On the seventh day of the first month of the fifty-first year of Kangxi, Cao Hao received a letter from Zhuang Xi and Amethyst from the capital. In Zhuang Xi's letter, he talked a lot about current affairs, mentioning that Wang Shichen, the governor of Zhejiang, told Lao Zhun to play, and Lu Xun of Jianchang Road in Sichuan was the envoy of Jiangsu according to the inspection department. Although the two appointments seem to be unrelated, Cao Hao and Cao Yin still see some ways from them.

In the study of the Weaving Mansion, Cao Yin sighed and said, "It seems that Long Live Lord still wants to protect the Kali!" ”

When Cao Hao heard this, he couldn't help frowning, he really couldn't figure out why the old man Kangxi was so conniving at corrupt officials. This Wang Shichen had a slight friendship with Zhang Boxing, and once patrolled the sea with the soldiers here in Jiangsu. Like these old ministers who are over sixty years old, if their terms of office expire, they usually make a gesture of saying goodbye to their old age, but it is just a form of walking, and usually Huang Yanjing will reluctantly stay, or take the original position, or be promoted. It is really rare to directly tell the old like Wang Shichen. Therefore, Cao Yin thought that Kangxi had the intention to protect the Kali.

Although Cao Hao didn't know Lu Xun's resume, he was able to rise directly from the Zhengsipin Daotai to the Zhengsanpin according to the envoy, or the rich province of Jiangsu, which was not an ordinary person, thought about it and asked: "Father, this Lu Xun is a member of the Han Army?" ”

Cao Yin nodded: "Yes, what the Long Live Lord means, it seems that he also wants to protect Uncle Zhang!" ”

After all, Kangxi is not blind and deaf, and he is afraid that protecting Kali will affect the balance of Manchu and Han officials, and he is not worried about this Jiangnan officialdom; But this Zhang Boxing is a well-known and well-known Qing official with a high reputation among the people, how can he be held accountable for his slander by Kali? Cao Hao thought of this, remembered Kangxi's protection of the Manchurians, and didn't know what it felt like.

Although the Manchus have been in the customs for more than 60 years, for the Central Plains, they have always been aliens. Even they themselves, there is also the example of Meng Yuan, so they will guard against the Han people.

The Manchu-Han dispute between the father and son by Kali and Zhang Boxing, and when it comes to the situation in Jiangnan officialdom, the more they talk about it, the more they feel that the sacred heart is unpredictable, and I don't know how Kangxi will deal with these two people. Although they want to protect them, the officialdom on Jiangnan's side has already made these two people mix like this, and it is estimated that they may not have the surname to stay in Jiangnan.

Amethyst's letter, however, said that it was mostly about the Cao family's exchanges with various prefectures. On November 23 last year, it was two days after Cao Hao and their family went south, and the fourth elder brother of Prince Yong's mansion said that he had a hundred years. Three days later, the Gege Gengjia clan of Prince Yong's Mansion gave birth to another fifth elder brother.

Because Cao Hao specially explained before leaving, among the princes' mansions, not to mention the two palaces of Chunping, the relationship between Prince Yong's mansion and the thirteenth elder brother's mansion must also be thickened, so Amethyst used Cao Hao's and Chu Yu's posts to prepare heavy gifts. Naturally, according to the Cao family's usual tradition, these are unostentatious and tangible things.

In the month of last year, there were mainly three major events: the eldest son of the thirteenth elder brother, the youngest elder brother Hongtun, the sixteenth elder brother married the eldest brother, and Miss Wanyan married into the Jian Wangfu. The corresponding gift list was prepared by Cao Hao before he set off, and Amethyst only needed to arrange for someone to present it.

There is nothing here in the Thirteen Mansions and Wanyan Mansion, just some objects, decorations, gold and silver gifts. In addition to the hot spring Zhuangzi in Changping and the twenty hectares of mountains around Zhuangzi, the sixteenth elder brother also had some classics on mathematics that Cao Hao had asked Wei Xin to find from Guangdong. This made the sixteenth elder brother very happy, and specially wrote a letter to thank Cao Hao, and also attached some health pills in exchange for the Internal Affairs Office, but these were for his cousin and cousin's husband.

Amethystum also mentioned in the letter that after discussing with Mr. Zhuang, these people in the capital will set off on the eleventh day of the first lunar month and go to Yizhou. Because they had heard Cao Hao mention that they would go to work after the fifteenth day in the south, Jiangning was much closer to Yizhou than the capital was to Yizhou, so they set off five days in advance and joined Cao Hao in Yizhou.

