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

The sunlight in the side hall of Kunning Palace remained bleak.

Zhao Lingjun sat in front of the bronze mirror, his fingers gently stroking the scabbed red mark on his neck.

Jiang Lin was sitting on a round stool to the side, casually peeling an orange that he had somehow gotten his hands on.

"Headmaster, you just said you wanted to stay in Bianjing for a while. Will Father Emperor agree to that?"

Zhao Lingjun looked at Jiang Lin in the mirror.

"He now wishes he could treat me like an ancestor, just to shut up those intellectuals outside."

Jiang Lin stuffed a piece of orange into his mouth, chewing it until the juice was flowing everywhere.

"Besides, the mess left by Wu Chong and Cai Jing is too big for your father to fill alone. He needs some new voices to divert the public's attention."

Jiang Lin stood up, brushed the orange peel off his hands, and slowly walked to Zhao Lingjun.

He suddenly leaned down, and because they were so close, Zhao Lingjun could even smell the faint tea fragrance mixed with a cool aura emanating from him.

"Take your hand away."

Jiang Lin's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable forcefulness.

Zhao Lingjun subconsciously loosened his grip, revealing the wound pierced by the gold hairpin.

Jiang Lin took out a white jade porcelain bottle from his pocket.

This was specially given to him by Shen Kuo before his departure. He said it was a muscle-regenerating ointment extracted from the oil of a deep-sea dragonfish, and its cost was frighteningly high.

"Don't do such stupid things again."

Jiang Lin dipped his slender fingertips in a little cool ointment and applied it evenly to the red mark.

The movements were not gentle; in fact, they caused Zhao Lingjun some pain.

"pain……"

Zhao Lingjun shrank his neck, and his eyes reddened again.

"It's supposed to hurt."

Jiang Lin snorted coldly.

"To risk your life to appease the conscience of an indecisive man—what did you learn at the academy?"

Zhao Lingjun pursed his lips, not daring to argue back.

At this moment, Jiang Lin made her tremble even more than when he angrily rebuked the ministers in the main hall.

"Since they made you bleed, I'll make them lose everything. It'll be an eye for an eye."

Jiang Lin put away the porcelain bottle, turned around, and his back looked particularly cold and hard.

"Let's go, those money-grubbing gods outside are practically wearing down the doorstep."

Within Bianjing City, the annulment of the engagement and the outbreak of corruption cases in Western Xia had already plunged the city into a near-frenzied wave of discussion.

Outside the small courtyard where Jiang Lin was staying, there were now many colorful and luxurious carriages.

The servants and servants who usually acted arrogantly on the Imperial Street were now as docile as quails, carrying chests full of gold and silver, staring longingly at the tightly closed wooden door.

Qian Duoduo was squatting on the stone stool by the door, fiddling with an abacus in his hand and a blade of grass in his mouth.

"Everyone, everyone! Don't push!"

"My master said that accepting disciples depends on fate, not on how much money one can earn."

Despite saying that, his eyes, which were glowing green, never left the boxes.

"Of course, you can't be together if you don't have money."

Qian Duoduo chuckled and added another sentence.

At that moment, the crowd parted automatically.

Jiang Lin appeared at the street corner with Zhao Lingjun and Niu Aihua.

"He's back! Jiang Shanchang is back!"

The crowd erupted in excitement, and several wealthy young men dressed in silk rushed forward.

"Mr. Jiang! I am Zhou Yuan from the Zhou family of Bianjing. My father once served as the Vice Minister of Rites. I am willing to offer a thousand taels of gold to secure my enrollment in the academy!"

"Mr. Jiang, I am a nephew of the Wang family, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy..."

Jiang Lin didn't even glance at them and walked straight into the courtyard.

Niu Aihua stood blocking the doorway like an iron tower. Although her sword was not drawn, the murderous aura she exuded made everyone unconsciously take three steps back.

"Qian Duoduo, everyone's here?"

