The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

West Warm Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation
Emperor Yongchang placed a signed memorial on the pile of signed memorials on the imperial desk.

At this time, Dai Quan walked in quickly with an urgent package with chicken feathers stuck on it: "Express delivery from Henan, six hundred miles away!"

Emperor Yongchang took the express mail, tore open the seal and read it. His expression suddenly changed, and then he slammed the express mail on the imperial desk: "A bunch of rubbish, they actually let the White Lotus rebels rob the grain road again! How did those rebels know about it in advance?!"

The runner-up, who was sorting official documents at another desk, suddenly had his hand tremble, and the documents in his hand fell to the ground.

Emperor Yongchang's eyes suddenly turned towards the runner-up!
The runner-up immediately knelt down.

Emperor Yongchang: "This is the third time you have done this in this month."

The second place winner lightly touched his head and said: "Your Majesty, please punish me."

Emperor Yongchang looked at him and said: "You have worked hard all this time. Go back and have a good rest. Come back after the festival."

"Yes." The runner-up kowtowed, stood up, picked up the official documents on the ground, then bowed and walked out.

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flickered, and he turned to Dai Quan and said, "Someone go to Kong Qingxiang and retrieve all the records of the runner-up for this month."

Dai Quan replied: "Yes."

Emperor Yongchang: "Half a year."

Li Hu wiped out the White Lotus rebels who had fled to Shandong. The area north of the Yellow River became safe, Zhili was no longer threatened, and the capital was safe as well.

Grain from the south of the Yangtze River was also transported to the capital by sea, and the court also signed a grain purchase contract with the Western barbarians. Without threats and worries, the lives of ordinary people in the capital returned to normal.

The day is bright.

The runner-up, who had changed into casual clothes, was walking aimlessly alone among the bustling crowd.

As he walked, the second place candidate's eyes lit up. Under a big willow tree at the entrance of the alley, there were several paintings and calligraphy hanging. There were also several paintings and calligraphy placed on a table made of wooden boards. The stall owner was an old man.

The runner-up walked over, and the old man hurried over to greet him, smiling and bowing: "Sir, may I ask if you would like to buy any calligraphy or painting?"

After hearing this, the runner-up asked with a smile, "Are you from Jiangnan, old man?"

The old man: "My ancestral home is Jinling."

The runner-up: "Jinling is a great place. Why did you come to the capital?"

The old man was silent for a moment, then replied, "I can't go back."

Second place: “Oh?”

A trace of sadness flashed across the old man's eyes, and then he forced a smile: "Sir, are you going to buy calligraphy and paintings?"

The runner-up saw this and asked with a smile, "Can I borrow a seat to rest my feet?"

"Please sit down, please sit down." The old man quickly moved over a bamboo stool.

The runner-up sat down.

The old man was about to tidy up the calligraphy and paintings on the table, but the second place student stopped him and said, "Let's talk."

The old man hesitated for a moment, then sat down.

The runner-up: "I don't think the old man is a businessman, but rather the grandfather of a wealthy family."

The old man said: "I have been rich, but I have gone bankrupt again. I came out to set up a calligraphy and painting stall to supplement my family income."

The second place student nodded and said, "Old man, what do you think of the capital city compared to Nanjing?"

The old man said: "The Emperor's feet are different from other places."

Second Place: "What's the difference?"

The old man looked at him and said, "There are no White Lotus rebels."

The second place student was slightly startled, and then asked, "Have you ever encountered the White Lotus Sect's rebels?"

The old man sighed and said, "It's not just that I've encountered this before. When Huai'an was broken, a whole family escaped, young and old. They couldn't go back to Nanjing, and they thought that the White Lotus rebels would definitely not be able to attack the capital, so they came here to make a living."

The second place student was silent for a moment: "Huai'an has already been recovered." The old man: "So what? The imperial court has suffered a series of defeats in the Central Plains. Who knows if the White Lotus rebels will capture Huai'an again?"

The second place student was silent for a moment and asked: "When Huai'an was captured, did many people die?"

The old man looked at him in surprise.

The runner-up coughed and said, "I heard that many people died."

