Chapter 173 Milk Candy Glutinous Rice Paper

"Huh?" Yin'e looked up at the Imperial Concubine with a bewildered expression, and asked incredulously, "Yin De? Uncle Yin De?"

Yin De was the sixth son of Ebilun, but he only received the title of third-class imperial guard through hereditary privilege.

However, unlike Aling'a, Yin De did not leave his own residence and remained in the Duke of Guoyi's mansion, and he also held the position of a third-class imperial guard. Although he could not compare to Faka who inherited the title of first-class duke, Aling'a had both a noble title and was trusted by Emperor Kangxi, but surely he shouldn't have to ruin his future by going into business.

Yin'e didn't look down on merchants, and he was confident that he could make money once his business empire expanded. However, the social environment was such that merchants had a low status and were not valued, ranking last among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

Moreover, the Qing Dynasty was a feudal society. Having money alone was not enough; one also needed status and power. Otherwise, even the wealthiest merchants were merely pigs raised by those in power to be fattened up and slaughtered, with no ability to resist whatsoever.

The Imperial Concubine gave a soft "hmm" and explained gently, "I didn't mean for Yin De to help you all the time. I just wanted him to run errands for you for the first two years to set up the framework. Once you have your own personal guards and have trained suitable people around you, then I'll let Yin De hand over his responsibilities."

Yin'e grunted and hesitated, "Isn't this making Uncle Yin De work for free? Is he willing to do that?"

The Imperial Concubine nodded slightly and said slowly, "Yin De is twenty years old this year, only a few months older than Aling'a, yet he has only been granted the title of Third-Class Imperial Guard. His future is limited, and his abilities are not outstanding. It will also be difficult for his children to be married in the future, so naturally he is willing to take a chance."

Although Yin De's surname is Niohuru and he is also a member of the Duke of Guoyi's mansion, he is not very noticeable compared to Faka, Yanzhu, and Fubao. His status and position are insufficient, and his competitiveness in marriage is not as good as that of Aling'a, who moved out of the Duke of Guoyi's mansion but also has the title of First-Class Earl.

"I won't mistreat Yin De," the Consort smiled. "He'll agree to help you for a few years."

The empress is not allowed to interfere in politics, and the imperial concubine will not help Yin De secure any future or official position; he will have to work hard for that himself. However, the imperial concubine is currently the highest-ranking person in the empress's palace, and she can intervene in matters of marriage. If Yin De's children want to find good families in the future, the imperial concubine will make careful plans for them.

Yin'e was somewhat tempted, but after careful consideration, he shook his head: "Forget it. Before Ninth Brother and I can leave the palace freely, our business can only be small-scale. What's the difference between having Uncle Yin De help us and playing house with us?"

Although he didn't intend to make Yin De the head of his and the Ninth Prince's business ventures, the Consort mentioned that Yin De was capable, and Yin E really did have something he wanted Yin De to help out with.

He is too young to leave the palace and can only stay within the Forbidden City. Although he comes into contact with many people every day, they are not members of the imperial family or noble families with good backgrounds. At the very least, they are bondservantes of the Imperial Household Department. It is too difficult to find talented people who are willing to go into business among them.

But Yin De was different. He was outside the palace and could come into contact with all sorts of people. Although he was only granted the title of a third-class imperial guard, with the backing of the Niohuru clan and the Duke of Guoyi's mansion, as long as he didn't look among the nobles, Yin De could still recruit a lot of diverse talents.

“Mother, it’s fine to have Uncle Yinde run errands for us, but I want Uncle to help me recruit some people to set up a management team first.” Yin’e counted on his fingers as he stated the criteria for selecting people: “Find some ambitious, quick-witted and eager-to-learn bannermen from the Eight Banners, preferably from ordinary families with no future prospects.”

"We don't need to recruit too many people, three to five will do for now." Yin'e didn't ask Yin De to find him a dozen or so capable management talents all at once. He planned to take it step by step and not take too big a step at the beginning.

After thinking for a moment, Yin'e added another point: "It would be best if they were Manchu bannermen who could speak Mongolian. If that's hard to find, then look among the Mongolians who came to the capital from Mongolia. They must know Mongolian, otherwise it will be difficult to communicate with the herders on the grasslands because of the language barrier."

Yin'e had almost decided to have Yin De help him find people, but the Consort had a different opinion: "Since you don't plan to have Yin De run errands for you, there's no need to ask Yin De for help in finding people."

"Whether it's searching for people among the ordinary people of the Eight Banners or looking for Mongolians who have come to the capital to seek refuge with relatives, it's much easier to have Faka handle these matters."

Yin De's status is still too low, and he's young with few people around him. Asking Yin De to help find someone—let alone whether he could do it, even if he could, who knows how long it would take.

Rather than doing that, it would be better to let Faka, who inherited the title of First-Class Duke, handle this matter. What is difficult for Yinde is nothing more than a matter that Faka can accomplish with a simple gesture.

The Imperial Concubine's words made sense, and since Yin'e usually had no principles in front of her, he immediately switched sides and nodded repeatedly in agreement with her suggestion: "Then let's listen to Mother and ask Uncle Faka for help."

Holding the Imperial Concubine's hand and shaking it back and forth, Yin'e tilted his head up and said in a coquettish tone, "Mother, you have to help me talk to Uncle Faka about this matter and ask him to help me recruit some people, get them to sign long-term contracts, and it would be best to find someone to train them and teach them how to deal with people and do business outside."

"Oh, if only Uncle Faka were also a royal bodyguard! When he's on duty at the Qianqing Palace, I'd have a chance to meet him. That way, I could explain things to him face to face and avoid any mistakes or omissions when it's passed around!"

