It was when Cao Hao and Nersu were talking in the study, Seshtu was eating tea with Cao Song and Cao Fu in the living room, talking about the future of his career.

Cao Song is already thirty, and has been an errand in the guard office for more than ten years, and has been promoted from a third-class guard to a first-class guard, and there is no room for further progress. Next, he will either continue to boil for a long time, or he will choose to be released.

Cao Fu's surname is indifferent, and he has nothing to ask for in his career, but he feels that he is like a fish in water in the official position of the Ministry of Rites. Qinggui Yamen, there is less right and wrong, and there is a cousin to take care of, which is very close to him.

"Even if you don't plan for the past two years, you have to prepare, and there is no reason to be an errand boy in the guard office for a lifetime. Whether it is to seek Beijing officials or to be released, the second brother must also make up his mind as soon as possible. "Seshtu is no longer the wooden boy he was at the beginning, as a clan, although he is a nobleman, he has seen too much, and he has already had some insights.

Although there is a Tanhualang in the Cao Family's East Mansion, it has to be boiled up step by step, which is far inferior to Cao Song, a first-class guard named in front of the emperor, who has a road to heaven.

"It also depends on the emperor's intentions, if the emperor wants to release people, it's easy to say anything, if the emperor doesn't want to release people, it's useless to say it." Cao Song has been on an errand in front of the emperor for a year and a half, and he has an understanding and says casually.

When Seshtu heard this, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

Cao Fu said: "If the second brother comes out of the guards, it is better to find a job in Beijing, only the Northwest Army has the opportunity to go to the frontier, and the second brother is back from the northwest, and there is no reason to release the northwest again." What's the point of being released somewhere else? Civil officials are still good at governing a place and doing their best for the livelihood of the people; Local military attachés, in addition to eating empty salaries and drinking the blood of soldiers, are raising aunts and giving birth to children, and then going to mix, but they have polluted themselves, and they may bury trouble for the family at any time. ”

Although he is the youngest among the Cao brothers, he has read the most books, is erudite and well-read, and his upbringing by his uncle in his early years makes him see things more thoroughly.

Cao Song and Seshtu listened to it and thought so.

Seshtu sighed and said: "Although there are drawbacks, it is better to be outside, and it is easy to be promoted after two terms in the local area, and then transferred back to the capital." ”

Indeed, among the six ministries, there are court officials from the guard department, that is, military attachés who have been released for several terms, transferred to the military department, and then either in the military department, or transferred to other yamen on errands.

After all, the Cao family is now the white flag of Manchuria, and Cao Song is filling the gap. The six books are full of books and full of servants, and most of the time, they are decorations. As long as you raise a few old masters and scribes, this errand is not difficult.

While the three of them were talking, Cao Hao and Nersu came out of the study.

Regarding Cao Song's future arrangement, Nersu's opinion, like Seshtu, felt that Cao Song did not need to continue to work on the first-class guard.

Cao Song was a little moved, looked at Cao Hao and said, "Big brother, what do you think?" ”

Cao Hao thought about it for a while and said, "It's better to be restless and wait and see what happens." If it is not bad as expected, there may be some changes in the local civil and military officials at the end of the year. ”

Everyone is in the officialdom, and they can see through it at all.

Once a son of heaven and a courtier, the emperor has been on the throne for nearly two years, his wings have been abundant, his foothold has been stable, the capital has been operated with an iron bucket, and even the Yamen of the Nine Gates, the admirals of the nine gates, have made his henchmen to Long Keduo as deputies, and the next step must be to sort out the place.

Nersu smiled: "Yes, I don't know how many vacancies will be vacated by then, there are many people waiting for civil officials, and everyone is afraid that they will squeeze their heads; Military attaché, who else can the emperor trust besides the guards around him? When the time comes, let alone the deputy general, maybe the general army and the deputy commander will be directly moved. After one or two terms of promotion, he was promoted to the governor or the capital, and then returned to Beijing either as a scholar or as a minister of the interior. ”

The capital is released externally, and most of them have to be upgraded by one or two levels.

