The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Seeing the team disappear, Li Hu turned around and walked towards the central army tent. It was the afternoon of the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, and there were less than eight days left to the crown prince's enthronement ceremony. In order to ensure that Bai Hongzhi was sent to the capital before the ceremony, he was tied to the horse's back with a rope. Anyway, he would be tortured to death when he arrived in the capital, so he just needed to catch his breath.

As for the elderly steward, he knew too many things. After he was tortured and revealed the secrets, Zhang Cheng killed him directly.

As the old saying goes, an old man in the family is like a treasure. This old man did a lot of things for Bai Hongzhi behind the scenes. Not only did he hide a large amount of property in various prefectures in Henan, he also bribed local officials in Henan and sent many White Lotus followers to the six towns of Yinshan.

According to his plan, if he was defeated in the war, he would flee to the outside of the Great Wall with Bai Hongzhi, wait for the opportunity to make a comeback. The buried property would be the capital for their comeback.

In addition, the previous information was wrong. The matter of the top scholar was also arranged by this old guy, and Bai Hongzhi was not aware of it.

Li Hu also learned something very speechless. The matter of the third place scholar had nothing to do with the old boy. It was all arranged by the first place scholar.

This is just like a certain circle in later generations. If I am not clean now, none of you can be clean.

Li Hu had not figured out how to deal with the matter yet, and did not send the evidence against the top scholar to Beijing.

Arriving in front of the central army tent, Li Hu stopped and sighed. Zhang Cheng was too cautious. He was worried that it would cause him unnecessary trouble, so he asked the people from the sentry camp to send the person over and did not show up.

At this time, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came over, and Li Hu looked over.

A scout came riding a horse, ran to the flagpole, pulled the reins, jumped off the horse, and ran towards Li Hufei.

When they arrived, the scout reported, "General, the White Lotus rebels are here."

"What?" The scout spoke clearly. Li Hu actually heard every word, but he couldn't believe his ears. Was Shui Rong really so bold?

The scout said: "After the White Lotus rebels occupied Anlu City, they carried out a frenzy of massacre, rape, and looting. After dawn, they began to drive the surviving civilians out of the city. The thousands of survivors were all driven into the river and drowned. The number of White Lotus rebels is over 100,000. They are not marching fast, and it is estimated that they will arrive here tomorrow afternoon."

More than 100,000? No wonder, this is too arrogant! No, maybe Shui Rong doesn't even know he's here. And he only has 50,000 troops on his side, but they are all elite.

Thinking of this, Li Hu greeted Wang Ziteng and the second prince again.

At this time, the officer on duty at the gate ran over and reported to Li Hu: "General, the Second Prince and Wang Ziteng are leading the government troops from Hunan and Jiangxi."

These two guys couldn't help but think, they arrived just after they had cursed for a few words.

Li Hu suddenly realized: "The reinforcements from Jiangxi are not in Hanyang?!"

The officer on duty replied, "The scout who brought the news said that the government troops from Hunan and Jiangxi came together to escort the Second Prince down."

Hearing this, Li Hu felt a chill down his spine. There was no Wuhan in Dashun at the moment, only the two cities of Hanyang and Wuchang. If Hanyang was lost, the consequences would be disastrous. If Hanyang was lost, the Yangtze River defense line would lose its function. If Wuchang was taken, they could take a boat down the river and head straight for Nanjing!
The main force of the Jiangnan camp was completely lost, the newly recruited young and strong men had no fighting power, and the main force of the Yangtze River Navy was withdrawn to escort grain from Southeast Asia to Beijing. Nanjing is now at its most empty.

Fortunately, Shui Rong went north!
Li Hu has read the official document from the Ministry of War. The Hunan government troops went north to support Xiangyang, and the Jiangxi government troops reinforced Hanyang. It must be that the Jiangxi general heard that the emperor's son was in Xiangyang, so he ignored the Ministry of War's transfer order and ran to Xiangyang to show his courtesy and flatter the emperor!

Thinking of this, Li Hu's eyes flashed coldly: "Where are we?"

The officer on duty said: "It is less than ten miles away."

Li Hu sneered: "Okay, tell the commanders and deputy commanders of each camp to follow me to welcome the second prince!" Then he entered the central army tent.
The second prince is here!
Protected by ten imperial guards, the second prince came riding a pure white horse with his head held high!
Behind him rode a dozen sturdy generals.

Immediately afterwards, tens of thousands of soldiers appeared with fluttering flags and bright armor.

Wang Daniu made a "tsk" sound and said, "This is a demonstration!"

Huang Jinzhong glanced at him with dissatisfaction, then turned his gaze to Li Hu.

Li Hu looked very friendly, and even had a smile on his face.

Huang Jinzhong's eyes kept flashing, and he always felt that something was going to happen.

The second prince walked to a distance of about a mile from Li Hu's horse and pulled the reins.

The entire army stopped.

Wang Daniu: "Oh, you're still acting like a prince!"

Li Hu glanced at him, then let go of the reins and galloped to the Second Prince. He embraced him with both hands and said, "Second Prince, I am sorry for not welcoming you in person!"

The second prince's face darkened for a moment, but he smiled again in an instant and quickly bowed in return: "Loyal and Brave Marquis, I was ordered to serve in the army, there is no need for so many rules."

