The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The sky was full of twinkling stars, and the lights outside the Ministry of Rites were brilliant, reflecting each other and presenting an auspicious sign.

With a cannon shot, the huge gantry slowly opened.

It is now mid-February, and today is the day when the imperial examination ends and the Dragon Gate is opened.

Then, the sound of many people talking and walking could be heard from inside.

The candidates with disheveled hair and dirty faces walked out in groups of three or five, carrying their exam baskets. The number of them was obviously much smaller than in previous years.

Soon, peace returned outside Longmen.

At this time, a team of imperial guards escorted a sedan chair carried by eight people and stopped under the large archway outside the Dragon Gate. The curtain of the sedan chair was lifted, and the prime minister of the cabinet, who was dressed in casual clothes, walked out of the sedan chair.

The Prime Minister of the Cabinet looked up at the plaque on the main gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, his eyes full of fatigue.

There are usually 5,000 to 6,000 candidates for the imperial examination, but this year there are less than 2,000. At this moment, he personally experienced what it meant to be on the verge of collapse.

At this moment, another team of imperial guards came escorting a sedan chair carried by eight people.

The sedan chair stopped beside the Prime Minister's sedan chair. The pole of the sedan chair tilted, and it was Zhen Yingjia who walked out.

When Zhen Yingjia saw the Prime Minister, he was startled at first, then he walked over and saluted: "Prime Minister."

The Prime Minister nodded: "Why are you here?"

Zhen Yingjia: "I can't sleep, come over and take a look." As he said that, he looked at the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister smiled bitterly and said, "I can't sleep either, and I don't know where to go."

Zhen Yingjia sighed silently. From the Chinese New Year till now, apart from some news from Li Hu that was neither good nor bad, the rest was all bad news.

First, General Yuehai sent an urgent message of 800 miles, saying that his navy was defeated and lost more than half of its main battleships. In order to restore the combat effectiveness of his navy as soon as possible, block the Western Yi people's joint fleet and prevent them from going north to cooperate with the rebels to attack the capital. After consultation with the Empress Dowager, the cabinet decided to delegate the financial power of several southeastern provinces that had not been captured by the rebels to General Yuehai, and let him find a way to make money.

The worst news was that the rebels marched northward. The Prince of Nangan personally led an army of 400,000, claiming to have a million troops. They captured cities along the way with great momentum. All over the Central Plains surrendered. In less than two months, the city of Xuzhou was surrounded by the rebels.

The new army has not yet been formed and has no combat capability, and is also responsible for the safety of the capital.

Therefore, except for Li Hu outside the Great Wall, the imperial court had no more troops to mobilize.

But Li Hu's side was also a mess. Li Hu only eliminated the main force of the Jurchen Tartars in Liaodong. There were still many Jurchen Tartars in the north. Under the leadership of the Deputy Governor of Heilongjiang and the Governor of Hulunbuir, they began to counterattack Liaodong. The remnants of the Jurchen Tartars in various parts of Liaodong also responded one after another.

Li Hu had to send his main force northward while dividing his troops to suppress the remnants of the Jurchens in various places. He also had to guard against Fu Kang'an who fled to Korea. He still had 50,000 to 60,000 elite Eight Banners troops under his command.

The cabinet wanted Li Hu to abandon Liaodong directly and lead the army back to the interior to quell the rebellion in the south first and then deal with the remnants of the Jurchens in Liaodong.

He sent three official documents in succession, and all of them said "the remnants of the Jurchens will be pacified soon." The reply was not from Li Hu himself, but from a sixth-rank official named Xue Ke, who was said to be the cousin of Li Hu's concubine who had not yet married into the family.

As for Li Hu, it is said that he went to the front line.

In order to find out the real situation in Liaodong, Jia Lian was sent to Liaodong.

At present, only Jia Lian is suitable. He is a member of the Jia family and the cousin of Princess Zhenbei. No one dares to touch him unless Li Hu gives the order.

As for the others, they might encounter some accidents on the road and die before they even see Li Hu.

Of course, Jia Lian was surrounded by people from the Imperial Household Department, the Northern Pacification Office, and the Southern Pacification Office.

