Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 140
Now, it's only mid-September, and the weather is still not cold, so the food and drink are placed on Juchi's side.He also invited Mr. Zhuang over, accompanied by brothers Cao Yong and Cao Song.At the other table, Cao Yi sat with Amethyst and Yulong in Cao Song's room.In addition, two tables were set up in the front yard, inviting Cao Zhong, Cao Fang, Wei Hei, Cao Song's Master Wu and others to have wine.Others, the stewards of various yards also sent crabs over.

Cao Song has been in Beijing for nearly a year, but his other skills have not improved, but his drinking capacity has increased.Seeing that he drank several cups in a row, Cao Yong frowned slightly for fear that he would get drunk, and said, "Why drink like this, you are still young, be careful that you hurt your stomach!"

Cao Song said disapprovingly, "Brother, I'm already fifteen, and I'll be sixteen in a few months. Why are you still young?"

Seeing his naive look, Cao Yong shook his head slightly: "Master Wu has been hired for almost a year, how many crossbows have you drawn? Let you relax for a few more days, and you should work hard!"

Cao Song smiled "hehe" and said, "Don't worry, brother, I won't embarrass my brother, I will take the martial arts exam next year!"

Because Mr. Zhuang was sitting, and Cao Song didn't like things in the cup, Cao Song felt bored after a few cups, so he went to the front yard to look for Wei Hei after talking with them.

Although Cao Yi's health improved a lot, but the crab was cold in nature, he didn't dare to eat more, and the three of them, Zijing and Yulong, finished eating and went out in a short while.

Beside Juchi, only Cao Yong and Mr. Zhuang are left.Cao Yong stretched out his hand to lift the jug, poured a glass for the banquet, and filled it up for himself, then raised the wine glass and said: "I'm not here for half a year, and it's all up to Mr. Jingzhong to worry about it. Today, I will use this glass of wine to chat Thank you!"

Zhuang Xi raised his glass and drank, but he was slightly apologetic: "After all, I am a little old, and there must be negligence. I thought that since the young master returned to the south, the Cao family should not be affected by the capital. I didn't expect this dispute over governors. , or almost involved the Cao family!"

Because before the meeting, Cao Yong said that someone "kindly" recommended him to serve as the commander-in-chief in Jiangnan in June, and Mr. Zhuang blamed himself a little.

"Sir, what are you talking about? Since someone secretly manipulated and failed to achieve what he wanted, how could there be news? It's just that I have been thinking about it for a long time, but I can't figure out who it is. Why are you making such an arrangement?" Cao said. Yong frowned and said: "I always think it's just a bluff! The general soldier of Langshan is the second rank, and I am now the fifth rank. How many ranks are there in the middle! Besides, this is not a joke. How can I appoint a 16-year-old second rank general?" The reason for soldiers?"

Zhuang Xi nodded with a smile: "Young Master, it's not easy to think of these things! The old man also thought about what that man was doing, but for a while, he couldn't figure out whether he was an enemy or a friend. Plan ahead, maybe it's a foolish move!"

Cao Yong thought about it for a while, and seemed to realize something: "The meaning of the gentleman is that the other party may have good intentions. When he learned that someone wanted to detain me in the south of the Yangtze River, he deliberately did the opposite and broke that person's means!"

"Yeah! But it's possible! In May and June, there were rumors in the capital that there were pirates in Shandong this spring. The coasts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian had stepped up their guard and mobilized a lot of green battalion soldiers. There were also rumors that the green battalion over there was corrupt. The lack of pay is serious, and you need to strengthen your military training. The son's background level, whether you go down to be a fifth-rank garrison, a thousand households, or a fourth-rank Xuanfu envoy, it is justified." Zhuang Xi stroked his beard while Slowly.

Whose eyes did I hinder in the capital?Cao Yong frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.

Zhuang Xi also pondered for a moment, and then said: "My lord was ill at that time, if my son had this opportunity to be kept in the south, at least it would take a year or two to return to Beijing, but he couldn't think of their intentions for a while!"

"What else could be the reason? I'm afraid that the root of the disaster is still in those tea gardens!" Cao Yong thought for a while and said: "If I are really left in the south of the Yangtze River, and my father is ill, there will naturally be someone who can take care of me. If I go back to the capital, how many pairs of eyes are watching here, who dares to act rashly, even if I want to frame it, it will be difficult to keep it very secret!"

