Chapter 129: Printing 1/2

During dinner, Li Qingzhi chatted with Li Damao and Li Ermao for a while.

He enjoyed talking to the two children.

When he was feeling down, chatting with people, especially with Jin Xiaoye or the two children, immediately lifted his spirits.

This afternoon, Li Qingzhi had been writing all the time. However, Li Damao and Li Ermao were already accustomed to Li Qingzhi being busy writing or reading and not having time to accompany them. They didn’t mind at all and chattered with Li Qingzhi about what they had encountered and done that day.

There was a big event in Linhu County, but the people in Chongcheng County were still living their lives as usual. These children knew nothing about it.

It was still early for dinner, so Li Qingzhi moved a chair to the courtyard and told stories to the three children.

He had read many books in his past life, and there were just too many stories he knew. Coupled with his ability to make up stories… there was no end to the tales.

Just as he was telling the stories, there was a knock on the back door. Li Qingzhi went to open it and saw Chang Duan and Chang Zhan.

“Mr. Li, we’re here,” Chang Zhan said, looking into the courtyard.

Chang Duan also looked into the courtyard, appearing somewhat nervous.

Li Qingzhi knew they were looking for Chang Cui. “Come in.”

He made room for the two brothers to enter, and then he saw Chang Cui, who had been sitting on a small stool listening to his stories, suddenly rush over. “Uncle!”

Chang Cui hugged Chang Zhan’s leg and cried loudly, “Uncle!”

Chang Cui had been doing well at the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop recently.

In the mornings, she stayed with the female workers, and in the afternoons, Li Damao, Li Ermao, and Zhao Xiaodou would play with her.

But she still missed Chang Zhan very much, incredibly so. Because of this, she would cry from time to time.

“Cui Cui!” Chang Duan picked up Chang Cui, his eyes reddening.

Chang Cui was someone he had watched grow up, and this was the first time he had been separated from her for so long… He missed her very much too.

Chang Duan stood to the side, looking at his two loved ones with uncertainty.

At this moment, Li Qingzhi noticed two large boats outside, crowded with people.

“Are those laborers?” Li Qingzhi asked Chang Duan. He had heard from Chang Duan that some laborers from the quarry were supposed to follow them.

Li Qingzhi couldn’t be happier about this.

He couldn’t trust the workers hired from outside, but these laborers were absolutely trustworthy.

However, his home couldn’t accommodate so many people.

Li Qingzhi looked at Chang Duan. “I have a shop and a house outside the city. You can stay there. Do you want to go now or wait?”

Chang Duan glanced at his daughter and spoke, “Let’s go now.”

Actually, on the way here, Chang Duan had already told Chang Zhan that he didn’t plan to acknowledge Chang Cui temporarily.

There might be dangers in going to the capital, and if something happened to him after acknowledging her… how would Chang Cui feel?

And he would be very busy during this time and wouldn’t have time for Chang Cui.

Li Qingzhi also saw that Chang Duan didn’t intend to acknowledge his daughter. He informed Jin Xiaoye, then boarded the ship with these two groups of people, heading towards the new pier.

These people could stay in Zhu Qian’s mansion to help print books, which was great.

On the way, Li Qingzhi talked to Chang Duan and asked about the situation in Linhu County.

Magistrate Zhang had already interrogated all the people who needed to be interrogated, and the land encroached upon by the Lou family, whatever could be returned had already been returned.

As for the remaining land of the Lou family… Magistrate Zhang confiscated it, and then rented it out at a low price to the landless people of Linhu County, collecting rent in the form of grain.

Magistrate Zhang knew he wouldn’t get any good out of this next move, but the reputation of the Lou family in Linhu County had already hit rock bottom. Unless King Jin was foolish, he wouldn’t dare to reclaim those lands.

That would likely incite public outrage.

As Chang Duan spoke, he mentioned the situation of the Lou family: “The women and innocent children of the Lou family have been released by Magistrate Zhang, and they are preparing to go to the capital to file a complaint.”

