Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 1367 Means
Cao Yong really do not understand.

Even if he wanted to thank him because he had worked hard in Shengjing for two months, it should be God's blessing, not Zuo Cheng.

After all, Tianyou is the eldest son of the Cao family, and he also married the princess of the clan. The wedding is approaching, and it is not unusual for Jia En to raise his title.

Brother Sixteen said, "Have you never heard of the 'Tongcheng School'?"

Cao Yong listened, could not help frowning.

There is indeed a "Tongcheng School" in later generations, which is a school of prose handed down from generation to generation. The ancestor is Fang Bao, a great Confucian who once explained the Yuan Dynasty to Jiangnan.

At present, this genre has not yet formed.

How come there is the term "Tongcheng School"?

Tongcheng is the county seat of Anhui, where the literary style is at its peak. In recent decades, there have been many great Confucian scholars, but where will it end?A "Nanshan Collection" case, like a sudden storm, wiped out most of the talents in Tongcheng.

Fang Bao, who was born in Xie Yuan, was considered the "No. [-] talent in the south of the Yangtze River". He was implicated in the Nanshan case. Dai Mingshi, who was born, was denounced by Yongzheng as a "sinner of famous religion".

Although Zhang Ying and Zhang Tingyu were also born in Tongcheng, their identities have long been separated from "scholars" and have become officials.

Brother Sixteen shook his head and said, "That Li Kuangshan is so good, but he only came from Tongcheng, so it's not good."

This time Cao Yong understands the meaning of "Tongcheng faction", which is similar to "Nian party" and "Suo party", but it is not a family form, but a "clique formation" in a regional form.

But Yongzheng, the emperor, was quite emotional. He always treated whoever was good, and he would die if he was good;

Now Yongzheng and Zhang Tingyu are closely related to each other.

He couldn't help laughing and said: "Isn't this nonsense? Although Tongcheng has a prosperous style of writing, every province has its own order for the imperial court to select scholars. Although there are some scholars in Tongcheng, the high-ranking officials are only Zhang Xiang and his son. How can it be so eye-catching? I'm afraid it is. Some people are jealous of Zhang Xiang, and they compiled it to slander..."

Speaking of this, he thought of the words "accompanying the emperor is like accompanying the tiger", he hesitated, and whispered: "Could it be for this reason that the emperor chose Yuan Bai?"

Elder Sixteen also lowered his volume, and said: "The emperor is not a fool, the so-called 'Tongcheng faction' has not been seen yet, why don't you understand that Zhang Xiang is a big tree attracting wind and provoking people's envy...Since the emperor is magnanimous, the one who suppressed Li Kuangshan is Which, Furuo still can't think of it? Li Kuangshan's qualifications and age are up, and he can't escape a magistrate if he stays in Huguang... Zhang Tingyu is in charge of the Ministry of Officials, which is not in line with the "Tongcheng School"! How could Zhang Tingyu set himself up? In such an embarrassing situation..."

Cao Yong listened, could not help silent.

He knows why he is despised by Elder Sixteen. He is also "cautious and independent". Bitter, but also offended people.

Sure enough, what Elder Sixteen said next was not a good thing: "Even if you are used to being cautious and afraid that the people below will fool you, you don't have to do it yourself. Not only will you be exhausted to death, but it will also hinder others' advancement. How can there be any good words? In Shengjing Six Departments, there are so many officials left idle, you only need to explain a few places by one person, and distribute the matter. If you do well, it is your credit; For one thing, not only will you not take any risk, but you can also sell a few favors."

Hearing this, Cao Yong stood up, facing the sixteenth elder brother, and bowed to the ground.

If he was on the sidelines, perhaps he would be dismissed by Brother Sixteen's remarks.Before doing something, think about shirking responsibility, what is this called?

Then being in the game, Cao Yong knew that what Brother Sixteen said was the most reasonable words.

In a high position, if you can't protect yourself, then what else is there to talk about.

I didn't pay attention to this before, because he has never been alone.Even as the governor of Zhili, there are many rules to follow, and what I add are trivial details.

Elder brother Sixteen is not an afterthought, he said so much today, just to remind Cao Yong.

Because of the severe flood in the south, this winter and next spring, several provinces need relief, and this matter is the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.If Cao Yong still acts like this, he will offend many people.

The sixteenth elder brother did not avoid it, accepted the gift calmly, and said solemnly: "I don't care about other people's behavior, but I can't see you as a lonely minister. You have to remember that there is a big family behind you, and there is no room for mistakes..."

