Chapter 102 Newspaper (Part 1) Jinzhou Welcomes You
Pingzhou city.
East of the city.
Li Dinghui walked into a simply decorated teahouse, and the waiter quickly came up to him and asked how many people were in his party.
Li Dinghui said, "I've come to see a friend of mine."
The shopkeeper looked at the fabric of his clothes and his tone became respectful. "Are you a friend of Zou Lang?" He gestured for him to come in.
People doing business in the capital city have a good eye for people, so Li Dinghui wasn't surprised and followed the shop assistant inside.
He asked casually, "Has Zou Jin been coming here often lately?"
The waiter replied with a smile, "Yes, yes, Mr. Zou really likes our tea, and he also really likes our storyteller."
Li Dinghui was puzzled.
Upon entering the teahouse, Li Dinghui was surprised to find that it was quite large.
There were many square tables set up inside, and quite a few people were drinking tea there.
In the very center was a rectangular table, where a sprightly old man with a white beard was telling a story with a rhythmic and expressive voice, holding a folding fan in his hand.
The tea drinkers listened intently, occasionally bursting into cheers.
Li Dinghui was led to Zou Jin's table.
The man with fox-like eyes held a teacup in his hand, looking at the old storyteller with a half-smile.
Upon seeing Li Dinghui, Zou Jin put down her teacup, picked up the teapot, poured herself a cup of green tea, placed it on her left, and said, "Please."
Li Dinghui was even more puzzled. He sat down and asked, "You specifically asked me to come here just to drink tea?"
Zou Jin gestured for him to look at the old storyteller, "You should listen to what he has to say first."
Li Dinghui frowned. He hated people who didn't speak their minds, but Zou Jin was clearly one of the best. So he had no choice but to patiently listen to the storyteller.
Upon hearing this, he was suddenly stunned.
What was that old man saying?
There is a goddess named He Qinglan in Jinzhou who has taken over Jinzhou and become its new master.
She liberated the people of Jinzhou, gave them land, jobs, education, food, and opportunities to become officials...
She will build a library in Jinzhou and invite all book lovers to come to Jinzhou to read books for free.
Jinzhou has cheap tea, wine, sugar, ceramics, and fabrics. Merchants are welcome to do business in Jinzhou.
...
Li Dinghui's expression changed, and she said angrily, "Nonsense, this is simply..."
Zou Jin gestured for him to be quiet, "What he said may not be nonsense."
Li Dinghui's eyes widened. "You believe Jinzhou fell into the hands of a woman?"
Zou Jin took out a paper newspaper, handed it to Li Dinghui, and teased, "Look at this, there's a surprise in it."
Li Dinghui: "?"
The newspapers in Jinzhou are already very professional.
There are reports of He Qinglan assuming the position of new governor of the state and establishing an administrative office;
There is a report that He Qinglan announced that all children who have turned six years old, regardless of gender, must attend the academy.
There were notices recruiting new employees in Jinzhou city and its counties, recruiting soldiers for the army, and recruiting soldiers for workshops in various places;
There are reports of smallpox cases in Liangzhou;
There is a special column for missing persons notices;
A market has been built, and everyone is welcome to go there to do business and shop.
There are notices announcing the upcoming construction of official roads, reservoirs, and irrigation canals;
There are advertisements from stores promoting their own products;
There are even articles and serialized novels!
Li Dinghui stared at the author's name on an article: Ji Zhun!
As if to convince others that this Ji Zhun was indeed the Confucian master Ji Gong that everyone knew, the article ended with a color picture that vividly depicted Ji Zhun holding a pen and writing, even the position and size of the mole on his face were exactly the same!
Li Dinghui was incredulous. He shook the newspaper and stared at Zou Jin, "This...this..."
Zou Jin was very satisfied with his reaction. "Why do you think I called you here? I just wanted you to see this. Ji Gong of your Confucian school actually went to Jinzhou. What is the charm of Jinzhou?"
