History of Cannon Fodder Struggle [Qing]

Due to the cold weather in Beijing, it is difficult to see pedestrians on the bustling streets on weekdays. Except for a few people who are running around for their health, most of them stay at home.

A carriage quickly passed through the Chaoyang Gate and headed towards the inner city.

The pawn guarding the city gate accidentally let himself be splashed by the sewage. He just wanted to stop the carriage to reason, but when he saw the yellow belt around the waist of the person sitting in the carriage, he shrank his head immediately. went back.

Yellow belts can only be owned by the royal family. He is a gatekeeper, and he is only crazy to ask for trouble.

After entering the inner city, the carriage continued to run towards the imperial city, and finally stopped in front of the Meridian Gate.The fourth son of the emperor Yinzhen got out of the carriage, and then turned to the side door to enter and changed into a sedan chair. He did not go directly back to Gandong No. [-], but went to Yonghe Palace first.

The main concubine of the Yonghe Palace, Empress De, has nothing to do in winter, and Xiao Xu, who is in the side hall, often plays leaf cards to pass the time.

The emperor is not in the palace, and the women in the palace are too lazy to fight.

Hearing the maid's report that the elder son was coming, several young concubines stood up and said goodbye with winks, but Concubine De didn't keep her, and ordered the maid to reward each of them with two winter clothes and twenty catties of black charcoal.

The life of concubine concubine who just entered the palace is not easy. The quality of charcoal allocated in winter is not good and the quantity is small. She usually relies on the charcoal allocated for heating and cooking, so she has to pay a big price for it. government to buy.How many cases can a low-level concubine have, food, clothing, housing, transportation, and court ladies and eunuchs, which one does not cost money?So even if they became the emperor's women, the lowly concubines still lived a tight life. In order to save charcoal during the day, they had to have the cheek to rub charcoal in the main palace.

Now that I have received an unexpected reward, I am a little surprised.

When everyone was gone, a palace maid came up to tidy up the leaf plaques, Concubine De was also helped to change clothes, and when she came out again, she had already changed into a thick robe trimmed with white fox fur.

The fourth son of the emperor had been sitting in the side hall for a while, when the maid of Yonghe Palace served tea and then stepped back respectfully.

The fourth elder brother stared at the tassels on the tablecloth without squinting, but his mind didn't know where he went.

When Khan Ama attacked Galdan in February, he ordered him to lead the Zhenghong Banner Camp, the third, fifth, and seventh children respectively led the Xianghong Banner, Zhenghuang Banner, and Xianghuang Banner camps, and the prince stayed behind in the capital.

In April, the battle was tense, and Khan Ama ordered the boss and Suo'etu to lead the Eight Banners Vanguard, the Han Army Firearms Battalion, the Four Banners Chahar and the Green Cavalry to support them. After the great victory, the boss took advantage and was ordered Responsible for rewarding the army.

When Khan Ama went on a north tour in September, he asked the eldest brother, the third child, and the eighth child to accompany him, but let him, the fifth child, and the seventh child stay in the camp, and there was no further arrangement.

Next month is the birthday of the Empress Dowager, Khan Ama couldn't make it back in Saibei, so she thought of him and ordered him to come back to worship.

Because the boss was taken away, the capital is still calm now, but when Khan Ama returned to the palace, there was another battle, and the battle between the boss and the prince became more and more intense.

As the target of two people's wooing, the fourth elder brother had some headaches. He didn't want to get involved, and he didn't even have time to hide.

As a prince, no one can escape the temptation of that position. Of course he also has ideas, but he only thinks about it in private.

Now that the crown prince's family is flourishing, and the elder brother's power is also prosperous, unless the two parties are both in danger, it is impossible for him to turn himself.

Fortunately, Prince Yu has set an example. Whether it is the prince or the elder brother, he will be the next emperor's virtuous king.

Concubine De came out from the inner hall, the fourth elder brother came back to his senses, got up, brushed off his sleeves and knelt down on one knee, "I send my greetings to Emiang, good luck to Emiang."

"Get up, the fourth elder brother is not guarding the Tongzhou camp, why did you come back to Beijing?" Concubine De walked slowly to the main seat and sat down and asked.

The fourth elder brother replied respectfully, "Next month is the anniversary of Emperor Ukumama's death, and my son-in-law ordered Khan Amama to come back early to pay respects."

"In that case, prepare well when you come back."

The two mothers and sons were very alienated, and after saying a few more words, the fourth elder brother began to leave.

"Okay, you have traveled a long way, go back to Elder Brother's place to rest."

The fourth elder brother bowed respectfully and then retreated.

The two mothers and sons have become accustomed to this way of getting along. The fourth elder brother was sent to be raised by the imperial concubine Tong Jia when he was born, and he did not return to the concubine until Tong Jia died of illness. At that time, the fourth elder brother was already 12 years old, and they all wanted to marry age.

Having not grown up with Concubine De, coupled with the fact that they were strangers to each other when they first came into contact with each other, the mother and son have always maintained a polite state, saying that relatives are more like familiar strangers.

Fortunately, after these years, the fourth elder brother has become a family and has become more mature. In addition, both parties intend to improve, and the relationship has eased compared to the previous two years. At least the mother and child do not have to forcefully find topics when they get along.

Compared with the fourth elder brother who is used to the expressionless face, Concubine De prefers the younger son who is coquettish and foolish, and has always been calm and lukewarm in front of the eldest son.

After the fourth elder brother left, the nun next to Concubine De persuaded her, "Madam, the fourth elder brother came to visit you at Yonghe Palace as soon as he came back. He is so filial, why don't you let him have dinner before leaving?"

