The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The Zhanshifu, the institution that tutored the crown prince, played a pivotal role. Its functions not only covered the crown prince's education, but also included the handling of government affairs and the crown prince's daily tutoring. There were three official positions, the third-rank crown prince's Zhanshi and the fourth-rank junior Zhanshi. They were not only responsible for explaining classics and history to the crown prince, but also had to explain the court's military and national affairs and border policies to the crown prince. Therefore, the officials of the Zhanshifu had the most direct influence on the crown prince.

In addition, officials of the Zhanshifu also participated in the selection of imperial examinations, the compilation of historical books, etc., and had close ties with the Hanlin Academy and other government offices, serving the crown prince together. If configured effectively, the Zhanshifu was a small court, otherwise it was just a decoration. Before the canonization of the crown prince, the Zhanshifu was just a decoration.

Emperor Yongchang's eyes flashed: "Have you seen it, Crown Prince?"

The chief eunuch on duty said: "I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not read this memorial."

Emperor Yongchang smiled. This must have been the Crown Prince's idea. Arrogance and embezzlement of military funds were the most common charges used by civil officials to impeach military commanders. They were also the most difficult charges to convict, and basically nothing came of it. The Crown Prince was trying to save face for the court and protect Li Hu.

Thinking of this, Emperor Yongchang nodded with satisfaction and said to the eunuch on duty, "Send it to the cabinet."

The eunuch on duty said: "Yes."

Emperor Yongchang turned his gaze to Dai Quan again and said, "Jia Zheng is right. We must abolish the privileges of those impure fake monks, otherwise the new policy will become a mere decoration."

Dai Quan hesitated for a moment and said, "Buddhism is a powerful force. What if there is unrest?"

Emperor Yongchang: "Unrest? You mean Buddhism dares to cook? Well, the court has so many soldiers and nothing to do! A small Luoyang Prefecture has seized 300,000 or 400,000 floating treasures. If all of this is seized, there will be enough money for the military in Mobei, the reconstruction of the Yellow River levee, and relief for the victims."

After hearing this, Dai Quan's mouth twitched.

Emperor Yongchang changed the subject: "Tell the officials who were admitted through the imperial examination to follow the Crown Prince's wishes. If anyone dares to ruin my strategy, I will expose his skin."

"Yes."

Dai Quan smiled secretly, money really can make things happen.

Emperor Yongchang thought for a moment and said, "Draft a secret decree for Li Hu, asking him to submit a petition of apology, resign from the post of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and request a one-year salary deduction."

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang was silent again. "He is tired, so he doesn't need to go to Anhui and Huaibei. Clean up Henan, arrange the local garrisons in Henan, Anhui and Huaibei, and then take a boat back to Beijing from Xuzhou. I plan to use troops in Mobei, so it's a good opportunity for him to come back and give me some advice."

Dai Quan: “Yes.”

Study Room of Prince Zhongshun's Mansion
"You will suffer the consequences if you commit evil! You will suffer the consequences if you commit evil!"

Prince Zhongshun was very excited and said with a lot of hatred: "He has offended all the gentry in the world. Buddhism has a great influence on the royal family and nobles. With the help of the Censorate, the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College, this is a good opportunity! We must give him a good blast! Even if we can't skin Li Hu clean, we have to make him lose some skin!"

Mei Hanlin was sitting at his desk, writing furiously with the pen that only he could use.

Prince Zhongshun said as he walked: "There is also the Yanshenggong Mansion. If it weren't for Li Hu, they wouldn't have ended up like this. Oh, by the way, the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion, the Jiangxi General is a disciple of the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion, he has broken an arm of the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion. Please write a letter to the Nan'an County Prince's Mansion for me."

At this point, he stopped and said, "This kid has offended a lot of people!"

Mei Hanlin put down his pen and blew air on the ink while saying, "Your Highness, you should be mentally prepared. After all, Li Hu has made great contributions to the court, and the evidence is solid. It will be difficult to bring him down in this matter."

King Zhongshun was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. Whether there is a date or not, let's give it a try. What if it works?"

Mei Hanlin nodded.

At this moment, the manager came in hurriedly with a bad look on his face.

King Zhongshun frowned: "What's wrong?"

The steward said, "In reply to your Highness, there is news from the Tanhua Lang side that the palace has ordered them to follow the wishes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Tanhua Lang also said that they have burned the joint memorial and are rewriting it according to the palace's order."

