Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Li You laughed and said, "You teach very well; you're practically a born teacher."

Yin Shaojue was very pleased to hear Li You's praise.

"Let's go eat. I tried making fried meatballs today, and they tasted pretty good."

"Cousin, you haven't finished the story you told me yesterday. Who won the fight between Yang Jian and Sun Wukong?"

"Ah, Yang Jian won in the end."

"What's going on? Yang Jian knows seventy-two transformations, doesn't Sun Wukong also know them?"

"It's mainly because the gods in Heaven are cheating and taking sides."

"Especially that old and wicked Laozi, seeing the two locked in a fierce battle, secretly took out his magic weapon, the Vajra Bracelet..."

……

The last word "dragon" that Yin Shaojue taught was at Li You's behest.

The Tang Dynasty used both traditional and simplified characters, and learning the complex traditional characters was very inefficient.

Li You needed to improve Huang Chao's army's literacy rate as soon as possible, so there was no need to learn those complicated traditional characters.

From now on, Huang Chao's military orders, materials, and documents must also be written in simplified Chinese characters.

Written language is merely a vehicle for knowledge.

A young man like Yin Shaojue, who was well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, was already capable of teaching others to read.

Therefore, the technical content is relatively low.

In addition to teaching the most basic written language, Li You established this "university" to teach Huang Chao's soldiers, especially the core members of Huang Chao's army, some more complex things.

For example, what is the world like beneath our feet, and why do we go through all the trouble of rebelling?

After careful preparation, Li You also began his first lesson as a teacher.

King Qi pondered for several days what to teach in the first lesson.

The final title was: The Origin of Humankind.

The students in this class included Huang Chao's army leaders such as Yin Hongzhi, Yan Hongxin, Yan Hongliang, and Zan Junmo, as well as key members such as Wang Sanwa and Liu Dashun, newcomers such as Ren Zongyang and Dou Jun, suicide soldiers such as Xiao Yu and Jing Song, the three monks Huizhen, Huiru, and Huijing, Daoist Mingjing, Yan Jiu, Zhao Hongliang, representatives of soldiers from various battalions, and representatives of the Weaver Girl. In short, the class was open to all, and a total of two hundred people were gathered, covering almost all types of personnel in Huang Chao's army.

After the students sat down, Li You began his lecture.

What he said was actually very simple, mainly to clarify one sentence: humans evolved from monkeys.

Upon hearing this, the students below all found it hard to believe.

Li You gave a brief explanation of the similarities between humans and monkeys, as well as the commonalities among mammals such as pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep.

In conclusion: Humans evolved from monkeys, and there is no fundamental difference between people.

This class was very short, lasting no more than twenty minutes.

But the students listened with great interest.

They had never encountered a similar theory before, and after King Qi's explanation, they realized it did make some sense.

"Okay, get out of class dismissed!"

……

That evening, Li You and Yin Hongzhi held a long, secret discussion under the oil lamp.

The main topic of discussion was the establishment of a people-benefiting bank.

There are some other matters that also need to be discussed.

Before getting to the main topic, Yin Hongzhi asked curiously, "You'er, what's the deeper meaning behind your story about the monkey transforming into a human?"

Li You laughed and said, "Uncle, that's not a story, it's true. I prepared three lessons in total, and you'll understand after I finish them."

Yin Hongzhi nodded, indicating his understanding.

My nephew often has some bizarre ideas and actions, but he is not acting recklessly; he always has a clear purpose.

Li You took out the Xuan paper he used for taking notes and discussed it with Yin Hongzhi one by one.

"Uncle, we must stock up on kerosene. It's very potent, and we'll definitely need it later."

"News came from Shao Kang's side that after the incident at the Jiangzhou shipyard, the imperial court has issued a document to Yanzhou, prohibiting the people from privately mining oil, and has also ordered all local military prefectures to thoroughly investigate the oil reserves in the army to prevent leaks."

The implication is that buying oil is currently quite difficult.

This also reflects that the Tang Dynasty court was aware of the dangers of kerosene, and they must have sent people to the Jiangzhou shipyard to investigate and draw some conclusions.

Li You couldn't help but think that gas prices were already quite high before he transmigrated, and they're still this high after he transmigrated. It's infuriating!

"Besides Yanzhou, the Western Regions also produce kerosene. Aren't there many foreign merchants in Luoyang? Tell my cousin to go over there and inquire."

"Alright, I'll go talk to Shao Kang. However... it's not entirely impossible to get oil. Shao Kang has made contact with the garrison of Yuanbi City. As long as we give them generous bribes, getting two or three hundred barrels of oil shouldn't be difficult."

How much inventory do they have?

Around 800 barrels.

Li You thought for a moment, then said, "We should go and ask the Hu merchants first, lest we run into the authorities and have them discover something. But the garrison of Yuanbi City... is so incompetent."

"These guys are all spoiled brats, originally just dissolute playboys from Luoyang. They have nothing to do on a daily basis, so they naturally steal chickens, tease dogs, drink and cause trouble. Sometimes they even invite people into the camp to cause chaos. The Tang Dynasty doesn't expect these people to fight."

"Oh, the soldiers of this Round Wall City certainly deserve to be treated well. Uncle, what other military camps are there like this?"

"The military governorates in Guanzhong and the Northwest are strictly governed, as are the border troops in Hebei. The soldiers in these places are all elite troops capable of fighting. The military governorates in the Central Plains are slightly less so, such as those in Luoyang. As for the soldiers in Jiannan and Lingnan, they are even worse."

"Could we find a way to infiltrate some of our people into a military command like this?"

Yin Hongzhi's eyes lit up: "It should be feasible. The military governorates in those remote areas have always been short of people, especially in Lingnan and Qian. Apart from the military governorates in Yizhou, which are relatively strong, the others in Jiannan Circuit are mostly in the same situation."

The Qian region encompasses present-day Chongqing, Guizhou, and northern Guangxi. This area was underdeveloped, with many tributary prefectures, and some people still practiced slash-and-burn agriculture during the Tang Dynasty. Very few soldiers were sent from the Central Plains, and their quality was unreliable. The Tang Dynasty's vast territory could not guarantee the deployment of large numbers of elite troops in every region.

"Can we place personnel in the military governorate of Guanzhong?"

"That's more difficult, but it's easier for us to place personnel in military camps on the Hebei border. It's a harsh and cold place, and there's a shortage of people."

"Alright, let's give it a try. If we can place them, great; if not, then forget it. Also, have Generals Gao Shen and Zhang Lan from Bozhou arrived yet?"

"They arrived before the New Year, but you haven't come back yet. So I had them go to Luoyang to buy Beikou. I estimate they'll return to the camp in about ten days, and then we can all meet up."

Li You nodded and wrote the matter down on the paper.

"Did the establishment of the Rural Benefit Bank encounter any difficulties?"

"That's right, we've encountered quite a few problems. Shao Kang contacted some merchants over there, and they were all quite interested at first, but when they heard that it would require investing real money, they all started to back down and refused to cooperate."