Chapter 503

“Me?”

Fei Yuer said in surprise.

“Exactly.” Xiao Ming nodded slightly. Even in remote areas of modern times, feudal remnants were still strong. Qingzhou, at present, had only slightly opened the minds of its people; it was still far from being enlightened.

Therefore, he wanted to recruit some intelligent women in Fei Yuer’s name to attend school, running a private women’s academy. This way, it could attract some common people to send their daughters to the academy, and also relieve Fei Yuer’s daily boredom.

After all, Xiao Ming came from modern times and understood a fact: when people are idle, they tend to get into trouble and overthink. Although Fei Yuer had a gentle and refined temperament, over time, she would inevitably fall into common practice.

Moreover, in this way, she could also impart her knowledge to the women in the academy, and by accompanying Fei Yuer every night, he would have plenty of time to teach Fei Yuer knowledge using technology crystals, which meant he was indirectly teaching these women.

He explained this idea in detail to Fei Yuer, who gradually showed a hint of understanding. Having studied since childhood, she was quite enlightened, so she said, “Your Highness’s idea is good. In that case, I will give it a try.”

“Then I will have the newspaper publish this news. How about setting the initial limit for the academy at two hundred people?” Xiao Ming asked.

“Hmm, not too many, not too few, just two hundred people. But the academy needs a name. Since Your Highness intends for women to enter officialdom, why not call this academy the ‘Women’s Academy’?” At this, Fei Yuer pursed her lips and smiled.

Ziyuan then echoed, “Princess Consort, that’s a good name. As the saying goes, ‘women are no less capable than men.'”

“Wuwu, excellent choice.” Lu Luo stuffed the last piece of candied sweet potato from the plate into her mouth.

Xiaohuan, on the other hand, had a proud look on her face. She said to Fei Yuer, “Princess Consort was a famous talented woman in Chang’an, this is just a small matter for her.”

The words of the three maids made Fei Yuer a little embarrassed. If she were in Chang’an, she naturally wouldn’t dare to stand out like this, but the different atmosphere in Qingzhou had made her much bolder.

Moreover, talented people are all extremely proud. Seeing that Lu Luo and Ziyuan could each hold their own for Xiao Ming, how could she, the Princess Consort, lose to them?

Xiao Ming was naturally happy that Fei Yuer took on this matter. Now that the enfeoffed territory’s political affairs and army were on the right track, popularizing education was the next important strategy, because in this way, he could fully utilize the advantages of the technology crystal.

After settling the matter of the academy, the two discussed some operational details. After the discussion, they decided to set up the academy in Bowen Academy.

Because Bowen Academy was originally built much larger than actually needed, there were still many empty classrooms in the academy, especially the latter part of Bowen Academy was all empty.

So, upholding the spirit of diligence and frugality, Xiao Ming planned to partition this backyard with a wall and allocate it to the women’s academy.

With a place to study, Fei Yuer was about to take the three maids back to draw the uniforms for the Supervisory Yuan and the Guard Office, but at this moment, Lu Luo was left alone. This girl still had a very important task.

“Your Highness, did I do something wrong again?” Lu Luo opened her big eyes, a little scared. Recently, whenever Xiao Ming summoned her alone, she would think he was going to criticize her about the weaving workshop.

Xiao Ming admitted that he had been a bit impatient during this period. Now, with internal and external troubles in the Great Yu Empire, the myriad of complex matters made him somewhat annoyed.

But since returning from Ryukyu, he had gradually adjusted his mindset. He said, “You foolish girl, did you forget the leather boots I told you about? Do you know how to process cowhide?”

Lu Luo suddenly realized, and lowered her head apologetically, saying, “I don’t know.”

Xiao Ming shook his head. Originally, his resentment towards leather boots wasn’t that deep, but ever since he saw the Dutch army’s standard uniforms, similar to swallow-tailed coats, and their shiny black leather shoes, he immediately became unsettled.

At this point, he suddenly understood a problem: perhaps in military weapons, he was approaching Europe, but in daily necessities, he still had a big gap.

Therefore, after returning, he prepared to manufacture leather shoes to make up for the current external image of the army.

Moreover, the manufacturing of leather shoes was also very simple. As long as the cowhide was processed, the remaining problem was cutting, which was not a problem for the female workers in the weaving workshop.

So he focused on explaining the part about processing soft cowhide. After scraping off the flesh and hair, the most important part was adding concentrated sulfuric acid, water, and white sugar, which belonged to the chemicals used in the cowhide process.

Lu Luo half-understood the method of processing cowhide, the part she didn’t understand, of course, was concentrated sulfuric acid. However, Xiao Ming didn’t need Lu Luo to understand; he would just have Lu Tong send someone to teach her when the time came.

“Your Highness, if that’s the case, should I establish another workshop specifically for producing leather boots?” Lu Luo said, gently frowning.

Now, besides the weaving workshop, there was a clothing workshop. In her opinion, leather boots were another craft and should not be mixed together.

“Hmm, if you really can’t spare any manpower, then build another leather boot workshop,” Xiao Ming said. With the detailed classification of industries, the splitting of workshops was inevitable.

Lu Luo nodded gently upon hearing this.

Xiao Ming wanted to explain some more details, but suddenly noticed that Lu Luo was a bit thinner than before. He suddenly swallowed his words and said, “It’s really hard for you and Ziyuan to do this and that for me during this time.”

Lu Luo was startled. Xiao Ming’s tone at this moment carried a hint of tenderness. Her face felt warm, but her heart was warm too. “Your Highness is too polite. Sister Ziyuan and I are originally Your Highness’s servants. It’s only right for us to do anything.”

Xiao Ming chuckled softly. It had to be said that both Lu Luo and Ziyuan were very sensible, no wonder Consort Zhen had bestowed them upon him.

He said, “Although that’s what I say, I still feel I should reward you. If you have any wishes, feel free to tell me.”

Lu Luo’s expression suddenly became somewhat gloomy, but after struggling for a moment, she said, “Your Highness, I have no wishes. It is enough to be able to stay by Your Highness’s side.”

Xiao Ming noticed the struggle in Lu Luo’s eyes. He said, “You are lying. Tell me the truth. Are you trying to talk about your elder brother?”

“Your Highness.” Lu Luo’s face turned pale. Before she knew she had this brother, she had never thought about it, but now that she knew I still had a relative alive, she always had a bit of concern in her heart.

Biting her lip, Lu Luo knelt before Xiao Ming and said, “Your Highness, Lu Luo has frequently visited my elder brother during this time. Lu Luo still believes that what my elder brother says is true, that he is not a Japanese spy. And my elder brother says he is willing to do anything to prove his innocence.”

Xiao Ming frowned slightly. By his reckoning, Meng Youliang had been imprisoned for some time. During this period, the secret guards had been observing him and questioned him several times.

Overall, Meng Youliang seemed to be fine, and from Claire, he had also confirmed Japan’s attack plan. So he said, “Since that’s the case, I will meet your elder brother.”