Chapter 230 The end of the thirteenth year of Wanli
After finishing the running banquet in his hometown, Lin Daguan was ready to go to Mudu Port to take charge.
Gao Changjiang also wanted to follow Lin Tailai to Mudu Port, but Lin Tailai refused and sent him back to Nanhao Street.
Gao Changjiang said dissatisfied: "The affairs of the municipal management office are all trivial and meaningless. There is no tax customs or projects that are vigorous and magnificent."
However, Lin Tailai told him: "Your most important task at the moment is to go to the city to promote Zhang Siwei's residual poison. Even if it is not a household name, it must be known to everyone on the road."
Gao Changjiang suddenly felt hopeless and worked hard for half a year, but he still spread rumors at work.
When the rumors about the old alliance leader were spread in the first place, they were still reasonable and well-founded. Now that they are talking about "Zhang Siwei's residual poison", they are just saying it without any evidence.
Also, whose main job as a military advisor is to spread rumors? It’s simply overkill!
After Lin Daguan assigned various tasks such as spreading rumors, contracting projects, collecting money and grain, etc., he plunged into customs affairs.
In the past three months after the opening and closing of the Mudu Port branch, tax collection progress has been slow. If the annual task of 5,000 taels cannot be completed, Lin Daguan will not be able to explain to the capital of the tax envoy.
Regarding the Wang family in the new city of King's Capital, Lin Daguan is thinking about the long term. This is not a matter of money. Of course, he must help King's Capital improve his political performance.
The current stage performance is not ideal, mainly because after the switch, various systems are being created and explored, but Lin Daguan, the only person who can make decisions, is always absent, so the tax customs work is particularly scattered and there are no certain rules.
Now that things have happened, Mr. Lin has to personally pay close attention to the customs business and urge the customs to get back on track as soon as possible.
In the next more than a month, that is, the whole of November, Lin Daguan did not go anywhere, but worked in Mudu Port.
For Lin Daguan, who has been traveling around all year long, fighting in the north and south, this month has been a very peaceful one.
In addition to being busy with official duties, he also spends his free time creating people. The two "empresses" jokingly called within the club also try their best to cater to her like a competition.
Gao Changjiang's previous advice was correct. In order to stabilize the hearts of the community, there must be a successor.
After all, a society is different from a family. The children of Jianghu do not stick to trivial matters and do not need to pay too much attention to etiquette. Children are born as long as they are recognized within the society.
Travelers have to follow the local customs, and it is impossible to shock the world. Moreover, Lin Daguan's time is running out, and he will definitely not be able to settle down again after next spring.
For more than a month, even the most important Winter Solstice Festival, Lin Daguan spent in Mudu Port.
In the era of agricultural society, the Winter Solstice Festival was a particularly important festival. In Suzhou customs, the Winter Solstice Festival is particularly important, no less important than the Spring Festival.
The time has arrived in December, and the thirteenth year of Wanli is about to pass.
A lot of things have happened in the official circles of Suzhou City recently, and apparently they have nothing to do with Official Lin, who is "far away" in Mudu Port, twenty miles away.
But in the minds of knowledgeable people, everything is inextricably linked to Lin Daguan.
The most shocking thing was that after the impeachment of Governor Zhao, Magistrate Zhu was suddenly dismissed from his post and was appointed to another position after going to Beijing for investigation.
To use a popular saying on the streets, Zhang Siwei's biggest minions in Suzhou City were expelled.
Nowadays, everyone in the city knows that Zhang Siwei’s greatest lingering poison is the king of one prefecture, one county, and one county.
One prefecture is the magistrate of Suzhou Prefecture, one county is the magistrate of Wu County, and one king is the Wang family of Dongshan.
The name of this combination is very simple, easy to remember, and impressive. It was created and spread by Gao Changjiang.
I have to say that Gao Changjiang continues to grow in his propaganda work, and the progress is very gratifying.
It has progressed from being completely dependent on sitting in the hall to being able to create a certain degree of self-creation.
Now that one government has been removed, we don’t know what the future of one county and one king will be.
Another major event was that Governor Zhao petitioned the imperial court to exempt Suzhou Prefecture from arrears in money and food for nearly ten years, and the imperial court approved it.
This is a virtuous policy praised by all people, and it has dissipated a lot of the resentment of the tax resistance crisis.
The idea came from Lin Tailai, but Lin Tailai couldn't stand at the front desk. He knew very well that this was the glory that belonged to Governor Zhao.
Another thing is that Gao Changjiang came to Mudu Port from Suzhou City that day and brought a letter from Yuan Hongdao, the magistrate of Changzhou County.
If someone in Suzhou City writes a letter to Lin Tailai, they usually send it to the Renovation Academy in Shijiaxiang, Nanhao Street, and then forward it via Gao Changjiang.
Gao Changjiang reported: "I heard that Mr. Yuan County is going to inspect the construction site. I guess this letter is inviting you to go with him."
