Chapter 473: The Scriptwriter

Liu Minyou walked back to the Civil Affairs Department alone. After sitting down, his mind was in such turmoil that he had no heart to look at any documents. He picked up his backpack and strolled through the Civil Affairs Department garden with the simple-minded monk.

He and Chen Xin were supposed to go to Qingzhoufu today and also inspect the cotton mill in Changyi along the way. With the economic war now underway, large stocks of cotton cloth were piling up in the warehouses. The importance of cotton cloth was second only to grain. Liu Minyou felt they should end the cotton price-fixing early, ship the goods out, and make money; otherwise, it would affect the development of the broader cotton textile industry.

Following their usual habit, they would inspect the tunbao fortresses and workshops along the route, so the two of them set out together. They waited a full half a shichen before Chen Xin finally arrived with his guard unit.

Liu Minyou had long since grown impatient. He went out the door with Chen Xin. This time the two of them took a four-wheeled carriage. The road from Dengzhou to Qingzhoufu had been largely rebuilt, with many sections of rammed earth mixed with fine gravel. The four-wheeled carriage was more comfortable to ride in, so one wouldn't get so tired, and they could look over some documents during the journey.

As soon as the two of them sat down in the carriage, Liu Minyou opened the window for air and then complained to Chen Xin, "It's nearly lunchtime already. Are those Qing court drama plots of the Jianzhou Bandits really that good to listen to?"

Chen Xin lowered the backrest one notch, then lay back and said, "I don't mind watching those melodramatic Qing court dramas, and what I'd most like to see is some Qing time-travel girl landing on the body of Haoge's Fujin, and on the very day Degelei was captured — haha, how utterly miserable that would be."

"Haoge has so many Fujin, and not every one of them was killed by Haoge. Who's to say she couldn't have landed on someone better off?"

Chen Xin laughed with great interest and said, "Then let me tell you, the melodrama gets even worse later on. Right now it's the nephew Haoge seizing his uncle Manggurtai's wife. Later it'll be Dorgon, the uncle, seizing his nephew's wife. Not long after Haoge died, one of his consorts was already rolling in the sheets with Dorgon. The 'Brother's-Wife-Stealing Emperor' didn't just steal his brother's wife, either. There's even more spectacular stuff — Huang Taiji and those Banner Lords dividing up Lin Danhan's wives among themselves. What kind of scene would that be?"

Liu Minyou said, somewhat amused, "You're thinking awfully far ahead. Then why couldn't she have landed on Yuetuo's Fujin? At least he still has some shred of humanity."

"Yuetuo is much better than Haoge, but he pushed Huang Taiji into doing this. Huang Taiji is bound to harbor resentment against him. Right now Yuetuo is acting as Huang Taiji's running dog, so Huang Taiji still gives him some face. In the original history, as soon as Yuetuo died, someone reported that he had privately sympathized with Manggurtai — just like this Leng Sengji now. That eldest daughter of Mangguji was fairly quick-witted. When she learned of Yuetuo's death, she took her own life, sparing herself further suffering."

Liu Minyou asked in a surprised whisper, "Is this a Qing court drama you made up yourself, or is it real?"

"Of course it's real. I just happened to have read this part. That eldest daughter of Mangguji only lived a few more years, that's all. But I think what you said isn't bad — if some Qing time-travel girl landed on this eldest daughter, you could make a stirring, tragic Qing court drama out of it. Make Yuetuo's age a bit younger, find a handsome actor to play him. For the queue, don't use that pigtail of the Jianzhou Bandits — beautify it with makeup. And don't dress them in that sackcloth the Tatars wear; at least use brocade and satin. Make this Fujin younger, find a beautiful actress to play her. The two of them drift with the current in a great era, slaughtering a black dog to sprinkle blood ahead. You could swindle plenty of tears. For example, Huang Taiji captures this Fujin. Just as he's about to burn her to death, she looks around with tears streaming down her face. Once the audience's hearts are hanging in suspense, Yuetuo descends from the sky on a white horse. The camera shoots from below upward. He flies over the crowd on wires, swings his great blade, and the firewood goes flying everywhere. He rescues the barely breathing Fujin from the pyre. Amid the dazzling sparks, they complete an 1800-degree midair spin, difficulty coefficient 100. While spinning, the Fujin gazes at Yuetuo with misty, unfocused eyes and says, 'My Beile, I knew you would come. I didn't misjudge you...'"

