Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 619 A Cup of Light Wine Releases a Thousand Pounds of Grain
"Lord Wei, is there still a chance?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Changsheng merely smiled sheepishly and looked up, saying, "Even Heaven is not on my side, what hope is there? I'm afraid the imperial edict to demote me to a post in another region is already on its way."

"What if... Lord Wei has rendered meritorious service in disaster relief, saving the livelihoods of countless people? Could his merits and demerits be offset?"

"What you're saying is ridiculous. Didn't the Jiangnan Circuit official say today that the court only cares about tax revenue? As long as there's money to give to the court, everything will be fine?"

Wei Changsheng remained silent at this moment, but then someone suddenly said, "Hey, a few years ago when I was in Jiangnan Circuit, there was a title called 'Honors and Nobles,' which promised that anyone who donated a thousand shi of grain would be granted the title of Yizhen Lang. Although it was only a low-ranking ninth-grade official, if one had an official title, wouldn't it be equivalent to paying taxes for five years?"

"Yes, yes, yes, having an official position can offset taxes, and your children can also pass the imperial examinations."

The people below started talking all at once, saying that a few years ago, the Jiangnan Circuit had come up with a method to raise funds for pacification. Although it involved selling official positions, it did raise a lot of money. Later, they heard that the imperial court was going to handle this matter, but in the end, it came to nothing.

“Lord Wei, why don’t you follow the example of the Jiangnan Circuit and create this title of ‘Relieving Relief Gentleman’? That way, even if it’s investigated, it won’t be because you did it first.”

"Yes, Lord Wei. You can't leave. If you leave, we won't be able to live like this."

"Stop with the useless talk." At this moment, a plump, wealthy merchant stepped forward from behind: "Lord Wei, I, Zheng, am a rough man, so I won't say any more. I pledge ten thousand taels of silver and two thousand dan of grain!"

Wei Changsheng glanced at him and waved his hand: "No need, it's just a drop in the ocean. Thank you all for your kindness."

He really looked like he was doomed, and when they thought of Xia Lin's arrogant and smug face today, these businessmen were furious and started to donate.

These people alone donated 800,000 taels of silver and nearly 200,000 dan of grain overnight. However, this was not enough. They felt that it was not enough for them to just contribute their own money. They insisted on instigating Wei Changsheng to create some kind of merit monument with a ranking list on it, with the person who donated the most ranked first, so that he would be remembered for all eternity.

People started to compare themselves to each other, and some even pledged donations. At this point, anyone who didn't follow the crowd would be severely ostracized. So, early the next morning, the capital of Guizhou was in an uproar. The carts pushed grain into the open fields, piling it up like mountains. The people recording the donations wrote until their pens were smoking and their voices were hoarse.

"Zhang Shou pledges 3,000 taels of silver and 5,000 dan of grain."

"Xu Tao pledges 5,000 taels of silver and 7,000 dan of grain."

While they were singing, the people below started making a ruckus.

"Why do you have more than me? To show off your abilities? I'll add two thousand each!" Zhang Shou shouted angrily as he rushed up to the official in charge of recording the grain. "Give me two thousand each! Men, come with me home to count the grain!"

The most outrageous thing is that the two richest men in the city are now fighting tooth and nail for the top spot on the merit monument. Everyone here is a respectable person. If you're going to do something, you do it to the top. Originally, they only had 10,000 taels of silver and 10,000 dan of grain, but after these two men got into a fight, they went crazy.

"None of you shall live!" The richest man in Guizhou clapped his hands and said, "Two hundred thousand taels of silver and five hundred thousand dan of grain. I'm going to die to leave a good fortune for my son!"

"What are you so arrogant about? I've disliked you for a long time." Another rising star also said with a murderous look on his face: "I don't want 50,000 taels more than him, plus the large granary in the north of the city, I'll donate it! My son Fuyuan will definitely surpass your son."

At that moment, Wei Changsheng, who was in the small building next door, lowered the curtain and turned his head to look at Xia Lin, who was eating rice porridge: "Master Xia, how did you do that?"

“I don’t bet they’ll suddenly become kind-hearted; I bet they hate me to the core.” Xia Lin took a bowl of warm water and drank it down. “I just want them to know that if you leave, they won’t have a good life; I’ll skin them alive.”

"Heh..." Wei Changsheng pointed outside and laughed, "These people are really going all out."

"Of course. To get the title of 'Top Philanthropist of Lingnan,' do you know how valuable those four words are? I'll then have a craftsman make a replica of the 'Top Philanthropist' plaque from the imperial court, and hang it with the seal that reads 'By the Mandate of Heaven, May His Longevity Be Prosperous.' Do you think this deal is worthwhile?"

"Huh?" Wei Changsheng was taken aback: "This... Lord Xia, you have the Imperial Seal too?"

"I don't have that thing, I'll just carve it out from a big radish."

"A forged... imperial seal?"

"If the higher-ups investigate, then it's fake; if they don't, then it's real." Xia Lin wiped his mouth after finishing the last mouthful of rice porridge. "This is fucking awful. I'd hesitate for ages before feeding it to the pigs. I guess we'll get rice this afternoon?"

“We can eat now.” Wei Changsheng lifted the curtain again and looked at the mountain of rice and flour piled up in the open space: “They’ve stockpiled so much stuff…”

"It's normal for large-scale businesses to hoard goods. They're not raising prices to sell, so there's nothing wrong with them not putting their goods out there. No merchant is honest. As long as they hoard more during good years, they can still make millions of gold even if they don't actively raise prices during disaster years because the price of goods will naturally increase."