Changzhou County has started the ancient Sanjiangkou dredging project at the southernmost end of the county, close to Wujiang County.
The first phase of the construction section is about ten miles long. It adopts a different government-supervised and private-run contracting method from the past, and is contracted by Lin's Engineering Team No. 2.
It had only been under construction for a month, and the county magistrate Yuan Hongdao couldn't wait to inspect it and set up a monument.
Faced with Yuan Zhixian's invitation, Lin Tailai refused and said: "You attend on my behalf, but I won't go in person.
After all, it is Yuan Xianzun’s stage, so I don’t want to overshadow the show.”
Gao Changjiang agreed. He had been dealing with Zuoguan for so long and he understood the situation very well.
He has a passive talent for "stealing the limelight" in his own restaurant.
It often happens that there is no subjective awareness, but still automatically steals the limelight.
In order to avoid this situation, it is better not to go. After all, Yuan Xianzun is a friendly army.
Then Gao Changjiang said: "I was asked to inquire about the situation of Canglang Pavilion in detail. Now I have figured it out."
During this period of time, Lin Daguan's life was very boring, and he finally heard something that aroused his great interest.
As a person who can make Suzhou reverberate with just one stamp of his feet, he doesn't even have a formal residence, which is simply a joke.
But Mr. Lin is a very particular person and is unwilling to settle for the ordinary. Canglang Pavilion, which is not privately owned, is the target that Mr. Lin covets.
"Speak quickly! What is going on?" Lin Tailai urged.
Gao Changjiang continued: "Canglang Pavilion is located in the south of the city. The entire garden currently covers an area of less than twenty acres."
Hearing this, Lin Daguan suddenly frowned and said a little dissatisfied: "Such a famous garden is so small? Why is it only twenty acres?"
Gao Changjiang was speechless. Now Canglang Pavilion is not an industry for sitting in a pavilion. What right do you have to dislike Xiao?
Lin Tailai compared it and said: "Among the gardens in the city, not to mention the 200 acres of the Humble Administrator's Garden, even the Yi Lao Garden has 80 acres!"
Gao Changjiang advised: "It's really not too small. A garden of twenty acres is considered medium-sized in Suzhou city.
Not to mention the historical bonus, this area is more than enough to match your status."
After finishing speaking, Gao Changjiang didn't understand. What exactly was he advising? He was advising him to be down-to-earth while taking advantage of the situation.
Lin Tailai sighed: "We have to look at the problem from a development perspective. What if in a few years, the twenty acres are no longer worthy of my status?"
Gao Changjiang turned around and left. If he didn't like Canglang Pavilion, it would be useless to report it.
Lin Tailai quickly held down Gao Changjiang and said, "You're here, you finish your words first!"
Gao Changjiang could not move and continued to report helplessly:
"Canglang Pavilion had been abandoned for a long time. It was not until the Jiajing Dynasty that monks from Dayun Temple nearby raised funds to rebuild Canglang Pavilion.
So since then, Canglang Pavilion has been under the management of Dayun Nunnery.
Today's Canglang Pavilion is actually an affiliated garden of Dayun Nunnery and can be regarded as a part of the entire Dayun Nunnery."
Lin Tailai couldn't help but sigh and said: "These monks are really rich. A garden of 20 acres was renovated as soon as it was said to be renovated.
Isn’t it a bit of a waste for such a historic and famous garden to fall into the hands of a group of monks?”
Then Gao Changjiang reminded: "Dayun Temple is not just an ordinary temple. It has many contacts with Suzhou literati and has connections with many celebrities.
For example, when Dayun Nunnery rebuilt Canglang Pavilion, Gui Youguang, a famous figure of the generation, was invited to write a commemorative article."
Lin Tailai was completely indifferent about whether he was a famous person or not. He just asked: "What did Mr. Yuan Xian from Cheung Chau say?"
The dividing line between Wu County and Changzhou County is Wolong Street, and Canglang Pavilion is on the east side of Wolong Street, so it is under the jurisdiction of Changzhou County.
What Lin Tailai meant was, could Yuan County Zun be of any help to seize the place?
Gao Changjiang replied: "Yuan Xianzun cherishes feathers and is not willing to bear the bad reputation for no reason."
Lin Tailai nodded, this was all expected.
Celebrities like Yuan Hongdao all advocate Buddhism, and Yuan Hongdao's own religious outlook is more inclined to Buddhism. It is really difficult for him to attack temples.
Lin Tailai then ordered: "When I finish the tax affairs at the end of the year, I will go to the city to see with my own eyes, and then I will make any calculations."
Gao Changjiang thought of other things again, "Your elder brother also asked me to send a message that the city gate is almost completed. When will you take a look?"
Lin Tailai replied: "In half a month, I will go to the city and see them all together."
Another half month passed like this, and it was late December, the real end of the year.
During this time, most government offices will be sealed and closed to prepare for the New Year.
