I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 522 Ruan’s Dilemma

Nanjing, Forbidden City, Huagai Hall.

Where the emperor usually went to court to work (required), the original imperial papers had been moved aside.

Zhu Yijiong is wearing a dragon robe and a crown, sitting on a dragon chair, with a calm expression and unsquinting eyes.

In front of him were four painters.

The one on the left is named Li Quan, one of the famous Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, and a descendant of Li Chunfang, the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty. Next to him stood his son and apprentice.

The other person is more interesting. He is an Italian painter named Castiglione and a Jesuit missionary. He came to China as early as the Kangxi period. Relying on his oil painting skills, he was recruited as a court painter, and he stayed in the Qianlong Dynasty.

Next to him, also stood his Chinese apprentice, who had followed him to learn Western oil painting very early.

Both of them were swaying their paintbrushes, while the apprentice next to them was helping.

After a while, Li Quan spoke first and said, "Your Majesty, you can relax a little."

After saying that, he glanced provocatively at Lang Shining next to him.

Lang Shining didn't react at all. He only said, speaking fluently in Beijing movies: "Your Majesty, you can read."

Zhu Yijiong did not get up and leave, because he had only finished drawing the outline, and other texture details, such as the dragon robe, needed further improvement.

This portrait of the emperor can be regarded as an old tradition in ancient dynasties, and even Zhu Yijiong is not exempt from it. The reason for the ministers was to demonstrate the emperor's majesty and maintain political stability. Otherwise, the people and officials would not be able to see the emperor for a long time, and there would be no portrait of the emperor. That would also be detrimental to the authority of the emperor and the court.

The two of them painted separately until noon, but they were not finished, but they had almost finished the painting. The rest could be painted slowly. Zhu Yijiong also specially left four people to have lunch in the palace.

Three days later, Li Quan came over first to deliver a business report. He used Yangzhou's traditional meticulous painting techniques. He had some skill in just looking at the portrait, and the name of the portrait was "Portrait of the Ming Emperor in Winter Clothes."

After painting the emperor, he still had to paint the harem and concubines, and Lang Shining was still polishing it carefully. This guy used an oil painting style, and he had to paint layer by layer. It would take less than ten days and a half to complete it. .

When Li Wei finished painting the harem and concubines, Lang Shining had just completed it and presented it to the emperor.

Li Wei also came here with his son, but he came not to see a joke, but to see how well Lang Shining, his former colleague, had painted the appearance of the emperor of the new dynasty.

Yes, this Li Wei once worked as a court painter for Kangxi, but later he was jealous of his colleagues, so he left his job and returned home. He did not have deep contact with Castiglione, but only heard about it.

Zhu Yijiong took the two paintings and compared them, and immediately saw the clues: "What kind of painting method do you use?"

Castiglione held up his hand and explained: "I was in Beijing before, where I exchanged and studied with other Chinese painters, and found that their painting methods were all very interesting. They were obviously different from European oil paintings, so I tried to combine the two painting methods. "

Zhu Yijiong nodded: "Well, you have a great idea of ​​combining Chinese and Western styles!"

It's really good. Let's not talk about future generations. Just look at the painting in front of you. From a distance, it looks like a Chinese painting, but up close, it looks like an oil painting.

Seeing that Li Wei was impatient, Zhu Yijiong did not dare to say anything and said with a smile: "You guys should take a look too!"

Li Quan couldn't wait to take over the painting, and he quickly saw the clues. It was obviously an oil painting style of light and shadow, but when he looked at it from a distance, he could see the effect of meticulous painting.

If you can inscribe a poem, stamp it, and then frame it, it will be a complete Chinese painting.

Zhu Yijiong asked: "How is it?"

Li Wei said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, there is indeed some merit."

It's just a saving grace. For a master of meticulous painting like Li Wei, it's just refreshing.

Zhu Yijiong said: "In this case, Li Qing and Lang Qing both received the official rank of court painters, and together with Lang Qing, they discussed and discussed to see if they could truly perfect this painting method. Don't look down on Li Qing either. This painting method can create a new school of painting, even if it is the founder of that school."

"The minister obeys the order."

Both of them were happy in their hearts and answered with cupped hands.

Emperors of all dynasties have to support painters in the inner court, and Zhu Yijiong is also inevitable. Anyway, there is no shortage of salaries for these people.

For Li Quan, being a court painter in the new dynasty meant that the emperor of the new dynasty recognized his painting skills. Castiglione also solved the problem of staying in China to earn enough food and clothing, and was able to get up close to the emperor and learn to record Chinese stories.

Speaking of which, historically speaking, this Castiglione also secretly painted a real portrait of Qianlong, successfully restoring the image of Emperor Qianlong to later generations. For details, please refer to the image of Sun Haiying in the film and television drama. It is a pity that there is no Qianlong in this time and space, and Mr. Sun in future generations may not have a chance.

After the four people left the palace, Li Wei and his son had to make preparations to officially settle in Nanjing. They also had to work with Castiglione on painting skills to see if they could successfully perfect Castiglione's rough merging techniques.

Castiglione returned to his residence in Nanjing, which was a house he rented. The rental funds came from Shu You, an apprentice. If the emperor hadn't ordered him to enter the palace, he probably wouldn't be able to survive next year because his apprenticeship was about to start.

