In the same year, Emperor Kangxi imprisoned Songgotu on charges of "discussing state affairs and forming cliques and acting recklessly." Songgotu was detained in the Imperial Clan Court by Emperor Kangxi and died in prison shortly afterward.
The Crown Prince's faction suffered a severe blow.
In the 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign (1704), the Kangxi Emperor sent his fourth son, Yinzhen, to the Huanghuai region to inspect the water conditions, the people's conditions, the administration of officials, and the customs, in order to understand the actual situation in the area.
Yinzhen found Yintang and intended to build dikes on both sides of the river or even develop water conservancy projects.
These things inevitably involve taking money.
However, Kangxi shelved Yinzhen's proposal, and Yinzhen, somewhat unwilling, tried to send a message to Yintang.
However, Yinzhen was so busy that he didn't have time to rest, and the letter was handed to Xue Li.
Sherry looked at it and then agreed.
However, it requires selecting professional talents to design it, and it should be something that benefits future generations.
Yinzhen was delighted to receive the news, including from the students sent by Shirley.
At the same time, Yinzhen also informed Kangxi.
Emperor Kangxi was overjoyed. He didn't have to spend any money, and his sons were doing practical work diligently! How could he not be happier?
Thus, the management of the Yellow River got back on track.
Emperor Kangxi was so pleased that he waved his hand and arranged for more people to build a garden for Yinzhen!
Yinzhen accepted it happily without any hesitation.
That same year, Sydney finally moved into a big house!
Sure enough, every step in the courtyard is a beautiful scene; it has everything Sherry could want.
And it blends perfectly with the surrounding mountains and forests!
It looks like the kind of house that even royalty wouldn't easily live in.
Shirley immediately placed the treasures that Yinzhen had given her in a collection room that resembled a museum.
Examples include: an octagonal box with openwork floral design inlaid with gold and gemstones; a candlestick inlaid with gold and gemstones; a gold vase with pearl and flower/tree design; a gold ewer with chased cloud and dragon design; a white jade covered bowl with chased gold design on a high foot; a gold ewer with painted enamel depicting a lady; a gold bowl with a gold lid and inlaid agate; a gold vase with coiled dragon design; gold cups and plates with chased pearls; a gold ewer with chased design; a gold basin with standing phoenixes; a 80% gold filigree ruyi scepter; an 85% gold Maitreya Bodhisattva statue; a gold crane-shaped incense burner; a 90% gold round box inlaid with stones; a gold teacup with chased longevity and double happiness characters; a 90% gold pagoda inlaid with colored stones; an 80% gold gourd; a gold ewer with chased cloud and dragon design; a gourd-shaped box inlaid with gold and gemstones; and a red gold inlaid pine tree design. Stone openwork thumb ring box, gold-inlaid gemstone sutra box, gold-inlaid pearl seven treasures, gold chased flat pot, gold-inlaid turquoise double-eared flat square bottle, gold Buddha vase, gold-inlaid turquoise pagoda, gold Buddha, gold kingfisher feather mandala, gold rosary, gold-bodied painted enamel cup and plate, gold fasting plaque, gold engraved eight treasures, agate-inlaid gold-rimmed bowl with a lid and saucer, gold openwork rectangular box inlaid with turquoise and tourmaline, gold-inlaid turquoise box, gold dragon-patterned rouge box, red gold gourd-patterned toothpick and ear pick with chain, gold-inlaid gemstone gourd-shaped brooch, silver-plated gilt dragon and phoenix patterned domu pot with Xuantong mark, gold "Eternal Stability" cup, gold-inlaid gemstone court hat-shaped incense burner, gold-inlaid gemstone plum blossom incense box with stand...
Other items include a silver cloisonné enamel wine warmer, a silver cloisonné enamel filigree round box, a silver filigree vase, a silver filigree sunflower-petal-shaped box, a silver gilt enamel inlaid inkstone box, a small silver boat, a silver filigree cloisonné enamel five-bat-and-longevity-shaped corner box, a silver chased Sanskrit-inscribed Bamba-shaped ewer, a silver gilt chased gourd-shaped ewer, silver gilt chased cups and plates, and a silver openwork chased cloud and dragon double-eared incense burner-shaped flowerpot...
