The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

"Ah! Mountain~ You are all stone~ Horse~ You have four legs~"

"What's the ghost's name?"

Wang Daniu chuckled and followed Li Hu down the mountain: "I'm just worried that you'll get bored."

Li Hu didn't bother to pay attention to him and walked straight along the stone steps to the foot of the mountain.

In order to control the north-south traffic in Daqing Mountain, Li Hu not only rebuilt Baidao City in the south of the valley entrance, but also converted the ruins of the Northern Wei Dynasty's palace on Baidao Ridge into a garrison.

This is the central area of ​​Yinshan Baidao. The south of Baidao is guarded by Baidao City, and the north of Baidao is defended by Wuchuan City. The entire garrison is located on the top of the mountain on the west bank of Yinshan Baidao. As long as we control this place, we can stop the enemy troops from breaking through Wuchuan City and heading south, and vice versa, we can also stop the troops heading north.

With the end of the war, there was an endless stream of cattle and camels on the Yinshan Baidao Road, and daily necessities such as tea, salt, and sugar from the interior of the country flowed continuously through here into the depths of the grassland.

A post station was also built at the foot of the mountain. In addition to providing a place for postmen delivering military reports to change horses or rest, it also provided a place for traveling merchants to drink water, eat and rest.

In a blink of an eye, it was the beginning of April in the lunar calendar. Once the six military towns on the northern foothills of the Yin Mountains were built, Li Hu could go home.

The open space on both sides of the post station was filled with stalls, some selling wontons, some selling sesame cakes, as well as tea stalls and noodle stalls.

Li Hu did not go to the post station. He walked straight to a small table in front of a wonton stall and sat down. He said to the stall owner, "Two big bowls of wontons." Then he said to Wang Daniu, "You treat me."

Wang Daniu curled his lips, took out twelve copper coins and placed them on the table, then sat down on the bench next to Li Hu.

Two bowls of piping hot wontons were brought in front of them.

Wang Daniu took a sip and shook his head: "It's far inferior to what I have at home, and it's even more expensive!"

Li Hu smiled. A bowl of wontons in Beijing cost two big coins, but the price here has quadrupled.

The stall owner heard this and said while cleaning up the table next to him, "Sir, you haven't been to the customs for a long time, right?"

Wang Daniu put down the bowl and looked at him: "What do you mean?"

The stall owner smiled apologetically, "Sir, please don't misunderstand me. I just heard you say it's expensive, and I know you haven't been to the customs for a long time. The price of grain has increased a lot inside the customs. This bowl of wontons now costs three big coins. The price of grain here is much more expensive, and the post station also has to pay taxes. We just earn our hard-earned money."

Li Hu frowned. The summer harvest was just over a month away. Why were grain prices still rising?
Stall owner: "In my opinion, the price of food will continue to rise!"

Li Hu put down his bowl and chopsticks: "Oh, why?"

The stall owner looked around and lowered his voice: "All the food was sold to the Jurchens!"

Li Hu smiled and said, "This is a normal business. Those wealthy families have a lot of grain, so selling some to the Jurchens won't have any impact."

The stall owner said: "Oh, you are so honest! I am talking about the grain in the government warehouse."

Li Hu was startled and asked anxiously: "How did you know?!"

The stall owner said, "I'm not the only one who knows this. This is no longer a secret inside the Great Wall. The Jurchens gave a lot of money, and everyone wanted to make a profit, and then buy grain during the summer harvest to fill the gap. Unfortunately, those people forgot one thing. Everyone was stealing and selling grain from the granary. Everyone had a deficit, and they all needed summer grain to fill the gap. Do you think this gap can be filled?"

Li Hu and Wang Daniu were both shocked.

The stall owner sighed: "It's the common people who are suffering!"

At this time, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came over, and everyone looked over.

Wang Yaozu whipped his horse towards this side, and when he arrived in front of the wonton stall, he pulled the reins hard, jumped off the horse, ran to Li Hu and whispered a few words.

