The First Family of the Red Mansion

Having only been back in the capital for a few days, Liu Hu already sensed the turbulent undercurrents beneath the calm surface of the court.

The conflict between North and South, between civil and military officials, between internal and external forces, and even among the gentry in the South, which were divided into various factions due to the prosperity of the South, was intense.

The North is small enough, but after observing it for a while, it turns out that the few civil officials in the North are secretly at odds with the military leaders who are based in the North, and they are using one underhanded trick after another.

If it weren't for the protection of the Great Zhou Emperor, the northern literati, with their meager strength, would have been completely devoured by the southern literati or military leaders long ago.

However, the literati in the north seemed unaware of this, and instead engaged in lively battles with the southern gentry and northern military leaders.

It looks like they're courting death, but they just can't seem to die. I don't know what they're after.

On the surface, the various factions maintained a harmonious relationship, but their underhanded tactics left the young Liu Hu speechless.

Even if he is a time traveler, he is no match for those old foxes who have been entrenched in this field for decades.

"What a mess!"

Although he had long known that there were no factions within the court and that all sorts of strange things could happen, this mess was still so complicated that even if Liu Hu scratched his head, he still wouldn't be able to figure out the relationships involved.

As the fire slowly approached Yong'an Warehouse, Liu Hu stood on the city wall, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

But he dared not send the Nine Gates Guards to put out the fire. Not only would doing so allow someone to escape, but the water inside was also beyond the reach of someone like him with no connections.

Liu Hu's main reliance in the court was Emperor Anping's trust. He only had one subordinate, Hu Cunmeng, whose whereabouts are still unknown.

With his small stature, he dared to get involved. Even if Emperor Anping trusted him, he would inevitably be ostracized by the powerful and influential people in the capital.

"General, should we go put out the fire?"

Liu Hu wasn't the only one who saw this. A centurion of the Imperial Guards who had come with him to help Liu Hu control the Nine Gates came over and asked anxiously.

Thinking that his colleagues were still fighting the fire while he could only stand on the city wall and watch, how could he not be anxious?

"No need. His Majesty has ordered us to close the city gates. What we need to do is ensure that no one escapes from our grasp until this is over."

"As for other matters, His Majesty and the Grand Chancellor will make the decisions."

Liu Hu turned his head and glanced at the centurion, casually dismissing him with a remark.

"Go! Inform the guards at all gates that no one is to be allowed to leave the city without His Majesty's written order. If anyone escapes through any gate, the guard of that gate shall go and explain to His Majesty!"

"yes!"

Upon hearing Liu Hu's order, the centurion dared not say anything more. Although he was still a little reluctant, he dared not disobey the imperial decree.

Liu Hu remained inactive, but Dai Quan was frantic with worry.

As the fire slowly approached Yong'an Granary, even though he knew the situation inside was dire, he dared not let the granary burn down tonight!

Although he didn't start the fire, he was quite willing for the Yong'an warehouse to be burned down.

But you can burn it anytime, just not tonight.

Emperor Anping entrusted him with the responsibility for the events in the city tonight. If the Yong'an granary were burned down in front of him, then apart from Erdu and the other Jurchens, all the blame would fall on his head.

But why should he, who controls the Eastern Depot, not know the situation at Yong'an Warehouse, even if others don't?

Everyone secretly stole grain from each other's homes on a regular basis. Yong'an Granary was almost completely emptied. Why should he be the one to take the blame?

Oh, right, there's also the Imperial Guard Commander, but he's only assisting him tonight. Besides, he's the Empress's brother-in-law, the current Empress's own brother, and the Crown Prince's own uncle.

If we really need to find someone to take the blame, it's definitely not their turn.

"We're not taking the blame for this!" Dai Quan asked one of the Eastern Depot agents beside him, "Have all the people been captured?"

"Bingchang Gong, apart from An Tong, the Vice Minister of Rites, who committed suicide out of fear of punishment, everyone else has been arrested. Qi Gonggong's nephew was also sent here by General Liu not long ago."

"It's good that it's sent over, so that he won't be involved in tonight's events."

Dai Quan was a little envious of Liu Hu at this moment. Then, his face hardened as he looked at Chu Ying and Erdu, who were tied to the ground.

"Take them all back to the Eastern Depot. If we can't get through this tonight, then nobody else will get away with it."

"Everyone else, come with us immediately to put out the fire!"

"This fire can start anytime, but not tonight."

"yes!"

"No, Your Excellency, what are we going to do now that you're gone? Our inn has been burned down. Where will we stay tonight?"

