In the afternoon of that day, Minglan wrote a letter of recommendation to Changbai's brother, and attached an instant homework. She immediately sent someone to send it to see if Changbai had time to meet the perennial children. ~
Then, Minglan clasped her fingers and became sore.
In ancient times, civil servants attached great importance to working hours, but their off-duty hours were quite loose (Note 1). But now Changbai is still hanging out in the Hanlin Academy. He is afraid that the emperor will suddenly summon the bachelors to report, so he never dares to get off work early; therefore, even if Changbai is free
To meet someone, I can only wait for Mu Xiu (Note 2), wait for him to find a suitable school and recommend someone there... no matter how long it takes, it will take a few days.
Then Minglan called up all the servants in the house and gave instructions. They all fulfilled their responsibilities and explained their duties. She announced that if anything happened during her absence in a few days, Cui's mother would be the prime minister. If necessary, she could do it immediately.
Report to the outskirts of Beijing.
"You are all old people, so it makes no difference whether the Lord is here or not." Minglan smiled and sat up, "We'll see how it goes when I come back from this trip."
The male and female stewards standing next were all very clear-minded. Nowadays, many of their positions have the word "temporary substitute". If Minglan does not perform well during her departure this time, she might be kidnapped immediately. At that moment, everyone
It’s also like nodding and pounding garlic.
Minglan asked Hua's mother to be left alone to talk to Liao Yong's family.
"You only have one errand to do, just watch Kouxiang Garden." Minglan whispered to Hua's mother, "Especially Sister Rong, if you have a headache or fever, go to Hemerocallis Hall to ask for Dr. Zhang.
And come and repay me at the same time."
Mother Hua secretly thought of a good trick. She specially asked herself, the concubine, to take care of the three masters of Kou Xiangyuan. If there was any evil, the concubine would not be able to escape the explanation. She glanced at Liao Yong's daughter-in-law next to her and thought to herself.
I don’t know how many eyes the lady inside and outside here have. If she makes any move, I’m afraid Lai’s mother will end up setting an example.
At this point, it was better to imitate Tian’s mother and simply vote for the second lady. She immediately and solemnly agreed.
"I won't say much more." Minglan looked at Liao Yong's family with a smile, "You should be careful."
The Liao Yong family's face became solemn, and he lowered his head and said: "I have written down all the instructions given by the madam. I have already gone to take care of the stable. If there is anything, I can let the madam know within two hours at most."
She understood clearly early in the morning that these people were no better than worldly servants, with years of affection and dignity, and they were just sent back to their hometowns if they made mistakes; they were originally servants of convict officials who were sent to the house, and their reputation was already bad.
If there is another problem, I will sell it immediately, and no one will say that Lan is mean and inconsiderate. (·~)
Moreover, when Minglan married into Chengyuan, she had limited manpower and had to recruit new people. Whoever performed well at this time would be promoted immediately. Moreover, Cui's mother was old and lacked energy, and Cuiwei was too young. If she could handle her errands well, she would be able to
If you have your wife's trust, you won't be able to lose your dignity for at least ten years.
She secretly made up her mind to look carefully at the mansion.
In this busy manner until dinner, Dan Ju was still instructing the maid to pack the boxes and boxes, including everything from fine clothes to incense baskets for the cauldron and even the wooden barrels for bathing, and put them in the car.
When Gu Tingye saw it, he was very surprised and said with a smile: "You might as well just leave as soon as you say, and you won't be able to travel until the day after tomorrow." In his mind, most women are procrastinating and slow.
"I'll set out early tomorrow morning. I'll keep the tangerines and continue to pack them, and I'll go out again later." Minglan took a pen and carefully blended it on the scroll. "I'll go to Xiaoyu Village before lunch and spend some time there.
In the afternoon, Black Mountain Villa should be ready by this time, we will rest there in the evening, ask Ah Meng to escort Dan Ju and salute, and go directly there, and we will go to Guyan Villa in a few days."
Xiaoyu Manor was her dowry manor, managed by Old Cui, and Mrs. Sheng would visit it twice a year. She had also been there several times, and it had always been running well. This time it was just a visit after the wedding to show hand over;
The other two villages not only occupy a very large area, but Minglan doesn't know anyone from the manager to the tenants, so it is necessary to put some effort into them.
