Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 888 "The Return Gift"

Although the fourth elder brother specifically mentioned Cao Yong to Nian Gengyao, Nian Gengyao didn't take it seriously.

Except for the emperor and the fourth elder brother, the master, others really don't matter in his heart.Besides, he is a real power governor who was born as a Jinshi, so he naturally looks down on Cao Yongenmeng's right servant of the household department.

The reason for giving Cao Yong a disgrace, in addition to venting his anger, is that he has already got the news that E Hai, the governor of Shaanxi, will be transferred in the near future, and he will soon be the governor of Shaanxi.

If he is also the governor of Shaanxi, he will be resigned from the post of governor of Sichuan.

Even after he got the news, how could he go to the Ministry of Households to make connections like other governors.

He would not be happy to anger Cao Yong, if Cao Yong withheld funds from the Sichuan Division, it would not be his Nian Gengyao who would make the newly appointed governor feel sad.Not only that, but also let the emperor and the fourth elder brother know that Cao Yong is a narrow-minded and unusable person.

I haven't been back to Beijing for several years. When I come back this time, I will have a one-month vacation after seeing you. Nian Gengyao is very busy visiting relatives and friends all day long.As for the affairs of the household department, I just waited to see Cao Yong's jokes.

Many people who knew about this matter paid attention to Cao Yong's response as Nian Gengyao expected.

Although Cao Yong served in the capital in his early years, the Taipu Temple was a cold yamen, and he did not have any well-known political achievements; the House of Internal Affairs was in charge of the sixteenth elder brother who had a good relationship with him, and the sixteenth elder brother took the lead in everything , Cao Yong lives behind the scenes most of the time.

Except in Taipu Temple and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Cao Yong served as a secretary in Beijing at other times.

It's a pity that they were doomed to be disappointed. Cao Yong didn't withhold Sichuan's funds as they expected. He still took the officer and calmly argued with the two officials sent by Nian Gengyao.

The checking of the accounts and the accounting of the expenses were the same as those of other governors when they came to Beijing, and nothing unusual was revealed.

Many people were amazed, but couldn't tell whether Cao Yong was big-bellied or cowardly, not daring to offend Nian Gengyao, who was in the limelight.

Cao Yong didn't move, but a few people couldn't stand it anymore.

The first one who couldn't help it was Brother Sixteen. When he mentioned Nian Gengyao, he cursed his mother.

"Damn it, it's too rampant, it makes no sense! Fu Ruo, people fight for breath, Buddhas fight for a stick of incense, let's find a way to teach him some lessons, otherwise he really thinks you are easy to bully. "The sixteenth elder brother heard a lot of gossip, especially the one where Cao Yong was said to be a "playful place" who stole high positions, and he was indignant.

Cao Yong was quite touched when he saw Elder Sixteen made a special trip to see him for this: "Let Master Sixteen worry about it. It's just that I'm tied up, so it's not good to delay business because of personal grievances. In that case, what is reasonable becomes unreasonable."

Hearing this, Elder Sixteen couldn't help frowning, and said, "He's on vacation for a month, and after Sheng Jia leaves Beijing for the summer, he's going to return to Sichuan. He's not a good guy either. When he was released from his job in the early years, he didn't behave like a man with his tail between his legs. , send people back to Beijing every year, and seek camps everywhere. Now that they haven’t done much, they’re starting to look like nobody, what’s the matter?”

"What can there be, he is rich, energetic, and pampered, besides, he is not confused, and he will become famous and be proud. It is human nature." Cao Yong drank a sip of tea and said with a smile.

Seeing Cao Yong mentioning Nian Gengyao not angry but smiling, Elder Sixteen raised his eyebrows and said: "It seems that I was worrying for nothing, if Fu had thought of a way to 'thank you' Nian Gengyao?"

Cao Yong shook his head and said: "The emperor's grace, I will stand up when I don't arrive, and I will jump up to the position. How many people are waiting to catch my little braid. At this time, if you get angry with him, you can't hurt his muscles and bones. Instead, you will complain. Why bother?" huh?"

Brother Sixteen was a little worried when he heard this, and said: "Although ten years is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge, it is really depressing to have a knife on the head of Ren."

