Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 674 "Small Punishment"

Tianhui's wish to listen to an opera was not realized after all.Until the end of May, the atmosphere in Rehe was still not very good.

Even Cao Yong, who spoke firmly with Brother Sixteen, began to wonder in his heart whether there was any change in history.If that is the case, it will be unprepared.

When Li received Jinghui's letter, she was also in a dilemma.Even if the Dong family wanted to pick someone up, since none of the head of the Cao family was at home, it might not be easy to speak.

After discussing with her husband, Li decided to return to the capital first.

Seeing that her mother-in-law was going back, Chu Yu also said that she would bring her children back to Beijing.

On Cao Yong's side, how can he go back to his family members at ease, so he told Brother Sixteen that he planned to find a reason and asked to go back to the capital, so that he could escort his family back to Beijing.

Elder Sixteen heard his heartbeat, and wanted to send the pregnant Fujin back to Beijing to raise him.However, after asking the imperial doctor, he didn't dare to take the risk.After all, I'm only a few months pregnant, so I'm afraid I won't be able to bear the long journey.

Cao Yong asked the Zhezi, who was ordered to return to Beijing, to go to the palace for two days, but there is no news yet.

Cao Yong here, can not help but impatient.

I didn't want to, so I passed the news of the meeting on the first day of June from the palace.

In a blink of an eye, it was the first day of the sixth lunar month, and all the princes, princes, and officials gathered in the Danbo Jingcheng Hall.

Cao Yong hadn't seen Kangxi for half a month, and now he looks good, but a little clear.If you look carefully, you will find that there are dots in his beard, which are more white than before.

The seemingly ordinary court meeting turned out to be an unexpected thunderous change.

"Thunder, rain and dew are all the grace of the king", that's what I said.

Because of the praying for rain at the end of April and the beginning of May, the officials involved were all over the cabinet and the six ministries and nine ministers.

Zhao Shenqiao, Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, Wang Xuling, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, Fan Shichong, Yushi of Zuodu, Fu Shen, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Li Huazhi, Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Cai Shengyuan, Wang Zhishu, Peng Shibo, Zhan Shiwang Yiqing, and Zhan Shiwang. If you don't come in person, you will be demoted to three levels to stay in the post, and you will be retiring if you get the shade you received from Enzhao.

Man Shangshu He Shuozi of the Ministry of Rites, Han Shangshu Chen Shen, Shilang Erge, Wang Sishi, and Hu Zuomei were all responsible for praying for rain, but they did not pray sincerely, and they did not know where Yuze had touched their feet, so they were incompatible.He Shuo asked to be dismissed.The rewards of Enzhao lead to retreat.Chen Shen, Er Ge, Wang Sishi, and Hu Zuomei were all downgraded by five ranks to stay in their posts.

University scholars Xiao Yongzao, Wang Jie, bachelors Xing Etai, Changshou, official secretary Zhang Penghe, minister Sun Zhu, Li Xusheng, Tang Youzeng, household servant Fu Erhuna, Lu Luheng, military minister Yin Tebu, minister Dang Alai, Tian Congdian, Shangshu Laidu of the Ministry of Justice, Zhang Tingshu, Wang Duzhao of the Minister of Industry, Dong Hongyi, Hao Lin, and Zhou Daoxin, the deputy governor of Zuodu, and Zhou Daoxin, the envoy of the General Administration, even though they had been to the place of praying for rain in person, the memorials pretended to be unbelievable words of hope, but also Is inconsistent.

Among them, only Wang Jie, a university scholar, had given a face-to-face order to recuperate at home before Shengjia left Beijing in April, so he was exempted.

Xiao Yongzao, Xing Etai, Changshou, Zhang Penghe, Sun Zhu, Li Xusheng, Tang Youzeng, Fu Erhuna, Lu Luheng, Yin Tebu, Dang Alai, Tian Congdian, Lai Du, Zhang Tingshu, Wang Duzhao, Dong Hongyi, Hao Lin, Zhou Daoxin and others all decided to be demoted to the second level and stay in their posts, and all the Yinzhao received from Enzhao were dismissed.

Song Zhu, a scholar of the university, would not be able to name and participate in the performance where the ministers in Beijing prayed impiously for rain and the performance was delayed.

The six departments of the Jiuqing yamen left behind in the capital, all the prominent and respectable ones, are here.Not to mention anything else, just talking about six yamen, eight ministers and thirteen servants were born.

Except for He Shuozi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, who was dismissed, all others were downgraded and remained in office.Even so, it is surprising enough.

In such a huge capital city, there are not many top-wearing ones above the third rank.

Apart from being surprised, what many people left in their hearts was secret joy.

It hasn't been long since the minister of the Ministry of Industry has been vacant, and no one has filled the vacancy, so another minister of the Ministry of Rites has been vacated.

