My father-in-law is Kangxi

Chapter 1517
The eighth prince is 21 years old this year. When Kangxi was that old, he already had several sons, but he just didn't have a few.

Here at Eighth Prince's house, after four years of marriage, there were only two movements between the wives and concubines, both of which were for nothing.

After all, heirs are a big deal...

Kangxi remembered that he had rewarded Eighth Prince with four official ladies, so he turned around and told Concubine Hui that he would pick two more among the official ladies, regardless of their appearance, and they should be suitable for men.

Not only the eighth elder brother's house needs to refer to two people, but the eldest elder brother and third elder brother's house also need to refer to two people.

In this case, it is not easy to select people from the palace now. You can pay attention to it during the small election next year and directly reserve the manpower needed by each government.

Kangxi had an idea, so he put the matter aside and read the news from Prince Jian's palace.

Perhaps it was because of the early arrangement of Prince Yarjiang, the younger brothers below him were all at peace, and Yabu Fujin did not have any trouble, so it was quite peaceful.

Kangxi felt relieved.

People's hearts are biased. He grew up watching Yaerjiang'a, so naturally he doesn't like others to make things difficult for Yaerjiang'a.

He took a look at the news about Sonu's mansion again, and found that each one was from a high-profile marriage, and most of them were direct descendants.

Fortunately, the imperial clan has begun to take examinations for titles, otherwise there would have been a lot of princes from the Sonu branch alone.

Even if he reformed the clan title system and limited the number of clans with titles, the total number of clans at present is here, and the annual clan salary expenditure is already several times that of the ancestral dynasty.

This is why he only allowed the yellow belt to be reduced to the red belt.

The red-sash Dingkouyin is no different from ordinary banner people, except that they have some grace in weddings and funerals.

The yellow belt is different, they are all raised by honor...

The next day, the emperor returned to Beijing.

The Khans, princes, and Beile of the Zasaktu tribe who came to the court also returned to the foreign palace. Like other Mongolian princes and princes on their annual visit, they will leave Beijing in February next year.

I don’t know if it was the effect of the brown sugar ginger water, but Brother Jiu’s cold was cured within a few days.

He slept for several days and didn't like to drink medicine or boiled water, so Shu Shu made different kinds of soup.

Yam and pork ribs soup, fish and eggplant soup, winter melon and chicken soup...

Brother Ninth slept well, ate well, and after a few days, his complexion became rosy.

Because of the cold, Shu Shu ordered two custom-made foot stoves and brought them to the Yamen for Brother Jiu.

One is for the ninth elder brother, and the other is for the twelfth elder brother.

This is because the two brothers are afraid of catching the cold while sitting for a long time. With this extra step under their feet, they can handle official documents without worrying about the cold under their feet.

The foot stoves on the market now are all in the shape of a hand stove, which is an enlarged version of a hand stove.

Shu Shu asked someone to customize the foot pads, which are like later generations' foot pads. They are rectangular flat boxes that are more comfortable to step on.

The twelfth elder brother stood up to make room for the foot stove, looking a little at a loss.

Brother Jiu had already started calling people, saying: "Hurry up and deal with the official business, then run errands for me later..."

The twelfth elder brother said: "What are the instructions from the ninth brother?"

Brother Jiu said: "Don't worry, we'll talk about it at noon."

The oranges will be sent to the palace at noon. Except for Qianqing Palace, Ningshou Palace, Yuqing Palace and Yikun Palace, other places are not easy to drop.

The Ninth Prince decided that apart from Qianqing Palace and Ningshou Palace, the remaining Yuqing Palace and Prince's offices would be left to the Twelfth Prince to run errands.

If he had to do it all by himself, he would have to stay down for a long time, and he would probably have to lie down.

Gao Yanzhong came with the account book. It turned out that the utensils had been lost during the banquet in the past ten years, which accumulated to a large amount.

Brother Nine heard this and said amusedly: "It's not gold and silverware, who is so indebted?"

Gao Yanzhong said: "The main reason is that the table is full of spectators. You can take the cakes away, and some even take the plates. After so many years, no one has mentioned this matter, and the shortage of these utensils has become bigger and bigger. Now the internal affairs The dishes and dishes collected by the house are ready for a small banquet, but we will not be able to collect them for a big banquet, so we need to order a batch of porcelain in advance."

Brother Jiu said: "Then count the shortages and prepare more custom orders!"

As for asking people to look after the dishes, he didn't plan to do that. He didn't want to be the bad guy when it came to how much money he paid.

There are only a few big banquets in a year. Even if some are lost each time, it will only last a few taels of silver in a year.

If he slaps the clan nobles in the face for this, even if he goes to the imperial court, he won't do well.

Brother Jiu wanted to understand this, so he said: "It shouldn't be intentional, so don't pay attention to it. The only thing to do in accounting for each banquet is to mark which table is missing."

Gao Yanzhong agreed and took the booklet to Guangshu.

The twelfth elder brother said: "You should throw away less plates and more bowls, chopsticks and spoons..."

Brother Jiu looked at him and said, "Have you heard about this?"

The twelfth elder brother nodded and said: "When I was a kid, I heard my grandma mention it once. It was said that many foreign ministers felt honored when they came to the palace for a banquet for the first time. Some of them hid chopsticks and spoons secretly, and took them out to keep for their children. blessing."

It's like there are similar customs at weddings.

It's just that at the wedding, the dishes and chopsticks have to be "stolen" from the mother's family to the husband's family.

The banquets in the palace were stolen from the palace and returned to one's own home.

Brother Jiu hummed softly: "What kind of blessing is this? How can parents with unclean hands and feet teach good children?"

Brother Twelve thought it was right and stopped talking.

Brother Jiu held his pocket watch and counted the time.

