Due to Kangxi's death, Jiang Jian's wedding was postponed to March this year.

On this day, it is time to get married.

He has been in Cao's house for six or seven years, and he gets along very well with everyone in Cao's house. followed Cao Hao on an errand in the household department, and there were also a few colleagues who were closer. In addition, the fellow villagers over there in the Jiangxi Hall and the old friends in the Shanxi Hall sent out a lot of posts when he got married.

Cao Hao returned early from the yamen to attend Jiang Jian's wedding.

He is in a high position, and he is Jiang Jian's proprietor, it is not good to take the lead, before the auspicious time, he arrived at the new house located in the back street of Caofu, personally congratulated, and after a while, he will return to Caofu first in front of the guests.

On the Cao Mansion's side, in addition to Cao Hao, Cao Song Xiu Mu, and brought Wei Hei, Zheng Hu, Zhang Yi, Cao Yuan and others to eat and drink. Cao Fu was tripped up in the yamen, and he had already sent someone to send a congratulatory gift, saying that he would come over for dinner later.

Cao Hao's wedding gifts to Jiang Jian were all prepared by Chu Yu, in addition to gold, silver and satin, there was also a jar of tiger whip wine.

Jiang Jian is over forty years old, and he is still a roomman, and Cao Hao only admires him.

A few days before the wedding, Zheng Hu and Zhang Yi were clamoring to take Jiang Jian to open meat, but Jiang Jian politely refused. He is a vegetarian and not close to women, everyone calls him "Monk Jiang" when they laugh, and they have to wonder if he has a hidden disease in private.

Among the people, Wei Hei and Zheng Hu, who had the atmosphere of the rivers and lakes, had always had the best friendship with him, and the two of them sent people to the red and pink land of Qianmen to draw a lot of spring palace pictures and medicines to help Jiang Jian, and he was timid on the night of the cave room in the province and snubbed the bride.

When Cao Hao heard about it, he also made fun, in addition to the congratulatory gifts that had been prepared before, he also sent over a jar of tiger whip wine.

Jiang Jian thought it was tiger bone wine, but he only said that he was strong and didn't need this body-strengthening thing.

Wei Hei and the others made fun of him, the bride is the age of Ruhua, and he, an old boy in his forties, really has to pay attention to his body and bones.

He usually changes his words, but now he is a groom, but he is a little shy.

Only Cao Song, after listening to what Cao Hao said, knew that this wine was not soaked in tiger bones, but half a tiger whip, so he smiled "hehe" and forced Jiang Jian to respond, and used this wine to make a cup of wine in the cave room tonight.

Jiang Jian knew that the wine in the Cao family's wine cellar was all fired from Changping Zhuangzi, which was better than the wine bought outside. Therefore, hearing Cao Song say this, he didn't think about it, and nodded in response.

As soon as he was young, some guests came to the door one after another, and when they saw Cao Hao and knew his identity, they either stammered with a shy face, or they were too restrained.

Seeing this, Cao Hao said hello to Jiang Jian and returned to Cao's Mansion first.

Jiang Jian also knew that he was uncomfortable, so he personally sent it out and said, "Thank you on my behalf for the old lady and the lady's gift, and I will take her over to greet the two of you tomorrow." ”

Cao Hao thought of the jar of tiger whip wine, endured a smile, "coughed", and said: "** Bitter is short, non-phosphorus don't need to get up too early in a hurry, just catch up and have dinner tomorrow." ”

Jiang Jian saw that he was joking, so he didn't answer, and only said, "A month off, isn't it too long?" It's not practical, after three or five days, I can go to the yamen. ”

Cao Hao waved his hand and said, "What's the hurry?" It doesn't matter what these people in the yamen do. It is necessary to get married once in a lifetime and rest for a month. My sister-in-law traveled thousands of miles, left her hometown to go to Beijing to get married, and caught up with the national funeral, and it was not easy to delay it for a long time. Taking advantage of this late spring season, it is not lukewarm or hot, and it is good to take your sister-in-law to visit the capital. ”

Jiang Jian thought of the little wife who was about to enter the door, and there was more tenderness in his eyes, and said: "That is the case, these words, I am lazy, and the adults are tired." ”

Cao Hao smiled and sent him back to entertain guests, while he wandered home.

