths and weaknesses of his potential future adversaries.

Fukang'an had some reason to have shown his contempt for Macartney and to have the lingering prestige he gained from his return from the Gurkha expedition.

In addition, flintlock muskets did exist in the Qing Dynasty, but their performance was simply...
The Russian envoy also brought with him a battalion of the Russian Imperial Guard, whose soldiers were most skilled in marksmanship and were equipped with the latest rifles.

At this time, the Qing Dynasty only had two of these weapons, both of which were tributes brought by Russian merchants.

However, after using it, Prince Zhi said that this thing was more powerful, and suggested that if possible, the vanguard of the Shenji Battalion and the Ruijian Battalion should all be equipped with this thing.

Since the Qing Dynasty was far from Britain, the British would certainly not have known about it.

Even Emperor Jiaqing had to set aside his pride to some extent. Solovyov was in the arms business, and in order to replace a batch of second-hand weapons, he also needed to get more for the Qing Dynasty, such as the Brown Bess and 1777 rifles, as well as the Russian Tula rifles.

The emperor was unaware that Russia possessed a large quantity of old military equipment and supplies captured during the war.

When it comes to arms dealing, although the Russians like to rip people off, their equipment, under the same conditions, is synonymous with cheap, sturdy, and durable.

This situation also occurred during the Tsarist era in Russia.

As for the hot air balloon, the scholars didn't offer much room for imagination, saying that while it's a great tool for getting high up and looking around, it needs to be tethered to the ground, and they were worried that the wind might blow it away.

But one of the Hanlin scholars had a sudden inspiration, and this memorial also contained an opinion that if one could be driven by the wind, one could probably gather military intelligence from all directions.

Yes, you've even managed to develop a reconnaissance aircraft, though it looks more like a Zeppelin.

Solovyov couldn't see this memorial, but Emperor Jiaqing found it somewhat interesting after reading it.

So Zhu approved it.

However, this training still needs to be scheduled on an auspicious day.

After his reply arrived, he also instructed the Russian envoy not to take any risks.

Solovyov, however, expressed his bewilderment, saying that he had ridden in a hot air balloon several times without incident.

Moreover, there are four people, one of whom is the operator. If we add three more passengers, what problems could there be?

Tozin brought the Emperor's decree, but after listening to it, Solovyov surprisingly refused, leaving the Grand Councilors somewhat confused.

"General Suo, what is the reason for this? His Majesty's intentions are good. Although you are skilled in this art, you must be careful." "Your Excellency, I have always studied various tactics. If the hot air balloon is tethered to the ground, it can be viewed from a high vantage point, which is quite safe. If it encounters danger in the air, I can also assist you. It is not what His Majesty is worried about."

"Since the general insists on this, I have no choice but to report back, but we must still be extra careful."

"Thank you for your kind offer, Your Excellency."

After all, during this period of negotiation, intelligence provision, and personal interactions, Qing Dynasty officials generally had a good impression of Solovyov.

Moreover, it wasn't just their speech; their facial features alone could influence the values ​​and beliefs of people in the Qing Dynasty.

When Emperor Jiaqing heard about it, he could only shake his head.

"I meant well, but I didn't expect Minister Su to be so stubborn."

"May I ask Your Majesty, where shall we launch the hot air balloon?"

"Let's go to the Yuanmingyuan. I've been busy with state affairs these past few days and I'm a bit tired. I'll go to the Yuanmingyuan to relax. You can all go too. It's close by, and the scenery in the garden is beautiful, even though it's autumn or winter. Tuojin, you can arrange it like this. Princes, nobles, and officials in the capital who have free time can also go together."

"Your Majesty, not everyone can enter the garden."

“You can also see it from outside the garden. Aren’t there many official residences around here? Go and see them all, and enjoy this Western spectacle.”

However, many people have doubts about the idea of ​​humans going to heaven.

For a time, few of the imperial guards, or even the generals who were supposed to be observing the battle, were willing to go up.

As for the civil officials, there was even more discussion.

As for civil officials, who knows what kind of bizarre remarks they'll make next?

It's just a hot air balloon; no one would suggest it disrupts feng shui. As for the Russian envoy, he said it works on the same principle as a Kongming lantern.

Some people might say this is "the method of Zhuge Liang," but foreigners really know how to make things complicated, they even managed to make this thing take people to the sky.

And it's not just one or two people, it can carry four people at once, and it can also carry goods and travel a relatively short distance, drifting wherever the wind takes it.

The Chinese have always had a habit of enjoying watching such strange objects, and since the emperor wanted to see them in person, it attracted many people to come and see them.

However, only a few people can go to the scene; most people can only watch from a distance.

