Chapter 178 The Government Owns Paper Mills

Chapter 178 The Government Owns Paper Mills

Du Min sat up straight immediately.

“When I was in Luoyang, I met Wang and Li, two cloth merchants from Wu County. Do you remember them?” Meng Qing asked. “Li told me that they transported Wu silk to Luoyang to sell, and on their way back they would buy hemp ribbons to weave cloth, because the quality of hemp gets better the further north you go, and the hemp from Luoyang is better than that from Suzhou.”

Du Min searched his memory for a moment and asked, "Were they the two merchants who moved their ancestral graves to Beiman Mountain back then?"

“Yes, they should be the biggest cloth merchants in Wu County. I can contact them to come to Huaizhou to buy hemp and silk.” Meng Qing said proudly, she had come up with such a brilliant idea.

Du Min nodded thoughtfully, "This method might work."

“They’ll travel several extra days to Huaizhou to buy it. You can set a price lower than the market price and sell it to each other, making things convenient for one another, and the deal will be done,” Meng Qing suggested. “Let’s try planting it for a year first. If the business is good and can be maintained stably for a long time, Wen County can grow hemp on a large scale, and Wang and Li cloth merchants will also have another way to make money from selling hemp. If they can’t handle so much stock, I can have Meng Chun contact other cloth merchants in Suzhou and Yangzhou, and he can even get involved in this business.”

Du Min suddenly relaxed. "With my second sister-in-law here, I don't have to worry about anything. This is indeed more suitable than growing rice. The cost is less and the profit is greater."

“The highlands along the old course of the Yellow River can also be used to grow hemp, and the lowlands can be used to store water. This way, we can preserve some farmland without having to mobilize a large amount of manpower and resources,” Meng Qing suggested as a compromise.

Du Min sighed and said embarrassedly, "I know it's impractical to turn the old course of the Yellow River into an irrigation canal, but I still had this unrealistic idea that once the canal was dug, we could rely on manpower to forcibly adjust the Yellow River's course. That would be an unparalleled achievement."

Meng Qing laughed heartily, "Trying to become famous again?"

Du Min nodded, "I want to earn a good reputation, an indelible one."

Du Li clicked his tongue twice, "You have the nerve to say you share the same stance as Magistrate Guo."

"You actually took his words seriously?" Du Min returned Du Li's previous perfunctory words to him, and shamelessly said, "Although I am not as noble as him, my vision is more far-reaching."

Mencius's parents were amused by his words.

“I just can’t get the money. If I had enough money, I really would have converted the old course of the Yellow River in Huaizhou into canals and completely eliminated this spectacular sight of a suspended river above ground.” Du Min said regretfully, “The Yellow River’s course change has caused many canals and waterways built along it to be abandoned. It’s such a pity.”

"What about asking the imperial court for money?" Meng Qing asked. "With the free schools helping the imperial court make money, the national treasury will be full, so it shouldn't be difficult for you to ask for money."

"Don't even mention it. There's a fat leech coiled up on this land of Huaizhou. The Ministry of Revenue allocates funds, but half of them are swallowed up by the leech." Du Min said bitterly when he talked about it. "I heard from Magistrate Guo that in the past five years, Wen County has only received 30,000 strings of cash for disaster relief and canal construction. What can that amount of money do?"

"What do you mean?" Mencius' mother, who had been watching from the sidelines, asked again.

“I’ve been in Huaizhou for over four months and have given five gifts: for Governor Xu’s birthday celebration, for him taking a concubine, for his illegitimate son’s wedding, for his illegitimate daughter’s full-month celebration, and most absurdly, he even had to host a banquet and accept gifts for the death of his wet nurse.” Du Min explained subtly, “Auntie, do you understand now?”

"Oh!" Mencius' mother understood. She stared at Du Min and asked, "You dare to bring down the prime minister, but you don't dare to touch him?"

"Even when beating a dog, one must consider its owner." Du Min thought about it, but dared not act. Prefect Xu's father, Prime Minister Xu, was someone the Empress Dowager relied on. He had inquired in the capital last year and learned that Prime Minister Xu had mentioned resigning to retire due to illness, but the Empress Dowager refused to let him go and even granted him special permission not to attend court.

Mencius' mother was curious about who this master was, but she didn't dare to ask.

“We can’t be afraid to ask for money just because we’re worried about the disaster relief funds being embezzled,” Meng Qing said. “Prefect Xu has connections, and so do you. I wonder if Minister Zheng has been promoted to prime minister? Once he takes office, he’ll definitely want to bring down Prime Minister Xu. Prefect Xu has to be careful not to give his rivals any leverage.”

Du Min thought for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. "I need to send a letter to Minister Zheng. He promised to send me several jars of celebratory wine to celebrate my promotion. Don't forget!"

"Once you get the wine, send a jar to Governor Xu, or treat your colleagues to a drink." Meng Qing understood his meaning.

“That’s right.” Du Min laughed. “Everyone knows I have a past with Minister Zheng. I might as well use him as a figurehead to show off my power and make it unclear to outsiders what my true stance is.”

“If this plan works, Governor Xu will definitely try to suppress you,” Meng Qing warned.

"How has he suppressed me? By assigning me all the hard work? But that's exactly what I'm doing now. Or has he stripped me of my authority and prevented me from doing my job? If he dares to take my authority, I dare to file a complaint." Du Min looked at Meng Qing, "Second Sister-in-law, what do you think?"

Meng Qing tapped his fingers and nodded, saying, "It's worth a try."

"Then let's give it a try." With his strategist by his side, Du Min's spirits returned, and he no longer hesitated to act.

