Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 885 "Changing Sky"

It was already late February when Sheng Jia returned to Beijing.

At the end of the spring, the candidates for the exam have already appeared, and they are stranded in the capital, waiting for the release of the rankings.

Household Yamen, Cao Yong is a bit busy.

Since Tian Congdian, Minister of the Ministry of Accounting, was the chief examiner of the examination, and Zhang Bo, the Minister of the Ministry of Accounting, was the deputy examiner. Since receiving the imperial edict, these two have suspended their errands from the Ministry of Accounting and devoted themselves to the examination.

Now, although they will finish the exam, it is still related to the follow-up examination papers, etc., so these two are not free for the time being.

Cao Yong, the servant of the household department, is in charge of the four clean-up departments in Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan, as well as the three warehouses of the household department.The officers of these divisions are the direct subordinates of Cao Yong.

The other provinces are fine. Sichuan is the logistics center of the Northwest War, and the accounts and tax books are as tall as half a person.

It took Cao Yong a few days to see this.

There is no other reason why you have to do enough homework for the Sichuan Secretary, because the governor of Sichuan, Nian Gengyao, has submitted a letter to ask your majesty to see him, and Kangxi has already approved it.

Since the 57th year of Kangxi, after Nian Gengyao was promoted to the governor of Sichuan, he still took care of the governor's affairs and took charge of military affairs and civil affairs.

When governors from other places come to Beijing, the household office is a must-go office, for the purpose of a year's expenses and tax money.

How much they want to pay, and how much the Ministry of Households approves in the end, is a matter of wrangling with each other.

When Cao Yong's new official took office, many people watched him, but they didn't want to lose face because of Nian Gengyao.

Therefore, Cao Yong went through all the accounts of the Sichuan Division over the past five years, so that he can know what he knows.

In this breath, I was busy until the beginning of March.

Today is the day when the exam will be released.

His cousin and former teacher are both in this subject, Cao Yong is naturally very concerned, and sent Xiaoman to guard outside the yamen of the Ministry of Rites early.Jiang Jian was curious, so he followed suit and went with Xiaoman.

These days, Cao Yong met his cousin Cao Fu a few times, I don't know what he thinks in his heart, but he looks much calmer.He also made a special trip to ask Cao Yong about the writing style.

He grew up next to Cao Yin, with a bit of a literati heart, not very interested in being an official, he only wanted to get a job as soon as possible, and not to eat at home.

Although some of the students in the Eight Banners Academy were in their twenties who were still studying and dawdling around, Cao Fu was not that thick-skinned.

Now he doesn't have the protection of his father and grandparents, and his brothers all came out to work at a young age, so of course he is ashamed to be a brother of Xiaoyao.

This written test is held in July every year, and it is divided into the Ministry of Internal Affairs' written test and the six-part written test.

Because Cao Yong was a hall official in the household department, Cao Fu had to avoid the household department in the six departments; on the side of the House of Internal Affairs, Cao Fu had already raised the flag with his family back then, and he was not in the coat of three flags, so he was not eligible for the examination.

The six-part essay style is mostly composed of candidates who are proficient in Manchu and Mongolian, while Cao Fu focuses on Sinology.Because there are many people taking this exam and few people are admitted, the pressure is quite high.

Seeing that Cao Fu was in a hurry, more attentive than the imperial examination, Cao Yong had no choice but to persuade him: "You are only busy with Chun Wei, and you will raise it for a while, and then prepare for that. More haste makes waste, and it is better to raise it." Spirit, learning can also get twice the result with half the effort."

Cao Fu pinched his fingers and said, "Brother, there are only four months left, where is the time to rest?" At this point, he couldn't help but pause: "I knew that Mandarin and Mongolian are easy to test. You should learn from it.”

In fact, Cao Yong wanted to ask how his cousin would do in the exam, but seeing that he didn't seem to have any hope, and he didn't want to put pressure on him, he avoided this topic.

Today, I finally waited until the list was released.

Cao Yong sat behind the desk, feeling a little anxious.Although Cao Fu didn't mention the test after his appearance, Cao Yong, as the elder brother, still hoped that his cousin's life would be smoother.

As for Qian Chenqun, after four years in the Cao Mansion, he is a gentleman and a good teacher for the children. Cao Yong also hopes that he will have a good future.

After noon, it is estimated that the list of the Ministry of Rites has been released, so Cao Yong got up from his seat and stood in front of the window to look out.

In late spring, when it was sunny and sunny, suddenly there was a strong wind and yellow sand filled the sky.

The few pen posts on duty here have already left the yard, facing the strong wind, and lowered the windows everywhere.

This day has become really weird, many officers of the hall went to the door of the house, looked up at the sky outside.

"Floating clouds cover the sun..." the man whispered.

"Yellow mist is everywhere...to be listed today..." that one nodded.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little weird, and Cao Yong was also surprised in his heart.

In the eyes of others, the one in front of you is a strange phenomenon from heaven; in the eyes of Cao Yong, it looks familiar.

