The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 2: Taking over Yinzhen's job

Li Yan knew that Old Ten must not have eaten anything in the morning. Officials of the Qing Dynasty went to court early and ministers did not eat breakfast.

In addition, everyone knew that they were going to discuss the flood in the south today, and it would take a while to finish, so most people just endured it and didn't even dare to drink a sip of water. After all, the court meeting was not over yet, and you were pooping and peeing, and few people had the courage to do so.

After eating, he felt a little better in his stomach. He smiled and patted Xiao Dezi on the shoulder: "Okay, Xiao Dezi, you did a good job today. You helped me twice. I'll remember it."

"Tenth Prince, look at what you said. How can you say it's help? It's my servant's blessing to serve you. This is a great honor from my ancestors." Xiao Dezi smiled flatteringly, feeling flattered.

Xiao Dezi knows that among the emperor's more than ten princes, the tenth prince is the most honorable one except the crown prince. The tenth prince's mother is Consort Wenxi, Niuhulu, and his grandfather is Ebilun, one of the four great ministers in the early years of Kangxi. Being able to be looked up to by the tenth prince, or even to have his name remembered, is a huge benefit to him.

Li Yan came to the Qianqing Palace, stood outside and took a secret look, and breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were still discussing matters, the difference from before when they were all kneeling there was that this time they stood in two rows, and Kangxi stood on the Danbi.

If everyone is still kneeling like just now, I would rather not go in.

This is the bad thing about the Qing Dynasty. The emperor turned everyone in the world into slaves, and he himself was the master. Even his son was only half a master, and he had to kneel down at every turn. I don't have this habit.

He sneaked back to his seat through the gap, stood obediently in line behind Yinzhen, and just as he stood there, he heard Kangxi's roar.

"Over the years, Xuanye has handed over state affairs to the Crown Prince, and you brothers have worked together to handle them. Now it has become like this, and no one knows about it."

"Yinreng, what do you say?"

Kangxi angrily scolded the middle-aged man in a yellow robe standing nearby. When the prince heard the emperor's questioning, he said nothing but bent down and knelt down.

Seeing that Yinreng didn't say anything, he turned around and said to the people below: "Yinsi, you are in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. The national treasury is so empty. Why are you still talking about the top priority and allocating funds for emergency repairs? It's really ridiculous."

All the princes and civil and military officials knelt down together again. Li Yan felt a sense of injustice and wailed in his heart: "Fuck, they have to kneel down again, this is simply slave education."

Helplessly, everyone knelt down. I had just returned and it was impossible for me to have diarrhea every time. So I had to reluctantly follow them and let my hands touch the ground again.

The eighth prince Yinsi knelt down immediately and said tremblingly, "I have failed in my duty. Please punish me, Father."

"Yinzhen, you say!"

Seeing that the Eighth Prince seemed to be admitting his guilt, Kangxi's anger subsided a little, and he looked at the Fourth Prince Yinzhen on the other side and asked.

Yinzhen kowtowed and said respectfully, "In my humble opinion, we should immediately take out 400,000 taels of silver from the treasury to buy grain from wealthy households in Zhili and transport it to the disaster area to solve the urgent problem. For the rest, we should send an imperial envoy to Jiangnan to raise funds to buy grain, provide relief to the victims for the winter, and repair the damaged riverbanks."

Li Yan's heart moved. The opportunity had come. If he wanted to complete the task, he couldn't just stay in the capital.

There was less than 500,000 taels of silver in the national treasury, and I guess there wasn't much in the Tenth Master's mansion either, and it was even harder in other places. Even if there was money in the capital, it was in the hands of those big shots, and he couldn't afford to offend anyone.

I am just an ordinary prince here. But Jiangnan is rich. If I go to Jiangnan, I will be a descendant of the emperor, a son of the emperor, and those people will flatter me. It will be much easier to make money. This task is the easiest.

He made up his mind and stood up quickly and said, "Father, I have a different opinion."

As soon as the words came out, everyone in the hall looked at Li Yan in surprise.

In everyone's eyes, Yin has always been simple-minded and vulgar in character. He usually keeps silent in court meetings like this one, but he actually said something. Some people unconsciously glanced at the eighth prince Yinsi who was kneeling in the middle.

The eighth prince Yinsi also looked confused. He turned to look at Li Yan, not knowing what he was up to.

Kangxi frowned. He knew what kind of person Yin was. However, in front of everyone, he didn't want to yell at him since he hadn't spoken yet. So he asked, "Yin, what do you want to say?"

Although Li Yan had never experienced such a scene, he had watched a lot of film and television dramas when dealing with information explosion in his previous life, and meetings between heads of state were also commonplace on the news broadcasts.

In theory, he has seen a lot of the world, so when facing the ancient society of three hundred years ago, he has a sense of superiority.

In Yin's memory, everyone present was either his father or his brothers, or ministers and servants. They were not at all nervous about this kind of scene, and they talked freely: "Fourth brother is right, but just now fourth brother also said that there is less than 500,000 taels in the national treasury after checking it. Now we have to take out 400,000 taels, and the national treasury will be empty. What if there is another emergency that needs emergency response?"

"Besides, Zhili is not a grain-producing area. The grain it needs is also transported from Jiangnan. Will collecting grain from Zhili cause food shortages in the capital? Moreover, if the grain is transported thousands of miles, half of it will be lost. How much will be left when it arrives in the south?"

When a few questions came out, even Kangxi felt a little overwhelmed, and everyone suddenly fell silent.

Yinzhen also frowned, and a smile appeared on Yinsi's lowered face.

