Du Ke, in modern terms, was a very ambitious man, but he had his own principles.

The events between the Wei family and the Yang family back in the day were indeed looked down upon by many.

Although Du Ke had never commented on the matter, deep down, he didn’t approve of the Wei family’s actions.

However, no one dared to say anything openly, as the Wei family was loyal to the current emperor.

Criticizing the Wei family would be akin to slapping the emperor in the face.

Du Ke never expected that the young woman kneeling before him today would dare to speak such bold words.

Yang Haiyan came from the household of Grand Tutor Yang, and if she were to acknowledge the Wei family, people would surely gossip about her when she entered the capital’s high society.

However, the Wei family seemed not to care about this; they only saw Yang Haiyan’s current advantage and eagerly sought to adopt her as their goddaughter.

Du Ke shook his head with a smile at this approach. “Stand up and speak.”

Yang Haiyan stood up.

Du Ke said, “You are a smart woman, being able to weigh right and wrong and consider the pros and cons in such a situation. I don’t mind clever women. I have two daughters myself, one legitimate and one from a concubine. Neither of them speaks much with me, especially after they got married. I never thought that in my middle age, I would have a goddaughter who would talk to me so openly.” To put it bluntly, his two daughters avoided him like mice avoiding a cat.

Yang Haiyan was stunned.

Was this an acknowledgment from Du Ke?

Du Ke continued, “Tell me, why did you use your teacher’s wife as a shield in that situation?” His tone wasn’t accusatory but rather curious.

Yang Haiyan, being straightforward in front of Du Ke, didn’t dare to be crafty.

She answered truthfully, “You took my husband as your student, so the relationship between the Qin family and you is already established. Whether I acknowledge the teacher’s wife as my godmother or not, it doesn’t affect the relationship between you and my husband in the eyes of others.

So, using this excuse to reject the Wei family doesn’t harm the Du family. However, if I were to acknowledge the Wei family as my godparents, it would link the Qin family to the Wei family, and since you are my husband’s teacher, the Du family might get involved with the Wei family as well.

To be honest, my main reason was personal. I don’t approve of the Wei family’s conduct and thought you would support me in this matter, so I acted boldly.”

“Hahaha…” Du Ke laughed heartily. “You are indeed bold. However, your boldness doesn’t surprise me, even though your quick reaction did. I never thought of you as an ordinary woman.”

Yang Haiyan was slightly taken aback.

Du Ke said, “A woman who can think of things like military land policies, making ice with saltpeter, and franchise operations is far from ordinary.”

Yang Haiyan felt a bit embarrassed.

Was this Du Ke’s way of praising her?

“Alright, come on in, why are you standing outside?” Du Ke called toward the door.

Qin Fang chuckled as he walked in. “I saw that my wife had something to say, so I waited outside.”

Yang Haiyan didn’t realize that Qin Fang had intentionally stepped out.

Du Ke snorted, “So, you’re all playing tricks on me, huh? Well, since things have come to this, let’s settle it this way. I’ll write a letter to your teacher’s wife to congratulate her on gaining a goddaughter. Also, I’ll need to borrow your hairpin so I can have another one like it made for her.”

Yang Haiyan took off the hairpin. “This hairpin was given to me by the wife of the Marquis of Yonghe, and this is my first time wearing it. I doubt Wei Ting recognized its pattern. If my godmother is to make a similar one, she could alter the design slightly. Otherwise, it might be awkward if we run into the marquis’s wife.”

Du Ke nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

He accepted the hairpin in Qin Fang’s presence, ensuring there was no misunderstanding due to the gender difference. “Now, let’s talk about the franchise plan. How do you two envision it? Analyze it for me.”

Qin Fang said, “This is something Yanyan should explain.”

Du Ke replied, “I never expected much from you. Why do you think I invited both of you here?”

Qin Fang shut his mouth, realizing his teacher enjoyed poking fun at him.

Yang Haiyan smiled, sensing that Du Ke was fond of Qin Fang.

Otherwise, their interactions wouldn’t be so relaxed. “Teacher, my plan is as follows: we’ll hold a franchise meeting in each province under the emperor’s name. From the shortlisted candidates, we’ll have them bid, and we’ll choose the one offering the highest franchise fee. That’s the first step. The second step, which doesn’t concern us, will be handled by the franchisee.

Each province has several counties, and it’s impossible for the franchisee to manage every county. Therefore, they can set up agents in the counties…”

Their discussion continued from morning until noon, wrapping up just before lunch.

Du Ke was highly interested in Yang Haiyan’s ideas about franchising, bidding, and agents.

