The next day, after seeing off Yinzhen who was going to take up his post, Tong Cheng'er had the five craftsmen brought over.

When the five craftsmen approached Tong Cheng'er again, their gazes towards her were not only respectful but also filled with fervor.

How can I describe that look in her eyes? It's almost like a dog seeing a big bone; Tong Cheng'er is that big, tempting bone.

In the eyes of the five craftsmen, the Fourth Princess Consort was generous, did a good job with the tasks she was given, and paid a lot of money.

They don't understand literature or art; they are practical and prefer money that allows them to live a good life.

The Fourth Prince's wife was generous with the money, so they were happy to follow her orders.

Dong Cheng spoke up, "I wonder what instructions the Princess Consort has given us?"

He spoke with great urgency, as if he couldn't wait for Tong Cheng'er to give them instructions.

Tong Cheng'er nodded with a smile: "I called you here today for three things."

Five men: "Please give your orders, Madam."

Tong Cheng'er: "The first thing I want to say is that you were able to make the pencils I asked for in such a short time. You did a great job. You also received the reward. Keep up the good work. This is just the beginning."

Want more money? No problem, work hard, and you'll have it all.

Dong Cheng was the first to understand: "It's all what this servant should do. Please give me your instructions in the future, Madam."

Tong Cheng'er nodded in satisfaction: "The second thing is that I need pencils with different shades. You guys experiment a lot, and then number the pencils from light to dark. Don't worry about having too many, just make ten numbers with even color differences first."

The second thing isn't particularly difficult, but it requires repeated experimentation, since she was referring to a color with uniform color difference.

Dong Cheng and the others had no objections; this matter was not difficult to handle.

Then, Tong Cheng'er spoke up about the last thing: "This third thing will require a bit more effort from everyone. I think this pencil still needs some improvement..."

Then Tong Cheng'er explained her idea of ​​"reusing pencils by simply replacing the lead". After listening, the craftsmen felt that it would indeed take some effort.

After explaining these three things, Tong Cheng'er let them leave.

After leaving Yaocheng Courtyard, the five of them all looked deep in thought, pondering how to improve the pencil.

Making different shades of pencil is not difficult, so naturally, the first challenge is to figure out the problem.

They're not stupid; they naturally understand that the more difficult the problem, the greater the benefits of solving it.

The craftsmen racked their brains trying to figure out how to improve pencils, while Yinzhen finally managed to brainwash the Ministry of Revenue officials, led by Gu Badai.

So, at the most recent grand court session, just as Kangxi was about to nod in approval of a project reported from below, Gu Badai knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, this servant has something to say."

In Kangxi's eyes, Gu Badai was still a capable minister. Upon hearing him speak, Kangxi said, "Speak."

Gu Badai said with a bitter face, "This servant has no objection to Lord Liu's idea, but now that the Ministry of Revenue has the funds for emergency use, if it agrees to the projects Lord Liu mentioned, it will be difficult to do any more expensive projects."

In closing, he knelt down and cried out, "I beg Your Majesty to reconsider."

Kangxi frowned. The Ministry of Revenue was short of silver. How come he didn't know about this? Just a while ago, Gu Badai said that this year's tax revenue was good. Now he's complaining about being poor. This doesn't make sense.

However, in the grand hall, he couldn't very well ask how much silver the Ministry of Revenue actually had, so he could only say, "We'll discuss that later."

After the court session, Kangxi summoned Gu Badai to the Imperial Study for a private chat.

"How much silver does the Ministry of Revenue have left?"

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue currently has over 16 million taels of silver in its accounts."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Kangxi asked directly, "Isn't this a lot? Why are you telling me that the Ministry of Revenue has no money? What's going on?"

Emperor Kangxi believed that Gu Badai would not speak falsely, so he wanted to know why Gu Badai had publicly complained about being poor.

Gu Badai looked miserable and said, "Your Majesty, although the Ministry of Revenue has enough silver in its books, the actual amount is only half of what is on the books. Otherwise, why would I have spoken out in public? I was afraid that if the hole gets too big, the Ministry of Revenue won't be able to cover it up. If the Ministry of Revenue can't come up with the money when we urgently need it, then it will be my fault."

Kangxi frowned: "Explain yourself clearly, why is it only half of what's on the books?"

Gu Badai truthfully explained: "His Majesty is benevolent and allows officials to borrow silver for emergency use. In recent years, more and more officials have been borrowing silver, and the amounts have also been increasing. They have the regulations for borrowing silver, and the Ministry of Revenue can only lend silver to them according to the regulations. Therefore, the more silver is borrowed, the more it is repaid. Over time, this has led to the current situation where the balance sheet is far from the actual amount."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Kangxi fell silent.

He had permitted the lending, and the Ministry of Revenue hadn't had any major problems in recent years. So, although he knew some people were big borrowers, he didn't know that the Ministry of Revenue had been emptied out by half.

After Gu Badai left the study, Kangxi couldn't help but sigh. The Ministry of Revenue was indeed a problem, especially since Gu Badai had just told him about the increasing amount over the years.

Using mathematical thinking, he made Kangxi realize that the situation was a little bit more serious than he had thought.

Thus, the expensive project undertaken by Lord Liu went from being "discussed later" to being "abandoned altogether."

This was within Yinzhen's expectations.

After listening to Gu Badai's words, Kangxi secretly sent people to investigate the Ministry of Revenue. They found that Gu Badai was right, and they also discovered that it was Yinzhen who first discovered the problem.

This was something Kangxi hadn't expected at all.

After all, he had only been working at the Ministry of Revenue for a short time, yet he was able to find the problems within the Ministry. While Kangxi was worried about the problems that had arisen in the Ministry of Revenue, he also felt that his son was capable and couldn't help but feel a little proud. This was his son.

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