Emperor Kangxi sent me to marry

In order to welcome the arrival of Princess Heshuo Kejing, all walks of life in Guihua City selected representatives about a month in advance.

Among them were princes and nobles from the three tribes of Khalkha and Mongolia, close relatives of the Eight Banners clan from the capital, and abbots and lamas from several temples. They also came.

The most conspicuous among them are undoubtedly the representatives of Shanxi merchants: Fan Jiahao, Tianyuan Hao, Hongtu Hao, the top shopkeepers of the three shops, and the apprentices in their shops.

Since ancient times, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, with merchants at the bottom, are the lowest level of social status.There weren't many scholars in Guihua City, and there wasn't even a decent academy. The farm was only as big as the Fourth Princess's Rouge Land, and it was always weird to welcome him by himself.In order to gain momentum, the businessmen were lucky enough to have some dignity and stood on both sides of the road together with the blacksmiths, bricklayers, etc., at the end of the team.

Outside the gate of Guihua City, since early in the morning, there have been about [-] people standing in the dark place, but they are silent and silent.

Zhang Shun and Fugui arrived here three days in advance to look at the direction, order personnel, and arrange the general's mansion for the princess to stay temporarily. They had exhausted their energy and physical strength, so they were holding on and taking care of everything.

Around nine o'clock, the ground shook slightly, and two little eunuchs in blue came on flying horses to report that the princess's car would arrive in about half an hour.Everyone in the team cheered up and prepared to take over.

In the not-so-bright morning light, if you have good eyesight, you can see the dust flying in the distance, and dozens of tall horses surrounding the bright yellow sedan chair in the middle, moving slowly towards the city gate.

Taking the lead was Qibele, and the Tenth Prince was at the end of the line. The one accompanying the sixteenth sedan in the middle was, of course, Duobu.

It is said that it is the first time for a eldest girl to sit in a sedan chair, but this is the second time for Haifeng to sit in a sedan chair. Her mood is very different from her previous life.

There was no biting cold wind, and the person who came to see her off was chosen by herself.

The dowry was real. Not only did she get the [-] acres of farmland she had dreamed of, but she also had fifty trucks that could make two deep ruts on the grass.

It contained property worth 100 million silver that she had prepared lightly.

If you don’t have enough money, you can withdraw it at any time from Beijing or Zhangjiakou.

And the most important thing in all of this is that the partner she will spend the rest of her life with is only less than three feet away.

The fear of the previous life was as distant as a dream.

In front of the fourth princess's sedan chair, ten pairs of eunuchs held lanterns to guide the way, making the dawn shine like noon; behind, there were another ten pairs of maids carrying incense baskets. When they passed the city gate building, the fragrance and warmth even reached the Shanxi merchant standing at the end. We all felt it truly.

The little apprentice was ignorant. Seeing the princess's team walking away, he couldn't help but talk to his friends next to him:
"I thought the princess would ride in a carriage!"

"The sixteen-year-old sedan chair is stable and does not shake at all. Isn't it more comfortable than a horse-drawn carriage?"

The big shopkeeper of the Fan family, who was also one of the owners who founded the business, coughed twice and warned his subordinates to be careful with their words.

The long procession of people and horses finally entered Guihua City and headed for the General's Mansion.Only then did the people who greeted him dare to disperse one by one.

The big shopkeepers of the three shops gathered together in a tacit understanding, found a restaurant they were familiar with, opened a private room, and sat down to discuss important matters.

Tianyuanhao is slightly larger than the other two, and the big shopkeeper speaks louder.

"I just entered the city today. Three days ago, I sent invitations to all the Shanxi merchants in Guihua City, no matter how big or small they were, no matter where they were from, inviting them to have a banquet at the General's Mansion. What do these four princesses want to do? One fair sex."

"She's a woman, she's also the emperor's princess, and she's the mistress of Culun. How dare she not go after she posted a message?"

The head shopkeeper of the Tianyuan Hao was smoking his pipe without making a sound.

After a while, I put it down and took two sips of the half-warm tea.

"Wang Xiangqing, there is no trace yet?"

The boss of the Fan family didn't react for a moment. He went through it twice in his mind before he remembered who it was.

"It means, Wang Er Scarzi from Jishengtang! Hey, brother, you called him by his name, but I didn't even remember him. He didn't come back. I asked about his two fellow villagers who were doing business together, but they didn't know. "

"Hmph, he is just restless. Last time the fourth princess's consort, the Great Khan of the Tuxietu Khan tribe, came to Guihua City, he rushed to please him. With the fact that he had cooked a few meals in the army, when He went around looking for business from the army. Now that the princess is here, why didn't he rush over to find a way out? The business in Guihua City was messed up by opportunistic people like him."

