Good luck with koi carp

Mom and Dad have rested, but Chili has not.


She sat in the main room with a book and read and waited. She didn't know how long it took. Before the city gate was locked, the Xue family's caravan finally entered the capital and brought along the Chi family's luggage and entourage. of servants.


This time they came to Beijing with the intention of living here for a long time, so the Chi family brought quite a lot of things with them.


Seeing that the boxes being moved into the small courtyard were piled up all over the main room, there were still some that couldn't be accommodated, so they could only be piled up in the yard and left in the open air for the time being.


Fortunately, Chi Li knew the weather and knew it wouldn't rain in the next few days. Otherwise, if these things got caught in the rain, they wouldn't know how much they would lose.


In addition to luggage, the Chi family also brought some servants.


The four members of the Lu family who originally made a special trip to buy Chili came with them. They, orphans and widowers, had nothing to worry about in Nanhuai Mansion. Instead of staying in the old house without an owner, it would be better for them to stay there. Going to Beijing with the master and his wife to serve the young lady would have a better future.


Even if Mrs. Lu didn't think about herself, she still had to think about her three children, so when Madam asked, she was the first to respond and insisted that she would follow the people who came to Kyoto.


The other servants were all people Xu and Chi Xiucai were accustomed to, adding up to exactly ten people.


The couple specifically asked their opinions when selecting people. If there were those who didn't want to leave, they didn't force them. It happened that their hometown also needed some trustworthy people to look after them, so these people were left at home.


The courtyard where Chili lives is too small for so many people to live in. However, it is impossible for the Chi family to rent another house for these people to live in, so they can only temporarily force them to share with Fulu and the others. squeeze.


Mother Wang saw too many people, so she simply moved to Chili House with Fu Lu. They said they were helping the lady keep vigil, but in fact she just didn't want to live with so many people.


Someone was supposed to be keeping watch in Chili's house, but now it's just one person instead of two, so it's not bad.


In addition to Chi Li's own big bed, there is a small bed in the corner of her room specially for Fu Lu to sleep on. There is also a soft couch across the middle. If Mrs. Wang wants to come over, she can sleep directly on that soft couch. .


At first, Chili didn't really want anyone to sleep with her.


After all, in her own room, she must be more comfortable by herself. This was the case at home. She always slept alone, and the servants who slept with her lived in the penthouse next to her bedroom.


In fact, everyone sleeps in their own room without disturbing each other.


But after coming to Kyoto, even though he knew that his daughter would move into an independent courtyard later, Chi Xiucai was still worried that it would be unsafe for her to live alone. Even though the security in Kyoto was better than elsewhere, some petty thefts could still be avoided. There was nothing during the day, but he was afraid that an extra thief would come into the house at night and harm his daughter, so he was really worried before leaving, so he specifically ordered the maid who was taking care of his daughter to accompany her at night so as not to leave her alone. .


Chi Li also understood that her father loved his daughter, and even though he was not used to it, he still did not refuse.


She comforted herself that she would be able to sleep alone when she moved to a new house.


Maybe there was a lot of movement outside and people moving in and out, which woke up the Chi family and his wife who were resting in the study.


Chi Xiucai was pushed out by Mrs. Xu to check the situation. He saw that the luggage and servants had arrived, and his daughter was arranging everything in an orderly manner. He suddenly felt that he had nothing to do, so he only popped his head and then shrank back.


After a while, Ms. Xu leaned out half her body and waved to her daughter.


Chili saw it and walked over suspiciously.


"Mother, what's wrong?"


"Let the person in charge make arrangements outside. Li'er, please come in with me." Mrs. Xu pulled her daughter into the house and closed the door tightly.


The family of three sat cross-legged on the big bed Chili bought for her parents, with a locked wooden box in the middle.


Seeing this, Chi Li suddenly knew something in her heart.


Sure enough, the next moment she saw her mother pulling out a red rope from her neck. There was a copper key at the end of the red rope. She inserted the key into the lock and opened the wooden box. She saw that it was filled with a stack of large banknotes and many other items. A gold and silver ingot, some fine pieces of silver in the corners and a few large strings of copper plates.


At a glance, you can tell that all the savings of the Chi family are here.


