Beijing, Goldfish Alley, Thirteen Elder Brothers' Mansion.

The thirteenth elder brother practiced two sets of fists and feet in the open space of the garden, moving his muscles and bones. This year, the holy driver went to Saiwai, and in the elder brother, only the third elder brother, the fourth elder brother, and the tenth elder brother did not accompany him.

Because it was the same last year, this year he didn't have any hope, but now he is much calmer than last year.

Taking the towel from the little eunuch's hand, the thirteenth elder brother wiped the sweat from his face. Now, as June progresses, the hotter it gets, and he wonders if he should ask people to sprinkle more water in the yards in the morning and evening.

It's okay for adults to say, how can a few small ones stand it. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel bored again.

All the royal palaces in the capital are all according to the grade, and the ice is uniformly supplied by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Now, the thirteenth elder brother is twenty-six years old, and although he has been in the branch for more than a year, he has not been knighted so far.

According to the rules, when the prince reaches the age of fifteen, he will be promoted to the rank of knight by the Zongren Mansion. If the order is to "suspend the conferral of conferrals", the request will be repeated after five years. At the beginning of the founding of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, when Emperor Taizong divided the brothers and sons, he once mentioned that "the original intention of giving the knighthood is the first, and the reward is secondary", so the grade of the prince may not be the highest in the clan grade, and some are only named Baylor, Beizi, and Guogong.

From the beginning of the Shunzhi Dynasty, because the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs and ruled the huge Han people with a small number of Manchus, they were particularly concerned about the unity within the imperial family. Whether it is Shunzhi or Kangxi, the brothers have been crowned with the highest title of prince.

There are many princes of Kangxi, and the division of princes is relatively concentrated, the first time is the thirty-seventh year of Kangxi, from the eldest brother to the eighth elder brother; The second time was in the forty-eighth year of Kangxi, and he ended in the fourteenth elder brother. There are only four ranks, Beizi, Baylor, the King of the County and the Prince.

For the first time, because the thirteenth elder brother was still young, it was reasonable that he was not knighted; The second time, he lost his sacred heart because of the "abolition of the prince" and was excluded from the title of prince.

Thinking of the title, the thirteenth elder brother thought of the Guerjia clan, which has always been a little strong.

Guerjia is the side Fujin of the Thirteenth Elder Brother, the daughter of Langzhong Ahazhan, the earliest with the Thirteenth Elder Brother, and the mother of Da Gege and Big Elder Brother. She is the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi's show girl, she was left with a sign and pointed to the thirteenth elder brother as the side blessing, Kangxi entered the elder brother at the end of the fortyth year, and it has been more than ten years.

The thirteenth elder brother thinks about the titles of your elder brothers, since the imperial father doesn't like him, even if he is knighted, he should also be the lowest Gushan Beizi. At that time, Zhaojia's wife, as his wife, had the title of Mrs. Bei Zichang; Gualga is the lady of Beizi.

The prince's side is Fujin, although there is no official grade, but the sub-rules under his name are indeed very high, like ice and water, which are exclusively provided by the internal affairs government, who would dare to deduct them? Those people, although they are snobbish, only dare to increase or decrease according to the "rules". This ice and water are not like rice and grain brocade, which separates the house from the house.

Guerjia is a big surname, and there are a lot of Fujin side Fujin, if Guarjia becomes Mrs. Beizi, she will definitely feel embarrassed in front of her cousin, right?

The thirteenth elder brother suddenly felt a little excited, not to mention the Guerjia clan, that is, he lived this half-circle life, in the final analysis, it was also because he had no face to face the meaningful gaze of others.

In fact, he wanted to go out of Beijing in his heart, after all, he used to follow his brothers every year, or run errands with his brothers, and he was out for most of the year. Now, it has been three and a half years, and I haven't been out of Beijing.

According to the rules of the ancestors, the mansions of all the princes were built in Beijing, "the crime of going out of Beijing for 60 miles for no reason is the same as that of a hundred officials", although the thirteenth elder brother does not have a formal title, but the identity of a single prince and elder brother is destined to make him uncomfortable.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the thirteenth elder brother turned around and looked, it was Bichun, the maid beside Zhaojia's side.

Bi Chun held a tray in his hand, leaned over slightly, and said, "Master, Fujin asked the slave maid to send mung bean soup to the master!" ”

The thirteenth elder brother stretched out his hand to pick up the jade bowl on the tray, looked at the ice core floating on the soup, and remembered the fourth elder brother's consolation last year. Yes, the ice will melt, but I don't know when. After all, there is also the phrase "freezing three feet is not a cold".

