The weather was fine on the day when Fourth Master held a tea party. There were pots of jasmine flowers with their branches spread out in the flower hall, adding a bit of spring feeling.
The tea is spring tea made by Lin Yutong himself. When the boiling water is poured into the tea bowl, the tea leaves stretch out. They are like four-leaf clovers, floating in the water, and the faint fragrance of tea rises. It is really a unique taste.
These gentlemen are all masters of tea tasting, and there is no way they can tell the difference between good and bad tea. Although this is not a tribute, nor is it a famous product, the taste alone is very rare.
"Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!" The third master recollected the lingering fragrance in his mouth and said: "Fourth, I always say that you eat alone. Isn't this an injustice to you?" The implication is that such a good thing,
Why didn't you take it out and share it with your brothers earlier?
The Fourth Master chuckled, "This is what Fujin just made this year. I tasted it good, brother, so why did you invite all the brothers to come? A cup of tea, as long as the third brother doesn't think it's too bland."
"It turns out that the fourth sister-in-law made it herself!" The fifth master was very surprised. "To make this now, you need fresh tea leaves. I'm afraid it won't be possible to just transport it from the south."
The fourth master nodded and said with a smile: "In the past two years, I asked people to bring tea tree seedlings from the south and brought them back to the house like potted plants. Your sister-in-law has been raising them in the flower house and they are doing well. But the output is small. In the first two years, the yield is small.
It was fried just now, and the total is half a catty. It tasted good, so I asked everyone to come and taste it." He said it as if it was for tea this time and had nothing to do with the money.
The eighth master laughed and said, "When it comes to living, my fourth brother is the most comfortable one. None of us brothers have asked Fujin to serve him like this. We have to worry about food and clothing. Speaking of your life,
Two words, exquisite.'"
As he said that, he glanced at Master Jiu and waited for him to answer.
Master Jiu chuckled, nodded, and said no more unnecessary words of help.
The fifth master raised his eyebrows in surprise. Is Lao Jiu being a little bit presumptuous? He should be happy that he wasn't betrayed by everyone.
Fourteen looked left and right, then put the teacup on the table. Thinking of the way his fourth brother had given him the money, he thought to himself that he was his brother after all. Now that he was in trouble, he would not pick this problem.
, who can take the initiative to take the lead? So he said: "Fourth brother, I just happened to come here today, let's get down to business. We all know that you are in trouble about the debt owed by the Ministry of Accounts. We brothers, don't talk about it. I
Today I will give you the money directly and forget about this matter."
The corners of the Fourth Master's lips were slightly raised. The Fourteenth Old Man was not that stupid. He nodded and said, "That's OK." After saying that, he glanced at Su Peisheng. Seeing that Su Peisheng understood what he meant and stepped back, he said, "That's right."
It's a coincidence that several adults from the Ministry of Revenue happened to come to discuss matters today, so you can just give it to them."
It turns out that we even invited people here to reconcile the accounts.
Fourteen smiled and said: "That's just right. I'll go to the Ministry of Household Affairs and let people see the joke."
This harmonious one has settled the matter today.
How could the people from the Ministry of Households be qualified to enter the flower hall? They were waiting outside. You sent the eunuchs who were with you and got the matter done smoothly.
In just one stick of incense, I got nearly two million taels of silver notes in my hands.
Several officials held the banknotes with some trepidation. The Fourth Master had already borrowed someone from the imperial guards to escort the banknotes back to the household department.
The fourth master didn't mention the money at all, but the most difficult part of the money was recovered like this.
Desserts are placed on the table one after another, all of which are fruit snacks made from cans left over from last year. In the spring, the fresh fruits have not yet come down. The ones in the store are no longer fresh. Made from cans, they have a different taste.
The brothers talked and laughed, as if they were really having a tea party today.
Two of the concubines in the eighth master's house are pregnant. He has been in high spirits during happy events recently and has eaten snacks. He wants to take them back to the two pregnant people to try. He even takes the initiative to ask for them from the fourth master.
He got up and said, "...it still tastes good. If there is still more, I must be so shameless as to ask my fourth brother for some to take back."
The fourth master was stunned for a moment and said: "There is no need to go out to eat. Even if you want to eat every day, you still have it. But you are not usually a dessert person, but now your appetite has changed."
Everyone was stunned. The fourth brother (fourth brother) actually remembered Lao Ba's preferences. Looking at it this way, the snacks on the table were really different.
There were two plates of snacks on Lao Ba's table, one was a platter of various fruit snacks, and the other plate had shrimps faintly breaking out of their skins, which should be salty. This was to take care of his taste.
Everyone looked at their own. Mr. San noticed that some of the snacks in front of Lao Wu were wrapped with chopped almonds, while the ones in front of him were only wrapped in sesame seeds and chopped walnuts. This was because he knew that he did not eat almonds.
The fifth master looked at the food in front of him. Most of them were yellow peach flavor, and the others were one or two of each kind. He should have tried something new to know what he was eating.
