The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 144 Eight Tigers
Nowadays, when an elderly person is about to die, they have to prepare for his funeral in advance.

After thinking it over, Kangxi called the Twelfth Prince and Yinyou together.

"Your great-uncle is dying, so I'll leave the funeral to you two!"

"Whoo."

After coming out, the twelfth brother said to Yinyu: "Fifteenth brother, this is the first errand I have ever done."

At first glance, this statement seems insignificant, but upon closer inspection, it is extremely sad!

The Twelveth Brother, who was already 24 years old, was participating in the mission for the first time.

On the other hand, Yinyou, who was only nineteen years old, already had power over the entire capital.

The fate of a ruler and his ministers is a subject of metaphysics, in which luck plays a large part.

In order not to disturb the bedridden Tong Guowei, Yinyou called Tong Guowei's eight sons to the twelfth prince's mansion.

Let's sit together and discuss what to do after the funeral.
"Fifteenth Master, to be honest with you, my father has always been extravagant and never saves money." As soon as Ye Keshu opened his mouth, he started to cry poor.

De Kexin said: "The funeral supplies have been prepared long ago, and there is also a place for the ancestral grave, but I don't have enough money!"

Yinyou and the Twelfth Prince looked at each other. It was obvious that the Tong family hoped that the palace would give them silver for funeral expenses.

The Twelfth Prince was well versed in feng shui, and this was his first time on assignment, so Yinyou took the initiative to help and let the Twelfth Prince do as he pleased.

Seeing that Yinyou didn't say anything, the Twelfth Prince coughed lightly and asked the Tong family: "How much funeral money have each of your families prepared?" This question sounded extremely professional.

Yes, the palace will definitely give you money!
But, your Tong family has eight sons. You can't rely on the emperor for all the funeral expenses, right?
Longkodo was still angry about Tong Guowei's intention to give the title to Ye Keshu. He said in a muffled voice, "I am just a small guard. After the eldest prince Yue Xing'a got married, he brought a large family with him and almost drained my blood."

Yinyou was so angry that he almost laughed. Longkodo was such a bastard, he really dared to lie to others.

As the saying goes, if there is a stepfather, there must be a stepmother.

Ever since Li Si'er came into the family, Longkodo's heart had been set on his own. He had been finding fault with his eldest son Yue Xing'a and had long since ignored him.

Dekexin rolled his eyes and said, "I'm worse off. I'm just a third-class guard." The implication was that he was much worse off than Longkodo.

Hong Shan, the fourth son of the Tong family, could no longer bear it and shouted, "This is outrageous! I'll pay you five hundred taels!"

After Hong Shan passed the imperial examination, he never passed the imperial examination. However, he only had one daughter and no son, so he was the lightest burden on the family.

Qingyuan, the fifth son of the Tong family, sighed, "I have four brothers and one daughter, none of whom are married, so I really can't give much!"

Yinyou picked up the teacup and took a sip. Alas, the bigger the family, the more messed up things would be.

The ancients often said that more children means more blessings.

Looking at the postures of the eight sons of the Tong family, aren’t they clearly the eight tigers of the Tong family?
Kangxi knew the situation of his mother's family very well.

He knew that the Twelfth Prince alone would not be able to suppress the Eight Tigers of the Tong Family, so he specifically asked Yinyou to come forward to help the Twelfth Prince to maintain order!

Seeing that the Tong family was so stingy and unwilling to spend money on their father's funeral, the Twelveth Brother didn't want to bother with them anymore.

Yinyou understood Kangxi's character quite well. He knew that no matter what, Kangxi would not stand by and watch his uncle's funeral being so shabby.

In other words, Tong Guowei's funeral will definitely be a grand occasion!

In fact, the Eight Tigers of the Tong Family also saw this clearly, so they cried poor on purpose.

Yinyou really didn't know much about the other seven tigers of the Tong family. How much wealth did they have?
However, Yinyou knew very well what kind of person Longkodo was.

This greedy guy can even squeeze oil out of the cracks in the rocks!
The twelfth prince was not strong enough to say harsh words, but Yinyu was different. He put down his teacup, frowned, and said coldly: "No matter rich or poor, every family must pay at least one thousand taels of silver!"

Ye Keshu got angry when he heard this and immediately cried out, "Master Fifteen, I really can't take it out..."

Yinyu said with a fierce look on his face, "If you really can't come up with it, that's fine. I will go to the palace and ask for permission. The Ministry of Internal Affairs will pay for you first, and then I will slowly deduct the money from your annual salary over five years."

After these words were spoken, all the eight tigers of the Tong family were stunned!
My little darling, can you do this?

The Twelfth Prince thought about it carefully and couldn't help but secretly give a thumbs up, admiring Yinyou's decisiveness.

In this age where filial piety is the most important virtue, whether one borrows money or sells oneself to bury one's father, it is a natural thing to do.

If you, the Eight Tigers of the Tong Family, want to pretend to be poor, it depends on whether Kangxi agrees or not.
Qing Heng muttered, "Master Fifteen, how can I afford so much money to pay you back?"

Yinyu glared at him and said coldly, "Someone in the Imperial Guards' Office suggested that you be promoted to a second-class imperial guard. Do you mean that you don't want to be promoted?"

After Yinyou's "kind" reminder, the Eight Tigers of the Tong Family suddenly realized that Yinyou, the Minister of the Imperial Guard of the Bordered Yellow Banner, was their immediate superior.

