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

The auction frenzy spread like wildfire, completely igniting the entire Wanghulou area.

The merchants' enthusiasm was fully ignited; they waved their silver notes as if grasping at a lifeline. Prices soared, quickly exceeding everyone's expectations.

Ultimately, of the ten plots of land auctioned in the first batch, apart from the plot for the public library that Zhao Lingjun acquired for the "sky-high" price of 10,000 guan, the remaining nine plots fetched a total astronomical sum of 83,000 guan!

When Jiang Lin struck the final gavel with his small wooden mallet, announcing the end of the auction, the entire private room erupted in cheers.

The businessmen who won the bids for the land were overjoyed, as if they could already see mountains of gold and silver beckoning to them.

Those who missed out were filled with regret and pounded their chests, crowding around Qian Duoduo to inquire about the next auction.

In the corner, the faces of Butler Lin and Master Liu were extremely grim.

They slunk out of the crowd and fled in a sorry state.

"We did it! Teacher, we did it!" Su Shi was so excited that his face turned red and his voice trembled.

Eighty-three thousand strings of cash! Add to that Zhao Lingjun's ten thousand strings, and that's ninety-three thousand strings of cash!

This amount of money is enough not only to manage West Lake, but also to fill the entire West Lake with silver!

And they accomplished it so easily, without spending a single penny or using a single soldier from the imperial court.

"Calm down, calm down." Jiang Lin took a sip of tea, with an expression that said, "It's standard procedure, no need to make a fuss." "This is just the beginning. This is only the first batch; there are still ninety plots to go."

"Once the two long dikes are built, the money from selling the land alone will be enough for us to open branches of Jingshi Academy all the way from Hangzhou to Guangzhou."

Qian Duoduo stood to the side, holding an abacus, his fingers moving so fast they left afterimages, muttering to himself, "Each plot of land averages ten thousand strings of cash, ninety plots would be nine hundred thousand strings of cash... My goodness..."

He rolled his eyes and almost fainted from happiness.

Zhao Lingjun looked at Jiang Lin, her beautiful eyes sparkling with admiration.

This man always manages to create the most amazing miracles in the most incredible ways.

……

Lin House.

The atmosphere in the study was terribly oppressive.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

The head of the Lin family, an elderly man nearing sixty with a sinister face, smashed a valuable Ru kiln teacup on the ground.

"I sent you to cause trouble, and this is how you've done it? Over 90,000 strings of cash! Su Shi raised over 90,000 strings of cash in just one day! You've completely disgraced the Lin family!"

Butler Lin knelt on the ground, trembling like a leaf: "Master, spare me! It's not that I'm incompetent, it's just that this Jiang Lin... he's too wicked! His methods are beyond our comprehension!"

He embellished the scene at the auction.

Upon hearing this, the Lin family head's face grew even more gloomy.

"Jingshi Academy... Jiang Lin..." He narrowed his eyes, a ruthless glint in them. "A nobody from out of town dares to act wildly on my turf. Does he really think he can gain a foothold in Hangzhou just by playing a few tricks?"

Hangzhou is the Hangzhou of the Lin family.

Through generations of management, their influence here has become deeply entrenched, and they have the final say in both official and business circles.

The arrival of Su Shi and Jiang Lin, along with the success of this auction, undoubtedly dealt him a severe blow and shook the foundation of the Lin family in Hangzhou.

This is something he absolutely cannot tolerate.

"Master, what should we do now?" Butler Lin asked cautiously. "Now that Su Shi has money, the West Lake project will definitely start immediately. Once he succeeds, his prestige in Hangzhou will be unmatched. At that time, our Lin family..."

"What's the panic!" the Lin family head sneered. "Even if he has money, he has to be alive to spend it."

He went to his desk, picked up a pen, wrote a letter, put it in an envelope, and sealed it with sealing wax.

"You, immediately send someone to deliver this letter to the capital by express courier, and give it to the steward of Grand Tutor Cai's residence."

"Grand Tutor Cai?" Butler Lin was startled.

He knew that his master had been promoted by Cai Jing, who now held immense power in the court, in his early years, and the two families had always maintained a secret relationship.

