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

Jiang Lin completely cleared out the canteen of Jing Shi Academy tonight.

A round mahogany table was placed in the center of the hall, and it was laden with dishes.

West Lake Vinegar Fish, Dongpo Pork, Beggar's Chicken.

There were also several seasonal green vegetables that Shen Kuo had recently stir-fried in an iron wok, their colors glossy and vibrant.

Jiang Lin sat in the main seat with an air of authority.

Zhao Lingjun, dressed in men's clothing, sat beside him. Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was strangely heavy.

"Do you really think there's something wrong with this poor, pedantic scholar?" Zhao Lingjun asked in a low voice, toying with the wine cup in his hand.

"We'll find out soon." Jiang Lin stared intently at the doorway.

A moment later, Qian Duoduo led a young man wearing a faded blue cloth long gown into the room.

Li Gefei was immediately stunned by the scene as soon as he entered the room.

He stood awkwardly at the door, unsure of what to do with his hands and feet. The cafeteria lights were dazzlingly bright, and the food on the tables smelled incredibly delicious.

This made the person, who had been eating coarse, hard steamed buns for a month, swallow hard.

"This must be Mr. Li Gefei, right?" Jiang Lin stood up, his face instantly switching to an impeccable polite smile. "I am Jiang Lin, please take a seat."

Li Gefei was flattered and quickly bowed deeply to the ground.

"This junior, Li Gefei, pays his respects to Headmaster Jiang! Headmaster, you flatter me greatly."

"Please sit down, don't be shy." Jiang Lin pointed to the empty seat opposite him.

Li Gefei carefully moved over, only daring to touch the bottom about a third of the chair.

He glanced at Jiang Lin furtively, a storm brewing in his heart.

This Jiangshan Chang, who is rumored to be a powerful figure on Jiangnan Road, is surprisingly young!

Moreover, he had none of the pretentious air of literati and officials; instead, he exuded a deep and unfathomable languor and sharpness.

"Mr. Li, you've come all the way from Qizhou, you must be tired. Please start eating." Jiang Lin picked up his chopsticks and pointed to the table full of delicious dishes.

Although Li Gefei was starving, he still forced himself to swallow.

"Since the elders have not made a move, I dare not."

Jiang Lin smiled and picked up a piece of Dongpo pork, dropping it into his bowl.

"Eat."

Li Gefei then picked up his chopsticks and tentatively took a bite of the greens.

He froze completely after taking a bite.

Why are these vegetables so crisp? And so juicy?

In the Song Dynasty, dishes were either boiled or steamed; he had never tasted such a soul-stirring, caramelized flavor in his entire life!

Jiang Lin had been secretly observing Li Gefei's changing expressions.

"Master Li, how does this dish taste?" he casually asked, throwing out the bait.

"Excellent! Excellent! I have never tasted anything prepared in such a delicious way before." Li Gefei answered honestly, his eyes shining.

Jiang Lin snorted coldly in his heart.

Keep pretending! Who hasn't eaten stir-fried food in a big iron wok these days? That's quite an acting performance.

He decided to drop some bombshells.

Raising his wine glass, Jiang Lin gestured to Li Gefei: "Master Li, I've heard your hometown is Licheng in Qizhou? That's a wonderful place."

"I heard that there's a popular way to eat 'pancakes rolled with scallions' in Licheng right now. Is that true?"

Li Gefei quickly picked up his wine glass, bending even lower.

"The headmaster is so well-connected that he even knows such mundane matters from the countryside? There is indeed such a way of eating; it was devised by poor people to stave off hunger, and I often eat it myself."

Jiang Lin put down his wine glass and suddenly sighed softly, his tone filled with sorrow and compassion.

"Yes, the people are suffering."

As Jiang Lin spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on Li Gefei.

"Sometimes I think, if only we had hybrid rice that could yield a thousand catties per mu, or if we could get some urea fertilizer or something, then no one would have to go hungry, right?"

Zhao Lingjun, who was standing next to him, was completely confused.

Hybrid rice? Chemical fertilizer? What kind of foreign language is this guy speaking?

Li Gefei's reaction, however, was incredibly genuine.

His face was filled with genuine bewilderment and shock.

"Hybrid... rice? Chemical fertilizer?" Li Gefei stammered, repeating, "What the headmaster said is beyond my understanding, I am too dull to comprehend the secrets of heaven."

"How can this rice yield a thousand catties per mu? Could it be... that the headmaster knows some kind of magical arts?"

