Chen Shangshu ignored him and continued to address the Emperor, "I also heard that the workshop was built on the noble land bestowed by Your Majesty. If it's not good land, what is?"

  "I've heard, I've heard that Minister Chen's information all comes from hearsay, without personally seeing or investigating, and yet he directly makes a conclusion," the Ministry of Works minister retorted, "Does Minister Chen also handle government affairs by relying on 'hearsay'?"

  Chen Shangshu glared at him, but didn't respond to his question. Instead, he turned to the Emperor and said: "Your Majesty, now all the merchants in Suzhou are rushing to buy paper. With so much paper, you can imagine how large a paper mill the Princess of Lin has built. All the land it occupies is good arable land. Not to mention that making paper requires materials, and the bamboo used for paper production needs to be cultivated on land. So many bamboos must have been planted."

  "Alright," the emperor raised his hand to interrupt him, saying: "Today is tiring, everyone go back and rest. If you want to accuse the princess of occupying good land, then first bring out evidence, don't rely on conjecture to falsely accuse someone."

  Chen Shangshu bowed his head on horseback and responded with a "yes", but there was no anxiety on his face, instead he slightly raised the corner of his mouth and glanced at the Minister of Works.

  The Minister of Works was so angry that he gritted his teeth and after escorting the Emperor into the palace gate, he turned his horse's head and left.

  "Old Ren, why are you running so fast?" his closest colleague, the Minister of Personnel, hastily caught up with him.

  The Minister of Works glared and said: "If you don't hurry up, I'm afraid I'll be driven to death by all of you, a bunch of red-eyed monsters."

  He stared at the Minister of the Board of War and said: "Why didn't Minister Ma say a word just now?"

  The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel smiled bitterly: "Lao Ren, this time that child has offended too many people. Haven't you seen others not speaking up and letting Chancellor Chen report to the Emperor?"

  "So you're going to abandon me this time?"

  "What's so serious about it?" Marshal Ma smiled and said, "The Lin family is her protective charm, at most she'll just suffer a bit of loss. Your Majesty still has old feelings for her and won't treat her harshly. The officials in the court also have to give some face to the Lin family."

  The Minister of Works still looked unpleasant, "When the wall collapses, everyone pushes it, when the tree falls, the crowds scatter, and even you are like this, let alone others?"

  He looked at him solemnly and said, "There are always people in this world who kick others when they're down. You think it's no big deal now, but if the two cousins really get hurt because of this, I'd like to see how you'll face Zi Hou."

  Ma Shangshu opened his mouth and remained silent.

  The two of them and Lin Zhi were close friends, when Lin Zhi passed away, Lin Jiang was already very capable, capable to the point that Emperor Wu didn't need the two of them to take care of him.

  So after Lin Jiang's death, the two of them had secretly promised to take good care of Lin Qingyuan, after all she was Lin Zhi's only daughter.

  And Lin Jiang had also entrusted them before his death. At this time, when the Minister of Works asked him like this, Minister Ma couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

  Ke Lin Qing Wan has offended many people this time, unlike last time when it was just the Zhao and Chen families, and he could hold them off with just Old Ren.

  This time, she took out two papers, both of which hit the nail on the head.

  At first, everyone's attention was focused on the exquisite and elegant bamboo paper, which is as fine as Xuan paper, so they didn't take a liking to the cheap and coarse grass paper.

  Although the benefits of bamboo paper are very high, only a few people can afford it. Apart from those related to this benefit, everyone else thinks it's okay.

  After all, having one more choice is not bad, and the quality of bamboo paper is also very good. At first, Ren Shangshu and Ma Shangshu were both delighted, thinking that Lin Qingyuan was indeed worthy of being Lin Zhi's daughter, this ability to make money is inherited from her father.

  The high-quality paper that is roughly the same in quality is all in the hands of a few families, they are concerned but not anxious.

  After all, compared with bamboo paper, they have been operating for many years, and whether it is sales or reputation, bamboo paper cannot be compared.

  Bamboo paper may not necessarily squeeze out traditional paper, but the development of bamboo paper market is certain.

  So from the beginning, apart from the one in Xuan Cheng that delayed the Lin family's order, none of the others were urgent.

  And another kind of paper - rough and heavily inked grass paper was even more despised by them.

  But they didn't expect the influence of grass paper to be so great. The Lin family set the price very low, and in just two short months, the capital was full of grass paper. Their other cheap paper products hardly sold at all.

  Although this paper is cheap, it can't withstand the large sales volume, and its profit is higher than that of Xuan paper and other high-grade paper.

  But their costs are high, even if they lower prices, they can't match the price of toilet paper, and everyone can only watch as a large amount of money flows into Lin's bookstore.

  The capital is still like this, let alone the Jiangnan region. It's said that Lin's descendants have also opened a paper shop in Hangzhou. Originally, grass paper was eight cents per knife in Suzhou, but merchants who went to Lin's bookstore to buy in bulk only needed seven cents. They could sell it for ten to fifteen cents when they sold it elsewhere.

  At this price, their paper can barely survive, but with the Lin family's descendants fleeing in large numbers, even this price will be gone.

  For example, in Hangzhou, I heard that the grass paper is only sold for ten cents and there's a tendency to lower the price even further.

  If it's like this elsewhere, who would buy their hemp paper?

  Not to mention the sons of poor families, even the children of their own family would have chosen cheap rough paper when they first started practicing calligraphy.

  Lin Qingwan has touched the interests of too many people this time, and Ma Shangshu worried: "Old Ren, send a letter to that child, let her restrain herself, and deal with the paper workshop if she can. It's too dangerous for her to hold onto this thing when Haoyu is not around."

  If Lin Jiang were present, other families would be dissatisfied in their hearts but dare not attack him so openly in the imperial court. At most, they would privately find him to resolve the issue.

  Ma Shangshu sighed and said that after all, it was still because of Zi Hou's thin descendants. If the Lin family had a son, it would be better.

  Ren Shangshu tightly pursed his lips, although he didn't say a word, but also agreed. As soon as he returned home, he couldn't help but rush into the study to write a letter without even washing up.

  He handed the sealed envelope to his attendant, "Find two men, ride fast and deliver it to Suzhou as soon as possible, hand it over to Lady Lin."

  Chang followed orders and left immediately after receiving the letter.

  However fast the letter was, it couldn't be faster than the actions of the officials in the imperial court. The next day at the imperial meeting, an official impeached Lin Qinglian for occupying good land and using it for other purposes, and also impeached her for competing with the people for profit...

  Even the crime of treason against the imperial power has been brought up.

  Some people think that Lin Qingyan used the imperial bestowed fief to raise livestock, isn't that blasphemy against the imperial power and dissatisfaction with the emperor?

  There were many who shouted, but of those in the front row, only Minister Chen came out to voice his dissent for a couple of sentences, while the rest remained silent.

  Neither defending Lin Qingyuan nor condemning her.

  The Minister of Works took a deep breath and stepped forward to beg the Emperor to order the Grand Court and the Imperial Censorate to investigate, and not to determine Lin Qingyu's guilt based on just one side of the story.

  This gave Lin Qingyan time to react, and since there was impeachment, there would be rebuttals. The emperor had to listen to Lin Qingyan's explanation first.