The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 134 Making trouble
The sky, which had been gloomy for the whole morning, suddenly became clear.

As the sun came out, the whole yard was filled with sunshine. Bai Hongzhi was sitting alone on a lounge chair under the stone steps of the main house, staring blankly at the stone passage under his feet.

The old steward came in excitedly, walked up to Bai Hongzhi and whispered, "Young Master Sun! Young Master Sun!"

Bai Hongzhi came back to his senses and looked at him.

The old steward said: "The Jurchen envoys have arrived in Beijing."

Bai Hongzhi: "What's wrong?"

The old steward was stunned for a moment, then said, "Young Master Sun forgot that the intelligence network of the Jurchens responsible for collecting information on the internal affairs of the court was once again wiped out by the court because of that incident."

Bai Hongzhi then remembered that in less than two years, the Jurchen intelligence network responsible for collecting information on the internal affairs of the Dashun court suffered two devastating blows. One was at the hands of Li Hu, and the other was when he used a knife to kill someone, which directly led to the entire intelligence network being wiped out by the court again.

It also caused him to lose contact with the Jurchens, which he had not expected.

The old steward continued, "The Jurchens are here to negotiate, and they must be eager to know the internal affairs of the court, especially the attitude towards peace talks. This is our opportunity."

Bai Hongzhi's eyes lit up.

The old steward: "And the cloth we have stored! Judging from the situation, the court will definitely sign a contract with the Jurchens, and the trade route of the Liaoxi Corridor will be reopened. At that time, we can use these cloths to exchange for ginseng, animal skins, etc. from the Jurchens!"

Hearing this, Bai Hongzhi became excited: "Great! Quick! Load all the silks and satins stored in the warehouse outside the city onto the truck and immediately transport them to Yongping Prefecture. We must go to Liaodong first!"

Elderly Manager: “This”

Bai Hongzhi: "The first caravan to arrive in Liaodong area will make big money!"

The old steward thought for a moment and said, "There are so many pieces of cloth. I'll go there myself."

Bai Hongzhi waved his hand and said, "This is the capital, not Shaanxi. There are no large bandits here. As for those local thugs and bullies, even if they have a head, they dare not rob such a large caravan! Don't worry."

The elderly steward was about to speak.

Bai Hongzhi continued, "The most urgent thing is to get in touch with the Jurchens. Pick a capable person from the old city to be in charge, and ask him to send someone to rent a warehouse in Yongping City first."

The old steward had nothing else to say, so he had to answer, "Yes."

Bai Hongzhi stood up and said, "Make arrangements. I will go to the Third Prince's Mansion after dark."

During the Dashun period, the Honglu Temple was responsible for court ceremonies and no longer managed reception affairs. It was replaced by the Huitongguan under the Ministry of Rites, which was located in Mixiang, Dongjiang.

There were several tables in the hall. Before the banquet started, more than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Rites were gathered together, talking in low voices, and from time to time they looked at Jia Yucun, who was sitting at the chief seat with a sullen face.

Finally, Hong Zhou walked in with square steps, surrounded by twenty or thirty Jurchen officials with red and blue hats.

The hall immediately became quiet.

Jia Yucun stood up and looked at Hong Zhou.

Hong Zhou walked straight up to Jia Yucun, clasped his hands and said, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, Minister Jia!"

Jia Yucun then smiled and bowed in return: "Prince He, you are too polite. The cabinet has sent a message that the Ministry of Rites will first host a banquet for Prince He and his entourage, and they should have a good rest tomorrow. Please sit down." He then extended his hand and said to the other Jurchen officials: "Please sit down, everyone."

Hong Zhou looked at him and said, "We'll start the negotiations the day after tomorrow?"

Jia Yucun smiled and said, "The Ministry of Rites is only responsible for the reception. Today we will host a banquet for the guests, and tomorrow the delegation will have a day off. As for the day after tomorrow, I am not sure."

Hong Zhou understood that this was a strategy of the Han people, smiled and nodded, then sat down at the chief seat.

Jia Yucun also sat down, holding out his hands and beckoning, "Please sit down, please sit down, everyone please sit down."

The officials from the Ministry of Rites sat down one after another.

The Jurchen officials stood still and all stared at Hong Zhou who was sitting there.

Jia Yucun looked at Hong Zhou with a smile: "The Prince of He"

Hong Zhou spoke (in Manchu): "Please sit down."

There was a thunderous response, and the Jurchen officials sat down in the vacant seats one after another.

Jia Yucun's eyes swept across the faces of the Jurchen officials. The smile that had remained on his face suddenly disappeared. He turned to Hong Zhou and asked, "Why is the deputy envoy not here?"

Hong Zhou: "Marquis Jiayong is a military commander and does not like to deal with worldly affairs, so he stayed in his room to rest."

Before he could finish his words, an official from the Huitong Hall hurried in, walked up to Jia Yucun and spoke quickly with his head down.

Jia Yucun was startled and asked anxiously, "Who agreed to let them go?"

Hong Zhou spoke up: "Minister Jia, we are envoys, not prisoners."

