The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 312 Going North
It was Mid-Autumn Festival again. Since the Dashun Dynasty established its capital in Beijing, no emperor had ever cancelled a grand court meeting.

Today is the grand court meeting on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, but the Fengtian Hall Square is empty, with no emperor or civil or military officials to be seen.

In the distance, Li Hu came over with an official document. He glanced at the Fengtian Gate opposite the Jinshui Bridge, turned and entered the Xiehe Gate, and walked towards the Yuqing Palace.

Just after passing Wenyuan Pavilion, I saw a young eunuch sweeping the fallen leaves on the ground with a long bamboo broom.

Li Hu was about to walk around, but the young eunuch put down his broom and bowed to Li Hu: "Master!"

Li Hu always had a smile on his face towards these people. He nodded with a smile and walked straight towards Yuqing Palace as fast as the wind.

The young eunuch looked at Li Hu's receding back, his eyes flashing with excitement. What a nice guy, the uncle actually greeted him again!

"General Lee!"

"General Lee!"

The old people in Yuqing Palace are used to calling Li Hu "General"!

A group of red-robed officials walked out of the main hall door while talking.

When the officials saw Li Hu, they immediately stopped talking and bowed to Li Hu according to the proper etiquette, whether they were willing or not.

Li Hu smiled and nodded continuously: "Don't be so polite, don't be so polite." Then he went straight into the main hall.

Seeing Li Hu come in, the Minister of Revenue and Jia Lian stood up almost at the same time.

The prince was sitting at his desk, reviewing memorials with his head down.

The fire set by the third prince was so powerful that the emperor became so angry that he vomited blood. His already long-fatigued body collapsed immediately and he fell into a coma.

The emperor fell ill and the cabinet had no prime minister. Important documents sent from all over the country had to be forwarded immediately. After discussion, the two grand secretaries, the officials of the six ministries and nine ministers, and the royal family nobles decided to ask the crown prince to temporarily take charge of the government.

Emperor Yongchang didn't say anything after waking up yesterday, which was considered as his tacit consent to this matter.

As for Xiangshan, the weather was dry in autumn and the fire burned for four days. This is not the later times and there are not so many fire-fighting equipment. We can only stare and wait for God to send rain or for the wildfire to go out by itself.

The prince looked up after he finished writing and said with a smile, "Here it comes." He then said to the Minister of Revenue and Jia Lian, "The 100,000 shi of rice and 10,000 shi of grain and fodder that Wang Ziteng requested must be transferred from the warehouse in Xi'an and delivered to Luoyang within 15 days." As he said this, he handed over the memorial.

Minister of Revenue, Jia Lian: "Yes."

The prince picked up the tea bowl on the table and took a sip, then looked at the document in Li Hu's hand.

Li Hu handed the official document from the Ministry of War to the prince.

The prince flipped through a few pages, closed the book and put it on the desk, then stood up, walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and said, "What a pity that this great achievement went to Wang Ziteng."

Li Hu smiled. Wang Ziteng was making great progress in Ruzhou, winning battle after battle and sweeping away the rebels left behind by Shui Rong. As for Shui Rong's whereabouts, no one knew.

The prince walked back to his chair and sat down: "How is it going over at Xishan?"

Li Hu: "It's still burning."

The prince was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you think he is dead?"

Li Hu: "It's impossible for anyone to survive such a big fire."

The prince shook his head and said, "There are so many people in the palace, it's impossible that no one escaped."

Li Hu's eyes flashed. He did not tell the crown prince about the third prince's affairs, not because he was afraid of the third prince's revenge, but because he did not want to cause trouble for himself.

The imperial guards arrived at Xiangshan at dawn. At that time, the fire had already covered the entire Xiangshan. No one could survive such a big fire. When the fire first started, the Third Prince's men must have been guarding the foot of the mountain, and no one could escape.

"Do you think he will escape into the depths of the West Mountain?" the prince suddenly asked.

Li Hu: "Maybe. There are people watching over there in the military camp."

The prince raised his hand and said, "Don't worry about this matter." Then he picked up a memorial.

Li Hu: “Yes.”

