What is the relationship between this famous novel and this historical book on Tsao Yin / Cao Yin?
Answer- the writer of The Dream of the Red Chamber is the grandson of Cao Yin who was a rich nobleman greatly favoured by Emperor Kang Hsi / Kangxi.
By the time Cao Xueqin wrote this famous novel, the family had fallen into poverty. The history of his own family’s decline and fall forms the general background of the novel. {p 31 Hawkes}.
This volume 1 has a very useful Introduction on the origin and evolution of the novel.