Teacher 108
"The teacher teaches well."
Shen Suqin did not expect things to go so smoothly in Xizhou; the salt route was opened up with almost no effort.
"After things are settled here, go to Chazhou and keep an eye on things there to get the salt administration in place. As for the iron mines, wait a bit longer. I've found that going to each mine one by one is too slow. Let them come to us when they can't sit still anymore," Shen Suqin said.
How do we get them to come to us?
Shen Suqin said mysteriously, "To make an example of someone."
"Kill...who?"
"Ningyuan".
Pei Tingfeng: ......
"I'm going back to Jinzhou first. Spring planting is about to begin there, and I need to keep an eye on the cotton and wheat. After you finish your trip to Chazhou, please give this letter to His Majesty and tell him that I'm waiting for his imperial decree in Ningyuan."
After hearing all this, Pei Tingfeng felt utterly overwhelmed.
He said, somewhat exasperated, "Why are you doing things completely unpredictably?"
Shen Suqin patted his shoulder, "You'll get used to it, you'll get used to it."
The next morning, Shen Suqin didn't even say goodbye to him. As soon as it was light, she led her men toward Jinzhou.
The official road to Jinzhou is being gradually repaired because a large amount of goods are transported out of Ningyuan every day. Previously, the road was difficult to travel on, causing considerable delays. Later, the soap workshop gradually funded the repairs, section by section, and the road has now been extended into Liangzhou.
The former desolation along the official road has been replaced by crisscrossing paths, and farmers are bending over to level the land in the fields.
Shen Suqin, holding up the carriage curtain and gazing out, suddenly said, "Let's not go to Ningyuan for now. Let's go to Liangzhou Prefecture instead. I need to see Luo Su."
Xu Youcai, who was standing next to the vehicle, asked upon hearing this, "Why are you suddenly going to Liangzhou?"
“The cotton planting area is too small. I want to talk to see if it is possible to use the entire Liangzhou area for cotton planting.”
Xu Youcai gasped, "Is...is that possible?"
Shen Suqin: "I don't know either. I'll go and discuss it with Luo Su."
After a year, Luo Su had gained considerable fame among the powerful and wealthy families in northern Liangzhou, especially after the cotton was bought at a high price as promised, which made these wealthy families a fortune.
It is said that last autumn, after the cotton harvest was completed, those wealthy gentry took the initiative to propose to continue planting it.
Luo Su had mentioned it to her briefly, and she nodded in agreement, saying she would make the decision herself.
Last time Shen Suqin came to Liangzhou Prefecture, he was tied up for most of the time and didn't get a chance to properly explore the city.
Now that she had plenty of free time, she simply had the driver drive her around the city before finally finding an inn to check into.
Luo Su was not in the prefectural capital; he said he was on an inspection tour in the north because cotton seeds were about to be sown.
"Lord Luo, could you go and check the seeds in the warehouse? They look a bit damp to me." Someone came to the field to find him.
Luo Su is checking the moisture content of the soil in the field.
"Damp? How could that be? Isn't someone watching over it every day?" Luo Su immediately stood up.
These seeds were kept directly from last year. After removing the cotton wadding, every single seed was transported back to Liangzhou and stored intact. Luo Su treasured them greatly and specially assigned many people to guard them.
"How would I know? Maybe there's a leak somewhere."
Luo Su slapped his thigh: "Let's go take a look."
When he returned to the city, someone happened to come looking for him with a message from Shen Suqin.
"You mean the master is waiting for me in Liangzhou?" Luo Su was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, he wants you to make time to go see her as soon as possible."
"Okay, come with me to the warehouse. I'll leave with you as soon as I'm done."
"yes."
Upon arriving at the warehouse, as soon as the door was opened, a slight musty smell wafted out.
Luo Su reached out and ruffled the seeds, saying, "It's not a big problem. Spring is here, the temperature is rising, and the seeds will generate heat and moisture on their own. I'll take them out to air them out."
"Yes, Lord Luo."
Immediately afterwards, Luo Su ordered a car to be prepared and headed towards the prefectural capital.
He arrived at the inn where Shen Suqin was staying the next afternoon. The first thing he asked upon meeting was, "Didn't you go to court? How come you have time to come here?"
Shen Suqin waved to him: "I was originally going back to Ningyuan, but I suddenly changed course halfway and came to find you."
Luo Su sat down: "What urgent matter does the master have with me?"
Shen Suqin opened the window. "I want to expand the cotton planting area and would like to ask for your opinion."
"How big...are you planning to expand it?"
Is it possible to include the entire Liangzhou region?
“Hiss, the entire territory,” Luo Su pondered. “I just happened to visit the seed warehouse yesterday. The entire territory would be great, but we might not have enough seeds.”
"At most, we can plant about two-thirds of the entire Liangzhou region."
"OK."
"Hmm, that's fine, as long as it's more than last year."
Luo Su said seriously, "Or we can send someone out of the pass to get another batch of seeds."
"Is there enough time? Will we miss the spring planting season?"
