The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

Hong Xiu frowned, lifted the curtain and went out and asked: "Who is so unruly, what are you doing so loudly?"

Xue Pan also put on a big cloak casually and went out to stand.I saw a little girl who was only eight or nine years old and hadn't grown her hair kneeling on the ground. The several feet of snow almost covered her knees.He was only wearing a cotton coat that was not heavy, but the material was not bad.She looked a little thin and trembling.

Xue Pan frowned, and said, "Why is such a big snow kneeling on the ground?"

Tian Xiang hurriedly said, "Master called you to get up, thank you so much."

"Thank you, sir, thank you very much, sir." The little girl kowtowed her head in a flustered manner, then got up and stood there timidly.His head was lowered tightly, and his body trembled more and more.

Xue Pan looked at him pitifully, and gave Hong Xiu a wink.Hongxiu turned around and went into the room and took a heavy dress that she often wears and put it on the little girl. The fitted cotton jacket looked fat and big on the little girl.The little girl gave Hongxiu a grateful look, bowed her head and thanked.

"What's your name, what's the matter?" Xue Pan asked lightly.

The little girl raised her eyes and glanced at the crowd, only to find that more than a dozen pairs of eyes were fixed on her. She was so frightened that she quickly lowered her head and stood still, her hands tightly clutching the corners of her clothes and not moving.

Xue Pan pursed his lips and did not speak.

"Just now there was a lot of panic and yelling, why can't you talk now?" Tian Xiang quickly scolded: "If you have something to say, hurry up, can't the uncle beg you?"

Hearing what Tian Xiang said, the little girl quickly said, "It's Sister Luoyan..."

Luoyan?Xue Pan frowned, looked back at a girl with a pretty face and a curvaceous figure who was holding a copper basin and remained silent.This Luoyan was not born at home, but bought from Ren Yazi two years ago.She was originally a little girl who was looking after the house in the back house. Later, after Xue Pan and others went to Beijing to repair the Xue family mansion, she was directly assigned to Wenrou Township.Seeing that she was neat and pretty, Xue Pan named her Luoyan.On weekdays, he acts calmly, doesn't pinch, doesn't show off, he is a very stable person.So when he heard that something happened to her, even Xue Pan was a little curious.

"What can happen to her?"

"It's not her, something happened to their family—" The little girl took a breath and spoke more and more clearly. "This year, the road was blocked by heavy snow, and it has not stopped for half a month. The whole house in their village was crushed by the heavy snow, including their family. I heard that her father and mother were crushed in the house. It was inside. Fortunately, the neighbors helped and dug them out. But her father's leg was broken, and her mother didn't seem to be doing well. Everyone said that it might be okay to ask the doctor to take a look. But their family She doesn't even have money for the new year... Now her brother is leading her sister to wait at the porter's office!"

With a sound of "bang bang", the copper basin in Luoyan's hand fell to the ground, and a basin of hot water was sprinkled on the cotton skirt, but Luoyan didn't notice it at all.He stepped forward and knelt in front of Xue Pan and cried, "Master, please do me a favor, let the slaves go back and have a look!"

Xue Pan looked at Luoyan crying pear blossoms with rain, sighed, and said: "You are just a weak woman, what's the use of you going back by yourself?"

"uncle--"

Xue Pan turned to the little girl and said, "Go outside to look for Yao Bin, just say I told you. Let him prepare a large carriage, and send two strong boys out of the city with the cart and Luoyan, and see if he can do it." I can't help you much. By the way, pay 50 taels of silver from the account... Forget it, you should tell him to send someone directly from the house to Deyitang to invite a doctor who is good at trauma and go there to have a look!"

Luoyan knelt and kowtowed in gratitude to Dade. "The uncle's great kindness and virtue are nothing to be repaid by slaves and servants. In the next life, you must repay the uncle even if you are a cow or a horse."

"Okay, get up!" Xue Pan waved his hand, motioning for Tian Xiang to help Luo Yan up. "It's just a little effort for me. It would be the best if I can help you. Don't delay, pack up your things and go out with them! If it's late, you can spend the night outside the city...in this yard There are so many people around, and there is no one behind you, you can arrange your home before you come back!"

