Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 14 Home Country
On the eighth day of September in the 40th year of Kangxi, Cao Yong, who had been kidnapped for nearly two months, finally returned to Jiangning.Cao's carriage was waiting at the pier long ago, and Cao Yin brought people to meet his wife and children in person.Seeing that Cao Yong had recovered from his injuries, Cao Yin also heaved a sigh of relief.Only this one son, in case of some physical disability, let alone the old matriarch, even his father would not bear it in his heart.

Sitting in the carriage, Cao Yong remembered the experience of these two months.Traveling in a daze, he wanted to be a spectator at first, but the various ordeals he has experienced now remind him that this is a bloody and real world, and he is already a part of this world.Unless he dies, he can only rise and fall in this world.He doesn't have any "kingdom" ambitions. Today is the Kangxi Dynasty, the period when China's feudal imperial power was the most concentrated. How could history be changed after YY passed.He just wants to live, not to die of illness in his 20s, and not to have his home ransacked after Yongzheng came to power.For this goal, he decided to start working hard.

In Xuanrui hall, the old matriarch had been talking about it for a long time, and the concubines of the eldest lady Cao Yan and Cao Yin were all waiting with the old matriarch.Hearing the report from the little maid outside that the wife and uncle had returned, the old lady got up and went to the door to look around.Seeing Cao Yong's figure from a distance, the old matriarch already had tears in his eyes, and murmured: "Grandson, my lifeblood!" Cao Yan heard that her mother was ill when she was in Suzhou, and she was very concerned Seeing that she is only a little thinner now, and there is nothing unusual, she is relieved.

When Cao Yong followed Li Shi to the gate of Xuanrui Hall, before Cao Yong could see the ceremony, the old matriarch leaned down and held Cao Yong in his arms, crying.Although the old matriarch is usually kind, she is dignified. No one has ever seen her look so out of control.No matter what, everyone is clear that Cao Yong is indeed the heart of the old lady.It's just that Cao Yan is a little strange, what's wrong with grandma, even if grandparents and grandchildren are separated for two months, it doesn't have to be like this.

Cao Yin's concubines came forward to greet Li Shi, Liu Li was wearing peach red clothes and followed behind the two aunts Feng Shi and Qian Shi, with her hair in a bun.Seeing her dressed up, Mrs. Li knew that the house was confiscated, and she was slightly displeased.

Xifu Zhaojia heard the news and brought the children over.Cao Ying is okay, like Cao Yan, she thought Cao Yong just went to her grandmother's house in Suzhou and asked about the local conditions and customs of Suzhou.Cao Song still remembered his brother's disappearance in the school, and his heart was full of doubts, but because his mother told him not to ask random questions, he closed his mouth and looked at Cao Yong curiously.

The old matriarch wiped away her tears, gave Li a few meaningful glances, and then sent her back to her room to change her clothes.Before returning to the house, Cao Yong and his mother had already spoken to each other, preparing to deal with the questioning of the old lady.Surprisingly, the old lady didn't ask any questions, but just looked at Cao Yong carefully, and was relieved to see that there was nothing wrong with him.Cao Yong was in a panic, although both Cao Yin and Li mentioned that he was kidnapped without telling the old matriarch, but for some reason he always felt that the old matriarch knew the details, that's why he was like this.

Mrs. Li changed her clothes and came over, and mentioned that the person sent by the Li family to pay her respects was already waiting.The old lady nodded and asked someone to invite them over.Those two women often went to Jiangning on New Year's Day, greeted the old lady, and talked about their son for a while.

Following the words of the two, the old lady asked about the health conditions of Wen's and Gao's two mothers-in-law, and thanked the Li family for taking care of Cao Yong during these days.The two mothers-in-law didn't even dare to talk, and presented the gift list prepared by the Li family.The old lady smiled and asked someone to pick them up, and ordered them to take them to the guest room for placement.

Zhao Jia is already four months old and gets tired easily, so after staying for a while, he took the children back home.Mrs. Li wanted to ask her about Liu Ping, but she didn't know how to ask her.Before going to Hangzhou, she recuperated in Xifu, thanks to Mrs. Zhao Jia's dedicated care, she almost didn't have a miscarriage.Although Mrs. Li didn't say anything, she was grateful. The two sisters-in-law are different now, and there is no gap.Right now, Aunt Baodie of Xifu has just given birth to a son, so if she mentions little Liu Ping again, won't it be an embarrassment to Zhao Jia's family?Besides, the old matriarch had always been honest with Zhao Jia, if she knew that she caused the Cao family's flesh and blood to be exiled, there would be another disturbance.After thinking about it, Li decided to discuss with her husband at night to see how to settle Liu Ping.