Before he came out in the morning, he asked someone to bring oranges at the beginning of the afternoon.It was about early noon when Sun Jin came in and announced, "Sir, the oranges have arrived."

The ninth elder brother nodded and ordered the twelfth elder brother: "There are three baskets of oranges in Yuqing Palace. One basket is at my elder brother's place, one basket is at your place, and half a basket is elsewhere. You can help me run errands and deliver them around!"

The thirteenth elder brother's wedding is scheduled for mid-December, so for now, it's the same as the unmarried younger brother.

The twelfth elder brother stood up and said, "Ninth brother is going to Qianqing Palace and Ningshou Palace?"

"Ok!"

Brother Jiu responded: "I've left it with you, so you don't need to prepare anything else."

Carriages were not allowed into the palace, so they were replaced by carts pushed by people at Xihua Gate.

Sun Jin was responsible for counting, ordered ten baskets of oranges, and sent them to the tea room of Qianqing Palace.

Brother Jiu told the waiter directly: "Nine baskets are presented to me by my father. How to distribute them depends on the emperor's instructions. One basket is given by me to pay tribute to Yikun Palace."

The manager agreed, and Brother Ninth went to see him.

The emperor had finished handling the morning's government affairs and was about to set the dinner table.

Kangxi let Brother Jiu come in. Brother Jiu had no empty hands. He was holding two oranges, one with orange skin and one with green skin.

"Son, please send greetings to Khan Amma. My son has brought you oranges..."

After Brother Jiu came in, he put out two oranges.

Kangxi looked at it and said, "Did you transport those from Suzhou under the guise of public charity?"

Sure enough, the news inside and outside the capital could not be hidden from the emperor.

Brother Jiu hurriedly said: "Khan Ama, my son has been wronged, how can he be doing it for personal gain? The boat is empty, and it is empty. Besides, my son did not take advantage of it and reduce the boat fare in vain!"

After working as a clerk in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for several years, Shu Shuer's appointment was made. Brother Ninth was very clear about public affairs and private affairs. He kept the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs very clearly and refused to be ambiguous in the slightest.

Kangxi snorted coldly: "Since it is an official ship of the Ministry of Revenue, how can I discount the ship's fee?"

Brother Jiu said: "Why did the household department be folded? My son only counts half of it. To be honest, the materials from Suzhou Weaving House are mainly used, and the oranges don't take up half of the boat!"

Kangxi said: "Since you are so clear about accounting, what about taxes?"

Brother Jiu was stunned and said: "Khan Ama, my son eats this for himself, and he is not doing business, so why does it involve taxes?"

Kangxi said: "Aren't taxes on fresh fruits and vegetables from all over the country imported into the capital?"

Brother Jiu felt something was wrong and did not answer immediately, but thought about it carefully.

Goods entering Beijing must go through Chongwenmen Customs Tariff.

Chongwenmen Customs is under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which stipulates that more than a dozen types of goods entering Beijing must be taxed, including fruits.

However, Brother Jiu’s oranges are not taxed, and there is no favoritism.

He looked at Kangxi and said: "Khan Ama, my son's prince's palace does not have a separate palace now. Once supplied, it is considered as the internal affairs palace, so the oranges shipped to my son's palace are also tax-free."

Kangxi was just nitpicking. Seeing his seriousness, he changed his words and said: "The relationship with the Ji family is about the same. Businessmen do everything for profit."

Brother Jiu nodded and said: "Well, it doesn't have much to do with it at all. They just spend money to buy peace of mind."

Kangxi said: "Li Xu wants to return to Beijing early next year to celebrate my birthday..."

Brother Jiu didn't answer. He didn't have a good impression of Li Xu.

Starting from Wang Guiren, Li Xu started the road of presenting beauty.

Nowadays, the Qianqing Palace has about a dozen big promises, and they are not from the flag, but from the people of Jiangnan.

Kangxi looked at him and said, "How about Li Ding going to the study?"

Li Ding is the only son of Li Xu and one of the companions of his fifteenth elder brother.

Because of Xiaoliu, Brother Jiu actually heard about it twice and said: "I am young among the companions in reading, and I am not very courageous. I need Cao Qi to take care of me more on weekdays."

Kangxi had no impression of Cao Qi, but he knew that he was Cao Yin's nephew.

Choosing a reading companion from the Cao and Li families not only gives grace to the two families, but also helps Wang Guiren find a natal family.

You don't need to be smart, just be honest and avoid getting into trouble.

Kangxi also let go of the matter.

Brother Jiu was a little worried. Seeing how worried the emperor was, if the orange didn't just give instructions, he might even get wet with rain and dew.

He said: "My son just sent ten baskets of oranges to the waiter. Nine baskets are for the Khan and Ama, and one basket is for the empress. The royal grandmother, the prince and my elder brother also kept them all..."

After Kangxi heard this, his heart moved and he said: "How much will Ningshou Palace give, and how much will Yuqing Palace give?"

The ninth elder brother said: "There are five baskets in the tea room of Ningshou Palace, one basket for each of the two concubines, half a basket for the Buddha at Aunt Su Ma, and half a basket for each of the sisters from Ge Ge Suo... Qinggong Three Baskets..."

Kangxi listened to the chatter and said: "You are not alone!"

Brother Jiu said: "Isn't this rare? The fruits in the capital are big white pears, persimmons, and many oranges, which are perfect for relieving tiredness in winter..."

After coming out of Qianqing Palace, Brother Jiu went to Ningshou Palace without stopping.

The Queen Mother saw that he was sending oranges on a cold day, so she left the meal alone.

It happened that the Queen Mother was eating sauerkraut pot, which is this year's new sauerkraut. Ninth Prince likes it more and is not a heretic. She ate half a bowl of soup rice and a mutton pie, which made her whole body steaming...

(End of this chapter)