Chapter 183 Inner City Vendors
In fact, the Third Prince had been itching to try it out as soon as Yin'e opened his mouth.
But after Kangxi got angry, the Third Prince dared not show his face. He just shrank back and didn't say anything, hoping that Yin'e would not back down under Kangxi's anger and would continue to pester Kangxi to change his mind.
At this point, Kangxi's attitude clearly softened, and the Ninth Prince, Fifth Prince, and Seventh Prince successively stepped forward to express their opinions. The Third Prince, thinking that the law would not punish everyone, couldn't help but step forward to take advantage of this easy opportunity.
Emperor Kangxi was truly surprised that the usually composed Third Prince had also jumped out to join in the folly. He was so angry that he laughed instead, and looked around at the eight princes in the hall: "Speak, who else wants to go? Stand up and tell me frankly, and perhaps I will nod my approval."
Besides the Crown Prince, there were eight princes who were old enough to study in the Imperial Study and were selected by Emperor Kangxi to go out of the city to receive Tong Guogang's coffin. Five of them, accounting for more than half of the total, wanted to take a stroll around the outer city after finishing their official duties.
After the eldest prince started his official duties, he was very busy and didn't pay much attention to his younger brothers who were much younger than him. He had little impression of Yin'e, who was eleven years younger than him and was still an immature child at the time. He only remembered that Yin'e was the son of a noble consort and came from a distinguished family.
But seeing Yin'e so bold and fearless in front of Kangxi today, the eldest prince couldn't help but admire him. He had the idea of helping his younger brother with a small favor, so he smiled and said to Kangxi, "I have no interest in the outer city. I ride to the outer city every day. It's nothing new."
“However, since Father Khan has ordered his son to take his younger brothers out of the palace, it is only right that I, as the eldest brother, should bring them back as well. If the younger brothers want to go to the outer city, their son can take them there for a stroll; it won't take much trouble.”
The eldest prince is still living in the princes' quarters and has not yet left the palace to establish his own residence. However, he has already begun to perform official duties and has long since obtained the permit to leave the palace. He is not restricted from leaving the palace at any time and can set off whenever he feels like it to visit the bustling outer city. Unlike the younger princes who cannot leave the palace, he does not have to wait anxiously for an opportunity.
The Fourth Prince had no interest in shopping, but he felt that doing so would be disrespectful to the Tong family, so he nodded in agreement, saying, "It is rare for your son to leave the palace, so please grant me permission, Father."
—In the days leading up to and following Empress Xiaoyi's death, the Fourth Prince kept in mind the disgusting things the Tong family had done. He was always one to distinguish between love and hate and harbored resentment towards the Tong family. Now, he didn't mind kicking them while they were down and humiliating them.
Even the Fourth Prince, who had some indirect ties with the Tong family, made a request. Although Emperor Kangxi valued his maternal clan, he was more biased towards his son, so he sighed, waved his hand, and said, "Since that's the case, then you may go."
After saying this, Kangxi's gaze fell on the Eighth Prince, who had remained silent throughout, and he said in a calm tone, "Eighth Prince, you may come along too."
Kangxi didn't know whether the Eighth Prince wanted to go or not, but he knew that even if the Eighth Prince wanted to go, he wouldn't dare to say it, unlike Yin'e who spoke his mind and made direct requests.
Compared to the other princes, the Eighth Prince came from a weaker background and was often bullied by the palace servants who flattered and belittled him when he was young.
Consort Wei, the Eighth Prince's birth mother, not only failed to help him but also hindered him. Fortunately, the Eighth Prince himself was ambitious and intelligent. He entered the Imperial Study at the age of five and performed outstandingly, winning the Emperor Kangxi's praise and favor, which made his life in the palace easier.
The other princes all expressed their desire to visit the outer city, but the Eighth Prince was cautious and dared not make a request. However, what would it be like to leave the Eighth Prince out? Emperor Kangxi had a great fondness for the precocious and sensible Eighth Prince and did not want him to suffer such an injustice, so he directly asked the Eighth Prince to go along as well.
"Thank you, Father." The Eighth Prince hesitated for a moment before stepping forward to express his gratitude.
Kangxi nodded slightly and then instructed the eldest prince, "Yinti, keep a close eye on your younger brothers. Remember to bring them back to the palace before the gates are locked."
After a pause, Emperor Kangxi, whose parenting instincts remained unchanged, added to the seven princes other than the eldest prince: "Don't neglect your studies. Don't be late for the Imperial Study tomorrow."
After leaving the Qianqing Palace, the First Prince strode up to Yin'e's side, vigorously rubbed his head, and laughed loudly, saying, "Good lad, you've got guts!"
Yin'e didn't want to antagonize the eldest prince, but he also didn't want to befriend him, so he chuckled and changed the subject, asking, "Brother, have you had breakfast yet?"
"Not yet," the eldest prince replied casually. "We all rushed to the Qianqing Palace early this morning, how could we have time for breakfast?"
After Kangxi saw his sons off, he could immediately enjoy a hot breakfast at the Qianqing Palace, but the princes did not have this privilege. Unless they rushed to the Imperial Kitchen to find food, they had to leave the palace on an empty stomach.
Blinking his clear, watery almond-shaped eyes, Yin'e feigned embarrassment and tried to ingratiate himself, saying, "How about we have breakfast outside the palace after we leave?"
After glancing at Yin'e, the eldest prince smiled, thinking he had figured out Yin'e's thoughts, and laughed heartily, "Alright, your elder brother will take you out of the palace for breakfast. It's very lively outside the palace, and there are many kinds of breakfasts being sold everywhere on the streets. I guarantee you'll eat your fill."