After saying that, Xia Lin stood up: "Alright, I'm going to find Luo Bo to carve the seal."

Wei Changsheng didn't say a word, just watched Xia Lin leave.

Xia Lin turned around and went straight into the camp. He immediately ordered the craftsmen to make gilded plaques. Their frames were readily available. Some people imitated the calligraphy of Emperor Jingtai, some imitated the seal, and even the template for the imperial seal was readily available.

In Xia Lin's words, everything was prepared, so it wouldn't be a hassle if needed at the last minute.

In about two hours, the plaque was finished. The large, gilded characters read "The Most Benevolent Family in Lingnan," followed by Emperor Jingtai's signature and those unimaginable eight characters: "By the Mandate of Heaven, May Your Longevity Be Everlasting." However, it certainly couldn't be sent over immediately; that would be too fake. It would take at least ten days to half a month.

In any case, this food crisis has been overcome. This amount of grain is enough to feed the entire Guizhou region for half a year without doing anything else. One can imagine how much stuff these merchants had stockpiled.

The water level gradually receded. Although the area was a scene of devastation, as long as people were still alive, reconstruction was quick, and life gradually returned to normal. Construction was in full swing everywhere, with large construction sites all around...

Meanwhile, Emperor Jingtai and his entourage, traveling westward, were approaching Guizhou. Along the way, they had endured hardships they had never experienced before. Jinlian was now dressed as a peasant woman, and Emperor Jingtai was no longer fair-skinned, but had become a thin, dark-skinned man. He no longer looked elegant and refined; he was more like a refugee fleeing famine.

On the contrary, Li Shimin remained the same as always. This guy's tolerance was simply superhuman. He could endure any hardship without ever uttering a sound. He would just say, "This is nothing compared to my expedition to the northern deserts."

But this journey was indeed an eye-opening experience for Emperor Jingtai. He truly experienced the journey of the lowest-class people fleeing famine. From the initial excitement to now always silently pondering, he truly lived up to the saying "read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles".

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, this wild fruit is delicious."

Jinlian picked two wild fruits by the roadside, wiped them on her clothes, and handed them to Emperor Jingtai. Emperor Jingtai glanced at Li Shimin, then gave one to Jinlian and the other to Li Shimin.

After all, if it weren't for Li Shimin's care along the way, he would have died eighty-one times over.

"Oh, you've learned how to sort things now?" Li Shimin teased as usual, picked up a fruit, took a bite, and then saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth. He said in a muffled voice, "Damn it... it's not ripe, it makes my mouth numb."

Jinlian quickly threw away the fruit in her hand, and Emperor Jingtai laughed so hard he almost lost his appearance.

Just as they were about to reach Guizhou Prefecture, they suddenly saw a procession of people playing music and making merry on the official road. Looking back, they saw eight people carrying a huge plaque as they walked by.

The plaque bears the gilded characters "Lingnan's Premier Family," and below it are the signature and imperial seal of Emperor Jingtai.

"Huh?" After looking at it carefully, Li Shimin turned to look at Emperor Jingtai.

Emperor Jingtai tried to get a closer look at the plaque, but was stopped by his servants: "This is a treasure bestowed by the emperor. Don't break it. Move it!"

Emperor Jingtai exclaimed in anger. This was even worse than a forged imperial edict. Forged imperial edicts were never stamped with the imperial seal. Except for major military events, the imperial seal was not usually stamped indiscriminately.

"Nonsense! Outrageous behavior!" Emperor Jingtai's face flushed red. "If I find out who it is, I'll skin him alive!"

Li Shimin stroked his chin and pondered for a moment: "Then let's think about who in the world has the guts? Oh dear, it's so hard to guess!"

No matter how furious Emperor Jingtai was, the scene when the plaque appeared in the city was beyond what ordinary people could imagine. The man who donated the granary had his entire family of 157 kneeling at the city gate to welcome him, their faces beaming with joy. Meanwhile, not far away, the second-ranking man beat his chest and wept uncontrollably while hugging a tree.

If you ask whether this signboard is worth it, the answer is absolutely yes, it's worth it even if it means going bankrupt. What is a golden signboard? This is a golden signboard, you could even say it's a get-out-of-jail-free card. From now on, as long as he displays this signboard in the business world, no one in the world will make things difficult for him.

The top philanthropist in Lingnan, and it was even bestowed by the emperor. Do you understand what that means?

"Sigh, let me ask." Emperor Jingtai had followed the plaque into the city and grabbed a soldier maintaining order, asking, "Why was this plaque given to his family?"

"The Emperor's grace is boundless."

"Why?!" Emperor Jingtai felt his veins throbbing. "Even the greatest imperial favor cannot be given away so easily, can it?"

The soldier was about to curse when Emperor Jingtai pointed to the white-hatted figure not far away and said, "Try cursing me out, I'm going to confess to the white-hatted figure."

"Hehe... No way." The soldier immediately changed his tune when he saw that he had met someone knowledgeable: "Sir, please calm down... This family donated a whole granary of grain during the flood, and how many taels of silver did they have? Fifty thousand? Yes, I think it was fifty thousand taels."

"A whole granary?" Emperor Jingtai gasped in astonishment: "How many kilograms?"

"I don't know, I can't count. Anyway, the grain is piled up like a mountain."

At this moment, Li Shimin, standing to the side, was really getting it: "Oh! This method is great! I've learned something new."

Emperor Jingtai frowned and said, "Come, follow me to find Wei Changsheng."

Why not look for Xia Daosheng?

"You'd be lucky to find him." Emperor Jingtai waved his hand. "He's definitely not here. Find Wei Changsheng first."

(End of this chapter)