Upon hearing that Dai Quan was leaving, the envoys hurriedly stopped him and asked him questions.

Dai Quan gave the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial a sinister look, who had come over after seeing the situation, and said in a deep voice, "This is a matter between the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial. Let them make the arrangements for you."

Although Dai Quan was furious, he dared not order the killing of all the envoys. If he did, not only would the court officials be killed, but even Emperor Anping would take his life.

"The Grand Chancellor can go ahead, I'll take care of things here!" The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, knowing he couldn't avoid it, hurriedly stepped forward and said.

He was afraid that if he was even a little slow, he would be arrested along with the corrupt official An, mistaken for his accomplice.

However, he was full of disdain for Dai Quan's struggle. The powerful and wealthy in the capital had finally waited for this opportunity, how could they let this good-for-nothing extinguish it so easily?

Until the time is right, no one can put out this fire!

"Sigh! Those people have gone a bit too far!"

Watching Dai Quan hurriedly leave with the Eastern Depot agents, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies smiled but was filled with worry.

Although he also came from the Jiangnan gentry, not all Jiangnan gentry were as unscrupulous as those from the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party.

The fact that these people were colluding with the Jianzhou Jurchens has caused a great deal of sense of crisis among many civil officials in Jiangnan.

If Emperor Anping uses this as an opportunity to suppress the gentry in Jiangnan, they will find it really difficult to mediate this time.

After all, those people's actions could be considered as colluding with foreign tribes to plot a rebellion.

"We must inform the Grand Secretary as soon as possible that we must keep our distance from those people in the future to avoid being implicated."

The most powerful civil officials in Jiangnan now are not the newly emerging Donglin Party and Zhejiang Party members, but the traditional Jiangnan civil officials who have already held high positions in the imperial court.

These people, though they may suppress dissent, exploit the people, seize land, and even embezzle and accept bribes, are not immune to corruption.

But they will also do their best in matters of state, because they know where their power comes from.

Even if they were dissatisfied with the emperor of the Great Zhou, they would never stoop to colluding with foreign tribes.

Most of them believe that those who are not of our kind must have different intentions!

Even if they wanted an emperor, they would only choose from among the Han Chinese.

Besides, this is just the beginning.

Compared to the emperors of the Han Dynasty, the emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty had already shown enough respect to their civil officials. The Great Han Dynasty had survived for hundreds of years, so what was a mere few decades for the Great Zhou Dynasty?

They simply didn't believe that all the emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty were wise rulers.

They believed that as long as the Great Zhou Dynasty produced a less rebellious emperor, they would have the final say in the entire court.

"Never mind, it's going to rain anyway, and mothers are going to remarry."

"From now on, we should keep our people away from those people as much as possible. They're asking for it; they don't want to get our blood splattered."

Upon hearing the news from the Court of State Ceremonial, Grand Secretary Li, the Minister of Personnel and Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, remained silent for a long time before finally speaking softly.

Although he was over sixty years old, his cloudy eyes would occasionally reveal a deep, mysterious light that drew people in.

As someone from a Jiangnan gentry family, he was certainly aware of the Donglin Party and Zhejiang Party that had emerged in recent years.

Those people, based in Jiangnan, only know how to talk about politics, spouting benevolence and morality while harboring wicked intentions.

In the past, out of consideration for our shared location in Jiangnan, I would occasionally take care of them. Who would have thought that their lust for power would be so great and their temperament so impatient?

In the current court, with a wise ruler above and fierce military officers below, what civil officials need to do is conserve their energy and wait for the right opportunity, remaining steadfast in the face of all changes.

If the Great Zhou could be overthrown so easily, why would it be the turn of these younger generations to jump around like this?

They had fought against the three dynasties of the Great Zhou for decades, and they knew all too well how difficult this royal family, which came from a merchant family in Jiangnan, was to deal with.

Because they knew their methods too well; they had always been successful, but most of their methods were ineffective against the Emperor of Great Zhou.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the three emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty didn't easily turn on their own people. If you think they are weak and easy to bully, you would be sorely mistaken.

Do you really think that the 200,000 troops in the Jiangnan camp are just sitting around doing nothing? If they dare to make any move, they will immediately face the merciless slaughter of the 200,000 troops.

Do those Donglin Party and Zhejiang Party members really think they can challenge the Emperor just because they've won over some of the military officers in the garrisons of Jiangnan?

"In the end, their rise to power was too short-lived, and they were too short-sighted," said Grand Secretary Li with a hint of disdain.

