[Dream of the Red Chamber] Lin Hu's Road to a Comeback

[Note] Updates at 8 p.m. VIP notice: This novel will become a paid title on March 29, 2023. There will be a 10,000-character update that day. Thanks to all the sweethearts who've supported me! Lin Hu never imagined he'd transmigrate into Dream of the Red Chamber and become Lin Ruhai's illegitimate younger brother. Luckily, his adoptive mother was kind, and his elder brother and sister-in-law had been childless for years and raised him as their own. He didn't have much to suffer, anyway. Lin Hu originally thought that as long as he studied hard, clung to his elder brother's coattails, got himself a minor official post, married a gentle, quiet wife, and made two or three close friends, he could live out his life in peace. But life is unpredictable. One careless move drew him into the struggle over the succession, and he instantly fell to rock bottom. Still, rock bottom wasn't so bad. It meant he was far from the turmoil of power struggles. Just as Lin Hu was thinking of continuing to make himself useful in some remote place, his friend couldn't bear to see his talents go to waste and brought him back to the capital. By then, he had become the foremost civil official. This is the story of his journey from an illegitimate son of the Lin family to a high-ranking official of the first grade. Content warnings: 1. The author is Team Lin Daiyu and will unconditionally favor her. Other characters may be portrayed negatively, including Xue Baochai, Lady Wang, and Jia Baoyu. 2. The novel includes many original elements, and the main characters of the original story will appear relatively late. 3. This is set in an alternate history. Not for readers who insist on strict historical accuracy. 4. This novel is exclusive to Jinjiang. Reposting in any form is prohibited. No ranking or comparisons. Copyright infringement will be pursued. My next upcoming novel is "[Qing Transmigration] When a Ming Dynasty Fan Became Yongzheng's Guardian Spirit." If you like it, you can add it to your favorites in advance. Thanks! Synopsis: Ye Zhenzhen never imagined that as a diehard Ming Dynasty fan, she'd transmigrate to the Qing dynasty and become Yongzheng's guardian spirit. Ye Zhenzhen was at a loss. If she had to transmigrate, she could have gone to the Ming dynasty. What was she doing in the Qing? Although Yongzheng was hailed as the only Chinese emperor of the Qing dynasty, she still didn't like the Qing. "The Great Ming never arranged marriages to secure peace, never paid reparations, never ceded territory, and never paid tribute. The emperor guarded the gates of the capital, and the ruler died with the state. It was the most principled dynasty in Chinese history. Your Great Qing can't compare." Ye Zhenzhen sneered. "Ha! Principles? In the early Ming, the Northern Yuan and the Later Goryeo kingdom on the Korean Peninsula had good relations. To drive them apart, Zhu Yuanzhang expressed to Goryeo's envoys his wish for a marriage alliance. Unexpectedly, Goryeo soon fell and was replaced by the Joseon dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang then proposed a marriage alliance to Joseon as well. But Yi Seong-gye worried that a princess backed by the Ming would control his court, so he rejected the match. Later, Zhu Di proposed another marriage alliance with Joseon, and was rejected again." "After the Tumu Crisis, the Zhengtong Emperor of the Ming was captured. In an effort to bring him home, Zhou Xu, a Hanlin Academy reader-in-waiting, memorialized the throne, saying, 'If Your Majesty can be returned at once, then we can forge friendly ties through marriage and enjoy benefits for generations.' After the Coup at the Gate of the Palace, the Zhengtong Emperor reclaimed the throne and began fulfilling the marriage agreement he'd made with Esen. To save face, he called the marriage alliance a mutual trade agreement." "After returning, the Zhengtong Emperor not only arranged a marriage alliance with the Oirat, but paid them a great deal of money as well. He just changed the name to save face. During the reign of the Longqing Emperor, the Minister of War Fang Fengshi explicitly said, 'A marriage alliance is humiliating, and paying them off is shameful. Now we call it tribute, so it is no longer a marriage alliance; we call it trade, so it is no longer a bribe.'" "And during the Jiajing era..." Ye Zhenzhen snapped, "Even so, the Qing was worse! After the First Opium War, it signed the humiliating Treaty of Nanjing... And then came the Treaty of Tianjin, the Convention of Peking, the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and the Boxer Protocol." Now it was Yongzheng's turn to fly into a rage. Theme: Life is always full of unexpected surprises