Everything that happened today, including the conversation between Prefect Ke and General Lu at this moment, was all planned by them.

After all, because of Bai Jiwu's reckless and foolish behavior, the entire Mobei Army now has a bad image in the hearts of the people of Quanzhou.

They don't care whether you're a good person or not; all they know is to seal off the city. The army that uses force to suppress them is the Northern Desert Army.

Even though General Zhang and his men are now imprisoned by Prefect Ke, who knows if this newcomer is a good person or not?

The phrase "the emperor's close minister" is the one that people can most easily believe!

Prefect Ke specifically mentioned General Lu's identity in an attempt to ease tensions between the Northern Desert Army and the people of Quanzhou.

However, Rome wasn't built in a day. To gain the complete trust of the people of the entire prefecture in General Lu and the Northern Army, and to make them the strongest support for the Northern Barbarians after their invasion, we need to see how General Lu performs next.

Guard Qi and his men escorted General Zhang and his group back to the prefect's prison. Prefect Ke and his men interrogated them overnight, determined to pry out who the owner of the brothel was.

After delivering the person to the prefectural government office, Tian Shu and his group went directly to the Mobei Army, carrying the identity tokens that General Lu had specially made the night before. They took the place of General Zhang and others and began to thoroughly investigate the relationship between ordinary soldiers and the brothel.

Qi, the guard, silently returned to the inn.

No one expected that this matter would end so smoothly.

Especially Gu Yuzhi.

He was so anxious that he was pacing around in his study, and he couldn't even practice his calligraphy properly, which he usually used to calm his mind!

Chief Secretary Xie would occasionally glance outside, then look at the desk with the ruler in his hand: "Your Highness, do not be distracted. There are still quite a few large characters to finish today!"

Gu Yuzhi paused, the ink dripping from the tip of his nose onto the paper, forming a dark blob that quickly soaked through the paper and even affected the next sheet.

"Oh dear! What a waste!"

He pouted and quickly put the brush back, carefully picked up the paper, and blew on it with obvious heartache: "Whoosh, whoosh..."

As he blew on the paper, he muttered under his breath, "If only we could invent a kind of paper that wouldn't absorb water like this, that would be wonderful."

He blew until his cheeks ached before the ink spots finally dried, but a large black dot remained in the middle of the paper. If he wasn't careful, the dot would rot.

Gu Yuzhi was even more unhappy.

Paper is very expensive!

Shu Xiaohan's gaze never left the paper. She frowned, put her hands behind her back, and paced back and forth, occasionally stopping to look up at the sky, as if she were deep in thought.

Shopkeeper Wen asked suspiciously, "You wouldn't happen to know about papermaking, would you?"

This Shu Xiaohan is just a PhD from an agricultural research institute. How can she know how to increase grain yield, how to optimize grain production, and even how to make paper?

Shopkeeper Wen quickly opened his folding fan and waved it around. Just as he was about to speak, Shu Xiaohan said, "I've got it!"

Her sudden voice startled both Gu Yuzhi and Manager Wen.

Gu Yuzhi, in particular, trembled as he held the pen, and another drop of ink fell.

Gu Yuzhi was almost in tears!

"Young Prince, Young Prince, don't cry!" Shu Xiaohan rushed forward and hugged him. "I vaguely, I think, I roughly remember that mulberry bark can be used to make paper!"

Gu Yuzhi's lips twitched down, and his eyes were red as he stared at Shu Xiaohan.

He never wasted two sheets of paper in a single day!

Seeing this, Shu Xiaohan kept patting his back: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault, please don't be angry, Your Highness."

"Listen to me, mulberry bark really can be used to make paper! And mulberry bark paper is thick, strong, and insect-resistant, among other advantages!"

Shu Xiaohan didn't know what was going on, but at this moment her mind seemed to be divinely aided, and she recited the information about mulberry paper that she had seen back then.

Seeing that Gu Yuzhi's lips finally turned up in a smile, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The kids are older now, and harder to please them!

Gu Yuzhi, however, was intrigued by Shu Xiaohan's words.

Is the paper thick and strong?

Does that mean that even if there's a little too much ink, the paper won't bleed through or tear?

If it's about preventing insects, does that mean they no longer need to use heavy bamboo slips to keep the account books, records, and other things they need to keep?

Gu Yuzhi looked at Shu Xiaohan with bright eyes: "Teacher Shu, Teacher Shu, please tell me quickly, is this mulberry paper really that good? How is it made? Is it the same as ordinary papermaking?"

"And another thing, wouldn't making mulberry paper be a waste of mulberry trees?"

Don't big trees absorb nutrients through their bark? If you peel off all the bark from a mulberry tree, won't the tree die?

It seems a bit of a waste to kill mulberry trees just for mulberry bark paper!

Shu Xiaohan was initially overwhelmed by Gu Yuzhi's barrage of questions, but then burst out laughing at his unfounded worries.

She gently patted Gu Yuzhi's head and said softly, "How could we waste mulberry trees?"

Actually, Shu Xiaohan learned that mulberry bark could be used to make paper because a colleague from the same academy who was engaged in mulberry tree research mentioned that a blogger had shared his process of making mulberry bark paper, which promoted the national intangible cultural heritage and let everyone know that the mulberry tree is actually a treasure from head to toe.

Shu Xiaohan's area of ​​expertise wasn't in this field, but when she heard him mention intangible cultural heritage, she immediately became interested. She first searched for mulberry bark paper on Baidu to learn about its remarkable qualities.

After that, Shu Xiaohan searched for that blogger and watched the entire process of making mulberry paper.

At that time, Shu Xiaohan was amazed by the blogger's versatility, but she never thought that one day she would actually be able to use the things she had just glanced at on a whim.

In just a few moments, Shu Xiaohan recalled the content of the short video and explained, "The mulberry bark used for mulberry paper is not the bark of the main trunk, but the bark of branches that are two to three years old."

"Young Prince, think about it. We originally planned to plant a mulberry grove for the textile business. Why don't we use this mulberry grove to make some mulberry paper?"

"If mulberry paper is truly developed, then you've made another great contribution! The Emperor will surely reward you handsomely!"

Shu Xiaohan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wen Xiuzhu, but Wen Xiuzhu kept his eyes down and tapped his fan from time to time, clearly not listening to her.

She was instantly furious, but only for a moment.

What Shu Xiaohan didn't know was that Wen Xiuzhu had already seen a huge business opportunity in mulberry bark paper.

Mulberry groves must be planted, and they should be planted on a large scale!

Even if it takes several years to successfully develop mulberry bark paper, the textile industry will support us, so what's there to be afraid of?