Yinzhen personally found about a hundred orphans and beggars, settled them in the manor, and sent people to teach them to read and write, as well as to teach them martial arts.
These people are all children, and Yinzhen can't use them for the time being. He can only use the people his father trained in the past. These are the people who helped his father subdue Ao Bai, and he feels at ease using them in the past two years.
Yinzhen placed skilled individuals among several princes of different genders. After becoming a spirit, Yinzhen possessed an excellent memory and remembered many formulas. He provided the formulas and found several quick-witted individuals, and soon the glass was manufactured.
The Qing Dynasty had only been in power for a short time, and there were many wealthy families. Yinzhen ordered the Imperial Household Department to export glass to Jiangnan, making a fortune. In order to deal with the consequences of the Three Feudatories' rebellion, Yinzhen also sent people to secretly stockpile grain so that they wouldn't be caught off guard if war broke out.
Yinzhen was busy, and in the blink of an eye, the tenth year of Kangxi's reign had passed.
Since Emperor Kangxi told Empress Dowager Hesheli that he would be busy with state affairs, he began to visit the inner palace. At first, the Empress Dowager felt that her grandson was young and ambitious, and she was happy to see him succeed in his work.
She was happy to see her grandson using his mind for good, but she didn't want him to live like an ascetic!
After a period of asceticism, Emperor Kangxi was summoned by the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager showed concern for her grandson, then told him not to overwork himself and to relax when he needed to.
Yinzhen fully understood the Empress Dowager's words about "relaxation"—it was just about finding women, who cares! But he really didn't dare to sleep with any of the women in the palace these days.
Yinzhen could only vaguely reply, "I understand. It's my fault for making Grandmother worry about me."
Yinzhen knew that things couldn't continue like this, so he could only visit the inner palace from time to time and stay overnight. Since they slept under separate blankets, no one dared to force him if he didn't want to touch her. As for the concubines, they naturally wouldn't let anyone know that the emperor had come and they hadn't slept with him; they couldn't bear the shame.
The Empress Dowager wouldn't bother to find out whether her grandson had slept with a woman or not.
Yinzhen managed to get through the New Year by just fooling around.
Only those who served Yinzhen closely knew, but no one dared to say anything.
Because he was thinking that the Three Feudatories would be abolished in another year or two, he made a lot of money from glass. However, adhering to the principle of saving as much as possible, Yinzhen specifically told Hesheli that the New Year's banquet should be simple and not extravagant.
Although Empress Hesheli did not know why there was a sudden call for frugality, she simply carried out the emperor's order.
The New Year's Eve banquet in the tenth year of Kangxi's reign was simple yet dignified, thanks to the arrangements made by Empress Dowager Hesheli, which pleased Yinzhen.
In truth, as for Yinzhen himself, he was only thinking about accumulating silver and then finding ways to carry out an industrial revolution to make the Qing Dynasty prosperous. As for the royal face, as long as he didn't lose face, he felt that those ostentatious displays were dispensable.
This shows that the Qing imperial family would definitely prioritize frugality in the future.
Aside from the occasional interaction among the concubines, the New Year's Eve banquet passed by peacefully on the surface.
After several months, Yinzhen had become quite accustomed to living the life of Emperor Kangxi. Since Yinzhen was already acting like an emperor, and he knew his father very well, no one noticed anything amiss. At most, his close servants felt that the emperor had recently become less interested in women and more obsessed with state affairs.
In the eleventh year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Yinzhen raised a considerable amount of silver. He then guided craftsmen to design a portable and compact crossbow. Because he had enough silver, Yinzhen ordered the production of 20,000 of these crossbows.
With the new weapons in hand, Yinzhen sent his trusted confidants to train the troops, and supplies were also ready! Everything was in place except for the final push.
In the eleventh year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Consort Ma Jia gave birth to a son. However, she "accidentally" slipped and fell before giving birth, resulting in premature delivery. Although the child was born, he was weak, and the emperor privately consulted the imperial physicians, who said that he would not survive.
Yinzhen had mixed feelings about the children left behind by his father, and in the end, he gave them generous rewards and then stopped caring about them.
Looking at her son, who was breathing more than he was exhaling, and hearing that the emperor hadn't even come to her side during childbirth, Ma Jia felt extremely distressed. She had already lost one son, and this new son seemed even weaker than the last one, adding to Ma Jia's worries.
Lady Ma Jia was quite good-looking; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to get pregnant one after another. In the early years of Emperor Kangxi's reign, most of the concubines who entered the palace were there to balance the court. The women who entered the palace valued family background, while appearance and talent became secondary.
Lady Ma Jia came from a good family and was very beautiful and favored by the emperor. However, after giving birth, the emperor did not even look at her child and only gave her a reward. Lady Ma Jia was a little flustered.
Even though she was still in her postpartum period, Ma Jia couldn't stay in bed any longer: "Zhi Chun, go and find out where the Emperor has been resting lately."
Zhichun was a confidant of Ma Jia.
Zhichun: "This servant will go and inquire right away. Master, please do not worry."
The emperor's whereabouts, especially who he stayed at night and where he went, or who he summoned to his bedchamber, were things that were easy to find out.
Once Zhichun left the palace gates, she easily found out the answer with a simple inquiry.
Zhichun: "Your Majesty, His Majesty has been resting in Qianqing Palace lately, and has not summoned anyone to his bedchamber, nor has he set foot in the inner palace."
Ma Jia breathed a sigh of relief, as long as he wasn't favoring other women.
But: "The Emperor has never set foot in my quarters, and he seems to tire of me from time to time!"
Zhichun: "How could His Majesty be tired of you? You have borne children for His Majesty, which is a great achievement that no one can erase. Since His Majesty has not favored anyone else, he is probably just busy with state affairs. You are still in your postpartum period, so it is not good for you to be so stressed. You should try to relax a bit."
After Zhichun's words of comfort, Ma Jia felt much better. Looking at her weak son, Ma Jia thought about how to regain favor once she recovered. It seemed that her new youngest son was not someone who would grow up.
While Lady Majia had given up on her newborn son and was planning how to try again to have another child, Consort Nara was filled with resentment upon learning that Lady Majia had given birth to another son.
Not long after Ma Jia became pregnant, her son died. Nara became furious, wondering why she lost her son while Ma Jia got a son to enjoy by her side.
Although Lady Nara was unhappy, she was not stupid and dared not make a move. Her most important task now was to get pregnant again as soon as possible, otherwise how would she compete for the emperor's favor?
But the emperor doesn't visit the inner palace often, and when he does, they just chat under the covers, so she can't get pregnant!
Nara had the desire, but lacked the means.
The Empress was very unhappy when she saw that Lady Ma had given birth to a son. Lady Ma had already given birth to one child, but her health was poor and she had passed away. Now she had given birth to another child, and her son was only two years old. How could she be happy?
However, having heard that the child was not in good health and did not seem like someone who could be raised to adulthood, Hesheli prayed that the child would pass away immediately to avoid getting her hands dirty.
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