With a retching sound, Liu Minyou stuck his head out the window and waved his hand repeatedly at Chen Xin. Chen Xin said smugly, "Don't be disgusted. Extend it forward and backward, adapt it a bit, and you could film fifty or sixty episodes. There's just one thing that's no good."

Liu Minyou pulled his head back in and wiped his mouth. "What's no good?"

"It's hard to find product placement in a period drama."

Liu Minyou made a scoffing sound, pointed at Chen Xin, and said, "Can't you have a little sympathy? Even though this is about the Tatars, at least Yuetuo isn't a beast — he still has some conscience left. It's just that the barbaric system of the Jianzhou Bandits forces these people to do these barbaric things."

Chen Xin chuckled and said, "That's only toward his wife. Anyway, whichever Tatar it is, we can't let them breach the passes and wreak havoc on the realm now."

Liu Minyou agreed, "There's nothing to debate on that. We settled our views long ago. But I don't quite understand — why choose to go out at this time? I can handle the Changyi matter alone. What are you going to Qingzhou for?"

Chen Xin patted his head and said lightly, "Too many people are looking for me. This business of driving up prices along the Grand Canal — I only told Wang Tingshi and Lu Zhi. Those two know they can make money later, but others don't. Right now the naval camp is restricting any grain ships from Dengzhou and Laizhou from setting sail, and they're also strictly inspecting canal boats and seagoing vessels for contraband. The merchants are cursing up a storm. Lu Zhi, that dog, pushed it all onto my head, saying it was my demand. People coming to Dengzhou and Laizhou to plead with me are as numerous as ox hairs. They all want to ship grain from Dengzhou and Laizhou to Tianjin to sell. I can't agree to them. I was really worn down and still let two ships go. So this won't do. I asked Wang Tingshi for an assignment, saying I'm going to Qingzhou to look into the bandit trouble in Yishan. I'll travel for a while and then come back."

By now the guard unit had been assigned and was in position. The carriage slowly started moving. Liu Minyou looked out the window and shook his head, saying, "We can't keep fighting this economic war forever. We don't want to end up dragging the Jianzhou Bandits to death and dragging the common people of Great Ming to death too."

Chen Xin spread his hands. "I didn't expect it to get this big either. The grain price in Guanning passed five taels ten days ago. By now it's probably passed six taels. Huang Taiji doesn't have enough silver to buy it. For these few months, our grain must be kept within Dengzhou and Laizhou and cannot flow outward. Anyone shipping goods from Dengzhou will be levied a heavy tax. No matter who comes, it won't work. Geng Zhongming even turned back the grain carts from Prince Heng's Palace. Prince Heng's Palace is hopping mad."

Liu Minyou sighed, took out a ledger, placed it on the small table in front of him, and began writing civil affairs plans. The carriage still jolted somewhat, and his brush kept dotting the paper with blobs of ink. Liu Minyou cursed, "This shock absorption is barely any different from having none at all."

Chen Xin was also writing his own things. Hearing this, he said to Liu Minyou, "This trip was rushed. The adjutant didn't even draw up an itinerary. Let me roughly tell you — we'll take the old route. First we'll go together to Pingdu Department to see the musket production at Factory No. 2, then to Changyi to look at the stockpiled cotton cloth. After that, I'll go to Qingzhoufu to inspect war preparations. I'm afraid you'll have to make a trip to Dengzhou."

Liu Minyou asked curiously, "What's the matter in Dengzhou?"

