The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

In the blink of an eye, it was the beginning of the sixth lunar month, and the capital city welcomed the hottest season.

As it was noon and the sun was blazing, there was no one on Qianmen Street. The doors of the shops on both sides were ajar and the sound of cicadas chirping was heard everywhere.

There was a burst of hurried horse hoof beats, getting louder and louder as it got closer, and the cicadas in the big trees stopped chirping.

A post horse came galloping over, and the postman, with sweat all over his face, kept whipping the horse under his crotch and galloping towards the Forbidden City.

There were several large bronze ice jars placed in the Baohe Hall, and a large cloud of white smoke rose up, making the hall cool and pleasant.

It was still the same huge sand table. The five grand secretaries of the cabinet and the left vice minister of the Ministry of War were all there, but they all stood there silently, and no one said a word.

Zhen Yingjia was appointed by Emperor Wushang to join the cabinet and concurrently served as the Minister of Personnel.

The Supreme Emperor paced back and forth in front of the sand table with his hands behind his back.

As he was walking, the Supreme Emperor suddenly stopped, looked around the sand table, and said irritably after a while: "Where did the Rakshasa go?"

There was silence.

The Supreme Emperor glanced at everyone, then landed on the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and asked, "Where are the Rakshasa people? Where are their main forces hiding?"

The left assistant minister of the Ministry of War hesitated and replied: "We can't find the Rakshasas on the prairie. They may have hidden in the Yinshan Mountains."

"Why didn't you say they flew into the sky?!" The Supreme Emperor almost laughed out of anger.

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War fell to his knees at the side of the sand table facing the Supreme Emperor, with his head pressed firmly on the brick floor.

With a "humph", the Supreme Emperor turned around and walked back to sit on the dragon throne.

The chief minister of the cabinet sighed silently. The Russians led the Western Mongolian tribes and the Central Asian vassal troops to meet the main force of the official army led by Xie Jing and Wang Ziteng near the former royal court of the Ulanqab League, and the two sides launched a fierce battle.

The Dashun army's red cannons and breech-loading muskets were invincible, defeating the various Mongolian tribes in the western desert and the vassal armies in Central Asia.

Seeing that they could not defeat the Dashun army, the Russians decisively abandoned the Western Mongols and the Central Asian vassal troops and fled deep into the prairie.

The Supreme Emperor was distracted for a moment, then turned his gaze to the champion who was sorting out official documents at another desk: "Send an order to Li Hu, asking him to send people over the Hangai Mountains to see if the Russians have gone to Mobei."

"Yes."

The top scholar turned and walked towards the chair, with an ambiguous light flashing in his eyes.

Just then, the eunuch in charge of the seal walked in, leading the eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate, who looked frightened.

The eunuch in charge of the seal walked to the dragon throne, hurriedly greeted the Supreme Emperor, and whispered: "Supreme Emperor, an urgent message from the southern border of 800 miles away, the Prince of Nan'an has rebelled!"

Bureau of Arms
William, sweating profusely, hurried towards his residence, looking around from time to time, his eyes full of tension.

When he reached the door, he looked around before pushing it open and walking in.

In the bedroom, Mrs. William, who had been sitting there waiting, stood up quickly.

William wiped the sweat off his face: "Are you ready?"

Mrs. William pointed to the two large bundles on the bed and replied, "Everything is ready."

William: "I told you to only bring silver bills."

Mrs. William said reluctantly, "These are all top-quality fox and mink furs, worth a lot of money."

William said unhappily: "There is a search once you leave the Arms Bureau, how do you explain that?"

Mrs. William hesitated for a moment and asked, "Should we tell them?"

William: "The Han Chinese have a saying, 'It is better to let my friend die than to let me die.' If we inform them, we won't be able to leave."

Mrs. William sighed softly: "Okay." She picked up the purse beside her and walked out with William.

There are towering ancient trees, overgrown weeds, and it is so gloomy that not even the sunlight can get in.

No one would believe that this was once the back garden of Prince Beijing's Palace.

