Although there is an old saying "parents are here, don't travel far", Cao Hao, the son of the Cao family, has been tossing a lot over the years.

Fortunately, there has been a letter back from home, and the Li family is a little relieved. Rao is like this, and seeing him return safely also caused Cao Yin and Li to be happy.

Cao Yin, as an old father, can still restrain himself, and the Li family has already pulled his son, rubbing his slightly reduced face, and his eyes are red.

It was Cao Yin who "coughed", and Cao Song, who came to ask for peace, said a few words and sent him back to Dongfu first.

Chu Yu was beside her, looking at her husband, her eyes full of lingering meaning. Because my mother-in-law is around, it's not easy to come forward.

Cao Yin saw it in his eyes and said to Cao Hao: "Go back and change your clothes first, and come back to talk later." ”

Cao Hao responded and went back to Wutong Garden with his wife.

"Tianhui, why didn't you see it?" Cao Hao didn't see his daughter, so he asked.

"The eldest sister has taken over the palace." Chu Yu replied.

In the previous family letter, Chu Yu also mentioned that Cao Jia's family added a little brother in July, whose name is Furui, which is the fifth child born to Pingjun Wang and his wife in eleven miles of marriage, especially shows how loving the husband and wife are, and they are a well-known loving couple in the clan.

In this world, there are ten unsatisfactory people.

is the loving couple of King Pingjun and Cao Jia, and there are also unsatisfactory places.

They originally had a daughter, Fumin, who was gone in the first month, and the husband and wife were grief-stricken. Cao Jiashi was pregnant with a child in her belly at the time, and she almost flowed. It's still the Li family in the past, accompanying the girl, so that the life is relieved, so it's better.

The husband and wife already have three sons-in-law, the eldest brother Fupeng is ten years old, the fourth elder brother Xi Fuxiu is eight years old, and the sixth elder brother Fujing is three years old.

Ordinary people are mostly "patriarchal"; The king of Pingjun fell one by one, "preferring women over men". The clan relatives of the capital, who doesn't know the big Gege of the most precious royal mansion in Nersu.

A good daughter, the little one died, wouldn't it hurt the flesh of the parents.

Since then, Cao Jia's family and King Pingjun have been looking forward to adding another concubine, but they didn't expect to give birth to a little brother.

The late Da Ge Fu Min and Tian Hui are cousins, and their appearance is naturally somewhat similar. This love for her daughter made Cao Jia's transfer to her niece Tianhui.

Speaking of this, both husband and wife were a little reticent.

After a while, Cao Hao sighed and said: "It's better to give birth to a little brother than to give birth to a Gege baby for more than ten years and then send it to Mongolia." ”

When Chu Yu heard this, he thought of Ergege, who got married last month, and his heart was a little heavy.

"Listen to Eniang's meaning, the fifth sister has been mentioned in the palace, and I am afraid that the will to marry will also be made." Chu Yu said.

Hearing this, Cao Hao only felt a headache.

It is true that the clan wants to take care of Mongolia, and the marriage right of these noble daughters of the Eight Banners is not in the hands of their parents. When Tianhui was blind before, she could still be taken care of by Cao Hao and his wife for life. This eye disease is cured, but it will be restricted by the palace in the future.

"When the Queen Mother comes back, let my mother ask for a favor and see if our daughter can be exempted. When the baby pimple was raised, if I was paired with a bastard man in the future, I, the father, would be angry. Cao Hao said.

Looking at the indignant look on her husband's face, Chu Yu couldn't help but smile and said, "Look at what the forehead said, Tianhui is a little bit older, so I don't care about this." ”

"Men are afraid of getting into the wrong business, and women are afraid of marrying the wrong wolf. In the future, I must choose a son-in-law who is at ease, so that I am willing to marry Tianhui, otherwise I would rather let her be an old girl than go to someone else's house to be angry. Cao Hao said.

Seeing that her husband was so serious, Chu Yu thought of her daughter and became worried. When she first got married, Wugege was still a child, didn't she also start to discuss marriage in the blink of an eye?

After Cao Hao finished speaking, he took Chu Yu to heart and regretted it a little. This child is the flesh that fell from the mother's body, and no matter when, the mother will always think more about the child than the father.

Just like Chu Yu said, Tianhui is still young, and the matter of asking for grace is planned slowly.

Thinking of this, he diverted and said, "By the way, I just saw Cao Fang leading the shopkeepers of Daoxiang Village out in the front yard, how did they come to the mansion?" It seems that he still has a child, and there is a small one, not a few years older than Tianyou and Hengsheng. ”

He was in a hurry to enter the inner courtyard just now to greet his parents, so after everyone said goodbye, he just nodded, called everyone up, and returned to the inner courtyard before he had time to ask.

