Chapter 93: Lin Family Destruction
Song Yuzhu returned to her parents' yard and saw Zhao Xiao playing with her little sister. Song Yumin and Song Yufeng were also there.
When the two saw him, they immediately stood up and greeted him, becoming much more reserved.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Song Yuzhu waved her hand and said, "No need to be polite at home."
One of them was an official in the Imperial Medical Bureau and had been promoted to the sixth rank. The other took the imperial examination last year, but only passed the examination for a scholar. He plans to try again next year.
Song Yumin raised his head and looked at Song Yuzhu with sparkling eyes. He had a deep admiration and respect for his cousin. If Song Yuzhu hadn't saved his life, he might have died in the war.
Song Yufeng was picking his fingers feeling a little awkward. The experience in the Imperial College in the past few years had made him more stable. He was no longer the silly Song Lao Er.
"Everyone sit down, Yumin, when did you come back?"
"I came back at the beginning of the month. My master wanted to go home to celebrate the New Year with his mistress, so I came back with him." There was an epidemic in Yongning County before, so he and his master stayed there for a while. After the epidemic was under control, he traveled around the area for another half a year and gained a lot of experience.
Song Yumin is one year younger than Song Yuzhu, and he is nineteen this year. Because his parents died early, he has never been married. This child has a hard life and was previously mentally ill. Song Yuzhu plans to help him find a good in-law family and arrange the marriage.
After a while, Jiang Rong came back from the kitchen. Tonight's New Year's Eve dinner included crystal shrimp dumplings that she had made herself. When she heard that her son was back, she hurried back to the yard.
"Happy New Year, aunt." Zhao Xiao quickly got up and moved a stool.
"Please sit down." Jiang Rong was very familiar with him and did not treat him as an outsider.
"Are you done with the palace affairs?"
"Yeah." Song Yuzhu nodded.
Jiang Rong held her son's hand and looked him up and down, her eyes full of love. Although they lived nearby, Song Yuzhu rarely had the opportunity to go home due to the busy state affairs.
Song Yumin and Song Yufeng got up and said goodbye, and went to the old lady's yard. The Song family ate separately at noon, and only sat together to eat the New Year's Eve dinner in the evening.
Soon Song Bai also came back, and he and Song Qiao from the second branch went to worship their ancestors. The Song family's ancestral tomb was in Jiangcheng County, thousands of miles away from Shangjing. It was not easy to go back in such a cold weather, so the two brothers discussed and decided to build an ancestral hall in Shangjing to enshrine the ancestral tablets here, so that they would not have to go back to their hometown to worship during festivals.
"Dad, I'm back."
When Zhao Xiao saw Song Bai, he quickly stood up and greeted him: "Happy New Year, Uncle Song!"
Song Bai: "Xiao Xiao is here, come and sit down! I haven't thanked you for the two boxes of old ginseng you sent me last time, they are really good."
Song Yuzhu quietly nudged Zhao Xiao with her arm and asked, "When did you send the ginseng to my father?"
Zhao Xiao whispered, "I came across it when I went to Jizhou to investigate fine iron some time ago. I thought it was of good quality, so I bought it for my uncle."
Mr. and Mrs. Song Bai both knew that Zhao Xiao had no family, so every year they asked Song Yuzhu to bring him home to celebrate the New Year. Now he has become a member of the Song family.
The servants set the table and prepared for dinner, and the family chatted about family matters.
"Yufeng is getting married in October, did you know?" Jiang Rong said as she changed her daughter into a small jacket for eating.
Song Yuzhu was surprised and asked, "I don't know, which girl is she?"
"I heard that she is the daughter of the Dean of the Imperial Academy, a family of scholars. They are a perfect match."
Song Yutong said: "My sister-in-law is Qianqian, she is so beautiful!"
Song Yuzhu smiled and pinched her sister's nose: "You have found out a lot. I'm sure your second aunt will be very satisfied that Yufeng can marry a woman like this." Qin was born into a merchant family and admired scholarly families very much, so she always supported her son's study for the imperial examination.
"By the way, Yumin is not young anymore. His uncle and aunt passed away long ago, and he is all alone. Mom, if you have time, please help him find a suitable family and get married as soon as possible."
Jiang Rong: "Of course I am keeping an eye out for him. I have already picked out a few good families and will ask a matchmaker to propose marriage as soon as he agrees. But you...even though you are the king of a country, you should also consider your own lifelong affairs."