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!" Luo Yan bowed again and again.Seeing Xue Pan's eyes dizzy for a while, he quickly waved his hands and said, "Hurry up and clean up!"

But after a while, Luo Yan, who had packed up properly, left the yard carrying two bundles, and Xue Pan didn't know what happened next.

About half an hour later, it was reported at the door that Yao Bin's family came in with a little girl to make amends.Xue Pan raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked people to come in.

Sure enough, he saw Yao Bin, who was dressed heavily, bringing the little girl who was not very prudent from before, coming over.Before he could get to him, Yao Bin bowed and said, "Reporting to my lord, this little girl is the slave's youngest daughter, and she is usually a little spoiled. I didn't expect that today she would cause a catastrophe and alarm the master. The slave specially brought her She came to make amends to the master."

As he said that, he knelt down on his knees, and the little girl quickly knelt down too.

This move actually startled Xue Pan.He got up quickly and helped Yao Bin up. "How did you say that? I'm staying alone, why did she startle me?"

"Today, you are making noise in the uncle's yard without any rules—"

"That's something important." Xue Pan waved his hand, disapproving. "If I want to say, it's thanks to her to come and report the letter. Otherwise, if the time is delayed, a life may be delayed. I think she has meritorious service today."

"But after all she—"

"Before we didn't live in Beijing, thanks to you who take care of the house every year. We didn't slack off. At first we thought the house was in disrepair and we couldn't live in it! We didn't expect that after repairing it, it would be similar to Jinling. But before You are used to not having a master in the family for more than ten years. Now we have lived here for less than a month, and it is normal for you to not recover for a while."

After hearing this, Yao Bin became more and more dripping with cold sweat.It was so cold that his head was sweating anxiously, he bowed again and again and said: "The words of the uncle killed the slave, it is the fault of the slave, the slave is willing to be punished—"

"Why don't you understand the words!" Xue Pan frowned, and said impatiently, "I didn't pay attention to what I said. I have something to persuade you... Whether it is a master or a slave, nowadays Living under the same roof, I also regard you as a family. I believe Uncle Yao understands the matters of etiquette, and of course I am satisfied with what I have done so far. It’s just that although our family can’t be said to be generous and benevolent, but It's definitely not the kind of mean and bitter master. You don't need to be surprised by a little thing, and you don't need to make us nervous too."

As Xue Pan spoke, seeing Yao Bin's face gradually calming down, he said, "For example, today's incident is not a big deal. It's over when it's over. Just remember not to do it again...you are dignified A big manager, who made a big fuss about this matter, scared a little girl like that... It spread like we masters can't stand people."

Yao Bin immediately bowed and said, "I don't dare, I don't dare..."

"What's more, the little girl has acted bravely in this matter today..." Xue Pan glanced at the girl and said, "You just said this is your daughter?"

"It's the youngest daughter of the old slave... She's not very serious, she yells all day long, and she has no dignity." Yao Bin paused, and added: "I'm afraid that she will be rude to the masters. Let her work in the outer courtyard. Who knows why she ran in today..."

After all, she was the daughter in charge, so everyone looked at her face.What's more, this little girl is usually very popular, but today she entered the courtyard to find someone for this reason, so naturally no one stopped her.What's more...

Xue Pan knew it well, looked at Yao Bin who was sweating profusely, rolled his eyes, and said with a smile: "You are a strange person, other people want to put the whole family in front of the master to do things. Instead, you go to Later."

"It's just that she's not sensible." Yao Bin bent over and smiled.

"How about this, this girl looks good to me. Later, someone will send her to Wutong Garden, and after training, she can be a maid to my younger sister!"

Yao Bin was overjoyed, bowed again and again and said, "Thank you for your kindness, master. I'm just afraid that she will be dull..."

"You are so shrewd, how can she be so dull?" Xue Pan said seemingly casually, then waved his hand and said, "I have other things to do, so let it be!"

Yao Bin bowed, and quietly retreated with the ignorant little girl.

When the people were completely out of Ruanrouxiang, Hongxiu sneered and said: "This manager Yao is quite good at calculating."

