Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 77 Remarks on the launch
I had a lot on my mind, but after a good night's sleep I suddenly didn't know what to say. After reflecting on it, I realized I was asking for trouble.

Before I started reading, I decided to interpret Dream of the Red Chamber through the lens of politics and economics. This idea was never appealing. People who read Dream of the Red Chamber on Qidian.com are there to see the talented men and beautiful women, but how many want to understand the political and economic logic behind it?

Someone must be asking, how to interpret "Dream of Red Mansions" using politics and economics?
Well, for example, where did Jia Lian get the "two or three million in wealth"?

Some say it was the Lin family, but that's definitely not true. Looking back at the Qianlong Salt Case during the same period, the assets of several officials whose property was confiscated were only tens of thousands.
Jia Lian was lucky to have brought back a few hundred thousand silver coins from Yangzhou; the rest consisted mostly of rare and valuable books that Lin Ruhai had bequeathed to Daiyu. Lin Ruhai had also considered this clearly: if he had left them to the other branches of the Lin family, Daiyu would likely not survive; leaving them to the Jia family would serve as a means of raising her, with the true dowry being the rare and valuable books.

For example, does "The Fragrant Soul Returns to Her Hometown" really mean that Xiangling was tortured to death by Xia Jingui?
That's not entirely true. Xiangling was truly tortured to death, and concubines who didn't bear sons were buried on the spot, making it impossible for them to return to their hometowns. Some say that returning souls is enough, but that's also not true. Chinese people believe in returning to one's roots, hence the practice of corpse-carrying in western Hunan and carrying coffins for thousands of miles in the Central Plains. The bodies must be returned to their hometowns for burial after such a long journey, fearing they would become wandering ghosts.

After understanding these two points, does Xiangling's ending have a different meaning?

For example, Grand Marshal Jia Yucun shamelessly clings to the Jia family... One is a rising star, the other is on the decline. Is Jia Yucun taking the wrong medicine? Could this be the Jia family flattering themselves?
For example, noble families often use tricks to make their fortunes. Later in the book, the Jia family says they suffered from repeated famines, so life was difficult. Oh, is that possible?

What wealthy families most long for is famine. There's a saying called "killing the poor." While wealthy families offer porridge for charity, they also resell grain at high prices and buy up farmland at low prices. How much does a farm earn on a daily basis? Killing the poor in a famine year, if done right, can double a family's wealth!

But the Jia family became poorer and poorer. Why was that?
Another example is the case of Shi Daizi. It seems Jia She, like Jia Zhen and Jia Zheng, has a violent temper, beating Jia Lian, a man with a modicum of conscience, to the point of being unable to get out of bed. Jia Lian is already an adult, destined to inherit the title, and the Jia family is struggling. Why would Jia She spend 20,000 taels of silver on 20 broken fans?
The Dream of the Red Chamber was written for people of that time.

Perhaps people at the time only needed to take a quick look to understand what was going on. But as descendants hundreds of years later, many things seem baffling and confusing to us.

The truth is hidden, and lies remain.

I had intended to unravel the story piece by piece, telling it bit by bit through the protagonist's maneuvers. Looking back, the idea was a good one, but the pace was a mess at first, probably because there was too much to say.

I was initially resentful and contemplated rewriting the story. Then I thought, no need. Anyway, getting it on the shelves would earn me some cigarette money. So, I'll just keep writing. This will probably be my last Red Mansions novel. From now on, I'll focus on historical writing. At least writing historical works is less controversial, and there won't be so many "Red Mansions fans" who insist on arguing with me despite knowing only a limited understanding.

Even if you present a lot of facts and reason, he may not even look at you and just start talking nonsense.

Things like, "As soon as Daiyu returned to Yangzhou, Xiangling was taken in as a concubine.", "The author has a really good appetite; even Mrs. Xing, who is over fifty, can still eat such things.", "I came here to read a good novel, and you show me this? Goodbye!", "The author is so bold to copy this poem.", "Qin Keqing is one of the Twelve Beauties after all, how can she be so despicable?"

Having refuted all the previous arguments, let's talk about Qin Keqing separately. Regardless of the original text or the 87 Dream of the Red Chamber, Qin Keqing is always portrayed as a lewd woman. How could she have become a good woman in her lifetime? The book only mentions her as a beautiful woman. Which line calls her the most beautiful woman?
The most annoying thing is that some people told me that "Qin Keqing's title of the most beautiful woman is a government title", which is such a huge joke.

By the way, some people argued with me, bringing up Qin Keqing and then Yang Yuhuan, asking "Is Yang Yuhuan a lewd person?"

To answer solemnly, yes, Yang Yuhuan was promiscuous. She didn't have a good reputation before the founding of the People's Republic of China. As for why her reputation has changed now? It's probably because of zzzq, which started after the founding of the People's Republic of China. What zzzq is? Just look at those who are fighting for power now and you will understand.

In the era when the Dream of the Red Chamber was first written, reputation was paramount. How could a woman who had an affair with her father-in-law possibly have a good reputation?
What I write is a fan fiction of Dream of the Red Chamber. I don't write it according to the original novel, but have to cater to what some people call "popular aesthetics". Is it still a fan fiction of Dream of the Red Chamber?
There are so many fakes these days that even Li Kui has become a fake.

I've rambled on so much, and I'm too lazy to play the victim anymore. Anyway, if the latter part isn't good, no one will subscribe. I'll release an update of 4 to 5 words tonight, which will definitely include the twist. I think it's reasonable. Let's see if it's a great twist.

Yours sincerely.

(End of this chapter)