Chapter 158 Mongolia waits two years

The Ninth Prince slumped down on his desk, looking dejected. He said listlessly, "We can raise the capital, or at worst borrow it. The rest is about finding capable managers to take charge—Tenth Brother, do you have anyone in mind?"

Yin'e rested his head on his hands on the desk: "There are a few who are capable of great things, but I have my eye on them. They may not be willing to give up their future to go into business."

Being chosen to be a prince's "haha bead" means that even if one's family background is poor, it's not too difficult to find out. Even if one's name is not known to Emperor Kangxi, there are many relatives or friends. With a little effort, it wouldn't be difficult to get a word in front of the emperor.

Even if a noble son like this lacks the ability or family influence to enter the imperial court as an official, he can still use connections to fill a vacancy as a guard or take an insignificant military post. He will have no shortage of future prospects and may not necessarily be willing to go into business.

Although following Yin'e and the Ninth Prince provided a powerful backer, and following a prince meant you wouldn't have to worry about food, the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants placed merchants last. Those noble sons with good family backgrounds and their own abilities might not necessarily be willing to take this unconventional path.

The three people that Yin'e is currently optimistic about—Laibao, Erqi, and Chabina—are intelligent, quick-witted, and ambitious. Even if they can't be called unparalleled geniuses, they are definitely talented individuals.

But these three come from good families, and they are diligent, studious, and ambitious. Why would they give up a bright future and choose to go into business instead of taking the main road that is considered a detour by the world?

Laibao's surname was Xitala, Erqi's surname was Xilinjueluo, and he was Ertai's younger brother. Chabina's surname was Wanyan.

All three came from prominent families. Even if their direct ancestors did not hold high official positions and had no influence in the court, their families were large and prosperous, and they could always find a few capable people in the family. It was not that difficult for them to make a career for themselves, and there was no need for them to go into business in order to curry favor with the prince.

The Ninth Prince turned over, resting his right cheek on the desk. His bright, phoenix-shaped eyes slanted as he looked down at Yin'e, who was propping his head up with his elbow: "Our Haha Zhuzi all come from good backgrounds. How about we try a different approach and look for people within the Eight Banners, or perhaps consider the bondservant groups?"

“Ordinary bannermen are worth considering. It’s hard for them to make a living, so I don’t think they would mind doing business.” Yin’e nodded thoughtfully. “I was assigned to the Plain Red Banner, so I can slowly look for opportunities within the Plain Red Banner.”

The Ninth Prince was a little depressed when he mentioned this. He pouted and complained with a wronged expression, "We are about the same age and were born in the same year, but I was assigned to the Plain Blue Banner instead of the Plain Red Banner with you."

Kangxi's sons, including the crown prince, were all registered in the Eight Banners. They were assigned to the Lower Five Banners, not the Upper Three Banners directly commanded by Kangxi.

As princes, although most of them were still young and not yet adults, they were automatically assigned to the Eight Banners and thus held the position of junior banner lords, qualifying them to participate in the affairs of the Eight Banners. Kangxi's assignment of princes to the Lower Five Banners was intended to make them banner lords, paving the way for the princes to command the Lower Five Banners.

Among them, the eldest prince, the crown prince, and the third prince were assigned to the Bordered Blue Banner; the fourth prince, the fifth prince, and the seventh prince were assigned to the Bordered White Banner; the eighth prince and the ninth prince were assigned to the Plain Blue Banner; and Yin'e was assigned to the Plain Red Banner. Other princes who were not old enough were not assigned to their respective banners and would have to wait until they entered the Imperial Study to study before they would be assigned.

In fact, according to the order of birth, Yin'e should have been assigned to the Plain Blue Banner along with the Eighth and Ninth Princes. However, since his maternal family was the Niohuru clan, after careful consideration, Emperor Kangxi assigned Yin'e to the Plain Red Banner, which was the head of the Lower Five Banners.

Nodding, Yin'e sighed and echoed the Ninth Prince's words: "Yes, it would be great if you had been assigned to the Plain Red Banner with me."

The Ninth Prince and the Eighth Prince were assigned to the Plain Blue Banner. They are still young now, so it's fine. But when they grow up, if they fight over the affairs of the Eight Banners and the position of the banner chief of the Plain Blue Banner, Yin'e is very worried that the Ninth Prince will suffer at the hands of the Eighth Prince and be squeezed out by him so that he has no place to speak in the Plain Blue Banner.

The two brothers sat facing each other, feeling depressed about the matter of lowering the banners, before bringing the topic back. Yin'e pondered for a moment and said, "Let's leave the bondservant group for now. The current head of the Imperial Household Department is Lingpu. If we try to find people among the bondservant group, we can't avoid him. He might even plant a few spies in. It's very risky."

Yin'e had considered bondservants, and could even think of a few suitable candidates, such as the Gao family, who were now under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Department. The Gao family members were all shrewd and good at business, making them very suitable candidates.

If just talking about the Gao family might not be enough to make sense, then let's talk about the Gao family's youngest son, Gao Bin, who is about the same age as Yin'e. He will have a daughter in the future, who will be the Consort Huixian of Emperor Qianlong.

The Ninth Prince pressed his right cheek against the desk, blinked his big eyes and pondered for a while. He rolled his eyes and was persuaded by Yin'e: "That makes sense. Let's temporarily exclude the bondservants option and choose people from the ordinary bannermen of the Plain Red Banner and Plain Blue Banner first."

Yin'e stood up, picked up the handbook that Ninth Prince had placed on the desk, put it back into the locked box, and said, "Ninth Brother, I still want to go to Mongolia to conduct an on-site investigation before deciding where to build the workshop."

