Lu Zhen led two thousand imperial guards and three thousand garrison troops borrowed from Lin Jiang to escort the 6,250,500 taels of silver and silk on their way.

  Lin Jiang and Lin Qingyan personally escorted the man out of the city gate, while officials from Yangzhou and representatives from various families in Jiangnan who were still present rushed to join in the excitement.

  Lu Zhen walked out for over 500 steps, still turning his head to look back. Lin Jiang leaned against the horse carriage, waving at him with his hand, and couldnt help but feel a pang of sadness in his heart. "This farewell, truly feels like an eternal separation between heaven and man."

  The brother and sister watched Lu Zhen walk away until the convoy completely disappeared before turning around to get into the carriage. The officials and representatives of various families who had been waiting on the side came forward to pay their respects.

  Apart from Sun Huai and Liu Pei, everyone else was seeing Lin Jiang for the first time since the last gathering at Sheng Ji wine house. Seeing his pale face and frail body, they secretly thought that the rumors were true, Lin Jiang had indeed become even weaker.

  Im afraid I really wont live much longer.

  But as long as the Emperors edict had not been issued, he was still the highest official in Jiangnan for that day, so no one dared to neglect him.

  Lin Jiang didnt have much energy to deal with them, so he slightly nodded his head in appreciation of their help over the past few days and then got into the carriage, only calling Sun Huai and Liu Pei to get on board.

  The horse carriage of the Lin family slowly moved towards the city, others didnt dare to rush ahead, letting it go first before slowly following up, and the distance between them was not short either.

  And following behind Lins carriage were Sun Huai and Liu Peis carriages, so the people inside werent afraid of being overheard by those in the back.

  Lin Qingwan poured a cup of tea for each of the three people and then sat down in a corner with her own cup, quietly listening to their conversation.

  "The candidate for the position of Yangzhou Governor has been decided," Lin Jiang looked at Liu Pei and said, "Its you, Bo Ze. Although the imperial edict hasnt been issued yet, Im 100% sure. You can start preparing to take over."

  Liu Peis heart was stirred, he straightened his back and saluted Lin Jiang with a raised hand: "Your subordinate thanks the official for his cultivation."

  Lin Jiang reached out and patted him on the back, smiling: "You have enough experience, your abilities are not bad either. Even if I didnt recommend you, with time, you would still be able to sit in this position. Moreover, youve been following me for ten years."

  Sun Huai on the side was still calm, but couldnt help looking at Liu Pei with envy, "Congratulations, Bo Ze brother."

  Liu Pei couldnt help but chuckle for a while, seeing Sun Huais face with some desolation, and couldnt help but say: "Sir, the Yangzhou governor is settled, what about the Jiangnan surveillance commissioner? Didnt you recommend Zihao in your memorial?"

  Sun Huai was also known as Zi Xiao, and Liu Pei was also known as Bo Ze. The two were equally trusted by Lin Jiang and had a good relationship with each other.

  He now has a place to settle down, and he cant help but worry about Sun Huai. The recent movements of the Zhao family are too big, and the two of them cant pretend they havent heard anything. Now, even within the official circles, there are rumors circulating that Zhao Jie is going to be appointed as the Jiangnan Surveillance Commissioner.

  Lin Jiang did not hide from the two of them, saying: "Originally, with my recommendation, Zi Xiaos qualifications and abilities were sufficient, plus your familiarity with Jiangnan after ten years in the south, this matter was not entirely certain, but there was an 80% chance. However, Chen Shangshu nominated Zhao Jie, who is a military general. The emperor has long wanted to weaken the powers of the regional inspectors and governors, so nominating Zhao Jie could make it possible to separate Jiangnans military and political affairs. Moreover, Zhao Jie is from Jiangnan, and his familiarity with Jiangnan is no less than yours. You two have also seen the recent situation, the Zhao family is coming on strong."

  Sun Huai frowned and said: "Im afraid that once Zhao Jie arrives in Jiangnan, not only will he be unable to separate military and political power, but hell also end up grasping the great power of both military and politics, covering the sky with one hand."