After passing through the Orchid Courtyard, I saw several mothers-in-law carrying large food boxes in. Looking at the food box, it is not like the common one in the house, but it looks like the style outside, each with three layers and more than two feet high.

Cao Hao was curious and followed in.

When I walked to the bottom of the porch, I heard Li's voice coming from the room: "It's too expensive, and it's not someone else." But by his light, we are also lively today. ”

At this time, there are already maids who have seen Cao Hao, and they have to bend their knees to see it, and they are loud.

Cao Hao picked up the curtain and went in, and saw a food box on the hall, and when he entered the back room, Li was holding a list and looking at it with Chu Yu.

Seeing Cao Hao coming, Li said with a smile: "Let's have a wedding wine today." ”

Hearing this, Cao Hao knew that Jiang Jian had ordered a table from the restaurant and sent it over.

He took the menu and looked at it, it was the first-class swallow wing seat from Lu Fengtang, and several big dishes were hibiscus swallow vegetables, grilled swallow breast, three threads of shark fin, yellow stewed shark fin, braised sea cucumber with green onions, phoenix fish maw, toad abalone, braised bear paw, money hump, etc.

Even people like the Cao family, these delicacies from the mountains and seas are not often eaten.

"It's called non-phosphorus cost, such a table, how can a table cost twenty taels of silver." Cao Hao often socializes outside, knows the market, and says casually.

Li Shi listened and said with a smile: "This Jiang Jian is really an outsider. It seems that the bride of Ming'er is coming, we have to prepare a big seal, otherwise we are embarrassed to show our hands. ”

Cao Hao said: "It's just that the old lady likes it, but it's just a taste of freshness." This Lu Fengtang, just on the edge of Haizi, is a good place to eat Lu cuisine. Their family is an unusual hall, and the master in charge of the spoon is from the Confucian Mansion in Qufu, and the Lu cuisine is the most authentic. And it's clean, and I've been there twice with my colleagues. ”

The Li family sent someone to pick up the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and children of the Zhaojia family in Dongfu, and then picked up the Gao family, and used the banquet lively.

For a while, the Li family was in a high mood, and it seemed that the haze of the Li family's guilt was gone.

Seeing this, Cao Hao and Chu Yu did not feel relaxed, and they were even more worried.

During the banquet, Li ate a few more glasses of wine, and by the time everyone dispersed, she was already a little drunk.

Cao Hao and Chu Yu served her to lie down, she let out a long breath and said to Cao Hao, "How is the garden cleaned up?" In April, I took your grandmother to live there. Bafujin came to post twice, and next time I am afraid that I will come directly to the door. ”

The Li family asked for the crime in the first month, and now it has been more than two months, and it won't be long before the case should be investigated, and everyone in the Li family will be settled.

When the time comes, those who are disturbed will not be able to hide it.

At the beginning of the month, the Li family asked Cao Hao to clean up the Haidian garden, and he wanted to take the Gao family over to avoid it.

"Mother, let's wait for the Holy Driver to move to Changchun Garden. When the time comes, my son will also pass, and we will all spend the summer over there, and the capital of the province will be hot in the summer. Cao Hao said.

Li shook her head and said, "It's better to go over there earlier, it's quieter over there than in the city, and your grandmother also loves to stay there......" Speaking of this, she turned to Chu Yu, hesitated a little, and said: "If you can't bear the child, I will leave Tianbao ......"

