Chapter Thirty-Three

  He walked along the wall from Baiyuan and returned to Jiyunju, thinking about the joke he had just told Liu Yue'er. He didn't hurry down the wall, but instead lay down on a roof with a slightly gentler slope, looking at the dark sky and thinking about things. Many things poured into his mind, including memories of the past life in the space-time of a thousand years ago, as well as Lin Xuan's memories in this world, which were chaotic and intertwined. Thinking too much made his head ache.

  Although hiding in the leeward sunny slope, it was still a bit cold at night with frost and chill, Lin Xuan wrapped his clothes tightly around him and didn't hurry to go downstairs to sleep.

  He was naturally unwilling to be mediocre and live this life again, but the road ahead was not as easy as he had imagined.

  Dongyang and Jiangning Prefectures are located in the fertile land of Jiangdong County, where the market economy is developed and the power of the gentry and aristocracy is strong. The lives of ordinary people seem dull and quiet, but every day in Jiangning City is filled with wine and song, prosperity is extraordinary, and almost no one can feel the gloomy and desperate atmosphere of the Great Viet Dynasty at this time.

  In fact, from Lin's shallow historical knowledge, it can be known that Jiangdong County, located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain, even if it is in the late period of a dynasty, its economic structure has been rarely completely destroyed after being fully developed. After all, the high-yielding land of Jiangdong County for two seasons every year guarantees the people's living standard, which is much more prosperous than that of farmers in the north.

  It has always been seen that refugees from the north flock to the south, but rarely are refugees from the south fleeing to the north.

  The problem of the Great Yue Dynasty lies precisely in the north, where the Xianbei clan is getting stronger and stronger, and Li Zhuo is being suppressed to the point where he cannot escape from Dongming. In the past few decades, the power of the Eastern Hu people has expanded from Bohai to Liaoxi and then to Jibei, and the court can only rely on the rugged terrain of the Yan Mountains to block the iron hooves of the Eastern Hu people outside the Yan Mountains.

  After the Battle of Chentangyi, the government troops retreated to defend the dangerous Yan Mountains. The Eastern Hu people's offensive against the Yan Mountains slowed down, and they shifted their military strength to conquer the northern tribes of Jiyuan, Hanku, and others in the northwest of the Yan Mountains, making a gesture to bring the entire region north of the Yan Mountains into the sphere of influence of the Eastern Hu people. At that time, it will become even more difficult for the Central Plains to get rid of this heart disease.

  Time did not give, the western Qin and Jinzhong in the north which had been the heavy heart of the empire for a long time, suffered from locust plagues and droughts every three to five years, and occasionally had a year or two of abundant rainfall, but due to the weakness of water conservancy facilities in the north, floods were also caused, in short, there was not a single year that could be spent peacefully.

  After the rebellion of the Xie family, almost all the taxes from the southeastern provinces were poured into this bottomless pit. Although the Tang report did not mention specific figures, and without calculating other losses, Lin Xuan could estimate from his conversation with Gu Wu that the military expenses for the war in the southeast over the years would not be less than 30 or 40 million taels of silver. As for the exact amount, it would take a lot of time to calculate, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Jiangning Ministry of Revenue even set up a special department to calculate the military expenses spent by Li Zhuo's troops over the years.

  Fortunately, the neighboring provinces of Jiangdong, Liangzhe, Jiangxi and Huguang were rich and prosperous areas, which undertook most of the military expenses without feeling particularly strained. However, the supply to the north had stopped in recent years.

  In recent years, the Great Viet Empire has been unable to rely on the southeast as its most important source of tax revenue. In order to maintain the basic functioning of the empire and supply the large amounts of materials and money needed for the northern front lines, it can only be obtained by doubling the collection from places such as West Qin, Jinzhong, Hebei, and Liangchuan. The peasants who were suffering from heavy taxes and frequent natural disasters had no way out and frequently rose up in revolt. The three Qin regions were almost all over with bandits and thieves as numerous as the hairs on an ox's hide.

  These things cannot be seen in the comfortable and gentle Jiangning City, but it does not mean that they did not happen in the north. Because of the crisis in the north, although there are many people in the court who hate the Xie family to the bone, there are also more people who place their hopes for turning the crisis around on the Xie family's surrender.

