Imperial City, the main hall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After listening to the news from Jiang Jian, Cao Hao smiled and said: "There is a great drought in Gyeonggi, and there is a shortage of silver in the northwest, so it is reasonable for the imperial court to donate money. I've been looking forward to it for a long time, and I finally have some eyebrows. ”

Jiang Jian nodded and said, "Yes, he has been thinking about it." stranded in the capital because he couldn't explain to the old man when he went back. ”

According to later generations, Li Wei was the disciple of the fourth elder brother and was released to be an official.

Now it seems that although Li Wei has nothing to do with the fourth elder brother, the little ink in his stomach is not a person who can enter the imperial examination.

In addition to Li Wei, there are also people in front of him.

"What about non-phosphorus? After many years in the local yamen, do you have the heart to enter the office? If you are interested, take this opportunity to donate with Youju, which is also cheap. Cao Hao thought for a moment and said.

Jiang Jian listened, waved his hand hurriedly, and said, "My lord, there are still many deficiencies for students to enter the scene, and they really don't have the heart to be outstanding." ”

He doesn't usually talk much, but he rarely lies.

Even if he said it so frankly, he really didn't have that mind.

Cao Hao listened, didn't say much, and said, "Is there a letter for the donation time?" Many people's children are reluctant to go abroad, so they are waiting for Beijing to donate, and they are afraid that they will squeeze their heads when the time comes. There is a lack of outside, and I don't know if you have that convenient plan. Seeing his plain appearance, he was not like the others, so he thought about scraping the ground. ”

Jiang Jian nodded and said, "At present, there is a rumor, if you don't donate at the end of the year, it will be after the Wanshou Festival next year." The adult said yes, and the surname of Yu is quite righteous, as a Beijing official has the protection of adults, plus he has been exposed to the yamen in the past two years, and he also knows some officialdom taboos. When you get to the place, it is not necessarily a blessing. Nowadays, the local officials have reached an outrageous level of erosion. The upper government is greedy, and the lower doormen are not fuel-efficient. When a new official takes office, even if he has the heart to do a few practical things for the people, he is constrained from top to bottom, and it is difficult for him to move forward. If you don't do it well, you will be crushed. ”

If you donate before Halloween, even if Halloween is not celebrated with much fanfare, it will leave a handle for money and expenses outside. Kangxi is the best name, and the court officials will not offend the mold of the "Holy Lord".

"Well, if that's the case, let people be more careful. He is eager to do so, so he must help him. Cao Hao said.

The two gossiped a few words, and then turned to business.

I don't know if it was the sixteenth elder brother who scared everyone by checking the accounts in May, or whether Cao Hao's bidding at the beginning of the year threw out all the lucrative errands, which made the internal affairs office extraordinarily calm.

The renovation project of Changchun Garden is progressing smoothly, and the condition of the seventeenth elder brother is almost better, and now the Ministry of Internal Affairs is preparing various firewood, rice, melons and fruits for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The top tribute should be sent to the outside of the customs as soon as possible. Others, there are harem examples, and there are also major royal palaces and Baylor mansions in the capital.

After finishing the errand at hand, seeing that the hour was almost up, Cao Hao came out of the yamen.

This is the advantage of the Holy Driver's absence in the capital, the atmosphere of the yamen is much more idle, and the son is quite comfortable.

Cao Haoyuan was not used to leaving early, and wanted to stay up. But if he didn't leave, the subordinate officials below couldn't retreat, and he came and went, causing a lot of dissatisfaction.

It was Dong Dianbang who said a few words tactfully, and Cao Hao began to follow the crowd. It's just that he knows that there is still someone staring at him, waiting to grab the pigtails, so he takes the golden mean.

Unlike other yamen, they leave after noon; It's not like before, staying up until dusk.

When Cao Hao was about to get home, he saw two mule carts full of mules entering his house from the side.

When he arrived at the door of the house, Cao Hao turned over and came down, and a porter came forward to lead the horse.

Cao Hao handed over the reins of the horse and said, "What's the matter?" ”

"If you go back to your lordship, it's Lord Dong who has arrived." The porter leaned back.

"Master Dong?" When Cao Hao heard this, he was quite surprised.

There are many officials surnamed Dong in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the only people who have dealings with Cao Hao are Dong Dianbang and Dong Changhai.

When I entered the yard, I saw Wu Sheng holding a list, standing in the yard, directing several small servants to unload the goods on the truck.

Seeing Cao Hao come in, everyone stopped what they were doing and leaned over to say goodbye.

Cao Hao waved his hand and told everyone to continue to be busy, then looked at the car twice and said, "What is it?" ”

Wu Sheng handed over the list with both hands and said, "Uncle, it's mostly Shi Xian'er, it's rare to have such a big anchovy and a few baskets of lake crabs." ”

Cao Hao took the list and swept it simply, there were a lot of serious things, melons, fruits, flesh and vegetables. Melons have late-ripening watermelons and cantaloupe, fruits have persimmons, grapes, red dates, meat in addition to anchovies and crabs, there are pheasants and venison, vegetables have cocoon, water chestnut, yam, ginger, lotus root.

