Lin Daiyu had reached a bottleneck when she wrote the 《Immortal Song》. She tossed and turned for many days, but still could not find a solution.
Liu Sanjie's azalea-like face flashed across her mind. Liu Sidi's bitter and yellow face flashed across her mind. Then, it turned into a terrifying buzzing like a swarm of bees, shouting, "Pay the rent!", "Pay the rent!"
On one side was Lord Zhao's righteous face. On the other side was a scene of devastation, dying people who were so thin that only their ribs were left.
On one side was a mirror hanging high, on the other was a mess of flesh and blood.
Lord Zhao, County Magistrate Gui, these honest and corrupt officials' faces all gradually turned into the same dark cloud, covering the sky and covering the earth.
The Qi brothers, the Xu family, Family Zhang, these big and small landlords' faces all gathered together into a fierce wind that shook the heavens and the earth.
Lin Daiyu closed her beautiful eyes and threw down the brush.
She did her best to maintain the last bit of respect she had for the dynasty in her heart. She wanted to retain the last bit of recognition she had for the magnificent world she had lived in for more than ten years. She wanted to defend the land rent system that had raised her up.
But along the way, everything was denying that world of the past.
Ten thousand kinds of indescribable bitterness condensed in her heart.
The young miss of the Ji family came to invite her to the garden to play the zither, talk about poetry, and admire the flowers and swing.
"The young miss said that a new type of rouge has just been introduced. It's as small as a fingernail, but it's worth dozens of taels of silver. We hope that Miss Lin will do us the honor of coming. "
Lin Daiyu did not reply. In the end, she still refused.
In her vexation, she did not want to see their faces covered in makeup as they secretly talked about how many dishonest bedwarmers there were in her future husband's family. She also did not want to see their gentle facades and the way they took it for granted when they gently punished a nine year old girl.
When sorrow and righteousness gathered in one person, it was even scarier than a flood or a fierce beast.
She was afraid.
Even though … she had once been one of these people who was slightly more special.
Now, the only thing that could slightly relieve her bitterness was the western books that her uncle had brought over about "treason and heresy". She slowly flipped it open and read it again.
The girl lowered her eyes when she read about the victims who were desperately shouting "Human, human, human!"
She thought of her friends from Lin Ruoshan that day.
That day, she was sitting in her room, thinking about something. Suddenly, an old woman called her, "Miss Lin, Master Lin wants to see you."
Lin Ruoshan wanted to introduce a few good friends to his niece.
Lin Ruoshan's friends were all businessmen. He had always made friends with people from all walks of life, and was not prejudiced against anyone.
Everyone in the Lin family knew this. Therefore, when Lin Ruoshan introduced his friends to her, Daiyu was not surprised. She even felt that these people were very outstanding, unlike the businessmen in her impression.
Until the old maid who led her here muttered, "How could there be an uncle who would casually let his niece see a stranger?" Then she glanced at her with disdain.
Only then did she realize — she didn't know when it started, but she had forgotten about the "etiquette between men and women".
Until Lin Ruoshan's elegant friends greeted her one by one. Their attitudes were relaxed and casual, as gentle and amiable as if they were the direct sons of the family. Only then did she realize why she was a little "forgetful": Probably because she stayed in places where she didn't need to use this etiquette, and met many people who didn't use this etiquette, so she gradually forgot about it.
However, "forgetful" still made her feel more comfortable.
Uncle's friends also didn't use this etiquette, which made her feel more comfortable.
"What's wrong? Your business … isn't good? "Lin Ruoshan asked.
A young man with a long beard and big round eyes answered, "How can it be good? Hmph, how can it be good! It's always been like this, always like this. They're all robbers! "
Another handsome man with a pale face sighed, "Ruoshan, look, Ah Shen didn't come today. Because he refused to pay the land rent, he was injured by a dandy who came to smash the factory. He's recuperating at home. "
The oldest among them said, "Sigh, the upper management fought like a black-eyed chicken. Below, we still have to pay to fight for them. In the end, it's bad luck on both sides. That child of mine was immature and wore bright clothes. When Young Marquis Jiang saw it, he taught him a lesson. Then he ordered my family to pay more tribute. "
Recently, Lin Daiyu's mind was haunted by this matter. When she heard the word "land rent", she felt that it was grating. She couldn't help but frown: Uncle's friends were all businessmen. Why would they need to pay land rent?
The more she listened, the more confused she became.
Lin Ruoshan had long noticed Daiyu's confusion. When her confusion was about to overflow, he smiled and said to his friends, "I forgot to tell everyone. My little nephew Daiyu has written some storybooks and novels. Most of you have probably read one or two of them."
When they heard that the young girl in front of them was the author of "Fierce Maiden Temple", Lin Xiao Xiang, the man with a long beard and big round eyes stood up excitedly, "Amazing! The author of such an amazing book is actually such a young and promising woman! "
The handsome man with a pale face also smiled and said, "This humble one has long heard of Xiao Xiang's noble name. My wife loved 'Willow Tree' so much that she couldn't put it down. "
Everyone expressed their amazement and admiration.
