Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 811 Paving the Road

Haidian, Old Summer Palace.

Xia Chan chirped outside the window, leaving the fourth elder brother clean, and his originally gloomy face became darker and darker.Su Peisheng, the chief eunuch of the palace who was waiting at the door, used to look at his face, took a few steps back, and called two servants in a low voice to take sticky sticks to stick cicadas.

Because the master was in the study, everyone acted lightly.

After a short while, the courtyard was quiet again.

The fourth elder brother's expression was slightly relieved, looking at the official documents on the desk and the private report of the mansion.

After Sheng Jia left Beijing, he lived in Yuanmingyuan. He came to Beijing once every other day to sit in the household department, and at other times he took care of official business in the study of Yuanmingyuan.

After seeing the news that the seventeenth elder brother "claimed to be sick and rested" in the booklet, the fourth elder brother hesitated for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking.

At this time, someone whispered at the door: "Please tell the manager that Jin has something to ask to see the master."

Although Su Peisheng is an eunuch, he is the chief manager of the palace. He has been serving the fourth elder brother for many years. Even Fujin treats him with dignity, let alone other people in the palace.

Before Su Peisheng came in to report, the fourth elder brother raised his head and said, "Come in."

It was Dai Jin who came, and the fourth elder brother put down the private report in his hand, raised his head and said, "What's the matter?"

Dai Jin entered the room, took a few steps forward, and said in a low voice: "Master, the Fourteenth Lord sent his confidants from Qinghai to the capital."

"En." The fourth elder brother responded with a bit of solemnity on his face, and then he heard Dai Jin continue to report: "In addition to sending letters and things to my elder brother, the visitor also made a special trip to send things to the Wu family in Shichahai. .” While speaking, he took out two pages of paper from his sleeve and handed them to the fourth elder brother with both hands.

These are two lists, one is marked with elder brother's house, and the other is marked with Shicha's overseas residence.

On the one hand, there are the concubine Fujin who is being married by the Ming media, and the side Fujin and concubine Fujin referred to by the palace, as well as the emperor's elder brother and princesses;

Then, judging from the list, the fourteenth elder brother sent people back for thousands of miles, far more from Wu's place than elder brother's.

Seeing this, the fourth elder brother showed a bit of sneer on his face.

Even if the seemingly "virtuous" Fourteen Fujin "doesn't care", if the mother and concubine knew about it, they wouldn't tolerate this Wu family.After all, among the things sent to elder brother, there is also filial piety to mother and concubine.

As the youngest son favored by his mother and concubine, the fourteenth elder brother never let go of any chance to please his mother and concubine.

Is this the "General King" handpicked by the imperial father?Being so emotional is simply not the kind of person who will accomplish great things.

The fourth elder brother put down the two gift lists, and asked casually, "How about Wu's?"

"It's still the same as the fourteenth master before leaving Beijing, eating fast and chanting Buddha, praying for the fourteenth master." Dai Jin leaned over and said.

The fourth elder brother was silent for a while, and said: "Someone, send this gift list to Fourteen Fujin."

"Mother and child love"?The fourth elder brother's eyes were a little deep, and he felt panicked in his heart.

Elder Fourteen's outhouse has been kept for several years, during which Concubine De knew about it "unintentionally", and even reprimanded Elder Fourteen.I don't know what Elder Fourteen said, so I just let it go.

The fourteenth elder brother has several wives and concubines, and he is not a reckless man who doesn't know anything, but he treats this Wu family very differently.

If such a person on top of his heart had a "mistake", then the fourteenth elder brother would still rely on the one in the palace wholeheartedly, and would there be no quarrel between mother and child?

All of a sudden, Brother Si really wanted to know how it turned out...

*
Shichahai, the residence of the Fourteenth Elder Brother.

Although she fell into prostitution in the early years, but Wu Shi does not have the habits of prostitution. Since her fourteenth elder brother left Beijing, she has closed her door tightly and never left the house again.

Six months ago, she prayed in front of the Buddha every day, begging the Buddha to bless the [-]th elder brother to be victorious and return safely.

Every month, fourteenth elder brother will have two or three letters to tell about his recent situation.Looking at these letters, Mrs. Wu seemed to be walking with the army, witnessing the might of the fourteenth elder brother and the scenery of the plateau thousands of miles away.

Two days ago, Elder Fourteen sent people back to Beijing. Apart from letters, there were also all kinds of Northwest soil rituals.Food and clothing costs, all kinds of things, Wu's people didn't say anything before, and wept solemnly in private, only feeling lovesick to the bone.

On her head was the Tibetan silver roasted blue hairpin given by the fourteenth elder brother, and holding a bowl of butter grass in her hand, imagining the fourteenth elder brother in the general's camp thousands of miles away.

She is a Han Chinese who grew up in the south, and is not as patient with milk and food as the northerners.But now, it seems that the initial boredom is gone, as long as the fourteenth elder brother drinks this butter tea in the northwest, the unbearable smell of the past seems to no longer exist.

She still doesn't know that this butter tea brings not only the favor of the fourteenth elder brother, but also the royal wind knife and frost sword...

