Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 118
As early as a few years ago, Zheng Hu was very tall and solid, but now it seems that he is taller and stronger than then.Seeing Cao Yong coming in, he got up from his seat and greeted Cao Yong according to the rules: "Little Zheng Hu has seen the son!"

Zheng Hu's real name was Zheng Hai, because the name "Hai" was given by his father. After he came to Cao's house, he abandoned this name and changed it to Zheng Hu.

"Yeah!" Cao Yong nodded: "I saw Lingmei just now, and I asked you about you. I heard Xiaoman said that you had a boy a few years ago, but my 'congratulations' is a bit late!"

Zheng Hu laughed twice, took the teapot on the table, and poured a cup of tea for Cao Yong himself.

Looking at the young man in front of him in the ruined temple who gritted his teeth and said, "If you want to kill, you can kill it. If you want a tiger to be a slave, we will talk about it in the next life." Cao Yong was quite touched.Only after he had been to the capital and knelt down in front of Kangxi and the prince's relatives, could he truly understand Zheng Hu's mood back then.What did you do?For the sake of Cao's family and Pearl's profit, the tiger was put in a cage.

Now, seeing Zheng Hu's well-behaved and obedient appearance, it seems that he has also been "taught".Cao Yong couldn't help feeling a little guilty, and said with a smile: "I heard that you are looking for me, but I don't know what it is. I am also looking for you here!"

"My lord is looking for me?" Zheng Hu's face became a little more happy: "Then, your lord will speak first."

Cao Yong nodded slightly and asked: "Do you still remember what I said to you when we met at the beginning of the year?"

"Young master?" Zheng Hu frowned, thinking for a while: "Young master, you mean the thing you promised to help me avenge ten years later?"

"En!" Cao Yong responded, looking at Zheng Hu, his expression turned solemn: "Now, five years have passed. I heard that the business of the Yang family has not been easy in the past few years. Annexation. Now that you are also a father, you are considered to have a family and a business, but do you still have the heart of revenge?"

Zheng Hu was a little confused, apparently he hadn't thought about this question before, and after a long time Fang murmured: "The little one doesn't remember his appearance anymore, although he still blames that person when he thinks of his mother, but it's okay to say it." It’s strange, but it doesn’t have the hatred of gnashing of teeth in the past.”

Cao Yong was not surprised by Zheng Hu's reaction.People at this time are influenced by the Confucian tradition, even if father and son are at odds, there are still a few people who can have the idea of ​​killing their father.Back then, Zheng Hu was young and had a poor life, so he hated his father.Now, with a settled life, a wife and children, and a small life, there is no time to talk about the father who abandoned him for many years.

Over the years, Yang Mingchang also vaguely knew that a pair of sons and daughters had defected to the Cao Mansion.Due to wrongdoing and taking into account the face of the Bai family, they have denied the identities of the legitimate son and daughter, so it is not easy to search for them openly.In addition, he is also considered an old householder in Jiangning City, so he naturally knew that the Cao family was not something that merchants like them could touch, so he had no choice but to let it go.

When the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family went to Taihu Lake, in order to keep the secret of raising pearls, all the slaves of the Cao family were used there.In the vicinity of the Zhuchang, people are allowed to enter and not allowed to leave these years.Even so, several key links in raising pearls are separated and in charge of different people, also to prevent leakage.In the past few years, the Zheng family brothers and sisters have returned to Jiangning a handful of times.Until the next year, because Cao Yong wanted to transfer the secret recipe of raising pearls, everyone's activities were more broad.Perhaps it is for this reason that Zheng Hu's brother and sister have no intersection with their biological father Yang Mingchang.

Seeing that Zheng Hu didn't seem to have any ideas, Cao Yong asked: "Do you know about the Pearl Conference in May?"

Zheng Hu nodded: "Well, I heard from my younger sister that she wanted to transfer the method of raising pearls to others." Speaking of this, he hesitated: "I don't know how the young master would think of this. The source of income has been given to someone else! On the bead field, the young one hasn’t done anything these years, but just brought some people to protect the courtyard and put in some effort. At that time, even the younger ones were stopped at the door. She was the only daughter at home, and she only rested for one or two hours a day, and she was busy for half a month."