Moreover, the chosen date was December 9, 1816 (the 20th day of the 11th lunar month), between the winter solstice and the heavy snow. At that time, there was quite a bit of snow falling outside, and Emperor Jiaqing made preparations in advance in the palace.

When he moved to the Yuanmingyuan, he also requested that all memorials from the palace be sent there.

As for the tribute items, the fine horses were currently in the Imperial Stables, while the hot air balloons were sent to the Imperial Household Department.

Hearing that the Emperor was going to requisition tribute, the Imperial Household Department was quite busy.

When the hot air balloon was delivered to the Old Summer Palace, Emperor Jiaqing even discovered that the box had never been opened since the day it was inspected at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Your Majesty, this is the hot air balloon that the Russian envoy referred to as being able to fly."

"Open it. I was so focused on those fine horses that I didn't notice this flying wonder."

After opening it, Emperor Jiaqing saw the taffeta fabric.

"Your Majesty, these foreigners also use silk."

"That's easy to explain. Think about it. If we want to send the Kongming lantern into the sky, paper or fine yarn will suffice. But if we want to take people up with us, we need something durable. And this silk fabric seems to be something produced in our Great Qing. It's quite ingenious that foreigners can use it to ascend to the sky. Why don't we have such talent here?"

Speaking of which, Tiangong Kaiwu was designed for the Qing army, who were then Manchus, because its diagrams were directly used for engineering. If it weren't for the fact that the book was relatively useful in engineering, it wouldn't have been discouraged from spreading. So it wasn't destroyed, nor was it included in the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), but it wasn't widely circulated either.

This problem actually emerged as early as the Kangxi era. The Qing Dynasty's mathematics continued to improve somewhat, and it was only during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods that it began to recover. However, during the Daoguang era, it strangely fell into a period of ignorance again.

Emperor Kangxi wanted officials from Manchu, Han, and Mongol backgrounds, while Emperor Yongzheng wanted bannermen to learn these things, but the results were minimal.

Among the students in the Mengyangzhai, the more promising ones were probably a few princes who were quite familiar with mathematics and physics, but they were not of much use.

As for the Eight Banners descendants, those with stable livelihoods and high status could become guards or join the army, while those without skills could only keep birds and dogs.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have come to this: a group of guards standing around Emperor Qianlong, yet only one of them could keep up with the conversation.

It's obvious that this reflects the cultural level of the Manchu bannermen; they were headed straight for burning books and burying scholars alive.

On the other hand, those who started as civil officials through the imperial examinations and hereditary privilege might have drawn some legendary gold coins when the Qing emperors were scratching cards.

But if they want to watch the excitement, these people can still come over.

However, even their Manchu language skills were not as fluent as those of the Han officials in the Hanlin Academy. This was due to their lack of effort and the strong assimilation ability of Chinese culture.

Lin Zexu was one of the Hanlin Academy members who was fluent in Manchu.

On the day the hot air balloon was to be test-flown, he came out of the Hanlin Academy and rode in his humble little sedan chair to the outskirts of the city.

The journey was quite long, and there were many people leaving the city to watch the spectacle, which caused some delays.

He left home early enough; these days, it's even difficult to leave the capital city.

To be honest, this is still heading towards the West Second Ring Road; it's hard to say which main road we'll turn onto.

After leaving the city gate, they walked towards the Yuanmingyuan Garden. Outside the garden, civil officials dismounted from their sedan chairs, while military officials also dismounted from their horses.

Even if you have the honor of riding a horse in the Forbidden City, that is a favor bestowed by the Emperor, not a reason for you to be arrogant and domineering.

That was the most lenient crime of disrespect in the Qing Dynasty, and that's how Lord He was caught.

Lin Zexu walked forward and saw that a few officials were also heading in that direction.

"Brother Shao Mu usually leaves very early, why are you late today?"

Long Ruyan, who said this, was the top scholar in the imperial examination in the nineteenth year of the Jiaqing reign. He and Lin Zexu were longtime friends.

Fortunately, he was on duty these past few days, unlike Lin Zexu who had to block the city.

"I heard that someone is going to ascend into the sky using the methods of Zhuge Liang, so naturally everyone is curious. Zijia has been on duty these past few days, and he's been luckier than me."

“We are all disciples of the Emperor, but unlike Brother Shao Mu, I have always been favored by the Emperor, and I do not know how to repay him.”

After Long Ruyan passed the imperial examination, he was personally encouraged by Emperor Jiaqing, and Emperor Jiaqing was especially happy when he became the top scholar.

The emperor had long been paying attention, and the disciples he personally selected were indeed different.

Long Ruyan was also particularly favored when he first entered officialdom, and he worked exceptionally hard as a tutor in the Hanlin Academy. (End of this chapter)