Chapter 41: Snow Kiss is also rotten and the blue sky ambition is magnificent
Yuyan didn't expect that Yinzhen brought her to see the sewing loom.
After handing the drawings to Yinzhen, Yuyan did not follow up on the matter. However, she described the style of the sewing machine to Yinzhen in great detail, which was a series of development styles she had experienced.
She felt that with the Qing Dynasty's current manufacturing capabilities, it should be possible to produce the initial sewing machine and then gradually make progress.
After all, the drawing she drew was so abstract that no one except herself had any idea about it.
It was Yinzhen who recorded a lot, and then handed them over to the craftsmen for discussion and finalization, and then they slowly took shape.
The things were made in another place and had nothing to do with Angel Wings Ru Yue Zhihen. Yinzhen didn't know about these things either.
Yinzhen heard from his subordinates that the product was ready, so he brought his beautiful face to see the new product.
Yu Yan is indeed fresh to the eyes. I didn't expect this thing to be so exquisitely made.
The finished product in front of her was similar to the first generation sewing machine she had seen when she was a child, but Yuyan knew that behind it, the craftsmen must have experienced countless trials and failures to produce this seemingly perfect product.
There were no outsiders around. Before Yuyan arrived, the craftsmen had already been sent away. Now, the only people serving there were Su Peisheng and Xiaohong.
Yuyan saw it when she came in. This should be a small factory. Of course, it is not big and it belongs to the prince, but it already has the configuration of a research and development factory.
Yuyan rubbed her hands together and tried it with great interest.
This thing is really useful.
Yuyan asked Yinzhen: "What do you plan to do?"
If you turn such a useful thing into a business, you will make more money than sanitary napkins and small toys.
But this is not on the same level as sanitary napkins and small toys.
The most important thing is the reform it will bring. It will definitely have an impact on the handicraft industry and change the industrial structure.
Even now, there are many businesses that copy sanitary napkins and small toys. Once the sewing machine is launched, it will definitely face imitation and improvement, as well as a gradual and large-scale impact on the handicraft industry. This is something that needs to be considered.
Yuyan doesn't want to cause any impact on the lives of ordinary people without any preparation.
The current Qing Dynasty needs continued stability.
Only after Yuyan had had enough fun did Yinzhen take her out for dinner.
We won’t go back to the house to eat today. Yinzhen took Yuyan to the largest restaurant in the area. There is a crystal fish dish here. There is no bone from head to tail. It is fresh and delicious. Yuyan loves this the most. She hasn’t been out for these days, so Yinzhen brought Yuyan here to eat it specially.
Of course Yuyan didn't hesitate to order all her favorite dishes.
Lord Beile was so generous that he booked the entire second floor.
There was a lot of noise downstairs, but the second floor was quiet. Su Peisheng, Xiaohong and others were waiting from a distance. Yuyan and Yinzhen could just enjoy a quiet lunch in the bustling city.
This feeling of finding peace and quiet in the midst of noise is quite good, Yuyan likes it very much.
Only then did Yinzhen tell her his thoughts.
"I don't plan to give this to Old Nine. I originally wanted to give it to Old Thirteen, but then I thought about it again. Old Thirteen is too straightforward and has little experience. I'm afraid he can't do this well."
It’s still up to Yinzhen to do it himself.
The incident between Hongxiang Pavilion and the Crown Prince must have been a huge blow to the Emperor.
The exposure of Cao Yin’s private accounts was another blow.
The emperor did not like his utensils to be circulated among the people. Many exquisite Western items were made by the Imperial Household Department and were only provided to the public and never circulated among the people.
Even if they were just imitations, they rarely circulated among the people. Most of them were circulated among wealthy families.
After all, those Western missionaries knew very well that presenting good things to the emperor would be much more useful than showing off among the people.
The emperor had never thought of releasing the tools to promote development, and Yinzhen had to admit that he had never thought of it before.
But now, he thought about it. He felt that it should be so.
"This matter needs to be spread from top to bottom. First, let the emperor know about it and let him know that there is such an idea. Then it will spread slowly. Even the emperor cannot stop it."
Yuyan understood: "Master Beile, are you planning to use your own name to endorse this matter?"
Yinzhen smiled and said, "Fujin will not blame me for taking all the credit for myself, right?"
Yuyan shook her head: "That's definitely not the case."
