Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 346 Night Tour
Ding Rushong had just been sent out to eavesdrop, and soon an official came in hurriedly, saying that Dai Quan, the chief steward of Daming Palace, had come to announce the imperial decree.

Li Weijian did not dare to neglect it, straightened his clothes and hat, and quickly went to the front hall to set up the incense table and kneel down to receive the imperial edict. The imperial edict gave him a warning and then said that he would be fined for three years.

Li Weijian was stunned, wondering if the punishment was a bit too light?

He stood up and received the imperial edict. The rest of the officials and clerks dispersed. Li Weijian then pulled Dai Quan aside and asked, "Eunuch Dai, what is the sage doing——"

Dai Quan was not a worm in the stomach of Emperor Zhenghe, so he just thought: "It is also because the person in the palace acted too meanly. The Saint thought about it and decided to give each of them fifty lashes. Master Li, rest assured that the Saint has no grudge against you for mentioning you today."

"That's good." Li Weijian politely sent Dai Quan out, and then he thought that he might not be able to get this job.

After lingering in the Wubeiyuan for an hour, he turned around and went to the Kuaijisi to sit in the court.

The Kuaiji Division was not only responsible for auditing the accounts of the inner court, but also managed more than 800 imperial farms in various parts of Dashun, 373 shops and properties in the capital, and provided more than 38,000 dan of rice and nearly 100,000 taels of silver every year.

Li Weijian was promoted to the position of Assistant Minister of the Imperial Household. He had his own duty room in the Imperial Household, but as a new official, he always had to walk around. On this day, he sat casually in the Kuaiji Office, and went to the Imperial Household Office at noon.

It was also a coincidence that the loyal and brave king was dissatisfied with the lunch box at noon, and he ran into Li Weijian on his way out. The loyal and brave king paused and frowned, then raised his hand and said, "Fusheng, accompany me for lunch."

Li Weijian agreed with trepidation and followed the King of Loyalty and Bravery out of the inner government office. They did not need a carriage and found a noodle shop not far away.

The two of them each ordered a bowl of braised pork noodles, which were paired with four side dishes. They ate the meal with great relish, and when they put down their chopsticks, the King of Loyalty and Bravery said, "I'm afraid I'll have to move to another government office next month."

"Oh? I wonder where the prince is going to move to?"

"Fifth Army Headquarters."

Li Weijian thought to himself after hearing this, this is what he meant. The prince in front of him was good at military affairs, and he was only in charge of the affairs of the inner government. He had maintained peace for several years and never increased revenue or reduced expenditure. It was also thanks to Li Weijian's help that he was able to make a lot of money by trading various shares.

The Fifth Army was originally a private land of the nobles, and no one could get in. It was also because of the destruction of the Dzungar Khanate and the slight improvement of the border armies that the saint sent his closest brothers to the Fifth Army. It was obvious that the good days that the four kings and eight dukes had been waiting for were coming to an end.

Li Weijian pondered in his heart, then smiled and bowed his hands to congratulate: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, on getting what you wished for."

King Zhongyong frowned and shook his head, saying, "I'm afraid there will be countless lawsuits. Now that the Quasi bandits have been destroyed, the Mongol tribes will not dare to act rashly for ten years. The saint thinks that this is the right time to reorganize the five armies."

“The saints have far-sightedness.”

King Zhongyong glanced at Li Weijian and said, "Don't flatter me in front of me... After I leave, I don't know who will take over the inner government office."

That's right. Without the strong leg of the King of Loyalty and Bravery, if the new ministers of the inner court don't like him, his life will be difficult in the future. So Li Weijian asked with concern: "I wonder if the saint has any candidates in mind in private?"

King Zhongyong shook his head and said, "The Saint intends to transfer the governors from other places to serve as ministers in the inner court, but there is no precedent for this matter. There is a lot of discussion in the court, and most people are against it."

The rules set by Emperor Taizong Li Guo were that one could not enter the cabinet without serving in the prefectures and prefectures, and one could not become a general without serving in the army. The governors and governors-general of Dashun were high-ranking officials of the first or second rank. When they entered the capital, they were either cabinet officials or the cabinet. It was considered a disrespect to be a junior minister with the title of Grand Secretary, let alone a minister in the inner court.

