Chapter 78 Shen Zhiwei: In modern times, I would be...

Gui Yang couldn't imagine that he had been frowning and his brows never relaxed for a moment.

Even after following Wen Tao out of the palace and taking on the mission assigned by the king, he was still in a difficult situation.

"Master, do you have time to chat?"

"How could I refuse an invitation from the Prime Minister? And at the same place?"

When Wen Tao came out and saw Gui Yang so conflicted, she knew that a conversation was going to happen. She also wanted to have a good chat with Gui Yang, so naturally she would not refuse Gui Yang's invitation.

A long time ago, Wen Tao understood that she and Gui Yang must get along well. Even if she did not agree with some of Gui Yang's ideas, she could not go against her.

Gui Yang must have had the same idea as Wen Tao, and he didn't want to have any unpleasantness with Wen Tao.

So once a disagreement arises, the two will sit down and talk, trying to find a suitable solution to the disagreement.

It's not that the two of them get along so well, or that they have a good relationship. It's just that they are both under the king's command and are the king's right-hand men. If the two of them fight, it will be a disaster for Jingchang and the king.

Wen Taoxin thought, although Gui Yang has various problems, fortunately he is just like herself, and is absolutely loyal to the king.

What Gui Yang wanted to talk to Wen Tao about was vocational schools. He still felt that the timing for opening vocational schools was not right.

Especially the matter of letting Hu Youan come back, even if it is only for one year, it still has a huge impact on Jingchang and the whole world.

Gui Yang didn't beat around the bush. After sitting down, she directly expressed his inner hesitation.

It would be better to open schools after the world is stable. By then, the generals will have nowhere to fight, and they can go to technical schools to train talents and cultivate the next generation. This can be regarded as making full use of resources instead of putting the bow away after the birds are used up. What a good arrangement.

"Dazai, have you ever thought about why the king proposed the issue of cultivating talents at this moment?"

Wen Tao admitted that what Gui Yang said made some sense. Thinking from Gui Yang's perspective, this matter was reasonable and well-founded, but the reality was not the case.

It is naturally necessary to set up professional schools at this time.

"Of course, it's because we're so short of manpower, both inside and outside the government," Gui Yang replied immediately. "But precisely because we're short of manpower, we can't just randomly assign anyone to be a lecturer. Especially a general like Hu Youan. Once she leaves the battlefield, there's no one who can replace her."

"She can't spend her whole life on the battlefield waiting to be sent to war. Now the king has taken the initiative to transfer her back to Jingchang. What if something unexpected happens in the future and she has to withdraw? If there is no one to take over, Dazai has imagined how helpless Jingchang will be at that time."

Wen Tao's words made Gui Yang silent. Gui Yang had never thought about this matter.

The main reason was that Hu Youan was in her prime and had always been invincible on the battlefield, leaving people with the impression that she would always be the pillar of the family on the battlefield. No one would suspect for no reason that the pillar of the family would collapse and the house would become ruins.

No one would even think about replacing the main beam with a new one to prevent the house from collapsing if the main beam is gone.

Yes, the king is so anxious, he must have considered this situation.

Gui Yang rubbed her eyebrows with a headache. The final problem was still the lack of manpower.

How come I never realized before that there are so few talented people in the world? The king is clearly rich, but there is still no one to use. This is because the ministers are incompetent!

Gui Yang felt that he must recruit more talents. He had few connections among civil officials and it was difficult for him to find suitable talents to recommend. However, he should still be able to work hard on military generals, as many military generals were not well-read when they were young.

Pick someone who is skilled, and you might get a surprise.

When Wen Tao saw Gui Yang was silent, she knew that her words had convinced her. She continued, "If you don't plan for the future, you'll have immediate worries. Your Majesty is determined to conquer the world. As your subjects, we should share your worries. The Grand Master will have to take care of the affairs of the professional school."

"Since this is for the sake of the king and the future of the Great Zhou, then as the Prime Minister, Yang must do his utmost. The Grand Tutor is more experienced in this matter, so Yang will just listen to him."

The matter fell on Gui Yang's head. He was nominally an assistant, but in fact he was the one who did the real work. If Gui Yang did not cooperate, it would be difficult for Wen Tao to get things done on his own.

Vice versa, without Wen Tao's help, Gui Yang would probably have to put in a lot of effort. He had never encountered anything like this before. In fact, before today, he didn't even have a clear concept of school.

Gui Yang chose to trust the king's judgment. He carefully consulted Wen Tao and asked Wen Tao to explain the matter of the professional school to him clearly, and he would do his best.

When Hu Youan received the news, it was already June and the weather was getting hotter.

However, the summers in recent years have not been so hot that it can kill people. There is still a bit of coolness in the wind. If you find a shady place to sit for a long time, you will feel cold to the bone.

The news was passed to Hu Youan by Qiong Yu. If Qiong Yu herself had not come to testify, Hu Youan would have thought that someone had falsely conveyed Wang Ling's message and deliberately harmed him.

"Does the king really want to set up a professional school? And he wants to summon the general back to Jingchang?"

Another person who also thinks that Wang Ling is a fake is Chiwei. The reason why Chiwei knows this order is that once Hu Youan leaves, all this mess will fall on Chiwei's head. She must be informed and be prepared to take over everything.

