Zhang used to think that her mother-in-law was too strong-willed and never changed her mind, but now that she treats this outsider like this, she feels inexplicably good!
"I brought a few sets of clothes with me to Beijing this time. I will give them to the children first. Children have tender faces and need to be cared for."
Five hundred taels per set, Zhang suddenly felt reluctant to part with it.
Five hundred taels per set, is this enough for a child? According to my mother-in-law, a set should be used every one or two months. In this way, each child would have to spend two or three thousand taels just on rouge and powder in a year!
Just thinking about it made Zhang feel dizzy. Her mother-in-law was too lenient!
She subconsciously retorted, "Mother, they are still too young, so there is no need for that, right?"
Qiao Xin glanced at her sideways, "I'm giving something to the child, do I need you to feel bad? If you don't want it, then I won't give it to you!"
Zhang took two steps back holding the basket, begging for mercy, "Mother, just pretend I didn't say anything!"
You little bastard, I can't punish you! If you measure everything with money, how can you live?
Qiao Xin talked about Qiao Erlang again. She asked Qiao Yunqing to mention the jade pendant to King Qi when he met him tomorrow.
"After all, it was someone close to the concubine who wanted to take it back, so we can't refuse. We can't let our child be charged with theft for no reason."
Qiao Yunqing nodded and agreed: "I'll leave this matter to my son."
Then he said to the young men of the Qiao family: "If you have any questions in the future and you can't make up your mind, just come to me."
Qiao Yunqing was increasingly valued by Emperor Wu, and had begun to engage in matters other than editing, leaving early and returning late every day. Qiao Dalang also saw this, but he did not want to cause extra trouble to his second uncle, so he kept it a secret. But they had no idea that the two elders had already known about their affairs.
Now that the elders have spoken, I naturally agreed immediately.
........
When everyone left, only Qiao Yunqing stayed. Qiao Xin then took out the piece of paper with the handwriting and showed it to him.
Qiao Yunqing was confused: "Isn't this a seal? What are you planning to do, mother?"
"I plan to build a paper mill and a bookstore. After embossing and rubbing, I plan to adopt new methods to print books."
Qiao Xin briefly told him about her plan in Leiwo Village.
Qiao Yunqing raised his eyebrows when he heard this. He no longer knew how to look at the woman in front of him who was living in place of his adoptive mother.
Books and paper are things that many people have been seeking for their entire lives, but how come they become so easy to obtain in the mouth of my ex-mother? My mother actually wanted to build a library in Qingyang Academy?
"This is too difficult. Currently, most of the books are either kept in the library of aristocratic families, which are never displayed to the public, or in the royal library. We simply don't have books that can be published in large quantities. Even many of the books in the palace are stored in the form of bamboo slips. Ordinary people can't access them at all."
Qiao Xin looked at him with a smile and said, "You have seen what I took out. Do you think you can do it without reading a book? I don't want any rare books. Even the basic enlightenment books are enough for us to print first. My purpose of printing a large number of books is not to cultivate talents for the imperial examinations, but to popularize literacy.
It doesn’t matter if there are many books, as long as they are useful. If I can’t buy them or borrow them, I’ll just write them myself.”
Qiao Yunqing's pupils shrank: "Write it yourself?"
"Yes, writing agricultural books, recipes, water conservancy, weather, local customs and practices of different places, these are not against the rules, right?"
It's not just the Four Books and the Five Classics and the Book of Rites and the Spring and Autumn Annals that are called books. She also used the improved version of the Three Character Classic, the Thousand Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Lu Weng Rhymes that she used to educate the children of the Qiao family. If they can become familiar with any one of them, they will basically say goodbye to illiteracy.
Qiao Yunqing's face was solemn: "Mother, have you ever thought about the consequences of doing this?"
Qiao Xin: "The consequence is that the Jue Shi Family will have a loophole in their monopoly on knowledge, but so what? Didn't they plan to let the Qiao Family go when we were obedient?
I can't just put myself in a difficult position for the sake of others' comfort, can I? Besides, our Qiao family doesn't intend to monopolize the market. If they can open a bookstore, why can't I?"
"Aren't you afraid that His Majesty will object?"
Qiao Xin said calmly: "Your Majesty won't, otherwise he wouldn't take the imperial examination seriously."
Qiao Yunqing's expression finally changed, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "A'niang's intuition is so accurate. She has only had contact with Emperor Wu a few times, but she can see through His Majesty's mind at a glance."
If he were a man, he would have been able to shine in the court. It was this woman's body and secular rules that trapped her mind, body and thoughts.
He paused, but couldn't bear to say no, so he said, "Then, mother, please give it a try first. Tomorrow, I will test His Majesty's attitude. If His Majesty supports it, your plan will be more successful."
"No need to test it. I will submit a memorial to His Majesty and speak openly about this matter. Tomorrow I will take the children to live in the farm in Yunxi Town for a while. I have had the deed for such a long time, I must go and take a look."
The next morning, just as the sky was getting light and the city gate opened, Qiao Xin took the lead and led the children of the Qiao family to Xi Town.
Apart from the twenty-odd guards accompanying them, they didn't even bring a carriage this time. Even the youngest, Qiao Sanniang, strongly requested to ride a pony to follow Qiao Xin, so they could travel light.
With Qiao Xin's strict training, these children have become leaders in equestrianism, but today there is an additional key problem.
He claimed to be the descendant of a family of military generals, but he found out that his riding skills were not as good as a four-year-old kid, and his self-esteem was greatly hit.
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