  Xie family's surrender can not only transfer nearly 100,000 elite soldiers stranded in East Min to the northern front to fight against Dong Hu and suppress peasant uprisings in the north, but also expect that after Xie family's surrender, the grain supply from southeastern counties to the north can recover from less than 2 million dan to 6 million dan, alleviating the financial pressure and food inflation pressure on the north.

  During the Taizong era, in order to show sympathy for the hardships of boat workers, the emperor graciously allowed boat workers and sailors to carry local products worth 12% of the grain they transported when selling goods north and south. The wharf tax formed by this has become an important source of revenue for the imperial court over the past hundred years. The central government also hopes that after the Xie family surrenders, the grain transportation route will be fully opened, and the wharf tax can recover from the current 500,000 taels of silver to 1,500,000 taels of silver or even higher; it is also hoped that after the Xie family surrenders, the activities of the Donghai pirates can be curbed... In short, many people in the imperial court have high hopes for the Xie family's surrender.

  Lin Yu had been bound by two generations, but he finally understood one thing: it's easy to talk about reason, but it's extremely difficult to put it into practice. Even if the imperial family temporarily submits and loosens the tight grip on its neck to give the court a chance to breathe, someone still needs to stand up and seize this opportunity for the Great Viet Dynasty.

  Xue Jia also saw through the inside information of the imperial court, and when he surrendered, he haggled over the price. Not only did he get a large piece of land and the title of Marquis of Jin'an Prefecture, but even the more than 20,000 private soldiers under his command had to be supported by the finances of Dongming Prefecture. At this time, he also directly sent an envoy to spy on the situation in Jiangning Prefecture, which was left behind in the capital, making it easier for Xue Jia to infiltrate various prefectures in the southeast.

  A few days ago, I heard from Gu Wuchen that the southeastern provinces want to make up for the losses of the previous war and are unwilling to immediately resume sending grain and money northward. For years, they have been supplementing the north with the south, and the accumulated resentment is deep. The officials of the two factions in the court are also in conflict, with the Western Qin faction representing the northern officials. The current emperor has recently started using the Chu party, which is located between the north and the south, hoping to balance the conflicting interests of the north and south, but things are not that simple.

  Lin Xie stood on the wall, listening to the wind passing over the roof ridge, thinking of his two lifetimes as a human, and in his previous life, he died under the impact of a gunshot. He let out a light sigh, crouched down, and slid down from the top of the wall.

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  The nature of the questioning in Jiangning's official department is similar to that of the civil service examination a thousand years later. After throwing himself into the official document, passing the official department's questioning also gave him the qualification for waiting for the vacancy, but he had to wait for the actual vacancy to be filled in sequence.

  Lin Zhan took the position of Jiang Island's prison officer, just like the inspector's office straight point. The inquiry from the Jiangning Ministry of Officials was just a formality. The next day, after noon, Lin Zhan still prepared the silver for the beat and rushed to the Jiangning Ministry of Officials' yamen.

  The city of Jiangning is very large, and there is no larger or more prosperous city in the world. Even though the population of Yanjing is two million households less than that of Jiangning, news travels quickly. Some time ago, Lin Xie was teaching the young master of the Fan family in the Fan Tower, and by dawn, the news had already spread throughout the city. By noon, he arrived at the Jiangning government office, where a group of idle officials were gathered discussing the assassination attempt on Xiao Jia's young master on East Huamen Street. Lin Xie ran to the Jiangning government office three times, and many officials recognized him. As soon as they saw him enter, they surrounded him and asked about the appearance and figure of Xiao Jia's wife.

  The Jiangning Ministry of Officials is slightly better than the other five ministries, but it is also a clean and powerless yamen. According to convention, all officials are assigned in full, but due to lack of real power, except for their regular salary, these officials have no extra benefits to gain. If they have many dependents at home, life in Jiangning City can be quite frugal. Lin Xie even saw a few minor officials with patches on their official robes, and yet these people would not hesitate to take advantage of any opportunity to make money.

