Chapter 209 Setting a Trap for Prime Minister Zheng
The room fell silent. Some of the twenty-two leaders present lowered their heads in thought, while others looked around, observing the expressions of those around them.
Meng Qing wasn't in a hurry to get an answer. She picked up the teapot, poured herself a cup of tea, and slowly sipped it.
Qi Yunshan looked Meng Qing up and down, remembering that back in Luoyang, Meng Qing had worn linen clothes just like him. Now, however, he was dressed in silk and red and green, which was truly enviable.
“I have no objection,” He Bian said first.
Six other officials, like He Bian, who also came from families of minor officials, followed suit and expressed their willingness to take over as director.
“I am a merchant, and my children and grandchildren are also merchants. We are not qualified to participate in the imperial examinations.” A middle-aged man with a shrewd look spoke up. “Lord Meng, managing a library is not beneficial to people of merchant background like us. I do not want to take on an additional task unless my annual salary is increased.”
"Which prefecture are you in charge of?" Qi Yunshan immediately leaned forward and asked. He said to Meng Qing, "Lord Meng, this brother is unwilling to take on responsibilities. The person I recommend can go back with him to take over the affairs of opening the library. The annual salary doesn't need to be much, thirty or fifty strings of cash a year will suffice."
Meng Qing smiled slightly. She still remembered him. He was the first person to recommend himself when he entered the venue. He was a very shrewd businessman.
"Okay," Meng Qing agreed, then asked, "What are your thoughts? Are you willing to take on the position of curator?"
"Of course I'm willing." Qi Yunshan said gratefully. "Why wouldn't I be willing? You are so kind and benevolent, it is our good fortune to have met you. We are merchants by birth, and our descendants have never had the chance to study or pursue an official career. Even if we enter an academy, we are looked down upon. Now you have granted us this opportunity, and we can associate with scholars and literati, and openly read books. Even if our descendants cannot escape their lowly status, they can still speak eloquently, be respected and appreciated, and become renowned Confucian merchants in the surrounding area. What a blessing this is!"
When Qi Yunshan uttered his second sentence, most of the people present changed their expressions.
"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I was short-sighted and underestimated your good intentions." The merchant, who had initially refused to take on the matter, immediately stood up and apologized. He bowed to Qi Yunshan apologetically, "Brother, I'm sorry, I've changed my mind. I am the director of Ruzhou Academy, and I will take care of the academy's affairs."
The others chimed in, saying they had no objections and would definitely manage the library well.
Meng Qing smiled and said, "I used to be a merchant's daughter, so I know very well the predicament that merchants face. For us, the threshold of education is a huge chasm. Now I have built a single-plank bridge across this chasm for you all to cross. Although the road is difficult, as long as you have perseverance, you will surely gain something by crossing the chasm."
"We will always remember the great kindness and virtue of the Lady." Qi Yunshan knelt down to express his gratitude. "From now on, I will treat the school and academy as a family business and manage them carefully."
Others followed suit, kneeling down to express their gratitude.
In just a few moments, everyone in the room knelt down.
"Please rise, everyone, please rise quickly." Meng Qing stood up, walked around the table, and quickly helped everyone up.
The twenty-two officials took their seats again.
Meng Qing was very satisfied with the result. She casually said, "The establishment of the library was initiated by the female sage. At the beginning of the year, she overcame all opposition and, at the same time as the seeds of the Qingniao Paper Craft School were sown across the Tang Dynasty, the free library open to the public was also born. This library in Hanoi County only had two hundred books when it opened, and the books came from the royal library and some collections donated by aristocratic families. The books are very precious. After the library you are in charge of opens, you must explain this clearly to the local scholars and literati, and ask them to cherish the books and not damage them."
Everyone present nodded, indicating that they had remembered.
"You can stay in Hanoi County for another two days. Tomorrow I will distribute the more than four hundred books. When you leave, I will distribute this year's bonuses. He Bian, Qi Yunshan, and Wu Qi, congratulations! This year, the three of you have ranked among the top three in terms of profitability for your free schools." Meng Qing said, then looked at He Bian and instructed, "Manager He, Luoyang is not far from Huaizhou. You are practically a host here. Please take good care of all the managers for me."
He Bian agreed, and seeing that Meng Qing was about to leave, he stood up and asked, "Lord Meng, when will the profits from the charity school be sent to you?"
"I am far away in Ezhou, and it is not safe to carry a large amount of money and silk. Therefore, I did not bring back the profits from the charity school." Qi Yunshan continued, "Your Highness, could you arrange for a reliable person to retrieve the money?"