"That's right." A glint of malice flashed in the Lin family head's eyes. "This Jiang Lin has offended Grand Tutor Cai quite a bit in the capital. Now that he's delivered himself to our doorstep, it's a perfect opportunity to settle both old and new scores!"

"Furthermore," the Lin family head added, "relying solely on those in the capital isn't enough. We also need to cause them some trouble in Hangzhou."

He pondered for a moment, then smiled sinisterly.

"Isn't he going to dredge the silt and build a long dike? Well, I'd like to see how he does it."

"Go and summon all the leaders of the 'Grand Canal Gang' and 'Salt Gang' in the city. Tell them that the West Lake project, this lucrative piece of meat, belongs to the Lin family. Anyone who dares to cooperate with Su Shi is going against the Lin family!"

"Also, send men to the countryside to organize all those thugs and hooligans. When the project starts, they'll cause trouble at the construction site! Steal a tool today, injure a worker tomorrow. In short, we can't let them have peace!"

"I refuse to believe that Su Shi can cause any trouble on my turf!"

……

Meanwhile, in the dilapidated courtyard where Jiang Lin was, the scene was quite different.

Everyone is celebrating the huge success of the auction.

Qian Duoduo even went so far as to buy a table at Hangzhou's most famous restaurant. Everyone sat together, clinking glasses and making a lively scene.

Jiang Lin sat alone in a corner, not joining the others in the celebration.

He held a glass of wine in his hand, but his gaze pierced through the hole in the roof, looking towards the deep night sky, his eyes thoughtful.

"Teacher, why are you sitting here all alone? Everyone is waiting for you to say a few words." Su Shi walked over with a wine cup in his hand.

"It's nothing." Jiang Lin shook his head. "I was just thinking, are things... going a little too smoothly?"

"Isn't it good that things went smoothly?" Su Shi asked, puzzled. "We raised nearly 100,000 strings of cash in just one day, giving that Prefect Liu and the Lin family a thorough dressing-down. This is a tremendous achievement!"

"It's a good thing, but also a bad thing." Jiang Lin took a sip of his drink, his voice low. "If you push a dog too far, it'll jump over the wall. Today, we've not only slapped the Lin family in the face, but we've also cut off their source of income in Hangzhou. Do you think they'll let this go?"

The smile on Su Shi's face gradually froze.

He then realized that today's victory might just be the calm before the storm.

"Then... what will they do?" Su Shi asked nervously.

"Openly, they wouldn't dare. After all, you now have the support of the people and the backing of the government." Jiang Lin's gaze sharpened. "Therefore, they will only resort to underhanded tactics."

He stretched out his finger, dipped it in the wine on the table, and drew a few circles.

"Manpower, materials, safety... these three things are the lifeblood of any project. If they just trip us up in these three areas, we'll be in serious trouble."

Su Shi's heart sank.

He was so focused on making money that he forgot that running an engineering project is far more complicated than making money.

"Teacher, what should we do?"

Jiang Lin smiled at his nervous expression and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't panic, we'll deal with whatever comes our way."

He stood up, walked to the middle of the crowd, and raised his glass.

"Gentlemen, we've won our first major victory today! But the road ahead is still long! Starting tomorrow, the 'Work-for-GN' plan will officially begin!"

"Qian Duoduo, you're in charge of recruitment and pay! I need you to recruit at least three thousand workers within three days!"

"Shen Kuo, you're in charge of technology and material procurement! Cement, stone, tools—you can't be short of any of them!"

"Niu Aihua, you're in charge of site safety! I don't care what methods you use, we absolutely cannot let any thugs or hooligans infiltrate our site!"

"As for you, Zizhan..." Jiang Lin looked at Su Shi, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

"Your task is the most important."

"You, do nothing."

"Huh?" Su Shi was stunned. "I'm not going to do anything?"

"Yes." Jiang Lin nodded. "Every day, you'll bring me a deck chair so I can sit by West Lake, drink tea, enjoy the scenery, and write poetry."

"Make sure you adopt the right attitude!"

"I want all the people of Hangzhou to see that our Lord Su is a master strategist, calm and composed. Managing West Lake is a trivial matter for him, nothing more than a snap of his fingers."

A cunning glint flashed in Jiang Lin's eyes.

"They want to see us scrambling around, don't they? We'll show them how...easy we are."