Chapter 1075: Internal Affairs and Money Shortage, Don’t Forget Your Original Intention

The rainy days in Han lasted until mid-August and then slowly ended.

The rainy days south of the Yangtze River are still continuing.

According to the report from the Imperial City Bureau, more than a dozen of the more than 100 cities of the Ma Chu State were destroyed by heavy rains.

Under such circumstances, the Ma Chu State still did not reduce or exempt taxes.

The people had no choice but to leave their homes and flee into the mountains and forests.

The flood disaster in Southern Tang was not too serious.

Moreover, Southern Tang was only founded this year and annexed Wuyue and Min, so the problems of Southern Tang did not break out until September.

Early September.

The national flood disaster ended and the epidemic gradually emerged.

Su Mingzhe of the Han State made preparations in advance and suppressed the epidemic at the beginning of its outbreak.

However, because of the two wars that destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty, there were rotting corpses everywhere.

Just after the flood disaster, major epidemics broke out in many places.

The original Wu Yue Kingdom and Min Kingdom both experienced serious situations where the entire state was closed.

The news reached Luoyang.

Han court officials submitted memorials one after another, requesting the Han emperor to delay the time of the southern expedition to Southern Tang.

Su Mingzhe was naturally unwilling to postpone the time of unifying the Nine Provinces.

However, in order to prevent the Southern Tang from being unable to control the epidemic, Su Mingzhe simply sent someone to contact the Tang Emperor Li Sheng and sent a lot of anti-epidemic pills from the Han Kingdom.

Li Sheng is also a character.

Even though he knew that the two countries were in a state of hostility, he still generously accepted the anti-epidemic medicines sent by the Han Kingdom.

The relationship between the two countries has also eased a lot as a result.

Many merchants appeared on the surface of the Yangtze River.

This day was in October.

Cold Clothes Festival is also known as the "Autumn Festival" and the "Mingyin Festival".

This day has come.

The emperor had to preside over the sacrifice personally.

After the sacrifice, Su Mingzhe did not accompany the woman for a tour, but returned to the imperial study to continue handling government affairs.

The Han Dynasty was established too recently and did not fully accept officials from other countries. This resulted in more than 50% of the officials in the Han Dynasty being newcomers to the bureaucracy.

With many newcomers in the officialdom, work efficiency will indeed be improved, and it will be less likely for dereliction of duty or laziness to occur.

However, these newcomers have little experience in handling affairs, and when encountering unexpected events, they often handle them improperly, offending many local powerful forces.

As the head of a country, Su Mingzhe has to provide a guarantee for these newcomers.

Fortunately, the Han Dynasty extended its power to local towns and villages at the beginning of its founding.

The foundation of the Han Dynasty far surpassed that of the previous dynasty.

Some local dignitaries with ulterior motives wanted to collude with each other or collaborate with the enemy country, but they were unable to do so.

"The biggest problem facing the Han Dynasty right now is probably the lack of soldiers and generals."

Su Mingzhe fell into deep thought as he watched the memorial submitted by the Minister of War Lu Wen requesting an expansion of the army by 200,000.

Don’t think that the Han Dynasty has been invincible in these years of conquests.

In fact, the Han Dynasty's regular army had only more than 500,000 soldiers.

Among these 500,000 troops, more than 300,000 were distributed in various states and counties to maintain local public order and deter and encircle and suppress local bandits.

The Han army that has been following Su Mingzhe in conquering enemy countries for many years is only about 200,000.

The southern expedition will continue next year. Both Southern Tang and Ma Chu are large countries with vast territories. If we only bring 200,000 troops to the south, the Minister of War Lu Wen is afraid that the plan will fail due to insufficient troops.

Empress Wan, who assisted the man in handling state affairs, saw the man holding the memorial in silence. After a little thought, she guessed the reason:

"Your Majesty, but the Ministry of Revenue has no money?" "Yes, the Han Dynasty is in the process of development and needs money everywhere. The people have just settled down, and I am embarrassed to ask them for money."