"I have another idea," Meng Qing said. "It's better to have money in your own pocket than to ask for it. If Wen County can grow hemp on a large scale, why don't you take advantage of this opportunity and build an official paper mill to produce hemp paper for the free schools in various prefectures and counties?"

Upon hearing this, Du Min jumped up excitedly, "I'm reaping the benefits of paper effigies again!"

Meng Qing nodded, "Don't forget your father-in-law. He is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and he will be responsible for assigning the heads of the free schools in each prefecture. If you give him a heads-up, the paper mill's hemp paper will have no trouble finding a market."

Du Min nodded repeatedly, "Second sister-in-law, you are so smart."

“I won’t offer my advice for nothing. In the early stages, the paper from the official paper mills will definitely not be enough to meet the demand. You can get the paper from the Meng family’s paper mill and help me sell it.” Meng Qing also wanted a share of the profits.

"No problem, I've got it covered." Du Min excitedly circled the table, snatched Wang Chuan from Du Li's arms, ruffled Wang Chuan's hair into a burr, and then returned the child to his father.

"Bad!" Wang Chuan was angry, and he pointed at Du Min and cursed.

"Wow! My little brother can finally say his second word!" Wang Zhou exclaimed in delight. "Quickly call him 'brother'!"

Wang Chuan whimpered and cried, glaring at Du Min and yelling that he was bad, but Du Min just smiled and laughed, which made him so angry that he burst into tears.

"You're the troublemaker!" Meng Qing stood up and punched Du Min twice. "Don't touch his head. Don't touch his head again."

"Why can't I touch it?" Du Min found it strange.

Meng Qing went over and hugged Wang Chuan, saying, "Alright, alright, don't cry. Your mother has already hit your third uncle."

Du Li took out a small wooden comb from his sleeve pocket and combed Wang Chuan's messy hair neatly. Without the messy hair in the way, Wang Chuan immediately stopped howling.

“My little brother gets really irritable when his hair gets messy. My mom says it’s a phase of order that’s unique to children,” Wang Zhou explained, rubbing his ears.

“He’s reached a stage where he’s becoming more aware of things. If things he’s convinced of change, he gets anxious, but he can’t speak, so he can only vent by crying and yelling,” Meng Qing added.

"Mother!" Wang Chuan cupped Meng Qing's face and made her turn to face him, her eyes fixed warily on Du Min.

"Hey! You won't even let your mother talk to me?" Du Min saw through his meaning. "You're still such a domineering person!"

No one paid attention to him. Suddenly, Wang Chuan could speak. Du Li, Wang Zhou, and Meng's parents surrounded him and taught him to call out to people.

Du Min gave a few fake laughs.

"Brother—Father—Mother—Father." Wang Chuan uttered each word carefully.

"By sheer luck, you've become a hero." Meng Qing carried Wang Chuan back to her seat and spoke to Du Min with her back to Wang Chuan.

Du Min glanced at Wang Chuan a few times, and seeing him staring at him warily like a thief, he laughed out loud, "That's quite interesting."

“This is Third Uncle.” Wang Zhou carried a stool over and sat down next to Meng Qing. He held Wang Chuan’s hand and pointed to Du Min, “Call him Uncle.”

Wang Chuan kept his mouth tightly shut, but still managed to glare at Du Min.

Du Min smiled again.

Wang Chuan was annoyed by the laughter, and his lips trembled as if he was about to cry again.

"Don't tease him. He doesn't remember you and can't tell who you are. If you tease him now and make him angry when he sees you, he'll find him annoying later," Meng Qing said.

"Little brother," Du Li suddenly spoke.

Du Min glanced over instinctively, then looked around again before hesitantly asking, "Did you call me?"

Du Li nodded, glanced at Chuan, and called out again.

Du Min glanced at Wang Chuan and responded with a "Yes."

Wang Chuan's gaze immediately changed, and he stared at Du Min with a probing look.

“He’s his little brother,” Meng Qing said, pointing to Du Min and Du Li, then pointing to Wang Chuan and Wang Zhou, “and you are his little brother.”

Wang Chuan's expression immediately turned to horror.

"What kind of expression did he have?" Du Min was about to laugh again.

“It’s all your fault,” Du Li said.

Du Min picked up his teacup, took a sip, and got down to business: "Second sister-in-law, is there anything else you want to say? If not, I'll go and discuss planting hemp with Magistrate Guo right now. It's only mid-May, and the winter wheat harvest is just the right time to plant ramie seedlings. Sowing is also fine. We can harvest one crop in the fall, and another crop next spring."

Meng Qing nodded. "I'll write a letter and send it to Wu County right away. The letter will probably arrive in Wu County along with Meng Chun. Just to be on the safe side, you should also write a letter to Dr. Xu. He's good friends with Li Bushang and Wang Bushang."

Du Min agreed, "I'll go see Magistrate Guo again tomorrow. I'll use this half day to write letters and official documents. I need to send a letter to my father-in-law and a letter to Minister Zheng. I'll also write an official document to the Empress Dowager. Since she cares about the water conservancy in Huai Prefecture, I need to keep her informed."

"Don't forget to apply for funding in the official documents," Meng Qing reminded him.

“I can’t forget it.” Du Min got up and went out to call a courier to bring him writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones. He came back in and continued, “Not only do I want money, but I also want to report to the female sage about my plan to build an official paper mill, so that I can ask for another sum of money.”

Meng's mother came over and picked up Wangchuan, saying, "He's dozing off, so I'm taking him back to his room to sleep. You two can continue your conversation."

Meng Qing nodded.

Two hours later, Du Min handed five letters and an official document to the postmaster, instructing him to send the letters out as soon as possible.