When this matter was mentioned, Zhao Xiao lowered his head in embarrassment and ate melon seeds.
The affair between the two of them had been kept secret from the couple. Song Yuzhu had originally planned to talk about it next year, but looking at the current situation, her parents must have been getting anxious.
"Qiuhe, take Tongtong out to play first. Dad, Mom, sit down. I want to tell you two something."
Seeing his son speaking so formally, Song Bai thought it was something important, so they both sat down and listened attentively.
"I'm afraid I won't get married."
"Why?" Jiang Rong asked in surprise.
Song Yuzhu said: "My son is unfilial and has physical defects, so he cannot have sex with women. Even if he canons those women, they will suffer if they stay in the harem. It is better not to get married." He did not lie to them, as he really had no feelings for women.
"This..." The couple was shocked. They had never heard that their son had this kind of problem.
Zhao Xiao also looked at him in surprise, not understanding why he said that to himself.
Song Bai didn't believe it and grabbed Song Yuzhu's arm to take his pulse.
Song Yuzhu sighed and said, "My son is a doctor himself, so why hasn't he treated me privately? This is a mental illness that cannot be cured by medicine."
Mr. and Mrs. Song Bai both looked distressed. No wonder their son had not been close to women in these years. But Yuzhu had no heirs, so who would the throne be passed to in the future?
Song Yuzhu guessed her parents' concerns and said, "You don't have to worry about the throne. I plan to make Yutong the crown prince's sister when he turns twelve."
This is why Song Yuzhu did not confer honorary titles on other cousins. He was afraid that officials in the court would support other descendants of the Song family to become emperors in the future.
"Ah?!" The Song Bai couple were even more surprised. If they wanted to make their daughter the Crown Princess, wouldn't that mean they would pass the throne to Tongtong in the future!
Song Bai said sternly, "Yuzhu, state affairs should not be treated as a joke. Since ancient times, there has never been a woman who became an emperor. How can Yutong take on such a big responsibility?"
Although Jiang Rong felt uncomfortable, her husband's words were true. Being a woman in the world was already inconvenient, and there were also various etiquette restrictions. If he let his daughter become the emperor, wouldn't she be criticized by the world in the future?
"Dad, how do you think Yutong compares to his peers?"
"Of course he is extremely intelligent!"
"Are you worried that she won't be able to be a good emperor after she ascends the throne?"
The couple was silent for a while and shook their heads, saying, "We are afraid that the world will not recognize a woman as an emperor."
Zhao Xiao said: "Uncle and aunt, rest assured, we will help Yutong pave the way and let the world accept that women can also serve as officials in the court and ascend the throne as emperors!"
After lunch, Song Yuzhu returned to the palace early. After saying so many things today, he wanted to give his parents some time to digest them.
Sitting in the carriage, Zhao Xiao held his hand and asked, "Why did you tell your uncle and the others that you were not in good health?"
Song Yuzhu said, "They are both old-fashioned. If I tell them that I am angry with you because you don't marry, I'm afraid they will be angry with you. It's just that you can't be with me openly."
Zhao Xiao raised the corner of his mouth: "Do I care about this?"
Song Yuzhu raised her head and kissed the corner of his mouth gently: "I know you don't care, that's why I said that."
Zhao Xiao held his head and deepened the kiss, his heart full of emotion. Yuzhu was willing to use her body as an excuse for him, what else could she ask for with such a good husband?
"Bang!" Firecrackers sounded outside.
Both of them were startled, and couldn't help laughing when they realized what was happening.
Zhao Xiao smiled and rubbed his hair: "What are you going to do with the Jin people?"
Song Yuzhu restrained her smile and said, "It's time to give them some shock."
"After the New Year, should I take the troops there?"
"Well, how about trying out the munitions?"
The low-profile gun, or mortar, developed by the Ministry of Military Industry has completed its trial run and has entered formal production.
In the era of cold weapons, a few mortars could definitely make the Jin soldiers lose their way.
Zhao Xiao couldn't wait to bombard them with cannons. He had seen the power of the short cannon. It could hit whatever you pointed at from a hundred feet away, and it could blow apart any armor, no matter how hard it was!
It’s just that the output of pure handmade products is too low at present. When mass production is possible in the future, Zhao Xiao will probably be able to conquer the entire Eurasian continent with it.
*
This year, some people are happy while others are sad.