In China, Christianity is almost completely banned, and he cannot raise funds through preaching.

Lang Shining returned to his residence, took out his diary, and began to write in his diary: "Today, I was summoned to the palace by the new emperor of China. The dynasty founded by this new emperor of China is called the Ming Dynasty. And he was the queen of the dynasty that was destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. His Majesty not only summoned me, but also summoned another Chinese painter. Together we painted portraits of His Majesty the Emperor and his concubines. His Majesty the Emperor is very open-minded and very willing to accept new things."

"Obviously different from the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, he recognized my new painting method that combined Chinese painting techniques, and asked me to perfect this painting method together with the Chinese painter who was summoned together. I can stay in China again, Let’s continue to appreciate China’s customs and customs. His Majesty the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the ocean and commerce. The commercial economy here is very prosperous, and there is hardly a beggar on the roadside in Nanjing.”

"If the monarchs in Europe can learn from His Majesty the Emperor of China, then Europe may be truly strong, and the people at the bottom can truly get rid of their poverty. May God bless these poor children! By the way, I have one more thing. Hiding His Majesty from the Ming Dynasty, I secretly recorded His Majesty’s honor and prepared to restore it and draw it.”

"These Chinese officials are too hypocritical and only know how to please the emperor. Such a wise monarch, his true appearance should be seen by future generations."

……

This winter, civil unrest broke out in Quang Nam Province, and the government forced the people to rebel.

Cui Sheng, the governor of Guangnan, personally took the lead and took advantage of the fact that Guangnan was no longer hot and humid in winter to forcibly take back the excess land in the hands of the Guangnan gentry, which incited the local gentry and wealthy families to incite the people to rebel.

These Guangnan gentry had all been under the rule of the new Ming Dynasty for more than a year, and their thinking was still stuck in the old inertia. They believed that as long as they incited the people to rebel, they could force the court to make concessions. However, the Guangxi wolf soldiers stationed in Guangnan this time were not easy to mess with, especially since Cui Sheng personally took the lead in forcing the Guangnan gentry to rebel. Naturally, they had already made preparations.

As soon as the Guangnan gentry incited the people to rebel, tens of thousands of wolf soldiers immediately sent out troops to quell the rebellion.

From the outbreak of the rebellion, in just half a month, the entire Guangnan was shed with blood. Countless gentry and wealthy families were directly confiscated and exterminated by the ferocious wolf soldiers. Those Yue people who followed the rebellion showed no mercy, as long as they saw Those officers and soldiers who are still unwilling to surrender will be killed without mercy.

Even if they surrender, they will become criminals and take back their original land.

Under such brutal suppression and bloodbath, without the help of the hot and humid rainforest climate in summer, the gentry and rebels in Guangnan who started the rebellion were completely powerless to fight back against the cannons and cannons fired by the officers and soldiers.

Countless rebellious people fled into the mountains. Many smart gentry and wealthy families saw that the situation was wrong, and even realized that they might have been tricked by the court. They quickly took their family's wealth and fled to the small court of the Ruan family in the south.

Regarding these Guangnan gentry who fled south, Ruan Phuc Shu was in a dilemma.

If you stop them, this is called refusing to save them, and it will affect the cohesion within the Yue people. But if you don't stop it, you will offend the Chinese court.

Moreover, under the long-term suppression of the Nguyen clan's South Vietnam Kingdom, the internal conflicts between the gentry, officials and people became more and more intense day by day.

If it had been his father's reign, he would have launched a war against Champa and Chenla.

The Mekong Delta in Vietnam was snatched from Chenla. The land snatched from these wars will basically be distributed directly to landless people and dilapidated landlords, thus easing the contradiction between the gentry, the government and the people.

But now, Chenla, Guangnan, and Laos have all become Chinese territory and vassal states. The Ruan family has been surrounded by everyone and has no way to expand externally.

There is also a Nanpan Kingdom, but it is all mountainous and there is not even a king, only two indigenous leaders - Huo She and Shui She.

The Xishan Army uprising, which was supposed to take another fifty years to fully break out, is now showing some signs, and even the Han people in the Ruan family's territory are beginning to show signs of being ready to take action.

Who said that Nguyen Phuc Thu was not a good person? He reached out to the semi-independent Minh Huong people, and even intended to break up the Minh Huong people and move them away. Even the names of the Minh Huong people were asked to be changed to Minh Xiang people, and they were not allowed to leave Vietnam.

The Ruan family is strong, so there is no problem in doing this, and the people of Mingxiang cannot resist, but now... haha.

Civil turmoil broke out in Guangnan in the north, and rivers of blood flowed from the wolf soldiers. The Ruan clan in the south was almost suppressed to the limit. King Ruan Phuc Su had no choice but to do anything.

This is an unsolvable situation!

Or take advantage of the current civil unrest in Guangnan and the Ming army to attack the Chenla Kingdom westward, plunder the rich Mekong River Delta, and completely annex it, thus diverting domestic conflicts.

Or just lie down and die.

Then, within ten years, the Ruan family will explode, and the Ming army will come to clean up the mess.

(End of this chapter)