Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 63

On the afternoon of the first day of July in the 48th year of Kangxi, Cao Yong celebrated his 15th birthday in the guard camp.

For those who have a little friendship, the sixteenth elder brother posted a post, and explained in advance that for the sake of celebration, only gold and silver are accepted as gifts, not elegant things.After Cao Yong knew it, he couldn't laugh or cry. This was simply extortion.It's just that although Shiliu is small, he is quite considerate in his actions, so there should be no other deep meaning in this commotion.

Elder Brother Sixteen and Cao Yong are both young, and when others received the post, they thought they had figured out a new trick, so they didn't think much about it.

Baoya and Suhebalu cooperated the most, and asked people to send up the little golden zipper early. The price of Baoya Gege was 20 taels, and that of Suhebalu was 15 taels.For people like Uzhina Gege and others, the class is reduced, some give ten taels, and some give five taels.Those who did not have gold in hand were given silver in proportion.

The old and new colleagues in the guard camp get along well with Cao Yong, and they are willing to join in the fun.

The sixteenth elder brother was a bit too noisy and ordered a lot of people to prepare the banquet.However, when the group of guests were about to arrive, Brother Sixteen looked at the two money boxes containing gold and silver lockets, but was quite dissatisfied, and went out with a slight frown.

Today, Detehei and Shuming are two bodyguards who are on duty in the morning, and they are free in the afternoon, so they come to join in the fun.They have all heard about the Cao family raising the flag, and in their eyes, this is much more worthy of congratulations than a birthday.Only Nalan Fusen, because he knew the details of the Cao family, thought more than others.The Cao family was run by the second generation in the south of the Yangtze River, and its power was second to none, relying on the favor of the Long Live Lord and the identity of the coat.Going to the three flags to coat clothes, that is the emperor's family slave, even the governor-general has to be cautious.Now that the Cao family has taken off this identity, although the official career and marriage of the children are more generous, the future rise and fall is really hard to say.If the Long Live Lord is still alive, it will be fine, and he will naturally be sheltered; if one day the Holy Driver goes west, can the new emperor allow the Cao family to continue to manage Jiangnan?
What Nalan Fusen thought of, Cao Yong also thought about it last night.In fact, regardless of whether the Cao family raises the flag or not, continuing to operate Jiangnan is the next best thing to do.Three generations and four people have been in charge of weaving in Jiangning for 60 years. In the history of more than 200 years in the Qing Dynasty, the Cao family is the only special case of such a family-like business.Although this is Kangxi's kindness to the Cao family, it is also easy to arouse the suspicion of the new emperor.

Cao Yong has been in the Qing Dynasty for eight years. During this period, he has thought about the future of the Cao family several times. After much deliberation, there are only four words to sum it up, that is, "prosperity and decline".

The Cao family, the Li family, and the Sun family were connected and related, and they were in charge of the three major weaving companies in the south of the Yangtze River.Even though Cao Yin has always been loyal to the emperor and kept a low profile on a daily basis, it is inevitable that some people think the Cao family is an eyesore.In fact, the most appropriate way is to arrange for the Cao family to escape from Jiangnan.But this is even more difficult. Cao Yin acts as the emperor's eyes and ears in the south of the Yangtze River, which is not a part-time job that can see the light.Those who take on this responsibility must be the emperor's absolute trusted confidants.The emperor is high above, how many people do you really trust?Here in the Cao family, there are ten years of nurturing by the Sun family, accompanied by Cao Yin since childhood, and decades of hard work by two generations of the Cao family.

*
Brother Sixteen went out for a quarter of an hour before turning back with a smile on his face.Wei Zhu, the eunuch next to Kangxi, followed behind, holding a tray covered with yellow silk.It was Kangxi's reward, 50 taels of gold.

Cao Yong expressed his gratitude, but he really admired Xiaoliu in his heart.It seems that Kangxi is really in a good mood these few days. Not only did he raise the flag of the Cao family, but even the sixteenth elder brother played tricks and cooperated with him.