When Cao Yong thought of the dinner table just now, he noticed that Zheng Woxue was a little unusual. It seemed that the sleeves were extra long, covering most of his hands.It seems that in order to keep the secret method of raising pearls, she didn't pretend to be the most critical link of planting pearls. She was injured by excessive lake water immersion and labor.

People at this time regard any craftsmanship as a family secret, and it is normal for Zheng Hu to be puzzled.Thinking of this, Cao Yong's idea of ​​arranging a good way out for the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family became even stronger. What is the difference between two brothers and sisters and going to jail these years?
After thinking about it, Cao Yong said: "I did this to stop you from living such a life. Even if the bead field over there makes more money, but everyone is guarded day and night, just like a prison. What's the point? Besides, you're already married and have children, so you can't live in secret all the time. I remember you mentioned that if it wasn't for your sister, you would have enlisted in the army a long time ago, but I don't know what you think about your future now Idea! Do you want to do business, become a landlord and collect rent, or join the army? No matter what your idea is, as long as it is within Cao Yong’s ability, I will help you achieve it.”

Hearing Cao Yong's words, Zheng Hu shook his head vigorously, stood up from his seat, and knelt down on one knee in front of Cao Yong: "Young Master, Zheng Hu has nothing else to ask for, but one thing. These years are considered due diligence."

Cao Yong took a look at Zheng Hu, nodded, and slowly said: "Except for the fact that Nalingmei is a concubine, please forgive me, the rest is still the same sentence, but within the scope of my ability, you must Will not disappoint you."

Zheng Hu's face turned pale: "Young master, why is this? Could it be that the youngest girl is not worthy of the young master's concubine? If our brothers and sisters have not received the great kindness of the young master, how can the young one be willing to let her be my concubine?"

Cao Yong patted Zheng Hu on the shoulder: "Why do you want to be a concubine with others? Today I met Lingmei, but she is a good girl with both good looks and good looks. Even if someone else wants to be hired as the wife, we have to choose carefully. Looking for a good personality and family affairs, why did you wrong her to be my concubine?"

"But, little girl..." Zheng Hu wanted to say more.

Cao Yong stopped at the exit: "I made an appointment in Beijing, you must have heard of it. The other party is a person of high status. If she bullies your sister by virtue of her status, it is a matter of life and death! Your brother and sister have been dependent on each other for many years , do you want her to end up like this?" He said this, but he felt a little guilty for the little fiancee he had never met, and in order to extinguish Zheng Hu's desire to send his sister to be a concubine, he had no choice but to "like" himself like this A few words about the future daughter-in-law.

Zheng Hu had seen Yang Bai's jealous face when he was a child, of course he knew that vicious women are even more terrifying, so he hesitated.

Cao Yong helped him up: "At the beginning of May, the pearl fishing families from all over the world will send their nephews to Jiangning. At that time, we will pay more attention to see if we can find a good match for your sister."

Zheng Hu originally had the audacity to bring it up because his sister had no idea of ​​marrying outside, and Cao Yong had no intention of taking a concubine for a long time, and his sister was getting older.Now, seeing Cao Yong say this, he doesn't say much anymore.

On the fifth day of April, Wei Xin hurried back from Guangdong.

Although he was only 22 years old, he had a short beard on his upper lip. He wore a white silk gown with a dark green bamboo-patterned mandarin jacket. After changing his image as a local ruffian, he appeared mature and stable, with a touch of Confucian businessman.

Cao Yong sized him up and joked with a smile: "I haven't seen you in four years, it seems like you have changed. This outfit is really good."

Wei Xin grinned, showing a bit of arrogance again, and said with a smile: "Thanks to the young master, the little one is just a layer of human skin. The young one looks at the young master's more imposing and extraordinary bearing..."

Cao Yong waved his hand and said: "Forget it, forget it, it's better if you don't open your mouth, but it's the slippery shopkeeper Wei."

Wei Xin quickly stopped laughing: "It's true that I'm used to joking with people in the chamber of commerce. You forgive me, but the younger one sincerely praises you." Seeing that Cao Yong was all right, he recovered his smile and took out a paint stick. The wooden box, hold it to Cao Yong.

Cao Yong knew that it was the profit of the Guangzhou Commercial Bank. When he opened it, he saw a thick stack of bank notes.After a simple search, the ones with the least face value are thousands of taels, and these are tens of thousands of taels.Cao Yong was taken aback: "This is..."