There is a word that Cao Yong did not say.

That is "Heaven's desire to make people die must first make people crazy", what Cao Yong can do is just push the boat along.

It's just these things, it's not good to talk about it in front of Brother Sixteen...

*
In a blink of an eye, it was the second day of April.

Today is the day of the imperial examination.Civil and military officials in the capital with a rank of five and above were attending the ceremony today. Cao Yong, a minister of the second rank, naturally wore supplementary clothes according to his rank, and went to the Jinshui Bridge, waiting to enter the palace.

Recently, Cao Yong went to and from the Yamen of the Ministry of Households, instead of riding a horse, he took a sedan chair.

It's not intentional ostentation, but the etiquette in the officialdom is complicated. Cao Yong wears a second-rank supplementary uniform, but whenever he meets an official with a lower rank than him, he must avoid it; , but also to perform rituals, meeting is very troublesome.

If there is a slight mistake, the censor will make use of it, which makes people tireless.

It's not like going to the Yamen in a sedan chair like several other court officials, with a curtain on the sedan chair, everything is another way of saying it.

However, during the court meeting, Cao Yong still rode on horseback.

When passing by Dongfu, he found that the lanterns had been hung here. Cao Yong sent someone to ask, and he knew that Cao Fuchou had gone out at the beginning.

Candidates for the examination must first gather at the place designated by the Ministry of Rites, and then officials from the Ministry of Rites will lead them to the field.

Cao Yong was riding on the horse, thinking about this palace test, not to mention his cousin, Qian Chenqun finally got his wish.I just don't know whether he is a first-class or a second-class.

During Kangxi's southern tour in the early years, Qian Chenquncai offered his teacher on behalf of Jiangnan scholars. If it hadn't been delayed by his mother's illness, he should have been called to Beijing for an examination.

Although it was many years late, he finally got his wish.

On Xiaowu's side, if you talk about the handwriting, it's considered beautiful; the stereotyped essays, good or bad, all depend on the preferences of the marking officers.

The palace examination is nominally presided over by the emperor himself, but the judge is not the emperor, but the judge appointed by the court.In the end, only the top ten papers selected by the reviewers could be handed over to the imperial court, and the emperor personally delineated the top three in the first class and the top seven in the second class.

Qian Chenqun has been famous for many years, so he is naturally more proficient in stereotyped essays than Cao Fu.

If there is no accident, Cao Fu is mostly in the top three, but he doesn't know that the results are at the front and at the bottom.If you are at the front, you can be admitted to the Imperial Academy's Shu Jishi, and if you are at the back, you can only wait for the vacancy to be released as a county magistrate.

Cao Song has not returned from the army, and Cao Xiang has already served abroad. Cao Yong hopes that his little cousin can stay in Beijing.

After a while, Cao Yong came outside the Jinshui Bridge, and saw that the lights were brightly lit here, and many officials had already stood there, standing in twos and threes.

Cao Yong glanced a few times, and saw the doctor in the household department, paced over, greeted and stood still.

After waiting for half an hour, the weather gradually brightened.

The sound of rites and music came from afar, and when Dongfang's belly turned white, the prince Baylor and the ministers of civil and military affairs had already entered the Taihe Gate in order according to their ranks.

On the square of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, several lines and cases have been placed.

When the princes and officials stood still under the steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, there would be officials from the Ministry of Rites leading the examinees to the exit.

At this time, the sky is bright.

Although these tribute students were all wearing blue silk robes, Cao Yong still saw his little cousin at a glance.Among a group of middle-aged people, the young and handsome Cao Fu stands out.

Cao Yong still remembers clearly that when he first came to this world, Cao Fu was still in Zhao Jia's stomach and had not landed.As if in the blink of an eye, he is already a 20-year-old young man. Cao Yong has the pride of "my family has a son who has just grown up".

This palace examination starts at the beginning of Chen (seven o'clock in the morning) and ends at the beginning of You (five o'clock in the afternoon), a total of five hours.

Kangxi only showed his face before the exam started, and when the exam started, he moved back to Qianqing Palace.

Princes, ministers, civil and military officials, etc., today's rotating university scholars and six hall officials, went to the Qianqing Palace to participate in the small court meeting, and the others withdrew from the Supreme Harmony Hall and returned to the yamen.

