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

"Sir, what kind of work do you do?" Su Shi asked naively.

Jiang Lin put down his teacup, walked up to Su Shi, and patted him on the shoulder.

"They've already put a knife to your throat, and you're still asking me what to do? You're the top scholar of the Song Dynasty, where's your pen? Where's your writing? They're using legal documents to pressure you, so you're using your writing to slap them in the face!" Jiang Lin said, exasperated.

Su Shi slapped his thigh, his eyes lighting up instantly.

That's right! What am I, Su Shi, best at? Writing! When it comes to writing poetry, lyrics, and essays, if I say I'm second, who dares to say they're first?

Su Shi's anger flared up instantly. He looked at Lord Wang and the head of the Lin family with eyes as cold as ice.

"Sir, you are right. I will go back and write an article now. I want to see whether the official documents from the Secretariat are more effective or my pen is more effective!" Su Shi said loudly.

Lord Wang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. He knew all too well how powerful Su Shi's pen was. If Su Shi were to write down the true situation in Hangzhou and have it reach the capital, his job as salt commissioner would be over.

Lord Wang quickly put on a smiling face and moved closer to Su Shi.

"Lord Su, Lord Su, let's talk this out. It was all a misunderstanding. We're officials in the same court, why make things so tense? I will fully support the West Lake project from now on and will not interfere," Lord Wang said humbly.

The head of the Lin family quickly rushed over, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Lord Su, our Lin family will fully cooperate from now on. Whatever labor or materials you need, our Lin family will provide!"

Jiang Lin felt nauseous looking at these two guys whose expressions changed faster than flipping through a book.

He walked up to Lord Wang and looked him up and down.

"Lord Wang, are you scared now? Too late. Didn't you just call Lord Su a traitor? Didn't you say you were going to impeach him? Go on, don't stop," Jiang Lin mocked.

Lord Wang wanted to slap himself twice. He looked at Jiang Lin and knew that this young man was the real backbone.

"Young master, I was blind to your greatness just now. Please forgive me, sir," Lord Wang pleaded desperately.

Jiang Lin sneered.

"Let you go? Do you think I'm doing charity? Do you really think nobody knows about the shady things you and the Lin family did in Hangzhou? Monopolizing materials, inflating prices, oppressing the people—which one of those things isn't enough to get you into serious trouble? Now you're saying it's a misunderstanding? Where were you before?" Jiang Lin's words pierced Lord Wang's heart like a knife.

Lord Wang's face turned deathly pale. He knew that this matter could not be resolved peacefully today.

He gritted his teeth, looked at Jiang Lin, and said, "Fine, since you won't listen to reason, then we'll see. I'm not without backers in the capital. This Hangzhou isn't a place where you can control everything!"

After saying that, Lord Wang flicked his sleeves and stormed off in a huff.

Seeing this, the head of the Lin family also quickly ran away.

The merchants in the hall watched Lord Wang and the Lin family head flee in disarray, feeling immense satisfaction. They had long been fed up with the bullying by these two, and today they finally saw them suffer.

The merchants crowded around, expressing their deepest gratitude to Su Shi and Jiang Lin.

"Lord Su, you are truly an upright and just official!"

"Thanks to Lord Su and this young master, otherwise all our money would have been wasted."

Su Shi waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"Rest assured, everyone, the West Lake project will not be halted. The land you purchased remains valid. As long as I, Su Shi, am in Hangzhou, the rules of West Lake will be my decision!" Su Shi declared loudly.

The merchants erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With Lord Su's words and the support of that young master who dared to beat even a eunuch, the sky over Hangzhou wouldn't fall!

After the merchants left, expressing their gratitude profusely, only Jiang Lin, Su Shi, Zhao Lingjun, and Niu Aihua remained in the hall.

Su Shi let out a long sigh, plopped down in a chair, picked up the cooled tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

"That was satisfying! Today was truly satisfying!" Su Shi wiped his mouth, his eyes shining as he looked at Jiang Lin. "Sir, are we really going to write an article to retaliate? If the officials of the Secretariat get angry, will they send people to cause trouble again?"

Jiang Lin leaned back lazily in his chair, crossing his legs.

"Causing trouble? They're running away like mad right now." Jiang Lin sneered. "That old fox Cai Jing has really lost more than he gained this time. He wanted to use this official document to kill you in Hangzhou and swallow the prize of West Lake. But what happened? The eunuchs were scared away, and we refused the document. If this gets back to Bianjing, where will Cai Jing put his face?"

Jiang Lin paused, his eyes sharpening.

"Zizhan, you not only have to write, but you have to write a great deal about it! You have to make this a masterpiece for all time. Don't bother with those useless, formulaic theories. Just write about how stinky the mud of West Lake is, how hungry the refugees are, and how miserable the people of Hangzhou are."

"Then write about how we repaired the dikes, how we used work-for-relief programs, and how we ensured that the people had enough to eat."

"Finally, ask those high-ranking officials in the Secretariat by name: they sit by the warm stoves in Bianjing, drinking tribute tea and eating delicacies, so why should a single document destroy the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in Hangzhou!"

Su Shi was deeply moved. He suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself.

"Good! What a fine argument! Why should we destroy the people's livelihoods! Sir, I understand. I won't talk to them about the laws of the court; I'll only talk to them about the livelihoods of the common people! Today, I, Su Shi, will not write about romance and beauty; I will only write about human suffering and the righteous path!"

Jiang Lin nodded in satisfaction.

"Go back to the academy and write it. After you're done, have Qian Duoduo take it to be printed. Our Jingshi Academy has nothing else but plenty of money, paper, and printing presses."

"I want this article to spread throughout Jiangnan within three days, and to be on the tables of every teahouse and tavern in Bianjing within half a month. I want all scholars in the land to see who truly embodies the orthodox literary tradition and who are the vermin who bring disaster to the country and its people!"

Su Shi nodded heavily, turned around and strode out, his back view exuding a murderous aura.

Watching Su Shi's retreating figure, Zhao Lingjun leaned close to Jiang Lin and asked in a low voice, "Jiang Lin, wasn't your move a bit too ruthless? With that article, Senior Brother Zizhan has offended Cai Jing's faction to the death. Their influence in the court is deeply entrenched; what if…?"

"What if what?" Jiang Lin interrupted her. "Lingjun, remember this: when dealing with these power-hungry pedants, if you back down, they'll take a hundred steps forward. If you reason with them, they'll act like thugs; if you act like thugs, they'll talk about propriety. The only way is to use absolute cultural hegemony to completely tear away that fig leaf they're so proud of!"

Jiang Lin stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the shimmering West Lake outside.

"Doesn't Cai Jing consider himself the leader of the literary world? Doesn't Cheng Yi consider himself the orthodox proponent of Neo-Confucianism? Fine, then let's have a literary contest with them. I want Su Shi to step over their heads and climb step by step to the highest point of the Song Dynasty's literary world. Only when Su Shi becomes the leader of all scholars in the land will no one dare to touch what we've been doing in Hangzhou."

Zhao Lingjun's heart pounded. She knew Jiang Lin never did anything without a certainty, but this gamble was far too high. It was tantamount to declaring war on the entire old bureaucratic system of the Song Dynasty.

"So what do you plan to do? One article alone probably won't be enough," Zhao Lingjun asked.

Jiang Lin turned his head, looked at Zhao Lingjun, and a wicked smile appeared on his lips.