  Observing the civil and financial administration, Lin Jiangs role is mainly supervisory. In recent years, he has been very restrained in this regard, except for a few times, and most of the time he has delegated power to local officials to handle local civil and financial affairs. He has focused more on supervising local officials in Jiangnan to prevent them from being corrupt or tyrannical.

  So Lin Jiang and his representative, the Lin family, are very gentle in their actions. In contrast, the Zhao family is completely different. Just looking at these two months, Zhao Sheng has been spreading money to make his brother become the Jiangnan Surveillance Commissioner, linking up with various big families in Jiangnan to oppose Sun Hua.

  No matter whether this combination is effective or not, Sun Huai looked at it with great disgust. Such a domineering and overbearing way of doing things, how could Zhao Jie have become the Jiangnan Surveillance Commissioner, and yet still be willing to let go of civil administration and finance, only controlling military power?

  Liu Pei nodded repeatedly, speaking in a low voice: "Your Excellency, although the capital is occasionally plagued by war, Jiangnan is very peaceful. To be honest, what the common people here need most is an official who can maintain stability, not someone like Zhao Jie who is so radical. Now that the Zhao family is putting pressure on us, we cant just sit and wait for death."

  Sun Huai was Lin Jiangs right-hand man, and no one was more suitable for implementing Lin Jiangs policies.

  Lin Jiang smiled slightly and said, "My opinion is exactly the opposite of yours."

  A gleam of light flashed in his eyes: "Now they are bound to win, so we dont need to take the initiative to fight for a long time. Instead, lets retreat and advance, avoiding their sharp edge."

  "This..." Liu Pei and Sun Huai exchanged a glance, both somewhat hesitant. If they avoid it now, the court will probably decide on a candidate.

  Lin Qingwan couldnt help but say from the side: "The two of you dont need to worry, at least Your Majesty will wait for Lu Du to return to the capital before making a decision."

  Sun Huais eyes lit up, "Is there a deep friendship between you and Lu Du?"

  Lin Jiang was silent for a moment before saying, "We were disciples of Lu Yang, the former national altar master, and have known each other for over twenty years."

  Isnt there a rumor that they dont get along?

  Rumors are indeed unreliable.

  Sun Huai and Liu Pei instantly raised their friendship to a new height in their hearts, both of them calmed down, "Dont worry, sir, we will restrain the people below and temporarily not compete with the Zhao family."

  Lin Jiang nodded in satisfaction, "Once these goods are stored, Your Majesty will surely ask me again about the candidate for the Jiangnan Observation Envoy."

  Sun Huai and Liu Pei realized that although the Zhao family was now rejoicing, the initiative was actually still in Lin Jiangs hands.

  With such a large batch of goods entering the capital, the emperor will definitely rely more heavily on Lin Jiang and will also be more trusting of him in matters of succession.

  But Sun Huai had Lin Jiangs support and thus won half of it already.

  Zhao Jie realized this earlier than Zhao Sheng, so he wrote a letter to his younger brother and sister in Jiangnan, and also sent one to his sisters husband in the capital, asking them to persuade Lin Jiang to stand on his side.

  Even if its not possible, he absolutely cannot be allowed to speak out again in favor of Sun Huai. Its best for him to remain silent, this way his chances of winning are still very high.

  Mrs. Shang felt a little stifled after receiving the letter and stayed in her room for half a day to calm herself down before going to find Old Mrs.

  She cant directly contact Lin Jiang, this maternal uncle, and must have the old lady intervene. She can also send a letter to her son or nephew.

  Zhao Sheng was more flexible than the second wife of the Zhao family, and after receiving his brothers letter, he took a gift and went to visit the Lin family with a smile.

  Lin Jiang is seriously ill and does not see guests?

  It doesnt matter, Ill just go see my nephew then. Zhao Sheng stayed at the Lins for less than half a day before he left, and soon after his departure, rumors began to spread outside.

  The Lin family and Zhao family intend to cooperate, Lin Jiang appreciates Zhao Sheng brothers, focusing on the elder brother.

  Lin Qingwan had sent someone to gather information outside, so she knew about the rumors from the start. However, after thinking for a moment, she didnt stop them but instead coldly laughed and said: "Let them go, hows the situation with opening the granary?"

  "Except for Suzhou, there are still some that have not been sent out. Other places have all wrapped up."

