1.23 Lin Daiyu: Many thanks for the reminder, Brother Rui.

May had arrived in the blink of an eye.

The weather had fully embraced the character of the Jiangnan region—a relentless, drizzling rain that had persisted since the end of the previous month. The dampness clung to everything inside the house, including the people, creating a pervasive sense of discomfort.

However, Lin Rui, currently in the inner hall of the Yangzhou Prefectural Office, had no time to concern himself with such trivialities.

The memorial he held, written in the intricate four-six parallel prose style, was already lengthy—ten pages in total—and filled with obscure classical allusions and metaphors. Given his rather mediocre grasp of classical Chinese, reading it was an arduous task that required him to parse it word by word.

"The Prefect is truly worthy of his status as a double-degree scholar," Lin Rui muttered after a full incense-stick's worth of time, tossing the document aside with a sigh. "To take such a simple matter and pad it with so much verbosity—you must have put in quite a lot of effort over the last half-month."

"And what does Master Lin think of it?" The Prefect of Yangzhou acted as if he had not heard the sarcasm.

"What else is there to think?" Lin Rui tapped the memorial, his expression darkening. "You have avoided mentioning anything that might cause trouble, and even the parts that could be reported, you’ve kept to a minimum. Apart from repeating the four million taels of silver over and over, is there anything else of substance here?"

The Prefect’s face fell, and though he tried to hold his temper, he eventually snapped.

"Master Lin, I ask you to consider our position as well," he said, his tone sharp. "Since you pride yourself on your 'bitter studies by the window,' you should understand how difficult my position is today. You know exactly what kind of people are involved in the case of Magistrate Lin, so why must you push so hard? If nothing goes wrong, neither I nor my colleagues in Yangzhou have much of a future left to speak of. The possibility of us ever returning to the capital is practically zero, so why should we worry about matters thousands of miles away? Even you, Master Lin, do not have the guts to pursue this to the end, do you?"

Lin Rui’s expression stiffened.

"You’re right. Even I don't have the courage, so why blame others?" After a long silence, he shook his head with a bitter smile. He reopened the memorial and tapped the dozen or so signatures at the end. "Take this, for example. You aren't actually as 'brotherly' as this suggests."

Otherwise, would it have been necessary for every top official in the Yangzhou government to sign their names?

"Master Lin, save your energy to show off when you return to the capital," the Prefect said, handing him a brush. "Consider this a small favor from me. Since you mentioned Master Xu of the Ministry of Personnel’s Bureau of Merit, I’ve made inquiries. It is true that he was a close friend of Magistrate Lin, but given the current situation, who knows what will happen? That is a matter for when you return to the capital. You should understand that the money belonging to the Cheng and He families is not so easily taken."

"My thanks, Prefect," Lin Rui said, signing and stamping the three identical memorials. He tucked one into his robes. "It has been a difficult time, and I have said some harsh things. If we ever have the chance to meet again, I shall treat you to a drink."

With that, he nodded, rose to his feet, and strode out.

The Prefect did not see him off, merely returning the salute with a perfunctory wave of his hand.

"The master likely won't get to drink his wine," a man dressed as a private secretary said, stepping into the room once Lin Rui’s back vanished from the doorway. "I have already heard rumors circulating that the Lin family is taking at least two million taels back to the capital."

"That sounds about right," the Prefect frowned. "The Lin family had quite a bit of property."

"Master, the late Magistrate Lin’s body is not yet cold," the secretary said, sounding pained. "The family is left with only a widow and an orphan, effectively broken and destitute. If we continue to let things happen as they are... won't it be heartless?"

"I just said, the silver of the Cheng and He families is not easily taken," the Prefect said, his brief moment of conscience having fully evaporated. "We know better than anyone how much wealth those two families possessed. Now that it is all gone, who do you think is filling the void behind the scenes? We are merely picking up the scraps in between. Who is the one truly taking the money? Do not forget, whether it is the tens of thousands of acres of fertile land or the vast estates, they cannot be moved. Do you think we can stuff those into our pockets?"

In this grand feast, the only ones who truly had their fill were the local power-brokers. The final disposition of the Lin family’s assets had naturally fallen into their hands.

What connection did the "great clans of Jiangnan" have with the imperial court? That went without saying.

"I have spoken too much!" the secretary’s expression changed abruptly.

"Make the arrangements. Send these two memorials separately, via six-hundred-mile express," the Prefect commanded. "And that four million taels—ensure it is properly handed over to the Yangzhou Garrison. Do not let a single name or document go missing. That is our lifeline."

"Master, do you suspect they would still dare to—" the secretary’s face went pale.

"I suspect nothing. I am simply following the rules of the court," the Prefect interrupted. "Urge them again regarding the silver from the He family’s confiscation. Ask why it hasn't been shipped to the capital yet. We cannot delay any longer!"