What are the rules for doing business?
It’s not something that can make money, so why are you working hard on it?

Isn't it because Tianyuanhao is afraid that Jishengtang will start doing business and take away his position?

The other two shopkeepers did not dare to talk back, so they awkwardly picked up a few dried fruits and chewed them in their mouths.

The big shopkeeper of Tianyuan Hao, after grumbling, packed up his things and planned to go back to the shop to keep an eye on the business.

"I wasted all my morning time, so I went back to the store. Normally in the General's Mansion, we only have to go to pay taxes and eat steak. It's rare to have a banquet. How can we not go. Go. What happened to the fourth princess? What kind of battle are we preparing for? Can ordinary people still resist the decree?"

"That's what the elder brother said. Please walk slowly."

On the second day, as soon as the sun appeared, Shanxi businessmen came to the door of the General's Mansion for a banquet.Zhang Shun led Fugui to receive gifts at the door.Whether it was three pieces of fine sable skins from Tianyuan Hao or a piece of twill cloth offered by a small vendor, all the gifts were neatly placed on the booklet, and then the little eunuch who was brought here invited them to serve tea inside.

Fugui had a full rest last night and was full of energy. Taking advantage of the lack of people, he pinched the master's shoulders twice.

"There is a severe shortage of eunuchs in the palace. Even the emperor wouldn't give it to my brothers to open a mansion. When they came to our mansion to ask for one, the emperor approved ten of them. This shows that our master has a high reputation in Qianqing Palace."

"Don't talk nonsense, kid. Don't look at how far the master is married. If you don't give eunuchs, what's the use of asking the master? Let's talk about the general's mansion. It doesn't matter what you want. If you put a broken house in the capital, even the ministers and foreign ministers of the Sixth Ministry will look down on it. I Yesterday I asked Aunt Sai Lun if the master was happy? Auntie didn’t say anything. Huh, how can this compare with our princess mansion in the capital? "

"I heard that Culun is worse than here. There aren't many buildings at all. But our master asked the master to repair the house. It has been three or four years since it was built. It should be close to the same."

"I feel sorry for my master, but he is different from us. Just wait and see. Quickly clean up the matters in Guihua City, and let's go to Kulun. It's not our own home, so it's boring to stay here all the time."

Before it was time for the banquet to begin, the guests had all arrived.Some were purely curious about what it was like inside the General's Mansion; some were worried about the expensive gifts and wanted to eat more to get back their money. When Haifeng heard this, he ordered the food and wine to be served, so that the guests would not have to wait hungry.

After all, the main event is after the meal.

Dobu knew that if the master didn't show up, no one would dare to eat the food when it was cold, so he went out for a symbolic walk and then returned to Haifeng to admire her dressing up.

"Listening to your lavish praise, I thought there were so many Shanxi merchants. But the first hot dish, beef stew with potatoes, which is such a common food, was snatched away as soon as it was served."

Haifeng saw in the mirror that Duobu's tail was about to rise to the sky, but he suppressed his laughter and didn't pierce him.

The things are ordinary, but the methods are unusual.

That was stewed in a pressure cooker.

It melts at the entrance.

When the first batch of pressure cookers were cast with the help of the Ministry of Industry, but their functions were not up to the ideal state she wanted, Dobu couldn't help but eat stewed meat and rice for three days.

Simmering on low heat for half a day can achieve a similar soft and rotten effect, but if you are not a serious food lover, in this era when fuel needs to be collected by shoulder and hand, who can give it up?

In this era, if you want to eat meat, especially beef, ordinary people have to grit their teeth and save money for several months before they dare to raise their hands.

A little meat mixed with a big pot of vegetables, the smell is just enough to satisfy your cravings.

Haifeng asked people to keep an eye on the situation at the banquet. After hearing that all the dishes were eaten, he took Duobu's arm and went to the banquet together.

The head shopkeeper of Tianyuan Hao was too honest and too full to eat.My stomach stretched my robe tight.He was forced to secretly loosen the two buckles.

"Good luck to your Royal Highnesses, the fourth princess, and good luck to the prince."

"Get up, don't be too polite."

The dishes on the table were all cleared away, and the eunuchs quickly prepared the raw red beans, pressure cooker, water, charcoal fire, etc. they had prepared before, and arranged them in the center of the banquet hall, and then left quickly.