There are not many people who can sincerely warn Cao Yong. Cao Yong is only grateful, and he nodded honestly.

Elder Sixteen looked better, looked at Cao Yong with a smile, and said, "My lord brought a lot of tonics. Since you are seriously 'ill', you just need to make up for it...Really, can't you be more successful?"

When I first met Cao Yong, Brother Sixteen was concerned about him, but he was confused; after talking about it for a while, he found the clues, and he saw it through.

Cao Yong blushed, and said with a sneer: "The imperial doctor's prescription is good, and it's almost ready..."

Elder Sixteen snorted coldly, no longer bothering with him about this matter, and then talked about other things...

When sixteenth elder brother left Cao's mansion, he returned to Zhuang Wang's mansion with a worried expression on his face, and immediately sent two packs of ginseng over.

When the news came out, one person was shocked, and that was Xu Yuanmeng, a bachelor.

Even if they heard that Cao Yong had returned to Beijing to recuperate from his illness, the old people only thought that Cao Yong was a prudent man, in order to avoid the aftermath of the bombing of the bridge in Shengjing.

After hearing Brother Sixteen's reaction, the old man also trembled with fear.

If Cao Yong had a chance, that day Hui Shou Xiao, and Shu Hede's marriage would be postponed for three years.

Myself and my old wife are over seventy years old, who knows how many years we can survive.

If you can't stand it, the grandson is a heavy-duty grandson, and the filial piety period is three years.

If the unmarried young couple's filial piety is delayed one after another, when will the grandson's marriage be delayed?
The old man was secretly anxious, wishing he had to go over and have a look at Cao Yong in person, so that he could feel at ease.Therefore, when the grandson was going to visit the sickness and pay his respects, the old man wanted to go with him, but was stopped by him.

"Master is so earnest...Since the in-laws are ill, the master will lose his sympathy when he goes over. It would be more suitable for his grandson to go over." Ta Lashi said.

Unwilling to be reconciled, the old man said, "You have to make sure, just in case... we should have a preparation here..."

He said to Lashi: "What are the preparations? Can you force the granddaughter-in-law to marry, or can you destroy the marriage and remarry? I see that Princess Herui knows it well. If you see through the master's intentions, I'm afraid you will get angry." .At that time, it will be either to meet the relatives, or to make enemies... If the master wants to visit the sick, he will wait until the in-laws are better before going there, so that he can fully respect the etiquette."

This is also the current rule. It is not good for superiors and elders to visit diseases at will, because they are suspected of torturing patients; subordinates and juniors are not hindered.

The old man knew that what the old wife said was reasonable, and in his impatience, he lost his sense of proportion, so he waved his grandson away.

Su Hede was really worried about his future father-in-law, not because of the postponement of his marriage, but because his father-in-law treats him very kindly, behaves well, and deserves respect.In addition to being his future father-in-law and the father of a good friend, Tianyou is not in Beijing right now.

He is the future son-in-law, and when he arrived at Cao's mansion, the steward sent people to report back, and at the same time led Su Hede to the front hall: "The Duke of Jian's mansion is here to visit, and the second master is waiting for guests in the living room."

At the end of June, Su Hede came to Cao's mansion to give a birthday gift to his future father-in-law.

At that time, the atmosphere in the Cao Mansion was different from what it is now. Now even the servants have lost their energy, and the atmosphere is very depressing.

Su Hede became more and more worried, and when he got to the living room, his worry turned into surprise.

The father-in-law was seriously ill, and the eldest brother-in-law was away, so it was reasonable for the second brother-in-law to come back to entertain guests, but what happened to those red eyes?

Then look at the restless Yongqian, this is his brother-in-law's brother-in-law, and he is also related by marriage.

Although Yongqian was ordered to investigate the disease, he was not as worried as Prince Jane and his wife.Counting it down, Cao Yong is only a few years older than him, and he is in his prime. In his opinion, he is far from birth, old age, sickness and death.

But looking at Hang Seng's posture, even if he didn't see Cao Yong, Yongqian would still murmur in his heart.

He didn't know that although Hang Seng and Cao Yong were not biological father and son, they were far better than biological father and son.

Cao Yong arrived in Beijing the day before yesterday, and Hang Seng met him, knelt down in front of Cao Yong, and wailed for a while.

Without the honor of the eldest son of the county king, nor the heroism of the imperial guards, the three future generals cried more embarrassingly and miserablely than children.

Cao Yong and Chu Yu, who were crying, felt distressed.