Yang Qilong, dressed in a coarse cloth gown, walked to the edge of the woods and looked at the desolate back garden with sadness in his eyes.

The back garden was completely silent, with the occasional cries of strange birds coming from the woods, making the atmosphere even more eerie and creepy!

At this time, Yang Qilong heard footsteps behind him and he looked in the direction of the sound.

A sturdy man in a coarse cloth jacket came over with an envelope and bowed to Yang Qilong: "Butler Yang, this is a letter from over there. It is said to be of great importance, please open it immediately." Then he handed the letter to Yang Qilong.

Yang Qilong took the letter, opened it and read it. He was shocked at first, then excited. He clutched the letter and said, "Great! Prince Nan'an is great!"

Then he said to the strong man, "You must leave immediately and make sure to reach Mobei within ten days. Tell the leader that the old emperor has guessed it and ask the leader to lead the brothers in the sect and the Luosha people to retreat to the depths of Mobei immediately to avoid the search of the Dashun government troops."

The strong man: “Yes.”

Yang Qilong folded the letter and handed it to him: "Give this letter to the leader and tell him that I am going to Liaodong."

The sturdy man took the letter and answered loudly, "Yes." He turned around and strode away.

Yang Qilong clapped his hands excitedly. If he could persuade Fu Kang'an to attack Dashun together, the chances of success would be even greater!
If we fight in the north, south and east directions at the same time, we can wear down Dashun to death!

Thinking of this, Yang Qilong's eyes flashed with light. This time, he would definitely be able to destroy Dashun!

In mid-June, the sky was already bright at the beginning of the Mao hour.

As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints his own ministers. The ascension of a new emperor was bound to bring about a reshuffle of power in the court. Niuhuru gave great support to Fukang'an in the coup and naturally received generous rewards.

The Niuhuru family, with two dukes, two grand secretaries, and two grand councilors, became one of the top wealthy families and the new elites of Shengjing City.

Heshen is now the Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, the head of the Grand Council, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department and the Minister of Revenue, a first-class Loyal and Xiang Duke, and is awarded the right to wear a four-dragon robe and a three-eyed peacock feather!

His son Fengshen Yinde was appointed as the tenth princess's son-in-law because of his meritorious service in offering his family to the emperor. He walked before the emperor and was awarded the clothing of a beizi.

Helin was the Grand Secretary of Baohe Hall, Minister of Military Affairs, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Bordered Yellow Banner, and the first-class Chaoyong Duke. He was also awarded the title of wearing a robe with four dragons and a three-eyed peacock feather!

After He Shen became the head of the Grand Council, he did not become arrogant, but became more and more cautious. He was even more cautious when getting along with Fu Kang'an. In addition, he had saved Fu Kang'an's life, so he soon became Fu Kang'an's confidant and was deeply loved by him.

Fu Kang'an had just ascended the throne and worked hard to govern the country, but due to his lack of imperial education he made a lot of jokes. Fortunately, Heshen covered his mess for him.

Therefore, Heshen would rush to the palace at the beginning of the morning hour every day, ready to be summoned by Fu Kang'an at any time to discuss important matters of the court with him in advance.

Heshen, wearing a robe with four dragon patterns and a three-eyed peacock feather hat with a jeweled top, walked out of the living room. The eight-man sedan chair in the yard immediately stopped there, and Liu Quan opened the curtain of the sedan chair.

Heshen slowly walked to the side of the sedan chair and said to Liu Quan, "The new cakes made in the kitchen are good. Send some to Prince Kang." After that, he walked into the sedan chair.

On the other side, Fu Kang'an had already gotten up and was now sitting in front of the imperial desk reading official documents.

A few rays of morning light shone through the window onto the imperial desk. Fukang'an stood up, lowered his head, blew out the candle on the desk, and stretched.

At this time, the eunuch in charge walked in lightly and reported to Fu Kang'an: "Your Majesty, the Zhongtang is here." Fu Kang'an: "Let him in."

