The Great Song Dynasty: You were put in charge of teaching, and you produced a whole bunch of prime

Once the news of our trip to Hangzhou was confirmed, the entire courtyard immediately sprang into action.

Qian Duoduo, accompanied by several accountants, began to inventory the academy's assets and the supplies that needed to be taken away.

Shen Kuo, like a mouse, carefully packed up all his bottles, jars, and oddly shaped experimental equipment, afraid of damaging them on the way. Niu Aihua was even more direct, polishing her beloved horse-slaying swords until they gleamed, ready to pave the way at any moment.

Only Jiang Lin remained as lazy as ever, lying on the rattan chair, directing everyone to work.

"Teacher, are we leaving like this?" Su Shi looked at the busy crowd, feeling uneasy. "What about Bianjing... what about the academy? What about Zhou Yuan and the others?"

Having experienced the two major events of "coming back from the dead" and suing the King of Jing, Zhou Yuan, Han Zhen, and other sons of powerful families were completely convinced by Jiang Lin.

They were no longer the spoiled brats who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, but had truly begun to consider the weight of the four words "governing the world and benefiting the people".

Jiang Lin had pulled them out of the mire, but now he was going to abandon them. Su Shi felt somewhat guilty.

"What's the panic?" Jiang Lin took a sip of tea and said slowly, "When did I say I was going to stop interfering? I'm just moving to another place to continue managing things."

He glanced at Zhou Yuan not far away. The boy was diligently helping Shen Kuo carry a large box. Although his face was still pale from illness, his eyes were more determined than ever before.

"Zhou Yuan and the others no longer need us to teach them step by step," Jiang Lin said calmly. "The 'Dung Industry Report' introduced them to the human world, and the 'Witchcraft Incident' showed them the wickedness of human nature. The first lesson is over; now it's time for them to put it into practice on their own."

"Practice?" Su Shi asked, puzzled.

"That's right." Jiang Lin's lips curled into a mysterious smile. "Before I leave, I need to leave a big gift for the officials, and for them as well."

He sat up from the recliner and said to Su Shi, "Come, accompany me to the palace."

Su Shi was taken aback: "What are you going to the palace for?"

"Of course, we're going to say a proper goodbye to our officials." Jiang Lin stretched, "And while we're at it, let's take advantage of them a bit more."

……

Stepping into the Chuigong Hall again, Jiang Lin clearly felt that the atmosphere was very different from the last time.

Last time, he brought Zhou Yuan, who had "come back to life," to file a complaint with the emperor, and he came with great force, demanding an explanation. This time, however, he came empty-handed, dressed in casual clothes, as if he were visiting a neighbor.

The eunuchs and guards in the palace looked at him with a mixture of awe and a barely perceptible fear.

Zhao Zhen sat on the dragon throne, looking down at the young man he both loved and hated, his feelings extremely complicated.

"Lord Jiang, what brings you here today?" Zhao Zhen tried his best to make his tone sound as calm as possible.

"Your Majesty, I will soon be traveling to Hangzhou with my disciple Su Shi, and I have come to bid you farewell." Jiang Lin bowed respectfully.

"Oh? You're going to Hangzhou?" Zhao Zhen feigned surprise, but inwardly he was overjoyed. Great! This plague is finally leaving!

"Hmm." Jiang Lin nodded. "Bianjing Academy is on the right track. I would like to go to Hangzhou to see if it can also open a window to the world for students in Jiangnan."

"That sounds nice!" Zhao Zhen thought to himself, but said aloud, "The longevity of the empire is a great comfort to me. If you have any requests, please feel free to make them, and I will certainly fulfill them."

He was prepared to bleed a lot. After all, Jiang Lin had made such a great contribution this time, it would be unreasonable not to reward him. Gold, silver, land, official positions—Zhao Zhen was prepared to grit his teeth and accept anything Jiang Lin asked for.

However, Jiang Lin's next words stunned both Zhao Zhen and Ouyang Xiu, who was standing beside him.

"This humble subject does not wish for any reward." Jiang Lin shook his head, took out a booklet from his sleeve, and handed it over. "This humble subject only wishes to offer two strategies for Your Majesty and for the Great Song Dynasty before I leave."

Zhao Zhen took the booklet with a puzzled look, opened it, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The cover of the booklet prominently displays five large characters: "A Study of the Dung Industry in Bianjing".

