While the brothers were talking, Cui Baisui brought the people from the kitchen to bring the cold noodles.
It's dark buckwheat thin noodles with shredded cucumber on top.
It comes with two meat and two vegetable side dishes, spicy cabbage, mixed bean sprouts, cut white eggs, and salt-fried pork belly.
Although there were no oil stars on the noodles, and the palm-sized side dishes were slightly smaller, the fifth elder brother was satisfied when he saw the golden pork belly, oil rising from it, and the fragrant meat.
The fourth elder brother touched the cold noodle bowl, looked at the ninth elder brother and said, "It's cold and hard. Since you have a weak stomach, you can't eat this."
Brother Jiu nodded and said: "No, Fujin won't let me eat buckwheat noodles. It's not easy to digest. I eat cold noodles, and I've only eaten dried noodles. But this buckwheat noodles is also made with half white flour. You guys can eat it." Son."
The fifth elder brother was already anxious. He looked at the fourth elder brother and said: "Looking at the soup, it's only half a bowl of noodles. It doesn't take much. Fourth brother, please try it quickly."
The fourth brother then took the kuaizi and took a bite of noodles.
The taste is very refreshing, sweet and sour, and the fragrance of buckwheat is also very earthy.
The fifth elder brother urged him to use the kuaizi, and he couldn't wait to pick up the pork belly.
Just as it looks, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with juicy meat.
The fifth elder brother swallowed all his food and curiously asked the ninth elder brother: "This fried meat is delicious. Why is the meat so tender? It's not greasy, it's not burnt, and it's so soft..."
Brother Jiu said proudly: "My brother doesn't like eating meat. The fat one is too greasy, and the thin one is not tasty. So I, Fujin, asked people to steam the pork belly and then fry it. The oil was steamed out before, and it tasted even better after eating it." It’s delicious. Not only is it delicious when fried with salt, but it’s also more delicious when fried or grilled than raw pork belly.”
The fifth elder brother was moved and said: "Then I will ask someone to try it when I go back tonight."
Seeing that the fourth elder brother kept his mouth shut, the fifth elder brother asked these two questions and immersed himself in eating.
After the brothers finished eating, they went back to the city.
Brother Jiu returned to the main room and saw Shu Shuwai reading in the study, so he talked about the two posts.
Shu Shu also frowned after hearing this.
It's not that I'm stingy, but I can't do this kind of cheap favor.
If you come and go again, there will be more courtiers coming and going, which is a disadvantage.
Another thing is to set a precedent and give it easily. In the future, when others need something, they will think of them, and no one will dare to enter this threshold.
"Then future posts will no longer be accepted. Anyone who has no correspondence will be rejected!"
Shu Shu said.
This is the capital, not another realm. Why are dendrobium and Panax notoginseng so valuable?
Without Yunnan dendrobium, wouldn’t there be Huoshan dendrobium?
There are no Sanqi with ten heads, and there are no Sanqi with twenty or thirty heads?
The two people who are coming over tomorrow may be really in trouble, but they are also a little reckless.
I won’t talk about the Gao family here.
People who don’t know each other well may really have no choice.
But if the Shi family really needs help, they should go to Dutong Mansion first and bother to come over there to send a message, instead of going directly to the door like this.
With such poor etiquette, they still regarded the ninth elder brother as the younger elder brother. How could they dare to be so rash when the elder elder brother was dealing with the third elder brother and the fourth elder brother?
Brother Jiu nodded and said, "Well, I won't accept it anymore."
Relatives don't like to socialize, let alone people they don't know well.
Shu Shu no longer had a good impression of these two people, and said: "Even if you are asking for medicine, don't just accept it. Ask directly, why don't you go to Beizi Mansion instead of coming here? What if there is no reasonable reason?" Explain and tell them to get lost..."
Brother Jiu responded: "I think so too..."
*
In the West Garden, in the Tuoyuan Bookstore, the prince's face looked a little ugly.
After falling into ambush, it becomes so hot that adding an ice basin is of no use.
He asked people to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get a rhinoceros horn mat, which was cooler than the ivory mat. What did he hear?