Jiang Lin sat lazily in a rattan chair in the courtyard and asked.

"They're all here, Headmaster."

Qian Duoduo came running over excitedly and handed over a thick list.

"There are 67 families in total, all of whom are prominent figures in Bianjing. A few of them are former henchmen of Cai Jing, probably trying to send their sons in to save their lives."

Jiang Lin casually flipped through the pages and sneered.

"Trying to use this place as a safe haven? These people have quite the appetite."

He casually tossed the list aside.

"Let them send representatives in, only one representative from each household is allowed in."

A moment later, a dozen or so young men in brocade robes entered the courtyard.

They may have an arrogant expression or evasive eyes, but they couldn't hide their restlessness.

"Want to get into Jing Shi Academy?"

Jiang Lin closed his eyes and rhythmically tapped his knees with his fingers.

"think!"

The boys answered in unison.

"very good."

Jiang Lin opened his eyes, a cruel smile curving his lips.

"Shen Kuo, bring the things up."

Shen Kuo emerged from the inner room covered in dust and dirt, followed by several helpers carrying a wooden bucket about half a person's height.

The bucket was filled with dark, sticky, and foul-smelling sludge.

"This is the smelliest, oldest silt at the bottom of the moat outside Bianjing City."

Jiang Lin stood up, walked to the wooden bucket, and pointed to the muddy puddle.

"Today's interview was very simple."

"Everyone go inside and take out a basin, dry it in the sun, and then find ten unrotted grass seeds from it."

"If you can't find it, pack your bags and get out."

"Whoever finds out will have their tuition doubled, and for the next month, they will be responsible for all the latrine cleaning work at the academy's residence in Beijing."

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

Those pampered young masters, whose faces turned liver-colored instantly.

"This...this is outrageous!"

Zhou Yuan just shouted in a shrill voice.

"We are here to study and understand principles; how can we associate with filth and excrement?"

Jiang Lin looked at him coldly.

"The miners underground in Daming Prefecture live in this kind of environment every day. Every ounce of copper they dig out supports you so-called upright people."

"Too dirty?"

"It's alright, the door is in the back. Goodbye."

Zhou Yuan was stunned. Looking at Jiang Lin's unwavering eyes, a chill suddenly rose in his heart.

This feeling was a hundred times more terrifying than when his father got angry at home.

Zhao Lingjun stood under the corridor, watching Jiang Lin's almost mocking humiliation, yet he felt a strange sense of pleasure.

This is Jiang Lin. His revenge is never a quick kill, but rather to trample these people's dignity into the mud.

Because they used to treat innocent civilians the same way.

"I'll do it!"

A boy who had been silent all along and dressed rather simply suddenly stepped forward.

Without saying a word, he reached straight in and grabbed the bucket of black mud.

The boy's name was Han Zhen. Although he came from a military family, he was not favored at home.

Jiang Lin looked at the mud on his hands and nodded slightly.

"Qian Duoduo, write this down for him, and his tuition will be halved."

The remaining people looked at each other, and finally someone gritted their teeth and rushed forward.

The courtyard was suddenly filled with an unpleasant smell.

Jiang Lin sat back down in his chair and looked at Xiangguo Temple in the distance.

His revenge has only just begun.

He would personally mold these "seeds" on which his family placed high hopes, one by one, into the sharpest knife of the Song Dynasty, to cleave through that corrupt class.

"Headmaster, are you really planning to teach them the study of things?"

Shen Kuo, standing to the side, asked with some heartache, feeling that these young masters were ruining his laboratory.

"No."

Jiang Lin looked at the struggling figures under the sunlight.

"Teach them how to be human first, then teach them how to kill without shedding blood."

Just then, a guard hurriedly climbed over the courtyard wall and whispered a few words in Jiang Lin's ear.

Jiang Lin's smile vanished instantly.

"Finally couldn't sit still anymore?"

"Prepare the carriage; I'm going to meet that prime minister who's 'fallen ill from anger'."