The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 287 Kneeling

Two days passed in a blink of an eye. The weather became even hotter. When the sun came out, it was like a big furnace, emitting biting heat waves.

The rich and powerful had ice cubes to cool down, but ordinary people could not afford them, and they could not go to the West Mountain to escape the summer heat like some rich and powerful people did. However, ordinary people also had a place to cool down, such as Lingjiaokeng, located between Chaoyangmen and Dongzhimen. This place was surrounded by water on three sides, with a ten-mile horizontal pond. Water chestnuts were widely planted, so it was called Lingjiaokeng. It was a low-lying area outside the moat. Willow trees were planted around the pond. In midsummer, the green willows were lush, the water was rippling, and the cool breeze was blowing, just like a "blessed place".

In the hot summer, the people of Beijing would call their friends to come here to cool off. A market was formed here spontaneously, where people could not only cool off in the summer, but also listen to operas and buy and sell groceries. After coming here a few times in the summer, the heat would pass.

At the time of Si, the first batch of idle men with nothing to do arrived one after another. Some were looking for seats, some were greeting acquaintances, and some were shouting at the small vendors. Suddenly, the water chestnut pit was boiling like a boiling water.

The street vendors started to get busy.

In front of a soy milk stall, a few idle men started chatting while eating.

An idle man: "Today is the third day. Do you think our governor will kneel down?"

Another idle man drank a mouthful of bean juice, shook his head and said, "Do you know the official title of the Governor-General of Zhili? The Governor-General of Zhili and other places supervises military affairs, food and wages, manages rivers and is also the governor-general. He is in charge of the capital and surrounding areas. He is the head of the nine governors-general and has the highest status. He is a real frontier official and the face of the court. Asking him to kneel? Impossible."

The idle man next to him snorted coldly: "That also depends on who is on the other side. They are royal relatives, members of the emperor's family, and relatives of the same clan. What's wrong with the governor? To put it bluntly, they are just like the servants of those rich families, slaves and servants of the royal family."

Everyone laughed at what he said.

Another idler said: "Don't talk nonsense, you are insulting the imperial officials, be careful of being chained."

The idle man took up the bean juice and drank it all, wiped his mouth, and said: "Our governor has visited all the nobles, and today he should go to the palaces of the royal family. But I heard that someone said that if the princes don't hand it over, it will be useless even if Wang Ziteng kneels and breaks his legs."

As soon as he said this, several people came over with cups of soy milk, and the people around him also looked at him.

"That's not right!" said the old Beijinger sitting at another table.

"Oh?" Everyone turned their heads to look at him.

"What's wrong?" the idle man asked back.

Old Beijing: "Your Highness the Crown Prince has no farmland, so he doesn't have to pay taxes. As for the Third Prince, he paid the taxes he should have paid the day before yesterday. Who are those royal relatives going to compete with?"

The idle man suddenly laughed.

Everyone turned their heads to him again.

After laughing, the idle man raised two fingers and made a "two" gesture.

Everyone: “Oh?!”

The idle man: "Although he was demoted to a commoner, he still enjoys the treatment of a prince, and the land and estates he was rewarded with have not been taken back."

"Oh" everyone suddenly realized.

At this time, a voice was heard in the distance: "Go and see! Go and see! The Governor has gone to Prince Zhongshun's Palace!"

Everyone was shocked and stood up quickly, looking in the direction of the voice.

In the distance, "The Governor has gone to Prince Zhongshun's Palace"

Everyone looked at each other excitedly and ran towards the city together. This was a once-in-a-lifetime excitement. Witnessing this drama with their own eyes was something they would never forget.
In the upper study, Emperor Yongchang sat at his desk and said to the ministers standing on both sides: "We can't delay any longer. Sign a peace treaty with the Jurchens immediately."

The ministers: "Yes."

Emperor Yongchang: "The money, food and equipment needed by the three armies must be delivered to the front camp before the end of the month."

The Prime Minister of the Cabinet: “Yes.”

Emperor Yongchang suddenly remembered: "The weather is a little abnormally hot. Immediately transfer some anti-heat medicine from other provinces. Also, ask Shuntian Prefecture to make herbal tea to distribute to the people to relieve the heat."

"Your Majesty is as merciful as Heaven!" Dai Quan and several cabinet members hurriedly praised him.

At this time, the eunuch on duty hurried in and whispered a few words in Emperor Yongchang's ear. Emperor Yongchang's eyes kept flashing, and then he said to the eunuch: "Keep an eye on him."

The chief eunuch said, “Yes.” and walked out.

Emperor Yongchang: "Go down."

The ministers: "Yes."

Only Emperor Yongchang and Dai Quan were left in the upper study.

Emperor Yongchang turned his gaze to Dai Quan again: "Wang Ziteng went to Prince Zhongshun's mansion."

Dai Quan was shocked. Was Wang Ziteng really going to kneel down? Prince Zhongshun was desperate now. He even dared to contradict the emperor. He would definitely not give Wang Ziteng face.

Thinking of this, Dai Quan looked at the emperor and said, "How about I go and persuade Prince Zhongshun?"

Emperor Yongchang: "No need. I want to see how determined Wang Ziteng is, and also see if Zhongshun has a sense of the overall situation. Isn't he trying to catch up with the second son? Send an order, and all the farms and properties of the second son will be taken over by the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Dai Quan: “Yes.” He answered and walked out.

"Let Marquis Zhongjing come over." Emperor Yongchang added.

The scorching sun is dazzling.

The gate of Prince Zhongshun's mansion was filled with people who came to watch the fun. They were all sweaty but standing there excitedly, waiting to watch this big show.

Li Hu also came. At this moment, he was standing behind the crowd with sweat on his face, looking at the gate of Prince Zhongshun's palace with great interest.

The gate was closed, and Wang Ziteng, wearing the governor's official uniform, stood alone on the stone steps in front of the gate.

After an unknown amount of time, the door creaked open and the doorman came out with a futon. Without saying anything, he placed it directly at Wang Ziteng's feet.

Seeing this, everyone became excited and stared at Wang Ziteng's back.

Li Hu also stared at Wang Ziteng closely.

Wang Daniu at the side couldn't help but ask: "Will Wang Ziteng kneel?"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Ziteng lifted the corner of his robe and actually knelt down!
Everyone was shocked, and the noisy crowd in front of the mansion suddenly became quiet and silent as death.

The doorman showed a look of panic, then ran in like a flash.

The silence lasted only a moment, and then there was a loud bang, and there was a commotion in front of the mansion gate.

Wang Daniu swallowed his saliva: "He, he actually knelt down!"

Li Hu's eyes flashed, what a Wang Ziteng, I really underestimated him. Wang Ziteng's kneeling was just like a senior in a TV series, he knelt for a bright future, a meteoric rise, and the pinnacle of life!

It was the emperor's will to implement the new policy, and the new policy was deeply supported by the people. With this kneeling, he won the hearts of both the emperor and the people!

Also, King Zhongshun was a ruthless man. Wang Ziteng's kneeling not only ruined his own reputation, but also implicated the reputation of the royal family.

There is nothing wrong with an official kneeling to the prince, but this matter is very complicated, especially after the spread of rumors in the past two days, Wang Ziteng has become a great judge who pleads for the people, and the nature of this kneeling is completely different.

This kneeling made King Zhongshun bleed profusely. Well, I always feel that this old guy did it on purpose.

Thinking of this, Li Hu looked towards the street, and sure enough, there was a man with broad shoulders and long legs running towards the street.

Li Hu smiled and went home to tell jokes to Lin Daiyu.

(End of this chapter)