She has never thought about it this way, nor would she ever think this way. She did not invent it in the first place, and she would not claim it as her own.
Moreover, according to Yinzhen's thinking, it would be safest for Yinzhen to put this under his own name. She understood very well his intention to protect her.
Yinzhen said: "From the top down, if there is any loosening, it will slowly spread to the people. It is best to take things that benefit the people slowly."
He hopes that his father will take this seriously.
Cleaning up the bureaucracy, rectifying river works, and recovering Taiwan were indeed for the sake of the Qing dynasty's foundation and the emperor's father's eternal empire.
But in the final analysis, isn't it also for the benefit of the people?
Yinzhen could not hear more from Yuyan, nor could he find more knowledge and information about future generations, but the few words and skills that Fujin revealed allowed Yinzhen to glimpse future development.
Everything is fluid and changing. If we are not confined to the world of the Qing Dynasty and look at the big picture, the ingenuity and wonderful ideas of the people, as well as the development of their lives, should not be curbed.
During the past six months, Yinzhen seemed to have gradually made up for some of his shortcomings in vision.
Yuyan had no idea that her words and actions filled in the gaps in Yinzhen's worldview, nor did she know that she had helped shape Yinzhen's views on the emperor and his vision as a king.
The couple sat by the window.
The screen in front of them did not block their view.
Yinzhen turned his head slightly and could see the endless stream of people coming and going under the restaurant.
This is the busiest time of the year for this busy commercial street.
Yinzhen looked far-sightedly: "We let Lao Jiu produce things and sell them to the West. They are very popular in various countries and even caused a trend. I was thinking that we are now one step ahead and can produce not only old treasures such as porcelain and tea, but also some new things."
The sea ban has just been lifted, and trade will definitely take place afterwards. The ports will be reopened, that is for sure.
Perhaps, the Qing Dynasty will once again become the center of the world.
With all nations coming to pay tribute, Yinzhen was looking forward to the grand scene, and he was still very ambitious.
Yuyan: emmmm……
She didn't want to attack Yinzhen.
Yuyan also followed Yinzhen's gaze and looked at the people walking by below.
The Kangxi era was a good time for the people. If the harvest was good, the people would live a good life.
But even during the prosperous reign of Emperor Kangxi, wasn't there still a deficit of three or four million taels from the salt tax in Lianghuai?
The deficit in the salt tax alone is so huge, let alone how huge the deficit in the four provinces south of the Yangtze River is.
Yuyan said, "Just being one step ahead is not enough to stand out from the crowd. Lord Beile has also seen that the exquisiteness of Western artifacts is not a gimmick. The great development and progress of machines and achievements ultimately depends on who can act on the development of productivity first."
"Whoever develops first, whoever is more advanced, will be able to leap forward, leave others behind by a hundred or eighty years, and enter a completely new social stage. What Prince Beile is thinking about is the glory of the previous dynasty. The reason why the previous dynasty was glorious is that everyone is at the same social stage, or lags behind this social stage, so they are willing to recognize the boss."
"But it's different now. The things we sell are not core technologies, they can develop them themselves. The development of machinery and industry breeds ambition. It's the ambition to expand outward. They don't want submission, they want conquest."
If the Qing Dynasty fell behind, it would fall behind step by step, and if it could not catch up with others, it would be beaten.
Now, I don't know how many people are coveting the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty is strong now, so they are hiding and developing themselves. When the Qing Dynasty becomes weak one day, these wild wolves and tigers will jump up and tear the flesh of the Qing Dynasty.
Yuyan couldn't help but go over the history in her mind.
My mind is full of inspiration.
Yinzhen heard everything, and his face became darker and darker. He wanted to beat all his descendants one by one. How could he become a sinner in history? How could he be so shameful! How could he lose the Qing Dynasty like this?
Yinzhen sighed and regretted, which made Yuyan feel pity. She quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, Prince Beile. Now they only have ambitions, but not the strength to do so."
Yinzhen sighed in his heart, Fujin, you don’t know, I heard what you said in your heart, and it made me feel so sad!
They are all Hongli's descendants, right? I will never give birth to this son! No one is allowed to be called Hongli in the future!
