Nine Elder Brothers' Mansion, partial hall.

Brother Jiu took a cup of bird's nest, took a sip of the spoon, nodded and said, "Good things, no worse than those of the Internal Affairs Office." It's just your Fang family, you can get this good thing. ”

On the opposite side stood a young man of twenty-five or sixteen years old, looking a little slender and looking the same as the northerners.

He bowed, but he didn't dare to answer Brother Jiu's words.

Brother Jiu glanced at him, put down the bird's nest, picked up the New Year's goods list next to him, glanced at it, knocked on the table with his fingers and said, "Tell your father, there is a grandfather, and there is oil and water from your Fang family to drink!" ”

The Fang family in Fujian is one of the imperial merchants of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The young man bowed down and said: "The little father also said the same, the little father is on the way to Beijing, and he has already sent someone to deliver the letter first, so that the little one can tell the ninth master that the Fang family is the only one with the ninth master." Even if they lost the deal of the Internal Affairs Office, the Fang family would not go against the heart of the Ninth Master. ”

"Huh!" Brother Jiu smiled: "It's still your father who knows about things, don't say anything else, back then, your Fang family was able to intervene in the business of the Internal Affairs Office, and there was the affection of the eighth master." If you dare to sweep the face of the eighth master, hum, the master will not spare you. ”

Although he had a smile on his face, it was difficult to hide the coldness in his voice, and the hearts of those who listened trembled...... * Cao Mansion, Wutong Garden.

Cao Hao held a bowl of bird's nest, remembered the rice on the Thirteenth Master's Mansion, and said to Chu Yu: "The green vegetables that Mr. He sent a few years ago have not been eaten. I also pick up the rice and eat it to relieve the greasy. Besides, when children are growing up, it is also beneficial to eat more grains. ”

When Chu Yu heard this, she couldn't help but light up her eyes, and said with a smile: "Mrs. has a bad appetite these two days, and I am thinking about what to eat, but this package of rice is good." ”

The husband and wife were talking when they heard hurried footsteps outside.

Cao Hao put down the bowl and looked at the door.

I heard a maid under the corridor say: "Uncle, grandma, the embroidered girl is here." ”

Xiuying is the big girl next to the Li family, Chu Yu glanced at her husband, stood up, and said loudly: "Come in and talk." ”

Xiuying's face was a little panicked, and she entered the door and said: "Uncle, grandma, the seventh master is a little uncomfortable, and the old lady has already sent someone to ask for a doctor." The old man invited the uncle over, and said that he told the grandmother to take care of the young masters, and don't go to the yard over there for the past two days. ”

Cao Hao got up from the edge of the kang and walked out with his feet up.

Ming'er was on Chinese New Year's Eve, and Changsheng was sick today, but he didn't know how.

Immortality is less than a hundred days, it is the most delicate time for children, and it is this cold winter wax moon.

Cao Hao thought that his parents were over half a hundred years old, and he finally added this bit of blood to his knees, and he was quite worried.

As soon as I entered the Orchid Courtyard, I heard the child's cry of "wow", which was extremely poignant.

Cao Yin frowned and paced on the ground, his expression slightly heavy. Li stood by the kang, looking at Changsheng in the rocking car, holding a handkerchief and weeping, while coaxing Changsheng softly.

Seeing Cao Hao coming in, Cao Yin stopped and nodded.

Cao Hao took two steps closer to Changsheng, but was stopped by Cao Yin stretching out his arm: "Something is wrong, don't go forward." ”

Cao Hao's heart sank, and he looked into the rocking car, Changsheng's face was flushed, and he was crying heartbreakingly.

This season, what else makes Cao Yin so nervous?

"Is it pox?" Cao Hao turned around and asked.

Cao Yin frowned and replied: "Wait for the imperial doctor to take a look, if it is a flower ......"

When Li heard this, tears were already falling, but he was afraid of shocking Changsheng, so he covered his mouth vigorously with a handkerchief.

"The child has already produced flowers, so it is out of the way." Cao Hao said to Cao Yin, stepped forward to help his mother, and comforted: "Mother, don't scare yourself, the imperial doctor hasn't seen it yet, let's look at it first." ”

Li's tears could not be stopped, but he didn't want his son to worry, so he beat his spirit and said, "If it is a flower, this courtyard will be sealed." There are many children in the house, even if there are flowers in the house, as well as the daughter-in-law and Chu Yu, they should be careful. ”

Cao Hao held his mother's arm and said, "Mother don't worry, Chu Yu and her mother have planted flowers." My younger brother is not yet a year old, so I didn't think about planting, and when I turned the year, I asked someone to plant it for my younger brother. ”

One less time, the doctor is invited.

The thigh socket of Changsheng's lower body was already full of rashes, and the imperial doctor looked at it carefully, groaning, and his expression was very solemn.

Immortality is indeed a flower.

As early as the epidemic in the capital in the 50th year of Kangxi, there was a government decree in Shuntianfu, and if it was found that there were epidemic patients in the family, they should report to the yamen.

The infantry army in the inner city also had to report to the yamen, and Cao Yin sent someone to report it without mentioning it.