Of the eight tigers of the Tong family, four were under the control of the Imperial Guards. To put it bluntly, Yinyu could make her round or flatten her as he pleased.

Although Longkodo was under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Minister, if Yinyu said anything to Kangxi, he would be in trouble!
For a while, no one dared to cry poor anymore!

Yinyu pretended not to notice the miserable faces of the Eight Tigers of the Tong Family and announced on the spot, "That's settled then."

After listening to the report from the Twelfth Prince, Kangxi was shocked and asked subconsciously, "How could they be willing to give so much?"

In those days, the purchasing power of silver was extremely strong. Generally speaking, one tael of silver could be exchanged for more than 2000 coins. The eight brothers of the Tong family each took out one thousand taels of silver for the funeral, which was eight thousand taels.

To be honest, it’s already quite impressive!

However, Kangxi felt sorry for his only uncle after all, and sighed and said: "Allow 10,000 taels of silver. I can't let my uncle die in poverty."

"Yeah." These words were definitely given to Yinyou.

Anyway, it was not Hua Yinyu's money, so he agreed very readily without any hesitation.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, the Twelfth Brother said somewhat awkwardly: "Fifteenth Brother, can I borrow your land for a while?"

Yinyou thought about it and realized that the Twelfth Prince's subordinates had neither manpower nor a bail room, and he was actually a commander in charge of the funeral alone!
"Twelfth brother, in the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you can choose any territory and assign any personnel you want. I will do whatever you want!" Yinyou didn't waste any words. He just said two words: strong support.

The twelfth prince was indeed very touched. He took Yinyu's hand and said, "You are my only good brother!"

Wow, these words leave a lasting aftertaste and make one think!
The Twelfth Prince really knew how to choose a location. He deliberately set up the official office next to the room where Yinyou was detained.

In this way, whoever dared not listen to his call would be able to do so as long as Yinyu walked to the next room!

Not only that, Yinyou ordered Qin Dena to bring the list of officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and let the Twelfth Prince choose at will.

No matter who was chosen, Yinyu would issue a note on the spot and dispatch someone to wait for the Twelfth Prince's orders.

Soon, the funeral team for Old Twelve was formed and began to operate efficiently.

Ever since he had a job to do, Old Twelve has been really radiant!

Although, the Twelveth Brother was doing funeral affairs which were full of taboos.

However, it is much better than staying in the Shangshu Room and accompanying the prince to study at an old age, right?
While Yinyou was scolding someone, the Twelfth Master came over leisurely, holding a teacup and pacing in a square step.

To be honest, their offices were so close that they could just walk a few steps to get there.

When the twelfth prince came in, Yinyou was using his sharp tongue to spew venom like crazy.

"What are you doing here? Bringing back short pieces of wood? Aren't you afraid of bringing down the dignity of the Qing Dynasty?"

"My Fifteenth Master, I am willing to spend money, but the big timber in the mountains of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou has long been cut down..."

Last time, when the Hall of Supreme Harmony was burned down, some good nanmu, pine and fir wood could still be bought.

However, when the Hall of Supreme Harmony was rebuilt, the foundation was obviously much larger than the palace.

The reason is that the nanmu purchased is a whole circle smaller and several meters shorter than that of the pre-Ming Dynasty period.

This time, suitable mature nanmu trees are almost nowhere to be seen.

"Then let's go to Southeast Asia and have a look!" Yinyou knew that the wood was too small and would definitely not pass the test of Kangxi.

"Whoo!"

After the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had left, the Twelfth Brother came in with a cup of tea and said with a smile, "Fifteenth Brother, my uncle asked Heqi to treat you well, but I don't know when it would be convenient for you?"

Tuoheqi is the current commander of the infantry and a well-known powerful figure in the capital.

The position of Infantry Commander is equivalent to the No. 1 garrison commander and the No. 1 city police station commander.

The police chief in Beijing has real power, really a lot!

Lao Jiu, who had opened the largest "Juxianban" in Beijing without the knowledge of Kangxi, was taken down by Tuoheqi himself.

Tohaqi is not afraid of Laojiu because his biggest backer is the current crown prince.

Speaking of which, Tohezi is a very interesting person. He is obviously the uncle of the Twelfth Prince, but he is extremely trusted by Crown Prince Yinreng.

Yinyu was trying to avoid the prince's men as much as possible, so how could he take the initiative to get involved with them?

"Brother Twelve, you can see that I am really busy here and cannot get away."

The Twelfth Prince squatted next to Yinyu every day. He naturally knew that Yinyu was busy from morning to night and hardly had time to sit still on the bench.

"Okay, then I'll just find a random excuse and reply to him."

Just as Yinyou was about to finish his duty and return home, something unexpected happened in the guard camp.

Liang Jiugong's godson tried to sneak into the palace with items from outside the palace. Unexpectedly, the guards found several unusually smooth and round "jade pestles" on his body.

It was not the first day that Yinyu was on duty. He understood as soon as he heard it. It must be that Liang Jiugong's godson had offended the guards and was being secretly targeted.

Although the palace was strictly guarded and no one was allowed to smuggle things in private, the guards at the gate did not dare to easily provoke the godson of a super eunuch like Liang Jiugong.

Since the matter has been reported to Yinyou, he must step in to deal with it!
PS: This is the first update of the day. The second update will be around 2:23. If there are enough monthly tickets, there will be three updates tomorrow morning.

(End of this chapter)