They seemed to see the future of their country, which would become so powerful, with all nations coming to pay tribute, stirring their hearts with excitement.
Gu Sang walked for about ten minutes on the school campus and finally arrived at the Agriculture Teaching Building.
At this time, the number of viewers watching the live broadcast had surged to ten thousand.
A few days earlier, Gu Sang had made an appointment with a professor in the agriculture department. She came to the professor's office and knocked on the door.
A clear, melodious feminine voice came from within: "Please come in."
Gu Sang pushed open the door and presented her student ID to the female professor.
"Professor, hello, I am the student who made an appointment with you online before."
The professor glanced at it. Her expression was usually serious, but her gaze was warm. "Please have a seat. What would you like to ask me, student?"
The ancient people had been full of expectation and excitement just a moment ago!
But then they were suddenly struck by a thunderbolt when they saw that the person Gu Sang had come to see was a middle-aged woman?? A woman???
They were instantly stunned, as if they had been drenched from head to toe with cold water, their entire bodies numb.
A sense of anger and despair washed over them.
Compared to the ministers' bewilderment, the greatest reaction came from the commoners oppressed by imperial power: "Why is it a woman? Women should stay at home and raise children, not show their faces in public."
"I put down my work and rushed over to see this? What a disappointment!"
"Hmph, this is clearly a trick of the charlatans. Everyone should not believe it."
"What can a woman possibly understand? Do you think it's fun to deceive us with talk of deities and future worlds? Nonsense! Surely a fraud!"
Gu Sang paid no heed to the ancient people's doubts.
Nor did she mind the glares and scowls of the ministers.
Changing such deep-rooted beliefs of over a thousand years was no easy task.
Just like in the present day, when a woman achieves something, most men and a few women still think she climbed to her position by using her body.
Without any evidence, they keep spreading vicious rumors!
How utterly tragic!
Gu Sang politely spoke up, "Hello, teacher. I would like to ask how food production can be increased in backward regions without modern technology?"
The professor looked at Gu Sang with approval. Sitting up straight, she answered sincerely:
"In backward regions without modern technology, huh?"
"They can choose to weed out the inferior plants, find strong mutant plant varieties, and then cross-pollinate them..."
"Secondly, they can make compost. People often like to use human excrement as fertilizer."
"But there is an even simpler method, which is to make fertilizer from plant stems, weeds, and mud from rivers and ponds... This type of fertilizer is more effective at enriching and improving the soil."
"For the regular rice grown by the commoners, it is actually a self-pollinating crop. To get good yields, they need to graft and hybridize."
"The method of selecting mutant plant varieties is to observe, pick out the 'king' plant in the entire rice field, and then..."
"In addition to grains, they can also grow tea oil plants on barren land. Tea oil can replace daily oil consumption, and it only occupies wasteland. For some poor families, it can be considered an income."
"..."
The professor's words one by one shattered the ancient people's beliefs.
Some who understood agricultural work were stunned, staring with open mouths.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!!
Their hearts were pounding furiously.
For a moment, they forgot that the speaker was the woman they looked down upon, and frantically wrote down everything the professor said.
The Six Chief Ministers had already seated themselves on the floor, feverishly recording on the low table.
The other ministers without a table simply squatted on the ground to write.
This was something that could benefit the common people, and they might even be remembered in history. None of them wanted to lag behind.
"Your Majesty, please speak more slowly."
"I can't keep up, you're talking too fast."
"Did I misjudge the deity? Can a woman really be a teacher?"
The commoners gathered outside the walls were still skeptical. How could a woman know so much?
The commoners went back and forth, undecided, but some decided to give it a try: "It sounds quite reasonable. I'll go back and try it."
"This tea oil can be planted without occupying farmland, that seems quite feasible."
"She looks so clean and delicate, surely she's never been to the fields. That compost she mentioned, it just won't work. Natural manure is the best."
The professor explained everything earnestly, and even searched online for photos of fertile land to show Gu Sang, teaching her step-by-step.
Unknowingly, it was already noon.
Gu Sang stood up gratefully and openly turned off the recording, then bowed slightly to the professor: "Professor, thank you for your generous teaching."
The female professor smiled brightly: "Your interest in agricultural studies is the best reward for me. So few students can listen as attentively as you."
What a good student.
She even recorded the lecture and took notes to study later.
After leaving the Agriculture Teaching Building, Gu Sang glanced at the time. It was time for lunch.
She followed the crowd to the cafeteria.
Scanning the scene, just on the left and right sides of the cafeteria, there were more than fifty service windows, offering everything from noodles, steamed buns, and spicy hot pot to a self-service buffet.
This... this... so much food?
The commoners' eyes gleamed with envy as they stared fixatedly at the food.
In an instant, their faith wavered: "Is this where you eat? So many people!"
"Look, their bowls have meat and fish. And they're using so much oil to fry the fish? We can't even use oil for our fish back home! The fish will soak up too much oil, what a waste!"
"You see, they serve themselves the rice. Isn't that free?"
"Eating a meal here must be expensive, right? It's definitely for the wealthy families, the ones who can afford an education..."
Gu Sang randomly stood in line at one of the service windows, where she could choose from seven or eight different dishes.
Gu Sang ordered a fish, a fried chicken leg, crispy pork, and stir-fried bitter melon with eggs. She swiped her card and it only cost seven yuan.
Hearing the commoners lament that this school was only for the rich, Gu Sang replied, "In our time, any commoner's child can study here."
"The meal cost is not high either. This big chicken leg would cost 7 yuan outside, but here with four dishes, it's only 7 yuan total, and the rice is free."
"The 7 yuan here is less than your 7 copper coins!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the ancient people seemed to be struck motionless.
They stared dumbfoundedly at the rice in Gu Sang's bowl, not blinking an eye.
7 copper coins can buy meat?!
And the rice looks so white, they can even eat it for free! Even if they just ate the rice, it would cost more than 7 copper coins, wouldn't it?
They cried inwardly, in their time, they could only dream of eating white rice.
And the children of commoners could all go to school and eat meat and good dishes!
The commoners murmured to themselves, their faces full of envy: "So this is the white rice that the nobility and officials can eat, it's truly as white as pearls."
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