After a pause, the King of Loyalty and Bravery continued, "A few days ago, your teacher Yan Xiyao came up with an idea. He said that since we can't choose a minister for the inner court for the time being, why not promote a few more assistant ministers to divide the inner court into different parts and assign people to manage them. This way, there will be no confusion." He glanced at Li Weijian and said, "The Construction Department just had a case. The new doctors and assistants are trembling with fear. The chiefs and clerks under them are all undergraduates and Jinshi. Fu Sheng is easy to deal with. But the Kuaiji Department... Fu Sheng must pay attention."

Li Weijian looked at the loyal and brave king's expression and felt that the king was hesitant to speak, as if he had something to say. At the moment, he did not understand what the king was worried about, but also knew the meaning of the loyal and brave king's suggestion, so Li Weijian hurriedly bowed and agreed.

Seeing that they really listened, the King of Loyalty and Bravery said no more, and stood up and said, "Let's disperse. Don't slack off in the future."

Li Weijian agreed and followed King Zhongyong out of the noodle shop. He watched King Zhongyong ride his horse straight to the imperial city, while Li Weijian himself returned to the inner government office.

After entering the second gate, a clerk led Li Weijian to the duty room. The duty room was only two rooms in size, and there were two clerks to handle official documents.

Li Weijian sat down at his desk and glanced through the official documents. He thought that it would take ten days or half a month to deal with the affairs of the Construction Department and the Kuaiji Department, and he thought that no one would file a document to make him unhappy. Unexpectedly, around 5 p.m., Ye Zhongzhi, a member of the Kuaiji Department, came to visit.

Ye Zhongzhi was over 40 years old and not very good-looking. He came in and greeted them, then handed over a document: "Sir, this month the lease period for 27 shops and properties in the capital is approaching, and you are required to use your seal to recruit new businesses."

Li Weijian agreed and sent a clerk to bring a chair to Ye Zhongzhi. He then calmly looked through the official documents. The first place was a shop with five bays near Taiping Warehouse. The rent was ninety-six taels per year, and the lease was renewable after three years.

Li Weijian was about to look down when he suddenly turned back to take a look - the five-bay shop in Taipingcang, isn't that the time-honored Heyifeng Restaurant? It's next to the Xisi Archway, and this place is quite prosperous. A shop with five bays in front and a house in the back can make ninety-six taels a year?

What a joke!
Daiyu's dowry included several shops, most of which were three-bay shops located in the outer city, but even so, they still had an annual rent of about 200 taels. Wasn't 96 taels too cheap?
Li Weijian raised his eyes and looked at Ye Zhongzhi, and saw that he had a stern face and did not say a word, holding the teacup in his hand without moving.

Li Weijian lowered his head and looked down again. The second place was a three-bay shop in Dengshikou, with an annual rent of 48 taels. Li Weijian recalled carefully, isn't this a foreign goods shop? Li Weijian had visited it before and spent more than 300 taels of silver to buy Xichun a dozen Western paintings, as well as various brushes, canvases, etc.

That shop's business is booming, and it's conservatively estimated that it earns two to three thousand taels of silver every year. But the rent is only forty-eight taels?
Looking further back, there is a house with three courtyards in Shichahai, and the rent is 24 taels...

Li Weijian put down the official document. How could he not understand at this moment that this Mr. Ye Zhongzhi was here to cause trouble?
Who is Li Weijian? He is the universally recognized God of Wealth, the first person in Dashun to open up new sources of income! He came to the inner court to work, and he wanted to promote the industrial revolution. What does catching borers have to do with him? Not only did he offend people, but he also ruined his reputation.

After a brief thought, Li Weijian said with a sullen face, "I have just arrived and am not familiar with the affairs of the Kuaiji Division. Mr. Ye, please put down the official documents first and wait for a few days until I am familiar with them before we discuss it."

"This... Sir——"

Ye Zhongzhi had a lot to say and stood up to speak, but saw Li Weijian slowly raising his teacup.

Ye Zhongzhi frowned, swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, bowed, and then left.

As soon as the man left, Li Weijian called Ding Rufeng over and whispered to him, "Find out who this person is, and then find out the relationship between the officials of the Kuaiji Division."

Snakes have their ways and rats have their ways. Ding Rufeng responded in a muffled voice and turned around to go out to inquire.

Ding Rufeng had just returned when the court was dismissed that day. Because the matter was a secret, Li Weijian simply called him into the carriage. Ding Rufeng's hair was greasy from the sun, and he wiped it while saying, "Master, it's easy to find out about the official surnamed Ye. He was just a clerk before. Last year, my niece entered the Eastern Palace, and he was promoted several levels to become an official."