"If I walk fast, I should make it, but it's okay if I'm a little late."
"Alright, go ahead and make the arrangements. As for the land issue, I've already spoken with the newly appointed governor of Liangzhou. You can just gather the wealthy and powerful families who want to plant land, just like last year."
"This problem isn't difficult. After the cotton was sold last year, many people from the south approached me. At the time, I wasn't thinking about expanding the planting area, so I turned them all down. This year, I think as long as we make it clear that we intend to do so, they will definitely come to us again."
"That's good. I'll wait for your good news in Ningyuan."
"Don't worry, boss."
After discussing it with him, Shen Suqin left that day. Two days later, she arrived in Ningyuan. As soon as she entered the city, she was dragged home by Su Yubai, who had been waiting for her.
Su Yubai later built his own courtyard house, right next to the Shen residence.
After Shen Suqin went south, the Shen residence was closed and uninhabited for many days. Su Yubai was too lazy to send anyone to help her clean up, so he simply took her back to his own home.
Surprisingly, Yan Lin also lived in the Su residence for some reason.
He said it was because he couldn't find a courtyard that suited his taste, but Shen Suqin just listened to it and let it go.
Right now, the two of them stood on either side of Shen Suqin, looking her up and down with some concern. After a while, Su Yubai finally asked, "Are you leaving again this time?"
"We're leaving."
When are you leaving?
"Uncertain, it depends on when His Highness's decree arrives."
"What imperial edict?"
Shen Suqin looked up at Yan Lin and said with a smile, "It is an imperial edict to punish him."
Su Yubai stepped forward, shoving Yan Lin aside, and stood in front of Shen Suqin, asking her, "Asking for blame? Whose fault? His? What fault did he commit?"
Shen Suqin pushed him aside and explained earnestly, "The national treasury is short of money, so I propose that salt and iron be nationalized and that the court collect the residence tax and transit tax directly."
"Then what?"
"Then I spent more than a month visiting several large salt mines one by one and collected almost all the salt. When it came to iron mines, I was too lazy to visit them, so I just wanted to make an example of them and let them hand over the mining rights on their own."
Su Yubai breathed a sigh of relief: "But you can't take it out on your own family."
"It's just a formality, no need to worry about it. Besides, our iron mine has been reported to His Highness and is registered with him, so he knows what's going on."
"Alright, since you've already made all the arrangements, why did you come back?"
Yan Lin remained silent. Shen Suqin silenced the incessantly chattering Su Yubai and said to him, "I came back personally to explain because I was afraid you would overthink it. Besides, spring planting is coming soon, and I want to expand the planting area for wheat and cotton this year. I came back to see how to proceed."
"By the way, what did they say from the firearms workshop?"
Yan Lin softened his voice: "The muskets and cannons are all made, and we've been making more and more. Now the craftsmen are still improving the gunpowder, saying they want to try to make its performance more stable."
"Hmm, how many are there now?"
"There should be several hundred pieces."
"Not enough."
“I know, but we need time,” Yan Lin said. “By the way, will the iron mine be shut down because of the imperial decree? If there is no iron, half of the firearms workshops will also have to be closed.”
"No, it's just for show for those people. We'll continue doing what we're supposed to do."
"That's good, then I can rest assured."
Su Yubai, left standing to the side, finally saw that the two had almost finished their conversation and interjected, "Why don't you ask Gu Zongfang?"
Shen Suqin laughed: "I can just look at the ledger. The profits are soaring, why should I ask? You truly deserve to be called the most famous business genius in the Su family in the past hundred years. You are really amazing."
"Tsk, stop flattering me, where did you learn these bad habits from?"
"I sincerely praise you, please accept this."
Su Yubai snorted coldly.
"I see you've had a long journey and are tired. You should rest early. We can talk about it another day," Yan Lin said.
Shen Suqin was indeed a bit tired. Hearing this, she nodded and said, "I have to go to the prefectural government office tomorrow."
When Shi Ye left, he left Liu Zimu in Ningyuan to continue helping him manage government affairs. He also left behind the team he had brought from the Eastern Palace and did not take them with him.
Previously, the Jinzhou government was severely short of personnel and did not have time to recruit officials through the traditional recommendation system. Instead, they adopted Shen Suqin's suggestion to select talents through examinations and face-to-face assessments.
Therefore, among that group of officials, in addition to the scions of aristocratic families who had been learned and had excellent memories since childhood, there was also a large number of scholars from poor families. This can be considered as indirectly fulfilling Shen Suqin's original promise to the poor.
With the year-long assessment approaching, Shen Suqin also wanted to know how those poor scholars were doing and whether they were up to the task.
That night, Pear came to help her with her washing and grooming.
The little girl is becoming more and more mature in her actions; she has changed a lot in such a short time.
Seeing her carrying a washbasin, Shen Suqin realized that she hadn't settled her in yet.
