Chapter 101 Joint Fundraising Ritual
The following day, Meng Qing and Du Li took Wang Zhou to Longxing Temple. She revealed Du Min's identity and explained that she wanted to invite monks to cleanse the house. The temple immediately arranged for a senior monk and ten junior monks to come down the mountain to perform the ritual two days later.
Meng Qing strolled around the temple. Longxing Temple was not as large as Ruiguang Temple, but its incense was more abundant, and Buddhism had a wider audience in Heqing County.
"What are you planning? Ever since you walked into Longxing Temple, your eyes have been darting around non-stop," Du Li asked with a smile.
"The Cold Clothes Festival is approaching, and I'd like to ask the monks from the temple to come down the mountain to perform a Buddhist ceremony for a day, but I don't want to give them any money for incense." Meng Qing chuckled, "I wonder what the monks in this temple are like, and whether they're willing to do good deeds."
"Where should we perform the ritual? For whom should we perform the ritual?" Du Li asked.
“County Magistrate Sun said that the Yellow River had flooded granaries in the past, and such a great flood must have caused many deaths. Moreover, the Yellow River flows through two counties, with large waves and rapid currents. Once someone falls in, the chance of survival is extremely slim, and many people will surely die by accident. I want to burn paper clothes and paper money for these souls, and also invite monks to perform a day's ritual.” Meng Qing had already made up his mind and said, “Have Magistrate Du come and invite the government, Longxing Temple, Qingniao Paper Craft School, and Meng Family Paper Horse Shop to jointly hold a charity event.”
After saying that, she hurriedly pulled Du Li and Wang Zhou down the mountain back to the city. Once home, she grabbed Du Min and revealed her plan.
"This is the first time paper effigies have been made in Heqing County, and you've made it this simple? Only winter clothes and paper money? Why not bring out the brass paper horse and the three sacrificial animals with Buddhist verses?" Du Min felt that this was a bit too small a show.
“There’s not enough time. Today is already the sixth day of the lunar month, and there are only nine days left until the Cold Clothes Festival. Moreover, Heqing County occupies fifty miles of the Yellow River. It’s impossible to hold rituals in only one or two places. It’s not enough to burn just two paper horses after a day of walking around. That’s too stingy… I’ve got it! I can make paper boats. The paper boats can be floated down the Yellow River from the upper reaches, and when they reach Heyang Bridge, the monks can hold a ritual to lift them up and burn them. Five or six paper boats will be enough.” Meng Qing had a new idea.
"Making a paper boat with Buddhist verses can connect us to the Buddhist verses and sacrificial animals in the Fengshan ceremony, and make us more famous." Du Min made a request. "If there's not enough time, just paste two layers. It doesn't matter if the characters aren't aligned. As long as the boat doesn't get destroyed, it's acceptable as long as it floats downstream."
Meng Qing glanced at him, "Whom do you want to leave the good name of writing Buddhist scriptures for this time?"
Du Min smiled and said, "If General Lu is sensible, this good name will be his. If he is not sensible, this good name will fall to the Wang and Zhang families. If these two families are not sensible, the wealthy gentry who funded the construction of Baofeng Temple will probably be very happy to accept it."
"Old wine in new bottles." Du Li understood now; Dr. Xu and Minister Zheng were about to take the bait.
"This move is extremely useful; it can make you eat all the delicacies in the world with just one move." Du Min had a premonition that this move would be used frequently in the future.
"I'll leave the matter of discussing it with Longxing Temple to you. I'll have my parents start preparing to cut out paper clothes and make paper boats right away," Meng Qing said.
“Okay.” Du Min nodded.
After dinner, the two families gathered together to exchange the information they had gathered.
"The funerary objects business is booming. There are no vacant shops for rent or for sale. Even the lacquerware shops, which are related to funerary objects, have no shops for sale," Meng's father said. "The broker told me to go and inquire at the book and paper shops. Our business is related to paper, so we'll see if we can open a shop there."
Mencius' mother looked at Du Min, who said that if he had just spoken to the city magistrate, the matter would have been resolved.
“Let’s go check out the abandoned warehouse tomorrow,” Du Min said, looking at Meng Qing.
Meng Qing nodded.
When Mencius' parents saw that he didn't respond, they stopped talking about it.
*
The next day.
Du Min, along with the warehouse supervisor and two yamen runners, and Gu Wudong, set off early in the morning with Meng Qing and his family of three in a donkey cart to Heyang Bridge.
“Wangzhou should start elementary school soon. I asked Magistrate Sun yesterday, and his child started his studies at Honghu Academy. We’ll send Wangzhou there in a couple of days.” Du Min was even more concerned about Wangzhou’s education than his own parents.
“Okay, you arrange it.” Meng Qing relinquished his responsibility.
“I’ll prepare the tuition fee,” Du Li said, then looked at Gu Wudong and asked, “Have you arranged your child’s schooling?”
Gu Wudong nodded, "There's an academy near my home. I've already taken my child there to inquire, and the teacher has already assessed him. He can start studying next month."
“I’ve told the Registrar of Households that you should work under him first, managing household registration, land, and taxes. Once you’ve mastered these tasks, then you can work under the Judicial Assistant. You also need to understand the duties of the Granary Supervisor, the Prison Warden, and the Market Magistrate. Once you have a thorough understanding of these matters, then you can come and serve as my advisor.” Du Min was genuinely planning for Gu Wudong.