Seeing that Liu Ping disappeared after entering the mansion, Cao Yong asked his mother in a low voice, and he was relieved when he knew that Liu Ping had been placed in the mother's courtyard first.Because the old lady concealed his injury from the old lady, it was difficult for little Liu Ping, a "benefactor", to enter the house. Why should she think of a reason and arrange a reasonable excuse for her so that she can settle down in Cao's house.

Weaving Mansion, Front Yard, Study Room.

Cao Yin took a sip of tea slowly, with a somewhat unconcealable smile on his face.

Zhuang Chang watched from the sidelines, heartbroken.Cao Yong is safe and sound, except for the Cao family, Zhuang Chang is also very happy.After teaching Guna for two months, he is very satisfied with this bright disciple.What happened to Cao Yong was, in the final analysis, the fault of Gu Na's father.If Cao Yong had a mistake and Gu Na's status was embarrassing, Zhuang Chang would not be able to keep him by his side.In the two months after Cao Yong was kidnapped, Cao Yin's running around was haggard, and he saw it in his eyes, "poor parents all over the world".It's just that it's too early to be happy now, Zhuang Chang shook his head, and put a secret report from the Secretary of General Administration on Cao Yin's desk.

Cao Yin picked it up, glanced at it a few times, and looked solemn.There are two messages in the secret report, one is from Jiangbei, Tiandihui opened a mountain in Xuzhou, Anhui; the other is from Hangzhou, a rebellion broke out in the eight halls of Tiandihui. died.The inner eight halls were split, left protector Su Hongguang led the three halls of Wan Yunlong's direct line to sail from Fuzhou by boat, and Mu Dajiang, the master of the punishment hall, gathered the forces of the remaining five halls to establish a foothold in Jiangnan.

Tiandihui, the boss is Wan Yunlong, who is called "Tiandihui" to the outside world and "Hongmen" to the inside. It was opened in Fujian in the 13th year of Kangxi.Because of his secretive actions, by the time the court found out, there were already tens of thousands of disciples.When Cao Yin's father, Cao Xi, was around, he made secret reports to Emperor Kangxi on this matter many times.After many deliberations, the monarch and his ministers all agreed that blocking is worse than sparse.Even if the Tiandihui is wiped out, there are still countless warriors all over the south of the Yangtze River. It is better to hold it in your hands and use it to gather forces from all sides.Therefore, starting from the 20th year of Kangxi, the imperial court sent a certain number of spies to infiltrate the Tiandihui every year. After 20 years, the originally mysterious Tiandihui has become transparent.

The rebellion in Neibatang was actually written by Zhuang Chang. Because Tiandihui has developed rapidly in recent years and has a tendency to develop in Jiangbei, he planned this matter after discussing with Cao Yin. Bu Jingzhi, who was killed by Wan Yunlong, was The first spy to join the Tiandihui.Originally, thinking of making concessions, he took the opportunity to seize the power of the Tiandihui, purge the anti-Qing elements in it, and turn the Tiandihui into an opposition force of the imperial court.Unexpectedly, things didn't go as expected, although the Heaven and Earth Society was damaged, Bu Jingzhi, the highest-ranking secret agent, was killed, and Mu Dajiang, who now holds the real power, is a fanatic of "anti-Qing and restoring the Ming".

It's really troublesome, Cao Yin rubbed his forehead, and asked, "Wai Badang, what's the news?"

Although the eight halls in the Tiandihui are full of backbones, there are not many people, and if there is chaos, it will not spread widely; if it involves the outer eight halls, it will be complicated.The eight halls outside the Tiandihui are distributed in eight provinces in the south, and there are hundreds of thousands of disciples under the jurisdiction of the halls. If they lose control, local turmoil is inevitable.

Zhuang Chang sighed: "It's about Waibatang, the Zhejiang hall was attached to Mu Dajiang, the Suzhou hall was eradicated by Mu Dajiang, the Hunan hall disappeared, and the Hubei hall returned to the imperial court. The distance between Guangdong, Guangxi and the four provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou is too far, and no news has come out yet. , but the masters of the Yungui Hall are all members of the imperial court, so there should be no chaos."

"Hunan Hall, Wu Tiancheng!" Cao Yin read the name, and understood why Zhuang Chang sighed.Wu Tiancheng, the master of the Hunan hall, is the adopted son of Wan Yunlong. His reputation in the Tiandihui is second only to Wan Yunlong and Su Hongguang. It is impossible to enter the interior of the Hunan Hall.The Hunan hall disappeared without a trace and was out of the control of the imperial court. This may be a big trouble.

