Even though his face was painted with something to hide his original whiteness, it wasn't Han Jiang's, which one was it?

Although he knew that she was so strong, Cao Hao did not approve of her reckless move.

However, now is not the time to preach. followed Zhao Tong, in addition to Han Jiang's family, there were also middle-aged men in their thirties who looked very kind.

Cao Hao was still thinking about where he had seen this person, and the man had already clasped his fists and bowed down and said: "The villain Cheng Mengkun has seen Lord Cao, the villain is in a hurry, he has just arrived in the capital, and he has not had time to go to the house to greet the boss and Lord Cao, and please don't blame Lord Cao." I haven't seen you for several years, and my adults are unharmed. ”

"It turned out to be Brother Cheng!" Cao Hao returned the salute with his fists, but he was a little puzzled in his heart.

There was no rumor that the Cheng family wanted to get involved before, looking at the Han Jiang clan behind Cheng Mengkun, Cao Hao understood in his heart that he was afraid that he would have nothing to do with her.

Speaking of this Cheng Mengkun, he is the descendant of the Cheng family, a big salt merchant in the south of the Yangtze River, and Cao Hao has seen it twice.

Once in the forty-ninth year of Kangxi, when Wang Lusheng was kidnapped in Yangzhou, the queen of the Pearl Society, Cao Hao borrowed someone from the Cheng family with his father's handwritten letter because of the lack of manpower, and it was this Cheng Mengkun who came with the family guards.

In the first month of the fifty-first year of the second meeting, Cao Hao and his wife went to Shandong from Jiangning to take office, and when they passed through Yangzhou, they lived in Cheng's house and were invited by Cheng's family to a banquet.

The Cheng family is a prestigious family in the south of the Yangtze River, a century-old family, not to mention rich family assets, and they are also inextricably linked with the imperial court magnates.

When the Cao family was in Jiangning, they could transfer people from the Cheng family, and they had a relationship with each other from generation to generation.

When the Cheng family arrived in the capital, it was difficult to enter and leave the Cao family's mansion, but they were afraid that they would fall into the eyes of others. I don't think about other small businessmen, and I do everything possible to get involved with the Cao family.

Although Cheng Mengkun is not the head of the Cheng family, he is the younger brother of the head of the Cheng family.

Such a weighty person will naturally not come to the capital just to have fun.

It's just that Han Jiang's family came to this one, what does it mean? If you want to set up another portal, or do you want to pull Daoxiang Village in...... Cao Hao glanced at Han Jiang's family, and was still hesitating, when he heard Cheng Mengkun say: "Well, my lord, this is the villain's nephew...... Jiang Zhongwen begged the villain to take her to see the world, and the little one had already donated a seat to him. ”

What kind of character is Cheng Mengkun, seeing Cao Hao looking at Han Jiang's family, he explained the matter clearly in a few words.

Since he said this, Cao Hao just smiled.

In my heart, I don't know whether to admire Han Jiang's persistence, according to her surname, it is very rare to see outsiders, and it is not easy to show up like this and get involved.

She doesn't have the shyness of an ordinary daughter's family, just like a businessman.

She is good-looking, but she is not smiling, she speaks cleanly, and she does not have the softness of a daughter.

Not to mention, she didn't know what was painted on her face, which made her complexion a lot grayer and darker, and with her deliberately thickened eyebrows, she really looked like a white-faced bearded teenager.

If it weren't for Cao Hao's embarrassment, her behavior was a little abnormal, and she was afraid that ordinary people wouldn't recognize her as a woman.

Cao Hao was used to seeing her serious appearance, and it was rare to see her so embarrassed and uncomfortable, so he couldn't help but want to tease her. When the words came to his mouth, he felt that something was wrong, and swallowed again.

He thought about it for a moment and asked, "Brother Cheng is here, do you plan to participate?" I don't know, which tender are you interested in? ”

Cheng Mengkun bowed his head and replied: "I have already paid the deposit, which is the Outer Mongolian tea ceremony and the trade with Oros. ”

In the end, it is a big deal, the Mongolian tea ceremony deposit is 300,000 taels of silver, and the three-year foreign tea monopoly right; The trade margin for Oros is 200,000 taels, and it is also a three-year monopoly for trade.

