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

The next evening, Jiang Lin and his two companions had just stepped into the threshold of the Hangzhou Prefectural Government Office.

Then I saw Qian Duoduo pacing anxiously in the yard, the paving stones almost worn smooth from his constant rubbing.

Upon looking up and seeing Jiang Lin, Qian Duoduo slid to her knees and pounced on him, clinging tightly to his leg and howling.

"Headmaster! You're finally back! If you had been even half a day later, I was ready to carry the academy's treasury and run away!"

Jiang Lin shook his leg with a look of disgust, but didn't kick it away.

"Is it a funeral? Has the sky fallen or the earth caved in?"

Qian Duoduo got up from the ground and pointed outside the yamen, frantically pouring out his grievances:

"Yesterday, the Lin family heard you went to Taihu Lake, and they all came to the yamen to cause trouble! They insist that Grandpa Lu performed a physical ritual to send you to the afterlife, and they're threatening to smash up our grain contract trading center!"

"If it weren't for Shen Kuo and his bunch of hotheaded bums from the 'Investigation of Things' class, each with a gunpowder canister in hand, lining up at the gate, our yamen would have been torn down long ago!"

Jiang Lin sneered. These aristocratic families from Jiangnan really won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.

"Have those people outside dispersed?" Jiang Lin slowly walked to the main seat and slumped down, casually picking up a teacup.

"Disperse, disperse! This afternoon, the head steward of the Lu family personally escorted dozens of large carts to the gate."

Qian Duoduo wiped her face, grinned so wide her eyes disappeared, and leaned closer mysteriously:

"The Lin family thought the Lu family was there to back them up, but the Lu family steward pointed his finger at the Lin family head and unleashed a torrent of profanities, telling them to get lost!"

"Chief, those dozens of carts are full of gleaming silver gourds and paper money! A total of three million strings of cash!"

"I had someone count them all afternoon; their hands cramped from using the abacus!"

Su Shi and Zhao Lingjun exchanged a glance, unable to suppress the smirk on their faces.

Jiang Lin didn't even raise an eyebrow, casually blowing on the tea leaves: "Not bad. Have those three million strings of cash been deposited?"

"We've moved everything into the academy's underground vault! I added three thick iron gates, and now not even a male mosquito can fly in!" Qian Duoduo rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Headmaster, we've hit the jackpot this time! This money is enough for our academy to squander for generations!"

Jiang Lin scoffed and glanced at him sideways: "How many lifetimes have you spent? You're so pathetic."

"This amount of money is only enough for a down payment on my next project."

Qian Duoduo's chubby face stiffened: "What else do we need to do? We've completely offended the powerful families of Jiangnan, shouldn't we play it safe?"

"Stability? Strike while the iron is hot, that's the basic strategy."

Jiang Lin took a sip of tea, his tone languid yet chilling.

"The powerful families have just been drained of three million strings of cash; they're at their weakest now. Why keep them alive for the New Year if we don't crush them now?"

He turned to look at Su Shi and tapped the table.

"Zizhan, issue a proclamation tomorrow in the name of the prefect. Say that the powerful families are hoarding grain and causing price gouging. Considering that they have already paid the fines, they will be spared imprisonment."

"However! From this day forward, all large-scale grain transactions in Jiangnan must be conducted through our Great Song Grain Contract Trading Center!"

"Anyone who dares to trade even a single grain of rice in private will have their property confiscated, be exiled, and be physically deprived of their political rights for life!"

Su Shi gasped, "Headmaster, this is tantamount to desecrating the ancestral graves of powerful families! What if they resort to desperate measures?"

"What are they using to jump?"

Jiang Lin leaned back in his armchair, his face full of mockery: "The money is gone, the grain is gone, the waterways are in my hands, and the Imperial City Guard's knife is at my throat."

"Now they are at our mercy, like fish on a chopping board; they are not even as good as dogs."

Zhao Lingjun, gripping the hilt of his sword, chimed in with undiminished spirit, "I'm on Jiang Lin's side! To deal with these parasites, we must nip them in the bud! But how exactly do you plan to spend these three million strings of cash?"

Jiang Lin put down his teacup and tapped his fingertips lightly on the table.

"I want to establish the first official 'Grain Reserve Bank' of the Great Song Dynasty. These three million strings of cash are the reserve funds."

"Li Gefei's futures theory has been almost fully calculated. I want to use this money to integrate all the retail investors and large-scale grain growers in Jiangnan."

"From now on, in this Jiangnan region, the price of a peck of rice will be entirely up to me, Jiang Lin!"

Qian Duoduo was completely stunned by what she heard.

Although he didn't understand what a "bank" or "reserve" meant, he understood one thing.

His own mountain chief is going to be the uncrowned king of Jiangnan!

"Headmaster, this is way too much..." Qian Duoduo swallowed hard. "If the imperial court knew we had absolute power in Jiangnan..."

"So, we have to pay protection money."

Jiang Lin yawned and ordered, "Withdraw 500,000 strings of cash from the treasury. Zhao Ling, use the Imperial City Guard's top-secret channels to deliver it to Bianjing overnight and stuff it directly into the Emperor's private treasury."

Zhao Lingjun was taken aback: "Giving money to the officials?"

"The world is bustling with people all for profit. Even the emperor is just a mortal; he can be poor too."

Jiang Lin smiled like an old fox: "We've made such a big commotion in Jiangnan, Cai Jing's political enemies will definitely be impeaching us like crazy in the court."

"Zizhan's literary reputation alone can't hold up. But as long as we pour this 500,000 strings of cash into the emperor's treasury and tell him it's the year-end bonus from the reforms in Jiangnan."

"Do you think the Emperor would rather listen to Cai Jing's nonsense, or protect us, the goose that lays the golden eggs?"

Zhao Lingjun finally understood.

She looked at Jiang Lin, slumped in his chair, and felt a chill run down her spine. This guy not only manipulated the economy as easily as drinking water, but when it came to political intrigue, he was even more ruthless than those old fogies in the imperial court.

"Understood! I'll handle this personally. Send a top-secret document tonight!" Zhao Lingjun made the decision.

Jiang Lin stood up and stretched lazily.

"Alright, everyone disperse. Bring Li Gefei over tomorrow. The real show has only just begun."

The night breeze from Jiangnan swept through the hall, causing the candlelight inside to flicker, but it couldn't dispel the knowing smile on Jiang Lin's lips.