"You put that Dengzhou Grand Academy there. Brewing, mechanics, navigation, shipbuilding, the School of Mind, Confucianism — all thrown together in one heap. Just last month there were three brawls. You'd better go take a look. Don't let anyone get killed."

"Why haven't I received any reports?"

"Because the headmaster didn't report it. It was all told to me by the Intelligence Bureau. Although you say academic freedom, this constant fighting isn't right either. You still need to go see."

Liu Minyou frowned and looked out the window. "So there's this too. If it's just students brawling, it's understandable that the headmaster handled it. But it's true I haven't been there in a long time. Some projects should be looked at too."

Chen Xin suddenly pointed at a person standing outside the Regional Commander's residence and said, "This man is here to submit a petition again, demanding that Confucianism be expelled from the Grand Academy."

Liu Minyou looked through his own window. The man had disheveled hair and a dirty face, his clothes tattered and torn, indistinguishable from a beggar. "I've seen this man before. He seems to be from the Taizhou School. Only they would dare say such wild things."

"You're quite right."

"What's his name?"

"He's called Ji Ziyue, the head of the Taizhou School at Dengzhou Academy. He stopped me at the gate yesterday. No matter what I said, he wouldn't listen."

"I remember now. He's also an instructor. I thought he was a student. So who is he targeting?"

"Chen Tingdong. I heard Chen Tingdong beat him up."

"Why is he dressed like that? Instructors at Dengzhou Academy all get a monthly salary of over three taels. There's no need to dress like this." Liu Minyou said with a frown. Outside, the man's clothes were tattered and filthy.

"Zhou Shifa came to report to me last night. He said this Ji Ziyue's family is from Penglai. During the chaos in Dengzhou, he was away studying elsewhere. When he returned, his home had been ravaged by soldiers, and only some land remained. He contributed the land to a tunbao fortress. It happened that Dengzhou Grand Academy was recruiting its first batch of students, so he went. Because he had some research in the Taizhou School, he became an instructor there. Imitating the style of He Xinyin of the Taizhou School, he gathered a bunch of beggars and set up something like a people's commune. Everyone uses their money together and eats from a common pot. That's how he's become this poor."

Liu Minyou couldn't help laughing. "So he's trying to sprint into society, is he?"

"That's why your Dengzhou Grand Academy is full of oddities. You really must go take a look. In my opinion, engineering and Western learning could also form a school of thought. From the angle of 'investigating things to extend knowledge,' which has the highest acceptance, they could develop their own tradition. Otherwise, all those students studying mechanics end up believing in the School of Mind or Confucianism, and that's not right either."

The carriage passed through the lane between the Water City and Dengzhou and headed west. The guard unit rode on horseback flanking both sides of the vehicle. Outside, the flow of people bustled noisily, even more lively than before the chaos in Dengzhou.

Liu Minyou said, somewhat abstractedly, "Why must we go and guide them? Both the School of Mind and Confucianism were developed by the ancients. On a personal level, reading them still benefits one greatly. I believe those students studying tool-making will spontaneously come up with ideas of their own, perhaps surpassing what we imagine."

Chen Xin lay back on his chair, looking at the carriage ceiling, and said, "In any case, go take a look. A hundred flowers blooming is fine, but there can't be poppies and man-eating flowers mixed in among them."

Liu Minyou looked at Chen Xin and said, "I will go take a look. But you also need to keep an eye on your military academy. I've heard... some people are already loudly discussing how to attack Nanzhili, and others are making plans for an attack day, even plans to attack Jingshi. Especially at this moment, with people from the Eastern Depot here, you need to make them restrain themselves."

Chen Xin said with satisfaction, "They've already been told. The military academy is now actually managed by Shi Pingli. Lu Chuanzong was sidelined long ago — let him enjoy his retirement. The Eastern Depot people are basically all being handled by the Foreign Affairs Department. Song Wenxian can deal with them. There are a few that still can't be handled; when the time comes, Zhou Shifa will take care of them."

PS: Begging for monthly tickets.

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