Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 174
Fortunately, it rained for two consecutive days on May 24 and May 25, which reassured the people in the capital.Three days from the 24th, this is the third time that slaughtering animals is forbidden to pray for rain, but the rain falls at the right time.The drought has eased, and everyone's fear of the epidemic has also eased. More and more people began to eat fast and chant Buddha to pray for the early end of the epidemic, and pray for the Buddha to bless their homes and homes.

It is in Cao Mansion, Wutong Garden and Sunflower Court that there are small Buddhist halls.

Cao Yong originally wanted to persuade Chuyu and Zijing not to believe in these myths of gods, Buddhas and ghosts, but they used the story of praying for rain to explain that "sincerity leads to spirit", but he couldn't refute it for a while.

Speaking of this, Cao Yong was also very puzzled. The imperial decree prayed for rain three times, and it rained twice. Although the rain did not fall once, the sky was cloudy.Could it be that there is something to do with it, is it really because the people who pray for rain are sincere or not?This is really too unbelievable.

Naturally, Kangxi would not take the responsibility on himself. This praying for rain was originally an errand of the Minister of Rites. The first time he ordered it was Bei Henuo, the Minister of Rites. It turned out that the sky was cloudy for a long time and the rain had not yet fallen. Then the imperial decree reprimanded him for being a He is a "lazy and slack person". When he prayed for rain again, he ordered Mu Helun, the Minister of household affairs, to pray on his behalf.

Although he had experienced the resurrection from the dead, Cao Yong still couldn't convince himself to believe these ghosts, and then asked Mr. Zhuang for advice, and it was confirmed that, as he guessed, it was Qin Tianjian who made the "rain forecast" ", and then the imperial decree set the day of praying for rain according to these forecasts. It was just a means of fooling the people, but it was of great benefit to stabilizing the hearts of the people.

On May 26, after being sealed for 20 days, the Dunjun Palace was lifted, which also appeased many people.However, in half a month, there were more than 30 servants who fell ill and died suddenly in the Tenth Prince's house, so he naturally had nothing to say.What's more, compared to Prince Cheng's mansion where little elder brother was destroyed and East Palace where little Gege was killed, his county mansion is just a lucky place where some servants died.

Ninth elder brother has been depressed for more than ten days. He escorted the concubines to Rehe, and after two days out of Beijing, he met sixteenth elder brother who came back by order.He had no reason to follow, and he didn't dare to stay outside the capital without a decree, so he had to turn back to Beijing.

Outside the dunjun king's mansion, the fourth elder brother, the ninth elder brother, the thirteenth elder brother, Tuo Heqi and Cao Yong are all there.When the surrounding officers and soldiers withdrew and the gate of the palace opened, everyone looked towards the door.

The tenth elder brother walked over leisurely with a few followers, and said to the elder brothers, "Thank you three elder brothers and the thirteenth brother for coming to see me!" Really haggard.

Brother Nine frowned and said, "How do these servants serve you? Could it be that the tenth younger brother can't eat and drink? Hurry up and ask the imperial doctor to take a look, what's going on?"

Brother Ten quickly waved his hand: "Good brother, please spare brother! Although brother has not been infected these days, he has been drinking the anti-epidemic soup and medicine, and he does not eat much, which affects his appetite, so he eats less! The brothers of the Imperial Physician are getting tired of it, it is best to stay far away in the future, and it will be good if you can’t see each other for ten or eight years!"

Seeing that everyone except Brother Nine had lost weight, Brother Ten felt a little more balanced, but he looked at Cao Yong with complicated eyes.

The fourth elder brother looked at the gate, then looked at the tenth elder brother, and said with a little deep meaning: "Tenth brother, I heard that in the past 20 days, many servants in your mansion have died violently, and the names of these people are recorded in the mortuary. By the way, do you want to call an official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to re-register the population of the tenth younger brother's mansion?"

Elder Brother Ten raised his brows: "Of course I want it, but I'm not in a hurry right now. I have to wait a little longer until the epidemic is over. My brother's side is not like the third brother's house, which has not yet 'lifted the ban'. Brothers here are all 'damn' dead, if something is passed on by outsiders, how can it be good?"

The ban on the third elder brother's house was imposed by the third elder brother himself, and he said it very righteously. In fact, he just felt that the epidemic was a hot job, and even if it was over, he would offend too many people and not get any benefits. Hide in the mansion.

