Zhao Hu asked somewhat excitedly, “You’re willing to sell me the blueprints?”

Zhao Hanzhang replied, “I have only one requirement.”

Zhao Hu looked at her intently.

“The workshop cannot be opened in Sizhou or Yuzhou.”

But his people were in Sizhou, his foundation in Yuzhou.

Zhao Hu, who had already planned to open seven or eight cloth shops in Sizhou and Yuzhou, froze. He asked, “Then where else can I open?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “The realm is vast—where can Grand-Uncle not go?”

Seeing Zhao Hu’s brow furrow deeply, she added, “If Grand-Uncle cannot immediately think of a location, I have a suggestion.”

Zhao Hu looked at her.

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Jiangnan.”

Zhao Hu’s brow furrowed slightly, but after mentally reviewing each province, he discovered Jiangnan was indeed his second choice.

The best choices were Yuzhou and Sizhou, but she had blocked that path. Though Jiangnan’s development lagged behind the Central Plains, it was prosperous.

Moreover, that region’s climate was temperate, suitable for both growing hemp and cultivating mulberry.

However, the craftsmen and skills there fell far short of the Central Plains, and aesthetics also lagged.

Transportation was also an issue. Produced cloth and garments would need to be sold locally and also transported to Yuzhou and Sizhou. Placing workshops in Jiangnan would add one expense—no, even more than one. Items traveling north from Jiangnan, whether by land or water, would require tolls and various other fees.

Zhao Hu looked at Zhao Hanzhang suspiciously. “You—you want to earn my little toll fees?”

Zhao Hanzhang was speechless. If he hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t even have thought of this revenue stream.

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Seventh Grand-Uncle, am I such a short-sighted person? I value your capabilities and influence.”

“If you place workshops in Jiangnan, you’ll inevitably bring more skilled craftsmen and advanced technology. Jiangnan will develop,” Zhao Hanzhang enumerated the benefits. “Currently the economic center of the realm remains in the Central Plains. Seventh Grand-Uncle will naturally compete for supremacy, certainly sending spinning wheels, looms, and produced cloth back to the Central Plains for sale. Thus economic circulation between the Central Plains and Jiangnan will become more frequent.”

“Economy is like water—only through flow does it gain vitality. Flowing water flourishes, common people prosper.” Which of these points wasn’t stronger than those toll fees?

Zhao Hu rolled his eyes, immediately proposing a condition. “I can open workshops in Jiangnan, but you must also allow me to open workshops in Yuzhou and Sizhou.”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and shook her head.

Zhao Hu gritted his teeth. “I can abandon Sizhou. Just allow me Yuzhou. I’ll open just one.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile faded slightly as she asked him, “Do you actually want to buy the blueprints or not? If not, forget it.”

“Alright, alright, alright. I’ll follow your terms. I won’t open workshops in Yuzhou or Sizhou.” Zhao Hu could only retreat a step.

Zhao Hu sent his steward to negotiate prices with Fu An. To his surprise, this time Zhao Hanzhang was very generous, not setting high prices. One spinning wheel blueprint, one loom blueprint—each only twenty-five thousand coins, totaling fifty thousand coins. If he paid in silver, it would only be five hundred taels.

After receiving the blueprints, Zhao Hu examined them carefully. Finding them incomprehensible, he handed them to San Jin. “I thought she’d ask for a thousand or ten thousand taels.”

San Jin said, “If the blueprints exceeded two thousand taels, it wouldn’t be worthwhile. After all, the court is also doing this business. The profit per spinning wheel and loom is compressed. The cost hasn’t yet been calculated—we don’t even know how many we must sell to break even.”

Zhao Hu replied, “Do you think I want the blueprints to do business in ordinary spinning wheels and looms for common people?”

He said, “What I want to earn is money from merchants and those aristocratic families. The court’s spinning wheels and looms require queuing and have quantity restrictions. I heard from Zheng’er that county offices annually take some spinning machines from the Weaving Bureau to rent to the poor. The Weaving Bureau must prioritize supplying them. Large merchants and great families wanting to buy spinning machines simply cannot wait.”

“What I want to earn is precisely this money from those who cannot wait,” Zhao Hu said. “Besides this, I also cannot buy sufficient spinning machines. Now it’s perfect—I’ll produce them myself. When the time comes, my cloth shops will open ahead of theirs. This is all money.”

San Jin suddenly understood. Simply put, they were competing for time.

He immediately said, “This subordinate will go request craftsmen to study the blueprints.”

“Go. Find all types of craftsmen. Limit them to three days to figure it out, then begin work. Additionally, dispatch a team to first go to Jiangnan to purchase land and build structures. Oh, we can’t buy land now.” Zhao Hu ground his teeth, changing his words. “Go to Jiangnan to rent suitable land to build the workshop. Arrange for timber. As soon as the craftsmen figure it out, immediately begin work.”

San Jin acknowledged.

But matters proved unexpectedly difficult.

Some connecting points of the spinning machines required very precise craftsmanship. His household craftsmen couldn’t figure it out. Zhao Hu had no choice but to spend additional money to borrow two craftsmen from the Bureau of Technical Investigation to instruct his household craftsmen.

By the time the craftsmen finally learned and arrived in Jiangnan, it was already the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The rice in the fields had yellowed, soybeans could be harvested—autumn harvest began across the nation.

The court, schools, even workshops all began autumn harvest holidays. Soldiers from garrisons across all regions also wielded sickles, charging toward seas of gold.

After ten days of autumn harvest, when holidays ended, from the Emperor down to all officials in the court, everyone had darkened and thinned a circle, all utterly exhausted yet very happy.

Receiving telegraph reports of bountiful harvests from various regions, Zhao Hanzhang was delighted, saying to Fu Tinghan, “Finally we can breathe a sigh of relief.”

Fu Tinghan knew how difficult these past years had been for her. The curse of having no money constantly surrounded her. Various debts pressed upon her. Even in dreams she worried about lacking money.

He reached out to grasp her hand, gripping it firmly, everything unspoken.

Zhao Hanzhang gripped back forcefully, her eyes slightly reddening. “These years have been hard on you.”

She didn’t dare relax, so Fu Tinghan kept himself tense alongside her. These years, he had solved many difficult problems for her. Most money-making projects came from his hands.

Fu Tinghan returned a smile. The two gazed silently at each other for a moment, then together raised their heads toward the sky.

Common people throughout the nation were immersed in this harvest joy. This autumn and winter, Zhao Hanzhang still ordered local government offices to reduce corvée labor. For newly settled people, tax exemptions remained. For regions severely affected by disasters last year and the year before, some taxes were still reduced, and local county offices were strictly forbidden from levying miscellaneous taxes.

The news spread to various localities through county office bulletin boards, schools, and newspapers. Common people cheered and celebrated.

Schools had already become auxiliary institutions for disseminating court policies. Zhao Hanzhang planned to have them continue maintaining this function.

What kind of future she wanted, what kind of court, depended on the thoughts of officials who would stand in the court hall in the future.

Therefore, controlling education meant controlling the future.

She required every school-age child to attend school, teaching them loyalty, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trustworthiness, and benevolence. Teaching them to view every living being equally. Teaching them to be brave, to be resolute.

Twenty years hence, the realm’s core youth would be them, the most brilliant would also be them.

In her New Year’s address to them, Zhao Hanzhang wrote: The future of this realm is yours. Hua Kingdom and I shall be proud of you.