On Cao Yong's side, what he was thinking about was something else.

Since Song Zhu, who made a special trip back to Beijing to investigate the matter of officials praying for rain, did not immediately name and participate in the performance, who was the one who handed over the papers?
Even when the prince was abolished, Kangxi did not punish the officials on such a large scale.However, compared with the punishment at that time, this time it was more like a "small punishment".

"Demotion and staying in office" is nothing more than a change of body and top hat. There is no change of errand, as long as there is a small achievement, it is "official reinstatement"; .

This is equivalent to putting a trap around everyone's neck, so you have to be cautious, otherwise you will ruin your future.

For the officials who stayed in the capital after the outbreak, the servants did not shout something like "there is an early performance, and there is no reason to leave the court" like the usual court meeting, but directly shouted "dismiss the court".

The princes in the court hall, the third elder brother, the fourth elder brother, the fifteenth elder brother, and the sixteenth elder brother, were ordered by their servants to meet them at Yanbo Zhishuang hall.

Cao Yong came out with the civil and military officials and returned to the Yamen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Kangxi was fine, which made Cao Yong relieved.However, I also began to ponder whether to write another request.

Cao Yong is thinking about things here, and Yiduli is not idle here.

Because of repairing the palace, Yiduli has made meritorious service here, and he is still thinking about his reinstatement.Even if he didn't go back to the Taipu Temple, he was still on the side of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his position from the fifth rank was really too low.

While there was no one around, Yidu immediately asked Cao Yong: "Furuo, looking at this action, I can't see the emperor's intention. Why is he so angry? It's not just to pray for rain, right?"

Cao Yong listened, shook his head, and said: "The Sacred Heart is unpredictable, and I don't know."

Yi Duli, on the other hand, couldn't sit still, took two steps on the ground, sighed and said, "So what if I survived the excellent examination? I want to be promoted. I'm afraid it will be difficult." Frustrated outside.

When Cao Yong saw him, he comforted him and said, "Your Excellency is still young, what are you in a hurry for? After a few years, you may have an opportunity at any time."

He said this because Yi Duli is the brother-in-law of the thirteenth elder brother, and the relationship with the thirteenth elder brother is good, but with these two things, the future future can't be wrong.

"It's already passed the year of Erli, almost forty, why are you still young?" Yi Duli shook his head and said: "At my father's age, he has already entered the cabinet and moved to the Minister of Rites, but I am still from the fifth rank. It’s really embarrassing to my ancestors. If I knew this, I should have been admitted to Jinshi and Hanlin, and I didn’t have to suffer so hard.”

Yi Duli complained a few words, then remembered something, and said: "My lord, if the yamen is not busy today, I would like to go back earlier. Shi Yun went to Rehe for his shift, and he is planning to clean him up."

Hearing what he said, Cao Yong waved his hands and said: "My lord, go, there is nothing wrong with the yamen, so don't waste your time here."

Yi Duli was overjoyed when he heard that, so he left the yamen's house first.

Cao Yong looked at Yi Duli's back and thought of Cao Xiang who went to Henan Mansion to take office.

In Cao Yong's heart, 16-year-old Cao Xiang is still a half-grown child, just the age to learn.He only thought that he had the opportunity to become an official now, but he didn't know that it was not so easy for local officials to be promoted step by step.

He is not a scheming child, but has a pure character and is an honest person.

I don't know if he will regret it many years later when his classmates entered the Imperial Academy and became cabinet ministers.

*
The prefect's yamen of Henan Province is located in Luoyang, and the teacher is an assistant official of the prefect's yamen. He does not have his own yamen, but the prefect's yamen works here.

Cao Xiang set off from the capital on the sixth day of May and arrived in Luoyang at the end of the month.

Although Li Tingchen, the prefect of Luoyang, did not come from a professional background, he was promoted to the prefect after years of qualifications.

Although there was an official document long ago, Li Tingchen knew that there would be a supplementary instruction in the yamen, but when he saw Cao Xiang, Li Tingchen was still very surprised.

Originally, I was worried that Cao Xiang would be an arrogant and rude person with the bad habits of the children of the aristocratic family, but I didn't expect to be so refined.

After some earnest talk, the two hit it off.

Hearing that Cao Xiang only came with a concubine to take care of his daily life, and he has not yet married a regular wife, Li Tingchen couldn't help being moved.

Although Cao Xiang is only a seventh-rank official, his elder brother is a bodyguard, and his uncle and cousin are all in the capital, so his future is boundless.

Li Tingchen belongs to the banner of the Han army, and the marriage of the two families can also make it happen.It's just that he doesn't have a daughter, so it's just wishful thinking to recruit Cao Xiang as his son-in-law.