The servants of the whole family have been worried these few days, and it is also because they were frightened by Hang Seng.

Originally, they only knew that the master was seriously ill, but now seeing Hang Seng's bloodshot eyes, they all wondered in fear whether their master was really terminally ill.

Although both Cao Yong and Chu Yu comforted Hang Seng, Hang Seng was not relieved.

The man did not cry easily because he did not reach the sad spot.

Thinking that he has not been filial to his adoptive parents, and his adoptive parents are going to grow old, Hang Seng's heart will be broken.

I also tried my best to stay here to serve the sick and help my adoptive mother receive foreign guests who came to visit the sick.

One of these two is the elder brother's uncle, and the other is the future sister-in-law, the second most important in-law of the Cao family. As siblings, Hang Seng naturally received them sincerely.

Yongqian and him have known each other for a long time, after some consideration, he still couldn't help asking: "Master Cao's illness... Do you want someone to send news to the eldest son to the south..."

When Hang Seng heard this, his eyes widened immediately, his eyes were about to burst into flames, Qi Qing showed a bit of anger on his face, and said: "Don't bother the Duke to worry about it, mother has her own arrangements..."

Yongqian looked embarrassed, but he also knew that he asked abruptly, so he couldn't care about it, so he said a few words of face, then left.

Although Hang Seng lost the closeness he had before, he still personally sent Yongqian out, and met Niu Niu's carriage at the door, and Zuo Zhu who just came over.

Hang Seng pleaded guilty to Yongqian, stepped forward two steps, first met Niu Niu through the curtain.

Niu Niu greeted her, and went directly to the inner house by the second gate.

Zuo Zhu stepped forward and met Yongqian.

Yongqian greeted him a few words, and brought his entourage back to Prince Jian's residence.

Yaerjiang and Yongjia had been waiting for the news for a long time. After Yongqian returned to the palace, he went directly to the upper room to report the matter: "I didn't see Mr. Cao, but Prince Mengke came out to entertain guests... Su Hede also went, I want to come The Prime Minister's Mansion is probably also worried... When I was going out, I met Master Cao's adoptive son who came to serve the sick, and Tianyou's aunt Zhuang who came back to the Cao Mansion..."

Yaerjiang and Yongjia looked at each other, the adopted sons and adoptive sons of Cao's family went to serve the sick, thinking that Cao Yong was seriously ill.

Worry is all about worry, but there is no other way, Yaerjiang can only tell the steward of the palace to pay attention to Cao's mansion.

Yongqian, however, was thinking of the red-eyed Hang Seng, and the honest and prudent Zuo Zhu... whoever said that the members of the younger generation of the Cao family are thin, and if there are more of them, apart from the fact that the surname is not Cao, they are not from the Cao family at all. baby?

Poor those ignorant people, there is no lack of gloating, saying behind the back that Chu Yu was jealous and prevented the Cao family from spreading its branches and leaves;

But I don't know that adopted sons and adopted sons are grateful for righteousness, and will not be threatened by their status as legitimate sons, and will not cause disharmony between husband and wife. It is not that a bastard son is a hundred times stronger...

*
Regardless of whether others are worried or gloating, Cao Yong is still "recovering from illness".

Niuniu came back every day, and accompanied Li to pick up Buddha beans in the Buddhist hall.

It was just because she was worried that Mrs. Li would fall ill, so she accompanied her to relieve her.Li Shi from the province fell ill, and the whole family would really be in chaos.

Seeing her son's expression changing day by day, Mrs. Li felt relieved.

Zuo lived in the yamen and took a long vacation. He came here every day and took turns serving the sick with Hang Seng.

Cao Yong originally wanted to send him back, but he wanted to come to the obedient Zuo Zhu, but he was stubborn.

When Cao Yong saw this, he followed him.

Ever since the brothers Zuo Zhu and Hang Seng left the residence one after another, it is rare for father and son to be so close.

Every time Cao Yong frowns and swallows the bitter medicine soup, he teaches the two juniors.

Zuo lives here, the Zhu family will be full moon soon, and moving will be imminent.In the future, if we get along with Mrs. Ning like this, we will naturally not be as far away from the tribe as we are now.

It is nothing more than that one must be upright and filial, but not foolish.When people get older, they tend to be paranoid. Even if they are juniors, for the sake of the respect of the elders, it is not easy to indulge blindly.In addition, there is a distinction between distance and distance, even though Old Madam Ning has the name of grandmother, she can live with you as wife and brother.Don't hurt the relationship between husband and wife and brotherhood because of Mrs. Ning.