With twenty-two prefectures and eighty-three free schools, the total annual profit was over 230,000 strings of cash. This amount was not small for the imperial court, but it would take traveling through twenty-two prefectures to raise the money. Meng Qing was unsure whether the imperial court would be willing to specially assign an official to collect it.
"I will report to the imperial court to see if they will arrange for officials to collect the money. It is very likely that the local registrar will be responsible for collecting it. If no official goes to collect it, you should wait patiently. An official in charge will contact you at the end of next year," Meng Qing instructed. She remembered that Vice Minister Yin was coming. He was in charge of the assessment and dispatch of officials, so she could discuss it directly with him and wouldn't need to write to Prime Minister Zheng again.
He Bian and the others nodded to indicate that they understood.
Meng Qing said a few more polite words, then went out, got into the carriage, and returned home.
"Second Sister-in-law, you're back? I received a letter, come and see it quickly." Du Min was reviewing official documents in the main hall when Meng Qing entered the courtyard. He saw her immediately, put down his brush, picked up the letter, and went to greet her.
Meng Qing took the letter and walked straight into the main hall, saying, "It's so cold, I wonder if it's going to snow."
“Winter came early this year. A severe drought is always followed by a severe cold. This year is going to be a cold winter,” Du Min said. Then he turned his attention to the letter. “This letter should have been sent more than half a month ago. It was sent after Prime Minister Zheng and others arrived in Chang’an.”
After reading it, Meng Qing said, "Your father-in-law was right. Prime Minister Zheng did indeed have the intention to sow discord, but judging from the aftermath, the Empress Dowager did not fall for it. His counter-espionage plan failed, and we even benefited from it. We should thank him. Now that it's the end of the year, we should prepare two New Year's gifts and write two heartfelt letters of thanks to send to the Prime Minister's residence."
Du Min smiled and nodded, "Second sister-in-law is absolutely right. We are grateful people and should prepare two generous gifts for Prime Minister Zheng."
Meng Qing smiled as well. She read the letter again. In the letter, Vice Minister Yin instructed Du Min to be wary of Prime Minister Zheng and to stay away from him if possible.
"Your father-in-law must have sensed the Empress Dowager's suspicion when he wrote that letter, but something happened later that made her choose to believe you. I think this change might involve the Governor; he even came to say goodbye to you before leaving Huaizhou, which shows he's close to you," Meng Qing analyzed. "Prime Minister Zheng first sought credit for you and me, and the Empress Dowager became suspicious afterward, but ultimately Prime Minister Zheng achieved his 'goal.' From this, we can infer that the Empress Dowager used Prime Minister Zheng, making him play the role of someone close to officials from humble backgrounds..."
At this point, Meng Qing felt a surge of excitement. She crumpled the letter in her hand with excitement, her face beaming.
"Second sister-in-law, what's wrong?" Du Min asked, getting excited. "What have you thought of this time?"
Meng Qing excitedly patted him twice, "I've figured out how to win over Prime Minister Zheng, and use a scheme to sow discord between him and the powerful officials, making them suspicious of him, thus indirectly weakening Prime Minister Zheng's influence."
Du Min recalled her previous words, which had caused her unusual expression: "Be close to officials from humble backgrounds."
"Should we create an image for him that is close to officials from humble backgrounds?" Du Min asked.
“Yes!” Meng Qing nodded. “After this incident, you are now bound to him. Even if he tries to explain that he wants to sow discord between you and the female saint, outsiders may not believe him. He is truly unable to defend himself. You have a great reputation and can be considered a representative of officials from humble backgrounds. He is also in charge of the affairs of the charity school and has many opportunities to deal with officials from humble backgrounds. If there is an opportunity in the future, we can carefully manipulate the situation and create a label for him that he himself is reluctant to remove. This would sow discord between him and the aristocratic officials and weaken his influence as the prime minister of an aristocratic family.”
"A brilliant plan! A brilliant plan!" Du Min paced back and forth excitedly. As he walked, he saw a servant passing by and loudly ordered, "Go and see where the two young men are, and invite one of them over."
"What do you want with them?" Meng Qing asked.
Du Min didn't explain. He continued the previous topic: "When the time comes, Prime Minister Zheng will have to defect whether he wants to or not. If he doesn't defect, we can use the powerful families to bring him down."
"You've become addicted to this, always trying to bring down the prime minister," Meng Qing chuckled.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor. Du Min knew immediately that Wang Chuan had arrived. He quickly walked out, picked up the chubby little boy, and excitedly tossed Wang Chuan into the air.
Wang Chuan laughed loudly, "Third Uncle, higher!"