The people behind the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party were mostly newly emerging maritime merchants after the opening of the sea routes in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Their sudden wealth made them complacent and eager to extend their reach into the court and seize more power.

Seeing that the effect was not significant, they became restless and wanted to let the clan leader Zhongyuan take control of the court, which was simply wishful thinking.

Even with Dai Quan and his men threatening them with knives, Yong'an Warehouse was ultimately not completely saved.

"Minister, thank goodness for your help, otherwise I wouldn't know how to explain myself to His Majesty!"

Looking at Dai Quan, whose face was ashen, Zhang Guojiu, the commander of the Imperial Guards, said with a forced smile.

"You guys really have some tricks up your sleeve!" Dai Quan said through gritted teeth, wishing he could just grab a knife and chop the guy to pieces.

"Your Excellency, what you're saying is unbelievable. If it weren't for your help, Yong'an Granary would probably have been burned to the ground tonight. How could we have saved three granaries?"

"If we preserve the grain in these three granaries, it will be enough to support the entire capital for one day. Then the grain from the granaries along the canal outside the city will be transported in, and the palace and everyone will not go hungry."

Those granaries along the canal outside the city are the grain reserves for the entire north, and they also store provisions for nearly a million northern troops. Even if these people had the greatest audacity, they wouldn't dare to reach for them.

As a result, Yong'an Granary, the only one without military rations, became a tempting target for the powerful and wealthy in the capital. They would take a little from each other, and almost half of the grain was gone.

Now, a huge fire has burned down the account books and most of the granary. At that point, they'll have the final say!

Did Emperor Anping not know about the shady dealings involved?

He certainly knew; Emperor Anping wasn't blind. He held the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in his hands, so how could he possibly know about the shady dealings of his officials?

But as long as they didn't go too far and extend their reach to the granaries outside the city, Emperor Anping simply turned a blind eye.

After all, there were very few powerful and wealthy families in the entire capital who didn't bring grain home from the Yong'an granary. We couldn't just kill them all, could we?

"Hmph!" Although Dai Quan was also involved in this matter, under normal circumstances, he would have loved to burn the entire Yong'an Warehouse to the ground and would have killed anyone who dared to stop him.

But not tonight. These old foxes are disregarding past relationships and want him to take the blame alone. That's a death sentence for him.

He was almost forced to use a knife, but he still managed to save three granaries.

However, with these three granaries, I can say that I have given His Majesty an explanation.

As Emperor Anping's personal eunuch, how could he not know the tricks involved? Emperor Anping was fully aware of everything.

But this is just one granary. How many powerful and influential people are there in the entire capital city? On average, how much benefit can each person get?

He originally didn't want to get involved, but at Emperor Anping's suggestion, he still got a share of the profits.

Although he didn't understand His Majesty's intentions, he had no choice but to comply and collude with these powerful figures.

"The Emperor's brother-in-law won't escape responsibility for tonight's events!"

"I will personally apologize to His Majesty, but I wonder if you, the Imperial Brother-in-Law, can get past this hurdle?"

At this moment, the smiling imperial brother-in-law before Dai Quan appeared utterly repulsive in his eyes.

"Hehe." Zhang Guojiu chuckled, then looked at Dai Quan meaningfully: "You and I are both His Majesty's confidants. Do you think I would dare to do this tonight without His Majesty's permission?"

Without even glancing at the stunned Dai Quan, he ordered his men to bring over the Taicang magistrate of Yong'an Warehouse and his subordinates.

"His Majesty instructed me to hand this man over to the Grand Chancellor. The Grand Chancellor should know what to do, shouldn't he?"

Seeing the several officials from Yong'an Granary being brought in, Dai Quan immediately understood His Majesty's intentions.

He glanced at Zhang Guojiu with a complicated expression: "You should report to His Majesty that we will handle this matter thoroughly."

He knew that if he took on this matter, he would offend the civil officials terribly.

It seems that His Majesty is starting to feel uneasy about the palace because of what happened with Eunuch Qi tonight.

However, he was Emperor Anping's henchman, so as for those civil officials, so be it if he offended them.

"Take these audacious fellows away. We'll interrogate them ourselves after we've dealt with things here."

"Until then, no one can be allowed to contact them."

As the fire was extinguished, the capital returned to its previous silence. Only a few destitute residents of Changqingfang, whose houses had been burned down, were helplessly led away by yamen runners into the unknown.

"This year's New Year's Day grand court ceremony is going to be very lively!"

Although he didn't know the specific situation in the city, Liu Hu understood that the court would not be peaceful for some time to come.