First, let's look at Lin Daiyu's family background. Although Lin Ruhai, Lin Daiyu's father, was a scholar and passed the imperial examination, Lin Ruhai could never be equated with ordinary poor scholars. The second episode of A Dream of Red Mansions introduces Lin's family background.
Because I heard that Lin Ruhai ordered the salt policy this year. This Lin Ruhai is Lin Minghai, and his words are like the sea. He is a flower detective with a criminal record, and now he has been promoted to doctor of Lantai Temple. I am a native of Gusu, and I have just been appointed as a salt inspector for more than a month. It turns out that the ancestors who attacked Hou, like the sea, have been in business for five generations. At first, I only attacked the third generation, because today's Long Ensheng De is far ahead of the previous generation, with additional benefits, reaching the father of the sea and attacking another generation. As far as the sea is concerned, he was born in Cody. Although it is the home of Zhong Ding, it is also a scholarly family.
This passage points out several extremely important aspects. Lin Ruhai's ancestors attacked Liehou for four generations. That is, a marquis family has accumulated wealth for at least four generations. This is why it is said here that although Lin Ruhai was born in the imperial examination, he was also the home of Zhong Ming and Shi Ding, so Lin was never poor. Lin Ruhai was appointed by the Holy Family as a salt inspector, specializing in the management of salt merchants. As the salt supervisor of Yangzhou, Yangzhou is the richest place in the south of the Yangtze River, and the salt supervisor is a fat job. When Lin Ruhai became an official, he received a lot of silver from salt merchants every day. As long as he was in this position, the silver would flow to him like water. If the Lins are poor, it is absolutely impossible.
Secondly, let's take a look at what Jia said to Lin Daiyu in the third time of A Dream of Red Mansions: "My child, it is your mother who suffers." Jia's love for Lin Daiyu's mother can be seen here, so she is also extremely fond of Lin Daiyu. Jia Min is the only daughter of Jia Mu, and only Jia Mu loves her. The Jia family is so rich that it is necessary to choose a family that is not wronged. Jia will marry the Lins, which shows that the Lins' family background is definitely not low. This also shows that Lin Daiyu is by no means without money. She just sent herself to Jia's house, which seemed very lonely.
Such a huge wealth, even after Lin Ruhai's death, will certainly leave a huge legacy to Lin Daiyu. Then the question is, where is the property left by Lin Ruhai to Lin Daiyu?
There is an allusion in A Dream of Red Mansions. As a concubine, the Jia family plans to build a grand view garden. Singles went to Suzhou to buy girls and musical instruments, and spent 32 thousand silver. Then it will cost more than 32,000 taels of silver to build a grand view garden. It takes a lot of money to build the Grand View Garden. Where did you get so much money? In the seventy-second session, Jia's finances became increasingly tight. Xia eunuch sent a little eunuch to blackmail. After Wang Xifeng sent the little eunuch away, Jia Lian came out of the back room and said, "Yesterday eunuch Zhou came and asked for 1,200 pieces of silver. I should have reacted slowly, so he was uncomfortable. There are many places to offend people in the future. At this time, it is good to send another three or five million. " That is to say, opening the mouth of 1,200 at this time has embarrassed two people, so where did the three to five million pieces of silver come from?
This 35 million taels of silver is largely the legacy left by the Lins to Lin Daiyu. Because at that time Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng had just returned with Lin Daiyu. When she went to the Lins' funeral, Lin Daiyu was heartbroken, just hiding her face and crying, immersed in the great grief of losing her father. At this time, all the funerals and the follow-up work were handed over to Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian. Therefore, it is very likely that Lin Daiyu's property was used for public use or secretly intercepted by the two.