Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 343 5.25 That girl Yongjing is not young anymore.

Volume [-]

5.25 Yongjing, that girl is not young anymore.

That night, in Rongguo Mansion, Qilaizhai.

"Oh, Baoyu, if you dare to do this again, I will be annoyed!" Fu Qiufang's voice was clearly rejecting, but it made people feel more comfortable listening to it, "Uncle Zheng has been forcing you to study these days. What have you read?" How's it going? If I take the exam again, will I still have to take the exam? "

"Hmph!" Jia Baoyu, who was originally in high spirits and started to climb mountains and ridges with his hands, lost interest in an instant. He turned his back to Fu Qiufang in annoyance, "Does even my sister want to drive me to study? She is leaving me soon. If you are motivated, go see Brother You!"

"Brother Bao, I still don't understand your thoughts? It's just Uncle Zheng's request to study and improve. If you don't do it and make uncle angry, won't we be the ones who feel bad in the end?" Fu Qiufang hugged Jia Baoyu distressedly. He turned around and helped him pack his things, "Besides, you have to read this book and take care of yourself. It's late at night, so you might as well put away your things and go to sleep first - huh? Why is this "The Golden Mean" so heavy - oops!"

Fu Qiufang threw "Zhongyong" to the ground, covered his face and ran towards the door. Jia Baoyu, who was almost scared to death, quickly got up and hugged Fu Qiufang, dragging him back to the room. , no matter how hard she struggled, she never let go.

"Good sister, please spare me, but don't," Jia Baoyu said hurriedly, "If this spreads out, I will be beaten to death by the master!"

"Uncle Zheng asked you to study, and you read these dirty things? Seeing that I don't want to return to my uncle, let him discipline you well, and you won't lead you to bad things one day." Fu Qiufang burst into tears as she said this.

"Good sister, isn't this just for us!" Jia Baoyu was so anxious that she made Fu Qiufang stop crying, "Yes, it's just for the future."

"In the future, I'll go back to Uncle Zheng tomorrow and ask him to break your legs to see if you still dare!" Fu Qiufang broke away from him, stood up and hurried out, " Anyway, I will remember what happened today and I will never forgive you for the rest of my life!"

"Miss Fu, why are you in such a hurry?" Xi Ren who heard the movement hurried over to check with the tea tray, but she knew how much trouble this young master had caused.

"Good sister, help me collect the book on the floor, but don't" Fu Qiufang ran out as he spoke, "I'm going back first!"

But she didn't go far when she heard a sound of "Yeah" coming from Qixiezhai. She paused, couldn't help but smile and continued to leave, but her pace became steady.

The Imperial Palace, the Imperial Study Room of Daming Palace.

"Is there really that much?" Emperor Yonghe held a thick book, looked at Dai Quan with a sullen face and shouted, "Fifteen million taels, is this the total number of IOUs from the Ministry of Revenue? These things without a king or a father are really worth it. Does the imperial household department serve as its own warehouse?"

"The emperor is angry!" Dai Quan knelt down on the ground with a "plop", "The money is not owed in one day, but the sum of the decades since Emperor Taizong returned the capital; moreover, this is not all owed." Yin, when the capital was returned to the capital, the old court elder and the princes did not have a place to live in Beijing.

For the Northern Expedition, Taizong spent almost everything he could in the army. He really couldn't get any rewards, so he acquiesced to each family borrowing money from the Ministry of Household Affairs, part of which was later counted as a reward or support. For example, the word 'imperial' on the gates of the residences of the four princes and eight princes and twelve families was added by Emperor Taizong later."

"Okay, I know all this, what else is there?" Emperor Yonghe interrupted him dissatisfied.

"Ever since Emperor Taizong set the precedent, officials have been borrowing money from the Ministry of Household Affairs to live off their lives in the years since." Dai Quan said quickly, "These people who borrow money can be roughly divided into two groups. One is the Wuxun family, who generally owe a lot of money. It was a small amount, but because Emperor Taizong only promised to lend money to various families with Spyker, the total number was not much.