Although there are many businessmen who have come from yesterday to this morning, there are only a handful of them who can swallow these two business ways with the stomach. There are many businessmen who take advantage of the cheapness of the hometown association to join forces to bid for bids.

At present, among the large merchants in the capital, there are those who have the strength to bid for these trade routes, that is, the maritime merchants Fang family, the Wang family, the Jin merchant Fan family, the Wang family, the Kang family, the salt merchant Cheng family and the foreign merchant Pan family in Guangzhou.

Except for the Cheng family and the Wang family, the others are all old households of the Internal Affairs Office, and they are inextricably linked with the Eighth Elder Brother.

Before getting the news that the eighth elder brother went to the ninth elder brother's mansion, none of these big households in the internal affairs government signed up for bidding.

In Cao Hao's heart, he didn't mind who won the bid, and the left and right money would be paid enough.

Who cares what the forces behind him are, according to the rules, whether he does well or not, and he doesn't do anything like him.

Although Cao Hao has some ideas to make money, he never dares to say that he is a businessman.

This business road was tendered, and in the hands of these businessmen, it was almost the same, not to mention a cash cow.

To tell the truth, in the past, these people did not pay less filial piety to the silver, but they all went to the hands of the eighth elder brother, the ninth elder brother and others, but now they are just being drawn red by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

originally wanted to explain Han Jiang's two sentences, but thinking that other people's serious uncles were in front of him, it was not his turn to speak as the owner of the partnership. He said a few words of gossip with Cheng Mengkun, and then turned around and entered the venue.

In addition to the subordinate officials of the main hall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, many subordinate officials from the other seven divisions and two courts also came.

The former Guangchu Shilang Zhongma Liandao, who was demoted a few years ago, is now serving as a construction Shilang.

Guangchu Shilang, who is in charge of the six warehouses of the inner treasury, silver, leather, and satin, is Shang Zhishun, the younger brother of Shang Zhijie, the head of the Shang family.

The head of the Dong family, Dong Suxin's grandfather, Dong Dianbang, is now serving as the Shen Punishment Division, and is in charge of the trial of the Sanqi Prison case.

Both the Construction Division and the Guangchu Division have something to do with this bidding, but the Prudential Division has nothing to do with it.

However, Dong Dianbang still smiled and came over with a few pen notes.

Several veteran Lang Zhong, plus the head of the Internal Affairs Bureau, He Yi, Ma Qi and Cao Hao, the leaders of the Internal Affairs Office have arrived.

Except for Lang Zhong Yi Duli and Cao Hao in the main hall, who are younger, the others are not young.

Although Cao Hao's ranking in the Internal Affairs Office is below He Yi and Ma Qi, because these bidding are his rise, everyone still thinks of him.

Cao Hao instructed people to move chairs for several old adults.

With Ma Qi and He Yi there, Dong Dianbang and Ma Liandao said how they could sit together, and said "don't dare" repeatedly, and finally rearranged the seats not far away, and a few of them bowed down to sit.

Cao Hao took out his pocket watch and glanced at it, it was already the beginning of the morning (nine o'clock in the morning), and there was still an hour and a half before noon (twelve o'clock).

The bidding is to release people into the venue at the beginning of noon, and the bidding begins at noon.

The three hundred guards have arrived, and they have already guarded the alley.

Merchants who sign up and pay the deposit will receive a license plate. After entering the venue, the chair corresponding to the number plate is their seat.

Ma Qi and He Yi are gossiping with a partner and without a partner, but they have different thoughts.

In addition to being the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, He Yi is also the secretary of the Ministry of Industry. He heard that there was also a project from the Construction Division in this bidding, so he couldn't help but pay attention.

On the side of the Ministry of Industry, decades of power have made a mess up and down.

Many projects are as if the imperial court was using silver to squander, so that those silverfish are full of private pockets.

He Yi has a bit of a literati surname on him, and he can't see this.

As early as the fiftieth year of Kangxi, he also impeached Cao Yin for the construction of the West Garden.

At that time, many flowers and stones in the West Garden were supervised by Cao Yin, who was in Jiangning, and it seemed that there were hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that could not be accounted for. Because of this, Cao Yin also defended himself.

