Chapter 55: National Treasure

  Yin Zhen only then realized that he had come to wish him a long life, and hastily responded with a sound, before getting up. The guards outside heard Kangxi's words and immediately brought in a wooden boat model over three feet long with a somewhat strange shape. The guard walked a few steps in front of Yin Zhen, knelt down on one knee, and presented the model with both hands: "Fourteenth Master, please forgive us, we have a duty to fulfill, and we took it upon ourselves to open it, please forgive us."

  Seeing the model was intact, Yin Zhen let out a sigh of relief, took it over with both hands and said softly, "Not bad, I'll reward you later."

  The sailboat model in Yinzhen's hand was actually an 18th-century sailing warship, with only slight modifications, changing the bow to a pointed angle. Kangxi had already seen it and his eyes lit up, knowing that this must be the warship model that Yinzhen would build. Li Dequan also noticed Kangxi's expression, but Yinzhen didn't say anything about presenting it, nor did he dare to rush down and grab it.

  Yongzheng examined the model of the warship, saw no problem, and then knelt down, "Emperor Ama, this is the model of the main battleship of our Qing Dynasty's ocean-going fleet that I will build soon. This main battleship can hold more than 90 red-coated cannons and load 750 soldiers."

  As soon as the words fell, Li Dequan hurriedly ran down, but Yin Zhen did not rush to hand over the model. Instead, he manipulated the mechanism in front of him, and the two sides of the warship immediately exposed six rows of black cannon barrels. The model of this sailing warship was extremely exquisite, naturally attracting everyone's attention. Seeing Li Dequan nodding, Yin Zhen handed over the model to him.

  Kangxi this time did not hold back, letting Li Dequan hold the model of the warship to look left and right. When he conquered Taiwan that year, he spent a lot of silver to build warships and saw many models of warships. However, no matter the shape or specifications, they were fundamentally incomparable. Only when he saw the six rows of black cannon mouths on both sides did he ask: "Is this the Westerner's three-layer armored combat ship?"

  "This is actually Yinzhen's mouth, a few old shipbuilders worked together, and they made it by closing the door. He bowed his head and replied, 'Reply to the Emperor, this was made according to the description of Western sailors, and it is said to be their latest battleship.'"

  "This should be a giant ship of over 4,000 tons." Kangxi said with great interest, "When the giant ship is launched, I will personally go to watch it."

  Yongzheng was overjoyed when he heard this, as it was the strongest support from Kangxi. He knelt down to thank him, "Thank you, Emperor Father, I will definitely build a powerful and majestic fleet to welcome your inspection."

  "All right, I hope to take this fleet of warships down to Jiangnan seven times." Kangxi smiled with satisfaction, "Xi Bei Zi Yin Zhen, loyal and diligent in national affairs, will be promoted to Beile."

  "Ah, it's Beile again? Yongzheng was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him."

  The princes and ministers in the palace were already speechless, this was all within a short span of time, less than the time it takes to finish a cup of tea. The title of Beile had been stripped and then restored again. This is a national treasure, you father and son like to play with it, we don't dare to interfere nor do we have the right to interfere, but can you two please just close the door and play among yourselves? Don't make such a big show in front of us! We're all about to get heart disease from being tormented by your father-son duo.

  Du Chaiyuan, the left censor of the Ducha Yamen, secretly scolded Xu Yuanzheng in his heart. He impeached him, but what a joke! You were penalized with a year's salary and demoted three ranks to remain in office, while others who had their Beile title removed got it back after a moment, truly stupid bird, aren't you? You poor official from the capital can't compare to those rich folks with millions.

  Tong Guowei, Ma Zhi and other ministers in the upper book house heard Kangxi say that he still wants to go down to Jiangnan seven times. Suddenly, they felt their legs softening. This Jiangnan is now just making up for your losses in the south, going down to Jiangnan again, will it let people live?