It is also said that if a husband and wife agree with each other, their benefits will cut gold.If Mrs. Ning relies on selling the old and wants to send someone down, she can refuse in the name of Cao Yong.

Yun Yun.

Zuo Zhu was very ashamed after listening to his adoptive father's Chunchun teaching: "The child is incompetent, and the foster father has to worry about it. It would be great if the second brother was here..."

When Cao Yong heard about Zuo Cheng, he felt depressed.

If Cao Fu and Cao Xiang met this opportunity and followed the future governor, Cao Yong would only be happy in his heart, but Zuo Cheng was different.

Zuo Cheng was not born in the imperial examination, and he could not directly be a Zhengyin official in the local area, but mostly auxiliary officials and miscellaneous officials.

He is young and has low qualifications. His qualifications in the local area are no match for those in the capital.

Even if you are lucky enough to be awarded a high grade, but you have insufficient qualifications and limited knowledge, you will fall short if you don't have enough guarantees.

Zhang Tingyu stopped his fellow countrymen and recommended Zuo Cheng to stay in Huguang. It seemed that he was selfless and sold favors to Cao Yong, but Cao Yong was not rare.

It is one thing to arrange for Zuo Cheng and Yin Jishan to go to Huguang to "gold-plate" and add a sum to the political achievements column, but it is another thing to arrange for him to be completely released.

Thinking that the news of Yin Jishan's promotion to Hunan's procuratorate will be made public in two days, Cao Yong told Zuo Zhu that Zuo Cheng stayed in Huguang and postponed his return to Beijing.

Zuo Zhu heard this, and immediately became anxious: "Father, my younger brother won't be left to work outside, right? How good is that, who will write the abbreviation for the foster father?"

When Cao Yong heard this, he couldn't help laughing: "Writing the summary for me is more important, or is Zuo Cheng's future more important?"

Zuo Zhu scratched the back of his head: "Of course, the matter of the adoptive father is important... the second brother is young, and it is time for seniority, even if he is with Master Yin, most of them are doing errands. Yin Jishan knows the relationship between the second brother and the adoptive father , maybe you will feel that the second brother is getting in the way..."

Although Zuo Zhu has never been very clever, it is possible to say these words, which shows that there is a treasure inside.

Cao Yong was quite relieved, and said: "It may not be good for us to see, but maybe in the eyes of the emperor, such an arrangement is just right..."

Zuo Zhu seemed to understand, but Cao Yong pondered for a moment, and felt that it was not good to leave Zuo Cheng alone outside, so he asked someone to call Zhang Yi and told him to go to Hunan.

Among the long-attached stewards around Cao Yong, Zhang Yi was the one who dealt with the government the most.

Zhang Yi knew the importance of the Zuo Cheng brothers in the Cao family, he only felt that he was entrusted by the master, and he didn't think it was hard work to travel thousands of miles south, so he went out of Beijing happily.

Two days after Zhang Yi left Beijing, God Blessed arrived in Beijing.

He did not follow the fourth elder brother on the waterway. After learning the news that his father was seriously ill, he rushed all the way back to Beijing.

Except that Zuo Cheng was still outside, the whole family was finally reunited.

It's just that Cao Yong is "recovering from his illness", and his sons are waiting for the sickness. It's not easy for Zhu's elder sister to go out for a full moon. It's not easy for Cao's family to go out to eat wine, so Cao Yi is invited to take care of it.

Mrs. Ning had her eldest grandson, so she wanted to make a big show of guests, so that there would be some excitement.

Mrs. Zhu is a sensible person. She sent someone early to pay her respects to Mrs. Ning. She only said that her husband was away, her relatives were seriously ill, and she was not good at banquets. She would wait a hundred days for her relatives and friends who came to give birth before thanking her.On the day of the full moon, only family members are invited to see the child.

The family members, apart from Mrs. Ning, are from the Cao Mansion, and Zhu's natal family.

Although Mrs. Ning was sullen in her heart, she couldn't say much now that the two lived together.

On Cao's side, Tianyou wanted to be a "filial son" by Cao Yong's side, and Hang Seng was obedient, so it was hard to come here.

However, the full moon gift prepared for the niece was half a lot.

Because this niece shared the same birthday as her father, even though Tianyou and Hang Seng didn't drink full moon wine, they met each other in private, and they liked it very much...

*
On the tenth day of the eighth month, the fourth elder brother Hongli returned to the capital.

