Compared with the Manchurian magnates who have been entrenched in Beijing for several generations, although the Cao family is not a famous family, it is better because the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren are all close ministers of today, and they also have some weight.

Cao Yan's demotion has attracted speculation from many well-intentioned people.

In fact, Cao Yan is twenty-two years old, and he is already in a high position as a teenager. However, this is nothing compared to his past resume.

Although the Taifu Temple is deserted, the chief official is one of the nine Qings; Although the military department is a place of weight, Cao Yan has been demoted three levels in a row, and he is the driver of the fourth division, so the punishment is really a bit heavy.

The four divisions of the Ministry of War include the Military Selection Division, which is in charge of the selection and grading of military attachés, the Arsenal Division, which is in charge of military registration, weapons, the military examination section of the township association, the compilation and distribution, and the military affairs, the Driving Department which is in charge of horse administration and post transmission, and the Occupational Division which is in charge of the public opinion map of various provinces.

Among the four divisions, in terms of power, there is still a number of military election divisions.

The Military Selection Division is the "Ministry of Officials" in the Ministry of War, and whether the military attache goes out of Beijing or enters Beijing, the dots here are absolutely indispensable. From the main priest to the main secretary below, the pen sticker, the ice tribute, charcoal tribute, and farewell tribute received every year are innumerable.

Secondly, the Arsenal Division is also good, there are things such as weapons storage and storage, and there are more bends and curves.

The lightest province is the staff department, but it is to go to the yamen to order tea and mix it, and it is common to have no errands for ten days and a half months. Although the oil and water are not the same as the Wuxuan Division, no one is red-eyed, and there is no need to carry the black pot for the head, which is better than worry-free.

The car driver does not occupy either end, there is no oil and water, and there are many trivial things.

Nominally, this side is in charge of the national horse administration, but the so-called national horse politics refers to the Eight Banners Ranch. Eight Banners Ranch, there are all flags under the jurisdiction of the capital and deputy capital, where can the car driver talk here?

However, since it is a name, the assessment of the ranch and the statistics of the number of livestock still have to be attributed to the car driving department.

For example, the snowstorm in Mongolia last winter and this spring caused serious losses to pasture livestock, and the officials of the vehicle driving department went to count the number of livestock in the pastures one by one.

The number of livestock in the pasture of Taifu Temple fell to 30%, and the four chief officials were punished. The loss of the Eight Banners Ranch will be half, and the military department will also be implicated. The two scholars of the military department were punished, the waiter in charge of specific things was demoted and retained, and the driver of the car was dismissed and questioned for the crime.

At the beginning of his tenure, Cao Yan went to meet with several court officials, and then returned to the car driving department.

Looking at Nalan Chengping, who was in front of him with other principals and pen stickers, Cao Yan had a smile on his face, but he couldn't help but think of a sentence in his heart, "Don't stay if you shouldn't stay, don't leave if you should go."

The former member of the former who was implicated in the ranch and dismissed was a man with a red flag, a disciple of the king of Pingjun, Nersu. Now it is replaced by Nalan Chengping, who has made a contribution to counting the number of livestock killed in the pasture.

In the early years, Nalan Chengping saw people talking about people and talking about ghosts, and Balabala was a showy guy with a bit of a smug surname. Now he is less smiling, his expression is solemn, and he is suddenly two of them steadily.

Although he was respectful and courteous, he occasionally looked at Cao Yan's gaze, but it was difficult to hide his resentment.

Coming here on an errand, Cao Yan already felt troublesome, and when he saw Nalan Chengping's demeanor, he felt more and more headaches.

The fourteenth elder brother promoted him to the military department, did he want to win him over?

Cao Yan couldn't help sneering in his heart, if the fourteenth elder brother was really a tolerant person, then he would not be extremely ridiculed because of Cao Yan's initial grievances with the children of the Yellow Flag.

The fourteenth elder brother is not a child, he should know Kangxi's taboo.

Wooing Cao Yan and the Cao family, if there is no Kangxi instructions, it will only backfire.

The fourteenth elder brother did this, but he just wanted to pull Cao Yan to his side.

Whether you want to find faults, whether you want to contain Cao Yin, or whether you want to make peace for the time being, you can take the initiative a lot. Besides, bluffing and showing other elder brothers can be regarded as making enemies for the Cao family.

