Once the main force was out of sight, Gu Yuzhi climbed back into the carriage and said cheerfully, "Chief Secretary Xie, let's hurry and set off for Xinliang!"

It had been several months since he last visited Xinliang. He was really curious about what Xinliang was like now, how many of the poplar trees planted along the official road had survived, and whether they had grown as tall as the poplar trees outside Changzhou City.

And another thing, several months have passed, how many more meters of the official road have been repaired?

Was the city wall ever built?

Most importantly, he wanted to see the sweet potato and potato harvest.

He went to see it last time, and Teacher Shu said that the growth was very good and that there should be a good harvest, right?

Thinking of this, Gu Yuzhi covered his mouth and chuckled to himself. He hadn't told his elder brother that he had found sweet potatoes and potatoes, and was just waiting to send them to them as Mid-Autumn Festival gifts after the harvest!

Thinking of the "surprise" his elder brother had given him, Gu Yuzhi let out a soft hum.

He's different from his elder brother; he's really going to give a surprise.

Upon hearing that Gu Yuzhi was going to Xinliang, Chief Secretary Xie frowned: "Your Highness..."

Gu Yuzhi quickly raised his hand: "Thank you, Chief Secretary. I haven't had a day off in a very long time. I've been saving up my vacation days..."

His eyes darted around: "There's a vacation of more than half a month."

The idea of ​​"saving up vacation days" came from Teacher Shu.

He didn't take a break simply because he felt there was nothing to do while resting, so he might as well continue studying.

In addition, once his birthday was over, he began to formally study the Six Arts, and his studies became much more demanding than before, leaving him with even less time to rest.

I kept saving them up, and before I knew it, it had been half a month!

Gu Yuzhi frowned, her eyes wide, with an expression that said, "This time, I will not back down."

Chief Secretary Xie made a fist to cover the corners of his mouth that were turning up: "I do not mean to stop Your Highness from going to Xinliang. I mean to wait two more days."

The dried meat that was previously prepared for Chen Dianyi and others has all been given to Su Shilang and others; their rations and other supplies need to be prepared again.

“Your Highness, the winters in the northern desert are quite cold, and these refugees do not yet have warm clothes. Your Highness should prepare them as soon as possible.”

With so many people, buying clothes must be a huge expense!

Thinking of this, Chief Secretary Xie couldn't help but feel a little resentful towards the Emperor. The Emperor sent people here without even considering the climatic differences between Jiangnan and the northern deserts…

Gu Yuzhi sighed, resting her chin on her hands, her delicate eyebrows almost furrowing together: "Yes, we still need to prepare for winter!"

Not just clothes, but also blankets and other things to keep warm.

As for firewood, forget about it. There are plenty of uncultivated areas in Xinliang now, with dead branches everywhere. As long as they work hard, they will definitely not lack firewood.

Thinking about it, Gu Yuzhi smiled again: "It's alright, it's alright. Didn't my brother send me 10,000 taels of gold? When we come back from Xinliang, we'll know how many people there are in Xinliang. Then we'll have Guard Qi go to Jinzhou to make purchases."

He didn't want to buy it in Mobei. The biggest cloth shop in Mobei was Li's, and he didn't want to give money to Li's.

Wen Xiuzhu seized the opportunity to interject, "Your Highness, after we go there, we must ask around and see if any of these people know how to weave cloth. We've planted so much hemp stalks; we can't let Li's family profit from it again this year."

Gu Yuzhi nodded his little head vigorously, "Manager Wen is right!"

Last year when they harvested the hemp stalks, they hadn't yet had any conflict with Li's family, so they just sold them off cheaply, since those things were wild anyway.

But things are different now. Qian Kang of Li's Grain Shop is still living a carefree life. He would rather sell his hemp stalks to the people in his fiefdom for firewood than sell them to anyone from Li's shop!

However, it would be best to have someone who knows how to weave cloth, because they grew the hemp stalks themselves this year.

Gu Yuzhi rested his chin on his hand and blinked: "It would be great if a weaving expert came to me. That way, I could have the artisans open a weaving workshop in Xinliang and select some women to learn the craft."

Teacher Shu said that women can hold up half the sky. He didn't understand why they had to hold up half the sky, but he agreed with Teacher Shu and felt that women played a very important role.

Previously, Xie Changshi and the others disagreed with Xu Mama becoming the head chef, but he had specifically looked into the matter of weaving, which was done by women.

Chief Secretary Xie chuckled slightly: "If that's really the case, Your Highness is incredibly lucky."

Gu Yuzhi pouted. He was the one with bad luck; several months had passed, and the business hadn't started any other operations yet...

The horses' hooves clattered as they approached the city gate when they suddenly heard Prefect Qi's anxious voice: "Your Highness, His Highness Prince Wen!"

The coachman tugged on the reins, and after the carriage stopped, Gu Yuzhi leaned against the window and looked up at him: "Prefect Qi, what's wrong?"

What's wrong?

Looking at the young prince's innocent face, Prefect Qi couldn't help but sigh: "Your Highness, has I done something recently that displeases you?"

Gu Yuzhi blinked his big eyes: "Prefect Qi, why do you say that?"

He's been busy studying lately and rarely even leaves the mansion. He hasn't even met with Prefect Qi yet, so how could he be dissatisfied?

He looked at Chief Secretary Xie, who also shook his head slightly, and tentatively asked, "What did you do?"

Seeing his innocent expression, Prefect Qi couldn't help but sigh: "I just received news that refugees from the south have arrived, and that His Majesty sent them..."

Gu Yuzhi nodded his little head: "Yes, yes, I don't know exactly how many people there are. But you're too late, Vice Minister Su has already taken them to Xinliang. This was specially sent by the Emperor to Xinliang to reclaim wasteland."

He had a hint of smugness on his face, the meaning of which was clear: you're too late, all of these have already been sent to Xinliang.

Gu Yuzhi suddenly shook his head. No, no, even if Prefect Qi arrived early, these people are still Xinliang. He wouldn't give them to Prefect Qi.

As he thought this, he looked at Prefect Qi with a hint of wariness, which made Prefect Qi both amused and exasperated.

“Your Highness, I am not trying to take people from you. I just feel that with so many people passing through Changzhou, as the prefect of Changzhou, I should make an appearance.”

He had already inquired and found out that the imperial envoy was the father of Consort Liang and had a close relationship with the young prince. If the emperor asked about the Changzhou matter when they returned, and Vice Minister Su knew nothing about it, wouldn't that be like putting a bad word to his head?

The more Prefect Qi thought about it, the more regretful he felt...

Gu Yuzhi then understood what Prefect Qi meant. He stretched out his arm and, taking advantage of being in the carriage, finally patted Prefect Qi on the shoulder: "Prefect Qi, don't worry. Vice Minister Su will return to Changzhou after sending him to Xinliang. Vice Minister Su and I have already agreed that I will treat him to a meal when he comes back."