Chapter 105 Breaking the Deadlock, Finding a Way Out...
Du Min, his breathing unsteady, walked to Wang Zhou's side. He lifted his official robe and sat down directly on the ground, asking softly, "How long have the students at the academy been bullying you? Why haven't you mentioned it before?"
“Eight days.” Wang Zhou stated the exact number of days. “They insulted me, so I went to the teacher to complain. The teacher would reprimand them, and I would vent my anger on the spot and then not want to say anything more. But today they hit me outside the school. I called for the teacher, but he ignored me.”
"How did the Master reprimand them?" Du Min asked again.
"Tell them not to bully me," Wang Zhou said.
“…This isn’t a reprimand,” Du Min said helplessly. “You’re too easily appeased.”
Wang Zhou snorted smugly, “When the teacher reprimands them, I stand next to him and say that if they bully me again, I will have my third uncle arrest them and lock them up in jail.”
Du Min laughed, "That's more like it."
Wang Zhou glanced at him sideways, "But it won't work on you either, they're not afraid of you."
Du Min: "..."
Wang Zhou also sat down cross-legged. "Third Uncle, my mother said that when you were studying at the prefectural school, you were also bullied by other students. Is that true?"
Du Min nodded, "Because I am from a peasant family, and the school in the prefecture is full of children of powerful and wealthy people, they look down on me and bully me."
Wang Zhou sighed, "My classmates also look down on me and call me a merchant's girl."
Du Min looked at Meng Qing, fearing that Wang Zhou might look down on his parents because of their background, so he quickly said, "Although your mother came from a merchant family, she was very capable, even more so than their mothers."
Wang Zhou nodded. "I know. Third Uncle, how did you get revenge when you were bullied?"
“Back then, I had no one to back me up, so I could only endure it,” Du Min said. “You have your third uncle to back you up, so I will avenge you.”
“My father and my uncle also went to avenge me,” Wang Zhou said. “My maternal grandfather and my mother also helped me curse the teacher.”
Du Min looked at Meng Qing and asked, "Where's my second brother? Did he go to the academy?"
Meng Qing nodded, "When he and Meng Chun came back and found out that Wang Zhou had been bullied, the two of them stormed out."
Du Min thought for a moment, then looked up at the sky and said, "Is the food ready? Let's eat first, and after we eat, I'll take Wang Zhou over there."
"Third brother, I plan to hire a tutor to teach Wangzhou, and I won't let him study at any outside school for the next few years," Meng Qing explained her plan. "As for the candidate, you can help me make a selection."
Du Min took out the account book from his pocket. He flipped through a few pages and saw a surname Lu on the sixth page. "Alright, I'll find a tutor for Wangzhou from the Lu family of Fanyang. How about this, I'll set up a primary school in the government office so that the children of the clerks in the yamen can also come to learn, and find some friends for Wangzhou."
"Wangzhou, quickly thank your third uncle." Meng Qing said with satisfaction.
"Third Uncle, you're so kind." Wang Zhou leaned against Du Min's arms.
"Oh? Not the best? Which is better, me or your uncle who gave you the house?" Du Min avoided the injury on Wang Zhou's face and pinched his cheek.
Wang Zhou's eyes darted around, and he said slyly, "You are the best third uncle, and he is the best maternal uncle."
Du Min slapped his face angrily, "Get up, don't lean on me. Why are you being so clingy, you big boy?"
"I'm still young!" Wang Zhou said, standing on his tiptoes. "Third Uncle, your official robe is so handsome."
"What's so good-looking about it? It looks like a green caterpillar. A scarlet official robe is much better looking." Du Min even started to complain.
Meng Qing laughed out loud, "Wang Zhou, ask your third uncle what 'wanting more after getting what you want' means."
“It means insatiable greed,” Du Min replied without changing his expression.
"Why are you two sitting on the ground?" Du Li returned, with Meng Chun following behind him.
Wang Zhou leaped to his feet, "Father, Uncle, how did you avenge me?"
"You didn't hit that teacher, did you?" Meng Qing was worried. If they had started fighting, they would have lost their right to be in the wrong.
“No, Chun and I took two gongs from the yamen and walked around the streets and alleys near the school, spreading rumors among the locals that Master Huang instigated students to insult and fight, and that he was immoral, corrupt, and unworthy of being a teacher.” Du Li said, “I will go again tomorrow. Scholars value their reputation the most. I will ruin his reputation and make him ashamed to go out.”
"Great idea!" Meng Qing clapped her hands. She looked at Du Min and asked, "Third brother, what do you plan to do this afternoon? Why don't you not go? Don't show your face. If you do, it will look like we are bullying you. Just do what your second brother and my younger brother did and ruin the reputation of this teacher and the school."