The most special item is a gold-inlaid pearl celestial globe, which relates to our ancestors' understanding and research of nautical astronomy...
The twins each have their own courtyard, which is also a separate, exquisite little courtyard. There's also their toy room.
Hongchao has already been sent to the Imperial Study.
Consort Yi kept a close eye on things every day, so Xue Li didn't need to worry at all.
However, Hongchao's hobbies were exactly like Yintang's; he was extremely sensitive to money.
He sees everything and thinks about how to do business with it!
He even wanted to teach the servant tricks to work for him when he saw the exquisite jewelry made in the workshop.
They could even calculate the costs and profits perfectly just by standing there.
Consort Yi got used to it over time!
She deeply believed that it was her fault; otherwise, why would Lao Jiu be so greedy for money?
So even Hongzhu was like that?
The twins, a boy and a girl, also have completely opposite personalities.
Yinshan is particularly lazy; he's too lazy to argue or talk, and just loves to lazily sunbathe.
Princess Jinshan is particularly fond of beauty, and Xue Li spends her days dressing up Yin Tang and Jinshan.
Of course, Sydney certainly wouldn't neglect Silver Mountain.
Then I applied the cream to him as well.
At times like these, Yinshan is always the most enthusiastic, taking off like a dog chasing after him.
After all, Sherry's masterpieces constantly remind him of his dark past.
So much so that the lazy child became enthusiastic about martial arts! His initial intention was simply to escape the clutches of his father and mother.
Sherry didn't stop her; she trained a lot of female soldiers and then became a hands-off manager.
Bishui focused on training servants, occasionally selecting a few clever ones to work alongside Ling Shi!
At the end of the year, Sherry became pregnant again. Sherry belatedly realized that the original owner's eldest daughter had arrived.
In the 44th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign (1705), he made two tours: a southern tour and an eastern tour.
In the same year, an imperial decree was issued to oversee the construction of the Luding Bridge.
Due to the need for trade between the Han and Tibetan people, Emperor Kangxi ordered the construction of a bridge over the Dadu River in Luding County, Sichuan Province.
The Luding Bridge is composed of countless iron rings forged by artisans.
On July 25th of the same year, Xue Li gave birth to a daughter! Yin Tang couldn't wait to give Bao Zhu her childhood name, probably forgetting that it wasn't Kangxi's place to name the little princess.
Therefore, Shirley named her little girl Tana, which means precious pearl, a fitting name.
In the same year, the Pope interfered in the internal affairs of the Qing Dynasty.
Pope Pius XI sent an envoy, Toro, to China to interfere with the Catholic Chinese people's custom of venerating Confucius and their ancestors, regarding it as heresy. This conflicted with traditional Chinese culture and customs, disrupting the normal ruling order of the Qing government.
Emperor Kangxi could not tolerate this and took measures to restrict the activities of Westerners.
Sherry repeatedly encouraged Yinzhen to go out to sea for a stroll, and Kangxi agreed on several occasions.
Shirley handed the children over to Consort Yi and they boarded a boat to cross the sea to the west.
Then, while on the road, Yinzhen frequently wrote letters to Kangxi.
Because of the stability in the country, Emperor Kangxi did not necessarily have to close the country off from the world.
However, they also refuse to communicate with each other, at least openly.
Emperor Kangxi had private dealings with foreigners.
Yin Tang was somewhat frustrated, and Shirley asked him to compile what he had seen and heard into a book.
Furthermore, groups that smoke opium were discovered.
Thinking about this, Sherry felt a bit disgusted!
It is said that around the 1600s, the Dutch introduced North American Indian pipes and tobacco leaves to China via Taiwan, and China began to have smokers.
Opium was first introduced to China in 139 BC.
This period coincides with Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, during which opium was introduced to China from India and other places as a medicinal material.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the famous physician Hua Tuo used cannabis and opium as anesthetics.
During the Tang Dynasty, Arabian opium was called "Afurong," and there are records of opium imports in the second year of the Qianfeng era (667 AD).
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