Most of the people around the master were brought over from the family in the south who knew the basics, so it was not so easy to get in.Now Yao Bin put on a show of hypocrisy, and easily put his daughter next to the eldest girl, without offending anyone, and with all the courtesy.really...

Xue Pan shook his head and said with a smile: "If he is not shrewd and doesn't plan, it's not his turn to be the chief executive of Beijing Central... Forget it, Uncle Gui can't come up if he stays in the south, as long as he does his job faithfully, shrewd and calculating is better than being fooled by others." .”

After saying that, he turned and went back to the house, took off his cloak and said, "I can't go out even if it's snowing heavily. I'm a little sleepy, and I'm crooked. Don't call me if you have nothing to do, and don't call me if you have something to do."

All the servant girls agreed in unison, and after serving Xue Pan to lie down, they quietly exited the inner room without mentioning it.

It was dark when Xue Pan opened his eyes again.Straightened up in a daze, Tian Xiang, who was sitting outside watching, immediately opened the curtain and came in, and asked softly, "Master, are you awake?"

"Pour me a glass of water." Xue Pan ordered in a daze.

After hearing this, Tian Xiang turned around and washed his hands in the basin, first poured warm water for a minute, took a large gargle and asked Xue Pan to rinse his mouth.Then he took the tea bowl from the tea compartment, ran it through with warm water, poured half a bowl of freshly squeezed orange juice into the thermos, and handed it to Xue Pan to eat.

"What time is it?"

"It's already five quarters to go back to the old man." Tian Xiang replied softly.

Xue Pan frowned, stood up by the window, knocked on the darkened sky outside, and said with a frown, "It's so short today."

"Master, freeze it carefully." Tian Xiang said, and took a heavy dress from the shelf and put it on Xue Pan. Xue Pan spread his arms and said, "Just put it on for me!"

Tianxiang agreed, and then helped Xue Pan to dress, and carefully brought a bunch of small things with him.Only then did he ask in a low voice, "Master wants to go out?"

"Go to Ruirong Hall." Xue Pan answered casually.

When Tian Xiang heard this, he quickly put a fox fur cloak on Xue Pan.Xue Pan didn't change his shoes, he just walked out of the courtyard and walked along the chaoshou veranda in the direction of Ruirong Hall.

The heavy snow has not stopped, and the dry branches, pavilions and pavilions are all dyed with a layer of silvery white, and the sky against it is not so dark.When I arrived at Ruirong Hall, I happened to meet a young servant reporting to Xue Zhizhang with a report and an account: "Sun Jinzhong from Zhuangzi outside the city has come."

Xue Zhizhang turned his head to look at Xue Pan's curious appearance, and said lightly, "I'm here to deliver New Year's goods."

With that said, he handed the account to Xue Pan.Xue Pan took it over and took a look, only to see that it read: "One hundred big deer. Two hundred roe deer. Two hundred roe deer. One hundred Siamese pigs...fox skin...wolf skin...tiger skin...finally write Up to 700 taels of silver. There are some live and docile animals, big and small, for my brothers and sisters to play with."

"I heard that this year's snow was not very good. Many villages outside the city even collapsed their houses. Are they all right?" Xue Pan felt sorry for those people when he thought of the geese falling in the morning.Seeing the Chinese New Year...

Hearing this, Xue Zhizhang said to the boy: "Let Sun Jinzhong come in, I have something to ask him."

The boy responded, turned around and left.But after a while, an old man in heavy clothes came in and kowtowed in the courtyard to pay his respects.Xue Zhizhang ordered someone to pull him up, let him into the room, and asked with a smile. "I heard that the snow didn't fall very well this year. Many houses outside the city were crushed by the snow. Is everything okay in our village?"

"Thanks to the master, all the houses in our village were repaired last summer, but they are still very strong." Sun Jinzhong said with a simple and honest smile. "Sure enough, there are many villages out there that can't survive. There are even three Zhuangzi in Rongning's Second Mansion. On the contrary, there are more than 40 Zhuangzi under our Xue family, and there is nothing wrong with them. This is the master. For the sake of being generous and benevolent, treating our servants kindly."

"It's good that people are fine." Xue Zhizhang nodded, and asked again: "How is the harvest at Zhuangzi this year? Why did you bring in so many things? Can you still celebrate the New Year?"