Chu Yu saw that her mother-in-law was reluctant in her tone, and said, "By the old lady's side, what is there to be reluctant to?" It's just that in April, Tianbao wants to 'catch the week', is it done in the garden, or in the house, and ask the old lady to show it? ”

"It's in the house. The garden is not far from the city, and it is only an hour or two away to come back. It's immortal, it's a naughty age now, stay here to study with Mr., you have to worry a lot about being a brother and sister-in-law. Li said: "The embroidered parrot in my house is not very old, but she is honest and steady, so let her go to the courtyard of eternal life to wait." ”

Changsheng now has his own courtyard, which is next to the Li family's courtyard.

Cao Hao and Chu Yu responded, Li said a few words, got drunk, and fell asleep.

Cao Hao leaned over, smoothed the corners of the quilt for her, and put down the curtain with Chu Yu, before he lightened his steps and walked out of the Orchid Courtyard.

The full moon in the sky is in the sky, scattering the clear light all over the ground.

Cao Hao and Chu Yu did not carry lanterns, and under the moonlight, they returned to Wutong Garden side by side.

After freshening up, neither husband nor wife felt sleepy.

"Li family, what will happen?" Chu Yu asked softly, "Although the old lady didn't say anything, she must feel uncomfortable in her heart......

She is also a married daughter, and when she thinks of her concern for her mother's side, she can somewhat understand her mother-in-law's helplessness and bitterness.

"I'm a little eyebrow-raising, so let's start from the deficit of the Weaving House. On the face of it, it won't be too serious. Although Li Nai is not on the roster of the weaving house, Li Xu has been old these years, and he has to help take care of the affairs of the weaving house, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to get rid of the crime. Several stewards on the head and face are a little unclean, and they will also ask for sin. The children of the family must not be implicated. It will be interesting to see how it is...... If the deficit is too large and annoys the emperor, it is not as simple as confiscating the family property......" Cao Hao thought for a while and said.

"Aunt Eight is asking for help everywhere. It's just that now, Uncle Nine went to Xining, Uncle Ten went to Mongolia, and Uncle Fourteen was in Jingshan. Chu Yu said.

"Since you have come to the post twice, you can go over and take a look on behalf of the old lady. Tell her not to let her toss around anymore and stab the emperor's eyes, making such a fuss will only make the emperor hate the Li family even more. It's better to wait for the south side to finish the review," Cao Hao said.

"Well, I'll go over tomorrow. The eighth aunt feels sorry for her adopted daughter, although it is pitiful, but she said it for Li Jiaguan with such fanfare, but it seems that we are cold, which makes the position of the old lady and the forehead embarrassed. Chu Yu said.

"Bafujin is a person with a real surname, I might as well be too." Cao Hao said.

Compared with him, Bafujin, who dares to love and hate, and is not afraid of imperial power, is more like a person three hundred years later.

"Yes, although Aunt Eight has a bad reputation, she acts with affection. Although the eighth uncle is gone, the eighth aunt has not forgotten to enter filial piety at Concubine Hui's mother. I heard that other palaces have made excerpts to invite the concubines to raise them in the mansion, and the eighth aunt also called Brother Hongwang to fold. And that is to be praised. Chu Yu sighed.

Cao Hao was not worried that the Beatitudes would return to his mother's house before his death, as recorded in later history; After death, the bones are scattered.

The eighth elder brother has been dead for many years, and his grudge with Yongzheng is limited, even if Yongzheng holds a grudge, he will not give up his face and deal with his widowed brother and daughter-in-law too harshly.

The next time, Cao Hao got up early.

Today, although it is not the court meeting, it is the turn of the household department to be on duty, so he rushed to the Donghua Gate early and entered the palace with several officials of the household department.

In addition to the household officials, there are also several scholars on duty in front of the emperor, and the three elder brothers and the thirteenth elder brother.

Yongzheng was in a good mood, and he took a fold in his hand, which was on the governor of Henan.