This is obviously a sandstorm. 300 years later, due to the destruction of vegetation in the Yellow River Basin, there will be several storms in Beijing every spring.Later, until various protective forests gradually grew up, and Inner Mongolia also changed the animal husbandry policy, ending grazing and turning it into "captive breeding", the sandstorms decreased year by year.

However, after a moment of surprise, Cao Yong understood.

Regardless of whether it is 300 years later or 300 years ago, this season, this wind direction, this sand is blown from the Mongolian grassland.

After the school disaster in 56 years of Kangxi, Mongolia began to experience severe drought for several consecutive years.

The strong wind can blow up the sand, which is because the grass roots on the grassland have been eaten up by cattle and sheep.

It seems that the papers for the princes of Western Mongolia to ask for relief from the court should be coming soon.Thinking of the distressed warehouse of the Ministry of Households, Cao Yong couldn't help touching his forehead.

The household department's three treasuries are within the scope of his duties.Cao Yong knew exactly how much silver there was in it, and there was no ample silver at all.

In previous years, Kangxi was able to push away the relief money from various Mongolian ministries, but now it is time to fight Zhungeer Mongolia, and the main thing is to appease.

Just as Cao Yong was thinking about it, he heard the sound of footsteps in the yard.

In the midst of the raging yellow sand, Jiang Jian ran with his head in his arms, and stopped until he reached the outside of the main hall. He breathed a sigh of relief, patted his clothes, and stepped into the room.

He hung up a post in the book office, and worked as an errand in the household department with Cao Yong every day.

When Cao Yong saw him coming back, he quickly asked, "How is it? Is the list released? Why did you delay coming back until this time? It's because there are too many candidates for the list?"

Hearing him ask these questions in one breath, Jiang Jian looked a little weird.

When Cao Yong saw it, his heart sank and he said, "Did Xiao Wu fail?"

If you say you are not disappointed, it is a lie, not for the face of the family, but because this younger brother has already failed the first subject, Cao Yong does not want him to be too sad.

Jiang Jian shook his head and said, "Fifth Master is on the list!"

When Cao Yong heard the words, he was already very happy, and he let out a long breath: "Fortunately, fortunately!"

He couldn't wait any longer, and said, "Xiaoman went back to announce the good news? I was worried for a few days, and finally there was a good result..." At this point, he noticed that Jiang Jian was still frowning, hesitating to speak , asked: "What's wrong with Feilin? Could it be Master Qian..."

Jiang Jian and Qian Chenqun have been in the Cao Mansion privately for several years, and they have a good personal relationship, so Cao Yong asked each other this way.

"My lord, Qian Chenqun is also on the list... It's because the situation in front of the yamen of the Ministry of Rites is not right, the posture is unstable, and the strong wind blows off the list, and the crowd is passionate..." Jiang Jian frowned.

Because in the yamen, the walls have ears, Jiang Jian said vaguely, but Cao Yong understood the general meaning.

Behind the "instability" is mostly related to "fraud in the examination room".It is not a new thing to say that "cheating in the examination room" in the local and rural examinations, there will be a riot every few years in the south of the Yangtze River.

But if you will try, there are still people who dare to do something under the emperor's feet, that's really courting death.

"How is it possible?" Cao Yong listened and shook his head.

The four chief and deputy chief examiners of this subject, apart from Hubu Shangshu Tian Congdian and Hubu Shilang Zhang Boxing, as well as Libu Shangshu Peng He and the left deputy capital censor Li Fu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, are all famous ministers known for their incorruptibility.

Cao Yong doesn't believe that these four examiners can lead to "fraud in the examination room".

"Before the release of the list, the weather was fine. The officials from the Ministry of Rituals came out with the list, and there was a strong wind. It took a lot of effort to post the list. Everyone read a few lines, and the list fell off. Posted and dropped, three times in a row. , until the list was damaged, and the scholars almost mutinied..." When Jiang Jian talked about the scene just now, he still felt sad: "The officers and soldiers of the infantry capital's yamen have already arrived... When the students came back, the officers and soldiers were expelling the students. son……"

"How could this be?" Hearing that the movement was so loud, Cao Yong was also a little worried.

If there is a mutiny among scholars, maybe this subject will have to be retaken.Regardless of how this subject looks in the eyes of others, in Cao Yong's view, it is a great thing for Qian Chenqun and his cousin to pass the exam.

Cao Yong didn't know whether others were "cheating" or not, but he only knew that his cousin and Qian Chenqun would not mix.

It's rare to be lucky, both of them are on the list, if they retake the exam, who can guarantee that they will both be ranked first.

"It's really weird this day, and there are a few ignorant people on the list, so it's no wonder that the scholars are upset..." Jiang Jian was silent for a while, and Fang said softly.

Although Jiang Jian is a curtain, he is also a scholar.

For the Cao family, the imperial examination is the icing on the cake; for the humble scholars, studying hard for ten or 20 years is just to get promoted in the imperial examination.

If there are people who "cheat" in the exam, it will really chill the hearts of scholars all over the world.

