83. Chapter 83

"none"

Kangxi did not keep the eldest prince. After he greeted him and reported back to him, he let him leave and return home.

Qi You watched the interaction between the father and son calmly from the side. It seemed ordinary, but there was an inexplicable feeling between them that he was at a loss for words.

When the two of them were left, Kangxi's smile faded, and he sullenly scolded, "You... haven't come back to the capital to visit for so many years, and you can't even be related. Your younger brothers are already fathers."

Qi You smiled good-temperedly, quickly compensated a lot, and said, "How is Khan Ama?"

Kangxi's expression softened. He snorted and replied, "You still remember?" He then ordered someone to fetch water and help Qi You wash up. "You must be tired from traveling. Let's talk after dinner."

Although they are father and son, the ruler and his subject are in the front. Qi You has grown up and is different from when he was little.

Since the king is in front and the son is behind, one should respect him first and then admire him.

This point was so difficult to grasp that Qi You himself felt strange. After thinking about it, he decided to just give up and follow his nature.

Qi You chatted with Kangxi while washing up. Then Liang Jiugong led people to bring food boxes and set the table for dinner.

Kangxi, besides being able to relax while talking to his young sons, also enjoyed the long-lost affection of his royal family with Qi You. Smiling broadly, he instructed Liang Jiugong, who was directing the young eunuchs to set the table, "Set it on the Eight Immortals Table."

When eating with Kangxi, they usually ate at separate tables. Qi You looked at Kangxi's loving expression and suddenly remembered the eldest prince's complaint that food far away smelled bad when close by, and he couldn't help but sigh.

If you stay in the capital for a long time, you will inevitably be involved. Kangxi sat high on the dragon throne, and he could see the actions of the people below clearly, but he knew at least 70% of them.

By that time, would Kangxi still have the heart of a loving father?

Qi You did not demand fatherly love, as love from an imperial family was rare. He was only worried that it would hinder what he wanted to do.

There was fish and meat on the table. Kangxi always ate light food, and Qi You saw that there was a greasy eight-treasure duck and steamed dried redtail fish on the table.

He knew that this was prepared by Kangxi for him, and pointing at the dried fish, he said with a smile: "Khan Ama, I brought some of this fish back for you."

Kangxi immediately stared at him warily and asked, "You want to collect money again?"

It seems that selling things to the Imperial Household Department has trained Kangxi's subconscious reaction every time.

Qi You smiled and said, "It's a gift to you as a filial gift. No money required."

Kangxi was stunned for a moment, then quickly laughed: "That's more like it. You even know not to charge. These days, every time I see a carriage coming back from the north, my head gets a sharp pain."

Qi You lowered his head, pretended to apologize, and said, "I'm sorry to have caused Khan Ama to worry."

Kangxi glared at Qi You in anger, but halfway through, he smiled again and said, "Eat quickly, or the food will get cold."

The two of them chatted and laughed while eating. Kangxi saw that Qi You ate in a very polite manner and was very satisfied with his manners.

His appetite was so great that Kangxi was astonished. He almost ate up all the food on the table.

Kangxi wanted to stop Qi You and ask him to eat less, but he swallowed the words back and felt sorry for Qi You instead.

If you can't eat, it must be because you haven't done anything and you're not hungry. Qi You is busy and hard-working all day, how can he bear it without eating more?

After dinner, they sat down to drink tea, and Kangxi asked about the arrangements and some matters in the north.

Qi You explained everything one by one. Kangxi nodded repeatedly, humming, and said, "You have governed the north very well these past few years. The grain harvest is finally enough to cover some of the navy's wages. I was thinking about a problem earlier and I'm still undecided. Can you think about it for me?"

Kangxi looked up at Qi You, his brows furrowed. "There's almost no land left inside the Great Wall that can be reclaimed. The Yellow River floods frequently, and after the people downstream suffered, I heard some fled outside the Great Wall. You supposedly built a willow wall, but I know it's too wide to stop the flow of people. How many refugees have you taken in from the north?"

Qi You did take in some people who fled famine from the interior, but not many, only about two hundred people.