Cao Hao closed the list, handed it back to Wu Sheng, and said, "What about Lord Dong?" ”

"Back to Uncle's words, Master Dong was led to the living room by the big housekeeper to eat tea." Wu Sheng replied.

The only one who can send things over should be Dong Changhai, a construction secretary.

Since returning to Beijing, he has come to the door more than once. It's not that he bribed Cao Hao, but he was elected by the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be a messenger to Cao's house.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has a lot of oil and water, and it is well known.

Except for the silver that fell from various errands, all that was left was these things.

When the Huangzhuang from all over the country sends fresh food to the capital on a quarterly basis, whoever dares to send it according to the share in the regulations. There must always be a few more percent, so as to save the loss on the road, and you can't pay the errand when you arrive in Beijing.

Even if it is ten out of ten things, those masters of the Internal Affairs Office are also staring, thinking about how to take out a few percent to divide it, not to mention the extra ones, it is naturally regarded as filial piety outside.

There are "benefits" to be divided almost every month, and it has also become a practice of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Even the sixteenth elder brother and the seventeenth elder brother did not raise objections, and Cao Hao naturally did not talk about himself and engage in "anti-corruption and clean government".

Dong Changhai had a few other families to run, and when he saw Cao Hao, he said a few words with him, and then got up to say goodbye.

Cao Hao called the housekeeper to send him out of the house, and he entered the second gate and went back to the inner courtyard.

Passing by the gate of the Orchid Courtyard, Cao Hao wanted to say goodbye to the Li family, but before he entered the courtyard, he heard the laughter of Tianyou and the Hengsheng brothers.

When I entered the courtyard, I saw a wooden basin under the porch, and Tianyou and Hengsheng squatted beside them, stretching out their little necks and looking at them. Behind their brothers, there are two little walnuts and little pavilions.

"Brother, big fish ......" Hengsheng stretched out his hand and probed into the basin.

Seeing this, Xiao Xie hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him, and said, "Second master, don't be naughty, it's weird and dirty, Mrs. Carefully." ”

Hengsheng was obedient, pointed to the inside of the wooden basin with a little finger, smiled and said, "Brother, that biggest ......"

Tianyou already stood up and said, "Brother, I heard that there are crabs and pheasants in the kitchen, let's go see that?" ”

Hengsheng listened and nodded busily.

The little brothers turned around, saw their father, and hurriedly stood up to greet him. Xiao Walnut and Xiao Xie also leaned over to greet Cao Hao.

Just a maid embroidered finch came out of the upper room and squatted down.

Cao Hao waved his hand and said to Tianyou and Hengsheng: "Let's play." After speaking, he said to Xiuque, "Is Mrs. there?" ”

Li heard Cao Hao's voice in the room and raised his voice: "Hao'er is back?" Come on in. ”

Xiuque's side had already lifted the door curtain, Cao Hao turned sideways into the upper room, and saw Chu Yu coming out of the back room to greet him.

The husband and wife entered the house together, and Li had already gotten up from the edge of the kang and said to Cao Hao with a smile: "I'll come back early today, so let's have dinner here." We have a few mothers, and we haven't eaten yet. ”

"Yes, Mother." Cao Hao responded and said, "The son will go back to change his clothes first, and then come over to accompany his mother to have dinner later." ”

Li nodded and said, "Go, go." Speaking of this, he said to Chu Yu: "I heard that the internal affairs office sent crabs, and I haven't eaten them in the house this year, so ask the kitchen to clean up and steam some." ”

Chu Yu responded, came out to order, and then returned to Wutong Garden with Cao Hao.

Cao Hao was bending down to wash his face, when he heard Chu Yu say, "Master, the second wife sent someone over in the morning and invited the wife over." ”

Cao Hao stood up, and Chu Yu had already handed over the towel.

"What's going on again?" Cao Hao took the towel and said while wiping his face.

"The second wife asked the wife to follow her to the general's mansion, and she had already made a small decision, and said that she would go to the general's mansion on August 18 to make a big decision." Chu Yu replied.

Cao Hao thought that he had heard an errand, so he put down the towel and asked, "Who are you going to?" Xiaoding? General's Mansion, which General's Mansion? ”

"It's the previous one, General Fengguo Yongquan." Chu Yu replied.

Hearing this name, Cao Hao's mind thought that Yongquan was kneeling and crying a few days ago, and he only felt a chill in his back.

"What the hell is going on? The second wife was stunned, and she still wanted to say that Yun Gege was a daughter-in-law? Cao Hao only felt a burst of anxiety in his heart, and asked in a deep voice.

Regarding the reason for the discord between the relatives in Dongfu, Cao Hao told his wife, and made a special trip to tell Chu Yu to ask her to help inquire about who has a similar girl. Save when Zhaojia's whim will get married.

