Why hadn’t Yun Shuyao previously felt urgent about promotion?

One reason was that cultivating improved crop varieties required time.

Another reason was that her relationship with Lin Ruhai wasn’t that intimate.

Her son was her biological child.

But Lin Ruhai was her superior.

She and the two children she bore were to a certain extent one entity. If her status rose, they would also rise with the tide. Correspondingly, if they accomplished something, she as birth mother would likewise benefit from reflected glory—none would dare look down on her.

But Lin Ruhai was different. Lin Ruhai was this era’s standard scholar-official.

He initially had his principal wife Jia Min. Later, after Jia Min passed away, he didn’t remarry. But even if he reached seventy or eighty, as long as he had status, wanting to marry another would be easy.

Moreover, before he completely lost his reproductive capacity, even her son’s uniqueness couldn’t be entirely assured.

If Yun Shuyao had any merit, he was the sole handler. Only he could reach the Emperor’s ears. If he wanted to conceal it, he could conceal it. If he wanted to request merit for her, he could request merit for her.

This depended on his conscience.

And if he reported it, could she obtain the result she wanted?

That was also uncertain.

In an era of male superiority and female inferiority, even if she had merit, Yun Shuyao didn’t know whether the lofty Kangxi would attribute the credit to Lin Ruhai or to her children.

If it were the former situation, with Kangxi attributing credit to Lin Ruhai, if he then had other sons, even legitimate sons, wouldn’t Yun Shuyao suffer tremendous loss?

So Yun Shuyao hadn’t been anxious before.

But now circumstances had changed. Although her son hadn’t yet grown to the point of handling matters independently, Yun Shuyao also wanted to try.

After so many years, if not completely seeing through Lin Ruhai’s character, she had figured it out well enough.

Even if he saw such a large merit, the possibility of claiming it as his own was relatively low. Moreover, she no longer had only him.

Behind her, the Yun family had also gradually grown.

So Yun Shuyao felt that if she had any merit, given Lin Ruhai’s nature, he would definitely first verify it, then mention her name in the secret memorial to Kangxi.

Furthermore, so many years had passed. She had always regarded Lin Ruhai as a superior, but in Lin Ruhai’s eyes, she wasn’t merely a subordinate.

If he entered the rear court, most of the time he came to her place.

Their discussion topics had also continuously broadened with the passage of time. Even if it wasn’t love, there were other emotions.

They also had two excellent children.

Because they were concubine-born, no matter how excellent the two children were, in the eyes of some who wanted to suppress and look down on them, it was precisely a point of attack.

If she were promoted, the two children would also benefit.

Only… Yun Shuyao felt that what she was bringing out this time, the merit might not yet be enough.

Boiling sea salt had existed for a long time.

The salt-drying method she was now having her cousin and others test could save manpower and resources, produce more refined salt, and allow more common people to afford salt. But would those in power think this merit was so great?

Moreover, the already established benefit faction would naturally not support the salt-drying method.

That was also an obstacle.

Still, crop varieties needed improvement. If rice and wheat could increase yield by ten to twenty percent, for all under heaven, how many more people could be fed? Such merit would be enough for an aristocratic title…

——

Before Yun Chang rode at full speed toward Yangzhou, he met with his cousin once. Having understood the process in detail, his heart was extremely fervent.

Ever since learning what his cousin had concocted, he could almost feel his blood boiling.

Salt was something the common people of all under heaven couldn’t do without.

People had to eat to have strength, but just eating wasn’t enough—they also had to eat salt.

This thing, no matter how expensive, they had to squeeze out some money from between their teeth to buy.

Without eating salt, people easily became sick. When sick, where would ordinary families have so much silver to treat illness?

Before his cousin entered the Lin household, their family already had some family wealth, but each illness was equally difficult. If luck was bad and one contracted a serious illness, a family returning to abject poverty wasn’t anything rare.

So to be able to survive, salt—every so often they would buy some.

How many common people were there under heaven?

How much salt did they use?

The profit in between was too great!

So like iron, the court monopolized it. Iron implements could be used to manufacture weapons, could be used for war. Salt, to a certain extent, was another kind of weapon.

This salt—most of what common people could buy was proper official salt. Merchants obtained salt licenses before they could legally sell it.

That’s why Master Lin’s position was a lucrative post.

Some people, even if they had salt wells and salt mines, so what?

Without salt licenses, they couldn’t sell. If they wanted to convert it to money, they could only sell it as illegal salt—that was breaking the law.

Because illegal salt didn’t pay taxes, the price would be cheaper. Common people wished they could split one copper coin in half to spend. Facing these two choices, naturally without saying more, they would choose which one—as long as they weren’t discovered.