In reality, the number of people fleeing famine should be far greater than this. Firstly, the journey was long, and secondly, they had to cross willow walls and avoid numerous checkpoints along the way. In the end, those who were taken in by Qi You were lucky.

Qi You was silent for a moment, then told the truth and asked bluntly, "Khan Ama, do you want to open the gate?"

Kangxi's mind raced with worry when he mentioned this. "I do have this plan," he said, "but natural and man-made disasters are unavoidable. The imperial court provides disaster relief every year, but in the end, countless people still lose their lives."

Perhaps as he grew older, Kangxi became more soft-hearted. He was soft on the people and even softer on the court officials.

Qi You did some calculations and decided that the Ministry of Revenue was in dire straits, so he didn't count on them. If the Imperial Household Department could tighten its belt a bit, the small amount of damage the people had suffered would be more than enough to compensate them.

Unfortunately, although Kangxi was frugal, the huge expenditure of the royal family was still astronomical.

There is land inside the Great Wall. The farms set up by the princes and nobles each have tens of thousands of acres of land.

But Qi You couldn't mention these things to Kangxi, because if he did, his brothers would tear him apart.

Although the harvest from the imperial farm accounted for a small portion of the princes' income, the main source of income came from the business of the shop and various other unclear incomes.

Qi You was very clear about Kangxi's hesitation, and he must have encountered resistance.

The Han officials would not care about these things. It must be that the Gioro clan and the bannermen were dissatisfied.

As expected, Kangxi said, "They always have a lot of opinions and excuses that sound very reasonable. They just want to divide all the land outside the Great Wall among the Eight Banners."

The population of the Eight Banners was growing, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court to provide them with money and food.

Life at the imperial court was tough, and the Eight Banners were equally unhappy. The land and houses they were initially allocated were enough for them to live a leisurely life.

They were like thieves, quickly spreading their families and having many children and grandchildren. In addition, the current consumption level is no longer the same as when they first entered the customs, and prices of various commodities have risen to a certain extent.

The rice allowance of the bannermen and the salaries of the bannermen remained unchanged, but their lives became increasingly difficult.

The fertile land outside the Great Wall is a huge piece of fat meat to them, and they are all staring at it with green eyes.

Kangxi's beard was tangled with anger as he said bitterly, "These parasites say the Bannermen's ancestors lived outside the Great Wall, and that the ancestral lands belong to all descendants. But they benefited from it, allowing other tribes to live a good life. Look at what they say!"

No one cultivates barren land, but once it is cultivated, people will fight for it.

Kangxi had previously considered the ancestral dragon vein, but now it was different. The land outside the Great Wall was fertile and could grow crops and grain. For him, the actual tax revenue was definitely more important.

Between the bannermen and the Han people, Kangxi sided with the Han people who had to pay taxes, and allowed the people affected by the disaster in the lower reaches of the Yellow River to move there to farm.

The Eight Banners brought up their ancestors as an excuse, of course, but this excuse was not easy to refute.

Qi You didn't want to poke Kangxi's lungs, and it would be useless to do so. He still had to solve the practical problem.

After pondering for a while, Qi You proposed three solutions. First, the land outside the Great Wall would be taxed by the Bannermen just like the Han people. Second, the Bannermen would not have to pay grain for ten years, after which the amount of rice they could receive would decrease year by year. Third, the military pay would be adjusted, altering the ratio of Green Camp soldiers to Eight Banner soldiers, and increasing the number of Han soldiers.

After listening to this, Kangxi fell into deep thought.

If both the Bannermen and the Han paid taxes together, it would not matter to Kangxi who would cultivate the land. In contrast, he became more inclined towards the Bannermen.

Bannermen were exempt from paying taxes for ten years, but after that, they would gradually stop receiving rice from the imperial court. Anyone with a knack for accounting would surely persuade a large number of them to quit.

As for strengthening the Han army's manpower and equipment, Kangxi was somewhat hesitant. After all, he still did not trust the Han people.

Kangxi would certainly approve of the idea of ​​having the bannermen pay taxes and no longer receive rice subsidies. Some are happy, some are sad, and the Eight Banners descendants would definitely have objections.