The old man said, "I think you are a scholar. You should know that human life is worthless on the battlefield. When the city was broken, tens of thousands of people rushed out together. Only a thousand people survived and crossed the river. Wherever the White Lotus rebels passed, it was like a swarm of locusts. The land was barren for thousands of miles and no one was living. They swept away all the property and food. In order to attack the next city, they would drive the surviving people to attack the city like ants. Do you know what "ants attacking the city" is? Of course you have heard of it. It's just four words in history books. I saw it with my own eyes! The people crawled all over the city walls like ants, and the corpses under the city were as numerous as ants! The people on the battlefield are not even as good as animals!
On the way to the north, the corpses of ordinary people were everywhere. Groups of wild dogs were gnawing at the corpses, their eyes red from eating. Have you ever seen hundreds of miles of plains with all the bark of trees gnawed away? If the governor of Shandong had not set up a porridge stall at the border between the two provinces, we would have starved to death with all the gold and silver.

Hearing this, the second place candidate's mind buzzed. If the people in Huaibei and Huainan were like this, what would the people in Henan be like? No wonder Jia Zheng sent official documents every day to urge for grain, and no wonder the court kept transferring grain to Henan, but he leaked the news to the White Lotus Sect. Blood immediately rushed to his face, and his hands were shaking slightly.

The old man was startled: "Mr.

With a "wow" sound, a mouthful of blood spurted out of the second place candidate's mouth!
The old man stood up in horror!

The runner-up stood up with all his might, and said with a forced smile, "This is caused by anger and blood not flowing back to the meridians." Suddenly, he saw the calligraphy and paintings on the table stained with blood. He took out a purse from his pocket and handed it to the old man, "I'm really sorry for staining your calligraphy and paintings. See if this money is enough. If not..."

The old man untied his purse and looked at it, and said hurriedly, "I don't need so much."

The runner-up: "I'll give it all to you. This money has no use to me anymore." As he said that, he staggered into the crowd and walked towards the inner city.

The old man looked at the purse in his hand and muttered, "What a weird guy!"

As he was walking, the runner-up suddenly felt dizzy and fell backwards, but was hugged by someone.

It was Kong Qingxiang.

Looking at the unconscious second place student, Kong Qingxiang sighed, what a poor man he was! He met two unreliable sworn brothers, was dragged into the water, and was coerced by the White Lotus Sect to provide them with information.

His two sworn brothers were very relaxed. The third place scholar went to and from the government office as if nothing had happened. The first place scholar, with the cooperation of Bai Hongzhi, successfully cleared the suspicion of being captured. Now he is working under Jia Zheng and is responsible for disaster relief. It is also funny to say that because the first place scholar strictly followed the disaster relief regulations and cooked a pot of thick porridge that could make chopsticks stand upright, he earned a reputation as an honest man among the disaster victims. How ironic!

My Lord, you are right. This man is a man with some conscience and can be helped.

Thinking of this, Kong Qingxiang handed the runner-up to the two confidants behind him and said, "Let's go to the clinic."

The white sun in the sky was also hanging high in the border between Shandong and Jiangsu provinces.

Li Hu and Lin Ruhai stood side by side on the official road beside the boundary marker.

Behind them were the cavalrymen standing quietly in line.

Lin Ruhai suddenly raised his right hand.

Sun Yang walked over with a cloak in both hands.

Lin Ruhai lifted up his cloak, shook it, and put it on Li Hu.

Li Hu: "It's still very hot."

Lin Ruhai glared at him, straightened his cloak for him, and said sternly: "The son of a wealthy family should not sit idle in the hall. Think more about your family and Yu'er and try not to lead the troops into battle in person. Ah!"

Li Hu nodded.

Lin Ruhai: "Don't kowtow now. Save it for the next time we meet. Remember, you still owe your father-in-law three kowtows."

Li Hu smiled.

Lin Ruhai examined Li Hu from head to toe, then said, "Go ahead."

Li Hu: "Take care of yourself." Then he mounted the horse.

The cavalrymen followed suit and mounted their horses.

Li Hu looked back at Lin Ruhai, then whipped his whip and rushed forward on his big white horse like an arrow.

The cavalrymen followed on horseback.

Lin Ruhai looked at the flying dust and murmured, "May God bless my son." (End of this chapter)