Seeing Brother Jiu's rogue appearance, Kangxi was too lazy to argue with him. He looked at the brocade box next to him and said, "What is this?"
Brother Jiu smiled and said: "This is a birthday gift prepared by my son for Khan Amma. I have been thinking about it for several months and I don't know what to give, so I finally prepared this."
Kangxi thought of the Jin Ruyi and Baifu jars given by Brother Jiu.
A heavy weight of gold.
Too vulgar.
But filial piety is commendable.
This year is still a while before the Longevity Festival, so he didn't think of this for a moment.
Kangxi signaled Liang Jiugong to open the box.
Liang Jiugong stepped forward and opened the brocade box, revealing a two-foot-tall bonsai.
Liang Jiugong's eyes widened. Although he had guessed it was gold, he didn't expect it to be this shape. It looked very familiar.
Kangxi, on the other hand, was a little curious. He got down to the ground and looked closer, and asked Brother Jiu: "What kind of tree is this?"
This time it was Brother Jiu who was surprised. He did not answer and asked: "Khan Ama doesn't recognize this?"
Kangxi glanced at him and said: "Do you want me to keep everything in the world in mind? I know what I have seen, but I don't know what I have never seen."
Brother Ninth said with a "haha" smile: "That son is better than his predecessor, but he is more down-to-earth than Khan Ama. This is ginger, onion, ginger, garlic, ginger, the most common thing!"
Of course Kangxi knew what ginger was, but he had never seen a complete ginger.
Seeing Brother Jiu's pride, he asked: "Tell me, when did you meet Jiang? Let me see when you became familiar with the world."
Brother Jiu thought for a moment about the small sample of Jiang Shan that Shu Shu had drawn before, as well as the old Jiang who had been copied from the dining room to the study, and said, "We've known each other since last year, probably half a year."
Kangxi snorted lightly.
It had only been a few days, and I had never seen this before.
Jiangshan.
A bucket of ginger mountain is indeed a lovely object.
This ingenious idea has nothing to do with Brother Jiu, it should be Dong E's suggestion.
She loves reading, and also likes to study food and drink. She is also familiar with ginger.
Kangxi looked at the ninth elder brother and felt a little disgusted. He was not as smart as him and Concubine Yi. It was not a good match for him and the Dong E family. A clever wife accompanied a clumsy husband.
Why did Brother Jiu think so much? He was talking to Kangxi about the weight of Jiangshan and said: "The red sandalwood barrel next to it is made of forty-eight pieces, and four hundred and eighty taels of gold are used in the middle. The future longevity gifts will be increased according to this, etc. My son, Lao Hu, wants to leave a note to Fengsheng, asking him to pay one thousand taels of gold every year to keep this filial piety..."
Kangxi couldn't laugh or cry after hearing this, and said: "You are really worried about the long term!"
The ninth elder brother smiled and said: "My son is self-aware and has no future. Khan Ama dislikes his son three times, but is also kind to him. It will be his blessing to be the prince and elder brother for the rest of his life!"
Kangxi thought about that scene. Brother Jiu was still crying and fussing in front of the emperor while holding a cane. He shook his head and said, "I didn't commit such a big sin!"
Brother Ninth felt that he had said too little, and his dislike was obviously more than enough.
He'd better retreat, he can't afford to offend and hide.
Just as he was thinking about resigning, Kangxi had already walked to the kang with his hands behind his back, sat down again, looked at Brother Nine and said, "In more than ten days, it will be the Wanshou Festival."
Brother Jiu saw his serious expression and did not dare to smile playfully. He stopped smiling and nodded: "Today is the sixth day of the lunar month, and there are still twelve days left."
Kangxi continued: "These days, I will ask Zhao Chang to keep an eye on Jin Yiren. After the Wanshou Festival, I will ask the Jin family's wife."
Brother Jiu blinked, not knowing what to say.
Didn't expect it to be so soon.
He thought it would take half a year.
Jin Yiren officially took up his new position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs only after the opening of the Yamen seal in the second half of the first month. By the end of March, it would only be two months.
Kangxi picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and said, "I heard that you recommended Gao Yanzhong to be the general manager of Xiaotangshan Palace?"
Brother Jiu nodded and said: "I just want to be able to advance to the next level and stay here all the time. The doctor is done."
Nor did he hide his nepotism.
Anyway, in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are only two doctors in total.
Among them, Zhang Baozhuo was not a doctor, and his abilities were ordinary. He was expected to remain a doctor for the rest of his life.
Gao Yanzhong is considered a smooth old official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He has pushed his qualifications to get through, and he may not be qualified to serve as the general manager of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in three to five years.
Kangxi didn't say anything else, he was just thinking about Jin Yiren's various small actions and experiments in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the past month and a half.
If Brother Ninth hadn't directly scolded him in the face, the previous rule of not allowing descendants of relatives to give priority to filling vacancies would have been abandoned.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had to abide by the rules of Brother Ninth in order to save worry.
Otherwise, the atmosphere of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which has finally been rectified, will become crooked again.
Kangxi didn't want the palace to be smoky and chaotic, and he couldn't bear the fact that these servants were acting as guests in a place where he couldn't see.
Kangxi nodded and said: "He worked hard last year on errands, so he should be appointed as the fourth-rank palace manager!"
Brother Ninth Brother did not say anything to express his gratitude to Gao Yanzhong. He only said: "When the time comes, our doctor will be vacant, and my son wants to recommend Dong Dianbang, the doctor in the accounting department."
Kangxi was a little surprised and said, "Why do you think of him?"
Brother Jiu said: "I just think that he has done well in the accounting department for the past six months, and his family is rich and he has a good title. He is not like someone who comes from a small family and knows how to make money."