Concubine De waved her hand, "Okay, elder brother has his wife and concubine waiting for him, so he won't be hungry!" When the eldest son just came back, it wasn't that she didn't want to get close, but when faced with his cold face, her enthusiasm was overwhelming. It's like being splashed with a basin of cold water, leaving only a handful of ashes.

She will always remember the first time he went back to Yonghe Palace to see her expression, strange, resistant and stubborn, her heart was cold at that time, she knew that the eldest son she had been thinking about all along was gone, and he had become Tong Jia's son son.

All these years, she has treated this child coldly, so it's not like she didn't want to argue with him, anyway, she still has little Fourteen who is not lacking in son's filial piety.

Seeing that Concubine De was deaf to her, Mammy looked at her back and sighed.

The fourth elder brother rested in the palace for two days, and then received this year's income and a year's account book from outside the palace. Taking advantage of this period of time when nothing happened, the fourth elder brother checked the account book.

"What strange things have happened in the capital recently?" In the study, the fourth prince put down his pen and asked the little eunuch beside him after finishing the accounting.

The little eunuch Su Peisheng tidied up the books spread out on the case before replying to the fourth elder brother, "If you go back to the master, nothing has changed in the palace, but outside the palace, something new has happened recently."

The fourth elder brother frowned slightly, motioning for him to continue.

Su Peisheng continued with a smile: "Recently, a new item called soap appeared in the inner city. It is easier to use than soap, and it will leave a fragrance after use, which has caused many housewives to go crazy. Just before There was a joke in two days, Dafujin's natal sister-in-law and Hesheli's little Gege grabbed the same piece of soap, but they ended up fighting. The two sides were fine, but the shop suffered a disaster. It was smashed. In the end, it was brought out that the shop was the private property of Prince Gong's side concubine, which made the three families unhappy. The Crown Princess and Da Fujin even visited Prince Gong's mansion in person yesterday."

The fourth elder brother didn't even blink his eyelids. It looked like two women were fighting for something, but in fact it was just the aftermath of the struggle between the princelings and the big elder brothers. He didn't expect to accidentally injure Prince Gong's mansion.

After all, Prince Gong is their uncle. Now that the crown prince and elder brother are trying to win over the support of the clan, it is only natural for the crown prince and Da Fujin to come to make amends.

After hearing this matter, it passed away. The fourth elder brother pondered for a while, then patted the ledgers in front of him, "Send these ledgers out of the palace."

"I didn't have time to go out of the palace a few years ago. The property outside the palace made the people below be more vigilant. And Madam Wu, if you find some warming medicinal materials, I will reward her. Tell her to stay at home in Zhuangzi, sir. Give her a pension."

"twitter!"

When Su Peisheng went to Xiaotangshan's Zhuangzi with the ledger in his arms, he brought back dozens of baskets of melons, fruits and vegetables.

Everything withers in winter, and green vegetables are rarely seen, and even the palace only provides them to a few people.

The fourth elder brother gave half of it to the Yonghe Palace and Ningshou Palace, and most of the rest was given to the younger brothers who were also in the elder brother's house, but only one basket was left in his yard, and the wives and concubines shared a share. It's gone.

It is always a joy to have green vegetables to eat. The fourth elder brother called Su Peisheng to ask, "Could it be that there is a flower hole built in Zhuangzi, otherwise where are there so many vegetables?"

Su Peisheng had seen Zhuangzi's lush vegetable garden before, and he replied, "If you come back, Zhuangzi has opened a few acres of vegetable garden next to the hot spring pool this year, and it is directly watered with hot spring water. Some vegetables are already ripe, and they are all picked by the slaves. come back."

When the fourth elder brother heard it, he felt that it was a rare thing. "Which capable person in Zhuangzi thought of using hot spring water to grow vegetables?"

"I heard that someone opened a field to grow flowers by the hot spring pool earlier. Later, the manager of Zhuangzi found that the flowers bloomed until winter, so he decided to open a large piece of land to grow vegetables."

The fourth elder brother didn't care that his hot spring pool was turned into a vegetable field. Anyway, the hot spring village didn't go there once in a few years. If it was empty, it would be better to turn it into a vegetable garden. At least it would allow him to eat more comfortably in winter.

"Give it to Steward Lin, and the one who first thought of planting flowers will also be rewarded with five taels of silver." The fourth elder brother thought for a while and told Su Peisheng.

But Su Peisheng said, "My lord, it's okay to be in charge of appreciating the forest, but the person who first planted flowers in the village has never been found, and no one has taken the initiative to admit it."

The fourth elder brother said: "I think it's because I'm afraid of taking responsibility, so forget it, is there anything else?"

"One more thing, didn't elder brother invite you out of the palace after Saibei came back last year? At that time, you were bumped by a little girl in the alley, and later elder brother decided to buy that little girl for you. Do you still remember this something?"

The fourth elder brother said uncertainly, "It seems that the girl sent you to Zhuangzi?"

Su Peisheng immediately said: "Yes, sir, this time I went to the Zhuangzi, and Mother Wu asked the servant to tell you that the girl found her family and wanted to redeem her body, so Mother Wu asked the servant to ask the master what the regulations are. Let people go."

The fourth elder brother immediately said, "If you want to redeem yourself, you can redeem it for her. If there is such a thing in the future, let Madam Wu handle it by herself."

Su Peisheng laughed dryly: "Master, it's still the slave's fault. I forgot to send the deed of sale along with that girl."

The fourth elder brother didn't know what Su Peisheng meant, so he knocked on his forehead, pointed to the box on the shelf and said, "You have the key with you, you can find the contract yourself."

Su Peisheng chuckled and went to open the box without mentioning it.

Neither the master nor the servant took this matter to heart. At this time, the two of them could never have imagined that the name on the contract of sale would have much impact on the future of the fourth elder brother?How many changes did it bring to the entire Qing Dynasty.