356: Chapter 356 is a bit exaggerated.

Lin Xiao's sudden order left everyone feeling quite puzzled.

Even Xiao Qingxuan felt it was somewhat unnecessary.

"Husband, these official gazettes aren't actually difficult; we just need to summarize the information that is favorable to us and distribute it through the local government offices."

"Husband, you have so many major affairs to deal with every day, why distract yourself with this?"

Su Chang thought Lin Xiao was just being considerate of his father-in-law.

"That's right, General Lin. This thing is troublesome, always being revised, but I can still handle it."

Lin Xiao shook his head and said, "You haven't felt the power of the media yet. It's useless to say more now; you will understand later."

Seeing this, no one dared to say anything more, as Lin Xiao was always capable of doing unexpected things.

Over the next two days, Lin Xiao was almost entirely occupied with the affairs of the "Northern Press".

Time was tight, and he had to get the entire framework set up before the Tianwu Grand Tournament.

First, he spent a huge sum of money to consolidate a large number of printing workshops and recruited several times the number of workers.

Then, Lin Xiao handed over a few short stories he had "created" overnight to Su Chang.

Su Chang took a look and immediately revealed a trace of "disdain" in his eyes.

"General Lin, this is a bit exaggerated..."

Lin Xiao waved his hand: "No! Just do it like this! If it's not exaggerated, no one will read it!"

Besides being busy with the newspaper, Lin Xiao also took the time to make a trip to Lincang.

By the Cang River, the New Northern Academy had officially finished preparations and opened for classes!

As the initiator and founder of the academy, Lin Xiao naturally had to attend the opening ceremony.

And under Su Wansha's pestering, Zhu Ming had no choice but to bite the bullet and come to support Lin Xiao.

When the students near Lincang heard that the reclusive Grand Scholar Zhu Ming was actually going to attend the opening ceremony of this New Northern Academy, they flocked there out of admiration.

The scholars who had originally thought this academy was a second-rate institution had no choice but to shut their mouths.

The first batch of majors offered, in addition to the standard "Literature", included "Culinary Arts", "Medicine", "Engineering", "Mathematics", and "Mining".

Zhu Ming served as the honorary dean of the "Literature College", Chef Sui was in charge of the Culinary Arts College, Zhao Cailing was the dean of the Medical College, and the other colleges were managed by Old Yu's disciples.

What surprised everyone the most was that the proportion of female students at the New Northern Academy reached as high as twenty percent!

That's right, twenty percent; this was an unprecedentedly high ratio, mainly concentrated in medicine, literature, and mathematics.

This was related to Lin Xiao's announcement that women in the Northern Territory could participate in the Northern Territory's imperial examinations, and that there were no restrictions on gender for the selection of talent in engineering, science, and medicine.

Two days later, the first issue of the newspaper published by Northern Press, the "Northern Daily", was officially released.

Through the "highways" of the Northern Territory, it spread throughout the entire Northern Territory in two days.

At all major Northern Coal, Northern Cottage, and Northern Road Administration offices, one could buy a copy at the cost of printing.

Of course, as the largest academy newly established in the Northern Territory, the students inside the New Northern Academy could read it for free.

"It's here! It's here! Fellow students, look at the newspaper!"

In the Literature College, a group of students gathered together, looking at the newly obtained daily newspaper.

"Why is this gazette so long? It's almost four times the length of the previous ones, right?"

"What gazette? This is called the Northern Daily!"

"Look, the four characters 'Northern Daily' were written by Grand Scholar Zhu himself; the spirit and charm are truly extraordinary!"

The students looked down, and at the very top was "Northern News".

It talked about the opening ceremony of the New Northern Academy, including Lin Xiao and Zhu Ming, various prefects and officials attending, cutting the ribbon, unveiling, and so on.

It also gave a brief introduction to the deans of the major colleges.

Further down was the spring recruitment for this year, stating that the Northern Territory would independently hold imperial examinations, with no gender restrictions...

The students found this content to be quite normal.

But when they reached the "Miscellany" column below, something felt a bit off...

"Eh? What is this 'Lin's Mother Moves Three Times'?"

