The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 99 Discussing Countermeasures and Preparing in Advance

Tu Chengyu called Du Ruoheng over not only for a casual chat, but also for other reasons.

He noticed Du Ruoheng's discomfort and thought he would chat casually for a few minutes to ease the atmosphere.

Tu Chengyu said, "You and I are quite destined to meet, as we have met in a place like this."

Du Ruoheng replied, "It is my honor to meet Your Highness."

Tu Chengyu asked, "I remember you are a candidate for the imperial examination. What are you doing here?"

Du Ruoheng replied, "Your Highness, I have failed the imperial examination and have nothing to do in the capital. I might as well go home early and review my essays."

Tu Chengyu didn't believe Du Ruoheng's words.

When Hu Guangjin first met him at the park, he mentioned that Du Ruoheng liked making friends.

Now, with scholars gathering in the capital, it's a perfect opportunity to make friends, so why did he choose to leave the capital?

Tu Chengyu figured he definitely wasn't in a hurry to go home and study.

As for the reason, Tu Chengyu had no interest in finding out. He hadn't called the person over to pry into their privacy.

Tu Chengyu continued the casual conversation: "Judging from your attire, your family must be quite wealthy. May I ask what kind of business your family runs?"

Du Ruoheng didn't know why Tu Chengyu was asking these questions, and vaguely replied:

"Your Highness, my family has been in business for generations. But my father abandoned business for literature, which is why our family has changed its ways."

It turns out he came from a merchant family; no wonder he could interact with someone like Hu Guangjin with such ease, despite being a failed scholar.

Tu Chengyu asked, "Did your father serve as an official?"

Du Ruoheng said, "To my shame, my father was only a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination) and only recently filled a vacancy and went to Shanxi to serve as a county magistrate."

Tu Chengyu said, "Being able to serve as a county magistrate is good enough."

After chatting about everyday things for a while, Tu Chengyu noticed that he was gradually becoming less nervous.

He then said, "I summoned you here because I want to ask you about some things."

Du Ruoheng said, "Your Highness, please speak. I will answer all your questions without reservation."

Tu Chengyu said, "You are from Yuzhang Prefecture, do you know if there are any bandits or local bullies around Yuzhang Prefecture?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu ask this question, Du Ruoheng was stunned and speechless for a moment, unsure how to answer.

After a long while, he stammered, "Why does Your Highness ask such a question?"

Tu Chengyu said, "This is not something you can inquire about. You only need to tell me, does it exist?"

Du Ruoheng said cautiously, "With the current emperor on the throne and virtuous ministers assisting him, the country is at peace. There should be no such wicked person as Your Highness described."

After listening, Tu Chengyu looked regretful, thought for a moment, and then asked:

"Since there are no bandits or local bullies, are there any notorious corrupt officials?"

This problem is even more frightening than the one before.

When it comes to matters of officialdom, Du Ruoheng would never dare to speak recklessly.

He said tremblingly, "With the Holy Emperor above us and the government so clean and efficient, there should be no such corrupt officials."

After listening, Tu Chengyu looked at Du Ruoheng suspiciously and said:
"Is there really such a wonderful place in the world? Are you trying to deceive me?"

Du Ruoheng said, "This student dares not deceive Your Highness. However, when I am at home, I am always studying hard behind closed doors and do not know much about what is happening outside. If I have said anything wrong, I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

Tu Chengyu said, "If you don't know, you don't know, yet you still give me such high-sounding words."

Du Ruoheng said, "I am ashamed."

As he spoke, he thought to himself, "If I tell the truth about these things you've asked, and it gets back to the court, not only the emperor, but even the ministers won't let me off the hook."

Moreover, what Du Ruoheng couldn't understand was why Tu Chengyu, a prince of the current dynasty, would inquire about things like bandits, local bullies, and corrupt officials.

He was neither a local official nor a military commander stationed in the prefecture. Even if he knew, what use would it be? Did he intend to eliminate evil and maintain order?

It's a pity that Tu Chengyu couldn't hear Du Ruoheng's thoughts. If he could, he would definitely give him a thumbs up.

Because that's really what Tu Chengyu was thinking; he wanted to cause some trouble.

This wasn't because he'd lost his mind or wanted to show off; it was a strategy he and Quan Wenwei had come up with together.

Two days before leaving Beijing, Tu Chengyu met with Quan Wenwei outside the palace.

The main purpose of this meeting was for Tu Chengyu to ask Quan Wenwei to help him analyze how to complete the task assigned to him by his father.

Although his father described these three tasks as relatively easy, Tu Chengyu thought about it carefully and realized they were not so simple.

In particular, inspecting the grain fields involved a crucial area of ​​tax revenue in Jiangnan, which was also the stronghold of civil officials. How could it be so simple?

