Chapter 132 One generation earns money for ten generations...

Chapter 132 One generation earns money for ten generations...

Meng Qing nodded secretly; the people attracted by the high price were indeed not to be underestimated.

"The introduction is very comprehensive. Master Qi is very capable," Meng Qing said. "I only have one question: are you willing to be stationed in other counties? For example, if you can't become the head of the Luoyang Qingniao Paper Craft School, are you willing to go to other places, such as Huaizhou, Ruzhou, or even Ezhou and Yangzhou, to develop the market and start a school from scratch?"

Qi Yunshan fell silent. He understood what she meant: today's oral examination was not just about hiring a local official in Luoyang.

"Five years is fine." Considering his annual salary of two hundred guan, Qi Yunshan was willing to stay away from home for five years.

Meng Qing made a note on the paper, then returned his household registration. "Go back and wait for the notification. Within five days, we will arrange for someone to come and notify the selected people."

Qi Yunshan took the household registration certificate, got up, and left.

Then came the second person, who peeked around cautiously as soon as he entered, his eyes darting around. Even though he clearly saw the writing implements laid out in front of Meng Qing, he chose to sit down next to Meng Chun and immediately started trying to establish a connection: "Master Meng, I know you. My second aunt is the cook at the bamboo workshop..."

"Give me your household registration." Meng Chun interrupted him, then asked without much hope, "What kind of business have you done? Where's the farthest you've ever been?"

"I am a scholar, I studied for seventeen years, and I know everything from the Western Regions in the west to Goguryeo in the east..."

"No need to say anything more, you don't meet our requirements." Meng Chun wiped her face and interrupted him.

The man's expression changed.

"Scholars should stay away from money-grubbing matters. The affairs of the free school are heavy and will take up ninety percent of your energy, leaving you no energy to study. You may have no chance of a career in government in the future," Meng Qing said, trying to smooth things over.

The man was not pleased with the compliment. He slammed his fist on the table and stood up, cursing, "You didn't even let me finish before saying it didn't meet the requirements? I left home before dawn, took a donkey cart for an hour to get here and queue up. I'm still hungry, haven't had a drop of water or a bite to eat. What have I suffered? No way, you have to compensate me for my travel expenses."

Du Li stood up and walked to Meng Qing's side to protect her.

Yin Caiwei got up and went out. A few moments later, she came in with the yamen runners and ordered with a stern face, "Take this troublemaker to the yamen."

Upon hearing this, the scholar's momentum immediately deflated. He forced himself to remain calm and shouted that he had not caused any trouble. He then found an opportunity to slip away, and the yamen runners hurriedly gave chase.

The people queuing outside saw this and asked what was going on.

"Sister..." Meng Chun felt guilty.

Meng Qing waved her hand, "It's okay, it's not your fault. I couldn't stand him sticking his head out and spitting all over you, as if he wanted to kiss you on the face."

Meng Chun: "...Don't disgust me."

Du Li laughed, "Shall I go and call the next one in?"

Meng Qing nodded.

"Sister Qing, how about I copy the household registration for you?" Yin Caiwei asked eagerly.

Meng Qing glanced at her and handed her the paper, pen, and inkstone. "If you're interested, you can take the test for me when I get tired of sitting."

"I will definitely study hard," Yin Caiwei nodded.

The third person to enter was a thin, lightly dressed young man in a white robe with patchwork cuffs and a loosely washed collar; he was a poor scholar. His first glance was at Meng Qing, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other two men in the room also looking at her, leading him to conclude that she was the person in charge.

"Greetings, sir. My name is Ren Wenqiu, and I am from Wen County, Huai Prefecture. I have been studying in Luoyang for three years and have also traveled to Bianzhou. Now I have run out of money and am staying at Baima Temple." Ren Wenqiu frankly introduced his predicament.

Upon hearing that he was a scholar, Meng Chun subconsciously frowned.

"You still plan to take the imperial examination, so why would you want to work for us? Is it just because you're short of money?" Meng Qing asked.

"Yes, I'll work for two or three years to save some money, and then I'll continue preparing for the prefectural examination," Ren Wenqiu said frankly.

"How can you be sure you'll be hired by us?" Meng Qingguan wasn't an arrogant or conceited person, so he guessed what trump card Meng Qingguan had up his sleeve.

“Give me travel expenses to help me return to my hometown, and give me two fierce-looking and burly thugs. Before the end of the year, I can buy you a paper mill with hundreds of workers,” Ren Wenqiu said.

"Could you tell me a little more?" Meng Qing asked. "Where is this paper mill located? How are you so sure you can buy it?"

“The paper mill is located in Wen County, and I am also from Wen County. This paper mill was left to my mother by my maternal grandfather. After he passed away, the paper mill was handed over to my maternal uncle to manage, but due to a change in my family, the paper mill was seized.” Ren Wenqiu spoke of this matter with resentment in his eyes. “Five years ago, my maternal uncle passed away, and the paper mill was left to his son, who was an incompetent spendthrift. When I came to Luoyang, the paper mill was already an empty shell that was about to lose money. As long as you offer a reasonable price, you can buy it.”

Meng Qingxin was delighted. Wen County was also on the north bank of the Yellow River, about five or six days' journey from Heqing County. By carriage, it would only take two or three days to get there. The distance wasn't far, and the location was suitable.

“Okay, I’ll think about it.” Meng Qing nodded. “I’ll give you an answer within five days.”

After Ren Wenqiu left, Meng Chun asked, "Is it him?"

“Yes, but his mind isn’t on business. He’s willing to give up the family business left by his grandfather for his career. Two hundred strings of cash a year can’t keep him. We still need to look for a suitable person.” Meng Qing said, “Let’s call the next one.”