In the end, it was Kangxi who spoke, and it was over.

As for the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, it is unknown whether Cao Yin is greedy for ink or whether the emperor has another use.

Because of this, after Cao Yin entered Beijing, He Yiyuan had some heart problems, and he was afraid that the Cao family would investigate the old things.

Later, he was also calm. He has evidence, and he is not slandering with empty words, what is his weak heart?

When Cao Hao entered the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he did not show any unusual look in his words and deeds, but He Yi was a little uncertain.

It's a clay figure, and there are three points of the local surname.

In this matter, where is there really any such thing as repaying grievances with virtue? How to repay virtue with virtue?

Cao Hao is so natural and easy-going, if he were not a "true" person, he would not be resentful of He Yi's impeachment; Or it is a "hypocritical" person, whose joy and anger are invisible, and his scheming is like the sea.

The former is okay, He Yi also claims to be a "gentleman", and he is willing to be a New Year's friend; If it is the latter, it is necessary to be more vigilant and avoid being calculated by the erection.

It's this internal affairs government bidding, which sounds decent, but as long as it is related to silver, it is not easy to be clean.

Whether Cao Hao is greedy, or diligent and patriotic, he has to wait and see what happens.

He Yi has always been honest, where would Cao Hao think of his belly.

In his mind, one thing came to mind.

When the merchants entered, they had to conduct inspections, for fear that someone would have bad intentions and bring in a murder weapon to disrupt the venue.

Others are okay to say, Han Jiang's is a daughter, what should I do then?

Look at her face, neck, wrists, and visible places are painted with fine gray, and the clothes on her body are thick enough. However, with her surname, if she was really touched by a man, she was afraid that she would immediately hit the pillar and wipe her neck.

Thinking of this, Cao Hao patted his head, called a pen post, and told him to go to the head of the warehouse here and find a few magnets.

Ma Qi sat on the side, gossiping with He Yi in his mouth, but he didn't forget to pay attention to Cao Hao's side.

Listening to Cao Hao's order, he thought about it for a while, couldn't figure out the reason, and asked curiously, "Lord Cao, is there anything else that needs to be arranged?" ”

Cao Hao waved his hand and said, "There is nothing left, the light of the lords, here is already ready." The magnet is used for inspection when entering the venue. Many of the participants are famous squires, and some of them still have the fame of the imperial court. If there is a self-defense knife, you can also find out the magnet magnet. ”

It was just a small idea that came up temporarily, but Ma Qi and He Yi nodded straight when they heard it.

Even Ma Qi, who has always been skeptical about Cao Hao's bidding behavior, can't help but praise: "Lord Cao is young, but he acts so thoroughly, it's really rare." It's just old, looking at the crowd outside, I didn't think of this. The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and Lord Cao really has to be impressed. ”

He Yi also boasted: "Those who respect people are respected, Lord Cao did not despise them because of their business affairs, and acted in the style of an ancient gentleman." ”

Cao Hao was very embarrassed by the two of them, but he felt that his face was hot, and said with a smile: "The two adults praise falsely, and the kid really doesn't dare to be." It's just a matter of doing things. The whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister. Shinong industry and commerce are all the people of the Qing Dynasty. They circulate the market, enrich tax revenues, and benefit the country and the people, and deserve to be good citizens. ”

Cao Hao said sincerely, but Ma Qi and He Yi didn't feel good in their hearts.

looked at Cao Hao's gaze, and there was a strange look.

is also a family member, look at Cao Hao in front of him, and then look at the cage birds all over the street, there is really no way to compare.

If it weren't for Cao Hao's marriage to his own son, I'm afraid that these two would have to pull Cao Hao over to be their son-in-law.

Now, he only secretly praises, and at the same time mutters a word in his stomach very disrespectfully, the emperor is not confused. The promotion of the Cao family is also for a reason.

As he spoke, the pen post had already brought people and brought the magnet.

There are more than a dozen strips in total, all of which are one and a half inches wide, half a foot long, and half an inch thick.

Before Cao Hao could think about what to use for this "security check" equipment, someone came to report that several guards from the guard office had arrived and were outside, and they wanted to see the chief manager.