But no matter how cheap illegal salt was, it wouldn’t be that cheap.

Salt households collected salt, and salt from some salt lakes and salt wells required paying the price of life to extract.

After extraction, salt still had to be boiled, then transported to various places.

Every one of these steps was cost.

If his cousin’s method truly was the same as the experiment, then costs could be greatly reduced and salt production would also increase.

Being able to lower salt prices, even lowering by one or two wen, would be tremendous merit.

But likewise, another aspect had to be considered.

This would undoubtedly disturb those salt merchants with salt lake and salt well extraction operations, as well as the people behind them.

If they knew someone had moved their iron rice bowl, they would definitely employ every method to obstruct, to ensure they could continue their previous wealth. Once they counterattacked, they would be terrifyingly formidable. Even though Yun Chang hadn’t yet entered officialdom, just imagining it slightly made cold sweat break out on his back.

One careless move meant family destruction and death.

This was equivalent to walking a single-log bridge on a cliff precipice. One misstep would result in being smashed to pieces. But if one crossed this single-log bridge, there would be smooth roads ahead.

And also that alcohol.

Low-proof alcohol and strong liquor were completely different prices.

At that time, just with one turnaround, wealth would flow endlessly.

Their group rode at full speed. After arriving in Yangzhou, Lin Ruhai thought something major had happened at home and immediately had someone lead him over.

He knew who Yun Chang was and had also met and spoken with him before.

Had something happened at home? But if that were the case, the person who came should be Mother’s person instead.

Many thoughts flashed through Lin Ruhai’s mind until he saw that thick letter. On the envelope was Yun Shuyao’s own handwriting, stating it was for him to open personally.

Under Yun Chang’s gaze, Lin Ruhai opened the letter. He read very quickly, his expression becoming increasingly shocked with the content he read. Then he uncontrollably stood up, asking Yun Chang: “Is this matter true?”

Yun Chang: “Witnessed with my own eyes. I also brought some implements. Redo it once more—you’ll know the result after seeing it.”

Indeed, saying more wasn’t as persuasive as seeing with one’s own eyes.

Lin Ruhai selected trusted confidants and redid it once following the steps on the letter paper. Then he truly obtained snow-white fine salt and also pungent high-proof strong liquor.

If the methods for these two were mastered, they could be passed down as family heirlooms.

One could say, if these two formulas were grasped, as long as descendants weren’t idiots, they would never need to worry about money again. But very quickly Lin Ruhai calmed down.

They couldn’t do this.

The Lin family couldn’t swallow it down, whether salt or alcohol.

Salt was monopolized by the court.

Alcohol required grain to brew.

In situations where people couldn’t eat their fill, using grain to brew alcohol in many places wasn’t allowed. Although for the profit behind this, many princes and nobles would secretly brew alcohol on their estates, then transport it north to sell—that area was cold and strong liquor had very smooth sales channels—but on the surface, the law indeed was like this. If caught with evidence, one had to be dealt with according to law.

Setting aside that bit of selfish interest, Lin Ruhai almost immediately thought about what kind of consequences the former, if promoted, would bring to him, to local salt merchants, and to salt merchants across the realm.

The decline in salt tax was largely because illegal salt was increasingly rampant.

Common people chose illegal salt because of price.

If official salt had a lower price than illegal salt and was better, which would they choose?

He fell into contemplation.

Yun Chang just stood beside him like a wooden post, afraid of disturbing his thoughts.

After a long while, Lin Ruhai let out a light sigh. This matter couldn’t be rushed. He needed to grasp more specific information for both before he could report.

As long as one was real, after his one-year term ended, the Emperor should be satisfied.

After all, he absolutely couldn’t remain long in this position. The Emperor sent him here to increase salt tax but wouldn’t keep him here forever.

This position was very important—it had to be someone on the Emperor’s side. Although currently the Emperor still classified him with the loyalist faction, his daughter had already been matched to the Fourth Prince.

Him coming here wasn’t merely the Emperor’s regard for him, but also compensation the Emperor wanted to collect.

So he was sent here to break the original situation. And even though the salt merchants here knew he wouldn’t last long, they wouldn’t so easily let him take the tax revenue back, because wouldn’t that be openly saying they previously had problems?

Lin Ruhai planned to proceed step by step.

Yun Chang remained by Lin Ruhai’s side, went to the seaside, cordoned off some land, and began experiments.

People in the capital couldn’t immediately know the progress of Yangzhou matters.

After Yun Shuyao handed this matter over, she also temporarily set it aside.

