The daily life of Jiufu Jin in Qing Dynasty

The capital city has already turned cold in October, and not long ago it ushered in the first snow in Beijing. Although the first snow was not too heavy, the thin layer of snow on the branches and eaves was blowing head-on The north wind is enough to make people really feel the cold of winter.

Originally, Roujia thought that the crime she suffered on the day of the Gold Award would have to be repeated on the day of the Longevity Day. After all, the Gold Award Day is on October [-]th, and the Longevity Day is on October [-]th. , the temperature is definitely not far from the difference.

But who knew that the sky would be clear on Wanshou Day, and when the sun climbed up, the huge city of Beijing was covered with a layer of golden tulle, so even if the wind blowing on the face was chilly, but seeing Such a scene makes people involuntarily imagine a sense of warmth.

On the Longevity Day of the Qing Emperor, the emperor will accept congratulations from civil and military officials and foreign envoys in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, so he enters the palace when the sky is dark, but during the congratulations, he witnesses how the sunlight fills the world inch by inch Everyone couldn't help but think of the words "Tian Gong Zuo Mei".

After all, before the Wanshou Festival, the weather in Beijing was windy and snowy, and it had been gloomy for a while, but on the day of Si Ye's birthday, the clouds opened and the sun rose, and the sky was clear, which was a good omen How could the natives who believed in the theory of gods and ghosts not feel that this was a good omen?

Therefore, on October [-]th, the palace was decorated with lights and festoons, and everyone had a smile on their faces. Even Fourth Master was in a much better mood today than before.

In the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's Longevity Day, Spring Festival, and Winter Solstice became the three major festivals of the court, so no matter how thrifty and simple the fourth master was, it was impossible to simply deal with it on the Longevity Day.

But this is something that Ulanara and the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have to worry about. Roujia and the others only need to prepare the birthday gift. Knowing that the fourth master believes in Buddhism and prefers calligraphy and painting, so Roujia and Brother Jiu are more prepared Birthday gifts related to these two.

Moreover, the gift for the fourth master's birthday is also very particular. In the Qing Dynasty, nine was the largest number and represented Zhiyang, so nine gifts to the emperor were grouped together, called one nine, and the upper limit was ninety-nine.

Brother Jiu usually complains about the fourth master, but he also knows that he is good to their family. In addition, elder brother Jiu is rich and powerful, so he prepared a total of 81 gifts for the fourth master's birthday.

"Half a year ago, my sister and sister received gifts from the fourth master on their birthdays, and they clamored to wait for the fourth brother's birthday to give him birthday gifts. I originally wanted to help them prepare in advance, but I didn't think of them Say you're ready."

Roujia and Brother Nine are husband and wife, so they naturally sat together after the banquet, so it was convenient for them to talk, "Brother Nine, do you know what gift they have prepared?"

"The two daughters don't even talk about you, so how can they tell the master?" Brother Jiu said.

"Come on less." Rou Jia snorted softly at Brother Jiu, "Who doesn't know that you are their big backer in the hearts of sisters and sisters?"

Although not long after the two little Gege were born, brother Jiu went to Mongolia with Kangxi, so after returning, the two daughters got closer to Roujia, Hongtong and Hongjing, and elder brother Jiu was just like a father to them. There is no difference between strangers, which made the ninth brother at that time not to mention how depressed he was.

But I have to say that the nature of father and son is indelible. With the repeated efforts of Brother Jiu, the sisters and sisters are getting closer to him day by day, and because Brother Jiu has no principle to spoil his daughter, resulting in the relationship between the two daughters. In my mind, A Ma Ke is much better than Er Niang.

Before giving birth to a child, Rou Jia swore that she would never be an ugly person: "..."

She is really too difficult.

When Roujia was young, because her father always spoiled her more than her mother, her father would satisfy her almost everything she wanted, while her mother always talked about that and took care of this and that, so when she was a child, she loved her mother more than her father.

After she grew up, Rou Jia understood her mother's painstaking efforts, but she felt that she should not be an ugly person, she should let her father sing a bad face, and she should make a fool of herself.

After giving birth to Hong Jing and Hong Tong, Rou Jia did implement this very well, but after giving birth to her elder sister and younger sister, she couldn’t do it anymore, because Brother Jiu, the female (king) son (eight) control (egg) really It's because she has no principle at all when she pets her daughter, which makes Roujia even want to make a fool of herself.