On the Li side, he got the letter, but he didn't have the time to grieve.

She sent someone to clean up the house for the "pox lady", and asked someone to pass the order down, and from now on, the house should not be fried. In addition, Cao Yin's luggage was packed up and sent to the study in the front yard.

Cao Hao's heart became heavier and heavier.

This smallpox is a contagious disease, and it is not inexplicable, and the baby in the swaddling clothes is infected with the flowers, and it is designated that it is infected from the outside. Maybe it's from the maid mother-in-law, or these ladies who come to pay their respects during the New Year.

The reason why everyone talks about this disease is because out of ten, three or four will die, and even if the rest survive, they will have to be pockmarked with a face.

The tiny white pockmarks on Kangxi's face and the copper-sized hemp seeds on Li Wei's face were all caused by smallpox when he was a child.

In general, this pockmarked child is still a trivial matter, and I don't know how many people are experiencing the pain of losing a child and losing a daughter.

"Cowpox" is the fifty-first year of Kangxi, Cao Hao, Cao Yin and his son confirmed, so far it has been three years, and Kangxi still does not have the intention of implementing it in the world.

You must know that in the early years of Kangxi's twenty-first year, Kangxi once ordered to plant pox everywhere.

However, due to the danger of human pox, many elderly people are reluctant to get pox. On the Mongolian side, the Mongols have no immunity to smallpox, and the number of people who die from pox and planters is much higher than that of the Han Chinese.

This makes Mongolians afraid of pox like tigers, and they also avoid pox.

This made the Mongols form a delicate balance with the imperial court, and the Mongols were willing to be vassals, but they did not enter the customs.

They came to see Kangxi every year in Rehe to show their loyalty.

After 30 years, the "cowpox" recipe came out, which was a hundred times better than the "human pox" recipe, but Kangxi did not mean to announce it to the world.

Cao Hao's side, long after the last pox epidemic, quietly put everyone in the house on cowpox.

For fear of being convicted by the outside world, Mr. Zhuang picked a stable person for this job, and only said that it was "human pox" to the outside world.

Although he did not have the heart of pity for the world, Cao Hao still felt depressed when he thought of smallpox.

"Father, the emperor's side, this cowpox prescription, can there be a turnaround?" Cao Hao thought about it for a moment and asked Cao Yin.

Cao Yin shook his head and said, "I also figured out what the emperor's intentions were." In the early years, the dynasty was initially decided, and after three rebellions, the population plummeted, and the people were uneasy. The emperor is merciful and gracious to the world, and he also wishes that the population will live and the world will be peaceful. Now it is different, the world has been peaceful for a long time, and the population is tens of thousands. This court went south to dominate the Central Plains again......"

Cao Yin didn't say the latter words explicitly, but Cao Hao also heard what he was referring to.

The breeding of the world's population is both a good thing and a bad thing for the imperial court.

The good thing is that there are more dingkou and more taxes; The disadvantage is that there are many Han people in the first place, and there are more breeders, which makes it difficult for the court to let go of it.

Over the years, the imperial court has severely punished all kinds of incidents that have been stained with the slogan of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty", and even did not hesitate to open a large prison sentence. It's just that I'm afraid that a spark can start a prairie fire.

Chu Yu settled the children and also visited the Lan Courtyard.

Although she has never had flowers, she has had cowpox before, and she is not afraid of being infected.

On the side of the Orchid Courtyard, except for the maids waiting beside the Li family and the ** of the immortal life, everyone else is forbidden to enter. The affairs of the house, big and small, are adjudicated by Wutong Garden.

Although God blesses them and they all planted flowers, after all, they are delicate children, and they can't guarantee that there will be a second infection, so it is strictly forbidden to enter the Orchid Hospital.

It was Chu Yu, who was persuaded by Li to go back after coming once.

Although Cao Hao was worried about his younger brother, on the twenty-ninth of today, there was a banquet for the Mongolian internal and external vassals and ministers, scholars and guards in the afternoon. He, the head of the Internal Affairs Office, is responsible for preparing the banquet together with the Honglu Temple and the Lifan Yuan, and he has to go over to make an order.

When he came out of the Lan Courtyard, he changed into his official uniform and rode into the palace.

The banquet venue of the Taihe Hall has been prepared, and many viewing plates have been put on the table.

The court musicians are also hidden in the shadows, waiting for the vassal king to take his seat and Kangxi to enter the court.

It's the end of another year, and it seems to be no different from previous years, a life of singing and dancing.

Cao Hao counted the time in his heart, because he was not familiar with this period of history, he originally thought that the Northwest War caused by the conspiracy of Alabutan was in the fifty-seventh or eighth year of Kangxi.

Even if he plotted to commit Hami this year, Cao Hao did not regard it as a big deal.

Because with a clan, tens of thousands of people, and the imperial army for several years, it was not until Yongzheng came to power that peace talks were made, isn't this a joke?

Unexpectedly, it was indeed not a joke.

The Eight Banners are so eroded that there are no available soldiers or available horses.

It is really embarrassing to let Alabutan lead thousands of men and horses to plunder the northern frontier.

This war was dragged on to the Yongzheng Dynasty, and Cao Hao did not doubt this at all.