Gu Wudong was silent for a moment before he thanked him. He had learned skills in this county government office, and even if he couldn't pass the imperial examination in the future, he could still make a living as a clerk in the county government office.
A little over half an hour later, the group arrived at Heyang Bridge. About a mile south of the bridge was an abandoned warehouse, and in front of the warehouse was an abandoned dock, the stone steps of which were half-buried in mud.
Meng Qing measured the distance on foot; the riverbank was seven hundred paces from the warehouse, nearly two li (approximately 1 kilometer). She pushed open the warehouse door and went inside. There were watermarks on the walls, the highest point being at knee level, but the watermarks were very shallow, probably left five or six years ago. She then went to the next row of granaries, which were filled with grain and fodder. From the outside, the back row of granaries appeared to have been largely unaffected by the flooding.
"I heard from the granary supervisor that in the past two years, the Yellow River has not flooded the granaries during the spring and summer, but as long as there is continuous rain for a month, the granaries in the front row will definitely be flooded," Du Lilai relayed. "Do you still think we should set up the free school here?"
Meng Qing nodded, "The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. If the water really rises, the bamboo and paper can be moved to the granary at the back."
"I'll listen to you. Go pick a room, and once you've chosen one, I'll bring the tools and come clean it." This was Du Li's specialty; he didn't plan to hire anyone to do the work.
Without hesitation, Meng Qing directly selected the granary on the east side near Heyang Bridge as the free school.
"Third brother, your second sister-in-law has been chosen, it's time to go back," Du Li called out.
Du Min walked over from the riverbank and said, "Second Sister-in-law, let Uncle Meng open a paper horse shop here. I plan to rent out the abandoned granary. Let him come and choose one first."
Cang Du exclaimed, "Ah! Is anyone going to rent this?"
Du Min looked at Meng Qing, thinking that as long as she got the free school up and running, it would definitely attract other businesses.
“If the rent is lower, someone will definitely come. If no one comes, it’s fine; it will remain empty as before. But once someone comes to rent it, the government office will have income.” Du Min had already made up his mind.
“Okay, I’ll just take two or three months off a year.” Meng Qing was happy to agree. Although the free school and the paper horse shop would compete for business, there were plenty of customers, so there was no worry about losing business.
Upon returning to the county government office, Du Min immediately instructed the city magistrate to spread the word about renting out properties.
Du Li and Meng Chun took tools to clean the shop, while Meng's parents took the servants from the government office to purchase various goods.
*
On the eighth day of the tenth month, Meng Qing led the monks from Longxing Temple to Xingjiaofang to cleanse her house. While the monks were performing the rituals, she carried gifts to visit her neighbors and revealed that Magistrate Du would be coming to her housewarming banquet the day after tomorrow.
After sending Wangzhou to the primary school, Du Min and Magistrate Sun went to Longxing Temple and Baofeng Temple respectively. When they left the county office, they agreed on their story. The one who went to Longxing Temple said that the abbot of Baofeng Temple had promised to arrange for twenty monks to go down the mountain to perform rituals for the souls of those who died unjustly in the Yellow River on the Cold Clothes Festival. The one who went to Baofeng Temple said that the abbot of Longxing Temple intended to perform rituals for the souls of those who died unjustly in the Yellow River on the Cold Clothes Festival. The two sides deceived each other, and each of them tricked twenty monks from the Buddhist temples to perform rituals for free.
After receiving the promise, Du Min immediately ordered people to spread the word: Longxing Temple and Baofeng Temple would hold a ceremony for the unjustly deceased on the north bank of the Yellow River on the Cold Clothes Festival, and the cold clothes, paper money and paper boats would be donated by Qingniao Paper Craft School and Mengjia Paper Horse Shop.
*
On the tenth day of the tenth month, the Meng family of three moved out of the government office. Du Min, along with County Magistrate Sun and Gu Wudong's family, went to a housewarming banquet. As soon as they sat down, their neighbors arrived one after another with gifts.
“Third brother, this is Prime Minister Lu’s nephew. I’ve mentioned him to you before; he teaches at the county school,” Meng Qing introduced.
"Lord Du, seeing is believing. What a talented young man! You are so young!" Master Lu said with a smile.
"Have you heard of me?" Du Min asked, gesturing for the man to sit down. "Who has mentioned me? And what do they say about me?"
Master Lu choked.
“You are a man of exceptional talent and knowledge, a scholar who has passed the imperial examinations, and a disciple of the emperor. You are only twenty-three years old. People with your outstanding talent are few and far between. How could there not be any word about you?” Master Lu said vaguely. “You are very popular in Chang’an. Your name as a scholar who passed the imperial examinations is well-known. It’s easy to find out if you ask around.”
Du Min smiled and said, "This has always been my style. I've only been in office for less than half a month and I've already caused quite a stir. I wonder if any of you have heard about it?"
The neighbors all nodded in agreement, saying that it was a good deed for him to lead the rituals for the souls of those who died unjustly in the Yellow River.
"On my first day in Heqing County, I encountered a funeral procession. It was either Mr. Li or Mr. Wang, I think. I heard he taught at the county school in his lifetime. The funeral procession for a single teacher stretched for two miles, with a wide variety of burial goods. As a seventh-rank county magistrate, I wouldn't dare prepare so many burial goods for myself. I'm so envious," Du Min sighed. "Thinking of them, I'm envious myself. I imagine the spirits in the Yellow River are also envious. It was out of this thought that I decided to perform a ritual for them. It's not some act of kindness or charity."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com