Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 1034 The Source of Evil

Although Cao's family came early, the street outside the examination institute was already crowded with carriages and horses sending scholars off.

Upon seeing this, Cao Yong picked a free place and made people stop the carriage.Let the long attendants watch over here, he, Cao Song and Cao Fu sent Tianyou off on foot, and two young servants followed behind them carrying bamboo baskets.

Cao Yong saw that Tianyou's complexion was not good, so he said in a low voice: "One game will take three days, don't worry, if you are tired, go to sleep first after entering the room."

Tianyou nodded, said goodbye to his father and two uncles, carried the bamboo basket himself, and lined up to enter the arena.

Cao Song is going to the palace to be on duty, and Hang Seng is also going to the palace to study with him. The two uncles and nephews ride to the palace together.The two brothers Cao Yong and Cao Fu sent the children back to the mansion, and then went to the Yamen together.

About to reach the Yamen of the Ministry of Households, Cao Yong continued to go east, and Cao Fu turned south, and the two brothers went to the Yamen each.

When he arrived at the Yamen of the Ministry of Households, Cao Yong asked people to inquire whether elder brother Thirteen had come.

He originally wanted to wait a few days, investigate the opium sales situation in the capital, and write a serious booklet.Then, thinking about the high profit of this opium, apart from Brother Nine, Bao Buqi and other dignitaries involved in this matter, why did he want to show such a thankless limelight.It's better to tell Brother Thirteen quietly, it's not good to put it into words.

It just so happened that news from the Li family came that Cao Yong, a nephew, had to ask a question even if he wanted to stand by and watch.Because the Gao family is also a member of the Li family, and Xiangyu is the granddaughter of the Li family.

After a while, I heard someone report that the thirteenth elder brother has arrived.

Cao Yong got up, went to the middle hall, and asked someone to report.

Brother Thirteen heard his voice and raised his voice to call him in.

He was not surprised that Cao Yong came over, and said: "The Li family's case is almost over, I think you can't sit still."

Cao Yong was a little embarrassed, and said: "I want to bother the thirteenth master again."

The thirteenth elder brother said: "If you don't come to look for me, I'll think you're out of touch." While speaking, he pointed to a chair and asked Cao Yong to sit down and talk: "Li Xu and his son have been escorted to the capital for ten and a half months. You will be able to arrive in Beijing in as little time as possible. Lingtang, please be more reassuring, and ask her to rest assured and not to worry too much."

Cao Yong hesitated for a moment, and said: "Master Thirteen, what will you do with the Li family members according to what the emperor means? You also know that the minister's grandmother Gao and her great-nephew are living in the minister's house now."

The thirteenth elder brother stood up, paced a few steps, and said: "Cao Yong, I don't want to say much about the other side, I just want to tell you roughly. Gao has the kindness to support Lingtang, and the emperor always stays behind. She is a respectable relative. She is Li Xu's respected relative, not a lowly relative. Even if there is something wrong with the Li family, it should not be implicated in the Gao family. As for Li Xu's granddaughter, she is a lowly relative, and she is on the list of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Prepare 'minor selection'."

This result was expected by Cao Yong.

But in front of the thirteenth elder brother, he still showed some gratitude and said: "The emperor is merciful, and the prince will also worry about it."

Elder Brother Thirteen shook his head and said: "It's nothing. According to my original intention, I wanted to help Li Zhizao to deal with one or two things. I didn't care about it. I just wanted to protect the face of the former emperor... But this case involved For some reasons in the early years, the emperor really annoyed him... There is also the matter of deficit, you are working in the household department, you should also know the embarrassment of the emperor..."

Cao Yong sighed and said: "I know that the emperor is not easy, how many people are watching..."

Without using these fallen foreign officials as rafts, how can we rectify the administration of officials and enrich the treasury?The treasury has no money, and the emperor is afraid that he has no idea.

The thirteenth elder brother picked up a folder from the case and handed it to Cao Yong.