Zhuang Xi nodded, then shook his head and said: "It's not necessarily because you want to win the young master, I'm afraid I have a heart to win over you. Even if you don't rely on the lord, the young master has the relationship between the Pingjun palace and the Chunjun palace, and he is sixteen. My brother's reading companion is treated differently by the Lord Long Live. Besides, the young master is the son of the chief of the Cao family and the future head of the family. If you win the young master over, the benefits are not small. There are too many taboos in the capital. It's a real deal!"

Cao Yong couldn't help but smile bitterly. When he was a child, he still thought that his brother-in-law who was a prince was very imposing, and he was considered a dude. He didn't expect to become the son-in-law of another prince.Seeing that the Cao family was about to get out of the sewage in the south of the Yangtze River, he became a favorite again, and was almost dragged into the water by people with ulterior motives.

Now, since he brought up the errand, Cao Yong remembered the words that the sixteenth brother said that he could go to the sixth department as an errand.I am the eldest son, and I don't have any other siblings. If I want to support the family in the future, I always want to take an official career. There is absolutely no reason for me to hang around in the capital all the time.Thinking of this, he asked Zhuang Xi: "What's the future of those guards, thousands of households, and envoys that Mr. just mentioned?"

"My lord wants to develop in the army?" Zhuang Xi quickly waved his hands: "No, no! Although your lord is raising the flag, he is not of pure Manchu blood after all, and the family has no brothers or uncles in the army. There is no way to stand alone, and the future is limited."

Cao Yong also wants to know this point, but there are turbulent winds and clouds in the capital, maybe one day it will be involved in his own head, it is really tiresome, if he can leave Beijing earlier, and then avoid the Jiangnan officialdom, then he will be at ease .

"Young Master is young after all. Even if you want to be released, you have to stay for a year or two. Although the errands here are tiring, promotion is the easiest. With the current grade of Young Master, as long as you don't make any big mistakes, you can't be promoted if you want to be promoted." It's not difficult." Zhuang Xi said.

How about a promotion?Cao Yong recalled what he said to persuade Ning Chun a few days ago, and secretly prayed that he should be an errand as long as he avoids the most troublesome household department.It is best to be a very leisurely Yamen, living a comfortable life every day.After staying up for a while, I also found a way to go out and become a parent officer or something.When Ma Jun left that year, I still envied him that "someone in Beijing is good at being an official". If I can go that way, I can rely on my brother-in-law and the old man to spend a few years in the local area.

*
South of the city, Pine Tree Alley, Cheng Mansion.

As soon as Cheng Mengxing's car entered the gate of the mansion, the servant Heming came out to welcome him, and whispered to Cheng Mengxing: "Master, the third master of the Hu family is here, waiting for you in the hall!"

Cheng Mengxing said "hmm", and called for someone to carry the crabs down, and then ordered: "Tell the cook, wash out twenty of the fresh ones, soak them in clear water for a while, spit out the sand, and then steam them. Remember, call them crabs." They only put clean water to steam, don’t spoil the umami taste by making tricks. The rest should be kept in water first.”

The servant responded.While walking in, Cheng Mengxing casually asked He Ming: "He came to fight the autumn wind again? What do you say this time? I'm out of breath, so I know you'll wait for me in the hall."

He Ming replied: "It's not this time, the third master even sent a gift."

Cheng Mengxing stopped and looked at Heming with a little surprise: "Gifts? This is new. What did he say?"

He Ming shook his head and said, "I don't know. It's just that the third master has a complacent face today, which is different from the past."

Cheng Mengxing shook his head, went back to his room and changed his clothes, walked to the hall in the front yard, turned around the corridor, and saw his cousin Hu Jiren, who had turned [-] or [-] turns before getting a little kiss, stopped two crab-carriers from getting off. People, looking at the crab, pointing and commenting.The housekeeper, Cheng Hai, stood aside, with a helpless expression on his face, supporting him.

Cheng Mengxing glanced at He Ming: "What am I talking about, if he knows how to wait in a proper manner, he will have a lot of promise."

He Ming laughed and said, "I'm afraid Uncle Hai won't be able to bother him, so I'll go over and talk about it."

Cheng Mengxing nodded and went straight to the front hall.

After a short while, Hu Jiren entered the hall with a smile, greeted him first, and then said with a smile: "Cousin really knows how to pick crabs, it's so good to see! Today I will stay cheeky and ask my cousin for a drink!"

Cheng Mengxing held the teacup and glanced at him: "Third brother, why are you thinking of coming here today?"

Hu Jiren sat down by himself, and the servant brought tea.He took a sip of tea and replied with a smile: "Thank you cousin for lending me the money. I entrusted that door, and I got a vacancy in the household department. The head of the hall is a sixth grade! I have already sent someone's home to announce the good news , I will return the money back to my cousin after a while."

