The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 276 It's only in comparison that it's truly disheartening

Children will be children. They wanted to run away after being scared by the disaster victims, but now that they've been coaxed a couple of times, they don't want to leave anymore.

However, Tu Chengyu dared not let him stay here any longer. He had hired someone to do something, not to help children play house.

So he said to Dong Hui, "You're only thirteen years old. It's not the right time for you to do these things. Go back and study hard first."

Hearing that Tu Chengyu wanted to send him away, Dong Hui became somewhat unwilling and muttered to himself:
"Your Highness is younger than me."

The implication is that since Tu Chengyu can work here, why should he be fired?

This child really doesn't understand anything. If he were even slightly sensible, he wouldn't have said such a thing.

Although what he said was a bit impolite, Tu Chengyu didn't take it to heart.

He said, "Don't try to compete with me. Go back and tell your family about what happened today. If they agree, then come back and tell me."

Dong Hui wanted to argue further, but Tu Chengyu didn't give him the chance and directly said to Quan Xu:
"Send someone to take him back, directly to his home."

Seeing this, Dong Hui knew that there was no point in lingering any longer, so he had no choice but to be reluctantly taken away by Quan Xu's men.

After he left, Tu Chengyu said to Quan Xu:

"Go ask Mr. Quan if there are two soldiers in any camp, and ask him to move one over for you."

Upon hearing this, Quan Xu immediately said:

“Your Highness, there’s no need to trouble Mr. Quan. We have extras in the Dingzi Camp. I can arrange one myself.”

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu turned to look at Quan Xu, and said with a half-smile:

"Quan Xu, you've grown bold, daring to make decisions on your own now?"

Quan Xu knew something was wrong when he saw Tu Chengyu's expression.

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, he immediately realized where he had gone wrong, and quickly said:

"Your Highness, I was confused. I will go and ask Mr. Quan for the person right away."

Because of the large number of people in the disaster relief camp, it is already difficult to manage, so many things must be done in accordance with the rules to avoid chaos.

If everyone were like Quan Xu, thinking only of taking shortcuts, then trouble would likely arise later.

After seeing Quan Xu off, Tu Chengyu wandered around again, and even went to check on the women and children's camp under Lin Daiyu's jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, Lin Daiyu and the others were busy with the poetry gathering today and did not come to the women and children's camp, so Tu Chengyu returned to his tent after taking a walk around.

Upon seeing Tu Chengyu return, Quan Wenwei eagerly brought the roster he had registered that morning to report to Tu Chengyu.

"Your Highness, there is news about the five scholars who did not report for duty."

Tu Chengyu took a sip of the freshly delivered tea and asked, "What's going on?"

When asked, it was said, "Of these five people, three regretted coming and didn't want to come anymore, one was stopped by his parents, and another was sick and said he could only come after he recovered."

Tu Chengyu didn't ask about the first four; he asked about the last one first:
Is the illness real?

"Is it true?" Quan Wenwei said, "With Yang Jijiu testifying, the people the students sent also saw with their own eyes that he was indeed injured and sick."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu said, "Then let's ignore that and wait until he recovers. As for the others, write down a list for me."

After listening, Quan Wenwei immediately handed over a list with four names on it.

However, after handing over the list, he asked, "Your Highness, what do you want this list for?"

Tu Chengyu sneered and said, "Those who dare to make fun of me will be taught a lesson."

Hearing Tu Chengyu's words, Quan Wenwei knew that these people probably wouldn't have a good time in the future.

In fact, Quan Wenwei also agreed with Tu Chengyu's approach to dealing with them.

However, there is a special case here that he has to remind Tu Chengyu of.

"Your Highness, I will not stop you from doing whatever you wish, but there is one person you should be wary of."

"Oh, who is this person of such high status that I need to be careful?" Tu Chengyu asked with great surprise.

Quan Wenwei said, "This person doesn't have much status, but he has been known as a child prodigy since childhood, and he has been successful in the imperial examinations. Therefore, he is quite famous among scholars. Everyone thinks that he will be the one to stand out in the next imperial examination. So, sir, I hope that Your Highness will be cautious."

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu felt that the words sounded somewhat familiar.

He thought for a moment before remembering that during this year's imperial examination, there seemed to be a famous scholar from the Jiangnan literati who had been defeated by him and ultimately failed the exam.

Even after this happened, the scholars of Jiangnan didn't do anything to him.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu said to Quan Wenwei, "This kind of person dares to break his promise to me. If he were to pass the imperial examination and become an official, wouldn't he be even more unscrupulous when facing the people? So the greater his reputation, the less I can allow him to become an official."

Quan Wenwei also agreed with Tu Chengyu's words, but he still reminded him:
“Your Highness, this person does not not want to come, but is stopped by his parents. He has his reasons. If Your Highness prevents him from passing the imperial examination because of this, I am afraid that the officials and scholars in the court will not be satisfied.”

Tu Chengyu then realized that they were talking about the person who had been stopped from coming.

However, Tu Chengyu did not agree with this reason, as the saying goes, there is no harm without comparison.

Tu Chengyu had just met Zou Xicheng, who had arrived a day earlier, but his family objected.

So they decided not to go home and came directly from the Imperial College, arriving a day early.

In comparison, this person seemed to be looked down upon by Tu Chengyu.

Therefore, after listening to Quan Wenwei's reminder, Tu Chengyu still said:

"Mr. Quan, please don't concern yourself with this matter. I know what I'm doing."

Since Tu Chengyu had already said that, what could Quan Wenwei do but think about reminding him again later?

After saying those unpleasant things, Quan Wenwei got down to business.

"Your Highness, what should we do next regarding the old alley?"

Tu Chengyu thought for a moment about what the Emperor had instructed him to do, and then said:
"The work on the ancient alley doesn't need to stop. You organize the manpower first, and we'll demolish those dilapidated houses in the ancient alley in a couple of days."

"Regarding manpower, the students have already been sent out with tape, and the number of people in each disaster camp has been counted. They are just waiting for Your Highness's instructions."

Hearing that everything was ready, Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and said:

"In that case, let the newly arrived scholar coordinate the manpower, and we'll go in and start working the day after tomorrow, and try to level the whole area in two or three days."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will make the arrangements immediately."

"You arrange the manpower. I'll go back early today and inform the patrol battalion and the military command to let them pass the day after tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)