Su Mingzhe put down the memorial, picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and then let out a long sigh.

Queen Wan frowned slightly and said puzzledly:
"Your Majesty, why are you so anxious? Didn't the navy report that they found the Iwami Silver Mine you mentioned? Once the silver from the Iwami Silver Mine is transported back, the money shortage will naturally be solved."

Hearing the woman's words of comfort, Su Mingzhe couldn't help but chuckle:
"Queen Wan, the money you can see in your eyes is the white silver and the golden gold."

"And the money I can see with my eyes is labor. In the absence of an increase in labor, if we rashly take out silver that exceeds the value of labor, it can only solve the problem temporarily, and will eventually leave the problem to future generations..."

Queen Wan listened to the man's nagging for a while, but in the end she didn't understand what he said.

After all, she didn't understand economics.

Had lunch.

Su Mingzhe was just about to hug Queen Wan to rest when a eunuch reported that Qingnv and Qingping wanted to see him.

Seeing the two plain beauties walk into the imperial study, Su Mingzhe was immediately delighted.

In terms of appearance and figure, Qingnv could only be considered average among the more than sixty concubines.

However, Qingnv seems to be born with charm.

Her every smile, gesture and movement were full of charm.

Since getting Qingnv, Su Mingzhe has favored her more times than any other concubine. Even Lady Xiaohuarui, Fei, is slightly inferior to him.

Seeing Qingnv coming, Su Mingzhe waved his hand and asked the two girls to sit next to him:

"Why didn't you two ladies go to visit Mount Beimang?"

Today is one of the three major ghost festivals and also a day to worship ancestors.

On this day, after paying homage to their ancestors, local people in Luoyang would go to Beimang Mountain to play.

Many concubines in the harem also made appointments with each other and went together.

"I went there during the Double Ninth Festival last month."

Su Mingzhe smiled brightly when he heard Qingnv's silly voice:
"Luoyang is a thousand-year-old divine capital, and there are many fun places. If you want to go somewhere, as long as it is an unowned place, just take your people with you."

"Your Majesty, we heard that there are still many empty palaces in the West Palace. We want to move there!"

Qingping's personality became more lively. Seeing that the man was so generous, she simply told him the purpose of the two women's visit.

"It's just a palace. Juan, take your two concubines to Shangyang Palace to choose a palace."

Su Mingzhe handed the two women over to Hu An, the eunuch chief of the Imperial Study, and asked Hu An to take them to Shangyang Palace to choose a palace.

As for the bedroom that Cui Yingying arranged for the two women in the imperial palace, it is still reserved for the two women.

After the two women left, Queen Wan suddenly smiled softly at the man and said:

"Your Majesty, the two palaces in Luoyang are almost not enough. I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money to expand the palace..."

"I am really poor!"

Su Mingzhe smiled bitterly, pulled Wan over, and stopped her from speaking.

This woman is really a little petty.

I just used my knowledge of economics to show off in front of her.

As a result, when there is an opportunity, this woman will make things difficult for herself.

Turn around.

The cold is getting worse and the autumn taxes are being collected.

Although Su Mingzhe was still worried about money, after the arrival of winter, he continued to provide relief to the people, carried out "work-for-relief" and spent large amounts of money on various infrastructure projects.

Queen Wan assisted the man for two or three months, and only then did she gradually admire him:
"With your majesty devoted to the people, it is no wonder that the morale of the Han people is far superior to that of other countries."

Su Mingzhe accepted Queen Wan's words calmly:

"In my eyes, the whole world belongs to the king, and all the people are his subjects. I regard all the people in the world as my own children. Whatever I do, I always act from the perspective of a parent. Even if there are a few unfilial sons, the majority of the people can definitely distinguish right from wrong and be loyal to the country..."

(End of this chapter)