At this time, Huang Jinzhong came over and knelt down to pay respect to the Second Prince: "This old servant pays respect to His Majesty the Second Prince!"

The second prince smiled and nodded: "Get up."

"Yes." Huang Jinzhong kowtowed again and then got up.

Wang Ziteng rode up on his horse, coughed and said, "My lord, we meet again." Li Hu said "hmm" and his eyes slowly swept across the faces of the generals behind the second prince.

They all looked at the youngest military marquis of the Dashun Dynasty.

Li Hu ignored them and rode his horse slowly towards the phalanx of Mongolian cavalry.

Seeing Li Hu coming, the Mongolian cavalrymen all dismounted, saluted, and said in unison (in Mongolian): "Marshal!"

Li Hu rode his horse in front of the square formation and then spoke: "Go back to your square formation." As he said that, he turned his horse's head and galloped back.

All the Mongolian cavalry shouted in unison: "Yes." Then they mounted their horses and ran to the back of the Hetao cavalry, forming a square formation.

The corner of Wang Ziteng's mouth twitched. Now he was left alone!

The second prince's expression became even uglier.

At this time, a general dressed in the uniform of a general rode up on horseback, looked at Li Hu, and then said to Wang Ziteng: "General Wang, if I remember correctly, those Mongolian cavalry were transferred to your command by the Ministry of War and obey your command."

He looked at Li Hu again, "Although those Mongolian cavalry were trained by General Li, they are officers and soldiers of the court, not slaves of anyone! General Li's move is somewhat overstepping his authority."

Wang Ziteng glanced at him and thought to himself, why are you provoking him for no reason!
Li Hu said calmly: "Your Excellency is..."

The man first glanced at the generals behind him, then raised his head slightly and said, "I am the general of Jiangxi."

Li Hu: "Are you the Jiangxi General?"

Jiangxi General: "That's right. I came from the Southern Xinjiang Army and have fought dozens of battles, big and small, without ever losing."

Li Hu interrupted him directly: "I don't have time to listen to your long-winded words. Let me ask you, what did the military order given to you by the Ministry of War say? Why are you here?"

The Jiangxi general was startled, then pretended to be indifferent: "The general is away from home and is not subject to military orders."

Li Hu's eyes flashed with coldness. "What a big tone! The military order given to you by the Ministry of War is to reinforce Hanyang. Why did you go all the way to Xiangyang? You are also a veteran general, you must know the importance of Hanyang! If Hanyang is lost, the Yangtze River defense line will become vulnerable, and the White Lotus rebels can take a boat down the river and attack Nanjing! Now Nanjing, and even the entire Jiangnan, is empty of troops. Let me tell you, there are more than 100,000 White Lotus rebels on the opposite side of us!"

The Jiangxi general then became a little timid and slowly lowered his head.

Li Hu: "You disobeyed military orders. For your own selfish reasons, you disregarded the danger of the country and the lives of countless people in Jiangnan. Today you disobeyed the military orders of the court, and tomorrow he disobeyed the military orders of the court. This war can't be fought. How can I explain to the court and enforce military discipline if I don't kill you!"

The Jiangxi general suddenly raised his head and shouted: "I am the Jiangxi general, not your general. You have no right to kill me!"

Before he finished speaking, a flash of white light appeared before his eyes, and then he hurriedly covered his neck with his hands, blood gushing out from between his fingers. He seemed to want to say something, but all he could make was a "chuckle". With a "thump", he fell off his horse, his body twitched a few times, and then he stopped moving.

The second prince was shocked.

Huang Jinzhong, Wang Ziteng and other generals were stunned.

Li Hu had already sheathed his sword and shouted, "Cut off his head and show it to the three armies. From now on, if anyone dares to disobey the imperial military orders, he will be an example!"

Wang Daniu waved his hand, and immediately two of his personal soldiers dragged the corpse away.

Li Hu's movements were too fast, and the generals of the Jiangxi General's Office only reacted at this time. They looked at each other, but no one dared to move.

Li Hu snorted and said, "Okay, it's my turn to clean up his mess." Then he turned his gaze to Wang Ziteng and said, "You will lead the Jiangxi government troops to the south through the mountain road immediately to cut off the retreat of the White Lotus rebels and prevent them from fleeing southward!"

Wang Ziteng was surprised and delighted, and hesitated for a moment, "The other party has more than 100,000."

Li Hu's eyes flashed: "I will send you another 5,000 elite soldiers, plus a fierce general."

Wang Ziteng quickly dismounted, saluted Li Hu, and answered loudly, "Yes!"

Li Hu turned his attention to the Hunan general.

The Hunan general was startled: "I am willing to obey your orders, sir!"

Li Hu nodded, and then said to Huang Jinzhong: "The White Lotus rebels will arrive tomorrow afternoon. I will go to the tent to discuss matters immediately. The Second Prince will be handed over to the military supervisor."

Huang Jinzhong didn't dare to say no, so he replied softly, "Yes."

Li Hu clasped his arms towards the Second Prince and said, "Excuse me!"

The second prince forced a smile, but in his heart he had already cut Li Hu into pieces. The military power he had finally obtained was gone! Without military power, how could he make merit? Without merit, how could he atone for his sins? (End of this chapter)