A few days later, Yinzhen brought the newly grown vegetables and the draft proposal to the palace.
Kangxi has been feeling better these past two days. I heard it's a Western medicine that's even better than benzoin.
After hearing about Yinzhen's method of growing vegetables on heated brick beds, Emperor Kangxi found it very feasible. After reading the memorial Yinzhen submitted, he waved his hand and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to send people to study it.
As for Yinzhen, he also gave him a commendation, a verbal commendation.
However, Yinzhen was quite satisfied, as long as his father knew that he was doing his job diligently.
Things have been a bit chaotic lately, but his farming and vegetable research can't get in anyone's way.
However, he never expected that Da Lei would arrive so quickly.
The end of the year is fast approaching, and all departments are summarizing, wrapping up, and compiling statistics.
The Ministry of Revenue is also auditing the accounts, but this year they discovered a deficit of over eight million taels.
This large sum of money wasn't embezzled by anyone or misappropriated by any official; it was the debt owed by hundreds of officials.
Debts were an old tradition during the Kangxi era.
Initially, Emperor Kangxi, out of consideration for his officials, allowed them to borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue without interest or a repayment deadline. This led many officials to feel grateful for the emperor's favor and borrow money.
Gradually, this became a trend.
Everyone's borrowing money, are you going to lend some?
You won't lend it to me?
What does this tell us?
That means you're rich!
How come everyone else is broke, but you're the only one with money?
Did you accept bribes?
So, regardless of whether they were rich or poor, everyone borrowed money to some extent.
The debt kept increasing day by day. Two years ago, it was only a few hundred thousand taels of silver in debt, but in the last two years it has reached millions, and this year it has reached eight million taels. They are afraid that next year it will reach ten million taels, and even if they lose their lives, they will not be able to atone for their sins. So they quickly reported it to the authorities.
Because the debt was so enormous, both the Manchu and Han ministers removed their hats to apologize.
Emperor Kangxi was furious and ordered the collection of the outstanding debt.
However, a problem arises next.
Who's coming?
The Crown Prince? Forget it, the Crown Prince can't even leave the Eastern Palace now.
Besides, this is a job that will offend people; there's no benefit, and you'll offend all the civil and military officials in the court. Only someone with a resolute and decisive character could do such a thing.
Anyone who volunteers would be a fool.
In their view, if a prince were to be responsible for collecting the debts, it would be cutting off his own path and giving up any hope of vying for the throne.
After all, what kind of crown prince opposes all the civil and military officials in the court?
The princes watched from the sidelines, all praying that the emperor would not target them.
In the Eighth Prince's mansion, the eighth, ninth, and tenth princes gathered together.
The eighth brother asked first, "The tenth brother, do you owe a lot of money?"
The Tenth Prince nodded: "Since I established my own residence two years ago, I've borrowed several hundred thousand taels of silver in total. What, Eighth Brother, do you want me to pay it back now?"
Lao Ba quickly stopped him, shaking his head: "No rush, no rush, let's see how things go first. Suo'etu is still making plans, we shouldn't get involved in the national treasury debt issue."
Old Nine had a violent temper, and he scoffed.
"I say, Songgotu is moving too slowly. If he had this idea, wouldn't he have prepared it a long time ago? By the time he finishes, it will be too late!"
The eighth brother glanced at him and sighed, "Ninth brother, don't be in a hurry, just don't show it in front of others."
"I know, Eighth Brother, but I just don't understand, why are we following the Crown Prince? Why don't we do things on our own?"
Looking at the hot-tempered Ninth Prince, the Eighth Prince said helplessly, "How can we be a match for Father Emperor? Besides, this matter is not so easy."
Meanwhile, things remained peaceful in the other princes' residences.
Since the death of his primary wife, Prince Zhi has rarely left the palace, spending his days instructing Hongyu in the mansion.
The same goes for the Third Prince; he used to frequent brothels, but now he is chaste and self-disciplined.
And the Fourth Prince...
After a night of private conversation with Dai Duo, Yinzhen went to the Qianqing Palace to pay his respects and volunteered to collect the national treasury's arrears.
When the news spread, Emperor Kangxi had already agreed.
Everyone's eyes nearly popped out.
They really couldn't understand this Fourth Prince.
You say this prince has the most seniority besides the Crown Prince and the Prince of Zhi. Anyone with eyes can see that these two are about to fail, so this Fourth Prince is very likely to be a rising star.
But what did this man do?
He went to farm.
Nobody understood, but a few days ago I heard that he had developed a method for growing vegetables on heated brick beds, which allows for large-scale cultivation of vegetables even in winter. This is a remarkable achievement.
But things are different now!
This means standing against the civil and military officials! It's a path of isolation for a loyal minister. Can the Fourth Prince take this path? Is he even willing to take it?
No one understood it, but that didn't stop them from watching the show.
Let's see how this Fourth Prince collects the money.
Surprisingly, he actually had an accomplice?
Just as it was announced that Yinzhen had been appointed by Kangxi as the person in charge of collecting the outstanding debts, the Thirteenth Prince also stepped forward and said that he would assist his Fourth Brother.
This one is one thing, everyone knows that the two of them are as close as if they were on the same side.
However, the Seventh Prince, who was usually out of the limelight and had no presence, was actually willing to step forward.
When did they start contacting each other?
Everyone was shocked.
Yinzhen was moved. He patted the seventh and thirteenth princes on the shoulders.
"Seventh Brother, Thirteenth Brother, I remember your kindness."
Thirteen quickly waved his hand: "Fourth Brother, what are you saying? We are brothers, your business is my business, why talk about personal favors?"
The seventh brother quickly chimed in, "Yes, Fourth Brother, I know. Mother was mistreated a few days ago, and it was Consort De who helped her. Now that Fourth Brother needs help, how can we younger brothers not do our best?"
Yinzhen felt particularly warm-hearted; his kindness to his two younger brothers had not been in vain.
Just as the three were feeling deeply moved, Fourteen kicked the door open and strode in.
"Hey Fourth Brother, do you still have any of that kind of green vegetable? Pack me a bag and let's go."
Upon entering, he found that Seventh Brother and Thirteenth Brother were also there. Fourteenth Brother feigned surprise: "You guys are here too. What are you discussing? If you need my help, that's fine, but you'll need to bring an extra bag of vegetables."
Yinzhen rolled his eyes at him: "All you ever do is eat. When have you ever been shortchanged?"
"This time is different. Before, it was all about not getting something for nothing, but this time it's a reward for hard work and merit. Tell me, which little brat do we start with?"
Thirteen was also impressed by Fourteen. He was clearly there to help, but he acted all high and mighty, like he was all that. Thirteen wanted to kick him, but he also thought that his fourth brother had a really good temper.
However, at this point, the four-person debt collection team was finally assembled.
Changning had also heard about Yinzhen's debt collection efforts. She thought it was a mentally demanding and potentially frustrating task.
Well, the one who owes money is the boss.
This is an age-old truth.
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