In this way, it is extremely unfavorable to the fourth elder brother. Those who don't know the details think that he is trying to seize power, and he circled his younger brother and then his elder brother.

The fourth elder brother also heard some of these gossips, and seeing that the tenth elder brother knew about the affairs outside the mansion as soon as he came out of the mansion, it can be seen that there is another channel for news.Thinking about the more than 30 corpses sent out from his house, all of them were young and strong, although all of them had names and surnames, it still made people feel wrong.

In addition to the incident at the beginning of the month, he also inquired about some news afterwards, and knew that there seemed to be a lot of young and old people coming and going in and out of the ten elder brother's house.All kinds of clues point to the ninth elder brother and the tenth elder brother. How can he not suspect that this is the tenth elder brother who is killing people?
It's just that there are a lot of things going on right now, and it's not the time to pursue this. The fourth elder brother suppressed the disgust in his heart, dealt with it a few more words, and took the thirteenth elder brother away.After Tuo Heqi and Cao Yong greeted the ten princes, they also returned to the infantry office.

Looking at their backs, Brother Nine glanced at Brother Ten, and said: "Did you see that, the most treacherous one is the fourth one! Who knows that this epidemic is difficult to prevent, why did the third one hide? If it is really a good job with credit , even if he is really sick, I am afraid that he will be reluctant to let go. It is just that he knows the difficulties, that’s all! What's wrong with Si!"

Elder Brother Ten shook his head: "No way! Since I was a little thirteen, I have been following my fourth brother's ass, and the two seem to be really close!"

Brother Nine glanced at the corner of his mouth: "If you don't believe me, just wait and see, and see what happens to the fourth child and what happens to the thirteenth when the epidemic is over. What kind of brotherly love is it? Sanna fool!"

The tenth elder brother looked at the ninth elder brother, but did not answer, looking at the direction of Cao Yong and Tuo Heqi, lost in thought.

Entering June, the capital city, which had been under the shadow of the epidemic for a month, finally gradually regained its vitality as the ban on every household was lifted.In mid-June, the number of people who died suddenly due to the epidemic in the outer city and inner city became less and less, and finally they had not been seen for many days.By the end of June, there were several more heavy rains, and the earlier drought had long since disappeared.

No one would notice that the thirteenth elder brother returned to the mansion and started his "recuperation" career without leaving home again; Cao Yong stepped down from the errand of epidemic prevention, returned to the Ministry of Households, and continued to serve as a qualified chief officer.

The third elder brother didn't know whether to gloat over others' misfortune or to feel sad, because in the memorial to him and the fourth elder brother, Kangxi ordered the third elder brother and the fourth elder brother to watch over them strictly, and instructed: "Yinxiang is not big. Those who study hard, be loyal and filial, if you let him go, you will meet him in one place, so be on your guard!"

*
On the first day of July, early in the morning, the inner and outer gates of the city, which were closed due to the epidemic, were finally slowly opened in the anticipation of the people, announcing that the epidemic in the capital had become history.

Someone had already prepared gongs, drums and firecrackers, and immediately the gongs and drums blared together, coupled with the sound of "cracking" firecrackers, it was very festive and lively.Although some families hung up white lanterns due to the loss of relatives in the epidemic, they were still lucky to be able to escape from the catastrophe.

He Maocai arrived at the Cao Mansion at noon on the day the city gate was opened, and there was no news for two months. There were all kinds of strange rumors outside Beijing, and he was really worried.Until he met Cao Yong and knew that everyone here was safe and sound, he was relieved.

Cao Yong asked about the crops over there. Although wells were drilled, the drought was only alleviated, and production reduction was inevitable.Even so, it is much better than those crops that are not irrigated with well water.Because there is only rain in the middle of May, and the ground is not irrigated until the end of May, there is no time to grow food in the land that is not irrigated with well water, and can only grow crops that ripen quickly.

Fortunately, because the countryside is no better than the capital, no epidemics have been caused.

After the gossip was over, Cao Yongfang thought something was wrong: "Uncle Cai, is there a notice posted outside the city? Is it because the notice said in advance that the city gate will be opened today? Otherwise, why did you enter the city so early?"

He Maocai patted his forehead: "Look at this old slave's memory, he talks about these things, almost forgetting the business!" As he spoke, he asked the accompanying boy to hand over a basket: "Today is my uncle's birthday, and this old slave and The ones at home have been prepared a long time ago, even though they knew the city gate was closed, they still did not give up trying their luck, this is just a coincidence, it can be seen that the uncle has deep blessings, and he will be extraordinary in the future!"

