Emperor Kangxi sent me to marry

Hai Feng's indifference and calmness exceeded Chen Shuyi's expectations.

On the way back to the Chen Mansion, she kept trying to figure out what this little girl was thinking.

Is she probing?Playing hard to get?
Strange things to live in.

Perhaps, someone has already seen her value and took refuge with the Chen family before, so Si Gege didn't like her self-recommendation?
With chaotic emotions, Chen Shuyi walked into the study of her uncle Chen Tingjing, waiting for him to come back to continue the discussion.

After waiting, it's the third watch.

Chen Tingjing returned home exhausted, saw that his niece was not asleep, and was not even happy, so he went straight to the topic.

"I have been in contact with Prince An."

Chen Shuyi was busy changing clothes and pouring tea for her uncle, her mouth was not idle.

"What does he mean?"

"My lord heard that I was in charge of suppressing copper prices, so he wanted to send a message to the emperor through me. Suo'etu, I can't keep it."

"why?"

"You haven't been in the capital for a long time, so I don't understand. The court's salary can't support officials at all. If you want to be an upright official, you either have to work hard like Mr. Wei, or rely on your ancestral property like ours. If you choose neither, you have to be a corrupt official. Take bribes. Guess what kind of Soetu is?"

"Probably because of taking bribes."

Chen Tingjing swallowed a big mouthful of tea to relieve his fatigue.

"Suo'etu's family doesn't have a solid foundation. Although his father, Mr. Sony, is not a master, he is not greedy. The family property left behind is actually limited. Because of Queen Hesheli's relationship, it has to be used by the court. Barely a tie."

Having said that, Chen Tingjing lowered his voice.

"Prince An said that, in fact, every year, the emperor would subsidize Suo'etu with a sum of money to prevent him from making a fool of himself. Last year, he was disgusted by the emperor for forming a party for personal gain, so the money was not given."

"Can you believe this?"

"His princess is Suo'etu's own sister, so there should be no mistake."

Chen Shuyi chanted for a long time, and slowly expressed her doubts.

"Then why didn't Prince An help his wife and brother, but came to us instead?"

"I also just found out the way today. I only thought that Suo'etu was domineering in the court, but I didn't expect him to be domineering at home. Prince An didn't have a good relationship with him, and it was just to maintain face. Besides, he is Zongzheng. The order in the imperial clan is where the responsibilities lie."

"Did he catch Suo'etu something wrong?"

"The emperor's private house money was distributed to the prince this year. For example, ginseng from the northeast, cloth from the south of the Yangtze River, and so on. I am also in charge of the household department, and I have vaguely noticed some of it. Suo'etu has lost the emperor's grace. I don't know how to do business, and it would be too embarrassing to sell my property. Going around, I just set my sights on the purse of His Highness the Crown Prince."

"It's nothing if His Royal Highness is willing to give it?"

"The emperor gave it to His Royal Highness, probably because his son is getting older, and he will be wronged if he doesn't have a lot of money. The amount is actually not big. It's full of people, and it's the best way to save face. Because Suo'etu became white overnight, he was afraid that others would look down on him." He used to be said to be extravagant, but now he is simply fighting for the rich. If there is any unusual treasure in Beijing, he will suppress them and look for even rarer ones."

How can such a person stay with Chu Jun?

Chen Tingjing was so worried that he took out a memorial from his pocket.

"I have written all the things above. The difficult part is that if His Royal Highness only gave money and did not participate in the private financing of copper coins, then it is justified, and it is nothing more than being deceived; Dahata has already inquired clearly. His Royal Highness and Suo Ertu is a partnership, and every time they get money, they get dividends. They even give usury to officials who are not working well. (Author's note, that is, usury)”

"How many people still know about this?"

"Not much. It's just a small fight. But the emperor is going on a southern tour, and Suo'etu seems to want to take this opportunity to expand his business and make money."

"Then, uncle, listen to me first!"

Chen Shuyi first recounted in detail what Haifeng said to her in the afternoon, and then expressed her own opinion.

"The meaning of Sigege, I thought, is to tell us not to bump into a rock, or we will have a bloody head. It must be relaxed, and the movement must be small. It is best that no one knows except the emperor."