She had never been so affirmed by so many people who were considered her elders in this aspect. The young girl's face immediately flushed red.
Lin Ruoshan said, "However, Daiyu recently encountered a bit of a bottleneck."
Lin Ruoshan slowly used this topic to lead Daiyu into the topic of everyone's conversation. The topic of conversation unintentionally shifted to "land rent".
After chatting for a while, Daiyu gradually found out about a situation that made her very surprised.
Although the man with a long beard and big round eyes was called Chen Yudao.
He had once sailed out to sea with Lin Ruoshan, and they even had businesses overseas. After returning, he bought a batch of Western machinery. He wanted to start the business of "Ten Thousand Weavers" from the raw materials.
However, if this business wanted to expand, he needed enough land.
When Chen Yudao went out to sea in his early years, he sold off all of his family's land. This time, when he returned, he went everywhere to buy land. First, it was cotton. Second, it was the land for the weaving factory.
Unexpectedly, most of the land was owned by local tyrants and evil gentry. And these local tyrants and evil gentry were mostly closely related to the local government. With great difficulty, he spent a lot of money to buy a few pieces of land. Just as his business started to improve, the government came to him and said that he did not register it in the land register. They said that he "plotted to seize the land of the scholars and good people, occupying the land, planting cotton for hundreds of miles, and abandoning agriculture".
Chen Yudao had no choice but to spend a lot of money to bribe the government. However, the government still came to him every year in the name of "abandoning agriculture".
Chen Yudao was a businessman and was originally inferior to others. The charges were simply fabricated. Therefore, he had to artificially make a loss.
The one who did not come was called Ah Shen. Ah Shen's situation was similar to Chen Yudao's. However, the machinery of his factory was the most developed in the Western world. However, it relied on the irrigation system to operate. Therefore, he could only look for land along the river.
However, those large pieces of land along the river, because it was convenient to travel, mostly belonged to the rich and noble families or local tyrants. Ah Shen could not afford it. He also could not afford to go head to head with them. He could only think of ways to offer a large sum of money to rent it.
Those people's appetites were especially big. They did not do anything. Just by relying on the rent of the land, they could eat up a few months of Ah Shen's hard-earned profits.
Ah Shen hated it. He cursed these landlords who ate the land rent as "parasites" and "ball-less bastards". In order to protect his profits, not long ago, he refused to pay the rent of the factory. As a result, he was beaten black and blue by a group of thugs. The expensive Western machinery was also smashed. Until now, he was still lying at home.
As for the oldest one, his background was not ordinary. He was originally a bastard son of a rich family. Because his eldest brother was studying, he was arranged to be a merchant.
In the south, he came into contact with Ah Shen and the others, who had a lot of connections with overseas. He was also influenced and slowly started a sea merchant business.
However, people like him were originally vassals of the rich and noble families. The higher-ups were greedy and wanted this and that to pave the way for his eldest brother. They even opened the palace gates and participated in the civil war of the True Dragon. He had no choice but to obey. As a result, he became more and more upset. He hated the so-called rich and noble families, the so-called filial piety of fathers and sons, and the so-called ethics and morals.
There were also those who accumulated a large sum of money from doing business but did not dare to spend it.
And so on. In the end, the handsome man with a pale face, called Li Yulang, sighed and said, "Since the Qin Dynasty, there has been such a world. But now, we only hate that such a world exists forever! "
Chen Yudao snorted and said with a cold smile, "Now, times are rough. The people are homeless and homeless. The old emperor above is like rotten wood, and the people below are like black-eyed chickens. I hope that the old emperor dies faster! My Brother Chu Qi … "
"Congyi!" Li Yulang shouted, using his eyes to stop him from speaking. He slowly shook his head. He looked at Daiyu.
Daiyu was shocked at first, but she did not feel any disgust or fear towards their words. Instead, she seemed to agree with them.
Chen Yudao pushed away Li Yulang's hand and rolled his eyes at him. He said in a bad mood, "Those land rents, emperors, and clans should have all died! Besides, this little friend Daiyu is the author of 'Willow Tree' and 'Fierce Maiden Temple'. Our words from the bottom of our hearts should not scare her. "
After chatting for a while, the friends gradually dispersed.
Lin Ruoshan waited until everyone was gone before asking Daiyu, "How was it?"
Daiyu sighed and said, "I benefited a lot. My view of merchants in the past was also restricted by the Confucian Sect. It was too narrow. "
Lin Ruoshan said with a smile, "Think about it again with your own 'Immortal Song'."
After that, Lin Daiyu thought hard.
Today, she finally had a clue.
She finally calmed down and picked up her weapon — her pen. She wrote down the other half of the 'Immortal Song's' preface: 'When it comes to the greatest evil in the world, there is no one other than the land rent.'
Whether it was Liu Sidi or Ah Shen, what they were facing was not just one or two Family Zhang, Qi Clan, or Lord Zhao. It was this thing that had lasted for a thousand years and supported countless Lord Zhao, Qi Clan, Family Zhang, and Xu Clan.
The young girl Lin Daiyu looked at her pen with rapt attention. She knew that with this stroke, she would sever all ties with the world.
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