Chapter 1844
The True and False Jinshi
On Liu Dong's first day in office, other officials from Yangzhou Prefecture came to greet him and they all attended a welcoming banquet.
The welcoming banquet was held on a painted boat, with singers and dancers entertaining everyone.
The Assistant Magistrate introduced the officials to Liu Dong one by one, and finally said, "It's a pity that Lord Lin is ill and cannot attend the welcoming banquet."
Liu Dong: "Lord Lin? Is it Lord Lin Hai, the third-ranked scholar of the Xin-You year?"
Tongzhi: "Indeed. Does Your Excellency know Lord Lin?"
Liu Tong smiled and said, "I don't know him, I've only heard of him briefly."
Although I didn't see Lin Ruhai on the first day, we were both in Yangzhou, so there were many opportunities to meet.
Two weeks later, Liu Dong met Lin Ruhai.
With Liu Dong's keen eyesight, she could naturally tell that Lin Ruhai had been poisoned.
By this time, Lin Daiyu had already arrived in the capital, and judging by the dates, Lin Ruhai's death was probably fast approaching.
Liu Tong didn't have any intention of extending his love to Lin Ruhai, but he was determined to save him.
It was for no other reason than the salt administration in Yangzhou.
Although Lin Ruhai, the Salt Inspector, was in charge of salt affairs, Liu Tong, the Prefect, was also responsible.
The day after Liu Tong arrived in Yangzhou, salt merchants from Yangzhou came to pay their respects to him and presented him with gifts.
Upon opening the gift wrapping, one finds stacks of silver notes inside.
Liu Tong sighed, "The salt business is a pit of fire; anyone who gets involved will be burned to ashes."
Therefore, Lin Ruhai cannot die; he must stand in front of Liu Dong and act as a shield for him.
Moreover, to break the existing salt administration pattern in Jiangnan, it would require Lin Ruhai, a man whose family was almost ruined by salt merchants.
Lin Ruhai's poison had penetrated deep into his bones, and even the imperial physicians could not save him.
But for Liu Dong, that was a piece of cake.
After reading Wang Nangu's Poison Manual, Liu Dong found a way to detoxify Lin Ruhai.
Liu Tong and Lin Ruhai were just ordinary colleagues; apart from work, they had no private interactions.
During a business meeting, Liu Tong detoxified Lin Ruhai and gave him a nourishing pill.
Those who attacked Lin Ruhai had no idea that his poison had been cured.
Later, after discovering that Lin Ruhai had not died and was getting better day by day, they did not suspect that it was Liu Dong's doing, but only thought that Lin Ruhai was lucky to have found a miracle doctor.
One day, Lin Ruhai discovered a recipe for making salt in his study.
This recipe extracts sea salt from seawater, and the yield is more than ten times that of boiling salt today.
With the availability of sea salt, the price of salt in the Jiangnan region plummeted, and the market for smuggled salt disappeared.
If those salt merchants couldn't make money, how could they act so arrogantly?
Lin Ruhai was a man of principle who refused to collude with the salt merchants and corrupt officials in Jiangnan, which is why he was poisoned.
He had originally intended to use his life to bring down the officialdom and salt merchants of Jiangnan.
In the original world, he did it.
After receiving the evidence he had collected, the emperor endured for several years before suddenly unleashing his fury after the death of the retired emperor. He confiscated the Zhen family's property, beheaded many officials in Jiangnan, and drastically reshuffled the salt merchants.
Now that he has recovered, he will still fight the salt merchants and corrupt officials with his life.
He knew how many people's interests would be harmed by the appearance of sea salt, and he also knew how much those people would hate him; various assassinations would definitely be inevitable.
But he wasn't afraid; he had already died once before.
At worst, I'll just die again.
In any case, he has already made arrangements for his daughter's future.
As the daughter's maternal family, the Rongguo Mansion will take good care of her.
Therefore, Lin Ruhai boldly handed over the salt-making method and the evidence he had collected to the emperor.
The emperor was overjoyed and immediately ordered his trusted confidants to build salt fields along the coast.
When the salt production yielded results, the emperor was even more pleased and ordered the sea salt to be released into the market. The high-quality and low-priced sea salt immediately dominated the entire salt trade, and no one bought salt from Jiangnan, putting the salt merchants there on the verge of bankruptcy.
At this moment, the emperor made his move.
The emperor dispatched troops to assist Lin Ruhai in confiscating the salt merchants' homes and arrested the officials who colluded with them, sending them all to the execution ground.
Given that the retired emperor was still alive and Lady Fengsheng was also still alive, the emperor did not take action against the Zhen family.
During this period, Lin Ruhai survived numerous assassination attempts.
However, the emperor was very satisfied with Lin Ruhai and sent skilled soldiers to serve as his bodyguards.
Anyone who came to assassinate Lin Ruhai was killed by the guards.
As for using poison...
Liu Dong found it troublesome to detoxify Lin Ruhai time and time again, so she refined a pill that could cure all poisons and gave it to Lin Ruhai.
After that, Lin Ruhai became immune to all poisons.
Thus, Lin Ruhai made great contributions in Jiangnan and was summoned back to the capital by the emperor.
With her father's support, would Lin Daiyu have died young?
Liu Tong cooperated with Lin Ruhai and made significant contributions in this operation targeting Jiangnan.
The governor of Jiangnan has fallen from power, and Liu Tong has been promoted to governor of Jiangnan.
His promotion speed is quite fast.
Liu Xi is ten years old and has signed up to participate in the county examination.
Liu Tong and Liu Xi were not close, but Liu Xi respected him as his father.
Liu Xi was well taken care of.
The people around him were all chosen by Liu Dong; they were all people of good character.
Under their influence, Liu Xi will not go astray.
Liu Xi passed the county examination and two years later passed the prefectural examination, becoming a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations).
He passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen and returned to the capital with Liu Tong.
The emperor was very satisfied with Liu Tong's achievements over the years, and what pleased the emperor the most was that Liu Tong had produced cement.
Liu Tong used cement to build dikes, ensuring that the Jiangnan region would never again suffer from floods.
The emperor asked for the cement formula and ordered the Ministry of Works to produce it and transport it to both banks of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.
After that, there were fewer incidents of dike breaches between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The emperor remembered Liu Tong, and after Liu Tong retired as Minister of Works, the emperor transferred him to the capital to serve as Minister of Works.
Liu Dong met Lin Ruhai.
Lin Ruhai's body was still affected by the toxins, and his health was not particularly good.
Therefore, he did not hold a very important position, but instead served as Minister of Rites.
I usually have a lot of free time.
Lin Daiyu was already married, but not to Jia Baoyu. Instead, she married the son of one of Lin Ruhai's classmates.
When Lin Ruhai returned to the capital alive, he found that his daughter was living a difficult life in the Rongguo Mansion. In a fit of anger, he took his daughter away from the Rongguo Mansion.
No matter how much Jia Baoyu threw a tantrum or how mentally impaired and "seriously ill" he was, Lin Ruhai refused to let him see Lin Daiyu.
Later, the Great Master Mangmang and the Immortal Miaomiao came by, and Jia Baoyu recovered from his illness.
Then, Jia Baoyu married Baochai.
Later, the Rongguo Mansion was raided, and Jia Baoyu became a monk.
Lin Ruhai was very glad that he had broken off his daughter's relationship with Jia Baoyu; otherwise, his daughter would be the one suffering now.
Lin Ruhai and Liu Tong had a lot of contact when dealing with salt merchants and corrupt officials, and the two developed a tacit understanding.
Lin Ruhai had a very good impression of Liu Qiu and considered her a friend, inviting her to his home for drinks. (End of Chapter)