Li Dinghui raised her hand to her forehead, "Back then, I sincerely invited him, but Lord Ji was unwilling to take office. Now he is actually willing... Just who is this He Qinglan?"
As a student of a renowned scholar, Zou Jin was more concerned with the newspaper in his hand.
This is indeed a powerful tool for literate people, enabling them to convey all the ideas that the newspaper publishers want to convey.
He recalled the paper books sold from Jinzhou. They had already studied them, and like the words in this newspaper, the words in the books were not handwritten. However, they had not figured out exactly how Jinzhou had done it.
Zou Jin squinted. Jinzhou, He Qinglan.
Ganzhou.
"Compared to these books and newspapers, I'm more concerned about... can He Qinglan really do what she says here?" Tao Wang stroked his beard.
Ying Yanzhou said, "She can."
Tao Wang was surprised, "How did you know?"
Ying Yanzhou replied, "My junior brother is currently in Jinzhou, working under He Qinglan."
Tao Wang was shocked. "What did you say?"
Ying Yanzhou sighed, "It wasn't just him; all those people who disappeared in Chaozhou back then were in Jinzhou."
Tao Wang couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How is this possible?"
He raised his voice, "How did they manage to get out when we surrounded Luo Boyuan's men?"
Ying Yanzhou's eyes were deep and unfathomable. "We also surrounded Chaozhou City, but the people inside escaped."
Tao Wang: "..."
Tao Wang frowned and asked, "Did your junior brother write you a letter? Did he say how they did it?"
Ying Yanzhou shook his head. "Although we are fellow disciples, we serve different masters. He won't tell me."
Zhong Mingqi wrote to Ying Yanzhou to tell him that he was in Jinzhou, but he was worried that his senior brother would waste his time searching for him.
Zhong Mingqi wouldn't talk about anything else related to Jinzhou and He Qinglan, and Ying Yanzhou wouldn't ask either.
But Ying Yanzhou will send someone to investigate.
Ying Yanzhou briefly introduced Tao Wang to the situation of several counties in Jinzhou that he had found out.
“They farmed, built roads, and constructed irrigation canals, and enabled both children and adults to attend school… He Qinglan provided five dishes and a soup for all the people under her jurisdiction.”
He sneered, "Is this why Sun Yannan would rather give up Chaozhou than not attack Jinzhou? He wants He Qinglan!"
Unfortunately, Lu Wei seized this opportunity, and as a result, their lord has been bogged down in a war for several years!
He Qinglan also took the opportunity to defeat Hu Lin and obtain Jinzhou.
Sun Yannan really tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead.
Tao Wang sighed.
He looked at the newspaper in his hand and said, "If I were an ordinary citizen, I would also want to go to Jinzhou to seek refuge with He Qinglan."
Jinzhou is currently facing a severe labor shortage.
Those who want to speculate will inevitably go to Jinzhou to seek opportunities.
Ningzhou.
Yu Yuan skipped and hopped into a courtyard with a newspaper in her hand. The courtyard floor was covered with wood flowers, sawdust, and wood powder.
She didn't mind, crossed the courtyard, and ran into the main room.
Her senior brother, Ding Youyuan, was laying out paper and pens, drawing something.
Yu Yuan tiptoed over, trying to startle the other person, but failed and instead received a glare from Ding Youyuan.
Yu Yuan pouted, "I wanted you to see the newspapers from Jinzhou!"
Ding Youyuan said, "Junior Brother Jia has already shown it to me."
Yu Yuan asked, "Don't you have any ideas?"
She chattered on and on: "When people from Anling County used to open shops in Ningzhou, the furniture they sold was really beautiful, and that curved plow was such a fantastic improvement. The other agricultural tools were also very good..."
Ding Youyuan listened patiently as his junior sister finished praising him, then asked, "So?"
Yu Yuan said, "The city of Jinzhou is currently building an administrative hall and library, and I want to go and see them. Senior brother, don't you want to go? Those people from Anling said that their library and academy are very beautiful!"
