Chapter 1: The Miserable Transmigration

  "Halt!"

  Liu Jin, who accompanied Zhu Houzhao to Xiangyang Mountain Villa, called out and Han Yu turned his head to glance at Liu Jin. Liu Jin sat outside the carriage and respectfully helped Zhu Houzhao down from it. After Zhu Houzhao got off the carriage, Liu Jin whispered a few words in his ear, and Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhong Bin and nodded slightly, saying softly: "Not bad."

  Liu Jin walked up to Zhong Bin, took out a token and waved it in front of him. Zhong Bin was slightly startled and immediately prepared to kneel down to pay his respects. Liu Jin supported him and said in a low voice: "Believe the person who sent you told you that our identities must be kept completely secret, so from now on when you see me, there is no need to pay your respects. Remember your new identity, Zhu family guard commander."

  "Yes, Lord Liu." Zhong Bin responded formally. He didn't have a good impression of the people from the Eastern Depot, but since there was a certain hierarchical relationship between the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, he had to show some respect to Liu Jin.

  "Go ahead." Liu Jin nodded and said.

  In the Pinming Pavilion of the Xiangyao Mountain Villa, Zhong Bin sat on a wooden chair with his sword in his arms, his upper body straight as a pen, his sharp eyes fixed on the front, and his facial expression was as still as frozen ice. Only his eyebrows were getting more and more frowned.

  Jiang Xia had already spun around Zhong Bin several times, while collecting various jokes to try and make Zhong Bin laugh. However, it seemed like Zhong Bin was born with a serious face, no matter what Jiang Xia said, he always wore that icy expression, as if he were the sword in his hand, devoid of any emotions except for a killer's intent.

  "From the moment you came in, you've only said two words 'Zhong Bin', nothing else, and not even a smile. I didn't believe it, but it seems you really can't laugh?" Jiang Xia's eyes rolled around before he said: "Alright, let me tell another joke to try."

  "There was once a girl who went to a ranch to milk cows. After squeezing for half a day, she only managed to squeeze out a little bit. The girl saw that everyone else in the ranch had squeezed out a big bucket, and suddenly felt unwilling. She shouted loudly: 'Boss, is there something wrong with this cow? Look at where they're milking their cows, it looks different from mine. This cow even has a tube! I've been squeezing for half a day and haven't gotten much out.' At this time, the boss took a look, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said: 'Miss, you're milking a male cow.'"

  Jiang Xia's joke was met with a moment of stunned silence from Liu Jin and Zhu Houzhao before they understood the "special meaning" behind it. Zhu Houzhao was the first to react, bursting into loud laughter. The previous jokes told by Jiang Xia had already left him feeling somewhat unbearable, and this one made him laugh so hard that his stomach began to ache. Holding his belly in laughter, Zhu Houzhao said: "Big brother, please, stop it! I can't take it anymore, don't tell any more jokes!"

  Jiang Xia did not respond to Zhu Houzhao, he stared at Zhong Bin carefully. He found that the absolutely killing joke didn't make him laugh, and after careful observation, he confirmed that Zhong Bin was shocked and didn't want to laugh, rather than intentionally holding back.

  "Alright, I lost. You're impressive."

  Zhong Bin glanced at Jiang Xia, then suddenly stood up, hugging his long sword and walking out. He walked a few steps before hearing him lightly toss back two words: "Boring."

  "Who are you saying is boring? Are you saying my jokes are boring? You little brat, don't run away with your tail between your legs. Let's have a one-on-one showdown." Jiang Xia shouted loudly like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

  Zhong Bin, who had already walked to the door, immediately stopped in his tracks. He turned around and looked back at Jiang Xia. Jiang Xia was suddenly tongue-tied. At this moment, his internal energy was in a state of extreme disorder, and he couldn't possibly defeat Zhong Bin even if he were in his prime.

  Jiang Xia said with a smile: "One-on-one... telling jokes, see who tells the funniest joke, how about it? Dare or not?"

  Zhong Bin glanced at Jiang Xia faintly, then directly ignored him and walked out of the Pin Ming Pavilion.

  As he saw Zhong Bin walking further and further away, Jiang Xia let out a soft sigh and said in a low voice: "How's that? Scared now? Good, you should be. Today, I'm in a good mood so I'll spare your life this once. Next time, if you dare to do something like this again, I'll... make you laugh to death."

  Zhong Bin walked out of the tea house after a while, and Zhu Houzhao finally finished laughing. He took two deep breaths, constantly rubbing his stomach and said: "Alright, big brother, today I came to discuss with you about the disaster relief fundraising matter. The twenty imperial edicts you wanted, I've brought them along. The content on top is all written according to what you said, really no problem with three hundred thousand taels of silver?"

  "Don't worry, the 300,000 taels of silver is just a basic number, and it's possible that the result will far exceed your expectations. Go back and tell your uncle that as long as he fully cooperates with me, I'll definitely help him get through this difficult situation."

  Zhu Houzhao nodded, "Big brother, that matter is now handed over to you. Liu Jin is the general manager of our family's internal affairs, from today until the fundraising ends, he will always help you, no matter what you need, you can tell him, and he will definitely help you with it."

