I relied on a system to prolong my life in ancient times.

Chapter 141 Returning to Qianyuan County

A few days before Xiao Siyue returned, the Xiao family school had been completed, and the teachers invited by Xiao Qinian had all arrived in Xiao family village.

Considering the inconvenience of the teachers traveling back and forth, Grandpa Xiao originally wanted the teachers to stay at their house, but the teachers all refused, saying it was inconvenient.

So in the end, a place was specially built for the teachers in front of the clan school so that they could live there on a daily basis.

For meals, they were arranged to eat at the Xiao family's house. They had maids and servants who could easily feed the teachers.

Now, most of the children in the clan have started studying at the clan school, and some children from other families in the village are also studying at the clan school.

Xiao Siyue also spent a lot of money to buy some books, as well as writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones. Of course, these things were not prepared for every child. Instead, Xiao Siyue suggested that these things be used as rewards. If the children ranked high in the test, they could be distributed according to their ranking.

The clan and several teachers agreed on this point, believing it to be a good method that could encourage children to study more actively.

The main reason is that these things are very expensive. Usually, the children use inferior products, but Xiao Siyue bought mid- to high-quality ones.

These past few days, Xiao Siyue has been spending time with Old Lady Xiao, who is very reluctant to part with her.

Before leaving, her aunt gave Xiao Siyue a box of silver notes, which were the profits from the hot pot restaurant over the past year.

Xiao Siyue was from Qianyuan County, and although the money had always been kept by her aunt, her aunt gave it to her when Xiao Siyue wanted to go back.

Similarly, Lin Qin also received one.

Lin Qin was a little embarrassed. They had never managed the hot pot restaurant, but they still received a share of the monthly profits.

"Sister-in-law, I can't take any more of this. You should keep it. We haven't been able to help the hot pot restaurant at all," Lin Qin said, declining repeatedly.

"Third sister-in-law, take this. This is what we agreed on before. Each household will get 10%. Besides, why didn't you help? Yue'er was the one who started all this." The eldest aunt stuffed the silver notes into Lin Qin's hands again.

"Sister-in-law, you've already given it to Yue'er." Lin Qin was still a little embarrassed. Although Yue'er was the one who opened the hot pot restaurant in the first place, she had already taken her share, so how could they take it again?

"What belongs to Yue'er is Yue'er's, and what belongs to you is yours. Do you really want to take Yue'er's money?" Auntie wouldn't allow Lin Qin to refuse.

“Take it. Don’t refuse anymore. We’re family. What’s yours is yours, so just take it,” Auntie said.

"I understand, sister-in-law. I was being too dramatic." Lin Qin didn't refuse anymore.

Yes, they are family, why should they be so particular about it? Besides, this 10% of the silver was the private money that Old Lady Xiao had given to each household before, and the rest was kept in the palace.

After saying goodbye to her grandparents, Xiao Siyue and Lin Qin embarked on their journey back to Qianyuan County.

It took them two months from returning to Xiaojia Village until their return, and now it's June.

After returning home, Xiao Siyue resumed her usual routine, spending her days reading, writing, and pondering how to develop Qianyuan County.

The roads in Qianyuan County have been basically paved, and the cement is now being transferred to the pipelines.

Xiao Siyue thought of Bo Li from before; two months had passed. She wondered how he was doing.

After she returned, Xiao Qinian never mentioned it. Could it be that the emperor thought it wouldn't work?

Xiao Siyue asked Xiao Qinian for advice.

"Yue'er, I forgot about the glass. Not long after I submitted the formula, I received a reply from the teacher. The emperor was very pleased and immediately ordered his men to start experimenting. It shouldn't be long before it's ready to be made."

"That's good. I thought the emperor wouldn't believe it." Xiao Siyue was relieved.

"How could His Majesty let such a good opportunity slip by?" His Majesty is currently in dire need of money, and now that there is such a way to earn money, he can't wait to implement it immediately.

"Father, do you think the Emperor will allow us to open a glass workshop in Qianyuan County?"

"This, I'm afraid, won't work." Although they were the ones who submitted the prescription, once it was submitted, it belonged to the emperor. At most, they would be given some rewards, but the emperor would keep such a profitable thing firmly in his hands.

"Sigh, fine." If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Anyway, it's all for the people of Great Zhou in the end, so she doesn't really want it that much.

However, Xiao Siyue's generosity is only because the current emperor is considered a wise ruler; otherwise, she wouldn't even be able to dream of it.

But now that glass can no longer be made, what should she do?

Without money, nothing can be done. The money allocated by the Ministry of Revenue is also running low.

Since the clan school was built in Xiaojia Village, Xiao Siyue has had an idea: to build a school in Qianyuan County. However, this would cost a lot of money.

It is difficult to implement at present, so Xiao Qinian was not informed.

Now she needs to think it over carefully.

After thinking for a long time, Xiao Siyue decided to make white sugar, since sugarcane is grown in their area.

Moreover, the imperial court didn't regulate sugar, so she didn't need to report it to the court.

Having an idea, she needed to have enough time. Since the sugarcane hadn't been harvested yet, Xiao Siyue temporarily bought brown sugar for secondary processing. If she succeeded, she could start building the workshop.

Sugarcane is usually harvested in August or September, so it's just in time.

At that time, without modern technology, they could only use traditional methods to make white sugar.

These two methods are the yellow mud water leaching sugar method and the activated carbon adsorption method.

Xiao Siyue ultimately chose to use the latter type because activated carbon has other uses, and once the activated carbon is produced, it can be used once and for all.

After several days of work, Xiao Siyue finally succeeded in producing the activated carbon.

After two days, Xiao Siyue finally made some white sugar. Although it wasn't as white as sugar made using modern methods, it was enough.

Next, Xiao Siyue started working part-time in the workshop, and by then it would be possible to produce on a large scale.

Although white sugar is not as nutritious as brown sugar, it has a wider range of uses.

One advantage is that it eliminates concerns about altering the color of dishes during cooking, and another is that white sugar is a strategically essential resource, used to make gunpowder.

While Xiao Siyue was building the sugar workshop, Xiao Qinian also received news from the capital that the glass had been produced.

However, Xiao Siyue no longer cared about that. Her main priority now was to build the workshop as soon as possible, produce white sugar to make money, and then build a school.

Also, the sweet potatoes that were planted before can be planted on a small scale this year.