Thinking of this, Zhen Yingjia sighed deeply, hoping that Li Hu was really too busy to do anything and didn't have other thoughts on his mind!
The Prime Minister spoke up: "I just heard that Niu Ben took away another 5,000-bar breech-loading self-fired musket from the Arms Bureau."

Zhen Yingjia's face changed: "What? Who gave him the power?!"

Prime Minister: "He carries a seal-stamped imperial edict on him!"

Zhen Yingjia was stunned for a moment, then he uttered a few words from between his teeth: "The Empress Dowager is stupid!" The Prime Minister was silent for a moment, then said: "The Empress Dowager is desperate and is trying all kinds of methods. The war in the Central Plains is raging, and Li Hu is reluctant to enter the pass. Apart from Niu Ben, the cousin of my grandfather, who else can the orphan and his widow trust?!"

"We can't put all our eggs in one basket! Counting these five thousand breech-loading muskets, Niu Ben has 20,000 breech-loading muskets. Breech-loading muskets are incredibly powerful and fire fast and hard. With 20,000 breech-loading muskets, even if Li Hu comes, he will be wary!"

Zhen Yingjia became more and more excited as he spoke, "No, I have to go and persuade the Empress Dowager!" After saying that, he turned and walked towards the sedan chair.

The Prime Minister: "It's not even midnight yet, it's too early to open the palace gates!"

Zhen Yingjia: "I'll wait outside Donghua Gate!" Then he got into the sedan chair.

Looking at the sedan chair being carried away by the imperial guards, the Prime Minister sighed deeply, feeling helpless as if the situation was hopeless and there was nothing that could be done to reverse it.

The Imperial Guards expanded their army by 100,000 in one go. Although under the persuasion of the Prime Minister, Zhen Yingjia and Jia She, the Empress Dowager transferred 50,000 of them to Wang Ziteng and asked him to reorganize the Beijing Camp, the Imperial Guards camp in the imperial city still could not accommodate so many people, so the vacant Yongwei Camp was assigned to the Imperial Guards.

In the central army camp, several of Niu Ben's trusted generals came and stood there waiting quietly.

"Nosy old thing!"

Niu Ben rushed in angrily and shouted, "I must kill him! This old guy makes me so mad!" As he said that, he drew the sword from his waist and cut off the corner of the table with one sword.

When the generals saw Niu Ben so angry, they realized that the fat duck they had caught had flown away.

Niu Ben's chest rose and fell for a long time before he evened out his breathing and said, "Go, take that 5,000-barrel breech-loading self-fired musket to Wang Ziteng."

A general answered loudly, "Yes," and turned to walk out of the tent.

Niu Ben: "Slow down."

The general walked back again.

Niu Ben: "Tell Wang Ziteng that old man Zhen Yingjia is also on guard against him! If it weren't for my insistence, this Wuqian breech-loading self-fired musket would have been sent back to the Arms Bureau."

The general: “Yes.”

Niu Ben waved his hand and said, "Go ahead."

The general then strode out.

Niu Ben: "There is another bad news." He glanced at the other generals, "The palace is going to send us eunuchs to supervise the army."

Several generals were startled. Did the Empress Dowager not trust her own commander? !
A general spoke up: "Is this another piece of advice from the deputy assistant?"

"I will kill him sooner or later!" Niu Ben's eyes flashed with a fierce and cold light.

Another general said: "General, if you let those old men stir up trouble, one day the Empress Dowager will distance herself from you, or even suspect you!"

After hearing this, Niu Ben unbuttoned his collar in annoyance, walked back and forth, and suddenly stopped: "From today on, increase the intensity of training and strive to form an army before the end of March!"

Several generals responded in unison: "Yes."

Niu Ben waved his hand: "You all go back."

Several generals saluted together, turned around and walked out.

Niu Ben turned and walked into the back tent, and stopped in front of a huge military map. Looking at the battle situation marked on it, his eyes flickered, and he thought to himself: Just wait, I will be able to take revenge soon!

Thinking of this, he glanced towards Liaodong again and said to himself: "This is a big trouble!"

Then, his eyes fell on "Shanhai Pass" (End of this chapter)