Hearing this, Ma Qi, He Yi and the others all got up, and Ma Qi opened his mouth and asked, "Where did they come from, could it be that they have a will?" ”

Hearing Ma Qi's question, he couldn't help but want to slap his mouth.

This rumor is about pulling the word "Cao".

He hurriedly bowed down and said, "Returning to my lordship, those guards did not say that they wanted to pass on the decree, but only said that they were the old colleagues of Chief Cao, and they came here to cheer on purpose. ”

Cao Hao knew that it was Nalan Fusen and they had arrived.

It was really a little unexpected, but also with a little joy, saying goodbye to Ma Qi and He Yi, and striding out.

Ma Qi and He Yi glanced at each other, and sat down again, their expressions were not as comfortable as Fang Cai.

Looking at the neatly cleaned warehouse, there are all kinds of different seats. On the two-foot high platform, several cases, gongs, hammers and other objects have been placed.

Faintly from outside, the subordinate officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were busy coming and going, carrying silver into the warehouse, holding books to keep accounts, and they were very busy.

This so-called "procurement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs" has not yet officially started, but from the current point of view, Cao Hao's credit cannot be escaped.

But what is it that is not "cheering"?

Because when Cao Hao began to show this, the main hall of the Internal Affairs Office and the seven divisions and two warehouses below were all scattered. Although later, due to the death of Cao Fu Xixi, the bidding was taken over by the sixteenth elder brother. makes the people here dare not disobey the yang and the yin anymore, but there are not many who are willing to do their best.

This credit, to the present, has become Cao Hao's monopoly.

Others want a piece of the pie, but they can't save face.

Although Ma Qi and He Yi didn't mean to give Cao Hao a horse, but in this way, it was lined that the two of them were like waste...... outside the warehouse, and the people who came were none other than Nalan Fusen's Nash guards, Nalan Fusen, Heshan, Shiyun and others were among them.

Everyone had seen each other, Shi Yun looked behind Cao Hao, and said with a smile, "What about uncle?" I've completed the task, and Cao Ye and Uncle Cao will treat me to a good meal. ”

It turned out that their guards were resting yesterday and returned to Beijing from the Tangquan Palace, and after entering Andingmen, they met Seshtu.

Seshtu thought about the bidding next time, so everyone came to shake the field.

After all, wearing the skin of a guard can also deceive those rich people. Save them a few dollars, I really think that I am an uncle, so I dare to speak loudly.

The matter of the bidding of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has also caused a lot of trouble.

Nalan Fusen and Heshan, Cao Hao are not just colleagues, they have traveled to Mongolia several times, and their friendship is not a star. Several of the older ones are also Hang Seng's godfathers.

When Cao Hao first arrived at the Internal Affairs Office, the water over there was deep, and everyone was happy to go over and pull it.

So, they made an appointment to come over.

Yesterday, Iduli was nervous, but today he is nervous again, and he memorizes the draft of his speech silently.

According to his words, he memorized them all well, but when he stood on that platform, he felt that he had forgotten the words.

When Cao Hao heard this, he gave him a trick and wrote part of the manuscript on the inside of the sleeve on the left in small letters. In this way, when you are nervous and forget the words, you can also give a word by looking down.

When Yiduli heard this, he was overjoyed, and immediately asked the scribe for pen and ink, and found a secluded place to copy.

For the arrival of Nalan Fusen and others, Cao Hao was happy, but he didn't dare to call blindly without seriousness, which was easy to fall behind.

They are more, they can only be used as decorations, so that everyone can see, there are imperial guards here.

If they were really instructed to work, they would not be able to say that tomorrow there would be an excerpt from the imperial history to impeach Cao Hao for the crimes of "arrogance", "rebellion", and "great disrespect".

Nalan Fusen and Heshan also understood this, but they had met with the lords of the Internal Affairs Office, and then they were visitors.

Shi Yun was too young to sit still, watching Cao Hao order someone to tie the magnetic stripe to a two-foot-long narrow wooden board, curiously tight.

Cao Hao explained how to use this thing, and asked the commander of the guard camp to call twenty guards to come over and act as guards at the entrance. These dozen or so magnetic stripes are used for "security checks".

Shi Yun saw this strange thing for the first time, and he was reluctant to let go, so the same guard temporarily changed his clothes and held his chest to serve as a guard.

