Chapter 81
For Jialuo, the visit of the Eighth Prince's wife, Lady Guoluo, was just a minor incident and not worth making a big fuss about.
After Jialuo gave the so-called 'secret formula for easy fertility' to the Eighth Prince's wife and sent her out of Yuqing Palace, she felt that her task was complete.
Jialuo thought she was a good person, that she didn't need the Eighth Prince's wife to look for it outside, she could just give it to her directly.
After doing a good deed, Jialuo happily went to play with her child.
The Eighth Prince's wife was full of resentment after leaving Yuqing Palace. After returning to the prince's residence, she did not forget to tell the Eighth Prince about the matter.
The Eighth Prince, Yinzhi, was already full of ambition and somewhat...inferior about his status, so he hoped that his son could come out of his wife's womb.
Furthermore, Father Emperor favors legitimate sons, such as the Crown Prince's son, Third Brother... Oh, Third Brother's legitimate son is gone, but Father Emperor hasn't asked a single question about Fifth Brother's eldest son born out of wedlock.
When my third brother's eldest son, Hongqing, was still alive, he would occasionally show concern and say... "When the child grows up a bit, we'll bring him into the palace so he can see him."
It is clear that in the Emperor's heart, the eldest son carries considerable weight.
He didn't want his son to end up in such an awkward situation, being a prince but having a lower status than his brothers.
Hearing his wife's words, the Eighth Prince Yinzhi frowned slightly. "My wife, this is only temporary. As for the future... no one can say for sure."
His eyes revealed layers of ambition, yet these were concealed by his gentle gaze as he tenderly embraced and coaxed his wife.
Because the Eighth Prince's wife, Lady Guoluo, felt that the so-called secret recipe was ineffective and that those people were simply trying to deceive her, she secretly obtained several more copies.
However, they were all exactly the same, which made the Eighth Prince's wife somewhat suspicious.
Could it be... that they're all just lying to themselves?
That's impossible. How could Guo Luoluo be so miserable and disliked? Moreover, she was found through the Guo Luoluo clan.
When she was still an orphan, she was taken back to Prince An's mansion. The Guo Luoluo clan might not have intended to get close to her then, but after she married into the royal family and won over Consort Yi, the relationship between the Guo Luoluo clan and her gradually improved.
"Could it really be... just like this?" Holding this fertility secret formula, no, there were several of them, her face was full of worry.
Surely it can't be... that I can't have children?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible.
She's going to the temple to pray tomorrow, how could it be her own problem?
Tianjin Bay.
Neither Yinzhen nor Yin'e had ever built a ship, nor even seen a large one, but that didn't matter; the craftsmen they brought with them would help.
Even the blueprints have been prepared; their role is simply to oversee the process.
Do you understand what a supervisor is? It's the one who walks leisurely across the construction site with their hands behind their back, pointing and giving instructions.
Yin Tang and Yin E were guarding the area, and no one dared to embezzle the allocated funds. If anyone dared to reach out, given Yin Tang and Yin E's impatient nature, they would simply carry their swords and go over to investigate the other party's embezzlement, confiscate their property, and even make their ships bigger.
Besides the craftsmen, there are many other heavy jobs that require moving and lifting, and we need to find new people to do them.
The people of Tianjin Bay have many jobs, but most of them are hard laborers. Most of them farm at home, while some help with unloading cargo (on ships transporting goods inland) on the Tianjin Bay side.
However, with millions of taels of silver in hand, Yin Tang and Yin E generously agreed that the wages would be high, with vegetable dumplings for breakfast and dinner, a full meal at noon, and, more importantly... minced meat.
The Tianjin Bay area, due to the river transport, has given rise to many landlords and wealthy people, but these are all wealthy people who have absolutely no connection with the ordinary people below.
These vegetable dumplings, as big as an adult male's penis, are not only enough to fill a man's stomach, but more importantly... they might even be taken home, cooked into porridge, and eaten by the whole family.
I ate a big meal at noon and still had half an hour for a nap.
You can even take the vegetable dumplings home in the evening, and the best part is... the wages are paid daily.
The cook in charge of making the vegetable dumplings also hired women from the neighborhood to come over, which was also a source of income.
Having accompanied His Highness the Crown Prince on the disaster relief mission, Yinzhen and Yin'e realized that simply sending money was useless. They understood that what they, as imperial princes, should do was to use the money reasonably and effectively to improve the living standards of the people.
The daily wage for dockworkers was forty copper coins, and the wages for women who worked as cooks were thirty copper coins a day. In a market where the daily wage for moving goods on merchant ships was at most twenty or thirty copper coins, and the daily wage for long-term laborers was at most ten or twenty copper coins, this was already far ahead of the average.
When the people of Tianjin Bay heard that the Ninth and Tenth Princes of the Imperial Court were building a large ship and that they were hiring excellent craftsmen, hundreds of laborers, and dozens of cooks, with daily wages offered, they were all eager to join.
Naturally, if the daily wages for porters are so high, the wages for craftsmen are even higher.
Suddenly, the Tianjin Bay area was revitalized. The only ones who were unhappy were the landlords, who were preparing to start spring plowing this season.