"Yes, it's true. Qiong Yu got the letter from the Grand Tutor, and the Grand Tutor also said it above. This is true. The Prime Minister has already selected the school address. As soon as I return, classes will start immediately."

When Hu Youan said this, there was confusion and subconscious obedience in his eyes.

She would not disobey the king's orders.

Chiwei looked troubled and said worriedly, "But the Northland has only been recovered not long ago. If we return to Jingchang now, what will we do if there is another disturbance in the Northland? The An Kingdom and other countries are watching covetously. If you leave, General, they will definitely attack the city."

"Let's block the news first. How long can we block the news of my departure? I've been back to Jingchang before, and wasn't everything peaceful back then?" Hu Youan quickly made arrangements. "This time will be the same as before, except I'll be away for a longer time. Fortunately, it's only a year, so the news blockade can last about half a year. Once winter comes, those people won't dare to act rashly."

A year is neither long nor short. As long as we can survive the early stage and enter winter in the later stage, the chance of war will be small.

After winter comes spring, and she will be back soon.

Hu Youan never thought about changing the king's mind. She just did whatever the king asked her to do.

Not to mention going back to Jingchang to be a lecturer right now, even if she were to be placed under house arrest in Jingchang, she would not hesitate. However, she would be a little worried about how to arrange for the other soldiers.

Thinking of this, Hu Youan glanced at Chiwei. Chiwei was already able to stand on her own and was a qualified general, but she was still a little too young to be the chief general.

Fortunately, Chiwei is talented enough and has a good character. He will surely be able to remain calm when given the task in times of crisis.

Hu Youan had already made arrangements, so it was useless for Chiwei to say anything. He could only nod in agreement and go ahead with it.

Hu Youan did not return to Jingchang until July, when Shen Zhiwei got a few cotton plants.

Shen Zhiwei was dumbfounded when she saw the cotton. How come she didn't know when someone took the cotton back?

The Zheliu Caravan, which Shen Zhiwei had high hopes for, returned to Jingchang in April, much later than the agreed time. It was said that they encountered bad weather on their way back and were afraid of being trapped to death in the desert, so they simply stayed for a while longer.

Shen Zhiwei was busy with the affairs of the merchant ship and the vocational school, and for a moment she really forgot that there was a caravan floating outside. After Zhe Liu and others came back, she took a quick look at the things that Zhe Liu's caravan brought back. There was nothing too rare, so she let Zhe Liu take the caravan to rest. By the way, she arranged a position for Zhe Liu in the business company, and left it alone for the time being.

Shen Zhiwei had never heard anything about the cotton matter.

So this cotton was not brought back by Zheliu.

But cotton was indeed something offered as a tribute.

After careful investigation, Chen Zhiwei found out that the people in the west had learned that the Zheliu caravan was looking for a strange flower that bloomed like clouds, so they had been searching everywhere for some time. Zheliu had brought countless rare treasures to those small western countries. They wanted to please Zheliu, so they tried their best to find it, and after finding it, they sent it to Zheliu as soon as possible.

Looking at the snow-white cotton, Shen Zhiwei was extremely happy. She immediately called Mengnu, the innate farming saint who was taking care of the crops on the farm, and asked her to study with the people from the small Western country how to plant cotton in the Great Zhou and where it would be better to plant it.

"You might have to go to the North, to places with a Western-like environment. They're all within the North. You might not be able to come back for three to five years, so be prepared."

Shen Zhiwei told Meng Nu to be prepared to take her family to the northwest to plant cotton. Meng Nu originally thought she could plant cotton near Jingchang, but she didn't expect to go so far.

It was really too far. Meng Nu had never been to such a far place. In fact, until now, Jingchang City was still the farthest place she had ever been to.

"It's much drier over there than Jingchang. You can talk to the people from that small Western country to find out the details. If you don't understand something, ask the translator. It would be best if you could learn the language of that small country to avoid them hiding something from you or making mistakes that would delay cotton planting."

Shen Zhiwei said this, feeling that it was a bit too much to ask. Meng Nu was a latecomer in learning elegant language and Mandarin. She only became a little fluent in the past few years. Asking her to learn another foreign language would be like treating Meng Nu as a foreigner.

Unexpectedly, Ms. Meng did not find it difficult to learn another language at all. She even felt that in order to farm better, she had to learn it. She not only had to learn but also had to learn quickly and well!

After Shen Zhiwei understood Meng Nu's thoughts, he gave her a thumbs up and said, "You are worthy of being the one with the innate holy body of farming!"

You really work so hard to farm.

"By the way, you should have heard about the establishment of specialized schools recently. We'll start with an officer school this year. After a few years, when you have some free time, you can train agricultural officers. During these two years, you can think about how to teach others how to farm in the future."

If Shen Zhiwei were in modern times, she would definitely be a capitalist who would be hung on the street lamp. She has exploited people to the core.

As a result, in the feudal dynasty, she was the best king. Didn’t you see that Meng Nu’s face turned red with excitement and she wanted to shout "Long live the king" to show her admiration for the king?

Writing books and biographies, and passing on skills, this is what many scholars dream of. Now that Mengnu has the opportunity to become one of the famous teachers, how can she not be excited?