Cao Yong got up and took it with both hands.It was Li Wei's report on official affairs, and Yongzheng handed it over to the thirteenth elder brother.

"Salt tax sharply reduced!" Cao Yong roughly read it again, whispered.

Brother Thirteen nodded and said: "That's exactly what I said. There are a few more salt wells than in the early years, and a lot more salt is produced, but the salt tax has only decreased, not increased. Why is this so? It's just corrupt officials. There are more and more people who are greedy. Li Zhizao was involved in royal affairs in the early years, and he was greedy for salt and tax money a few years ago. No matter how the emperor judges him, he will not be wronged."

This was explained to Cao Yong on a special trip, just for fear that he would be panicked and speculate at will.

Cao Yong couldn't say that he didn't mind Li Xu's heavy sentence, so he had no choice but to divert the conversation, saying: "My lord, there is one thing that is quite alarming. Opium is spreading in the capital. In the past, opium was only available in pharmacies, but now it can be found in other shops."

Elder Brother Thirteen knows the dangers of opium, he frowned and said: "Yes, quite a few people don't realize the harm of opium, and regard it as a good thing. A few days ago, some people honored our Fujin bag. I have already mentioned it to the emperor, The emperor is asking people to investigate. The quantity of opium imported by the Guangdong Customs has a fixed number, and at such a speed of spread, there are a large number of smuggled opium behind it."

Although there are still more than 100 years away from the Opium War, Cao Yong cannot stand idly by considering the impact of opium on the Chinese.

Britain used the "East India Company" to dump opium to China in order to reverse the unfavorable situation of trade deficit with China and export silver from China.

Although there is nothing to criticize from the starting point between countries, this method is really too shady.

Cao Yong did not have the ability to change the world, nor did he have the ability to turn stones into gold, making China, a large agricultural country, into an impregnable wall, but resisting the historical collision of industrial emperors.

All he can do is to "treat others in the same way" in order to "prevent problems before they happen".

"Master Thirteen, I have heard that opium is also planted in Yunnan." Cao Yong said.

Presumably the thirteenth elder brother really paid attention to this matter and knew about it, said: "It has been around since the end of the Ming Dynasty, but it is only planted as medicinal materials, and the quantity is not much. Now I don't know what to do. This is not only a land grab, but also a curse. It’s really not possible, only a ban.”

Cao Yong said: "Thirteen Lord, as far as I know, this opium is imported, a box of 120 catties, but it costs 500 taels of silver, and a catty costs four taels of silver. When I came to Guangzhou a few years ago, I saw a planting tobacco Yes. Just in southern Yunnan, one acre of poppies can boil more than two catties of opium paste. If it is used for food production, the rice yield per mu is one and a half to two shi, and the tax is only three cents to one penny. If you grow poppies, you will receive five It becomes a heavy tax, and each mu of land can collect 400 taels of tax silver, which is dozens of times that of ordinary land taxes. If one million mu of land is developed, tax management can increase the collection of [-] million taels of silver a year."

Listening to Cao Yong's eloquent talk, the thirteenth elder brother still listened with great interest at first, but then his face changed, he was puzzled and said: "Cao Yong, opium is a scourge, or you told me, why do you think of it again?" Come on? I know that the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance is tight, but you can't think of such a way! This is drinking poison to quench thirst!"

"Master Thirteen, I haven't changed my opinion. This opium is still a scourge. It's just that it's better to block it than to sparse it, and it's better to sparse it from the inside than to sparse it from the outside!" Cao Yong said seriously.

The thirteenth elder brother heard the words, thought about it, and said with a smile: "I know you are not a fool. It's just that this is not a matter of one sentence. Since you know it is a disaster, you have to spread it to other countries. After all, it is not bright enough. Lost country."

"Master Thirteen, after being addicted to opium, he is a useless person. If all Mongolians in Zhungeer smoked opium, they would not have been making trouble in western Xinjiang for these years; if Russian subjects smoked opium, they would never be able to live in northern Xinjiang again." Show off your power. You can also use the soil tobacco to supply domestic medicinal supplies, cut off the import of opium from the East India Company, and save a lot of money inside and out." Cao Yong continued to persuade.