It's only been a few days since I'm so angry that I'm half dead, and I'm relieved again, and I still want to marry the whole family?

"It's not Yungege...... It's her niece, Yongquan's eldest daughter, Chunhua Gege...... It was said that Yun Gege was infected with the disease and sent to the nunnery outside the city to practice. The other side didn't want to break off the family affair, so he begged the third wife of the Imperial History Mansion to come together. The second wife, I don't know why, so I responded to the family affair again...... Chu Yu replied: "Mrs. is also worried about this, and the second wife can't bear the grinding, so she helped to insert Chunhua Gege, and when she came back, she began to regret it, afraid of complaining in front of the master." Although the flag people say that they are pro, there is a saying that they do not pay attention to seniority, but our family usually follows the rules of the south. The niece is married on behalf of her, which is not good to say. ”

Cao Hao was really speechless, and he didn't know whether he should blame Zhaojia's madness or blame Yongquan for being despicable.

Now that Xiao Ding has been down, it seems from the outside that it is the "benevolence and righteousness" of the General's Mansion, and he did not have the cheekiness to send the sick Gege over, and changed his identity to Chunhua Gege, who is no less than Yun Gege, to marry.

In this way, when the Cao family mentions the matter of retiring from their relatives, it is "kicking their noses in the face", "not knowing what to do", and "being arrogant and rude......".

Li Wei heard the news that the imperial court was going to donate, and he couldn't sit still with joy.

"Donate, donate. Haha......" He grinned, dancing with his hands Jiang Jian said: "Finally, I have a little hope, my old lady is now a letter every three or five days, all urging me to go back." As a father, I want my son, and I don't want to be a son, I have long thought about some talent, so I took the old couple to the capital and followed the dignity and decency. ”

Jiang Jian saw that Li Wei was blindly happy, so he had to remind him and said, "Youju, you have to think carefully." If you donate to Beijing, you can only go to Zhengwupinlang, and there are more wolves and less meat. is not as good as a foreign official, and can donate to the platform. Those who don't want their children to go out and endure hardships have won the idea of donating to Beijing, and I don't know how high the price of this shortage will be at that time. Since he had this in mind, he began to prepare the silver. ”

When Li Wei heard this, a smile was fixed on his face.

When he finished dealing with the shop at the front door, he had some spare money in his hands. But he was born with a generous surname, and he was also generous, and he rarely cared about money, and he spent about the same amount of time for more than a year.

"I want to sell the land again." Li Wei sat down and said, "It's really in vain, they are all gentlemen in their thirties, and they have to ask their father and mother for silver." When I entered Beijing a few years ago, I sold two Zhuangzi before I came. Because he couldn't find a serious way, the money was almost spent, and there was no gain. ”

When Jiang Jian heard this, he said: "I have been a curtain all these years, and I also have some savings. It's just that I sent people back to the old mother in the countryside to collect them, and if I use them, I will send someone back to get them. There is also an errand with adults this year, all kinds of pen polishing assets, as well as the respect of the subordinate officials of the hall, you can also make up some. ”

Li Wei listened, hugged his fists and smiled: "Non-phosphorus kindness, I understand it." It's just a momentary feeling, not a hearty coin. If my old lady knew that he had a letter this time, he would be willing to sell his land, not only to sell his house. Besides, the old man has saved up all his life, even if he sells two more Zhuangzi, there will be a lot of remaining fields. ”

"Youju, look at you, you don't have the heart to be obsessed with fame and fortune. If you make up for a promotion, like Wei Wuye, you don't have to worry about official business, and you can be a rich idler, not more comfortable than making up for it. My official salary is low, even if I make up for the five grades, the annual salary is only a few dozen taels of silver. Jiang Jian hesitated for a moment and persuaded.

Li Wei listened, shook his head, and said: "Fei Fei is wrong, I, Li Wei, am also an ordinary man, how can I transcend the world." If it weren't for the desire for fame and fortune, he would not have left his hometown and wandered in the capital for several years. ”

After hearing these words, Jiang Jian didn't wake up yet, and listened to Li Wei continue: "I am a reckless man in the countryside, I have no knowledge, and I seek both fame and profit. The geese have left a voice, and the people have left a name. I, Li Wei, also look forward to having a good reputation, so I look forward to being an official, and I want to be shouted twice 'Lord Qingtian'. If there is no profit, it is not early, and it is natural to seek profit. It's just that yellow and white thing, thanks to the blessing of my old man, it's enough to eat and drink enough to feed my wife and children, and we don't bother to fish for that. This benefit is a benefit to others. Because I am an official, I build roads and bridges, so that others can benefit, that is 'profit'......"

Hearing these words, Jiang Jian had already stood up, his face was solemn, and he gave Li Wei a bow, saying: "The people are very fortunate that they can come out with this heart of 'fame and fortune'. It will definitely soar into the sky and leave a name in history......

(To be continued)