The next day, Shi Qingluo met Concubine Hua alone without Xi Rong.
Shi Qingluo entered the private room and saw that Concubine Hua was already sitting inside, and Prince Jin was also there.
There was also a young man and an Old Taoist Priest.
Shi Qingluo bowed: “Greetings to Prince Jin and Concubine Hua!”
Prince Jin smiled and said, “Madam Shi, come and sit down.”
Shi Qingluo walked over and sat opposite Prince Jin.
Then, Prince Jin introduced the Old Taoist Priest to Shi Qingluo: “This is Taoist Priest Chang Qing.”
“This is my son Liang Mingyu.” He introduced the young man again.
Shi Qingluo smiled at the two of them, “Hello, Taoist Chang Qing! Hello, Young Prince!”
The Old Taoist Priest looked at Shi Qingluo and smiled, “I took the initiative to tell the prince today that I want to meet Madam Shi.”
He didn’t beat around the bush: “Has your master taught you Taoism?”
Shi Qingluo shook her head apologetically, “My master didn’t teach me Taoism, he only taught me to read and some prescriptions that are not available outside.”
She didn’t understand Taoism at all, so she didn’t pretend to understand.
The Old Taoist Priest was a little disappointed. He originally wanted to talk about Taoism with Shi Qingluo, the disciple of the old immortal, but who would have thought that she didn’t learn it.
He asked again, “Did your master leave any books related to Taoism?”
Shi Qingluo thought about it, and there were indeed some books about Taoism in the wooden box left by the old Taoist.
She had flipped through it before, but couldn’t quite understand it.
Because it was something that the original body cherished very much, and she often let the old immortal take the blame, so she didn’t throw it away, but put it in the space.
“My master did leave some books of this kind, but I left them in Heyang County.”
She naturally couldn’t take them out now, otherwise it would be unreasonable.
“If you want to read it, why don’t I have someone send it to you after I return to Heyang County?”
She saw that the Old Taoist Priest had a kind face and gave people a feeling of Taoist spirit.
He seemed to really like Taoism, so it would be better to make full use of those books.
The Old Taoist Priest was delighted, “I’m just preparing to travel recently. Why don’t you tell Madam Shi when she leaves Beicheng that I will go to Heyang County with you?”
Shi Qingluo didn’t refuse, “Okay!”
Looking at the appearance of Prince Jin, he respected the Taoist priest very much, which meant that the Old Taoist Priest must be capable.
It’s not bad to be able to make a good relationship with such a person.
The Old Taoist Priest smiled and said, “Thank you!”
He knew that Prince Jin and Shi Qingluo should have something to say, and he didn’t want to get involved.
So he made an appointment with Shi Qingluo to leave together in a few days, and proposed to leave first.
Although Prince Jin was a little disappointed that the Old Taoist Priest didn’t help him anymore, he had no choice but to accept it.
After the Old Taoist Priest left, he smiled at Shi Qingluo and said, “Madam Shi gave this prince’s concubine an idea to make money yesterday. What do you want?”
Shi Qingluo knew that Prince Jin was a smart man. “After the prince gets the recipe of the modified paper and tries it successfully, can you build a cement road from Beicheng to Heyang County?”
To get rich, you must first build a road. Now, the road to Heyang County was not only remote but also difficult to travel.
After the canning workshops are opened, transportation will become a problem.
But now the money in the county government can only barely build a workshop, and there is no money to build a road.
She has seen some plans of her husband for Heyang County, and there is a shortage of money everywhere.
The cost of building a road is even greater, so it is best if it does not cost the county government.
And in this way, the couple will have no handle for people to talk about.
They were thinking about the people of Heyang County, so they offered the recipe to Prince Jin in exchange for him to build a cement road. This was not abuse of power for personal gain.
On the contrary, it was for the benefit of the people.
It was not to say that they were surrendering to Prince Jin. If anyone found fault with them, the young husband could spit back in the future.
Prince Jin was stunned, obviously surprised that Shi Qingluo would propose such a condition.
“Don’t you want to propose something for yourself?”
Shi Qingluo smiled, “I’m not short of money now, and I don’t seem to need anything else on the northern border.”
“I think Heyang County is very bitter and cold, and the people are having a hard time, so I hope to do something for them.”
“Do you think it’s okay, Your Majesty? Exchange a cement road for a paper-making method.”
When the cement road from Beicheng to Heyang County is built, it will attract merchants to buy things from the workshop. After making money, they can continue to build roads in other places.
That is, use a road to support a county first. She and her husband both have a relatively big goal.
They hope to develop Heyang County into a large commodity distribution and trading center on the northern border.
However, due to various poor conditions, it is not easy to achieve, and it will take time.
Prince Jin originally wanted to use the money-making recipe given to him by Shi Qingluo to drag her into the dirty water and pull her on his boat.
He didn’t expect this girl to be such a slippery fish.
Only she could think of exchanging a method for a cement road.
In this way, there is no handle for people in the capital to catch.
He was not unhappy, but he was not happy either.
But on second thought, at least Shi Qingluo was willing to advise him, which meant that there was room for winning her over.
If they handed him the handle as soon as they came to Beicheng, or let the people in the capital catch them, he probably wouldn’t value Shi Qingluo and her husband so much anymore. The harder they were to get, the more determined Prince Jin was to pull the two of them onto his boat.
He thought about it for a while and said with a smile, “It’s just building a road, you seem to be at a disadvantage.”
“How about I compensate you with another 50,000 taels of silver?”
Shi Qingluo laughed inside her mind. If she took the compensation money, she would be the same as her scumbag father-in-law.
She smiled and shook her head, “We are not short of money now, so there is no need for compensation.”
“My husband wants to open a school in Heyang County, he could use this paper making method to make cheaper but stronger paper to provide for the students in the school.”
“This method can be given to the prince, but I hope we can use it ourselves.”
“The prince can use this to compensate us.”
“Of course, in addition to using it myself, I will not give the method to others.”
She added, “We will not open a papermaking workshop to compete with the concubine for business.”
This way, they will have a bright future in making paper.
She didn’t want to compete with Prince Jin for business, otherwise, she would have to help him share the hatred from those big families.
But paper cannot only be used for writing. If they make some paper for other purposes, such as toilet paper, the profit will be very good.
Prince Jin found that Shi Qingluo was difficult to deal with. She didn’t fall into his trap at all.
The main point was that the request she put forward did not sound excessive.
If he refused, she would feel uncomfortable, and it would be troublesome if she stopped offering methods and advice in the future.
So Prince Jin had no choice but to accept it, “What could be the problem? There is no problem at all.”
Then he changed the subject and said, “But we have to sign a contract.”
He was afraid that Shi Qingluo would take advantage of him, and soon after giving him the prescription, she would sell it to someone else or the Emperor in the capital, so why would he bother?
Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “Thank you, Your Highness. Of course, there is no problem with signing a contract.”
Even if Prince Jin didn’t mention this, she would still mention it.
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