"There are a total of 3000 taels of silver notes here, 50 taels of gold, 170 eight taels of silver, ten taels of copper coins, and the rest are too small. Isn't this money enough to buy a better house in Kyoto?" Xu Shi asked.


"If it's not enough, I still have a few sets of valuable noodles here that can be pawned, or we can wait a little longer and send another sum of money over when the fields at home are harvested."


"Mom and dad have decided to buy a house in Kyoto." Chi Li was not surprised by this. Her father had already revealed this idea before, but she didn't expect that her parents were so determined and even took out the house in one go. He spent all his family savings to buy a house.


If it were in Nanhuai Prefecture, such money would be enough to buy a luxurious house, but it wouldn't necessarily be the case here in Kyoto.


I'm afraid that all these together are barely enough to buy a two-entry house in a better location or a three-entry house in a worse location.


There is no way. There are advantages and disadvantages to the good economic development in Sucha. The advantage is that people's living standards are generally very high. The disadvantage is that prices and housing prices have also increased. Especially in places like Kyoto, prices are actually not bad, but housing prices are simply expensive. Outrageous.


"Since we have decided to settle down here, we must have our own house so that we can live in peace and security."


Chi Xiucai’s words reflect the most common thinking of buying a house among ordinary people in the past dynasties. Everyone believes that only having their own house in one place can be regarded as having a real home. Therefore, if conditions permit, they are generally more willing to buy a house. rather than renting a house.


"Just wait for me."


Chili got up and got down from the bed and ran back to her room. After a while, she brought a small box decorated with gold.


She placed the box next to the wooden box on the bed and opened it. There were also many silver notes and gold and silver inside.


"The total amount here is almost 2000 taels. Including your parents' money, more than 5000 taels should be enough to buy a suitable house in Kyoto." Chi Li has not specifically learned about the housing prices in Kyoto, so she can only make an estimate. .


"Where did you get so much money?" Xu asked in surprise.


It's not that she doubts her daughter, but that the child has only been an official for a long time. How come he has collected so much money? Isn't he afraid of something happening?


Facing her mother's little look at corrupt officials, Chili was speechless: "Part of this is my salary and the pocket money I saved before. The rest are the empress' rewards for seeing me doing things well. As you know Yes, I don’t spend much money myself, so I slowly saved up this much money.”


My daughter knows it herself. Thinking about it, Li'er is not the kind of person who corrupts her moral character for the sake of money. Besides being a bit greedy, she really doesn't have any hobbies in spending money, so she is quite able to save money.


Thinking of this, Mrs. Xu also knew that she had misunderstood her daughter, and she couldn't help but feel a little angry and hurriedly apologized to others.


"It was mother's fault. She shouldn't have doubted our Li'er."


She's not the kind of parent who can't help but apologize to her children, so she's usually quite happy to admit her mistakes.


Chi Li had no intention of blaming her mother, and quickly forgave her for opening up the matter, and the family happily discussed going to see the house tomorrow.


Speaking of buying a house, if there is no help from someone who is familiar with this aspect in Kyoto, you can only go to Yahang to ask someone to introduce it, but the house you find this way may not necessarily be a good one. After all, you don’t know the inside door. Everyone is easy to be tricked. Even if Chili uses her identity as an official to pressure others, she is still a sixth-grade petty official. Who can work in Kyoto without being backed by a big force?

Therefore, in the end, when doing business in a dental office, you only care about money and nothing else. Of course, you can do it if you don’t want others to cheat you. Spend more money and pay enough for your hard work. People will naturally serve you more attentively.


It's just that the Chi family is tight on money to buy a house. If they spend too much money on Yahang, they are afraid that they won't have enough money to buy a house.


So after finding another way, they simply gave up looking for a dental clinic.


As for any other way?


Naturally, this must be attributed to Chi Li's connections.


After Ikeli became an official, she changed her unsociable nature when she was a student. She almost made friends with anyone she found friendly. Over time, she had many more friends, and most of them were in the official circle of Kyoto. .


Anyone who can be an official in Kyoto, regardless of whether he is a senior official or a junior official, each has two brushes. Among them, the wife of a sixth-grade official whom Chili met in the cabinet is helping to act as an intermediary.