Cao Song, a first-class guard, is now a third-rank guard, and the military attache is either a second-rank deputy general, or a second-rank general or deputy commander.

Cao Song listened, waved his hand and said: "Where is the prince so evil, isn't it faster than the eldest brother's promotion?" The adjutant general, the general soldier or something, and then go up to the next level, but there is a lack of it, and there are many people who have no military merits. I don't ask for anything else, first as a deputy general, and then as a general soldier, I will be satisfied. ”

When the military rank reaches the level of the general soldier, it is easy to command the army and defend one place, and it is easy to live a comfortable life.

He remembered clearly that the father of his eldest brother's friend Yongqing was the chief soldier back then, and he was also powerful in Jiangning. Although it does not interfere with the local area, it is in a class of its own.

Seshtu said: "The second brother is young, and he is famous in front of the emperor, it is really hard to say how far he can survive." ”

Cao Song listened, but he was a little embarrassed.

Cao Fu stretched out his hand, waved his fingers, and sighed: "I can't complain that there is a shortage of guards, and they are all fried to 60,000 or 70,000 taels of silver." If you make up for the third-class guard, it is the fifth grade, and if you stay for ten years and be promoted to the first-class guard, you will be the third grade. According to what the two brothers-in-law said, it will only take more than ten years to release and then transfer Beijing officials. After 20 years of service, you can get a first-class member. If you take the imperial examination, you will start from the seventh grade of the county, and it will take you forty years to get to the first grade. ”

"It is also necessary to divide people's families, those who have family support, and there are many people who enter the cabinet when they are not confused by their background in the imperial examination." Cao Hao said.

"Huh? The fourth brother ...... over there" Cao Fu thought of Cao Xiang in Henan Xuezheng and was speechless.

Cao Xiang will return to Beijing next year, and when the time comes, he will be a bachelor from the five grades of the Hanlin Academy.

Although the speed of promotion from Hanlin is not as fast as Cao Song, it can't stand everyone's youth, even if he enters the cabinet twenty years later, Cao Hao and Cao Song brothers will only know the destiny of heaven.

If the three brothers of the Cao family have a big age difference, such a future can ensure the longevity of the family. But in fact, from Cao Hao to Cao Xiang, the difference between the three brothers is less than ten years old.

In this way, the rise of the three brothers at the same time is too eye-catching.

Among the powerful families in the capital, brothers, uncles and nephews are also nobles, and there are examples to follow, which mostly refers to foreign officials, or civil and military affairs, and the same Jingtang, but there are not many.

In his early years, Cao Yin was self-defiled, so he avoided this and made room for his son.

When it comes to that point, among the Cao Hao and Cao Xiang brothers, there must always be one person who wants to be released. is Cao Song, as long as Cao Hao is the Jingtang, don't even think about transferring to the sixth department.

Hearing the mention of Cao Xiang, everyone thought of it, and couldn't help but look at each other.

For a family as prominent as "Tong Banchao", the premise is that the Taizu concubine plus two generations of queens are intertwined and inseparable from the royal family, and they have been operating for several generations to get to this point.

Other families, not to mention the Cao family, are serious relatives like the Nian family, but they are just flowers, cooking in flames, and looking at the scenery. The honor and disgrace of the family is just between the emperor's thoughts.

Cao Xiang laughed twice and said, "I'm still honestly a guard, Shuangfang, the work is still light, and there are many rewards all year round." When he was in his forties, he couldn't do it anymore, so he was transferred to a staff leader or scattered minister. ”

Cao Hao waved his hand and said, "Don't think about it so much, wait for the emperor's arrangement." You are a military officer, and you have nothing to do with civil officials. The fourth child is still young, and if he wants to stay up in Jingtang, it will take more than ten years of hard work. When the time comes, I don't know what the situation will be, so why worry about the future. ”

Although he said this, he thought in his heart that when Cao Xiang went to the Jingtang, Tianyou would also arrive, and he might be able to retreat.