The eunuch in charge said, “Yes.” Then he walked out.

After a while, He Shen came in and knelt down: "Your servant respectfully greets the Holy Saint."

Fu Kangan: "Get up."

Heshen bowed his head and stood up.

Fu Kang'an: "Let me show you something." As he said that, he pulled out a piece of letter from the pile of documents and handed it to Heshen.

Heshen took it and looked at it, and was immediately surprised.

Fu Kang'an smiled: "If the Prince of Nan'an really starts a rebellion, this is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Heshen put the letter back on the imperial desk.

Fu Kangan went on to say, "The Prince of Nan'an is not that useless Shui Rong, and the Southern Xinjiang Army is certainly not the mob of the White Lotus Sect. Even if they suffer heavy losses from internal fighting, they still have a great chance of defeating the Dashun government troops gathered in Yunnan and Guizhou."

Heshen nodded.

Fu Kang'an: "I have decided to sign an alliance with Shui Rong's envoy to attack Dashun together, destroy Dashun and even divide Dashun up, hehe~~"

He Shen smiled and said softly: "Prince Heqin's army can attack the Han army retreating to the Liaoxi Corridor at any time."

Fu Kang'an raised his hand and said, "No, I want to see how far the Prince of Nan'an can go. If he can reach the Yangtze River, we will send troops to respond."

After a pause, he said, "Before that, we need to ask that old man for more food."

Heshen's eyes lit up and he nodded with a smile.

Fu Kang'an: "Tell that old man to send another 100,000 dan of rice." At this point, he was silent for a moment, "I promise to let Prince Kang and his wife return to the capital to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival."

He Shen was startled for a moment, and asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, are you really going to let Prince Kang go back?"

Fu Kang'an sneered and said, "I will send him back personally."

Heshen understood.

Fu Kang'an walked to the window and looked at the sky outside: "I will recruit more vassal troops from Korea. I want to form an army of 200,000 people."

He Shen answered loudly: "Yes!"

The Mid-Autumn Festival is getting closer, but there is not the slightest festive atmosphere in the capital. Although big red lanterns are hung on the streets, they cannot cover up the atmosphere of tension and anxiety.

It is not even September yet, but the autumn wind already has a bleak feel, and many leaves on the trees are falling before they even turn yellow.

A very ordinary carriage drove into the West City and stopped in front of the Duke of Lu's Mansion. The young man driving the carriage put on the whip, jumped down from the front of the sedan chair, took down the low stool he was sitting on and placed it next to the handlebars, and lifted the curtain of the sedan chair: "Grandma, we have arrived at the Duke's Mansion."

An old woman emerged from the sedan. Although she looked much older, it was still possible to tell that she was Granny Liu!

The young man helped her step down from the carriage using a low stool.

At this time, the manager came out from the side door and said with a smile, "Grandma is here." He then looked at the boy and said, "Oh, Ban'er has grown taller again!"

Granny Liu smiled and said, "It's almost the holidays. I'll send some fresh vegetables and dried vegetables to Madam."

The steward smiled and said, "I have already told you about this at the second gate. Please go in."

Granny Liu responded with a smile, gave Ban'er a few more instructions, and after entering the door, she walked towards the backyard as if she were familiar with the route.

During every festival, Granny Liu would come in person to bring gifts and fresh vegetables from her own fields.

This time when she came to the Li family, Granny Liu had two things to do. One was to gather information, and the other was to see if there was any way she could help the Li family.

Since mid-July, conscription has been carried out everywhere in Gyeonggi and several surrounding provinces, especially in Gyeonggi, where almost all the young and middle-aged men have been drafted out. If this continues, this year's autumn harvest will become a big problem.

The Li family has a lot of land and farmland, but the young and strong men on the farm have been transferred away, and the old, weak, women and children are unable to harvest the crops in the fields.

Granny Liu discussed with Ban'er's father and asked the villagers to help the Li family harvest the crops in the West Hill Villa, and to inquire about the news and ask whether they needed to go to Beijing to take shelter.