After the New Year and New Year, after a few days of entertainment, it was getting closer and closer to the date when Cao Hao and his wife went north, not only Cao Yin seized the time to remind his son of some doorways that need to be paid attention to in the officialdom; Even the Li family explained a lot to his daughter-in-law Chu Yu.

Although Gao Taijun didn't like Chu Yu, it didn't affect Li's satisfaction with this daughter-in-law. Chu Yu has a good upbringing, good looks, and nothing to say about Cao Hao, what else is there to see such a daughter-in-law? The only regret is that Chu Yu has been in the door for more than a year, and his stomach has not moved. But because Cao Hao and Chu Yu were still young, and the Li family was also Cao Yan, who was pregnant after entering the door for more than a year, they didn't mention it too much. On the contrary, she was also worried that Chu Yu would be sad, so she comforted her twice.

Although the Xifu Zhaojia family wanted to have a good friendship with the county lord's daughter-in-law, because of the New Year, the toss of holding the two daughters and the two mansions made the children cool down and became ill. Cao Yu is okay, after all, he is bigger and his body is stronger; Wu'er is not yet one year old, and his body has not been very good since he landed, and he has been sick for half a month.

Zhao Jia's family is also a little strong, for fear that the concubine will make a mistake and confirm her "unvirtuous", so she asked the doctor to take care of it herself, and lost a lot of weight, even Cao Quan couldn't help but be a little moved when she saw it. There are fewer people in the Baodie and Jade room, and they almost stay in the Zhaojia room. Sometimes, it is inevitable to offer some courtesy and help Zhao Jia's rub his shoulders, pinch his feet or something.

Although Cao Quan and his wife were like this in the early years, since they entered the house and made a few noises after that, such warmth has long been rare.

Zhao Jia's heart was happy and sour, and when no one was around, he was in a daze at Wu'er, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Not only treats Wu'er like this, but also treats his concubine Cao Xiang, and Zhaojia's family is also much more pleasant. Helplessly, Cao Xiang was frightened by her, and she was in her teens, so she was not easy to coax, but she was more and more trembling because of her mother's abnormality.

Zhao Jia's family approached him twice, and he was impatient to see him like this, so he waved his hand and sent him down.

Cao Quan's concubine Baodie was originally the girl in Zhaojia's room, and she had seen Zhaojia's early years, and now she seemed to be a different person, and she was also suspicious in her heart. Because she was in the house, her son Cao Xiang was not as sensible as her brother Cao Shuo, but she didn't even have the cleverness of her younger brother Cao Fu.

Baodie knew that Cao Hao, the eldest brother, had always been hurt by several younger brothers, so he also thought carefully, thinking that his son would be eleven this year, if he was in the south, with his brother and brother comparing, he didn't know when he would be able to come out; It's better to follow your cousin and ask for fame when you're a few years old. Therefore, she found an opportunity to beg Cao Quan twice.

Although Cao Quan understands Baodie's beloved son, he thinks that his nephew Cao Hao has not yet reached the weak crown and is the first time to take up a foreign appointment, so he can't help as an uncle, how can he make trouble again? He appeased Baodie, and Dao was to discuss this matter three years later, after all, Cao Hao was going to do the Daotai, where would he have the kung fu to take care of his younger brother? It would be fine if Cao Xiang was older, but at this age, it is time to urge him to read and write hard.

Baodie begged Cao Quan not to move, and she didn't dare to act arbitrarily, so she devoted herself to letting her son study hard, which made Cao Xiang miserable for a while. However, the teenage child is also sensible, and knows that his aunt is for his own good, so he gritted his teeth and stood up, determined to get out of the way, so as not to let the brothers look down on him.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Weaving Mansion held a family banquet, which can be regarded as a practice for Cao Hao and his wife.

The next time, Cao Hao and Chu Yu said goodbye to their parents and relatives and set off north. In addition to Cao Song, Wei Hei, Cao Fang, Xiao Man and some long-term guards, there were also Cao Hao's two nephews, Cao Yanxiao and Cao Yanwei, and Master Han and Master Lu, who were proficient in money and grain accounts, were invited by Cao Yin.

This weaving house, which has been lively for nearly a month, has been deserted again. Li sent away his son and daughter-in-law, and began to weep. Cao Yin knew that his wife was reluctant, but what could he do, when the child was older, he would always leave his parents.

Cao Hao's heart is also uncomfortable, in Jiangning, he has nothing to do to play chess with his father, talk with his mother, or take Chu Yu to walk around Jiangning City, which is both comfortable and leisurely. This left his parents again, and he didn't know when he would meet next time, how he would not be worried in his heart. Before leaving, Cao Yin couldn't help but repeatedly instruct him to put away the cinchona, pay attention to his diet, and be careful of malaria in spring and summer.

