Chapter 181 Utilizing the Female Saint
After staying at the paper mill until evening, Meng Qing and his group left with two boxes of paper.
Sister-in-law Wang held Wangchuan and waited outside the post station. When the carriage came into view, Wangchuan waved his hands excitedly, but when the carriage approached the post station, he frowned unhappily.
The carriage stopped outside the post station. Du Min was the first to get off and greeted him, "Little Fatty Nephew."
"Little brother, we're back." Wang Zhou was the second to emerge from the carriage.
Du Li followed him out, glanced at Wang Chuan, and then turned around to help Meng Qing out.
"Damn it!" Wang Chuan cursed with a loud "Aww".
"Who's bad?" Meng Qing asked, jumping off the carriage and walking towards Wang Chuan. "Come here, let Mommy hold you."
Wang Chuan pulled her hands away, refusing to be hugged.
Meng Qing raised an eyebrow, then smiled and forcefully hugged the petty boy, letting him shout and yell.
"Wangzhou, it's not dark yet. Would you like to ride a horse for a while?" Du Min asked.
"You want to race horses?" Wang Zhou understood what he meant.
“Yes, the problem that has been bothering me for almost half a year has been solved. I want to run a horse freely for a while,” Du Min said.
“Alright, let’s go get the horses.” Wang Zhou agreed, but he didn’t forget the others. When he led Qingniao out, he also brought out the three horses pulling the carriage.
"Dad, let's ride horses!" Wangzhou called out. "Grandpa and Grandma, do you want to ride horses too?"
Mencius' mother was intrigued. "Old man, we've never ridden a horse before."
“Go and call the coachman out so he can teach my dad how to ride a horse,” Meng Qing said to Sister-in-law Wang.
"Do you want to ride a horse? Let me carry Wangchuan." Du Li first considered Meng Qing's idea.
Meng Qing waved her hand, "You go ride horses with Wang Zhou and Lao San in a distance. I'll stay here and watch over my parents. If you were to stay here, they would definitely feel uncomfortable and afraid of making a fool of themselves."
Du Li glanced at his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and thought it was quite possible. He laughed and said, "No wonder Wang Zhou didn't ask you to ride a horse. I thought that kid was finally going to show me some favoritism."
"Forget about it." Meng Qing said smugly. "Wang Chuan, quickly say goodbye to your father."
"Go horseback riding with Dad?" Du Li tempted him, pointing to a tall horse and saying, "Dad will take you horseback riding."
"Wangchuan, don't go. Stay and keep your mother company," Meng Qing urged.
"Are you going or not? I'm leaving." Du Li made a move to leave.
Wang Chuan laughed and reached out his hand to him. Du Li glanced at Meng Qing, smiled, took the child, and said, "I'll take him for a run."
Meng Qing slapped Wang Chuan on the butt and said, "Go."
Du Li carried Wang Chuan away.
Du Min was already on horseback when he saw Du Li carrying a little sluggish child. He said with disdain, "Can't you be efficient for once? Can you ride a fast horse carrying a little chubby thing?"
“I’m jogging, you two don’t need to wait for me,” Du Li said.
Wangzhou went over and took Wangchuan from him, saying, "Father, you get on the horse first, I'll hand Wangchuan to you."
Seeing the loving relationship between the father and his two sons, Du Min remained silent.
Du Li mounted his horse using the stirrups, scooped up Wang Chuan and tucked him into his arms, saying, "You two don't go too far. Remember to come back before dark."
Du Min suddenly had a change of heart and said, "Forget it, I'll just wander around and come back after a short while."
"Giddy up!" Wang Zhou cracked his whip and charged off in the lead.
Upon seeing this, Du Min immediately forgot what he had said and spurred his horse to chase after them.
"Giddy up—" Wang Chuan could say his eighth word now, and he urged his horse on with great enthusiasm.
Du Li was surprised. He subtly patted the horse's belly with his knee, and the chestnut horse under his crotch began to trot.
Wang Chuan laughed heartily.
Mencius's parents heard this and both looked over.
"My son-in-law is quite good at coaxing children," said Meng's mother.