The Fifth Prince's eyes lit up, and he took a big step closer to the First Prince, asking expectantly, "Brother, what kinds of breakfast do you have? Have you tried them? Which one is the best?"
"There are so many, it's impossible to list them all in a short time..."
Surrounded by guards, Yin'e, riding his little red horse Hongzao, trailed behind the princes as he exited the Forbidden City through the Shenwu Gate.
Like a bird released from its cage, Yin'e fluttered its wings joyfully. As soon as it left the palace gate, it couldn't wait to look around, wishing it could turn its head 360 degrees to take in all the scenery in front, behind, left, and right.
Next to the palace are several princely residences. The closest are the residences of Prince Jian and Prince Zhuang, who are hereditary princes. Next are the residences of Prince Yu and Prince Gong, whose titles are princes but will be downgraded after inheriting the title.
Behind the Prince's Mansion were the residences of other members of the imperial clan, such as the Prince of the Second Rank and the Prince of the Third Rank. This street, closest to the Forbidden City, was inhabited entirely by members of the Aisin Gioro clan, almost all of whom wore yellow sashes. They were all descendants of Nurhaci and had very close blood ties to the imperial family.
The area around the royal family's residence was very quiet. There were few shops on both sides of the street and few pedestrians. Only occasionally could men on horseback and carriages bearing the insignia of various prefectures pass by.
Compared to the Forbidden City, this place is more popular, but to be honest, it's not that lively.
However, it's normal for the inner city to be like this... Just as Yin'e was feeling a bit disappointed and telling himself that things would get lively once they reached the outer city, his group rode through the residential area of the imperial clan and entered the settlement of the collateral Gioro clan and the Eight Banners nobles. A lively and bustling atmosphere then rushed towards them.
Unlike the quietness of the royal residence area, this area is very prosperous, even though it is located in the inner city. The noisy shouts of vendors can be heard everywhere, and there are small vendors carrying their goods on their shoulders. The streets are lined with stalls selling their wares, creating a bustling and lively scene.
"Is this really the inner city? Is the inner city this lively?" This was the first time Yin'e had left the palace, the first time he had seen such an antique and bustling street scene, and the first time he had experienced an ancient morning market up close. He couldn't help but mutter in surprise.
Yin'e had previously heard the Seventh Prince say that the inner city was a residential area for Manchus, and that there were only a few shops in the huge inner city. Therefore, he assumed that the inner city was just a residential area, and although there were many people living there, it was usually quiet and not very lively.
Unexpectedly, after leaving the Forbidden City and riding through just a few streets, the streets of the inner city were filled with street vendors hawking their wares. Looking up at the city gates that separated the inner and outer cities, one could see a continuous stream of vendors carrying various goods pouring into the inner city from the outer city.
Although the eldest prince was the oldest, he did not ride at the front of the procession when he led his younger brothers out of the palace today. Instead, he positioned himself in the middle so that he could take care of his other seven brothers at any time.
Hearing Yin'e's mutterings from afar, the First Prince laughed and chimed in, "The inner city is quite lively, but it's nowhere near as lively as the outer city. Once you get to the outer city, you'll know what it means to be under the emperor's nose, the capital of the country."
Yin'e turned to the First Prince and smiled, then pointed to some of the vendors on both sides of the street and asked, "Why are so many people carrying vegetables all the way in from the outer city?"
The eldest prince glanced in the direction Yin'e pointed and casually replied, "Hundreds of thousands of bannermen live in the inner city, and their daily rice, grains, and vegetables are all supplied by the outer city."
"There aren't many shops in the inner city, not enough to supply the daily needs of all the Manchu people there. As for the princes, nobles, and other powerful families, they have their own people who go to the outer city to buy large quantities of rice and grain at once."
"But ordinary bannermen don't have this ability. It's too inconvenient for them to go from the inner city to the outer city to buy rice and grain every day. They have to walk several miles to buy vegetables or needles and thread, which is too troublesome. So the court allowed merchants from the outer city to enter the inner city to sell goods during the day, but they were not allowed to stay overnight or open shops in the inner city."
The few shops in the inner city were all run by Manchus, and there were only a handful in total. Moreover, most of these shops catered to the high-end market, serving wealthy nobles and not open to ordinary people.
Even if the market were opened up, the prices of goods in those shops were so high that ordinary Manchus simply couldn't afford them. Moreover, most of the expensive items sold in those shops were works of art that were beautiful but impractical, and didn't meet the needs of ordinary Manchus.
Blinking his clear almond-shaped eyes, Yin'e rode forward on his horse atop Hongzao's back, his gaze lingering on the vendors hawking their wares along the street. After a moment, he nodded thoughtfully.
It seems that the inner city, apart from the residential areas where the imperial family lived, was quite lively. Opening a shop in the inner city wasn't entirely without potential. As long as the shop was in a good location and there was good pre-opening promotion, there was no need to worry about not having customers—the inner city housed hundreds of thousands of Manchu people, making the market vast.
Most importantly, because only Manchus were qualified to open shops in the inner city, there were very few shops with storefronts in the inner city, and most of them were mobile vendors.
Opening a shop in the inner city means less competition compared to the chaotic competition in the outer city.
Ordinary Manchus dared not open shops in the inner city, fearing they would be bullied because of their weak background. Those merchants who dared to open shops in the inner city all had powerful and influential relatives and nobles backing them.
In terms of background, Yin'e is second to none. Even without relying on Emperor Kangxi's influence, the Niohuru clan alone is enough to give him support.
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