The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

The news of Li Hu's arrival quickly spread to Luoyang City. Some people were worried, some watched coldly, but more people didn't take it seriously or even looked down on it.

The sun has set.

More than a dozen large trucks were lined up on the road at the entrance of the village.

Li Hu was still sitting on the mound at the entrance of the village, watching his bodyguards unloading boxes of treasures from the carts.

Jia Zheng, who was standing by, trembled his lips and could not utter a word.

Soon, the open space in front of the mound was filled with large mahogany boxes.

Torches were lit, illuminating the village entrance as bright as day.

Li Hu glanced at Wang Daniu and motioned him to open the box.

Wang Daniu strode over with a knife slung over his shoulder, stopped in front of the first box, and opened the lid.

Ingots of gold sparkled in the light of the torches!
The people watching the excitement exclaimed in surprise.

Next came the second box, which was also filled with dazzling gold. The third box, the fourth box, and the eleven boxes in the first row were all filled with gold!
Wang Daniu opened the lids of the second row of boxes. The boxes full of jewels looked even more colorful under the firelight, which was stunning!

The crowd of onlookers became agitated again.

Soon, Wang Daniu opened all the boxes. What were inside were either gold, pearls, jade, antiques, fine furs, and silks of various patterns, as well as house deeds, land properties, shops, and stores.

Li Hu smiled and said, "What a holy place of purity and abstinence."

Jia Zheng smiled bitterly and shook his head. He had never thought that such a small temple could be seized with so much wealth! This was just one of them. There were dozens of temples of all sizes in Luoyang and Kaifeng. If all of them were seized,
Thinking of this, Jia Zheng took a deep breath. The annual tax revenue of some small provinces on the border was only five or six hundred thousand taels of silver.

The sound of horse hooves and heavy wheels came again.

The villagers who were watching exclaimed again.

Jia Zheng looked in the direction of the sound and saw horse-drawn and mule-drawn carts loaded with large mahogany boxes stretching as far as the eye could see.

There was a burst of hurried horse hooves' sounds, and Wang Yaozu came riding over. He ran to the mound, jumped off his horse, and reported to Li Hu, "General, we have found the evidence. Everything is here." Then he handed a box to Li Hu.

Li Hu opened the box, took out a letter, read it, and handed it to Jia Zheng. Then he picked up an account book and slowly flipped through it.

Jia Zheng took the letter and read it. After reading a few lines, his face darkened: "What a den of filth and filth!"

Li Hu finished reading the account book, closed it gently, and then said to Jia Zheng: "I was right, wasn't I? If we destroy the thieves' den, we will have all the evidence."

Jia Zheng sighed. This letter was written by the gentry in Luoyang City to the temple, asking them to send people to kill the villagers who were reclaiming the wasteland and to drag the family of the Anhui Provincial Governor into the water.

Li Hu shook the account book: "This is the evidence that those gentry colluded with the remnants of the White Lotus Sect."

Jia Zheng hesitated again and said, "Isn't this too far-fetched? They donated money and grain to the temple to support the Buddha. Perhaps they didn't know that there were remnants of the White Lotus Sect in the temple."

Li Hu looked at the letter in his hand: "Don't know? Then what does this letter say?!" At this point, he sneered, "To put it bluntly, the remnants of the White Lotus Sect that these temples have taken in are just the death squads raised by those gentry!"

Jia Zheng was stunned again. Although he knew that Li Hu was exaggerating, he could not refute it.

Li Hu: "These gentry not only raised assassins, but also registered part of their land in the name of the temple to circumvent the new policy of the court and pay less taxes. It is true that there are policies from above and countermeasures from below. They are not afraid that those fake monks will steal their land."

Jia Zheng's face became solemn. This was no small matter. He had to report this to the emperor immediately and cancel the temple's privileges, otherwise the new policy would become a mere decoration.

Li Hu handed the account book to Wang Yaozu and said, "Seal off the city gates and arrest people according to the names on the account book. Kill anyone who dares to resist."

Wang Yaozu took the account book and answered loudly, "Yes." He turned around and strode away.

Jia Zheng sighed again: "You will offend the gentry, Buddhism, and the people who believe in Buddhism by doing this. No one will appreciate your kindness except the common people. But what use is there for the common people?!"

Li Hu straightened his back and said, "There must be someone to speak for the hundreds of thousands of people in Henan Prefecture and make decisions for them!" Jia Zheng was silent.

Li Hu smiled: "Of course, I also have selfish motives."

Jia Zheng looked at him.

Zhou Rui also pricked up his ears.

Li Hu: "In the past few years, I have fought in many battles, from Shaanxi to Hetao, and from Hetao to the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain. I just came back from the border area and went to Shandong to suppress bandits. Then I went from Shandong to Anhui, Henan, and Hubei. I am tired."

After a pause, he said, “I’m really tired.”

Jia Zheng was puzzled: "What does this have to do with this matter?"

Li Hu put his hands behind his back and looked at the rising moon in the distance: "Although that group of upright officials is not very good, there is a saying that is right, 'It is a different time, a different situation!' Now the wind direction has changed. If it were not for the emperor's virtue and the auspicious snow from heaven, I would have become the first traitor in the Dashun Dynasty! How did that saying go? Yes, 'The world still needs scholars to govern'. It is better to retreat now than to be liquidated by the civil officials when the horse is released to the south mountain."

At this point, he glanced at Zhou Rui with his peripheral vision, "Of course, the emperor is kind and benevolent, and he will definitely not allow those idle and idle people to attack the meritorious officials of the court under the pretext of astronomical phenomena! He will not approve my resignation memorial either. With this incident, the idle people can impeach me openly, and I can unload the burden on my shoulders."

As he spoke, he pointed to the large mahogany boxes and said, "With this wealth, the emperor can realize his ambitions. Everyone will be happy, so why not do it?"

Jia Zheng understood and looked at him with some heartache.

Zhou Rui blinked wildly.

The open space was already piled high.

The guards were still moving the boxes.

On the post road, there was still no end to the horse-drawn and mule-drawn carts loaded with large boxes.

Bai Wu, the leader of the White Tiger Hall, hurried towards Li Hu holding a letter.

Walking up to him, the White Tiger Hall Master reported loudly: "General, this is evidence that the Anhui Governor's family is in cahoots with the bandits." Then he handed the letter to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the letter, read it, nodded, and put it into his sleeve. Then he took out a warrant and handed it over: "Take my warrant, go to Anhui, and kill the governor of Anhui!"

Bai Wu, the White Tiger Hall Master, responded loudly, "Yes!"

Jia Zheng: "Maybe you should reconsider this?"

Li Hu raised his hand and said, "I am on tour on behalf of the emperor now. I can kill even the governor. If you don't use your power, it will be invalid after the expiration date. Kill him first and talk later."

Jia Zheng smiled bitterly and could only sigh again.

Li Hu said to Wang Daniu: "Immediately arrange for someone to send these valuables to Beijing."

Wang Daniu was slightly stunned, "Not leaving some behind?"

Li Hu: "These are the people's hard-earned money, we can't take them."

Wang Daniu nodded, not quite understanding.

"Luoyang City is on fire!" Zhou Rui suddenly exclaimed.

There was a hint of sneer in Li Hu's eyes. It seemed that someone was not giving up and was resisting.

With a snort, Li Hu said, "Let's go kill some people!"

Jia Zheng smiled bitterly. With only one governor of Anhui and so many gentry and temples, the capital must be in an uproar! I wonder what the prince will choose? Will he just stand by and watch? (End of this chapter)