Chapter 138 Du Min pondered for a few moments, then said…

Chapter 138 Du Min pondered for a few moments, then said…

Du Min pondered for a few moments and said, "I'll use this fundraising to sound out the court's opinion. If the high-ranking officials in the court are interested, then I'll have Meng Chun prepare early and seize any opportunity that comes my way."

Meng Qing smiled and said, "I thank my third brother on his behalf."

Du Min shook his head. "If that day ever comes, let him come and thank us in person."

“Okay.” Meng Qing nodded.

"Come and have some tea." Du Li replaced the tea on the table with hot tea and invited the two of them to sit down and talk.

Meng Qing went in, and Du Min followed. He thought of something and asked, "Second sister-in-law, you said a few days ago that the charity school was short of money. Why did you take out 22,000 strings of cash? Is this money to cover the expenses at the end of the year? That's a bit difficult. You've made such a big fuss. You can't just put stones in the money box to make up the difference when you donate. You'll have to open the box and check the accounts later."

“I’ve cleared out all the surplus money from the charity school’s accounts, and I’ve also taken 10,000 strings of cash from the funds raised to buy the paper mill. My family will cover the shortfall, and the profits from the paper mill will be split between Meng Chun and me on a 30/70 basis,” Meng Qing explained calmly.

Du Min remained silent, his mind a jumble of emotions. Even if he desperately wanted to achieve political success, he never considered sacrificing Meng Qing's interests to benefit himself. "You're too honest. Why donate so much? Ten thousand strings of cash is already a lot. You've already harmed your own interests this time. Why bother?"

“If I donate too little, the funerary object shops in the two counties won’t let me off the hook, and they won’t be willing to part with their own flesh to donate.” Meng Qing recounted the whole story, and concluded: “The funerary object industry in Heqing County and Heyin County has suffered losses due to the emergence of paper-made funerary objects. From now on, it will never be as prosperous as it was in previous years. The owners of the funerary object shops are all harboring resentment. But the Yishu is an official institution, so they dare not do anything underhanded in their business, nor can they find an opportunity. This resentment can only be directed at me. However, I have a powerful backer. Even Lu Zhenjiang couldn’t bring down this powerful backer and even got himself involved. So they dare not touch me. Since they can’t touch people or businesses, they can only start with reputation. For example, they can make the “righteousness” of the Yishu lean towards “profit” and compete with the people for profit. In this way, the Yishu will have a bad reputation. Or they can secretly spread rumors that I am unrighteous, short-sighted, and profit-driven. They can say that the Yishu receives donations from the people of the two counties but refuses to give back to the people. All of this is because of my interference.”

Du Li laughed, "At first, the two counties pooled together 10,000 strings of cash, thinking they could trick you into contributing 10,000 strings, or even more. They didn't expect you to put them on such a pedestal. Not only did they not get their revenge, they also suffered a lot of humiliation."

Meng Qing laughed too, "The fifty or sixty antique shops in the two counties, raising ten thousand strings of cash is nothing to them. If they can also swindle some money from me, they'll vent their anger, gain a reputation, and actually contribute to the dike repair. No matter how you look at it, they're not losing out. If they don't lose out, I will. I've calculated it in my mind. If I don't get anything good, they'll have to bleed with me. Both sides will suffer losses. In the end, my third brother will benefit. He'll get something good, and my losses will be worthwhile. It's just a matter of the profit moving from one hand to the other."

Du Min clapped his hands. "I was short-sighted. With your intelligence, how could you possibly suffer a loss?"

Meng Qing smiled slightly, "Bring me the pen, ink, paper and inkstone. I want to write a letter to the Minister of Rites and tell him the reason for this matter."

This donation conveniently covered up the fact that she had embezzled public funds to purchase private property; she was indeed lucky.

Du Min went to his study to fetch a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. He was also preparing to write another letter, inquiring whether merchants who donated money could be granted honorary positions.

Du Li took over the task of grinding ink. He held the ink stick and ground it round and round on the inkstone, watching the clear water gradually turn into black and shiny ink.