"The prince's men?" Li Weijian asked, "Where is the doctor of the Kuaiji Division?"

Ding Rufeng frowned and said, "It's strange. The doctor of Kuaiji is the prince's foster brother. I don't know why these two are fighting each other."

Is that really the case? Li Weijian felt that it might not be that simple. After asking the other officials, Li Weijian frowned. Apart from the imperial families, the rest either took refuge with the crown prince or the King of Jin. No wonder the saint wanted to hand over the Ministry of Justice to him. To put it nicely, it was the saint's inner court, to put it bluntly -

Li Weijian suddenly felt that the situation was extremely difficult. He did not want to offend the Crown Prince, and even more so, he did not want to offend the favorite concubine and the legitimate son, Prince Jin.

He couldn't think of a solution for the moment, so he might as well delay it for a while. After all, he had just taken over the Kuaiji Division, so he could delay it for ten days or half a month.

The carriage rumbled on, and it took two quarters of an hour to reach home. After getting off the carriage in front of the Ziyi Gate, Li Weijian took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, saying, "It's getting hotter recently, I'm afraid this carriage won't work."

The chief steward Wu Haiping had already come over and looked at the carriage road. "Master, there is a smoker under your carriage. Why don't you replace it with ice cubes? This way, it will be cooler when driving with the windows closed."

Li Weijian waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. It won't be much cooler."

Wu Haiping nodded in agreement, and then whispered, "Today there was a big fight in Rongguo Mansion. It was said that the old lady got angry, and all of Bao Erye's servants and attendants were beaten with sticks. I heard that the maidservants around him were also fined."

Li Weijian frowned and asked, "Where is Baoyu? Didn't they say what to do with Baoyu?"

Wu Haiping whispered, "I heard Yu Liu mention it. He is now confined to Qixianzhai. It is said that someone will be sent to Jiangnan in the next few days."

Li Weijian thought about it, and Grandmother Jia finally understood and stopped protecting Baoyu, the scumbag. With a cold snort, Li Weijian entered the ceremonial gate with his hands behind his back. Not far away, he saw Daiyu leading people to greet him.

Li Weijian, who had a cold face, suddenly smiled, took a few quick steps, held Daiyu's hand and said, "The sun is shining brightly now, why do you have to come out to greet me, sister?"

Daiyu said, "I also want to see Fourth Brother as soon as possible."

The two of them walked inside hand in hand. The maids, concubines, and others saw how affectionate they were and immediately made eyes at each other.

Daiyu asked, "Did the sage punish my fourth brother for smashing the bookshop yesterday?"

"He was fined three years' salary, which is not a small amount." Daiyu looked sideways and asked, "He was not demoted?"

Li Weijian smiled bitterly and said, "The saint wants me to work like a cow or a horse, how can he let me rest?"

Daiyu felt uneasy, but she tried to say something nice: "It is because the sage trusts Fourth Brother. If so, Fourth Brother should do his job with all his heart from now on."

It was not easy to talk about the troubles outside, so Li Weijian nodded. The two of them went inside, Zijuan helped them wash their hands, and Xueyan brought a wet towel to wipe Li Weijian's hands. After changing their clothes, Li Weijian and Daiyu sat together on the soft couch in the west room.

There was warm tea and various snacks and fruits on the small table. Li Weijian ate a peeled peach, and then Daiyu said, "The second day of next month is the birthday of my second brother in the Marquis Zhongjing Mansion. Today I sent Zijuan to the Rongguo Mansion to ask Sister Feng about the annual regulations. I've been thinking about drawing up a gift list this afternoon. Fourth brother, please take a look and see if it's appropriate."

Li Weijian waved his hand and said, "When giving gifts, just like the Rongguo Mansion, it's not good to be too little, nor too much."

If the gift is too little, it will be considered as neglect; if it is too much, it will easily put pressure on the recipient, and the other person will not know how to return the gift.

Daiyu pondered for a moment and said with a smile, "It's just a four-color gift, which is not unusual." After a pause, she continued, "Summer came early this year, and it is also a wet June. The number of people in the family is increasing. Hongyu has calculated that it will cost more than 800 taels of silver to buy ice cubes from various places this summer. Sister Baoqin and I discussed it and both felt that it was too wasteful. There is still a lot of open space in Huifang Garden at the back. It is better to dig a cellar and store the ice cubes in the twelfth month. There will always be 50% to 60% of it for use next summer."

