The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The weather finally warmed up, and the Imperial Observatory and the common people finally put their minds at ease.

As the weather returned to normal, good news came one after another. First, the imperial army swept away the White Lotus rebels entrenched in Xuzhou Prefecture. Then good news came from Tianjin. The grain ships heading north by sea arrived at the Tianjin wharf. Immediately afterwards, the imperial court spread the word that the Jurchens would compensate the Dashun government with 400,000 shi of grain.

As soon as the news came out, the price of grain in the capital city dropped immediately, from one tael and three cents per stone to seven cents, almost cutting it in half. Many grain merchants who did not sell when the price was at its peak suffered so much that they wanted to die.

Although the price of grain has dropped, the price of salt has gone up again.

Although Shui Rong did not completely occupy Lianghuai, he destroyed the main force of the official army in the Lianghuai area. All kinds of demons and monsters emerged, and they wreaked havoc everywhere under the banner of the White Lotus Sect. The Lianghuai Salt Fields were also destroyed in their hands.

Fortunately, Dashun was a vast territory with abundant resources. Even if there was the Lianghuai Salt Field, there were still the Liangzhe Salt Field. There were also many salt fields in Shandong, Zigong and other places. This was why it did not cause too much unrest.

It was noon, the sun was scorching, and there was not a trace of wind today, so the cicadas were chirping even louder.

There was only one blue wool official sedan chair on the street at that time. It went to the entrance of the alley, turned into it, and stopped at the door of a house with a big red lantern hung on it. The sedan chair pole tilted, and out walked the runner-up in civilian clothes!

The servant opened the door and the runner-up walked in, slowly waving a folding fan.

The third place winner was already standing at the stone steps outside the living room, obviously waiting for the second place winner.

The second place candidate quickened his pace when he saw her, and asked, "Why are you calling me here so urgently? What's the big deal?"

The third place winner turned sideways and stretched out his hand as a gesture of giving way: "Let's talk in the living room." After saying that, he walked in first.

The runner-up knew that it was not a good thing and followed him in quickly.

As soon as he stepped through the door, the runner-up was stunned.

The trusted servant of the number one scholar who should have been in Hubei appeared here at this time.

The runner-up looked at the third place winner.

The scholar sighed and said to the boy, "Go ahead."

The servant said: "Yes. My young master fell into the hands of the White Lotus rebels."

The second place candidate's mind suddenly exploded: "What? The White Lotus rebels have reached Hubei?!"

The servant hurriedly explained: "No. My young master personally led people to escort military rations to Luoyang, and encountered the White Lotus rebels on the way."

After hearing the servant's explanation, the second place candidate's face darkened: "Why doesn't he just stay in Hubei to collect food and grass, but go to Luoyang to meddle?!"

The servant said: "The affairs in Hubei are all handled by officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Hubei Provincial Government Office. My young master has been sidelined by them. My young master wanted to save face for the emperor, so he volunteered to escort the grain to Luoyang."

The second place scholar fanned himself in annoyance. After learning that the White Lotus rebels had captured the city of Xuzhou, the number one scholar and others headed south to Hubei and bought grain from wealthy families in Huguang to support Henan.

Thinking about it, the second place student suddenly realized: "Didn't they say that the White Lotus rebels in Henan were completely wiped out? Where did these White Lotus rebels come from?"

The boy shook his head.

Second Place: "Have you informed the Henan Provincial Government of this matter?"

The servant knelt down and said, "The White Lotus rebels said that if I dare to report to the authorities, they will kill my young master. I beg you two masters, the White Lotus rebels only want three thousand taels of silver." He then started to cry.

The third scholar spoke up: "Okay, how do we redeem him?"

The servant said: "Take the banknotes and go to Luoyang to redeem the person."

Luoyang? The second place student was stunned for a moment and asked anxiously: "When did this happen?" The servant said: "Nine days ago."

Nine days ago! The second place student dropped his folding fan to the ground and murmured, "Luoyang is finished."

Tanhualang was puzzled: "What do you mean Luoyang is over?"

Second Place: "Those White Lotus rebels are going to attack Luoyang City."

The winner of the imperial examination was surprised.

The runner-up: "What a trick to kill! The White Lotus rebels deliberately let him go so that the imperial court would know about this but be powerless to do anything. They can only watch as Luoyang City falls again!"

Even though the third place winner was not very smart, he finally understood what was going on and asked anxiously, "What should I do now?"

The runner-up said unhappily: "Go into the palace!" and was about to turn around and leave.

The young man hugged the second place student's legs and cried loudly, "You can't go! If you go, my young master will die."

The runner-up was anxious: "Let go! Let go!"

The servant said, "Master, please, for the sake of our brotherhood, don't report this to the Emperor. Please, please!"

Tanhualang helped to speak up: "Since the fall of Luoyang is a foregone conclusion, there is no need to sacrifice another life. Besides, we swore an oath when we became sworn brothers."

The runner-up: "These are two different things! Even if we don't consider the court, we have to consider ourselves. If this matter is known to others."

The boy immediately swore: "God, if I tell anyone about this, I will be struck by lightning and I will never be able to escape reincarnation!"

The second place candidate hesitated again and said, "As long as we pay this money, we will be collaborating with the bandits!"

The third place winner got angry and shouted, "Were the vows we made back then all false? My sworn brother is in trouble, and I only want you to pay some money, not to ransom him yourself! You are just afraid of losing your official hat! I will pay for it myself, and I will sell everything I have to raise the ransom, and I won't ask you for a penny. But I have one thing to ask, Master Bangyan, don't step on the corpses of my sworn brother to climb up!"

The runner-up was stunned, his face turned as white as paper, his lips trembled constantly, and he was unable to speak for a long time.

Seeing him like this, Tanhua Lang felt a little regretful. He didn't know what to say for a moment, so he turned away.

The servant spoke again: "My two masters, please do not blame others for my son's ruining the relationship. It's all my son's fault for wanting to make a contribution and bring honor to the emperor, you two masters and the gentlemen who passed the imperial examination! My two masters, just pretend you have never seen me. However, my old lady will rely on you two masters to take care of her until the end of her life! I kowtow to you two masters on behalf of my son."

As he said this, he kowtowed three times to the runner-up, then turned around and kowtowed three times to the back of the third place winner. Then he stood up and slowly backed out.

The runner-up said, "I will go back and pawn those calligraphy works and paintings and the four treasures of the study. I estimate that I can collect about a thousand taels of silver. I will send it over in the evening." After saying that, he turned around and walked out.

The servant immediately knelt down and said, "Thank you, Master Bangyan!"

The scholar turned around slowly and said to the boy, "You stay in the guest room. I'll go collect the money." Then he went out.

The servant said: "Thank you, Master Tanhua!" He stood up until he could no longer hear the footsteps. He looked outside the door and thought to himself: Don't blame me. If I didn't do this, my young master would be dead.

In the duty room of the Southern Pacification Office, Kong Qingxiang was sitting at his desk eating iced watermelon, his feet resting on the desk and swinging leisurely.

News came from Qufu that Confucius was about to die, and his face was filled with joy that his great revenge was about to be achieved.

At this time, a guard came in and whispered something in Kong Qingxiang's ear.

Kong Qingxiang's eyes flashed: "Come on, follow me to see the Marquis." (End of this chapter)