At this time, Lin Daiyu was standing in front of the huge military map in Li Hu's study, flipping through the court newspaper in her hand, instead of looking at the map on the wall.

After reading it, Lin Daiyu sighed lightly. In just over a month, the Dashun regime was in chaos. There were wars in the east, west, south and north, and the battles were getting bigger and bigger. The regime was asking the court for reinforcements everywhere.

Especially in the battles in Jiangnan and Southern Xinjiang, the more than 100,000 government troops assembled by the imperial court were defeated in one battle. The rebels swept through Yunnan and Guizhou, and in less than a month they invaded Hunan and approached the natural barrier of the Yangtze River. Wherever they passed, the government troops surrendered.

There are rumors that the Nan'an County Prince may have more than 300,000 soldiers and horses under his command! If he succeeds in marching north and invading the Central Plains, the consequences are unimaginable.

A fight also broke out on Li Hu's side!
When the news of Prince Nan'an's victory over the government army reached the capital, the court immediately dispatched the main force of the Beijing Camp to enter the pass and appointed Xie Jing as the new governor of the Beijing Camp, to lead the Beijing Camp south together with Wang Ziteng to quell the rebellion.

Without the main force of the Beijing Camp, Li Hu was left with only 50,000 to 60,000 people. Fortunately, the red cannons could not be taken away, so they were all left behind.

Seeing the Beijing army retreating southward, the Russians, who had been hiding deep in the northern desert, jumped out. With the cooperation of the northern desert Mongols and the remnants of the White Lotus, they successively broke through two of the six military towns in Yinshan.

Now they are fighting fiercely with Li Hu's army near Wuchuan.

I heard that the Mongols from the south of the desert have also joined in, and they seem to be ready to swallow up Li Hu's troops in one gulp!
The Jurchen Tatars in Liaodong were also eager to try. While gathering a large army, they attacked the government troops in the Liaoxi Corridor and could declare war on Dashun at any time.

Early in the morning, the General's Office of Guangdong Sea sent an urgent message of eight hundred miles in distance, saying that a war had also broken out in Southeast Asia, and the Western barbarians had cut off the court's sea grain route.

At this moment, General Yuehai was leading the navy fleet to fight a life-and-death battle with the combined fleet of the Western Barbarians on the sea.

In an instant, it seemed as if the whole world was full of malice towards Dashun and joined forces to bully Dashun.

Lin Daiyu understood that if they lost this battle, Dashun would be torn apart or even destroyed!
Walking to Li Hu's desk and sitting down, Lin Daiyu frowned.

She had two doubts in her mind. One was Chen Qiang, who was trained by Li Hu. With his ability, even if he could not defeat the Prince of Nan'an, he would not have been defeated so miserably. The generals of Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Yunnan and Guizhou were all killed in the battle, and his life or death was still unknown.

This battle not only boosted the morale of the rebels, but also allowed the Prince of Nan'an to gain tens of thousands of elite troops, greatly increasing his strength.

Lin Daiyu suspected that there was another conspiracy!

Then there is Li Hu. She has thought about it carefully. With Li Hu's ability and the combat effectiveness of the government army, he has every chance to quickly defeat the Russian coalition forces, but he has remained idle and allowed the other side to deploy troops.

What did Li Hu want to do? To wipe out the Russians, the Mongolians in the north and south of the desert in one battle? To end all the troubles in one battle? Wasn't he afraid of bursting his stomach? !
Lin Daiyu thought for a moment, took a blank piece of letter paper, picked up a pen and started writing.

At this time, Zijuan's voice was heard outside: "Girl, Granny Liu is here."

Lin Daiyu did not raise her head and continued writing quickly. She just responded habitually: "Hmm."

This is Li Hu’s inner study. Zijuan didn’t dare to come in and could only wait outside.

After finishing writing, Lin Daiyu picked up the letter and blew on it. When the ink was dry, she put it into the envelope, sealed it, and then stood up and walked out. (End of this chapter)