Wei Xin said with a smile: "I heard that the young master was bestowed a marriage by the sage, and I thought that it must be spent in silver, so I got back the profits from the last few transactions!"

Cao Yong thought about the expansion of his family's house in the second half of the year, Cao Yi and his own wedding ceremony, etc., and the expenses were indeed not small, so he was not polite to him, thanked him for his kindness, and accepted the bank note.

Then the two talked about the business in Guangzhou, and some of the pearls produced in Taihu Lake were sold in Guangdong. Wei Xin talked about the general market, and also talked about the prospect and his own ideas.Afterwards, Cao Yong talked about the transfer of pearl cultivation technology, and Wei Xin also made suggestions on the details, and the two deliberated carefully.

Because it was dinner time, Cao Yong asked Wei Xin to go out for a drink together.

The two of them took Xiao Man, the Wei brothers and several senior followers out of Zhizao Mansion, and took a shortcut across the streets and alleys to Fulailou, the largest restaurant in the city.When we reached Moquan Lane, the road ahead was blocked by people.It was a group of hooligans standing in front of a certain house and swearing at the street, surrounded by a group of people who watched the excitement far away. Moquan Lane was not very wide, so it was blocked by this group of people.

Cao Yong just wanted to order the barma to exit the alley and change to another road, but Wei Xin said with a smile: "It's actually Jiang's family from Liuhe Qianzhuang! I don't know who they provoked, but the iron-armed Xie Lao Liu has come out to sit in town!"

Wei Xinyuan is also a well-known gangster leader in the north of Jiangning City, and he is very familiar with these old local snakes.Cao Yong took a casual look, but also saw two acquaintances.Among the group of people who were staring at the door, there was a tall boy and a short boy, both in purple robes, with yellow belts tied around their waists, but they were the Duke of Zhen Guo Tushou who made a big fuss in Beijing that day. There are two little father-in-laws in the family.

Cao Yong wondered how these two guys came to Jiangning from Beijing, and then remembered that they were the two grandsons of Jiangnan Governor Ga Li, so it was not surprising.I just don't know where these two boys are singing again today, and what trouble they are going to cause.But he wasn't interested in watching the commotion, so he refuted the horse, but Wei Xin salivated and begged, "Young master, wait for a moment." After speaking, he got off the horse and asked the surrounding spectators to ask.

After a while, Wei Xin came back and got on the horse, and said with a smile to Cao Yong: "It turns out that the Liuhe Bank was given to Miss Jiang as a dowry by the third master Jiang, and the second miss recruited a son-in-law who came to visit, but the son-in-law was short-lived and did not get married. It's gone, and Second Miss Jiang has become a widow. When Third Master Jiang passed away, Second Miss Jiang alone inherited the bank, and her group of uncles and brothers all wanted to take a bite of it."

He said about the two young men in their twenties headed by One Finger: "Just these two boys, Jiang Wenzheng and Jiang Wenxun, belong to Jiang's family, and they are nothing..."

While speaking, the gate of the Jiang Mansion suddenly opened, and a dozen strong family guards came out in a file, and stood in front of the mansion, followed by a middle-aged man dressed as a butler in his forties, who rushed towards the crowd in front of the gate. Arms clasped, he said in a loud voice: "Masters, this is not the first time I've talked about right and wrong, what else is unclear? Third master, fourth master, I can't write two characters in one stroke, don't you force us to Arguing in the yamen lobby? The Jiang family will lose face!"

That Jiang Wenzheng took a sip, and cursed: "Damn! Jiang Jinbao, you are a slave of the Jiang family, it's not your turn to speak this time! Tell the Han Jiang family to get out! You can't write two characters of Jiang in one stroke, that's right, But Han Jiang's surname is Han now, why does she still occupy the property of the Jiang family? Tell her to get out!"

Jiang Wenxun also yelled from behind: "Today, we invited two masters with yellow belts to make decisions for us! If you are sensible, get out!"

The housekeeper named Jiang Jinbao really saw two yellow belts standing in the crowd, and felt a little apprehensive, so he said perfunctory, and asked the boy to report to the inside.

Here Wu Mao and Wu Sheng approached Cao Yong and said in a low voice, "Master, this man is the one who sold our horse."

