The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 279 Why is everyone so excited?

Quan Wenwei had already arranged for the number of people to receive their wages.

So when the Crown Prince came down, he immediately ordered the officers in charge to bring up the ten best-performing disaster relief laborers.

This is the wages for ten people, which will be distributed personally by the Crown Prince.

With Tu Chengyu's prior advice, the Crown Prince was quite relaxed this time, personally handing over the wages of one hundred coins to the ten people.

In addition to their wages, the Crown Prince also rewarded each of them with two new sets of clothes.

These new clothes were made from old materials salvaged from the warehouse, and the work was done by women from the women and children's camp, so the cost was almost negligible.

However, this was extremely precious to the destitute and ragged disaster victims, especially since two sets were given at once. This meant that not only could they wear new clothes, but their families would also have the opportunity to wear new clothes.

So after receiving these things, the ten disaster victims were deeply moved. If it weren't for the imperial guards stopping them, they would have knelt down and kowtowed to the crown prince.

After the top ten are gone, the next tier of fifty people will be next.

The one who distributed the money to these fifty people was naturally Tu Chengyu, the Prince of Su.

Since it's a second-best category, the reward is naturally not as good as the top ten.

The only reward Tu Chengyu gave to these fifty people was a set of clothes.

Although it was just a set of clothes, the fifty people were still overjoyed to receive it.

After the wages of these two groups of people were paid, Tu Chengyu handed over the remaining wages to Quan Wenwei to distribute.

Although Quan Wenwei brought quite a few scholars, it took him a considerable amount of time to distribute all the wages because there were so many people to collect them.

Once the wages were paid, most people thought that the day's events were over.

But Tu Chengyu wouldn't let such a good opportunity go to waste.

He immediately invited the crown prince back onto the stage to proceed to the next segment.

Based on the need to help the disaster victims, Tu Chengyu arranged for money to be distributed at this stage.

This time, however, the money was not given to the disaster victims who did the work, but to the disaster victims who entered the site for a visit.

Since the disaster victims who were able to visit the site today were specially selected by Tu Chengyu from various disaster victim camps to be obedient and well-behaved, giving them this money is equivalent to affirming their performance. This move is also to tell other disaster victims that if they want to live a better life, they must be obedient and well-behaved in the future.

When the visiting disaster victims heard from the Crown Prince that the Emperor would also reward them, they were all so excited they almost jumped for joy.

Although the reward was only twenty coins, it came from the emperor, so how could they not be happy?
Amidst the cheers and jubilation of the people, Quan Wenwei led his men to distribute the money to each of them one by one.

Amidst the cheers and jubilation of the crowd, the crown prince did not come down from the stage.

Because there's one more crucial thing he hasn't announced yet.

This was the last thing Tu Chengyu had planned for today, but it was also the most important.

Its importance even surpasses the topic of paying wages.

The prince smiled broadly as he watched the disaster victims cheer in unison. After they finished cheering, the prince coughed twice before slowly revealing the most important news of the day.

"Today, I have been assigned by His Majesty to not only pay everyone's wages, but also to give me an important task. His Majesty has taken great care of you people who have left your homes to come to the capital to make a living, so he has specially decreed that fifty fat pigs be given to you so that each of you can have a taste of pork."

This news undoubtedly caused an even greater sensation.

Even when these disaster victims were not suffering from the disaster, they rarely ate pork more than a few times a year at home.

They never expected that after fleeing to the capital, they would not only have meat to eat, but it would also be meat bestowed upon them by the emperor.

Such a great favor is something that even the richest landlords in the countryside would never encounter in several lifetimes.

So how could they not be excited?

Tu Chengyu had long anticipated that the disaster victims would be very excited upon hearing the news.

Therefore, he had already arranged for people to come up with the plan, just waiting for him to announce it.

These people rushed out, running around the camp while repeatedly repeating what the prince had just said.

If paying wages today is an encouragement to the disaster victims, it gives them hope for survival.

However, this matter only concerns a few people, so many disaster victims just listen to it and feel envious.