"Jiangnan is not peaceful, the capital is involved too much, and the downside is so unstable, you and I will bother you in the future!" Zhuang Chang stroked his beard and said.

Cao Yin nodded. This time Emperor Kangxi took advantage of the Cao family's affairs to dismiss Jiangsu governor Ha Zhan and Hangzhou prefect Shi Guozhu, which had deep meaning.Ha Zhan is a student of Mingzhu, so he belongs to the eldest brother's school. Shi Guozhu is the prince's in-law, so he naturally belongs to the prince's school.The two tried their best to win over in the Jiangnan officialdom and did their best for their respective masters.Although eldest elder brother's mother-in-law Mingzhu resigned last year, but elder brother accompanied Kangxi to the west earlier and made great achievements in battle. Three years ago, when the emperor divided the crown princes, he was named the king of Duoluozhi County, and his power spread throughout the court and the public.The prince has always been wary of his eldest brother seizing the heir, and with the support of his uncle Suo'etu, he has vigorously developed his party members in the middle of the court to compete with the elder brother Mingzhu's faction.

Thinking of the changes in Jiangnan, Cao Yin and Zhuang Chang looked at each other and said in unison: "Suo'etu is about to step down!"

Others don't know, Cao Yin is the one who knows Mingzhu's achievements best.To calm down three times, to regain Taiwan, to negotiate with Russia, the pearl of merit lies in Sheji.Later, he changed from capable minister to powerful minister, and the governor of the whole country was vacant, so he had to follow his path to find a job.Half of the six ministers are the followers of Mingzhu.No matter how great Mingzhu's achievements are, what she has done has already touched the dragon's scales, and the emperor certainly cannot tolerate him.Last year, the imperial censor Guo Xiu impeached Mingzhu for eight crimes, all of which could lead to Mingzhu's death.The emperor was annoyed at him for "too much profit and too many acquaintances, so he could not abide by the official precepts", but "remembered that he once praised the military affairs when he pacified the 'San Francisco'", and believed that "right and wrong should not be concealed", and the revolution Going to the position of Bachelor of the Pearl University, let him have the false title of Minister of Internal Affairs.

For Mingzhu's fate and Suo'etu's future, although Cao Yin has deep sympathy, he doesn't take it seriously.He was determined to be a pure minister, only knew how to be loyal to the emperor, and ignored the power disputes in the court.At this time, he still didn't know the impact of the changing situation on the Cao family.

When he was not in Jiangning, Cao Yong wanted to talk to Cao Yin as soon as possible after he came back. He didn't want to live the life of "little Cao Yong", being raised by the old lady in the inner house, and could only spend all day in the group of maidservants hang out.There are too many things to learn, in terms of literature and martial arts, the arts are not overwhelming, no matter what happens in the future, you must have some real kung fu.

On the first day back home, apart from meeting Cao Yong at the pier, Cao Yong only saw Cao Yin at dinner, but he had no chance to talk to him.After dinner, the old lady asked Li to take someone to send Cao Yong to the east bedroom to rest, leaving Cao Yin to talk alone.

There were only mother and son left in the room, the old matriarch stared at Cao Yin for a long time before sighing: "Thank God, ancestors bless you!"

Cao Yin was suspicious and asked in surprise, "Mother?"

"Hmph!" The old lady glared at Cao Yin, took out a piece of jade Guanyin from her sleeve, put it in her hand, and said angrily: "Now, do you still want to hide it from me? You really think I'm a deaf and blind old woman No!"

The Jade Guanyin was exactly what Cao Yong had worn since he was a child. After Cao Yong was kidnapped, he was pawned by Gu San to a pawn shop in Suzhou, and was redeemed by Cao Yin. Somehow, he got into the hands of the old lady.

Seeing that the old lady was angry, Cao Yin quickly knelt down and confessed.

Seeing Cao Yin's gray hair at the temples, the old lady couldn't bear it, and waved her hands: "Get up, I asked someone to inquire, and I can't blame you. Fortunately, Yong'er is safe, and I have eaten the long fast for the past two months!" When Cao Yin got up , and said: "Mid-Autumn Festival, I forced you to take a concubine, just in case. If there is something wrong with Yong'er, she will leave her flesh and blood earlier, and she will be worthy of her ancestors. I have wronged your wife. She must be worried these days Yes, please comfort me!"

"Yes, mother! It's all because of your son's unfilial piety, and the family affairs are not peaceful, causing you to worry about it!" Cao Yin's eyes were sour, and he felt very guilty.Hearing what the old lady said, she knew the truth a long time ago. Because she didn't want to worry about herself, she pretended not to know and had a two-month long fast.

(End of this chapter)