Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 588
According to Cao Yong's original intention, he wanted to stop the spirit for 49 days.

It is the twelfth lunar month now, and if we stop for 49 days, we will have to catch up with the funeral in the first month.At that time, all kinds of entertainment are not right, and I am afraid that there will be negligence in the funeral.

There was Kangxi on the top watching, even if the bidding was taken over by Brother Sixteen, Cao Yong was not easy to be the shopkeeper.

In addition, there was an endless stream of hangers-on coming to Guanghua Temple.

In addition to the relatives and old friends of the Cao family, those wealthy businessmen with the idea of ​​bidding for the Ministry of Internal Affairs also came to the door one after another.

Cao Yong is physically and mentally exhausted, and he really can't go on.

On the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month, the day before the first year of the lunar new year, it was Mr. Zhuang's "[-]", a big funeral.

The tomb of Mr. Zhuang's parents is in Fangshan, and this time his tomb was built next to his parents and family members.When his wife died of illness, he still used the surname Xi, and his wife's remains were not buried in the ground, but placed in a temple outside the city.

It wasn't until the 48th year of Kangxi, when Zhuang Xi came to Beijing, that a cave was opened near his parents' cemetery and his wife was buried.

This time, Zhuang Xi and his wife were buried together in this tomb.

The inscription on the tombstone is "disciple Cao Yong".

After the burial of Mr. Zhuang, Cao Yong seemed to be suffering from a serious illness, and his spirit was so sluggish.

When he got home, he didn't have time to change, so he fell asleep...

*
On the same day, Sheng Jia returned to Changchun Garden from Xiaotangshan Palace.

Shengjia moved to the Xiaotangshan Palace on the thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. Because tomorrow is the new year, he turned back.

In the Empress Dowager's Palace, Mrs. Li and Chu Yu's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law dressed up in class and came to express their gratitude.

The previous reward, after the full moon of longevity, Mrs. Li has already come once, this time it was given to enter the palace to thank for the New Year's Day.

Among the New Year's goods given by the Queen Mother, apart from fur and satin, there were whitebait, venison, sturgeon, and milk food tributed by Horqin.

It is not uncommon for the queen mother to give things to Cao Yin's wife.Except for some caring people, others have long stopped talking about this as news.

On Li's side, he did not dare to be less polite. After each reward, he had to go to the palace to thank him.

She has already learned a few words of Mongolian from Wu En.However, after all, as you get older, you will only know the simplest things, and you will forget the difficult things quickly.

The Empress Dowager was willing to gossip with Li Shi, but Li Shi couldn't understand it. The two of them had to make gestures for a long time before they could roughly understand the meaning.

Later, there was really no other way, so Li brought Wu En into the palace, and Wu En acted as the interpreter.

The queen mother saw that Wu En's appearance was different. She heard that she was a Mongolian slave girl who was rescued by Cao Yong in her early years;

Now, everyone knows that Mrs. Li is a celebrity in the Empress Dowager's Palace.

In addition, the maid who was used by the imperial court is now serving the Li family in Cao's mansion according to the Queen Mother's will, which really shocked a group of people.

Especially Brother Jiu, who has a conflict of interest with the Cao family, and Cao Yong is regarded as an enemy in his bones.

As soon as the bidding was done, the one who felt furious was Brother Jiu.

This Yamen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs used money. In the early years, for the great cause of the eighth elder brother, it was all the money from the ninth elder brother.Unexpectedly, this time Cao Yong took the lead and put the mud directly into the water.

Seeing that there is a clear distinction between black and white, and losing the status of vested interests,

Ninth elder brother tried it with sixteenth elder brother, but he was hit with Tai Chi, and he didn't get to the bottom of it, how could he be willing?

These days, he has been thinking about what is really going on with this bidding?
Could it be that there is no other way to let Cao Yong do whatever he wants?I still believe what Sixteen said, the biggest beneficiary is still myself.

*
Beizi Mansion, study room.

Brother Jiu crossed Erlang's legs, and his expression was much deeper: "Gu Na, you have gone to Cao's house. How do Cao Yin and Cao Yong treat you, their father and son?"

On the ground, there was a tall, thin young man standing bowed. It was Gu Na who had served as a foreigner twice.

After Gu Na took two foreign posts, he originally wanted to continue to seek foreign posts. Brother Jiu couldn't find a way to intervene with Cao's family, and the few appointments he made with Cao Song's marriage last year didn't work.

Therefore, he thought of Gu Na, who was going to do some work with the official department, and wanted to fill Gu Na with a Beijing official.

Gu Na's face has long faded from the youthful innocence, and he held his breath, looking a bit official.

Hearing Brother Jiu's question, Gu Na bowed and replied: "Returning to Master Jiu, Cao Yin treated the little one very kindly, and asked about the little future, and wanted to help. Cao Yong's side ...the other side is busy with his teacher's funeral, and can't take care of other things for the time being."

For half a month with the turmoil of the funeral, Brother Jiu couldn't help feeling a little annoyed.Hearing this, he immediately waved his hand and said: "It's just a cover-up. This Cao Yong, a duplicitous guy, is just using a cover to avoid the dissatisfaction and clamor of these days."

But Gu Na didn't know how to respond. He visited Cao's mansion two days ago, and only saw Cao Yin at that time. Cao Yong was still guarding the spirit in Guanghua Temple, and he went to Guanghua Temple in a hurry.

Although he has no relationship with Mr. Zhuang, seeing Cao Yong's unconcealable sadness, Gu Na sincerely went to the Buddha and lit three sticks of incense.