"Third brother, is it too late for me to start learning to read now?" Du Li's mouth uttered the thought that had been nagging at him before his mind could even process it. After saying that, he added, "Forget it, it's no use for me to learn to read now. I don't need pen, ink, paper and inkstone to record what I do."

“It’s not too late. It’s never too late as long as you want to learn,” Meng Qing said. “Learning to read isn’t necessarily for doing great things. You can also read books and read storybooks in your spare time to pass the time.”

Du Min nodded in agreement, "If you want to learn, I'll find you a tutor who will only teach you."

Upon hearing this, Du Li immediately backed down, laughing and saying, "I'm almost thirty, forget it, I don't want people to laugh at me."

“I can teach you,” Meng Qing said. “After dinner, when we have nothing to do, I’ll teach you to read. When the second child is born and he’s old enough to start school, you can share a tutor with him.”

Du Li was tempted, and said shyly, "Okay, that works too."

After finishing their conversation and writing their letters, Meng Qing and Du Min tacitly exchanged letters and read them together.

After the ink dried, Du Min put the two letters into separate envelopes and sealed them. He then handed the letters to a yamen runner, who would deliver them to the post station and send them directly to Chang'an.

"Second sister-in-law, I plan to reveal today that the two counties' Mingqi industry has donated 60,000 strings of cash. You and my second brother should prepare the money at home. Tomorrow I will bring the yamen runners, drummers, and the president of the Baishan Association to carry the money," Du Min instructed.

“Okay,” Meng Qing agreed.

*

The next day.

Du Min, dressed in official robes and accompanied by a retinue of yamen runners, first went to the funerary object shop in Heqing County to collect money, then went to the funerary object shop in Heyin County on the other side of the river to collect money, and finally came back to collect the 22,000 strings of cash donated to the charity school. After the county magistrate, Magistrate Sun, Registrar Xu, County Lieutenant Lin, and the president of the Hundred Virtues Association opened and inspected the boxes one by one, the 60,000 strings of cash were directly put into the government warehouse.

Inspired by the donations from the Ming Dynasty artifact industry, the remaining merchants and gentry in Heqing County stopped refusing to donate and opened their treasuries to donate money and grain. Many of the merchants, gentry, and prominent families who had already donated made supplementary donations.

By the day before Du Min was to go to Luoyang to propose marriage, the Baishan Society had received a total of 182,300 strings of cash, 18,000 shi of grain, and 30 jars of oil.

"I should be back in about six days. While I'm gone, you should start arranging for workers. The workers should be from Heqing County and the five surrounding counties, aged between twenty and forty-five. The wages are thirty coins a day, including three meals. They should bring their own tools, and you can pay for any damages." Du Min instructed Magistrate Sun.

Magistrate Sun nodded, "Yes, I understand."

"Move all the grain and fodder out of the abandoned granary and make room for the hired workers from other counties. It's cold, and it's by the river, so make sure they have thick blankets so they don't get sick from the cold. Also, hire two cooks to be in charge of boiling water," Du Min continued to instruct.

Magistrate Sun continued to nod.

"Okay, that's all for now. You can discuss the other details with the registrar and the others," Du Min instructed. "Oh, by the way, wages will be settled every ten days. I'll be responsible for paying wages, but you'll be responsible when I'm not around. Don't let a third person handle it."

"Yes, I will safeguard this donation well and will certainly not let you down," Magistrate Sun said confidently.

Du Min nodded. "Go ahead and get busy."

As Magistrate Sun stepped out of his study, he bumped into Meng Chun. He turned around and said, "Sir, the young master's uncle has arrived."

“I’m not looking for him, I’m looking for my sister,” Meng Chun explained.

County Magistrate Sun: ...

He nodded in greeting and left.

Du Min went out and said, "My second sister-in-law isn't home. She went to the street to pick up something. She should be back soon. Come in and have a bowl of hot tea."

Meng Chun nodded, looked around, and asked, "Where's Wang Zhou? He's not here either?"

“He went out with his parents; the primary school is closed today,” Du Min said. “Has the deal been finalized regarding the paper mill? What price are they asking?”

