Linxia

Chapter 233, End

Fang family.

Fang Linying went out and looked at this eunuch Li, who had a fair complexion and no beard, was in his thirties, and had a scent of perfume on his body.

'Because eunuchs are castrated, they often leak urine, and this is probably to cover up the odor.'

He thought so, but his face did not show any strange expression. He kept a sincere smile and quietly handed over a silver note of 1,000 taels of silver: "Eunuch Li, your presence is truly an honor to my humble abode."

As Eunuch Li put the banknotes into his sleeves, he pinched them and estimated the amount. He couldn't help but smile. He looked up and stared at Fang Lin. He could tell that the words were sincere, so his smile became more sincere and he returned the greeting: "Commander Fang, you are too polite!"

If the heads of the Yan Shideng, Ma, Shao and Duan families saw this scene, their eyes would probably pop out of their heads.

In recent days, they have been very careful with Eunuch Li and have given him many honors, but the attitude of this damn eunuch still makes them angry and they want to beat him to death. However, he actually knows the etiquette when facing Fang Lin.

There was a reason behind this. This eunuch was sent by Wei Zhongxian to do things, so he was definitely not a fool. Yan Shideng, Ma, Shao, and Duan were afraid of and disgusted with him. How could he not feel it? How could he treat them well?

Moreover, this eunuch Li also discovered that the three families of Yan Shideng, Ma, Shao and Duan were mean at heart. As long as he acted as if they were difficult to serve, the other party would become more cautious and even give him benefits.

Fang Lin had studied psychology in his previous life and had some understanding of eunuchs. These people were physically disabled and most of them had an extremely strong obsession with power and money. They were also psychologically sensitive, so he had already prepared himself mentally and showed recognition and respect. This difference in attitude naturally made Eunuch Li's attitude different.

Of course, if it were an ordinary person, this kind of recognition and respect would be worthless. It is only effective when it is combined with Fang Lin’s status and position.

"My position as the commander of the Jinyiwei is just an empty title, with no power. The reason why this eunuch Li treats me like this is probably only due to his attitude, but more likely it is because Wei Zhongxian has given instructions. Otherwise, he would probably treat me like a fat sheep to be slaughtered, just like Yan Shideng, Ma, Shao, and Duan." Fang Lin thought.

In fact, his guess was correct. Before Eunuch Li left the capital, Wei Zhongxian had told him to be polite and not to neglect him. How could Eunuch Li dare to neglect something that Wei Zhongxian had personally instructed him to do?
As for why Wei Zhongxian gave such instructions, firstly, before Emperor Hongtai died, he asked Wei Zhongxian to take care of Fang Lin. It must be said that Wei Zhongxian was extremely loyal to Emperor Hongtai. Remember this; secondly, Wei Zhongxian had tested Fang Lin before and asked for the secret recipe of soap, and Fang Lin was tactful, which made the other party very satisfied.

Here, Eunuch Li originally put the 1,000 taels of silver note into his arms, but suddenly he remembered Wei Zhongxian's instructions and saw Fang Lin's sincere attitude, so he gritted his teeth and reluctantly returned 500 taels.

He felt that being able to return half of it was already a great favor.

Fang Lin was slightly stunned when he saw the other party's actions: You said you are a smart person, how could you do such a stupid thing? Either you withdraw all or you don't withdraw. If you withdraw half, wouldn't you be a nobody?
However, he immediately understood the other party's thoughts: the eunuch was physically disabled, and all he pursued was power and money. His greed and possessiveness for money were extremely strong. Now that he could return half of it to him, it was already a sign of great closeness.

'Is this something I should be proud of?'

Fang Lin laughed to himself, but he forced it back: "Eunuch Li, how can you take back something you gave away?"

Eunuch Li tightly grasped the banknote and pushed it over again: "How can I be so embarrassed?"

"No matter how polite you are, Eunuch Li, you are still insulting me."

"Haha, well, I heard Commander Fang has a huge business, so I think he has no shortage of money to spend, so I'll take it now."

Eunuch Li looked at Fang Lin, and he became more and more satisfied. "Commander Fang, I have nothing else to do here. It's just that you sold the soap secret recipe to Lord Wei. Lord Wei asked me to bring back some craftsmen in this field."

The secret recipe of soap had already been passed to the capital through the Jinyiwei channel. Wei Zhongxian's request for craftsmen was probably to speed up the progress and start production to make money as soon as possible.

Since the secret recipe had been given, Fang Lin would not be stingy with hiring a few craftsmen: "This is a simple matter. I will give orders right away to find excellent soap-making craftsmen and take them with Eunuch Li when he leaves."

"Okay, then thank you, Commander Fang!"

Eunuch Li was quite happy. This time when he was leaving the capital, Wei Zhongxian had instructed him to do two things. One was to take over the assets of the Fan family, and the other was to bring back some soap production workers. Now that these two tasks were completed, he could rest assured to eat the benefits he had collected along the way.