Du Min nodded thoughtfully, "Alright, if Wang Zhou doesn't plan to go back to the academy, I won't take him to get revenge. Sigh, those bastards got off easy. No, Wang Zhou, tell me what the names of the students who bullied you are, I'll make a note of it for their fathers."
Wang Zhou immediately started counting on his fingers. Besides the person who hit him today, there were two others who hadn't yet made a move.
Du Min wrote it down, but before he could find fault, the fathers of the five children who had assaulted him came to apologize with gifts.
Du Min looked at the few people below him who were trembling with fear and thought to himself that power was a wonderful thing. The apology he hadn't received five years ago, Wang Zhou had finally received.
“You send your children to school so that they can take the imperial examinations and become officials. But those who take the imperial examinations are required to have both virtue and talent. If one’s character is bad, no matter how talented one is, one cannot take the exams,” Du Min said calmly.
The five people below changed their expressions. Were they going to cut off their child's path to the imperial examinations?
“Lord Du, the children are still young and easily instigated. Please be magnanimous and give them a chance to correct their mistakes. We will definitely teach them a lesson later.”
"Yes, yes, I'll definitely punish him when I get back. I'll break his legs!" A man shoved his child aside. "You wretched child, kneel down and beg for forgiveness!"
The pale-faced child lowered his head but did not move.
"Kneel down!" the man roared, walking over to kick the child to his knees.
Wang Zhou gripped Meng Qing's hand tightly in fear.
"Wait," Meng Qing said. "Forget it, don't do anything. You can go back."
The man looked at her, then glanced at Du Min.
“Let’s go back.” Du Min relented and explained casually, “Why are you suddenly so angry? Have you misunderstood something? What I mean is that the imperial examination requires both virtue and talent. Don’t neglect your child’s character. You must pay attention to both virtue and talent.”
"Yes, yes, we will definitely teach our children well."
After everyone left, Meng Qing asked Du Li to take Wang Zhou back to change his clothes. "We won't go to the academy this afternoon. Let's go to our parents' house and play for half a day."
Wang Zhou cheered and ran off, with Du Li following after him.
Meng Qing walked to the seat below Du Min and sat down. She asked with a smile, "Lord Du, how come you've also learned to threaten people with the provincial examination?"
Du Min lowered his eyes and said, "You only know if you try it yourself; this method of threatening people is really effective."
"If you had heard this five years ago, you probably would have slapped me in the face," Meng Qing continued jokingly.
"Sir, the warden wants to see you," a servant announced.
Du Min nodded, stood up, and said, "Second Sister-in-law, I'm going to attend to my business now."
Meng Qing sighed.
"I know." Du Min smiled, somewhat annoyed. "Thanks for reminding me."
Meng Qing left satisfied.
"Sir, the prisoner Wang Kunlun is demanding to see you," the warden said.
Du Min glanced at him. "Who is he? Does he think he can just go see me whenever he wants? How much did you take from him?"
The warden bowed low in fright, "No, I didn't take any bribes, it's just that he caused a lot of trouble."
"Let him make a fuss. Tomorrow we'll take him out to do manual labor. He'll be too tired to make a fuss anymore, and that'll be enough." Du Min waved his hand to dismiss him.
No sooner had the warden left than the clerk came to deliver a message: "Sir, the second younger brother of prisoner Wang Kunlun requests an audience."
"I won't see him." Du Min refused. "Tell him that the case has been decided and cannot be changed. Tell him to shut up and cancel the prison visit. If he wants to see his older brother, he can go to the prison where the prisoners are serving their labor tomorrow."
"This..." The registrar wanted to offer some advice, but Du Min cut him off before he could finish: "How much bribe did you receive?"
"This...this humble official did not accept the bribe..."
"Keep your hands to yourself." Du Min glanced at him. "Get down."
The registrar left dejectedly and returned to the front office. He handed the gold ring back to Wang Erlang, saying, "The magistrate will not see you."
After the warden and the clerk were both thwarted, the remaining people stopped foolishly running errands for Wang Erlang.
Du Min did not show up until the head of the Wang family of Taiyuan in Heqing County came to request an audience.
“Lord Du, our clan has produced an unfilial son. I, Wang, am ashamed to see you. But my second nephew has knelt down and begged me, so I have no choice but to come and bother you.” The head of the Wang family spoke first.
Du Min looked at Wang Erlang, "Aren't you still in mourning? Or in deep mourning? Why are you wandering around like this?"
Wang Erlang was speechless.
"Patriarch Wang, I know the purpose of your visit. What do you want me to do?" Du Min was not as good at beating around the bush as the old man. He was worried that he would fall into the other party's trap, so he simply asked directly.
"My Wang family is willing to donate three thousand strings of cash to the Qingniao Paper Craft Academy in exchange for Wang Kunlun's release from prison?" the Wang family head asked.
Du Min leaned back, a gesture that was far more sincere than the steward's public bribery.