Now, Gu Na couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he heard Brother Jiu say that Cao Yong was playing tricks.

A person like Brother Jiu is afraid that he will only pay attention to gold and silver all his life, and will never be sentimental for others.

Seeing that Gu Na was silent, Brother Nine rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Your previous two county magistrates were all excellent in the evaluation, so it is not difficult to be promoted to the sixth rank. Otherwise, I will arrange for you to be the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs." , some things happen to be cheap too.”

This result is not surprising.

As early as Brother Jiu began to pay attention to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Gu Na realized that he was afraid that he would be arranged to go there.There was still a little bit of luck, after all, most of the deficiencies in the Ministry of Internal Affairs were made up by coatings, and the deficiencies of ordinary people were limited.

Brother Jiu looked at Gu Na's expression while talking.

Gu Na covered up other emotions, leaving only joy, and immediately bowed and said: "Thank you Jiu Ye for his promotion, I am very grateful."

He is the disciple of the ninth elder brother, the account holder under the Beizi Mansion, and he can also fill in the vacancy of the flag, but he is a son and grandson, and he will serve as the master of the Beizi Mansion.

Brother Jiu nodded, remembered something, and said to Gu Na: "By the way, I heard that you don't have a son yet. It just so happens that Fujin has a dowry. Although her appearance is mediocre, it is good for childbearing if people look at it. Thank you, Lord." I will be your concubine."

When Gu Na heard this, he couldn't help being stunned.

I have always known that Brother Jiu is lustful, even Gu Na himself was ordered to buy overly beautiful beauties for Brother Jiu.

Now, how can people come down?eyes and ears?

Gu Na bowed to thank him, but he had thought about it several times in his heart.

*
Cao Mansion, outside the gate.

Hearing that someone was looking for him, Li Wei came out quickly, but it turned out to be two old acquaintances, fellow villagers whom he had seen in the Xuzhou Guild Hall.

"Oh, the two bosses!" Li Wei clasped his fists boldly, and said with a smile: "It's the New Year's Eve, why didn't the two bosses return to their hometowns? Are you still making a fortune in Beijing?"

Both of them are rich merchants in Xuzhou, and they trade between the capital and the south, and the goods they deal in are mixed.

Seeing Li Wei clasping fists, the two quickly bowed in return. The address they used in their mouths has changed from "Li Wei" and "Little Li" in the early years to the current "Master Li".

Li Wei's smile froze when he heard this, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

"Two bosses, this is... going to the Three Treasures Hall without incident?" Li Wei asked tentatively.

Those two people had already stepped forward, took Li Wei's arm, and said with a smile: "Master Li, we are from the same township, and we have the deepest affection, and Master Li has always been loyal. Let's go, what's the matter, let's talk while drinking in Dongfenglou go."

But Li Wei stood firmly, without moving, with a smile on his face, he said, "Hehe, I, Li Wei, am also thinking about my fellow countrymen. But now that my status is limited, I hope you two will be considerate. What can I say? Please enter the mansion to talk. Maybe the two of you can benefit a lot from your lord's side. That's better than drinking with a vulgar person like me..."

The two originally wanted to follow Li Wei's way, but Li Wei suddenly carried Cao Yong out, and couldn't help but be ecstatic.

One of them had already stuffed a roll of silver bills into Li Wei's hands, and said in a low voice, "After all, it's the friendship of fellow villagers, which is enough loyalty. Treat Master Li to tea. Afterwards, we will really invest in profitable business, so naturally we won't let Master Li is busy."

Li Wei was born in a country gentleman's family, he was bold by nature, and he didn't take money and things too seriously.

For these two fellow villagers, he originally had a sense of close relatives in his heart, but at the moment he was also tired of this kind of naked temptation.However, he didn't say much, and directly led the two into the side hall.

These two have also done business in the Ministry of Internal Affairs before, but most of the business in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is controlled by Shanxi merchants. Instead, Huizhou merchants like them can only follow behind and pick up the leftovers.

Before, Cao Yong also specifically mentioned once that he had sent a letter to the south of the Yangtze River, hoping to break the current situation where Shanxi merchants dominate the trade of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Therefore, whether Li Wei was tired or not, he still introduced the two of them to the Cao Mansion with a pleasant face.

After leading people into the living room and serving tea, Li Wei hesitated.

Cao Yong went out to attend the funeral early in the morning, and it wasn't long before he came back.

However, after asking Jiang Jian, he still asked someone to send a letter to the second gate.

It was two businessmen who came, and it didn't just represent two businessmen.

These days, Cao Yong is busy with funerals, and ignores all official business, like herding sheep.Some businessmen came to the door in the name of hanging sacrifices, and Cao Yong was not in the mood to respond. This back and forth also made many businessmen feel uncertain.

Anyone who can do business in the capital does not have a backer, or if he is an ordinary businessman, he would have been swallowed alive long ago.

If these merchants are not appeased, the palaces of princes and dignitaries behind them will also have no idea about the procurement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Pulling sixteen princes out made people dare not act rashly, but it also made many people suspicious, thinking that it was just a formality between the powerful and powerful.

Although I don't know what mansion the two people who came to the door today are attached to, but seeing them come to the door after the funeral, I think they are always paying attention to Cao's mansion.

Through their mouths, I just want to talk about what the so-called Ministry of Internal Affairs is doing when purchasing, how to reduce concerns, and the position of the newly appointed chief manager Cao Yong...

(End of this chapter)