Expenditure from Piku is arbitrary here in Yuqing Palace, but now it is necessary to write down the withdrawal list and file it, who will use it, and where it will be used. The eunuchs who were sent there will not be able to use it, so several people from Yuqing Palace are required. Only the eunuch in charge can spend it.
"When did you add the rules?"
The prince asked with a frown.
Although he ignored these chores, he knew that it was not so complicated to get a mat and pillow for the first time in April.
The eunuch said: "In the first ten days of the month, Master Jiu asked people to count the Piku and add rules."
The prince's face became more and more gloomy.
The only one who can go directly to the Piku to withdraw things is the Yuqing Palace besides Yuqian.
Is this rule specifically restricting Yuqing Palace?
The prince said angrily: "Take the chicken feathers as the order arrows! Just follow the original rules and withdraw them. If you can't get them out, go directly to the yamen of our hall to find Brother Jiu!"
The eunuch agreed.
The prince's eyes were a little gloomy.
Two or three million taels of silver!
Even if he is the prince of a country, he cannot say that the money is short.
Last year, the land tax of the Qing Dynasty was more than 24.39 million taels, and the salt tax was 2.69 million taels.
The ninth elder brother hoarded land and earned a year's worth of salt tax and 10% of land tax in less than a year.
He also understood what the five hundred thousand taels of silver used by the inner treasury were.
It was the capital that the emperor's father gave to Brother Ninth.
As for the 100,000 taels of silver that the eldest elder brother and the fifth elder brother took out, it was also the ninth elder brother who found an excuse to collect the principal.
No wonder it doesn't look like borrowing money.
What about now?
The banquet at Beiwusuo has reaped the dividends.
No wonder the royal father has gone.
The prince felt uneasy in his heart.
It’s not that I feel bad that I didn’t get a share of the pie.
To him, money is nothing.
He was worried that if the prince's brother's money was mixed up, they would favor the eldest brother in the future.
I am also worried that the eldest elder brother will make money through the ninth elder brother, and he will have more capital to bribe more civil and military officials.
He thought for a while, stood up, and went to Changchun Garden.
The reason why Ninth Brother was able to raise the land price in Xiaotangshan was because he was the emperor's father. The money he earned was not other people's money, but most of his clan's money.
For a long time, there has been no distinction between public and private affairs, which is not a good thing.
*
In Qingxi Bookstore, Kangxi was feeling heartbroken.
He took two sips of dendrobium and chrysanthemum tea to calm himself down.
What he held in his hand was Princess Kejing's veins and a bottle of rose perfume.
The princesses at the top were raised by him personally and had more to worry about.
Besides, Princess Kejing is different from others, and she has a lot of troubles in her heart.
Therefore, after he finished handling the government affairs today, he thought of the princess reporting illness, so he sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to get Princess Kejing's pulse.
As a result, the patient was diagnosed as ringworm.
The word "rose" is too coincidental.
Kangxi directly ordered Liang Jiugong to visit the Fifth Southern Institute.
Princess Kejing was scrupulous and had no intention of pursuing the case, nor did she intend to complain to the emperor. However, when the emperor came to inquire, she did not hide it and directly told the reason for the rash, and also handed over the bottle of perfume.
Liang Jiugong's expression did not change, and he felt as if he had seen a ghost as he took the things over.
Kangxi also became gloomy when he heard that the prince sent the gift to the eighth prince, and the eighth prince and his wife sent it to the princess.
He asked people to try this effect, but nothing happened for a while.
But if it can induce rubella, you know it is not a good thing and is indeed harmful to the body.
He looked at Liang Jiugong and said, "How is the princess doing now?"
Liang Jiugong thought carefully about the situation just now and said: "The princess still has ringworm on her cheeks and a rash on her neck. It looks like she hasn't had a good rest and is somewhat healed."
Kangxi's eyes fell on the rose vase.
What does prince mean?
I don't allow him to use this anymore. He should know his taboos, so why would he reward his eighth brother with this?
Cherishing things?
Or does it have other intentions?
He pondered and wanted to tell Zhao Chang, but then he remembered that Zhao Chang was not in the capital.
At this moment, the messenger eunuch at the door announced: "Your Majesty, please see the prince. Please wait outside."
Kangxi nodded and said: "Pass it on..."
As he spoke, his eyes fell on the rose perfume, he hesitated, and then told Liang Jiugong: "Put it away."