As soon as the big shopkeeper of the Tianyuan Hao came in, he noticed the space that had been deliberately left vacant. While everyone was ignoring it, he quickly leaned in the ear of the big shopkeeper of the Fan Family Hao and said a few words.

"Apparently, this is the reason why we are invited to a banquet." "Not necessarily, what can Anko do?"

"Just wait and see."

Haifeng stood up from his seat, and the three or forty people at the table suddenly stopped talking.Although she didn't deliberately raise her tone, the Shanxi merchant sitting in the farthest corner could hear her clearly.

"I sent a post, and everyone has arrived. I haven't prepared many good things. In the capital, I have a teahouse that often sells fresh food. This time, I would like to invite you to try a snack called Shuangpi Nai. It's easy to make, It’s just that I didn’t put much effort into the preparation. I had to use honey red beans as toppings, but the stove in the General’s Mansion was not enough. So I had to put a charcoal basin here and cook it now.”

Zhang Shun, who was standing by, gave the signal, and the little eunuchs who had just retreated came out again, poured the red beans and water into the pot one by one, sealed the glutinous rice around the pot lid, and set up a charcoal basin.

The beans fall to the bottom of the pot with a crisp sound.

Slowly, the water inside boiled, causing the valve to spit out steam.

Seeing that everyone was just staring at the pressure cooker, Haifeng couldn't help feeling that the ignorant were fearless.

When she asked the Ministry of Works to build this thing, she used all the contacts in the Ministry of War, for fear that if the cast iron craftsmanship was not up to par, the pot would explode and people would be injured.

These pots are made of cannon iron.

"You might as well guess when the beans in this pot will be ripe? Guessing alone is boring. The one who guesses the most accurately today can use all the gifts recorded in the book for me as a lottery."

There are brave men under heavy rewards.The Shanxi businessmen in Guihua City still made a lot of small fuss. Because they couldn't refute the Fourth Princess's reputation, they gritted their teeth and spent their savings to get a decent gift.When I heard that I could get it back and make a profit, I immediately started making wild guesses.

"Why does it take an hour?"

"No, no, you didn't eat the meat just now? It's so soft, the beans are more cooked than the meat!"

"Maybe the meat was stewed in advance?"

"There must be a mechanism in that pot."

As a result, everyone kept guessing, and the most daring one could only guess for half an hour.

Haifeng asked Zhang Shun to go around the venue and record everyone's guesses clearly.

"While the red beans are ripe, there is a public case that needs to be heard. Come, bring them here."

Baalzhong escorted several young men in ragged clothes and strong bodies into the banquet.

The head shopkeeper of Tianyuan Hao saw a few familiar faces and shouted in his heart that it was bad.

It’s over.

Regarding the secret opening of the coal mine, the fourth princess acted so quickly that she actually captured the person.

Haifeng kept paying attention to his expression and found that this man was still afraid and was not as difficult to deal with as he had imagined.

The strong dragon does not suppress the local snake.

These businesses in Guihua City all started from scratch, starting from nothing and working hard.General Feiyanggu also helped to intercede. She really wanted to avoid using violence as much as possible without being cruel.

"There are several places where you can pick up coal in Daqing Mountain, and I have sent people to find out. There is a shortage of firewood in Guihua City, so we can't let you freeze to death in the cold wind. The General's Office has always been very careful about transporting coal. Don't worry about it. I know all this. But there are a few people here who have dug coal mines privately without informing the government. You are all from Shanxi, and there are many coal mines there. This is opened without permission. Come to think of it, you all know the sin of digging.”

The big shopkeeper of Tianyuan Hao was always waiting for the fourth princess to say his name.But she didn't tell her that the boss had eaten too much stew just now and was very thirsty. Although there was tea on the table, he didn't dare to drink it.

Although the fourth princess didn't touch him, the big shopkeeper had already begun to accept the punishment.

Haifeng didn't look at him at all and continued talking.

"This pot that I brought from the capital has an exquisite structure that can reduce the time and charcoal fire required to cook food by half. It only takes less than half an hour, a little more than a quarter of an hour, to simmer the red beans until they are tender. Unfortunately, there is one The bad thing is that if you meet someone who doesn't know how to use it and doesn't know how to use it, you will get into trouble."

Zhang Shun sent two young eunuchs to carefully remove a pot from the fire.Due to the shaking of the pot, the valve leaked more and more violently. Different from the slight spurt just now, several streams of water vapor visible to the naked eye suddenly emerged.