He turned around again and saw that what was on Lao Qi's table was different. He said in surprise: "Why does Lao Qi eat flower cakes?" She looked like a girl.
Qi Ye looked a little embarrassed. The snacks in front of him really contained roses and chrysanthemums.
Master Shi shouted: "What's wrong with the flower cake? I eat osmanthus cake. For today's snack, a little osmanthus is added to the fruit, which is just right."
After saying that, he turned to look at Master Jiu again, frowning and said: "Raisins and red dates? Brother Jiu actually likes to eat this?"
Master Jiu's face turned red, "Go! What do you care about me?" Even Lao Ten didn't know about his little trick, but Lao Si did. How many meanings does this have?
Shi Shi glanced at the fourth master in surprise. This man not only knew his own good qualities, but also knew and remembered the good qualities of his brothers. After saying that, he took a bite of Twelve's snacks. They looked the same on the outside, but it turned out that they were good on the inside.
There was still a difference in the fillings. Twelve Brother’s had honey added to it. He then tasted Thirteen’s and found that it was actually filled with wine, which made his eyes light up.
They each held snacks, but there was something different in their hearts. It is actually rare to see someone as thoughtful as the fourth child. They have learned not to reveal their preferences since childhood. People who have not paid attention will not notice this.
Small details.
Thinking like this, it wasn't until we each returned home that I realized that the fourth child was not that annoying after all. The original unhappiness caused by his debt collection also dissipated.
"I really do have a good wife." Fourth Master sighed. In fact, how did he know such small details? It's just that these were found out by Lin Yutong when he was gossiping with Fujin and the empress in the palace. These little details were discovered by Lin Yutong.
You don’t need to know too much about your preferences, it’s good to remember a few or two. Use it at critical times, it can have miraculous effects. A brother who remembers his own little preferences will inevitably be tolerant of anyone he cares about. Just like this
It’s the same thing every time, saying nothing is more effective than any number of great principles.
Lin Yutong smiled and said, "I only know now."
The fourth master pulled Lin Yutong and said with great emotion: "Without you, things couldn't be so perfect. I still thought that I would offend at least half of the people, but now I see that I haven't even complained. It's so peaceful and quiet.
The matter was settled decently. I feel relieved at last."
"Master, please don't praise me like that. How much is this? Clan, nobles, ministers, these are the big ones." Lin Yutong didn't believe his sweet words.
The fourth master laughed and said, "You don't know that. As long as the brothers' affairs are properly handled, the emperor will be happy. The remaining people are just minions. No matter how they are dealt with, at least they won't matter much to the emperor. This
This errand was originally an errand that did not seek merit, but seeking no faults. I accepted the errand with an upright heart and was not afraid of offending others. The emperor knew that he was sincere in his work. He did not leave any complaints among his brothers, and others did not
Are you complaining? No matter how much you complain, what will the emperor think? They even collected their own son’s debt, so why don’t they pay it back? How dare they complain?”
"So, now I can really show off my talents?" Lin Yutong asked.
Show off your skills? No!
The Fourth Master smiled and stopped talking.
Kangxi was outside the wall, holding the fold in his hand and rubbing his forehead.
The matter of the fourth child should be handled swiftly and simply. First, operate on the prince, shock everyone, and tell them that the money must be repaid. This is the right approach.
But the prince alone is not enough, because above the prince, there are also Prince Zhijun and the prince. The disciples of these two parties are probably still weak. In addition, the money owed on credit to several companies in Jiangnan has been spent.
He, the emperor. In other words, he, the emperor, was also in debt. But no one dared to say so.
The fourth child's temper is a bit serious. Further down the line, it's the Cao family and the Li family. If it really gets out of the way, it's hard to deal with it.
I wanted to take back all the money at once, but it was impossible. I asked Lao Si to do it first because I wanted to scare him with thunderous means. I asked the people below to see the court's determination. They didn't dare not pay it back.
But then, if Lei Ting's method is used again, it will not only make people feel resentful, but also easily intensify conflicts. When the time comes, the money will still be the same and may not be recovered.
Therefore, it is time for someone with gentle methods and all-around skills to do the next thing.
And this candidate must be Lao Ba.
Of these two sons, the fourth son's methods were too harsh, and the eighth son's methods were too soft. He often thought that if he could neutralize them, everything would be fine.
Nowadays, the fourth child seems to be a lot softer when it comes to things. If the eighth child can also be gentle yet tough, then things this time can really be considered a success.
Everyone in the capital was waiting for the fourth master to come to collect debts, but the fourth master only took back the debts of the princes and canceled them. He never left the house again. Everyone was a little confused about the fourth master's thoughts.
This continued for several days, making everyone even more frightened.
On this day, a decree came from the emperor, and it was specially given to the Fourth Master. He praised him for doing this well, and rewarded the Fourth Master with a garden, which he personally named "Old Summer Palace". He also gave the Thirteenth Master an imperial manor as a gift.
Reward. He also said in the imperial edict that he missed the Fourth Master and the Thirteenth Master, and asked them to leave the matter to the Eighth Master, and then rush to the imperial court to see him. (. )