Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 227
The capital, Jinyu Alley, Thirteenth Prince's Mansion.

The thirteenth elder brother practiced two sets of boxing and kicking in the open space of the garden to exercise his muscles and bones.This year Shengjia went outside the Great Wall, the elder elder brother, only the third elder brother, the fourth elder brother, and the tenth elder brother did not follow him.

Because it was the same last year, this year he had no hope, but now he is much more peaceful than last year.

After receiving the towel from the eunuch, Elder Thirteen wiped the sweat off his face.Now, in June, it was getting hotter and hotter, and he was thinking about whether to ask people to sprinkle more water in various yards sooner or later.

It's okay for the adults to say, how can the little ones bear it.Thinking of these, he couldn't help feeling depressed again.

All princely palaces and princely palaces in the capital are uniformly supplied with ice by the Ministry of Internal Affairs according to their grades.Today, Brother Thirteen is 26 years old. Although the government has been separated for more than a year, he has not been knighted yet.

According to the rules, when the prince reaches the age of 15, he will be nominated by the clan mansion for the rank of nobleman.If it is ordered to "suspend the award", it will be repeated every five years.At the beginning of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, when Taizong Huang Taiji entrusted his brothers and sons, he once mentioned that "the original intention of bestowing nobles is to reward mediocrity first, and to show relatives second." Therefore, the rank of the prince may not be the highest among the ranks of the clan. Only named Baylor, Beizi, and Duke.

Since the Shunzhi Dynasty, because the Manchus entered the customs and ruled the huge Han people with a small number of Manchus, they paid special attention to the unity of the royal family.Whether it is Shunzhi or Kangxi, the brothers have been named the highest princes.

There are many princes in Kangxi, and the allocation of princes is relatively concentrated. The first time was in the 37th year of Kangxi, from the eldest brother to the eighth elder brother; the second time was in the 48th year of Kangxi, from the [-]th elder brother.There are only four levels, Beizi, Baylor, County King and Prince.

The first time because the thirteenth brother was still young, it was reasonable not to be ennobled; the second time he lost his sacred heart because of the incident of "abolishing the prince" and was excluded from being ennobled.

Thinking about the title, Elder Brother Thirteen thought of the Guerjia family who had always been a bit strong.

The Guerjia family is the side Fujin of the thirteenth elder brother, the daughter of the doctor Ahazhan, the earliest with the thirteenth elder brother, and the mother of Da Gege and the eldest elder brother.She was a show girl in the 39th year of Kangxi, and she was given a sign to the thirteenth elder brother as a side Fujin. She entered the elder brother's office at the end of the 40th year of Kangxi, and it has been more than ten years.

Brother Thirteen, think about the titles of your elder brothers. Since the emperor doesn't like me, even if he is a knight, he should be the lowest-ranked son of Gushan.At that time, Mrs. Zhaojia, as the first wife, had the title of wife of Beizi, and Mrs. Guarjia was the wife of Mrs. Beizi.

Although the prince, Fang Fujin, does not have a formal rank, the proportion of his name is indeed very high. Who would dare to withhold things like ice and water, which are specially provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?Although those people are snobbish, they only dare to increase or decrease according to the "rules".This ice and water are not like the rice brocade brocade, which separates the mansion and does not open the mansion.

Guerjia is a common surname, and there have been many descendants of Fujin side Fujin. If Guerjia's family becomes Mrs. Beizi, he will feel ashamed in front of her cousins, right?
Elder Brother Thirteen suddenly lost interest, not to mention the Guarjia family, even if he lived a half-circle life, in the final analysis, it was also because he had no face to face the meaningful eyes of others.

In fact, he wanted to go out of Beijing for a walk in his heart. After all, he used to be outside every year, whether he was a follower or on business with his brothers, and he spent most of the year outside.Now, it has been three and a half years without leaving Beijing.

According to the rules of the ancestors, the mansions of the princes and dukes were all built in the capital. comfortable.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Elder Brother Thirteen turned around and saw that it was Bichun, the maid beside Zhao Jiashi.

Bichun held a tray in his hand, leaned slightly, and said: "Master, Fujin asked the servant to bring me mung bean soup!"

The thirteenth brother reached out to pick up the emerald bowl on the tray, looked at the ice core floating on the soup, and remembered the comfort of the fourth brother last year.Yes, the ice will eventually melt, but I don't know when.After all, there is also the saying "freezing three feet is not a day's cold".