However, the news that has just come out is relevant to everyone; they never even dared to dream of being able to eat meat here.

So when they saw the officials rushing by, conveying the emperor's decree again and again.

The entire disaster relief camp erupted in excitement once again.

Moreover, this time the uproar was even more intense than when the Crown Prince first appeared.

Because this time, every disaster victim is speaking from the bottom of their heart.

Here at the venue, the Crown Prince, having finished reading the message, descended from the high platform and smiled at Tu Chengyu, saying:

"Xiao Wu, your idea is brilliant. A few dozen pigs are enough to make the disaster victims cheer like this. Father will be very happy when he finds out."

How could he not be happy? Tens of thousands of disaster victims gathered together, cheering "Long live the Emperor!" over and over again. What emperor wouldn't be happy to hear that?

Most importantly, the price that made the disaster victims cheer was only a few dozen pigs and a little over a hundred taels of silver.

Tu Chengyu grinned and said, "Big brother, this is nothing. The real surprise will come when I've trained all these disaster victims."

Seeing Tu Chengyu's proud expression, the Crown Prince was also pleased and said:

"You just have to know it yourself."

After saying that, the crown prince immediately followed up with another question: "I don't understand why you didn't buy pork, but instead bought dozens of live pigs?"

Tu Chengyu laughed and said, "Brother, you don't understand. Distributing pork is never as memorable as doing it yourself. If we buy pork, we might be able to distribute it fairly, but the disaster victims will just eat it and not remember it for long. But if we buy live pigs and let them slaughter them and distribute the meat themselves, it's like they've all gathered together to celebrate the New Year. Brother, do you believe me? Anyone who personally experienced slaughtering the pig today will remember it for the rest of their lives, and they won't forget it until the day they die."

After hearing Tu Chengyu's explanation, the Crown Prince finally understood.

Just as Tu Chengyu was talking to the Crown Prince, the fifty pigs were finally brought out of the city.

The appearance of these pigs naturally elicited cheers from the disaster victims, and these cheers were even louder than before.

The pigs had already been allocated according to the number of people in the disaster relief camp, and their sizes had also been marked.

So after they were driven to the camp, they were quickly distributed.

Then, the disaster victims who had been allocated pigs gathered around them in groups, ready to start cooking.

The tens of thousands of disaster victims included all sorts of people, and naturally, there were quite a few who knew how to slaughter pigs.

So, before long, the entire camp was filled with the piercing squeals of pigs. Slaughtering pigs was an activity that was akin to celebrating the New Year in the eyes of the people.

Not only were the adults happy to see it, but the children were even happier.

Moreover, the children are innocent and cheerful; although they are in the camp, they do not experience the sorrow and sadness of adults.

So when they saw the pig being slaughtered, they couldn't help but gather around, shouting with joy while watching intently.

But that's not all; what made the children happiest was...

After the pig was slaughtered, the butcher deliberately kept the pig's bladder, inflated it, and threw it to them like a big ball.

The peak of their joy was when they were kicking the ball around the pig's bladder.

Just as the disaster victims were slaughtering pigs, Tu Chengyu sent people to deliver other supplies, truckload after truckload.

This is rice, flour, cooking oil, and some vegetables that Tu Chengyu prepared for the disaster victims.

Since the goal was to ensure the disaster victims had a good meal, pork alone was not enough, so he decided to prepare other things as well.

With these ingredients, plus pork, a complete New Year's Eve dinner is ready.

Many hands make light work, and cooking can be done quickly.

In less than half an hour, all the stoves in the entire disaster camp were steaming with heat.

The aroma of food wafted throughout the campsite.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince and Tu Chengyu immediately served the same food as the disaster victims.

Of course, the food the crown prince ate couldn't have actually been made by the disaster victims, but in their eyes, it was as if they had personally prepared it for him.

So when the prince stood on the high platform, picked up the first piece of pork, ate it without hesitation, and shouted loudly.

"It's delicious! Let's all enjoy it together!"

Afterwards, the disaster victims all showed proud expressions, and they also picked up their bowls and ate heartily with the prince.