Li Weijian immediately smiled and said, "This is a good thing. You can make the decision, sister." He carefully observed Daiyu. After more than a month of marriage, Daiyu's face had not gained any weight, but her body had grown a little. Li Weijian said with concern, "You will be the head of the family in the future. You can leave the trivial matters to Hongyu or the housekeeper."

Daiyu nodded in agreement and mentioned Aunt Xu again. Aunt Xu was Baoqin's dowry and was originally Baoqin's nanny. After entering the Bo's mansion, she was in charge of the cleaning of Huifang Garden. Because she handled the matter well yesterday, Daiyu thought about rewarding her well.

"I think Madam Xu is a thoughtful and forthright person. She can help with the affairs of Fang Garden right now. From now on, her monthly salary will be increased by one or two taels of silver. As for the rest who helped yesterday, each of them will be rewarded with one month's salary."

Without waiting for Li Weijian to say anything, Daiyu smiled and said, "I don't need Fourth Brother to make the decision this time. I made the decision myself this afternoon."

Li Weijian said happily: "Men are responsible for external affairs, and women are responsible for internal affairs. From now on, my sister can make her own decisions on such matters." He paused and first talked about the situation in the Rongguo Mansion next door. Now Baoyu can be said to be hated by everyone and completely stinky.

When Daiyu heard that Baoyu would be sent to Jiangnan soon, she was relieved: "Thank God, only my uncle can scare this evil star. I hope to go to Jiangnan as soon as possible, so that I can make some progress in the future."

Li Weijian was relieved to see that Daiyu really didn't like Baoyu. Fortunately, he got the hoe early, otherwise it would be hard to say who would be the winner of these two childhood sweethearts.

Li Weijian then mentioned Yuchun Garden cheerfully, saying that he planned to buy a garden near Yuchun Garden in Haidian. Daiyu immediately became somewhat hopeful and said with a smile, "It is said that Haidian is cooler than the capital. This is good. With a garden, my sisters can escape the heat."

However, most of the gardens near Yuchun Garden are owned by princes and nobles, and are not easily sold. Whether you can buy one depends entirely on luck.

Putting this matter aside for the moment, the couple chatted for a while until it was time for dinner. Qianxue then led Ping'er back inside, where the first crop of watermelons in the greenhouse had just begun to bloom. There were only seven or eight in total, so Sister Feng sent Ping'er to bring two.

Daiyu spoke a few words to Ping'er, asking her to thank Fengjie, and then ordered Zijuan to take the watermelon to the well and boil it to be shared after dinner.

Seeing the watermelon, Daiyu said, "I read in the newspaper today that Sister Feng's greenhouse business is very impressive. Now even the palace is eyeing her."

Li Weijian was very surprised and asked a few more questions. It turned out that the emperor could not resist the concubines' pillow talk and finally made up his mind to let the inner court build a warm shed. Although there were warm soup vegetables in the past, it was not a regular practice because the cost of throwing away was too high.

Sister Feng and merchants from various places set up greenhouses around the capital, which greatly reduced the price of leeks. Now, not only the noble families, but even the wealthy families can buy some fresh leeks to make dumplings in winter.

However, there was no precedent for setting up a greenhouse in the inner court, and it was not convenient to go to Li Weijian for help, so she asked Sister Feng for permission and sent the craftsmen to Wang Xifeng's farm to learn how to run a greenhouse.

After hearing this, Li Weijian thought to himself, Sister Feng had received the imperial decree long ago, and now she was pregnant, which gave her even more face. If she knew that Jia Lian had a second sister You outside, Sister Feng, who was getting more and more ill-tempered, would not be able to tolerate it. It was a pity that there were more than ten maids patrolling Huifang Garden at night, so it was not easy to go to Daguan Garden to persuade them.

Never mind, I'll just keep it a secret for now.

After dinner that day, when the concubines were about to leave, Qingwen and Xiuying frequently winked at Daiyu, their eyes full of hope.

Li Weijian was not surprised for long. After the concubines left, Daiyu said thoughtfully, "Fourth brother, I heard that there is a night market near Baoguo Temple?"

This is a new thing. In the past, there were ghost markets in the capital, which usually opened at yin and closed at mao, because there was a curfew in the capital.

This year, because Li Weijian had opened factories everywhere, the income of the people in the capital had risen, the employment rate had increased, and the public security had naturally improved. Because a minister had submitted a petition to lift the curfew. The court had been hesitating for half a year, and now it had finally relaxed, relaxing the curfew in the inner city to the second watch and the outer city to the third watch.