Because the shipyard needed too many people and the wages were high, the tenant farmers and day laborers were unwilling to come and work, because they thought the wages were too low.
I was furious, but there was nothing I could do. After all, he was a prince.
They had no choice but to reluctantly raise wages.
Yinzhen had money, and upon hearing that a certain craftsman at the XX Trading Company was quite skilled at shipbuilding, he immediately went to poach him. With high status and high salary, why wouldn't the craftsman agree? Did the trading company dare to refuse him? Did they think the Ninth Prince's identity was fake?
The craftsmen were finally in hand, and I must say, they were quite skilled, though they were also quite argumentative.
Is this layman being the referee? You two argue, and whoever wins the argument gets to decide.
Gradually, more and more people gathered in Tianjin Bay. He had originally planned to build one large ship, but then he realized that this amount... could probably only build two or three more? Huh? And the price doesn't seem too high?
He realized that those people in the past must have inflated the figures when reporting to their superiors, from the bottom up... one false inflation after another, which is how the figures became so high.
As May approached, the Ninth Prince, Yin Tang, was summoned back to the capital because his wedding was just around the corner.
The Ninth Prince, Yin Tang, was living a very carefree life outside, but since his elderly father and mother were in the capital, he had to come home for a visit.
Yin'e said, "Go ahead. Anyway, there are still three or four months until my wedding. I need to stay here and watch over them. Without me here, they will cause trouble and sabotage."
Yinzhen punched him, "You're not even going to my wedding? Are you even a brother?"
What could Yin'e do? He could only follow his ninth brother back to the capital. It was just a wedding; after the wedding, he would still have to come back.
When the two of them returned to the capital, not long after they arrived at the Princes' Residence, the Ninth Prince was summoned by Consort Yi, and Consort Yi also sent Yin'e along to check on the two who had been away from the capital for so long.
Especially the Ninth Prince. Consort Yi thought of the Fifth Prince's behavior and felt both angry and helpless towards that guy. "Ninth Prince, you're getting married soon. Don't be like your Fifth Brother. Your wife is the one who will be with you for life."
As Consort Yi spoke, she looked at the tenth prince again, "Our tenth prince is getting married soon. I'm sure your mother in heaven will be happy for you."
When facing the Tenth Prince, her attitude and tone were noticeably better.
"Mother, I know." Yinzhen had witnessed the situation of the Crown Prince and his third brother's wives. Hmm... it's better not to have too many women, otherwise, all the sons will be harmed.
The third brother's illegitimate son died young, and the concubine and the princess were able to have their pregnancies disrupted. It would be a lie to say there was nothing fishy going on, but no one found out.
In the end, the consequences backfired on Third Sister-in-law, and Third Brother... well, Third Brother doesn't seem to be having a good time either. He could have had several sons, but he ended up killing all of them.
"Yes, Mother Yi, don't worry, Jiu will definitely treat Jiu's wife well, and then give you a big, healthy grandson." Yin'e gave a thumbs-up, praising him with certainty.
Hearing what the Tenth Prince said, Consort Yi glanced at him and then instructed Yin'e, "And you, Tenth Prince, you too. Your wife comes from a Mongol tribe, so perhaps she doesn't understand the ways of the world in the capital. Teach her more, be patient, understand?"
After all, this was a child she had watched grow up, and Consort Yi still hoped that the child could have a better life.
The Emperor personally selected the consort, and her character... well, it reminded her of the Third Consort. "Also, don't produce an illegitimate eldest son or daughter before the wedding, or you'll embarrass your future consort."
Consort Yi recalled the events leading up to the Fifth Prince's wedding, when the Emperor was furious. She wanted to have a serious talk with her son and the Tenth Prince about this.
Seeing the two men looking tired, and knowing they had a long and tiring journey and needed a good rest, I didn't say anything unnecessary. These words only need to be said once; saying them twice would only annoy people.
He waved his hand, telling them to go back and rest.
Immediately afterwards, I received an invitation from their myna bird: "Want to have a drink together?"
Both of them were exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep, so they declined and agreed to meet again the next day. They were really tired.
In Yinzhi's eyes, this was a disrespect to him, but he still maintained a gentle and refined demeanor. "Alright, let's go together tomorrow. You two have worked hard too."
After returning home, he mentioned this matter to his wife, which made her frown slightly. She felt that... the relationship between the prince and them was not as close as the prince claimed.
Yes or no……
The Eighth Prince's wife remembered that her Ninth and Tenth Brothers had indeed become quite distant due to their business in Tianjin Bay.
"Grandpa, I have a cousin who is quite pretty. It's really a waste for my tenth brother to marry such a wild woman..." It's time to try and get closer to them. For example, whispering in their ear can be very effective.
Yinzhi was silent for two seconds, then said, "It's not appropriate to drink together tomorrow."
When Yinreng learned that the Ninth Prince had returned to the capital, he wanted to check on the progress of the large ship. After seeing that the Ninth Prince had gone to the Qianqing Palace and then to the Yikun Palace, he thought for a moment and got up to go to the Qianqing Palace to find his father.
As soon as he entered the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, he saw Hongyao sitting in his old seat, swaying his head as he read a book. He chuckled softly.
(End of this chapter)
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