No need to wait until the next morning, Lin Jiangs folded paper had already spread out on the same day, shocking everyone in the court. I dont know how many officials spat out their tea and smashed their bowls. It is said that two elderly officials were so shocked that they fell over and are now taking leave to rest at home.

  Everyone was shocked once before, after all, Lin Jiangs donation of his industry was a big deal. They had mentally prepared themselves, but they didnt expect it to be this big. Is he emptying out the entire family fortune?

  The amount was too large, so the Emperor was naturally cautious. After whispering some words to Liu Gonggong, he called in the six Shangshu and the commander of the Imperial Guard, as well as Lu Zhen, who was still visiting relatives in the capital.

  Although there are not many thieves in the Da Liang area now, it is still necessary to guard against contingencies. After all, that is more than 6 million and 200 thousand taels of silver. What if someone robs us?

  As for corruption, there is a specific amount here, and it was transported back to the capital in his hands. The emperor believed that no one had the audacity to rob him of food from his own hands.

  So the main defense is against external enemies.

  With this, Lu Zhen, who had rich experience in fighting against external enemies, entered the emperors eyes. More importantly, Lu Zhen and Lin Jiang were classmates, although they often competed with each other when studying, but the emperor could see that they had a deep affection for each other, so it was easier to let Lu Zhen take over.

  Lu Zhen only brought a few personal guards back to the capital, so the Emperor plans to assign him some troops from the Imperial Guard to escort over 620 million taels of silver, but its not clear whether Lin Jiang has prepared silver, gold or copper coins.

  So the emperor decided to assign him two thousand men, and if that was not enough, he would dispatch some of the garrison troops from Yangzhou.

  The Ministry of Revenue should also make good preparations for the handover, and if there are not enough people, they will be allocated from the other five ministries.

  The six Shangshu were all excited, they had seen countless wealth flying towards them, and began to plan how to spend the money.

  The Minister of War thought that the relief gold that had been delayed for a long time had finally found its way, and the soldiers should have new clothes to wear this year. The military equipment could also be replaced with a new batch.

  The Minister of Works thought that the most urgent thing at present was to allocate funds to dredge the Fen River. This year, there has been a lot of rain in Taiyuan and Jinzhou, and the Fen River has not been dredged for many years. He had previously planned to submit a memorial to the emperor to forcibly dispatch labor, but now it seems unnecessary.

  Whats the point of having money if youre going to harm people?

  The Minister of Revenue thought that the long-overdue official salaries could finally be issued.

  The officials in the Ministry of Personnel thought that they could recruit more people for the two exams next year, as there were not enough officials in various places, and some places even had one person doing the work of two. Previously, there was no money to pay salaries, but now there is, so we can recruit more people and make our work easier.

  The Minister of Rites thought for a moment and felt that the emperors mausoleum could be built even better, and the things that accompanied it could also be more generous.

  The emperor did not know that the six people below had already helped him figure out where to spend his money, and he was still happily reminding Lu Zhen to hurry up and go to Yangzhou, and there was no need to rush back. See if Lin Jiang needs help with anything, and help him resolve things.

  Then he indicated that he still had a decree for Lin Jiang, and would send two officials from the Ministry of Rites and several guards to follow him.

  The emperor said he was in no hurry and the national treasury was also in no hurry as long as he could return to the capital at the beginning of next month.

  This month has reached twelve, Lu Zhen silently raised her head and looked at the emperor.

  Even if the two thousand imperial guards were all equipped with horses, they would still need four days to rush to Yangzhou. On their return journey with so much money, it would take eight or nine days at best, and half a month at worst. Calculating this way, by the beginning of the month when they returned to the capital, how many more days could he have stayed in Yangzhou?

  Youre in such a hurry, so why say youre not in a rush?

  But Lu Zhēn narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, feeling that the first day of the month was also the beginning of the month, as long as he returned before the tenth day of the month, it would not be considered going against the will of heaven or betraying the emperor.

  So Lu Zhen decided happily that he would stay in Yangzhou for half a month before embarking on his journey.

  The emperor handed the previously written imperial edict to the Minister of Rites and had him send a young and honest official from the Ministry of Rites to Yangzhou, instructing him with some words before waving his hand to let them go.

  At this time, the Lin family released another heavy news. In order to bless Lin Jiang and the Lin family, Lin Qingyuan decided to donate all the grain stored in the Lin family. There are many states in Jiangnan, and anyone with a lower household registration can go to the local Lin familys designated location to receive a certain amount of grain.

  Those without a lower household registration but are really from poor families must obtain the signatures of the neighborhood head and two local elderly people before they can go to receive grain.

  The level of household registration is determined by the amount of tax paid, and the more taxes are paid, the more assets a family has.

  And the lower households are tenant farmers who can only rent land from landlords or have very little land. This year, Jiangnan has increased military taxes, and these two households have been hurt the most. Now that summer grain has not been harvested, those with better circumstances still have some rice bran to eat, while those in worse circumstances may only be able to eat leaves and tree bark.

  Lin Qingwan was unfamiliar with these things, but Lin Jiang had been a parent official in Jiangnan for over ten years and understood them all too well.

  Grain was also donated by him.

  Because he levied military taxes, the people of Jiangnan are not very fond of him. This life is a bit better, because he has solicited some donations from the wealthy households, and the military taxes on the peoples heads have been reduced a bit.

