"The Vice Minister of Agriculture was referring to things, not people?"

When it came to Nie Hanlin's areas of interest, Su Luo knew they could communicate.

"Yes! I know of an object that has this ability, and I recently tested it out, but to actually make it, we still need Minister Nie."

"My officer?"

Nie Hanlin pointed to himself, but his eyes were still wary as he looked at Su Luo and Nangong Chiyu.

"I have never heard of the thing you are talking about, Deputy Minister of Agriculture. You can write more than a dozen books a day. There is no record of such a thing in any book. Don't try to fool me."

Nie Hanlin was, after all, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat in the palace. The palace had all the books in the entire Nanning Kingdom, and he had studied and annotated them in depth, no matter what type of book it was.

Those who wrote books were all capable individuals; how could Nie Hanlin believe that something not even found in books existed in the world?

He would only believe something if it was mentioned in ancient books and then done by a younger generation.

“Lord Nie, you are a veteran of two dynasties in the palace, and I dare not mock you. But think about it, you can produce ten books a day by yourself. Isn’t that dozens of times faster than the junior historians in the palace?”

The reason why books are expensive in our country is precisely because there are few books, which creates a market where scarcity drives up prices.

I also have children and have bought books, but I come from a small village, and I know how much a child from a poor family longs to go to school.

But they couldn't afford it; they couldn't even afford basic books for beginners.

Because they are all too expensive and produced in small quantities, it takes about ten days to write each book.

"Lord Nie, as the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, don't you think about ensuring that everyone in Nanning can afford to study and that everyone is literate? Only when the youth are strong can the nation be strong."

Su Luo spoke with great emotion; after all she said, surely Nie Hanlin would be moved.

Nangong Chiyu remained silent. He didn't know what Su Luo's purpose was in seeking out the Minister of State, but the fact that she could say such things showed that she was different from a woman confined to her home.

"I understand what the Deputy Minister of Agriculture is saying, but it is easier said than done. A hundred years ago, there was only one scholar who could write a book in a day and a night."

"So, Lord Nie, are you interested in what I have to say?"

Nie Hanlin was in a daze. Seeing Su Luo like this, he felt that Su Luo's intentions towards him were not pure.

"What does the Deputy Minister of Agriculture want me to do for you?"

Nangong Chiyu was also curious. Today was the first time Su Luo and Nie Hanlin had met, so what exactly did Su Luo want to do?

"Lord Nie, I've heard that your engraving skills are unparalleled. I would like to ask you to engrave a complete set of books for me. Of course, I will exchange it for the printing techniques I just mentioned."

Nie Hanlin scoffed, "There are plenty of people in the capital who can do engraving, why would the Deputy Minister of Agriculture need to come to me?"

Su Luo didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "Because the characters I need are very small, as small as a grain of rice. Only you in the entire capital can carve them."

Nie Hanlin stopped talking, squinted his eyes and walked ahead, saying as he went.

"It's difficult!"

Su Luo followed behind him: "Lord Nie, as long as you are willing, how can it be difficult? I know that my request is a bit unreasonable."

But this is beneficial to you and me, and even to the entire Nanning Kingdom.

The three of them walked to the Shangshu Pavilion, where Du Xiuyuan was waiting, holding a wooden box.

After handing the items to Su Luo, he returned to the Imperial Hospital.

When Su Luo entered, she saw officials of all ranks flipping through ancient books, copying books, and repairing ancient texts.

Nie Hanlin walked into a small room in the side hall, invited Su Luo and Nangong Chiyu to sit down, and then took out a box from under a bookshelf.

It was covered in dust. Nie Hanlin blew on it towards the window before placing it in front of the two of them. When they opened it, they found it was full of his carving tools.

Big ones, small ones, and even tiny carving knives, like embroidery needles.

"What kind of words does the Deputy Minister of Agriculture want engraved?"

Su Luo quickly opened the wooden box that Du Xiuyuan had brought over. Inside were the movable type printing she had been experimenting with, as well as small pieces of wood that Du Siyuan had prepared.

All of this is prepared; as long as Nie Hanlin nods, we can start work immediately.

"I would like to have a complete set of books engraved, but there are too many characters in a complete set. If possible, I would like to ask Lord Nie to engrave three thousand characters for me."

Su Luo compiled a list of words that would be used in the instructions for her medicines.

Her goal is for Ji'antang to become not just a pharmacy, but the largest pharmaceutical factory in Nanning.

Putting these words together, Nie Hanlin naturally couldn't figure out what Su Luo intended to do with them, but he still asked, unwilling to give up.

"Vice Minister of Agriculture, why do you want such small characters, carved one by one? What do you need it for? Can't you use a larger piece of wood to carve it?"

Su Luo shook her head, "You should have heard of Ji'an Hall's Herbal Oil. It's a medicine I made. I've made an instruction manual for it, but writing it by hand is too slow."

That's why I came up with this idea: if you help me carve these characters, my printing skills can also be used on books.

I know you don't like your work being commercialized, which is why I'm thinking of exchanging it for movable type printing. What do you think?

Nie Hanlin never expected that the famous herbal oil in the capital was actually made by Su Luo. Using his carved words to do business made Nie Hanlin feel somewhat resistant, as it was an insult to his scholarly style.

But Su Luo said that if that printing technique could really produce more than a dozen books a day, it would be too tempting for him.

"Were all the words spoken by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture true?"

The merchant's ramblings made Nie Hanlin hesitant to fully trust Su Luo.

"If I were lying to you, why would I ask you to carve words for me?"

As she spoke, Su Luo took out the living printing plate she had made and saw that Nangong Chiyu was also imitating Nie Hanlin by carving the small wooden particles she had brought.

The tools were still laid out in front of him, leaving Su Luo nowhere to put her movable type printing plate, so she said to Nangong Chiyu.

"Prince Yu, please put away what's in front of you. Can you play with it later?"

Nangong Chiyu didn't say anything, but silently packed his things. He was a prince, after all, and Nie Hanlin wouldn't dare let a prince pack his things. He was sitting down.

Finally, Nie Hanlin put his tools and the bag of wood particles that Su Luo had brought aside before returning.

Su Luo arranged the things, and Yun Hui carved another poem for her.

Nie Hanlin and Nangong Chiyu watched intently as Su Luo arranged the items, applied ink, and then used a small wooden stick to make a rotating wheel.

Press it onto the paper, then pull it down along the handle of the stick, and you're done.

Su Luo picked up the paper and found a complete poem, exactly as it had been written.

Su Luo took another piece of paper and printed it out exactly the same way, creating two identical poems in an instant.