“Yes, I’m lucky.” Meng Qing took the reins and said, “Don’t be nervous. I’ll lead the horse around for a bit first. You don’t need to worry about it suddenly running. These horses have been trained since they were young and are docile. They won’t run or jump on their own without a command.”
With no worries, Meng Qing focused on accompanying her parents to learn to ride horses. Meng's parents didn't need to worry about appearances in front of their daughter; the two elders laughed freely and fully enjoyed the pleasure of riding horses.
As darkness fell, the three horses that had run off returned one after another, and Meng's father and mother dismounted and went back into the house.
As a result of riding for almost half an hour, Meng's parents were unable to get up the next day. Their thighs ached so much that they couldn't walk and had to rest at the post station.
Meng Qing and Du Li went to the paper horse shop in Wen County to check the accounts on behalf of the two elders, and also took the opportunity to check the free school located in Wen County.
Du Min did not act with them. Instead, he led Magistrate Guo and all the clerks and runners in the yamen to the old course of the Yellow River to measure the high ground for planting hemp, the mudflats for making hemp maceration ponds, the depressions to be excavated, and the site selection for the paper mill.
After returning to the county government office that night, Du Min wrote letters to the magistrates of the other four counties in Huai Prefecture, as well as Magistrate Sun of Heqing County and Assistant Magistrate Cui of Luoyang County, asking them to hire skilled paper-making masters for the paper mill in the name of the government.
After two knocks, Du Li knocked on Du Min's door. "Third brother, are you still awake?"
"Nothing," Du Minlai opened the door. "What is it?"
“How much longer are you going to stay in Wen County? We’re about to head to Hanoi County,” Du Li said.
"Are you in such a hurry to leave?" Du Min was displeased. "There's nothing important to do in Hanoi County. Let's stay in Wen County a little longer. I'll be staying in Wen County for quite a while."
“We still have so much stuff, it’s quite a hassle to leave it at the post station. And the caravan, every extra day we stay on the road, we have to pay for another day,” Du Li explained. “Your second sister-in-law asked me to come and ask, if there are no problems here, we’ll leave tomorrow.”
"Yes." Du Min was short of money. He didn't have the funds to hire people to dig mud and build a workshop, so he had to resort to fundraising again.
“You can stay a couple more days. I’ll talk to my second sister-in-law tomorrow,” Du Min said.
"Okay." Du Li went back into the house to relay the message.
*
The next day.
Du Min handed over a stack of letters he had written overnight to the postmaster, and then went to ask Meng Qing for money. “Second sister-in-law, the paper mill and the charity school are both private property of the imperial court. If I ask the merchants and gentry of Wen County to donate money to build the paper mill, it seems a bit wrong. Why don’t you donate a sum in the name of the charity school?”
"Aren't you going to wait for the female saint to give her approval before starting work?" Meng Qing asked.
“Whether the female saint approves or not, I’m going to do it. If the higher-ups don’t agree, this paper mill will be sold to the Meng family after it’s built, and you’ll secretly control the business,” Du Min said. “What do you think?”
“Do you remember what I said? It’s better to have money in your own pocket than to ask for it. I think you’ve misunderstood me. The ‘official’ in ‘the paper mill’ refers to the official in Huai Prefecture, not the imperial court. The school originally belonged to the Ministry of Rites, so the paper mill could belong to Huai Prefecture. You should keep the profits from the paper mill in your own hands and use them to manage the Yellow River, instead of handing the profits over to the imperial court,” Meng Qing said.
Du Min frowned and pondered. His gaze shifted several times before he finally asked a question: "I am the Prefect of Huai Prefecture, not the Governor of Huai Prefecture. If the paper mill belongs to Huai Prefecture, it would be like me pushing a fat pig into Governor Xu's bed. It would be better to give it to the imperial court."
"Then, to manage the Yellow River, we'll ask the Ministry of Revenue for more money?" Meng Qing asked.
Du Min dared not answer. After a few moments of thought, he smiled and said, "If I become the governor of Huai Prefecture, the paper mill will be mine."
