Chapter 34: Lin Baige not only failed, but also gained merit...
34
The ruler of Jiang was shocked: "Don't they eat salt? How did they form an alliance with Jin?"
The King of Jiang sent someone to ask Lin Xing, "You have lived in Jin for so many years. Do you know what happened there?"
Lin Xing came back and wrote down a lot of news about the State of Jin and gave it to his father, but he kept some of it, fearing that if he wrote it all in one go, it would no longer be useful.
He knew that in his current state, he had no chance of becoming emperor, so he could only place his hopes on his younger brothers. He planned to choose an outstanding assistant from among his brothers and use the secrets of Jin State as bargaining chips in exchange for the protection of the next emperor.
According to his original plan, after he returned to his country, Jiang State would use him to break up with Jin State, use the price of exported salt as a bargaining chip, form an alliance with the other two countries, attack from both sides, and take down Jin State in one fell swoop. But who knew that he would fail.
It was not until the Emperor of Jiang State came to question him that he suddenly remembered what Lin Baige had told him about the salt well. He thought that Lin Baige was just talking nonsense in front of him to show his loyalty to Fu Jiangyu and to anger him.
Could the story about the salt well be true? He was sweating profusely. If this was true, he would be in big trouble.
Sure enough, he hesitated whether to tell the emperor. If he did, would the emperor ask him why he told it now?
Just when he was still hesitating, other spies from Jin State came to report that Jin State had discovered a salt well and no longer needed to import salt from Jiang State. Not only did they no longer need to import salt from them, but they could also take advantage of the rising price of their salt to export salt to the other two countries at a lower price.
Because the distance is shorter, Jin's transportation costs are lower than theirs, so the price reduction will not have any impact.
The spy also said, "A few days ago, the Jin State executed a group of corrupt officials. They said that these corrupt officials were all followers of the eldest prince Lin Xing. Even the family of the cousin of the imperial concubine Lin Baige was confiscated and their entire clan was executed. They also said..."
"What else?" the emperor asked him, "Lin Baige is dead too?"
"No, when the Jin State executed corrupt officials, they carried out the execution in front of the people. The people applauded, and some asked why the evil concubine wasn't among them. The Emperor of Jin issued an imperial edict to the world, saying that Lin Baige had made great contributions by digging the salt well. The edict also said that Lin Baige was deliberately planted by the Emperor next to Lin Xing to extract information from him. He even learned the method of digging the salt well from Lin Xing. All the evil things Lin Baige had done were done by his uncle and cousin using his name. Not only was Lin Baige not guilty, he was even given merit."
Seeing that His Majesty's expression was getting worse and worse, the spies did not dare to say anything. Lin Baige's reputation in Jin State had taken a drastic turn for the worse. They all cursed Jiang State and asked Fu Jiangyu to attack Jiang State. The people put all their hatred on Jiang State.
After Fu Jiangyu killed Lin Xing's followers, he took out the silver he had confiscated and distributed money and food to the poor people, totaling tens of millions of taels of silver, supplies and money.
Fu Jiangyu used the money to open charity homes across the country, which adopted homeless children and lonely elderly people.
Families that meet the poverty standards will be provided with food, land, and seeds, and will receive 20 cents per month for a total of one year.
A batch of curved plows were also distributed to every village across the country, and oxen for plowing the land were distributed according to the number of people. These oxen were usually kept in the village chief's home and were considered state property. During farming season, the village chief would lend them to the entire village for use.
Although nearly tens of billions of assets were confiscated during this raid, the tens of millions of taels spent were enough to stabilize the people's hearts and allow the people to live a stable life. The remaining money was deposited into the national treasury and will probably be used to strengthen the military.
The strongest point of Jin State was its military force. In recent years, we sent Lin Xing there to stir up trouble. We thought that we could seriously damage Jin State, but now they have even learned how to make salt!
The Emperor of Jiang was very angry, and many ministers requested that Lin Xing be killed. It was very strange that Lin Xing could run back even in such a state. It must be a counter-espionage plan by Fu Jiangyu!
Lin Xing never expected that after running back with so much difficulty and surviving in Jin State, his own countrymen were eager to kill him.
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