Prince Zhongshun's face darkened, "A bunch of rubbish! They are all civil servants, but how come they are not even half as good as the former Ming civil servants! Not to mention the full-scale fight between ripping robes and pulling belts, it would be fine for them to kneel in front of the Meridian Gate. They are eloquent and reasonable on weekdays, but why do they become cowards at the critical moment?!"

Mei Hanlin smiled bitterly. The current emperor is not Wanli of the former Ming Dynasty. He seized the throne through a coup. If he is provoked, he will really kill people!
With a humph, Prince Zhongshun looked at Mei Hanlin and asked, "What should we do?" Mei Hanlin said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. This result is not unexpected."

Prince Zhongshun looked at him.

Mei Hanlin: "As long as no one can replace Li Hu, he will be safe."

Prince Zhongshun's eyes flashed: "Go on."

Mei Hanlin: "Your Highness is also aware of the situation in the court. Although there are many generals, there are only a few who can both reassure the emperor and fight well. Wang Ziteng has been defeated repeatedly and lost many soldiers and generals. Why does the emperor still use him? He is used to check and balance Li Hu and others. Therefore, we have to cut off Li Hu's firewood and find one or even more generals who can replace Li Hu."

Prince Zhongshun's eyes lit up and he asked anxiously, "Where can we find him?"

Mei Hanlin: "Reopen the military examination and martial arts, and cultivate civilian generals. With so many people in the Dashun Dynasty, it is impossible that there is no one who can replace Li Hu!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Zhongshun clapped his hands and said, "Okay! You will draft a memorial for me immediately."

Mei Hanlin's eyes flashed, but he hadn't said another word. The reason why the emperor tolerated Prince Zhongshun was to check and balance the meritorious generals. Once there were other suitable candidates, Prince Zhongshun's good days would be over.

Prince Zhongshun suddenly thought: "We can't beat Li Hu, the fallen dog, so we can take this opportunity to ruin the marriage! If Lin Ruhai's daughter really becomes the Queen's goddaughter, we have to look at the owner before beating the dog."

Mei Hanlin nodded and said, "It's not difficult. As long as Li Hu's reputation is ruined, the palace will have to consider the reputation of the royal family, and the marriage will naturally fall through." At this point, he laughed and said, "Those monks are best at deceiving people and making up rumors."

Prince Zhongshun also laughed.

The pair of red silk lanterns with the words "Kangwang Mansion" printed on them, which had been hung under the eaves of the doorway for less than three months, were replaced with white gauze lanterns.

In front of the gate, dozens of imperial guards in armor and carrying swords sat on their horses waiting to set off.

A large apricot-yellow carriage was parked between them.

There was the sound of footsteps, and the third prince, Prince Kang, dressed in mourning clothes, walked out of the gate.

Following closely behind him were Zhen Fu, commander of the Southern Pacification Division, Kong Qingxiang, a captain, and Wang Li.

When he reached the stone steps, King Kang stopped, turned around and looked at the plaque on the gate of the mansion. He took a deep breath, turned around and got on the carriage.

The driver tapped the horse's buttocks with the whip and shouted in a low voice: "Go!"

The horse pulled the cart slowly.

The imperial cavalry rode their horses closely behind King Kang's carriage.

Looking at the convoy disappearing on the street, Zhen Fu shook his head. Shufei's illness was strange, and her death was also strange. It was less than five days from the onset of the illness to her death, which was even more bizarre than that of Xianfei.

Before her death, Concubine Shu asked the emperor for mercy to release Prince Kang from the palace so that he could supervise the construction of the imperial mausoleum, repair the imperial mausoleum for his ancestors, and build a blessed land for the emperor to last forever.

Shufei had never fought for anything in her life, so the emperor had no way of rejecting her wish and agreed to it.

Perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps out of pity, Emperor Yongchang allowed Shufei's body to remain for fourteen days, posthumously conferred her the title of Imperial Noble Consort, and buried her in the emperor's mausoleum.

Zhen Fu looked up at the sky, which was covered with dark clouds, just like the court. Those bald donkeys were really noisy! If they made a big fuss and the emperor got angry, then their Southern Pacification Division would be put to good use, make meritorious service, and make a fortune!
Thinking of this, Zhen Fu looked at Wang Li and asked, "Is your father coming back today?"

Wang Li: “Yes.”

Zhen Fu nodded: "Let's go back to the government office." (End of this chapter)