He Li was somewhat surprised. Come to think of it, he had been in Gefeng for ten days and had not yet met Jiang Jin even once. He wondered what she could possibly want with him this time.
He hurriedly returned to his room to change into a formal set of clothes before heading to the county magistrate's office.
When Jiang Jin saw He Li, she smiled kindly. Shopkeeper He, come, take a seat.
He Li was flattered. Thank you, My Lord.
Are you getting used to living in Gefeng? Have you updated your household registration? Jiang Jin started making small talk.
He Li appeared slightly reserved. Thanks to your blessing, we are living very well. Our household registrations were all changed to Gefeng a few days ago.
Jiang Jin nodded. That is good. Qu Zhao has withdrawn their troops.
He Li was stunned, followed by a surge of great joy. Congratulations, My Lord.
Living in the city, they truly had no idea that the Qu Zhao army had retreated. After all, even though Qu Zhao had besieged the city, they had not made any significant moves on a daily basis. He had almost forgotten that Gefeng was under siege.
Jiang Jin smiled faintly. It is a joy for all of us in Gefeng.
She glanced at He Li and continued, Now, there is a matter I would like Shopkeeper He to help me figure out.
He Li straightened his posture. I wouldn't dare. Please tell me if you have any orders, My Lord.
Salt. Jiang Jin got straight to the point. We are lacking salt in Gefeng.
As you can see, Gefeng has quite a large population now. We can grow our own grain, but salt can only be bought. I wonder if Shopkeeper He has any channels for purchasing salt?
Although she had collected a lot of salt initially, Gefeng's population was large now and would only grow in the future. The salt would definitely not be enough, and the need was imminent.
She had also sent people to search for salt mines in the surrounding area, but unfortunately, their luck might have been used up when finding iron and coal. No salt mines were found nearby.
He Li suddenly understood, and he secretly relaxed in his heart. He had wondered what Jiang Jin wanted with him; it turned out it was for salt.
He chose his words carefully. To be honest with you, My Lord, my father-in-law used to be a salt merchant. It's just that the situation has been chaotic these past few years, and coupled with a minor accident and his advancing age, he stopped doing it.
However, he still has some connections. I also used my father-in-law's channels to get salt. It's just that the price is not low.
Jiang Jin's eyes flickered. What about the quantity?
He Li pondered. How much does My Lord want?
Jiang Jin said without hesitation, Of course, the more the better. At the very least, enough for the commoners in our city to consume for several years.
As long as it didn't get damp, salt wouldn't spoil. Besides, when the time came, she could secretly store some in her spatial dimension.
She had originally planned to make a trip directly to Donghu Commandery once Gefeng settled down. As far as she knew, there were salt workshops over there, as Donghu Commandery was by the sea.
Making salt from seawater has existed since ancient times, and it existed in this era as well.
If she couldn't buy it, she would just steal it. She had her spatial dimension anyway. When it came to the professionalism of stealing things, she was definitely top-notch.
After He Li arrived in Gefeng, she had other ideas. If someone else could handle the matter, there was no need for her to do everything herself.
A leader who works themselves to death is not a good leader; a leader who gets others to work themselves to death for them is a qualified leader.
Anyway, for now, she still had the money to buy salt. After all, she had collected a massive amount of gold and silver cakes back then.
He Li made a rough calculation. The quantity was quite large. He hesitated for a moment and said, I wonder if you could allow me to go back and discuss this with my father-in-law?
Jiang Jin smiled and nodded. That is only natural. If you are worried about safety on the road, I can dispatch soldiers to protect you along the way.
The expression on He Li's face finally relaxed. Thank you, My Lord.
Why did he come to Gefeng? Wasn't it because Gefeng made him feel safe?
Of course, he also wanted to make money. But if Jiang Jin hadn't requested it, he hadn't planned on going out for business anytime soon. After all, no matter how much money one makes, they need to be alive to spend it.
After He Li left, Jiang Jin called Dong Si and Feng Qingzhu over.