Cao Yong waved his hand and said: "These master examiners won't get involved with this... If it's on the house master's side, even if there is cheating, the scale is not too big..."

Having said that, Cao Yong himself is relieved.

I'm afraid that the chief examiner will be involved, and the scope will be wider. With the excitement of the crowd, it is impossible to say that the court has no choice but to abolish the list and retake the examination;

In addition, this year is the 60th anniversary of Kangxi's accession to the throne, and it is too late to hold a celebration, so how could the court have such a scandal as the "imperial imperial examination case".

Jiang Jian listened to Cao Yong's words, thought about the names of the master examiners, nodded and said: "Your Excellency is right, the students are thinking about it... I don't think there will be trouble, but it's just that someone with a heart wants to ask this strange situation to make use of it... ..."

*
Cao's East Mansion, Study Room.

Seeing Xiaoman dancing and dancing, Cao Fu looked blank, and said with some hesitation: "You are telling the truth, I really hit it? Didn't you coax me?"

He gave mediocre answers in the field, he didn't have any thoughts, even though he knew that today's list will be released, he locked himself in the study and didn't let anyone see the list.

Therefore, when Xiaoman reported that he had won the prize, he felt at a loss.

"Oh, how brave is the little one, dare to use this to coax the fifth master? Uncle... well, the master has been thinking about the list for a long time, and sent the little one to guard outside the yamen of the Ministry of Rites. Not only the fifth master won, but Master Qian also won. Geng Mo also went to look at the rankings, and Mrs. Qian should know the kung fu at this moment... The fifth master is really, the windy day, the little one ran back with the sand, not to mention that there was no red envelope, but also to coax the fifth master ..."Because he has worked beside Cao Yong for more than ten years, he has always been acquainted with the brothers in Dongfu, and he speaks more casually, with a bit of complaint.

Until then, Cao Fu believed that he was really hit.

He raised his head, his eyes were already bright, and he said tremblingly, "I got hit?"

"Yeah. The fifth master won. It's on the third row of the list. I've read it several times with Mr. Jiang, and I can't be wrong." Xiaoman wiped the sand from his face, nodded vigorously, and said.

Cao Fu laughed loudly, untied the purse at his waist, and brought it to Xiao Man, saying: "This is my reward, wait a few days, and then treat you to a drink!"

When Xiaoman took it, he felt that it was heavy, and there were about ten taels of silver in it.He hurriedly called a thousand and thanked...

*
Changchun Garden, Qingxi Bookstore.

Because the Ministry of Internal Affairs has become more sophisticated in glass production in recent years, the green glass produced is almost transparent, not much worse than those from the West.At Qingxi Bookstore, the window lattices were replaced with glass in February.

As usual, when the imperial servants came over and saw the glass window, they couldn't help but say "extravagant" in their hearts, but they had to admit that the window was made of glass, which was much brighter than when the window was made of paper.

Today, several academicians looked out of the window, but they murmured in their hearts.

If you haven't witnessed it with your own eyes, even if you are in the house, you will not be able to see what is called "the changing color of the world".

Kangxi's complexion was not much better than the gloomy sky outside.He squinted his eyes, listening to the "whoop" wind outside, his temples "chug" straight.

Change the sky... change... the sky... do you want to "change the sky"?
He just felt that he couldn't breathe, and there was boundless fear in his heart.

What is the most self-deceiving title in this world is "long live". "So what about the emperor, he still suffers from birth, old age, sickness and death.

Who in this world is not afraid of death?

The emperor is no exception.

Although he has been exposed to Western culture since he was a child, and he will not be superstitious about the changes of the sun, moon and stars like fools, but as far as he knows, he has never mentioned the current abnormality.

I don't know how long it took before Wei Zhu came in and bowed and said, "My Majesty, King Duo Luochun is asking to see Cai Shengyuan, Minister of the Ministry of Rites..."

Today is not the day when the Ministry of Rites takes turns, Kangxi frowned and said, "Xuan!"

Kangxi breathed a sigh of relief when the seventh prince and Cai Shengyuan knelt down to report the mutiny outside the Ministry of Rites.

As long as it doesn't affect his longevity, it's not a big deal...

*
Outside the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, on the notice board, there was a broken list pasted, rattling in the wind.

The flustered candidates had already been dispersed by the officers and soldiers, leaving only those who copied the list in twos and threes.

Brother Nine was wearing ordinary clothes, standing not far away, muttering: "Master! When is the wind not blowing, but today is the day to make a fuss, so that I can make trouble..."

Behind him, followed a person, bowed and said: "Jiu Ye...Huang Sha warns, I'm afraid this matter will be exposed..."

Brother Nine heard the words, turned around and glared at him, and shouted in a low voice: "Shut up! What are you talking about? You don't want to die, and don't ruin your reputation... If you don't do this in any subject, you won't be able to earn money here. silver...

*
Double the last half day, begging for monthly ticket support.Let's order as you like, maybe there will be a monthly pass, please ask Xiao Jiu. .

(End of this chapter)