Under the series of policies implemented by Yinreng, the enthusiasm for studying and taking the imperial examinations in all parts of the Qing Dynasty increased significantly.

The Manchu high-ranking officials had some complaints about this, but in the end they were afraid of the princes around Yinreng who were ruthless and did not dare to make any noise to disgust others.

After the heat of this matter died down a little, Yinreng turned his attention to agriculture.

There was no department specifically in charge of agriculture in the imperial court. All matters related to money and grain were handled by the Ministry of Revenue.

What Yinreng wanted to intervene in was not agricultural taxation, but he wanted to find someone to study how to increase grain production.

In fact, more than 30 years ago, Kangxi himself optimized a batch of imperial rice through the "ear selection" method. It can be seen that in this era, experienced people have consciously selected better seeds to cultivate high-yield and high-resistance varieties.

Yinreng wanted to recruit a group of farmers who were extremely talented in farming and open a grain seed research institute between the capital and Chengde.

A thousand acres of fertile land was set aside for these people to work on.

Now we have glass and coal, and we can also build a few greenhouses to study off-season vegetables.

In addition, Yinreng also planned to promote Arabic numerals.

At the beginning, Yinreng was thinking about whether he could change the name of Arabic numerals to Chinese numerals or something. Unfortunately, when he looked up information in his previous life, he found that Arabic numerals had been introduced to China as early as three or four hundred years ago.

Even if he openly tampered with the origin, Yinreng couldn't be as shameless as stealing from the countrymen...

Speaking of which, the 80 million taels of silver that Xiao Zi used to pay off have not been paid off yet. It’s time for Yinzhi and others to flex their muscles!

Once Yinreng had an idea, he immediately had it implemented.

Among these, the most important is the Agricultural Research Institute.

After all, food is the most important thing for people. In today's Qing Dynasty, the total population does not exceed 200 million.

But even if we exclude the impact of natural disasters on grain production, it is still a pipe dream for the Qing Dynasty to ensure that the people have enough food and clothing.

So in addition to researching higher-yielding seeds, we also have to research fertilizers and pesticides.

As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the farmers around the capital were in an uproar.

After all, the notice clearly stated that as long as one officially became an employee of the Agricultural Research Institute, one would receive a monthly salary of five taels of silver.

What is the concept of five taels of silver?

Two taels of silver is enough to support a family of five for a month, and five taels of silver can support more than ten people across three generations. How could they not be tempted?

It’s a pity that the imperial court only recruited literate farmers with rich farming experience.

The literacy requirement alone would eliminate more than 90% of the people.

Some people try to take shortcuts and sign up excitedly just because they know how to read, but then fail the first round of interviews.

If one had not been dealing with land for a long time, it would have been impossible to answer more than seven of the questions that Yinreng asked the Ministry of Revenue to sort out.

Of course, answering the seven questions correctly is just the stepping stone to the Agricultural Research Institute. The real challenge is the subsequent six-month probation period.

During the probation period, the salary is only one or two taels per month.

However, if you pass the assessment, the salary for the first half of the year will be paid in one lump sum.

If you don't pass.

Then sorry, just pack up and get out.

Each person is given one acre of land and allowed to grow food crops on it. They can grow anything they want, but the whole process from sowing to harvesting is entirely up to them.

Only those whose grain output is above the average will have the opportunity to become regular employees.

In Fengze Garden, there were farmers who had followed Kangxi in the early years of ear selection. Yinreng gathered these people and made them the first managers of the Agricultural Research Institute.

Salaries will be increased by 20% on the original basis, and will increase by half a percentage point each year thereafter.

At the same time, Yinreng also summoned the Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and personally taught them Arabic numerals and the tabular accounting method.

A few people originally didn't take it seriously, but after discovering the practicality of Arabic numerals, they put away their contempt.

Compared with Chinese characters, Arabic numerals are indeed easier to tamper with. However, if Arabic numerals are used in calculations and the final result is marked in Chinese characters, the hidden danger will no longer exist.

Time passed quietly in the busyness, and when Yinreng took time off from government affairs, Guwalgiya's due date was approaching.

Guwalgiya was only one year younger than Yinreng. Giving birth to a child at the age of 38 would be extremely risky even with the improved medical conditions in later times.

So on the day when Guwalgiya revealed her pregnancy, Yinreng built a three-layer security around Kunning Palace.

As for the palace power in the hands of the Guwalgiya clan, he also took it over.

Fortunately, apart from the queen, there was only Liu Jia by his side. Shortly after he ascended the throne, Liu Jia was also named Consort Xian by Yinreng.

He had no children, so Guaerjia did not have much to do in terms of daily palace affairs, and the remaining part was spent on handling the trivial matters on Kangxi's side.

It must be said that Kangxi was in really good health. All those ups and downs didn't cause any problems with his brain or heart. Instead, he continued to have children.

During the two years since he ascended the throne, he had a younger brother and three younger sisters.

Yinreng didn't know whether such people existed in history, but he was now truly shocked by Kangxi's fertility.

During Guaerjia's pregnancy, the six western palaces were extremely lively. The empress dowager lived in Ningshou Palace, and all she heard all day long were the trivial matters around Kangxi. She was old and didn't want to get involved.

But she knew that to Yinreng, she was just a non-blood-related maternal grandmother. Even though Yinreng had a close relationship with her, she could not take advantage of that little bit of affection to flatter Kangxi.

So she kept enduring it, and after a month or two, she successfully made herself sick from frustration.

It was only then that Yinreng realized that while he was busy with government affairs, the Empress Dowager had suffered a lot of grievances in Ningshou Palace.

Even though the Cining Palace had not been renovated yet, Yinreng moved the empress dowager there regardless.

Kangxi was furious on the spot.

They accused Yinreng of pretending to be filial to Empress Xiaozhuang, calling him a monster and a disaster to the country and the people, and the Empress Dowager of being hypocritical. Her usual kindness was a false facade just to gain benefits from that monster Yinreng.

Yinreng was basically immune to those words, but in order to provoke the two of them, Kangxi actually spread rumors about them.

Those words were simply unbearable to hear, and the Queen Mother was so angry that she fainted on the spot.

Yinreng's face suddenly turned dark.