I want to make paper, Jiang Jin said directly.
Although she had collected some paper initially, it was far from enough. Right now, the students at the academy were all using sandboxes to practice their handwriting.
Paper in this era was not cheap, and with the ongoing war, the prices were ridiculously high.
Since she possessed the technology for it, and the raw materials for papermaking were simple and easy to obtain, she naturally did not want to spend money on it.
Besides, relying on others was never as good as having it yourself. Once she produced paper, she could even use it to make money.
As Gefeng's population grew larger and larger, her soldiers also increased in number, and she needed more supplies in all aspects.
The need for wealth was ever-increasing. After all, just the monthly wages alone were not a small sum now.
Thinking about this, she couldn't help but feel grateful once again that her spatial dimension had come with her. Her space stored all the civilizational data of human historical development.
Dong Si said helplessly, My Lord, we do not have papermaking technology, nor do we have talents in this field.
He also knew that Gefeng lacked paper, severely lacked it. But papermaking was not something that could be achieved through pure imagination. Without talents in this area, researching and developing it from scratch would take an unknown amount of time to succeed.
Jiang Jin waved her hand. You don't need to worry about the technology. I have it. You just need to find the right people. We will train them ourselves. They must be reliable individuals; this technology cannot be leaked.
Dong Si and Feng Qingzhu were overjoyed and hurriedly complied, Yes.
Jiang Jin thought for a moment and added, Find more people. We might as well produce glass and soap while we're at it.
Most of the vessels people used nowadays were pottery, which was heavy and highly limited.
The cost of glass was actually very, very low, and it perfectly complemented pottery.
She planned to establish her own merchant caravan to sell these glass products, which had a low cost but could be sold at sky-high prices, in exchange for the things she needed.
While doing business abroad, they could also gather intelligence from various regions.
This was something she thought of just when she met He Li. No matter how good someone else's merchant caravan was, it still belonged to them. She needed to have her own.
Feng Qingzhu was puzzled. My Lord, what are glass and soap?
Jiang Jin slapped her forehead and explained, It's colored glaze. I have a better technological formula that can make colored glaze with more shapes and higher transparency, which is glass.
Soap is used for washing clothes. It's similar to soap pods, but soap has more uses and can be made into various shapes and scents.
Dong Si exclaimed, To think there are such wonderful things in the world?
Having been in the palace for so many years, it could be said that he was accustomed to seeing fine things, but he had never seen the glass and soap that Jiang Jin spoke of.
Jiang Jin did not elaborate, only saying, Yes, the two of you are responsible for this matter. Select the candidates as soon as possible.
The current Gefeng was equivalent to a small country. She had to strive for self-sufficiency as much as possible, while simultaneously developing her own strength and increasing her population and military forces.
After Dong Si and the other left, Jiang Jin called Chen Zi over.
Chen Zi did not speak much on a daily basis, and Jiang Jin had not expected her learning ability to be the strongest among everyone.
It should be said that Chen Zi was a person with great talent for learning and an excellent memory.
Not only did she adapt well to simplified characters, but she could basically memorize them after writing them twice. Mathematics, arithmetic, and pinyin were all things she could grasp with just a little guidance.
Therefore, Jiang Jin basically only taught things once during class. If anyone didn't understand, she had them ask Chen Zi.
When the academy opened after the new year, Jiang Jin directly appointed Chen Zi as the headmaster of the academy. Not only was she responsible for the academy's teaching duties, but she was also in charge of eradicating illiteracy among the military soldiers and the commoners in the city.
Jiang Jin didn't waste words either. Current books are either copied by hand or rubbed from stone tablets. Both methods are too troublesome, and the efficiency is too low. It is not conducive to the spread of culture.
"So, I'm planning to improve our current printing methods by introducing movable type. It will boost efficiency and save on both labor and materials."
Since papermaking was already on the agenda, it was high time to get movable-type printing up and running. Once books were readily available, it would be much easier for her to promote simplified characters.