This Hu Jiren was Uncle Cheng Mengxing's nephew, he could barely be regarded as a relative, and he was not familiar with him at first.Because both of them came to Beijing for the exam in 48, and brought some relatives with them, they went to Beijing together. At first, Hu Jiren stayed at Cheng's house for a while.That year, Cheng Mengxing was unlucky and fell off the list, but Hu Jiren was only a little stronger. Although he won the third list of Jinshi, he didn't really have a place to go.

The Hu family also had some family assets, so Hu Jiren went around to seek connections and make money, and at least he got a pen and post from the Ministry of Officials to do it first.Although his family was not without money, but because they spent too much on various gifts and bought a house in Beijing, they were in a hurry, so they asked Cheng Mengxing to borrow money.

Cheng Mengxing's family is very rich and full of hands, and he doesn't take money seriously.Hu Jiren opened his mouth, of course he readily borrowed it.Every time Hu Jiren borrowed a few hundred taels, he came to repay a few dozen taels, pretending that it was really difficult to pay back, and then borrowed money again and again, and the excuses for borrowing money became more and more unreliable.

Cheng Mengxing didn't expect Hu Jiren to pay back the money, but he was very tired of him making some stupid excuses to perfunctory, and then he didn't bother to see him, so he just asked the housekeeper Cheng Hai to dismiss him.

However, a few days ago Hu Jiren ran over early in the morning and blocked Cheng Mengxing at home, but asked to borrow ten thousand taels of silver.It was said that it was [-] yuan to buy an official vacancy, and he could make up [-] yuan himself. He wanted to borrow [-] yuan from Cheng Mengxing, and wrote an extremely rare IOU, which also had Uncle Cheng Mengxing's signature on it.

For the convenience of reneging on debts, Hu Jiren never borrowed more than a thousand taels in a single loan.This time, Cheng Mengxing saw that he spoke quite loudly and had good reasons. He came so early, with a look of anxiety on his face, and solemnly wrote the IOU, and even asked his uncle to act as a guarantor, so he nodded and lent him another [-] yuan.

Today Cheng Mengxing saw that he came here so quickly, thinking that he didn't have enough money to buy an official, and wanted to borrow some more, but he didn't expect that he really donated to an official, and he knew the word "pay back the money".Nodding immediately: "Congratulations first. Did you tell Uncle?"

Hu Jiren said: "We are happy together. I have told my uncle. I have listened to my uncle's teachings." He paused, and asked tentatively: "Yesterday, I was drinking with a few of the same year, and I heard Brother Guangda say that cousin you Now help others take care of the garden?"

"Well, I helped a friend repair the garden." Cheng Mengxing replied.

Hu Jiren looked at Cheng Mengxing's face, and asked again: "I heard that it is the Cao family...but the Cao family in Jiangning?"

Cheng Mengxing said "hmm": "Why, from your tone, do you recognize it?"

Hu Jiren shook his head and said with a smile, "Well, I don't really know him. Cousin has been walking around a lot these past few months?" Seeing Cheng Mengxing nodding his head slightly, he hurriedly said, "Then I have to ask my cousin for someone."

Cheng Mengxing said: "Because I only help repair the garden, I don't know many people in the mansion over there."

Hu Jiren thought about it for a while, then sighed slightly: "That's right. I'm asking about my family members, and you may not have seen my cousin." He paused, "It's called Zijing. I heard that he came to Beijing with him. It should be Is it in the room of the eldest son of the Cao family?"

Cheng Mengxing wondered, "Do you recognize her?"

Hu Jiren also asked back in surprise: "Do you recognize her?"

Cheng Mengxing looked at him carefully, and then said: "I only met twice."

Hu Jiren's eyes were shining brightly: "She really came to Beijing." Seeing Cheng Mengxing's suspicious face, he smiled and said: "Speaking of it, they are also relatives of my family, and they walked around in the early years... Well, I said it's useless. Cousin saw her? How is she now? I heard that she is the girl in charge in the Cao Mansion..."

Hu Jiren asked seven or eight questions in one breath, all of which seemed unreliable to Cheng Mengxing.After he asked, Cheng Mengxing couldn't help laughing and said: "I don't know what you are asking. How do I know her situation? I only saw her twice, and I don't know the rest. Since I am a respected relative, why... "

Cheng Mengxing originally wanted to ask why it was the maid of Cao's mansion, but because he thought of Zijing's extraordinary bearing, he might have some background, so he couldn't ask more.Then he went off and said something else.

Hu Jiren agreed, but he was absent-minded. He was full of plans to go to Cao's mansion when Xiu Mu was in his mind.
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(End of this chapter)