Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 999 New Errand

Two days before Laba, Cao Xiang's steward, who came back from the Henan government, escorted several carts of New Year's goods bought by Cao Xiang and several letters from Cao Xiang's family to the capital.

Originally, when his term expires next year, whether he will continue to serve or be transferred back to the capital depends on the planning of his cousin in the capital.He mentioned this in a letter to his cousin.

Because Henan is far away from the capital, the people sent back set off from Henan Prefecture in early November.At that time, the news of Emperor Daxing's death had not yet reached the place.

Cao Yong thought about it. Next year, there will be Enke, and the next year will be the rural examination. The time is in a hurry, and the Ministry of officials may not change the school administration.

In this way, if Cao Xiang can be re-elected, he will go through two provincial examinations, which is easy to achieve political achievements.Instead of returning to Beijing, it is better to stay in Henan Province for qualifications.

Thinking of this, he went to the Ministry of Officials to inquire.

In some provinces that are far away, if there is no fault in the performance appraisal of Xuezheng, most of them will be re-elected; in the provinces that are close to the road, there is no accurate information about the specifics.

Henan Prefecture is not close to the capital city, but compared with distant provinces, it is still close.Therefore, whether the school administration will be replaced is still uncertain.

Cao Yong didn't say much, and he didn't deliberately seek vacancies for Cao Xiang.

Cao Xiang is 22 this year, and his starting point is already much higher than others.At this time, whether he returns to Beijing or continues to stay in Henan, each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

No matter what Cao Yong warned, it is true that Cao Song served in the Northwest Army for many years.Whether Yongzheng will vent his anger is still unknown.

Before Cao Song's future is settled, Cao Xiang is too eye-catching, which may not be a blessing for him.

Compared with their parents, the brothers of the Cao family are all in official careers, and their grades are much better than their parents'.

Chuyu, on the other hand, heard about Cao Xiang's letter and prepared a return gift for Chunhua.

Chunhua gave birth to Tiannan, a son-in-law. Hundreds of years ago, Chuyu sent a lot of things with everyone; now I am preparing another copy, because this time Chunhua sent a pair of safe buckles.It is a good jade material bought from Nanyang, and it was carved by the most famous sculptor in Nanyang. It is said that it has been prepared as a gift for Tianbao's anniversary.

Even if Chuyu is used to seeing good jade, she can also see that this pair of safety buckles is expensive.

She doesn't get paid for nothing, she really loves Chunhua, who has a pure temperament, and doesn't want to accept her things for nothing.So I packed a lot of good clothes materials, ginseng, deer antler, etc., and packed them in several big bags.In addition, a lot of children's favorite toys were prepared for Chunhua's son-in-law, Tiannan.

On the other side of the East Mansion, Jinghui's life is not easy
Because at the end of the year, I don't know how Zhao Jia thought of asking about the account books at home.Seeing that the benefits of the Zhuangzi were not good, she began to pay attention to the other two properties in the mansion, which were the two houses that Cao Fu bought at the auction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Those two houses are near the Guozijian.

"Isn't Enke going to open next year? It's time to go to Beijing again. These two houses are vacant, and they should be rented out for rent." Speaking of this, Zhao Jia looked at the eldest daughter-in-law dissatisfied: "The family is not rich. Your man eats sand in the northwest, but he can only earn a salary of one hundred and ten taels. This house, after a year, can earn 200 taels of silver, and two places, it is three to four hundred taels. , why just leave it blank?"

Jinghui just felt depressed. Earlier, she had mentioned the matter of rent with Cao Fu, but Cao Fu rejected it.

Cao Fu ordered people to clean up the larger house, thinking that if Cao Xiang returned to Beijing and felt uncomfortable living in the mansion, he could live in a separate courtyard.For the smaller one, Cao Fu took Su Xin there once, and let Su Xin arrange it according to his own wishes.

Su Xin only said that there was no rush, and refused to say anything more before the official separation.But Cao Fu was already in high spirits, arranging where to live in the study, where to set up an embroidery frame for Su Xin, and where to leave it for Tianhu.

It's not that he is not filial or friendly to his brothers.

In fact, it was because he had read too many books, coupled with what he had heard and seen, and he was vigilant when he heard about the estrangement between those brothers.

There is an old saying that goes, "Smells far away, stinks near", even if it's just the brothers, there are times when they have quarrels; it's easier for the family and the old lady above, inside and out friction.

Over time, rifts arose between brothers and sisters-in-law, which hurt the family.

Cao Fu also knew that his mother was provocative, and his sister-in-law worked hard to serve her.He didn't think about hiding and running far away, but thought that if he didn't live together, he would take his mother to live with him for a few months and let his sister-in-law have a rest.

It is not easy to be the eldest daughter-in-law, especially the sister-in-law has no son yet.Now that the eldest brother is away, the mother can't say anything; when the eldest brother comes back, if the sister-in-law has no children, I don't know what the old lady will do.

Seeing that Jinghui didn't speak, Zhao Jia was not happy.

He wanted to stab Jinghui with a few words, but he was also worried about Fu Cha's family.

Although Fu Nai is idle now, he has been working as a bodyguard beside the fourth elder brother since he was a teenager.With the fourth elder brother ascending the throne as emperor, Fu Nai's recovery is imminent, and he has also become a hot figure.

She suppressed her displeasure, and said: "Even if you were negligent in the past, you can't do this again in the future. This is the principle of being a daughter-in-law. This is the reason for being a daughter-in-law. Let people find the right person, or directly tell the housekeeper to go down. If the house is to be rented out, it would be better to rent one month earlier."

There was no room for her to speak, and besides being depressed, Jinghui couldn't keep silent.

"Old lady, after the purchase of the two houses, Uncle Wu will arrange them. I'm afraid the daughter-in-law won't be able to intervene." Jinghui said.

