Facing the difficulties, after the prince took the lead in paying the arrears, the household department was still in full swing to clear the arrears.

In the blink of an eye, it was the month of Layue. On this day, the carriage of the tenth elder brother arrived at the ninth elder brother's mansion, and the guards at the door were already familiar with the tenth elder brother's personal eunuch Xiaozhuzi, and when they saw him coming, they directly let the carriage pass through the mansion.

The tenth elder brother jumped down neatly from the carriage and said to Xu Jiufang, the manager of Xu Jiufang, who came over: "Quickly move the things in the car, these are all gifts from the master to the ninth brother and nine sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces, if you slaves break it, be careful of the whip of the master." ”

Brother Shi's words sounded quite harsh, but as long as you saw the smiling face when he spoke, you knew that he was just joking with Xu Jiufang! Xu Jiufang naturally knew this, lowered his head and said with a smile: "Look at what the tenth master said, how could the minions be careless!" The tenth master just rest assured, the slave personally watched them move things. ”

Brother Ten took a small box from the carriage and said with a smile: "Okay! Hurry up and get to work. ”

After speaking, he strode directly towards the main courtyard, Xu Jiufang was also familiar with the appearance of the tenth elder brother, and smiled and instructed the servants to move all the things in the car down and register them.

And the tenth elder brother came to the main courtyard, raised a smile and opened the curtain and said, "Ninth brother, my younger brother is here." ”

Brother Nine had already received the news at this time, and was sitting on the main seat waiting, when he saw Brother Ten walking in with the curtain lifted, he also smiled and said, "I've returned to Beijing, is the errand still smooth?" ”

Brother Ten sat down next to Brother Nine unceremoniously, put the box in his hand on the table and pushed it to Brother Nine, and said with a smile: "This is the Ejiao that my brother brought to Brother Nine when he went to Shandong, Brother Nine has nothing to eat to replenish his body!" ”

Brother Jiu smiled when he heard this: "Thank you Tenth Brother for remembering, this thing is good, usually only some of the Huang Ama rewarded, and the Ejiao in other places is not as good as the one in Shandong." ”

Brother Jiu's words are true, Ejiao is called "holy medicine" in Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica", and it is known as the "Three Treasures of Traditional Chinese Medicine" together with ginseng and deer antler. And the Ejiao of Dong'e County, Shandong Province is a royal tribute, if you want this, you really have to rely on Kangxi's reward, this time the ten elder brothers must have brought the filial piety of the people below when passing through Dong'e County, and they can bring these, the ninth elder brother is still full of joy in his heart, and the tenth elder brother of Ma Daha is rare and careful, and the ninth elder brother raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Seeing that Brother Nine liked his gift, the smile on his face became even bigger, and he said to Brother Nine: "My brother also brought a lot of delicious and fun things to my nephews and nieces, and I have already told Xu Jiufang to accept it, and let Ninth Sister-in-law take a look at it later, there are a lot of things to eat as soon as possible." ”

The tenth elder brother smiled and said, "Ninth brother, as soon as my younger brother returned to Beijing, I heard that the fourth brother was clearing the arrears, hehe......"

The ninth elder brother glanced at the tenth elder brother and said, "I know, remember that your current creditor has become your ninth brother and me." ”

Brother Ten nodded with a smile and said: "Speaking of starling, it's really interesting, hmph, I gave my younger brother a trick to let the master play tricks and not repay the arrears, thinking that the master didn't know that he was using the master as a gun!" ”

Brother Nine asked, "What's the matter?" ”

……

When the ninth elder brother and the tenth elder brother were talking, Cao Yin was ordered to come to Beijing, and Kangxi summoned him on the same day. He is the oldest first-class guard in this dynasty, Kangxi's nursing brother, forty-four years have passed in a hurry, he has already become an old man, and he can no longer see the spirit of the year.

Cao Yin came in, bowed down and kowtowed, and said, "The old slave Cao Yin kowtows to the master Sheng'an!" ”

"Get up and talk." Kangxi sat on the big kang and said with a smile: "Old man, why did you come here this morning and evening?" Last year, you suffered from malaria, did I run out of cinchona cream for you, and now you are safe? ”

Cao Yin hurriedly said: "The slave contracted the wind chill on the road, delayed for a few days, and asked the master to worry about it again!" Cinchona is not willing to use it up, the rest of the collection is all collected, in case of repeated illness, it is easy to use, the slave may die on this disease in this life, this medicine tribute from overseas, it is not easy to get, so I dare not step on it. The slave is about to live to sixty, this is the blessing of the master, how many more years do you expect to live! ”

Kangxi sighed: "This is confused. I have been on the throne for more than 40 years, and two of the first four auxiliary governments are not good deaths; There are also Mingzhu and Suo Etu in the back, the dethroned and the dead, with few good endings and many bad endings. Now you, Mu Zixu, and Wu Dan are still safe, and you have to cherish yourself! Not only for you, but also for me! ”

