Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 900

Rehe, Puren Temple, Ciyun Puyin Temple.

The sixteenth elder brother held three sticks of incense, and worshiped in front of the Tathagata Buddha statue, with a dignified expression, which was indescribably pious.

Accompanied by Cao Yong, he was surprised when he saw this, but when he thought of Xiao Gege, who had just recovered from a serious illness, he knew how compassionate Brother Sixteen was.

Thinking of the news that he received two days ago, Hongshu was already on his way back to Beijing from Xining, Cao Yongfo was so moved that he silently lit three sticks of incense and prayed for Seventh Elder Brother.

Kangxi has already agreed to the fourteenth elder brother's return to Beijing. Originally, he heard that the seventh elder brother was getting better, so he wanted to ask Hong Shu to delay his return to Beijing and set off with the fourteenth elder brother.

When he saw Cao Yong and heard Cao Yong talk about the injury of Seventh Brother, he changed his mind again, and nothing happened.

After burning the incense, Elder Sixteen let out a long breath, and came out of the Buddha Hall with Cao Yong.

The big lama stationed in the temple held the Buddhist beads in his hand, and Baoxiang followed out solemnly. The sixteenth elder brother had already asked Zhao Feng to offer 300 taels of silver, and in the name of him and the sixteenth Fujin, ten lotus lanterns were lit.

It was already noon when the two returned to the Mountain Resort.

Brother Sixteen invited Cao Yong to his residence and had meals.

Most of the officials who come here work in the six official offices outside the palace.Cao Yong was dragged away by Elder Sixteen in the morning, and naturally he had to go back to work in the afternoon.

Because Kangxi has been in poor health for the past few years, the officials who come here at will don't need to be servants in front of the imperial court every day.

Unless the emperor summons him otherwise, Cao Yong only needs to schedule a shift once every six days, and go to the Imperial Prelude to report to the Ministry of Accounts to need a copy of the Holy Juan, and his life is considered leisurely.

I don't want to, but the air pressure is very low here at the Ministry of Household Affairs Office, and the way of sending paperwork to and fro is very light.

Cao Yong looked wrong, glanced at Jiang Jian, and saw him stretch out his hand, shaking his four fingers.

Seeing this, Cao Yong frowned slightly.

No matter what, Cao Yong is no longer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The sixteenth elder brother is looking for him, and no one else can control him, but the fourth elder brother is directly under the boss.

If the fourth elder brother is in a bad mood and makes use of the problem, Cao Yong is really unreasonable.

Thinking of this, Cao Yong stroked his forehead.I heard that the emperor is going to send a few elder princes back to Beijing at the end of June, so let's send the fourth elder brother back as soon as possible, so that this black-faced man won't be in the air-conditioning at the Yamen every day.

It's a blessing, not a disaster, it's a disaster that can't be avoided.

Cao Yong was looking at the latest imperial palace newspaper, and there was a written post to pass on the message, and the fourth elder brother passed it on to Cao Yong.

Recently, the top and bottom of the household department are most concerned about the relief of the northern provinces. Cao Yong thought about it, and the fourth elder brother was looking for himself. It is probably because of this that he brought the two related reports that he had written earlier.

Sure enough, the fourth elder brother had a cold face and looked in a bad mood, but he didn't talk too much, and asked Cao Yong directly about the disaster relief.

Cao Yong presented the report with both hands, and the fourth elder brother raised his eyebrows when he saw that he was ready. He was quite surprised.

After reading the report, he couldn't help being a little moved.

Cao Yong listed in the list, but three, one is relief, the other is epidemic prevention, and the third is supplementary farming.

This relief is not the use of official warehouses in previous years, or relying entirely on grain from the south, but refers to "buying grain" and "raising grain" on the spot.

It is said to be "buy" and "raise", but it means apportionment.That is, according to the number of acres of land under the name of the local gentry, buy grain from them at a fair price, or "raise grain" to pay donations in the name of their children.

As early as when Cao Yong was in Jiangning, he knew that the local gentry loved to store grain.