“I’m not used to being waited on,” Shen Suqin said. “Later I’ll have someone take you to the cotton clothing workshop in Guzongfang. Your sisters from Huize work there. Do you want to join them? Or if you don’t want to go, you can stay at my residence. There’s a free school on West Street. I’ll have someone take you to register. You can go there every day and study with them.”
With each word she spoke, Pear's eyes reddened further, until finally they were filled with tears: "Does the master despise Pear?"
Shen Suqin sighed, took the basin from her hands, and wiped away her tears, saying, "I don't mind you, it's just that I'm always on the go and I'm really not used to having someone with me. You have to think about yourself and find a way out, don't you?"
Pear sobbed for a moment, then remained silent.
"Think about it carefully, there's no need to rush to answer me."
The last person Shen Suqin helped worry about her future like this was Ju Tao.
Ju Tao was bought from a human trafficker. She saw that Ju Tao was thin and small and looked very pitiful, so she bought her to keep her company.
At first, Ju Tao also said that he would take care of her, help her bring water to wash her face, comb her hair and get dressed, and he did things very efficiently.
However, Shen Suqin did not like it, so he slowly let her get involved in the Secret Pavilion. Ju Tao was originally smart, and soon she gained a place in the Secret Pavilion.
After that, Shen Suqin stopped wanting her to stay by his side and often sent her out to do errands.
A few years ago, she moved from Fuliang Mountain to the capital, and the headquarters of the Secret Pavilion also moved, but not to the capital, but directly to the area outside the pass.
During that time, Ju Tao would stay by her side whenever she had free time.
Later, when they arrived in Ningyuan, Xiao Pingchuan's spies planted in the Shatuo royal court were removed. Coincidentally, the Secret Pavilion was located outside the pass and could replace those spies, so Ju Tao went out of the pass to take charge of this matter.
Now it's Li'er's turn. She's still young, so Shen Suqin prefers to let her choose for herself.
The next day, Shen Suqin went to the government office, and Lixiang'er obediently stayed at home instead of going with him.
Liu Zimu now has a heavy burden on his shoulders and can't rest all day. Fortunately, Shen Suqin sent him a letter in advance, which allowed him to stay at the government office.
As soon as the two met, Liu Zimou handed her the performance evaluation booklets of officials from various regions, saying, "They're all here; nothing's been missed."
Shen Suqin took it and asked him, "Have you seen it?"
Liu Zimou replied, "I've seen it."
What do you think?
Liu Zimu was familiar with these words; when he was studying under Shen Suqin, she often asked him this question.
She was Liu Zimu's proper teacher, and even after he worked for Shi Ye, he never stopped learning from her.
Shi Ye often said that Liu Zimu's speech and actions were seven-tenths similar to Shen Suqin's, which was why Shi Ye could entrust Ningyuan affairs to him with peace of mind.
However, it's a bit awkward that Liu Zimou still holds no official position and is a commoner, so it's unclear what Shi Ye is planning.
“The scions of aristocratic families are more outstanding than expected,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about it. Aristocratic families control 80 percent of the books in the Great Liang Dynasty. They value the education of their descendants. They have clan schools and libraries in their homes. Even if these scions of aristocratic families don’t study hard, they are exposed to things that those from poor families can never access in their entire lives. It’s normal for there to be a gap.”
Shen Suqin sighed, thinking how sad it would be if those ambitious but poor scholars heard these words.
"What about in practice?"
Practical work is what people actually do—run errands and get things done.
"Scholars from humble backgrounds are hardworking, meticulous, and have a strong drive, so they are generally quite outstanding."
Unfortunately, in practice, their job rank is destined to be low.
She put the booklet aside and pondered for a long time before saying, "You know why His Majesty is promoting a new system for selecting officials in Ningyuan, right?"
"I know he wants to gradually dismantle the power of the aristocratic families and break their monopoly on court politics. However..."
“It’s very difficult,” Shen Suqin replied. “What you and I can see through, those old guys from the aristocratic families can see through even more. It’s fine for us to have fun in Ningyuan, but if we want to extend it to the whole country, it’s as difficult as climbing to the sky.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Liu Zimou said. “Elderly families regard some lowly practical tasks as worthless and feel that getting involved would lower their status. Therefore, they would rather languish in idle positions than put in any effort. If we grasp this point and let those from humble backgrounds start with mundane tasks and then gradually rise through the ranks based on their merits, they may not be without opportunities.”
"But do you think those powerful families will agree?"
“Not everyone can see that far ahead, and not everyone regards the power of aristocratic families as their own. They are selfish and may be more focused on immediate interests,” Liu Zimu said seriously. “For example, let’s take a gamble. Anyway, we won’t lose anything if we win or lose.”
Shen Suqin nodded slowly. "You're right. There's no harm in taking a gamble." She paused, looked him up and down, and said, "No wonder His Majesty entrusted Ningyuan to you. You're definitely different now."
Liu Zimou bowed and said, "Teacher, you have taught well."
Shen Suqin joked, "Then remember to call me teacher in front of outsiders, so I can benefit from your fame."
Liu Zimou smiled and agreed.
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