This episode turns to a lesser-told legacy: Lin Zexu’s mastery of water. In 1841, the Yellow River burst its banks. Exiled and en route, Lin was urgently summoned to Kaifeng to lead the response. In Zhangwan Village, Henan, the “Lin Gong Dyke” still stands as a silent witness. Through villagers’ memories and historians’ insights, the episode returns to that moment and shows how a man condemned as a “disgraced official” led the fight against the flood.

From there, the story moves to Fuzhou, his birthplace. His descendants recall two “heirlooms” and the family maxims known as the “Ten Things That Do No Good,” offering a window onto the frugal household codes that shaped his probity and sense of duty.