Some prefectures and counties in Henan suffered a severe drought last year, but last winter and this spring, the people were stable, there were no bones frozen to death, and there were no displaced people. There is no other reason, that is, because of the promotion of corn and sweet potatoes in recent years, so that the people have accumulated grain in their hands. Occasionally, in some places, where the people were short of food, grain was also transferred from neighboring prefectures and counties.

In the market, grain prices are stable, and there has been no rise in grain prices in previous years.

Yongzheng raised the fold in his hand and said loudly: "The boundary of Henan is mountainous and hilly, and it is next to the Yellow River. It was either drought or flooding, and in the past ten years, there were seven years that needed relief from the imperial court. Now, it is because of the implementation of these two agricultural products that the people can be fed in the year of natural disasters. The first emperor was benevolent and benefited all the people, and the community was very fortunate! At the end of the day, he was already a little excited.

He boasted about the emperor, but everyone knew that he was in charge of the household department and the people's livelihood and economy at that time. Everyone was obedient, and while echoing Yongzheng's words, they patted Yongzheng's sycophants and said what the emperor was sage.

At this time, there will be no one who is not open-eyed, and the promotion of corn and sweet potatoes in Henan also has the credit of Brother Jiu. Back then, when these two agricultural products were first promoted, it was Brother Jiu who went to Henan Mansion to take charge. Of course, that is his main responsibility is cigarettes, and the promotion of these two agricultural products is incidental.

Only Cao Hao, who is familiar with this paragraph, thinks of Brother Jiu who was forcibly escorted out of Beijing a few days ago, and his heart is somewhat strange.

Earlier, he also felt that among the sons of Kangxi, Brother Jiu's practice of business and affairs was not beneficial to the society and the people's livelihood. Now, it seems that there has always been some contribution.

At this time, Yongzheng's eyes had already fallen on Cao Hao.

Others don't know, but he remembers it clearly, the reason why this corn and bud grain were promoted in Henan was due to the cause and effect of Cao Haoding's farming.

Now, in the face of this merit of helping the world, Cao Hao's face is calm, and he is not half colored.

is willing to do practical things, and is not greedy for merit, he is indeed an honest person.

Yongzheng had a good impression of Cao Hao, but now that he sees him like this, he doesn't want to hide his credit, and smiles and says to everyone: "The people of Henan, thank Cao Hao." If it weren't for Cao Hao's attention, this bud grain and sweet potato would not have gone up to the heavens. ”

Among the people, only Cao Hao and the thirteenth elder brother are slightly younger, the third elder brother is also middle-aged, the others are over half a hundred, and several scholars are even gray-haired.

Seeing that Yongzheng praised Cao Hao so much, no one was jealous, just looked at Cao Hao and envied Cao Yin for leaving such a good son.

This is a bit exaggerated, Cao Hao doesn't dare to admit it, otherwise it would be wrong to turn back to the scene.

He bowed down and said: "Weichen doesn't dare to be greedy for the merits of the sky, it is the first emperor and the emperor Long's grace that make the people of Henan bear the blessings." ”

Yongzheng saw that he was not arrogant or impatient, but he was even more satisfied, and wondered if he wanted to promote Cao Hao. But when Cao Hao was established, he jumped to the second grade, and he was already in a prominent position, and he was promoted to a scholar, but his qualifications were still insufficient: "Cao Hao's merits cannot be erased, and he will be given a hereditary third-class light car captain." ”

Cao Hao listened, and hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

The third-class lieutenant is nothing, he got this title when he was a child, and it is rare to have the word "hereditary".

In this way, in addition to the eldest son Tianyou, his children and grandchildren can also get hereditary titles.

Yongzheng recently rewarded the Quartet, Long Keduo added the Taibao, Nian Qianyao was awarded the third-class public plus the Taibao, Nian Yaoling added the title of Shangshu, and the eldest son of the thirteenth elder brother was sealed Gushan Beizi, becoming the first brother to be knighted in addition to Honghui among the emperor's nephews.

Therefore, Cao Hao was grateful for the reward on his face, and he was very calm in his heart......*

(To be continued)