The prince stood on the high platform and ate the bowl of rice with the disaster victims before coming down from the platform.

At this point, Tu Chengyu's performance for the Crown Prince was finally complete.

Just as the Crown Prince came down to leave, Su Xuanbao, who was guarding outside, hurriedly walked in.

"Your Highness, Prince Su, there are several disaster victims outside the venue requesting an audience."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince instinctively looked at Tu Chengyu, assuming that this was something Tu Chengyu had arranged separately.

However, Tu Chengyu also looked puzzled. He shook his head at the Crown Prince, then looked at Su Xuanbao and asked:

"How many people came? What did they say they wanted to do?"

Su Xuanbao said, "A dozen or so old men came, carrying several plates, saying they wanted to offer food to His Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu and the Crown Prince exchanged a glance, and then walked out together in tacit agreement.

When they got outside, they indeed saw a dozen or so old men standing to the side, each holding a plate.

Upon seeing the Crown Prince emerge, the old man at the head of the group quickly stepped forward and said:
"Your Highness, Prince Su, we feel deeply indebted to the Emperor for the great favor He has bestowed upon us today. However, we are refugees and have nothing to offer Your Majesty. Therefore, we can only use what the Emperor has bestowed upon us to make these few dishes to express our gratitude as refugees."

The fact that the disaster victims voluntarily offered food to the emperor, and that they even made it themselves, made it all the more significant.

Therefore, the Crown Prince dared not be negligent and quickly asked:
"Are you suggesting I bring these items into the palace to present to His Majesty?"

The old man at the head nodded and said, "That's exactly what I meant. I would like to request that Your Highness present these things to the Emperor."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince happily said, "Alright, I'll take on this task. I'm about to return to the palace to report, so I'll present the food on your behalf."

After he finished speaking, the crown prince had four tightly covered plates brought over and prepared to put them into his sedan chair.

Seeing that this wouldn't work, Tu Chengyu quickly leaned close to the Crown Prince's ear and said:

“Brother, since it’s food offered by the common people, it’s not appropriate to put it in the sedan chair. It would be better to find a shelf to put it on so that people can see it from the outside, and then have someone carry it back so that the people of the capital can see it along the way.”

Upon hearing this idea, the crown prince's eyes lit up, and he immediately said:

"Xiao Wu, that's a good idea, but I don't have anything like that here. How about I dismantle the sedan chair?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu shook his head and said, "Why dismantle the sedan chair? Think about it, this thing was offered by the people, so it's only real if the people prepare it. Brother, you wait here, I'll go and make the arrangements right away."

After he finished speaking, Tu Chengyu went over and said a few words to the old men.

The old men's eyes lit up when they heard Tu Chengyu's words.

Then, at the old man's command, several of them hurriedly ran back.

Then, not long after they arrived, they returned again.

This time, they didn't come empty-handed either.

Several old men, accompanied by four young men, returned carrying a tattered curtain frame made of wood.

The frame wasn't very big; it looked just big enough to hold the four bowls and plates they brought.

Although the frame was made of only a few logs and broken planks, it was very simple.

But in the prince's eyes, it was even more dazzling than his own sedan chair.

So when they carried it over, the crown prince immediately ordered his men to take the wooden frame and carefully place the four bowls and plates on it.

Then they selected four guards of the same height specifically to carry the wooden frame.

Once everything was ready, the Crown Prince had his guards carry the wooden frame at the front, while he himself rode in a sedan chair, following far behind.

This unusual procession aroused the curiosity of the people of the capital as soon as it entered the city.

Everyone was asking what rare treasures were on that broken wooden shelf that were worth the Crown Prince's attention.

When they found out, they discovered that what was on the broken wooden shelf was just a few dishes prepared by the disaster victims.

Those with little knowledge immediately lost interest and couldn't help but make a comment.

"The Crown Prince has never eaten anything good. He treats a few plates of food made by disaster victims as treasures. Sigh, how pathetic."

Those with knowledge were amazed and couldn't help but look at the Crown Prince's actions with new respect.

(End of this chapter)