Kangxi looked at Brother Ninth and said, "Isn't the Gao family a small family?"
Brother Jiu thought for a while and said: "Let's just say the family has fallen into decline. The key is that the family tradition is good. Gao Yanzhong is not very courageous, so don't worry. My son is afraid of the bold now."
Just like Jin Yiren.
Brother Ninth somewhat understood why the emperor wanted to deal with him in advance. He was too active to please the East Palace, make friends with the princes, and get married everywhere.
Kangxi did not nod or shake his head, and said: "Let's talk about it then!"
When he came out of Qingxi Bookstore, Brother Jiu was thinking about this sentence.
Are you happy or unhappy?
If you don't like it, why don't you just say no?
Ask yourself to guess what?
Brother Jiu felt that he couldn't understand.
When he left the small east gate, he frowned.
Could it be that there is something wrong with the Dong family, and it is also a family that Khan Amma wants to clean up?
But haven’t the children of the Dong family who were suspected of corruption been almost dealt with?
As for Dong Dianbang, I really can’t find any major faults.
Is he really out in the open? He offended so many people last year, and someone has already sent the news to the Yushi Yamen.
"Brother Ninth..."
It was Brother Ten who was waiting outside the Xiaodong Gate. Next to him stood He Yuzhu, who had gone to deliver the message in the morning.
Brother Jiu glanced at him and said, "Are you climbing a mountain in front of the sky? It looks a little dark."
The tenth prince smiled and said, "The wind is strong in spring, but it's still comfortable. I feel like my bones are all flexible."
Brother Jiu thought this was too unprofessional.
Even if the yamen of the Zongren Mansion is free in the spring, is it okay to ask for leave?
He asked: "You climb mountains in the morning, what do you do in the afternoon?"
The tenth elder brother said: "I was riding horses and shooting arrows at the Royal Horse Farm, and I brought my younger brother Fujin with me."
Brother Jiu said: "Didn't the Zongren Mansion also arrange for people to take turns in the garden? You can go back and tell Yabu that he will take turns here. In the afternoon, he will go around and tell you how to write. If there is anything urgent, please go directly Come to my brother and call you."
Otherwise, it would be outrageous for him to be idle while everyone else is working.
Brother Ten shook his head and said, "No, I've asked for leave."
If that were the case, people would misunderstand that he wanted to get close to the emperor, which was unnecessary.
The two brothers talked and arrived at Beiliu Suo.
The ninth elder brother was not an outsider. Since he had ordered noodles, the tenth elder brother did not ask anyone to prepare anything else, just a portion of boiled and fried noodles.
We also have silver noodles here, but that's not as good as the fried noodles.
In addition to the Qumacai served with Jiu A Ge, the side dishes to accompany the noodles also include a plate of small root vegetables, a plate of elbow meat, and a plate of crispy fish.
The ninth elder brother ate the noodles happily and said to the tenth elder brother: "Your sister-in-law can open a noodle shop directly outside with this recipe."
Brother 10 remembered the dishes served during "Zhao Zhou". Most of them were new dishes, which he had seen for the first time.
He told Brother Jiu: "Swallow-winged mats are popular in the capital now, but to be honest, except for people in Shandong, Fujian, and Guangdong who love to eat seafood, others just eat fresh food and don't think it tastes good. The new dishes that Sister-in-law Jiu has thought up look expensive, but they also suit everyone’s taste.”
Brother Ninth put down his kuaizi, sighed, and said, "This is your sister-in-law's plan for a private restaurant. It's hard to say whether the private restaurant can be opened now."
The Sanjin Courtyard by the Shicha Sea was prepared for the twelfth prince by his mother-in-law as a rite of passage, so it had been repaired and only needed simple sweeping.
It's just that the Guangshanku matter has been brought to the imperial court, and the twelfth brother's uncle probably won't be able to get over it.
The ninth elder brother was a little embarrassed to use the twelfth elder brother's house.
The tenth elder brother was no one else. The ninth elder brother sent He Yuzhu and Wang Ping'an who were standing at the door and told the tenth elder brother about the "nest" in Guangshanku.
"I did some calculations. They 'borrowed' the money and put it in the bank in a regular manner to earn the difference. In a year, it would be hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. But if they were unruly, they would loan us money privately or directly give it to merchants at high interest rates. , the oil and water will be turned upside down that year..."
"It has been ten years since Guangshanku was established, and yet not a single word has spread. There is no one clean here anymore, and there is another accounting department..."
Speaking of this, Brother Jiu said angrily: "It only cost 80,000 taels of silver to build Changchun Garden; the Xiaotangshan Palace only cost more than 100,000 taels of silver. They are big rats, and they will be greedy for two in a year." Go down to the garden, this was originally a gift from Khan Amma to Baoyi, so that the poor people in Baoyi could borrow it when they encountered difficulties, but in the end, these people were asked to cut off their beards!”
Brother Ten felt a little headache after hearing this.
Why is there one "nest" every year?
Even if the clothes are despicable, those people are in front of the emperor. Is it okay to offend endlessly like this?
He looked at Brother Ninth and said, "Brother Ninth, why don't I tell you that I'm sick and resign from my job at the Clan's Mansion? You can come to the Clan's Mansion and don't interfere with the House of Internal Affairs."
How can you avoid getting your shoes wet if you often walk by the river?
Once or twice, even if the emperor did not directly ask Brother Ninth to investigate, others would still think of Brother Ninth.
Brother Jiu shook his head hurriedly and said: "No, no, I am most annoyed by relatives who are not close to me. It takes a lot of trouble to remember people and socialize with each other. There is either a shortage of clan members or a shortage of Jueluo in that clan's house. I still have to go there." Memorizing pedigrees is a headache just thinking about it..."
