I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 155: Three more achievements, a natural born lucky general ( words chapter)
Xu Fan's eyes were fixed on the wooden box in Lin Shisan's hand.

He didn't know how much evidence Lin Shisan had of the Xu family's transactions with the Japanese pirates.

Lin Shisan said, "Master Xu, I'll tell you clearly. As long as the crown prince does not fall, then Xu Cifu will not fall. I don't have the courage to make the contents of this wooden box public."

"But then again. I give face to the Xu family, and I ask the Xu family to give face to Prince Yu."

"Prince Yu's brother-in-law is on a business trip outside the capital for the first time. You have to take the lead and help Li Gao get the job done."

Xu Fan asked: "Lin Chuanfeng, how much money do you want my Xu family to pay to take the lead? Tell me the number."

Lin Shisan thought for a moment and said, "The Xu family owns 200,000 mu of land in Songjiang Prefecture. Each mu produces three dan of rice per year, minus one dan for hired farmers. The Xu family gets 400,000 dan of rice per year, which is equivalent to about 200,000 taels of silver."

"I think the Xu family should donate one year's income from their land. How about 200,000 taels of silver?"

Xu Fan asked: "What's in the box?"

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "No problem. Uncle Zhang, bring the brazier up."

Uncle Zhang brought a large brazier, put the wooden box into the brazier, poured kerosene on it and lit it.

Suddenly there was a flash of fire.

Poor Hu Zongxian's seven-year-old grandson took twelve days to copy the complete version of "Three Character Classic", but it was taken away by Lin Shisan and burned.

The wicked one is smoking!

Lin Shisan and Xu Fan returned to the banquet.

Lin Shisan said nothing and continued to eat.

Li Gao asked: "My Master Xu, Brother Xu, and Ancestor Xu. The Xu family is the leader of the great families in Jiangnan. Please say something, will you help me or not?"

Xu Fan gritted his teeth and said, "My Xu family has been blessed by the emperor for generations. For such an important event as the selection of a son-in-law for the royal cat, even if my Xu family goes bankrupt, we will help Master Li complete the task."

"The Xu family is willing to donate two hundred thousand taels of silver!"

After saying the number of two hundred thousand taels, Xu Fan's heart was bleeding!

The nobles and gentry looked at each other, and no one spoke.

While chewing on a pigeon, Lin Shisan said calmly, "Everyone, Wang Zhi was killed by Wang Bengu. The Japanese invasion will not be quelled in three to five years. Those who engage in smuggling trade can continue to make money."

"But if Master Li fails to do his job well, Prince Yu will be furious and suggest to the Emperor that he order the factory guards to strictly investigate the smuggling trade in the southeast. Hmm?"

"Let me tell you the truth. If Wang Zhi hadn't died, why would Master Li bother to raise money from you? Before he died, Wang Zhi promised to give two million taels to honor the emperor."

Lin Shisan said something ambiguous: You bastards acted as Wang Bengu's backer and killed Wang Zhi. You can continue to make money from smuggling trade, but the people in the southeast are suffering.

I’m here to blackmail you today because of this matter!

Qian Shichen and Xu Fan from the Qian family of Changshu looked at each other.

The Qian family is also a large family in Jiangnan, with a history of thousands of years. Since the Song Dynasty, members of the family have served as officials. There were also members of the family serving as officials in the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.

Now Qian Shichen's father Qian Shunde is the patriarch of the clan. Old Qian serves as the deputy envoy of the Censorate in Shandong, while the eldest son stays at home to take care of the business.

As an aside, there was a descendant of the Qian family who complained about the cold water before jumping into the lake to die for his country.
Back to the point, Qian Shichen said: "My Qian family is willing to donate three, no, fifty thousand taels of silver!"

The other big families expressed their opinions one after another: "We, the Yuhang Wang family, are willing to donate 20,000 taels of silver."

"My Gusu Huang family is willing to donate 15,000 taels of silver."

These big families want to get away with a small beating. If the factory guards are really serious and crack down on smuggling, their business will not only be ruined, but at least it will be suspended for a period of time, and the loss will be immeasurable.

