I want to ruin the country

Xing Guodong thought he thought it was too little, so he quickly took out two more banknotes and put them on top.

"Master Li, fifty thousand taels, no more!"

Li Mengxiang smiled coldly and said,

"Master Xing, I advise you to quickly make up for the shortfall.

I can't hold it back any longer, so I have no choice but to report it. By then, I won't be able to control whether the person behind you can protect you! This is all we have to say!"

Xing Guodong was even more frightened. Li Mengxiang knew that his backer was Mu Zhang'a, who was also the governor of the Grand Canal. Even though he knew it, he still said this. It seemed that this warehouse inspection would definitely not be easy!

He gritted his teeth secretly and decided to go all out. He couldn't get the oil out of the gourd by overturning it, and he couldn't get the position of general by being soft-hearted. It was impossible to make up for the deficit, so he had to use you, Li Mengxiang, as a scapegoat.

He winked at his family member Xing Wang standing next to him, and Xing Wang understood and quietly left!

Xing Guodong said to Li Mengxiang,

"You've been incredibly kind to me, and I'm incredibly grateful. I'll make sure they make up for the shortfall as soon as possible, and I won't put you in any difficult positions!"

Li Mengxiang said,

"You've already put me in a difficult position, so stop playing tricks and patch up the hole. I'll pretend I didn't see anything!

Otherwise, you will lose your head and my future will be ruined. It will be too late to regret it when the time comes. Goodbye!

After saying that, he stood up and was about to leave!

Xing Guodong hurriedly stopped him and said with a wry smile,

“Brother Li is right. I know it’s a big deal, but neither you nor I can afford to offend the person who borrowed the grain!

Fortunately, they have promised to come back as soon as possible and will not let us take the blame!

"You can't leave today, Master Lin will be arriving soon, and you have to accompany this guest to me no matter what!"

Li Mengxiang said,

"Master Lin and I don't know each other, and Master Lin doesn't seem to want to see me. I'd better go back!"

Xing Guodong said hurriedly,

"Brother Li, you absolutely cannot do that. The Emperor urgently summoned Lord Lin to the capital this time. I'm afraid it will be of great use. You and I have this opportunity to get close to him in the court. How can we miss it?

Besides, you are in Texas. If Lord Lin knew that you were deliberately avoiding him, I am afraid there would be some misunderstanding, which would be embarrassing for me!"

Hearing Xing Guodong say this, Li Mengxiang hesitated. If Lin Zexu passed by Dezhou and he didn't meet him here, it would be disrespectful.

But Xing Guodong embezzled so much grain, and it is hard to say what his final fate will be. He and he were both admitted to the imperial examination in the same year, and they had a good relationship. He should not let him implicate him.

Xing Guodong did not give him a chance to refuse and ordered,

"Xing Fu, bring up the drink Madam has just made. Please give it a try, Lord Li!"

Li Mengxiang knew that what Xing Guodong said was true, so he had to sit down again, muttering,

"I've never met Lord Lin before. Whether I'm with him or not, he won't take me seriously. Why bother to bore me?"

As he was speaking, Xing Fu came up to Li Mengxiang, holding a tray with two white porcelain teacups on it.

"Please use it, sir!"

Li Mengxiang looked at the crystal clear white porcelain cup filled with emerald green soup and asked,

"what is this?"

Xing Guodong said hurriedly,

"As you know, my wife loves making soup. She just told me that she tried making another one today. I don't know how she made it, but how about we try it first?"

After that, he picked up the bowl of soup near him and said,

"Master Li, please!"

Li Mengxiang did not doubt it, and also picked up the porcelain cup and sipped it slowly!

The soup tasted good with its sweet and sour taste, but Li Mengxiang wasn’t paying attention to it and didn’t think it was particularly delicious!

After drinking, he put down the porcelain cup and said,

"I guess Lord Lin's boat isn't far away. Let's go to the dock to greet him to avoid being rude!"

Li Mengxiang nodded,

"All right!"

Since leaving his hometown, Lin Zexu ignored all the flattery and greetings from officials at all levels along the way, and rushed to the capital day and night.

He did not think it was too surprising that the current emperor re-employed him. No matter who wants to do something, he must find like-minded and capable people to help him.

Lin Zexu did not think he had much talent, but when it came to getting things done, he was better than anyone else.

And no matter what he does, he always learns from it and tries his best to do things to the best of his ability!

Since the emperor ordered him to come to Beijing as soon as he ascended the throne, the emperor must have wanted to do something, so he thought of him.

This is not surprising. After all, he has done a lot for the Daqing Kingdom over the years. No matter what others think, they will definitely remember him!

What puzzled him was how the emperor in the capital knew that he and You Zongtang had met, and that they had a very pleasant conversation, and how he also required him to bring You Zongtang to see the emperor?

Although You Zongtang was extremely talented, the first half of his life was not satisfactory.

He failed the imperial examination three times, but he did not lose heart.

When the Xiangyin flood occurred in 1848, he actively provided relief to his neighbors.

In the same year, Lin Zexu was appointed Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou. Hu Linyi recommended Zuo Zongtang to him, and Lin Zexu readily agreed. However, Zuo Zongtang was unable to take up the post due to other matters.

Last winter (January 1850), Lin Zexu returned home and made an appointment to meet Zuo Zongtang on a boat in Changsha.

The two had a pleasant conversation, covering topics such as ancient and modern situations, character evaluations, and current affairs in the Western Regions.

Lin Zexu talked about this meeting with others and praised Zuo Zongtang as an extraordinary talent and a genius!

Although Lin Zexu did not understand the emperor's intention, he must not disobey the emperor's order. Besides, having such a close friend by his side could just relieve the fatigue and loneliness of the journey!

Along the way, government offices in various places received imperial edicts to protect Lin Zexu when he came to Beijing. If anything went wrong, they would lose their heads, so no one dared to be careless.

Moreover, everyone wanted to take the opportunity to curry favor with Lord Lin. Stirring up a cold stove often has unexpected results, and what's more, Lin Zexu is not a cold stove now!

However, Lin Zexu did not want to delay his journey because of welcoming and seeing off officials, so he refused to meet with any officials who wanted to see him along the way.

Dezhou prefect Xing Guodong was a distant relative of You Zongtang, and he urged Lin Zexu to come to visit him. Lin Zexu only agreed to go ashore and meet him out of respect for You Zongtang.

Lin Zexu's ship was surrounded tightly by more than a dozen speedboats sent by Xing Guodong, and no one could get close except the officials.

When they arrived at the dock, someone laid out wooden boards and Lin Zexu and You Zongtang walked ashore.

Xing Guodong and Li Mengxiang were already waiting at the dock!