Chapter Seventy-Six: Small Talk

Thirty-five years of Kangxi, summer!

Beijing.

Cantonese restaurant "Zui Qionglin", regardless of the scorching sun outside, there is still a hot scene inside, and this "hot in full swing" is not people working, but a group of scholars, that is, people who are about to take the Enke exam.

Originally, in the 33rd year of Kangxi, a big competition was just held, and it is said that there should be another scientific expedition three years later, that is, in the 36th year of Kangxi, but this year it is the year of the empress dowager's birthday, and it is the 80th birthday. This is an extremely rare old birthday star in the royal family, not to mention that Kangxi has been taught and raised by Xiaozhuang since he was a child, and he has great filial piety to this grandmother. Therefore, in order to celebrate Xiaozhuang's birthday, Kangxi specially decreed that he would grant amnesty to the world; At the same time, it was also ordered to open another Enke so that people could go to Beijing again to take the exam. (Xiaozhuang actually passed away in the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi, and he was seventy-four or seventy-five when he died.) )

As a result, the reader was overjoyed. One more chance to take the exam is one more chance to be an official. Especially after this year, next year, that is, the thirty-sixth year of Kangxi, according to the convention, there will be a big competition, and they will have the opportunity to take the exam for two consecutive years, how can they not be happy?

"I don't believe it if my surname is Wan, I can still meet that Yu Jackie Chan ...... this year" "Drunk Qionglin", as the name suggests, is the Qionglin banquet, which is a banquet that can only be drunk by Jinshi, so the business of this restaurant is very hot because of its name, and the scholars who come to this dinner party every day in order to get a good omen do not know how much, especially the seats three days before the exam, they have already been booked away at sky-high prices. Every day, the scholars who come here play poems and drink harmony, and they have done enough to learn and get rich, and many people have gradually become famous. …… However, the most eye-catching thing in "Drunken Qionglin" now is a scholar who is talking loudly, but he is not talking about any poetry, but complaining. This gentleman is about thirty years old, he seems to be a little drunk, with a red face, and he is arguing with the people at the table next to him about the question of "Yu Jackie Chan......

"It's this guy again...... It's rare, he's here again this year, hehe...... "Seeing that the scholar surnamed Wan and others were so anxious that their faces were red and they were almost anxious, on a table on the side of the restaurant hall, a handsome young man in his twenties said with a smile.

"What's wrong? Do you know that kid? Hearing Junxiu's words, a short-bearded man next to him wearing a high-grade Su embroidered silk coat asked with displeasure. And beside the two, there were three people, one old and two young, who also looked at the handsome future with interest.

"Acquaintance, an unlucky bastard......" Junxiu Housheng didn't seem to see the face of the short-bearded man, but just smiled, "I remember what that kid seems to be called Wan Zhen, what kind of relative of Wan Sitong ......" Then, he took Wan Zhen as a showman and recruited people to hold a literary meeting, but because of the big nonsense at the meeting, Yu Chenglong, the governor of Shandong, who happened to be present, caught the Ministry of Rites and cut off the qualification for the exam, and told a few companions.

"Isn't it? That Yu Jackie Chan went a little too far, just because of a few words, he cut off other people's exam qualifications...... What's the matter with him? It's obviously an abuse of power! After Junxiu finished speaking, another big-eyed junior next to him who was also very handsome couldn't help but say.

"Abuse of power? Wrong, Xinxin, people in the governor This is not called abuse of power, but righteousness and strictness, dedicated to the country, for the people, and thousands of miles away...... Wait a minute! Anyway, it's all good words, you know? Picking up a piece of sweet and sour fish and putting it in his mouth, Mader said vaguely. The five people are Ferdinand, Yu Zhong, and Mo Jing and their gang, as "Manchurians", Xiaozhuang's birthday, of course, they want to congratulate them.

"Yes, Qing officials, the banner of the Qing Dynasty, how can there be a mistake? Hum! Luo Xin pursed his lips and said disdainfully.

"Hehe, Xinxin, these two Yu Jackie Chan are rare Qing officials. I heard that the son who was younger than Jackie Chan bought a chicken to congratulate him during the New Year, and as a result, he was beaten by Jackie Chan and almost broke his leg. ......" Mo Jing smiled and sandwiched a piece of pork ribs for Luo Xin and said.

"Sister Jing, that's not called incorruptible, that's called a little family......" Luo Xin knew that Mo Jing was deliberately teasing herself, with Mo Jing's background, how could she afford to beat someone because of a chicken? Does eating chicken mean that it will become corrupt? In Luo Xin's heart, people with this view are either contrived or perverted.