Originally, Brother Nine was enough to spoil these two daughters, but I didn't expect that the fourth master and Wulanara in the palace would put a pair of wings on the two little sisters, the result is good, if Roujia doesn't tie them with a rope , this pair of little sisters might have to fly directly into the sky.

Rou Jia's words made Brother Jiu a little guilty, and he couldn't control the smile on his face. He waved his hands, pretending to be modest and said: "Where is it, sister and sister are very close to you."

As he said that, Brother Jiu, who was worried that Rou Jia would turn over the old quarrel with him, deliberately changed the subject, "What kind of birthday gift are they going to prepare for Fourth Brother this time, to be honest, I really don't know about it."

Rou Jia didn't have to trouble Brother Nine, seeing that he changed the topic back, she let him go, mainly because she was still thinking about the birthday gift that her sister and sister were going to give to Fourth Master.

Don't talk about Roujia, even the fourth master is very curious about what birthday gift Yu Ludai and his sister and sister are going to give him. He already knew that they had gathered together to discuss something, but for the sake of keeping it secret, he was not allowed to know in advance.

Not only that, but Yu Ludai and the others also ran up to him to "threat" that he could not send Su Peisheng and the others to find out what they were doing in private, otherwise they would not prepare surprises for him.

The younger daughter and the younger niece have "threatened" themselves so much, so what can fourth master do?

I had no choice but to agree to them, and even ordered Su Peisheng and the others not to ask what Yuludai and the others were doing in private.

Although after Yu Ludai and the others left, the fourth master, whose curiosity was completely aroused, wanted to renege on his promise and take back what he had just said, and let Su Peisheng and the others inquire about what was going on.

But in the end it was reason that held him back. No matter how curious he was, fourth master did not break his promise. He really waited and waited with curiosity until his birthday.

It's just that the banquet is halfway through now, why hasn't the surprise that Yuludai and her sisters agreed to appear yet?

Fourth Master was distracted thinking about it, and an adapted version of "Journey to the West: The Great Sage Stealing Peach" began to be staged on the stage. Fourth Master was not very interested in these, anyway, he just watched the fun.

But after watching, the fourth master was fascinated by it. It's not that the actors in this play are so good, but that the fourth master found out that the child who played the role of the great sage, and the two who followed the "great sage" ass The "little monkey" is full of cuteness.

Especially those two "little monkeys", probably because they are too small, they walk like ducklings, not to mention running, if they run too fast, their left foot will trip over their right foot tripped over himself.

For such a stage accident, if it happened to an adult, it might attract displeasure or boos from the judges, but it would be different if it happened to a child.

Regardless of whether it is modern or ancient, most people always have a more tolerant heart for children. Therefore, seeing such a stage accident, many people just smiled kindly and passed it.

Didn't you see that even fourth master didn't care about it?

In this way, it is even more impossible for others to care about it.

Because today I am here to celebrate the fourth master's birthday, so after the opera, the actors will wish the fourth master good health and longevity on the stage, but after the performance of "Journey to the West: The Great Sage Stealing Peach", "Daddy Sheng" unexpectedly took two "little monkeys" off the stage with Xiantao in their arms, and walked directly to Fourth Master.

Originally, Fourth Master didn't think much about it, but when he saw the "Great Sage" and the two "little monkeys" walking towards him, he thought of Yu Ludai and his sisters and sisters who mysteriously said that they would prepare surprises for him Things, a bold guess suddenly emerged in my mind.

Are the "Great Sage" and the two "little monkeys" his little daughter and niece...?

After the "Great Sage" and the two "little monkeys" approached, Fourth Master silently retracted the word "what". It was indeed his little daughter and two little nieces.

Yu Ludai: "Huang Ama, today is your birthday. These are three birthday peaches made by my daughter and sister. I hope that after you eat them, you will be as lucky as the East China Sea and live longer than Nanshan."

When Yu Ludai finished speaking, she signaled to her elder sister and younger sister, and the two younger sisters raised their heads to look at Fourth Master, and said in a childlike voice: "Huang Ama, my sister/sister and I wish you..."

Sister: "Auspicious."