Ding Youyuan put down his pen, looked at Yu Yuan and said, "If you want to go, let Junior Brother Jia accompany you. Jinzhou is a place where women hold official positions. If you go, you will have the opportunity to fully utilize your knowledge."
Yu Yuan was stunned; she hadn't expected her senior brother to agree so easily.
But then she realized, "Senior brother, aren't you going?"
Ding Youyuan put down his pen, and an improved waterwheel had already appeared on the paper. He said, "It's the same in Ningzhou; Madam Ye will use me."
He wouldn't really use Yu Yuan; as long as Yu Yuan stayed by his side, she would always just be his appendage.
"Go." Ding Youyuan looked at his junior sister and emphasized his words.
Yu Yuan blinked. "Alright, then Junior Brother Jia and I will head over first. If you ever run into trouble, Senior Brother, just come to Jinzhou and come to us!"
Ding Youyuan said expressionlessly, "Then you guys work hard and come back later, so I can have some peace and quiet."
Yu Yuan stuck out her tongue at him, then turned and ran out of the main room to find her junior brother.
Ding Youyuan returned to his study, picked up a few sheets of dried letter paper, folded them, and put them into an envelope.
He went out to see Ye Hui and asked her to write a few words for He Qinglan.
It was his first time traveling far from home, and as the senior brother, he was naturally worried. But the children were growing up, and he couldn't let them stay under his wing forever.
Maozhou.
Xiao Yong and the others naturally saw the newspapers from Jinzhou, and could only smile wryly.
Life is unpredictable; who could have imagined that He Qinglan would become the ruler of Jinzhou?
However, they are currently more concerned about smallpox in Liangzhou.
Cui Xiu looked at the newspaper. "According to what they've said in Jinzhou, everyone who hasn't been infected with smallpox has already been vaccinated with cowpox. These people who have been vaccinated will not be infected with smallpox again?"
He looked doubtful. "Is that even possible?"
Xiao Yong thought for a moment, "Although I don't know anything about medicine, I asked Doctor Zhang, and he said that people who have had smallpox cannot get it again. So I think, their vaccination... cowpox, maybe it's for the same reason?"
Xiao Yong continued, "There are many medical books in Jinzhou. They also cured the epidemic in Qingzhou before. It seems that cowpox can prevent smallpox."
Cui Xiu smiled and said, "If they help cure smallpox, we will owe He Qinglan a favor."
Xiao Yong also laughed, "If you don't want to pay it back, you don't have to." After all, on the surface, it was Xue Rang who made the decision to send Mei Leshu and her medical team into the Liangzhou epidemic area.
Cui Xiu shrugged. "Forget it. It's better to owe Jinzhou than to owe Lu Wei."
“Oh, right,” Cui Xiu suddenly remembered something and said, “My teacher has decided to go to Jinzhou.”
Xiao Yong was surprised, "Lord Yuan? Why?"
Cui Xiu sighed helplessly, "For that half-book."
His teacher, Yuan Yingchuan, was astonished when he received the book that had been torn in half, but he restrained himself from being fooled and did not go to Anling County.
Unexpectedly, Ji Zhun has passed away.
Ji Zhun recently wrote an article in a Jinzhou newspaper. After reading the article, Yuan Yingchuan couldn't sleep all night. The next day, he angrily told them that he was going to Jinzhou.
His apprentices couldn't persuade him otherwise, so they had to pack his belongings for him.
Xiao Yong said, "The library in Jinzhou is indeed very attractive. If your teacher goes there, I'm afraid..."
Cui Xiu didn't mind. The old man was so old; wasn't it good for him to be able to read more books? Perhaps he could even gain enlightenment.
“But what about our lord…” Cui Xiu was a little worried.
Xiao Yong smiled wryly, "Our lord hasn't had time to care about your teacher lately." The war isn't over yet!
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