"Speaking of perfume and soap, the capital city is indeed the largest market. There are countless princes and nobles there, and it gathers the most wealthy people in Daxia. Unfortunately, without a strong background, you can't do this business, even with my current status and position. "

Fang Lin secretly shook his head: "Forget it, if I can't get something, I'll give it to Wei Zhongxian. Besides, he is not stingy and the money he gave for the secret recipe is not low."

"By the way, Lord Wei asked me to tell you a message. Is Commander Fang willing to go to the capital to serve as an official?" asked Eunuch Li.

This was also ordered by Wei Zhongxian. If Fang Lin was sensible, he could be given a chance to serve as an official in Beijing.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I am used to being free and I really don't want to leave my hometown. I can only let Mr. Wei down. I hope Mr. Li can explain it to Mr. Wei." Fang Lin declined politely.

Not to mention that he has just removed the two thorns of the Gu and Fan families and turned Huai'an into a real iron-clad base. He would be crazy to go to the capital. Just saying that he would go to the capital to be an official through Wei Zhongxian, if Wei Zhongxian falls in the future, he will be liquidated. What's the point?

"Okay, okay." Eunuch Li did not force it. Lord Wei had already given the order, so if Fang Lin was unwilling, then forget it.

After discussing the serious business, Fang Lin and Eunuch Li just had a casual chat, asking about some things in the capital. He then invited the other party to have a meal and sent him away.

As for Fang Lin's original plan, as long as Eunuch Li mentioned the matter of transporting refugees overseas during the disaster relief, he would bribe him to cover it up, but the other party never mentioned it from beginning to end. Maybe in the eyes of Eunuch Li, it was just a bunch of mud legs, which was really a trivial matter.

Yes, families like Yan Shideng, Ma, Shao and Duan didn't care about this matter at all, let alone a eunuch who would have such vision.

……

After seeing off Eunuch Li, Fang Lin learned that the incident of the Huai'an dike breach had come to an end. Thinking back on the whole thing: Yan Shideng was eager for quick success and developed the area along the river outside the city, which then encountered extreme weather, causing the dike outside the city to breach. In the end, the Gu and Fan families were blamed.

He understood better than anyone else that the Fan family was the most innocent in this matter, but so what? You said you were wronged, but how was it compared to Yue Fei's false accusation?
"The Huai'an incident, after all, is a continuation of the political struggle in the court. When it comes to political struggle, right or wrong is not important. What is important is the position and interests."

It was because the Fan family's perfumed dew business was targeted by Wei Zhongxian, and they were ignorant of the situation, that Fang Lin saw an opportunity and gave them a push from behind, which led to their end.

"From the fall of the Fan family, we can see Wei Zhongxian's greed and his lack of care for his appearance; from Huai'an alone, we can also try to infer the various prefectures in Jianghuai. I am afraid that Wei Zhongxian has already extended his tentacles to the prefectures in Jianghuai by taking advantage of this disaster."

In fact, Huai'an is indeed a microcosm of the entire Jianghuai region. Huai'an is even better. Yan Shideng retained his post as prefect of Huai'an. Wei Zhongxian took advantage of the disaster to dismiss officials from other prefectures in the Jianghuai region and installed officials who had defected to him. Wei Zhongxian was able to accomplish this because of the arrangement left by Emperor Hongtai. He handled the major case of confiscating the property of the Fan family and other Shanxi merchants, which made him powerful and completely overwhelmed the civil service group!
It can be said that at this point, Daxia entered the Wei Zhongxian era.

'When you are in power, no matter how greedy and brutal you are, or how you don't care about people's hearts, it's not a problem. But once you lose power, the backlash will be extremely fierce.'

'However, that is a matter of the future. At least now Wei Zhongxian is extremely powerful, and of course the civil servants will not be reconciled to this. The struggle between the eunuchs and the civil servants will be the theme of the court of the Great Xia for quite a long time. And as the struggle intensifies, the turmoil in the court will spread uncontrollably, just like the disaster in Jianghuai this time, spreading from the court to the local areas.'

Fang Lin turned around and left: "Fortunately, I have already removed the last two nails of the Gu family and the Fan family, and run Huai'an into an iron-clad base camp. I can plan overseas with peace of mind and watch the world's situation. "

……

As time went by, the disaster relief work in the Jianghuai area came to an end, the impact of the floods gradually disappeared, the water levels in various places receded, and the victims returned home one after another.

That day, Fang Chuanhui returned and came over: "Brother Linzi, this flood has caused more than 35,000 people to relocate overseas."

These people were of course not only from Huai'an, but also from other prefectures in the Jianghuai area. During this disaster, these victims were hidden dangers, and the local government wished there were fewer of them. Fang Lin sent someone to make some arrangements and they were successfully relocated.

"More than 35,000 people? Not bad!"