Later, Cao Yin couldn't help laughing and scolding his son for being verbose. Cao Hao sighed in his heart, he has been planning like this for a few years, doesn't he just want to change the history of the father and son who died of illness one after another, and change the tragic situation of family decay and loss of relatives?

Seeing that Cao Yin didn't take it to heart, Cao Hao deliberately explained to his mother and even to the second uncle of Xifu. When he is not at home, he must pay attention to Cao Yin's body, and if he finds something wrong, he will immediately send him a letter, or report it directly to the imperial court, and he must not be delayed by concealing his illness.

The fifty-first year of Kangxi, whether it is for the imperial court or the Cao family, is not an ordinary year.

From Jiangning to Yizhou Mansion, you only need to go all the way through Yangzhou and Huai'an along the official road to the north, and the road is only more than 600 miles.

When passing through Yangzhou, Cao Hao also met an old acquaintance, that is, Han Jiang, the owner of [***] Qianzhuang. Before this, the Han Jiang clan had already sent someone to the Weaving Mansion to send a New Year's gift, but Cao Hao didn't take it to heart.

It wasn't until Cao Hao passed through Yangzhou on his way north that he was invited to be entertained by the Cheng family, and then he knew that Han Jiang's family was also in Yangzhou. In the past two years in Jiangnan, because of the party dispute between Kali and Zhang Boxing, everyone like the Cheng family has been very difficult. Although outsiders don't know about the change of rights of the Cao, Li, and Sun families, they, the local nobles in the south of the Yangtze River, have long heard some rumors.

Because he came forward to help the Cao family "suppress bandits" last year, the Cheng family offended the people of the Li family, but they didn't take it too seriously. After all, compared with the Cao family, the Li family's power is not solid. Sure enough, after only half a year's effort, Li Xu "sued for illness", and his momentum was far less than in the past. On the Cao family's side, although Cao Yin is in a state of semi-retirement, Cao Hao is in the capital and marries the emperor's granddaughter, how can anyone offend this background?

Cao Hao has just let go of his foreign office, and all the major families in Jiangnan have already received the news, this is a four-grade Taoist platform, even if it is a jinshi and the first, it is just a seven-grade county order, this is the gap between the poor and the children of the powerful. Although I was a little surprised why Cao Hao didn't come back to Jiangnan, no one dared to slack off on the Cao family.

This time, Cao Hao went north, just to give the Cheng family a chance to make friends, and it was the head of the Cheng family, Mrs. Cheng, and the sister-in-law of the Cheng family, Cheng Mengkun, who came forward to entertain Cao Hao.

Cao Hao received the help of Cheng's family last year, and because of Cheng Mengxing, his good impression of their family increased a lot, and he specially asked, only to know that he came back to Yangzhou last year and went to Beijing again after the year.

Speaking of Yangzhou, not only the Cheng family, but also several other big families are paying attention to the news of the Cao family, and they must make good friends with the eldest son of the Cao family.

Cao Hao's road to the north has also become a road of entertainment. After all, since the Cao family beat his grandfather, he has been running Jiangnan for nearly 50 years, and it is not uncommon for these big eunuchs to have dealt with the Cao family, but it is rare if they have not been taught. These families, in order to make friends with the future heirs of the Cao family, sent people to guard the post station early. Often when Cao Hao and them arrived at the post station, there was already a stack of worship stickers sent up.

There are also some people, such as Zhao Hongyu, the prefect of Yangzhou, who is looking at the face of Chu Yu, the county lord. He is the doorman of Chun Wangfu, and this palace Da Gege is his serious master. In addition to Zhao Hongyu, there are also some princes who are officials in Jiangsu, and they are also very attentive to Cao Hao and his wife for different purposes. All kinds of rare gifts are also given away from the old locals.

Because Cao Hao is not an official in Jiangsu, these "Tuyi" are just personal contacts, and they can't be regarded as bribery, so he laughed at it. This prince and the people of the sect all represent their different masters, whether it is in the face of the seventh elder brother or in the face of the Cao family, since they take the initiative to show favor to Cao Hao, then Cao Hao can't offend them.

In this way, I socialized all the way until the end of the first month, and I didn't leave Jiangsu. Cao Hao was afraid that Zhuang Xi would wait for a long time in Yizhou and worry, and he was really tired of the arrival in this whole day, so he no longer played at the post station and avoided the people who invited guests and gave gifts.

On the third day of the second lunar month, Cao Hao and others finally arrived at the Yizhou Mansion in Dongyandao, Shandong.

(To be continued)