Cao Yong took a closer look at the housekeeper, and it turned out to be the horse seller that day.It turned out that they bought horses from Liuhe Bank that day, Cao Yong thought to himself, if talking about the emergency that day, he should help them today, um, let's see what's going on.

After a while, two rows of eight servant girls came out from the inner courtyard, all of them were well-dressed and well-looking, and they attracted everyone's attention as soon as they came out.

Wei Xin couldn't stop smacking his lips at the side: "Second Miss Jiang is a great beauty, and the maids who have been trained are all like water onions, watery and seductive..."

Cao Yong glanced at him: "I heard your eldest brother Wei Ren said that you have already taken three or four concubines in Guangzhou, and you are still thinking about it? Wei Ren also asked me to write a letter to persuade you to marry a real wife earlier. Settle down!"

Wei Xin licked the beard on his upper lip, and said with a smile: "Young master also knows petty temper, the most impatient and restrained. After finally getting rid of the old man's discipline, he has been free for two years, and he doesn't have to ask a wife to make trouble for him, right? ?! Let me be free for a few years... Hey, why did you lift the screen to come out? Hey, really, I still want to see Second Miss Jiang..."

What he said later was that the servants of Jiang's mansion carried a six-panel screen embroidered with a picture of the Eight Horses, which was as tall as one person, and opened it and placed it directly opposite the door in the courtyard. Someone also lifted the Eight Immortal Chair and placed it behind the screen.The eight servant girls stood on both sides of the screen.

At this time, a low and hoarse female voice sounded from behind the screen: "The widow, Han Jiang, is being polite."

Cao Yong listened, it was the voice of the female relatives in the carriage that day.

Jiang Wenzheng snorted: "Han Jiangshi, you are being polite even if you don't show your face? If you are really polite, then quickly give up my Jiang family's property, and the Lord will not make it difficult for you. Otherwise, I will not have a good fruit for you today. eat!"

Second Miss Jiang didn't seem to care about his provocation, her voice didn't fluctuate: "Jiang Sanye's words are strange. Liuhe Bank used to be my mother's dowry, but now it's my dowry. When did it become Jiang's property?"

It wasn't a day or two for the Jiang family to miss Liuhe Bank, but Liuhe Bank was the largest bank in the south of the Yangtze River, so the background was naturally not simple.This Second Miss Jiang's biological mother is the daughter of a great salt merchant from Yangzhou, and she is also inextricably linked with the Jiangnan officialdom, so although this group of Jiang's family have stretched their claws many times, they have never sought advantage under Second Miss Jiang.

This time, Jiang Wenzheng accidentally got two yellow belts in the casino, and knowing that they are the grandsons of Jiangnan governor Gali, it was like a treasure, and he only regarded them as backers, regardless of whether his family was in the wrong. If the other party is afraid, even if they don't get the bank, they can still make a fortune.

Second Miss Jiang suddenly let out a low laugh: "Jiang Sanye said that my mother married into the Jiang family, so this property belongs to the Jiang family?"

Jiang Wen said, "That's right!"

Second Miss Jiang said again: "I am married to the Han family, so I am a member of the Han family."

Jiang Wenzheng was even more proud, and said loudly: "That's right! Now that you admit it, return the bank to the Jiang family immediately!"

Second Miss Jiang said slowly: "Jiang Sanye, this property is the dowry that my mother passed on to me, and the document is clearly written. If you say so, I will marry the Han family, and this property will be named Han. You What are you asking for?"

Jiang Wenzheng was at a loss for words for a while, but after searching his brain, he couldn't find a word to refute her.Jiang Wenxun saw that it was not good, and shouted from the side: "Third brother, what are you talking about with that girl? She can speak quickly! Today we have two young masters who decide for us. If she doesn't admit it, we will Hit until she thinks it will!"

Second Miss Jiang raised her voice and said: "In broad daylight, do you still dare to rob? Since you are a relative of the emperor, you have to abide by the word 'law'. If you violate the laws of the Qing Dynasty, you will not be able to escape!"

The older and irritable one of the two little father-in-laws raised his fan and scolded: "This shrew, what are you listening to her for? Get her out, and I want to see how long her tongue is and how big her teeth are." Dolly!"
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(End of this chapter)