SFS Chapter 208 Yinzhen Goes to the Ministry of Revenue
Chapter 208 Yinzhen Goes to the Ministry of Revenue
Chapter 208 Yinzhen Goes to the Ministry of Revenue
Kangxi's question caught him off guard, and Yinzhen blurted out: "I want to go to the Ministry of Revenue."
After seeing the seriousness in Kangxi's eyes and the smile on his second brother's face, Yinzhen finally reacted. However, he was speaking his true feelings, and from his second brother's expression he knew that there was nothing wrong with what he said, and it was even in line with the Emperor's wishes, so he was not nervous at all.
Kangxi's expression was serious for a moment, and then he patted Yinzhen's shoulder with relief: "Let's not talk about this for now. Take the emperor to see the grain on your farm."
Yinzhen said yes and called Kangxi to walk towards the field that had just been harvested. He glanced at his second brother on the side. After seeing Yinreng's reassuring look, he concentrated on introducing the structure of the entire farm to the emperor.
Yinzhen said, "Father, this is an experimental field. There are two kinds of seeds. One kind grows tall, with large ears, and each bunch generally has more than a hundred grains. The other kind is the kind we are harvesting now, which is short, but has small ears, with only about eighty grains per bunch. Both kinds of grain have their advantages and disadvantages. The tall kind has a high yield, but it is easy to fall over in strong winds, and sometimes a heavy rain can even cause them to fall over. If they fall over, the yield will definitely decrease. The other kind, although the yield is low, is short, has strong roots, and is resistant to lodging. Unless it is very windy, it will basically be fine."
Kangxi listened attentively to Yinzhen's explanation, and from time to time he would pick up the two grains for comparison. Simply speaking, they might just be numbers, but once compared, the obvious difference was more clearly apparent.
Kangxi couldn't help but ask: "Can't the advantages of the two be combined into one?" But as soon as the question came out, he realized that it was wrong. This is not cooking. If it is too salty, you can add water, and if it is too bland, you can add salt. Strictly speaking, increasing the output is already a historical innovation. To be honest, it is very difficult to cultivate a new variety in a short period of time.
So even if no one answered the question, Kangxi did not care, but lightly skipped over the topic, as if the question had never happened.
Kangxi: "What is the yield per mu?"
Yinzhen: "I have measured before that the high-quality grain can yield up to 1,000 catties per mu, and the low-quality grain can reach about 800 catties. If Your Majesty is not in a hurry, you can stay at the farm for a while. The harvest of these two mu of land is almost complete. We only need to collect all the rice grains so that we can personally witness the yield."
Rice seeds were a big deal, and Kangxi only needed to think for a moment before he ordered Liang Jiugong to summon the six ministers to come together. Then he asked his servants to set up a place in the center of heaven and earth. He wanted to witness this historical scene in person.
After receiving the emperor's order, all the people in the farm started to move and all came to harvest the rice in the two acres of land. Not only that, the guards brought by the emperor also joined in the work. Although they did not know how to harvest or use the thresher, they were strong and could still do simple transportation like this. In this way, two production lines soon appeared in front of everyone, and baskets of rice were quickly transported to the open space in front of Kangxi.
When the ministers arrived, Kangxi had already piled up quite a bit of rice in front of him, and there wasn't much left in the fields. Liang Jiugong waved his hand, and officials from the Ministry of Revenue quickly stepped forward and began calculating the weight of the two piles of rice with tools.
No one explained, the scene was in full swing, even the eyes of the six ministers were shining at this time. They were all smart people, and when they saw the scene in front of them, how could they not know why they came here?
Not to mention the Ministry of Revenue, which benefited the most, even the Minister of War was secretly counting on his fingers to calculate the profits his department could get. The Ministry of Works, for example, was already considering developing new harvesting tools.
It can be said that if this thing succeeds, everyone will have a lot of things to do next, and if this thing is promoted, all six departments will be able to gain credit.