I got off the boat at Tongzhou Wharf and met some of my confidantes. Before I had time to inquire about the current situation in Beijing, I heard the sad news that Ge Geyao, a member of the Fujin Fucha family, had passed away.

After all, he had never met Little Gege, but she was the eldest daughter, and Hongli's mood fell immediately.

But he is the prince after all, so he regained his energy in an instant and asked another question.

For example, whether there is any news from Shengjing, and the condition of Cao Yong, Minister of the Ministry of household affairs.

Hearing that Cao Yong's condition was getting better, Hongli secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Cao's eldest son is his bodyguard, his adopted son is his companion and sister-in-law, and the second concubine's concubine is his concubine Fu Jin. Although he didn't make it clear, Hongli has already classified the Cao family as his own family.

The Cao family with Cao Yong is of course different from the Cao family without Cao Yong.

Of course, the Fucha family's thoughtfulness in sending their clan daughter as concubine could not be hidden from the heavenly father and son, Yongzheng and the fourth elder brother.It's just for Ma Qi's sake, and because he values ​​Fucha's family, he is indulgent.

Since Fucha Gege has given birth to the eldest son, does the Cao family need to appease him?

The harem is like a shrunken court, and the Fucha family cannot be made bigger.

The strength of the Cao family is not weaker than that of the Fucha family, and the weight of the two families is also considered equal.

Thinking of this, Hongli ordered his followers: "The pearls, jades and gemstones brought from Jiangnan, in addition to the ones distributed before, prepare an extra copy for the Cao family..."

*
Cao Mansion, garden.

Cao Yong sat in the pavilion, holding a purple clay pot in his hand, smiling and looking at a pair of children beside the flower garden.

This purple clay teapot is Tianyou's filial piety. It was the first time he went out on business. Tianyou did not forget his family and prepared a lot of filial piety when he came back.Although it is not a valuable thing, it is a kind of filial piety after all.

The purple clay teapot given to Cao Yong is Chen's melon-shaped pot, with a simple appearance, which suits Cao Yong's wishes very well.

Two sisters, Tianhui and Tianbao, holding a flower hoe, are loosening the soil for several chrysanthemums in the flower garden.

Chu Yu sat beside her, looked at her husband's face, and said, "Master's complexion is much better."

Cao Yong nodded, and said: "It's almost time for the general to be raised. I'll hand over the booklet to see you tomorrow...After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it's time to go to the government office..."

After stopping the bitter medicine soup, my appetite will be fine.Appetite is good, mood is good, complexion is bad.

Chu Yu pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Doctor Bai has been promoted to the right court to judge, we have to prepare for a heavy gift..."

Physician Bai was originally an eighth-rank imperial doctor, but was promoted to a sixth-rank imperial doctor two days ago and sentenced by the left court.In the Taiyuan Hospital, where the line is lined up according to the salary, the left court judge is not only the deputy of the hospital envoy, but also his successor.

He has not yet reached the age of knowing his destiny. If it is normal, even if his medical skills are superb, he will have to wait for more than ten years to reach this position.

Now that he has been promoted to court, it can be seen that he has really won the Sacred Heart.

Cao Yong here, is simply dumbfounding.

He was "seriously ill" this time, his own fatigue and physical injury accounted for three points, Yi Duli's recklessness accounted for three points, and the other three points were contributed by the imperial doctor Bai.

However, until now, even if the doctor Bai retorted and said that Cao Yong was not seriously ill at that time, no one would believe it.

Cao Yong's heart, relieved.

A few days ago, if Yongzheng sent two imperial physicians to ask for pulse on a whim, it would be an oolong.

Now, since he is about to "recover from illness", he is not so guilty, and said: "You can buy a big gift and ask Tianyou to send it over..." Having said this, he paused, and said: "Speak clearly to Imperial Physician Bai again, We are not ungrateful for his rejuvenation, it's just that since he has been promoted to a court judge and has a heavy errand, we won't be able to disturb him casually in the future."

Chu Yu nodded and said, "What the master said is exactly the truth."

It's not that the couple "crossed the river and demolished the bridge", but they knew to avoid suspicion.

The envoy of the Imperial Hospital, who is over seventy years old, is a famous doctor in the world, bearing the name of envoy of the fifth-rank hospital, and is only responsible for asking the empress for pulse.Instead, the affairs of the Tai Hospital fell on the two judges.

After all, the Cao family is a foreign minister, so it is not good to have close contacts with them...

(End of this chapter)