Liang Jiugong responded, took the perfume, stepped aside, and put it into the brocade box.
At this moment, the prince had already entered.
"My son, I would like to send my regards to Khan Amma..."
The prince's voice was loud.
Kangxi nodded and said: "The prince is also well..."
As he spoke, he motioned to Liang Jiugong to move the chair over, asked the prince to sit down, and said, "Why are you coming out at this time? It's so hot..."
It's not early yet, it's the hottest time of the day.
The prince sat down and said: "I thought that Khan Ama would be free at this time, so I came over..."
At this point, he glanced at the mat Kangxi was sitting on. It was not an ivory mat or a rhinoceros horn mat, but a bamboo mat. He said with disapproval: "Why does Khan Ama use a bamboo mat? Bamboo is cool, and this mat is cool." If used for a long time, it is easy to catch cold and cause paralysis."
Kangxi's hands on his sleeves trembled slightly, and he said with a warm expression: "You put them on when you are in bed, and you take them off when you are out of bed."
The prince said: "If the ivory mat is too hot right now, you can try the rhino horn mat..."
At this point, he paused and said: "My son also discovered through comparison that the ivory pillow is not as cool as the rhino horn pillow. This mat should also be better made of rhino horn. It's just that the ninth brother in Piku added a rule, which is too much." The son found it troublesome, so he ordered people to spend it according to the old rules."
Kangxi looked at the prince.
It sounds like ivory is more valuable, but this is not the case here.
Elephant tusks are big and rhinoceros horns are small.
It takes hundreds of rhino horns to make a rhino horn mat.
In Pikuli, the total number of rhino horn mats does not exceed five.
He looked at the prince and said: "The rules of Piku's withdrawal were changed by me after I asked my ninth elder brother."
The prince was stunned, his face flushed, but there was disbelief in his heart.
This was obviously a rule added for the Yuqing Palace. The Ninth Elder Brother was trying to pay for the Yuqing Palace. The imperial father did not let him make the decision, but instead supported the Ninth Elder Brother in front of him?
Kangxi looked at him and said: "Did you know that Yuqing Palace has used a total of twenty-two ivory mats in these years? There are only four ivory mats in Qianqing Palace and Qingxi Bookstore combined, and three in Ningshou Palace..."
After hearing this, the prince immediately stood up and said, "My son, please forgive me."
He is the prince, and if he spends more than the Imperial Palace and Ningshou Palace, he is exceeding the rules.
The number of these twenty-two seats is shocking to hear.
He no longer doubted Kangxi's words.
It was a mat, or a valuable item that cost a lot of manpower and material resources. It was not a bed sheet.
There is indeed a problem with the withdrawals here at Yuqing Palace.
Kangxi said sympathetically: "You study government affairs every day, why do you bother about this? Just the revelation of the imperial kitchen is also a lesson for the past. Later, you ask the princess to check the warehouse of Yuqing Palace. I also want to know. What's next? How many ivory mats has this servant coveted in the name of the prince?"
The prince also felt ashamed and annoyed.
Previously, Yuqing Palace, the wife of the Ma family, had arrested several nuns and stewards.
At that time, the prince felt that it was a slap in the face and it was not appropriate to intervene at the time. He later forgot about the matter and did not check the remaining manpower.
He smiled bitterly and said: "My son is so blind that I can't think of this. I'm afraid that not only the expenses of the Pitreasury will exceed the limit, but also the expenses of other treasuries will not be less."
Kangxi nodded and said: "That's true. I have already asked people to register the things used by Yuqing Palace. Later, you will also check the accounts of Yuqing Palace's warehouse and send them over. I want to see who is in Yuqing Palace." The palace harms the public and enriches the private..."
The prince responded, but felt uncomfortable in his heart.
Even if he wants to investigate Yuqing Palace, why not do it as the master of Yuqing Palace?
The emperor's father should have handed him the expenditure booklet of Guangshu Treasury and asked others to compare it.
In this way, major issues are reduced to trivial matters, things are controllable, and the dignity of Yuqing Palace will not be harmed.
Once he passed the imperial court, he could no longer hide it from the outside world. Looking back, in the eyes of others, he was just the Prince of Hutu who was not strict with his subordinates...
