There is no phoenix

Lin Ruhai said: "Brother Shui, to tell you the truth, with my body, it may be a miracle that I can wait a year."

Shui Ruoning asked in shock: "Brother Lin, is it really so serious?"

Lin Ruhai said: "Yes, I may have some selfishness in doing this. But I know my daughter's temperament. Brother Shui, don't think my daughter is weak and stubborn, so she is not suitable for life in the royal palace. It may be difficult to tolerate her because of a noble family. I only hope that she can meet the person she likes in the future, and live a free life in peace. The old house of my ancestors in Gusu will be kept for sacrifice. I have several sons, and I hope she can inherit the incense of my Gusu Lin family."

Shui Ruoning said: "Brother Lin actually wants his daughter to be a commoner?"

Lin Ruhai nodded.

Shui Ruoning was still a little puzzled, and just looked at Lin Ruhai quietly.

Lin Ruhai sighed and said: "Brother Shui, I don't want to hide anything from you. I think my generation of five generations of princes and a century-old scholarly family will cut off the incense. Thinking of my father's previous instructions, I am not reconciled. So now I only hope that I can Borrowing a large sum of money from the emperor, my daughter can be the last hope of my Lin family. My daughter is a girl, but I believe that as long as she can be good, her children will not be vulgar and incompetent in the future!"

Shui Ruoning listened, nodded and said: "Brother Lin is worried that Daiyu really can't go to the royal palace to fulfill your wish. Well, I will try my best!"

Lin Ruhai said: "Then I would like to thank Brother Shui first. If Brother Shui gets the letter from the emperor, you don't have to send it here. I will let you stay in your house for the time being. Next month I will let Lin Zhong go to Beijing, and I will let him come to Beijing." Bring it back from your house."

Shui Ruoning nodded and said: "Okay, brother Lin, don't worry, I think the emperor will do what you wish."

Lin Ruhai said: "Brother Shui, thank you for your kindness. After talking about so many private matters, let's talk about business matters now. Brother Shui, please follow me!"

Lin Ruhai brought Shui Ruoning into the study, took out a few account books, handed them to Shui Ruoning and said, "Brother Shui, this is the complete annual report of all the salt tax revenue in Jiangnan for the past three years, divided into three volumes, one for each year. In addition to the 200 million taels that the emperor said the previous year to relieve the Jianghuai floods, the first year was 900 million taels, the second year was 700 million taels, and last year was 1000 million taels. There are detailed accounts on them. If there is no catastrophe, Jiangnan The salt tax should be between 850 million taels and 950 million taels per year. In the future, the emperor can use this to understand the salt tax situation in the south of the Yangtze River.”

Shui Ruoning said: "Why did there be so much more last year?"

Lin Ruhai said: "It was last year that our Yangzhou Yushifu, the prefect of Jinling, and the East China Sea Patrol Commander rectified the eastern sea area and the Grand Canal, so that those pirates and those lake bandits could no longer harass merchants, officials and businessmen, so Income has increased significantly since last year.”

Shui Ruoning said: "Didn't most of the money have already been transported to the capital?"

Lin Ruhai said: "Yes, there are still nearly 800 million taels. The emperor should ask Brother Guo Shui to escort him back to the capital, right?"

Shui Ruoning nodded and said: "The emperor told me to leave 200 million taels of cash to deposit in Yangzhou. Spring is coming soon, and the emperor wants to reward farming and weaving. Now the south is peaceful, and it has been a relatively stable place since the dynasty. Your majesty I want to use this method to make a few more lands of fish and rice like the Suhu area appear in the south."

Lin Ruhai nodded and said: "The emperor is sympathetic to the people's feelings, which is the blessing of the people in Jiangnan."

When Lin Ruhai said this, he took down two more volumes from the bookshelf, handed them to Shui Ruoning and said, "Brother Shui, these are my notes on business affairs after I came to Yangzhou, and Brother Shui will forward them to the emperor on my behalf. Please let the emperor rest assured, If I stay in Yangzhou for a day, I will definitely not miss out on business, and I can also ensure that nothing will happen here."