After drinking half a bowl of soup and feeling a lot more refreshed in his chest, the thirteenth elder brother asked, "Fu Jin is still taking care of it in the Fucha family's room?" Advise her too much and don't let her get too tired! ”

Bi Chun went down in response, and the thirteenth elder brother couldn't help but have a headache when he thought of these women in the backyard.

Fucha had a miscarriage half a month ago, and a six-month-old baby boy was aborted. Now it's sad and hurtful, and it's not like it's sick. I've been raising it for half a month, but it's still not good.

The thirteenth elder brother thought about the fact that the Zhaojia clan had mentioned the silver money in the accounts before, and wondered if he would borrow money from the fourth brother, and it was better to say otherwise, if there was no money to find medicine, what should the Fucha clan do?

Just as he was about to go back to the room to change his clothes, he saw the little eunuch come to report that Zhang Fuyuan, the steward sent to Shandong last month, had returned, and Zhang Fusheng, the steward of Shandong Zhuangzi, had also returned, all of whom asked to see the master in the front yard.

The thirteenth elder brother couldn't help but show a wry smile, although he didn't need to go to court, but he had already heard about the civil unrest in Shandong caused by burning the pot.

It's really "a leak in the house and a rainy day", the more unlucky it is, the more things don't go well. The civil unrest was finally concentrated in Surabaya County, Yanzhou, which was the place where Zhang Fusheng, a subordinate of the Thirteenth Elder Brother, went to run a pot Zhuangzi. Thinking of Zhao Jia's expectant expression, the thirteenth elder brother really couldn't bear to tell his wife about Shandong. Last year, Zhang Fusheng brought most of the principal silver to Shandong, which was the dowry silver of Zhaojia's family.

In the side hall of the front yard, Zhang Fusheng and Zhang Fuyuan, two brothers, were talking in a low voice, and when they saw the thirteenth elder brother coming in, they all knelt down to say goodbye.

The thirteenth elder brother sat down, told the two of them to get up, and saw that although their brother was slightly tired, he did not look like he was injured, and he relaxed his heart a little. Originally, I was worried that the two brothers would have a dispute with someone in order to burn the pot Zhuangzi.

Zhang Fusheng refused to get up, kowtowed, and said, "Master, the slave is incompetent, Zhuangzi...... Zhuangzi ordered those rebellious people to burn! ”

The thirteenth elder brother was prepared in his heart, and he was not surprised, frowned slightly, and asked, "Are there any casualties?" I heard that the bandits in Si County are the most rampant? ”

Zhang Fusheng said with a smile on his face: "There are two brewing masters, who are old, didn't run out, and burned to death!" ”

The thirteenth elder brother nodded, and said with a straight face: "People can't die in vain, after all, they are working for the master, and the pension must be generous!" ”

Zhang Fusheng responded: "Don't worry, each household is eighty taels of silver, and the slaves have already explained it clearly before entering Beijing!" ”

The thirteenth elder brother waved his hand: "Okay, okay, get up!" I haven't seen you this year, but you've learned to follow the rules! Speaking of this, he asked Zhang Fuyuan again: "When you arrive in Yizhou, are the county lord and Cao Hao okay?" I thought you would be back in early May, but you were delayed in Surabaya? Why does it look so much darker? ”

Zhang Fuyuan replied with a smile: "If you go back to the master, the slave arrived in Yizhou on April 20, and asked the county lord to be safe, and he looked very good, and there were grandmothers in the Seventh Master's Mansion and Jiangning Cao's family to take care of them." It's Cao Ye, and he looks very leisurely. The slave was originally going to return to Beijing, but let Cao Ye open his mouth to keep it! Speaking of this, he took out a foot-long wooden box from his sleeve and handed it to the thirteenth elder brother with both hands.

The thirteenth elder brother stretched out his hand to borrow it, and while opening it, he asked, "What is this?" ”

A letter from Cao Hao to him, with a stack of silver tickets underneath, the thirteenth elder brother's face was slightly gloomy, and he said, "What's going on, did you withdraw money from Cao's house?" ”

Zhang Fuyuan hurriedly said: "Master doesn't know the slave yet, where is the mouthy?" This is given by Cao Ye, saying that he borrowed it from Da Ye last year, and he was about to send someone to Beijing, because the slave went, and asked the slave to bring it back! Pay back 5,000 taels first, and wait for the rest, maybe there will be some progress at the end of the year! ”

The thirteenth elder brother thought of lending money to Cao Hao, except for Zhao Jia's family, others didn't know about it, so he saved himself a lot of worry.

In Cao Hao's letter, in addition to the words of asking for peace, there is also a thank you for the supplements sent by him and Fujin, and he also talked about what he has seen and heard in Yizhou in the past few months, and mentioned the matter of burning the pot Zhuangzi at the end, and persuaded the thirteenth elder brother not to do it again.