Cao Yong was moved, thanked him, and asked someone to take him to the guest room to have a rest.

It's birthday again, Cao Yong stretched his waist, he couldn't complain that Chu Yu was a little weird these past two days, he kept asking him what kind of food he likes to eat, it can be seen that he prepared it carefully.

Due to the disasters in Fujian last year and the riots of hungry people, their Fujian Division has been a little busy these two days. Today, because of the opening of the city gate, everyone is happy, and they finish their errands early and go home.

If I think about it sooner, I will invite some friends to come over to have fun. During the two months of the epidemic, except for those who have jobs in Beijing, everyone else has closed their doors and closed their doors. Everyone has not seen each other for a long time.I also thought of Ning Chun, because I was busy with epidemic prevention afterwards, even though I went to Ning Chun's house twice, it was not easy to go in.

I don't know if it's luck, but I think of Ningchun, and Ningchun will arrive soon, and Yongqing, whom I haven't seen for more than two months, is with me.When they saw Cao Yong who came out to greet him, they both smiled and clasped their fists together: "I salute the birthday man!"

Ning Chun raised his head again, and said with a little dissatisfaction: "But there is not even a single post. Those of us who want to drink your birthday wine have no choice but to come here!"

Cao Yong smiled and said: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be negligent, but I was so busy these days that I didn't think of my birthday at all!" Seeing that Yongqing was wearing a blue shirt, it seemed that it was a filial piety period Man, I am also happy for him.

Yongqing put on a serious face, pointed at Cao Yong and said, "Since I heard that you were transferred to the epidemic prevention by the fourth elder brother, I have been worried about you, and I also thought that you are usually young and mature, and you should know how to measure, but you made a fuss in Dunwang's mansion. Come out here!"

Cao Yong knew that he was sincerely treating himself well, so he was not annoyed, and argued: "At that time, I only thought about curbing the epidemic as soon as possible, but I didn't think so much!"

Perhaps it was because they heard the two talk about the epidemic and thought of the late Qiuniang, Ning Chun's expression was a little gloomy.When Cao Yong met Yongqing, he changed the subject tacitly.

Now that there is enough rain, and there is no need to go on the errand of fighting the drought, Ning Chun talks about his future, but he is also elated.Although the Ministry of Industry's contribution to drought resistance is not as great as that of Cao Yong, it is beneficial to the national economy and famous students after all, and it can be regarded as a political achievement to a certain extent.

As he talked, Ning Chun became envious of Cao Yong again. He was the youngest among the three, but now he is the fifth rank, and now he has made great contributions to the epidemic prevention with the fourth elder brother.

Cao Yong knew it in his heart, even if he had some credit for his hard work in the past two months, it was impossible for the court to reward him clearly.Even the epidemic in the capital, I'm afraid they will make it a big deal, and make it a small thing, and finally whitewash the peace, as if nothing happened.It's absurd to realize this after working for more than half a year, but it happens to be the case.

Hearing what the two said, Yongqing felt a little embarrassed. He was the oldest, and he came out to work early, but he didn't make any progress for many years, and he was delayed for 27 months.

He was originally a guard of the barracks inlaid with red flags. Unlike the barracks guarding the upper three banners guarding the palace, the lower five banners were also in the capital, but they guarded the gate of the prince's mansion.

This prince's mansion has its own guards and servants, so why do we need outsiders to guard the gate?They are just dealing with errands, patrolling around the prince's mansion according to the time, very leisurely, but there is no chance of promotion.

Cao Yong also thought about Yongqing's errand, and asked: "Is there any care about uncle? Are you going to return to the barracks directly? Do you need to talk to Prince Ping's mansion?"

Yongqing smiled wryly and shook his head: "My Ama is busy with his own recovery, my second brother will also be on errand this year, and my sister's affairs, I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of me for the time being ! Originally, I thought that it was either the fourteenth elder brother, or the king of Pingjun, but now these two are retinues, so I can only wait and see!"

"Next year will be the draft year, your sister is preparing right now, isn't it too early?" Ning Chun was puzzled.

Yongqing took a look at Cao Yong, and said casually: "Because of keeping filial piety, I reported my age early, and my superiors also approved a self-marriage!"
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(End of this chapter)