The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 20: Sit Straight

What a bright sunshine!

On the 79th day of the lunar month, the river opened up and the weather gradually became warmer. The willow trees outside the wall of the Infantry Commander's Office sprouted green buds as big as beans.

Prince Zhongshun, dressed in princely attire and holding a great seal, walked in through the gate, surrounded by a group of palace guards.

Both sides of the road leading to the lobby of the Infantry Commander's Office were filled with officials of all levels who came to report.

All the officials bowed together and said, "We, the humble officials, pay our respects to Your Majesty!"

King Zhongshun walked while smiling and nodding to both sides.

Suddenly, he saw Li Hu in the crowd.

Prince Zhongshun paused for a moment, then strode towards the hall.

Sitting down in the middle of the hall, King Zhongshun nodded with satisfaction. The emperor had officially issued an edict in the morning to appoint him as the commander of the Infantry Commander's Office.

On both sides of him stood the palace guards with swords on their waists.

The generals of the left and right wings each walked in holding a large stack of manuscripts and presented them to King Zhongshun with both hands.

Prince Zhongshun took the book and slowly flipped through it. When he turned to one of the books, he asked, "Is Li Hu here?"

The left wing general: "Yes. He just came out of the palace and came here immediately."

King Zhongshun rolled his eyes and said to the clerk at the door, "Go and get the account book of the South Camp."

The clerk came back soon with the account book.

Prince Zhongshun picked up the money and grain account book and slowly flipped through it. Suddenly, he fixed his eyes on a line in the middle and asked, "What are you going to use these 600 taels of high-quality ginseng for? The Infantry Commander's Office is a military camp, not someone's pharmacy!"

The clerk said, "Your Highness, these ginsengs are used to make medicine for the wounded soldiers. We have asked the Imperial Household Department for help."

Prince Zhongshun snorted, picked up the weapons account book again and flipped through it quickly. Then his eyes stopped and asked, "Why are these lines blacked out?"

The clerk took the account book, looked at it, and answered hesitantly, "These armors."

Prince Zhongshun stood up suddenly and said, "Iron armor? What kind of iron armor? Why is there iron armor in the South Camp? Li Hu wants to rebel! Come on!"

The palace guards immediately responded, "Yes!"

King Zhongshun: "Bring the rebel here to me."

The clerk woke up with a start and shouted, "Your Highness, those armors were borrowed by General Li from the Imperial City Armory with His Majesty's order. Someone from the Imperial Household Department came this morning to inform us that the armors had been returned to the armory and that we should settle the account."

King Zhongshun was startled at first, then his face turned red, and he slammed the table: "Drag him out and give him twenty military sticks!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two guards pounced on him like wolves and tigers and grabbed the clerk.

The clerk was stunned.

Two guards picked up the clerk and dragged him out of the lobby.

"Your Highness! Spare my life!" the clerk finally cried out, but it was too late.

The left and right wing generals looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

Prince Zhongshun sat down and flipped through the account books irritably, his face becoming increasingly ugly. Then, he slammed the weapons account book shut, his chest rising and falling, and after a long while, he evened out his breathing and said, "Let Li Hu in."

A clerk shouted, "Li Hu, the lieutenant commander of the Southern Camp, is here to answer questions!"

Everyone was shocked and looked at Li Hu.

There was no one in the court who was unaware that Li Hu had not given any gifts to King Zhongshun. They all understood that King Zhongshun would definitely take revenge on Li Hu, but they did not expect that he would be so impatient!
Li Hu smiled and strode towards the hall.

The officials were cheered up and became excited.

After learning that Prince Zhongshun would serve as the commander of the Infantry Commander's Office, Li Hu made a decision immediately and quickly dealt with the affairs of the South Camp.

He went to the palace early in the morning to get the emperor's handwritten edict.

He was just promoted to Lieutenant General of the South Camp yesterday, and before he could even warm up to the world, he was promoted to Guerrilla General, Guerrilla General of the Left Outpost of the Fifth Army Camp.

The Dashun army followed the Ming system, and the Beijing camp was divided into three major camps, namely: the Five Army Camp, the Three Thousand Camp and the Shenji Camp.

The Fifth Army Camp was the largest and most populous of the three camps, with a population of over 20 at one point. It was the main force of the three camps and participated in all of Dashun's military operations, defeating the Eight Banners Cavalry in the Liaoxi Corridor, suppressing four rebellions in southern Xinjiang, and bringing peace to the Northwest to this day.

The Five Army Camps were composed of cavalry and infantry, and were divided into the Central Army, the Left Wing Army, the Left Sentinel Army, the Right Wing Army, and the Right Sentinel Army.

Each of them had 15,000 infantry, a total of 75,000 infantry. The central army had 5,400 cavalry, and the remaining 3,000 to 4,000 people, a total of more than 20,000 cavalry.

The central army was led by the governor of the Beijing camp. The Zuoye Army, Zuoshao Army, Youye Army and Youshao Army had one deputy general and three lieutenant generals. They had six battalions under their jurisdiction (each battalion had 2000 to 3000 soldiers) and were led by a guerrilla general.

At any time, the organization of the army is a military secret. Li Hu learned from Dai Quan that it was not only the Shenji Camp that had firearms, but the Fifth Army Camp was also equipped with a lot of firearms, and they were all the most advanced flintlock rifles.

