Chapter 129 Knowing is easy, doing is hard, and contradictions abound.
Despite the laughter and playful banter, the important matters still needed to be discussed. Yin'e sat up straight and told the Ninth Prince about the difficulties they faced and the problems that needed to be solved.
Firstly, regarding the production of goods, Yin'e didn't understand how to make milk powder, but the production process of milk powder really didn't require much technical skill. He could just ask any guard or nanny from a Mongolian herdsman background in the palace.
It's hard to find people of Mongol origin in other parts of the palace, but you can definitely find them in the Palace of Tranquil Longevity. When the Empress Dowager married into the capital from Khorchin Mongolia, the maids and guards who accompanied her were all of Mongol origin. They must have known how to make milk powder, so the recipe was easy to obtain.
As for the wool business, despite Yin'e's confident demeanor, he was actually somewhat uncertain.
After all, Yin'e only possessed theoretical knowledge, which he had acquired in his previous life by watching live streams and scrolling through short videos. His acquisition methods were unprofessional, and his reading was fragmented, so there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be errors or omissions. Whether it would actually work remained to be seen after personal testing.
Yin'e has already planned to set up a laboratory in the Ganxi Third Institute where he lives, so that he can personally test all the technologies that he only knows in theory.
The ten princely residences, including the five residences in the east and five in the west, were all quite large. After renovation, they all followed the same layout and had three courtyards.
Let alone a young prince like Yin'e, even a married prince, along with his principal wife, two legitimate daughters, and several princesses in the inner courtyard, could live comfortably in the Fifth Palace of the East. It would be no problem for Yin'e to clear out a spacious room in the Third Palace of the West to use as a laboratory.
Once the laboratory is built, the first experiment Yin'e will conduct is on the processing of wool.
He plans to send people to collect raw wool and alkaline plants, and to conduct the entire process of alkaline treatment, wool washing, combing, and spinning in the laboratory to confirm that the technology is truly feasible.
After completing the experiments on wool, the next step is to test whether lanolin can be made into a paste. Simply collect the sediment from the wool washing wastewater and try using it as a raw material to make a paste with water and oil, paying close attention to the ratio of lanolin to water and oil.
Of course, Yin'e knew that not all sheep were suitable for providing wool, and he was only testing the feasibility of pure alkali bleaching of wool. He did not intend to produce it in large quantities, so he just needed to get some raw wool.
Once the workshop is built and wool is processed in large quantities, Yin'e will definitely select individuals with abundant and fluffy wool from among the Mongolian sheep, and use them as breeding sheep to carry out breeding work, selecting the best from the best generation after generation, and artificially intervening in the evolution of sheep breeds.
These are issues that need to be considered during mass production later on; for now, Yin'e only needs to verify the feasibility of the technology.
Similarly, in the later stages of production, the main consideration is how to obtain large quantities of alkali. Although the world's largest natural alkali mine is located in Inner Mongolia, finding the Naiman Banner alkali mine and mining it are both challenging and not problems that can be easily solved.
Yin'e plans to send people to Mongolia for an on-site investigation in the future. If the natural alkali mine is too difficult to mine and the location is remote and transportation is inconvenient, then he can only consider producing pure alkali the day after tomorrow.
Given the current technological level of the Qing Dynasty, the Hou family's method of industrial alkali production is too difficult and will not be considered. Biological extraction can be considered, but Yin'e needs to plan ahead and test in the laboratory to find out which alkali production method is the simplest and easiest to operate, and which alkali-containing plant is the lowest cost raw material.
These are the problems in the production process; the next issue to address is the capital investment.
Doing business or running a real industry requires investment of capital. You can't get something for nothing, just by daydreaming and fantasizing, or by building the framework of a business without any preparation.
"Ninth Brother, we need to save money." With his handsome and refined features drooping, Yin'e sighed bitterly and gave the Ninth Prince a wry smile. "We can only start a business when we have enough capital."
Yin'e and the Ninth Prince were both young princes who were confined to the palace to study. Emperor Kangxi did not assign them any tasks, and they had no contact with people outside the palace. Their only sources of income were the princes' allowances, rewards from elders, holiday gifts, and subsidies given privately by their mothers.
With so many sources of income, it seems that the princes are in good financial condition. But this is just an appearance. Before they start their official duties, the princes are actually quite poor and are very tight on money. They probably don't have much private money.
Unfortunately, while the princes seem to have substantial incomes, their expenses are also considerable. It's already quite an achievement for them to maintain a balance between income and expenditure and avoid running a deficit.
The princes who did not establish their own residences and lived in the palace ate and drank what Emperor Kangxi provided, because Emperor Kangxi was considered a kind father, so the princes' allowances always had a surplus each year.
But the princes also needed to reward the palace servants. How could they not reward the eunuchs and wet nurses who served them so diligently and conscientiously? Aside from daily rewards, there had to be an end-of-year bonus. After these expenses were taken out, the princes' allowances were practically nonexistent.
The majority of the Emperor's annual income came from gifts from his elders, but these gifts were mostly items—beautiful but useless paintings, calligraphy, and ornaments—with very little actual gold or silver. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, they couldn't be directly spent or exchanged for money.
The gifts bestowed by Emperor Kangxi were particularly problematic, as they were imperial gifts and could neither be sold nor given away, rendering them useless for social interactions. They had to be carefully maintained in the princes' quarters, whether stored in the storeroom or displayed, to prevent any damage.
