After being tied up in Linjiang Island's prison for a long time, he spent some effort studying the prison affairs of this dynasty.
Apart from the laws and decrees promulgated by the imperial court, there are very few specialized writings on related aspects. Only a few books of notes written by literati who were imprisoned have been published in the world, and most of the records are just a few anecdotes about prison administration heard from the mouths of prison guards. There is no systematic introduction to prison affairs at all. Of course, in this era, not to mention the basic theoretical content, but also professional and systematic writings on other industries are extremely rare.
In the military field, except for the founding general Su Jingyuan's "Wu Xue Qi Jing Zhu" written over 200 years ago, there have been no higher-level treatises in the past 200 years. It is as if the military technology and combat theory of the Great Viet Dynasty have not made any progress in more than 200 years. Professional treatises on agriculture, water conservancy, shipbuilding, ironwork, weaving, and other fields are extremely rare. Even if they exist, they are mostly classical masterpieces with a history of hundreds or even thousands of years. The technical achievements of the past century have either been passed down orally or secretly transmitted as private teachings within certain schools, making it impossible for outsiders to gain insight into them.
Lin Xian did not expect that four years ago, due to a trivial matter, he offended the powerful Chen Xinbo and was kicked into the Jiangning Prison by Zhao Shuhan. During his four-year imprisonment, Zhao wrote this magnificent hundred-page treatise on prison affairs.
"Will the manuscript be of benefit to Lin?" Zhao Shuhan said.
"Ah..." Lin woke up from his daze, and for a moment, he forgot what he wanted to say to Zhao Shuhan.
Zhao Shuhan looked at this newly risen noble in Jiangning City, although he was only a candidate who ranked last in the county examination, but the heated debate he stirred up in the city was comparable to that of Chen Mingyue, the champion of the Jiangdong provincial examination in autumn.
Chen Mingyue has returned to his hometown, closed the door and read books in preparation for next year's spring examination. This holder who was appreciated by Gu Wudeng, a new noble of the Chu Party, did not have any affection for the honor of being a scholar-official. After joining Gu Wudeng's gate, he wanted to seek an official position in Jiangning and actively prepared to operate a business.
Although many of Zhao Shuhan's colleagues looked down on Lin Xie as a lucky opportunist who was greedy for wealth, Zhao Shuhan, who had suffered setbacks in his early career, was more pragmatic than four years ago and even knew some ways to curry favor. Zhao Shuhan wouldn't bother to investigate Lin Xie's character, nor would he look down on Lin Xie because of his own prestigious jinshi title; instead, he hoped to get close to Gu Wuduan through Lin Xie.
As for the atmosphere of scholars being ashamed to ask for wealth, Zhao Shuhan, who has been living a simple life in Jiangning City for four years, also sneers at it. His colleagues would go to great lengths to extort one or two hundred coppers, using every trick in the book and arresting people on trumped-up charges, even driving others to bankruptcy and ruin. Is it not that openly running a business to make money has become a despicable thing?
Zhao Shuhan was not very familiar with Lin Xie, and even though he didn't have a deep prejudice against him, from the rumors he had heard, he only regarded him as someone who relied on others to rise. He was quite satisfied with his own manuscript, watching Lin Xie pick it up and read it for half a day, then press his hand on it and become distracted for another half day, unable to help but remind him in a loud voice.
"Brother Lin, if you think Zhao's draft is readable, feel free to take it back with you. You can return it to me in a few days, no hurry." Zhao Shuhan could also see that the manuscript given by Lin Xuan was attractive, and he was quite pleased in his heart. The pleasant experience of his four-year official career was just here, seeing people who appreciated him, and naturally many good feelings arose in his heart.
Among many relationships in this world, knowing each other is probably also one of the most exciting ones.
“….” Lin Xuan's mind was in a knot, and it took him a moment to clear his thoughts before speaking to Zhao Shuhan, "Brother Zhao's magnificent work is the most brilliant article I've read in my entire life. Why don't you publish it for the benefit of all people? If I may be so bold as to say, compared to your second-class fourth-rank scholar title, I think your true legacy lies in this manuscript...”
"Haha, Brother Lin is overpraising me," Zhao Shuhan thought Lin Xie's words were exaggerated, but being praised so highly made him feel comfortable from head to toe. He grasped Lin Xie's arm and for a moment forgot his previous thoughts of trying to curry favor with him, treating him like an old friend instead. "Brother Lin is from a wealthy family and doesn't know the hardships of poverty. Although I also want to publish my book, the cost of engraving it is over 100 taels of silver, which I cannot afford. If Brother Lin really likes it, I'll spend ten more days copying out another manuscript as a gift for you..."
"What a noble family I am from? Is this good?" Lin Fu looked at the simple and humble Zhao's residence, saying, "Brother Zhao entrusted me with publishing his manuscript, I paid Brother Zhao one hundred taels of silver. After the manuscript is published, it will be under Brother Zhao's name, but in the future, all profits from selling books will belong to me..."
"It's not Peking Opera either. If it's published, how many people will buy it? Brother Lin is just joking with me." Zhao Shuhan shook his head and said.
"This has nothing to do with you, Brother Zhao, just agree with me," Lin said, calling in Zhao Hu and asking him how much silver he had brought out of his bag. He then gave all twenty taels of silver from Zhao Hu's body to Zhao Shuhan. "I wish I could find a place to read this book right away, so as not to delay any further and invite Brother Zhao to drink again. The remaining eighty taels of silver, I will have someone send over after I return home..."
