"Second Prince?"
Song Qingchao stood up. "I haven't heard of him."
Aunt Fang lowered herself even further. "Second Prince Wanyan Xilin, fond of Confucianism since childhood, treats people kindly. However, his mother is from the Central Plains, so he is not the heir apparent."
"So, even if he were the best candidate, it would be difficult for him to succeed, right?"
"Yes. As long as the First Prince and the Second Prince are present, the Second Prince will not have any part in it."
Song Qingchao nodded in understanding.
However, she was more suspicious of Aunt Fang.
"I recall you saying you were someone of the current Empress, but why do you not support the Second Prince?"
Song Qingchao stared at her intently. "Aunt Fang, with your perceptiveness, you must surely know what I intend to do, right?"
She spoke with certainty, not a question.
Aunt Fang knelt down in panic. "Mistress, your servant harbors no intention of overstepping."
Song Qingchao sighed. "Aunt Fang, if you don't trust, don't use. If you use, don't doubt. There's no need for you to be like this."
"Mistress, Old Yu and I were never confidants of the Empress. Our old bones are merely lingering on in this place. It is one thing that you saved us. Most importantly, you trust Old Yu and me, allowing us to utilize our skills, which is why we are loyal."
She paused. "Furthermore, this servant also wishes for the Second Prince to ascend to the throne of the Northern Barbarians. The First Prince is warlike, and the Second Prince, pampered, is dissolute and lawless. Whichever of these two obtains the throne, the common people will ultimately suffer. But the Second Prince is different. If he were to succeed, perhaps the Northern Barbarians could see a different landscape."
"I understand. Aunt Fang, you should also go back and rest. Do not dwell on today's matters."
After Aunt Fang withdrew.
Song Qingchao lay back on the couch. It seemed she needed to go to the Northern Barbarians first.
As for Bai Youan...
A thought had been lingering in her mind, but she was not yet entirely sure.
In the following days, Song Qingchao also began to busy herself.
Since the children did not need to go to work for the time being, Ji Yanzhuo would teach them simplified characters during the day.
When everyone returned in the afternoon.
These children would train with Zhou Yi.
Educating adults might be difficult, but these nine children were like blank slates.
Song Qingchao could draw on them however she wished.
First, basic literacy and physical conditioning, and then, as they grew older, further development based on their individual interests.
It would take one or two years at the fastest, and three to five years at the slowest.
By then, the adults should also have achieved some learning, and this educational system would be established.
In fact, Song Qingchao was not satisfied with just this.
However, in a place like Ling Shi Valley, not only was food difficult to find, but people were also scarce.
Fortunately, there were still a few disciples cultivated from aristocratic families since childhood.
Although they were from collateral branches, they were also accomplished in literature.
Song Qingchao normally had to work for half the day.
After returning in the afternoon, she would study movable type printing with Elder Tan.
She participated in the early stages, and later handed it all over to Ji Yanzhuo and Shaoyu.
Shaoyu's research on simplified characters was already quite good, and with Ji Yanzhuo's guidance, he could recognize many characters.
What they needed now was someone like Shaoyu, who was still learning, so they could select the characters Shaoyu recognized and compile them into teaching materials for printing.
The first textbook took a full half month to complete.
Later, as they became more proficient,
their production speed increased.
Thus, the creation of literacy textbooks came to a pause.
However, she encountered difficulties with mass printing.
Although she had bribed the officials with silver to open channels, paper was considered a luxury item in Da Yuan.
After all, paper was as precious as gold.
If this continued, it would be a considerable expense.
Due to buying large quantities of paper, she had been chided by Su Nanyi, the money-grubber, several times.
But she would give up anything else, never literacy.
Now, when there was a shortage of people, it was even more important to cultivate them well!
Everyone had the potential to be shaped!
Therefore, Song Qingchao decided to make paper herself.
This was not a sudden idea. When Su Nanyi chided her, she had also tentatively asked if good paper, transported to the Northwest by the Lin family's caravan from Feng County, would bring considerable value. If managed well, this income alone would be enough to cover her expenses in Ling Shi Valley.
Although Xiyun Pavilion was also profitable, with the recent expansion and the cultivation of talent, she could barely allocate more funds for her use.
Furthermore, she also had a gold mine.
She did not trust others with the excavation work, so she ended up using her spatial ability to mine the gold from this mountain.
The gold mine required refinement. She had tried using her spatial ability to transfer it, but it did not work.
In the end, it still required manual labor.
With such immense wealth, she only trusted Xiyun Pavilion.
So, even though she was very rich, she could not use it!
She decided to act immediately, as Elder Tan had nothing else to do at the moment.
The construction team would not start building houses until spring, so there was nothing for them to do. They were working with Aunt Fang every day.
Coincidentally, it was not unreasonable to take some time to build a factory, right?
Song Qingchao spent two days searching for papermaking techniques using a search engine, and then consulted some reference books.
These two days were truly spent forgetting to eat and sleep.
Later, after the process was finalized, she enlisted Elder Tan, Elder Yu, and Song Qingmu to research the required tools and the scale of the factory buildings.
Since it was not a dwelling, but just a working shed, the requirement for aesthetics was lower. All requirements were for practicality and warmth. Kuai Shu Ge.
This process took another half month.
The erected sheds and Elder Tan's tools were only halfway completed. If manpower and tools were to be properly matched, it would take another two to three months to produce paper completely. That would be around June, the time of blossoming grass and flying orioles, perfect for papermaking.
Ling Shi Valley was full of trees, so making paper should not denude the mountains.
At worst, she could cut from this mountain and that mountain, making do.
This arduous task of chopping wood did not need to be done by her subordinates.
It would be faster to outsource it to Aunt Fang.
Now, to meet the needs of her base, Aunt Fang had simply and crudely put up a sign at the entrance specifically for posting recruitment notices.
Those who were not capable of feeding themselves were willing to take on tasks here after their day's work.
Everything was developing in an orderly fashion.
In any case, she was not in a hurry.
Now that March had arrived, it was the time for spring to warm the flowers to bloom.
However, Song Qingchao looked at the newly sprouted willow branches in front of her with a frown.
The spring in the northern desert arrived so much later than in Chang'an.