Chu Yu told what Han Jiang said before the Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as these things, and Cao Hao frowned when he heard it.

"She means she wants to return the shop to us?" Cao Hao thought for a moment and said.

Chu Yu nodded and said, "She mentioned it twice, and she wanted to take her daughter back to Yangzhou and attach herself to her mother's family." Uncle is not in Beijing, and I can't say anything, so I'm vague. I was still tempted at first, and then I saw that she had a home, and I wanted to drag it, but I couldn't bear her grinding. ”

Except for Cheng Mengxing, several of her uncles are not close to her. I heard that the Han and Jiang families were going to sue her at the beginning, and her uncle was among them. There are thousands of family fortunes behind him, but he has no power to protect himself, and he is just a big fat meat everywhere. Cao Hao shook his head and said, "Wait for two days and invite her to come over and talk, and see if you can persuade her to stop this thought." ”

Han Jiang's move, Cao Hao was a little surprised. The business of Daoxiang Village is booming, and the profit of forty percent is also a lot of income in a year. Although Han Jiang's family has millions of fortunes, the brand of Daoxiang Village is also worth a lot of money now.

While the husband and wife were talking, they heard footsteps outside.

It turned out that Tianyou and Hengsheng heard that their father was back, and they came to greet their father.

Cao Hao glanced at Chu Yu and said, "Does Hengsheng remember?" Will you forget my father? ”

Chu Yu said with a smile: "Tianhui Xu will forget, Hengsheng is the most sticky forehead, only more than two months of hard work, how can he forget?" ”

When the little brothers came in, they greeted Cao Hao in a proper manner. Cao Hao saw that the two brothers had grown up, Tianyou had a somewhat polite appearance, Tianyou's small body bones were getting stronger and stronger, and he was already on a par with Tianyou, looking like he was the same age.

It seems that it's okay, the two children have remembered, and in addition to being respectful to Cao Hao's father, there is trust in his eyes.

Cao Hao asked Tianyou a few words of schoolwork, and touched Hengsheng's head before asking someone to take them down.

When the sons went out, Cao Hao said to Chu Yu: "Tianyou is becoming more and more like a little nerd." Is it because of the Master? ”

Tianhui shook his head with a smile and said, "The master has said a lot, saying that Tianyou is like the old man when he was a child, and he is still like the old man when he was a child, but he doesn't love riding and shooting like the uncle." I heard my wife say that the uncle was very attentive in martial arts when he was a child, and at that time, the wife and the master thought that the uncle was going to take the martial arts exam. ”

Hearing about the entrance examination, Cao Hao thought of Qian Chenqun. He is considered a Confucian and wants to advance to the imperial examination. This is now less than half a year away from next year's spring, and it is time for him to prepare for the exam.

"Did Master Qian say anything else?" Cao Hao asked.

Chu Yu thought about it, shook his head and said, "No, I just asked the big housekeeper twice when the uncle will come back." ”

"I think he's in a hurry. It was my negligence that I forgot that he was going to take the test. Cao Hao said: "Ming'er is free, I'll go find him." It seems that we have to change Mr. Tianyou and Hengsheng......"

* Cao family, Dongfu.

is also the return of his son, but Zhaojia's family does not have the joy of the Li family. Hearing that Cao Xiang was going to resign and come back to take the exam, her face immediately drooped.

"It's not a good seven-rank official, and you're back to take the exam, you're a brother, just let him toss?" Zhao Jia's family didn't care that his daughter-in-law was there, and glared at Cao Songdao.

"I persuaded him to come back. How old is he, even if he fails the exam, he will take the exam twice. The fourth brother is a little smart, has the best homework, and is on the list of designated meetings. My mother has never been to Henan Mansion, so Luoyang is more prosperous, and she is very poor, and the best food in the post station is all kinds of noodles and noodle soup. It's not easy to eat a chicken. Cao Song said.

This is not all a lie, before going to Henan Mansion, Cao Song had this thought, and later saw that his younger brother returned from the disaster, and he also wanted to persuade him to resign.

Before he could speak, Cao Xiang spoke first. His own brother immediately nodded in response.

When Zhao Jiashi heard this, he was so angry that he couldn't speak, and said: "Don't think that if you don't say it, I don't know, how much money was paid at home for him to be released, and this sentence is afraid of hardship, so he came back?" If you really don't make the list, you still have to chew it from home. You ask your daughter-in-law, is this family a mountain of gold and silver, can you lose the family? ”

Cao Song traveled all the way, he was already tired, and he was nagged by his mother for a long time, only to feel that his brain hurt, and got up and said: "My son is sweaty, go back to change clothes first, and come over to talk to his wife later." ”

Zhao Jiashi saw that he had been away from home for three months, and it was a lot darker, and he was also a little distressed, waved his hand, and said, "Go, go." More than a thousand miles, it's not for play. Ask the kitchen to cook a few more dishes for you in the evening, so that you can make up for it......"