  "No problem." Jiang Xia nodded and said.

  The next morning, Zhu Houzhao followed Jiang Xia's words and divided the 400,000 taels of silver into two parts. He first transported them to Henan and the border areas to comfort the people. On this day, Jiang Xia's disaster relief fundraising also began.

  Every street and alley in Shun Tian Fu has many banners. On them are written: "Disasters have no mercy, but people do." "Henan is suffering from drought, let's all help." "Today, we are all Henan people, donate a penny for the Henan disaster victims, contribute a bit of effort." "When a gentleman is poor, he cultivates his own character; when he is rich, he helps others. The time has come to donate money if you have it, and to offer your strength if you have it."

  Under the banner is a speaking platform, where one by one, people skilled in public speaking are talking with tears about the severe situation of the drought in Henan and the tragic experiences of the disaster victims. Among the onlookers, more than ten people were crying loudly and sorrowfully, they took out silver tickets from their pockets and said loudly: "This money, if I don't donate it, would be spent on girls in brothels anyway, why not use it to help the disaster victims and clear my conscience?"

  "Right, right, right! Donate your silver!"

  People's emotions are easily infected, and the streets are promoting joint assistance to Henan disaster victims everywhere. Jiang Xia found those who were performing very hard, so more and more people donated silver. However, this channel for donating silver is only a part of it, and Jiang Xia has chosen the big head among those rich merchants.

  A notice on the imperial bulletin board caused a great stir in the capital.

  "Are you still brooding over not being able to pass the imperial examination and become an official? Are you still upset that despite your wealth, people look down on you because of your humble origins? Do you want to bring glory to your ancestors? Do you want to be remembered for generations to come? Henan is experiencing a severe drought. By imperial decree, the emperor has granted permission for the Shanrenhui charity organization, led by Jiang Xia, to host a charity gala to raise funds for disaster relief. The top 20 donors at the gala will be awarded a third-rank official title, and will be bestowed with a qilin robe and a jade belt. The address of the charity gala is: Xianyao Mountain Villa, time..."

  For businessmen, they don't lack money, what do they lack? They lack foundation, they lack status, and they lack identity. The ancients said: "Scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants", with merchants ranked last. The richer the merchant, the more he wants to have a good birth, so as to bring glory to his ancestors and honor to his family. This is normal, psychologists have said that after people's material desires are satisfied, they will pursue spiritual satisfaction next. There are many kinds of spiritual satisfaction, such as being respected, recognized, valued, worshiped, etc.

  It just so happens that the merchants of the Ming Dynasty lacked precisely this respect and recognition. They had silver, but anyone could disdainfully say to them, "You reek of copper, how common and unbearable." Now that this imperial edict has been issued, the eyes of the Ming merchants have turned red with envy.

  That charity dinner, must attend! Even if it means going bankrupt, I have to get a third-class official position back!

  They thought that in the future, they would be able to wear qilin robes and tie jade belts on the streets, and whoever saw them would have to bow down and salute, calling out: "Old Master". The wealthy merchants of the capital felt like they were about to ascend to heaven.

  After making up their minds, the wealthy businessmen in Beijing immediately started asking around how they could attend the charity gala. Only after inquiring did they realize that attending required certain conditions, and they had to first get hold of an invitation letter.

  Jiang Xia's invitation cards were hoarded and not sent out, but instead circulated through the black market. As soon as the invitations came out, they triggered a rush of purchases, and by the time it was close to the event, one invitation card had been speculated up to 1,500 taels. Even at such a price, people still flocked to buy them.

  Shuntian Prefecture is the capital of the Great Ming, and the imperial city is under the feet of the Son of Heaven. Here, wealthy merchants gather, and those with silver are countless. And it is precisely these people who spend their days in the company of the powerful, even feeling ashamed in front of a ordinary scholarly family, they themselves feel that they are full of the stench of copper, so they care about those twenty quotas.

  This matter has now spread throughout the capital, and even those who are left behind have learned about it. Upon hearing this news, everyone's reactions were different. In the Li mansion, in Li Dongyang's study, Cao Yuan and Liang Cun were both expressing their discontent with indignation at this moment.

  "I've spent ten years studying hard, starting from the humble ninth rank, and worked diligently for decades until I'm old and grey before becoming a second-rank official. Meanwhile, those merchants can get third-rank official titles just by relying on their wealth, is this reasonable? Is this reasonable?"

  "It's really too much for the Emperor to do this. Using such a method to raise disaster relief funds is truly humiliating for the Great Ming Dynasty, and even we can't help but feel ashamed."

  Cao Yuan and Liang Chu spoke alternately.

  After two people talked for half a day, they suddenly found that Li Dongyang didn't say anything. Cao Yuan couldn't help but ask: "Teacher, the person who took office as the president of Shanren Association this time is Jiang Xia, don't you have any opinion?"

  Li Dongyang looked up at the two of them and smiled slightly.

  PS: Tigers are begging for support, comrades who don't collect books will be handed over to the Grand Inner Manager for disposal...