“As far as I know, this free school is supposed to make money for the Ministry of Rites, but this year it has yielded nothing, and it may not yield anything next year either. You will not be able to explain this to the Ministry of Rites.” The head of the Wang family said with a smile, “Lord Du, please consider this. If you release Wang Kunlun from prison, my Wang family will take the lead in supporting the free school’s business. His father’s seven-day fast, first anniversary, second anniversary, and third anniversary will all be paid for by purchasing paper effigies from the free school.”
Du Min was tempted, but he said regretfully, "My memorial will probably be delivered to the governor's office tomorrow. If the Wang family can come two days earlier, I will agree."
Wang Erlang's expression changed. "What's written in the memorial? It requests the cancellation of my elder brother's Jinshi degree?"
Du Min ignored him and looked at the Wang family head, saying, "I personally attended the Wang family's funeral, and even saw them off during the procession. On three occasions, I saw things that violated regulations at the funeral, but I didn't pursue it and gave them a chance. But good people are often taken advantage of. I believed Wang Dalang's promise and didn't personally accompany his father to the mountain. He then arranged a funeral procession of two or three hundred people, with forty or fifty cartloads of burial goods, and even bought a pair of tomb guardian beasts that only princes and marquises could use. This is a slap in my face. If I let him go, I will become a laughing stock in Heqing County and will not be worthy of wearing this official robe."
Upon hearing this, the head of the Wang family stopped wasting his breath, got up, and left with his cane.
Enraged, Wang Erlang kicked over two benches and stormed off.
Du Min scoffed dismissively. He picked up the stool, went out and ordered, "Go to the county school and find Master Lu. Ask him who Lu Wensi is and have him lead the way to bring him here."
An hour later, Master Lu and his cousin Lu Wensi arrived. Du Min immediately took out the account book and asked, "Did Lu Wensi buy a pair of tomb guardian beasts from the official kiln from the prisoner Ding Mao three years ago?"
Lu Wensi stared intently at the ledger in his hand, clenching his teeth and refusing to speak.
“If you’ve forgotten, we’ll go to Mount Beiman to burn incense for your deceased mother,” Du Min said.
"No, don't disturb her peace." Lu Wensi admitted, but he said unwillingly, "Lord Du, you weren't the magistrate of Heqing County three years ago, so this matter isn't under your jurisdiction, is it?"
Du Min looked at Master Lu and asked, "There is still an old case left in the yamen. With Master Lu's knowledge, may I ask if this old case was closed along with the death of Magistrate Shen?"
Master Lu was speechless.
Du Min looked at Lu Wensi, "What do you think?"
"What do you want? What do you want us to do?" Master Lu asked. "Lord Du, your ledger includes hundreds of people, right? You can't possibly arrest them all and put them in jail. If you want to do that, just send your constables to arrest them instead of summoning us to the government office. Just say it directly, don't beat around the bush."
“Master Lu is a straightforward man.” Du Min closed the ledger and held up two fingers. “I’ll give you two choices: one is to go to jail and keep Wang Dalang company, and then have the government remove the tomb guardian beasts in front of Lu Wensi’s deceased mother’s grave, along with any other irregular ones; the other is to persuade the people in the ledger to donate money and buy goods at the charity school and Meng’s paper horse shop.”
Master Lu sighed deeply, "So you've set your sights on the Lu family? We refused you before, why are you coming to us again?"
"The Lu family has a prime minister, and Prime Minister Lu is powerful and influential. Your Lu family has also risen in status. The first family in Heqing County is surnamed Lu. Your words carry weight. If I don't bother you, who else should I bother?" Du Min flattered insincerely, and then pretended to be polite: "Master Lu, please pass on a message to General Lu. I won't bother him. It's not appropriate for civil officials and military officials to be too close."
Master Lu glanced at his uncle, who was sixty years old and couldn't bear the suffering of imprisonment. He resignedly stretched out his hand, "Make me a copy of the list."
Du Min was prepared; he got up, picked up the five sheets of paper on the table, and handed them over.
Master Lu took it and asked, "When will this ledger be destroyed?"
Du Min tossed it to him directly, saying, "It can be destroyed right now."
Lu Wensi snatched it away, and just as he was about to tear it up, he heard Du Min say quietly, "The tomb guardian beast on Beiman Mountain can't escape either."
Lu Wensi released his grip and threw the ledger on the ground.
Master Lu picked up the account book and returned it to Du Min. "Magistrate Du, what a clever trick! I now suspect that the Wang family has fallen into your trap and become your sacrificial lamb."
"Master Lu overestimates me." Du Min shook his head. He was only inspired by the Wang family head; before, he didn't know how to use the account book.
"By the way, Master Lu, I want to set up a primary school in the government office to educate the children of the clerks in the yamen. Can you recommend a reliable teacher to me?" Du Min reached out to ask for someone.
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