It's okay to say that he is hypocritical, but he really wants to earn enough military funds as soon as possible and settle this war as soon as possible.

The war continued, and the soldiers of the Eight Banners who led the army on the battlefield, but it was the green battalion of the Han army that actually fought, and the supply line of tens of thousands of people also alarmed the local people.

Cao Hao stood in the distance, thinking of the young brother of the family for a while, and the soldier in the Northwest Army for a while.

Although it was not deliberate, he also had a big pot of rice with ordinary soldiers.

Not to mention the old grain, there is still a lot of sand in it.

The amount of jerky that each soldier was assigned to was much less than the stipulated, and some people even didn't see the smell of meat for half a month.

No matter how small the flies are, they are still meat, even if the military budget in the northwest is tight, but those moths still dare to make a big noise.

Although Cao Hao has seen and heard these things, he is not the kind of noble surname, and he does not want to meddle in things.

To this day, when I think of the long delay of the war in the northwest, the lack of supply of military horses and horses is also related to the lack of morale.

Although Kangxi is over the age of six, Cao Hao doesn't dare to say that he is a confused old man.

Even if the imperial court does not have a brocade guard on the surface, Cao Hao also believes that Kangxi has his own eyes and ears.

It's not that I don't know, but I can't manage it.

From top to bottom, there is no one who is not greedy, if it is really investigated, then who else can stand above the court?

Besides, he has been a king all his life, and he is a person who loves his name, how can he make a big deal about these things that discredit the face of the court?

For the real Qing officials, Kangxi also has a heart for preservation.

For example, Zhang Boxing, who "waits for sin to avoid death", is now awarded the title of Governor Kuraba Squire.

This world is really inexplicable.

Cao Hao shook his head gently, but he warned himself in his heart that he would only regard being an official as an official, as a means to protect the family, and he must not lose his heart.

If you can't seek profit, officialdom will inevitably ignore your conscience and unconsciously do things that hurt nature and reason; You can't ask for a name, otherwise it is easy to become stubborn, leading the villain to attack and destroy, and the king is jealous.

What the mean wants, "a thousand words, not as good as a silence" to get.

Just as he was thinking about his origin, he heard someone behind him: "What do you think?" The Ministry of Rites has already taken a seat. ”

It was Yi Duli, wearing a white pheasant patch suit, but his face was a little stiff.

A few months ago, he was impeached by the imperial envoy for naturalizing and taking concubines, and he was demoted three levels in a row, from Shaoqing of Taifu Temple to Langzhong of the Internal Affairs Office.

Among the ministers and guards who came to the banquet today, several of them were relatives of Ituli. He was wearing the clothes of these five-grade officials, running before and after, his face was a little unable to cover, so he tried his best to hide from no one, but he just happened to run into Cao Hao.

Cao Hao has been with his colleagues for a year and a half, and knows that his temper is honest, although he is enthusiastic and bold, but he also has a full of conceit and love for face.

In the words of Iduli, life is a face, and if you are poor, you are not afraid, and this face cannot be lost.

"It's just a small punishment, adults will stop for a year, and then seek official reinstatement after the limelight." Cao Hao opened his mouth to persuade.

Yi Duli shook his head and said, "The Shaoqing of the fourth grade, the decoration of the yamen, I am not so rare." Speaking of this, he smiled and said to Cao Hao: "It's my lord, this time it's a big move, and everything is said outside, but I believe you." What if you wear a five-grade top? From now on, I'll follow the adults, and the adults should remember to mention it. If I really make some political achievements, I don't believe it, I can't survive a term of Jingtang. If that's the case, I don't have the face to mix with officialdom anymore, so I just take off this skin and eat soldiers' meals. ”

Iduli said with a smile, but his eyes were full of trust.

His arrogance was concealed by Hangerlang, but in fact, as the son of a scholar, he also looked forward to becoming famous.

This trust made Cao Hao quite moved, nodded, and said: "It's hard to say whether to mention it or not, adults have ambitions, and Cao Hao is willing to do his best." ”

While speaking, the sound of silk strings and drums remembered that the Mongolian kings and Taiji had already lined up into the Taihe Hall to sit down...... * Outside the Anding Gate, Prince Yong's Mansion, and the study.

The fourth elder brother buried himself in the case, finished cooking the official documents, and wrote handwritten letters to several outsiders, and his wrists were already tired.

He put down his pen and rubbed his right wrist, but his brow furrowed.

Compared to his younger brothers, he is already middle-aged.

Lately, his spirit has been far worse than in the morning, he took out a ceramic vial from the drawer of his desk, poured a brown pill from it, and took it with water; Fang felt more energetic.

At this time, I heard someone outside the door: "Master, Fujin sent a slave to see the master." ”

Listening to the voice, it was Su Peisheng, the eunuch of the inner courtyard, and the fourth elder brother put down the water cup and said, "Come in." ”

"Master, the four grids are out, Fujin invites the master to come over ......" Su Peisheng bowed and said.

When the fourth elder brother heard this, he couldn't help but change color, these four grids were from the side Fu Jin Nian's family, and they were his favorite young daughter......*

(To be continued)