Damn inflation
The great Celestial Empire has a long history and has produced many talented people in all walks of life. As history enters the Qing Dynasty, people talk less about state affairs, ethnic differences cannot be discussed, and it is best not to touch scientific and technological innovation. As for those who want to eradicate the atmosphere, they'd better shut up and not seek death.
For example, historical research entered its heyday during this era. If you didn't want to engage in textual research, you were doomed. The infamous Zhuang family case of Ming history occurred during this era. The history of the late Ming Dynasty should not be touched, nor should the early Ming Dynasty, especially the saying "the barbarians cannot maintain a century of national destiny." Oh, and the Qing and the Jin dynasties, in principle, are one family, so don't mention it either. Going back even further, anything involving the barbarians or the Lu peoples is off the table...
When choosing the Martial Saint, Yue Fei simply couldn't beat Guan Yu, and the public vote was ignored.
What else can I say? History's greatest emperors were all distinguished by their ability to defend their own people against foreign invaders. "Foreign race"—what a painful word. If castration still existed these days, the word "foreign race" would truly give those who used it a painful ache.
Literature and history are inseparable. After years of research, they delved into whether this character was like this, whether this thing was like this. They then delved into ancient texts. Eventually, with a sufficient level of cultural accumulation, they were able to recognize not only the inscriptions on stone but even those on bones. This research, judging by its background, was definitely not the result of a desire to learn, but rather the result of a continuous accumulation of hard work.
Well, let's not study literature anymore, let's study science and technology. Emperor Kangxi also paid attention to it. But be careful, don't cross the line! There was no such thing as professional division in ancient China. If you accidentally cross the line, you studied ignition, sorry, the three northeastern provinces are waiting for you. Go to Shengjing, Dai Zi [1], you are exiled! We don't allow ordinary Han people to go there, so you are lucky. So what if you build a submachine gun? So what if you fight the Europeans face to face? Go away, go away!
You want to be a good official who's not afraid of power? Dream on! Tears stream down my face. Simply put, you have no control over the people in the Banner. If a Bannerman kills someone, even if you're a cabinet minister, you can only watch helplessly. Unless you're willing to sacrifice your own future and kill him, you have to report it to the Infantry Commander's Office and have him arrested, and then conduct an internal investigation. Their household registration book doesn't even register with you!
In this era, everyone's minds are focused on some strange things, such as gift-giving.
Interpersonal relationships and interactions have become uncannily refined. There's no way around it; everyone has too much free time! Forced to relax, they write essays, discuss local customs, study opera, and flatter others. With such a vast population base and so many people passionately devoted to a single topic, the sky is practically a sieve.
This is the living condition of the Han people.
Where are the bannermen?
The Bannermen also lost their ambition. After all, the Bannermen's population was small, and in a country whose population was already breaking the 100 million mark, the figure of a million wasn't impressive enough. They quickly learned these tedious leisure activities. Bannermen also had another advantage—they had no worries about food and clothing. If they had children, the state would take care of them, as long as they dared!
Furthermore, the proportion of Bannermen holding official positions was quite high, allowing them to infiltrate officialdom. While it's true that the Han Chinese were oppressed, their cleverness is undeniably unmatched by any other ethnic group. Once you enter officialdom, just follow our lead! Trust the collective wisdom of a nation that has ruled this land for over two hundred years. They quickly learned, and because of their privileged status, they further contributed to the murky nature of officialdom.
The process of interactions between superiors and subordinates has become fixed and the content has become richer, and even the gift-giving conventions have become very detailed.
Three festivals, two birthdays, ice and charcoal gifts—they are all essential. The name should be elegant, and the content should be substantial! If you don't accept it, you're breaking the rules of the officialdom, and you'll have no chance of getting by. Everyone will squeeze you out. If you accept it, you can't just keep it at home. If you accept it from a peer, you must return it. If you accept it from a subordinate, you must protect them. Bosses rarely give gifts to their subordinates, and only give meaningful gifts to those they particularly value.
Similarly, if you receive something from the lower level, you must also pay tribute to the upper level.
This situation is quite similar to the concubines in a wealthy family. After having enough food and drink, they want to fight for entertainment - anyway, there is nothing else to do! It not only enriches their amateur cultural life, but also strives for better living conditions for themselves. Why not?
All this rambling is just to make one point: if you break this outdated rule, you'll be making an enemy of the entire court—most officials, Manchu and Han, will ignore you. This is against the officialdom culture that has been built up over so many years—they'll want to bite you to death. Even if you're the crown prince! Essentially, the crown prince isn't the master anymore, and doesn't hold the highest voice in the family. Everyone should really be like, "Big brother, don't laugh at the second brother."
