The Crown Princess's Notebook

If Shujia were to treat the discussion of maritime transport and maritime bans as a research topic, she wouldn't even be able to write a book about it. Back when she was still Yao Jing, she might have been able to churn out a paper by looking up information in the library, but she couldn't even write a book. Now that she's Shujia, she can't even find the relevant information in the library, let alone write such a paper.

The maritime transport landscape during the Qing Dynasty was complex, intricately linked to the maritime ban. The ban was sometimes lifted, sometimes re-imposed. Currently, it's mostly closed, with foreign trade permitted in select ports. The ban directly impacted shipping technology and shipbuilding. Distances were shortened, and recovering them would take time. The treasure ships built during Zheng He's time had been lost by the end of the Ming Dynasty, let alone the Qing Dynasty.

Even if Yinreng, someone with years of experience in government affairs, were to analyze the issues surrounding maritime transport, he would only acknowledge that it existed. At the time, transportation from south to north was primarily by canal and land routes. Maritime transport also existed, but it was supplementary.

However, Yinreng knew that sea transportation was more cost-effective, as evidenced by Shi Lin's personal experience. At least, sea transportation did not require the maintenance of the canal.

Because Shujia was meeting with Madam Shilin, and the topic of conversation also touched on this aspect, Yinreng and Shujia chatted about this. Yinreng's original intention was not to discuss the state's proposals with his wife, as this issue was too big a scale. The scale he was willing to accept now was to discuss with his wife who was on their side and how to get closer to someone, such as conspiracy and intrigue.

Yinreng simply said, "Sea transportation is so advantageous, it's worth a try. Imagine transporting grain from the south to the north instead of through the canal, but by sea..."

Shujia had no choice but to pour cold water on him: "Sea transportation is profitable, but it is not feasible right now."

Yinreng had only said this casually, without any plans, simply thinking it was a good idea. He hadn't expected Shujia to object. "Didn't you just say that shipping by sea would be much more convenient?" He began to think of a strategy. His family had a tradition of holding discussions with his wife, and he didn't blindly ignore her opinions.

"Traveling by sea is convenient and has so many advantages, so why do so few people take it? There must be a reason."

"Hmm? That's not that difficult. We could designate a few docks in the north and south, and only allow certain ships to leave from there, with a set deadline for arrival. Wouldn't that be a good deal?" Yinreng thought for a moment and came up with a solution that would be very practical in the current environment. This solution would save on the trouble of transporting grain and avoid causing any chaos at sea.

"I know about the money-saving and convenient things, but I really don't understand these things. But I do know one thing: if sea transport is established, what about grain transport? Let's just talk about the simple things. Whenever a family needs to make purchases, it's not easy to switch to another one that you're used to. If you switch one, the one replaced won't make any money, and there are layers of people who take advantage of it. If this is the case with family matters, how much more so with national affairs?"

Yinreng was silent. His imagination was fertile, and his range of ideas was much wider than what Shujia had described. Transporting grain to the capital via the Grand Canal was called "Grain Transport." How many people along the way relied on this for their livelihood? Some of them were officially employed. (A random aside: The term "Grain Transport Gang" may not exist today, but the prototype of the "Grain Transport Gang" in the TV series "Autumn Official" actually existed.)

Their livelihoods would be cut off all at once, and tens of thousands of people would either rebel or become refugees, posing a significant threat to public security. Furthermore, dredging the canal was a significant undertaking, and the Crown Prince had recently become familiar with the complexities involved. Furthermore, it would also affect the interests of officials, so he couldn't propose such a proposal, at least not yet.

Seeing that he couldn't eat the big cake, the little man in the crown prince's heart was scratching the wall silently.

Shujia believed that lifting the maritime ban was a good thing, but she couldn't show it that way. Even if it was an emperor, if he wanted to do something so important, he would have to have a reasonable excuse and a comprehensive plan. If he had no idea what was going on and just casually ordered someone to do something so important, then the emperor would be doomed.