Li Gao opened a donation book on the spot and asked Lin Shisan to record it, and also asked a group of businessmen to sign and stamp their fingerprints on it.

A Hongmen Banquet, and two million taels of silver were won!
After the banquet, Lin Shisan, Zhang Bo, Li Gao and Sun Yue sat together and chatted.

Lin Shisan said with a smile: "Prince Yu's brother-in-law is still the one with the most face. Those big families are just greedy and don't poop."

"Our Master Li just opened his mouth and took out two million taels of silver from them."

Li Gao was very proud: "Hey. My brother-in-law is going to be the emperor in the future. Of course they will buy into my account."

Lin Shisan tried to dissuade him: "My Master Li, my ancestor Li. Don't dare to say such things in the future. The Emperor is the Son of Heaven for ten thousand years, and Prince Yu will be the Crown Prince for nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years."

Li Gao smiled and said, "Yes, yes. I have no control over my words. I will need your teachings in the future."

Sun Yue drank Mingqian Longjing tea and asked in confusion: "Master, why did you set the total amount of silver donation at 2 million taels? Why not 1 million or 3 million?"

Lin Shisan remained silent.

Zhang Bo laughed and said, "Fat disciple, your master has great knowledge in determining this number."

Sun Yue said, "Grandmaster, please don't keep me in suspense. Why is this?"

Zhang Bo smiled and said, "Want to know? I can't tell you. Just think about it slowly."

In fact, Lin Shisan set this number to help Emperor Jiajing strike a balance.

This summer, Emperor Jiajing cracked down on the Yan Party and forced its officials to pay the salt tax, the total amount of which was more than two million taels.

Now he helped Emperor Jiajing to crack down on Xu's party and forced them to donate two million taels.

This was equivalent to Emperor Jiajing giving fifty lashes to both the Yan Party and the Xu Party.

The Yan Party represented the interests of the newly rich merchants in Jiangnan, most of whom were nouveau riche, with money but no status.

Luo Longwen, a businessman who started out as an ink maker, was able to become a sworn brother of Yan Shifan and was promoted by the Yan family to be a doctor in the Supervisory Office.

The Xu Party represents the interests of the Jiangnan clans, who are both wealthy and powerful, but lack moral integrity.

The dispute between the Yan Party and the Xu Party was essentially a struggle between the old aristocratic families and the new wealthy merchants.

Now that Lin Shisan had obtained the donation book, he was not afraid that the wealthy families in Jiangnan would go back on their word.

They were all people of status and position, and their words were as sharp as nails. Besides, how dare they play tricks on the imperial envoy?
As for how much of the two million taels should be transported to the inner transport warehouse as the emperor's private money and how much should be allocated to Hu Zongxian as military pay, Lin Shisan did not dare to make the decision on this matter.

He sent an urgent message across eight hundred miles to ask Emperor Jiajing for instructions.

Five days later, inside the main hall of Yongshou Palace.

After seeing Lin Shisan's secret report, Emperor Jiajing said to Lu Fang, "You have found a smart and capable nephew! Good, good!"

After saying this, Emperor Jiajing handed the secret memorial to Lu Fang.

Lu Fang was extremely surprised after seeing this: "Lin Shisan actually made those bastards in Jiangnan cough up two million taels of silver?"

Emperor Jiajing praised him highly: "What a great Lin Shisan. He has great skills! The news that the Jiangnan nobles donated two million taels of silver reached Yan Song's ears. Yan Song should be able to let it go."

Emperor Jiajing was a man of bad temper and a dog-like personality who could change his mind at any time.

Just after praising Lin Shisan, Emperor Jiajing let out a dragon roar: "You are deceiving the heavens!"

After he finished speaking, the bronze chime was thrown out of the green gauze curtain.

Emperor Jiajing said angrily: "Those bastards ordered Wang Bengu to kill Wang Zhi, which ruined my great cause of pacifying the Japanese and opening up the sea. I should thank them for their donation!"

"Why didn't Emperor Wuzong be more ruthless in Jiangnan and learn from Huang Chao?"