Sister: "Ruyi."

Sister: "I think."

Sister: "It's done."

Sister: "Congratulations."

Sister: "Get rich."

Sister: "Red envelope."

Sister: "Bring it."

The birthday greetings in the front are still good, but the chain is lost later. Gong Xi Fa Cai can still make sense a little bit, but what's the matter with the red envelopes?

Yu Ludai turned her head to look at her elder sister and sister, completely unaware that she had split up, the two little sisters blinked and looked at Yu Ludai, their innocent little appearance was so cute that no one could say anything to blame.

If you bring the red envelope, just bring the red envelope, Yu Ludai said, imperfection is also a kind of beauty, children say nothing.

Thinking of this, Yu Ludai looked at Fourth Master with a bright smile and asked him: "Huang Ama, do you like this surprise prepared by my daughter and sister?"

Look at Yu Ludai, who is full of heroism after dressing up as a great sage, and look at the sisters who look like two little monkeys after putting on fur, and suddenly feel that he is about to lose two cute and cute little nieces, the fourth master: "..."

like... huh?

Can he say he doesn't like it?

No matter what, the surprise that Yu Ludai and her sister and sister prepared for Fourth Master was indeed quite a surprise, even Rou Jia never thought that they would come up with such a way to celebrate Fourth Master's birthday.

Whether it's the play or the three longevity peaches, to be honest, they are not expensive at all, but they are full of heart. Haven't you seen Brother Jiu's eyes are almost red with envy?

"What are you envious of? Didn't my sister and sister cook red eggs for you on your birthday?" Rou Jia said from the side, yes, it was a red egg. From this, it can be seen that the sister and sister were indeed born by Rou Jia. The selection of gifts is also in the same line hahahahaha.

"They're just coloring the eggs." Brother Nine thought about it.

"Do you believe that the birthday peaches you gave to the fourth brother were just to help add some water or powder?" Sisters are so old, even if Yu Ludai said that the three birthday peaches were made by the three of them together , Roujia also felt that this sentence was too watery.

The main reason is that the younger sisters are too young. As for whether they are cooking materials, it is hard to say, anyway, she does not believe that the two younger sisters are the main force in making birthday peaches.

"But they sang for the fourth brother." Brother Jiu said.

Roujia: "...???"

Is that also called singing?

If she remembers correctly, the elder sister and younger sister seem to be Yu Ludai's little followers on the stage, right?Rou Jia looked at Brother Jiu, and said, "If you envy this, then you can only blame me for not giving you a Yuludai."

You don't need to ask to know that this idea must be Yuludai's. The reason why you brought your sister and sister is because Yuludai has a good relationship with these two little cousins. She knows that Fourth Master likes her sister and sister, so she specially assigned them two little princesses. A small character, Qiqi congratulated fourth master on his birthday.

As soon as Rou Jia said this, Brother Jiu also knew that he was making trouble for no reason. After all, he also knew that with the two small brains of his sister and sister, they would never think of using this method to celebrate Fourth Master's birthday.

At most, it was just giving him two red eggs.

Fourth Master: "..."

He would rather receive two red eggs.

"Master, if you didn't smile so happily when you said this, the concubine might believe what you said was true." After the banquet, Fourth Master returned to her Yongshou Palace with Ulanara.

Fourth Master wasn't angry when his queen made him tear him down like this. He touched his face and asked, "I really seem to be smiling so happily?"

"If you don't believe me, the concubine can bring someone to show you a mirror." Wulanara looked at the fourth master with a smile, and then said, "The concubine took a real look at the banquet, the ninth brother didn't know How envious."

Hearing this, the smile on Fourth Master's face became even stronger, but...

"When I saw my sister and sister today, I couldn't help but think of Yu Ludai back then." The fourth master said to Wulanara, "It was because that kid Hongjing didn't take care of him back then, so he led my little princess away. gone."

After that, fourth master often felt that he had lost a daughter and gained a "son". It was because of this experience that fourth master had to worry about whether he would lose his sisters tonight. Two little nieces, two more "little nephews"?

Ulanara also knew Fourth Master's "knot". Recalling what happened back then, she couldn't help laughing, and said intentionally, "Isn't that just right? Let Yuludai 'revenge' for you."

