After the family split, the changes in Ding Yun's descendants were noticeable.
With a substantial private fortune, they weren't overly concerned about the future of their offspring and their eldest sons. Most lacked a sense of urgency and didn't rush to act. The most significant change, if any, was a slightly increased focus on the education of their young children. They began to urge their children to study harder.
This way, they could make a good impression on Ding Yun later.
As for other aspects, there was virtually no change. They continued to enjoy leisure, watch operas, and so on. None of them felt the need to strive or improve themselves. Instead, they shifted the pressure onto the younger generation, believing that at their age, striving was unnecessary. Of course, it was up to the children to work hard!
In contrast to those with established families and financial security, the less favored illegitimate descendants, who had little private money and several children needing to be married off, found it difficult to remain calm after the family split. Most had to live frugally and actively seek sources of income, commonly known as "opening up new revenue streams."
However, ordinary jobs were out of the question. Firstly, they were too proud to stoop to such work. Even if they could overcome their pride, the meager earnings from such jobs wouldn't be enough to cover their expenses. High-income professions were limited to business or officialdom. As for becoming officials, they lacked the scholastic or martial prowess; without even the basic scholar’s title, officialdom was a pipe dream. Thus, after much deliberation, business was their only viable path.
Some considered buying land and collecting rent. Others thought of purchasing shops or even using their wives' existing businesses to try their hand at commerce. Some urged their children to excel, while others pursued their own improvement. Another option was to invest money in others. For instance, a certain merchant house might plan to transport goods to the north for sale, a round trip promising tens of thousands of taels in profit, but with considerable risk. They might not dare to bear it alone and thus seek joint investment. Or, a particular merchant house might plan a voyage at sea, promising profits of hundreds of thousands of taels, but with even greater risks. A single mishap could lead to total ruin, not to mention the funeral expenses for drowned crew members.
Ding Yun's great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren dared not engage in any illegal activities, so they could only choose from these avenues. The only ones who did not pursue business were the three who joined the Imperial Guards.
Now, nearly a year after the family split, some had made steady progress, incurring no significant losses but earning little, just enough to cover daily expenses. Others had been swindled in risky investments, losing everything and having to rely on their wives' dowries to scrape by. Still others continued to lose money in business, unwilling to cut their losses.
Only two families truly made money. One belonged to a descendant whose wife was from a merchant family, and with the support of her family, they got on the right track and started earning. The other family had been lucky with their investment; they weren't cheated, and the ship returned safely. An initial investment of two thousand taels had tripled, returning six thousand taels.
Overall, the Qin family was no longer stagnant. At least now they understood the difficulty of earning money, the hardship of having no wealth or power, and that they were nothing without the Princess's mansion. Many had finally straightened their attitudes, accepted reality, and begun to change.
As for the three children personally recommended by Ding Yun's memorial to the Emperor, two were too mediocre. Emperor Long Sheng bestowed upon them the rank of Second-Class Cloud Cavalry Commander, a military honor, and sent them away. This honor was equivalent to a seventh-rank official position, granting them a salary from the court and a stable livelihood. It also came with little risk, as there was no work to be done, hence no risk.
The only one who barely passed the assessment was Qin Yuan. He was promoted to the position of Imperial Bodyguard. While this role was nominally to protect the Emperor, it hadn't been truly utilized since the founding of the dynasty. Consequently, the selection criteria had changed somewhat. Previously, the standard was robustness and bravery; now, it was valor and good physique. The main difference was that the former emphasized combat experience, while the latter placed more importance on appearance and build. In essence, it was about looks and physique. They needed to be good-looking, with standard body types, and height was also a factor. When the Emperor himself was not in danger, appearances were paramount. The Imperial Bodyguard was one such "face project."
Qin Yuan was selected because his appearance, physique, and height met the standards. The other two who failed were one who was a bit plain-looking and appeared older, and another who was too tall, a head taller than the Emperor. Such individuals were unsuitable. The height requirement for Imperial Bodyguards was to be slightly shorter than the Emperor, with everyone's height being roughly similar, creating a uniform appearance. However, while this position placed them close to the Emperor, achieving significant merit depended on someone attempting to assassinate the Emperor. In short, the promotion prospects were quite limited!
Ding Yun briefly understood the situation and gave up hope. It seemed the family's hopes would have to rest on the remaining minor children. The current generation was largely a write-off; their best hope was to preserve the family's legacy, not to achieve anything remarkable.
However, Ding Yun wasn't one to be overly demanding. During the New Year, she didn't criticize anyone. She even took ten thousand taels from this year's income to give as red envelopes. Due to the large number of people, even though Ding Yun didn't give red envelopes to the older descendants, the remaining children each received a little over a hundred taels. After distributing the red envelopes and having a meal, Ding Yun sent them away.
After the New Year, the weavers and embroiderers hired by Ding Yun had essentially mastered the new techniques she had taught them. The rest was just a matter of practice. Only then did Ding Yun proceed to the next step: building a textile factory and a textile academy. The textile factory would sell only high-end, new-style fabrics, specifically those special types of fabrics not yet seen in this world. The textile academy would be dedicated to teaching the production techniques for these new fabrics. As for teachers, the weavers and embroiderers were already qualified instructors, saving Ding Yun considerable effort.
It might seem like a thankless task, cultivating one's own competition. However, Ding Yun had no shortage of money. Her primary goal was influence. At her current age, she wasn't inclined to stir up rebellion in this world, so she had to find other avenues, such as following in the footsteps of Huang Daopo.
The reason for building the textile factory to sell new fabrics was mainly to build a reputation for her textile academy. Otherwise, she would have just established the academy directly. If the influence gained from this method was still insufficient, she could simply change direction in a couple of years. After all, she wasn't limited to drawing a card only once; she had a free fairy card draw opportunity every year. She was confident she would eventually draw a useful fairy card. If all else failed, she could still spend money to draw cards, or simply localize technology from other worlds! In any case, she would never lack ways to gain influence.