Qian Xiaosi’s army to suppress the rebellion is finally arriving!
Li Hu's eyes flashed. He thought he couldn't miss this big event and take a look to see if he could get any bargains.

Thinking of this, Li Hu picked up the bowl and drank the wonton soup, then stood up and said, "Let's go to Wuchuan." Wang Daniu also quickly stood up and waved to the soldiers at the post station.

The personal soldiers came over leading their war horses.

Seeing the backs of Li Hu and others disappear, the stall owner came to his senses and said, "I told you not to talk nonsense!" and slapped himself.

Since ancient times, Pengcheng has been one of the Nine Provinces, and dragons and tigers have fought against each other for thousands of years.

Xuzhou, formerly known as Pengcheng, has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times because it controls the strategic north-south junction of the Central Plains.

After more than a hundred years of peace, the war once again spread to the city of Xuzhou.

At this time, the sky above Xuzhou City was filled with shouts of killing, and countless White Lotus rebels were attacking the city like ants.

The overwhelming flow of people surrounded the city of Xuzhou. The White Lotus' attack was divided into multiple waves, one after another, repeatedly impacting the defenders' fortifications like waves, and continued to attack without stopping, dragging down the defenders.

Of course, the main force of the besieging crowd was the refugees who were dragged along, behind them was the mighty White Lotus infantry, and at the end was the real main force of the White Lotus.

A large flag of the "White Lotus Sect" fluttered in the wind.

Under the big flag, a water-soluble bear in armor sat on a big white horse.

Shui Rong did not raise the flag of Zhu Ming for the time being, because that would attract the full-scale encirclement and suppression of the imperial court.

Shui Rong looked at Xuzhou City quietly. If it were before, he would not dare to think about attacking Xuzhou City. Xuzhou City had high and thick walls, and had sufficient defensive equipment and food reserves. It would be impossible to take it without several months, or even more than half a year.

It’s different now. The army has been besieging for many days and the defenders are tired. The insiders will seize the opportunity to seize the city gate and let them into the city.

This ancient battlefield has determined the rise and fall of many dynasties, so there has been a saying since ancient times that one should conquer the Central Plains. Times have changed. Although taking Xuzhou now cannot win the world, it can cut off the court's north-south traffic and cut off the grain supply.

In addition, by taking over Xuzhou City, you can obtain the weapons and equipment stored by the imperial court in the Xuzhou arsenal, especially muskets and cannons!

Shui Rong had already made plans. After taking Xuzhou City, he would immediately expand the army, and then divide his troops into two groups to attack Jiangsu and Anhui. He would take these two places before the imperial reinforcements arrived. With money, food, and soldiers, he would have the capital to challenge the imperial court.

In order to capture Xuzhou City, Shui Rong gave up Kaifeng and other places, allowing King Zhongshun and Wang Ziteng and others to take advantage of the situation.

The emperor gave birth to a good son!

Thinking of this, Shui Rong smiled. He would definitely reward him handsomely once they reach the capital!

At this moment, overwhelming cheers came from afar: "The city is broken, the city is broken!"

Shui Rong raised the telescope and looked, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Yang Qilong and others also laughed.

The White Lotus rebels swarmed into the city, and countless shouts of killing and the people's cries of fear echoed over Xuzhou City!
After laughing, Yang Qilong spoke: "The real war is about to come!"

Everyone's faces became solemn.

Shui Rong smiled and said, "There will always be a way out when you get to the mountain. Don't worry."

At this time, a White Lotus leader came riding up to Shui Rong, pulled the reins, jumped off his horse, and knelt before Shui Rong: "Master, our brothers intercepted an official ship on the canal and found many red-haired demons on it. One of the captives said that these people are the Nanyang red-haired demon envoys who are heading north to the capital to meet the dog emperor."

Nanyang? Mission?
Shui Rong's eyes flashed: "Bring them here, no, please come here. Be polite!" He then said to Yang Qilong: "Do you think the dog emperor will be so angry that he will vomit blood when he finds out?" He laughed again. (End of this chapter)