For the sake of her husband's future, people do not make public accusations, but the official's wife is very good at inquiring about information. She will know what happened to a family today by the next day.


Relying on this powerful gossip ability, she also has a good understanding of the Kyoto housing market. In these small official families, she used her wife's diplomacy to start an intermediary business, in order to earn some hard money to help support the family.


It is not expensive to ask this lady to help introduce suitable houses that are for sale or rented. At least it is much more affordable than looking for a dental shop. Moreover, she is in the official circles. In order not to offend others, she introduces all good resources. Don't dare to trick people casually.


In addition, some people ask her for help for free.


Coincidentally, Chi Li is the type of person who is not charged money.


Because Chi Li had inadvertently helped the official before, saving him from being framed by Prime Minister Xing's party, so in order to thank her, when the other wife learned that her family might be interested in buying a house in Kyoto, she patted her chest and assured Chi Li that Not only will he help her find a suitable house, but he will also charge no fees.


Now the Chi family is going to buy a house just like that lady, and the other party has made an appointment with Chi Li early to take the Chi family's parents to see the house after they come to Kyoto.


After taking her parents home today, Chili had already sent someone to write a letter to the other party's house. The reply stated that they could go to see the house tomorrow.


Early the next morning, the other party came to Chi's door.


Even Chi Li didn't expect that she would come so early. When she received the news and hurriedly got up to wash up and dress up, Mrs. Gao had already had tea with Mrs. Xu.
Seeing Chi Li hurriedly walking out of the inner room, Mrs. Gao covered her mouth with an embroidered handkerchief in her hand and said with a smile: "Master Chi, don't worry, it's still early, and I've only just arrived."


"Mrs. Gao, don't be surprised. It's rare for me to bump into Mu Xiu, so Li'er couldn't help but sleep a little longer." Although people said that, Chi Li was not prepared to listen to it like that. It was her fault that she got up late, so she treated her as a junior Identity made a few witticisms to make the guests happy.


Although Chi Li and Mrs. Gao's husbands were both sixth-rank imperial officials of the current dynasty, and their statuses were equal, it was just that Mrs. Gao was twenty years older than her, and even a few years older than her mother, so Chi Li Pretending to be a junior in front of the other party does not count as lowering one's status, and one will be praised for respecting one's elders.


Everyone has something to do today, so naturally they won't waste too much time here. After a brief exchange of greetings, Mrs. Gao took the initiative to take Chili's family to see the house.


In fact, usually even if she helps to contact the house inspector, Mrs. Gao will not do it herself. She will always ask her subordinates to handle the matter. However, she just learned from her husband that Chili, the famous person in front of the empress, will be promoted again recently, so no matter Whether it was for the purpose of making friends or returning a favor, she had to do it herself to make it beautiful and proper.


Maybe one day Master Chi will fly to the sky with the Holy Emperor, and their family will also benefit from it.


Even if he can't take advantage of it, with the friendship he has accumulated today, if he comes to ask for help in the future, as long as it is not a big problem that cannot be helped, he should not be turned away.


Chi Li could guess why Mrs. Gao had such an enthusiastic attitude. She was not surprised at all, and she was more willing to go along with the flow. In fact, the interpersonal relationships in the officialdom were all the same. You help me and I will help you. Keep going back and forth. Then the friendship will be deeper.


Don't be afraid of owing a favor, just be afraid that people won't give you a chance to owe a favor. If everyone has no intention of bothering each other, it means that they don't want to have a close relationship with your family at all.


This is the real loss of a human connection.


"I wonder what Mrs. Chi needs for the house she wants to buy?" Knowing that the Chi family's purchase of a house depends on Master Chi's parents' opinions, so Mrs. Gao directly asked Mr. Xu's opinion.


In the carriage driving on the street, Mrs. Gao, Mrs. Xu and Chi Li were seated one after another. As a foreigner, Chi Xiucai could not ride in the same carriage with his female family members. In addition to buying a house, the Chi family also had many things to do when they first came to Kyoto. He had to deal with it, so he simply stayed at home to deal with various trivial matters, leaving the house purchase to his wife and daughter.