After drinking half a bowl of soup, he felt a lot of relief in his chest. Elder Brother Thirteen asked, "Fu Jin is still looking after Fucha's room? Please persuade her, don't make her too tired!"

Bichun responded and went down, Brother Thirteen couldn't help but feel a little headache when he thought of these women in the backyard.

Fu Cha had a miscarriage half a month ago and gave birth to a six-month-old boy.This time it was sad, hurt, and sick.It has been raised for half a month, but it is still not good.

The thirteenth elder brother was thinking about Zhao Jia's mention of money in the account before, and wondered whether he should ask the fourth brother to borrow money. Other things are easy to say, if there is no money to find medicine, what will Fu Cha do?
Just as he was about to go back to his room to change clothes, he saw the little eunuch reporting that Zhang Fuyuan, the steward sent to Shandong last month, had returned, and Zhang Fusheng, the steward of Shaoguo Zhuangzi in Shandong, also came back with him. They all begged to see the master in the front yard.

Brother Thirteen couldn't help showing a wry smile. Although he didn't have to go to court, he had already heard about the riots in Shandong caused by the burning of pots.

It's really "the house is leaking and it rains continuously", the more unlucky it is, the more unsatisfactory everything is.The civil unrest finally concentrated in Sishui County, Yanzhou, where Zhang Fusheng, a subordinate of Brother Thirteen, went to set up Shaoguo Zhuangzi.Thinking of Zhao Jia's look full of anticipation, Brother Thirteen really couldn't bear to tell his wife about Shandong.Most of the money that Zhang Fusheng brought to Shandong last year was Zhao Jia's dowry money.
In the side hall of the front yard, two brothers Zhang Fusheng and Zhang Fuyuan were talking in low voices, when they saw Elder Brother Thirteen come in, they knelt down to pay their respects.

Elder Brother Thirteen sat down and asked the two to stand up. Seeing that although their brother was a little tired, he didn't look like he was injured, so he felt relieved.Originally, I was worried that the two brothers would have a dispute with others in order to burn Guozhuangzi.

Zhang Fusheng refused to get up, kowtowed and said: "Master, the slave is incompetent, Zhuangzi...Zhuangzi asked those disorderly people to burn it!"

The thirteenth elder brother had been prepared in his heart, so he was not surprised. He frowned slightly and asked, "Are there any casualties? I heard that the bandits in Si County are the most rampant?"

Zhang Fusheng said with embarrassment on his face: "There are two brewers who are getting old, they didn't escape, they were burned to death!"

Brother Thirteen nodded, and said seriously: "You can't die in vain, after all, you work for the master, and the pension should be generous!"

Zhang Fusheng replied: "Don't worry, my lord, 80 taels of silver per household, the servant has already explained it clearly before entering Beijing!"

Brother Thirteen waved his hand: "Okay, okay, get up! I haven't seen you for a year, but you have learned to obey the rules!" Speaking of this, he asked Zhang Fuyuan again: "We have arrived in Yizhou. Okay? I thought you would be back in early May, but you were delayed in Surabaya? Why do you look so much thinner?"

Zhang Fuyuan replied with a smile: "Master, the servant arrived in Yizhou on April [-]th, and greeted the princess. He looks very good. There are mothers in front of Master Qi's mansion and Cao's house in Jiangning." Take care of it. It’s Master Cao, who looks very leisurely. The slave was going back to the capital, so Master Cao asked to keep it!” At this point, he took out a wooden box that was a foot long from his sleeve, and handed it to Thirteen with both hands. elder brother.

Elder Brother Thirteen borrowed it, opened it and asked, "What is this?"

A letter from Cao Yong to him, below is a stack of banknotes, the thirteenth elder brother's face was slightly dark, and he said: "What's going on, you have withdrawn money from Cao's house?"

Zhang Fuyuan hurriedly said: "I don't know about slaves yet, why are you so talkative? It was given by Master Cao, who said it was borrowed from my father last year. He was planning to send someone to Beijing. Because the slaves have gone, ask the slaves to bring them back." ! Pay back 5000 taels first, and wait for the rest, maybe there will be some income at the end of the year!"

Elder Brother Thirteen thought of lending money to Cao Yong, except for Zhao Jia, no one else knew about it, so he saved himself from being overwhelmed.

In Cao Yong's letter, apart from greetings, he also thanked him and Fujin for the tonics they had sent, and also talked about the mountains and rivers they had seen and heard in Yizhou in the past few months. Brother don't have to do it anymore.

