After two months of joint efforts by Chen Zi and dozens of engravers, the first book was finally printed using movable type.
"My Lord, this is the dictionary printed according to your request. With this dictionary, anyone who knows Pinyin can learn to read."
Chen Zi was extremely excited. For the first time, she discovered that learning to read was actually such a simple matter.
And Jiang Jin's talk of universal literacy was not an empty promise; she had been striving for it all along.
Since ancient times, only the royal nobles and prominent aristocratic families could master written knowledge and open the door to wisdom.
But now, this door to wisdom had been thrown wide open by Jiang Jin, making it accessible to all the people.
This was a great revolution that would change the course of history, and for her, Chen Zi, to participate in it was both an honor and a stroke of profound luck.
She did not know if these seeds of wisdom sown today would grow into towering trees, but she looked forward to it—looked forward to what her Lord described as a hundred flowers blooming.
When that time came, this world would inevitably be different!
Jiang Jin had mentioned the dictionary to her when she first became the academy's head, and she had a habit of taking notes; she recorded every word Jiang Jin taught.
Therefore, when Jiang Jin said she wanted to create a simplified Chinese dictionary, Chen Zi and several teachers from the academy immediately began organizing the materials.
Following Jiang Jin's requirements, they arranged the characters, Pinyin, and definitions, and integrated a Pinyin syllable index, a radical directory, and so on.
Thus, by the time the printing workshop was built, the content of the dictionary had basically been fully edited.
It had to be said that this was a massive undertaking. After the workshop was built, even more manpower and material resources were invested.
Fortunately, Jiang Jin attached great importance to the workshop, assigning her many people, including master craftsmen who had previously worked on block printing.
It was also fortunate that during Jiang Jin's several months of teaching in the winter, after she taught, the first generation of students like Chen Zi went to the military camps, industrial zones, and other areas to popularize literacy.
Talents in technology and management, in particular, were the key targets for learning simplified characters, so quite a few people now knew how to read.
They used wooden movable type, which was more durable than clay. Jiang Jin also wanted to use aluminum type, but unfortunately, she had no aluminum right now; that would have to wait until they found an aluminum mine in the future.
Jiang Jin was very satisfied. "You did a great job. Let's settle on this for now, and we can revise it later when there are more words."
Of course, these simplified characters could not include the more than ten thousand words of later generations; the dictionary only contained about three thousand commonly used characters.
She still went to the academy to give lectures now, but not often, usually just a few times a month.
Now that the necessary writing system had been popularized and the units of measurement unified, the next step was to conduct more in-depth teaching for each subject.
Chen Zi nodded heavily. "Understood."
Seeing her full of drive, Jiang Jin couldn't help but smile. "The textbooks must also keep up. Get them edited as soon as possible."
"We are already working on it. Please rest assured, My Lord." Chen Zi rarely went to give lectures anymore; most of her time was devoted to the printing workshop.
Jiang Jin was even more satisfied. Subordinates who took the initiative to work were absolutely good subordinates.
She thought for a moment, then pulled a glittering gold pocket watch from her robes and handed it to Chen Zi. "For you. No matter how busy the workshop gets, remember to eat and rest on time."
Chen Zi accepted it with trembling hands, her excitement beyond words. Was she actually the second person to receive a pocket watch bestowed by her Lord?!
Click. With a slight sound of the cover flipping open, she saw the hour hand, second hand, and various markings inside.
She had only ever seen this on Yun Chengxuan's pocket watch before, and now she was the second person to have one!
Her eyes turned slightly red, and she was about to kneel to give thanks when Jiang Jin quickly stopped her. "There's no need for that. It's just an ordinary gadget."
Chen Zi's excited and proud mood didn't last long, because that very night, Jiang Jin handed out a pocket watch to Dong Si, Zhou Sui, and a dozen other people.
Chen Zi: "..."
Jiang Jin was also feeling helpless. It wasn't that she was stingy with the pocket watches, but rather, she had forgotten.
So when she wanted to find something to reward Chen Zi with, she suddenly remembered her pile of pocket watches.
Naturally, everyone got one. After all, she couldn't show favoritism; everyone had been working very hard.
In contrast to the joy here, the envoy was hauled back to Zhou County and carried down from the carriage.
Sangjie, the magistrate of Zhou County, was completely dumbfounded. Wasn't he just going out to condemn Ge Feng? How did he end up coming back vomiting blood?
He hurriedly called for a physician to treat him. The envoy was a man close to the Great Chanyu. If anything really happened to him, Sangjie would not be able to escape the blame.
After a flurry of medical treatment, the envoy finally woke up slowly. Before he could even speak, large teardrops began to fall.
Sangjie: "...Lord Envoy, are you alright?"
The envoy raised his hand, and a servant stepped forward to help him sit up.
He wiped his tears, his voice weak. "Prepare paper and pen. I need to write a letter to the Great Chanyu, boohoo..."
He didn't want to be an envoy in Zhou County anymore. He wanted to return to Wu Qin, back to the Great Chanyu's side. Boohoo, Ge Feng was too much of a bully.
It was several days later when the Great Chanyu of Qu Zhao received the letter. Because the envoy had written a full ten pages, a carrier pigeon couldn't carry it at all, so a soldier had to deliver the letter to him by riding a fast horse.
Looking at the contents of the letter, along with many words blurred by tears, the Great Chanyu could well imagine the pitiful appearance of the envoy crying while writing.
Veins throbbed on the Great Chanyu's forehead, and he couldn't help but rub his temples.
Meng Su paused his tea-drinking. "Great Chanyu, is there news from Ge Feng?"
The Great Chanyu handed the letter to him without saying a word.
Meng Su finished reading the letter, his brows slightly furrowed. "Great Chanyu, if Ge Feng is truly as the envoy says, I fear they are deliberately weakening our military strength."
"This also shows, from another perspective, that Ge Feng's military strength is not large, and they only dare to fight in small skirmishes," he continued to analyze.
"Great Chanyu, Ge Feng absolutely has a master tactician holding the fort. We cannot let them continue to develop, otherwise I fear..."
The Great Chanyu naturally understood Meng Su's unspoken implication. Right now, sending thirty to fifty thousand troops to take down Ge Feng wouldn't be a big problem, but once Ge Feng developed, it would be hard to say.
It wasn't that he didn't want to take down Ge Feng. But although Ge Feng didn't have many troops, their combat power was not weak. Where could he spare so many troops to attack Ge Feng?
Meng Su also remembered this problem. He pondered for a moment and said, "Why don't we draw some troops from the counties surrounding Lin County?"
After Magistrate Gao, whom they controlled in Lin County, was killed, Lin County completely lost control, and Luo Lan took charge of it.
That man was a madman. He took in a large number of bandits and refugees. Whether they were unpardonably wicked or mere robbers, as long as they were Han Chinese, he took them all.
Soon, he possessed a military force of over twenty thousand, forming a confrontation with his Qu Zhao. The two sides had fought a few battles, with each having wins and losses.
This also caused him to have to invest more troops to defend the counties surrounding Lin County.
The Great Chanyu shook his head. "Inappropriate. With such a large troop adjustment, Lin County will inevitably notice. When that time comes, he is very likely to take advantage of our vulnerability."
"In the future, whether it's the transportation of supplies or the adjustment of troops, we will not pass through Ge Feng. We will take a detour. Everything will wait until we capture Ze'a Commandery."
Ze'a Commandery was Qu Zhao's biggest enemy right now. Once he conquered Ze'a Commandery, he could take down Ge Feng and Lin County at the same time.