"It's just a farm. It doesn't make much money all year round. Don't worry too much about it." Gu Tingye frowned slightly, as if he didn't think much of the harvest in the fields.
Minglan disagreed very much. The outline of managing a family is that income other than fixed assets such as fields cannot be counted as normal income. The expenses of a large family should be equal to the fixed assets, so that the extra surplus can be used broadly.
.
But now she wanted to rectify the two villages, but there was another reason, so she shook her head and said: "I don't care about a few silver, but I am afraid that if we are negligent in management, something bad will happen, but we will be asked to do it."
Come and carry it, and maybe order a copy of Ginseng."
When she was a child, she went to inspect the farm with Mrs. Sheng, and she saw children from tenant farmers begging on the roadside. At that time, Mrs. Sheng taught her how to guard against being tarnished by traitorous servants;
The stewards did not treat the tenant farmers as human beings. They bullied men and dominated women. They even covered up the deaths of people.
Minglan wrote it down carefully at that time.
Gu Tingye leaned against the bedside with his strong back, holding a stack of thick books in his hand and flipping through them. Under the dim light, he looked at the face as delicate as Minglan and white jade. He saw that she was wearing a white silk and satin lining.
She looks petite and childish, but with a serious look on her face, she is holding a sapphire pen with purple hair and scribbling on the paper. The fingers holding the pen are as white as rice paper, and the fingertips seem to be dyed green by sapphire.
People are as cute as dolls pretending to be adults.
He didn't take it seriously and said with a smile: "Both trees and plants are soldiers."
Minglan wrinkled her straight little nose at him, put down her pen, stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, followed Gu Tingye's arm, leaned into his arms, and suddenly asked: "You are right, there is not much potential in the fields, so what?"
What profession is the most profitable?"
Gu Tingye was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "You've got to ask me this question; killing pigs? Robbery?"
Why is there robbery after killing pigs? Minglan was very confused, but she did not dwell on the problem and still shook her head and said: "No, I once heard Mr. Zhuang say that there are only five most profitable businesses in the world, salt business, mining,
Water transportation, border trade, and maritime transportation, in other words, are all businesses that can only be implemented with the approval of the imperial court."
Gu Tingye slowly suppressed his smile.
Minglan continued: "So who is in the hands of these large transactions?" Gu Tingye looked a little ugly. Minglan looked at him and said word by word: "I don't know whose hands it is, but it shouldn't be the emperor.
In hand."
Gu Tingye looked solemn, and after a while, he nodded.
"I didn't feel anything at first. But that day, Mr. Gongsun left something to me, saying that the treasury was actually empty, so I felt that I was in trouble." Minglan whispered, "Although I am a female prostitute.
Although he is a young man, I can see that the emperor has great ambitions."
Usually what comes with great ambitions is the recovery of authority. To centralize the rule, the first thing is money bags and military power. There is money, but it is not in the treasury. There are also soldiers, but they do not obey the emperor's command.
Then the next thing is simple, either they are willing to hand over the money and power honestly, or the emperor 'pleases' them to hand it over.
"The great victory in Northern Xinjiang two years ago was a surprise, and it opened a gap for you. Since the military affairs there are not enough, the emperor can justifiably lay off the manpower. In this way, those involved in border trade will be frightened." Minglan
He twisted around and got up from the man, knelt down on the bed upright, and said seriously, "Didn't you say that the emperor originally planned to send Lord Geng to guard Northern Xinjiang? Then, he was involved."
Gu Tingye frowned and said solemnly: "It was also his own misconduct." The implication was that Minglan's guess was half right.
Behind one Yanguan is a group of Yanguan, and behind a group of Yanguan are the entire Qingliu scholar community. They have formed a strong relationship network with teachers and students from the same school as the same generation. Under the benevolent rule of the late emperor for more than 20 years, they
Many of them have gradually become associated with powerful families and are comparable to cliques. They want money, power, and people, whether in the inner palace, the court, the military, or local prefectures and counties.
Where its power lies.
It rains from the sky and flows from the ground. The unlucky thing is the crops. Minglan doesn’t want to be a cannon fodder family member.
"Mr. Gongsun is right." Gu Tingye paused for a long time, looked at Minglan quietly, and then said, "He said that you are good at thinking and discerning, and open-minded. Although you are a woman, you are worthy of a conspiracy."
"Thank you, sir." A blush appeared on Minglan's face.
