It had been more than a decade since Lin Xiu served as magistrate of Yuanjiang County. Compared with his present self, the Lin Xiu of those days had been no more than a sesame-seed-sized official.
Still, there was no denying that his days in Yuanjiang County had marked the beginning of his meteoric rise, and naturally left a deep impression on him. But to have brought the county gazetteer away with him left even the Emperor of Great Yong unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Although embarrassed, Lin Xiu had no choice but to answer the emperor's question.
"Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. I brought this Yuanjiang County Gazetteer away for two reasons: first, to remind myself never to forget my original aspirations; second, because I truly could not bear to part with the original manuscript. I thickened my skin, ordered a copy made, and took the original with me."
"Hahahahaha!"
The emperor laughed. He had never expected his dear Minister Lin to have this side to him.
The reputation of Lin Xiu and his Heaven-Bearing Prefecture office had been deliberately cultivated by the emperor on the one hand, while on the other, Lin Xiu truly possessed promise and had lived up to it. Only then had his name gradually spread throughout Great Yong.
For the common people, he offered one last hope; for officialdom, another deterrent. Even in the Rivers and Lakes, his presence could change the calculations of some who might otherwise take extreme measures.
Given Lin Xiu's standing today, the emperor naturally would not blame him for a minor matter that had been within his authority at the time anyway.
"For a county gazetteer to be so dear to you, that great case from those years must have been recorded in it, yes?"
"Your Majesty