  The Jiangning Ministry of Justice handles only a few cases every month, and the performance appraisal of officials is not under their jurisdiction. Lin Xie's appointment as the warden of the Jiang Island Prison was already settled, and almost all the officials in this ministry knew him. Today, seeing him come over, they hadn't even waited for him to finish his interrogation before they came over to congratulate him and ask for favors and money.

  Lin Xie had prepared dozens of gift bags, each containing three to five taels or three to five qian of small silver ingots, according to the different ranks. Even Jiang Ning, a third-rank official in the Ministry of War, was delighted when he received a gift bag from Lin Xie that contained three taels of silver.

  "I thought being a third-grade official was a big deal..." Zhao Hu said with a suppressed tone, looking rather disdainful after the Jiangning official from the Ministry of Rites took the silver and left.

  Lin Xian smiled slightly, this Jiangning official is like an official who has fallen out of favor with his superiors and retreated to the second line. Once they put on a smiling face, not to mention three or five taels of silver, even three or five coins would not be spared.

  The matter was easier than expected, even with the participation of Zhao Shuhan, the chief of Jiangning Prison Department, it was just a formality.

  Zhaoshuhan, the host of Tielou Hall, was even afraid to ask Lin Xie questions, and only spoke to him in a consultative tone throughout their conversation. He avoided asking about laws and regulations, and when it was time to part ways, Zhaoshuhan still enthusiastically invited Lin Xie to have drinks with him at Zuixian Tower near the Ministry of Officials.

  Zhao Shuhan was a jinshi of the 3rd year of Chongguan, ranked 7th in the palace examination, and listed as the 4th in the second class. He entered the Hanlin Academy as a seventh-grade compiler. At that time, it can be said that his future prospects were great, and more than two-thirds of the assistant ministers who assisted the emperor in the past 200 years or so started their careers as seventh-grade compilers in the Hanlin Academy. However, Zhao Shuhan pointed out a small error on a memorial drafted by Chen Xinbo, the powerful minister at the time, and later talked about it in front of his colleagues, which was passed on to Chen Xinbo's ears. Within two days, he was kicked to Jiangning to serve as the head of the Tihe Hall of the Ministry of Punishments. In name, the head of the Tihe Hall of the Ministry of Punishments in Jiangning was half a rank higher than the compiler of the Hanlin Academy, but it was a cold and hot job, and Zhao Shuhan's family of five, with a maid and an old servant, lived a hard life in Jiangning City, relying on his annual salary of 60 stones. Even the sleeves of his official uniform were worn out.

  Lin Tie also understood Zhao Shuhan's intention to invite him for a drink, as anyone who has sat on the cold bench for four years will have their pride worn away. Zhao Shuhan had offended the current Grand Chancellor Chen Xinbo and was demoted out of the capital, after all, he was just a small fry with no reputation, even if Chen Xinbo were to be overthrown by the Chu Party and kicked out of Yanjing, the central government would not remember him, but once he got involved with Gu Wudeng, the situation might completely change.

  Seeing Zhao Shuhan's poverty and decline, Lin Xie naturally couldn't let him spend money to invite wine, so he made an excuse saying that he came to ask Zhao Shuhan about his experience in handling prison affairs.

  The Ministry of Punishment's Department of Prison Administration is the main department in charge of prisons all over the country, and the Jiangning Ministry of Punishment has no real power at all. Lin Xie thought that Zhao Shuhan had been idle in the Jiangning Ministry of Punishment for four years, and perhaps he still had some business ability.

  Lin Xie invited Zhao Shuhan, which was an unintentional move. He thought that even if he couldn't help him get along with Gu Wu Chen, he didn't want to disappoint him either. When drinking at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, Lin Xie was quite casual and heard Zhao Shuhan say that he had been idle in Jiangning for four years, writing many documents about official matters. Since Lin Xie had nothing else to do in the afternoon, he prepared gifts and visited Zhao's residence.

  At the Zhao residence, Lin Xian saw that Zhao Shuhan had handwritten hundreds of pages of manuscripts over the past four years, covering everything from prison food to rules and regulations, as well as trivial matters. He explained all sorts of things clearly and thoroughly, making it clear that this thin-faced, bespectacled scholar who was trying to curry favor with him through his own efforts actually had a wealth of knowledge and talent.