The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 504 Good people are rewarded

Nanhaizi was the royal garden of the Yuan, Ming and Shun dynasties. Because the old course of the Yongding River passed through the garden, large lakes and swamps were formed with lush vegetation, which made aquatic and water-loving animals in the area flourish.

Since the Liao and Jin Dynasties, this place has become a hunting paradise for the emperors. Many deer, hares, elks, and even tigers are raised in the park for hunting purposes.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Taiji attacked the capital and was resisted by Yuan Chonghuan, so he went to Nanhai Zi to rest his horses.

Now, Fukangan, who had suffered a series of defeats, led his troops to retreat to Nanhai Zi to recuperate, rest and graze horses, waiting for an opportunity to attack again.

Nanhaizi was a royal garden and hunting ground. Although all the war horses were moved away, the Jurchens still collected abundant supplies here. Together with the musk deer raised in the garden, their logistical pressure was greatly relieved.
As the sun sets, the smoke from cooking and the aroma of meat quickly spread, enveloping the entire Nanhai Lake.

In the central military tent, Fu Kang'an was sitting on the dragon throne brought from the temporary palace, looking down at the military newspaper.

As he read, Fukang'an suddenly closed the military report in annoyance, put his hand on the imperial desk, stood up, walked out of the tent, looked at the setting sun, and took a deep breath.

The way the battle turned out was completely beyond his expectations. He did not expect that the Dashun army's defense would be so tight and the resistance would be so fierce, causing great losses to his troops.

Thinking of this, Fukang'an once again cut Prince Kang and his wife into pieces in his heart. If it weren't for them, how could the Dashun army have burst out with such strong combat power!
There was a sound of footsteps and Fukangan looked in the direction of the sound.

An Eight Banners noble hurried towards Fukang'an.

Walking up to him, the noble of the Eight Banners reported, "Your Highness, we have found out that the troops attacking us from behind are from Shanhaiguan."

Fukangan frowned.

The noble of the Eight Banners: "Since yesterday, the battle has become increasingly fierce. Not to mention the Han Army Banner, even the Red Banner has begun to retreat. Moreover, the camp of the Dashun government army is very strong and not easy to attack. In addition, it is going to snow soon."

Fu Kang'an frowned: "What on earth do you want to say?!"

The noble of the Eight Banners said: "I think we should give up attacking the capital, take advantage of the fact that the Dashun army is short of manpower, plunder the capital, take the slaves and livestock back to Shengjing, and fight again when the time is right!"

He paused, "There is still a fierce tiger lurking on the prairie. The Mongols cannot stop Li Hu. If Li Hu is allowed to invade Liaodong, Shengjing City will be in danger!"

Fu Kang'an was stunned and stood there in silence for a long time before he said, "After the sun sets, have the Han army put on the uniforms of the Dashun army in the warehouse, dress up as defeated soldiers, and plunder the surrounding areas of the capital. Remember, you are not allowed to kill all the people, you must leave some alive and spread the news. Also, except for money, you are not allowed to bring back anything else, including women and livestock."

"Whoo."

The Eight Banners noble hesitated for a moment and said cautiously: "Many of our bannermen come here for women, money and livestock."

Fu Kang'an narrowed his eyes and said, "It's only been a short time, and you guys are already treating He Shen's words as fart?"

The nobles of the Eight Banners grumbled in a low voice: "He Shen has embezzled so much money over the years that it can be piled up into a small mountain. Naturally, he doesn't care about these. How can we compare with him? Many bannermen are still hoping to make a fortune, buy property and marry a wife when they return home."

Fukangan: "What did you say?"

The Eight Banners noble quickly shut up.

Fu Kangan thought for a moment and said, "Eighty percent of the looted property of the Han army flags shall be handed over. After returning to Beijing, it will be rewarded to the flag soldiers who followed the army to the battle according to their military merits."

The Eight Banners nobles: "Hey!"

"How much money does Heshen have?" Fu Kang'an suddenly asked.

The noble of the Eight Banners was stunned for a moment, and replied: "Your Majesty, no one knows how much money Heshen has. However, Heshen has business in pawnshops, grain stores, restaurants, antique shops, tile shops, porcelain shops, cloth shops, coal mines, coolie shops, land transactions, cricket fighting, cockfighting, dog fighting and other businesses within the Qing territory. He also does business in partnership with the Han people, that is, Li Hu.

