Chapter 83 Happy New Year's Eve

After the Ninth Prince's wedding, he should prepare to return to Tianjin Bay to continue his work as a supervisor.

However, when the monthly profit distribution was supposed to be paid to Eighth Prince Yinzhi, he did not receive it.

What happened?

Yinzhi was used to it; this was the money he was entitled to every month, and he could tolerate it even though it decreased month by month. But now…

Why is it gone?

At this point, he had completely forgotten how he had obtained the money in the first place.

"Xiao Quanzi, wasn't it time to send over the dividend money today?" Yinzhi asked the person beside him, his expression not very good. Did his subordinates dare to embezzle even his money?

"Reporting to Your Highness, today... the people from Ninth Prince's side didn't send the money." Xiao Quanzi was also uneasy. "Perhaps something delayed them?"

Xiao Quanzi knew that the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince had a deep brotherly bond, and he was worried that if the Eighth Prince and the Ninth Prince brought up this conflict, they might end up taking their anger out on him.

Yinzhi remained silent.

It seems they didn't take this matter to heart, and the dividends still hadn't arrived on the first day.

The next day, I heard that the Ninth Prince was going to Tianjin Bay the next day. Why hadn't he sent him over yet? I couldn't sit still any longer and finally couldn't resist going to Prince Yinzhen's residence to find him.

When Yinzhi saw Yinsi arrive, Yintang thought that he had come to see him off.

Indeed, at first, Yinzhi did say a few words of concern to see his ninth brother off, and at the same time, he subtly inquired about the profit sharing of the 'Shengqing Bell'.

"My brother may not know, but because of the huge sales of our Shengqing clocks, countless merchants have studied Western clocks, and there are now plenty on the market. Our clocks have had to be discounted to maintain a balance, resulting in low profits and wasting time and energy. My brother has already sold this outright to a trading company."

That reason is true, but more than that, it's because... I don't want to have any conflicts of interest with Brother Ba in this kind of matter. It's annoying. Brother Ba's scheming against him and Brother Shi is really unpleasant and disgusting!

"Ninth Brother? How, how could you sell this to a merchant? This, this... it was named by Father Emperor himself..." Yinzhi was stunned and asked Yintang dumbfounded.

Why wasn't he notified beforehand? Why wasn't it sold to him?

Ninth Brother doesn't have the time or leisure to run it, so why not hand it over to me?

"Don't worry, Eighth Brother. We've already mentioned this to Father Emperor, and he's agreed." All the money from the sale goes to Father Emperor. This trading company is a yellow merchant firm, which is also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue. How could Father Emperor not be happy?

He also suggested that the Emperor should create a Ministry of Commerce, since if there are more Western goods in the future, it would be unreasonable to give all the profits to merchants.

Kangxi recalled the dividends he had received over the years. Although each dividend seemed small, they added up to a considerable sum.

The key point is... there are many more than just this one thing! Indeed, he wouldn't feel comfortable leaving these things in the hands of merchants or ministers.

Yinzhi: "..." Am I worried? No, I'm heartbroken and can't bear to part with you!

But since Father Emperor has already agreed, if he criticizes Ninth Brother now, it would be tantamount to expressing dissatisfaction with Father Emperor.

Finally, suppressing his anger, he put on a gentle smile, an expression that said he was reluctant to part with him but still wished him a bright future.

After leaving, he returned to his brother's residence and angrily smashed things in his study.

The servants who attended to the study dared not go in, fearing that they would become the target of the wrath, and if they were killed, they would truly have nothing left.

When the Eighth Prince's wife, Lady Guoluo, heard about it, she immediately rushed to the study to keep Yinzhi company. "Ninth Brother is really too much. He doesn't treat you like his own brother at all. Look, he gave that good business to someone else instead of you."

"Don't talk nonsense, that was given to Father Emperor." Yinzhi knew that these words would cause trouble, so he reprimanded the Eighth Prince's wife with a stern face.

But he was always gentle, and when he scolded people, he wasn't very scary, at least... he wouldn't let the Eighth Prince's wife hear it.

"Hmph, it's alright. Father Emperor has the Qing Dynasty under his control, does he need such a bastard?" Adding flowers to brocade is not as good as giving charcoal in snowy weather. Ninth Brother obviously doesn't think much of their Eighth Prince.