After analysis, Cao Yin, Mr. Zhuang, and Cao Yan already knew it in their hearts, but there was no other way.

After all, the holy decree had been issued, and Cao Yan could only be ordered to go to the military department. Fortunately, among the ministers above the military department, there is also the king of Pingjun, Nersu, who can be regarded as having a care.

If the fourteenth elder brother is a smart person, he should also have some scruples, and he will die down, and the gains and losses of the province will outweigh the losses.

Cao Yan thought of this, and his heart gradually calmed down.

Even if he is an errand boy in the military department, with his friendship with the thirteenth elder brother, the fourth elder brother will still misunderstand that he is the "fourteenth party"?

If that's the case, I'm afraid that there will be no clean people in this court.

The elder brothers who are going to take over the heirs are in charge of the affairs of the ministry, and the fourth elder brother can still dispose of all the officials of the six ministries?

An errand is just an errand, as long as you do it well, even if others want to pick a bone in the egg, you can't blind people.

Cao Yan reached out and took the official document and began to familiarize himself with his new errand.

Do things in a down-to-earth manner and be an honest person. With your ears and your mouth closed. There are no other strengths, the four words "prudent words and deeds", Cao Yan is still confident that he can do it.

When he first came to Chadao, he spent most of the day trying to understand the post roads of the Eight Banners Ranch distributed in the same provinces.

Looking at the number of livestock in the pasture that Nalan Chengping summed up with people a few days ago, Cao Yan couldn't help but feel a little strange.

Although he was half a colleague, he heard the wind and knew that the accounts of the Eight Banners Ranch were chaotic, and the actual number of livestock was far less than the number of livestock on the accounts. However, because this is related to the magnates of the Eight Banners, although everyone knows it, no one dares to poke it out.

Nalan Chengping, the six-grade master, dared to report the truth, who gave him the courage?

It is not easy to settle the empty livestock accounts in the face of heavy snowstorms. The rules of this ranch are that even if the livestock is killed, it must be deboned and skinned, and the skin and bones of the livestock must be put into storage.

In addition to horses, there are tens of thousands of cattle, hundreds of thousands of sheep, and hundreds of thousands of livestock in total.

Even if it is a false report, it is a shortage of tens of thousands of livestock, but is it more than just a false report?

People's hearts are greedy, in front of silver, who would have thought that if there was really a war, there would be no horses in this court, what would be the situation.

Since the 36th year of Kangxi, after the royal drive personally conquered and quelled the Galdan rebellion, the world has been peaceful for nearly 20 years.

In the eyes of those Eight Banners magnates, now that the Quartet is peaceful, it is the "peaceful and prosperous era", and the beacon years are gone forever.

On the ranch side, after months of adulthood, the number of falsely reported livestock is not half, but also three or four percent.

There is someone behind Nalan Chengping, Cao Yan thought of this, and he was a little more vigilant in his heart, but there was nothing to be afraid of.

The Eight Banners Ranch is different, and the pastures of each Banner are of the same level and do not belong to each other. Smoothing out the accounts of Eight Flags Ranch is not something that one or two people can do.

Vertical and horizontal union, involving more people, there will always be clues. Tracing back to the source, you can find out who is behind it.

Now it is the fifty-fourth year of Kangxi, and in two or three years, it will be the Fourteenth Elder Brother's Western Expedition. If there are not enough military horses, isn't war child's play?

Thinking about this, Cao Yan couldn't help but hesitate a little in his heart.

Could it be that he misunderstood the fourteenth elder brother, and the fourteenth elder brother wanted to protect himself for the sake of the horses?

Some time ago, Cao Yan asked several other chief officials of Taifu Temple to jointly sign the excerpts of "forage reserves" and "captive house feeding".

The fourteenth elder brother talked and laughed before, and it was only after reading the excerpt that he realized that Cao Yan had extraordinary talents and was of great use to the country and the people...... The fourteenth elder brother who is dedicated to the country, the fourteenth elder brother who is narrow-minded, Cao Yan stroked his light brain, and felt that he was a little taken for granted.

Of course, you must seek good fortune and avoid evil, but you can't be too self-righteous.