He was wearing the clothes of the guard camp and didn't care, so how dare the guards casually wear guard clothes and wander around in front of people?

Although he also had the heart to watch the excitement, Shi Yun said good things, and also stuffed broken silver in his hand, and he couldn't say anything, so he asked a scribe and found a place to sleep.

After this toss, it was almost noon.

The subordinate officials of the main hall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have already gone out, and the merchants are asked to line up in the order of the number plates in their hands, and they are ready to enter the venue.

On the field, in addition to the opposite side of the presiding stage is the seat of the merchant area, there are also many round tables on the east and west sides, which are for adults from other departments to observe.

This hour is coming, and I don't see anyone from other yamen coming, could it be that yesterday the six officials of the six departments sent people to pick up the post, it was all child's play?

Everyone in the Internal Affairs Office has different thoughts, but Cao Hao is starting to get busy again.

The 200 auction places that were set earlier are all gone, and there are still many businessmen waiting to pay the deposit and receive the brand. There are even more people waiting for the position of "donation".

Cao Hao thought about it for a while, and said to the principal who came to the report: "Add 100 to the donation position, and 800 taels of silver for each position." Auction seats, add fifty. The first forty will be issued in order, and the last ten, shouting, and the one with the highest deposit will be awarded. ”

The principal was afraid of confusing Cao Hao's instructions, so he repeated it, and when he saw Cao Hao nodding, he responded.

Heshan was beside him, pointing to the rows of chairs far away from the front desk, and asked, "What is the donation location, is that over there?" What is the benefit of a chair that can be sold for eight hundred? ”

"It's just a strange picture, some businessmen want their sons and nephews to see the world." Cao Hao replied.

After a quarter of an hour, the voices outside began to become complicated, and the previous principal turned back, his face was already flushed, and he was almost dancing with excitement: "My lord, my lord, the fifty bidding numbers have been discharged." The following ten trumpets, ten trumpets...... Sold for a high price...... The two hundred and forty-ninth is six hundred thousand taels of silver...... Two hundred and fifty is eight hundred thousand ...... of silver. Ten trumpets totaling 2,850,000 taels ......"

When other people heard this, they only thought that there was a lot of silver, hundreds of thousands, millions of taels, and they didn't know how much there was.

The most shocking thing is Shang Zhishun in Guangchu Shilang.

You must know that last year, the salt and tea tax in the inner treasury was collected, totaling more than 3.74 million taels of silver.

Cao Hao's side, the bidding has not yet begun, the deposit and the donation of silver, before and after counting is already more than 5.5 million taels, this is only the deposit, according to the bidding plan, the starting amount is three times the deposit, the transaction is expected to be more than five times, then how much is the silver in the account?

When Cao Hao heard this number, he also felt a lot of joy in his heart.

Even if two-thirds of the merchants lose the auction, then a small four million silver will go into the treasury, and they will be able to cope with the war in the northwest for a while. If the auction is successful, and the silver behind is paid, the income of the inner treasury will be much higher than that of the treasury.

From this point of view, his 10 million is quite eyebrow-raising.

Although it is true that there is some focus on taking all this money at once, it has reached this point, and it is nonsense to worry about it.

On the presiding stage, in addition to the case, there is also a table clock temporarily borrowed by Necuri.

With the bell of "Dangdang", I remembered that it was early noon (eleven o'clock at noon).

Led by the head of the main hall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Shi Yun and the soldiers of the guard camp inspected it in turn, and let everyone enter.

Ma Qi, Cao Hao and others have already hidden to the side first, saving everyone from kneeling and worshipping when they see it, which makes the scene chaotic.

Although there were a lot of people coming in, few people made a sound, and most of them took their number plates and found the corresponding chairs to sit down, and they were very orderly.

When I met an acquaintance, I didn't care about greetings, so I nodded my head.

Looking at what they are wearing, many of them are using python satin, and it seems that they have donated their tops to wear on their bodies.

These 250 auction seats are full, and only then do 250 "donation seats" enter.

Shi Yun held the magnetic plate and glanced at the few daggers found on the tray on the side, but he couldn't laugh or cry.

