The most important clue that Misha found in the Guanda Library was the book "Plitt's Agricultural Chronicle" which contained a note giving the Duke of Barrett the pseudonym "Richard".
The first thing Dorothy did after arriving at Guanda was to find this book in the library and read it carefully. She found that it was a grain tax register recorded and compiled by the ancient Pritt tax officials.
The author of this "Chronology of Agriculture and Grain of Priit" is neither a historian nor an agronomist, but the tax officials of the king of the Hyacinth Dynasty of Priit. It records the annual grain tax registration situation in various parts of Priit from 875 to 964 in the Glorious Calendar, which is nearly a decade. At that time, all the major noble lords in various parts of Priit were recorded. Although it is not very detailed, fortunately there is no serious omission.
After reading the contents of "Pritt's Agricultural and Food Chronological Table", Dorothy immediately set about looking for people who were interested in it. She sent a zombie to sneak into the archives of Guanda University, and looked up the detailed records of the library's book collection over the past decade. After using the ability of "Start" with superb information processing ability to quickly check the thick materials, she found that the "Pritt's Agricultural and Food Chronological Table" was included in the Guanda Library fifteen years ago, which means that the book has existed in the Guanda Library for a maximum of fifteen years.
Then, Dorothy asked several zombies to soak in the archives at the same time and checked all the borrowing records of the Guanda Library in the past fifteen years. Dorothy spent a long time to check the piles of information at a glance, and found all the borrowing records of "Pritt's Agricultural and Grain Chronicle" from the massive borrowing registration form. Because this book is very unpopular, in the fifteen years since it came to the Guanda Library, only one person, including Barrett's alias Richard, has borrowed this book. Except for the Duke of Barrett himself who has repeatedly borrowed this book, other people have only borrowed it once.
Afterwards, Dorothy investigated the other five people except the Duke of Barrett. She looked up the records of teachers and students of Guanda according to their names, and looked up what other books they liked to borrow. She also organized the books they had borrowed into a list to see if they matched the borrowing list of the Duke of Barrett. As long as Dorothy could find out what books they borrowed from the library, she could judge what this person was studying or researching from these books. As long as his study and research direction were the same as Barrett's, then he was most likely the "partner" that Barrett knew.
However, after reading countless materials, Dorothy's conclusion was disappointing.
Among these five people, two are officials from the PRC's grain department. They came to Guanda to borrow this book in order to improve their own archives in the department. In addition to this book, they also borrowed many books about PRC agriculture and grain. Two others are studying PRC meteorology. Their borrowing slips are all about PRC meteorology. They borrowed this book probably because they wanted to judge the weather conditions of the year from the grain harvest of the year. Finally, there is another person who mainly studies the development history of PRC taxation. His borrowing slips are all books about PRC taxation in various countries.
Food...meteorology...taxation...it is obvious that these three research directions are far from Barrett's research. Among the books they borrowed, except for this "Pritt's Agricultural and Food Chronology", there is no other book that matches Barrett's list. Moreover, they borrowed the books very early. The most recent one borrowed this book four years ago, and the time interval between them and Barrett was also very long. It is basically unlikely that they are Barrett's research partners.
The investigation was temporarily stuck in a bottleneck, and one direction of the investigation was cut off. Dorothy, who was sitting on the table in the library, couldn't help but frowned slightly, and then she immediately started a new round of analysis.
'The other people who borrowed the "Plitt's Agricultural and Food Chronology" are unlikely to be Barrett's research partner... Then... through what channels did his research partner learn about and study this book? Only when the two of them were very familiar with this book at the time would they use this book to convey information... So Barrett's partner must have read this book, and it was not Barrett who borrowed it and then gave it to him to read, because he knew exactly where the book was in the library...
'Actually... the book "Plitt's Agricultural and Grain Chronological Table" is not suitable for borrowing, because it is a chronological table. Tables are purely for recording data. It is not suitable to be read from beginning to end. Instead, it is suitable to be placed on the bookshelf and taken down for reference when needed. The Duke of Barrett's residence is far away from the library. It is too troublesome for him to go to the library when he wants to check this chronological table, so he simply borrowed it. But if he lives near the library, or even the research site is in the library...why would he bother to borrow it? ...
"So...could it be that the companion of the Duke of Barrett is living in or near the school, and a large part of his research is being conducted in the library?"
After thinking of this, Dorothy immediately became excited. Living in or near the school, most of the research is done in the library... Isn't this the teacher and student of Guanda? And it is most likely a professor. Those students who are busy graduating have no time to discuss the academic content of Barrett's research.
"If it is true that professors at Guanda University are conducting collaborative research with Barrett... it would be very convenient to consult this chronology, so there is no need to borrow this book. So I just need to find professors at Guanda University who have research directions similar to Barrett's... So what are the specific contents of Barrett's research?"
Dorothy thought so, and then she began to analyze the Plitt Agricultural Chronology.
'This chronology was used by ancient Pritt tax officials to record the tax grain situation in various places at that time. Barrett's interest in this chronology was definitely not due to his interest in the grain tax at that time. His focus was on other situations reflected by the grain tax, just like someone used this chronology to speculate on the climate and rainfall at that time.
'This chronology records the situation between 875 and 964, which is about five decades ago. Five decades ago... it was when the current Prit Fengxin Dynasty was just established and the Wind King Rebellion had just ended.
'What Barrett wanted was information about the Wind King Rebellion period. The true history of the Wind King Rebellion had been erased and tampered with by the current royal family and the church. Barrett could not find any history books that recorded the history of the Wind King Rebellion, so he could only settle for the next best thing and obtain some details of the Wind King Rebellion from various skirting historical materials, so as to deduce the truth of that war.
'This book "Pulite Agricultural and Grain Chronicle"... the initial year of the record is basically the year when the Wind King Rebellion ended. The grain tax situation in various regions of a country can reflect the grain production situation in each region. For example, after the war, it is possible to compare the difference in grain production in various regions with the future period to estimate which places have been affected by the war and which places are relatively stable. War disasters will affect grain production. Long-term war in a place will lead to the abandonment of the land in this place, the extinction of agriculture, and a sharp drop in grain production. Barrett can read the intensity and scale of the Wind King Rebellion in various places in Pulite from this chronology, which is why he wants to pay attention to this grain tax book.
'So, the reason why Duke Barrett was interested in this book "Plitt's Agricultural and Grain Chronology" was because of the Wind King Rebellion, and the same was true for his collaborator. They were both interested in his book because of the same research topic, so they were able to communicate with each other and share success.'
Dorothy thought so in her heart. At this point, Dorothy couldn't help but smile slightly. At this point, the direction of her investigation became much clearer. The professor at Guan University... might be from the history department or the archaeology department. He had an implicit interest in the history of the Wind King Rebellion. After finding so many clues about the cruise ship, it would be easy to find someone.
After thinking of the new clues in her mind, Dorothy immediately began to spend her time looking through the archives, checking the specific information of all the professors in Guanda, especially those in the Department of History and Archaeology, checking their resumes and all the papers they published, and even the library's borrowing records. Finally, after comprehensively sorting out and processing a large amount of information, a name appeared before her eyes.
"John Acheson"
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