This civil unrest in Shandong has affected a lot of pot-burning Zhuangzi, and the control of this area in recent years will be stricter. Moreover, the thirteenth elder brother has a noble status, and if he ends up "competing with the people", it is not a good reputation.

He also mentioned that the silver sent by Guangzhou in early April totaled more than 10,000 taels of silver, and he originally planned to pay back 10,000 taels first, because he happened to go to Xiabianzhou County to deal with the pot Zhuangzi, and saw a small tea garden in Junan. I also told those who know how to see that the nearby mountains are a good place to grow tea. Moreover, the price of land over there was also low, less than three taels of silver per mu, so he scraped together nine thousand taels of silver and bought thirty hectares of land. He also sent people to Taihu Lake and invited a tea planter to come over.

This tea garden is divided into six places, in addition to the one left by the Cao family itself, Pingwangfu, Chunwangfu, Yongwangfu and the thirteenth elder brother and the sixteenth elder brother each sent a piece. Although it is not a famous tea, it is not worth a few dollars. After all, it's tea from the north, and it's still different from the south.

The thirteenth elder brother is a person who loves tea, and when he heard that there are tea trees in Shandong, he also felt that it was rare, so he couldn't help but be interested, and asked, "Why is it a different way?" Did you see that? ”

Zhang Fuyuan said with a smile: "It is precisely to wait for the new tea, the slave is delayed, this tea looks tender, a tea tree, only pinch dozens of buds, Cao Ye and the slave waited in Junan for two days, and only made half a catty." Cao Ye said, knowing that he loved this, he asked the slave to bring it over! It is said that several other palaces will be sent when the winter tea is picked! ”

The thirteenth elder brother was moved when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Where is it, why don't you get it for the master soon!" ”

When Zhang Fuyuan came up with two baskets of things with his little servant, the thirteenth elder brother couldn't help but be dumbfounded, and he could be regarded as having gained knowledge. In addition to a small bag of tea, the white ones are small baskets and plates made of wicker; The black ones are the pottery pen holders, incense burners, and cricket boxes; A variety of stone carvings of light white and emerald green. There are delicate ones, some rough ones, and they all look like children's toys.

"This ...... This ......" The thirteenth elder brother couldn't cry or laugh a little: "Cao Hao's soil is placed, it can be seen that he is going to be a father, and it is all children's things!" If you are not mistaken, it must be a copy for each of the other royal mansions, right? ”

Zhang Fuyuan said: "That's what the master said! It's not much, it's all these things! It's just that here, in addition to this tea, there are two other boxes! As he spoke, he turned out two boxes of things from the basket.

They are all one foot long, half a foot high, a box full of dried scorpions, and inside a box are four fist-sized fine porcelain jars with lids, on which are pasted red paper, and the word "toad" is written on it.

Zhang Fuyuan said: "Master, Master Cao said, these two things are poisoned into medicine, I don't know if it is beneficial to the master's leg disease, please ask the imperial doctor, and then see if it can be used in medicine!" He also said that although his illness looks cured, this dampness is not easy to go to the roots, and he loves to repeat, and he must always maintain it! ”

*Yizhou, south of the city, a house.

Sitting in the pavilion built on the water, looking at the wide water surface, the slim lotus flowers, and the dense layers of lotus leaves, Cao Hao suddenly felt cool, and the heat was reduced a lot.

On the side of the Daotai Yamen, due to the size of the previous mansion, even if it is opened left and right, there are people living there. Although there is also a garden, a small pond has been opened, some lotus flowers have been planted, and some plants and trees have been planted, but after all, the layout is limited, just to take a meaning, where to catch up with the scenery in front of you.

Chu Yu's belly has been six months old, and she has been stared at by several old mothers to make up for these words, and she has gained a lot of weight.

When the little couple was alone, Cao Hao measured it with his arm, and he couldn't hold it anymore. Thinking of the difficulty of giving birth at this time, he couldn't help but be a little worried, afraid that Chu Yu would be too fat, the child would be too big, and it would not be easy to be born, so he specially told a few grandmothers about it.

A few grandmothers were secretly funny at first, who doesn't want a big fat boy, where is there anyone who will set off a chubby child? Just blindly call Cao Hao, don't worry.

Seeing that they were so stubborn, Cao Hao didn't beat around the bush, and asked directly: "You are all old mothers, you have all given birth, so you naturally know where the child came from?" Whether this child is better to come out when he is older or smaller, everyone ponders! If Chu Yu really made a mistake, who can be responsible? ”

In a few words, several old grandmothers were stunned, but no one dared to disobey Cao Hao's intentions and make up for Chu Yu.

