The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

Inside a meditation room at Xiangguo Temple, Jiang Lin was drawing a simple map of Bianjing (Kaifeng) on ​​the ground with a dry twig.

Shen Kuo squatted down to the side, looking at the crooked lines and markings on the ground, and asked curiously, "Headmaster, what are you drawing?"

"Draw a chessboard," Jiang Lin replied without looking up. "Only after the chessboard is drawn can we know where to place the pieces."

Shen Kuo nodded as if he understood, but he didn't know what a chessboard was. However, he knew that whenever the headmaster was so focused, it meant that someone was about to suffer a great misfortune.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the door three times, two long knocks and one short knock, which was their agreed-upon code.

Jiang Lin immediately threw away the tree branch and stood up: "Come in."

The door opened, and Ouyang Xiu strode in. His forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat, clearly from his journey, but his face showed an undisguised mix of excitement and seriousness.

"Jiang Shanzhang, I've got what you wanted." Ouyang Xiu said, taking out two scrolls from his wide sleeves and handing them to Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin took the scroll and first opened one of the thinner rolls.

The document was densely covered with names and official titles, as well as details of their financial dealings with Zhao Liben, a truly shocking sight.

"Wu Chong, who held the official position of Vice Chancellor, received a total of 30,000 strings of cash annually from Zhao Liben as 'ice and charcoal tribute.' His son, Wu Anshi, had a salt business in Daming Prefecture, which was secretly protected by Zhao Liben..."

"Cai Jing, then serving as a collator in the Imperial Academy, had a cousin who was a merchant in Hebei Province. He partnered with Zhao Liben to resell military equipment, making a huge profit..."

Jiang Lin's gaze swept quickly across the list, and his eyes grew colder with each name he saw.

This list encompasses almost half of the core members of the pro-peace faction in the court. No wonder they were desperately trying to suppress the matter, even at the cost of sacrificing a princess for a marriage alliance. This was no longer simple corruption; it was a network of interests capable of overturning the Song Dynasty court, and Zhao Liben was merely one of the major nodes within it.

"Good, very good." Jiang Lin rolled up the list and put it away. It's not the right time to take this out yet, but when the time is right, it will be a thunderbolt that can shatter the heavens.

He then opened the second scroll, which was longer and contained more detailed records.

This was exactly what he needed—intelligence about the Western Xia mission.

"The chief envoy of the Western Xia delegation is a confidant of the Western Xia prime minister, Mozang Epang, named Yeli Yuqi. The deputy envoy is the Western Xia prince, Li Liangzuo."

Upon seeing the name "Li Liangzuo," Jiang Lin raised an eyebrow.

This is no nobody. In history, he is none other than Emperor Yizong of Western Xia, an emperor who was quite accomplished during his reign and strived to break free from the control of his maternal faction and powerful ministers. However, he is still very young now, just a teenage prince.

"Prince Li Liangzuo, aged sixteen, is intelligent from a young age, well-versed in Han studies, and especially fond of poetry and prose. However, he is extremely arrogant and self-important, often considering himself the foremost talent of Western Xia. He looks down on the literati of our Great Song Dynasty the most, believing that they can only write sentimental and affected works, lacking any manly spirit. During this mission, he has repeatedly provoked our officials in public, and his words have shown considerable disdain for the culture of our Great Song Dynasty."

The intelligence report detailed Li Liangzuo's words and actions, including details of how he used classical allusions to ridicule Song Dynasty officials at several banquets.

"Interesting." Jiang Lin looked at the records, the smile on his lips growing wider.

A teenager who is extremely arrogant and has a contradictory mindset of "despising and wanting to surpass" Song Dynasty culture.

This is practically a perfect target delivered right to their mouth.

"Jiang Shanchang, although Li Liangzuo is young, he is extremely cunning and very concerned with his reputation," Ouyang Xiu added from the side. "I've heard that he privately holds Su Zizhan in very high regard, believing that Su's poetry and prose have the style of 'composing poetry while holding a spear,' and that he is the only Song Dynasty writer who can catch his eye. But precisely because of this, he seems to have a strong competitive mentality towards Su Zizhan, always wanting to surpass him in some aspects."

"Oh?" Jiang Lin's eyes lit up completely.

It's like someone just brings you a pillow when you're about to fall asleep.

He had been thinking about how to perfectly combine Su Shi's name with this matter, but now it seemed that he didn't even need to find a reason.

This Li Liangzuo himself offered his head up.

"Lord Ouyang, thank you so much this time." Jiang Lin rolled up the intelligence report and bowed solemnly to Ouyang Xiu. "This intelligence report is worth a thousand armies."

Ouyang Xiu quickly helped him up: "Headmaster, there's no need for such formality. What I've done is to rid the country of traitors, it's my duty. But... after seeing all this, does Headmaster have any solutions?"

He was genuinely curious about how Jiang Lin planned to use this intelligence to create a "spectacular" event that would make the Western Xia prince willingly give up the marriage alliance.

"We already have a solution," Jiang Lin smiled, a smile that carried an indescribable meaning that made Ouyang Xiu's heart tremble.

"Cunzhong!" Jiang Lin called out to the door.

Shen Kuo immediately pushed open the door and came in: "Headmaster, what are your orders?"

Jiang Lin handed him the intelligence report about Li Liangzuo: "Take a look at this."

Shen Kuo took it and read it carefully from beginning to end. The more he read, the brighter his eyes became. Finally, he couldn't help but slap his thigh: "I understand! Headmaster, you're going to target his weakness of 'saving face'!"

"You're a promising young man." Jiang Lin nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Ouyang Xiu and said slowly, "Lord Ouyang, next, I'll need you to put on a grand show for me."

"Acting?" Ouyang Xiu was taken aback.

"Yes, acting." Jiang Lin's gaze turned to the dark night sky outside the window, as if he could already see the turmoil that would sweep through Bianjing City three days later.

"We must create something out of nothing and present this Western Xia prince, who has come from afar, with a 'gift' he will never forget. A gift that will make him cry and beg to annul the marriage."

Ouyang Xiu and Shen Kuo exchanged a glance, both seeing deep confusion and anticipation in each other's eyes.

They had no idea what kind of "gift" could have such immense power.

Jiang Lin didn't explain further. Instead, he walked to the table, spread out a piece of paper, picked up a pen, pondered for a moment, and then wrote with great skill and precision.

He neither wrote poems nor articles.

Instead, he drew a strange pattern on the paper and wrote a few words next to it.

"The Imperial Seal of the State".