"But you never ask me about the affairs of the court?" Gu Tingye asked curiously.
Minglan hugged her knees, curled up her little body, and said humbly: "Grandma said, don't ask men about business affairs. If you feel you should let me know, you will tell me." There were several times, she actually wanted to.
Asked.
Gu Tingye looked at her for a long time, his eyes deep and unfathomable, and then he slowly said: "When I was young, my master once told me that it is easy to dodge open guns and hidden arrows, and many generals who are good at marching and fighting all died in the peaceful era; if I
If you have the opportunity to go into battle, you must pay attention to your behavior to avoid being caught."
Minglan was shocked when she heard this, and her fingers suddenly tightened on the man's arm. Gu Tingye hugged her soothingly, pressed her into his arms, and said softly: "Don't worry, although Yan Guan loves fame, he is not stupid either. He knows who those people are."
You can participate, and who can't participate? Now is the time for the emperor to hire people. Don't say that I have nothing to do, even Lao Geng has nothing to do."
He put his arms around Minglan, and their bodies were pressed tightly together. They lay quietly for a while, each other's heartbeats could be heard. Gu Tingye laughed and kissed Minglan's little face: "You want to know in the future
What, I tell you."
"Yeah!" Minglan nodded with a smile, leaned forward and kissed his nose hard, blinking and said: "You are working hard outside, I can't help you, at least I won't cause trouble at home for you!"
Gu Tingye was moved in his heart, rubbed Minglan's head, and suddenly whispered: "My father-in-law has far-sightedness and has raised his children very well."
Minglan raised her head in his arms, feeling quite proud: "Mr. Zhuang said at the beginning that if I were born as a boy, I would definitely be able to accomplish something." While the two were entangled, Minglan's lapel had already been removed.
Loosen a large piece, revealing a curve of snow-white pink marks, half connected to the bellyband embroidered with tender yellow and green lotus petals, with a plump and round shape trembling slightly inside.
Gu Tingye looked straight at it for a while and then sighed: "You should just be a woman."
…
Early the next morning, Minglan was led out by the Tu brothers and their servants and guards. There were about three or four carriages shouting in front and back. Minglan sat in the second one. Xiao Tao beside her was so excited that she couldn't fall asleep all night.
There was a lot of chattering on the road.
"You haven't been out for eight generations!" Luzhi couldn't help but ridicule, "It's not like we haven't been to Xiaoyu Village before." She turned to Minglan and said, "Madam, do you want to sleep a little longer? In case you don't feel energetic when you get there."
Ming Lan nodded confusedly. She always slept late and got up late. She hadn't woken up yet. Xiao Tao quickly spread the quilt and let her lie down half-rely on it. Then she turned to Luzhi and whispered.
: "Sister Qin Sang and Xiao Cuixiu can't come this time. It's a shame. When I went out, Xiao Cuixiu's eyes were red."
Luzhi glanced at Minglan secretly and saw that she seemed to be asleep. He lowered his voice and said, "We can't all come out all at once. We have to leave someone to look after the house! Sister Cuiwei can't stay calm all day. Don't worry about others.
ah!"
"Of course I know this, let me tell you!" Xiao Tao bit her ear, "But doesn't Ruomei want to stay this time? Why do you have to bring her out? See how reluctant she is."
Luzhi pouted and said with slight disdain: "That girl is thinking a lot now. Madam is afraid that she will be a fool, so she simply takes her out. Maybe... find her a son-in-law in the village?" As he spoke, the conversation changed.
, deliberately teasing Xiao Tao, "By the way, our little Tao sister is also looking for a marriage!"
Unexpectedly, Xiao Tao thought for a while and then nodded: "That's not bad."
Luzhi smacked his lips and turned his head away speechlessly.
The author has something to say:
Note 1: The "Zhiyuan Xinge" of the Yuan Dynasty states: "All government offices must manage affairs in an orderly manner. All matters that are discussed and dispatched together on the day will be dispersed."
Note 2: This article tentatively assumes that these ancient civil servants have one day off every ten days.
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Sorry, I've been a little busy these two days.
Let me report on my work. This volume is coming to an end soon. There are big twists and turns next. One more volume at the end and it will be over.
Thank you all for your continued support. I feel that there are too many words. I want to delete some content, but I feel it is incomplete. It is very confusing and painful to write.
For those of you who find it tedious, just wait until the ending.