Chapter 195 Asking if you don't like it

Hearing the two young masters hint that they wanted to spend money, the waiter immediately beamed with joy and hurriedly recommended, "Young masters, the best-selling perfume among these is rose perfume. Only foreigners grow these roses, so rose perfume is rarer than the others."

With a slight tremor of her long eyelashes, Yin'e blinked her almond-shaped eyes: "Then let's get a bottle of roses." Since she was going to bring it back to show the Imperial Concubine something new anyway, it would be better to buy something rare.

However, one bottle seemed a bit too few. Yin'e glanced at the dazzling array of small bottles on the shelf and wanted to pick out a couple more.

But Yin'e had never seen the Imperial Concubine particularly like any particular flower before. He tilted his head and thought for a moment, then simply threw the ball out and said to the waiter, "Introduce a few more varieties, so I can have five different kinds, one bottle of each."

Although the Imperial Concubine might not necessarily like imported perfumes, Yin'e bought them mainly to let her see something new. Since it was about seeing something new and joining in the fun, he might as well buy several items; perhaps one of them would happen to be something the Imperial Concubine liked.

The Ninth Prince didn't even know what perfume was, only guessing from the name that it might be something similar to face powder. But the Ninth Prince didn't use face powder, so he didn't understand these things. He was completely bewildered by the name "rose perfume," unable to connect the name with the actual product.

However, the Ninth Prince was very clever. He had no intention of choosing for himself. He pointed to Yin'e and said, "I'm the same as him."

Ten bottles were sold at once. The waiter grinned from ear to ear and loudly replied, "Alright! Please wait a moment, gentlemen, while I wrap up the perfume for you right away."

After wandering around the shop, the Ninth Prince paid special attention to the imported goods brought from Guangzhou: "Tenth Brother, there are many things here that I have never seen before. Why doesn't the Imperial Household Department purchase these things?"

"Perhaps Father Khan doesn't like it." Yin'e's gaze swept quickly across the hall, but he couldn't find what he was looking for. He said casually, "If Father Khan likes foreign goods, the Imperial Household Department will naturally purchase them."

Putting everything else aside, perfume was certainly not on the Imperial Household Department's purchasing list. If the Imperial Household Department, which served the royal family exclusively, had purchased perfume from foreigners, it's impossible that Yin'e hadn't seen it at the Consort's residence.

The Ninth Prince said "Oh," and then suddenly leaned close to Yin'e's ear and whispered, "Tenth Brother, I see that these foreign goods are selling very well. Do you think it's feasible for us to do this business?"

The Ninth Prince, whose business is currently in its initial stages, is at the peak of his curiosity and ambition. He is envious of any profitable industry he sees and wants to get involved in it.

This is not necessarily because the Ninth Prince was eager to make a profit, but also because he was naturally fond of doing business and interested in commercial activities.

"If you want to do business with foreign goods, you have to send caravans to Guangzhou, or even Macau, which is leased by foreigners, to buy goods directly from foreigners in order to make a profit." Yin'e did not give a yes or no answer, but instead directly talked about the first difficulty to be overcome in doing this business: "It is not easy to set up a caravan."

If they had grown up, left the palace to establish their own households, and had followers who came to serve them, then forming a caravan would have been very easy. But unfortunately, Yin'e and the Ninth Prince don't even have personal guards right now, and they don't have any manpower available to go out of the palace to handle matters. The few people like Sarigul are still useless.

His eyes darted around, and the Ninth Prince drawled out an "oh," his face showing no disappointment or frustration. Instead, he stared intently at Yin'e, saying, "Tenth Brother, why do I feel like you're particularly interested in foreigners?"

Without even answering whether the foreign goods business was feasible, he immediately started considering how to proceed. The Ninth Prince, who was inseparable from Yin'e and knew him very well, had never seen him so proactive before.

His long, almond-shaped eyes narrowed, and the Ninth Prince's delicate and beautiful face was full of suspicion. He tilted his head and looked at Yin'e with confusion and bewilderment, feeling completely baffled: "You've met the missionaries in the palace before, but I've never seen you show any interest in them before?"

"And..." The Ninth Prince frowned slightly, asking Yin'e with an uncertain look, "Were you gritting your teeth just now, when you mentioned the foreigners leasing Macau? So, you're not interested in foreigners, you hate them?"

The Ninth Prince and Yin'e were too familiar with each other, and Yin'e knew too well. In front of the Ninth Prince, even though Yin'e tried his best to remain calm, some of his emotions could not be hidden and could not be hidden from the Ninth Prince's eyes at all.

Unexpectedly, the Ninth Prince was so perceptive. Yin'e stared at the Ninth Prince for a long while, and finally stopped pretending. He let out a long sigh as if he had given up, and his shoulders slumped: "Ninth Brother... I don't know what to say."

He wiped his face, then lowered his head, his voice barely audible: "I don't like foreigners, and I hate that they occupy Macau."

How did he tell the Ninth Prince about what happened in later generations?

Even if he did speak, I'm afraid the Ninth Prince would find it hard to believe. Yin'e couldn't even think of a way to persuade the Ninth Prince, let alone gain Kangxi's trust, to convince him that he wasn't exaggerating, wasn't being overly anxious, and wasn't delirious.