"How dare I?" For Zhao Shuhan, who didn't even have twenty taels of silver for his annual salary, the twenty taels that Lin Xie handed him at this time felt unusually burdensome. How could he possibly want another eighty taels of silver? Moreover, publishing and printing books would be a huge expense. He couldn't think of how to decline, and was still in a daze after seeing off Lin Xie and his servant.
Watching Lin Xie and his two servants ride away on horseback, Zhao Shuhan still felt the weight of the twenty taels of silver in his hand. He didn't dare to think that he could get Lin Xie to engrave his manuscript for free and also get a hundred taels of silver from him. He couldn't figure out if Lin Xie had any other motives, and besides, today was clearly a day when he needed something from Lin Xie.
"You look like you've lost your soul, everyone else has been gone for half a day, what are you still standing at the door staring at?" Zhao Shuhan's wife walked over and glanced into the dark alley, then pushed her dazed husband. "When have I ever seen you gaze so infatuatedly at another family's daughter?"
Zhaoshuhan ignored his wife's joke and asked her, "You said I spend all day pondering over those drafts, wasting paper and ink without earning a single cent. But others say that manuscript alone is worth 100 taels of silver just for publishing it under my name. Do you believe it?"
"Have you gone mad, or is someone else going mad?" Zhao's wife said.
"It seems someone else has lost their mind, you see..." Zhao Shuhan showed his wife the few silver coins in his hand.
"Ah......" Zhao's wife widened her eyes, staring at the silver in Zhao Shuhan's hand, and was stunned for a while before letting out a breath and saying, "Could it be that he has something else to ask of you?"
"I thought so too," said Zhao Shuhan, "but he came to Qingfeng and vowed not to coexist with the young master of the Fan family, threatening to cut out his tongue. He saved the Xia family's sisters-in-law and preserved their chastity. He is a red person under Gu Wudun - I am just a small official in the cold yamen, don't look at me as a seventh-rank official, even the gatekeepers of the Jiangning Prefecture yamen dare to give me attitude. What do I have that's worth him asking for? Moreover, it should be me who asks him for help." Zhao Shuhan was puzzled and handed the silver to his wife, telling her to call the old servant to buy a few catties of wine back, thinking that meeting someone who appreciated his writing would also be delightful.
"As soon as he got some silver, he knew how to drink wine, but didn't think of buying a warm coat for Hao'er first..." Zhao's wife complained.
"Right, right, first add a woolen garment for Hao'er, then make a silver hairpin for the wife." Zhao Shuhan said with a smile.
"I don't want any silver hairpins. It's already dark, and if I'm going to buy a padded jacket, I'll have to wait until it gets lighter before I can go to the clothing store. I was thinking that once we get some money, we should save it carefully and spend it wisely. In a few days, it will be New Year's Eve, and you had wine at noon today, so let's save one dinner of wine for New Year's Eve night and have a good drink then." said Zhao's wife.
"Go on, go on..." Zhao Shuhan looked at his beloved wife who had also suffered a lot with him over the years and let her have her way in everything.
After a short while, hearing the sound of horseshoes coming back from the alley, Zhao Shuhan asked his wife in surprise: "Could it be that they really sent all the remaining silver?" Hearing the knock on the door, he hurried to open it and found Zhao Hu leading his horse standing at the door.
"Lord Zhao, this is the remaining 80 taels of silver that my young master has promised you. Please count it," Zhao Hu handed over a small package wrapped in cloth to Zhao Shuhan, then turned around and took down several heavy bags from the horse's back and put them in the courtyard, saying, "The New Year is approaching, my young master said this is his gift to Lord Zhao in advance, all are local specialties from our hometown, please accept it with a smile... My young master also instructed me to do other things, so I won't delay any longer..."
Watching Zhao Hu ride away on horseback, Zhao Shuhan leaned against the door frame, with a mix of emotions, as if he had endured four years of humiliation in Jiangning and finally found someone who truly appreciated him.
"Look at you! Others are just juren, but you're a jinshi who ranked second in the fourth class. If it were silver sent by Vice Censor-in-Chief Gu Wu Chen, you'd probably cry out loud on the street corner!" Zhao's wife saw her husband's excitement and couldn't help teasing him. She said with a smile, "Alright, alright, I know you're thrilled inside. First, let's get all these things back home. I'll ask Cheng Bo to brew two liters of wine for you, and then buy a kilogram of braised pork head meat..."
"Go quickly, go quickly..." Zhao Shuhan was afraid that he would shed tears in front of his wife, so he urged her to hurry and call the old servant to buy wine and dishes. He returned to the house with surging emotions, but felt uneasy about taking Lin's 100 taels of silver. Although he wanted to publish his manuscript, there were many places that needed revision, but previously he was afraid of wasting paper and ink money, so some revisions were left in his mind and had not been written down yet. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and he called out to his wife, "You eat the wine and dishes, I still have something to go visit Lin Juzi..."
"It's so late, aren't you afraid people will say you're just going there for free food and drink?" Zhao's wife said.
"Lin Juzi wouldn't think that way." Zhao Shuhan said with a confident tone, as if he knew Lin Xie's mind.
"Let Chengbo accompany you back, it's getting dark." said Zhao's wife.
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P.S: Seeking likes and collections.