"Master, when Magistrate Lin originally confiscated the He family’s assets, the report claimed nearly three million taels. Now, including the Cheng family, we are shipping everything twice and only have a little over four million. That will be hard to explain," the secretary warned worriedly.

"Explain what? The silver is going to the capital eventually; it is not our place to explain," the Prefect replied with a bitter smile. "Magistrate Lin could only report it level by level. Who knows where the official documents ended up?"

The secretary fell silent.

***

That evening, in the rear garden of the Lin residence, in the Warm Pavilion.

A man and three women sat around a small table, looking at the tri-color printed promissory notes.

"Brother Rui, is this really... two million taels?" Lin Daiyu asked, foolishly picking up one of the notes to examine it. "I have never even imagined seeing a ten-thousand-tael note, let alone held one."

Lin Rui couldn't help but laugh.

"To be precise, these are not ordinary bank notes, but registered fixed-sum drafts," he explained, seeing the confusion on his younger sister's face. "Issued by a consortium of Shanxi merchants specifically for our deposit, they are not intended for general circulation. At the time of issue, they also circulated my portrait and physical description. We only need to bring these to the capital and exchange them at their main branch. They require both the note and the person; they are not replaced if lost, and they become void after a single use."

The value of silver was high, and standard notes were rarely in large denominations, as silver’s purchasing power was strong; large notes were seen as deceptive. Most were for one or five taels, with ten being a large amount. Anything over a hundred was rare.

In the *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Lady Wang, as the mistress of the Rongguo Mansion, only received a monthly allowance of twenty taels. Large sums were almost always handled via drafts for specific purposes.

"Is that so?" Xueyan asked, picking one up with trembling hands.

"That's enough!" Jia Min said with a smile, tapping her hand, which made the maid quickly put it down. "Anping, the Sihai Bank is being quite generous. They aren't doing this for free, I assume? How much is the fee?"

"Three percent," Lin Rui said, and the expressions of all three women changed instantly.

"Sixty thousand taels?" Even Jia Min, with all her poise, couldn't help but be shocked.

"Because the amount is so large, the bank has made a significant concession. Usually, they charge five percent," Lin Rui said, seemingly unfazed. "If we had tried to do this ourselves, forget about transport; we wouldn't even have been able to round up the physical silver."

"I recall the imperial court has bank notes, too," Xueyan suggested, reluctant to spend the money. "Why not use those? Everything under heaven belongs to the court. Surely, a note from Jiangnan could be used in the capital? Wouldn't that save us the fee?"

Lin Rui burst out laughing at the mention of the court's notes.

"Silly girl, who would dare use that waste paper?" Jia Min shook her head with a bitter smile. "I don't know how it started, but even if the current court issues notes, they are only for settlement between government offices. No one in the market would recognize them."

Lin Rui knew the reason. The Great Zhou followed the Ming system, inheriting many of its failures, including the failed paper currency system. There were those who believed that as long as the court printed it, it was money, so they printed it excessively with ever-more inflated denominations. The result was obvious, and the current court was no different.

"It’s not that they aren't recognized at all, but they are only worth ten or twenty percent of their face value," he added with a smile. "The problem is, if we used actual silver to exchange for court notes, they would only be valued at their face amount. By the time we got to the capital, they would have lost at least eighty percent of their value."

Xueyan: "..."

"That’s just cheating people!" the maid cried out.

"Which is why no one uses them," Jia Min sighed. "Yu’er, this is the final account Brother Rui has prepared after disposing of the external properties. Take it and study it well. If there is anything you don't understand, just ask me."

"Yes!" Lin Daiyu nodded gently. "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Rui!"

At some point, she had changed her address for him from "Brother Rui" to "Brother Rui" (the more intimate "Gege").

"This was all too rushed," Lin Rui explained seriously. "Although I deliberately showed our strength—sending a squad each time with deeds to the homes of those Yangzhou merchants to force them to buy—we couldn't really sell at market price."

"How much of a loss?" Jia Min asked.

"Sixty percent. That was already a conscience-stricken price," Lin Rui said helplessly. "After the He and Cheng families were confiscated, the fields and houses were sold at half or even forty percent of their value, because the government office needed the silver and couldn't afford to drag it out and explain the delay to the imperial court."

"How could those merchants be so unscrupulous?" Lin Daiyu asked in astonishment.

"Sister Lin, you must remember, they are always driven by profit. As they say, 'no profit, no early rising,'" Lin Rui said, looking at her sternly. "If you ever rely on these people at a critical moment, you might find yourself dead without even knowing how it happened!"

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Rui!" Lin Daiyu rose and bowed.

"Our days in Yangzhou are numbered," Jia Min said with a complex tone.

"Not so fast," Lin Rui shook his head. "We must be well-prepared for the road ahead."