On Cao Xiang's side, he came out of the house, although he was full of novelty, but he was also more cautious, fearing that his behavior would be wrong and the family would be humiliated.

Although the former instructor's house is empty, it is dirty and dilapidated.And not long ago, the former instructor fell ill and died here.

When Cao Xiang heard this, he felt jealous, and he didn't want to wrong Luju, so he temporarily stayed in the post station and asked people to go out to find a house to rent.

In a few days, I found a small house with two entrances near the yamen, and rented it for three years at a rent of 40 taels of silver.The wooden furniture inside were all ready-made, so Cao Xiang and his party moved in.

Lu Ju has always been clever, and she helped Zhao Jia's housework before.

With her maid and daughter-in-law, she tidied up the inner house properly, and the halls in the front yard were also newly decorated, looking like a living family.

Cao Xiang was very happy to see him.If he wasn't still thinking about his biological mother, he really wanted to just live in Luoyang like this.

On the first day of June, according to the rules, it is the day when the subordinate officials visit the magistrate.

It's like a small court meeting, in the main hall of the magistrate's yamen, people from Tongpan, Procuratorate, Yandao, Tuiguan, Confucianism, grain arrest, and criminal justice all came.

Although Cao Xiang is the youngest and the youngest official, but there is a Cao family behind him, who would dare to underestimate him?

After Li Tingchen met all the officials, he proposed to have a banquet tonight to welcome Cao Xiang, and everyone followed suit.

Cao Xiang is a newcomer in the officialdom, he has never been through this, but he also knows how to do as the Romans do, and dare not spoil everyone's interest.

After a meal of wine and food, many people patted Cao Xiang on the shoulder and started to develop relationships with him.Those whose ancestral home was in Zhili said they were from the same hometown; others who had been to Jiangning said that they had an old relationship with the Cao family.

Although Cao Xiang didn't know which sentence was true and which was false, he responded respectfully to all of them.

After drinking for three rounds and eating five flavors, when the crowd dispersed, Li Tingchen specially ordered someone to bring a food box and asked Cao Xiang to take it back to the female family members.

Cao Xiang was very grateful, and after thanking him again and again, he took the people back to the house.

After drinking a lot of wine and blowing the wind again, when he got off his horse at the gate of the house, Cao Xiang couldn't stand it anymore, he just felt like his stomach was overwhelmed.

He couldn't stand it any longer, so he leaned against the wall, vomited, and then was supported by a servant, and entered the yard.

When Luju got the news, she brought her maid to meet him at the second gate. Seeing that Cao Xiang was smelling of alcohol, she helped him into the house.

Knowing that he was going out for dinner, Lu Ju had already made people boil sober soup first.

After serving Cao Xiang to change his clothes and rinse his mouth, Luju personally delivered the hangover soup to Cao Xiang's mouth.

Cao Xiang accepted it with a smile, pointed to the food box on the table, and said, "It's the snacks that the magistrate ordered from the restaurant, and asked me to bring them back for you to eat. Quickly taste it, compare it with the pastries in Beijing." How is it? For dinner tonight, I ate a small cup of stewed noodles in old soup, which tasted very good, but unfortunately I vomited just now. After two days of busy work, I will take you there to eat."

Hearing that Cao Xiang vomited, Lu Ju was afraid that his stomach would be empty and uncomfortable, so she got up and went to hold the food box, but she looked quite surprised, and said with a smile: "What are you eating, it's strange."

While speaking, she had brought the food box over, put it on the kang table, and lifted the lid.

Under the lamp, the inside is gleaming white. If it’s not silver, what is it?There is a layer of silver ingots all over the floor, all of which are exquisite and lovely.

Luju's smile froze, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief, and was shocked.

Cao Xiang was also very surprised, he didn't feel happy at all, he just felt the cold sweat on his back, and he lost eight or nine points of drunkenness immediately.

The food boxes on the upper and lower floors have ten silver ingots on each floor, and each is twelve taels, totaling 200 taels of silver.

Cao Xiang's seven-rank teacher's annual salary is only 45 taels.These are more than his four-year salary.

"Master..." Luju grabbed Cao Xiang's hand, with a worried face.

Cao Xiang looked away from the silver, stood up, blushed and said, "No, I want to write a letter to uncle." While speaking, he began to look for pen and ink everywhere.

Luju hurriedly supported him, and said, "Don't worry, I'll ask someone to fetch it for you."

There are three main rooms in this inner house. The two lived in the west room, and the east room was tidied up and used as Cao Xiang's study.

Fuling listened to the order, and when she brought the paper, pen and ink over, Luju had already covered the food box.

Lu Ju spread out the paper, sent Poria off, picked up the ink stick, and rubbed the ink for Cao Xiang herself.

Cao Xiang picked up the pen, but didn't know how to put it down. He looked up at the green chrysanthemum beside him that had rubbed the ink for him, and said, "What should I do?"