After reading it, everyone had strange expressions.

"This tells of... could it be the story of Lin Xiao's childhood?"

"It should be. Lin Xiao was originally a scholar, a man of letters, and only joined the army later when he had no other choice."

"Lin Xiao's mother is truly great. No wonder she could raise a peerless talent like Lin Xiao..."

The exclamation of the students naturally appeared in various parts of the Northern Territory as well.

Some people didn't believe it, but it didn't affect the fact that the story's starting point was good, so no one felt repulsed by it.

People even began to feel that Lin Xiao, this god of war and slaughter, actually grew up from a mischievous child.

A sense of intimacy that narrowed the distance slowly formed.

In the days that followed, everyone discovered that this "Miscellany" column wouldn't stop!

"Gathering Fireflies and Reflecting Snow" and "Borrowing Light Through the Wall" were all stories about Lin Xiao's impoverished childhood and how hard he studied.

"Little Lin Smashes the Vat" told of Lin Xiao's fearlessness and decisiveness in smashing the village chief's vat to save someone, for which he received a beating!

"Standing in Snow at the Zhu Gate" told of how Lin Xiao sincerely sought guidance from Elder Zhu and respected his teacher...

"Reading Cannot Save the Border" told of how Lin Xiao's mindset changed and he abandoned the pen for the sword...

One after another, the people of the Northern Territory were overwhelmed.

Before it even got to how Lin Xiao saved Stone Fortress, many people were already moved to tears!

Lin Xiao was no longer the fearsome god of slaughter on the battlefield, but a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood, passionate, and righteous grassroots hero who stood up for the people!

Of course, those around Lin Xiao were naturally a bit speechless.

"Husband, there was no one next door to your house back then, how did you borrow the light?" Xiao Qingxuan couldn't help but laugh.

"Wife, the youth in this story is named 'Little Lin', it doesn't say it's me," Lin Xiao said, thick-skinned.

Xiao Qingxuan glared at her man, but let him be.

However, when Zhu Ming got the newspaper, he came over in a huff.

"General Lin, when did you run to my front door and stand in the snow for three hours?"

"What kind of person do you take me for? A pedantic scholar who thinks too highly of his own talent?!"

Lin Xiao was prepared and directly gave him three jars of Xinghua Village flying fairy, and Zhu Ming went back happily.

As the Northern Daily became popular in the Northern Territory, the Western Territory and the Yan Region were not spared either.

Because Prince Qing "lost" his master Jiang Wanli, the Azure Dragon Guard was leaderless and suffered a great loss of vitality.

Coupled with the fact that the Western Qiang were now controlled by Lin Xiao, the Western Territory was effectively caught in a pincer attack by the Zhenbei Army and dared not make a move.

And in the Three Prefectures of Yan, Princess Li Xinglan naturally wouldn't stop the Northern Trade Alliance from selling newspapers.

In fact, relying on the goods from the Northern Trade Alliance, as well as the help of Northern Industry and Northern Cottage, the Yan Region was rapidly recovering.

In Qizhou, the former Prince Yans Mansion had now become the Princess's Mansion.

Princess Li Xinglan sat in the study in gorgeous clothes, looking at the latest Northern Daily in her hand, smiling like a flower.

"How come I didn't realize before that our Lin Xiao was so interesting..."

"'Scraping Bone to Treat Poison'? With his unfathomable internal energy, even General Yelu Chuku couldn't kill him, and he could still be poisoned? It's killing me..."

Wei Kongming coughed from the side, reminding her: "Princess, the eunuch is still waiting to announce the imperial decree."

Princess Li Xinglan put down the newspaper with some boredom and looked at the eunuch who was trembling while holding the imperial decree in the study.

"Stop reading, I don't have time to listen to long-winded speeches, and there's no one else here, just say it directly, why did the Emperor ask for me?"

The eunuch had no choice; this Princess Xinglan was famous for "not following the rules".

The eunuch had to smile awkwardly: "It's a happy occasion, the Emperor wants to arrange a marriage between the Princess and His Highness the Crown Prince."

"..."

The study fell into a long silence.