Not to mention holiday gifts, they are part of the social interaction, it's all about exchange. You have to give back what you receive, and even if you don't lose out, you don't gain anything.
Once the princes moved to the Princes' Residence, they were considered independent and needed to establish their own interpersonal relationships. They had to handle all social interactions themselves, no longer relying on their mothers/foster mothers as before. Gifts went into their own private treasury, and so did the gifts they sent.
Yin'e's private treasury was quite substantial. Firstly, he received many gifts and rewards before the age of six when he didn't need to exchange favors. Secondly, the imperial concubine didn't take all the rewards given to him by Emperor Kangxi when he had smallpox, and gave them to Yin'e. Thirdly, the imperial concubine secretly contributed a lot of money to Yin'e's private savings. This part accounted for the majority of Yin'e's private treasury.
The Imperial Concubine was well-off. When she entered the palace as a concubine, the Niohuru clan sent her a considerable dowry. In addition, her elder sister, Empress Xiaozhao, had all her private savings going to her, so she had even more valuable possessions. No other concubine in the palace had the Imperial Concubine's wealth.
When Yin'e moved from Yongshou Palace to the West Third Palace, it was quite a grand affair, with his packed luggage filled with the finest things the Consort had given him. However, Yin'e didn't have much money at his disposal. The problem remained: no matter how many valuable items he had in his private treasury, he couldn't exchange them for cash.
Compared to Yin'e, the Ninth Prince was even more strapped for cash. Consort Yi was not wealthy to begin with, and with three sons to support, she had even less to give the Ninth Prince. The Ninth Prince could afford his daily expenses while living off Emperor Kangxi, but he didn't have much personal savings, making it even more difficult for him to start a business.
The Ninth Prince also hung his head dejectedly, his face full of gloom: "Father only thinks about urging us to study, why doesn't he think about increasing our allowance?"
Hearing this, Yin'e's face darkened, and he barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes at the Ninth Prince: who was it that had shamelessly said he didn't want to go and it wasn't necessary when he had previously advised the Ninth Prince to curry favor with Kangxi? Now that he was short of money, he realized how important Kangxi's favor was.
The blueprint drawn up by Yin'e really piqued the interest of the Ninth Prince. He really didn't want to work hard to save money and start a business only when he had enough money.
It was as if a hedgehog was stuffed under his buttocks. The Ninth Prince, wrapped in a quilt, tossed and turned on the bed, twisting and turning without stopping for a moment. He bared his teeth and his face was contorted with rage. Every micro-expression on his face showed that he was seriously thinking about a solution, and every cell in his body was straining.
Suddenly, the Ninth Prince raised his head and shouted excitedly, his bright and beautiful phoenix eyes looking at Yin'e: "Tenth Brother, I've got it! We can borrow money from Fifth Brother. Fifth Brother has plenty of private savings!"
Yin'e stared wide-eyed at the Ninth Prince, feeling especially glad that he wasn't drinking water at the moment, otherwise he would have sprayed the Ninth Prince's face with it.
Seeing the Ninth Prince's proud face, looking very pleased with his suggestion, Yin'e was both amused and exasperated. He really wanted to give him a thumbs up: Goodness, you're only taking advantage of the Fifth Prince, aren't you? Having you is truly the Fifth Prince's blessing.
However, the Ninth Prince was right; the Fifth Prince was indeed wealthy and had a substantial fortune. He had been raised by the Empress Dowager since childhood and was the old lady's darling. The old lady secretly subsidized him immensely—after the Grand Empress Dowager passed away, most of her private savings went to the Empress Dowager.
Seeing that the Ninth Prince looked eager to try and really intended to borrow money from the Fifth Prince, Yin'e quickly stopped him, saying, "I know the Fifth Prince is rich, but instead of borrowing money from him, why not bring him on board and do business together?"
He borrowed money from the Fifth Prince to start a business, made a fortune, but didn't share any of it with the Fifth Prince. After all, they were brothers, so it's a bit unreasonable.
However, as soon as he mentioned bringing the Fifth Prince into the business, Yin'e hesitated: "But we have no experience, it's just theory, and we can't guarantee we'll make money. What if we bring the Fifth Prince into the business and lose money? That would be terrible." It would be better to just borrow the money.
The Ninth Prince, however, believed in Yin'e to the point of being somewhat blind, and said without hesitation and with absolute certainty: "We will definitely make money, and we will make a lot of money!"
Yin'e glanced at the overly optimistic Ninth Prince with pursed lips, then blinked and said, "How about this, if we make a profit, we'll give Fifth Brother a share of the profits, as if his money is an investment; if we lose money, we'll treat it as if we borrowed it from Fifth Brother, and pay him back when we have more money."
Pouting, the Ninth Prince felt that they were at a disadvantage with this plan and wasn't very happy about it. But considering that they really didn't have enough capital and that the Fifth Prince had always treated him well, he hesitated for a long time before reluctantly nodding and saying, "Alright, that's settled then."
Amused, Yin'e leaned over and nudged the Ninth Prince through the blanket: "Ninth Brother, don't think that Fifth Brother is just taking advantage. I just suddenly realized that Fifth Brother was raised by the Empress Dowager since he was a child. He has a close relationship with the Mongols and can be of great help in purchasing wool."
After a pause, Yin'e added with a slight frown, "Once we make a lot of money and the lanolin business grows, the two of us alone won't be able to keep such a money-devouring beast running. With Fifth Brother on board, it will be much more substantial."
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