“Master, what Ninth Brother did is really too much. I must go to Consort Yi and complain about him.” Because she and Consort Yi were both from the Guoluo clan, Eighth Prince’s wife shamelessly called Consort Yi “aunt” (meaning aunt in Manchu).

"She is, after all, Ninth Brother's mother. How could she possibly favor us?" Yinzhi had no hope at all. Surely Consort Yi wouldn't scold her own son for the sake of her niece who had been married off to countless other branches of the family.

“Don’t be afraid, there are plenty of Western things. Doesn’t Ninth Brother’s workshop have other craftsmen? We can make them ourselves.” Eighth Princess Consort was a woman with strong opinions. She had never wanted to compete with Ninth Brother for such a good business before because of the profit sharing.

Who knew that some people would be so shameless? Since that's the case, they'll just do it themselves.

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Yinzhi hesitated, but the Eighth Prince Consort didn't listen to his hesitation. If he hesitated like this, what good would he get out of it?

"Listen to me, it can't be wrong, sir. You are a man of great ambition, and great ambition... requires financial support." What woman who manages a household doesn't understand the importance of money?

Yinzhi seemed to be persuaded, but his face was full of hesitation, as if he couldn't bear to do it, but he obeyed because of his wife's words.

Guo Luoluo liked this kind of Eighth Prince, which made her feel that she held a high position in the Eighth Prince's heart.

Yuqing Palace.

After hearing from Jialuo about how goose and duck feathers could be used to make clothes, Yinreng had a lot of them collected from farmers in the suburbs and then had embroiderers make them.

The embroiderers were all very skilled, and the goose and duck feathers used for stuffing were also processed, with the inner layer embroidered with evenly distributed squares.

He also found the cotton that the Crown Princess had mentioned, but it might not be called cotton now; it was called white sesame. (Found on Sogou search)

Yinreng thought about it and thought that cotton was a good explanation. Cotton is warm, and what's cotton?

Since it's summer now, new clothes don't need to be made of cotton or anything like that. He also heard the Crown Princess say that wool would be fine for sweaters, which gave Yinreng some more ideas.

The Mongol tribes had always coveted the Qing Dynasty's conquest of the Central Plains. If they hadn't been outmatched, they would have attacked their borders starting with Galdan.

When Galdan rebelled, not only the Western Regions, but even the Khorchin, who had been intermarried with the Qing imperial family for generations, secretly contacted Galdan.

Rather than seeking a marriage alliance, they preferred to restore the glory of the Genghis Khan era.

After much fuss, Yinreng finally managed to produce the so-called sweater and goose/duck feather coat and put them on... Oh, no, it's so hot now, anyone who wears that would be a fool.

Just touching it...it looks quite comfortable, I wonder if it's very warm.

They were placed aside for the time being. Songgotu sent someone to report that the grain was almost ripe.

Yinreng immediately went to report to Kangxi. Even though he didn't know if it was true or not, he still wanted to share this joyous news with his father as soon as possible.

While thinking this way, she also said it aloud to Emperor Kangxi in the Qianqing Palace.

Hearing Yinreng's words, Kangxi was very pleased. Kangxi knew that Yinreng was collecting information on so-called high-yield crops and was even organizing some kind of research on rice. He didn't understand it, but he didn't stop him.

The importance of food is known to every emperor in an agrarian society.

Not to mention the emperor, even the common people and officials understood this. So, when Yinreng wanted to find an old farmer who was good at farming, Kangxi helped him find one. He also wanted someone who could write, to record something... something was being done, so it was very troublesome.

Emperor Kangxi allowed Yinreng to do whatever he wanted, remaining a silent, unsung hero and father in the shadows.

Hearing that Yinreng had made a special trip to find him during the harvest season, eager to share the good news with his father as soon as possible, how could Kangxi not be happy?

It's said that there are no fathers and sons in the imperial family, which is utter nonsense. His relationship with Bao Cheng was definitely better than that between Zhu Yuanzhang and his crown prince Zhu Biao in the previous dynasty.

"Alright, alright, let's go together." When Kangxi went out, he naturally couldn't just take a few people with him like Yinreng did; at the very least, there were many people secretly protecting him.

