Zhu Bao's legs felt as if they were filled with lead. He looked at the familiar study door but did not dare to go in. When he left Beijing to take office in Shandong, he also visited the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces in the Yangxin Palace!
It stands to reason that these children from the top families of the Eight Banners are also related to the royal family. If they can go to a local government to serve as civil servants, they will be looked upon highly by the Eight Banners. It is common for them to say a few words of appreciation before leaving!
At that time, the royal majesty of the Forbidden City did not scare Zhu Bao, but today he felt what fear was in front of his uncle, Xiao Letian!
There were two soldiers with guns standing guard at the door of the study. The accompanying officials were not present. Xiao Letian was the only one in the room... Wait, Aunt Fuhui came at the side door and gave him a fierce look before entering the room.
"It looks like I need to practice family law! Darling, I'm not afraid of national law, I'm afraid of family law... Even if it's a lock, it's just a knife, so I'll accept my fate!"
Zhu Bao mustered up the courage and walked into the study. Without saying a word, he knelt down to Xiao Letian who was behind the desk. "My nephew, Zhu Bao, would like to say hello to my uncle and aunt!"
After saying that, there were three loud bangs, and then I didn’t dare to raise my head, just pressing it on the blue brick floor!
Xiao Letian casually flipped through the books on the bookshelf, looking left and right but found no ancient books worth collecting. Finally, he put the book down and looked down at Zhu Bao who was kneeling on the ground!
One minute, two minutes... it took Zhu Bao a full ten minutes. Zhu Bao's back was soaked with cold sweat. In the end, his aunt Fuhui couldn't stand it and coughed, and Xiao Letian sneered. Said "Oh... Zhu Bao! Get up, I was distracted just now and didn't see you..."
Zhu Bao couldn't answer these words. He could only laugh and say, "Uncle, you have worked hard all the way. My nephew would like to congratulate my uncle on his great victory in the expedition to France!"
"Okay, okay, there's no need to flatter me. If you can save me some trouble, I'll be happy with you!"
With a bang, Xiao Letian suddenly slapped the table, "You are so brave, I wish you to lie to the court, and now you are also cheating on your aunt, right?"
"There is a loss of five million taels. How much did you put in your pocket? Do you think I don't know? Your aunt is here. Tell me again how much money you embezzled?"
Zhu Bao shivered so frightened that he almost peed his pants, "I...I, I...please uncle calm down!"
"Should I calm down? Have you told the people to calm down? Five million was in short supply. You, Zhu Bao, took away 200,210,000 by yourself, but you just told your aunt and embezzled 600,000?"
"Why don't you, kid, think carefully about your horse-spoon head? I can dominate East Asia, but how can I get to where I am today without good intelligence? You can deceive the Qing Dynasty with this little trick, and you still want to deceive me?"
"With your greedy and foolish mind, you still want to get into the rickshaw business. Do you think you are worthy? Are you worthy?"
Xiao Letian showed his authority as a parent today. He knew very well that Fu Hui had to give him face. In the end, he would give the Fucha family a golden rice bowl, but this golden rice bowl had to be hammered with a few thorny nails and had to be hammered. Your entire Fucha family!
"Zhu Bao! Now that you have become an official, you have seen the world. Tell yourself... can I give you a fortune in my rickshaw business?"
"Take the genealogy and check it out for yourself. Except for Fuhui Fuqing, a side sect that has some potential, among all the other sects among you, who looks like a human being?"
"They are all experts at eating, drinking and having fun. They never make drafts when they brag, but if you let them do some serious errands, they will all fart and have diarrhea!"
"Tell it yourself, how many officials from such a big and prestigious family like yours can actually become officials with real power besides dawdling around with their empty titles?"
"Come on... You, Zhu Bao, can be considered promising, and you even know how to become a fourth-grade prefect after studying... But have you ever thought that the descendants of Fu Heng and Fu Kang'an would be satisfied with just being a prefect? "
"The rest of them are all holding on to their frivolous titles and eating hard-core crops? There are no generals to fight the war, and there are no civil servants to govern the country... I specially selected a group of young people and sent them to Ryukyu to study Western learning. As a result, there were only two of the nineteen people. Can any of them pass?"
"The rest are all using my name to show off and deceive! Do you think I didn't take care of you? You have to work hard to take care of me!"
"I have given you a monopoly on the rickshaw industry. Can your family run it? In the end, instead of hiring people to do business, you are just eating away at the business like moths!"
"If you continue to live like this, then you will never touch this industry again. I would rather give up the patent rights than give it to you!"
This round of scolding made Zhu Bao's chest and back soaked with cold sweat, and his whole body was shaking like chaff!
Fu Hui poured a cup of tea for Xiao Letian, "Drink some water before you scold me! I know our family is not up to par...or...or just pretend I didn't say it..."
Xiao Letian had just read Fu Hui's prescription for his illness. He was worried about his wife's health. He couldn't bear to listen to such words. He took the tea and sighed, "Daughter-in-law! It's not that I can't bear this little property, but they have to look good." ah!"
"I don't ask for anything else. I just hope that the children of the Fucha family can be more realistic and down-to-earth... If they are not good at literature or military, they are not good at doing business, and they don't have the patience to engage in academic research!"
"Do they have to be rice bugs? I gave them the rickshaw business. Believe it or not, my wife, in less than three years, they will still have to give this business away and let others snatch it away!"
"Why! It's because they are not pragmatic, unwilling to do it themselves, afraid of being tedious and tired, and unwilling to endure hardship. They always think so highly of themselves and look down on these specific and detailed tasks!"
"At that time, we will definitely find a lot of servants at home, hire a lot of Han elites, and let others fight while they eat, drink and have fun in the back... What will be the end result? I'm afraid that in less than ten years, they will be idle!"
"Are you worried about the plot in Dream of Red Mansions? Then the last slaves in Ningguo Mansion and Rongguo Mansion were richer than their masters! All the money was made away by the people below!"
"The people in Black Mountain Villa are obviously corrupt, but Jia Zhen knows it so well that she doesn't dare to care about it... Why? It's not that all the young masters in Jia's family are young masters, no one can handle specific affairs, no one knows how!"
"We can only let those who can do the work ignore them!"
"This is the bloody reality. If your Fucha family doesn't change the bad habits of the past, they won't be able to hold on to this good industry!"
These words hit the nail on the head, Fu Hui was stunned, and Zhu Bao was also dumbfounded!
The book "The Red Mansion" was indeed banned for a period of time during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns, and no one dared to openly circulate it in the market. However, after the Tongzhi Dynasty, no one cared about this ban!
There are many versions of "Red Mansion" on the market. I heard that some royal palaces still have Cao Xueqin's original manuscript. Someone has indeed read the true ending of Cao Gong in this era!
Xiao Letian has also been looking for it, but unfortunately he still hasn’t had a chance to see it!
But from the side, the Red Mansion craze has begun to take hold in the late Qing Dynasty. Today, Xiao Letian used the Red Mansion as an example, which immediately hit the Achilles’ heel of all the Eight Banners families!
Indeed, almost all Eight Banners families have such terminal illnesses!
"Uncle! What can I do? What can we do..." Zhu Bao was so sad that tears and runny nose came out!