Her having her cousin go over was also intentional.

He participated in it. At that time, if it succeeded, naturally the Yun family would speak up for her without her needing to say it herself.

Now she just waited for results.

After Yun Shuyao handed this matter over, her mood also became somewhat more relaxed. It’s just that Luo Yu and Chen Yu—the two of them were still in amazement and apprehension.

They also knew Father had gone to manage salt affairs, but they hadn’t thought that Mother not only thought of deeper things but also assisted in practice and truly succeeded.

If they hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes, they wouldn’t dare believe it.

Now they were all hoping for Father’s reply letter, waiting for Father’s confirmation and his next actions.

This was great merit. Would the Emperor bestow some reward?

“Mother, aren’t you anxious?” Even Chen Yu couldn’t quite hold his composure.

Even if the Emperor’s edict had one character about Mother, it would be tremendous honor.

Yun Shuyao: “What I can do, I’ve already done. What comes next depends on your father.”

Chen Yu and Luo Yu: The words were so, the reasoning was so, but their mood still couldn’t help being urgent.

Mother was also too composed. They still needed to slowly cultivate themselves.

Time—why did it pass so slowly?

Just as they felt days passing like years, Lin Ruhai’s letter arrived.

Chen Yu obtained the letter first.

The letter had Mother’s name written on it, so he first delivered it to Mother’s place, waiting eagerly for Mother to open the letter.

Seeing this letter, Yun Shuyao’s heart also skipped a beat. She glanced at her son and daughter whose expressions were remarkably similar, then slowly opened the letter.

Reading ten lines at a glance, then she gave the letter to them.

“Read it yourselves.”

The letter wrote quite a lot. Simply summarized, Lin Ruhai had already had people test it. Strong liquor was effective in treating external injuries. Sea salt drying had also been verified. He had people conduct experiments in different places. Although there were still areas that could be improved, the results were already confirmed.

He told them to be at ease.

In the letter, he didn’t use straightforward wording to describe it, in case this letter fell into others’ hands, but they could all understand the meaning.

Besides this, nothing more.

Luo Yu frowned: “Has Father already reported it?” Such news needed to be prompt, otherwise if word leaked out…

Chen Yu had already set his mind at ease: “Father won’t put this matter on paper. Let’s wait a bit more.”

They could only wait.

In the palace, on Kangxi’s desk lay a thick secret memorial. The secret memorial was densely filled with writing. Without looking at content, just looking at the calligraphy—very pleasing to the eye.

Kangxi opened it once more, looking at the characters on it, finally reaching a decision. “Someone come, go investigate Lady Yun.” These methods were actually proposed by a woman from the rear court? He wanted detailed information.

A eunuch silently bowed at the waist to receive the command and withdrew. Moreover, very quickly, a group of people disguised as traveling merchants, not drawing attention, rode horses south, heading straight for Yangzhou.

Kangxi had people investigate Lady Yun. Very quickly results were delivered.

Lady Yun was the birth mother of Lin Ruhai’s pair of dragon and phoenix twins.

Without investigating, one wouldn’t know. Upon investigating, there were still surprising places.

The Yun family members, especially her two younger brothers, were all outstanding young talents.

One was in the Ministry of Revenue, one was a Hanlin bachelor.

One family with two jinshi—this represented the Yun family rising. Another was this Lady Yun’s capabilities.

The methods she created this time made Kangxi initially think perhaps she ordinarily had interest in these things, but upon investigation, he discovered what she was usually interested in fundamentally wasn’t these things but rather flowers and plants.

In the capital, she had a small reputation for cultivating flowers and plants.

The flowers and plants the Lin family used for gift-giving were cultivated by her.

Additionally, she reportedly enjoyed reading books and calligraphy paintings. Besides this, there was nothing special.

Was this a sudden inspiration, a coincidental discovery?

While Kangxi awaited good news, some setbacks occurred in Yangzhou.

Of course Lin Ruhai would pay attention to secrecy, but somehow, information leaked to a certain degree.

First, unidentified people came to spy at the experimental site. Then Lin Ruhai encountered various parties probing. Afterward, when Lin Ruhai went out passing through a small road, falling rocks rolled down from the mountain. If not for guards pulling him away in time, he would have been struck squarely.

Even so, he was still injured.

By the time the people Kangxi dispatched arrived, they saw Lin Ruhai on a sickbed.

He lay on the bed, one hand wrapped in thick white cloth, his face pale, but his pair of eyes were darkly somber.

This made the leader’s heart turn cold upon seeing. It seemed they had to quicken their pace.