Moreover, Hongjing only misled one of their daughters, while in the area of ​​Yuludai, he directly misled two.

It's true that the account is calculated in this way, but, fourth master shook his head and said: "That's not possible, sister and sister will call me Huang Ama anyway, so this 'revenge' is repaid...killing one thousand enemies and injuring oneself eight hundred gone."

It's not that fourth master doesn't like his daughter to be lively and cheerful, but what does Yu Ludai say?The older he got, the rougher he became. Among his four sons, except for the youngest fourth elder brother, none of the other three sons can match Yu Ludai in riding and shooting.

Really, if there is a chance, fourth master thinks that his youngest daughter will become a female general who goes to the front line and fights on the battlefield.

******

After the Wanshou Festival passed, Fourth Master planned to start to rectify the affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Fourth Master had known about the richness of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but after he really sent someone to conduct a thorough investigation in private, he discovered that the Ministry of Internal Affairs There is more than just oil and water?It was almost overflowing.

"An egg costs three yuan outside the palace, and one tael of silver can buy more than 500 eggs, but in the palace, the price of an egg becomes one tael of silver?" Fourth Master was furious, "The gang of silverfish in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are really greedy for profit. "

The fourth master also knows the truth that when the water is clear, there will be no fish, and when people are observant, there will be no disciples, but he never expected that the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs would dare to be so greedy under the emperor's eyes.

Brother Jiu and the others looked at the information that Fourth Master sent someone to investigate, not to mention Seventh Master and others, even Brother Jiu felt a toothache after reading it: "No wonder the folks are saying that the new paintings of Shuxiaofang are not old. , this person must be from the Ministry of Internal Affairs⑵, with such luxuries, it is difficult for the person on duty in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to think about it."

Just imagine that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is in charge of all kinds of things in the court, such as daily meals, clothing, storage, etc., are all under their control, and the money that passes through the hands of the Ministry of Internal Affairs every year ranges from millions to thousands. So it's no wonder that even a small official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs can become rich.

only……

"Your Majesty, all the people working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are from Shangsanqi. If there is a drastic rectification, I am worried that it will end badly." Qi Ye couldn't help but reminded.

To be honest, Qi Ye is not angry with the greed of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but there is a saying that is true, cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. Wrong, but don't forget, ants kill elephants more often.

Moreover, the relationship between these coating families is intricate. If these forces are united, they must not be underestimated. And if it is urgent, who knows if they will jump over the wall?

It's not that Fourth Master didn't think about Qi Ye's worry, he even thought that even if the moths in the House of Internal Affairs were liquidated, corruption would happen again if a new group of people came up.

But the fourth master felt that he couldn't turn a blind eye to this problem because of the many difficulties and troubles. The fourth master said: "If I were afraid of them, I wouldn't let people thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the first place."

"Like silverfish like them, if you tolerate them a little, they will definitely make more progress." Greed is endless, and the fourth master does not believe that they will have enough greed one day.

Since Fourth Master said so, Seventh Master and the others also understand what he means. Since he is firm, what can they do?

Can only follow orders to act.

only……

"Fourth brother, it's not difficult to rectify the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but if someone pleads with the harem..." Brother Jiu didn't finish his sentence, but everyone else knew what he meant.

Whether it is Kangxi's harem or the fourth master's harem, there are concubines born in the harem of the fourth master. They are not afraid of the concubines born in the harem of the fourth master, but what if the empress dowager's natal family enters the palace to intercede with her?

Everyone knows that the former concubine De was born in Baoyi, and with the rise of the empress dowager, the Wuya clan has transformed into the mother clan of the emperor.

It doesn't matter if the Empress Dowager's natal family enters the palace to intercede with the Empress Dowager, what is important is what to do if the Empress Dowager is persuaded?

You must know that the Qing Dynasty emphasized filial piety.

In fact, Brother Jiu guessed right. After the news spread that the fourth master ordered to rectify the House of Internal Affairs, the Wuya clan indeed sent someone to deliver a post to the Queen Mother.

"Long Live Lord, do you want the servants to destroy it?" Su Peisheng was holding the post sent by the Wu Ya clan to the palace.

After taking a look, Fourth Master said, "No, just send it to the Queen Mother."

He also wanted to know if Queen Empress would be persuaded.