The few guests sitting around realized that this fresh pot was both useful and dangerous.He wanted to escape, but was afraid of being blamed by the fourth princess, so he could only bite the bullet and nail himself to the seat.

Zhang Shun stepped forward and took off the valve without hesitation. A fierce column of water vapor shot straight upwards, and the sound when it was sprayed was extremely sharp. It frightened a few timid people and slid off their chairs.

Balzhong randomly grabbed one of the young men digging coal and threw it in front of the deflated pressure cooker.

"Don't try to play tricks! Tell the truth honestly. Otherwise, I'll get a pot and press your face against the valve and burn it!"

"Yes! Uncle! I told you all! The few grassroots were hired by Tianyuan Hao from Shanxi to dig coal. Halfway through digging, they suddenly encountered gold! We discussed it without telling the shopkeeper, so we secretly Digging for gold.”

"Where are the two people you killed?"

"You can't say kill, right? I, we just locked them two under an abandoned well."

"If you don't give me food and drink, will you die of thirst and starvation sooner or later?"

The man couldn't bear the cross-examination, and nodded tremblingly.

The head shopkeeper of Tianyuan had already knelt in front of Hai Feng and kowtowed several times.

"Princess, please forgive me. It turned out that the common people were obsessed with money. Seeing that the coal business was very profitable and the government didn't care about it, they found these wild scrapers from my hometown and dug a well secretly."

"It's okay! I'm holding a banquet here, and I'm not here to hold you accountable for your crimes! The red beans are cooked, let's start the pot."

Cups filled with double skin milk were placed on each table according to the number of people.The stewed red beans were served in porcelain basins. Two young eunuchs, one holding it and the other holding it, distributed it one by one.

Even the big shopkeeper of Tianyuan Hao who was kneeling on the ground got a bowl.

But in this situation, who dares to touch the spoon?
Haifeng was the first to take a bite. The red beans were sweet and glutinous, which made her very satisfied.

"As Tian Yuanhao said, it is a crime to open coal mines privately. General Feiyanggu knew about this, but he never punished him severely, just for the sake of people's livelihood. I will not change the general's decision, but from now on, anyone who wants to continue to dig coal mines will , all had to report to the government. At the foot of Daqing Mountain, Li Youcai and his neighbor Zhang Ergouzi were pushed to the bottom of a well to fend for themselves because they bumped into these people digging for gold when they entered the mountain. Two lives must be taken. Explain. The big shopkeeper of the Tianyuan Hao is named Wu, right?"

"Yes, Wu Degui, a grassroots man."

"I will leave this matter to you. Three days later, we will still be here. No one who is here today can be left behind. Ask me all over Guihua City: Who opened the coal mine and did not report it? Who wants to do it in the future? Go dig in the mountains, write a book and hand it in. I don’t understand. I have so many pots. If you cook them for ten times, you can pull out the valves one by one!"

After Haifeng said these words, Duobu stood up and the couple left the table together, leaving behind a room full of Shanxi businessmen who could neither leave nor stay.

"Feng'er, are three days enough? I think there are quite a few Shanxi people digging coal mines in Guihua City."

"Of course three days is not enough. Forget it, I can't tell right now. You will know when Zhang Shun comes back to report in the evening."

In the evening, Zhang Shun went to the city to investigate, returned to the general's mansion, and reported back to his two masters.

"During the banquet during the day, someone was really brave enough to eat the red beans while the princess and prince were not around. Now in Guihua City, the fourth princess's pot has been rumored to have magical powers, and everyone is asking what it looks like."

Only then did Duobu realize that three days was not enough for Tianyuan to conduct a thorough inspection of the coal mines, but it was enough for him to "cook it quickly" and make a name for himself in Guihua City.

"Why, Your Highness, are you still planning to sell the pot? As you said, if this pot doesn't work, something could easily happen."

"The mountain people have their own clever plans, and the hermits have secret secrets. Just wait and see! I will use this pot to win the hearts and minds of the people of Guihua City to my side!
1. The three merchants such as Tianyuanhao that appear in the article are not fabricated. They are indeed the three earliest Shanxi merchants in Guihua City;

2. Kangxi lived a relatively frugal life, so the Qing palace was short of manpower. Records show that when Yongzheng was waiting for his elder brother to leave the palace and open a palace, Kangxi specifically issued an order not to assign eunuchs to his elder brothers because there was a shortage of eunuchs in the palace;

3. Scratching ghost is unique to the west exit. No particularly reliable conclusion can be found about the name of the homeless man and the specific time of its appearance.