"Why do you say he was willing to give up the family business left by his maternal grandfather? Wasn't it seized?" Yin Caiwei asked.

"Judging from his words, his mother was probably like me, a merchant's daughter, and an only child at that. But she must have married a scholar, so she couldn't take over the paper mill business, hence the talk of entrusting it to her maternal uncle. In other words, the paper mill was registered under his maternal uncle's name, with half or most of the profits going to his mother. In this situation, there must have been a contract. If Ren Wenqiu was willing to give up his official career and produce this contract, he could most likely get the paper mill back. Even if he couldn't, he could still get the profits; he certainly wouldn't be reduced to living in a temple," Meng Qing explained. "But since he insisted on pursuing an official career, he had to give up the paper mill's profits to avoid ruining his reputation."

Yin Caiwei understood and said admiringly, "Sister Qing is really amazing. You also come from a merchant family, yet you can still do business and take the imperial examinations. Nothing seems to affect you."

Meng Qing smiled smugly, "Call the next person."

Meng Chun, standing to the side, fell into deep thought. Now that the dyeing workshop, bamboo workshop, and paper workshop were all under his name, wasn't he, in the eyes of Wang Zhou and even his children, essentially this maternal uncle? He could ensure that he wouldn't encroach on his sister's and nephew's interests, but how could he guarantee that his descendants would be like him? Sign a contract? A contract wouldn't work either; it only bound the party concerned about their reputation.

Meng Chun spent the entire day pondering this matter.

"Little brother—" Meng Qing called out in a drawn-out voice, "Snap out of it!"

Meng Chun was startled. "What's wrong?"

"I was about to ask you something was wrong. You've been looking lost all day. Tell me, how many people did we assess today?" Meng Qing asked.

Meng Chun didn't know; he didn't count.

"What are you thinking about?" Meng Qing shoved a stack of papers into his hand. "You still remember these people's situations, right?"

“I remember, I was listening. There were thirteen that met our requirements,” Meng Chun said. “Should we keep all thirteen of them?”

"Go and find out if what they're saying is true or false, then..."

"I know, I know, I'll go ask the magistrate and the patrolling constables." Meng Chun interrupted, "Sister, is that what you meant to say?"

Meng Qing choked.

"Let's go home," Du Li said.

Meng Chun looked around and asked, "Where is Madam Yin? Did she go back?"

Meng Qing pinched him. "She left an hour ago, and she even said goodbye to you when she left. What's wrong with you today? Did you run into an old friend or an enemy? You seem so distracted."

"Guess." Meng Chun didn't answer. His worries were decades from now, and talking about them now would only cause him more trouble.

Du Li rolled up his sleeves, eager to try, and said, "Qingniang, you're not feeling well right now, let me teach Chun-di a lesson for you."

“Then there’s no need. If you want to teach someone a lesson, go teach your own brothers a lesson.” Meng Qing refused.

Meng Chun smiled smugly, took Meng Qing's arm, and said affectionately, "Sister, I'll still be your brother in the next life."

Du Li locked the door and chased after him, saying, "We both have two kids now, why are you still distinguishing between yours and mine?"

"We still have to separate them. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine," Meng Qing said domineeringly.

“That’s absolutely right,” Meng Chun agreed.

Du Li sighed, "Brother Chun, I remember you said when you were in Wu County that you would treat me as an elder brother."

"When did you say that? I don't remember." Since Du Li was no longer the pitiful little thing, Meng Chun denied it.

Du Li shook his head; he was not going to humiliate himself further.

Back home, Du Li went to make dinner while Meng Qing and Meng Chun sorted out the list of people to be selected for the day. She took Ren Wenqiu's household registration and said, "Take two servants and go with him to Wen County. After you've settled things, come back and bring the money. After you buy the paper mill, you and he can stay in Wen County and set up a free school in each of the counties in Huaizhou. Also, buy two dyeing workshops and two bamboo workshops together."

"Who will manage the free school in Luoyang?" Meng Chun asked.

“He Bian is a native of Luoyang, the son of a minor official, and his father’s superior is Prefect Yin. With these connections, I feel more at ease with him,” Meng Qing said.

"What about Yu Mai? His mother is the wet nurse in the governor's mansion," Meng Chun asked.

"Arrange for them to open a new private school in Ruzhou," Meng Qing said. "Send Qi Yunshan to Ezhou, and this one, this one, and this one to Jiangnan West Circuit, like Jingzhou, Shanzhou, and the neighboring Xiangzhou. First, have them take 500 strings of cash to rent shops to make paper funerary objects. If they make a profit, they can buy the shops. Next year, you can take the profits from the paper mill, dyeing workshop, and bamboo workshop to these places to buy the paper mill, dyeing workshop, and bamboo workshop."

Meng Chun nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

“I’ll try to get the Chen family to come over and have the three of them work for you,” Meng Qing said. “You’ll have to work hard these next two years, traveling all over the place.”

"It's all worth the hard work to make money. Others would have to kneel before Buddha and kowtow to have my good fortune." Meng Chun understands this clearly. "I'll only work hard for the next two years. Once I've trained some capable assistants, I'll send them out to run errands."

Meng Qing patted him on the shoulder, "Keep up the good work, we can earn enough money in one generation to last ten generations."

Meng Chun was greatly encouraged. "If it weren't for the trend of making paper funerary objects, we wouldn't have been able to make this money. As long as our descendants don't squander this business and keep the dyeing workshop, paper mill, and bamboo workshop, we won't have to worry about food and drink for ten generations."

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Author's Note: There will be another update at 12 o'clock.