Those who really borrowed the most money were actually the poor, and among them the most were the poor Hanlin, the poor Yushi and other petty officials. Without the support of money borrowed from the Ministry of Household Affairs, it would be difficult to say whether they could live in the capital with their little salary. Let's go on; my lords, I haven't borrowed much money. "

"How many of the total fifteen million taels in this book can be collected?" Emperor Yonghe, who was already poor and frightened, was most concerned about this point.

"This" Dai Quan looked confused.

"What, you don't dare to say it?" Emperor Yonghe's expression immediately darkened.

"Your Majesty, calm down!" Dai Quan's head hit the ground with a "bang", "It's not that I dare not say it, but it's because there are too many bad debts here, such as those petty officials that I mentioned just now, at least They can also owe thousands of taels, and if they are expected to repay the money with their salaries, they may have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse.

These are still what can be found now, and there are also some who let foreign officials take office without money, and borrowed money from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and it is troublesome to recover them; these are relatively good, from Emperor Taizong to the present, there are too many For those who have only been in office for a generation, but then their families fell into decline, it is even difficult to tell whether there are any descendants still alive, and no one can be found if they want to collect the money! "

"Since then, what is the use of this book?" Emperor Yonghe picked up the book from Wen Fu, the Minister of Household Affairs, flipped it over a few times and threw it on the ground. "If it is what you want, the capital can currently collect as much silver as it owes. How much? Get up, I forgive you." "It's hard to say the total. I can't calculate it so quickly, but the situation of each family can still be summed up." Dai Quan quickly got up and bowed and replied, "That's it. As far as Wu Xun is concerned, the four princes and eight princes and twelve families generally owe more than 20 taels of silver. It is definitely no problem to recover the money. Even if Ning Rong and the Second Mansion are a little backward, they can definitely collect it.

But it’s hard to say about other military honors. Let’s just say that the Twelve Marquises who were considered to be tied in the past are now more miserable than the others. In addition to the three families of Pingyuan Marquis, Dingcheng Marquis and Xiangyang Marquis, there is also the Jingtian Marquis Mansion. There is hope. The other families may not even be able to afford their own mansions, let alone repay the money. The two Shi family members are so poor that they have become the laughingstock of the capital. Shi Nai, the bowling lord of the second house, is still able to make do, and Zhong Zhong of the third house is. Jinghou Shi Ding is simply an eye-opener.

It's easier to talk about the civil servants. Those low-ranking officials below are definitely in trouble. The adults above can still discuss it. However, even though I don't have the courage to read the contents of Wen Shangshu's excerpt, I can still come up with some meanings. There should be no or very little in it. It's less about those poor people who owe money, and more about the various martial arts families, right? "

"Hmph!" Although Emperor Yonghe didn't say it directly, his gloomy face said it all, "Look back and ask someone to find out the situation of the civil servants. At least you have an idea. As for Wu Xun, you have made several trips in person in the past few days to talk to him. Let everyone know what I mean, let them understand what I mean, it happens to be the middle of the year, so you might as well take advantage of the rewards to say it."

"Your Majesty, my servant's idea is to send a letter to each family and see if it can be collected. Even if it is really exempted, it can only be the grace of Your Majesty. We can't let those short-sighted people really do it. I think the household department is their big treasury." Dai Quan said with saliva on his face.

"You old dog, you still have some brains!" Emperor Yonghe finally showed a smile and raised his foot to give Dai Quan, "Okay, let's do it like this - well, we might as well spread the other news and let them Be prepared."

"This -" Dai Quan bowed down nervously and thought for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, would you like to slow down this matter for a while? I also know that the troops in the capital are too concentrated. But this is also the rule of our ancestors, and it has always been this way since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty; the emperor is the most respected person, so of course he can change it if he wants to, but should we settle the matter of owing money first?"

"Why don't I know?" Emperor Yonghe sighed softly, "I haven't noticed before, how can you not know what's going on in Beijing these days? But it wasn't until this time that I discovered that the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, with a hundred thousand troops, actually There are not many people who can make me feel at ease, let alone use them with ease. If things go on like this, they will be clean, what about me?"

"Your Majesty, such a big thing definitely requires the help of money. Your Majesty is serious about taking action. At least wait until you have more money." Dai Quan quickly advised.