Lin Yi, from the Jiangnan Lin family, looked unhappy. He had been uneasy since he heard that the imperial court had sent an imperial envoy. His hair had turned a lot whiter in the past few days, and it looked more in line with his age.
"Liang Bo."
"The servant is here."
"How is the caravan handling it?"
"My Lord, all the guys who went to Longxi have been dealt with. Not a single clue is left."
"That's good." Lin Yi turned the coral bracelet in his hand. Although the bracelet was not expensive, it was a coming-of-age gift from his father. The vermilion coral beads had already been polished to a patina.
As she was twisting the bracelet, it suddenly broke and the beads fell to the ground with a crackling sound!
Liang Bo quickly squatted down to help pick up the beads.
Lin Ji: "Don't pick it up. It's a blessing, not a curse. If it's a curse, you can't avoid it..."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a rustling sound of footsteps outside the door, and the doorman ran in and said, "Sir, there are a lot of soldiers outside the door!"
Lin Ji's body stiffened. He didn't expect it to come so quickly.
The officers and soldiers took all the Lin family members away for interrogation, leaving them almost no time to escape.
During his detention, many people came to plead for mercy, and even the prefects of Liangjiang came and asked Zhang Qi to release him.
The Lin family has been active in Jiangnan for many years and controls many businesses in the two states. Once the Lin family goes bankrupt, both states will be affected and commercial taxes will be cut in half.
However, the nature of this matter was different. If it was just simple smuggling of official iron, the emperor would not have made such a big move. This was a serious crime of treason and collusion with the enemy. Even if Lin Ji had ten heads, it would not be enough to chop off. Zhang Qikai naturally did not dare to let him go.
At first, Lin Ji refused to admit that he had done it, as he was sure that the court had no solid evidence. However, he did not know that there were still people alive in the caravan heading to Longxi, and Wang Erlang became this crucial witness.
He was escorted back to Jiangnan by officers and soldiers. He explained clearly who entrusted them, where they got the official iron from, and how it was finally delivered to the Jin people in Longxi.
Lin Ji looked at the testimony and sneered, "I don't know any Wang Erlang. This man is talking nonsense. I don't know who ordered him to attack me."
Zhang Qikai nodded and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't admit it. There is other evidence. I will not wrongly accuse you."
Soon news came from Longxi that Bai Yizhou led his men to capture all the Jin people in Baixiang Tower, including the Jin Dynasty prince Wanyan Xun.
They also found several letters in Wanyan Xun's residence, which were written by Lin Ji to him.
After reading these letters, Zhang Qi Kai was so angry that he sighed to the sky. No wonder emperors since ancient times have always valued agriculture over commerce and did not allow merchants to enter the government.
Merchants value profit over friendship and will do anything for the sake of profit. They hold half of the gold and silver in the country. If they were to become officials in the court, then the whole world would become their possession!
Now that the evidence was irrefutable, Lin Ji could no longer deny it and was directly sentenced to prison and execution.
Lin Ji sat in prison in tears. He regretted deeply that the Lin family's century-old business was ruined in his own hands.
Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in this world. He knelt down and begged, holding the railing: "Sir, I know I can't escape death, but my family is innocent. They don't know that I sold the government iron privately. I am willing to give away all my gold and silver, and ask you to spare their lives!"
Zhang Qikai said: "I can't make the decision on this matter. I have to report it to the emperor."
"Then I will reveal my accomplice and ask for your help in delivering a letter to the emperor."
Zhang Qikai considered it and agreed: "Don't make random accusations. If the evidence is false, I will not let you off!"
Lin Ji shook his head: "How dare I..."
In order to save his family's lives, Lin Ji confessed his two accomplices. Neither Shao Chunqiu nor Li Huijun escaped and was imprisoned with him.
After finishing the business in Jiangnan, Zhang Qikai confiscated all of the Lin family's assets and brought them back to Shangjing.
As expected of a wealthy businessman in Jiangnan, he was rich enough to rival a country. He had more than 10 million taels of silver, 30,000 taels of gold, and 850,000 strings of copper coins, not to mention all the other things.
Song Yuzhu closed the memorial and frowned. He was so greedy that he wanted to swallow an elephant. They took risks just for a little bit of tax revenue. He didn't know whether these businessmen were really smart or just pretending to be smart.
However, this silver did solve the urgent problem. The Minister of Revenue Liu Lin heard the news that the silver was shipped back from Jiangnan yesterday. He smiled at everyone he met these days and laughed so hard that he almost lost his eyesight.
(End of this chapter)
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