However, he was born in a businessman, with a village atmosphere, and this portable dagger is mostly a flower handle, inlaid with gold and jade gems, which looks gorgeous, and is light and fluttering in his hand, not like a top use.

Including Shiyun, the twenty guards were divided into five groups for inspection, and the speed was also very fast.

One time less, most of them went in, and only a few people were left.

Shiyun only felt that his arm was sore, and he was looking forward to finishing it soon, changing his clothes and entering the venue to see the excitement.

The person in front of him was grinding and not coming. Shi Yun couldn't help frowning, waved his hand, and said, "Hey, hurry up, don't delay your efforts." ”

The man looked at the magnetic plate in his hand, and then slowly stepped forward, leaned over and pulled out a deerskin sheath dagger from his boots, and whispered, "Is this temporarily put away, or is it confiscated?" ”

Because of the movement of the words, Shi Yun didn't hear clearly, took the magnetic plate, and asked while gesturing to his side, "What did you accept?" ”

That person was none other than Han Jiang's clan, although he looked at it behind for a while, and knew that this inspection was not to turn over clothes, but he still couldn't help but take a step back.

Shi Yun saw that her demeanor was different, her chest was bulging, and she frowned, "What is there?" Do you have any iron tools, hand them over first? Save yourself the hassle. ”

When Han Jiang heard this, his face was flushed, and he almost turned around and ran away.

She stabilized her mind and handed over the dagger in her hand: "The only iron weapon on the body is this, it is a relic of the small parents, if it is confiscated, please allow the small one to find someone to put this dagger temporarily." ”

Seeing that Shiyun was silent, Han Jiang thought that he didn't believe it, and replied without humility or arrogance: "Lord Cao's mansion is in charge of Zhao, and he knows the little one, if the adult doesn't believe it, you can find someone to call him over and ask him." ”

Shi Yun's brows did not stretch, but his eyes seemed to be glued to Han Jiang's face.

Han Jiang sensed that something was wrong, and hurriedly turned his head sideways to avoid it.

Shi Yun's gaze fell on her neck, the corners of his mouth were already smiling, he took the dagger from Han Jiang's hand, and said, "Don't bother Zhao Tong, that kid, this master will keep it for you, you go in first!" ”

Han Jiang's heart only felt weird, and there were still people urging her behind, so she didn't care about exploring, and entered the field with her head down.

Shi Yun held the dagger in his hand and looked at Han Jiang's back, but his expression changed, sometimes happy, sometimes dignified, and very entangled...... * By the second quarter of the first day of noon (half past eleven o'clock at noon), the auction hall had already been prepared, and hundreds of princes and officials began to arrive one after another.

The first to arrive were naturally the sixteenth elder brother in charge of the Internal Affairs Office and the seventeenth elder brother in the assistant internal affairs department. The two of them were in a hurry, and it was difficult to hide the dust on their bodies.

They walked this way at noon yesterday, and today I don't know why, but they were late.

Looking at the full venue, the two of them were quite surprised, and when they looked at Cao Hao, they were only happy.

Taking advantage of the sixteenth elder brother's greetings with others, the seventeenth elder brother whispered to Cao Hao: "Fu Ruo, you should be a good student, thank you sixteenth brother." He saw that the situation yesterday was not good, and he was afraid that you would be responsible, so he made a special trip to the master (ran to Huang Ama and complained about your suffering, so as to prevent you from being cleaned up if you lose today. This way is fast, and the roots of the thighs are worn out. ”

Cao Hao listened, and while thanking the seventeenth elder brother, he looked at the figure of the sixteenth elder brother and was very moved...... Then, there are the members of the Ministry of Rites. In addition to the Manchu Han Shangshu, there are also Cao Yin and the seventh elder brother in charge of the Ministry of Rites.

Cao Hao and others came out to greet them, and the businessmen also stood up to greet them.

Subsequently, the people of the military department and the people of the household department.

Next, it is the clan relatives and the prince's elder brother.

"Prince Heshuo Cheng has arrived in ......"

"Prince Heshuoyong arrived at ......"

"Prince Heshuo Jian drove to ......"

"Prince Heshuokang drove to ......"

In the bidding hall, there were few people standing, except for a few princes and elder brothers who did not need to kneel, everyone else knelt on the ground to greet the kings......

(To be continued)