Chapter 234 Live Broadcast from the Sky (14)

In the 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the Yongzheng Emperor resigned from his position at the Ministry of Revenue under the pretext of "rest and recuperation." He then took his wives, concubines, and children to avoid the turmoil in the capital and farmed in a suburban estate, calling himself "the most idle person in the world."

Friends, pay attention! What are the key words in this title?

No way, no way, there are people who think he's just a "leisurely person"? The key point is "number one in the world"!

The three high-yield crops that we should bring on our journey—potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn—were all cultivated by Emperor Yongzheng!

Besides "Xiezhi", Emperor Yongzheng also had another title: "God of Agriculture"!

During the period when he called himself a "leisurely person," he first successfully cultivated winter-warmed vegetables and a new type of improved rice. Then, in 1945, he successfully cultivated potatoes with an average yield of 30 shi per mu. Do you know what 30 shi per mu meant at that time?

They knew that the yield was thirty shi per mu!

People from all timelines perked up at the sound. The emperor and his officials, who had initially been listening to the celestial content as a story and focusing on the final lottery segment, held their heads even higher.

Thirty bushels of seedlings yielded—good stuff! Emperor Yongzheng truly deserves the title of "God of Agriculture." Time to spend money! Let's start spending money now! They absolutely have to get this!

Wow, thank you so much for all the gifts! Thank you to "Qin Shi Huang," thank you to "General Tian Ce," thank you to "Liu Zhi's father"...

"!" Upon discovering that these guys were disregarding the rules, starting to tip and spend money before the game was even over, Kangxi immediately ordered: "Quickly, tip me! Potatoes are a crop of our Great Qing Dynasty, they rightfully belong to us..."

"yes."

Wow, are you guys so excited today? Thank you "Emperor Kangxi", thank you "this lousy crown prince job is no good", thank you "it's the fourth prince, not the fourth prince"...

Upon hearing the names of Yinreng and Yinzhen being called out, Kangxi couldn't help but glance at them. Yinreng wasn't the focus right now; Kangxi looked at Yinzhen with considerable anticipation, "Fourth Prince, these potatoes..."

The cultivation of crops is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it must have been the result of many years of research. Is it possible that it has been discovered now?

"Your subject is incompetent," Yinzhen said helplessly, stepping forward to apologize. Wasn't his meaning clear enough? His name was even written down; he was the fourth prince. But not the fourth prince of Yongzheng—he truly wasn't!

Okay, okay, everyone calm down. Did you all give me your entire fortune as a tip? Be a rational consumer, friends. It seems you all really enjoy the story of Emperor Yongzheng, so I'll tell you a little more today.

Actually, many interesting things happened during the Yongzheng Emperor's farming career. Since the atmosphere is so good, I'll pick the most famous one to share with you all so you can have some fun.

Do you remember the story of "playing with children"?

Haha, that's right, it's the entry from the Honghui Diary that was exposed back then, actually originating from Emperor Yongzheng. And this habit has almost become a royal tradition. Just the other day, I saw on the news that our little prince had his hair styled in a bun, and aren't you all using that utterly hopeless expression on his face? Hehehe, so pitiful yet adorable, it makes me want to do it too.

This matter originated with Emperor Yongzheng during his time as a prince. Everyone knows that Yongzheng valued his offspring. However, outsiders do not understand exactly how Yongzheng "valued" them.

But it is clearly written in Xiao Su's daily records. Yongzheng would often hold and play with his sons, tossing them around like little toys. Honghui, as the eldest son, was "deeply affected" by this.

Of course, this behavior seemed quite alarming to outsiders. But in Su Peisheng's view, "Our Prince is under so much pressure every day, what's wrong with playing with children? Besides, our Prince isn't someone without sense of propriety," and so on. You can look it up; Su Peisheng was truly a die-hard fan of Yongzheng. In short, whatever Yongzheng did was right, and if you thought his behavior was problematic, then you were wrong.