When the two set off, filled with excitement and nervous anticipation, Kangxi did not seek out the other princes to accompany him.

When Songgotu saw the emperor arrive, he excitedly stepped forward to pay his respects. He was certain that the emperor would reward him this time, and perhaps he would be able to return to the court.

After listening to Suo'etu's thoughts, Yinreng thought for a moment, "Is there anything else that you need to do, Uncle? Returning to the court is impossible. Uncle, you should focus your attention on your two sons."

"Hmm." Kangxi paid no attention to Suo'etu's excitement, focusing instead on the grain he was about to see, the fields of farmland, which were naturally being cultivated with the help of farmers.

Since the grain crops had not yet been publicized, they did not need to be heavily guarded. However, there were quite a few people around, since the grain would need to be dug out later.

For crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes planted in the ground, these people who had never done farm work were naturally prone to damaging the crops, so they had to hire many farmers to come and help.

Someone even brought a scale, but no one knows how much can be planted. The Emperor and the Crown Prince are standing expectantly by the field, so perhaps... it's four bushels?

They couldn't even imagine anything more.

It's like in modern society, if someone tells you your rice yield will reach 50,000 jin per mu this year, isn't that nonsense? Are they crazy?

Starting with the potato field, the farmers dug one by one with hoes. With each hoe stroke, a bunch of potatoes on a potato vine were dug up.

Seeing such large potatoes, and so many of them, Kangxi immediately exclaimed, "Don't use a hoe, dig them with your hands, dig them with your hands..."

"This, this..." "Go, go and call the Minister of Revenue... call all the Ministers of the Six Ministries over."

How much space can one seedling take up? The key is this many—at least six or seven. And the withered seedlings above them aren't spaced far apart. So, this acre of land…

He immediately got up, went over, and started digging with his hands, not wanting to damage such a large piece of grain.

"Father, there's a small hoe..." It was specially made, how could it be so lacking in... imperial style?

The six ministers who had been summoned were still somewhat bewildered. What time was this? Why were they going to the estate?

If it weren't for the young eunuchs I often saw in the Qianqing Palace, I would have thought they were lying.

When they arrived, the field was piled high with potatoes. The farmers were dumbfounded. Although they had helped with the planting, they had no idea what the yield would be.

Potatoes were originally grown in cold, high-altitude regions, such as Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, and northern Shaanxi. They only became widely cultivated in the Beijing-Tianjin area in the mid-18th century. (Source: Sogou Data)

In other words, it was only during the Qianlong era that it became widely popular. Initially, it was not a staple food in the region, but rather a food exclusively supplied to the imperial court by foreign vassals.

Those in power didn't pay attention to the crop's yield unless something unexpected happened, like someone dying from eating it.

The ministers looked at the piles and piles of potatoes and asked, "Is all of this grain grown from this little over an acre of land?"

The six ministries were the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War. The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, but the Minister of Revenue was not responsible for managing people's livelihood and civil affairs, but was responsible for managing the collection and allocation of money.

Sure enough, people have already gone to weigh themselves, and someone is recording each one. They're all smiling happily as they're being weighed.

As the records were put together, Kangxi looked at them and turned to ask Yinreng, "Baocheng did a good job on this."

"Father, these are high-yield grains brought back by people who went to the Western Ocean. It's just that word of mouth is not enough to promote them. It was only by chance that I discovered them. If Father wants to reward someone, why not reward those people?"

Yinreng doesn't need this little bit of empty fame. If his reputation becomes too great and surpasses his father's reputation among the common people, his father will probably start to have something on his mind.

There's no way around it; that's just how it is when you're someone's son.

Yinreng often recalled that when his father, the Emperor, contracted smallpox as a child, everyone avoided him and wished they could stay as far away from Yuqing Palace as possible.

Only the Emperor stayed by his side, even bringing memorials to Yuqing Palace for him. No matter how much Wuku's mother tried to persuade him, he remained with him.

Although the Emperor had contracted smallpox and was not afraid of being infected again, the Emperor was of noble birth, and there was always a possibility of something happening. Nevertheless, the Emperor resolutely stayed by his side and took care of him...

Yinreng also did not want his relationship with his father, the Emperor, to truly end in the future.