It is necessary to take precautions, and it is necessary to "confess" where it is necessary to "confess". Otherwise, it is obvious that he has done his part, if outsiders seem to have helped the fourteenth elder brother, then who can guarantee that the fourth elder brother will not suspect him?

It seems that I have to go to the thirteenth elder brother, and by the way, I will also talk about the foreign goods store.

After staying up until the yamen, Cao Yan walked out of the yamen, and saw Zhao Feng, a close attendant beside the sixteenth elder brother, standing not far away and talking to Xiaoman.

Seeing Cao Yan come out, Zhao Feng greeted him, beat a thousand children, and said: "Master Cao, our master is looking for Master Cao, there are many people here, waiting at the mouth of the alley in front of you." ”

Although I don't know what the sixteenth elder brother is looking for, but it is rare for him to come out of the palace, and Cao Yan's face has a smile on his face.

When we met, the sixteenth elder brother looked Cao Yan up and down, his eyes fell on his white pheasant supplement, and asked with a smile: "Start from the five grades again, but it is still easy, how about this kung fu?" ”

Cao Yan smiled bitterly and said, "It's okay, although it's a bit cumbersome, it can be regarded as having rules to follow." Speaking of this, he asked, "The sixteenth master is looking for me, is there something wrong?" ”

The sixteenth elder brother flicked his sleeves and said, "It's not for the thirteenth brother's foreign goods shop, let's go, let's go to the thirteenth brother's mansion and talk while walking." ”

The thirteenth elder brother's foreign goods shop is already packing, and the goods in Guangzhou have also arrived. Those who are well-informed have already gotten the news.

Now it is the sixteenth elder brother who is in charge of the internal affairs department, even if those imperial businessmen have objections to this, they can't afford to make trouble.

Cao Yan also took care of the sixteenth elder brother, and didn't want him to be too embarrassed, so when he asked Wei Xincai to buy foreign goods, he also tried to avoid a few big heads.

Whether it's a Western object or an Oriental object, it's just a rarity. Even if Wei Xin avoided furs, medicinal herbs, and clocks, but on the grocery side, those imperial merchants also had a business.

Those imperial merchants were afraid that the thirteenth elder brother would take the opportunity to buy and sell a few large foreign goods. Even if the thirteenth elder brother does not have a title, after all, he is a prince, his status is noble, and although they also have a master behind them, if they really make trouble because of the business, they will not be able to make any good money.

Shang is a "cheap industry", even if it is in front of the emperor, it is also a major forty boards, and there is no face twice.

People are good at being bullied, and horses are good at being ridden.

After checking the news with Guangzhou, I knew that the business of the thirteenth elder brother had avoided the main business of several imperial merchants, and everyone had to look forward to Shu again, and the fear of the prince and elder brother had also decreased a lot.

Although the thirteenth elder brother was not circled, he was not knighted, but he was just treated as an idle clan. It's always been closed, what's so scary?

They pouted and muttered endlessly in front of the sixteenth elder brother.

Of course, the sixteenth elder brother will not take them seriously, but he is also a little jealous of the masters behind them.

Now looking for Cao Yan, the sixteenth elder brother is discussing with him, and wants to participate in this transaction. It's not that he's greedy for money, he hasn't divided the government yet, and his food and clothing are all provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he is not short of silver.

It's just to avoid future troubles, the county officials are not as good as the current management, there are shares of the sixteenth elder brother in it, even if it is the iron hat prince's side, it must be avoided.

Otherwise, the sixteenth elder brother is in charge of the Internal Affairs Office here, and it will be easy to return it.

Cao Yan naturally had no opinion, when he was thinking about buying and selling foreign goods, he thought about the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother.

However, if the movement is too big, for fear of causing Kangxi to think too much, Cao Yan will not have any extraneous branches, and on the side of the sixteenth elder brother, he has already said hello.

The sixteenth elder brother knew that the thirteenth elder brother was in a tight situation, so he naturally supported it. Now he took the initiative to participate, also to protect the thirteenth elder brother.

After the two of them said this, they both felt a little uncomfortable in their hearts.

As the prince, the thirteenth elder brother was favored by the emperor in his early years, and when he was favored by the emperor, he supervised and flattered, and the prince and the prince also had to bend down; Now that he is down, even the powerful domestic slaves dare to step on it.

