bayedsolid Chapter 865 Beginning
Chapter 865 Beginning
In the midsummer of the ninth year of Jingming, the noisy chirping of cicadas tore at the summer heat in the capital. There was a constant stream of people and cars in front of the Lin's Dyeing Factory, and the guys were busy loading rolls of colorful cloth onto trucks to be shipped to shops all over the place. In the private room on the second floor of the dyeing factory, Lin Yuan was negotiating business with several foreign merchants. The fragrance of tea mixed with the refreshing scent of plant dyes on the cloth lingered around the carved sandalwood table. However, in the most imposing Juxian Pavilion Teahouse in the capital, a conspiracy against the Lin's Dyeing Factory was quietly brewing. Several elders of the Beijing Fabric Industry Chamber of Commerce sat around the round table, led by Sun Dehai of Sun's Silk Shop. He twisted his goatee, his eyes full of sinisterness: "This Lin Yuan is just a businessman who changed his job halfway through.
In the late spring of the twelfth year of Jingming, catkins fluttered in the sky like snowflakes, paving the bluestone roads of the capital into a hazy white. Lin Yuan stood on the third-floor terrace of Lin's Dyeing House, looking at the carriages carrying silk and satin coming and going on the street, and the teacup in his hand had already gone cold. Since the dyeing house opened three years ago, business has been booming, and now branches have been opened in Yangzhou and Hangzhou, but he has always had a greater ambition in his heart - to change the business landscape of this era. "Master! Someone is coming from the palace!" The housekeeper's breathless voice came from downstairs, startling the swallows under the eaves. When Lin Yuan turned around, he saw a team of eunuchs in scarlet robes filing in, and the old eunuch in the lead shouted in a shrill voice: "Lin Yuan, accept the order!" The moment the bright yellow imperial edict was unfolded, Lin Yuan felt his heartbeat suddenly speed up. "In compliance with the will of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: Merchant Lin Yuan, who is good at managing all kinds of crafts and is familiar with current affairs, is specially appointed as the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Works. It is hoped that he will perform his duties conscientiously and revitalize industry and commerce..." The old eunuch's voice echoed in the courtyard, and the Lin family was in an uproar. In the Dayin Dynasty, merchants had a low status, and few could serve as officials in the court. This imperial edict was undoubtedly earth-shattering. Three days later, Lin Yuan changed into a brand new official uniform and stepped into the Ministry of Works. The copper nails on the vermilion lacquered door shone coldly in the sun, and the threshold was so high that it almost tripped his feet. "Isn't this the new Deputy Director?" A sarcastic voice came from behind. Lin Yuan turned around and saw a middle-aged official in a purple robe leaning against the pillar of the corridor. The jade belt buckle around his waist was inlaid with fist-sized Hetian jade. "I heard that you are a businessman? This Ministry of Works is not a place to do business." This person is Zhou Mingyuan, the Minister of Works, a veteran of three dynasties, and has deep roots in the court. Lin Yuan bowed his hands, his expression neither humble nor arrogant: "Although I come from a merchant family, now that I have entered the officialdom, I should put state affairs first. I hope that Lord Zhou will give me more advice." Zhou Mingyuan snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and left, and the wind from his clothes overturned the account books in the corridor. After he really started to perform his duties, Lin Yuan saw the darkness of the officialdom. The Ministry of Works is in charge of the engineering and various works of the world, and it is very lucrative. When he checked the files of previous years, he found that half of the silver taels for repairing the city wall alone were missing; the newly made farm tools distributed to the people were all defective products with shoddy workmanship. What shocked him even more was that the weights and measures circulating in the market were in chaos, and the merchants were miserable. "Sir, this is a petition jointly submitted by the cloth shop in the south of the city." The clerk put a stack of parchment on the desk, "It says that Mr. Wang of the rice shop used a large measure to enter and a small measure to take out, and cheated many people." Lin Yuan opened the petition, and the dense handprints were shocking. He clenched his fists and swore in his heart: I must change all this. After half a month of visits and