When the floods occurred in Jiangning City in the early years, Cao Yin also came forward to mediate, so that the Jiangning magistrate's yamen "borrowed" food from Wei Xin's family to help the victims.

That is, several villages of the Cao family in Haidian, Changping, have grain storages, just to prevent famines.

If according to the common sense of the imperial court, it is unknown how much time will be delayed and how many hungry people will be starved to death if food is transferred from local official warehouses for relief.

Local granaries, not to mention nine out of ten, are full of tricks.In terms of grain, it leads to the water transport and the southern yamen. Not to mention the long cycle, there are many people waiting to take advantage of it. If the grain is allocated for relief, half of the food that reaches the mouth of the hungry people is a fluke.

Cao Yong's proposal of "buying grain" and "raising grain" is not the first. Over the years, the buying and raising has mostly been voluntary, and official uniforms are not enforced.

The phrase "to be rich without benevolence" is often displayed very well at this time.How many squires who have food at home are willing to donate the food?Most of them are driving up prices and selling at high prices.

Today, in Cao Yong's article, these two are defined as "apportionment style", which prevents the squires from relying on grain storage to drive up local grain prices.Instead, it also made up for the lack of food in official warehouses and the long time for grain transportation by water.

Looking further down, this epidemic prevention article, like the one above, is not unusual at first glance.

After all, everyone knows that "after a major disaster, there will be a major epidemic", but in the past, when epidemic prevention occurred, it was mostly blocked where the epidemic broke out, and then sent people to treat it; in Cao Yong's statement, it is mainly "prevention". .

The state governments have prepared a large amount of quicklime, and disinfected the ground of wells at relief sites where hungry people gather in various places to prepare for epidemic prevention.

The third supplementary cultivation is to prepare for this winter and next spring.

After all, the northern solar terms, even if spring and summer are dry, there will be a rainy season for one or two months in autumn.Don't underestimate the rainfall in the past two months. If the time is right, you can plant a crop of autumn potatoes.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes are both promising crops that don't choose the land.

Even if there is not enough rain this autumn and the yield is not enough, the yield per mu is still more than ordinary grain.For common people, if they plant two acres, they will be able to provide enough food for the winter.

This is not long, and there are no fancy rhetoric, but it is a real statement that benefits the country and the people.

"Okay!" After reading the report, the fourth elder brother looked at Cao Yong with a bit of burning eyes: "Your Majesty did not misunderstand the person, Cao Yong is indeed a minister capable of governing the country!"

He has been in charge of the household department for more than ten years, and he is no stranger to disaster relief, so he knows the local disadvantages.

Cao Yong's three articles did not have half a word of complaints about the local officialdom, but if he was not well aware of the shortcomings of the officialdom, he would not have thought so thoroughly, and he was always focusing on the livelihood of the people.

Being stared at by a big man like the fourth elder brother, Cao Yong couldn't stand it no matter how thick-skinned he was. Praise."

"It's just 'do your duty'. If my officials in the Qing Dynasty can remember these four words, the people's livelihood will not be rampant!" Seeing that Cao Yong is neither arrogant nor impetuous, humble and restrained, the fourth elder brother couldn't help it Two more praises.

Regarding Cao Yong's 27th and [-]th appointment as the second-rank servant, there is still a lack of household affairs, and there is no lack of complaints from the dignitaries in the capital.

Even the fourth elder brother knew that Cao Yong was capable, but he didn't think it was a good thing for him to be prominent at a young age. He felt that Kangxi's special kindness to the Cao family was in it.

The fourth elder brother thinks that Cao Yong is a good seedling and can be cultivated carefully, but it is not good to be frivolous after being lucky.

Today's old and prudent letter is the real reason for the fourth elder brother to recognize Cao Yong's ability.

Cao Yong breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. This seal was prepared by him after checking the relief records of the Ministry of Households over the years and spent several nights preparing it.