Qi You knew what Kangxi was thinking, so he carefully calculated the annual expenses of the Eight Banner soldiers and the annual increase in the population of the Eight Banners.

"The Bannermen are like the princes of the previous dynasty. If this continues, how many more years can the imperial court hold out?" Qi You said calmly, looking directly at Kangxi without hesitation. "The Bannermen population isn't too large these days, and the imperial court can barely cope. The fundamental reason the imperial court is always robbing Peter to pay Paul, and is overwhelmed by the struggle, is the root cause of its continued poverty."

Kangxi frowned even deeper and didn't speak for a long time.

Qi You continued, "The court may be poor, but the officials are not. They ride tall horses and wear silk and satin, which is definitely not something their salaries can afford. Everyone knows that officials at the court are greedy. The small salary is basically forcing them to be greedy! They have worked hard for so many years to study, but if they can't even earn enough to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone, anyone would be dissatisfied."

Kangxi closed his eyes slightly. How could he not know? He knew it very well, so he allowed the officials to borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue.

Qi You asked in confusion, "What good is there in dragging everyone down? It's like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. How short-sighted! Don't you care about future generations? Then they can forget about having children, because even if the imperial court is forced to death, it won't be able to support them. From now on, they must start saving themselves, not for the imperial court, but for their descendants. Every reform has a price to pay. You can't expect everything to be good for you and me, Khan Ama!"

Kangxi let out a long breath and said, "I've thought about all that you've said. Alas, many things aren't as simple as you think. The people below have different thoughts and ideas. There's no one who is truly loyal and can understand my difficulties."

After hearing this, even Qi You, who had a mild temper, couldn't help but want to laugh.

The Qing dynasty belonged to the Gioro clan. If there were no Gioro clan, there would be other clans. This is still the case today: the aristocracy remains constant, but the emperors change with time.

If a prefect who wanted to take ten taels of silver and show some sympathy to the emperor who ruled the world, they had to look at their own pitiful salary and see if they were worthy of it.

This emperor is Qi You’s biological father, and he is now also called Jueluo, so he cannot laugh.

Qi You once again made a serious suggestion: "Khan Ama, the salaries of officials need to be adjusted. Taking advantage of this incident in the north, the way of supporting the Eight Banners should be changed."

Kangxi thought for a while, gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with coldness, and said coldly: "You are right, a short pain is worse than a long pain. Take a few people who dare to jump out and kill the chicken to scare the monkeys!"

Qi You was silent for a moment, then said, "Khan Ama, my suggestion is that we should first ask the captains of each banner to come and discuss this. I will prepare a detailed data set, including the income and expenditure of the Ministry of Revenue, as well as the annual population increase of the Eight Banners, and calculate for them how many years the court can still support them. Let them understand that the court will not forget their past contributions, nor will it turn against them. On the contrary, the court is truly considering them for the sake of their descendants. Currently, the military camps are mainly composed of Eight Banner soldiers, so we cannot force them. We must take it slow and step by step."

Seeing that Qi You was neither anxious nor impatient and considered everything carefully, Kangxi felt much relieved and was very pleased.

Finally, I have someone around me who dares to do things and can do good things!

Over the years, Kangxi believed that he was making bold reforms, but in the end, he did not achieve much success.

Despite years of tax exemptions, the people remained poor. Fortunately, the cultivation of sweet potatoes and yams was promoted, and during the lean years of spring, there were no longer so many refugees fleeing famine and begging for food.

Qi You pondered for a moment and discussed with Kangxi: "As for increasing the salaries of officials, we can't do it for nothing. We have to make them pay back the money they borrowed from the Ministry of Revenue first."

Kangxi was stunned for a moment, then his expression suddenly brightened with joy. He burst into laughter and said repeatedly, "This is a good idea, good!"

The officials cried poor, and in order to appease the people, Kangxi allowed them to borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue to get by. Now the Ministry of Revenue has accumulated a pile of IOUs.