investigations, Lin Yuan presented the first memorial to the emperor - "Memorial on Rectifying Market Exchange". The memorial elaborated on measures such as unifying weights and measures, regulating market transactions, and severely punishing unscrupulous businessmen. It also proposed the establishment of a "Market Exchange Department" to specifically supervise commercial activities. In the morning court, when Lin Yuan finished reading the memorial, there was a dead silence in the court. "Your Majesty, this move is absolutely not allowed!" Zhou Mingyuan took the lead and stood up, "Since ancient times, merchants have been pursuing profits. How can people control it? Unifying weights and measures is even more labor-intensive and costly, and violates the ancestral system!" Other officials echoed, some said it was "merchants messing up politics", and some accused Lin Yuan of "having ulterior motives." The emperor looked at Lin Yuan with interest: "Mr. Lin, tell me why you have to do this thankless task?" Lin Yuan knelt on the ground and said firmly: "Your Majesty, although merchants are of low status, they are the blood of the country. If unscrupulous merchants are allowed to run rampant, the people will have no way to make a living and the treasury will be empty. Unifying weights and measures may seem like a small matter, but it is actually a major plan to stabilize the foundation of the country." In the end, the emperor rejected all objections, approved the memorial, and let Lin Yuan be fully responsible for the preparation and construction of the City Exchange Department. When the news came out, merchants in the capital rushed to tell each other, but the dignitaries could not sit still. Zhou Mingyuan, together with officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites, launched a series of impeachments against Lin Yuan in the court, saying that he "destroyed the laws of the ancestors" and "formed a clique for personal gain." Faced with pressure, Lin Yuan did not back down. He personally led people to make standard weights and measures and set up demonstration points in the capital; he also issued a decree to impose heavy penalties on merchants who violated the rules. Once, Wang, the boss of the rice shop, committed a crime against the wind. He was publicly punished by Lin Yuan with thirty strokes of the cane and his property was confiscated. Once this happened, all the merchants in the capital were silent. However, the bigger crisis was still to come. When Lin Yuan was about to implement the policy of "light business tax", he touched the core interests of the nobles. It turned out that many royal relatives secretly participated in the business, and their income was greatly reduced when the business tax was reduced. Overnight, the gate of the Lin Mansion was splashed with dog blood, and anonymous letters flew in like snowflakes, threatening him to "be sensible and stop as soon as possible." "Master, why don't we stop doing it?" The old housekeeper wiped his tears, "Look at you, you are busy every day, and you are still hated by others..." Lin Yuan looked at the bright moon outside the window, thinking of the reformers he read in history books before crossing, Shang Yang was torn apart by a chariot, Wang Anshi was dismissed, which one did not go through thousands of hardships? "Now that I have embarked on this path, I will not turn back." He clenched the jade pendant at his waist, and the dragon and phoenix patterns on it hurt his palm. "For the people and for the future of the Lin family, I must go on." With Lin Yuan's insistence, the policy of light tax on business was still implemented. The business of merchants is getting better and better, and the business in the capital is becoming more and more prosperous. But he knows that his struggle with the powerful has just begun. Every step is like walking on thin ice; every decision is about life and death. But when he sees the smiling faces of the people on the street and hears the sincere gratitude of the merchants, he feels that everything is worth it. That night, Lin Yuan was busy in the study until late at night. In the flickering candlelight, he picked up his pen and wrote a new reform plan-regulations on encouraging innovation in handicrafts. Outside the window, the sound of the night watchman's clapper came, and it was already three o'clock in the morning. He rubbed his sore shoulders, looked at the plaque "Integrity and Honesty" hanging on the wall, and a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. In this treacherous officialdom, how easy is it to be a good official? But he believed that as long as he cared about the people, there would always be a day when the clouds would clear and the sun would shine.