He had to admit that some parts of the proposal were unclear from just reading the plan, but after her explanation, everything made much more sense.

The first step of the plan was to establish a brand for their goods.

The brand name would be “Imperial Grain,” and in the bottom-right corner of the label would be the emperor’s own calligraphy, spelling out his personal name, Yuan Xiang.

In other words, the brand would consist of four characters: “Imperial Grain” and “Yuan Xiang.”

These four characters were personally written by the emperor, and after they were inscribed into a seal by the Ministry of Works, Du Ke brought it with him.

The next step, for a family that successfully joins, they will receive a product plaque like this.

A merchant who successfully becomes an agent in a county will also have this kind of plaque hanging at their storefront.

This means that if a shop does not have this product plaque, they are not allowed to sell potato flour and sweet potato flour, or else they are breaking the law.

No one would dare to carve the plaque with the Emperor’s name on it recklessly, as that is a crime punishable by death. Who would dare?

So, the Emperor’s plaque is the most effective.

After lunch, Du Ke, Qin Fang, and Yang Haiyan began discussing the next steps.

The first test point of this plan is Renzhou. Renzhou has six prefectures, with Yunxiang County located in Heding Prefecture.

The franchisee of Heding Prefecture is the Qin family.

Now, there are still five other prefectures in Renzhou.

Du Ke needs to gather the prefects of the other five prefectures in Renzhou to come to Yunxiang County to discuss this matter.

Of course, the prefect of Heding Prefecture also needs to be informed, so all six prefects have to come to Yunxiang County.

Du Ke said, “We’ll arrange for the six prefects to be accommodated at the Yunxiang County relay station.”

Qin Fang responded, “The relay station has already been renovated and can accommodate guests. I’ll inform Magistrate Yang, and the county office will handle the arrangements.”

Du Ke wasn’t worried about this, but he was concerned about another issue: “Take Renzhou’s six prefectures as an example. Since Heding Prefecture is handled by you, we don’t have to worry about the franchisee selection there.

However, for the other five prefectures, we need to select individuals with good character, which is not an easy task. If several suitable households are found, there may need to be a bidding process.

This would take up half a month for each prefecture. We have 120 prefectures in Qiguo (the nation). How long do you think it will take if we go through all 120 prefectures?”

Qin Fang started calculating silently.

Yang Haiyan said, “At the rate of one prefecture every two weeks, wouldn’t that take five years?”

Du Ke was slightly surprised, “Bingyun (Yang Haiyan’s courtesy name), your arithmetic is impressive.”

Qin Fang proudly said, “Yanyan (Yang Haiyan) manages the military accounts, but now she’s teaching Shouye (his son), and in the future, Shouye will take over. The accounts she keeps are very easy to understand, even for someone like me, who doesn’t know much about math.”

Yang Haiyan quickly said, “It’s just that my husband thinks everything I do is good, but I’m not that amazing.”

Previously, Qin Fang would refer to his wife formally in front of Du Ke, but now, since Du Ke had acknowledged the familial relationship between Yang Haiyan and his wife, Qin Fang had become more casual and simply called her “Yanyan.”

Du Ke understood Qin Fang well enough to know that when he praised something, it was likely true.

Qin Fang was not the type to exaggerate. So, curious, Du Ke said, “Go get the military accounts for me to see.” In the Ministry of War, the accounts were usually a mess. The idea that Qin Fang, who didn’t understand much, could easily grasp them piqued Du Ke’s interest.

Qin Fang stood up immediately, “I’ll get them right away.”

Yang Haiyan felt a bit embarrassed by his eagerness.

Du Ke reassured her, “Don’t mind him. Bingyun, a franchise plan that takes five years is too long. I don’t have that much time. The most I can afford is two years. Do you have any ideas?” Though he asked, Du Ke already had a solution in mind and was merely testing Yang Haiyan.

Yang Haiyan didn’t overthink Du Ke’s intention behind the question.

In front of a good official, she was willing to share her modern knowledge.

After all, in the border regions, she had trusted the character of the Yonghe Marquis’ family based on stories, which gave her the confidence to share the soap-making recipe.

After thinking for a while, a thought crossed her mind: “Teacher, may I become your assistant?”

Du Ke was taken aback. This response was completely unexpected. “Why do you say that?”

Yang Haiyan explained, “I… I want to follow you to different places and be part of this project. I… I grew up in the capital. At sixteen, I married and moved to the border, and now at eighteen, I’ve come with my husband to Yunxiang County. I… I want to see the whole country, to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of our Qiguo.