"Speaking of this, this is less than Jackie Chan, I heard that he is already the governor of Henan? Isn't it? Yu Zhong asked.

"That's right. This person, if he clears his name, he will be promoted quickly. …… A few years ago, he was just a small county magistrate in Shanxi, and when there was a flood, he fell out with the prefect, forcibly robbed the imperial grain, and distributed it to the affected people. Later, the prefect was reappointed as the Qinghe Observer, and he often had conflicts with the river governor Le Fu because of the disagreement with the method of river management...... Originally, Na Lefu was born in a wealthy Manchurian family, from the governor of Anhui to the governor of river affairs, not only a rare capable official in Manchuria, but also quite solid, and he also has a set of rules for governing the river, and he is also very cautious. But it didn't take long for the Mingzhu case to happen. Le Fu was afraid that Mingzhu would find trouble and delay the governance of the river, so he took 20,000 taels from the silver of the river and wiped the butt of one of Mingzhu's protégés. ......" Madder sighed, shaking his head.

"Lefu? When he came back from Mobei the year before last, passing by the Yellow River, Kangxi saw that the Yellow River was clear, didn't he already decide to use him again? Mo Jing asked. After pacifying Geerdan, Kangxi returned from Shaanxi and Gansu, passed by the Yellow River, and saw that the Yellow River was no longer turbid, and took "Haiyan River Qing" as the symbol of the great rule of the world. Mo Jing was not far from Kangxi with Baori Longmei at the time, and she also knew about it, but later after passing Shanxi, she parted ways with Yu Zhongren and Kangxi, and returned to Manchuria, so she didn't pay attention to this matter anymore.

"You just don't care about current affairs. Le Fu died of illness shortly after losing his position......" Ma De sighed again.

"Sick? It's a pity. I heard that this Le Zhongcheng opened a middle river on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which is a great achievement......" Old man Fei said slowly.

"Nakagawa? What's in the river? Didn't Lefu rule the Yellow River? What's the matter with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal? Yu Zhong asked.

"Brother Yu, you live in Heilongjiang, of course you don't know. …… The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, connected with the Yellow River, from the canal to cross the Yellow River, but also to walk more than 180 miles of the Yellow River dangerous road, Le Fu opened the Middle River, so that the Cao boat needs to walk a few miles of the Yellow River to cross the Middle River into the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, which is very beneficial to Cao Yun, so Fei Lao Cai said that this is his great achievement. Mader said.

"Made, you know this very well!" Mo Jing asked again.

"Of course. Several of Lefu's staff and subordinates when he ruled the river were all staying in Ningguta, so it's strange that he didn't know him well! Luo Xin glanced at Ma De, very dissatisfied with his deliberate showmanship.

"Hehe, that's a good feeling, Ma De, you can make friends with these people, and when the time comes, let's find a river governor to have fun, but I heard that the silver allocated by the imperial court to govern the river every year is millions of taels!" Yu Zhong's eyes were shining with golden light, and he looked directly at Ma De and said.

"Gotta get it, Brother Yu, if you don't come to this set, I haven't lived enough." Ma De waved his hand again and again: "You don't know, this river governor is on the cusp." It's because there's a lot of silver, so ah, everyone's eyes are red, and whoever is on it is unlucky. Moreover, river affairs are not human jobs. When Lefu's men first arrived in Ningguta, I looked distressed. Chen Huang Chen Tianyi is not yet thirty years old, and he looks like a fifty-year-old old man; and that Peng Xueren and Feng Zhiren, they are only forty years old, but they all look like people in their sixties, if you stuff me over, if I am not old and decrepit, will you be able to compensate? ”

"Who are you scared of kid? Is it that scary? Yu Zhong did not believe.

"Brother Yu, don't believe it, it's all true, Chen Huang and the others have been raised in Ningguta for several months before recovering, and I am panicked when I see it...... "Luo Xin acted as a witness for Ma De.

"From this point of view, Yu Jackie Chan and a few people are a little too much, Le Fu and a few of his subordinates are all solid people, and they actually impeached people for the slightest disagreement, what do they think?" Mo Jing frowned.

"Hehe, the reason for this is complicated, we are all outsiders, it's hard to say! ......" Madder shook his head and laughed.

