After arriving at the council hall, everyone slowly took their seats and began discussing the matters that had been completed in Xinliang.
Gu Yuzhi rested his chin on his hands, his legs swaying slightly. He tilted his head to look at this and then to look at that. He felt so happy that he could fly.
Only Qi, the guard, was restless, glancing at this and that, before finally lowering his head heavily.
Sure enough, he was the only one who "betrayed" the young prince.
However, if no one told him this, he would also feel that being a garrison commander in Xinliang and being happy every day wasn't so bad.
But after General Lu said that he had developed an infinite longing for life in the army.
It wasn't that he didn't want to stay by the young prince's side; it was just that he had his own ambitions and wanted to make full use of his martial arts skills.
Listening to everyone laughing and discussing where they could study abroad in the future, and then laughing and trying to trip up the other party, trying to get them to do more things.
For the first time, Guard Qi began to doubt himself.
He scratched his head vigorously, unable to understand these things, and didn't want to talk to Xie Changshi and the others. He just thought to himself that he would write to his brother when he got back and ask him what he should do.
After listening with great satisfaction for a while, Gu Yuzhi gently clapped his hands, quieting the council hall down.
He looked at Chen Dianyi and chuckled, "Chen Dianyi, we came directly from Jingxiang to Xinliang this time because we have something very important to tell you."
Gu Yuzhi blinked his big eyes at Xie Changshi, who immediately understood his meaning and nodded in response: "A few days ago, Your Highness saw an article in an ancient book about mulberry paper."
"Your Highness is thinking that the paper nowadays is relatively thin and easily absorbs light, so if we are not careful, the paper will be wasted."
Gu Yuzhi nodded his little head and continued, "The ancient book says that mulberry bark paper is soft and strong, not easily permeable, and also resistant to insects."
He chuckled and said, "Chen Dianyi, let's plant more mulberry trees this year. Even if we can't make mulberry paper, we can still pick mulberry leaves to feed silkworms."
No matter how you calculate it, you won't lose out.
Chen Dianyi did not expect that this year's land reclamation task would be complicated by the addition of planting mulberry trees.
Chen Dianyi initially wanted to suggest taking it slow and prioritizing stockpiling grain, but then he reconsidered. The textile business had already opened, and as long as the Wen family's trading company made enough money, buying grain wouldn't have any negative impact.
Chen Dianyi nodded and said, "Very well, we will give the order to select some people and find a place to plant mulberry trees."
Since Your Highness wishes to plant a mulberry grove, it would be better to choose a place that is a little further away from Xinliang City.
Chen Dianyi frowned slightly: "However, I'm afraid this mulberry grove won't amount to much this year. We'll have to wait another two years, since saplings are hard to find."
Last year, His Highness ordered them to plant more poplar trees along the official roads and around fertile fields, saying that it would help prevent wind erosion and stabilize sand dunes.
Because the saplings are still quite small, they haven't seen their full potential yet, but planting poplar trees has become popular in the northern desert, and many other trees have been cut down. Mulberry trees will probably be hard to find.
Most importantly, Chen Dianyi didn't know how to plant mulberry trees, so he had to ask Yu Xing about it after the event.
Upon hearing this, Xie Changshi nodded slightly: "The requirement for this mulberry paper is that the branches are two to three years old, so there's no need to rush this. Let's take it slowly."
Chen Dianyi nodded, and recalling the characteristics of mulberry bark paper, Chen Dianyi and the others became interested and asked Gu Yuzhi about some details of mulberry bark paper.
Whether Gu Yu knew or not, he could only ask Shu Xiaohan, but Shu Xiaohan had only seen it and had not actually done it, so she didn't know the details.
He could only scratch his head and, following Professor Xie's previous advice, said, "The ancient book only briefly mentioned it; I don't know the specific papermaking method."
"It must be quite difficult, otherwise why would it have been lost?"
Thinking about it that way, it seems to make sense.
Chen Dianyi nodded and said, "Your Highness, how about this, we plant mulberry trees and learn from each other little by little?"
The mulberry grove wasn't completed, so they couldn't produce mulberry bark paper in large quantities, but they could try it out first.
Perhaps by the time the mulberry grove is established and suitable mulberry bark is available, they will have also developed papermaking techniques.
Liu Dianyi, who was usually quiet, nodded: "Chen Dianyi is right. We can't waste time on this. Now that we have this idea, let's do our best to do it."
"If what is recorded in the ancient books is true, then Your Highness has done another good deed that benefits the country and its people!"
Faced with so many loving gazes, Gu Yuzhi squinted and smiled somewhat naively, silently proclaiming, "These good deeds weren't done by me, they were all done by Teacher Shu!"
He pouted and said, "If only you, Professor Shu, could appear in front of everyone and let them know that you are the one who has done something that benefits the country and its people."
Shu Xiaohan patted his head: "These are not things I did, but rather the wisdom of the ancients. I was just fortunate enough to be born in an era of equality and happened to learn this knowledge."
"Young Prince, whether it's sweet potatoes, potatoes, or cotton, the methods of cultivation were all public knowledge in our time. The purpose of our Academy of Agricultural Sciences is to strive to increase the yield of crops, whether it's grain, cotton, mulberry trees, or other crops."
She smiled and said, "Your Highness, this is the importance of knowledge sharing and establishing academies."
Gu Yuzhi nodded blankly, as if he understood something, yet also seemed to not understand something at all.
Shu Xiaohan originally wanted to say that the academy should not be limited to teaching how to compose poems and write essays in the traditional eight-legged essay style, but should also teach other aspects of knowledge, just like the girls' school discussed earlier.
For example, the old farmer Yu Xing could easily share his methods for increasing crop yields with everyone...
But before she could finish speaking, Shu Xiaohan swallowed the words back.
This is feudal ancient times, where scholars have a very high status. If the academy founded by the young prince were to teach people how to farm or do business, the academy would likely be besieged as soon as the news got out.
Gu Yuzhi looked up at Shu Xiaohan and felt that Teacher Shu's expression was a little strange, but he couldn't figure out what was strange about it.
He pursed his lips and picked up where Liu Dianyi left off, saying, "I was just lucky."
He was lucky enough to be chosen by Teacher Shu and Manager Wen after arriving in Mobei. They taught him how to do business and make money, how to identify plants, and how to profit from these plants.
He was telling the truth, but Chen Dianyi and the others didn't take it seriously. After exchanging glances, they burst into laughter.
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