“Sure.” The Ninth Prince nodded in agreement. He always trusted Yin’e’s decisions and never hesitated for a long time. “We should go to Mongolia to see for ourselves and also look for the natural alkaline minerals you mentioned…”

Before he could finish speaking, the Ninth Prince suddenly sat up, staring intently at Yin'e, and interrogated him in a serious tone: "Tenth Brother, tell me the truth, do you want to go to Mongolia because you want to get good horses there, like the excellent steed Dahei that the Khorchin gave to Fifth Brother?"

Blinking his eyes, Yin'e suddenly stopped, somewhat surprised that the Ninth Prince would be so sharp, and did not immediately answer the Ninth Prince's question.

After a while, Yin'e gave an embarrassed smile, looked away, and stammered in a low voice, unable to hide his guilt, "No, no."

Ninth Prince: Stare—

Bathed in the Ninth Prince's fiery gaze, Yin'e turned his head away uncomfortably to avoid his intense stare. He felt as if he had nails under his buttocks and couldn't sit still, squirming back and forth in the chair.

After a long while, Yin'e finally couldn't hold back any longer. He hung his head and said dejectedly, "Okay, I admit it. I do have this reason for wanting to go to Mongolia."

The Ninth Prince narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly and glanced at Yin'e without revealing his emotions.

Yin'e immediately raised his watch to prove his innocence: "However, I swear that my main purpose in going to Mongolia was to find alkaline minerals, investigate wool, and find a suitable place to build a workshop in Mongolia. Finding good horses was just a side thing."

"That's the truth." The Ninth Prince kept a straight face, his expressionless.

He raised his beautiful phoenix eyes and glanced at Yin'e, nodding seriously and saying, "For the sake of alkaline ore and wool, we should indeed go to Mongolia." Suddenly, a bright smile appeared on his face, "For the sake of the fine horses that my tenth brother likes, we should go even more."

The Ninth Prince, having made a fool of himself, chuckled. His straight back suddenly slumped down, and he propped his head up with his hands on the desk, grinning as he said, "Then, Tenth Brother, when will we find an opportunity to plead with Father Khan to take us with him when he goes hunting beyond the Great Wall?"

Emperor Kangxi went hunting in the northern frontier almost every year, and each time he would take several of his sons with him.

For the princes who were confined to the Forbidden City and studying, although the journey from the capital to the northern frontier was long and arduous, going out was like a vacation, going to the grasslands was like a trip, and accompanying the emperor on his northern tour was a great honor, which every prince looked forward to.

The Ninth Prince was quite self-aware. He knew that if they didn't go to Emperor Kangxi in advance and ask for his permission, Emperor Kangxi would probably not remember them when he went hunting in the border regions. When he drafted the list of princes for the tour, he would only list the names of a few older princes and that would be it.

Although Yin'e was very envious of a Ferrari-level superb steed like Dahei, he shook his head without hesitation and said, "Let's forget about the next two years."

“Let’s wait two years. When Khan Ama wants to go hunting again in two years, we’ll go to him in advance and ask him to add us to the list of those going on the tour.”

Firstly, the Dzungar tribe in Western Mongolia is causing a great disturbance, and Southern Mongolia is in a state of utter chaos, having suffered both natural disasters and man-made calamities. Going to Mongolia at this time would be like walking into trouble, which is not a wise move. It would be better to wait two years until the Dzungar situation calms down before going to Mongolia.

Secondly, the journey from Beijing to Mongolia beyond the Great Wall was several hundred li (approximately 150 kilometers), a truly long distance in the Qing Dynasty, given the inconvenient transportation. The journey itself was incredibly arduous. Especially when Emperor Kangxi traveled by imperial decree, it was the complete opposite of traveling light and simply; the procession was enormous and extremely troublesome.

Yin'e and the Ninth Prince are still young. If they were to go to Mongolia with the hunting party now, it would be torture. They might lose ten pounds after a trip and be completely exhausted. It would be better to wait two years until they are older and stronger before going to Mongolia.

Of course, Yin'e also had a little bit of selfishness.

That is, he has only been learning to ride horses for a few months now. Although he has good talent and is willing to work hard, he is still too young and has not had enough time. His riding skills are not superb; he can only ride a horse on his own. If he really goes to Mongolia and encounters a good horse, Yin'e will not be able to ride it in a short time, let alone tame a fine horse.

—Although Dahei was a birthday gift from Khorchin to the Fifth Prince, it was originally the leader of a wild horse herd. It was unruly and irritable. It had been more than a month since it was sent to the Fifth Prince, but it had not yet been tamed by him. It did not treat the Fifth Prince as its master at all and refused to let him ride on its back.

The Ninth Prince rolled his eyes, then suddenly looked worried and asked in a low voice, lacking confidence, "What if Father doesn't agree when we plead with him?" Should we try to curry favor with Emperor Kangxi?

Yin'e shrugged, looking like a rogue: "If Father Khan doesn't agree, we'll go to pay our respects to him every day and stay in the Qianqing Palace to annoy him to death."

The princes who moved to their own separate quarters were not allowed to freely enter or leave the East and West Six Palaces, nor could they frequently pay their respects to their mothers. However, the Imperial Study, where the princes studied, was located in a palace attached to the Qianqing Palace, making it convenient for them to pay their respects to Emperor Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi was also happy for his sons to visit him privately and pay their respects.

Although Emperor Kangxi would visit the Imperial Study whenever he had free time and saw his sons quite often, it was ultimately a test of all the princes' abilities, not a private conversation or emotional exchange between father and sons.

The Third Prince, for example, frequently went to the Qianqing Palace alone to pay his respects to Emperor Kangxi, almost every other day. Unlike Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, who were so lazy and unreliable, they barely went to the Qianqing Palace to pay their respects, only once every two weeks.