  Kangxi knew where to go to reason with the thoughts of the many princes and ministers, and spoke warmly and softly to Yinzheng, "Next time you want to come back, just write a letter. The court's laws do not allow for trampling, next time again, this title will not be so easily given to you. This time since you've returned, go home and stay for a few days, when you leave take all your naval students with you, they are not that delicate."

  After leaving the palace, I returned home to take a bath. Before I could comfort my family members, He Zhu'er from Eighth Brother's residence arrived at my door. I heard that Ninth Brother and Tenth Brother were already waiting at Eighth Brother's residence. I couldn't delay any further, so after exchanging greetings with several ladies, I hastily rushed to the Taiji Factory in Dongcheng District, where Prince Li's residence was located.

  All the way, he couldn't help but re-examine his relationship with the Eighth Prince's party. The Eighth Brother, due to his humble origin, was exceptionally eager for power and would not give up until he reached the Yellow River. The Ninth Brother was exceptional in both business and mind games, and also had a high self-esteem, how could he not have ambitions? The Tenth Brother, except for the Crown Prince, had the most noble status, if he didn't have this thought, why would he wade into this muddy water? He himself currently has a shallow foundation and incomplete wings, although he has Kangxi's protection, but wanting to surpass the Eighth Prince's party is still too early, he must endure, endure, wait for the Crown Prince to fall, wait for the Eighth Brother to give up, then he can take advantage of the situation and rise, in this way, he can win people's hearts and gain a powerful backing, only then can he contend with the Fourth Brother or even Kangxi.

  Yin Zhen entered the Beile Mansion, and Yin Qi, Yin Tan, and Yin Xiang came out to greet him. Yin Zhen hastily went forward to pay his respects to the three of them one by one. After exchanging pleasantries, Yin Qi smiled at Yin Zhen and said: "I've long since prepared a banquet for you, we four brothers haven't gathered together in nearly half a year, today under the pretext of welcoming you back, let's have a good get-together."

  As soon as the banquet began, Yong Yi raised his cup to Yong Rong and said: "Fourteenth brother, you have been the most hardworking this year. Come, let's toast you with the first cup."

  "Eight Brother, this is getting too much! I hurriedly got up and said, "These years, it's been Eight Brother who has been shielding us from the wind and rain. To be able to share Eight Brother's worries is an honor for Fourteen. Come, Ninth Brother, Tenth Brother, let the three of us brothers toast to Eight Brother together."

  Lao Jiu and Lao Shi saw that Yin Zhen was neither arrogant nor impatient, and also respected Ba Ge as a superior, so they responded in unison.

  Yinxiang glanced at Yinzheng with a hint of surprise in his heart, the old fourteen was now much improved, this was also good, and his own weight in the Emperor's heart could be increased by another fraction. He smiled and said: "Hehe, today is to welcome and entertain the fourteenth brother, we brothers can just dispense with the formalities, let's just relax." As he spoke, he downed his drink in one gulp.

  After three rounds of wine, Laojiu Yun asked tentatively, "Fourteenth brother, now that you've made a name for yourself in Shanghai, I was thinking, shouldn't our influence be spreading to Jiangnan?"

  What does that mean? Want to stretch your hand to my Shanghai? Yongzheng hesitated for a moment, put down his wine cup and looked at Yongti, "Eighth brother, the current situation in Beijing, fourteen is not too clear, don't know if we are too eye-catching, will it be counterproductive?"

  Yinxiang understood Yinzheng's intention as soon as he heard it. Now that Yinzheng is alone in Shanghai, Kangxi is strongly supportive, but if others were to intervene again, Kangxi might have to take precautions. This was indeed a bad move, so he smiled and looked at Yinxiang, "Fourteenth brother has thought this through, Ninth brother's words are not well-considered. As the saying goes, 'things will reverse when they reach an extreme', 'going too far is just as bad as not going far enough'. The Emperor is indeed a master of balance."

  Yi Zhen didn't say a word, but Yi Zheng smiled and said, "Ninth brother can take people out, but Fourteenth has other plans."

  Push push push!! Collect collect collect!!