Cao Yin also sighed: "Yes! Xiong Cishu is also ancient, and there are fewer and fewer old people in front of the master. There are talented people from generation to generation, each leading the way for hundreds of years, and it is time for the next generation to contribute. Just now I was waiting for the decree in Xihuamen, and I was meeting Zhao Bingzhi, and he was too old to look good. Speaking of the matter of colluding with people, the slave remembered it and wanted to ask for a favor for Fang Bao. This is a famous talent, but it's a pity that he is involved in the Dai Mingshi case, and if he dies again, the tone of the Tongcheng faction will collapse, which is a pity. ”

"You don't know about this matter, the third elder brother, the fourth elder brother, and the eighth elder brother have all begged for mercy and have already pardoned Fang Bao." Kangxi said with a smile, "In peacetime, you must know how to raise talents, and you still know my heart in the foreign ministers!" For something like this, I should have gone to the study to take out a note, but I didn't say a word, I had to worry about everything, and I didn't have enough energy. Otherwise, if the head falls off and can't be picked up, future generations will not know the details, and the sin will be attributed to me. ”

After saying that, he groaned slightly, ordered everyone to withdraw from the left and right, and said: "I asked you to enter the capital because I heard about something." When I was on a tour of the south, Yang Qilong set up a red-clothed cannon in the courtyard of Pilu in Nanjing and wanted to up, it was Mu Zixu and you who visited and solved the case, why did the prince and the fourth elder brother reward you with your objects halfway? What are you rewarding? Is there such a thing? ”

It was as if a thunderbolt rose out of thin air, making Cao Yin's face as earthy, and Zhang was speechless for a while!

This is a backlog of more than 20 years. On the same day, Cao Yin and Mu Zixu took the rebel Yang Qilong, followed the vine and touched the melon, and the first one seized the study of Ge Li, the governor of Liangjiang, and found that many letters were sent by Suo Etu, the minister of the upper study, and there were some warm words. When he was hesitating, the prince and the fourth elder brother actually appointed a special person to gallop to Nanjing, rewarding them with Ruyi, Wolong bags and other things, the old brothers expected that there was a play in the play, and they repeatedly discussed, burned the letters, released Ge Li, and only punished the first evil Yang Qi Longming canonically, covering up this sky-heavy lawsuit. Twenty years, Cao Yin not only did not dare to take this responsibility, but he was also afraid to mention this matter, and repeatedly told Mu Zixu not to mention this matter. Cao Yin thought that this matter had become a permanent secret, but Kangxi asked in person today, and his tone was so sharp that he couldn't dodge, how could he not be heartbroken?

"Don't be afraid, it's long gone." Seeing that Cao Yin was silent, Kangxi fully understood that the rumors were true, and said, "I already knew about this. I just want to know how deeply the prince intervened at that time, you Cao Yin probably didn't think about it, this matter was covered to the end, and it was you who was unlucky! ”

Cao Yin was a little more down-to-earth in his heart, he was too familiar with Kangxi, and if he said half a lie at this moment, he might immediately invite a catastrophe, and kowtowed tremblingly: "If you don't ask about this matter, the slave will not dare to talk about it!" The prince and the fourth master gave the slave a ruyi at that time, and Mu Zixu gave the Wolong bag. Because the case involved Suo Etu and connected with the prince, the minions were stunned at the time, and they couldn't guess the real reason, so they closed the case in a hurry. For more than 20 years, when I think of this, the minions are like thorns on their backs! However, according to the minion's small knowledge, the prince was only eleven years old at the time, and the fourth master was only seven years old, how could he plan big things? It was probably done by Suo Etu. Long live the holy candle, what don't you understand? When the slave said it today, his heart was much happier, and he asked the Lord to send a decree to give death and cure the slave for the crime of bullying the king! After that, he kept prostrating and prostrating.

Kangxi listened, got up and put on his shoes, paced a few steps with his back hand, stood in front of the window, looked at the red walls and yellow tiles in the courtyard, looked out for a while, and muttered: "If Yinren doesn't know at all, I'm afraid he won't be able to, I'm afraid he may not know Suo Etu's intentions...... That's right, that's right...... No wonder I personally recruited Dzungardan for the third time on the way, summoned the prince to the army to greet him, he was a little distracted, at that time Dali Temple was interrogating Suo Etu, he was afraid that Suo Etu would bite! ”

Saying that, Kangxi smiled again: "This matter is still clarified by the prince first, I just asked you to testify." After more than 20 years, what crime is still punished? Don't talk about you like this, if it falls on me, I'm afraid I have to do it. I tell you a word, the flesh and blood of the heavenly family are the most difficult to fulfill, Li Shimin didn't deal with it well, Zhao Kuangyin candle shadow axe, and he also died unclearly, I can be careless, as long as the prince and you people don't have evil intentions to harm me, everything can be tolerated, you can't doubt yourself. ”

Cao Yin's taste of Kangxi's words is still as bright as dark, but there is a layer that is very clear, the emperor is not ready to pursue this matter, but he is still not very relieved about the prince, and he was stunned for a long time before saying: "The slave understands!" ”

On the twentieth day of the lunar month, the prince went to the household department and went straight into the fourth elder brother's study in the household department.