"Then what should I do?"

Kangxi saw Li Yan looking at everyone proudly, as if he was confident, so he asked a question.

Li Yan said slowly, "Father, Jiangnan is a grain producing area. The Yellow River bursting its dike only affected the Anhui area. A large number of disaster victims flocked to Jiangnan, and the wealthy families in Jiangnan saw the opportunity to hoard food and hid it, waiting to sell it at a high price. Therefore, in my opinion, there is no need to allocate funds to purchase food. You only need to appoint an imperial envoy, and your father will grant him the power of discretion, so that he can raise funds for disaster relief and repair the river dike in Jiangnan."

"Well, Yinzhen's words make sense!" Kangxi nodded with a smile. Compared with Yinzhen's proposal to withdraw funds, Li Yan's suggestion was obviously more cost-effective and easier to accept. Just now, Yinzhen reported that the treasury had less than 500,000 taels of silver, which shocked him. If he withdrew more than half of it, he would be in trouble if something really happened again.

I had never realized that Yin had such a brain before, which made Kangxi happy. He looked at Yin more favorably and asked, "Who do you think is suitable to be the imperial envoy?"

When everyone heard this, their hearts sank. It seemed that the emperor didn't want to allocate funds. He didn't even need to discuss this matter with everyone. He was just considering who to send to do the job.

Who can clean up such a mess when going to Jiangnan with nothing? In a time of great disaster, if there is another civil uprising, my future will be ruined.

Besides, all the people in Jiangnan have powerful connections and are closely related to the big shots in Beijing.

Fundraising!

Is it that easy to raise funds? You might end up offending everyone.

The worst thing is to offend someone before you can finish your job. You have studied hard for ten years and worked hard for decades to stand in this Golden Luan Palace. You can't lose this red hat on your head.

Not an easy job!
Thinking of this, everyone lowered their heads.

None of those princes wanted to take on this tough job. They had been living in the capital for a long time, enjoying a life of luxury. Local affairs were easier said than done.

Li Yan stepped forward and said sincerely: "I am already over 20 years old and have never done anything for the country. Now that the country is in crisis, if the emperor does not abandon me, I am willing to go to the south of the Yangtze River to help the emperor."

Kangxi smiled and nodded. No matter how bad Yinping was, or whether he had the ability or not, he was willing to stand up at this time. Kangxi was very happy, because this showed that his son was still responsible.

Then look at the ministers and other princes in the hall. When they heard about raising funds to repair the dike, they all lowered their heads, with an attitude of "do not provoke me at all". It was annoying to look at.

"What do you think?"

When Crown Prince Yinreng saw this, he was overjoyed. This Eleventh Prince had always followed the Eighth Prince to oppose him, and this time he didn't know if his brain was filled with water, and he actually jumped here without knowing whether he was alive or dead.

He thought to himself, with your ability, you will definitely make a mess, and the Eighth Brother will also be implicated. So he stood up and said, "Tenth brother has been smart and experienced since he was a child, and now he is dedicated to the country, which is a good thing. I think we should give Tenth brother a chance to let him go out and train, get in touch with some practical work, so that he can contribute to the country in the future."

As soon as the prince spoke, officials from his faction all spoke in agreement.

"The Tenth Prince is brave enough to shoulder such a heavy responsibility. He deserves our respect!"

"I think that the Tenth Prince is devoted to the country, so it is appropriate for him to be the imperial envoy to Jiangnan!"

"I second this motion."

Yinzhen saw that he had worked so hard just to take on this job, so how could he let the Eighth Prince's men snatch it away? He was anxious and immediately said, "I am willing to share your worries and go to Jiangnan to provide disaster relief. I hope your Majesty will approve it!"

When the Eighth Prince Yinsi saw Yinzhen coming out to argue, he winked at the Ninth Prince Yin'er, and both of them came out to support the Tenth Prince. The people of the Eighth Prince's faction followed suit and unanimously agreed to send the Tenth Prince to Jiangnan.

When Kangxi saw that most people agreed with the Tenth Prince, and also that Yin was looking at him eagerly, he made up his mind and decided to let him have a try. If that didn't work, he would send someone else.

"Tenth Prince Yin accepts the order!"

Li Yan was delighted, took a step forward, and knelt down again: "Your son accepts the order!"

"Appoint the Tenth Prince Yin as the imperial envoy to inspect Jiangnan! Grant him an imperial sword and the power to make decisions on the spot to handle all matters related to the flood in Jiangnan!"

"I will definitely live up to your trust!"

Li Yan took the sword and was very happy. He could finally leave Beijing.

The capital was a den of gossip. As Kangxi aged, the princes began to fight for the throne, scheming and forming cliques. Li Yan knew that it was only the 46th year of Kangxi, and it was still a long time before the old man died. Others did not know and thought that the old man would not live long, so they jumped out impatiently and were finally dealt with one by one.

Besides, the collection of debts owed to the national treasury was about to begin. His original owner, Yin, still owed the national treasury two hundred thousand taels of silver. Later, in order to pay off the debt, he sold his belongings on the street, beat Tian Wenjing, and was confined to the clan house for half a year.

It can be seen that Yin doesn’t have much money, which is why Li Yan is determined to go to Jiangnan.

Li Yan knew that the wealthy families in Jiangnan had plenty of money. If he went down there to plunder them in the name of raising funds, who would know how much money he had made by then? When he returned to the capital, he would not be the poor man he is now.

No matter when, no matter who you are.

搞钱
It is an eternal topic.

Without money, nothing can be done!

This applies to all times and places, both in China and abroad!
(End of this chapter)