Fang Lin nodded slightly. When these people moved overseas, the Huai'an people who were deeply influenced by Fang Lin would be mixed with people from other places. In addition, the overseas situation was not peaceful, so the militia training he stipulated and the next generation of school education (the predecessor of skill training classes) would be able to absorb these people quickly.

'The present Daxia is in the midst of a small ice age, with natural disasters continuing. This makes it easier to continue to recruit people, in small numbers and multiple times, over a longer period of time. Eventually, it is possible to relocate hundreds of thousands or even millions of people overseas.'

"If this is the case, even if we have to retreat overseas in the future, this will be a sufficient foundation for us to make a living."

Fang Lin thought so and patted Fang Chuanhui on the shoulder: "You have worked hard on this trip. Now that you are back, you should take a good rest. You are not young anymore. It is time to think about marriage."

He went out with Fang Chuanhui.

……

In the courtyard, there were Fang's mother, Tian Xuan, Qiuqiu and her brother and sister, as well as Sister Guihua, Su Xiaoqing, Meng He, and their respective children, such as Chen Ye, Qian Zhizhi, Geng Xueer and others.

The adults were chatting about things going on in the factory, while the children were playing together, chasing each other and playing games. It was quite lively.

Fang Lin brought Fang Chuanhui over and asked them to propose marriage to Fang Chuanhui. Then, Fang Chuanhui was enthusiastically pulled by several women.

It is said that Sister Guihua is in charge of the women's workshop, and she is indeed capable and manages it in an orderly manner; Fang's mother, Su Xiaoqing, and Meng He are also small managers, and they have no shortage of "blind date resources" at hand. At this time, they asked Fang Chuanhui if he had any requirements and introduced them enthusiastically. Even though Fang Chuanhui had been trained at sea for a long time, he couldn't stand it and blushed and scratched his head.

Fang Lin and Tian Xuan came to one side.

"Sister Xuan, I notice that you have had a poor appetite these past two days. If you want to eat something, I'll ask the servants to buy it for you." he asked.

Yes, Tian Xuan is pregnant again.

"Brother Lin, no need. Mother has already asked them to buy a lot. This is not the first time. Don't worry." Tian Xuan hesitated and said, "I think the two girls, Yuyan and Wenjun, are good-looking and have good character. Why not take them in?"

She saw Fang Lin redeeming Gu Yuyan and Shi Wenjun, and the two girls also came over occasionally, so she knew each other's character. Now, she couldn't accompany Fang Lin like this, so it would be better to let the two girls come in instead, which would also be a better way for the Fang family to have more children.

"There are so many people with good looks and good character in this world. Should we accept them all as our own?"

Fang Lin sat down next to her and said frankly, "Sister Xuan, to be honest, food, sex, and love are the greatest desires of human beings. There are few men who are not lustful. Sometimes I also have some thoughts in my mind."

"I know that men are tolerant of this era. Even taking a concubine is considered natural and reasonable in the eyes of the world. I also know that with Sister Xuan's personality, as well as the character of Miss Yuyan and Miss Wenjun, they can get along well and this won't be a problem. But I also know that people have limited time and energy. I am busy with the bookstore, factory, fleet and so on. There is not much left. With the addition of these two girls, how much can I leave for Sister Xuan?"

What he didn't say was that people's hearts would change. Even he didn't dare to guarantee for his future self that if he took Gu Yuyan and Shi Wenjun into his family, would they get tired of the old and fall in love with the new over time, and would they neglect Tian Xuan? Also, at present, Tian Xuan could indeed get along well with Gu Yuyan and Shi Wenjun, but what if Gu Yuyan and Shi Wenjun had children?

Fang Lin didn't want to test human nature, so instead of testing people's hearts, it would be better not to give them a chance in the beginning.

"Brother Lin!" Tian Xuan was moved and gently pulled Fang Lin's hand.

Fang Lin didn't say anything else. Suddenly he saw something, bent down, picked up a piece of grass and handed it to Tian Xuan's mouth.

"This is... bitter sprouts?!" Tian Xuan's face showed reminiscence, thinking of the experience on the way to the capital city. Looking back now, the suffering at that time seemed to fade away, leaving only the lasting sweetness.

She also understood what Fang Lin meant. Those experiences were unique and irreplaceable.

"Mom, what are you eating? I want to eat too!" At this time, the sharp-eyed Qiuqiu looked at the actions of the two people here and ran over.

Fang Lin pinched off half of the bitter sprout and fed it to the little girl.

Qiuqiu chewed it twice, then frowned in pain. She spit it out repeatedly, rolled her eyes at Fang Lin and Tian Xuan, and said, "You guys are cheating your daughter." But after spitting it out, she smacked her lips again, tilted her head in surprise and exclaimed, "It tastes sweet!"

Fang Lin looked at his daughter, who looked vaguely like Tian Xuan, with the same expressions and movements, and couldn't help but touch her head.

Tian Xuan seemed to have recalled something as well. She and Fang Lin looked at each other with a tacit understanding and both smiled.

……

(End of this chapter)