Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 109: Drinking Poison to Quench Thirst

He murmured to himself, his fingers unconsciously flipping through a stack of old files about local products from various regions.

"Coal from the Western Mountains is plentiful, but extraction and transportation costs are prohibitive, distant supplies can't solve an immediate need..."

"Silk from the Southern Lake tops the world in quality, but sericulture cycles are long, making it hard to meet urgent demand..."

He read each one in turn, his heart growing heavier. These regional products either couldn't solve an immediate shortage from afar, or involved too wide a supply chain to be converted quickly into hard silver to fund a war.

Suddenly, he remembered Su Ming mentioning their village's paper-making workshop, which used an improved new method—very low cost, yet produced abundant, high-quality paper.

One thought, like wildfire across a dry plain, exploded in his mind!

Paper!

Official paper for the government!

The imperial offices of the Great Xing Dynasty consumed staggering amounts of paper every day. This paper was centrally purchased by the Imperial Household Office, then distributed to the ministries. And the largest supplier was several big paper workshops under the Yongchang Marquis Manor!

They used the poorest raw materials to produce barely acceptable paper, and sold it at sky-high prices.This was a tacitly accepted, shadowy channel for transferring profits.

If... if the court could set up government-supervised, privately operated paper workshops in the northern regions where bamboo, wood, and hemp were abundant, and employ the new method used in Qingshi Town...

How much could paper costs be driven down?

How many soldiers could the saved silver equip?

Xu Qing's breathing suddenly grew rapid.

He sprang up, clutching the files so tightly his knuckles whitened.

He had found a way to break convention and strike at the existing pattern of vested interests!

This was a staggering plan that could change the empire's fiscal structure!

He had to tell Su Ming immediately!

......

In Su Ming's small courtyard, the last few leaves of the old locust tree had been stripped off by the winter wind.

He had just finished practicing a set of Lin Yu's improved fist techniques designed to invigorate qi and blood, his whole body emitting a faint warmth.

A knock sounded at the courtyard gate.

"Knock knock knock! Brother Su! Brother Su, are you there?"

It was Xu Qing's voice, tinged with pent-up excitement.

Su Ming opened the door to find Xu Qing standing outside, his cheeks flushed from excitement and brisk walking.

"Brother Xu, what's the rush?"

Xu Qing grabbed Su Ming's arm, pulled him into the yard, and slammed the gate shut behind them.

"Brother Su! I've thought of it! I've thought of an infallible plan to increase revenue and cut expenses for the treasury!"

He paced back and forth in the yard, speaking as he walked.

"Paper! The problem is paper!"

"I checked the Ministry of Revenue's purchase ledgers over the past decade, and the government’s expenditure on paper is alarming every year! Most of that silver flows straight into the Yongchang Marquis Manor's pockets!"

"Brother Su, I recall you saying your village's papermaking method is extremely low-cost, right?"

He stopped and stared at Su Ming with burning eyes.

Su Ming's heart skipped and sank.

He looked at Xu Qing's face, glowing with idealism, his throat dry.

"I plan to submit a memorial, petitioning the court to implement, in northern raw material producing areas, the Qingshi Town model of 'official supervision with private operation' and to set up modern paper workshops using the new method to stabilize paper prices! The profits would not go into the imperial treasury but be directly allocated to the Ministry of War, earmarked for frontier military supplies!"

Xu Qing grew more excited the more he spoke, as if he could already see well-funded military campaigns and victorious armies returning.

we won't need to raise taxes on the people, yet can alleviate the urgent military funding shortage!

bright with expectation, waiting for Su Ming's

watched him in silence, his gaze

the winter wind moaning through dead

Ming called

is deadly, truly deadly!" Lin Yu's

no circumstances let him drag us into this! This is no longer about people's livelihoods, it's about digging up their ancestral

inhaled deeply and

idea... is

affirmed that first, giving Xu Qing

Manor's business has lasted

"Of course...

and spoke each word deliberately, "It's because those who need them to be powerful silently permit it. This business is a reward the emperor granted to the martial merit faction, a bone

Xu Qing's face visibly,

"I..."

touching the little trade of a single paper workshop." Su Ming rose and stood before him, looking straight into his eyes. "You are striking at a tangled web of interests throughout the capital. You are

reason with you or debate whether your plan benefits the state and people. They

ice water poured over Xu Qing from head to

dimmed bit by bit,

powerful? Watch soldiers at the border starve and freeze to death?"

mean that." Su Ming's tone softened, with a touch of pity.

then spoke with grave seriousness: "You may submit the memorial. But

memorial. Say only that it synthesizes good methods from various places, and never let

stern, "and this is the most important point: From today on, forget Qingshi Town, forget Su

lips moving

obstruct; he was protecting him in his own way, and protecting

and

spirit broken, his silhouette bleak like a

his back for a

friend is a good man, but he's a liability. I hope

courtyard gate

the fuse of

locked himself in the official lodgings of the

the next day, he

still red, but his gaze

freshly rewritten memorial

Stabilize Paper

personal capacity as a

the memorial surfaced, it immediately stirred a not-small commotion within

ministers reacted strangely: they kept it on file without

could instantly sense the

the crux, so they couldn't bring themselves to toss it into

the desks of a few senior officials in the Ministry of

......

Yongchang Marquis Manor, study.

brocade robes, stern

was the Yongchang

of Revenue named Xu Qing who submitted a petition to stabilize paper prices. Proposals like 'official supervision with private operation' and 'profits directed back to military supplies' are rather novel." The aide with a goatee, a thin scholar, spoke in

down the military book in his hand, his tone

such practical talent. I checked his contacts and found he is closely associated with one person—a newly titled jinshi, a Hanlin Academy compiler named

Ming?" The Marquis pronounced the

a disciple of Zhou Wenhai. We previously considered him insignificant, so we did not

Qingshi Town!

a few years prior when the steward in charge of the paper business had reported that a place in the south called Qingshi Town produced a new kind of paper that was high-quality and cheap, affecting the manor's local business—then it had been dismissed. Now that name resurfaced, linked to a disciple of Zhou Wenhai and

Su Ming been doing since arriving

lives quietly, only copying texts at the Hanlin Academy, keeping to himself and interacting little with colleagues. Nothing unusual was observed," the aide answered. "There is also no direct evidence

no connection." The Marquis tapped the zitan wood desk softly, the sound heavy. "Zhou Wenhai's disciple

watch that Xu Qing as well. Do not

"Yes, my lord."

caution. Any possible stir must be investigated

Hanlin Academy remained a dead pool

Ming was

Yiming

sank without a trace,

rebuke from the Ministry of Personnel, accused of "not understanding governance and presumptuously discussing military

shattered his remaining