"What...what is this?" Zhao Zhen opened the booklet and saw that it used extremely detailed data and charts to analyze the current state of the "dung industry" in the entire Bianjing city.

From the daily output of human and animal excrement, to transportation routes, labor costs, and buying and selling prices, to the final destination of farmland outside the city, and how many ordinary people this industry supports, even the territorial divisions among the city's major excrement producers are all recorded in detail.

This report was compiled by Zhou Yuan and his sons of powerful and wealthy families through a two-week investigation, going door-to-door collecting excrement.

"Your Majesty, do you know how much 'golden juice' Bianjing City produces in a year? If all of this 'golden juice' were used effectively, how much fertilizer could it provide for the farmland in the suburbs of the capital? And how much could it increase the grain production of the Song Dynasty?" Jiang Lin's voice echoed in the empty hall.

Zhao Zhen was horrified. He had never imagined that an industry he considered the dirtiest and most insignificant would be involved in such a massive chain of interests, affecting the national economy and people's livelihood.

"My first suggestion is to bring the 'manure industry' under state control," Jiang Lin said, making a startling statement. "We will establish the 'Great Song Agricultural Fertilizer Bureau' to manage the collection and transportation of manure and fertilizer production throughout the country."

"In this way, we can not only eliminate the exploitation by middlemen and benefit the people, but also treat fertilizer as a national strategic material, effectively increasing the country's grain output. With more grain, the national treasury will be full, and the country will be stable."

"Hiss—" Zhao Zhen gasped.

Nationalizing the septic tank cleaning industry? This idea is utterly unheard of and shocking!

But upon closer reflection, he realized that Jiang Lin's words made perfect sense. This was indeed an unprecedented path to national prosperity and military strength.

Before he could recover from the shock, Jiang Lin dropped a second bombshell.

He took a wooden box out of his other sleeve.

"Your Majesty, this is the 'movable type printing technique' that my student Shen Kuo improved with countless efforts." Jiang Lin opened the box, inside which were neatly stacked small wooden blocks engraved with characters.

"How does this thing compare to Bi Sheng's clay movable type?" Zhao Zhen had some knowledge of this.

"Your Majesty," Jiang Lin said, "clay movable type is fragile and easily destroyed by water. But this boxwood movable type is sturdy, durable, and can be reused, greatly reducing the cost of printing." Jiang Lin paused, then revealed his true purpose: "This humble subject is willing to offer this technique to Your Majesty without accepting a single penny."

Zhao Zhen was overjoyed; this was a divine artifact capable of changing the cultural landscape of the world!

"However, I have one condition," Jiang Lin said, changing the subject.

"This humble citizen hopes that Your Majesty will issue an edict designating this technique as the official technique of the imperial court. At the same time, grant the Jingshi Academy a ten-year exclusive right to print and sell all books except those in the classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections. This includes... mathematics, physics, agriculture, and all kinds of novels and fiction."

Zhao Zhen's expression changed instantly.

He finally understood Jiang Lin's sinister intentions!

This guy wants to monopolize all channels of knowledge dissemination!

The movable type printing technique using boxwood made books extremely inexpensive, freeing knowledge from being the exclusive domain of the scholar-official class. Jingshi Academy, by controlling the printing rights of all books except Confucian classics, effectively controlled the power to define "knowledge."

Ten years from now, what scholars across the land will probably be reading will no longer be the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, but rather Jiang Lin's "investigation of things and mathematics"!

This is digging up the roots of Confucianism and shaking the very foundation of the Song Dynasty!

Zhao Zhen looked at Jiang Lin's calm and collected face, but a cold sweat broke out on his back.

This young man is terrifying. Every step he takes is ahead of everyone else.

"Your Majesty, do you want all the wealth in the world to be in the hands of a few powerful families, or do you want all the people in the world to have food to eat and books to read?" Jiang Lin's voice seemed to have a kind of magic.

"Do you want the court to be filled with a bunch of pedantic scholars who only talk big and ruin the country, or do you want the Song Dynasty to have countless pragmatic ministers who can do accounting, investigate things, and enrich the country and strengthen its military?"

Zhao Zhen remained silent.

He looked at the book "Study on the Manure Industry" in his hand, and then at the small box of movable wooden type.

He knew that Jiang Lin had given him a choice he couldn't refuse.

After a long while, he sighed and waved wearily.

"Granted."