* Cao Hao was also tired, so after dinner, he rested early. Xiao Bisheng is newly married, two husband and wife, and there is no shortage of London London. Looking at Cao Hao's shining eyes, Chu Yu's heart felt as if he had eaten honey.

Chu Yu never inquired about what happened after her husband went out, which was also the trust between husband and wife. She didn't have any apprehensions in her heart, and she couldn't push it off when she entertained in officialdom. The husband is so talented.

The next time, Cao Hao, who slept well, was relieved of his fatigue, and first went to the Ministry of Officials to hand over the errand, and then went to the Yamen of the Ministry of Household to be on an errand.

The news of Henan has long been spread in the capital, but no one dares to say "rebellion", only that it is the apportionment of local officials that has aroused the anger of the people.

Cao Hao went to March, and seeing that he had succeeded, he changed the book of the Criminal Department, and the credit ran away.

Colleagues mentioned that there were many people who were upset with Cao Hao. Seeing Cao Hao come back, in addition to greeting and telling about the important events of the past few months, he asked about Henan Mansion.

Now although the Kang brothers have all entered the governor's Yamen Prison, the imperial court did not mean to escort them back to Beijing, but sent the officials of the criminal department down, it seems that they want to understand the matter in Henan.

Cao Hao didn't know what charges the court would use to close the case, and he didn't say much, so he mentioned two sentences in general terms without going into details.

After squeezing for several months, the official documents that needed to be reviewed and signed by him were piled up two feet high, and Cao Hao was busy for a while.

By the time Cao Hao heard the movement outside and felt that his arm was sore, it was already noon.

The sixteenth elder brother is here.

The sixteenth elder brother has something to say to Cao Hao, so naturally he can't wait for him to fall.

It happened that Cao Hao was a little hungry, so the two went out together, found a restaurant, and asked for a private room to sit in.

There are six yamen next to this side, and the officials who come and go don't say anything, so Cao Hao is not eye-catching in his official uniform. The sixteenth elder brother is at ease, except for the court meeting, they all wear regular clothes, and the two of them are not eye-catching.

"What kind of financial route does it require the Ministry of Internal Affairs to provide 100,000 taels of silver every year?" The sixteenth elder brother ordered a few dishes at random, sent Xiao Er out, and asked impatiently.

Knowing that outside, in order to prevent the partition wall from having ears, he also lowered the volume.

This is not something that can be explained in one sentence or two sentences, Cao Hao said: "It's just to add a few new items to the Internal Affairs Office, and the sixteenth elder brother will come to me after he falls into office, let's talk about it in detail." ”

"If you have 100,000 capital, how much profit will you get in a year?" Brother Sixteen asked with sparkling eyes.

Cao Hao thought about it for a while and said, "More than how much?" If you say less, there are times as many or two times, and if you say more, you can't get three or five times? ”

"What kind of business, so profitable?" The sixteenth elder brother was overjoyed when he heard this: "Fu Ruo, you don't know that the inner library is not rich now, and it still needs to be allocated to the household department, and a few gardens have to be repaired." Even if you don't mention it, I have to urge you to think of a few ways to make money, otherwise I will be in front of Huang Ama. The household department has paid the donation, and it can still support it for a while, and this inner treasury cannot be empty. ”

Since the sixteenth elder brother smoked opium and quit again, he not only hated opium, but also hated tobacco.

This time, Cao Hao was thinking about the cigarette business.

Although the people have no money in their hands, the bureaucrats and landlords are all silver owners, and Cao Hao can only play the idea of luxury.

Tobacco was introduced to the mainland from the Ming Dynasty, and over the past few hundred years, it has also been widely popularized, and there are many smokers. If you can develop a large tobacco pouch into a cigarette, it will definitely be a no-cost profit. Secondly, it is foreign trade.

According to Wei Xin's previous news in Guangzhou, there should be no cigarettes in Europe and the United States so far.

Just when Xiao Er brought wine and food, Cao Hao said with a smile: "Eat first, and then talk about it when you find a secluded place." ”

Although the sixteenth elder brother was anxious, he saw that Cao Hao was reluctant to speak, and he knew that this was not the place to speak, so he stopped talking.

After eating, Cao Hao returned to the yamen. The sixteenth elder brother made an appointment with him, went to his house in the evening, and then went back to the palace first.

Back at the Household Science and Technology Bureau, Cao Hao couldn't help but ponder, is it difficult for some strong people to let the sixteenth elder brother get in touch with the tobacco he hates?

I heard that in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, there was a "smoking ban" in the imperial court. The "smoke" in this is not opium, commonly known as "big smoke", but tobacco.

