Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 1225 Weird Kidnapping

The capital city in the twelfth lunar month is covered in silver; Jiangning in the twelfth lunar month is still dark green and full of vitality.

The beginning of spring this year is years ago, and the climate has begun to warm up.Walking on the streets of Jiangning, you can occasionally see wintersweet protruding from the roadside courtyard.

The magnolia tree also has flower buds, as if it is about to bloom at any time.

Although the sky is gray, the air is humid, there is no blue sky and warm sun, but the coldness of winter is still missing.

Standing on Zhizaofuqian Street, looking at the familiar plaque from a distance, Cao Yong felt very strange.

Nothing seems to have changed, the straight bluestone roads, the tall vermilion lacquer gates, and the plaques with gold letters on a black background are the same as they were more than 20 years ago.

But if you take a closer look, there seems to be a difference. The bluestone road has been broken, and clusters of half yellow and half green weeds are in the broken bluestone slabs.

The vermilion lacquer gate has been repainted, and the color is a bit out of order. It is no longer a thick red, but has a reddish color, which seems brighter than before, but I always feel that it is not as pleasing to the eye as the previous color.

The plaques have also been repainted, the black areas are getting darker, and the gold areas are also golden.

Weaving Mansion is in dilapidation, despite its bright appearance.

"Revisiting the old place, the master won't go in and have a look around?" Wei Hei stood beside Cao Yong, saw him staring at the gate of Zhizao Mansion in a daze, and asked with a smile.

Not to mention Cao Yong, even Wei Hei has feelings for Zhizao Fu.He entered the weaving mansion since he was a teenager, hiding behind Cao Yong as a secret guard, until Cao Yong came to Beijing, and stayed in the weaving mansion for ten years.

Cao Yong shook his head and said: "Today is too hasty, let's talk about it in two days."

Although this was his home before, it was also the government office of the imperial court, and now someone else lives in it.In his capacity, it's easy to be the villain who "comes without warning", but if he doesn't guarantee it will lead to some verbal lawsuits.

The Cao family's identity in Jiangnan is inherently sensitive, and he, the direct parent of the Cao family, must be more cautious in his words and deeds.

He was going to stay in Jiangning for a while, so he was not in a hurry.

"Go to the Confucius Temple?" Cao Yong turned his head and said to Wei Hei and Cao Jia.

When he came out of the General Army Mansion today, Cao Yong didn't take anyone else with him, only Wei Hei and Cao Jia.The others stayed in the General Military Mansion for adjustment.Nearly [-] miles away, galloping down is also a pain.

Wei Hei and Cao Jia have different backgrounds, although they are older than everyone else, they are the most energetic.

Cao Yong originally wanted them to rest for two days, but they refused, and they came out with Cao Yong.

Cao Yong also just wanted to come out for a walk, and didn't have a specific destination, so he asked Wei Hei and Cao Jia casually.

Wei Hei looked at the gloomy sky, and said with a smile, "I went to the Confucius Temple. It was time to eat duck blood vermicelli soup. I put a few spoonfuls of spicy peppers on it, and it made people drool just thinking about it."

Cao Jia didn't talk much, and now he just twitched the corners of his mouth, as if he agreed with Wei Hei's words.

Cao Yong looked at the tall and strong Wei Hei, and then at the unsmiling Cao Jia, and couldn't help laughing.

Three big men, together more than 100 years old, walked on foot in this cloudy day, just to drink a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup, is it really ridiculous?
However, two quarters of an hour later, there were three more customers in the "Yao Ji" shop in the Confucius Temple.

The snow-white vermicelli, the red duck blood, and the green onion all whet one's appetite.

Cao Yong ate two bowls in a row before putting down his chopsticks.

Wei Hei also used several bowls, Cao Jia only ate one bowl, but drank a jug of wine with fans.

Wei Hei couldn't help but look sideways. Although he is in Jiangning City now, it may not be safe.The reason why he came out with Cao Yong is because there is a master Cao Jia.

Now in broad daylight, outside, what if Cao Jia gets drunk?
I don't know if it's because of drinking, Cao Jia's expression is much richer, it seems to have melancholy, remorse, and deep nostalgia.

Seeing this, Cao Yong thought for a while and said, "When did the great priest enter Cao's mansion?"

"Which year did you enter Cao's Mansion?" Cao Jia's eyes were blurred, and he murmured, "That year...the imperial court named the 'Golden Dragon Four Kings'..."

"Huh? Didn't the Four Golden Dragon Kings exist in the previous dynasty? Why did they become appointed by the court again?" Wei Hei was puzzled.

Cao Yong happened to know about this reason, so he explained it to Wei Hei: "Hebo Xie Xu was born in the late Song Dynasty. He was regarded as Hebo by the people since the Yuan Dynasty, and he was canonized in Ming Dynasty. The first emperor emphasized river engineering and water transportation. , it was the canonization of Xie Xu as the God of the Yellow River, who was in charge of the canal transportation and waterway, but in the hope that the water transportation would be accessible and the people along the river would live and work in peace... I remember clearly that it happened in the 40th year of Kangxi..."

Cao Jia remained silent, holding the wine cup in a daze.Wei Hei was surprised. If Kangxi was 40 years old, he entered the Cao Mansion in the same year as him.

Such a foreign master should not be an unknown person, but he has never been mentioned by the master.

At this moment, Cao Yong didn't pay attention to Cao Jia, but thought about the Hongmen ring buried under the stele in Zhizaofu Garden.

Cao Yong is still hesitating whether he should dig it out and whether he should intervene in Hongmen's affairs.

"Dahongshan Wu Tiancheng", in the early years, people asked people to inquire about this person, but there was no clue.

