How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

Liu Yin looked at her and explained with a smile, "If you have like-minded partners to help you, but no territory to develop in, then all laws and systems are castles in the air."

"But... but where am I supposed to find a place? And how am I supposed to find like-minded people?" Duan An frowned, his face full of trouble.

“Wancheng is a good place,” Liu Yin said after thinking for a moment.

"Wancheng?" Duan'an hesitated.

"Don't look down on the fact that it's always plagued by disasters and poverty. It has an advantage that's more important than any other city," Liu Yin explained with a smile.

"What?" Duan An became even more curious.

“It comes from the people’s resistance against the powerful.” Seeing that she was still somewhat puzzled, Liu Yin said, “You should know that poverty and ignorance are not the most terrible things. The most terrible thing is apathy. If it is a group of apathetic people who cannot be awakened, you will have to put in a lot of effort. But if it is a group of people who have the courage to resist, then everything is much easier.”

Duan An then understood the deeper meaning behind Liu Yin's words and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

“However, please wait a few days while I arrange some things,” Liu Yin said to her after thinking for a moment. “Remember, sometimes things work out better with patience.”

"Mmm," Duan An replied obediently.

In the evening, Cui Heng secretly went to the Liu residence.

"The young lady is looking for me?" Cui Heng came over looking tired.

"What's wrong with you?" Liu Yin asked curiously.

“It’s all because of that book. Now there are rebellions in various places based on the book.” He gulped down a glass of water and continued, “Miss… no, the hermit’s book is practically a book that teaches people how to rebel.”

Liu Yin smiled but didn't reply, only thinking to herself, "It's a good thing you haven't read the textbooks we studied. That's what it means to rebel, to govern a country, and to gain a deeper understanding of people's livelihoods, history, politics, and economics."

Although she thought this in her heart, Liu Yin didn't say anything on the surface. She just smiled and said, "It's just a storybook, nothing more than a prelude. Why should they make such a fuss?"

Cui Heng assumed she was unaware of the destructive power of his book, so he pointed to his dark circles and said, "This time, those people were really determined to dig three feet into the ground to find someone. It took me a long time to clear up the traces."

"We also need to be careful with the Shen family. The head of the Shen family knows that I have a connection with the Hermit. We mustn't let them slip through our fingers." Liu Yin suppressed her smile and said seriously after hearing him say this.

Cui Heng nodded after hearing this: "Yes, I'll have someone keep an eye on it."

After saying that, he rubbed his head and asked Liu Yin, "Why did you call me here this time, Miss?"

"Who did this in Wancheng? I heard that people have gone missing?" Liu Yin didn't answer him directly, but instead asked about other things.

Although Cui Heng was puzzled as to why Liu Yin suddenly became interested in Wancheng, he did not hide anything from her: "It's the Great General."

"Uncle?" Liu Yin raised an eyebrow; she hadn't expected that it was a family member who had done it.

"Yes, the general thinks that they heard about this and were worried that these righteous men would be captured by the court, so they simply hid them away secretly for future use." Cui Heng nodded.

Liu Yin nodded knowingly, then said to Cui Heng, "Cui Heng, please pass on a message to my uncle, saying that I want to give that position to Duan An, and I would appreciate your help."

This was almost a blatant expression of his ambition and purpose, leaving Cui Heng sitting there in astonishment.

It took him a long time before he said incredulously, "This...this...but Princess Duan'an is a girl."

“I know, but I feel that none of those princes are as loving as Duan’an, nor as intelligent. So why can’t I recommend a more suitable successor?” Liu Yin looked into his eyes, not wanting to miss even the slightest hesitation in them.

"This...this..." Cui Heng murmured for a long time before wiping his face. "This, young master, I...I really can't make the decision."

Hearing that the other party had changed their form of address, Liu Yin didn't mind. She just smiled and said, "I know. What I want is for you to tell the leader my purpose and my thoughts. If they refuse, then so be it. Let's part ways amicably. If they do agree, they will naturally benefit from it in the future."

Upon hearing this, Cui Heng's face turned pale, and he quickly explained, "No, young master, I... I'm not disobeying you, I... We spent so many years finding you, how can we just break up like this?"

Liu Yin handed over a cup of hot tea before smiling reassuringly and saying, "I know your loyalty to my father, and I know your concerns, but what I'm going to do is something earth-shattering, something that will overthrow those aristocratic families."

Cui Heng's complexion finally improved under the steam of the hot tea. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "But the princess has nothing, how can we compete?"

“How could there be nothing?” Liu Yin said with a smile. “We have countless people standing behind us.”

“But…but they are just a group of…a group of illiterate people who have neither talent nor ability.” Cui Heng was increasingly confused about Liu Yin.

“No, Cui Heng, who says that common people are born stupid and nobles are born smart? It’s just that one has someone to teach them and the other doesn’t. How many common people are there in the world and how many nobles are there? There are undiscovered gems among the common people, but we just need to carefully search for and select them one by one,” Liu Yin continued to persuade.

"This..." Cui Heng hesitated upon hearing this.

"The common people are illiterate, but it is only because the nobles, who are high and mighty, have control over books and the right to interpret the words of the sages. If one day books become very cheap, and even the poorest families can buy some, then knowledge will no longer be a powerful tool controlled by a small group of people," Liu Yin continued to persuade.

“But these books are very expensive.” Cui Heng frowned, then said, “I’ve heard of a place where movable type printing existed, but I’ve looked into it and it’s not practical.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Yin was taken aback. She hadn't expected that someone in this era had invented movable type printing. However, she could understand Cui Heng's lack of attention to movable type printing.

Compared to the Song Dynasty of the previous era, the literacy rate of the people in the Li Dynasty was even lower, and books were still controlled by powerful families.

While movable type printing has various advantages, it still has several disadvantages. For example, it requires literate workers to select the characters; there are too many Chinese characters, so there is a lot to prepare, and selecting the characters is even more troublesome; and the materials are not durable.

So she thought about it for a long time before giving up movable type printing, and she thought of another printing tool.

Something she had only seen in her childhood in her previous life—a mimeograph machine.