"Shi Shilang!" The crown prince waved his hand to excuse him, sat down with a calm face, and said, "Listening to Zhu Tianbao, you have increased the scope of clearance, and the governors, governors and other officials outside have also begun to collect their arrears?" ”

Shi Shilun hurriedly said: "Long live Lord had something to say at the beginning, the deficit must be cleared to the end, and the arrears of the governors, governors and other officials outside account for a large part of the deficit. ”

When the prince heard this, he was already unhappy, but he was inconvenienced, and reluctantly smiled: "You should just take care of the account, but some people do have difficulties, and they can't be forced too quickly, and they must act safely." ”

The fourth elder brother knew that Shi Shilun alone could not defeat the prince no matter what, so he said: "This is like pushing a cart up the mountain, you have to do it in one go, even on the most difficult slope, you can't stop, once you stop, I'm afraid that the car will slide to the bottom of the mountain." Prince, you can't smoke firewood at this time! ”

"Fourth," the prince said worriedly, "I just came from the Qianqing Palace, Cao Yin handed over the fold, his family has only cleared more than a hundred taels of silver, and he really can't afford to pay back the rest!" Since the clean-up of the deficit, officials at all levels have complained! It's ......," he didn't say.

The fourth elder brother's heart fell sharply, and he asked the prince, "Huang Ama didn't say anything?" ”

The prince said: "I didn't say anything, but my face was gloomy and ugly, and I didn't dare to ask, so I still do what I said, and accept it when I see it!" ”

"Have you thought about it, Prince?" The fourth elder brother frowned and said in a deep voice, "If you are confused like this, in less than three years, the treasury will still be borrowed, and it will be even more difficult to clear it again!" ”

"Order the closure of the warehouse," the prince gritted his teeth and pondered, "I won't borrow a penny!" ”

The fourth elder brother sneered and said: "There has been a decree to seal the library a long time ago, and then order the library to be sealed, what kind of chapter is that?" ”

Shi Shilun moved his body uneasily, and said: "Those who have repaid the money must feel that they have suffered a loss, and they must desperately scrape the ground to get it back, isn't this the front door to reject the wolf, and the back door to enter the tiger?" ”

"You're talking about the same thing." Seeing that neither of them agreed with his proposition, the prince was a little angry, and said impatiently, "He scrapes the ground, I will clean up the officials, and take him to ask for beheading!" ”

The fourth elder brother came back coldly: "If you want to pay for the account, you will give up halfway, and it will be even more difficult to refresh the rule of officials!" ”

The prince pressed the anger and smiled: "What do you think?" Then he stood up and paced back and forth.

The fourth elder brother shook his head helplessly and said, "Prince, it's not that we don't obey Jun's order. You have to think about it, we have a reputation for being a mean worm, and if we don't do things well, we will become pathetic worms when we collapse! In my humble opinion, I still acted according to the original will of Huang Ama and made it clear to the end. In the end, if there is indeed difficulty, Huang Ama naturally has to be gracious. ”

"Since you want to do it to the end, I won't stop you." The prince endured it without jumping violently, blushed, and said to the fourth elder brother, "Zhu Tianbao will not return to the palace for the time being, if it has results, I will not take credit; I don't take responsibility for personnel issues, how about it? ”

When the two of them heard this, they felt that they couldn't bear it, so they were busy prostrating themselves and kowtowing silently. The prince sighed and said, "Alas! I shouldn't have taken this mission! Do it yourself! He hurried away.

Shi Shilun got up and muttered in a low voice: "How can you leave these two sentences and leave!" ”

The fourth elder brother pondered for a long time before he said: "The prince has the difficulties of the prince. You just have to do it, and I'll take care of it alone. As long as it works, the prince will ......" He didn't say any more.

At this point, Shi Shilun's enthusiasm turned into a cold sweat, and he said coldly: "Fourth master, if there is nothing else, the lower official will retire first." ”

"Okay, you go back first," said the fourth elder brother, "use my customs defense to promote the governors, governors, and political envoys of the provinces who have not paid their arrears, and the officials above the level must arrive in Beijing within three months, and I will collect the debts in person." What are you afraid of? Go ahead! (To be continued.) )