Besides, everyone still gave gifts on the emperor's birthday. How could the emperor not know about these things? He simply turned a blind eye. Because the emperor didn't dare to take drastic measures, at most, he asked everyone to be more restrained. If he made a mistake and cut off everyone's financial resources, he would be abandoned by everyone.
There are many officials who are submissive in front of others but have their own agenda behind their backs.
Besides—they had money and free time! In the feudal era, local officials were evaluated on a ridiculously high standard: not by the crime rate, but by the crime rate. If there was a problem, they would settle it if possible, and preferably avoid resorting to criminal law. If they couldn't reconcile, they would keep it secret. As long as the higher-ups didn't find out, they would receive excellent evaluations—which required them to curry favor with officials at all levels.
Officials travel thousands of miles just to eat and wear clothes. There's only been one person like Hai Rui in all these years. Everyone has a family to support, so we shouldn't bully others, but we shouldn't starve our own family members to death, right?
Therefore, social interaction is the backbone of officialdom.
If you're not doing a good job as the crown prince, someone will want to take your place. If you're too arrogant, not only will the emperor be unhappy, but his subordinates will be unhappy too.
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After Shujia's initial surprise, she figured it out. It wasn't like she hadn't been around officials before. Back in Hangzhou, she had already started to come into contact with these things. When she moved to Beijing and her parents were away on business, she didn't just take care of the family.
There were also rules in the officialdom: three festivals and two birthdays, ice and charcoal offerings. Within the palace, there were slight variations, but it was all about using celebrations as an excuse to curry favor. The Crown Prince and his wife's birthdays, the births of the younger princes in the East Palace, their full moons, their hundredth days, their birthdays—all kinds of festivals—all brought gifts from outsiders, and she hadn't accepted them once or twice.
What she didn't understand was: why would someone send her money at this time? And so much money! This money was too much! Her dowry was already very generous. The gifts she received over the past year were enough for several dowries!
Money must be collected, but how to collect it is also a science. You can neither chill the hearts of those who express their loyalty nor bring trouble upon yourself. In Shujia's opinion, people like Ling Pu and Qi Shiwu are die-hard princelings. You can't refuse them too much, but you must give Yinreng a shot of prevention.
When Yinreng returned that evening, Shujia told him the story directly: "This year, because I gave birth and was in confinement, things took a break, but we had already figured it out. Why are these things happening again? Ling Pu and Qi Shiwu were sent once before, so why are they coming again?"
Yinreng was quite satisfied with this: "At least you don't have to be so tired."
Huh?
Yinreng explained to her, "How much profit can our little shop really make? It's almost not enough. After the New Year, the eldest son will marry another wife, the twelfth son will marry a concubine, the thirteenth and fourteenth sons will take concubines for the first time, and I'm afraid there will be several nephews and nieces to be born. Do the math yourself, is it enough?"
"It's okay if we live a little tight," Shujia refused to relax. Ling Pu was obviously an unreliable person, and although she had a bad impression of Qi Shiwu, she was worried that he had just sent a batch of gifts and now sent silver. "What kind of money can they have? Where does the money come from? Although I am a woman, I am not completely ignorant. I didn't say I don't want it. I accepted their normal gifts. What's the big deal about this extra money? I'm afraid that money from illicit sources will eventually bring trouble to you. I would rather suffer than let you get into trouble."
Yinreng said, "Keep it."
Shujia held up her right index finger and said, "One sentence, just one sentence. They've already given us gifts, and we can use the gifts as a gift."
Yinreng shook his head. His wife was very stubborn. The couple needed to cooperate. Pulling Shujia into the inner room, they whispered to each other: "How could I not know your worries? Can't I see that you are thinking about me? Now, not to mention the greedy and stupid eldest brother, even the third, fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth brothers, all those who have been given a house, have their followers sent out. They have all been serving as officials outside for several years now. With the title of prince and celebrity, as long as they are not pigs, they have made some achievements. Everyone is starting to have more money." Then of course, they have to show their filial piety to their master, make this umbrella of protection stronger, and tilt it a little more towards themselves.
He didn't want to stand out; he just lay low. The best way to stay low is to blend in with the masses and not be too special. I mean special, not outstanding. That is, neither too prominent nor too short. The problem now is that his brothers have all started upgrading their weapons!
As dynasties progress, they tend to become more meticulous, with more comparisons and attention to detail, more extravagant lifestyles, and a greater focus on prestige. Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, the spirit of hard work and perseverance had been largely lost, and living standards had steadily risen. The minimum living allowance originally established by Yinreng was already outdated.
"We are not in a very tight situation. Our people are not without filial piety." Shujia muttered. The crown prince is old, and Kangxi loves him. There are many people who come to visit him and send him many gifts on various occasions.