The Imperial Concubine first nodded in agreement to Yin'e's request, but then she heard what Yin'e said next. She couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. She gently tapped Yin'e's forehead with her index finger and said, "Don't say that outside, or people will think you don't like Faka."

Shaking her head, the Imperial Concubine looked helpless and gave Yin'e a reproachful look: "A first-class duke becoming an imperial bodyguard, how could you even think of that?"

If Faka had concurrently held the position of Zuo Ling (a military rank), that would have been somewhat acceptable. However, concurrently serving as an Imperial Bodyguard, even a First-Class Bodyguard, was not commensurate with the rank of First-Class Duke. If Kangxi had actually done so, it wouldn't have been a favor, but rather an insult.

Yin'e blinked, and after receiving the Consort's promise and knowing that there was hope of recruiting people and making the business successful, a different kind of light flashed in his almond-shaped eyes.

Although Yin'e was just an ordinary working man in his previous life, in the materially abundant and technologically advanced modern society, Yin'e's food and drink are no worse than when he is a prince in this life.

Thanks to advanced science and technology and social development, Yin'e was able to freely choose a variety of delicacies at home in his previous life. He could order whatever he wanted to eat and have it delivered immediately. Unlike in this life, wanting to eat fried chicken and drink a cup of soda is a pipe dream.

Just now, the Fourteenth Prince and the Eleventh Prince were fighting over the big mooncake that Yin'e found too sweet and cloying. This gave Yin'e an idea, making him realize that even in the palace, even as a prince, he couldn't get any good candy. He could only eat a few pieces of maltose to sweeten his mouth.

Maltose is very sweet, but it gets cloying if you eat too much. Besides maltose, there aren't many other kinds of candy, unlike in later generations when there are countless types of candy and all sorts of creative ways to eat them. It's no wonder that Yin'e is slow to understand; after all, he prefers salty food and doesn't like sweets.

The scarcity of candy varieties gave Yin'e a new idea. He no longer wanted to start with wool and fat and become rich overnight. Instead, he planned to start with milk powder and make milk candy from milk. He would not take any action against sheep for the time being and would proceed step by step.

—There are more sheep than cattle in Mongolia, and the number of sheep far exceeds that of cattle. Once the business of wool and sheep milk powder is established, it will be difficult to control its scale. Before Yin'e and the Ninth Prince grow up, we should not rush into the idea of ​​hunting sheep.

Mongolia has fewer cattle, and it takes longer for cattle to grow to the point where they can produce milk than for sheep. This means that the production of milk powder will be limited in the short term.

Small size also means easier management.

Even though Yin'e and the Ninth Prince are still young and can only remotely control the business from the palace, they can still manage to keep the scale under control. Secondly, the milk powder business will not be too big, which is a good opportunity for Yin'e and the Ninth Prince, who are new to the business and doing it for the first time, to practice and accumulate experience.

Most importantly, the milk candy possesses a key technology. As long as this technology remains undisclosed, there's no fear that Mongolian raw material suppliers, after figuring out the production process, could bypass Yin'e and the Ninth Prince's caravans and operate independently, using their ideas to their advantage and profit from the situation.

The key technology is none other than the method of making the sugar coating, or glutinous rice paper.

Why are there so few other candies sold in the Qing Dynasty besides maltose? Because sugar is not only produced in small quantities, but it is also difficult to preserve, and long-distance transportation is almost impossible. Once sugar gets damp, it will stick together, which will not only worsen the taste, but also drastically reduce its appearance.

The Qing Dynasty couldn't produce plastic packaging or vacuum-preserve candy. Therefore, there wasn't much candy on the market, and most people rarely got to eat it. They might never taste sweetness in their lives, except perhaps if they were lucky enough to find a beehive in the wild and lick some honey.

But making glutinous rice paper is different. Wrapping the candy with thin, slightly transparent white glutinous rice paper prevents the candy from getting damp and sticking to the packaging.

Whether the milk candies are sold individually wrapped in candy wrappers or packed in a box with a dozen or so candies coated in sugar, it's very convenient and you don't have to worry about the candies sticking together.

Candy wrappers are simply packaging paper. Their production requires little skill; you just need to cut thin parchment paper into rectangles of a suitable size to completely wrap the candy. At most, you might add some artwork or color to make them a bit more elaborate. It's about putting some thought and effort into the packaging.

The most technically demanding part is the production method of glutinous rice paper. Glutinous rice paper isn't actually made from glutinous rice; this edible, transparent, and odorless film is made from starches from sweet potatoes, wheat, or corn, etc. The cost is not high, and although the production process involves several steps, it's not particularly difficult.

Glutinous rice paper is safe and harmless; once ingested, it breaks down into glucose and poses no harm to the human body. It can be used not only to preserve milk candy, but also to wrap fragile pastries and oily cakes.

These fragile and difficult-to-transport pastries were originally hard to sell, but with glutinous rice paper, they can now be sold as pastries in addition to milk candy.

Yin'e even thought of pills and tablets, although Chinese medicine is usually prepared as a decoction and it is difficult to roll it into pills.

But if the pills could actually be made, they could be wrapped in glutinous rice paper. This would make them easy to preserve, prevent them from getting damp and losing their medicinal properties, and as long as the pills were swallowed before the glutinous rice paper melted, they wouldn't taste bitterness.

Yin'e felt that if the pills could really be made, then the pills wrapped in glutinous rice paper should have a market, since the bitterness of traditional Chinese medicine is really hard for most people to bear.