The eighth prince is twenty-one years old this year. When Kangxi was as old as Kangxi, he already had several sons, but he just didn’t have a few.
Here at Eighth Prince, after four years of marriage, the wife and concubines only had two movements, both of which were in vain.
After all, heirs are a big deal...
Kangxi remembered that he had rewarded his Eighth Prince with four official ladies, so he turned around and told Concubine Hui to pick two more among the official ladies, regardless of their appearance, and they should be suitable for men.
Not only the eighth elder brother's house needs to refer to two people, but the eldest elder brother and third elder brother's house also need to refer to two people.
In this case, it is not easy to select people from the palace now. You can pay attention to it during the small election next year and directly reserve the manpower needed by each government.
Kangxi had an idea, so he put the matter aside and read the news from Prince Jian's palace.
Perhaps it was because of the early appointment of Prince Yarjiang, the younger brothers were all at peace, Yabu Fujin did not have any trouble, and everything was peaceful.
Kangxi felt relieved.
People's hearts are all biased. He has watched Yaerjiang'a grow up, so naturally he doesn't like others to make things difficult for Yaerjiang'a.
He looked at the news about Sonu's mansion again, and found that each one was from a high-profile family, and most of them were direct descendants.
Fortunately, the imperial clan has begun to take exams for titles, otherwise there would have been a lot of princes from the Sonu branch alone.
Even if he reformed the clan title system and limited the number of clans with titles, the total number of clans at present is here, and the annual clan salary expenditure is already several times that of the ancestor dynasty.
This is why he only allowed the yellow belt to be reduced to the red belt.
The red-strap Dingkouyin is no different from ordinary banner people, except that they have some grace in weddings and funerals.
The yellow belt is different, they are all raised...
The next day, the emperor returned to Beijing.
The khans and princes of the Zhasaktu tribe, Baylor, etc. who came to the court also returned to the foreign palace. They will leave Beijing in February next year like other princes of various Mongolian tribes who are on their new year.
I don’t know if it was the effect of the brown sugar ginger water, but Brother Jiu’s cold was cured within a few days.
He slept for several days and didn't like to take medicine or boiled water, so Shu Shu made different kinds of soup.
Yam and pork ribs soup, fish and eggplant soup, winter melon and chicken soup...
Brother Ninth slept well, ate well, and after a few days, his complexion became rosy.
Because of the cold, Shu Shu ordered two custom-made foot stoves and brought them to Brother Jiu's Yamen.
One is for the ninth elder brother, and the other is for the twelfth elder brother.
This is because the two brothers are afraid of catching the cold while sitting for a long time. With this extra step under their feet, they can handle official documents without worrying about the cold under their feet.
The foot stoves on the market now are all in the shape of a hand stove, which is an enlarged version of the hand stove.
Shushu asked people to customize the foot pads, which are like later generations' foot pads, rectangular flat boxes, which are more comfortable underfoot.
The twelfth elder brother stood up to make room for the foot stove, looking a little at a loss.
Brother Jiu has already begun to call people, saying: "Hurry up and deal with the official business, then run errands for me later..."
The twelfth elder brother said: "What are the instructions from the ninth brother?"
Brother Jiu said: "Don't worry, we'll talk about it at noon."
The oranges will be delivered to the palace at noon. Except for Qianqing Palace, Ningshou Palace, Yuqing Palace and Yikun Palace, other places are not easy to drop.
The Ninth Prince decided that apart from Qianqing Palace and Ningshou Palace, the remaining Yuqing Palace and Prince's Office would be left to the Twelfth Prince to run errands.
If he had to do all this by himself, he would have to sit down for a long time.
Gao Yanzhong came with the account books. It turned out that in the past ten years, all the utensils had been lost during the banquet, which accumulated to a large amount.
Brother Nine heard this and said amusedly: "It's not gold and silverware, who is so indebted to it?"
Gao Yanzhong said: "The main reason is that the table is full of spectators. You can take the cakes away, and some even take the plates. After so many years, no one has mentioned this matter, and the shortage of these utensils has become bigger and bigger. Now the internal affairs I have to return the dishes stored in the house for a small banquet, but I will not be able to collect them for a big banquet, so I need to order a batch of porcelain in advance."
Brother Jiu said: "Then count the shortages and prepare more custom orders!"
As for asking people to look after the dishes, he didn't plan to do that. He didn't want to be the bad guy when it came to how much money he paid.
There are only a few big banquets in a year. Even if some are lost each time, it will only last a few taels of silver in a year.
If he slaps a noble family member in the face for this, even if he goes to the imperial court, he won't do well.
Brother Jiu wanted to understand this, so he said: "It shouldn't be intentional, so don't worry about it. Every time you keep accounts for a banquet, you just mark which table is missing."
Gao Yanzhong agreed and took the brochure to Guangshu warehouse.
The twelfth elder brother said: "There should be fewer plates and more bowls, chopsticks and spoons..."
Brother Jiu looked at him and said, "Have you heard about this?"
The twelfth elder brother nodded and said: "When I was a child, I heard my grandma mention it once. It was said that when many imperial ministers from outside felt that they were honored when they came to the palace for the first banquet, they secretly hid chopsticks and spoons and took them out for their children. blessing."
It's like there are similar customs at weddings.
It's just that at the wedding, the dishes and chopsticks have to be "stolen" from the mother's family to the husband's family.
The banquets in the palace were stolen from the palace and returned to one's own home.
Brother Jiu hummed softly: "What kind of blessing is this? How can parents with unclean hands and feet teach good children?"
Brother Twelve thought it was right and stopped talking.
Brother Jiu held his pocket watch and counted the time.
Before he came out in the morning, he asked someone to bring oranges at the beginning of the afternoon.
