The situation in Jiangnan has become even more severe due to the instigation of this old friend, while the situation in the northern desert is improving.
With those troublemakers gone, General Lu managed the Northern Army soldiers with remarkable ease in Quanzhou's Northern Army camp.
Every day at Chenshi (7-9 AM), the sounds of training could be heard emanating from the Northern Desert Army.
Such sounds have appeared before, but the people of the whole prefecture don't know why, they just feel that the current training sounds are more unified and more impressive than the previous training sounds.
Meanwhile, with the help of Professor Yu Xing and Shu Xiaohan's on-site investigation, Xin Liang finally determined the location of the mulberry grove.
After learning of Gu Yuzhi's decision, the other prefects in Mobei did not ask why. They not only brought over the prisoners who had committed crimes but whose crimes did not warrant death, but also brought over a lot of mulberry branches that could be propagated by cuttings.
Gu Yuzhi stared wide-eyed at the several rows of prisoners standing in formation.
He scratched his head and looked at Chief Secretary Xie: "Chief Secretary Xie, is this the matter you and the other prefects were talking about, about planting mulberry trees?"
He stood on tiptoe, craning his neck to look behind the prisoners, trying to find out exactly how many there were.
However, due to his limited height, he couldn't see behind him at all and could only guess based on his intuition that there might be over a hundred people.
If there are more than a hundred people, and with these mulberry branches, we might be able to plant a large mulberry grove this year!
Gu Yuzhi was feeling quite pleased with himself when he heard Chief Secretary Xie say, "I haven't told the other prefects. They must have known about Your Highness's private purchase of mulberry trees and found out about it."
In the northern desert, everyone was watching the young prince's every move. In addition, his desire to buy mulberry trees and plant mulberry groves was no secret, so it was not surprising that the prefects knew about it.
Chief Secretary Xie smiled and said, "Your Highness may not know this, but the other prefects have also given orders to change the original plan of planting poplar groves around the official road to planting mulberry groves instead."
Although planting mulberry groves around the official road may not be as effective as poplar groves in preventing wind and sand, it is better than having nothing at all and letting it grow wild with weeds.
Of course, most importantly, by the time Xin Liang figured out how to make mulberry paper, these mulberry trees would have grown up and be ready to be used.
Chief Secretary Xie stroked his beard, deeply impressed by the fact that all these prefects were intelligent men.
Based on his understanding of the young prince, he knew that once the prince had successfully developed the method for making mulberry paper, he would not keep it to himself but would instead contribute it to the emperor so that more scholars and writers could use better paper.
Xie Changshi suddenly paused, filled with anticipation for whether the mulberry bark paper could be successfully manufactured.
Gu Yuzhi stood with his hands behind his back, watching Qi Shiwei call out the names of the prisoners. He turned his head and saw Xie Changshi looking thoughtful.
He blinked and asked, "Chief Secretary Xie, what are you thinking about? Tell me!"
Xie Changshi smiled faintly, squatted down, and looked up at Gu Yuzhi: "Your Highness, I have thought of a way. Perhaps we can invite Mr. Cheng Bo'an to come out of retirement and serve as the dean of Xinliang Academy."
Gu Yuzhi blinked hard, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Xie Changshi. He wondered if he had misheard, and even picked at his ear in an unseemly manner.
Even though Gu Yuzhi had only been studying for a short time, he still knew the name of Mr. Cheng Bo'an!
Mr. Cheng Bo'an, courtesy name Yunshan, also known as Liuyao Jushi, was the most senior among the great Confucian scholars of his time.
In his youth, he taught at a classical Chinese academy, and many officials of the time were his students, not to mention his writings and poetry collections.
He led his students in restoring rare books damaged in the war, thus promoting the civilization of the Sang Dynasty.
Mr. Cheng Bo'an is someone even the Emperor dares not offend!
Yet, Xie Changshi said that he might be able to persuade this very person to serve as the dean of Xinliang Academy!
Gu Yuzhi secretly introduced Mr. Cheng Bo'an's status in the hearts of literati to Wen Shu, then stuck out his tongue and muttered, "Manager Wen, Teacher Shu, I think Chief Secretary Xie might have gone mad."
Otherwise, why would anyone have such an idea!
Seeing Gu Yuzhi's disbelieving look, Xie Changshi stroked his beard and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, I only said it's possible, and there's a very important prerequisite for asking him to come out of retirement: mulberry paper!"
Mulberry bark paper?
Gu Yuzhi pouted, feeling that Chief Secretary Xie was overthinking things.
Although mulberry bark paper, if manufactured, would be better than the paper we have now, Mr. Cheng Bo'an is not short of money. Why would he come out of retirement because of mulberry bark paper?
Chief Secretary Xie said in a low voice, "Your Highness may not know this, but when the previous dynasty fell, the war was quite fierce, and those rare books were all bamboo slips, which are large and heavy. The scholars were unable to save them all, and many were damaged."
"Although Master Cheng and his students have repaired a lot of books, many rare books have been completely lost. I think Master Cheng must also hope that there is a kind of paper that can prevent mosquitoes and insects, does not easily absorb water, and is lightweight, so as to replace bamboo slips."
Mr. Cheng also wrote many works, but these works were all written on bamboo slips, which were inconvenient to consult and even more inconvenient to move.
However, if the mulberry bark is successfully produced, and it is indeed as the young prince said, it will be a great achievement for scholars all over the world, and Mr. Cheng will definitely look at the young prince with new respect because of this.
Furthermore, after the young prince came to the northern desert, he discovered sweet potatoes, potatoes, and cotton. Once they were planted on a large scale, it would be a great thing for the country and the people. He didn't believe that Mr. Cheng would not be tempted!
The more Xie Changshi analyzed the matter, the more he felt that the chances of success were very high. He smiled broadly, as if the matter was already a done deal.
Gu Yuzhi watched Xie Changshi leave, humming a little tune, and sighed helplessly like a little adult.
Shu Xiaohan, however, was full of encouragement: "Young Prince, I think what Chief Secretary Xie said might actually come true. You've done so many good deeds, and with your lucky streak, that great scholar might really come."
Gu Yuzhi pouted and slowly walked towards her room. Before she had taken two steps, she heard Guard Qi call out, "Your Highness, please wait a moment!"
Qi, the guard, quickened his pace, checked all the prisoners, made a few arrangements, and then jogged over to Gu Yuzhi: "Your Highness, I already have the answer to what I told you before."
Gu Yuzhi tilted his head, looking completely bewildered: "What is it?"
Ever since he learned that Chief Secretary Xie and the others wouldn't leave him, Gu Yuzhi had been feeling quite pleased with himself every day, and he couldn't remember what Guard Qi had said to him.
Upon seeing this, the guard Qi swallowed hard: "It's about what I was saying, what I was saying about wanting to join the army after Xinliang is completed..."
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