Although Yizhou is not as hot as the capital, the weather is not cool, and there is no ice supply. Chu Yu's words are a little sad, and he has no appetite for the whole thing.

Cao Hao was so distressed that he cooked a few times by himself without saying anything, and wrote down all the recipes he could think of, and asked the kitchen to change the tricks.

Although he was too lazy to come out, Cao Hao couldn't help but come to today's entertainment, because the other party was playing the banner of Prince Heshuo Jian's Mansion. Sitting opposite him was Cui Defu, the steward of Zhuangzi in Daxing Town and the "old man" of Yaerjiang'a, Prince Heshuo Jian.

On Chu Yu's side, in terms of seniority, Prince Heshuo Jian, Yaerjiang, is Cao Hao's uncle. Because of this, Cui Defu didn't take Cao Hao in his eyes at first. Because of the robbery of the grain of the pot Zhuangzi, he sent his nephew back to Beijing, and he also had the intention of complaining and wanted to clean himself.

Unexpectedly, the prince not only didn't think about cleaning up Cao Hao, but also sent someone to send a letter over, asking Cui Defu to prepare a thank you gift for Cao Hao according to the expenses of 5,000 taels.

At first, Cui Defu thought that his prince was confused, why didn't he know that there was a place to thank Cao Hao? If you take into account the Chunjun Wangfu and the Pingjun Wangfu, if you don't take revenge, where do you want to thank the silver?

At that time, except for Dongyandao, the pot-burning Zhuangzi in other places was not smashed or burned by the rioters; It was seized by the government. It is rare to see a pot-burning Zhuangzi like Daxing Town that can start work immediately. When the county government sent all kinds of complete procedures, Xuzhou transported grain, and the drinkers all came to Daxing Town, Cui Defu understood that the prince wanted to thank Cao Hao again.

Where can I find something worth five thousand taels of silver on the boundary of Yizhou? Even if there are people selling antique calligraphy and paintings in Jinan Mansion, Cui Defu is not that knowledgeable. All he thought of was a house, a Zhuangzi, and a woman. Zhuangzi is an industry; There are more uses for the house; Women are even more, how many men in the world don't love?

If you buy Zhuangzi, the land price here is cheap, and Cao Hao is just put here, and he will leave after one or two terms, which is not easy to see.

After inquiring about the news of Daotai Mansion, Cui Defu felt that he had the bottom in his heart. The county lord is pregnant, and there is still no concubine room in Cao Hao's mansion, it seems that this adult is still a "fear of guilt", and he can't complain about having a good reputation.

A man in the world, who doesn't want to take a beautiful concubine if he has a little surplus money at home? Moreover, Cao Hao was at the time when his blood was strong. Originally, he was still a little worried, whether he would offend the Chunjun Palace, but after thinking about it, let alone the county lord's forehead, it was the princess's forehead, and the long live lord didn't stop the reason for not letting the concubine be accepted.

Spread the branches and leaves, and give great gifts, who can find a mistake. As for whether or not to take back the mansion, that is Cao Hao's own business. Cui Defu also faintly had a bad idea, wanting to see the liveliness of the county lord's forehead. If you make some jokes and send them back to the capital, it is good to amuse the prince and his master.

Thinking about it like this, Cui Defu arranged it, first sent someone to Yangzhou to buy two young women who had not yet budded, and then found this house with a big garden in Yizhou, and then took the greeting post of Yaerjianga, the prince of Heshuo Jian, and solemnly invited Cao Hao to come to drink.

Cui Defu seems to be flattering, except for the occasional upturned orchid finger that makes Cao Hao shudder, it can be regarded as an ironing that can "shoot" people.

Among the several pot-burning Zhuangzi involved in Dongyandao, only Daxing Town, which has the largest Zhuangzi background, and most of the other Zhuangzi are under the names of relatives outside the sect, and the faint ones are mainly based on the Zhuangzi of Daxing Town.

Although Cao Hao doesn't have a good impression of these clans, if they have a grudge, they are all in the capital, and the small shoes are inevitable, and they don't know how to trouble when the time comes. Therefore, Cao Hao gave them a cheap price after they suffered a loss, also because he didn't want to make enemies.

Now it seems that Prince Jane Yaerjianga is on the road, Cao Hao has eliminated hidden dangers, and he is also a little happy in his heart.

Cui Defu saw that he had drunk three rounds and said all the kind things that should be said, so he whispered two words to the little servant waiting next to him.

In the fragrance of lotus flowers and the swaying of lotus leaves, two graceful women slowly walked......

(To be continued)