"Are you trying to exhaust your third uncle?" Du Min laughed.
"Don't fall!" Meng Qing called out to stop him. "Third brother, don't go crazy."
Du Min tossed and turned three or four times before running out of energy. He picked up Wang Chuan and let him sit on his arm, saying, "Come on, Uncle will take you to see your sister."
"Don't forget the important matter: write a letter and prepare gifts," Meng Qing reminded him.
"I won't forget." Du Min wanted to tie himself tightly to Prime Minister Zheng's ship and use his own reputation to influence Prime Minister Zheng's image.
With this idea in mind, Du Min and Meng Qing completely abandoned the rift caused by Prime Minister Zheng's counter-espionage scheme. The uncle and sister-in-law spent two days writing a heartfelt letter of thanks to each other. In the following days, they painstakingly collected two cartloads of good things and then arranged for someone to send the New Year's gifts and letters to Chang'an as quickly as possible.
After settling this matter, Du Min became busy again. Upon receiving a reply from the Imperial Stud, he immediately organized the county magistrates of various counties to lead people to the livestock farms in Shanzhou to retrieve the lambs. The paper mills in Huaizhou were also producing paper. He personally contacted fleets and caravans. After the paper was loaded onto the carts, he took the newly arrived Wang Sima and the county magistrate of Wen County, Guo, and they went to the charitable schools in various prefectures to discuss business with the local school principals.
On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, when Minister Yin arrived in Hanoi County with the Empress's gifts, Du Min had not yet returned.
"The Empress bestowed upon you a robe that only a third-rank lady could wear, along with fifty bolts of silk. She also announced in the court that if you, my lady, were to achieve further merits in the future, you would be granted the title of Lady of the County." Minister Yin personally handed the purple robe, hastily made by the palace embroiderers, to Meng Qing. "My lady, I, Yin, congratulate you."
Meng Qing was surprised to find another surprise waiting for her. She was overjoyed and handed the purple robe to Du Li, saying, "Meng Qing will remember this and will do her best to serve the Holy Lady. I am grateful to Minister Yin for making such a long trip. Uncle Yin, Aunt Yin, I also want to congratulate you. Caiwei gave birth to a baby girl safely on the 28th of the 11th lunar month and will be out of confinement in four days."
"She's already given birth?" Mrs. Yin exclaimed in surprise. "I'll go see."
“I’ll take my aunt over,” Meng Qing said. “Uncle, you come too. You and your aunt will stay in the backyard. I’ve already had the maid prepare everything. Du Min is out on business and hasn’t returned yet, so he can’t personally entertain you. Please don’t mind.”
“I hope you won’t mind me speaking such unorthodox words.” Vice Minister Yin followed.
Meng Qing led Mr. and Mrs. Yin inside, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then left without disturbing the family of three.
Mr. and Mrs. Yin stayed overnight. Mr. Yin went out every day, either staying at the bookstore or going to Wen County to see the paper mill and the old course of the Yellow River.
Yin's mother stayed with Yin Caiwei every day and slept with her at night.
That evening, the mother and daughter lay together chatting. When they talked about Xu Ang using his concubines to set traps and harm people, Mother Yin suddenly asked, "Didn't you add any servants to your son-in-law's room? I've been here for three days, and all the maids serving him are your dowry maids."
"No." Yin Caiwei shook her head.
"Your son-in-law hasn't mentioned him? That's rare. Your father has good taste; he picked a good husband for you at first glance. Not only does he have a bright future, but he's also a virtuous and loving husband." Mother Yin was very satisfied.
Yin Caiwei scoffed at the idea of loving one's wife, but she couldn't bring herself to talk about the complexities involved; if she did, she would feel like she was being picky.
“His second brother doesn’t even have concubines, so why would he need concubines?” Yin Caiwei scoffed.
"You silly girl! How can they be the same?" Mother Yin was startled. She reminded him, "His second brother and he are not the same, and you and Meng Qing are not the same either. The two cannot be compared. You can't have this idea."
Yin Caiwei's heart skipped a beat, and she asked tremblingly, "What do you mean? Mother, do you look down on me?"
“That’s not what I meant. How could I look down on my own daughter? If I looked down on you, wouldn’t I be looking down on myself?” Mother Yin quickly explained. “That’s just how it is. Meng Qing is different from us, mother and daughter. Her status and position are enough to allow her to live without having to depend on her husband…”
"Stop talking." Yin Caiwei felt a chill run through her body. "Mother, go back to your room and sleep."
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Author's note: See you tomorrow night.
I need to save some drafts tonight so I can adjust the update schedule back tomorrow.
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