This was the time to make requests as much as she wanted. Mrs. Xu was not polite and directly stated her family's house purchase needs: "To be honest with you, Mrs. Gao, our family has just arrived in Kyoto, so we didn't bring much money with us. I bought a house for 5000 taels. Although my family has a small family, there are still more than a dozen servants, so the house I buy must be big enough to live in. In addition, it is best to be located close to the place where our pear is worth the most. If it’s really not close, don’t force it. As long as the doorways are wide enough for carriages to pass, it’s fine. There’s also another one. Our pear loves water. It’s best to find a place with plenty of water for her. We also need to give it to her. The father and daughter each have a large study room. Both father and daughter are scholars. If the study room is not big enough, it will not be able to accommodate their books..."


Xu's family always made many requests, but most of them were for the sake of her daughter and husband, and her own needs were not mentioned at all. Chi Li couldn't listen to it, so she added a few more according to her mother's preferences.


"Madam, could you please help me find a gardener? My mother likes to plant some flowers and plants. She said that looking at the colorful flowers and grass every day will make her mood better."


"It turns out that Mrs. Xu loves flowers, which is quite similar to my preference. I also like to take care of flowers and plants at home on weekdays. When you move in, I will definitely pick a few pots of beautiful flowers to give to you." Mrs. Gao said with a hearty smile. .


"Then I have thanked Mrs. Gao before."


Both wives were well-managed and good at diplomacy. As they chatted, they became more and more speculative, leaving Chili with no room to interrupt.


Although the Chi family made many requests, in fact these requirements were the basic needs of many official families who first arrived in Kyoto, so Mrs. Gao had already prepared suitable houses to recommend to them.


"Mrs. Xu, Mr. Chi, I won't fool you. There's no need to waste time. I happen to have a house here that best meets your requirements. Let's just go and have a look. If it's suitable, we'll make a decision. If it's not suitable, then we'll make a decision. Let’s go and take a look elsewhere, okay?”


"Okay, let's make arrangements with Mrs. Gao."


Mrs. Xu glanced at her daughter and nodded in agreement after seeing her nod.


The driver outside received the order from the owner inside and immediately raised his whip and drove the horse in a specific direction.


Chili looked at the street scenery outside and became familiar with it, and was a little surprised: "This is..."


"Yes, this is Baisong Street."


Everyone who knows something about Kyoto knows that the so-called Baisong Street does not just refer to a street, but a large area, an area where powerful people gather.


People who can live here must be rich or noble, and it's not just about being rich that you can live here, you also have to have power.


Money, the Chi family has exhausted their savings and barely meets the minimum standard to buy a house here. Quan, as a popular person in front of the empress, even if Chi Li does not have a high official position now, people with a discerning eye know that her future is quite bright, and she is in the cabinet As an official, she holds a certain amount of real power. As a result, she has barely reached the minimum standard to be able to buy a house here.


This is the closest residential area to the Imperial Palace, and is also close to various bureaucracies within Kyoto. Even if the officials living here are on the fringes, it only takes less than half an hour to walk back and forth from their homes to their duty stations. It would be faster if we took a horse-drawn carriage.


It is very convenient to travel.


In addition, various supporting living facilities are also quite complete, covering all aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation, making life very convenient.


Therefore, as long as we live here, we have satisfied Mrs. Xu's requirement of making it convenient for her daughter to travel up and down the bus. What we need to care about now is how the specific environment of the house recommended by Mrs. Gao is and whether it is suitable for their family to live in.


The location of this house is not surprising. Although it is inside Baisong Street, it is located on the edge. It is not completely on the edge, but it is not bad. It covers an area of ​​about 700 square meters, which is considered a small three-bedroom house. Enter the courtyard.


A large three-entry courtyard can be more than 900 square meters or even thousands of square meters, so this one of more than 700 square meters is indeed relatively small.


Walking into the front yard is the front yard. There are five or six rooms in the front yard, including a large study room and a hall for entertaining guests. It is an important place for the family to socialize with each other. What you walk through the front yard is the interior. In the center of the inner courtyard is a large garden with a viewing pool. It includes the main courtyard and the east and west wing rooms. There are several rooms distributed around it. Going further in from the round arch at the end of the corridor is the backyard. The landscape of the backyard is also very beautiful. , the most important thing is that there is a small pond in the small garden here, with running water flowing in it, water lilies planted in it, and fish raised, which seems to have formed a small ecological circle.