"The asking price was 36,000 strings of cash, but the negotiated price was 17,000 strings of cash," Meng Chun replied. "It was all thanks to Ren Wenqiu. He pretended to abandon his studies and go into business, and produced a contract left to him by his mother, demanding that his maternal uncle's family return the profits they had received over the years. He threatened to report them to the authorities if they didn't pay. In the end, the result of the negotiation was that I bought the paper mill for 17,000 strings of cash, and the wages owed to the workers by the paper mill also belonged to me."

"How much is the wage?" Meng Qing returned.

“One thousand four hundred and forty strings of cash, I have already had the accountant count it,” Meng Chun replied.

"Does the paper mill still have debts?" Meng Qing asked.

“Yes, but it doesn’t belong to us. I’m coming back to get the money. Ren Wenqiu will stay in Wen County to contact the creditors of the paper mill and notify them to go to the government office to confront people on the day the money is paid and the contract is renewed,” Meng Chun explained.

"Well done!" Meng Qing smiled. "As expected of my brother, you're very capable. You can accomplish such a big thing even without me. I underestimated you before."

“Ren Wenqiu is cunning.” Meng Chun glanced at Du Min, then said to Meng Qing, “He didn’t take that contract for nothing. I tried to get him to reimburse me for the money he saved by trickery, and I told him that the paper mill would make a profit later. He refused, saying that he didn’t care about the money, but just didn’t want the cuckoo to take over the nest and get all the benefits for nothing. Do you believe that? He’s so destitute that he’s living in a temple, and he came to the charity school to ask for a job to make a living, yet he says he doesn’t care about the money.”

Meng Qing looked at Du Min; this was Ren Wenqiu trying to curry favor with him.

“Thirty-six thousand strings of cash, seventeen thousand strings of cash, he saved you nineteen thousand strings of cash.” Du Min looked at Meng Chun and asked, “Is that paper mill really worth thirty-six thousand strings of cash? If it weren’t for Ren Wenqiu, how much money could you have gotten?”

“At most two thousand strings of cash,” Meng Chun replied. “It’s not really accurate to call this paper mill a ‘mill’; it’s the largest in Wen County. It’s the site of a village, or you could say it is a village. It covers a huge area. The paper mill started losing money a couple of years ago. Ren Wenqiu’s cousin has a huge gambling debt. They’ve been trying to sell the paper mill, but because of the high price, they haven’t been able to close the deal.”

Upon hearing this, Du Min looked on with admiration. "Ren Wenqiu is a ruthless man, even more ruthless than me. If it were me, I wouldn't be willing to exchange 19,000 strings of cash for an official career."

"Really?" Du Li was skeptical. "There are nearly 200,000 strings of cash piled up in the government's warehouses. Are you tempted?"

Du Min: ...

Meng Qing burst out laughing.

“I understand. I will help him if he needs anything in the future,” Du Min said to Meng Chun.

Meng Chun felt relieved upon hearing this. "I'll load the money onto the cart and leave in the next couple of days. Arrange for a team of government officials to escort the goods. Also, take advantage of the officials' influence to go to Wen County and intimidate them, so that the local bullies won't cause us any trouble."

The constables in Heqing County were all used to guard the warehouse, and there were no spares. Du Min rushed to Heyin County before dark to borrow a team of constables from Magistrate Zhao.

Magistrate Zhao was petty and unwilling to lend the money, but he also didn't want to offend Du Min, this promising young man. So he had no choice but to swallow his bitterness and agree to lend him ten yamen runners.

"Lord Du, please slow down. This is a major project that will take four or five years to complete. Don't try to finish it in just one or two years. You should at least wait until my term ends next year and I'm promoted the year after before it's finished. If you finish building the dikes over there, and there's a flood, the floodwaters will all flow over to my side." Magistrate Zhao said, half earnestly and half pleadingly.

“My project has just started. If you don’t want to get dragged into this, follow my lead. Arrange for laborers to dig mud and build dikes, and organize the Hundred Charities Association to raise funds.” Du Min was too lazy to pay attention to him and spoke bluntly: “I just don’t understand, what are you worried about? It’s just a matter of following the script, why are you slacking off?”

Du Min often harbored ill will towards Magistrate Zhao. This lazy and corrupt official shouldn't have been promoted. He was just lucky that no one stood in his way, otherwise he would have definitely brought him down.

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