My father-in-law is Kangxi

Chapter 1675 The stingy Khan
Kangxi neither nodded nor shook his head.

Cao Shun was a bondservant of the upper three banners, so it was normal for him to work in the Imperial Household Department.

The subordinate officials in the Beile Mansion are of low rank, so this is a time for them to gain experience.

However, Kangxi has not yet decided whether to use Cao Shun or how to use him.

He has to take Cao Yin into consideration.

Although Cao's wife, Mrs. Sun, had been his nanny and had taken good care of him, the time she spent with him was not as long as that of Cao Yin, the Hahazhuzi.

From the time Cao Yin entered the palace at a young age to when he was appointed as a guard, the emperor and his minister accompanied each other for nearly thirty years and regarded him as their confidant.

Cao Shun was a dozen years younger than Cao Yin's eldest son.

If Cao Shun returned to the Imperial Household Department in the future, he would be a more suitable successor to the weaving factory than Cao Yong, but that would not be in line with Cao Yin's plan.

Kangxi put the matter aside and said to the Ninth Prince, "Don't spend all your time trying to promote this person or recommend that person. When you have no one to serve you, you will come to me and ask for someone else..."

Before, the Ninth Prince sent people to the Imperial Court, and it was either Fu Qing or Erhe, with the intention of helping the two of them show up in front of the Imperial Court.

Kangxi was worried that the Ninth Prince was too honest and would be used as a stepping stone by the servants under him.

One of these two men is the son of a Grand Secretary, and the other is the son of the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Guard. Both of them come from high-ranking families, and I'm afraid they are too arrogant and can't serve the Ninth Prince well.

The Ninth Prince smiled and said, "Then ask for more. My son doesn't have any serious work in the mansion. He just listens to orders. No one will have more or less..."

At this point, he hesitated a little and said, "Khan Ama, it's fine for others, but Zhang Tingzan should take on the job of the Prince's Mansion for a few more years... Seeing that Fengsheng and the others are about to start school, there must be a proper teacher for the emperor's grandson..."

Kangxi looked at the Ninth Prince disapprovingly and said, "I sent him there to guide you in etiquette and conduct yourself. Do you think he is my old master?"

Zhang Tingzan is currently the Minister of Taichang Temple, a third-rank official, and one of the "Minor Nine Ministers".

The Taichang Temple was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites. The promotion of the Taichang Temple Minister would be the Right Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Rites, then the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and finally whether he could enter the cabinet.

In his early years, because of Zhang Ying, Kangxi arranged for Zhang Tingzan to serve in the imperial court.

At the moment, because of Zhang Ying, he did not regard Zhang Tingzan as a potential cabinet minister. If he had no other merits, he would have retired as the Minister of Rites or the Minister of the Chancellery.

Even so, Kangxi did not deny Zhang Tingzan's talent, and felt that it was a waste of talent to use the ninth prince to teach the emperor's grandson.

After hearing this, the Ninth Prince said, "It is because Zhang Tingzan advised me that I feel relieved because I know he has a good character. If I really want to find someone from outside to teach the children, I am worried that he might teach them the wrong way..."

At this point, he recounted the Zhang family affairs mentioned by Cao Shun, and said, "As a first-rank hereditary student, as long as Zhang Tingzan, the eldest son, does not agree, he will have to stay in the eldest son's house. Zhang Tingzan readily agreed and even arranged for someone to complete the formalities at the Ministry of Personnel and the Imperial College. He is a kind man."

This was the first time Kangxi knew about this. He thought about it and shook his head, saying, "Zhang Tingzan had no choice. Since Zhang Ying had written to ask, the meaning was almost the same. Zhang Tingzan's agreement was just a matter of going with the flow."

The Ninth Prince felt that this was not just a matter of following the tide, and said, "Khan Ama, if Zhang Tingzan really had the spirit of an eldest son and elder brother and was not a kind person, Prime Minister Zhang would not have written to inquire. Otherwise, he would have agreed on the surface but was not happy in his heart. If he did not mention protecting this younger brother in the future, then the future of the Zhang family would be limited."

Kangxi knew that this was the truth.

But seeing how much the Ninth Prince thought highly of Zhang Tingzan, he felt a little unhappy and said, "You don't like reading, but you like to be close to scholars?"

The Ninth Prince smiled and said, "If we have to distinguish between people, I will stay away from those scholars who like to play tricks, no matter how talented they are. Seeing Zhang Tingzan as honest and kind, my son can get to know him well by interacting with him, and I feel more at ease!"

Kangxi looked at the Ninth Prince and said, "Don't be so self-righteous. People's hearts are hidden in their stomachs."

The Ninth Prince said disapprovingly, "Don't we still have Khan Ama? With you here, who would dare to fool his son?"

Kangxi snorted, "Why don't you say you're lazy and don't use your brain? When will you let me have peace of mind?"

The Ninth Prince thought about it carefully and said, "Then... after seventeen years? When Fengsheng is twenty, my son won't need my father to worry about him anymore. Let your grandson worry about him!"

Kangxi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "You are so lazy. You rely on your father and son, but you don't think about being independent!"

The Ninth Prince smiled and said, "Who says my son is so lucky? He is the son of the Khan's father, and the father of the emperor's grandson..."

Kangxi waved his hand and said, "Don't grind your teeth. Go back and think about the government-run shop carefully. It's too late this year. When you finish writing the proposal, finalize the location of the shop with Maska first, and we can talk about the rest next year."

Brother Jiu responded and stepped back from the imperial palace.

When he returned to the Prince's Courtyard, Shushu had just finished talking to Xiaotang about the various ingredients for the vegetarian pot tomorrow morning.