This civil unrest in Shandong has affected many Shaoguo Zhuangzi, and the control of this area will definitely be stricter in the past few years.Moreover, the thirteenth elder brother has a noble status, if he ends up "competing with the people for profit", it will not be a good reputation.

He also mentioned that Guangzhou sent a total of more than 1 taels of silver for selling pearls in early April. He originally planned to pay back the 9000 taels first, because when he happened to go to the next county to deal with Shaoguo Zhuangzi, he saw a small piece of silver in Junan. tea garden.I also asked a knowledgeable person to see that the nearby mountainous area is a good place to grow tea.Besides, the price of land there was also low, less than three taels of silver per mu, so he scraped together [-] taels of silver and bought thirty hectares of land.He also sent people to Taihu Lake and invited a tea planter to come over.

This tea garden is divided into six places. Except for the one reserved by the Cao family, Prince Ping's Mansion, Prince Chun's Mansion, Prince Yong's Mansion, the Thirteenth Brother and the Sixteenth Brother each gave one piece.Although it is not a famous tea, it is not worth a few dollars.After all, it is the tea from the north, and it is different from the south. If you drink it fresh, you can do anything as a reward.

Elder Brother Thirteen is a tea lover. Hearing that there are tea trees in Shandong, he also found it rare. He couldn't help becoming interested and asked, "Why is it different? Can you see it?"

Zhang Fuyuan said with a smile: "It is precisely because of the wait for new tea that the slave delayed. The tea looks tender. There are only a few dozen shoots from a tea tree. Master Cao and the slave waited in Junan for two days before making it for half a year. Master Cao said, knowing that Master loves this tea, he asked his servants to bring it here! He said that the other palaces will wait until the winter tea is picked!"
Elder Brother Thirteen was moved when he heard it, and quickly asked: "Where is it, hurry up and get it for Grandpa!"

When Zhang Fuyuan came up with a servant carrying two baskets of things, Elder Thirteen couldn't help being dumbfounded, he had learned a lot.In addition to a small bag of tea leaves, the white ones are small wicker baskets and small plates; the black ones are pottery pen holders, incense burners, and cricket boxes; various light white and emerald green stone carvings.There are delicate ones and rough ones, and they all look like children's toys.

"This... this..." Elder Brother Thirteen was a little dumbfounded: "Cao Yong's earthenware, it can be seen that he is going to be a father, and it is all children's playthings! If the master is right, it must be from every family in other palaces. One copy?"

Zhang Fuyuan said: "What I said is true! There are not many of them, they are all these things! It's just that besides this tea, there are two boxes of other things!" Two boxes of things come.

They are all about one foot long and half a foot high. One box is full of dried scorpions, and inside the other box are four fist-sized fine porcelain jars with lids. Red paper is pasted on them, and the word "Chan Su" is written on them.

Zhang Fuyuan said: "Master, Mr. Cao said that these two things are poisonous and used as medicine. I don't know if they are good for my leg disease. Please ask the imperial physician to see if they can be used as medicine! He also said that the disease of the master can be used as medicine." Although it is cured, this damp disease is not easy to get rid of the roots, and it tends to repeat itself, so it needs to be maintained frequently to get better!"

*
Yizhou, south of the city, a house.

Sitting in the pavilion built on the water, looking at the wide water surface, the slim lotus, and the dense lotus leaves, Cao Yong suddenly felt cool, and the summer heat subsided a lot.

On the other side of the Daotai yamen, due to the size limit of the previous mansion, even if the left and right sides are opened, there are still people living there.Although there is also a garden with a small pond, some lotuses, and some vegetation, but after all, the layout is limited, just for fun, and it doesn't catch up with the scenery in front of me.

Chuyu's belly has been six months old, and after being stared at by several old nuns to make up for it, she has gained a lot of weight.

When the young couple were alone, Cao Yong measured it with his arms, but he couldn't wrap his arms around it anymore.Thinking of the difficulty of giving birth at this time, he couldn't help but feel a little worried, fearing that Chuyu would be too fat and the child would be too big, it would be difficult to give birth, so he specially told a few nuns about it.

The nuns were secretly funny at first, who doesn't want a big fat boy, who would make the child fat?Just blindly call Cao Yong not to worry.

Seeing how stubborn they are, Cao Yong didn't beat around the bush, and asked directly: "Everyone is an old mother, and they have all given birth. Naturally, they know where the child came from? Is it better for the child to be older or younger?" , think about it, everyone! If Chu Yu really made a mistake, who can take the responsibility?"