  But its just a little bit.

  There are still many families who have to sell their children because of this.

  The Lin family made great contributions to Jiangnan, and now many families in Jiangnan still worship the ancestral tablet or portrait of his grandfather. He has been an official in Jiangnan for over a decade, being dutiful and honest, and has also won a lot of reputation.

  But all the good is negated by one bad thing, and now I dont know how many people hate him.

  Especially those who were ruined by military taxes.

  Lin Jiang didnt blame those people, nor could he, because it was indeed the military tax that had caused their families, which were barely scraping by, to fall apart.

  But he could not help but collect this military tax.

  Now all he can do is to distribute the stored grain at home, so that those who are suffering from military taxes can live a little better and keep one life.

  The Lin family has such a large farm, and the annual grain yield is quite impressive.

  Apart from being consumed by the familys own grain stores, most of the remaining grain was sold at a discounted price to the national treasury, and some were stored in local warehouses.

  That was the emergency grain, which had happened twice. When a disaster occurred in Jiangnan and the national treasury could not take out food, it was borrowed from Lins warehouse to provide relief first, and returned only the next year.

  So Mr. Lins warehouse had a lot of grain, and every year he would take out the old grain and replace it with new grain.

  This time, apart from a grain depot secretly stored on the Suzhou side, all other grain depots were opened and grains were released.

  If the previous days were a grand feast for emperors and court officials, then this time it was a grand feast for all the people of Jiangnan.

  Everyone took their household registration book and the certificate brought by Li Zheng to swarm into various states set up by Lins family, carrying back bags of grain.

  Those who could no longer make a living and were planning to sell their sons and daughters did not do so, while those who had already sold them used the silver they had received to buy back their children.

  The resentment towards the imperial court and the Lin family gradually dissipated, and everyone began to recall the good things about the Lin family.

  It is said that Mr. Lin is critically ill and will soon pass away, so he sold his property and donated the money to the national treasury, but distributed the grain to the elderly parents in Jiangnan.

  It is said that Suzhous people got the most grain because it was Mr. Lins hometown.

  Everyone envies Suzhous citizens and wonders why Governor Lin isnt theirs too?

  However, they are stronger than ordinary people in other places. After all, they are from Jiangnan, and people outside of Jiangnan do not have free food to take.

  The Lin family was in a flurry of activity, with Lin Qingyans hands flying as she worked the abacus. She picked up her pen and wrote down the total on paper, furrowing her brow as she said, "Tell them that from now on, the Lin family will no longer accept grain as payment; we only accept silk fabrics. If they dont have silk fabrics, then they can use other things to make up for it. All other gold, silver, jewels, and precious items are acceptable."

  Zhong Daguan furrowed his brow, "Im afraid they wont agree."

  Lin Qingwan coldly smiled and said: "It was agreed before the auction that grain exchange cannot exceed 10%, silk exchange cannot exceed 30%. Previously, when grain prices were high, they didnt think of using grain to pay, now that grain prices have dropped, it turns out one by one they dont have money or silk?"

  "Money and silk can be transported back to the capital with little loss, but if they are exchanged for grain, it would be a good deal if one cart of grain could return with just one bag."

  Zhong Daguans expression changed slightly as he coughed lightly and said in a low voice, "How did it come to this? I heard that the one who came to escort this time is Lu Du Hu."

  Lin Qingwans expression eased slightly, but she still insisted: "The fluctuation in grain prices is too great, and we will suffer too much loss if we collect the grains. In short, you instruct them that except for the specified amount, we will not accept any excess grains. Either pay the money or use silk fabrics to offset it. If the balance is not paid within the stipulated time, it will be executed according to the contract."

  Lin Qings attitude was tough, and those who bought the property were dissatisfied but didnt dare to resist strongly. What if they missed the deadline and she really enforced the contract?

  The validity of this eras contract is quite strong.

  So even though they grumbled in their hearts, they still paid off the balance with money.

  There was a merchant who hated to the extreme, so he directly pulled over a cart of copper coins. While others paid with gold and silver, he paid with copper coins. Just counting the strings of money made people collapse, not to mention the weight of that cart full of money.

  Others, seeing this, secretly followed suit, but they were not so ruthless, all giving copper coins, and some gold and silver, but the proportion of copper coins was very large. Lin Qingwen asked about it and said that her family didnt have enough gold and silver either.

  Its just three big families calling people to bring in truckloads of money.

  Fortunately, the industry had not been handed over at this time, and the Lin familys servants had not been dismissed, so Lin Qingwen could mobilize a large number of people.

  There were also loyal servants supervising, although busy, but still clearing up in an orderly manner.

  Lin Yong looked at the row of cars bringing money into Wutong Garden, but he couldnt even get within a hundred steps inside, and his eyes suddenly turned red.

  So much money, all of which should have belonged to his son, was squandered by Lin Jiang and Lin Qingyuan.

  Lin Yong felt a severe heartache and suddenly fainted.

  It was a passerby who found him and carried him back, but he had been lying under the scorching sun for quite some time and almost didnt make it.

  Of course, Lin Qingyan was busy calculating the money for these things. Lin Guan didnt tell her about them but instead invited a doctor himself and confirmed that the person came back to life before reporting it to Master Zheng in the main house.

  Lin Jiangs face was cold and condensed, "He is indeed lucky."