The meal arrangement in the temporary palace is the same as that in the palace, with two meals a day, breakfast and lunch, and a steamed bun feast in the evening.

Therefore, the vegetarian pot that Shushu wanted to send to the Queen Mother would be delivered tomorrow morning and there was no rush.

After Xiaotang left, the Ninth Prince waved his hand and sent Baiguo away, then said to Shushu: "I've discovered that my father-in-law is too stingy..."

Shu Shu was a little surprised when she heard this and said, "No way?"

He is usually very generous in rewarding his children, especially. Today, he rewarded them with the purchase of four shops as a reward for lunch.

The Ninth Prince raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why not?"

Then, he recounted the conversation between father and son, saying, "On the way back, I thought about it for a while. Why did you ask me to come up with a proposal for next year's matter these few days? The key is that you should ask me to go to Masque to choose a position..."

Shushu was so happy after hearing this that he said, "Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. The emperor is the richest man in the world, how can he care about a few shops? Not to mention the shops in the Rehe Palace, even the shops in the imperial city are not worth the emperor's concern."

The Ninth Prince stroked his chin and said, "Not necessarily. I think Khan Ama is not reluctant to reward his sons, but is afraid that the younger sons will suffer losses. That is why he used the name of government-run business to occupy ten shops first, so that the other brothers will not follow him next year and the year after, and continue to reward, and all the shops with good locations will be taken away."

After hearing this, Shushu did not refute it. It was indeed possible.

The main ones are the three younger princes, the fifteenth prince, the sixteenth prince and the nineteenth prince, who have the lowest birth and no one from their maternal family.

As for the equally young Seventeenth Prince and Eighteenth Prince, the former was raised by Concubine Shuhui and had her private property; the latter had Concubine Yi as his biological mother, and two older brothers, the Fifth Prince and the Ninth Prince, so he had no shortage of people to take care of him.

Compared with them, the young princes born to Han women are worrying.

Shushu said, "If that's the case, it's just the kindness of a loving father. I'll just pretend I don't know..."

The Ninth Prince looked at Shushu's belly and said, "Then we have to hold on for a few more years. We have saved enough money for Fengsheng and Akdan's division of the family property, and Niguzhu's dowry. Now that Xiao Si has been added, we can't let him take his elder brother and elder sister's share, we have to prepare another one..."

Shu Shu lowered his head and said, "Wait until the pearl farm in Taihu Lake has been raised for a few years and I have saved enough money for Xiao Si's share of the family property, and then I will present this to you."

The Ninth Prince nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes, yes, but we will reserve another one for the time being, just in case we have another son or daughter in old age..."

He didn't intend to let Shushu give birth frequently, but with the examples of his mother-in-law and his own mother, he had to be on guard.

Since the order had been given by the Emperor, the Ninth Prince discussed the contents of the government-run shop with Shushu.

The cement he mentioned before counts as one, and the pharmacy counts as another.

Shu Shu thought for a moment and said, "Food, clothing, housing and transportation are the most practical and attractive things. Cao Shun also said that among the ten or so shops on the shopping street, the best businesses are the restaurants, pastry shops and tea houses. These are all imported. We can open a pastry shop and a restaurant operated by the government..."

The Ninth Prince frowned and said, "Doesn't that mean it's against the shop in our mansion?"

Shu Shu said, "There are more than 40 shops, and the types of products that can be sold are limited. There will always be overlaps. It is always easier to deal with the shops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs than with other shops. It is not a big deal."

The people in the Imperial Household Department have learned their lesson and will not provoke the Ninth Prince.

Every time the Mongolian princes came to the court for one or two months, they could not eat in the same restaurant. No matter how delicious the food was, they would get tired of it.

The Ninth Prince's brows relaxed as he wrote down these two items, and then added the gold and silver shop he had thought of earlier.

This is where the bulk of the profit comes from, and it just so happens that there are ready-made masters in the factory.

There is also a liquor shop.

Then he thought about it and added a silk shop.

There is also a lot of material stored in the warehouse...

The couple was just thinking about what other shops would be suitable for the Mongolian princes, when He Yuzhu hurried in to report: "Master, Fu Jin, the eldest and second princesses are here, and they just got off the carriage..."

After hearing this, the couple did not dare to delay and strode out to greet them.

Princess Chunxi and Princess Rongxian have already entered the gate.

It turned out that the sisters had chosen a shop, went to the emperor to express their gratitude, and after leaving the palace, they thought of the source of this reward and came to thank the Ninth Prince.

"Thanks to my ninth brother and second sister, I was able to own two shops..."

Princess Chunxi said this with a blushing face.

She knew her own limitations and would not think of competing with the princes, but she did not want to lag behind other princesses.

She is the eldest princess and doesn't want to show her weakness.

If we really fail to win the emperor's favor, Korchin will have a hard time in the future.

Princess Rongxian was also happy. If the emperor went to Rehe often to escape the summer heat in the future, having two more shops would allow her to be more informed even if he did not come to the court.

The Ninth Prince laughed and said, "My sisters should thank me. If I hadn't told Khan Ama that the shops in the imperial city were all official offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Khan Ama wouldn't have been able to give us shops as rewards..."

This was the first time Princess Chunxi and Princess Rongxian knew about this.

Princess Chunxi said, "I have to thank you for that, but we also thank you for thinking of building a summer palace in Rehe. In the future, when Khan Ama and Empress Dowager come here to escape the summer heat, it will be more convenient for us to come to the court than to go back to Beijing..."

For a princess who married far away, returning to her parents' home was out of reach.

Cases like Princess Rongxian, who was married for more than ten years and returned to the court twice, are all special cases.

For Princess Fumeng, the separation from her loved ones was almost as bad as death...

(End of this chapter)