Shui Ruoning took it and flipped through it for a while, and said a little strangely: "Why are there some differences between the two copies of Brother Ruhai's writing?"

Lin Ruhai sighed: "Brother Shui, Yu'er helped me copy that account book. Because I was in poor health and busy with business a few years ago, she said she could copy it for me. Even so, every day when I come back, I will carefully copy it. After checking it carefully, she felt that there was no mistake, so she was relieved to let her copy it. Her lower script still has a feminine flavor, but the handwriting is very clear, and there is nothing wrong with it, but Brother Shui could still see it."

Shui Ruoning smiled and said: "That's because I have both copies now, you forgot that we all liked the characters of Da Su and Zhao Mengfu at the beginning. If it were outsiders, wouldn't they read the characters of your father and daughter at the same time, or If you don’t check carefully, you must think that it was written by one person. I didn’t expect Yu’er to write such words at the age of ten, which is not easy.”

Lin Ruhai sighed: "I had no choice but to ask Yu'er to help. Fortunately, although Yu'er is usually playful, she is very calm when reading and writing. She has been making troubles these days. Riding a horse. For a girl like her, a girl is only four years older than her, so I can't rest assured!"

Shui Ruoning smiled and said: "I didn't expect Brother Ruhai to love my daughter so much. My three daughters didn't like reading and writing since they were young, but they all liked martial arts and riding horses as much as I did. The second child was like a man, but my son-in-law I prefer a woman like her. However, my daughters are in good health, maybe they and Ming'er are in such good health that this youngest is sick."

Lin Ruhai saw that Shui Ruoning was a little sad when talking about her two sons, so she hurriedly said: "Brother Shui, let's go eat first, and I will accompany you around Yangzhou City tomorrow!" After saying that, he smiled and led Shui Ruoning out.

Four days later, Shui Ruoning and his party embarked on a journey to the north.Several subordinate officials including Lin Ruhai and Li Wenzheng were sent to Yangzhou Wharf, and they returned to the government office together with the others when they saw that the boat had gone far away.

On February 24, Lin Zhong returned from Gusu and brought Daiyu a lot of Gusu specialties.

Daiyu was very happy, and asked Lin Zhong with a smile: "Uncle Lin, why did you come back after being away for so long, Xueyan and I miss you so much. Is the sister-in-law giving birth to a nephew or a niece?"

Lin Zhong smiled and said: "Yu'er, your sister-in-law gave birth to a little nephew. Because some guests came to the house, your aunt is not in good health, so Uncle Lin was delayed for a few days."

Daiyu was convinced after hearing this, and took the special flavor of Gusu brought by Lin Zhong, and happily shared it with Xueyan Wang.

In the evening, Lin Ruhai came back, called Lin Zhong to the study, and asked about the situation in Gusu one by one.

Lin Zhongdao: "Brother, I have completed most of the things you explained. Right now, there is still a silk shop and a medicine shop. Because the business of these two shops is good, I still want to ask what Big Brother thinks. The other shops are Grange Heshanchang, a total of 140 million taels of silver. The bulky furnishings of our old house have also been dealt with, which is equivalent to 40 taels of silver."

When Lin Zhong said this, he handed all the banknotes he brought to Lin Ruhai and said, "Brother, what should we do next?"

Lin Ruhai sighed and said: "Let's keep those two shops, one for your retirement, and the other for Yu'er, but your family must help Yu'er protect this foundation. If there is such a day, Yu'er will live happily in the capital." Not good, let her go back to Gusu. Gusu has an old house, a sacrificial field and a shop, at least she can live comfortably. Yu'er is a girl's family, so it is impossible to show her face and go outside to make a living. At worst, she should be a businessman. "

Lin Zhong was puzzled and said, "Brother still wants to send Yu'er to her grandmother's house in the capital?"