As the cost of flintlock rifles was too high, only the Imperial Guards, the Beijing Garrison and the Border Army were equipped with flintlock rifles, while the rest still used bird guns as their main firearms.

Prince Zhongshun, who was sitting behind a big desk, stared closely at Li Hu, who was standing in the hall.

Although Li Hu was also staring at him, there was a smile on his face.

King Zhongshun: "Why don't you bow to me when you see me?"

Li Hu just clasped his hands: "Your Majesty."

"How dare you!" Prince Zhongshun grabbed the gavel on the case and slammed it hard. "I am now the commander of the Infantry Command Office. You are working for me, but you are so unruly! Kneel down!"

The palace guards on both sides shouted in unison: "Kneel down!"

Li Hu just looked at him.

Prince Zhongshun glared and said, "This is the hall of the Infantry Commander's Office. I am the hall officer. If you are disrespectful to your superiors, I will punish you. You will also have a say in the Yuqing Palace."

Li Hu still didn't say anything.

Prince Zhongshun was impatient: "I will give you face. As long as you kowtow and admit your mistakes, everything that happened before will be written off."

"What's the matter?" Li Hu asked suddenly.

King Zhongshun was stunned. How should he respond to this? He couldn't say that Li Hu didn't give him any gifts.

"I understand."

Li Hu slapped his forehead and said, "The prince is still worried about the gift."

Prince Zhongshun slammed the gavel and shouted, "Shut up!"

Li Hu: "I will go back now, sell the mansion the prince gave me as a reward, and give the money to the prince."

When these words were heard, everyone's heart skipped a beat.

"Hit me!"

King Zhongshun was furious. He reached out to grab the bamboo sticks in the tube on the table, but he accidentally knocked the tube over. The entire tube fell to the ground, and ten bamboo sticks were scattered all over the floor. The tube even rolled out of the hall.

The left and right wing generals were stunned.

Prince Zhongshun was also stunned.

There was a stick tube on the big case in the courts at all levels. As a rule, there were ten bamboo sticks in the tube. The judge would take out the sticks and throw them into the hall to hit someone. According to the rules, one stick would result in ten strokes of the cane, and ten sticks would result in a hundred strokes of the cane.

The guards of the palace all looked at King Zhongshun. The Infantry Commander's Office belonged to the military camp, so they could punish the current officials without asking for permission, but they certainly could not beat them with a hundred sticks.

King Zhongshun wanted to take this opportunity to beat Li Hu with ten sticks to relieve his hatred, but he accidentally knocked over the lottery box, so he couldn't really beat him with a hundred sticks. But the lots were scattered, so he couldn't just pick them up! People outside were watching.

Li Hu walked forward slowly and stopped in front of the big case.

King Zhongshun was startled and asked sternly, "What are you doing?"

Li Hu took out the Yongchang Emperor's handwritten edict from his bosom and said, "Your Highness Zhongshun, please take a look at the Emperor's handwritten edict."

Prince Zhongshun took the imperial edict blankly, and his expression became uglier as his eyes moved over it. Then, he looked at Li Hu fiercely and asked, "Why didn't you take it out earlier?"

Li Hu took the imperial edict from him, folded it carefully, and put it in his arms, saying, "I would like to say it, but the prince won't give me a chance."

King Zhongshun was so angry that his face turned pale: "Okay, okay. I wish Lord Li to be made a marquis immediately."

"Lend your blessings."

Li Hu clasped his hands and said, "I won't delay Your Highness." Then he bowed to the left and right wing generals, turned around and walked out.

The left and right wing generals: "Your Majesty."

Prince Zhongshun sat in the chair and panted for a long time: "You all go back, the others will be gone today."

The left and right wing generals looked at each other and said, "Yes," and retreated.

A palace guard spoke up: "Your Majesty, do you want to pick up these bamboo sticks?"

"Get out!" King Zhongshun roared.

His guards hurried out of the lobby, and suddenly there was a "bang" sound in the lobby, and a piece of tea bowl fragment flew out.

The imperial desk in the upper study was piled with memorials again. Emperor Yongchang raised his head from the pile of memorials and looked at Dai Quan who came in.

Dai Quan whispered a few words into Emperor Yongchang's ear.

Emperor Yongchang was stunned at first, then he started laughing.

After laughing, Emperor Yongchang asked: "What did he say?"

Dai Quan smiled and said, "You need to sit straight."

Emperor Yongchang smiled with satisfaction and nodded: "He thinks the number of firearms is too small, so I will give him a bureau (each bureau has 1 captain and 112 officers and soldiers)."

Dai Quan: “Yes.” He walked to the compartment, picked up the kettle, and brewed tea in front of the imperial desk.

At this time, Emperor Yongchang unfolded a memorial and his expression suddenly became serious.

Dai Quan was startled and looked at the emperor with his eyes open.

Emperor Yongchang slammed his palm on the imperial desk and said: "Last year, there was a drought in Shaanxi and the autumn grain was not harvested. I issued a clear decree to exempt Shaanxi from taxes and grain for the whole year. How could thousands of people still die of starvation and cold?"

Dai Quan was secretly shocked. This was the number reported by the Censor of Shaanxi Province. The actual number was probably over ten thousand.

Emperor Yongchang: "Send the people from the Imperial Household Department. Put on civilian clothes and look around Shaanxi for me. It looks like we have to kill a few people this time."

Dai Quan: "I understand."

(End of this chapter)