Under the promotion of some people, no matter whether it was the prince's clan, the eight banners military officers, or the Mongolian kings who came to the dynasty, they all knew that Emperor Kangxi personally gave a congratulatory gift to a royal guard to celebrate his birthday.Therefore, throughout the afternoon, people from Cao Yong's tent came to send congratulatory gifts one after another.

First, the prince sent someone to send 30 taels of gold, and the thirteenth elder brother and the fifteenth elder brother 20 taels. Since they didn't have gold in hand, they sent people to send them the converted silver bills.Baylor, the Mongolian kings, knew that the emperor and princes followed suit, so naturally they were not far behind.If it weren't for the example of Prince Elder Brother and others, I'm afraid they would be generous.In this way, some of them gave 20 taels of gold in the same way as the thirteenth elder brother, and some gave 15 taels or ten taels of gold.

De Tehei and others were dazzled by the gift-giving people, and even Cao Yong was a little dizzy.Why does Little Sixteen need so much gold and silver?So much so that in order to make money, he used Kangxi to raise the banner.He bet that among the Mongolian kings who gave gifts, few of them knew who Cao Yong was.It is estimated that everyone is confused, who is Cao Yong, who has such a big face, and would never have thought that this was all done by Xiaoliu's whim.

Inadvertently, he was in the limelight. Cao Yong smiled wryly. It seems that he should have a good talk with Xiaoliu and ask him what he needs money for. Although he doesn't have much savings, he still has tens of thousands of taels.

In this way, Cao Yong spent his 15th birthday amidst the "jingle" of the golden and silver gongs.The gold and silver gifts received were carried back to his residence by Elder Sixteen and asked Zhao Feng to count them.So far, Brother Sixteen seems to have "iron proof" to make money by borrowing Cao Yong's birthday.Those who got the news late, and those who didn't have time to give gifts on the first day of junior high school, gave them back one after another on the second day of junior high school. Naturally, they were all sent directly to Brother Sixteen.

Although the gold and silver did not fall into Cao Yong's pocket, he was still very embarrassed because of his name.He didn't need to worry about the military officers of the Eight Banners and the Mongolian kings, but it was not easy for him to face the guard camp.You must know that the purchasing power of silver is very strong at this time, and ten taels of silver is enough for ordinary people to live for half a year.Even if it is a wealthy family, ten taels is worth half a month's money.

Detehei and Shuming are two bodyguards, although they are the children of Bannermen, but they come from different families, not all of them are rich and affluent.If the receiver sends it back, it will be annoying.Cao Yong had to keep it in mind, and waited for the opportunity to return the gift.

*
On the third day of July, Brother Sixteen came to find Cao Yong enthusiastically.The congratulatory gifts received two days ago have finally been counted, totaling 430 taels of gold and 580 taels of silver.According to the exchange ratio of one tael of gold and ten taels of silver, the total amount of silver would be 900 taels.Excluding the 80 taels of silver for the banquet, Cao Yong made a total of 820 taels on his birthday.

The sixteenth elder brother was holding the statistics sheet, and he looked like he was dancing.

Seeing him happy, Cao Yong was in a much better mood, and asked, "Master Shiliu is so caring, where does he need money? If I still use it, I still have some savings in the capital."

The princes of the Qing Dynasty were usually enshrined and established a mansion after they were 15 years old.Of course there are exceptions, the twelfth elder brother, the thirteenth elder brother, and the fourteenth elder brother are still living in the elder brother's residence in the palace.

Brother Sixteen's birthday was half a month ago, and it seems that the need for money is a recent matter, otherwise he would not use Cao Yong's matter as a raft.

Brother Sixteen was taken aback by Cao Yong's question, and then he triumphantly took out a piece of paper from his purse, opened it carefully, and held it up to Cao Yong with a smile.

It's actually a land deed, fifteen hectares of land, Cao Yong is a little strange, after elder brother left the palace and built a mansion, all of them have a share of Zhuangzi under his name, what is Shiliu buying these properties for now.One hectare of land is one hundred mu, and fifteen hectares of land is one thousand five hundred mu.