"Yes, this woman says that her mother is reasonable, and the public says that the public is also reasonable. You forgot, last year, Yu Jackie Chan said that Fengtian rice could not enter the customs? You know he's not right, but can you say he's wrong? No way! Because he's not wrong. ......" Old Man Fei shook his head and smiled bitterly. After the rice was planted in Fengtian, everyone thought that it could greatly solve the grain matter of the Qing court. However, after the news reached Jiangnan, the local rice price plummeted. As a result, it didn't take long for a group of cadres led by Yu Chengchan, the governor of Jiangsu, to give a letter to Kangxi with the title of "Rice Hurts Farmers", asking for a boycott of Fengtian rice. As a result, because of this incident, it caused a big controversy in the Qing court, and in the end, Kangxi had to take it into account, and ordered that Fengtian rice should not enter the customs, but only build a granary in the Fengtian area, and use this rice as a reserve, which made the price of rice rise...... Because of this, Old Man Fei was very troubled, if it weren't for Kangxi once saying that Fengtianmi was "auspicious", maybe he would really stop planting. There are few people who are honest in this matter, but there are never fewer who love to make trouble.

……

"Hey, here'......"

A few people chatted for a while, talking about some of the court affairs they had heard about these days, until Ma De saw Chen Menglei with three short beards appear at the door of "Drunken Qionglin", and then stopped.

"Haha...... Mr. Fei, Mr. Yu, Mr. Ma, oh, and the two adults, I haven't seen you for a long time, it's always been good? ”

Chen Menglei saw Ma De greeting him from afar, walked over with a smile, and greeted a few people, showing great affection. Mader is his father-in-law. When Kangxi went to pay tribute to Nurhachi and Huang Taiji the year before last, Ma De sent someone to present the article he had written for a long time to Kangxi, Kangxi was quite satisfied after reading it, so he summoned him, because he was very satisfied with his performance when he met the king, and at the same time Kangxi also thought that his original crime of rebellion was also because of Geng Jingzhong's coercion, so he pardoned him, and after that, he was also appointed as a waiter in the Hanlin Academy, responsible for teaching the third elder brother Yinzhi to read. Since then, he has left Manchuria and gone to Beijing. Now, with his belly of knowledge, he has become a scholar in Beijing, although he has no real power, but he is very respected. And he can have today's situation, it is impossible without Ma De's help, so he has always been very grateful to Ma De, and today he received a message from Ma De at home, and he came here immediately.

"Mr. Chen, look at your appearance, you are refreshed now, and you have a good life?" Several people beckoned Chen Menglei to sit down, and Ma De made a small joke first.

"Haha, the blessing of the adult, good, good...... Hahaha......" Chen Menglei said with a smile. After a few years with Ma De, he has long been accustomed to the way he speaks to Ma De, although he is not as elegant as talking to those Hanlin, but he listens comfortably and honestly.

"A few days ago, I heard that several adults were going to enter Beijing to celebrate the birthday of the Empress Dowager, I wanted to do my best to honor the friendship of the landlord, but I didn't want to, but a few came to invite me first, Chen is really rude, rude......" After answering Ma De's words, Chen Menglei said again.

"Mr. Chen is too polite, what do you invite or not, everyone is friends, it's rare to get together, who invites who is not the same? Come, I'll toast you first. Yu Zhong picked up his wine glass and interjected.

"Yes, yes...... What Lord Yu said was, please! ”

After a toast with Yu Zhong, Chen Menglei set his eyes on a few more people, waiting for the other party to speak. He doesn't think that the five Ma De people are just looking for themselves to catch up with the past, although he has only been in Beijing for a long time, he is very aware of the affairs of officialdom, with the teacher-student relationship between him and the third prince Yinzhi, there are actually not many people who want to follow his door. However, although he thought so, he didn't think there was anything wrong with Ma De and the others, first, several people were kind to him, and second, this was officialdom, and there was nothing. Moreover, this gave him a sense of superiority, in the past, Ma De helped him, and now, he helped Ma De.

However, after chatting with Ma De and the others for a while, he did not wait for the expected words. Ma De and the others just chatted with him, mentioning the new things in Manchuria, and then asking about the anecdotes of the capital, talking and laughing, without wanting to trouble him at all.

"Three adults, this, I don't know if you have heard of it, there have been rumors in the court recently, Tong Xiang seems to be interested in serving as the commander of Heilongjiang Customs, and wants to promote the adults to Heilongjiang generals......"

After waiting for a while, he didn't see Ma De mention anything, but Chen Menglei couldn't sit still and couldn't help but throw out a message.

