Emperor Kangxi moved with absolute efficiency. The day after the birthday presentation, the Imperial Household Department was ordered to double the capacity of the Imperial Library.
Following the birthday festivities, the Emperor issued two critical decrees. First: Select elite youths from the Eight Banners and high-ranking officials to enroll in the Imperial Library. Second: Initiate massive agricultural reclamation in the Hexi Corridor, deploying specialists to oversee hybrid rice cultivation.
Yinreng smiled at the geopolitical maneuvering.
Analysis: War requires two metrics—manpower and logistics. The Hexi Corridor borders Qinghai and Mongolia. It possesses optimal sunlight and minimal cloud cover, making it the perfect agricultural zone. It will serve as the primary supply chain hub for the impending campaigns against the Dzungars.
However, the aristocracy fixated solely on the first decree.
This was an unprecedented political opportunity. Having their sons study alongside imperial princes meant forging early alliances and securing imperial favor. Panic swept the noble households as they audited their children. Diligent scholars were praised; lazy sons caught gambling or playing with crickets were subjected to violent physical discipline. The academic standards of the Eight Banners skyrocketed overnight.
***
The Academic Shield
Inside the palace, Third Prince Yinzhi sought out Yinreng, his face crumpled in misery. "Second Brother, the standard coursework is already crushing. Why did you petition Imperial Father to add a science curriculum? I have no time to play."
Yinreng remained utterly unmoved. "Denied."
Desperate, the Third Prince hauled the Fourth Prince, Yinzhen, forward as a shield. "Look at him! He isn't even six yet. He studies Analects, horseback riding, and your new subjects. He has dark circles under his eyes. Are you not worried he will collapse?"
Observation: The Third Prince is attempting to leverage empathy through a secondary target.
Unfortunately for the Third Prince, Yinzhen dismantled the alliance immediately. "You misunderstand, Third Brother. My dark circles are not from exhaustion. I simply cannot sleep because I am too exhilarated."
The Third Prince stared at him in horror, convinced the workload had broken his younger brother's mind.
Yinzhen was not lying. He relished the grueling schedule.
Yinzhen's Logic: The Crown Prince intentionally authorized my early enrollment and piled on this immense workload. Why? Because the heavier my academic burden, the longer I must remain in the Crown Prince's Yuqing Palace for "tutoring." This is a flawless, Emperor-sanctioned mechanism to keep me out of Consort Tong's Chengqian Palace without openly challenging her authority as my adoptive mother.
To facilitate this new curriculum, educational materials were required. System 001 had thoughtfully converted the fragmented data from Emperor Shunzhi's system into the applicable Traditional Chinese script. Yinreng, utilizing his past-life knowledge and the System's processing power, bridged the massive technological gaps in the texts, synthesizing the Qing Dynasty's first comprehensive STEM textbook.
***
The Elimination Protocol
In April, the Royal Academy officially opened.
The Eldest Prince, Yinzhi, saw a prime opportunity. He immediately began networking, attempting to recruit the new influx of aristocratic students into his political faction.
Yinreng instantly neutralized the threat through administration. He petitioned Kangxi to implement a strict disciplinary and assessment framework: Monthly examinations. If a student placed at the bottom for three consecutive months, they would be permanently expelled from the Imperial Library.
The political ramifications were devastating.
For the noble youths, expulsion meant the complete annihilation of their family's political prospects and face. Suddenly, the Eldest Prince found his social invitations declined. The aristocratic students no longer had time for political maneuvering; they were too busy fighting for academic survival.
The Eldest Prince was furious, accurately recognizing that Yinreng had deliberately sabotaged his power play. Yet, the Eldest Prince could not argue against a policy designed to "eradicate laziness and forge imperial talent." He was forced to adapt, squeezing his networking into whatever brief intervals the grueling schedule allowed.
As the academy stabilized into its new rhythm, the System sounded an alarm in Yinreng's mind.
[Warning: The Eldest Prince is successfully recruiting Zhang Tingyu and Hongshan! Zhang Tingyu is a future Pillar of the State. Hongshan is backed by the powerful Tong family. Host, you must intervene and secure these assets!]
Yinreng rolled his eyes. "Why intervene?"
[System: Because they are high-value historical assets!]
"Zhang Tingyu's father is a pure loyalist to the Emperor," Yinreng countered logically. "If Zhang Tingyu is as intelligent as history claims, he will remain strictly neutral. He will not align with the Eldest Prince, nor will he align with me."
[System: And Hongshan? You are just letting your rival build an army!]
"I am ten years old," Yinreng sighed, walking the System through his strategic calculus. "Historically, my power and influence are expanding too rapidly. To an Emperor, a flawless, unopposed Crown Prince is a threat. If I dominate the court and the princes absolutely, Imperial Father's paranoia will eventually target me.
"Therefore, I must intentionally throttle my own momentum. Let the Eldest Prince build his faction. Let him enter the court and wield power. He will act as a lightning rod, absorbing the court's attention and balancing the political ecosystem. An Emperor requires opposing factions to balance the scales."
The System fell silent, processing the ruthless efficiency of the host. Yinreng was artificially cultivating his historical nemesis specifically to act as his political meat shield against the Emperor's paranoia.
***
The Anomaly
In early May, the results of the first science examination were tabulated.
While Yinzhen scored exceptionally well, he was not the top student. Yinreng and Ling Guang isolated several promising candidates, but the highest score belonged to an eleven-year-old named Zanza.
Reviewing the personnel file, Eunuch Xiao Zhuzi provided the background. "Zanza is the youngest legitimate son of Prince An. His mother is of the Hesheli clan, daughter of Sonin."
Due to generational overlaps in the imperial family tree, this eleven-year-old was technically Yinreng's senior.
The System panicked.
[Alert! Zanza died at age two in the original timeline! Why is he eleven years old? Is he a transmigrator? A reincarnator? Host, initiate a probe! Ask him for the periodic table or a modern slang phrase!]
Analysis: Unlikely. Yinreng dismissed the System's panic. 'If Zanza were a modern transmigrator, my introduction of hybrid rice, cement, and silage would have immediately exposed my identity to him. Yet, in over a month at the academy, he has made zero attempts to establish contact. A transmigrator would not remain this passive.'
The mystery resolved itself a few days later.
Ling Guang, Yinreng's operative, noticed a unique jade pendant worn by Zanza. When questioned, Zanza explained its origin.
"I was nearly kidnapped at a temple fair in Yuhang years ago," Zanza explained, confused by his own history. "A passing monk saved me and gave me this pendant. But when my father saw it, he told me it was a gift from a 'highly respected senior family member' and ordered me to guard it."
Yinreng's eyes flashed with sudden realization.
'A monk operating in Yuhang who also qualifies as a highly respected senior member of the Aisin Gioro royal family.' It was Emperor Shunzhi.
Shunzhi had not died of smallpox; he had faked his death to become a monk. That single, massive alteration to the timeline—the butterfly effect—had rippled outward. The wandering former Emperor had intersected with Zanza's kidnapping, saving the child from his historically mandated death.
The timeline was rewriting itself, and the pieces were finally connecting.