As for our "victim," Honghui, he had no objections whatsoever. On the contrary, he considered it a normal "parent-child activity." If Yongzheng didn't play with him one day, he would even suspect that his father didn't love him and was deliberately offering himself up, hahaha. Under these circumstances, Honghui entertained the thirteenth prince, Yinxiang, and the fourteenth prince, Yinzhen, who came to play, and then came the story of the "tasteless fourteenth uncle" that has been passed down to this day, hahaha. I'll read Honghui's original diary to everyone.

"Oh, so Uncle Fourteen doesn't like playing with kids? Tsk, no taste. Hongyun and Hongshi are so cute, why shouldn't he play with them? Anyway, I'm not bringing Bu'er out!"

Haha, it was this record that made everyone realize that in Emperor Chengtai's eyes, "playing with children" was a symbol of good taste. How can this not be considered a dark history?

Of course, it's also clear that Honghui dotes on his younger sister. He's such a hypocrite; he spoils his sisters while letting his brothers play freely. Later, when Emperor Chengtai ascended the throne, he continued to treat his siblings in the same way. This led the later Prince He to write an article specifically criticizing Emperor Chengtai's favoritism—it's quite interesting, haha! You can search for it if you're interested.

"Huh?" Strange looks fell on Yinzhen. Yinzhen felt embarrassed and awkward. He couldn't help but shout in his heart, "I've already said that the fourth prince isn't the fourth prince. My son's name is Honghui, but I don't play with kids! I don't play with kids!"

There are actually many more such interesting anecdotes, which we will discuss later. After Emperor Yongzheng cultivated potatoes, this man, known as the most idle person in the land, returned to the attention of the court officials through a different path.

With such achievements, even if he were not emperor, no one who came to power could easily shake his position. It could be said that he personally created a get-out-of-jail-free card for himself.

As a reward, Emperor Kangxi officially conferred upon him the title of Prince Yong, and bestowed upon him Nian Shilan, the daughter of Nian Xialing, the governor of Huguang, as his secondary consort. He also entrusted him with the responsibility of educating the seventeenth prince.

A closer look reveals that this was not merely a reward and recognition, but also a form of control over Yongzheng. The so-called Seventeenth Prince Party was actually a puppet faction put forward by Kangxi, allowing Yongzheng to educate the Seventeenth Prince. This was not to favor the Seventeenth Prince, but to ensure that Yongzheng completely aligned himself with the royalists and was under his control.

There was no way around it; the "potato's contribution" was too great. Even though Yongzheng was outwardly neutral, Kangxi was still uneasy.

Yongzheng was well aware of this, so when he had a private conversation with Yinzhi and faced with the Eighth Prince's question, Yongzheng referred to it as "a small tactic to maintain imperial power." Therefore, Yongzheng truly understood Kangxi very well.

Furthermore, this conversation between the emperor and the emperor has led many later scholars to believe that Emperor Yongzheng had not only cultivated potatoes, but also achieved some success in cultivating sweet potatoes and corn at this time.

Why do I say that?

Here's the original text from "The Secret History of Yongzheng" for everyone to see. Regarding this question, Yongzheng directly said, "If you bring out another 'potato,' then you can offer it as a sacrifice to me."

Isn't the meaning of this obvious? Yongzheng needed to achieve great merit to return to the court. But he couldn't let his achievements overshadow the emperor, so he only offered potatoes.

The following part is also quite interesting. The four princes joked about the "potato" issue, and Yongzheng directly jokingly said that he was a member of the Seventeenth Prince Party and had nothing to say to him, who was a member of the Eighth Prince Party.

The way these two brothers interacted in private was really interesting. You could say that Yinzhi was subtly promoting his own agenda. There are many scenes in "The Secret History of Yongzheng" where, in Yinzhi's words, he was "perfecting the character of Emperor Yongzheng."

Our Prince Lian is really pulling these dirty tricks with a straight face, all to prove that he has the best relationship with Yongzheng. Speaking of pushing our wise Eighth Prince to this point, we have to mention our Seventeenth Prince, Yinli, who made his grand entrance...