Teacher, I know that in the eyes of many people, a woman should support her husband and teach her children, staying within the confines of the household.

But… but I hope that one day, when I have children, I can proudly tell them how vast and beautiful Qiguo is. I can proudly tell them that I have traveled every inch of this land. Instead of…”

Her voice trailed off as she realized how unrealistic this dream was in ancient times.

After all, which woman was lucky enough to live like that?

Du Ke had long known that Yang Haiyan was an extraordinary woman, one who shouldn’t be judged by conventional standards.

So, he didn’t immediately reject her idea.

After a moment of silence, he said, “This is something you should discuss with Qin Fang. If he agrees, I, as your teacher, have no reason to oppose it.”

Yang Haiyan was surprised: “You’re not against it? You don’t think women should be confined to the household?”

Du Ke rarely spoke of his personal life, but now, he shared something he had never told anyone before: “To be honest, I’ve never thought much about this. From birth, I followed the proper path of enlightenment, schooling, imperial examinations, and then becoming an official.

I’ve never questioned what a woman’s role should be. There were probably only three times I considered it. The first was when my family arranged for me to marry your godmother.

The second was when my eldest daughter was getting engaged; I thought about what kind of man would suit her personality.

The third was when my concubine’s daughter got engaged… but as for what a woman’s role should be, I don’t really have an opinion.” It was an unusual topic.

At present, women were generally confined to the household, but… “You grew up in the capital, so you should know that there are women in the capital who are not confined to their homes. There are poetry gatherings and literary societies hosted by women. Are those women confined to the household?”

He continued, “So, what determines whether a woman stays confined is not the man but the woman herself. What do you think, Bingyun?”

Yang Haiyan was momentarily stunned but then gradually understood his words and finally realized: “Thank you for the guidance, teacher.” She had come to a realization.

Ever since she had been transported to this world, she had lived by the standards of ancient women, managing a small business and supporting her husband.

But after hearing Du Ke’s words, she realized that although most ancient women lived like this, a few did not.

And the decision of how she lived her life was hers, not something dictated by society.

She decided that when she had a serious conversation with Qin Fang, she would tell him she wanted to travel.

Before they had children, she wanted to fully enjoy life.

And when they did have children… she could travel with them too.

Qin Fang, unaware of his wife’s audacious thoughts, returned with the military accounts in hand, “Teacher…”

Du Ke took the ledger but didn’t look at it immediately. “We were just discussing how to complete five years of work in two. Bingyun mentioned that he wants to follow me as my assistant to help with this task. Qin Fang, what do you think?”

Qin Fang was stunned, his mouth agape as he looked at Du Ke and then at Yang Haiyan.

He had only one thought: “What about me?”

His response surprised Yang Haiyan.

She thought he would oppose the idea, but instead, his concern was what he would do.

Yang Haiyan considered for a moment and suggested, “Why don’t you come along too?” In Yunxiang County, there wasn’t much happening, and with Commanders Yang and Lü guarding the city, she believed it would be safe. Qin Fang’s temporary absence wouldn’t be an issue. However, city defense generals weren’t allowed to leave their posts without imperial orders. While it was permissible to travel to nearby counties for a few days, leaving for a distant place was out of the question. If something happened to the county in his absence, the city defense general would be held responsible.

Qin Fang was tempted.

He hadn’t had a proper break since he began military service at sixteen.

Even after completing his five-year term, he only got a one-month leave, most of which was spent traveling between his hometown and the Yongzhou military camp.

But then he remembered: “I can’t. I have a mission from the emperor to monitor the situation at the Daoist temple.”

Hearing about the temple, Du Ke said, “Wei Ting mentioned earlier that the matter of gunpowder will be resolved in about a month.”

Qin Fang’s eyes lit up. “Teacher, do you mean…?”

Du Ke continued, “Renzhou is the first step of the Imperial Grain franchise plan, which will also take about a month, so there’s no rush. However, since a city defense general cannot leave his county without imperial orders, I can request the emperor to assign you as my guard for this mission.”

Qin Fang was overjoyed and stood up quickly. “Thank you, Teacher!”

Du Ke waved it off. “Now, let’s discuss how to improve the efficiency of the Imperial Grain franchise plan. What are your thoughts?”

Yang Haiyan spoke first: “Although our Qi Kingdom has 120 prefectures, there are only 22 provinces. We could treat each province as a unit, just like Teacher suggested before—inviting the six prefects of Renzhou to come in person.

As the head of their prefectures, each prefect can recommend reputable families from their jurisdiction. After we conduct investigations and confirm their integrity, we can let these families bid for the franchise. This would speed up the process significantly.”