Li Weijian thought about it and realized that since Daiyu got married, except for visiting her parents and relatives, she had been bored in her uncle's house. Now she mentioned the Baoguo Temple Night Market. Was she thinking of something because she was too quiet?
Li Weijian smiled and said, "That night market has been around for a while, and I heard it's very lively... My sister shouldn't stay at home all the time, why don't we go take a look today?"

Before Daiyu could say anything, Zijuan came over with a cup of tea and said with a smile, "Master, you may not know that Qingwen and Xiuying have been asking Madam for permission to go this afternoon for a long time. They are both playful. They heard from the maid who was on leave that the Baoguo Temple night market is very lively, so they came to ask Madam to persuade you to take everyone to have a look."

Li Weijian had no objection and asked, "What about my sister?"

Daiyu smiled and said, "I want to go and have a look, too."

"Then let's go. It's better to do it today than to wait for a day. It only takes a moment to get to Baoguo Temple. My sister has packed everything. Call everyone and we'll have fun together."

Daiyu gladly agreed and quickly sent Xueyan to inform everyone.

Li Weijian thought to himself, Qingwen and Xiuying, one a little arrogant, the other silly, actually understand the rules today? If it were any other time, I'm afraid they would just ask me for help in private, why are they asking Daiyu for help now?

Li Weijian thought that someone must have instructed the two. Sure enough, he went out first and ran into Hongyu. When he mentioned this, Hongyu laughed and said, "If I hadn't stopped them, the two would have gone to ask the master for permission. If the mistress knew about this, I'm afraid she would be unhappy."

Li Weijian was immediately pleased, and he pinched Hongyu's cheek lovingly, and whispered, "Watch those two in private."

Hongyu nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "You don't need to tell me, I've already noticed it."

Soon, all the beauties gathered. Li Weijian looked around but could not see Fu Qiufang. He called Hongyu to ask about it and she said, "Yesterday, the aunt should have finished her confinement, but the wet nurse advised her that it was her first child and her bones had not closed yet, so it would be better for her to have a double confinement. The aunt listened to the advice, took a bath in the afternoon, and went back to her room to rest."

Li Weijian couldn't help but frown and said, "The weather is getting hotter. It's really painful to be in confinement at this time."

Xiangling, who was standing by, couldn't help but laugh when she heard this: "Fourth Master, it's better not to get involved in women's affairs. The rules passed down from generation to generation must have some truth to them."

Well, Li Weijian stopped talking and thought about going to see Fu Qiufang and Xiao Lian'er in the evening.

Except for Fu Qiufang, the rest of the concubines went with them. Daiyu took two maids, and the rest took one maid each. There were also eight old women accompanying them, and twenty Beishan guards. The group of people took ten carriages and headed for the Huguo Temple.

After walking for a while, they saw the boundary of the land. Ding Rufeng replied, "Master, there is so much traffic ahead that we can't go through. Why don't we find a place to stop the traffic and walk over."

Behind the Huguo Temple is the Taiping Warehouse. Li Weijian ordered Ding Rufeng to take the invitation and find the ambassador. The ambassador agreed in a flattering manner, and all ten carriages were parked in the Taiping Warehouse.

After walking half a street, they arrived at the Huguo Temple Night Market. At this time, dusk was falling and the lights were on. From a distance, they could see that the street in front of the Huguo Temple was brightly lit, with countless vendors standing there and the sounds of hawking were in full swing.

As for the rest of the people, it would be fine. They had visited various markets many times in the past few years, but it was the first time for Daiyu to feel such a strong sense of the world. Now, she looked around here and there and felt that her eyes were not enough.

Li Weijian quietly pulled her hand away and said with a smile, "Sister, do you think it's noisy?"

Daiyu raised her head and smiled, "It's not bad. This kind of market place is quite interesting to look at."

Xiuying suddenly shouted, "Master, Madam, there are clay figures over there, let's go and take a look!"

Daiyu looked ahead and suddenly saw a familiar figure squatting in front of the clay figurine stall. In the blink of an eye, a carriage blocked her view, and when the carriage passed, the figure disappeared again.

"What's wrong?" Li Weijian asked.

Daiyu thought about it and whispered, "It seems that I have seen the princess."

Li Weijian looked around but could not see the princess, so he smiled and said, "Maybe my sister saw it wrongly. Even if the princess is wearing the white dragon fish costume, she still needs guards to accompany her."

Daiyu nodded in relief: "Perhaps I really saw it wrongly."

(End of this chapter)