The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 243: Gambling with Kangxi

"Khan Ama, I think that with a big reward, there will be brave men!" Yinyu said frankly, "Under the current opening-up policy, Shanxi merchants can make money by transporting grain to the northwest and then exchanging it for salt and tea permits. However, the journey is too long, the expenses are huge, and the overall profit is very limited. Therefore, if we want to encourage them to transport more grain to Xining, we must increase the reward."

"How much?" Kangxi stared at Yinyou's face with sharp eyes.

Yinyu stretched out a palm and explained, "At least increase the salt and tea permits by 50%. They saw the potential for huge profits, so they may do their best to transport grain to the northwest for the court."

"Fifty percent? Isn't that too much?" Kangxi asked Yinyou hesitantly.

Yinyu smiled and said, "Khan Ama, I can guarantee with my title that as long as there is a large enough profit margin, there will definitely be no shortage of food in the northwest."

"Oh, are you so sure?" Kangxi still didn't quite believe it.

"Khan Ama, the day when the edict is issued is the day when the Shanxi merchants will fight for their lives. It can't be wrong!" Yinyu seemed full of confidence.

"Well, if you are right, you can pick two Goryeo maids who are tributed by Korea. If you are wrong, the prince will be demoted to a beile, is that okay?" Kangxi deliberately used provocation.

Although Kangxi knew Yinyu very well and knew that he was an extremely pragmatic person, this matter was of great importance and could not be taken lightly.

In the capital of the Qing Dynasty, Korean maids were extremely popular and hard to come by!
Because, the Goryeo maids were all beauties carefully selected from the powerful families in northern Korea. They were not only gentle in character, but also good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and even could recite poems and compose lyrics.

To put it bluntly, except for the emperor, you cannot buy a Korean maid in the market of the capital even if you are willing to spend 10,000 taels of silver.

As the saying goes, scarcity makes things valuable!

Kangxi's proposal just fits Yinyu's lustful personality. Even if Yinyu is not happy about it, he has to bite the bullet and gamble with Kangxi.

What's more, Yinyou is sure to win!

Historically, Emperor Qianlong used this tactic to conquer the Dzungar Khanate.

Facts have proved that as long as there is enough room for huge profits, Shanxi merchants would be willing to sell their wives, let alone transport grain to the northwest.

Long before the Qing troops entered the country, Shanxi merchants had already become wealthy.

After the Qing troops entered the pass, the Shanxi merchants were engaged in almost all monopoly businesses, and their wealth and power expanded greatly.

Objectively speaking, there are at least fifty Shanxi merchant families with over one million silver coins hidden in their cellars.

As long as there is huge profit to be made, the transportation capacity that Shanxi merchants can mobilize is enough to make people's jaws drop!
This is like offering a reward of 10,000 yuan per trip to all trucks transporting scarce materials to the snowy plateau, ensuring a constant flow of traffic and an absolute abundance of supplies on the plateau.

As long as the power of the people is fully mobilized by the profit space, it really has the magical power of gathering sand into a tower!

"Just follow my father-in-law!" Yinyou pretended to be provoked and accepted Kangxi's gambling agreement.

"Call Zhang Tingyu!" Based on his trust in Yinyu, Kangxi immediately prepared to issue an order.

After returning to the guardhouse, Yinyu told Xiao Jinzi: "Go find Yangshi Lei and ask him to help me build two small courtyards to accommodate the Korean maids."

The Yangshi Lei of this generation is named Lei Jinyu. His father, Lei Fadada, once served as the chief designer of the Yangshi Room of the Imperial Palace for a long time.

When Emperor Kangxi was rebuilding the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he was forced to stop the work due to lack of wood. Lei Fadada, who was just an ordinary carpenter at the time, took the opportunity when Emperor Kangxi asked questions on the spot and took the initiative to suggest that the old beams and columns of the former Ming Emperor's Mausoleum be removed.

From then on, Lei Fadada was appreciated by Kangxi, and he rose rapidly and gradually became a family of noble character.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony, Kangxi's Changchun Garden, Rehe Palace, and the Old Summer Palace are all masterpieces designed and supervised by Yangshi Lei himself.

In a nutshell, when it comes to garden renovation, Yangshi Lei is definitely a top expert in his professional field.

After Kangxi heard about this, his confidence doubled.

After the imperial court's decree reached the whole of Shanxi, wow, the wealthy families in Shanxi were all red-eyed. They brought huge amounts of silver, led horses and drove mules, collected food everywhere, and tried every means to transport it to the northwest.

Half a month later, Kangxi received a report from Nian Gengyao that the convoys and horse teams transporting grain to Xining were endless.

Kangxi asked Yinyu in surprise: "How did you know that the Shanxi merchants were willing to risk their wealth?"

If Yinyou doesn't seize such a good opportunity, he would be the biggest fool in the world!

"Khan Ama, as long as the profits are sufficient, there is no need for the government troops to force them with swords and guns. Shanxi merchants will also participate enthusiastically..." He took the opportunity to give Kangxi a vivid lesson on economic laws. "Forcing them will definitely not last long. Only by tempting them with benefits can we achieve long-term stability."

"Khan Father, the court is in need of silver right now. In my humble opinion, it would be better to temporarily open up the maritime trade in Southeast Asia to alleviate the urgent problem of insufficient national funds." Seeing that Kangxi was listening very seriously, Yinyu took the opportunity to propose lifting the maritime ban.

In order to convince Kangxi, Yinyou deliberately said that it was just a temporary opening, and if it didn't cost much money later, it could be banned again!
"Are you bewitched by the foreign girls in the mansion?" Kangxi reacted very quickly, and almost in an instant, he thought of Miss Henry.

Yinyou knew Kangxi's taboos. The eighth prince was particularly afraid of his wife, and Kangxi couldn't help but complain several times.

"Khan Father, my wife and concubine are both extremely virtuous." Yinyou did not say it explicitly, but it implied that he was not afraid of his wife and would not be controlled by a woman.

Kangxi thought carefully and realized that Yinyu was indeed not as "henpecked" as the eighth son, so he relented and said, "Then we will open the Nanyang trade for two years first, and it cannot be longer!"

After all, there is a war going on in the front and the national treasury is spending money like water. This is an objective reality.

Opening up maritime trade with Southeast Asia can bring in at least hundreds of thousands of taels of tax silver every year. It's not of great use, but it's a small help.

Yinyu thought that even if the maritime trade with Southeast Asia was banned in the 59th year of Kangxi's reign, the collapse of the mausoleum would not be far away.

Unlike Kangxi, the fourth son had a special liking for Western goods.

Throughout the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, maritime trade was never banned!

Western painters once painted a life-like portrait of Yongzheng wearing a wig and Western clothes. It can be seen that the fourth prince was very receptive to new foreign things!

After entering summer, according to the report from Lao Shisi, there was no longer any food shortage in the northwest.

Naturally, Yinyu won the bet with Kangxi.

However, Kangxi had not mentioned the matter of rewarding the Korean maid for several days. After thinking about it for a few days, Yinyou decided to go to Kangxi to ask about it.

(End of this chapter)