  Lin Qingwan nodded, "Let them bring all the account books over, after verifying that there are no errors, well start releasing people. Well do it just like we discussed before, one group at a time. Id rather be slow than make mistakes, to ensure each persons destination is correct."

  Lin Guanjia sighed and nodded in agreement. "Miss, if you let this go, more than half of the Lin family will disperse. Have you really thought it through?"

  "All the industries have been sold, and even if we keep the people, we cant afford to raise them," Lin Qingyan comforted him: "Moreover, these people have followed our Lin family for so many years. On this day when our family business is scattered, the last thing our Lin family can do for them is to let them go."

  Lin Guanjia opened his mouth, but ultimately let out a sigh and backed down. The names had already been reported, so it was too late to back down now. Its better to just get things done neatly.

  Rumors and gossip spread outside, even the Zhou and Xie families somewhat believed that the Lin and Zhao families would form an alliance, but Sun Huai remained unmoved, calmly observing from a distance, no matter how much commotion there was outside or how people sang his praises, he didnt do anything extra.

  Zhao Shengs face turned green with anger as he waited for Sun Huai to make a mistake and for him to have a falling out with Lin Jiang, but it never happened.

  Can only make people stare at one side, while constantly running to Lin Fu, making rumors come more fiercely, and think of all kinds of ways to see Lin Jiang, and get in touch with the other party.

  However, it seems that this goal has not been achieved. He had "lost his way" three times and mistakenly entered the backyard, only to be stopped at the second door each time. No matter how he threatened or tempted her, the old lady guarding the gate would not let him pass the second door.

  He also had his nephew Shang Mingjie lead him to the backyard, or pretended to be unintentionally guiding him, but either he was rejected by his nephew, or he couldnt fool him. Once, he succeeded in fooling him, but as soon as they reached the second gate, they were stopped by the gatekeepers wife.

  Zhao Sheng had reason to believe that he must have been a key focus of the Lin family, otherwise why would he be intercepted every time?

  Can he succeed no matter how many methods he uses?

  Lin Qingwan hosted the work of Fang Liang on one side, and sat watching Zhao Shengs various troubles on the other. During this time, she received a letter from Mrs. Shang Lao, two letters from Shang Ping in Beijing, and a request from Shang Er Furen conveyed by Shang Ming Jie, as well as a letter written to Shang Ming Yuan by Shang Er Furen.

  She suppressed all the letters and only mentioned the contents of these letters to Lin Jiang when no one was around, watching the chaos from all sides.

  Time flies faster than a horse, she didnt even notice the passage of time, half a month passed in a flash, Lu Zhen escorted the more than 6 million taels of silver back to the capital.

  The emperor couldnt help but sneak out of the palace to watch them enter the city, then rushed back to change his clothes and waited openly at the national treasury to watch.

  The Ministry of Revenue has drawn enough personnel from the six ministries, first opened the boxes to confirm that all the received were money and silk, and then started counting and storing them.

  This is much simpler, no need for them to count the money bit by bit, mostly just open the box and casually weigh the silver/gold/copper coins inside, feel the weight and youll know if its real or not.

  Each box contains a certain amount of money, as long as it is confirmed that there are no counterfeit or shortchanged bills inside. The sharp-eyed Jin Bu officials only need to glance at the box to roughly know how many taels of gold and silver are inside.

  Other borrowed officials were a bit worse off, but after counting the numbers on hand and feeling out the rules behind them, they also picked up speed quickly.

  Today, all civil and military officials in the court did not go to the government office, but instead made excuses to come to the treasury to watch, this is the most money the treasury has received since the founding of the Daliang Dynasty.

  Although its not their own money, everyone is eager to see it.

  Doesnt it feel like the air has improved a lot? Im even happier than if I had earned 200,000 yuan myself.

  The emperor was also very happy, and he spent the whole day at the national treasury until it got dark before returning to the palace. He walked halfway and remembered that Lu Zhen had not come to report yet, so he turned back to the Diligent Government Hall and asked someone to call Lu Zhen over. At the same time, he also asked Liu Gonggong to go to the empresss palace to report the good news: "The silver has arrived safely, first go and report the good news to the empress, let her put her mind at ease."