People are warm and cold, and the world is hot and cold.

Even the people who were watching were sad for the Thirteenth Elder Brother, and the Thirteenth Elder Brother himself would not feel good in his own heart.

The sixteenth elder brother restrained his smile, sighed, and said, "Fu Ruo, the thirteenth brother's current statement is my Ming name." My mother is Han and has a low reputation. If only the Emperor Amaron...... If Huang Ama can think of letting us open the mansion and divide the seal, then I and the fifteenth brother and the seventeenth brother can still get a solid mountain shellfish. If the emperor didn't think about it, wait until the new emperor ...... The princes and generals are also not in order. In the end, the frown also frowned.

Seeing him so depressed, Cao Yan couldn't help but wonder: "How did the Sixteenth Master think of this?" Remember not saying before, if it was really at that time, in order to show off the sibling lover, that one would also treat you well? ”

The sixteenth elder brother shook his head and sighed: "It's me who is short-sighted, I really think I have a few catties and a few taels." I can see that except for Huang Ama, this other person is nothing. Whether it is a virtuous king or a famous minister, it is just a matter of Huang Ama's words. Huang Ama sat on that chair, what could not be seen, what could not be seen clearly? It's just for the sake of checks and balances, and it's just intentional connivance. Father and son are flesh and blood, and if this is the case, how can brothers still look forward to brotherhood? I really sat in that position, and I was happy and angry. If you are subservient, how can you think of the good things, think of the worst, and have a foundation in your heart. ”

Cao Yan still didn't understand why this emotion arose.

He thought about it for a while, remembered that the eighth elder brother was seriously ill recently, turned his head to look at the sixteenth elder brother, and said, "The sixteenth master went to the eighth master's mansion?" ”

The sixteenth elder brother nodded and said, "It's strange to say, I didn't wait to see the starling brother earlier, I thought he was too utilitarian and ambitious. Now seeing him fall into this situation, I feel sorry for him again. Speaking of which, whether it is dealing with people or doing things, or being academic, starlings are also among the top among the sons of Huang Amma. However, because of Concubine Liang's low background, she also had a very difficult time in her early years, and it was better to wait until she married with King An's mansion. After calculating all these years, it seems that it is one step away from the storage position...... Huang Ama was annoyed that he was gracious and bought his name......"

In the end, it was low and inaudible, Cao Yan listened carefully, and only then did he listen to it, "...... Huang Ama did it on purpose, gave him a thought, and then broke his thoughts, this is a punishment......"

It's not easy, Cao Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this is life, you need to be attentive. If you go off the road and the soles of your feet are blistered, you can't complain about others.

It's a helpless and sad thing, that's it, I can't even think of finding an excuse to blame others...... * Chaoyangmen Neinan Street Dafangjia Hutong, Shilang Mansion.

Looking at Cao Shuo, who came to pick up Ruhui for the third time, Wu Yashi was anxious, but there was a smile on his face.

After asking the maid to serve tea, she first said a few words of homely things, and then asked her son-in-law to wait a while, and went to tell Ruhui to go.

Ruhui was dressed in homely clothes, sitting by the kang, guarding a plate of freshly fried toon fish, and eating with relish.

Seeing Wu Yashi coming in, he took the plate like a treasure, stood up and sent it forward, and said beautifully: "Eniang, didn't you say that toons are not delicious when they are old now?" Hee-hee, my daughter made the cook to make toon fish, and it was smooth to eat. I've already sent someone to send it to E-Niang, has E-Niang eaten it? ”

Wu Yashi saw her smiling happily, and her face was also full of love, she took out a handkerchief, wiped the oil stains on the corner of her mouth, and said, "Look, how old is this, and she is still like a child, so greedy." ”

Ruhui put down the plate, reached out and put her arm around Wu Yashi, and said coquettishly: "How big they are, they are all Eniang's baby girls, and it is a blessing to be able to eat." The daughter still wants to live a long life and be filial to Ama Eniang, so she naturally has to eat a lot. ”

Wu Yashi took her daughter's hand, rubbed it, and said softly: "The son-in-law is here, and this is the third time." Even if you are annoyed that he has people in the house, you should dissipate your anger, or go back first, you have to pass the day, isn't it ......"

*

(To be continued)