1151: Diamond Rings, Biographies of Famous Ministers and Scholars (Part 2) [Please Vote for the Monthly Ticket]

To Shen Tang, being Sovereign had always been a side job.

Her one and only real job was painting.

Driven by sheer obsession, she had invested heavily in researching papermaking workshops ever since her days in Heyin Commandery. She had continued after moving to Longwu Commandery, and then on to the days in Capital Fengluo. Whether Shen Tang was waging war or managing the people's livelihoods, whether money was tight or not, she had never cut the research budget for the papermaking workshops. The papermakers had not betrayed her trust, either. Over more than a decade, they had changed their formula ratios tens of thousands of times, improved their techniques thousands of times, and continually tested new materials to make better paper.

At last, they had achieved the ideal balance: resilient yet supple, glossy but not slippery.

When used for writing, the paper brought out both the strength and spirit of the brushwork; when used for painting, it let every stroke come alive.

The papermaking workshops had also gone from being money-gobbling beasts that only consumed to turning a profit.

This was Shen Tang's personal little treasury. She had announced that half the output for the next two years would be used to print booklets praising and celebrating Kang Country's civil and military officials. What kind of broad-minded generosity was that? From ancient times to the present, which Sovereign had not sought fame and profit? Which one had not been deeply suspicious?

Who could stand having a subordinate whose achievements eclipsed his ruler and whose good name spread far and wide? They all wished to shine alone, with no official able to steal their thunder.

Yet their lord was different.

Chu Yao forced down the temptation and, keeping his wits about him, urged Shen Tang to think it over more