The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 7 The Art of Giving and Receiving Gifts

Before daybreak, the door opened with a click.

Two young men came out carrying long poles and lanterns. They then used the long poles to lift the lanterns and hung them on the eaves, then went back in.

The two big characters "Li Mansion" were printed on the lantern.

After a while, two waiters came out with a long bamboo broom and started sweeping in front of the door.

It was dawn and there was a sound of hurried horse hooves.

Zhang Cheng came galloping over with a team of cavalrymen from the South Camp.

The three-courtyard quadrangle is the most standard quadrangle structure in Beijing, with the most reasonable and compact layout. Starting from the main gate, along the space enclosed by the back house and the hanging flower gate, you enter the first courtyard. Then, from the hanging flower gate along the east wing, the main house and the west wing, the second courtyard is formed, that is, the inner courtyard. Extending from the main house to the back house, it forms the third courtyard.

There is often a small space with green plants between the east and west wing rooms and the ear room, which adds a lot of vitality to the small courtyard.

Zhang Cheng hurriedly walked into the Chuihua Gate.

Li Hu, dressed in a plain white cotton short-sleeved shirt and long pants, was practicing swordsmanship in the yard. He was dancing with the sword so vigorously that the sound of tearing the air made Zhang Cheng's eyes widen.

Li Hu sensed it with his peripheral vision, but did not stop, instead he asked, "Are you ready?"

Zhang Cheng quickly replied, "Yes."

"Come over and talk." Li Hu stopped when Zhang Cheng came over, then wiped the sweat off his face and asked, "Do you have anything to say?"

Zhang Cheng hesitated for a moment and whispered, "This is the first time that the general has given a gift to the royal family. There are many eyes watching. If we don't give a gift to Prince Zhongshun at this time, we will offend him to death! And the prince, isn't it too generous for a dying man?"

Li Hu raised his hand and said solemnly, "Even if he dies tomorrow, he is still the crown prince, the heir to the throne of the Dashun Dynasty. If the courtesy is too little, it will not only slap the emperor in the face, but also make those with ulterior motives imagine all sorts of things, and even suspect that the emperor wants to give up the crown prince, do you understand?"

Zhang Cheng's face turned pale, obviously remembering something.

Li Hu: "As for King Zhongshun, haha, let's talk about it when he no longer holds military power."

Zhang Cheng: "General, are you trying to avoid suspicion?"

Li Hu suddenly changed the subject: "How is the matter I asked you to investigate going?"

Zhang Cheng: "The news is true. Prince Zhong's two sons both died in the clan house. This is some information about the lineage of the four princes and eight dukes." As he said this, he took out a piece of paper from his arms.

Li Hu took the exhibition and saw that due to different political inclinations, there were also disagreements among the four kings and eight dukes, which was exactly what the emperor wanted to see. Among the four kings, the Beijing King and the Nan'an County King were close to the Jia family, while the East and West Kings were estranged from the Jia family. The East and West Kings had not left the house for many years, the Nan'an County King had been guarding the southern border all year round, and the Beijing King Shui Rong was not only active in the court, but also often invited various literati to gather in his house to recite poems and write couplets, and he also had the reputation of a "virtuous king".

A virtuous king? Why do you, a king of a different surname, need such a reputation? Shui Rong is not a good person at first glance! No wonder even Jia Zhen did not dare to make close friends with him in the original novel.

Among the four major families in Jinling, Wang Ziteng is the best. He is the governor of the Beijing Camp and controls the largest armed force in the capital. Even the emperor has to look up to him.

The second is the historian. Shi Ding, Marquis of Zhongjing, is the emperor’s confidant and is likely to take over the position of commander of the imperial guards.

The Xue family has no power in Beijing, so this cannot be said. The other day, on the way to search the house, I saw that famous pawnshop.

As for the Jia family, it seems that they have no political inclinations at the moment, and the whole family lives their own lives behind closed doors.

Jia Jing devoted himself to practicing Taoism in Xuanzhen Temple outside the city. Jia Rong had just married the daughter of Qin Ye, a construction official of the Ministry of Works, a few years ago. It was not known whether Qin Keqing was the daughter of the deposed crown prince.

Jia She is an old otaku, and I wonder if he spends the whole day drinking with his concubine like in the original novel.