“That’s right. You can’t stay stuck in the position of Chief Secretary forever. Sooner or later you’ll become the Prefect of Huai Prefecture.” Meng Qing realized that it was her plan that trapped Du Min. She instructed him to be loyal to the female saint, but this goal actually bound him. He didn’t dare to mess with Prefect Xu because Prime Minister Xu was someone the female saint trusted.
“Who will always rely on another person?” Meng Qing dipped his finger in water and wrote the characters “Wu” and “Li” on the table. “Even husband and wife can turn against each other, let alone business partners.”
"I will rely on my second sister-in-law for the rest of my life; we will never turn against each other," Du Min said firmly. "What do you think, second sister-in-law?"
"Of course, we share the same position."
"They also share the same stance." Du Min pointed to Prime Minister Xu and Empress Wu. Empress Wu was able to be called a female saint, which was inseparable from Prime Minister Xu's promotion. He had placed such a big bet, how could he go back on his word halfway?
“But he will die; he’s old. You’re still young, and you share the same stance as the female saint. You will eventually become the governor of Huai Prefecture.” Meng Qing encouraged him. “You dare to use Minister Zheng, so why don’t you dare to use Governor Xu and Prime Minister Xu? I’m willing to give up the profits of the free school; why don’t you do the same? You want to seize someone else’s position, but you’re unwilling to take the gamble? Just consider the paper mill’s profits from the past few years as your gamble.”
Du Min suddenly realized that the free school was Meng Qing's gamble, and the Li family's empire was the female sage's gamble. The female sage wanted the Tang Dynasty's empire to be changed to the surname Wu, and before achieving her goal, she had to devote all her energy to governing the Li family's empire well.
“You and Prime Minister Xu share the same goal; you are competitors, not partners walking side by side,” Meng Qing reminded him.
"Yes, yes, I was confused." Du Min slapped his forehead. "I was confused."
"Dad, what are you doing standing in the corridor? Where's Mom?" Wang Zhou returned from herding geese on horseback.
Du Li waved her hand, "Go out and play, or go back to your room and read."
Wang Zhou immediately understood that his third uncle was probably asking his mother about something important again.
Inside, Du Min laughed upon hearing the sound and called out, "Second Brother, come in and have some tea."
"Have you thought it through?" Meng Qing asked.
“I’ve thought it through.” Du Min nodded. “I’ll go back to Hanoi County with you and tell Governor Xu about the plan to build the paper mill. I’ll ask him to get the profits from the paper mill through Prime Minister Xu.”
Meng Qing relaxed. "That's what I think too."
"Both Prime Minister Xu and Governor Xu are greedy. With the example of the free school, they certainly won't be willing to give up the paper mill as bait. The paper mill will definitely belong to Huai Prefecture. It would be interesting if the Empress wanted the profits from the paper mill to go into the national treasury. Wouldn't there be a rift between the two if Prime Minister Xu were to take profits from her?" Du Min became excited. He had just regretted not writing the official document for the Empress directly, bypassing Governor Xu. If Governor Xu had written the document and presented it to the Empress, the paper mill's belonging to Huai Prefecture would have been a foregone conclusion. But now that he had this thought, he found the matter even more interesting.
Meng Qing chuckled and took a sip of her tea.
Du Li came in. "Have you figured it out?"
"Second sister-in-law, was this part of your plan? Is that why you didn't stop me from submitting a petition to the female saint three days ago?" Du Min realized what was going on when he saw that she didn't react much.
Meng Qing shook her head, "I realized you didn't understand what I meant when I saw how eager you were to start construction."
"Oh! You were planning from the beginning to let Governor Xu seize the benefits from the female saint?" Du Min was shocked.
"How can you rise to power if he doesn't fall?" Meng Qing said casually.
Du Min knelt down before her, bowing deeply to the ground. "Second Sister-in-law, you have truly opened my eyes..." Not only did she dare to use Prime Minister Xu and Governor Xu, but she even used the Empress Dowager.
He couldn't describe his feelings at that moment; the powerful, pounding heartbeat in his chest made him tremble all over.
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Author's Note: I previously said this story would be finished this month, but after writing this chapter, I feel that Meng Qing can go much further in my writing, so I have to break my promise. The ending might be next month, or maybe the month after next.
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