Jiang Lin looked at Li Gefei's flawless, bewildered expression and felt a slight wavering in his heart.

Does he really not understand?

"Oh, it's nothing, I was just talking nonsense." Jiang Lin waved his hand and changed the subject.

"Let's talk about your exam paper. Minister Li, the 'pre-sale wheat contract' you mentioned in your policy essay, which allowed the government to lock in grain prices in advance, truly opened my eyes."

When his professional field was mentioned, Li Gefei's eyes lit up instantly.

His previously tense body straightened up unconsciously.

"You flatter me, Master. What I did was merely theoretical."

When talking about his strengths, Li Gefei's tone revealed an undisguised confidence.

"In my humble opinion, it is in the nature of grain merchants to pursue profit. If the government insists on suppressing them, it will only force them to hoard and speculate. It would be better to go along with their profit-seeking mentality and transfer the risk through contracts!"

"Risk transfer?" Jiang Lin's eyebrows twitched.

Goodness, another modern financial term has popped up.

"Yes!" Li Gefei nodded emphatically.

"When I was in Licheng, I often went to the market to observe the grain merchants' transactions."

"I've discovered that the rise and fall of grain prices doesn't actually depend on how much grain is currently in the warehouses, but rather on how much grain people 'think' will be in the future!"

Jiang Lin's heart skipped a beat, and he almost crushed the wine glass.

This kid, by himself squatting in the vegetable market, actually figured out the fundamental economic logic that "expectations determine prices"?!

"So you think that as long as the government signs the contract in advance, it can stabilize everyone's expectations for future grain prices?" Jiang Lin asked in a low voice.

"That's exactly right!" Li Gefei exclaimed excitedly, slapping his thigh.

He immediately realized his mistake and quickly withdrew his hand.

"The headmaster is wise! As long as the contract is in hand, the government has the grain merchant's Achilles' heel."

"If grain prices rise, the government has low-price contracts in hand, which can be released directly to stabilize the market; if grain merchants dare to breach contracts, the hefty penalties will be enough to replenish the national treasury and be used to buy grain from other regions!"

Jiang Lin gasped, his scalp tingling.

This logic is so perfect; it's practically a textbook example of a short-selling mechanism for futures!

This is not something a poor scholar from ancient times could come up with so easily!

Jiang Lin decided to stop pretending.

He's going to unleash his ultimate move and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

He picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and then looked at Li Gefei.

He uttered five words in an extremely flat tone, as if asking, "Have you eaten?"

"Imperial Jade Liquor".

Li Gefei was stunned: "Huh? Headmaster, you... what kind of wine?"

Jiang Lin stared intently into his pupils, his speech suddenly quickening, unleashing his full power:

"Odd changes, even remains the same!"

Li Gefei was completely dumbfounded.

He looked to Zhao Lingjun beside him for help, only to find that Zhao Lingjun was looking at Jiang Lin with the eyes of someone looking at a lunatic.

"Headmaster... what is the deeper meaning of this 'odd changes, even remains unchanged'? Is it a hidden problem in the mathematical classics?" Li Gefei swallowed and asked cautiously.

Jiang Lin gave him no chance to breathe, bombarding him with questions like a machine gun:

Which company has the best excavator technology?

"No gifts this holiday season?"

"How are you?!"

"thump!"

Li Gefei was so frightened that his legs went weak and he fell off the chair, kneeling on the ground.

"Master! Did I say something taboo?"

"I really don't understand what incantation you're chanting!"

"If my policy proposal contains any treasonous words, I am willing to accept punishment. I beg the headmaster to grant me a swift and merciful punishment!"

Li Gefei trembled with fear, his face turning deathly pale.

He thought Jiang Lin was using some kind of coded language, preparing to secretly execute him.

Jiang Lin stared quietly at Li Gefei, who was lying on the ground, for a full half minute.

The fear is real.

Feeling lost is also a real experience.

A person can fake their lifestyle habits and their speech.

But under this sudden and illogical bombardment of modern memes...

If he really is a time traveler, no matter how well he hides it, his micro-expressions will definitely show a momentary breakdown and surprise.

But Li Gefei did not.

He saw only pure fear of the unknown and an instinctive awe of the strong.

Jiang Lin let out a long sigh of relief, and slumped back into his chair like a deflated balloon.

Case solved.

This kid isn't a time traveler at all.

He was a native of the Song Dynasty.

A pure, unadulterated individual who relies solely on observing elderly women buying groceries at the market—

He's a prodigy who single-handedly created the underlying logic of financial futures!