So when he shared his thoughts with Quan Wenwei, Quan Wenwei also felt that inspecting the farmland was of utmost importance and could not be taken lightly.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu recalled his conversation with Quan Wenwei two days ago.

Quan Wenwei said at the time, "His Majesty must have already received news about the grain fields in Jiangnan from elsewhere. The reason for sending the prince this time is to have the prince confirm the authenticity of this news." "This matter concerns how His Majesty will govern in the future, so Your Highness must take it seriously."

Tu Chengyu said, "I also thought of this, which is why I came to discuss with you, Mr. Quan, how to proceed."

Quan Wenwei said, "Does Your Highness have any ideas or solutions?"

Tu Chengyu said, "In this haste, I can't think of any good solutions. I only have one plan: to feign an attack on one side while secretly advancing on another. I wonder if it's feasible?"

Quan Wenwei said, "Your Highness, please speak. I will consider it for you."

Tu Chengyu said, "Although I did not inform the officials of the various prefectures about my trip to Jiangnan, given my status, they will certainly keep a close eye on my movements."

Quan Wenwei said, "That's right. If Your Highness wants to do something, it will inevitably attract everyone's attention."

Tu Chengyu said, "Since I can't avoid their attention, I might as well stand in the open and draw all their attention to me."

"Then, send another group of men separately from me to secretly infiltrate various parts of Jiangnan and investigate the grain fields for me."

After listening to Tu Chengyu's words, Quan Wenwei said, "Your Highness's plan is very good, but there is one thing we need to pay special attention to."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Which aspect?"

Quan Wenwei said, "The other group must be led by someone reliable and who has no connection with the prince."

"Otherwise, not only will things not get done, but it will also alert the enemy, making things even more difficult for Your Highness later."

Tu Chengyu said, "Don't worry about this, Mr. Quan. My father has sent me an assistant to specifically investigate the grain fields."

Quan Wenwei said, "It seems that Your Highness has already made up your mind. We can proceed accordingly."

Tu Chengyu shook his head and said, "But I think this plan is a little too simplistic."

"Think about it, if I went to Jiangnan, standing in the open, but did nothing at all..."

"Given time, those people will inevitably figure out that I am just a figurehead."

"This way, they'll know there's a bomb, and their attention will be drawn back to the men in the shadows."

"I would like to ask Mr. Quan to plug this loophole."

Quan Wenwei stroked his beard and said, "What Your Highness said is indeed a flaw, but this matter is not difficult to resolve."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Mr. Quan, do you have any good ideas?"

Quan Wenwei said, "Your Highness, since you want others to keep their eyes on you and not be able to guess your true intentions..."

"You just need to do a few other things to make them think you're there for something else, and that will do."

Tu Chengyu said, "Then what would be appropriate for me to do?"

Quan Wenwei said, "Given the prince's age and his past behavior, ordinary matters will not achieve the results the prince desires."

"Therefore, if Your Highness really wants to do it, you must do something outrageous."

Upon hearing about the outrageous matter, Tu Chengyu became interested and said:
"Mr. Quan, tell me, what outrageous thing should I do?"

Quan Wenwei knew Tu Chengyu's audacious nature, so he directly said what Tu Chengyu really wanted to do.

"Your Highness could arrest corrupt officials or deal with bandits and tyrants."

Tu Chengyu said, "I would quite like to do these two things, but we're traveling by boat the whole way, where are we going to do them?"

Quan Wenwei said, "Your Highness, there's no need to rush these two things. We can do them after we arrive in Jiangnan and offer sacrifices to our ancestors."

"Or Your Highness could find a way to spread the news that you intend to deal with corrupt officials in advance. Perhaps you can achieve your goal without doing such a thing."

The two devised a plan that day, and Tu Chengyu sent Yang Chun to secretly lead a group of people away from the capital a day in advance to investigate the matter of the grain fields.

He then led his men to postpone their departure by one day.

Everything was proceeding according to plan until Tu Chengyu accidentally saw Du Ruoheng at the post station.

He realized that this Du Ruoheng seemed to be a scholar from Yuzhang Prefecture, and that he had a wide circle of friends.

If we use him to spread false information, it will definitely be twice as effective with half the effort.

That's how things came to this point, where Tu Chengyu called Du Ruoheng over to inquire about bandits and corrupt officials.

Seeing Du Ruoheng so frightened by the two absurd things he had said, he was completely distracted.

Tu Chengyu secretly rejoiced, but said aloud, "Since you don't know these things, I won't make things difficult for you. You may leave."

Upon hearing that he was to be allowed to leave, Du Ruoheng quickly got up to say goodbye.

He had barely walked a short distance from the door when Tu Chengyu deliberately said something else:
What I am about to tell you today is a secret; do not tell anyone else.

Upon hearing this, Du Ruoheng stopped in his tracks, turned around, and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I understand."

After saying that, he turned around and fled the courtyard with even faster steps than before.

(End of this chapter)