"Last year was a good year and the harvest was even better. According to the master's rules, [-]% will be sold to the house, and the remaining [-]% will be kept by the tenants...you can have a good year." Sun Jinzhong bowed his head and smiled.His expression was very satisfied and at ease.After a pause, he continued: "Because the master didn't live in Beijing a few years ago, the younger one converted the income into silver and paid the account directly. This year... Manager Yao sent someone to tell the younger one to bring the harvested New Year's goods directly. The little one made it his own way to let the boys on the Zhuangzi go up the mountain to hunt some wild things, and please don't blame the master."

Xue Zhizhang waved his hand, and said with a loud smile: "I still said you did a good job! It's because I was negligent and forgot about it for a while, thanks to your thoughtfulness, otherwise I will be in trouble until the end of the year!"

Although their Xue family is rich and generous and doesn't care about the few silver coins, and it doesn't matter if they buy it again at that time, but it is not so convenient after all.It's just that I was used to living in Jinling before, so I forgot about these trivial things.

Xue Pan ordered the boy standing beside him, "Pour tea for Sun Zhuangtou."

"I can't, I can't..."

"Sit down!" Xue Pan asked someone to make another scorpion and put it next to Sun Jinzhong.Sun Jinzhong thanked him respectfully and sat down, then ate half a bowl of tea in a humble manner.Only then did Xue Pan ask, "With the snow falling so heavily this year, will the harvest next year be bad?"

"Of course I don't know about the precious body of my uncle. As the saying goes, the auspicious snow heralds a good year. This year's snow is so big that the harvest will be good next year! I'm afraid that by this time next year, there will be more gifts than this year!" Sun Jinzhong said. , the smile on his face grew stronger.The dealers are most willing to see a good year.

"That's good." Xue Pan nodded reassuringly.

After chatting with Sun Jinzhong again, Xue Zhizhang ordered someone to take him out.Turning around, he said to Xue Pan, "You don't pay much attention to matters in Zhuangzi, why are you asking about this today?"

"The Luoyan family in my room was in trouble. I let her take care of her in the morning, and Sun Jinzhong came in the afternoon. I have nothing to do and ask around." Xue Pan picked up the dried dates on the table and threw them into his mouth. Li, said vaguely.

Xue Zhizhang nodded clearly, and stopped asking further questions.

It was the [-]th of the twelfth lunar month again.The artisans came in with freshly made gloves and cotton hats.After Xue Pan happily dressed, he ordered Hongxiu and Tianxiang to send the remaining pairs to Ruirongtang, Wutongyuan, Zhuangjia, Linjia, and Jiajia respectively.But I brought three more unique and exquisite ones and two more ordinary but more warm and practical ones into the palace to show off.

As soon as I arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace, I heard a crisp sound of "pang bang" coming from inside.Xue Pan's feet stopped when he entered Qianqing Palace, stuck out his tongue at Dai Quan who was beside him, and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter?"

"Longyan is furious." Dai Quan pointed into it cautiously, but did not elaborate on the specific reason.

Xue Pan nodded silently, and did not go in.He took out a few pairs of hats and gloves from the bag and handed them to Dai Quan, and said softly, "There's one for the Holy Majesty, one for the Emperor, one for the Empress Dowager by my sister, and two for you and the other." Eunuch Li’s from Qiankun Palace... I won’t go in, just hand it over when you find time.”

Before Dai Quan could speak, Tu Zhen raised his voice and asked, "Who is outside?"

Xue Pan winked at Dai Quan.Dai Quan returned an apologetic look, and replied cautiously: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the eldest son of the loyal Hou family has come."

There was a moment of silence inside, and a faint sentence came out, "Let him in."

Xue Pan frowned, Dai Quan hurriedly opened the door of Qianqing Palace, took out two ordinary gloves and hats, pushed the rest to Xue Pan and said, "Wouldn't it be better to offer it yourself, sir?"

"I--"

Before Xue Pan could say a word, Dai Quan pushed him into Qianqing Palace.The condensed and dull atmosphere in the room made Xue Pan gasp for a moment, turned around slowly, looked at the ashen-faced Tu Zhen behind the dragon case, Xue Pan knelt down and said, "Xue Pan has seen the Holy Majesty, Long live my emperor, long live, long live."