In the yamen of the household department, Jiang Jian was holding a piece of paper with words densely packed on it.He glanced at the note for a few times, his expression faltering.

When Cao Yong came over, he handed over the note.

Because in the yamen, he cared a lot, so he resisted the curiosity in his heart and didn't ask.

It wasn't until late afternoon when he entered the gate of Cao's mansion that he asked the question in his heart: "My lord asked someone to check Nian Gengyao's whereabouts. Why did you come here? Please forgive my students for talking too much. Even if my lord is upset, Nian Gengyao will not." So rash. If adults want to vent their anger, they should plan well."

"Out of anger? He can humiliate me, pretending to be unintentional, it may not be wrong in the eyes of outsiders; if I fight back, no matter what the antecedents are, the fault is mine." Cao Yong said.

Jiang Jian finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the words, and said: "Yes, yes. Now that Gengyao's family is in prosperity, my lord is really not easy to confront him. Although it is boring, but my lord is in the household department, but he has to stay away from the capital , Your Excellency wants to vent his anger, not for a while. It’s okay to take a step back and open up the sea and the sky.”

*
Although the announcement of the palace examination will be three days later, the Gongsheng students who are tenth before the next day will be led into the palace by the officials of the Ministry of Rites, and they will answer questions in front of the imperial court.

In this way, Cao Fu felt at ease, he was not in the list of summons by the Ministry of Rites, and he was designated as the top three.

Seeing that Cao Yong was still worried about his ranking, he was quite open-minded: "Brother, my younger brother is on the list, even if he is at the bottom, he is already much luckier than those who failed. Let's let it go, how many officials don't come from The county magistrate survived, and I don’t need others to be more expensive.”

Cao Yong is not sure about the rankings, but it is nothing to worry about.

Seeing that Cao Fu did not reject leaving Beijing, Cao Yong was relieved.There is still him in Zuojing, even if there is no brother Cao Song in Dongfu, life can go on as usual.

On the fifth day of April, in the hall of Supreme Harmony, Cao Fu, like Qian Chenqun, was awarded the top three Jinshi.

Perhaps Kangxi still remembered Qian Chenqun, a talented scholar who had become famous in the south of the Yangtze River when he was young. When he saw his name, he asked him to come out and answer.

Qian Chenqun, No. 9 in the top three, should be selected as a Shu Jishi together with the seven Jinshi in the second class, and study in the Imperial Academy.

Kangxi was obviously dissatisfied with this ranking, and he especially favored him. He changed Qian Chenqun's concubine to be an editor at the Imperial Academy.

All of a sudden, among the new Jinshi, Qian Chenqun's limelight was second to none, and he became even more popular than the No. [-] Scholar and No. [-].

In contrast, Cao Fu, the top three 120 five, is not well-known among the new Jinshi.

Cao Yong warned himself not to be too greedy. He has already had a Tanhua in his family, and now he has a Jinshi, which is already very good.

The weather is getting hotter, the sedan chair has been replaced by a sedan chair, and the official uniform has been replaced by a thinner one.

Cao Yong went to the Yamen in an official sedan chair every day, or went out to socialize. In the past ten days, he met "Nian Gengyao unexpectedly" several times.

Nian Gengyao has been known for his toughness in recent years, so naturally he refuses to ride in a sedan chair. He always travels on tall horses, and the warlords follow him, which is extremely eye-catching.

Although he and Cao Yong are equal in rank, Cao Yong has the earl of the dynasty and the prince of the princess, and his status is higher than that of Nian Gengyao.

When the two met, according to the rules of avoidance in the official circles of the capital, it was Nian Gengyao who gave way and Hou Caoyong went first.

However, every time he met Nian Gengyao and his party, Cao Yong made people avoid the road and let Nian Gengyao go first.

When Nian Gengyao saw this, he was surprised at first, and then with some disapproval, he rode away.

Sitting in the sedan chair, Cao Yong murmured to himself in a low voice: "If you take one step back, the sea and the sky will be brighter, what should you do if you take ten steps back..."

*
quack.The steel-mouthed little white rabbit started to bite...

(End of this chapter)