As the prince unfolded the memorial, he said, "Li Yuanzheng said that father's health has recovered very well. He will be fine after taking a few doses of medicine and recuperating. I have made up my mind. I will hand over this hot potato tonight when I go to visit him and ask how he is doing."

At this point, he smiled bitterly and said, "This job is not easy. It's only the third day, and I feel that my body is not as good as before." Li Hu looked at him. He didn't look good!

The prince suddenly coughed twice, then picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, "Please pay more attention to the Ministry of War. Once I hand over this hot potato, you can rest."

Li Hu: “Yes.”

Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came in.

The eunuch on duty at the Meridian Gate rushed in like a gust of wind, raised the military newspaper in his hand, and panted: "Da, Datong. Eight hundred miles."

The prince stood up suddenly.

Li Hu strode over, snatched the military newspaper, tore open the seal and handed it to the prince.

The prince took the military newspaper and read it. His eyes suddenly widened and his face turned as pale as paper!

Li Hu was stunned by his demeanor and asked tentatively, "Prince."

The prince suddenly started coughing, and Zhao Tong rushed in from outside and hit him lightly on the back.

After a while, the prince recovered and looked at Li Hu: "The main force of Datong Guards who went out to encircle and suppress the remnants of Chahar was defeated. The general and the deputy general were killed. Only less than a thousand people broke through with the lieutenant general."

Li Hu was startled: "How could we lose so miserably?!"

The prince closed his eyes and said to Zhao Tong, "Please ask the two Grand Secretaries and the Duke of the Ministry of War to go to the Yangxin Palace to discuss matters."

The room was quiet.

Lin Daiyu sat on Li Hu's bed and looked through the clothes in the bundles. She looked through the two large bundles twice, raised her head and thought for a moment, then said to Amber who was standing beside the bed: "It's cold outside the pass, take a few of those big woolen clothes with you."

Amber: "Yes." She answered and opened the wardrobe beside the bed, took out a few fur coats, and wrapped them up together with Zijuan.

Lin Daiyu suddenly remembered and said to Xueyan, "Go and get my white fox fur sleeves, white fox fur scarf and hand warmer."

Xueyan: “Hey.” Then she answered and ran out like flying.

Lin Daiyu stood up, walked back and forth in the room for a few steps, and said to Xiangling, "Go and tell Nanny Wang to send five hundred taels of silver to the families of the soldiers who are going to the war."

"Hey." Xiangling ran out like a gust of wind.

Lin Daiyu was about to say something when Xiangling's voice came from outside the window: "Second Master is back!"

Then, Li Hu's voice came in: "Slow down, don't plant your teeth."

Xiangling's voice: "Got it."

Lin Daiyu opened her eyes wide and stared at the door curtain.

The door curtain was lifted and Li Hu strode in.

Amber and Zijuan looked at each other and stepped back.

Li Hu coughed, walked forward with a smile and said, "The situation is urgent. I have to leave today." He did not hide anything and told Lin Daiyu everything.

Lin Daiyu was silent for a moment, then said with some concern: "They can wipe out six or seven thousand cavalrymen of Datong Guard in one go. The Mongols have at least 20,000 men. You only took three thousand cavalrymen to go ahead, right?"

Li Hu picked up Lin Daiyu, walked to the bed and sat down, smiling and said: "I'm not stupid. I asked the emperor for a handwritten order, and I will recruit the garrison troops along the way, and then integrate the remaining soldiers of Datong Guard. At least I can get five or six thousand people."

Lin Daiyu: "Only five or six thousand."

Li Hu: "There are also Xuanfu cavalry. They are the main force. I have planned it all. I will draw more than 10,000 people from Xuanfu, and then go out of the pass to destroy the remnants of Chahar. In this way, I will have war horses. I will wait for the infantry led by Zhang Qiang to arrive, and then I will go to Daqing Mountain."

Lin Daiyu was silent for a moment: "I'll wait for you at home."

Li Hu kissed her on the forehead and said, "I'll ask the kitchen to prepare the meal. I'll eat with you before we leave."

Lin Daiyu said "hmm", hugged Li Hu's waist with both hands and closed her eyes.

(End of this chapter)