Chili fell in love with it almost as soon as she saw it.


She thought that her parents lived in the main courtyard and no one lived in the backyard, so it could be designated as her own territory.


She can also dig a large bathtub in a special room, introduce running water, and add a homemade filter in the middle of the pipe, which is ready-made clean "tap water" without having to constantly and laboriously add water to it, and soak in it every day. Taking a bath, she couldn't even imagine how happy she would be.


After looking around carefully, Chili and her daughter were very satisfied with the house, not only because of the good environment inside, but also because the house had been renovated in the past two years, giving it a new feel everywhere.


The previous owner of the house had good taste, and the interior decoration was elegant and luxurious. At first glance, it looked like the residence of an official.


The only drawback is that there is no furniture at all, not even any curtains. They need to find craftsmen to customize it or buy it ready-made, which will cost a lot of money.


And it's no small sum.


The house is large, and the amount of furniture needed to fill it up is not small.


However, they are buying a house, not renting it, so it is normal to encounter an unfurnished house, so this shortcoming is not really a big deal.


"How much does this house cost?" After looking at the house to her satisfaction, Chi Li began to care about this most important matter.


"If someone else comes to ask for the price, it will definitely be no less than 6000 taels. But if Mr. Chi comes to ask for the price, then I am confident that I can help you negotiate the price of 5000 taels." When speaking of this, Mrs. Gao's expression was a bit intriguing.


As if implying something.


"Why?" But it was a pity that Chili didn't hear what she meant.


"Master Chi may not know something. The former owner of this house was once a fifth-rank official in the cabinet. However, he just committed a crime some time ago and was dismissed from his official position by His Majesty. Most of his family property was also confiscated, including this The house is now listed for sale by the government. Many people are watching, but due to the recent tightness, they dare not buy it for the time being. Now that Mr. Chi wants it, he doesn’t have so many scruples. Not only can he buy it directly , and we can negotiate a lower price with the government.”


Seeing that Chi Li didn't understand, and presumably she didn't understand the inside story here, Mrs. Gao explained it to her.


Chili understood: "..."


There were so many elements in Mrs. Gao's words that it was difficult for her to understand.


It turns out that the unlucky former owner of this house was a member of the former Prime Minister Xing who had been sentenced to exile by the empress. His vacated official position is about to be filled by Chi Li. Now the house is also going to belong to the Chi family. I don’t know who is right. If he knew about this, would he be so angry that he would vomit three liters of blood?


But Chili has no sympathy for the other party at all.


He followed Prime Minister Xing's party and did a lot of manipulating power and violating the Holy Spirit. Privately, he also embezzled a lot of people's money and anointing. Otherwise, how did this big house come about?


Therefore, all the punishments the other party is receiving now are deserved. Chili helped the empress to pull him down, but he only did a good thing that benefited the country and the people.


She also gained some merit for this.


This behavior is recognized even by Heavenly Dao, which further proves that Chi Li did nothing wrong.


However, if you want to buy this house, you can't just buy it directly: "Mrs. Gao, wait a minute. I'll ask you later. If there's no problem, I'll come back to discuss the house purchase with you."


"Okay, when Master Chi comes to see me after asking questions, send someone to deliver a message as soon as possible. I have nothing to do recently and I am available at any time." Mrs. Gao replied with a smile on her face, and her attitude was quite good.


Asking back, everyone knew who it was.


Three days later, Mrs. Gao, who had obtained the trust, accompanied Mr. Xu to the government to pay the transfer fee. However, the house that she originally thought would cost 5000 taels of silver was finally sold at a cabbage price of 3000 taels, which made Mrs. Gao more intuitively aware of the transaction. Mr. Chi's position in front of that person.


She also became more determined to have a good relationship with the Chi family.


Especially after the next court meeting, His Majesty gave a large reward in the court hall. Despite the shame of Prime Minister Xing and his party, many officials of the Empress's party were promoted, and Chi Li was also promoted to a fifth-rank official. , thus becoming qualified to go to court.


The imperial court stipulated that all officials of the fifth rank in Beijing could go to court.