It was about early noon when Sun Jin came in and announced: "Sir, the oranges have arrived."
The ninth elder brother nodded and told the twelfth elder brother: "There are three baskets of oranges in Yuqing Palace, one basket at my elder's place, one basket at your place, and half a basket elsewhere. You can help me run errands and deliver them around!"
The thirteenth elder brother’s wedding is scheduled for mid-December, so for now, it’s the same as the unmarried younger elder brother.
The twelfth elder brother stood up and said: "Ninth brother is going to Qianqing Palace and Ningshou Palace?"
"Um!"
Brother Jiu responded: "I've left it with you, so you don't need to prepare anything else."
Carriages were not allowed into the palace, so they were replaced with carts pushed by people at Xihua Gate.
Sun Jin was responsible for counting, ordered ten baskets of oranges, and sent them to the Qianqing Palace tea room.
Brother Jiu directly explained to the waiter: "Nine baskets are presented to you by me. How to distribute them depends on the emperor's instructions. One basket is given to Yikun Palace by me."
The manager agreed, and Brother Ninth went to see him.
The emperor had finished handling the morning's government affairs and was about to set the dinner table.
Kangxi let Brother Jiu come in. Brother Jiu had no empty hands. He was holding two oranges, one with orange skin and one with green skin.
"Son, please send greetings to Khan Amma. My son has brought you oranges..."
After Brother Jiu came in, he put out two oranges.
Kangxi looked at it and said, "You brought those from Suzhou under the guise of public charity?"
As expected, the news inside and outside the capital could not be concealed from the imperial court.
Brother Jiu hurriedly said: "Khan Ama, my son has been wronged, how can he act for personal gain? If the boat is empty, it will be empty. Besides, my son did not take advantage of it and reduce the boat fare in vain!"
After working as a clerk in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for several years, Shu Shuer's appointment was made by Ninth Prince, who was very clear about public and private affairs. He kept the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs very clearly and refused to be ambiguous in the slightest.
Kangxi snorted coldly: "Since it is an official ship of the Ministry of Revenue, how can I discount the ship's fee?"
Brother Jiu said: "How did the household department be folded? My son only counts half of it. To be honest, the materials from Suzhou Weaving House are mainly used, and the oranges don't take up half of the boat!"
Kangxi said: "Since you are so clear about accounting, what about taxes?"
Brother Jiu was stunned and said: "Khan Ama, my son eats this for himself, and he is not doing business, so why does it involve taxes?"
Kangxi said: "Aren't taxes on fresh fruits and vegetables from various places imported into the capital?"
Brother Jiu felt something was wrong and did not answer immediately, but thought about it carefully.
Goods entering Beijing must go through Chongwenmen Customs Tariff.
Chongwenmen Customs is under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which stipulates that more than a dozen categories of goods must be taxed when entering Beijing, including fruits.
However, Brother Jiu's oranges are not taxed, and there is no favoritism.
He looked at Kangxi and said: "Khan Ama, my son's prince's palace does not have a separate palace now. The supply is considered as the internal affairs palace, so the oranges shipped to my son's palace are also tax-free."
Kangxi was just nitpicking. Seeing his seriousness, he changed his words and said: "The relationship with the Ji family is about the same. Businessmen do everything for profit."
Brother Jiu nodded and said, "Well, it doesn't have much to do with it at all. They just spend money to buy peace of mind."
Kangxi said: "Li Xu wants to return to Beijing early next year to celebrate my birthday..."
Brother Jiu didn't answer. He didn't have a good impression of Li Xu.
Starting from Wang Guiren, Li Xu started the road of presenting beauty.
Nowadays, the Palace of Qianqing has about a dozen great ministers, all of whom are not from the banner, but are women of the people from Jiangnan.
Kangxi looked at him and said, "How about Li Ding going to the study?"
Li Ding is the only son of Li Xu and one of the companions of his fifteenth elder brother.
Because of Xiaoliu, Brother Jiu actually heard a few words from him and said: "I am young among the companions in reading, and I am not very courageous. I need Cao Qi to take care of me more on weekdays."
Kangxi had no impression of Cao Qi, but knew that he was Cao Yin's nephew.
Choosing a reading partner from the Cao and Li families not only gives grace to the two families, but also helps Wang Guiren find a natal family.
You don't need to be smart, just be honest and avoid getting into trouble.
Kangxi also let go of the matter.
Brother Jiu was a little worried. Seeing how worried the emperor was, if the orange didn't just give instructions, he might even get wet with rain and dew.
He said: "My son just sent ten baskets of oranges to the waiter. Nine baskets are for the Khan and Ama, and one basket is for the empress. The royal grandmother, the prince, and my elder brother also kept them all..."
After Kangxi heard this, his heart moved and he said: "How much will Ningshou Palace give, and how much will Yuqing Palace give?"
The ninth elder brother said: "There are five baskets in the tea room of Ningshou Palace, one basket for each of the two concubines, and half a basket for the Buddha in the room of Aunt Su Ma. The sisters of Ge Gesuo follow the example of elder brother, and each of them has half a basket... Yu Qinggong Three Baskets..."
Kangxi listened to the chatter and said: "You are not alone!"
Brother Jiu said: "Isn't this rare? The fruits in the capital are big white pears, persimmons, and many oranges, which are perfect for relieving tiredness in winter..."
After coming out of Qianqing Palace, Brother Jiu went to Ningshou Palace without stopping.
The Queen Mother saw that he was sending oranges on such a cold day, so she left the meal alone.
It happened that the Queen Mother was eating sauerkraut pot, which is the new sauerkraut this year. Brother Jiu loves to eat it, and he is not a heretic. He ate half a bowl of soup rice and a mutton pie, which made his whole body steaming with heat...