[It’s actually not that bad now. The main problem is your unlucky son Hongli. He may not really care about this industrial development, or he may be afraid that this industrial development will threaten his rule. He said that he learned everything from you, his father, but in fact, not long after he ascended the throne, he overturned everything you did.]
[Then he followed his grandfather in everything. He learned everything from Kangxi. During Kangxi's reign, foreign economics was not that developed, so he simply closed the country. This lockdown directly caused the Qing Dynasty to lag behind for a hundred years.]
Yuyan doesn't have any political ideas that could change the world.
There is no lofty ambition to travel through time to the Qing Dynasty to rebel and directly destroy the feudal society.
To carry on the development of a society, it is not enough to just eliminate a dynasty and directly support another social form.
This requires the people's thinking, the coordination and support of the social structure, and more importantly, the support of the economy and technology.
That is to say, if this point had not been reached and the feudal society had been directly destroyed, there would have been either chaos in the world or the rise of another feudal dynasty.
The same thing happened when she ran her own pet hospital.
They all started small, and over the past ten years or so, they have gradually grown bigger and stronger.
Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish, which is not easy.
If there must be some idea, then Yuyan just hopes that the people can be a little more relaxed. If the ruler is really confident, he can actually enlighten the people.
If you open early, you will still open. If you open late, you will fall behind and be beaten.
Even the emperor cannot stop the wheel of history from rolling forward.
Just adapt to the times.
Hearing Yuyan's thoughts, Yinzhen became more determined to carry out this matter.
It was probably this conversation that made Yinzhen realize the urgency of time, or perhaps the importance of social development, and that corruption would greatly affect the development of the Qing Dynasty, so he was more careful when tracing the losses.
The result of doing your best is inevitably to act too hastily and overdo things.
It is not easy to ask others for money in the first place. Now Yinzhen is asking for it so urgently, someone will definitely feel uncomfortable.
Once a person becomes overly nervous, stressed, and develops a rebellious mentality, it is easy for him to do extreme things.
Yinzhen failed to get the silver, but he persecuted several officials who had been in office for many years. They united together and went to the streets to sell their property, saying with deep sorrow that they had been forced into a state of despair by the Fourth Prince.
Originally, Yinzhen's nickname was the Iron-faced Prince Yan, but now, everyone privately called him the Confiscated Prince. They said he forced people to pay for money, was inhumane, and was simply heartless and ungrateful.
Yuyan sighed in her heart. If the losses were fortunate enough to be made up in two years, those greedy people would be beheaded when the time came to settle accounts.
No matter how tolerant and benevolent one is, there will definitely be a group of people who will be executed. When that time comes, will they be called the Beile who was executed?
Everyone is drunk but I am the only one sober. This state of mind is actually very uncomfortable.
Many people cannot hold on and will just go along with the crowd and turn a blind eye.
Yuyan knew that Yinzhen would not do that.
But precisely because he couldn't, and precisely because he kept insisting, Yuyan felt a little sorry for him.
This matter caused a big fuss.
These people jointly wrote a memorial to Kangxi to complain about the four princes and their own difficulties. Since the deadline was two years, they hoped that Kangxi would extend it by half a year. Isn't there still some time? They would raise money.
In fact, with the joint efforts of Cao Yin and Yinzhen, by the New Year, they had recovered all the losses of more than 300,000 taels that had been exposed previously.
What remained was the huge figure in Cao Yin’s private account, a loss of more than three million taels.
Kangxi had originally praised Yinzhen, but after receiving this memorial, he was not very happy.
These are all old ministers who have followed Kangxi for decades, otherwise they would not have been placed in such a crucial position as the Salt Administration.
The fourth son forced everyone to sell their property, and Kangxi felt a little embarrassed.
Kangxi was a person who attached great importance to dignity and face, and he could not accept such a thing.
Kangxi issued an edict to appease the old ministers, allowing them to raise money and give them a grace period. He also recalled Yinzhen to Beijing on the grounds that the New Year was approaching.
Order Cao Yin to continue to supervise the matter of recovering the losses.
Cao Yin was actually quite exhausted during this period.
The Fourth Prince was only concerned with charging forward, but Cao Yin needed to please both sides and appease everyone. Watching the silver in the treasury being filled up little by little, Cao Yin felt that all the silver was attached to it with his own hard work and vitality.
His hair has turned a lot greyer.
Cao Yin really couldn't do anything.