"Xu Jie, you villain, I wish I could eat your flesh and sleep on your skin!"

"But I can't!"

Lu Fang thought to himself: The Emperor's elixir is taking effect again, and he's becoming manic and angry again.

Lu Fang kowtowed hurriedly: "Your Majesty, only by calming your mind can you achieve enlightenment and ascend to heaven. Please calm down!" Emperor Jiajing said nothing and it took him a long time to recover.

After three sticks of incense, Lu Fang asked tentatively, "What about the two million taels of silver that Lin Shisan transported back to Beijing?"

Emperor Jiajing replied: "I won't accept it! Give all the two million taels of silver to Hu Zongxian as military pay!"

"The great Ming Dynasty, the emperor. If you can't kill the Jiangnan clans, can't you kill all the Japanese pirates?"

Five days later, Lin Shisan received a secret order from Emperor Jiajing.

Zhang Bo asked: "How much should be given to Hu Zongxian?"

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "Guess."

Zhang Bo said, "Given the emperor's stingy nature, the inner treasury will naturally take the lion's share. Giving Hu Zongxian 500,000 taels?"

Lin Shisan shook his head: "Wrong. All the two million taels should be allocated to Hu Zongxian."

Zhang Bo was surprised: "All?"

Lin Shisan nodded: "All. I'll go find Hu Zongxian."

The day after the Hongmen Banquet, Lin Shisan told Hu Zongxian about this. Hu Zongxian had been worried about money recently and was going crazy. When he heard that there was military pay, he was like looking forward to rain after a drought.

Like Lin Shisan, he had been looking forward to Emperor Jiajing's order every day during this period.

Lin Shisan entered the study room excitedly.

Hu Zongxian asked: "Is there an order?"

Lin Shisan replied: "The two million taels will be allocated to you as military pay for the anti-Japanese war!"

Hu Zongxian was stunned: "Your Majesty, what is this?"

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "I was also surprised. These days, the donations from the big families in Jiangnan have been handed over to me one after another. Let's hand it over this afternoon so that I can return to Beijing."

Hu Zongxian stood up and bowed respectfully to Lin Shisan: "On behalf of the millions of soldiers and civilians in the southeast, I thank you, Brother Lin."

Lin Shisan quickly bowed in return: "I cannot accept your greeting. You are the pillar of the nation who fights against the Japanese invaders and protects the people. I just did my little bit of help."

In the afternoon, Lin Shisan and Hu Zongxian completed the transaction of silver.

Not long after, the deputy envoy of the sea route, Tan Lun, found Lin Shisan dejectedly.

Tan Lun said: "Lin Chuanfeng, I am ashamed. I have not found a son-in-law who is of the same species and appearance as Mei Shuang."

Hu Zongxian and Lin Shisan had previously agreed to have Tan Lun present a son-in-law to impress Emperor Jiajing, so that he could be promoted to the new governor of Fujian.

To find a cat husband, one must either spend a large sum of money or offer a reward to pet dealers. Tan Lun was an honest official, and his entire fortune amounted to only a few hundred taels of silver.

Or use power and mobilize a large number of people to search. Ruan E did this and found 16 candidates for cat son-in-law in Fujian.

Tan Lun was a good official who valued the people's strength and was unwilling to use his power to curry favor with his superiors.

The result was that Tan Lun did not find a suitable son-in-law and naturally could not show up in front of Emperor Jiajing.

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "This is easy. Fujian Governor Ruan has offered 16 candidates for cat son-in-law. I will pick one and say it was offered by you, Tan Haixian."

Tan Lun said, "Isn't this a bad idea? If Governor Ruan finds out about this, it will be hard for you, Lin Chuanfeng, to live like a human being."

Lin Shisan said, "It's okay, it's okay."

I laughed in my heart: When I return to Beijing, Ruan E will definitely lose his head! How can he still care about a cat?

On November 20th of the 36th year of Jiajing, envoy Lin Shisan set out from Hangzhou and returned to Beijing.

This time, he made three great contributions to Emperor Jiajing.

The first great achievement was finding a suitable husband for Meishuang.