"Wanfu" is the leader of the "remnants" of the Hongmen who are currently entrenched in Hangzhou and Jiangnan, and there are several "bandit leaders" who have been arrested and registered with the government. None of them have the surname Wu.

If Cao Yong still had sympathy for this gang that was frequently mentioned in later martial arts novels in his early years, he lost all that sympathy when he heard about "Wanfu" conspiring to seize other people's property.

He even wondered unkindly whether these "anti-government armed forces" in Hongmen had any friendly contacts with the Haining Cha family in private. Otherwise, why would the great talents who came out of the Cha family 300 years later mention it repeatedly in his book? "Hongmen" also writes the backbone of the leaders among them as heroes who are righteous and humble.

Although he didn't like Hongmen, he still didn't agree with Li Wei's idea.

Some of these people were "people from the rivers and lakes" who relied on force to gather;

They are not bandits, but survivors of the previous dynasty.

The number of these people cannot be suppressed just by suppressing them. If the army and the people confront each other, I don't know what will happen.

It's just that now Li Wei has delivered a secret request, and the emperor has a temper that would rather be bent than bent. Cao Yong wants to persuade one or two now, but it's an afterthought...

Cao Yong rubbed his forehead and was thinking about what to do next when he heard someone calling: "Master Cao..."

Cao Yong raised his head and saw Wei Ren entering the restaurant and walking towards his table.

"It turns out that you are really an adult, just now through the window, I really don't dare to admit it..." Wei Ren saluted and said.

Cao Yong got up to return the salute, and invited Wei Ren to sit down.

Compared with when he sent Wei Wenjie brothers to Beijing, Wei Ren looked older, not yet fifty, and his hair was almost gray.It seems that there is something on his mind, he is worried, and there is no joy that the New Year's Day is approaching.

When Cao Yong saw this, he couldn't help but suddenly.

Back then when he and Wei Xin were young friends, Wei Ren happened to be working as an errand in Zhizao Mansion, and he was young and handsome.

Twenty years, like a carving knife, turned Wei Ren into someone else.

Seeing Cao Yong's expression was dull, Wei Ren sat down a bit embarrassed, but he hesitated to speak.

Cao Yong was a little impatient to deal with it, thinking about eating half a cup of tea in front of him, he found an excuse to say goodbye to the "old friend" in front of him.

Wei Ren looked around for a while, then lowered his voice, and said, "Both the dog and nephew have been kidnapped by the thieves, please help Mr. Cao..."

The eagerness in his eyes does not seem to be fake, looking at Cao Yong is also like looking at the savior.

Cao Yong was taken aback when he heard the words, and said: "If the place is not peaceful, shouldn't it be reported to the Yamen? Ask me to help. Where did this come from?"

Wei Ren blushed, and said: "The other party has planted people in the yamen, saying that if they report to the officials, their brothers will be abolished. The villain really can't help it, so he has to bear it, and slowly figure it out... It shouldn't alarm the adults. It's just that among the children of the Wei family who were kidnapped by the thieves, the fifth younger brother, Wenying..."

Cao Yong's face suddenly turned cold, and he looked at Wei Ren with more scrutiny and blame.

Wenying is Wenjie and Wenzhi's different mother and brother. In the early years, his grandparents made the decision and adopted him to the third widow of the Wei family, so he stayed in Jiangning and did not go to Beijing with his brothers and sisters.

Wei Ren was looked down upon by Cao Yong, but it was indisputable.If it weren't for the two evils of the Japanese who dragged Wenying out on a trip, the three cousins ​​would not have been robbed by the thieves.

"Is the other party kidnapping for money?" Cao Yong said, suppressing his anger.

There is no good person who can do such an act of robbing people's children.If something happened to Wenying, how would Cao Yong explain to Wei Xin.

He was really annoyed this time, Wei Ren was controlled by his wife, and it was wrong for him to treat his nephews poorly.Now that the two older nephews have all gone to Beijing, only Wenying, the youngest, is left by his side, and he can't take good care of him. What's the matter?
Now he is brazenly asking himself for help, if he doesn't come to Jiangning, will he just watch Wenying die?

Although Wei Ren is cautious around him now, the Wei family is still one of the most respected gentry in Jiangning.If Wei Ren will be controlled by several thieves, Cao Yong will not believe it.

Wei Ren shook his head, glanced at Wei Hei and Cao Jia who were sitting with Cao Yong in a big way, and Fang whispered: "It's not asking for money, just saying that life is for life... Pang, who was imprisoned by the governor's yamen, Villagers in a family village are exchanged, ordinary villagers, five are exchanged for one Wei family child; if they are compiled into a book, three are exchanged for one..."

Only yesterday I heard Li Wei talk about the encirclement and suppression of Pangjia Village, and now I heard about this "replacing people with people", Cao Yong only felt weird in his heart.

"What's wrong with Uncle Wei? With the power of the Wei family in the local area, it's not difficult to mobilize a few people from the yamen..." Cao Yong thought for a while and said.

However, Wei Ren shook his head and said, "If you really seek connections and release people, then the Wei family will become a 'bandit'? At that time, if there is such a reason, they will be under the control of bandits. If you are not careful, you will be wiped out." .I had no choice but to procrastinate. While inquiring about the Pangjia Village, I prepared a lot of money for those 'thieves', just wanting my nephew to be safe..."

*
Hearing that the female frequency author Qin Lu had a stroke and was rescued, she was very surprised.More and more diseases that were originally only suffered by the elderly are appearing in young people, which is frightening. This is the age of the whole people's house, and it is also an age of frequent dangers.I wish her well and hope everyone stay safe.

(End of this chapter)