Regardless of what the future holds, the Qing Dynasty remains a vast and resource-rich celestial empire, still possessing the arrogance and confidence of a great power.

The Ninth Prince didn't know why Yin'e disliked foreigners or hated them occupying Macau. However, he unconditionally stood by Yin'e's side and bluntly said, "If you don't like them, then drive the foreigners out of Macau."

After tilting his head and thinking for a moment, the Ninth Prince said, "I remember that Macau was rented to foreigners by the Ming Dynasty, and the rent was five hundred taels a year. It's only five hundred taels, and Father Khan is not short of that money. Let's go and beg Father Khan to issue an edict to drive the foreigners away."

Perhaps because he didn't trust Emperor Kangxi much, the Ninth Prince added, "If Father is reluctant, then when we make money, we'll give him five hundred taels every year. That way, he'll definitely be willing to drive the foreigners out of Macau!"

Although there are only expenses and no profits at present, and not even a single penny has been earned, the Ninth Prince is full of confidence, believing that he and Yin'e will eventually earn a fortune that rivals that of a country.

"It's not that simple." The repression in Yin'e's heart was dispelled a lot by the Ninth Prince's words. He looked at the Ninth Prince with a wry smile, "Foreigners are not subjects of the Great Qing. They cannot be driven away by a single imperial edict from Father. It's easy to rent out Macau, but difficult to take it back."

"Then send a large army to attack Macau and forcibly drive the foreigners out." The Ninth Prince offered his solution without hesitation, as simple and brutal as ever.

He rubbed his forehead in exasperation and muttered to himself, "That would cost even more." Foreigners have been operating in Macau for over a hundred years. If they were to be forcibly driven out, war would be inevitable, and war is always an expensive affair.

Moreover, who knows if the Qing navy could even fight at that time? If they lost, wouldn't some things happen many years earlier? If that happened, the consequences would be enormous, and Yin'e couldn't accept it just by thinking about it.

Realizing he had a tendency to "boost the morale of others while diminishing his own," Yin'e sighed deeply, his heart still heavy: he truly had no confidence in the Qing Dynasty.

Although the Qing Dynasty had just defeated the Dzungars, it was unlikely that the Eight Banners army was so corrupt as to be incapable of fighting. However, Yin'e was truly unsure how much fighting power the Eight Banners army and the Qing navy still possessed.

Living a second life in this era, more than three hundred years ago, when this vast and resource-rich country was still the Celestial Empire, it would be impossible for Yin'e not to think about changing history or doing something.

Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings?

As for Yin'e personally, he really didn't want to strive for advancement; he just wanted to live a comfortable, carefree, and wealthy life like a lazy bum. Humans are inherently lazy, and since he was born into a good family and had already reached the pinnacle of life without effort, why should Yin'e bother to suffer and think about striving?

But as far as this country and this land are concerned, Yin'e absolutely does not want to see them lie down, much less close themselves off from the world, or live a life of debauchery and decadence after being betrayed.

Just as Yin'e was feeling irritable, the shop assistant returned carefully with two boxes in his hand: "Young masters, your perfume has been packed up."

Having failed to find what he was looking for in the lobby, Yin'e, seeing the waiter return, simply stopped searching and asked directly, "I see you sell quite a variety of foreign goods in your shop. Do you have peepholes and clocks?"

After a pause, Yin'e's body tensed slightly, but he asked casually, "I think there's something called □□, do you sell it in your shop?"

The waiter carefully handed the box containing the perfume to the guard, and immediately replied ingratiatingly, "There were only three self-ringing clocks transported from Guangzhou this time, and they have already been sold. We don't have any in stock right now, and we'll have to wait for the caravan to return from Guangzhou before we can restock. If you would like to buy one, young master, you can place an order first."

Self-ringing clocks aren't cheap; most people can't afford them and wouldn't even dare to ask about them. The waiter immediately judged that Yin'e and his entourage were wealthy tycoons, and his attitude became even more enthusiastic. He looked at Yin'e and the Ninth Prince as if they were walking gold, his eyes practically glowing with greed.

The shop assistant grinned obsequiously at Yin E: "We have peepholes in stock, big and small, all kinds of shapes. They're on the second floor. Shall I take you two young masters up to have a look?"

Remembering that Yin'e had asked about more than just the clock and the peep show, the waiter thought for a moment but couldn't come up with a solution, so he smiled sheepishly and said, "I've never heard of the □□ you mentioned, nor have I heard the manager who came back from Guangzhou mention it."

The waiter suspected that the young master in front of him had picked up some random name from somewhere, but he dared not say it outright, for fear of offending the wealthy patron and losing the business of selling peep shows.

It's good that you haven't heard of it!

Yin'e breathed a silent sigh of relief, his tense body slowly relaxing, but he put on an indifferent expression and casually replied, "I probably remembered wrong." Looking up at the stairs leading to the second floor, Yin'e immediately changed the subject, "Take us upstairs to see the peep show."

Although the peep show wasn't as expensive as a clock, the fact that it was displayed on the second floor was enough to show that it was quite valuable. If he could close this deal, he would get even more money as a reward. The waiter immediately put aside his other chores and led Yin'e and the Ninth Prince to the second floor with even greater attentiveness and care.