"Mention me as the general of Heilongjiang?" Chen Menglei's words really surprised Yu Zhong. Since the beginning of trade with Russia, although it was difficult for southern merchants to enter Manchuria to trade with the Russians due to the ban on Manchuria, there were still many imperial merchants who came to Heilongjiang. Moreover, Old Man Fei also has the title of "Langzhong of the Internal Affairs Bureau" on his head, and he can also use the name of the Internal Affairs Office to purchase a lot of porcelain, silk, tea and other luxury goods in the south, and then transfer them to Manchuria. You must know that although the Qing court opened a sea ban in the four southern provinces, due to the shortage of supply and other reasons, European merchants were rarely able to buy those high-quality and high-quality things, and even if they could get them, they were only in very small quantities. Therefore, the high-quality things made by Old Man Fei and those imperial businessmen are extremely sought-after in Heilongjiang. Although there were very few Russian merchants, there were agents of the Russian tsar, as well as many Dutch merchants, all of whom were wealthy and traded in cash, so although the Heilongjiang Customs was only opened in the first year last year, the income was also 560,000 taels of silver, and the net profit of the Qing court reached an astonishing 2 million taels, which was comparable to that of a medium-sized province. Moreover, because foreigners traded with gold, this made the Qing court, which lacked gold, pay more attention to the originally inconspicuous Heilongjiang Customs. Yu Zhong is the admiral of Heilongjiang Customs, because of his "outstanding achievements", he was also given a ruby by Kangxi, so it can be said that he is now a red man in Kangxi's eyes.

Moreover, Heilongjiang is not just a business for foreigners. Due to the expansion of the territory, the scope of Heilongjiang is also much larger. Originally, due to Nurhachi's ban, things in Manchuria could not be destroyed, and trees could not be cut down, but Siberia was different. Kangxi is building the "Changchun Garden", and instead of transporting timber from the south to Beijing by land, where can it be more convenient than transporting timber directly from Siberia to Beijing? And compared with the wood in Liuzhou and other places in the south, those thousand-year-old trees and 10,000-year-old pines in Siberia will only have better materials...... Therefore, funded by the head of Fei Laotou and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a large number of timber from Heilongjiang also began to enter Beijing. In addition, there are many good things in Heilongjiang, such as sturgeon, salmon, bigeye from Lake Baikal...... Due to the extreme north, it is naturally stained with a lot of "rare" light, and the selling price is extremely high. Moreover, because he had just started to sell out, Mo Jing limited the sales volume again, and it was impossible to eat the "North Sea" fish produced in Lake Baikal for less than a few dozen taels of silver in Beijing, let alone the Suzhou and Hangzhou areas in the south......

All of this, plus Heilongjiang still has a lot of good things to be developed, so Heilongjiang is now a treasure.

……

"Damn, I just got something out of my head, and someone wants to pick the fruit...... What did you do before? Regarding the news thrown by Chen Menglei, Yu Zhong did not doubt it. The so-called no wind and no waves, Heilongjiang's performance in the past year or so is indeed very amazing, coupled with the temptation of fewer people, less things, and more money, he and a few companions actually expected that someone would reach out here, but they didn't expect it to be Tong Guowei, the minister of power.

"Lord Yu, don't worry, this matter is still just a rumor, and you have to get the emperor's consent. What's more, Lord Yu, you are also the leader of Heilongjiang, in charge of the Black Dragon East Eight Banners, who dares to ignore you? Chen Menglei said again.

"Yes, Yu Zhong, don't worry. This customs is not something that can be managed, let alone dealing with the Russians? The emperor will not send someone casually, this candidate is not easy to ......," Old Man Fei said with a smile.

"Fei Lao is right. What are we in a hurry? Is it so easy to do business with foreigners? What's more, there is more than one customs admiral in Heilongjiang......" Mo Jing thought about it and smiled. Manchuria belongs to the Eight Banners, and after the opening of the customs, these bannermen have taken a lot of cheapness, and if they want to grab the fruit, they must at least ask whether these bannermen cooperate or not. What's more, how can it be so easy to do business with those foreigners without her nodding intently?

"Alright, alright, why are you talking about all these troubles? Even if you don't have a customs admiral, there are still things you can do! With Brother Yu and Sister Jing's ability, it's a big deal to enter the customs and seek an official position, at that time, it will definitely be more popular than Heilongjiang......" Luo Xin said.

"Yes, yes, that's it. If there really is such a day, I will also adjust, hehe, when the time comes, I will see who can take our stall...... Here, cheers! Mader exclaimed with his glass.

"Yes, that's right, take our stall? Who can? …… Come on, do it! Yu Zhong was said by a few people, thinking about the current Qing court, I am afraid it is really difficult to find a few people who can successfully take over their positions, and their hearts are open-minded and their morale is high again.

……

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Something tomorrow, update a chapter early today, and the next chapter may be updated at eight o'clock on Tuesday night! …… It's been hot lately, my brain is dizzy, and I can't write anything, so I may update it slower in the future.

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