Jia Yucun suddenly came to his senses and realized that he had spoken rashly, and was about to speak.

Hong Zhou looked at the Huitong Hall official and asked, "Does anyone follow you?"

Huitongguan official: “Yes.”

Hong Zhou smiled and said, "That's fine. This is the capital of Dashun, and we have your officials with us. Nothing can go wrong, right?!"

After hearing what he said, Jia Yucun had no choice but to grit his teeth and swallow his words.

The official from the Huitong Hall showed hesitation again and stood there hesitating. Jia Yucun was always sensitive: "Is there anything else?"

The official from the Huitong Hall then leaned over to Jia Yucun's ear and whispered a few words.

Jia Yucun was shocked again. Fu Kang'an's guards actually changed into animal skin coats. What did they want to do? Were they afraid that others would not know that they were Jurchens? !

Hong Zhou saw this and asked with a smile, "Minister Jia, are you still going to drink the welcoming wine?"

Jia Yucun: "Eat!" He then said to the official at the Huitong Hall: "Go and report to His Highness the Fourth Prince immediately."

The official from Huitong Hall said: “Yes.” He walked out quickly.

Hong Zhou still smiled: "Minister Jia, aren't you worried about anything happening?"

Jia Yucun showed no sign of weakness: "This is the capital, under the feet of the emperor, we can't turn the tables!" He waved his hand and shouted to everyone: "Let's eat! Let's eat! Those who can drink, drink; those who can eat, eat!" He then picked up the wine glass and said to Hong Zhou: "Prince Heqin, please!" He drank it in one gulp.

Hong Zhou's face turned blue and yellow.
After leaving Dongjiang Rice Lane, you will reach the prosperous Chongwenmenli Street, where there are crowds of people. People passing by stopped and looked curiously at the dozen or so Jurchens wearing animal skin coats and wearing golden rat tails on their heads.

Not far behind these Jurchens, two officials from the Huitong Hall were walking slowly with Fu Kang'an.

As Fu Kang'an walked, he said, "It is indeed true. The streets are bustling and the population is abundant. It is indeed different from other places. I think it won't be long before I can live here."

The two officials looked at each other and said nothing.

Obviously, they had discussed it beforehand, and the Jurchens walked straight out of Chongwen Gate.

Since goods distribution centers or markets are mainly concentrated along the line from Guangqumen Street to Chongwenmen Street, a bustling market has been formed here.

The market was bustling with people, with stalls of all kinds set up on both sides, people hawking goods, bargaining, and chattering, making it very lively.

As he walked, Fukang'an's eyes lit up. There were actually watermelons at this time.

An official from the Huitong Hall said with a smile: "Deputy Envoy, watermelons are no longer on the market after the Mid-Autumn Festival. This must be because they were delayed on the way and missed the festival."

Fu Kang'an smiled and nodded.

The Jurchens also saw the watermelon stall and walked straight over.

The stall owner frowned, not because he was afraid, but because he felt they couldn't afford it.

The Jurchens chatted for a while, and then each of them picked a big watermelon.

Without waiting for the stall owner to say anything, these people smashed the watermelons they had chosen with their fists and started eating.

The stall owner was stunned.

Some people gathered around and looked at the Jurchens who were wolfing down their food with curiosity.

More and more people gathered around, and many of them laughed out loud.

Finally, a Jurchen threw the half-eaten watermelon on the ground, spat on the ground, and waved his hand, "Let's go."

The Jurchens threw away the watermelons in their hands, stood up and prepared to leave.

The stall owner reacted and stepped forward to stop them: "You haven't paid yet?"

The Jurchen said in a stiff Chinese: "What money?"

The stall owner said: "You ate my watermelon, so of course you should pay for it!"

The Jurchen woman said: "Which eye of yours saw us eating your watermelon?"

The stall owner was amused: "Hey, you are playing tricks on me, right? Don't you even know where this place is?"

But the Jurchen man pushed him to the ground.

Several guys rushed up and helped the stall owner up.

The stall owner was furious: "Barbarians!"

The Jurchen laughed: "You said we are barbarians, and you asked us for money. Have you ever seen a barbarian give money?"

The stall owner was so angry that his eyes turned red and he raised his hand to hit him.

The Jurchen woman knocked him to the ground with one punch, and then kicked several of his men away.

The other Jurchens began to smash the watermelon stalls and laughed wildly.

Looking at the onlookers who dared not speak out in anger, the Jurchen sneered, "Coward!"

This sentence aroused public anger, and the onlookers began to curse, but no one dared to take action.

The Jurchen laughed out loud.

Suddenly, an idle man stood on tiptoe behind a few heads and smashed a stone on the forehead of the Jurchen woman, which immediately became red and swollen.

"Beat him!" Someone shouted.

Once someone started taking action, the others were naturally no longer afraid. A large group of people rushed forward and surrounded the Jurchens and started fighting. However, these ordinary people were no match for them and were beaten up in a short while.

This further angered the people in the market, and they all showed their hatred for the enemy. They picked up their weapons and rushed forward more fiercely, hitting the Jurchens with sticks and carrying poles.
(End of this chapter)