Chen Tingjing was in a dilemma, fearing that Kangxi's heart would soften for a while, and he would return to the mountain, so the Chen family would never have peace.

"Child, come here."

Seeing her uncle's serious face, Chen Shuyi knelt down in front of him without any orders.

"Please teach me, uncle."

"The Chen family can only be pure ministers, and no one will take refuge in them. The emperor is here, and I will handle errands honestly; His Royal Highness is on the throne, and my son and nephew will also be honest. But the tree wants to be quiet but the wind keeps on, we can't let others deal with us You repeat, the last three sentences that Si Gege said."

"Yes. 'Don't tell others what you said, I didn't hear it.', 'Let me think about it.', 'What exactly does the Chen family want?'"

After Chen Tingjing listened to it, he stopped almost every word and warned his niece.

"Next, I'll tell you two things. They came out of my mouth and into your ears. If someone else knows a word, the whole family of the Chen family will be executed."

Chen Shuyi kowtowed deeply, without saying a word.

"The first thing, the emperor, is a good emperor. I almost watched him grow up and take charge of the government. Although he made a few small mistakes in the middle, he was all peaceful. He is not enjoying himself, works hard for the people, likes to read, There are countless advantages to being self-disciplined. But he has a shortcoming, that is, a gentleman can deceive others."

(Author's Note: From "Mengzi Wanzhang [-]". Someone gave Zichan a live fish, and he ordered him to release the fish. As a result, the person ate the fish and lied to Zichan, saying that the fish swims happily. Zichan was very happy after hearing that. A gentleman is easily deceived by reasonable things.)
"Uncle, are you talking about Xu Qianxue?" (Author's Note: See the introduction in this chapter.)
"More than that. Gao Shiqi, Wang Hongxu, even Mingzhu and Yu Guozhu. The emperor always feels that people who have read the books of sages can be trusted, because he himself is like this. Through reading and learning skills, he should show his ambitions and be famous in history. As everyone knows, the world is full of incorruptibility and shame, but less of benevolence and morality."

Chen Shuyi understood after a little thought.

"That is to say, the emperor thinks that Wei Xiangshu is mostly in the court, Dahata is the lesser half, and Suo'etu is the rare Xiaoxiao?"

"Well, you're a quick learner."

This can be difficult.

How many people can there be in the ages with both ability and political integrity, honesty and self-sufficiency like Mr. Wei?

But if they are all mediocre people like Dahata, the court will not be able to operate.

When the water is clear, there are no fish.

Nine out of ten officials are looking forward to becoming an official with their talents, to gain a wife and son, to return to their hometown with honor, to be a comfortable old man, and to have money delivered to their door.

"What about the second one?"

"The emperor has been in power for 15 years since Ping Aobai. His greatest weapon is checks and balances. The emperor never relies too much on anyone, and he does not show favoritism on the surface. He does not allow anyone to stand out. Whoever dares to take the lead, the emperor will Cut off. Suo'etu is like this. Prince, he has not learned half of the essence, and he is too partial to the uncle's family. As a result, people's hearts are not in harmony."

"But the prince's name is justified, who can shake it?"

"No one is shaken, but no one supports it. Just having an orthodox name, is it possible that you are really a loner?"

They both read the words in each other's eyes:

Who will win the throne in the future is still unknown.

What should the Chen family do?

Xu Qianxue mentioned in this chapter is introduced here.Fiction is fiction, history is history, and everyone can judge for themselves.

He is a close minister of Kangxi and has good knowledge.It should be in the 23rd year of Kangxi, when Xu's son and nephew passed the Shuntian Township Examination (which can be roughly understood as the school district with the highest admission rate for the college entrance examination in Beijing).Kangxi took a look at the admission list and thought it was wrong. Most of the admissions were from Zhejiang, so he asked his subordinates to review the test papers. Xu's son and nephew were dismissed.But Xu was not affected, and he was a Zhan Shi back then, working for the royal family.This is what Chen Shuyi alluded to in the article.As for the other officials mentioned, they will appear later in the novel, so I won’t go into details here.