The second great achievement was that after returning to Beijing, he would obtain evidence of Ruan and E's lawlessness from Yan Song and overthrow a corrupt and incompetent provincial governor.

The third great achievement was that he helped Emperor Jiajing to crack down on the Xu family and the Jiangnan clan behind them, and obtained two million taels of silver to enrich the military pay in the southeast.

Lin Shisan's overthrow of Ruan E was a plan of sacrificing pawns to save the chariot instructed by Yan's father and son. Yan's party would not be jealous of Lin Shisan.

As for forcing the Xu family to donate two million, this was a great relief for the Yan family. Yan Shifan would probably kiss his sworn brother hard.

On the official ship, Lin Shisan said casually, "Since Mei Shuang started to show signs of spring in early summer, this cat wedding has dragged on until winter."

"I guess if there's a branch on the ground now, the eyebrow cream will have to rub it on it to see if it sticks."

"Poor eyebrow cream."

Zhang Bo said, "There is nothing we can do. The Emperor sees the cat wedding as an excuse to punish the Yan and Xu families. The Emperor won't let Mei Shuang enjoy the pleasure of sex, so Mei Shuang can only live in seclusion."

Sun Yue laughed and said, "It's hard for Mei Shuang, but it makes me happy. Following Master's trip south to find a husband, I have been a groom for 20 to 30 nights."

Lin Shisan asked Zhang Bo: "How do you think the emperor will deal with Wang Bengu? Behead him? Exile him?"

Zhang Bo sighed, "That would be great! Unfortunately, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty doesn't have the final say on everything."

"Just wait and see. Maybe Wang Bengu will not only not be punished, but will be promoted for his meritorious service in killing the pirate leader."

"I have read a lot of history books. All I see is the word 'helpless'."

"Eight out of ten things in life are not what you want to see, and so are eight out of ten things in history books."

Just as Zhang Bo said, on Lin Shisan's way back to Beijing, an imperial edict arrived in Hangzhou.

Wang Bengu was promoted to Liaodong Dusi Yamen Experiencer for his meritorious service in killing the great Japanese Wang Zhi. At that time, Liaodong was hit by a disaster, and Wang Bengu was ordered to be in charge of disaster relief in Liaodong.

It looked like a promotion, but in fact it was a demotion. Emperor Jiajing removed a stumbling block that was notorious enough for Hu Zongxian to fight against the Japanese invaders.

From now on, Wang Bengu could only cook porridge for the victims in Liaodong.

The man who disrupted the anti-Japanese movement in the southeast was able to withdraw to the south of the Yangtze River and continue to serve as an official.

Just as Zhang Bo said, history books are full of the word "helpless".

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Shisan returned to Beijing. Yan Shifan and a group of Yan Party members personally went to Anding Gate to welcome his brother.

Lin Shisan got off his horse. Yan Shifan came up and punched him affectionately: "Good boy, you made those bastards who talk about morality and justice but are full of thieves and prostitutes bleed in Jiangnan!"

"It's really worth it for me to be sworn brothers with you! You have helped my Yan family to vent their anger."

Lin Shisan said: "Those idiots. It's a bargain for them to pay some money. They should all be tied up and set on fire!"

Luo Longwen sighed at the side: "Alas, if everything in the world could be solved with just one word 'kill', that would be too simple."

Yan Shifan held Lin Shisan's hand and walked side by side: "Shisan, the old man is waiting for you in the study room of the mansion. He has to give you the wooden box so that you can make great achievements in front of the emperor."

Lin Shisan said: "Brother, there is something I need to discuss with you in advance."

Yan Shifan asked: "Oh? What's the matter?"

Lin Shisan said, "This time, Li Gao, the younger brother of Princess Li from Prince Yu's Mansion, is traveling with me. Tan Lun used his connections and offered me a son-in-law."

"Do you think I should give you the face of Prince Yu's Mansion?"

Yan Shifan was quite generous: "I would like to flatter Prince Yu, but it's a pity that the emperor doesn't want to see the Yan family get too close to Prince Yu's mansion."

"If you have the opportunity to curry favor with the crown prince, just grab it."

(End of this chapter)