Luju hesitated for a moment, and said: "I don't know about the affairs of the men outside. It's just that there is no good thing in this world? If the master is a Shangguan and Li Zhifu is a subordinate, it's fine. It's nothing. Giving money to subordinates for no reason is strange. Abnormality is a monster, and the purpose of these money is unknown, so I should wake up in my heart."

Cao Xiang listened, nodded vigorously, put down his pen and said: "That's the truth. I also think it's wrong. Being greedy for petty gain will lead to big losses. Who cares about such unclear money. Just watching the magistrate talk and do things is a face-saving person." , if you return it directly, it's not good to wipe his face. You have to think of a way to stop talking about right and wrong."

"Don't be in a hurry, sir. You don't have to just send the money back directly. After a while, if you find a reason, you can send a similar gift in return." Luju thought for a while, and persuaded.

Cao Xiang nodded, and said, "It's really my blessing to have you by my side. Master Zhao's teaching is one thing at a time, but I see, it's better that you have an idea."

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't be showing off. I'm just worried about you, so I couldn't help but say a few more words." After hearing this, Luju hesitated for a moment, and said softly, "Don't blame me, I won't dare to do it next time." .”

"It's not strange, I'm too happy." Cao Xiang said, seeing that Luju's fingers were stained with ink, he quickly grabbed her hand, wiped it with a handkerchief, and said, "From now on, you Take good care of it, and leave all the hands-on work to me."

"Where is it so precious?" Luju heard the words, smiled lightly and said, "I came here with you just to serve you."

Hearing Luju say this caused Cao Xiang's heart trouble.He also didn't care about writing a letter to Cao Yin, he stroked Lu Ju's arm, and said, "It's getting late, it's time to rest..."

He only said half of it, but the last sentence was in his mouth, and he didn't say it, so he should give birth to a son soon...

*
Rehe, Bachelor's Mansion, Neitang.

Yidu sat on the edge of the kang, his face was so dark that he was afraid of people.Yang Ruixue saw him at the side, she knew it well, and became more careful on her face, poured the tea herself, brought it to Yi Duli, and said softly: "Master, drink a cup of strong tea to relieve the bar. I know that Master doesn't like the taste of hangover soup , I prepared this for my grandfather. I pulled it out with well water, and it was cold."

Yi Duli took it and drank it in one gulp, feeling relieved a little from the heat and feeling much better.

He hesitated for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Okay, why did Yueniang go to meet outsiders?"

Yueniang was his concubine in spring, she was only thirteen this year, exactly the age of cardamom, petite and lovely.

Yiduli's wife, Yiergenjueluoshi, was going to come to Rehe, but because she couldn't get away from the housework, she asked someone to send Yueniang here.

It happened that because of Chuyu's assassination in the mansion, Yiduli was somewhat angry with Yang Ruixue, and when he saw the concubine arrived, he stayed in Yueniang's room all the time.

"Perhaps I want to find out about my sister. Didn't you say that Yueniang's sister is in Master Yun's house?" Yang Ruixue replied softly.

"If that's the case, you should stop her. She is young and doesn't know how to behave. As a sister, you don't care about discipline." Yi Duli thought that when he just came back, he saw Yueniang and Shiyun. Talking in class, I feel a little wrong in my heart.

"Yes, Master, I understand." Yang Ruixue lowered her head in response, pulled Yi Duli's arm, and said, "Don't be upset, Master, Yueniang sister is about the same age as Young Master Shi, and it is possible for children to be willing to get closer."

It's okay if she doesn't say this, but when she said this, Yiduri's brows frowned even tighter.

Yang Ruixue was obedient, she had already stopped talking, walked two steps, went to the table in front of the window, picked out a hairpin, and picked out the soot in the incense burner.

Yidu Liyuan was still afraid that the concubine would be born in a romantic place, and the boudoir would not be respected, so he put a hat on himself.

Seeing Yang Ruixue's soft waist and thinking about her amorous feelings on the bed, Yidu couldn't help feeling a little hot all over his body.

Coupled with the fact that the smell of alcohol has not disappeared, and in the face of beauty, Yiduli can't hold back.

He stood up, walked forward, and pulled Yang Ruixue into his arms, his hands and feet had already begun to be dishonest.

"Master, my sister is still waiting for you..." Yang Ruixue wanted to struggle away, but was hugged tightly by Yi Duli.

Yi Duli was so excited that he hugged Yang Ruixue horizontally, took two steps, and pressed her on the kang.

At this time, I heard a servant girl outside telling: "Master, Second Mistress, Aunt Yue sent someone to come and ask when Master will be coming."

Yi Duli said: "No more, call Mama Ma over and teach her the rules..."

(End of this chapter)