In Lizhou, Zhu Lan finished writing her reply. She wasn’t in a hurry to send it back by fast horse; instead, she prepared some food and supplies to send along.

Her family had been buying quite a few things in the past month. Lizhou was close to the border, and although there had been a major battle and fewer foreign merchants along the border, there were still some—cough cough—but Lizhou was too poor for any foreign merchants to come.

Zhulan bought a lot of food, dried fruit, dates, etc., in Chuanzhou. The quality of furs wasn’t good this month, so she didn’t buy any.

Zhulan had Liu Ya call Steward Ding and handed him the letter. “Pack some dried fruit and dates, and send them to the escort agency.”

Steward Ding took the letter. “Does Madam have anything else to instruct?”

Zhulan took the completed list, her heart aching at the thought of such a large sum of money. “Yes, I do. Take two servants, Dongzhi and Xiaohan, to Chuanzhou to buy tea sets, bowls, plates, and some flowers. Here’s the list; buy what’s written on it.”

Steward Ding glanced at it; there were quite a few things to buy. “I’ll send the letter and then set off with Dongzhi and Xiaohan.”

“Okay.”

Steward Ding left the courtyard with the letter in his pocket. Although he had more to do than before, he didn’t feel tired at all. Who could have imagined that he would go from being the steward of a scholar’s family to the steward of a prefect’s family? When he was sold, he was in despair, thinking he would be sold to a merchant family and would have to be subservient to them forever. But unexpectedly, a new path opened up before him.

The brokers who used to berate him now call him “Master Ding” and even apologize.

Unfortunately, their attempts to please him were useless. Thinking of the brokerage owner personally visiting him, he thought, “Serves them right! They had the nerve to try to take advantage of me.”

Thankfully, he quickly realized that the master truly cared for the mistress; in this household, the mistress’s words carried more weight than the master’s!

In the capital, Zhou Shuren’s memorial also reached the Emperor’s hands. The Emperor had not only Zhou Shuren’s memorial but also a more detailed report from his spies.

The Emperor reclined on the small kang (heated brick bed) and read Zhou Shuren’s memorial first.

Zhou Shuren’s memorial was concise and to the point. It began by detailing how much silver had been spent on the journey, how much grain and seeds had been purchased, and what had been done after arriving in Lizhou. From distributing the first batch of grain to repairing roads and digging ponds, it described farming, distributing chickens and pigs, and so on, all explained clearly. The most detailed account was of distributing apple trees and the plan to create an apple-producing region.

After reading the memorials, the Emperor picked up the report from the spies. Skipping the initial flattery, he focused on the key points. The report was much more detailed, not only detailing Zhou Shuren’s actions and including account books but also his itinerary—where he went and whom he met.

The thick report was filled with information about Zhou Shuren.

After comparing the two reports, the Emperor tossed them to the Crown Prince. “Look,” he said, “our Lord Zhou has not only stabilized Lizhou City, but he also intends to transform it into a prosperous prefecture!”

He was genuinely looking forward to it. He could look forward to Lizhou City’s future tax revenue. He was pleased with his foresight; among so many people, he had his eye on Zhou Shuren.

After browsing through the list, the Crown Prince noticed the key point. “Father, did Lady Zhou plant the fruit trees first?”

The Emperor smiled and said, “Don’t underestimate women. Our Lady Zhou is a master at making money. She bought the three houses in Pinggang for 1,800 taels of silver, and now they’ve more than quadrupled in value. My son, let me tell you, never underestimate any woman. Even I’m afraid of your mother’s ruthlessness.”

When the emperor thought about how the residences now belonged to him, he felt extremely pleased. This was the first time that rewarding someone with houses had brought him such a return in silver!

The Crown Prince: “…”

Was this the same mother his father was talking about? His mother was clearly a virtuous, gentle, and loving woman!

The Emperor gave him a look that said, “Son, you don’t understand. When your mother is furious, I have to sneak along the wall.”

“Alright, revise Lord Zhou’s memorial. You know how to revise it, right?” 

The Crown Prince nodded. He understood. His father, the Emperor, hated memorials filled with pointless rambling; he had repeatedly told them to focus on the important points, yet the more he said it, the more nonsense they wrote. It made his father grind his teeth in anger, so naturally, he hoped the officials would get a taste of their own medicine. Every time he had to read local memorials, the Emperor would deliberately add a great deal of useless chatter. In his view, since the officials wouldn’t listen, they could all suffer together. After all, the Emperor sat while the officials had to stand there and listen!

The Crown Prince thought to himself that he, too, had to stand and listen. He silently held that against the officials, then his mind went to Minister Zhou’s memorial. Just looking at it made one feel delighted. No wonder his father liked Minister Zhou—he liked him very much as well.

In Lizhou City, Zhou Shuren returned home before dawn for the first time, before dinner was even ready. 

Zhulan waited until Zhou Shuren changed into his everyday clothes before telling him the contents of the letter. Zhou Shuren simply said “oh” to indicate he understood and then said nothing more. 

Zhulan knew this would happen. Seeing Zhou Shuren’s furrowed brow, she asked, “Have you encountered some difficulties?” 

Zhou Shuren pulled Zhulan to sit down. “It’s not really a difficult matter. It’s just that when you mentioned Mingyun and Rongchuan, it made me think of the academy. There are still juren and xiucai in Lizhou City, but right now the common people can barely afford to eat—how would they have the money to study? Even farming-and-reading families will need a few years to recover. By then, the students’ studies will already be delayed.”

If next year only a few people took the xiucai or juren examinations, the entire Lizhou would become famous for it.

Zhulan said, “So you want to establish an academy? ”

Zhou Shuren shook his head. “No. The prefectural city already has an official school. It’s just that right now, the official school in Lizhou has only a handful of people. I was thinking that the yamen could provide brush, ink, and a bit of silver to recruit some tongsheng whose handwriting is good but who haven’t yet passed the xiucai exam, as well as other students, to copy books.”

Zhulan looked at Zhou Shuren—he wasn’t doing this only for the students. “The books you want copied are all ones that are rarely found on the market, aren’t they?”

Zhou Shuren smiled with narrowed eyes—Zhulan really understood him best. “Exactly. Let me tell you, our Tongzhi, Lord Chen, comes from a highly learned family, and he has quite a collection of books at home. You see, the rarer a book is, the higher its price. Once they’re copied, we can have people take them to the bookshops in various prefectural cities to sell. After deducting the cost of brush, ink, paper, and labor, all the remaining silver will be used for the students’ studies—like subsidies for their writing supplies, yes, and also their food, lodging, and travel expenses when they go for the examinations. We gain in many ways with one effort! ”

Zhulan thought to herself that Zhou Shuren must have had this on his mind for quite a while. “It’s really something that, with everything you’re busy with, you can still keep thinking about Lord Chen’s collection of books.”

Zhou Shuren replied, “It’s all because he always brags about what he’s read. And to make matters worse, he likes to ask me if I’ve read them, as if he feels better if he surpasses me in reading. I’ve been smiling for days, and finally, I’ve got the chance to trick him. What do you think of my idea?” 

Zhulan said, “It’s a good idea, but how will you convince Lord Chen to hand over the books?” 

(End of Chapter)

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