For Cao Yong, the theory is more than practical in dealing with major national affairs, and there are many "talks on paper", so he still feels a little uneasy.

The greater the power in the hands, the greater the responsibility. Just like this disaster relief, if the policy of the imperial court is not appropriate, maybe tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people will die.

Even if Cao Yong is a cold-hearted person, he dare not treat his official career as a game of customs clearance and face it easily.

This pragmatism is exactly in line with Si Age's appetite.

The fourth elder brother closed the window and looked at Cao Yong. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

Compared with Cao Yong's plain and informative report, the routine excerpts of the two ministers of the household department seem empty and meaningless.

Today is not the day when the Ministry of Household Affairs is on duty, the fourth elder brother can't wait, and said: "This king will pass the sign right now!"

He told Cao Yong casually, not discussing with him, so before the words fell, he was already walking in a hurry and went far.

It was rare to see him so excited, Cao Yong looked back at the back of the fourth elder brother, and secretly sighed that the fourth elder brother could inherit the great line for no reason.

If it were someone else, when they saw Cao Yong's statement, they would have to say "it's against the rules", and then follow the example of previous years to deny Cao Yong's mention of these points.

For example, it would damage the face of the court and offend the scholar-official class, such as apportionment by the squires; using quicklime to prevent epidemics at the places where the victims gathered would cause unrest among the people and sudden incidents; for the matter of replenishment, the climate and region of the provinces are different, and the local officials have limited manpower. , and so on.

Anyway, in the eyes of those officials, each of them can be dismissed with reason.

In their eyes, they don't think about the livelihood of the people, but the face of the court, the favor of officials and so on.

Only the fourth elder brother, who knows that people's livelihood is difficult and "emphasizes the people and despises officials", will think that Cao Yong's "pure theory" statement is a good strategy for governing the country.

In Cao Yong's heart, he was also a little pleased with Si Age's approval.

Whether in the previous life or in this life, the general growth environment is still dominated by "Confucianism". The words "for the country and the people" can also bring a little excitement to an adult man.

Compared with Kangxi, who loves to make great achievements, covets fame, and indulges corrupt officials, working with the fourth elder brother can indeed satisfy Cao Yong's sense of accomplishment.

Until the official office was down, I didn't see the fourth elder brother turning back. Cao Yong felt a little excited in his heart.

He didn't want to take advantage of the disaster years in the north to make meritorious service, but he thought that if his hard work could be carried out, it would be helpful to the local people, and he would not forget his busy work these days.

Thinking that not only the fourth elder brother will grow into a pragmatic emperor, the thirteenth elder brother will also be a capable "virtuous king", Li Wei and others will become famous and eternal officials in the frontier, and he, Cao Yong, will be active in Kangxi and Qianlong with these people. In the political stage of the period, he worked hard for the stability of the country and the livelihood of the people, which made him look forward to his future career.

The Cao family is no longer the family that makes people sigh because of the half of the red building. How far can he, Cao Yong, take his family...

*
Rehe, Yongwang Mansion Garden.

Si Fujin looked at the gift list written by Niu Gulu, shook his head, and said: "It's still too light. Although Da Gege is only made a township monarch, after all, he is the eldest daughter of Lord Thirteen, so the gift should be more important."

Because Nianshi of Fujin next to the palace was pregnant and was waiting to give birth in the capital, so this time Sifujin brought Shufu Jinniu Colu's family with Si Age to Rehe to serve.

As early as when he was in the palace, Si Fujin asked the Li family of the side Fujin and the Niu Colu family of the Shufu Jin to share the housework because of his poor health.

As for the Fangfu Jinnian clan who is favored by the fourth elder brother, because of his weak body and clean temperament, he has never participated in the common affairs of the palace...

*
Friendly recommendation:

The erotic entanglement between a black-bellied man and a talented woman, the picture scroll of the late Ming Dynasty, the prosperous ending of Jin Ge and Iron Horse.

FazoR "Ten Years of Chaos in the Late Ming Dynasty", ISBN 1410827
(End of this chapter)