"Your Majesty, this, this, a total of... 17 shi..." After the weighing was completed, the clerk in charge of recording the weight was stunned. When he knelt in front of Emperor Kangxi to report, he couldn't help but stutter, completely unable to believe it.

If I hadn't recalculated it myself, I wouldn't have dared to tell the Emperor this number.

One stone is equal to 180 catties, but this is more than 1,000 catties.

Emperor Kangxi was completely shocked. "What? 17 shi??"

Although he had a feeling that it looked quite heavy, he was afraid it wasn't solid enough. Anyway... in his opinion, having 5 shi (900 jin) was already a blessing from heaven.

17 stones?

"Really?" The Minister of Revenue rushed forward immediately, looking curiously at the record book in the clerk's hand. He didn't dare to snatch it, but could only look longingly at Emperor Kangxi. "Your Majesty, I also want to see it."

Surely this minor official must have miscalculated?

The ministers were not ignorant of worldly affairs; they owned a lot of fertile land themselves, so how could they not care?

"Father, although potatoes have a high yield, they have a major drawback: they can't be stored for too long. If they sprout, they become poisonous and can kill people," Yinreng said, pouring cold water on the situation. If they didn't say something now, it would become a bad thing later when something went wrong.

Hearing the Crown Prince's discouraging words, Kangxi and the ministers of the Ministry of Revenue remained silent for a few seconds. "But, as long as it doesn't sprout, it'll be fine, right?"

"Yes, if stored properly, it can last for about two months before it has to be eaten. However, the growth cycle is between two and three months..." Yinreng spoke eloquently, showing that he had done his homework.

"Oh, right, Father Emperor, there are still sweet potatoes over there, but we haven't started digging them yet." Yinreng led Kangxi to another field.

This time, Emperor Kangxi didn't go down to the fields to dig sweet potatoes with them; he was still excited about the 17 shi (a unit of dry measure) of potatoes he had just harvested, so excited he was practically bursting with excitement.

If it weren't for his years of cultivating his composure as an emperor, never revealing his emotions, he would have been excitedly dancing around.

The sweet potatoes are also exceptionally large, and there are more than one sweet potato under a single plant.

"Father, did you know? The leaves and roots of this sweet potato are all edible; it's a treasure from head to toe." Yinreng reminded him. It can be used as a staple food and as a vegetable; how could it not be a treasure?

"Hmm, not bad." Kangxi nodded. It was indeed good, but he wondered about the yield.

"Father, this is quite particular about the environment. Potatoes can grow in both the arid north and the humid south, but sweet potatoes need to be grown in well-drained fields, not too watery. Loose and fertile soil is better."

"Furthermore, sweet potatoes should not be eaten in large quantities, as they can easily cause bloating and acid reflux, but it's fine if you don't eat them every day." Yinreng remembered it like this, "They should be eaten with other grains."

Kangxi nodded, and suddenly the superiority of potatoes over sweet potatoes became apparent.

So, in Kangxi's view, sweet potatoes and the like are unnecessary, and all should be planted with potatoes. Since they can't be stored for long, then... plant rice in paddy fields and potatoes in mountainous areas.

If it's the arid north... including Mongolia and other places?

hiss……

Wouldn't all the granaries in the land be full in this way? However, we must explain the storage issue to the people first.

But if we can produce this much and fill our stomachs, what more could we want?

Then……

Looking at those piles of sweet potatoes, it seems... the quantity and weight... are even greater?

As Emperor Kangxi was pondering this, a minor official came to report, "Your Majesty, the yield of these sweet potatoes... per mu is... it's actually 28 shi..."

The clerk was dumbfounded. This output was simply...unheard of...

It was as if a pie had fallen from the sky and landed on his head; his eyes widened in disbelief, yet he was also overjoyed.

"What……"

Once this yield came out, the idea of ​​'only growing potatoes' was immediately shattered. How could we stop growing them just because of a small problem?

If it can't be a staple food, then it can be a miscellaneous food. Eat it together, and it will fill your stomach, right? "Good, good!!" Kangxi clapped his hands with great joy, and was filled with excitement. If it weren't for the presence of his ministers and the people, he would have laughed out loud.

God bless you!

He was a wise and benevolent ruler of a prosperous era! From smallpox to food shortages, who dares to say anything bad about him? Who dares to say he wasn't a wise ruler? They might even say he was a first emperor of all time, unparalleled in history!

