The next day, right after lunch, Tong Cheng'er went to the palace with Yinzhen.

Then she met the Fifth Prince's wife.

The two were selected as imperial concubines in the same year, but due to Tong Cheng'er's own reasons, even though she had spent some time in Chuxiu Palace, she didn't recognize most of them. So when she met the Fifth Prince Consort, she still felt unfamiliar with her.

However, the Fifth Prince's wife was quite familiar with her. She talked about some things from the selection process, and Tong Cheng'er was completely bewildered, only able to give a few casual replies.

However, it's clear that the Fifth Prince's wife is a very eloquent person, and seems to have a good sense of propriety.

She quite liked her sister-in-law like that.

Although she is not afraid to argue with others, she is not idle and enjoys bickering with people.

Even if the royal sisters-in-law don't see each other often, it's always best if they can get along harmoniously.

As soon as Tong Cheng'er came out of the palace, Ru Lan came over with a smile and said, "Your Highness, the account books for the first half of the year have been delivered. Would you like to take a look?"

She initially wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, she nodded and said, "Okay, bring the ledger over."

As a top student majoring in financial management, she attended a top-tier university and had excellent grades, so accounting was naturally no challenge for her.

In particular, the method of keeping these ledgers all originated from her.

There are many account books, some for top scholars, some for jewelry shops, some for pencils, and some for sofas.

They were all delivered at once.

Looking at all these account books, Tong Cheng'er couldn't help but say, "It's like they were all sent over together at the same time."

Rulan: "No, it's not that. The items were delivered in different orders. Ruxue and I calculated it before giving it to you."

"Oh, I see!"

She trusted Ruxue and Rulan Tong Cheng'er, but looking at so many account books, she suddenly didn't want to look anymore.

"Name a number, after deducting all the miscellaneous expenses, how much is the income?"

When Rulan gave a number, Tong Cheng'er's eyes widened in surprise.

"How could there be so much? It's more than the two million taels last time."

Is it really that profitable?

That was completely unexpected.

Rulan: "This servant heard that the Ninth Prince made quite a commotion on the sofa, and the sofa and pencils sold very well."

She expected the profits to be substantial, but the actual results were still larger than she anticipated.

With such a sum of money in her hand, Tong Cheng'er felt quite pleased.

These are just hers. As far as she knows, Yinzhen also has private property, and it's no less than hers. So, when you add them together, it's comparable to half the national treasury!

Tong Cheng'er used to think that the phrase "rich enough to rival a country" was an exaggeration, but now it seems that being rich enough to rival a country isn't so difficult after all!

In such a short time, he's become richer than half a country, if not richer.

"Rulan, what do you think we should do with so much money?"

She couldn't possibly spend all that money, no matter how much she loved luxury!

Having too much money can also be a source of worry.

Rulan didn't know how to spend money.

It's not that I didn't know, it's just that I didn't know how to spend such a large sum of money.

"My lady, this servant doesn't know how to spend the money," Rulan said helplessly.

Tong Cheng'er asked this question once before.

After thinking about it for an afternoon, Tong Cheng'er finally turned her attention to education.

It wasn't that she disliked having too much money, but having more money wasn't necessarily a good thing, especially given her status and the era she lived in.

In feudal dynasties, the emperor was essentially the embodiment of etiquette and law. His personal wealth was roughly equivalent to half of the national treasury. It would have been better if the emperor hadn't known; if he had, he could have slept soundly.

So she had to quickly find a way to spend the money.

That evening, Tong Cheng'er shared her thoughts with Yinzhen.

Yinzhen was quite surprised when his young wife said she wanted to build an academy.

He asked curiously, "Why did you decide to build an academy?"

"Rulan told me about the income in the first half of the year today. It's really too much. I think it would be better to spend some of it."

"So that's why you thought of building an academy?"

Tong Cheng'er nodded: "Yes, I think this is the most important thing I should do right now."

Yinzhen did not object, but an academy cannot be built on a whim.

How to build it?

Who will be responsible for building it?

What kind of building should it be?

What kind of students do we accept?

...

These issues all need to be considered carefully.

Do you have any ideas?

Tong Cheng'er actually had some ideas.

This was inspired by the modern nine-year compulsory education system.

Of course, she doesn't have the ability to implement nine-year compulsory education.

After all, that's really too expensive.

"I have two ideas."

"My first idea was to build an academy in every county-level region across the country. The academy would admit a certain number of students, but admission would require an exam. Only those who passed the exam could enter the academy to study. During their studies, all fees would be waived, and they would be provided with writing materials. Of course, this would be a large-scale operation and difficult to manage."

That's the first idea: "So what's the second idea?"

"The second idea is to allow all children in the capital to study, but of course, only for five years..."

Tong Cheng'er finished explaining her two ideas, each with its own characteristics.

Tong Cheng'er: Which one do you think is better?

Yinzhen didn't know which one was better at the moment.

"The money is yours, don't you think?"

Tong Cheng'er shook her head: "I haven't decided yet."

After a while, Tong Cheng'er said again, "Actually, I prefer to start popularizing education in the capital first."

Yinzhen asked curiously, "Why?"

"Perhaps it's because the emperor is far away and the business is too big, I'm afraid the money won't be used effectively."

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