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

Outside the Hangzhou prefectural government office, things were in complete chaos.

The head of the Lin family, along with the leaders of several major families in Jiangnan, directly blocked the gates of the government office.

Hundreds of servants and laborers held up banners and shouted their grievances at the top of their lungs.

The crowd of onlookers was so large that it completely blocked the street.

The head of the Lin family stood at the front with messy hair and bloodshot eyes, looking like a gambler who had lost everything.

With the delivery date fast approaching, the canal locks were paralyzed, the land routes were welded shut by the Imperial City Guard, and not a single grain of rice could be purchased from the market.

Holding hundreds of thousands of bushels of wheat in hand, with a penalty of ten times the amount for breach of contract, even if you chopped up your ancestral tablets and sold them for firewood, you still couldn't afford to pay it back.

"Su Shi! Prefect Su! Come out and give us an explanation!" The Lin family head shouted frantically, pounding the grievance drum until it shook the heavens.

"The government has set a trap to swindle the people out of their hard-earned money! This contract bears the official seal of the government; we must invalidate this worthless contract today, or we'll fight to the death!"

The head of the Wang family chimed in with his hoarse voice, "That's right! This is blatant robbery! There's no grain in Jiangnan, you're forcing good people into prostitution... Bah, forcing them to die!"

"If Prefect Su doesn't show up today, we'll all smash our heads against the stone lions and let the whole world see how this official behaves!"

The back hall of the yamen (government office).

Hearing the commotion outside, Su Shi was so anxious that he paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan.

This great literary figure was most afraid of public outrage. Although the outside world was full of unscrupulous merchants, if a few of them really caused trouble at the yamen gate, his official hat as the prefect would be buried with them.

Jiang Lin leaned back in his armchair with an air of nonchalance, leisurely skimming the tea foam.

"Zizhan, broaden your horizons. Stop going around in circles and making me dizzy." Jiang Lin leisurely took a sip.

"These grasshoppers in autumn are just throwing in a fit of impotent rage. The louder they shout, the more thoroughly they've lost. Just let them hang out to dry."

Su Shi wore a distressed expression: "Headmaster, that's true, but there are hundreds of people outside. If this really causes a big scandal and the court holds us accountable, neither of us will escape. How about I go out and make a grand promise to appease them?"

"Stop trying to appease them." Jiang Lin put down his teacup, stood up, and flicked the hem of his clothes. "To deal with thugs, you have to use a 'dimensional reduction attack'."

"Come on, let's go out and see what it's like. I want to see who's going to lead the charge in getting their head blown off today."

The vermilion gate suddenly swung open.

Jiang Lin walked at the front with his hands behind his back, strode ahead with an air of indifference, with Su Shi close behind.

Zhao Lingjun, dressed in all black, led several menacing Imperial Guards, like a god of war.

When the Lin family head saw the door open, he was about to unleash a torrent of profanities.

As a result, he was met with Jiang Lin's ambiguous smile, and the words he was about to say got stuck in his throat, and he swallowed them back.

He was genuinely intimidated by this devil who had dominated the business world of Jiangnan.

Jiang Lin stood on the top step, looking down at everyone with a mocking smile.

"Yo, Patriarch Lin, your voice is quite strong. What brings you here today? Are you here to collect gold coins to pay your penalty for breach of contract, or to deliver grain?"

The Lin family head, straining to keep his neck straight, roared, "Jiang Lin, don't be so smug! We've bought up all the grain, blocked the sluice gates, and had the Imperial City Guard seal off the roads!"

"You're fucking setting us up to fleece us! This whole thing is rigged and must be scrapped on the spot!"

"Cancelled?" Jiang Lin burst out laughing on the spot. "Patriarch Lin, when you signed the contract, you thought you were getting a free bargain. Your mouth was practically grinning from ear to ear."

"Now that things have gone wrong, you want to overturn the table? It's all in writing, black and white, with red fingerprints. Do you think the laws of the Song Dynasty are some kind of toilet paper you keep to wipe your ass?"

Jiang Lin reached into his sleeve and pulled out an account book, slowly opening it:

"The Lin family has a contract for 100,000 shi of wheat, with a deposit of 30,000 guan. If they fail to deliver the grain, they will be subject to a penalty of 300,000 guan, which is ten times the amount of the contract."

"The Wang family: 80,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), penalty for breach of contract: 240,000 guan (another unit of dry measure). The Li family: 150,000 guan..."

With each new number announced, the faces of the powerful families below turned greener.

Jiang Lin slammed the ledger shut: "Everyone, are the accounts settled? There are still three days until the transaction is completed."

"If you don't hand over the money and grain in three days, I'll have the Imperial City Guard raid your home. Your house deeds, land deeds, even your concubine's secret stash of money—I'll clear it all out!"