The emperor recalled the fourth prince to the capital, and Cao Yin was grateful in his heart. This master finally came back. No matter if this master would come again in the next year or not, at least Cao Yin could take a breath and rest.
The Jiangnan area can finally take a break.
Even if you want money to kill cattle and sheep, you have to wait until the animals are fat before slaughtering them, right?
"I'm going back to Beijing. Is Lord Cao happy?" Yinzhen asked Cao Yin.
Cao Yin hurriedly said, "Master Beile, what are you talking about? Master Beile, please don't misunderstand me."
Yinzhen smiled slightly: "I am not mistaken. But if you can't get back the more than three million taels of silver, can Lord Cao sleep peacefully at night?"
"You have great ambitions when you were young. After spending decades in Jiangnan, have you been blinded by the prosperity and wealth and forgotten your ambition to bring peace and stability to the country and the people?"
"I will be back in Beijing in a few days. I wish you a happy new year."
Cao Yin sent Yinzhen off.
But Yinzhen had been gone for a long time, and Cao Yin was still standing there without moving.
The Fourth Prince's heart was as hard as iron, but he could also see through people's hearts.
This gentleman was very good at seeing things from small details, and Cao Yin was not surprised that he could see through him. After all, they had been together for such a long time.
Cao Yin sighed in his heart. How could he forget? But he was already this age. Time waits for no one. Years are unforgiving.
The emperor will never transfer him away from Jiangnan. He, his descendants, and anyone who is capable must stay here.
How can we realize our ambitions?
As for the rest, Cao Yin didn't dare to think about it.
Cao Yin returned to the government office with a wry smile. The loss of more than three million taels was not something that happened only this year. If he hadn't slept well, how could he have survived until now?
The Qing dynasty will not end, but it will surely decline.
If you keep losing, it will be over.
Cao Yin could only think so in his heart.
But his heart was never at peace.
But after working with the Fourth Prince for a few months, Cao Yin suddenly calmed down, especially after hearing what the Fourth Prince said.
Cao Yin thought, the Qing Dynasty is definitely not going to end. With the Four Princes around, it will definitely not decline.
The clerks beside him didn't dare to say anything, and they didn't know why the adults were crying and laughing.
Perhaps it is because the pressure is too great. Now that the Fourth Prince is finally leaving, My Lord is heartbroken, but the suffering is over, so My Lord must be crying with joy.
A few days before Yinzhen returned to Beijing, it snowed in Suzhou, a rare event.
Yuyan was really rare. She was from the south and had rarely been to a university. It hadn’t snowed in the capital yet, so she hadn’t seen it yet. But she saw it in Suzhou first.
I put on my cloak and went out for a walk in the snow.
The feeling was still pretty good, but Xiaohong was afraid that she would catch a cold, so she urged her to come back. She came back after playing for a while.
Unexpectedly, Yinzhen came back first.
He has been busy with the follow-up handover work these days. I thought he would come back late because of the heavy snow today, but I didn't expect him to come back in the snow.
It was already around four or five in the afternoon, and it was snowing and cloudy outside, making the house even darker.
Yuyan saw Yinzhen sitting there. The room was dark and she couldn't see clearly whether Yinzhen had changed his clothes. Yuyan asked Xiaohong to turn on the light. She walked over and wanted to touch Yinzhen's clothes to see if they were wet. If they were stained with snow water, he would have to change them.
But when I went over, I heard Yinzhen say in a low voice, "Don't light the lamp."
Yuyan paused, realizing that Yinzhen might be unhappy.
No wonder Su Peisheng was standing outside with a miserable look on his face.
This means his master is unhappy.
Yuyan sat down next to Yinzhen and said softly, "It's dark now. We can't see clearly without a light."
Yinzhen said calmly, "Yes. It's dark, there's no light at all."
Yuyan could only see his figure vaguely.
Sitting closer, I didn't notice any snow water on his body; he still felt dry, fresh and clean.
When Yuyan saw Yinzhen like this, she didn't think twice and simply turned his shoulders over, then sat on him and kissed him gently on the ear.
He said vaguely, "If you turn on the lamp, there will be light. Master Beile, don't be discouraged."
Who knew that this man would grab her buttocks, not allowing her to leave, and even kissed her again.
He kissed her so fiercely that Yu Yan instantly felt as if she was being held by a wild beast.