*
Changping, Caojiazhuangzi.

Seeing Elder Seventeen with a red face in front of him, Cao Yong twitched the corner of his mouth and said: "Master Seventeen, you are in the process of 'recovering from illness', do you want to restrain yourself?"

Elder Seventeen did not have the hesitation of half a month ago. Seeing that he was much more free and easy, he said with a smile: "Going to Fu Ruo's side is also a 'recuperation'. It has adjusted the appetite of the master, and also adjusted the mood of Fujin."

Ever since Elder Seventeen's booklet "asking for sickness and recuperation" was approved, he and Seventeen Fujin have become regular visitors to Caojiazhuangzi.

The land occupied by his Zhuangzi was a gift from Cao Yong in his early years. It is between Caojia Zhuangzi and the Zhuangzi of Sixteenth Brother, four miles away from here, and it takes only a quarter of an hour to drive.

Seventeen Fujin's seniority is a generation higher than Chu Yu's, but they are similar in age and have always had a good relationship. Now they all live in Changping, and their contacts are closer than before.

In fact, Cao Yong also welcomes Brother Seventeen's frequent visits.

Elder Seventeen, who let go of his worries, has returned to his former open-mindedness. He is a very interesting person.He didn't have the self-awareness of the son of a dragon at all, he hated the struggle for power and profit, and couldn't bear to mention it.

Such a seventeenth elder brother, who has regained his youthful vigor, is actually expressing his opinion to the outside world.He really has no desire for power, and this has never been a way to protect himself.

Elder Brother Seventeen is a regular customer. Cao Yong drank half a cup of tea with him, played a game of chess, and then got up and said, "Go, take Master Seventeen to my three-acre land to have a look."

"And what?" Elder Seventeen got up, and asked curiously: "You are also from a family, and you have never suffered or suffered any hardships. Why are you fascinated by this recently?"

"I always have to find something to do. Elder Seventeen has never done it, so I don't know. If you have been a farmer for a few days, you will know the fun." Cao Yong said with a smile.

The so-called "one mu and three parts of land" is actually about ten mu in size, and it is located in the northwest of Zhuangzi.

Half of it has been opened up as a vegetable field, where various seasonal vegetables are grown; the other half is farmland, where several common crops such as wheat, millet, sorghum, soybeans, and bracts are currently planted.

The two acres of land newly sorted out today are for planting potatoes.

The potato seeds bought from the city have been cut into pieces by several tenants in the waiting area according to the potato sprouts.

Cao Yong has a lot of theoretical knowledge here, and he has no hobby of doing it himself.Taking the seventeenth elder brother to the farm is just to see how the potatoes are planted, how the other crops are growing, and so on.

In fact, besides the land in front of him, he also had people open two acres of land in the sunny and shady places at the back of the mountain, where they planted corn and potatoes.

After all, he has never been a farmer, so his understanding of agriculture is very general.

He only knew that hundreds of years later, this corn, that is, corn, had been used as a national grain reserve for decades.In the dry northern regions, the main crop is corn.

As for potatoes, it is because they know that they do not choose land, and they are also high-yielding.

It was mid-May, and the vegetable crops in this field were growing differently.Some have just germinated, while others, such as rapeseed, leeks, and radishes, are already edible.

The seventeenth elder brother grew up in the deep palace since he was a child, but he went out of Beijing with his retinue when he was a teenager. He is not an ignorant person who does not know farming.

Looking at the well-planned pastoral vegetable field in front of him, apart from the initial curiosity, Elder Seventeen couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Having known Cao Yong for many years, he knew that Cao Yong was not a diligent person. If the emperor hadn't urged him these years, he would never have come to where he is today step by step.

Brother Seventeen would not simply think that Cao Yong was really here to pass the time by farming the land and vegetables.

At this moment, the sun is getting fuller.

Seeing that Elder Seventeen was sweating on his head, Cao Yong stopped him from staying here, and the two went back to Zhuangzi for lunch.

The cabbages and radishes served in this lunch were freshly picked from the vegetable field. They ate several bowls of rice with vegetarian fried sauce and meat fried sauce.

After dinner, Elder Seventeen asked the question in his heart, "Fu Ruo, to be honest, why did you think of serving the crops?"

Cao Yong was silent for a while, and said: "Didn't I go to Henan Prefecture last summer? Besides Luoyang, I also went to the next county. It was just in time for the severe drought in Henan two years ago, and the city was full of children and women. In the countryside, they took their families to flee famine. It was like locusts crossing the border, and the wild vegetables and leaves on the road were all eaten up."

Elder Seventeen frowned upon hearing this, and said: "How could this be, isn't there a relief from the imperial court?"

Cao Yong glanced at Elder Seventeen and said: "I don't know the local granaries in Henan Province. I just remember that when I was in Shandong in the early years, most of the local granaries only had accounts and no grain. It was just a season when the imperial court needed to adjust grain. Randomly adjust some to make up the number."

Brother Seventeen was annoyed when he heard this, and said: "Beetle, in the final analysis, Huang Ama indulged..." But he couldn't say the second half of the sentence, he just patted the chair vigorously to express his dissatisfaction.