He is not a person who is greedy for power, as long as the safety of the family is guaranteed, he is still happy to enjoy leisure, and he will never suppress his cousin's advancement for his own wealth...... * Changchun Garden, Qingxi Book House.

On the bookcase, there is a drawing that is more than a foot long. Yongzheng stood in front of the table, pointed to one on the drawing, and said to the thirteenth elder brother: "In the south of the garden, build a few palace offices, and you can move the Old Summer Palace to escape the summer in the future." ”

A few days ago, Li Wei sent back more than 1.5 million taels of salt tax from Yunnan; On the side of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, several tobacco factories in Henan and Beijing have begun to produce opium cigarettes, and the first batch of cigarettes has been shipped to Guangzhou. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent people to Xi'an to set up a tobacco factory, and in the future, through the Yamen of the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, the tobacco will be sold to Qinghai and Tibetan provinces.

If the blood surname of the Erut people is reduced, even if the Dzungar people want to make trouble in Tibet Province and Qinghai in the future, I am afraid it will not be easy.

Yongzheng was in a good mood, and he remembered the matter of repairing the garden.

After all, he is still in Changchun Garden, not to mention the age, there are traces of the use of the emperor everywhere, which makes people feel uncomfortable. Where is it better than the Old Summer Palace, it is his garden. The earliest arrangements were all his favorites.

The thirteenth elder brother looked at the area he was pointing to and said, "There are three thousand acres of vacant land over there, but it is enough." It's just that in addition to the official office, do you need to add some scenery? Looking at the garden, it was also a little empty. ”

Because when the emperor gave the Old Summer Palace, Yongzheng was already the prince of Heshuo, so the Old Summer Palace covers an area of 600 acres, in the northern gardens of Beijing, second only to Changchun Garden and Chengwangfu Garden. However, due to the cost of repairing the garden, there are still many idle places in the garden.

The thirteenth elder brother suggested this because if the holy driver wanted to move to the Old Summer Palace, the concubine and the princess elder brother would also go together, and the current buildings in the Old Summer Palace would be insufficient.

Yongzheng pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said: "It's better to only repair the official office, more than a thousand acres of land are about the same, and you can't use such a big place." If the garden is connected to Changchun Garden, there is no need to build a new house......"

The thirteenth elder brother knew that the emperor was still reluctant to spend money, so he didn't say much.

You must know that the Holy Driver has not been to Rehe for two years, and the silver saved is enough to repair half of the garden.

In the final analysis, there is still no silver in the treasury, and the emperor is also tied.

The atmosphere was a little dull, and the thirteenth elder brother said: "The emperor still knows how to use people, this Li Wei, the errand is doing a good job." Although Yunnan is a large salt-producing province, it is not as good as Jiangnan. In previous years, the total tax and silver of the salt department in various localities was less than 3 million taels, and 6 to 700,000 taels in Yunnan alone, and this year Li Wei collected 1.5 million taels in Yunnan. ”

When Yongzheng heard this, he snorted coldly and said, "The salt tax can't come up, and it's not all greedy for ink by those moths." Li Wei's 1.5 million taels is not cheap. Yunnan Yanzheng is rotten to the end, if he hadn't asked for an order to take down those people last year, where would it be so easy? He went to Yunnan for a year and a half, and he had already encountered several 'accidents', if he hadn't been vigilant, he would have died a long time ago. Knowing that he was my disciple, he impeached and slandered him, and handed it to the emperor every once in a while. Those corrupt officials, except for silver, I'm afraid that even I don't feel at ease! ”

The thirteenth elder brother and Li Wei are also familiar with each other, and they have a good impression of him, listening to Yongzheng talk about his situation so dangerous, remembering that he had gone down to Jiangnan with Yongzheng to check the salt politics in his early years, he felt a relation: "Salt merchants have always been rampant, and in the rich and prosperous places in Jiangnan, they can cover the sky with one hand, not to mention the remote places of Yunnan and Guizhou." ”

As soon as he said this, Yongzheng also remembered the old things, and his face added a little coldness, and said, "I forgot about them...... It seems that Li Wei is going to move the place......"

*

(To be continued)