Although the customs will not stop collecting taxes, other official duties will also be suspended.
So after nearly two months, the two "empresses" who were mainly involved in the arms race both announced the good news. Official Lin finally had some leisure time, got out of Mudu Port Customs, and went to Suzhou City for inspection.
Taking the newly restored Shenwei Lieshui, Mr. Lin first returned to Nanhao Street.
He first sat in Gengxin Academy and met up with his eldest brother Lin Shilai.
Then we walked north along Nanhao Street for more than a mile and arrived at the New City Gate construction site.
From a distance, I could see a large group of people standing there pointing and pointing. A new city gate that could greatly improve traffic was very attractive and could become the hottest topic of conversation.
In the entire Suzhou city, the most prosperous part is the northwest part, and the most traffic congested part is also the northwest part.
If this new city gate with both water and land passages is successfully constructed, it will double the water passage capacity and more than half of the land passage capacity between the inside and outside of the city.
To put it more intuitively, if you go in and out of the city by boat, the time spent stuck in the city gate can be shortened by at least half.
The wolf-like men separated the crowd, allowing Lin Tailai to walk to the moat and carefully look at the new city gate on the other side of the moat.
Boss Lin proudly introduced: "At its peak, more than 7,000 craftsmen and laborers were used at the same time. We worked hard and slowly, and finally we were able to complete the Lumen by the end of the year in accordance with your requirements.
I dare say that our new city gate is more majestic than the old Chang Gate!
Now we are missing an inscription. What do you think the city gate should be called? Is Lin Gate too high-profile?"
Lin Tailai said casually: "As for the name of the city gate, shouldn't it be a matter for the county magistrate to consider?"
Boss Lin directly told Wu County's biggest secret: "Deng County Zun is just a decoration. In the end, he didn't listen to you, Fourth Brother?"
Lin Tailai walked to the bridge directly in front and looked at the new city gate for a few times. He was used to seeing tall buildings in later generations, so he didn't think it was very majestic.
Looking more closely, I discovered the problem again.
Logically speaking, when you look into the city through the city gate, you should see streets.
But now when I look through the new city gate, I can't see anything. It's dark, as if the door is blocked.
Lin Tailai pointed at the door and said with a smile: "Is it still blocked?"
Boss Lin said helplessly: "The other side of the city is blocked by the courtyard wall of Wang Jiayi's old garden, and they refuse to demolish it, so of course it's blocked.
You also said that you only need to build the city gate first and don't worry about the Wang family, so that's what happened.
Now there is another situation. If the royal garden is not demolished, water channels cannot be opened, and the water gate of the new city gate will not be possible."
At this time, someone in the crowd yelled: "Lin Jieyuan! Is building a city gate just to show that this road is blocked?"
Lin Tailai's self-cultivation gradually improved and he ignored those boring people. He entered the city through Xumen and went around to the other side of the new city gate.
As a result, I couldn't get to the new city gate at all and was blocked by the Wang family's Yi Lao Garden.
Boss Lin geared up and asked: "Could it be that we have been working for a hundred days and demolishing the garden today?"
Gather the craftsmen who have not dispersed yet, and we can demolish this area in a blink of an eye, leaving the Wang family unable to react!"
Lin Tailai shook his head and said, "We don't need to do anything. When the time comes, the garden will collapse naturally."
At this moment, the sound of firecrackers suddenly rang out from the gate of Yilaoyuan.
A servant of the Wang family came out carrying a basket of copper coins and sprinkled wedding coins with the people passing by.
It turns out that the imperial court awarded an old minister years ago, a prominent figure in the Wang family, the eldest grandson of Wang Hao, and the former Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, Wang Youren, also received the favor of the imperial court and was given a third-grade treatment.
Official Lin also stepped forward to join in the fun, but he stood at the gate, just like poking a hornet's nest, when a large group of armed servants came out guarding Wang Yusheng.
Lin Tailai pointed to the new city gate and said: "The city gate has been built, and the prefect who protected you has gone away. Why don't you, the Wang family, want to make it easier?"
Wang Yusheng was still proud, "Liushui Yamen, a century-old family! Even if the court shows kindness, it will remember our Wang family!"
How can a nouveau riche like you understand? So what if you can expel a prefect? How can our Wang family be afraid of you?"
Lin Tailai shook his head and said: "You are wrong, history is written by the people, and any aristocratic family is false.
I advise you, the Wang family, to take care of yourself and tear down the gardens blocking the city gate before the Spring Festival, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences."
Wang Yu said harshly: "If you dare to touch a brick in Yi Lao Garden, our Wang family will dare to take the lawsuit to the capital!"
Even if Mr. Shen Ge comes face to face, he can't be biased toward you!"
Lin Tailai laughed, "Haha", "Do you think you will have a chance to litigate?
Don’t say you didn’t predict what you said! When you regret it, don’t say you were rude!”
Keep going, and you should be able to figure out the next stage of the plot tomorrow.