This idea has been around for a long time, but it didn't take shape in the early years.

Now it seems that opium is like a sharp knife. If it is used well, it can also benefit the country and the people.Naturally, the impact on the livelihood and economy of other countries is not what Cao Yong is concerned about.

Elder Brother Thirteen's eyes lit up, and he said, "The East India Company is owned by the British, they should know that opium is not a good thing, and even smuggle it into the Qing Dynasty, let them suffer for themselves!"

Today, Britain is beginning to colonize and expand. If it is not too late, I am afraid that China has already been thinking about it.Even so, they didn't stop, and they occupied Hong Kong more than 100 years later.

There is also Portugal, which occupies China's Macau, exposing China's South China Sea to the eyes of these European wolves.If it weren't for the fact that China is too big, has a large population, and its economic development is not much behind the world, they would have bitten it long ago.

"Yes, my lord, maybe if you make good use of opium, you will be able to keep the enemy out of the country and destroy the enemy in the bud." Cao Yong said with a smile.

The thirteenth elder brother was overjoyed and said, "Exactly."

Seeing his appearance, he couldn't wait to go to the imperial court, and left the Yamen in a hurry without talking to Cao Yong.

Cao Yong returned to his own room in the East Hall, sat behind the desk, took a sip of the tea cup, and the turbidity in his heart dissipated a lot.

Li Wei happened to be in Yunnan, and the treasury was short of money. Most of his "suggestions" would be adopted by Yongzheng.

The country is rich and the people are strong, the people are strong and the country is rich, these two points are complementary...

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Hall of Mental Cultivation, East Nuan Pavilion.

After listening to Brother Thirteen's description, the corners of Yongzheng's mouth were already curved up.

He is an emperor, not a gentleman.Using opium to weaken the enemy, although the method is not bright enough, as long as it works.

"Cao Yong can spread from opium, and think of exporting opium, and his mind is active!" He smiled and praised.

I heard Elder Brother Thirteen say: "I want my younger brother to say that he was bluffed by the emperor's successive favors, and he was racking his brains on how to repay the emperor's favor. Otherwise, he would not have known the news of the spread of opium. Come up with a way to deal with it."

When mentioning this matter, Yongzheng remembered the decree he had made before, so he summoned Sixteenth Elder Brother to come over and asked Li Shi about giving maidservants and men and women.

Brother Sixteen compiled the roster yesterday, and today he was about to ask for an order. When Yongzheng asked questions, he entered the roster respectfully.

Yongzheng took it over and looked at the ten palace ladies, all of whom entered the palace last year after a small election, learned the rules for a year, and haven't been assigned any errands yet.All the girls from the Baoyi family whose father and brother had no official positions were selected. The men and women of the six families were all confiscated into the Baoyi Flag as slaves because of their crimes, and they would not feel resentful because they were given to the subordinates.

The ten palace servants all have their parents and brothers on the roster of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; men and women from six families also have clansmen and relatives working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Yongzheng glanced at Elder Sixteen with a half-smile, with a little deep meaning, and said: "Just give it to someone according to this booklet."

The sixteenth elder brother didn't realize it, and bowed to receive the order.

Back at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Elder Sixteen asked people to mention all these people according to the booklet.

For this large group of people, it was already a big trouble for the Cao family.

The sixteenth elder brother didn't want to add trouble to Cao Yong, so he avoided asking them to pack their luggage by themselves, so as to avoid carrying things with them.The clothes in the left and right palaces have to be changed when they arrive at Cao's house.

Although it is stated in the brochure that there were ten palace maids and six households of men and women, it actually included the underage children of these six households, a total of 11 people, so the total number of people given to the Cao family was 33.

Estimating the time when Cao Yongluoya would return to the mansion, Elder Sixteen asked the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare several green cloth carts, and asked the maidservants to sit separately from the women and children. Six male servants walked and took them to Cao's house... …

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(End of this chapter)