"Your Majesty, it's past the time of Hai. I saw that the light was still on here, so I asked the small kitchen to prepare some things. At any rate, I will pad my stomach first. No matter how busy I am, I can't ignore the dragon's body!" Seeing two figures approaching outside the door, it was the Queen leading Yuan Chun, "Dai Quan, you dog, have you made His Majesty unhappy again?"

"The empress is joking. Even if I borrow my courage, I don't dare to displease the emperor." Dai Quan, as a close confidant of Emperor Yonghe, was naturally no stranger to the empress. He was not afraid when he heard the "reprimand" and smiled playfully. He joked, "The emperor is so busy now that he even used some of the dinner casually, even the servants."

"Okay, I know you can do it!" Emperor Yonghe waved his hand "impatiently", "You arrange the first thing as soon as possible, and the second thing slowly in advance, get out of here - if Zitong doesn't come, I'll still I didn't pay attention to my stomach, but now that I smell the fragrance, I really feel hungry."

"Slave, please excuse me!" Dai Quan quickly bowed and bowed slowly out of the study.

"It's just a bowl of lotus seed soup and some pastries. How is it really worth anything?" The queen nodded with a smile, then turned around and said, "Yuan Chun, why don't you bring it here!"

"Okay, you can go down too!" Emperor Yonghe picked up the jade bowl, motioned to Yuan Chun to put it down, then waved his hand, took a sip before continuing, "Yes, I'm used to eating food from the imperial dining room now, so it's really I kind of miss Zitong’s craftsmanship.”

"What is there? If your Majesty is willing, I would like to send it to you every day." The queen looked pleased when she saw Emperor Yonghe drinking the soup and pinching a few cakes. "I'm afraid that your Majesty will be annoyed. Just forget it if you get angry, if you chase someone away in a hurry, I will die of embarrassment!"

"Uh." Emperor Yonghe smiled awkwardly. The old couple had been supporting each other for more than ten years, but they still couldn't tell that this was the queen's complaint about her alienation from Guo Kai and summoning Guo Yu many times in the past few days, "Zi Tong came here today, but something happened? "

"Rong'er came over last night and mentioned something to me." Of course the queen understood the principle of "enough is enough" and changed the subject with a smile, "That girl Yongjing is not young anymore. I have made many choices these days, but... I didn't find a suitable one, so it happened that Rong'er proposed one, and this concubine came here to discuss with His Majesty."

"Oh?" Emperor Yonghe couldn't help but laugh, "The imperial sister is so interested in you, but you don't know which one you are talking about?"

"Who else could it be? Your Majesty forgot about the boy who performed well during the spring hunting?" As soon as the queen finished speaking, she saw Emperor Yonghe's face darken, "I understand what your Majesty means, but in this life, you are not blind. If you are not deaf, you will not be able to be a nobleman. This is what Your Majesty taught me back then!"

"Did the imperial sister mention anything else?" Of course Emperor Yonghe knew that his sister never did useless things, so he pondered for a moment before continuing to ask.

"Only one thing. This guy is only a member of the fifth rank with a thousand households. Although he has been ordered to be a guerrilla based on his merits, he still wronged Xuan'er. Besides, he is still a foreigner, so he can't be thousands of miles apart from his wife all day long, right?" The Queen said with a smile, "What Rong'er wants is to give him a position in the Fifth Army Camp. It's both cheap, and it's not difficult to talk to Father."

"Huh?" Emperor Yonghe's heart moved, and a smile slowly appeared on his face, "Zi Tong is right. Since you have already discussed it, you might as well take a look first; but, how did I hear that before he was appointed as an official, he Have you already decided to get married?"

"What your Majesty said is that the girl originally chosen was a girl from the Xue family in Jinling. A few days ago, Rong'er asked me to be my escort and recruited her to serve as a servant to Xuan Yatou." The queen continued to smile.

"You have all discussed it so clearly, what else do I have to say?" Emperor Yonghe laughed loudly, finished the lotus seed soup in a few mouthfuls, pinched a few more cakes, and then Qian Qian hugged the queen and said, "It's late at night. Well, it’s better to rest now!”

(End of this chapter)