The servants worked swiftly, and under the watchful eyes of the Emperor and the others, the entire process took less than half an hour, and the weights were tallied. According to the advice of experienced farmers, wet rice will shrink by 5%-10%, and the final yield was calculated to be around kilograms for one pile, and to kilograms for the other.
As soon as this answer came out, everyone's smiles were free, and the light reflected by their big teeth made the open space in front of them brighter.
Facts have proved that the data reported by Yinzhen before was still conservative. A yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu was a groundbreaking move at that time.
However, the disadvantages are also obvious. It requires high-quality paddy fields, intensive cultivation, and sufficient fertilizers. However, these are future worries for everyone who is excited now, and there is no need to talk about them now to spoil the fun.
The results were announced, and Emperor Kangxi announced on the spot that Yinzhen would be placed in the Ministry of Revenue, becoming the Right Minister of Revenue, primarily responsible for agricultural research. This marked the first time since the reign of Emperor Kangxi that the Ministry of Revenue had two Ministers, breaking the tradition of having only one Minister. From then on, the number of Ministers increased from one to two, one Manchu and one Han.
Several people were shocked, and then relieved. They had long guessed that the emperor wanted to limit the power of the six ministers, but they did not expect that he would take this opportunity to implement it directly today. Moreover, it would be difficult for them to object at this juncture. Once this measure was implemented, it was believed that it would not be long before the number of ministers would increase from six to twelve.
At the same time, several other ministers looked at the current Left Minister of the Ministry of Revenue with envy. Prince Yong entered your Ministry of Revenue with such great merits. This is definitely a great achievement.
The former Minister of Revenue, Lord Liu, couldn't help but stroke his beard and bared his teeth, not restraining himself even when being stared at by the other five people.
The work was done, and Kangxi was ready to return home with joy. Before leaving, he called Yinreng into his carriage.
Kangxi: "You and the fourth brother have done a great job. Do you have any reward you would like? Tell me about it."
Yinreng said, "Your Majesty, you are joking. This was all done by my fourth brother. I have nothing to do with this son. I was just a messenger at best. As for my fourth brother, he said before that he only wanted to go to the Ministry of Revenue and didn't want anything else."
Kangxi pondered for a moment and said, "I'll hold onto the Fourth Brother's crops for now. Let's wait for a year for the grain to be tested in the capital. Then I'll reward you according to your merits. If you don't tell me, I'll just pretend it never happened."
After saying that, he looked at Yinreng with a look that said, "This village will never be available again."
Yinreng touched his nose and flattered the emperor openly: "Your Majesty is wise. I really don't want anything. I have everything I need now. But if Your Majesty really wants to give me something, I will shamelessly ask for your grace."
Hearing Yinreng's words, the smile on Kangxi's face instantly disappeared, and a cold light began to appear in his eyes. The entire carriage began to become cold, and Liang Jiugong had to curl up tightly, trying to reduce his presence.
Yinreng pretended not to notice and continued, "This son has only one daughter, Jingyi, whom I love dearly. Now that she is growing up, as her father, I can't help but worry about her marriage. Today, this son shamelessly asks the emperor for a favor, allowing Jingyi to marry freely and choose her own husband."
After understanding Yinreng's request, the whole carriage began to warm up in an instant, and Kangxi's expression changed from serious to kind: "I thought it was something else. Jingyi is also my most beloved granddaughter. Since it is this matter, then I will agree. However, if you take a fancy to a boy in the future, don't forget to let me take a look. I will then grant the marriage."
A layer of joy suddenly appeared on Yinreng's face: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty." The fact that His Majesty agreed made Yinreng overjoyed. As for the future emperor's pickyness, he could only say that he underestimated him too much. Perhaps when Jingyi really grew up, His Majesty would not be able to stop her.
He was only saying this now for precaution, to prevent the Emperor from having any chance to match people up with other women before he completely replaced him.