The tolling of the bells signaling the emperor's audience with the emperor echoed over the Forbidden City, where civil and military officials stood solemnly on both sides.
Emperor Yongzheng sat upright on the dragon throne, his eyes piercing as he surveyed the people in the hall.
Today's court assembly is destined to be anything but peaceful.
Censor Wang Hongxu, holding a memorial, stepped forward and loudly proclaimed, "Your subject has a memorial to present!" His voice was particularly jarring in the hall.
Yongzheng nodded slightly: "Speak."
Wang Hongxu unfolded the memorial and said loudly, "Your Majesty, recently the Ministry of Works has been carrying out large-scale construction in the south of the city, building textile workshops. This move is an unauthorized alteration of ancestral rules, a waste of resources and manpower, and is not the work of a wise ruler!"
Your Majesty, I humbly request that you rescind your decree to appease the people!
Before he could finish speaking, the hall erupted in an uproar.
The Eighth Prince's faction exchanged glances, secretly pleased with themselves. The Ninth Prince, Yin Tang, even had a slight smile on his lips, looking completely confident.
The Thirteenth Prince, Yinxiang, snorted coldly and strode forward, saying, "Lord Wang, you are mistaken!"
The construction of the factory was funded by the Emperor's private treasury, without using a single penny of the national treasury. How could it be considered "a waste of resources and manpower"? As for "unauthorized alteration of ancestral rules," that is utter nonsense!
His Majesty, in order to alleviate the suffering of weavers in Jiangnan, promoted new looms to benefit the people. This is a benevolent policy; how can it violate ancestral rules?
Wang Hongxu, not to be outdone, retorted: "Thirteenth Master, you are mistaken!"
The imperial treasury's silver is also the people's hard-earned money; how can it be squandered at will? Moreover, the new machine hasn't been proven; if it's hastily promoted and something goes wrong, who will bear the responsibility?
Yinxiang's gaze sharpened as he stared directly at Wang Hongxu: "Lord Wang, you care so much about the people's hard-earned money, so why do you turn a blind eye to the fact that the weavers in Jiangnan are working day and night and not having enough to eat?"
Does the suffering of the common people seem less important than the ancestral rules in the eyes of the adults?
The atmosphere inside the hall suddenly became tense.
Although few officials supported the new policies, they were inspired by Yinxiang's words.
Minister of Revenue Zhang Tingyu stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, I believe that if the new loom can improve the efficiency of weaving, it will indeed be a beneficial move for the country and the people. What Minister Wang said is perhaps too conservative.”
Seeing that the situation was not good, the Eighth Prince Yinzhi coughed lightly and slowly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I believe that this matter needs to be discussed more carefully."
The new machine is good, but hastily promoting it might cause unrest among the cloth merchants in Jiangnan, which would be counterproductive.
Yongzheng, who had been observing the situation with a cold eye, finally spoke up: "Your words, Eighth Brother, have indeed reminded me."
Why is there unrest among the cloth merchants of Jiangnan? Could someone be behind this? His gaze was like a knife, piercing straight at Yinzhi.
Yinzhi felt a chill run down his spine, but his face remained impassive: "Your Majesty is wise; I am merely concerned about the affairs of the state."
Upon seeing this, the Tenth Prince, Yinzhen, quickly chimed in, "Your Majesty, Eighth Brother is absolutely right! We must be cautious about the new opportunity!"
Yinxiang sneered: "Caution? The weavers in Jiangnan suffer every day, yet you gentlemen are here talking about caution. How laughable!"
He turned and bowed to Emperor Yongzheng, saying, "Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, am willing to guarantee with my life that the new machine will surely relieve the people's suffering! If there is any mishap, I am willing to accept the punishment!"
Yongzheng nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall: "My mind is made up, the promotion of the new machine is imperative."
Anyone who obstructs the new policies will be treated as a traitor!
These words shocked the entire court.
Wang Hongxu's face turned deathly pale, and he dared not speak further.
The Eighth Prince's faction members looked at each other, knowing that Yongzheng was truly enraged.
After the court session, Yinzhi, Yintang, and others gathered in a secret room.
Yinzhen gritted his teeth and said, "Fourth Prince is determined to oppose us!"
Yinzhi pondered for a moment and said, "He is now very powerful, we need to find another way."
Yinzhen gave a sinister smile: "Why not start with the person who presented the map and cut off the source of the problem!"
Meanwhile, Yongzheng and Yinxiang held a secret meeting in the imperial study. Yongzheng said in a deep voice, "The Eighth Prince's faction will not let this go easily; you need to be on high alert."
Yinxiang nodded: "Your subject understands. The workshop will definitely be completed on schedule."
Emperor Yongzheng looked out the window; dark clouds gathered, and a storm was brewing. The power struggle in the court had only just begun.
"In addition, we need to send more people to Miss Lin's side."
He knew his younger brothers too well; they were all ruthless and unscrupulous.
"Yes." Yinxiang nodded solemnly, wondering whether he should send his trusted confidant over there so that he could learn something from him.
After all, that girl has a lot of good ideas.
He then bowed and left, heading straight to the Ministry of Works.
These past few days, he's practically made the Ministry of Works his home.
Inside the Ministry of Works, Minister Ma Qi stared at the blueprints spread across the long table, his beard trembling: "This...this was really drawn by a woman?"
Yinxiang stood with his hands behind his back and smiled, "Lord Ma doesn't believe me?"
Ma Qi wiped the sweat from his brow: "It's not that I don't believe it, but this 'assembly line' layout and this 'gear transmission' method are things I've never heard of before!"
He pointed to a corner of the blueprint and said, "Look at this 'flying shuttle' design, it can save 50% of the manpower!"
The head of the crafts department leaned over and suddenly exclaimed, "Sir! These ink lines were drawn with a Western ruler and compass! Look at this curve—"
He gestured excitedly, "The Lu Ban ruler we use simply can't draw with this kind of precision!"
If this craftsman were to come to the modern era, he would know that there is a drawing tool called a compass.
Yinxiang's eyes flashed.
Lin Yun once mentioned "Western missionaries," but many of the techniques on these drawings are probably not even familiar to Westerners.
He suppressed his doubts and solemnly said, "Lord Ma, the Emperor has given us three months to complete the workshop. It's June now, what do you think..."
Ma Qi gritted his teeth and said, "This humble official will immediately allocate three hundred craftsmen to work day and night!"
He paused, then asked cautiously, "But aren't these 'staff rest area' and 'cafeteria'... a bit too extravagant?"
“Just follow the blueprints.” Yinxiang raised his eyes and said meaningfully, “The Emperor said that weavers should ‘live like human beings’.”
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