After a long silence, Tu Zhen said slowly, "Come here, what are you doing so far away?"

Xue Pan swallowed, rubbed his knees against the floor tiles and crawled forward a few steps.

Seeing this, Tu Zhen said more and more impatiently, "Can't you walk?"

Xue Pan shrank his neck, got up quickly and walked to stand three feet in front of Tu Zhen.

Tu Zhen looked at Xue Pan's bulging chest and sighed, and asked aloud, "What did you bring in, I heard you were sneaking around with Dai Quan outside just now."

Xue Pan hurriedly took out the gloves and hat and handed them to Tu Zhen, and said respectfully, "It's just a little thing that Pan tinkered with in his spare time, and I wanted the Holy Majesty to have a good time..."

It was only then that Tu Zhen noticed the cotton hat on Xue Pan's head and the fluffy gloves on his hands.Coupled with Xue Pan's fair and delicate skin and pure demeanor, he looks even more naive.The anger in his chest subsided a little, Tu Zhen looked down at the three gloves and hats on the dragon case, and asked in a deep voice, "Does this thing work?"

"Very warm." Xue Pan replied with lowered eyebrows and narrowed eyes.Although he usually talks a lot, but when Tu Zhen is angry, he can always keep silent, for fear that if he says something wrong, Tu Zhen, who is in a rage, will point the gunfire at him.

Seeing this, Tu Zhen knew that his appearance was a little scary.He quickly took a few deep breaths calmly, and said, "They are all corrupt officials who harm the country and the people. Sooner or later..."

Xue Pan looked up at him and raised his eyebrows suspiciously.

"Did you know that the heavy snow collapsed many houses this winter?"

"Of course I know. There is a servant girl in my room whose family is in trouble!" Xue Pan nodded and said, "I gave her 50 taels of silver to take care of her at home, and told her to come back after the family affairs are over... Now after three or five days, I haven't seen her turn around, so it's quite tricky to think about it."

"Thirty to four out of ten families outside the city are in trouble now...not only that, but two parts of the north wall have also collapsed." Thinking of this, Tu Zhen said with hatred.

"The city wall to the north..." Xue Pan pondered for a moment and raised his eyebrows and asked, "How could that be? Wasn't the city wall repaired this spring?"

Tu Zhen firmly held the teacup in his hand and remained silent.

Xue Pan understood what was going on as soon as he spoke, and now seeing Tu Zhen's shape, he knew it even more.It's just that he can't talk about this kind of thing.Immediately, he avoided the seriousness and said lightly: "If the city wall collapses, it will be repaired—"

"How much more money is allocated, I'm afraid the city wall will collapse after all." Tu Zhen said speculatively.

When Xue Pan heard this, he stopped talking.

"Today it's a city wall, and tomorrow it's a dam. Money is asked for every year, funds are allocated every year, and disasters are caused every year..." Tu Zhen reached out and hammered the table, and said in a cold voice: "God knows what is going on with all this chaos Is it a natural disaster or a man-made disaster!"

Xue Pan blinked his eyes, bowed his head and remained silent.

After a long silence, Tu Zhen suddenly said, "You can accompany me out of the palace for a walk!"

Ga?

Xue Pan raised his head and looked at Tu Zhen in a daze, he must have changed his mind a little faster, are you so naughty now, Holy One?Where do you go for a walk in the snow?

But Tu Zhen said with a serious face: "I want to see with my own eyes what kind of life my people are living. I want to use these eyes to see with my own eyes what the city walls and dams I allocate for repairs every year look like. I want See with your own eyes, what kind of face are those corrupt officials who are so daring to commit such a life-threatening money..."

Is it the land of the king in the whole world, and the land of the land is the king's minister.He would like to see, under his rule, amidst the flattery that is full of praise, in this peaceful and prosperous age where the national inventory of silver is only 600 million, this so-called peaceful world is bright and peaceful...

Only he saw it with his own eyes...

Tu Zhen tightened the counting beads in his hand, and a look of coldness flashed in his eyes.