She couldn't think of a solution herself, but she knew a goal, which was to encourage people who were capable or would be capable in the future to find a solution.

After saying this, seeing Yinreng remained silent, Shujia pulled him up and dragged him to the study. She pulled out a blank notebook and sat down herself: "Come on, grind the ink."

Yinreng was puzzled: "What?"

"Write it down. I don't really understand these things. But since you're talking about good things, they must benefit the country. With such ideas and ambitions, even if you're currently facing difficulties and can't carry them out, there's no reason to abandon them out of fear, right? I'll write it down for you now. Whenever you feel ready, go ahead and do it."

Honey, you have to lift the maritime ban! But take it one step at a time. I just don't want you to offend the interest groups right now. I'm the second-in-command, I can't handle it. Come on, make a plan first. Relocate laid-off workers, train new technical talents...

Yinreng retracted his hand and said, "Forget it." He couldn't think of the troubles at the moment.

Shujia stood up and slowly ground the ink. "You've been feeling uneasy lately. Perhaps you've encountered something difficult? If you keep dwelling on one thing, you'll get stuck in a rut. Why not think about something else? Perhaps you'll find some inspiration."

Yinreng didn't agree, but he didn't leave. Shujia continued to mutter, "Everything is based on the same principle, and you can apply it to other things. Sometimes when I think about something, I can't figure it out for a while, but if I get up and stretch my muscles, I'll look back and find that everything is clear." As long as you are willing to read this and read it more, you will remember to lift the sea ban, and... you are thinking about how to realize sea transportation, dear.

Her optimism was undoubtedly due to Yinreng's unintentional mention of the nation's financial problems and his plans to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. He considered the empire his own (in the future tense), and therefore considered the overall situation. As his wife, she already had the fulcrum and crowbar that Archimedes needed.

Yinreng was truly under immense pressure. Even after seeing the situation clearly and understanding the future, he still needed to relieve his stress. He could not indulge in any kind of entertainment, so he used this national policy to relieve his boredom. He found Shujia's nagging quite reasonable and leaned forward, saying, "Alright, that's about it. You can write it down."

The goat-hair brush gently traced out one Manchu word after another under Shujia's hand. Yinreng watched it word by word, adding a sentence or two from time to time: "Add one more, select the strongest among the grain transport workers and transfer them to the sea transport department."

Shujia dutifully added these, and when she finished, she realized it was already dark. Yinreng, however, seemed to be immersed in it, holding the notebook and reading it carefully, and his worries seemed to have eased a lot.

Shujia pondered. What she had just written hadn't touched on lifting the maritime ban at all; it was all about navigating within her own territorial waters. While a beginning was better than blindly contracting, policies still needed to be developed. How could she convince him that openness was the only way to a future?

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The Crown Princess became the Crown Prince's secretary. Whenever Yinreng had an idea that he couldn't express, he would ask Shujia to write it down, and then he would hold the notebook and think about countermeasures. As Shujia watched the notebook grow longer and longer, she became particularly careful to hide this notebook that carried the hopes of herself and Yinreng.

Some things are better left uncirculated. Furthermore, she had slipped in some personal thoughts while taking notes, the content of which was quite passionate and seemed to be urging Yinreng to expand his territory, but she had expressed it in a very obscure way.

Yinreng now had something to distract himself from, and his mood was no longer so depressed, and the New Year had arrived.

The palace had its own New Year traditions. For example, Spring Festival couplets resembled the mourning couplets outside the palace, with black characters on a white background. For example, the emperor would take everyone outside the palace to watch "ice shows," another expensive and grand event.

Yinreng's position was still next to Kangxi. This time he responded seriously to Kangxi's question about the southern tour: "Thank you, Khan Father."

The author has something to say: Not much... Looking up at the sky, I came here to play with my wife today. When my wife sat ten centimeters to my left and played a small game on the desktop, I didn't have any secrets...