The Lin family head nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, pointing at Jiang Lin and cursing loudly:

"You...you living devil! You're trying to kill us! We'd rather die than give you a single penny!"

"Then go die! Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk." Jiang Lin pointed at the stone lions at the entrance of the government office.

"This thing is carved from pure bluestone, it's hard enough. If you were to smash your head against this spot and die right here, I'd personally pay for a sliding-lid sandalwood coffin for you."

The Lin family head immediately fell silent, his face turning a deep purplish-red, unable to utter a single fart for a long time.

He dared not actually crash into it. He had intended to scare the scholar with a crying, a fuss, and a threat of hanging, but who knew he would run into such a stubborn and unyielding person as Jiang Lin.

As the situation reached a stalemate, a sudden uproar erupted on the periphery of the crowd.

"Get back! All of you, move aside!"

A simple, unassuming horse-drawn carriage slowly made its way along the cobblestone road.

The carriage wasn't adorned with gold or silver, but anyone in the know could feel their heart skip a beat at a glance.

The entire carriage was made of the finest golden nanmu wood, and it was pulled by two purebred Akhal-Teke horses from the Western Regions!

This kind of pomp and circumstance is enough to make even the richest man in Jiangnan look like he's been utterly crushed.

The carriage came to a steady stop in front of the yamen (government office).

The arrogant and domineering heads of the powerful families fell silent the moment they saw the carriage totem.

The head of the Lin family's knees buckled, and he unconsciously took two steps back, his arrogant demeanor instantly turning into extreme awe.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and an elderly man in a gray robe stepped down using a stool.

Although the old man had a full head of white hair, his eyes were like lightning, and his aura was terrifyingly strong.

He didn't even glance at the Lin family head and the others, treating them like air, and walked straight down the steps.

The old man tilted his head slightly, looked at Jiang Lin, and casually cupped his hands in greeting.

His tone was polite, yet it carried an air of superior authority: "This must be the Dean of Jing Shi Academy."

"I am but an unworthy old man, and I have been appointed as the chief steward of the Lu family in Wu County, Lu Fu."

The four characters "Lu Family of Wu County" were mentioned.

Su Shi's pupils suddenly contracted, and Zhao Lingjun's right hand instinctively pressed down on the hilt of the Embroidered Spring Blade.

Ordinary people looked bewildered, but the heads of those prominent families in Jiangnan bowed their heads like quails, not daring to even breathe loudly!

Even dust can hold sparks, but the Lu family is clearly a super behemoth that has dominated Jiangdong for hundreds of years!

Jiang Lin narrowed his eyes, sizing up the old man, his mind racing.

He knew that the waters of Jiangnan were deep and teeming with scoundrels, and that the Lin family was nothing more than cannon fodder sent out to test the waters.

Now that the retail investors have been heavily exploited, the real big players have finally been forced to the surface.

"Manager Lu, what can I do for you?" Jiang Lin stood still, his tone still languid.

Lu Fu took out a gold-embossed invitation from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands.

"My great-grandfather was extremely impressed when he heard about Jiang Shanchang's impressive achievements in Hangzhou these past few days."

"I've prepared a small feast on the island in the middle of Taihu Lake, hoping to invite you, Headmaster, for a cup of tea and a chat about the future customs of Jiangnan. I wonder if you would do me the honor?"

Jiang Lin did not accept the invitation; his sharp gaze clashed with the old man's in mid-air.

This tea is terrible; it's definitely a top-tier version of the Feast at Hongmen.

But if you don't accept, it means you're admitting defeat, and the other party will definitely launch a series of devastating attacks.

Jiang Lin chuckled, stepped down the stairs, and casually flicked the invitation card between two fingers.

"Alright, since Old Master Lu wants to treat us, I'll eat. When?"

"I will be waiting for you at the shore of Taihu Lake at noon tomorrow." Lu Fu nodded slightly and turned to walk towards the carriage.

As Lu Fu passed by the Lin family head, he didn't even stop, but coldly uttered a sentence:

"The old man has ordered that you stop embarrassing yourselves in public. Take all of you idiots and go back inside to await further instructions."

The Lin family head felt as if he had been granted a pardon, bowing and scraping like a grandson: "Yes, yes, yes! We'll leave right away, immediately!"

The hundreds of people who were just arguing and making a scene a moment ago suddenly ran faster than rabbits after Lu Fu casually said a few words.

The entire street fell into a deathly silence in an instant.

Jiang Lin looked down at the gold-embossed invitation in his hand, his fingers gently stroking the edge, a wild excitement in his eyes.

The max-level dungeon in Jiangnan is finally ready to be officially opened.