The promotion of tobacco among the people will affect the quantity of crops, and the imperial court will naturally not tolerate it.

However, as with "prohibition of alcohol", this can be forbidden. Over the past 100 years, tobacco has been popularized among the people in Northeast China and North China.

Cao Hao himself was a non-smoker in his previous life, but there is definitely a reason why cigarettes can be popularized in the world. Cao Hao has no doubt about this.

Didn't Kangxi stare at him and urge the silver? What will not offend the scholars and officials in power, nor will it harm the people's livelihood, is to develop luxury consumption.

At this time, people had silver at home, and few people said that they were saving money, but they all poured large silver ingots and hid them at home. It is not uncommon for a landlord with a wealthy family to have eighteen thousand taels of silver in his hand.

As Cao Hao thought, when he went to Cao's house with Cao Hao, and heard what Cao Hao said was a "tobacco plan", the smile of the sixteenth elder brother immediately froze.

"Fu Ruo, are you confused? That's a scourge of people's things, I still want to wait for when to hand over the fold, ask the emperor to ban smoking, you actually think about 'official office' and 'official sale'? The sixteenth elder brother looked at Cao Hao and asked incredulously.

It was not the first time that Cao Hao had the idea of making cigarettes, and before the bidding of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he thought about making cigarettes a big item. It's just that at that time, the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were complicated, and they were all mature business, and the new idea of cigarettes was not taken seriously by the sixteenth elder brother, and finally it was lost.

The sixteenth elder brother also seemed to think of this, and then said: "The year before last, you were going to get this. At that time, I didn't know the scourge of this thing, I just thought it was troublesome; Now I've suffered a lot, and Fu Ruo is still thinking about it. ”

"Although both tobacco and big tobacco are addictive, they are not the same thing at all, and this sixteenth master should know that they are not." Cao Hao said: "Even if the sixteenth elder brother is tired of the tobacco industry because of the big smoke, can he stop himself, can he stop others from smoking?" ”

Although the sixteenth elder brother usually trusts Cao Hao, he is still a little awkward at the moment, and frowns: "As far as I know, good tobacco is more expensive, and it is not outrageous." The cheaper ones are only a dozen pounds, can they have such a huge profit? ”

Because of opium, the sixteenth elder brother has paid attention to the tobacco shops in the city, so he knows the approximate price.

"Why not? The Sixteenth Master has also heard that people want clothes and Buddhas need hardcover. Besides, the real taste of this cigarette is roasted, removing the astringency of raw tobacco leaves, and the taste is more mellow. In addition, it is not a problem to make several times or even ten times the profit. Cao Hao said with a smile.

Hearing him say so confidently, the sixteenth elder brother was a little interested, and said: "You also know that this folk tobacco shop is everywhere, if this cigarette is really good to smoke, it will be everywhere in a few years, what kind of money do you make?" ”

"In the past few years, it has also been a lot of silver, isn't it unusual for the Sixteenth Master to do so? Besides, the reason why it is official is to justify it. In addition to earning the landlord's money, this cigarette is mainly intended to be sold to foreigners and earn foreigners' silver. Cao Hao said: "At that time, even if the people open hundreds or thousands of cigarette factories, what is the use? Those who can go through foreign trade must be designated by the imperial court. For those factories, the imperial court can draw heavy taxes, and it is a fixed income. ”

Listening to Cao Hao's eloquent conversation, the sixteenth elder brother also felt itchy in his heart, nodded, and said: "Wonderful, in this way, if Fu didn't add a business to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and also added a new tax to the Ministry of Households, it would be beneficial to the country and the people." I didn't go to Henan in vain, but after a few months of hard work, I thought of such an idea, but why did I have to set it up in Henan Mansion, far away from the capital? ”

"Henan Province is hilly, and the yield per mu of crops is very low. In a barren place like Henan Province, which province doesn't have a few? If we can come up with some supplementary benefits according to the situation of each place, it will also be good for the local people's livelihood. Cao Hao remembered the matter of Henan Mansion and replied.

After listening to Cao Hao's words, the sixteenth elder brother smiled, looked at Cao Hao for a long time, and said, "Fu Ruo, today I want to admire Huang Ama for his wisdom." ”

Cao Hao was stared at by him uncomfortably, and "coughed" twice: "Is there a proper candidate for the sixteenth elder brother?" Those royal slaves don't need it, except for the silver, there are few practical people. ”

Hearing this, the sixteenth elder brother raised his eyebrows and said, "If there is a good candidate for Fu? Who is it? ”

Cao Hao thought of someone in his heart, nodded, and said: "I don't know if the other party is willing to mix, wait until I ask the other party, and then tell the sixteenth master......"

(To be continued)