"There is not enough money," Yinreng pointed out the crux of the matter, "They are all antiques, calligraphy and paintings, collectibles and local utensils, and I can't sell them. Besides using them myself, I have to give them away as rewards. The price of rewards in the palace has doubled compared to the 20th year of Kangxi's reign, and it seems that it will increase further. How can the money we have be enough? I don't expect to do anything for me by feeding those servants. I just hope that I can feed them a little bit, just a little bit, so that they don't hold me back! Our son is still with Khan Ama, and you, the prince's son, have to take care of these servants!" Yinreng gritted his teeth in hatred. When he was a child, he didn't have to worry about this at all.
Prices were not so expensive earlier, and he still had a Soetu. Later, he cleared out the surrounding areas and cut off his own source of income. Now the financial pressure is getting greater and greater.
Shujia was dejected. She was very aware of the family's financial situation and had discovered everything Yinreng had said. Shujia burst into tears. It had only been a few years! When she first started sending people to do business, she thought the financial problems had been solved. Who knew that now they were facing new troubles! Even Yinreng knew about "selling off" and "market conditions". It was obvious that the Eastern Palace was really short of money.
Damn inflation!
Shujia thought about it for a long time, and Yinreng waited patiently for her to think it through. Finally, Yinreng heard his wife ask him: "But what will Khan Ama think of this? Even if they are the retainers of the princes, if they are sent out, they will be high-ranking officials of the court, shepherding the people on behalf of the emperor. How much can an official's salary be? Not only do they have to support a large family, but they also have to provide for various staff. These alone are huge expenses, and they must find some extra money to supplement their family expenses. That's fine, the court can't let all the officials starve to death. Now, not only do they have to supplement their family expenses, but they also--"
She didn't dare say the following words. You're using your father's resources to enrich yourselves and expand your power. How much tolerance can the emperor have for such a thing? The key point of this matter is not to enrich yourself, but to expand your power.
What Shujia could think of, Yinreng could certainly think of as well. He, however, had to adjust himself to keep pace with his brothers. The difficulty lay in maintaining this consistency: he had to appear superior, but not too superior, and certainly not lagging behind. He could be simple, but not crude.
The princes were all enthusiastic about their work, not necessarily harboring ambitions to seize the throne; they were still working for the Qing Empire. Kangxi saw it as a scene of flourishing prosperity. For Yinreng, his political winter had only just begun.
As the princes grew older and gained more experience, their performance in all aspects would only improve, and they would increasingly improve themselves to meet Kangxi's requirements. However, the crown prince had already done very well in the early stages, and there was very little room for him to improve!
Similarly, Kangxi's affection for the Crown Prince was already very high, and if it increased any further, he would have to abdicate. This kind of thing is just a dream, and it's best not to take it seriously. As for the other princes, the intimacy level was obviously not so high, so it would be easy to increase it.
It's like a test paper with a score of 100. Yinreng originally scored 90 points, while others only scored 60 points or lower. You try desperately to widen the gap and keep a distance, but the full score is only 100 points. Others are still working hard, and many people have good qualifications.
You get 90 and others get 60, so you stand out in the teacher's eyes. When you get 92 and others get 89, just imagine it yourself.
Anyone who has been a student will immediately understand the problem.
Yinreng said, "Now we can only take it one step at a time." He didn't point out that he was already subtly considering the brothers as rivals, but the topic had already touched upon the impact of the brothers' growth. "Be careful, don't go too far, and don't appear shabby either."
Shujia nodded: "You know better than me, so it's useless for me to say anything. Since you understand, I will take the money first and spend it if you find it useful. But... don't scare me anymore, I've never seen so much money before." The last sentence was a joke.
Yinreng forced a smile and said, "I know what's going on. I'll pass the message on and tell them to tone it down."
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The Crown Prince and his wife entered the 41st year of the Kangxi reign in a not-so-good mood.
On the contrary, the others were delighted.
During the first month of the year, Prince Yu Fuquan's petition for his son Baotai to be named Crown Prince was approved, officially making Baotai the legal heir to the Prince Yu's mansion. And Yaerjiang'e, who already had a good relationship with Yinreng, finally received his certificate of employment, becoming the official hereditary Prince Heshuo Jian, which made Yinreng feel a little better.
The East Palace needed to prepare these two sets of gifts. This time, since she received more gifts than she gave during the New Year, Shujia didn't find it difficult. She felt a little uneasy about spending the money. Although the law doesn't punish everyone, since everyone does it, it's still not a good thing. It depends on who the old man wants to blame for this.
The author has something to say: Sorry, it’s too late today.
I suddenly felt unwell in the evening and didn't feel better until around ten o'clock. I've updated less today, so please forgive me.
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