After Being Reborn, I Strengthen the Nation by Taking Things for Free

Yinreng has a storybook that no one else can see.

In the storybook, his Emperor Father loves his older brother Chenghu most of all, cherishing him so dearly that he is afraid he might melt if held in his mouth, or break if held in his palm. By contrast, his father barely pays any attention to him, the Crown Prince.

Yinreng rubs his head, full of questions.

But... I don't have an older brother.

So Yinreng treats the storybook as nothing more than a story.

Until one day, a memory inexplicably appears in everyone's mind.

Yinreng looks at the smiling older brother before him, who introduces himself as Chenghu, and panics.

*

In his previous life, Kangxi believed he had nothing to answer for to Heaven or Earth, except that he had failed several of his sons, especially the Crown Prince Yinreng, whom he had cherished as a child before personally knocking him off his pedestal.

Reborn, Kangxi resolves to raise his sons properly this time: to make Yinreng into an outstanding heir and his other sons into capable princes.

Everything unfolds just as he planned, until

Huh? Why do I suddenly have another son?

*

Chen Hu transmigrates with a [Favorability] System and becomes Chenghu, Kangxi's legitimate eldest son, who died young.

How hard can it be to earn favorability?

Faced with Kangxi, who loves his sons to death, Chen Hu is confident.

Unfortunately, he's not as good at acting cute as Yinreng, can't beat Yinzhi in martial arts, and falls short of Yinzhi in literary talent. After repeated setbacks, Chen Hu looks at the System's fully stocked shop and decides to take another path.

If acting cute won't work, then he'll make the country stronger.

Sweet potatoes, potatoes, glass, cement...

With all these wonders, surely his favorability will shoot up?

Alas

Even as the Qing grows ever stronger, even as the princes sail overseas, even after Kangxi abdicates and Yinreng ascends the throne...

Chen Hu still can't figure out why his favorability remains a glaring "0."

*

Note: I suddenly thought of this premise. The section about Yinreng in the blurb is tentative.

Theme: Anything is possible.