Now, the Lou family was universally condemned in Linhu County. If they continued to stay here… it wouldn’t be as simple as getting pelted with rotten eggs. There might even be peasants who had been oppressed by them in the past suddenly appearing to stab them with a knife.

They would definitely leave, and going to the capital to file a complaint was only natural.

Their backer, King Jin, was in the capital.

Li Qingzhi said, “We must hurry…”

The people in the capital didn’t know the specifics of the situation in Linhu County. If the public opinion turned against them, Magistrate Zhang would be in trouble.

The two boats soon stopped near the new pier.

Li Qingzhi had been here before, and Zhu Qian had told him the location today and even gave him the keys… He led these people and found the house Zhu Qian had given him.

Fortunately, it was still bright as the days were longer now, otherwise… those laborers, who were often malnourished, wouldn’t be able to see clearly after dark.

Everyone carried various items into the house. Among them, there were many lead types placed in small wooden compartments, and they couldn’t finish carrying them all in one trip.

Upon entering, Li Qingzhi found that the house Zhu Qian gave him was quite spacious, similar in layout to the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop.

The front of the house could be used as a shop, and the back could be used for living quarters. There were slightly more rooms than at the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop, and even the stove was built, though there were no pots inside.

Li Qingzhi wanted to go back to his own house to get a few pots, but Chang Duan refused, “We’ve eaten on the way here, we can eat tomorrow, no rush.”

The laborers who came along agreed one after another.

They had prepared some food when they left Linhu County and had already eaten.

Apart from Chang Duan, there were thirty-three laborers present, among whom Li Qingzhi recognized twenty-one.

It had only been a year since he left the quarry.

Li Qingzhi called out their names.

These laborers were extremely surprised: “Who are you?”

“I’m Xiao Li.” Li Qingzhi smiled and began to catch up with these people, while also telling them about the letter he wrote to Magistrate Zhang.

He needed to win over these people quickly.

The original owner wasn’t unpleasant during his time at the quarry, and Li Qingzhi had done a lot in the past year — if it weren’t for him, Magistrate Zhang wouldn’t have investigated the quarry, and these laborers wouldn’t have been rescued.

These laborers were very grateful to Li Qingzhi.

“Xiao Zhou, back then I was almost crushed by a stone because I didn’t have the strength, luckily you were there…” Li Qingzhi recounted one event after another from his memory, which greatly moved these laborers.

Li Qingzhi knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they wouldn’t betray him.

And that was very good.

Li Qingzhi had many things to do, so he didn’t stay long here. He walked back to Chongcheng County.

That night, after Jin Xiaoye fell asleep, Li Qingzhi wrote for a long time again.

Chang Zhan didn’t go to the new pier, staying with Chang Cui in the guest room of the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop.

Because his emotions were too tumultuous, he couldn’t fall asleep. When he got up in the middle of the night, he saw that the light in Li Qingzhi’s study was still on.

Li Qingzhi was really working hard, and he also had to give it his all.

The next day, Chang Duan took a boat to the county town with some people, bought a large amount of grain, picked up Chang Zhan, and then returned to the new pier to start printing with those laborers.

Printing wasn’t simple, but it wasn’t that complicated either — Chang Duan and Chang Zhan selected the lead types, arranged the layout, and then the laborers could start printing…

This time, when going to the capital, Chang Duan planned to bring the leaders of the quarry laborers with him.

These people could read and write, and they could help him.

He had even planned that they would bind these books on the way. Anyway, it didn’t matter where they bound them.

This way, they could print a few more books these days!

Li Qingzhi, Chang Zhan, and Chang Duan were all incredibly busy. At this time, the memorial that Magistrate Zhang wrote after gaining control of the quarry was finally sent to the capital.

Urgent documents from Hexing Prefecture could reach the capital in four days if expedited over the eight hundred li journey.

However, this method couldn’t be used under normal circumstances. Magistrate Zhang wasn’t in a hurry to let the people in the capital know about what he had done… His memorial arrived in the capital on the eighth day after it was sent out.