After hearing this, Zhao Jia couldn't help frowning, looked at Jing Hui suspiciously, and said, "Xiao Wu is a man, why is he meddling in housework?"

Jing Hui also knew something about Cao Fu's intentions.It's just that, in front of Zhao Jiashi, topics like "family division" are not something she can touch on as a daughter-in-law.

"Perhaps my daughter-in-law doesn't know what Uncle Fifth has arranged." Jinghui said vaguely.

When Zhao Jia heard about it, he thought of something else.

She raised her eyebrows and muttered: "He is a good man, if he doesn't study hard, what can he arrange?"

Having said that, she was full of curiosity in her heart, not sure if the youngest son used one of the two houses as a "golden house to hide her beauty".

The Cao family has the family rules left by Cao Yin, and they are not allowed to accept prostitutes as concubines.

Cao Fu respects his uncle the most, so he will not violate this family rule; if she is a daughter of a good family, why don't she sue her family and raise her secretly outside?
Thinking about it, the more she thought about it, the more she felt it made sense.

For a moment, she actually felt a little worried.It would be bad if the son really made a fuss and angered the Dong family.

The Dong family's roots are deep and leafy, and the current parents are cautious, so that when the throne changes, not only are they not hurt, but they have made great strides forward.

Not only did the eldest daughter-in-law have to endure it, but the youngest daughter-in-law also had to coax her more, Zhao Jia frowned, feeling aggrieved...

*
On the [-]th day of the twelfth lunar month, Yongzheng called Cao Yong to see him.

The monarch and his ministers answered each other, talking about the planting and production of potatoes and corn.

The treasury has no money, and Yongzheng is very anxious.You know, it’s okay to talk about other expenses. If there is a need for relief next spring, and the treasury has no money, wouldn’t the common people starve to death?

Thinking of this, Yongzheng thought of Cao Yong.

He made people list all the big and small things of Cao Yong's filial piety for more than two years, and found that Cao Yong really put farming in his eyes, not just for fame.

"Can one mu of bad land in Baogu really produce three stones of rice per mu?" Yongzheng asked with some seriousness.

Cao Yong received the decree, and he was still thinking about Yongzheng's intention to summon him all the way.He suddenly thought of collecting money, and his heart was in a panic, thinking about finding an opportunity to escape.

Unexpectedly, Yongzheng talked about farming with Cao Yong straight to the point.

Cao Yong carefully recalled the data he had recorded, and said: "If you go back to the emperor, it is true. Chen Cheng used the dry and bad fields on the slopes to plant a few acres of corn, and the yield was three stones; if he replaced it with a medium-sized field, the yield per mu could reach five stones." "If the top-notch fields are adequately irrigated, the yield can be increased by two or three stones."

After hearing this, Yongzheng said with some excitement: "In that case, the yield per mu of top-grade corn is seven or eight shi, eight or nine hundred catties?"

Cao Yong nodded, and said: "In the several Zhuangzi in the capital, I have made people try again and again to achieve this output. I am really not familiar with the fields in other places. I can't say how much the yield per mu can be. , we still have to wait for the trial planting to get the number.”

He was so cautious, but it caught the eyes of the fourth elder brother.

"Although the yield of sweet potatoes is high, it is not easy to store, but this bract is an excellent thing." He walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, stopped in front of Cao Yong and said, "This is a pilot project, how to promote it, and replace rice and grain in this way. Here, please draw up a detailed charter for me!"

When Cao Yong heard this, he couldn't help but startled.

As far as he knows, 300 years later, when he lived, the main grain stored in the national reserve was corn.

Corn is easy to store for many years and is not prone to mildew, so it is more suitable for storage than other grains.

It is good for Yongzheng to have confidence, but Cao Yong did not dare to answer immediately.Because he still doesn't know whether the corn can be promoted.He didn't want to be slighted as it was related to the local granary and the life-saving straw of the common people.

Seeing that he didn't speak, the fourth elder brother raised his eyebrows: "Why? Afraid of suffering?"

It is difficult for some powerful people to let the dignified servant of the household department take over the matter of Jiarong.

After hearing this, Cao Yong shook his head and said: "I shouldn't complain about suffering, but I really don't know about the storage of corn. There are also people who plant corn in Jingji. In addition to selling green corn for snacks, corn is mature, and it is mostly used as food." I don't know if there is any storage for rations.

Yongzheng didn't expect this. After listening to Cao Yong's words, he hesitated and said, "In this case, you should first plan a way to promote it. As for the storage, collect some corn and send it to Tongzhou Guancang, so that there will be People look at it."

Coming down from Yuqian, Cao Yong felt that his footsteps were a little brisk.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, this attention to Jiarong is a deserted errand, but Cao Yong is happy.

It is beneficial to the people's livelihood and the economy, and you can't get yourself "purchased treasury silver". How can there be more appropriate than this errand?
People are refreshed on happy occasions, Cao Yong returned to the Yamen, and his efficiency in handling official documents was much higher.

When he was in Luoya, Cao Yong rode on his horse and rushed to his house. His mind was full of the diary of serving the farmers during the two years of Shouxiao, and the hundreds of catties of grain seeds left at home.

In the end, before he got home, he had someone block him at the archway in Xidan.

"Uncle, our grandma sent servants to come and beg my uncle to come over..." Xu Sheng, the housekeeper of Sun Ying's family, came, panting, panting.

Cao Yong saw that he was in such a hurry, his face was black and blue, and his clothes were wrinkled, as if he had touched someone, his heart sank: "What's the matter? But what's the matter?"

Xu Sheng opened his mouth, closed it again, repeated two or three times, and finally managed to say: "Our uncle is back..."

*
Later today, early tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)