HLnovel Chapter 522 is about making this drop of water.
Chapter 522 is about making this drop of water.
Jiang Zhiyi stood there, stunned, almost doubting that she had misheard.
Lu Yangyang, however, said happily, "That's wonderful! With Zhiyi here, this matter will definitely be accomplished!"
Jiang Zhiyi understood Lu Yangyang's meaning and hurriedly stood up, cupping her hands in greeting, "Zhiyi is willing, thank you for your appreciation, sir."
She had originally hoped that she could persuade Lord Ling to make things easier for them and get the academy up and running today. She could discuss other matters later. She never expected that Lord Ling would trust them so much, which really surprised Jiang Zhiyi.
She could move about in Jiangnan easily because the Governor-General of Jiangnan was her father. But even so, she could only use the guise of opening a shop to give those girls some space to settle down. It was absolutely impossible for her to interfere in local politics as a woman. Even if her father was enlightened, he would at most occasionally tell her about some court affairs, but he would never let her really participate in them.
But Lord Ling's invitation to become a guest minister of Yuzhou Prefecture is equivalent to letting her directly participate in local government affairs, something she never dared to dream of before.
As a child, she wondered what it would be like if women could also take the imperial examinations and enter officialdom. Would she also be able to make a name for herself? But it was just a thought.
After surviving her ordeal and meeting Lu Yangyang, she escaped her disastrous marriage. With her substantial dowry, she envisioned following Lu Yangyang to do things that could help young women, and that filled her with fulfillment and contentment. She never imagined that they would not only take the first step, but also the second, and the third…
So, could their dreams really come true in the future?
Jiang Zhiyi bowed deeply again with clasped hands, saying, "Zhiyi will do her utmost."
"Hahaha," Magistrate Ling clapped his hands and laughed, "Meeting you is my good fortune, and also the good fortune of the people."
After speaking, Prefect Ling glanced at Zong Que, who gave him a barely perceptible nod.
Prefect Ling chuckled and said to Lu Yangyang, "In that case, let's not delay. Let's split up and get to work. After we've killed those beasts, we'll build the academy after the New Year."
Lu Yangyang knew that Prefect Ling would agree, but she didn't expect it to go so smoothly. He even added the trade route of Yuzhou Prefecture. This was not something that could be done in a short time. She had also promised Wen Qingqing to accompany her to Miao territory. Most importantly, she had to find the medicinal herbs to heal His Highness's leg as soon as possible. Otherwise, continuing like this would only keep consuming His Highness's life.
So there was no time to lose, so she immediately pulled Jiang Zhiyi away, and also brought along the clerk under Prefect Ling to discuss how to get these things done as soon as possible.
After everyone left, Prefect Ling couldn't help but sigh, "They say heroes emerge from among the young, and Your Highness is truly a man of great wisdom. How did you know they would have a good idea?"
Prefect Ling has been extremely busy these past few days and has no time to spare for the young ladies. He only heard about what happened at the yamen in the afternoon after he was released from prison last night. Before he even got back to the yamen, someone came to report that someone from the small courtyard had come to ask for the girls. He was so anxious that he was practically bubbling with worry. Fortunately, Zong Que appeared in time and only gave him six words, which solved the problem.
This was to establish female households and register them in the household register.
Sure enough, as soon as he brought it up yesterday, the girls felt like they had found their pillar of support.
After he returned with Zong Que, Zong Que handed him a stack of documents, which detailed how Jiang Zhiyi founded Zhenyanfang in Jiangnan, how she trained a group of female doctors and guards, and how she took over the resettlement of the girls in an orderly manner after arriving in Yuzhou.
He suggested that he could invite Jiang Zhiyi to serve as a guest minister in Yuzhou Prefecture.
Prefect Ling naturally believed Zong Que's words without a doubt, but he still couldn't make up his mind about hiring a young lady who knew how to do business as a guest advisor. However, today Lu Yangyang and the others brought him a great surprise, giving him a breakthrough in solving his biggest problem.
Yuzhou has been a place of exile since ancient times, with chaotic order and easy to arouse public resentment. It is already extremely difficult to govern without the elixir of immortality. Any official with connections would not come here, which is why he was able to take advantage of the loophole according to His Highness's arrangement without anyone suspecting anything.
Now that Prince Shun and the Crown Prince have secretly stirred things up, let alone governing, Yuzhou is not far from rebellion. If the people's hearts are not appeased, Yuzhou will surely descend into chaos.
But the idea proposed by Lu Yangyang and her group was able to completely stabilize Yuzhou. When most people have money to earn and things to do, how many would still think about rebelling?
The more Prefect Ling thought about it, the more excited he became, as if he could already see a bright future ahead.
Zong Que said, "When I met Madam Hua last time, she told me that when she traveled to the West, she saw that they had invented machines that were several times more efficient than manual labor. One machine could even weave several bolts of cloth a day."
Prefect Ling blurted out in disbelief, "How is this possible? My wife is also skilled at weaving. She says it would take one person at least half a month to weave one bolt of cloth!"
"I was also very shocked at the time. Then she told me that a small loom could bring about unexpected changes. Weaving is mostly done by women. If we had such a loom in the future, just think about how much cloth hundreds of women could produce in a day?" Zong Que still remembers the shock he felt at the time: "Actually, when my mother first proposed the establishment of female households, I didn't quite understand. It wasn't that I didn't agree with women being in charge, but we also had to consider many restrictions. How would they survive? It wasn't until later, when I had the opportunity to talk about this issue with the Lady of Huaguo, that she described a scene to me: if women in this world could freely leave their homes, exchange their labor for money, and support themselves, what would our world be like?"
Prefect Ling was stunned into silence.
Zong Que smiled: "In matters of power and profit, it has always been a case of the victor taking all and the vanquished losing. There are winners and losers. I dare not say that I will definitely be able to sit in that position when I become the Crown Prince. If I cannot, then what can I do? Any change is the result of accumulated water. Standing in a higher position, one can do more. Even if one is not in that position, the change of a drop of water can eventually gather into a vast ocean. Therefore, I believe that the future that Lady Hua Guo spoke of will one day come true. If not in our generation, then it will be the next generation, and the generation after that."
"What we need to do is be this drop of water."
"Just like how Yangyang and the others helped those girls, one day they will all be able to gain their freedom."