"Did you write down everything I just said?" He turned to another minor official beside him and asked.

"Your Highness, rest assured, everything has been recorded." The clerk quickly replied, and Yinreng nodded.

"By the way, Father Emperor, we also planted some tomatoes before, those bright red fruits. There were some in the palace before, but they were all for ornamental purposes. Later, we had people try them, and they were perfectly fine. They were actually quite delicious."

Yinreng felt that the yield per mu of tomatoes seemed to be quite high, so he had to discuss the matter with Kangxi.

"Hmm? Let's go take a look then." Kangxi was in such a good mood that he felt like he could fly. So let's go take a look.

However, the bright red color of the fruit really made it look like it had been poisoned.

But isn't there a bit too much fruit on this tree? It's causing the saplings to fall to the ground.

The crops were all about one mu (approximately 0.16 acres) in size, but the yield per mu almost stunned Emperor Kangxi. It was nearly 8,000 jin (approximately 4,000 kg), or 45 shi (approximately 22.5 tons), and his heart was pounding.

Heaven bestows abundant harvests; Heaven blesses the Qing Dynasty.

"Father, I believe that this batch of grain can be planted now in cities near the capital. The task of promoting the grain can be entrusted to my fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth brothers..."

Yinreng thought that if possible, while promoting agricultural products, they could also take advantage of the situation to plunder a wave of corrupt officials and confiscate their property... Well, perhaps the fourth brother could be ruthless enough to do so.

The fifth brother is barely acceptable, as he is rather indecisive. As for the seventh brother... he is relatively weaker, but if it is for the sake of the Emperor's favor and attention, he might be able to be ruthless.

According to the fourth brother's wife, Lady Guarjia, the eighth brother would later use Yinzhen's money to bribe officials.

As far as he knew, Lao Jiu seemed to have severed ties with him, and even dared to give up the watch business outright.

If Yinzhi were to investigate corrupt officials, he would likely accept bribes in order to fund his own future bid for the throne…

"Father, I think that my younger brother, fifth brother, and seventh brother should be in a group, while fourth brother and eighth brother are more capable. Like when they collected the debts from the national treasury, they might be more motivated to compete?"

After thinking about what Yinreng said, Kangxi thought it was quite good. "Hmm, that's fine. We'll do it your way."

After losing his share of the profits, Yinzhi received an order from Emperor Kangxi. On the one hand, he was excited that his father still remembered him, which meant that his father still thought he was capable. On the other hand, he was unhappy that he had to go with the fourth prince.

He's annoyed.

With a bumper harvest, Emperor Kangxi was not one to hide his thoughts, and he immediately announced it to the world with great joy.

Well... mainly in the imperial court, to announce it to the officials, but unfortunately, the officials didn't seem to believe it, and even suspected that the emperor was faking it.

Emperor Kangxi didn't care; once the seeds were planted, he would naturally find out.

Then, following Yinreng's suggestion, they were to personally handle the promotion of agricultural products.

Well, regarding the matter of investigating corrupt officials, Yinreng did not speak to Kangxi openly, but instead went to the Qianqing Palace in private to find Kangxi.

Kangxi recently obtained a lot of silver from large-scale confiscations. Whether or not it replenished the national treasury, it was still in the hands of the court and eventually the people. But it was still enough to build up the Qing Dynasty.

Copy! Copy it all, make sure it's good for me!

Then, Yinti was summoned.

The task of training the navy had to be assigned to Yinqi.

Yinti is currently trying to conceive, and his legitimate son has not yet been born, so how can he be running around everywhere?

"Father, I will not go." Damn it, it must be because the national treasury's debts have been collected, so Father arranged for me to do other work.

No, you need to work slower next time.

"You must go." You dare defy the imperial decree? Do you think your position as a prince is secure? Is your salary enough to support your wife? Losing your princely title, wouldn't that be shameful?

After clicking the button, Yinti felt that his father was really... too hateful, actually threatening him.

What could he do? He could only reluctantly accept the order.

When Kangxi saw how unwilling he was, he was furious. Who wouldn't be happy to hand over military power to someone else? Only the eldest son is so useless.

Get lost!

(End of this chapter)