Now that the state treasury was overflowing, and she and Tu Shanjin were rulers who had no interest in wasting money on grand palaces and lavish pleasures, they naturally had to invest in some infrastructure!
Women could now walk openly across the land of Yan Chi, and their thoughts of independence and self-reliance were gradually awakening. With efforts being made on many fronts, the traditional social conventions that shackled women were weakening as well.
The implementation of the female official system in particular had allowed women to come into contact with the organs of state power. In the future, even more women would stand in the imperial court.
Yet education for women remained desperately lacking.
Setting aside families where no one could read or write, only aristocratic clans or scholarly households hired private tutors to educate the women of their families. Some clans had their elders teach the women directly. But in most ordinary households, girls merely read a few books such as Admonitions for Women and Lessons for Women, preparing themselves for marriage, childbearing, and serving their husbands and parents-in-law.
Reading could broaden the mind and cultivate more useful talent. It could ensure that the supply of female officials would not eventually run dry, and allow women to establish themselves in service to the state with greater confidence.
Therefore, a school for women had to be built!
Yun Yaoyao summoned Guan Wanyu and Ning Ying. The two women were now female officials in the imperial court, capable of handling matters on their own. Their competence had made even their colleagues abandon their former prejudice against them on account of their gender.
There could be no one better suited to entrust with the women’s school than Guan Wanyu and Ning Ying.
When they learned that His Majesty had decided to establish a school for women, both women froze. Stars seemed to glitter in their upturned eyes.
They opened their mouths as though they wanted to speak, but in the end, they closed them again. All their excitement and gratitude poured into a single sentence.
“This humble official will see this matter through and will not fail Your Majesty’s trust!”
How fortunate were the women of Yan Chi to have a wise ruler who sincerely considered their welfare and sought to change their circumstances!
And how fortunate were the two of them to have a sovereign who recognized their abilities and entrusted them with important responsibilities!
After the two women withdrew, Yun Yaoyao watched their departing figures with satisfaction.
Their backs were straight as they walked side by side. From a distance, the female form looked less strong and powerful than a man’s, but beneath those slender bodies lived souls brimming with explosive strength and determination.
As pioneers among female officials, they would surely have to endure hardships beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
But so long as Yun Yaoyao remained here, she would always be the support standing behind these pioneers!
Drawing her thoughts back, Yun Yaoyao began working on the second matter.
She took out a thick stack of xuan paper. As she recalled the videos she had watched in the modern world of bloggers recreating ancient technologies, she swiftly recorded everything she could remember.
Who would have thought that memories really did possess the power of reincarnation?
Back then, no matter how hard she had tried, she could not remember anything. But now that inspiration had struck, her memories came flooding back like a bursting river, impossible to stop!
The process for making glass…
The process for making cement…
The Chengkan salt-drying method, the pulu brine-stove method…
Improvements to coke-based iron smelting…
The tension-controlled multi-spindle spinning wheel…
And more…
Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened. On the desk, a thick stack of xuan paper had piled up, every sheet covered in dense writing.
Although she could no longer clearly remember some of the raw materials or the precise details of certain processes and had only managed to write down rough outlines, that would not affect the final result.
After all, the wisdom of the ancients was not to be underestimated. With their abundant experience and repeated experimentation, they would be able to reconstruct the complete technologies.
When all was said and done, she was merely returning the crystallized wisdom of the ancients to the ancients ahead of schedule.
By then, dusk was approaching. Yun Yaoyao finally squeezed the last scrap of wisdom from her mind and collapsed backward into her chair, exhausted.
She could hardly imagine how high her reputation among the common people would soar once all these technologies were brought into the world!
“Xiao Wuzi, send someone to summon the Minister of Works and Liao Zhihan!”
While she waited, Yun Yaoyao’s stomach began to growl, so she ordered the meal to be served.
As she gazed at the table laden with delicious delicacies, Yun Yaoyao sincerely began to miss Tu Shanjin.
If he were here, she could eat to her heart’s content. She could simply claim that the roc consort had eaten it all.
But now that he was absent, she had to maintain her image. She could only pretend to be reserved, taking one or two bites of each dish before swallowing a bowl of rice through her tears.
“I have it so hard. I’m cursed with such a miserable life!”
She had only just finished her meal when the Dragon Shadow Guard hurried in with a reply.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, it is a letter from Concubine Sha!”
Yun Yaoyao quickly set down the dessert she had been eating after her meal and accepted the letter. She slowly opened it.
The very first line caught her completely off guard, pouring a mouthful of honey down her throat—so sweet it made her teeth ache.
“Pregnancy and childbirth are a woman’s gateway to death. If I could take your place, I would ask for nothing more. I only hope that you will remain safe and well.”
Yun Yaoyao continued reading. Every line was filled with sweet words, each one striking straight at her heart.
At the end of the letter, Tu Shanjin questioned the little picture she had drawn for him.
“You said this depicts you and me. The figure on the left is a woman, but the one on the right does not appear to be human. It seems to be a fish. This fish has eyes, a mouth full of saw-like teeth, and a pair of fins, yet it is standing upright. What does it mean? Could you be hinting that you wish for us to enjoy the pleasures of the fish and water soon…”
Yun Yaoyao: “…”
He really was something. Even though he knew she had drawn something that was not human, he could still somehow interpret it as a suggestion of marital intimacy.
That night, Yun Yaoyao suddenly remembered that she had foolishly drawn a shark just to tease the tyrant, while the tyrant had been so completely lovesick that he had focused on romance instead. She could not help wanting to slap herself.
She really deserved it!
But she was not good at saying cloying things. Thus, she had no choice but to seek instruction on the spot, coming up with one sweet line after another together with the Dragon Shadow Guard.
One of them had only recently found love; the other had been single all his life. They were more or less equally hopeless. After a bout of intense brainstorming, a greasy and painfully awkward little essay was freshly produced.
And yet both of them thought it was excellent.
Yun Yaoyao happily handed the letter to the Dragon Shadow Guard, imagining the tyrant’s moved expression and tearful eyes when he read it.
The Dragon Shadow Guard happily hurried off with the letter, imagining that once Concubine Sha became empress, he would surely get to eat at the most lavish table during the celebratory banquet!
The moment the Dragon Shadow Guard left, Minister of Works Qi Jian arrived at the Qianqing Palace in response to the summons.
Inside the study, Qi Jian stood respectfully to one side, waiting quietly for instructions.
Yun Yaoyao’s gaze swept over him without revealing anything.
He was over fifty, with a great deal of gray at his temples. His hands were covered in calluses. He wore everyday clothing, and a patch in a similar color had been sewn onto the inner side of one easily worn sleeve.
Of all the six ministers, he was the most practical. He never involved himself in factional struggles and devoted himself entirely to improving the people’s livelihood. He was particularly fond of researching bridge construction, and the famous Linzhou Bridge had been designed by him.
For that reason, Yun Yaoyao had not included him on the list of officials she had planned to reorganize.
Yun Yaoyao first exchanged a few words with him about ordinary household matters. Qi Jian answered respectfully but with a clear reserve, evidently feeling nothing toward her as a ruler beyond the proper regard between sovereign and subject.
That was fine. She had advanced technologies and processes in hand, after all!
“Minister Qi, take a look at these and tell me how many of them can actually be put into practice.”
Qi Jian respectfully accepted the thick stack of xuan paper and began examining it line by line.
