Chapter 164 3/3

Du Yongning accompanied Li Qingzhi to pick up Chang Zhan that day, and then stayed at the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop, where he had a meal cooked by Chang Zhan.

He praised Chang Zhan’s cooking skills incessantly and even bought some specially blended chili powder from Chang Zhan to take back and filially present to his mother.

Du Yongning left the next day, and it was also on this day that a school opened in Chongcheng County.

This school was opened by Zhu Qian and was located in the village where Zhu Qian was born.

After becoming prosperous, Zhu Qian returned to the village and built a large mansion, but he did not live there.

Now, he used this mansion to open a school.

While Li Qingzhi’s school intended to enroll children from poor families to teach them practical skills, Zhu Qian’s school was different.

Zhu Qian hired a scholar and a child student to teach at the school. His school was no different from Li Xiucai’s school and other private schools in Chongcheng County. It started with enlightenment and then taught Confucian classics.

However, his school was not restricted. People from all over the county felt that if their children showed a little talent, they could send them to this school for enlightenment.

Ordinary children just learned to recognize words, but those with talent could continue their studies.

If the talent was exceptional, Zhu Qian would even sponsor their education.

Li Qingzhi knew that schools at this time were all like this and didn’t find it surprising.

For the people of this time, if they wanted to learn a trade, they could become apprentices, but for studying… they still should study the Four Books and Five Classics.

Li Qingzhi didn’t pay much attention to this matter. He took out the manuscript he had written yesterday and continued writing.

Because Du Yongning suddenly arrived, he didn’t send the manuscript to Governor Zhang yesterday… but he could send more today.

At the same time, in the provincial capital.

Governor Zhang checked the food box sent by Juewei Zhai back and forth, only to find that besides two plates of well-prepared dishes, there was nothing else inside.

Where was Li Qingzhi’s letter?

Although Li Qingzhi’s books looked miserable, he had gotten used to looking at them while eating… Suddenly not having one made him feel uncomfortable.

How could it suddenly be missing?

Governor Zhang felt extremely disappointed.

Fortunately, he received some good news—a bookstore was willing to help him print the book.

After receiving Li Qingzhi’s “Record of Fleeing Famine,” Governor Zhang had his confidant copy it once, and then he took the copied manuscript to various bookstores to see which one would be willing to help print the book.

He originally thought that no one would be willing, but it had only been two days, and his confidant brought back some good news.

That afternoon, Governor Zhang went to the bookstore that was willing to help print the book.

This bookstore was opened by the Shen family’s business, and the head of the Shen family personally came to see Governor Zhang, speaking very warmly.

The current support of the Shen family’s business was none other than Lu Qingxi!

“Governor Zhang, we will print your book immediately. You send us a bit, and we’ll print a bit. How about printing ten thousand copies first?” The head of the Shen family didn’t wait for a response from Governor Zhang and just made the suggestion.

Governor Zhang was a bit caught off guard. He had only planned to print two thousand copies.

Ten thousand copies… he didn’t have that much money.

“This money…” Governor Zhang hesitated.

The head of the Shen family said, “Governor, this book is a gem. For every thousand words, I’ll give you ten taels of silver. Right now, there are sixty thousand words, so I’ll give you six hundred taels.”

After speaking, the head of the Shen family took out six hundred taels of silver bills and handed them to Governor Zhang.

Governor Zhang was stunned.

The head of the Shen family said, “Recluse Solitary’s book has been praised by His Majesty and will definitely sell well! There are many literati in Jiang’an Province; selling a few thousand copies won’t be a problem. The rest can be sent to the capital… Our Shen family’s fleet is planning to enter the capital a month later.” The head of the Shen family was excited when he saw this book!

Recluse Solitary’s new book, once printed, was bound to make money!

Of course, the key wasn’t this; the key was… this book was clearly aimed at Prince Jin, and Prime Minister Lu would definitely like it!

He needed to print the book quickly to send it to the capital!

After hearing what the head of the Shen family said, Governor Zhang remembered that this book could make money and didn’t need him to fund the printing.

But the Shen family gave so much money… Governor Zhang asked while holding the silver bills, “With so much money given to me, can you still make a profit?”

“Of course we can.” The head of the Shen family said, in bookstores, commonly used books like the Four Books and Five Classics weren’t expensive, but books like “Record of Fleeing Famine” were not cheap. They could make money by selling this book.

Of course, after offering ten taels of silver per thousand words, their profit wouldn’t be too much.

But they weren’t printing this book to make money!

The head of the Shen family looked at Governor Zhang with a smile, “Governor Zhang, we’re all working for Prime Minister Lu. You don’t need to be so polite!”

He had long heard that Governor Zhang was Prime Minister Lu’s man, but he wasn’t sure before, and as just a merchant, he didn’t dare to go visit him.

But now Governor Zhang had come to him on his own!

The head of the Shen family had decided to establish a good relationship with Governor Zhang so that he could better serve Prime Minister Lu.

Governor Zhang: “…”

He really had nothing to do with Lv Qingxi!

At this point, the head of the Shen family added, “Governor Zhang, rest assured, we’ll print this book beautifully for you!”

He didn’t know who

 Governor Zhang had printed “Record of Injustice” with before. It turned out so ugly!

The books printed by their Shen family’s bookstore would definitely be exquisite!

Speaking of which… Recluse Solitary was Governor Zhang, right? He even wrote books while handling government affairs, which must be to please Prime Minister Lu.

He also needed to work harder to get closer to Prime Minister Lu.

It’s said that the child adopted by His Majesty is healthy and lively!

The head of the Shen family wanted to invite Governor Zhang to dinner, but Governor Zhang refused.

He returned home with the silver bills given by the head of the Shen family, wrote a letter to ask Li Qingzhi why there was no manuscript today, and then put the six hundred taels of silver bills in it, describing today’s events and hinting that if Li Qingzhi had time, he could write more. Each word Li Qingzhi wrote was worth money!