Trying to recover all the money would inevitably cause unrest. Kangxi once asked the Fourth Prince to pay off the silver owed to the Ministry of Revenue, but the reaction from below was so great that he had to end the matter in vain.

Not all officials could borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue did not have that much money, so only a small number of them could borrow money.

If they don't pay it back, it will affect the salaries of officials who didn't borrow money. In the face of interests, other officials will definitely quit.

Anyone would be intimidated when facing such a large group. Even Kangxi did not dare to confront them head-on, let alone those who borrowed money.

Qi You was less optimistic and said, "If we can recover 80% of the money, we'll make a profit. It's like a high salary to maintain integrity. If they embezzle again, they'll have to consider whether it's worth it to have their property confiscated and thrown into prison."

Kangxi calculated that if the court could save some money on the Eight Banners, it would be fully capable of affording the increased salaries of officials.

The most important thing is that the officials are honest and clean, which is the foundation for the stability of the Qing Dynasty.

Instantly, Kangxi felt a lot lighter, and he said casually, "I'll be able to get married next spring when I go to the imperial selection."

Qi You didn't expect Kangxi to suddenly change the subject and mention his marriage, and his expression suddenly became embarrassed.

It is impossible not to get married, and free love is even more unrealistic.

What if you find out that you are not suitable for each other after falling in love?

There would be no loss for Qi You if they separated, but it would be unfair to the woman and would make her the target of public criticism.

Qi You had figured it out long ago and said calmly, "Everything is up to Khan Ama to arrange."

Kangxi glanced at Qi You and said, "Look, I've already picked out all the concubines for you. As for your mansion, I started choosing it for you last year. I'll have Liang Jiugong bring you the list later. Don't worry, it's fully furnished. You can stay in the palace for a few days first, wait for the kang in the mansion to be heated, get some fresh air, and then choose an auspicious day to move in. After the selection in the spring of next year, the marriage ceremony will be granted, and you can get married in the autumn. Well, concubine, please come with you to the mansion first."

Qi You was stunned. Concubine Princess?

Kangxi smiled and said, "I am delighted. During the New Year, I plan to confer titles upon you brothers. I thought about this a few years ago, but then I changed my mind and decided that it would be better to wait until you are older to prevent you from being so frivolous."

Except for the crown prince, all the brothers were still bald princes. As soon as he returned to Beijing, Kangxi began to confer titles on the princes. Qi You didn't need to think about it, he knew that the eldest prince would be jealous again.

Qi You had no way to control what they thought, so he just ignored them.

The most important thing is that Kangxi still did not give up and wanted to give him a bunch of women.

Kangxi would not understand that he did not want a concubine and a couple for life. His harem was full of concubines, and Qi You dared to say this, which was tantamount to slapping him in the face.

Qi You lowered his head, pretended to smile shyly, and said: "Khan Ama, just Fu Jin is enough. Too many... I can't take care of them all."

When Kangxi heard this, he immediately became unhappy. How could his own son be surrounded by only one woman?

However, seeing Qi You's rare awkwardness and shyness, Kangxi felt inexplicably happy.

This son has been exceptionally intelligent since childhood, always calm and thoughtful in the face of danger. It's truly rare to see him face such a difficult situation.

Kangxi laughed heartily and teased him, "Okay, whatever you say. Go and get used to it first. When you can handle it, I'll grant you the title of Consort."

Finally passing this level, Qi You breathed a sigh of relief and smiled apologetically without saying anything.

There is an imperial examination next spring, and he has to wait until autumn to get married. He has some free time and can take care of the imperial examination.

After getting married, Qi You planned to leave the capital.

This time he planned to go to Quanzhou and Guangzhou Port. The court's tariffs and maritime trade have always been unclear.

But this time, he wasn't going alone. The world was too vast, and there was so much to do that he simply couldn't handle it all by himself. He needed to pick one of his brothers to help him.

Qi You was hesitant between the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince.

According to his previous life, the Fourth Prince would be the future emperor and would definitely be better at doing things than the loyal Fifth Prince.

However, if the Fourth Prince is pushed out, will he still have a chance to compete for the throne in the future?