A few words said that several old mothers were melancholy, but no one dared to disobey Cao Yong's intention and make up for Chu Yu.

Although Yizhou is not as muggy as Beijing, the weather is not cool, and there is no supply of ice.Chuyu's life was a bit difficult, she was sluggish all day long and had no appetite.

Cao Yong was so distressed that he cooked for himself a few times without saying anything, and wrote down all the recipes he could think of, and asked the kitchen to add vegetables in different ways.

Although he was too lazy to come out, Cao Yong had to come for today's entertainment, because the other party played under the banner of Prince Heshuojian's mansion.Sitting opposite him was Cui Defu, the steward of Zhuangzi in Daxing Town and the "father-in-law" of Prince Yarjan'a of Heshuojian.

In terms of seniority against Chuyu, Prince Heshuojian Yaerjiang is the uncle of Cao Yong.Because of this, Cui Defu didn't take Cao Yong seriously at first.Because of the robbing of Zhuangzi's food from Shaoguo, he sent his nephew back to Beijing with the intention of suing him, and wanted to clean himself up.

Unexpectedly, the prince not only didn't think about cleaning up Cao Yong, but also sent someone to deliver a letter, asking Cui Defu to prepare a gift for Cao Yong according to the 5000 taels of expenses.

At first, Cui Defu thought that his prince was confused, why didn't he know that he had something to thank Cao Yong?If you take into account Chunjun Wangfu and Pingjun Wangfu, if you don't take revenge, why should you thank him with money?

At that time, apart from Dongyan Road, Shaoguo Zhuangzi in other places were either smashed and burned by rioters; or they were sealed up by the government.There are few Shaoguo villages like Daxing Town that can start work immediately.When the county government sent all kinds of complete procedures, when Xuzhou brought food, and the drinkers came to Daxing Town, Cui Defu understood why the prince wanted to thank Cao Yong.

In the land of Yizhou, where can I find something worth 5000 taels of silver?Even if there are antique calligraphy and painting sellers in Jinan Prefecture, Cui Defu is not that knowledgeable.What he thought of was only the house, Zhuangzi, and women.Chuang Tzu's success is regarded as an inheritance; the use of the house can be multiplied; women are even more important, how many men in the world do not love?

If you buy Zhuangzi, the land price here is cheap, Cao Yong is just out here, and he will leave after one or two terms, it is really not easy to catch the eye.

After inquiring about the news of Daotai Mansion, Cui Defu felt confident.The princess is pregnant, but there is still no concubine room in Cao Yong's mansion. It seems that this adult is still "fearful", and he can't complain about his good reputation.

Among the men in the world, if the family has a little money, who wouldn't want to have a beautiful concubine?Besides, Cao Yong was just at the time of his youth.At first, he was still a little worried, whether he would offend the Chunjun Prince's Mansion because of this, but after thinking about it, let alone the princess's forehead, even the princess's forehead, Long Live God didn't stop him from taking concubines.

Open branches and scattered leaves, human relations and great gifts, who can pick a mistake.As for whether to take back the house, that is Cao Yong's own business.Cui Defu also secretly had a bad idea, wanting to see the bustle of the princess's son-in-law.If some jokes are made and spread back to the capital, it would be good to amuse the prince and master.

Thinking about it this way, Cui Defu made arrangements. First, he sent people to Yangzhou to buy two young women who had not yet married, and then found this house with a large garden in Yizhou, and then took Heshuo Jian Prince Yaer. Jiang A's greeting card, solemnly invites Cao Yong to come to drink.

Cui Defu seems to be flattering and used to people. Except for the occasional raised orchid fingers that make Cao Yong feel cold, he can still "shoot" people.

Among the several Shaoguo villages involved in Dongyan Road, only Daxing Town has the biggest background, and most of the other Zhuangzi are under the names of relatives of the clan.

Although Cao Yong didn't have a good opinion of these clans, if there was any enmity, they were all in the capital, so the little shoes would be unavoidable, and I don't know how troublesome it would be.Therefore, after they suffered a loss, Cao Yong gave them a cheap price, which is also because he didn't want to make enemies.

Now it seems that Prince Jane Yaerjiang is on the way. Cao Yong ruled out the hidden dangers, and he also brought a little joy in his heart.

Seeing that Cui Defu had drunk three rounds, he had said all the polite words that should be said, so he whispered a few words to the young servant who was waiting next to him.

In the fragrance of the lotus and the swaying of the lotus leaves, two graceful women walked slowly...

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(End of this chapter)