Regarding the corruption of officials, Cao Yong didn't want to say much.

One is to know that it is useless to talk too much. Kangxi has been in power for a long time, he cares about face, and cares about history, so he is determined to be a "benevolent king"; Officials.The more ruthless the corruption is now, the worse the end will be when the time comes, but it is just self-inflicted.

"There have been nine droughts in the northwest for ten years, and the southwest is a land of hills. The bracts are the same as potatoes. Although they are rough crops, they are not as demanding as other crops, and the yield per mu is also high. Last summer, the hills of Henan Province In other places, the government has come forward to promote the cultivation of corn and potatoes. According to the information reported by the local government, it can be considered quite effective. If the two kinds of corn and potatoes can be promoted in the northwest and southwest, we will meet in the future In a famine year, fewer people will starve to death." Cao Yong said.

Elder Seventeen heard this, and said: "Why is it in the northwest and southwest? Didn't Huang Ama send people to return to the northeast to farm? Why not promote it in the northeast?"

Cao Yong replied: "In the past few years, the emperor has been asking people to plant new rice seeds in Changchun Garden and Tianjin Wei, and also asked several governors in the Central Plains and Jiangnan to monitor and test the planting. If the expectations are correct, the emperor should plant the fields in the northeast. I want to grow rice so that the granary in the capital depends entirely on Huguang’s supply.”

The rations of the Beijing officials and the people of the Eight Banners are all rice.The rice was transported by water from Huguang to Jiangnan, and from Jiangnan to Beijing.

If rice is widely planted in the Northeast, the capital's dependence on water transportation will be a little weaker.Corruption in water transportation is also one of the problems that the imperial court has troubled for decades.It's just that rice in the north is too dependent on water transportation, so it has been unable to move these years.

"It's bitterly cold in the Northeast, can we grow rice?" Elder Seventeen was a little puzzled.

Cao Yong laughed and said, "I don't know the Seventeenth Lord. Outside of Rehe, there have been rice fields a few years ago, but the area is not wide."

The seventeenth elder brother looked at Cao Yong for a while, and said: "Now, I finally understand Huang Ama's intention of transferring Furuo to the household department. If Furuo is in the household department's handprint, the designation is no worse than those few Jingtang."

"Miao Zan, the Seventeenth Lord, I'm just trying my best. Although I'm not in the position, but I have the emperor's grace in front of me, and I also enjoy several salaries from the court. It's not easy to be dull." Cao Yong said.

In fact, it was Cao Yong who found a way out for himself.

Think of a small way to collect some money for a while, it is always a small way.If it succeeds, it is just to add some pocket money to the emperor, and it cannot be regarded as a great contribution on the stage; if it fails, it will become a useless person in the eyes of the emperor, and the family's prosperity and decline will lose its honor and disgrace.

And in his position, under the power, in order to support the door, there is no way out.

He can only find another way to add a few more chips for himself.As for benefiting the country and the people, and the suffering of the people, he also thought about it in his heart, but he always felt that it was too far away.To say that he is completely selfless and only for the well-being of the people, he really doesn't have such a thick skin.

Hearing Cao Yong's words, Elder Seventeen showed a bit of shame, and said: "Furuo seems to be loose, but these years, he has served the country and the people. Speaking of it, I am a waste snack. I am a minister and a son. Protect yourself, and have no heart to share your worries for your father."

The seventeenth elder brother was only cheerful for half a month, Cao Yong didn't want him to get into trouble again, and said seriously: "The seventeenth master is calm, and the seventeenth master is still young. Now watch more and listen more, talk less and do less; talk more in the future." If you do more, there will always be days when the capable will work harder."

Seeing Cao Yong being so serious, the confusion in Elder Seventeen's eyes slowly dissipated, and he murmured: "Will you bear it for a few more years? Well, I've endured it for these years, and it's not too late..."

*
Inside Dongzhimen, Li's house.

In a few days, it was time for Li Nai to marry his daughter, the invitations had already been sent out, and the wedding shed had already been set up today.

Li Nai was sitting in the study, holding his father's reply letter in his hand.Seeing that his father mentioned in his letter that he had sent a letter to the Li family asking someone from the Cao family to assist Li Nai in investigating Li Ding's matter, Li Nai couldn't help frowning.

Although he also thought about asking Cao Yong for help earlier, but this is a family matter of the Li family after all, and now even the aunt has told it, and let the servants of the Cao family get involved.
Li Nai didn't agree with his father's idea in his heart, but he was used to filial piety, so he couldn't give birth to any disobedience.He just put down the letter, feeling a little annoyed. It seemed that after finishing his daughter's marriage, he had to go to Changping for a while.

When he was getting annoyed, the housekeeper came to report, saying, "Master, Uncle Sun is here..."

*
Still coughing, the doctor told me to take an X-ray in ten days, but I don't know if the pneumonia has disappeared.A lesson learned from blood and tears, everyone must see a doctor as soon as they catch a cold. Pneumonia develops as soon as it is delayed.Now, except for eating, I dare not leave the room, nor dare to talk to my mother.

(End of this chapter)