Brother Sixteen saw that Cao Yong was speechless, so he stuffed the land deed into his hand: "This is for you, it's my wish. Before I left Beijing, I heard that you were selling the land in Changping. Reduce the population in the mansion, and help your father pay off the deficit of the household department. Er Niang was worried that you would be useless in Beijing, so she gave me 5000 taels of silver, and let me earn it for you to spend. I asked someone to check it at the household department , your family still has a deficit of 200 million yuan, which is really a big hole. You are also known as a filial son, and this money will inevitably be used to pay off the deficit when it comes to your hands. Just buy this in the land you sold in Changping I'll give you a good one. In this way, if you have money on the other side and still lose money, you still have land on the other side. I was greedy for a while and bought a few more acres. The money I gave was not enough, so I borrowed money from several brothers. Some debts, and now I will lend you for your birthday, and the gold and silver will add up, and the total will be almost the same!"

Cao Yong held the title deed and felt it was very heavy. He didn't expect that the sixteenth elder brother had spent so long to buy this for him.However, he sold the land just to make a show for the Cao family and to make better investment behind the scenes.Unexpectedly, people who really cared about the Cao family were worried.He handed the title deed back to Elder Sixteen: "Cao Yong appreciates the kindness of Mistress Mistress and Master Sixteen, but it is really unacceptable. There are still ten hectares of fertile land and a few pieces of wasteland in Changping, and they haven't sold all of them." !"

Secret concubine Wang Shi is the biological mother of the fifteenth elder brother and the sixteenth elder brother, and Cao Yong's cousin.Right now, her status in the palace book is only a noble person, but because of being favored by Kangxi, she gave birth to three more princes, and she has already been treated as a concubine.Whether it is in the palace or outside the palace, they are all called concubines.In recent years, Kangxi's several southern and northern tours were accompanied by secret concubines.This time, when he went north to the Great Wall, he stayed in the capital to recuperate because he caught up with the concubine who was ill.

The sixteenth elder brother waved his hands quickly: "There is no reason to take back the things that are sent out." Speaking of this, he pointed to Cao Yong: "Look at your size, you are wearing fine cloth clothes, and you have no accessories on your body. You eat on weekdays , are full of ordinary dishes. When I went out, I brought Xiaoman, so tired that he followed you bitterly. Not to mention me, even Huang Ama couldn't bear it when she saw you like this, otherwise she wouldn't let it go. I’m messing around. Although I haven’t seen you before, I’ve heard it mentioned by Er Niang. The year before last, I followed Huang Ahma’s southern tour and stayed at your house. At that time, I wanted to go to Qingliang Temple to meet your cousin. Later, I went with my brothers. I didn't have time to inspect the river affairs. When you came to Beijing, I heard that you had been bullied before I saw you. When Er Niang heard about it, she cried for a long time and asked someone to send a lot of medicine to Pingjun Wang's mansion in private. After all, when you recovered from your injury, there was news that you sent slaves to sell the land. The son of the Cao family, the heart of Mrs. Feng Sheng, who grew up in rich clothes and fine food, is actually so poor now."

The sixteenth elder brother said embarrassingly, but Cao Yong didn't know how to explain it.He wears muslin clothes because pure cotton is more comfortable than silk, and he doesn't wear any accessories because he thinks small things look cumbersome.There are many good things in the purse, ready to reward people and give gifts.During this period of eating, I was disgusted by all kinds of big meat, so I picked porridge and side dishes to eat.These, in the eyes of others, become poverty!It's no wonder that Kangxi's grace to raise the flag came as soon as he said it, probably because he felt guilty after knowing that the Cao family had repaid the debts. After all, the deficit of the Cao family was spent for welcoming them over the years.Where is the Cao family repaying their own debts, they are basically helping the emperor repay the debts.Although Kangxi couldn't bear it, according to the national law, he could only allow the officials of the household department to collect debts from the Cao family.

(End of this chapter)