In addition, Heshen used his power to set up a private treasury in the Ministry of Revenue and secretly transferred the silver from the national treasury to his own name. Oh, and there was also the "crime silver". He took advantage of the late emperor's trust and took advantage of others. If you want to spend money to atone for your sins, you have to feed Heshen first. It is said that the cash in Heshen's home is more than the silver in the national treasury."

After a pause, he said, "I also heard it from others." Then he glanced at Fu Kang'an secretly, observing his reaction.

Fu Kang'an said calmly: "Go and make arrangements. Let the Han army flag come back before dawn." After that, he turned and entered the central army tent. The sun set, and the night gradually enveloped the capital area. The people around the capital also ushered in the dark moment.

When the Jurchen Tartars invaded, people living around the capital city abandoned their homes and fled for their lives. They could not enter the capital, and the surrounding counties and towns could not accommodate so many people. Many people had no choice but to hide in the mountains with their families.

After many days passed, the common people who had hidden in the mountains and forests saw that the Jurchens were only besieging the capital and did not allow their troops to plunder. In addition, the weather was getting colder and people were freezing to death in the mountains and forests at night, so they returned home one after another.

Fu Kang'an was given one night. The county town was high and guarded by soldiers. Even if they could capture it, they would suffer heavy losses. The Han army flag then focused its main target on the market towns with relatively large populations, and the rest of the people dispersed to plunder the villages that had no resistance.

Teams of soldiers dressed in official military uniforms ran with torches in their hands.

Galloping horses were running back and forth.

The atmosphere of war and violence shrouds the capital
Everywhere there were sounds of people shouting and crying in fear, and then flames appeared everywhere!

The remote Li family's West Mountain Villa was also besieged. However, the West Mountain Villa was built by Lin Daiyu at a huge cost. It had three layers of high walls made of blue bricks, and a watchtower every few feet, making it comparable to a small city.

Torches were erected on the top of the blockhouse, and under the command of the instructor, the farmhands shot arrows at the Han army flag soldiers who were disguised as officers and soldiers.

With a whoosh, the arrow flew off the bow and hit a Han army flag soldier right on the forehead.

Wang Gou'er shouted with joy: "I hit it! I hit it!"

The morale of the farmhands was boosted and the arrows they shot became more powerful.

The dozen or so Han army flag soldiers who came to plunder soon fell down.

Granny Liu and her family led the villagers to help the Li family harvest the crops in the West Hill Villa. Taking this opportunity, Lin Daiyu let Granny Liu and her family and those villagers move into the West Hill Villa and become farmers of the Li family's farm.

Lin Daiyu originally wanted Liu Laolao and her family to move to the capital, but Liu Laolao was afraid of causing trouble for the Li family. She also felt that the rebel army of Prince Nan'an could not reach the capital, so she settled down in the West Hill Villa.

By the time the news of the Tartar invasion reached here, the capital was already under martial law!

An oil lamp glowed yellow.

Granny Liu and her daughter Liu sat on the kang by the south window, with their hands clasped together, silently reciting Buddhist scriptures.

Qing'er hid behind her mother Liu and looked at the door curtain.

At this time, footsteps were heard outside, and then Ban'er hurried in.

Qing'er's eyes lit up: "Brother is back!"

Liu asked anxiously, "What happened?"

Ban'er said excitedly: "They are all dead! All the fleeing soldiers were killed! Dad shot and killed a fleeing soldier himself, and the coach said he would reward our family with one or two taels of silver."

Granny Liu put her hands together and said "Amitabha".

Liu also chanted "Amitabha", and then said with some fear: "Fortunately we moved into the other courtyard, otherwise we would have been killed by these defeated soldiers! These damned people didn't dare to fight the Jurchen Tartars, but they were very brave to rob us ordinary people!"

At this point, she suddenly remembered something and said to Granny Liu, "Mom, can we say that good people are rewarded?"

Granny Liu said angrily: "What good people get rewarded for? We are the ones who got into trouble with the Madam. Look at my mouth, I just can't change it! Our family is blessed by the princess! That's why we can turn misfortune into fortune and turn disaster into blessing."

Liu smiled and said, "Yes, yes, you are right. We are all blessed by the princess!"

(End of this chapter)