Jia Zheng failed to pass the imperial examination, but luckily he was awarded an official position in the Ministry of Works. However, this was a grace granted during the reign of the retired emperor. Now that the emperor has changed, it is hard to say what will happen next.

With Zhang Yang's ability, he can only find out this information at present. He has not found out the deeper gossip at all, such as why Jia She inherited the title and Jia Zheng inherited the property of the title, why Jia Jing suddenly became a monk, whose daughter is Xichun, whether Jia Zhen and Qin Keqing are having an affair, and who is supporting his brother-in-law. What a damn gossipy person.

Just then, an old man in steward's clothes walked in.

He was the only relative of the original body in this world, a distant uncle without children, Li San. Li San: "The people from the Zhuozhou Chamber of Commerce arrived in Beijing yesterday and sent people to pay their respects with gifts." As he said this, he handed the gift list to Li Hu.

Li Hu took it and it said: Twelve baskets of goat milk tangerines, twelve jars of thirty-year-old wine, and two hundred kilograms of silver thread Beijing hangings.

Li San continued, "The people from the Zhuozhou Chamber of Commerce said that they have a farm in Daxing with ten mu of land. Due to the poor management of the manager, it has suffered heavy losses, so they want to sell it to us."

Li Hu: "What's the price?"

Li San: "Five hundred taels, we can talk about it later."

Li Hu: "Give him one thousand taels."

Li San: “Yes.” He turned and walked out.

This was the fifth day since Li Hu came to this world. He risked his life on the first day, and in the next three days, he was either confiscating houses or on the way to confiscating houses. He accepted 30,000 taels of silver with a pinch of his nose.

When the news that he took over the South Camp spread, businessmen lined up to give him gifts that night. As a five-good young man who had received a high level of ideological education, how could Li Hu accept bribes!

One has to admire these businessmen; knowing Li Hu's concerns, they proposed a solution that would benefit both parties: all the valuable gifts would be sold to Li Hu, but the price would be another matter.

In a business, ten thousand taels of silver is a price, and one tael of silver is also a price. Take this courtyard house with three entrances and four sides for example, it was bought from a wine merchant for one hundred taels of silver.

They felt reassured when they gave the gift, and Li Hu felt reassured when he received it.

In just three days, Li Hu achieved financial freedom, no, to be more precise, wealth.

Zhang Cheng spoke up: "There are two things I just heard yesterday."

Li Hu turned his gaze to him again.

"One is about the South Camp. In fact, the soldiers of the South Camp did not pocket all the silver they took from the criminal's house. Instead, they handed over the bulk to the three captains Zhao, Qian, and Sun."

Li Hu's expression suddenly changed: "Is this true?!"

Zhang Cheng nodded and continued, "Not only the confiscated property, but also the money obtained from merchants on a daily basis. In fact, they don't care who governs the South Camp. These three have their own backgrounds, and the Infantry Commander's Office has to give them some face. They..."

Li Hu: "Stop talking! I don't need to know who they are! What's the other thing?"

Zhang Cheng: "It's about the Fifth Patrol Battalion secretly colluding with underworld gangs."

"Oh?!" Li Hu was startled again.

Zhang Cheng leaned over to Li Hu's ear and whispered something.

Li Hu was stunned and didn't say anything for a long time.

Zhang Cheng: "In fact, the Infantry Command Office has always known about it, but in their eyes, the tragic deaths of civilians and lost children are not as important as the silver. The situation in our South City is the most serious."

Li Hu came back to his senses and looked at Zhang Cheng steadily. After a long while, he spoke: "Did you know this a long time ago?"

Zhang Cheng lowered his head.

Li Hu withdrew his gaze and looked at the rising sun in the distance, and a golden light shone on his face.

The sunlight shone into Li Hu's eyes, reflecting two points of golden light!
Li Hu: "Nothing will go according to your wishes, but there will always be a time when things go according to your wishes." After saying that, he turned and walked into the west wing.

Zhang Cheng was stunned for a moment. After he understood what Li Hu said, an expression of surprise and complexity appeared on his face.

"You go and get ready first. I'll be there after I take a shower." Li Hu's voice came from the west wing again.

(End of this chapter)