With the Confucian scholar case resolved to this point, Zhao Huan felt much less pressure.

The purpose of summoning the senior officials of the Eastern Palace and Zhao Gou separately this time was twofold: first, to discuss the conclusion of the Confucian scholar case, and second, to report on the current progress of maritime transport, commercial firms, and banks.

Why did Zhao Huan insist on summoning people from the Council of State Affairs to conclude the case of the Confucian scholars? It was because he always suspected that a prime minister was involved in the case, but he couldn't find out who it was. Even if he couldn't find out, he still wanted to give them a good talking-to!

Of course, not participating is the best option.

Xu Churen also understood the emperor's meaning. It was quite obvious that the emperor wanted them to personally deal with the 100,000 people who had been imprisoned, to show that they had no connection with the Confucian scholar case.

"Gentlemen, what should we do with over 100,000 people?"

Today, neither He Jiong nor Liu Yanzong nor Qin Hui are present. The emperor is only looking at Xu Churen, He Jiong, Tang Ke, and Zhao Gou.

Wang Boyan was thrown into the imperial prison and was doomed. Since the emperor ascended the throne, killing prime ministers of the Council of State Affairs has been as easy as killing chickens. These three are no ordinary people to have survived until now.

Xu Churen has come to a realization these past few days. If the emperor can wipe out the entire Confucius family, what else is he incapable of doing? No matter how much he opposes the emperor in the future, he will eventually be eliminated anyway, so he might as well behave himself from now on.

Xu Churen hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Confucian scholars are harming the country and distorting the sacred way. I believe they should be dealt with properly. They can be exiled to Yanyun to build border defenses, or they can carry out education in Yanyun."

Seeing that Xu Churen had spoken first, Tang Ke quickly said, "Your Majesty, with the opening of the seas imminent, Quanzhou and Guangzhou both need a large number of manpower. We can mobilize 50,000 from Quanzhou and Guangzhou. In addition, the southwestern barbarians have repeatedly invaded our Great Song Dynasty. We can also transfer another 50,000 to the southwest to strengthen the construction of the southwestern border defense facilities."

He replied, “Your Majesty, the foundation of our Western Protectorate is still unstable. If we can send these more than 100,000 people to the Western Protectorate and let them settle down there, we can strengthen our control over the Northwest and lay a solid foundation for future battles against Western Xia.”

"King Kang, what about you? Do Quanzhou and Guangzhou need any people?"

Zhao Gou said, "Your Majesty, I think what Chancellor He said is absolutely right. At this critical moment, the Northwest is in dire need of manpower!"

"Alright, let's do as He Qing says. This matter will still be handled entirely by He Qing and Xu Qing."

He and Xu Churen replied, "As you command!"

"Stop making me mobilize the army!"

He and Xu Churen felt a chill run down their spines, realizing the emperor's meaning: they should not repeat Wang Boyan's mistake, otherwise the emperor would send troops again, and things would become even more serious.

This time, almost all the court officials witnessed the emperor's determination to reform the system. The emperor did not mind making enemies of all the scholars in the country, and he did not even mind killing a whole sky full of red clouds!

There is absolutely no room for negotiation on this matter.

After Zhao Huan finished speaking, he added, "Minister Tang, tell me about your Bureau of Art and Design."

While chubby and pretending to be cute, Tang Ke hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the Bureau of Arts and Crafts will be completed in about two months. However, the Ueto-mon families in Tokyo have already ordered goods worth as much as one million kan. I have been very restrained, but there are still more than a dozen Ueto-mon families blocking the gate of my residence every day."

Seeing Zhao Huan nod, Tang Ke continued, "Once the Bureau of Arts and Crafts is completed, it can be opened to households nationwide. I estimate that the Bureau's revenue this year will reach ten million strings of cash!"

When he said that, everyone present gasped. What did ten million strings of cash mean? In the past, the annual tax revenue of the Song Dynasty was only eighty or ninety million strings of cash, and at its peak it could exceed one hundred million.

Now, a small entertainment production company can earn tens of millions of dollars in just six months. This business is practically robbery!

In this way, the imperial court will have no shortage of money, and the merchants of the Song Dynasty are really making a lot of money!

Thinking of this, Xu Churen and He Qi both cast envious glances at Tang Ke, wishing they hadn't given this task to that fatso Tang Ke.

"Your Majesty, after the first batch of goods is sold to the upper-class households this year, I believe that a separate Bureau of Goods and Crafts can be established to sell handicrafts to middle-class households."

Holy crap! Xu Churen and He thought to themselves: Damn it, you fat Tang, you're addicted to making money, you're even targeting middle-class households!

Tang Ke continued, "Even ordinary families have people of refined taste. If there is another manufacturing bureau to sell handicrafts to lower-class households, although these households may have limited financial resources, they are numerous. In total, the profits will not be less than those of the upper-class households!"

Now Xu Churen and He were both unable to stand. Damn it, it seems that Tang Ke has now completely liberated himself.

Tang Ke was a Vice Chancellor, and now he also holds the title of Minister of Commerce, overseeing the merchants of the Song Dynasty.

Originally, Xu Churen and He Yi thought that the Great Song Merchant Guild had no future, so they blamed Tang Ke for it. But unexpectedly, before the Artwork Bureau even officially opened, Tang Ke had already started making a fortune.

Thinking of this, the two gentlemen looked at the emperor at the same time. Damn, it seems that this emperor is very smart. This is not messing around, but clearly creating the future!

No way! From now on, I'll follow the emperor closely and live a life of luxury!

Tang Ke continued, "Your Majesty, once the Bureau of Arts and Crafts is established, I believe we can begin constructing tea houses for the Great Song Dynasty to collect the finest teas from across the land."

Xu Churen and He both cursed inwardly at the same time: "Shady businessman!"

Zhao Huan said, "Very good, Minister Tang, I have another suggestion for you: establish a Ministry of Industry and Commerce. I want to build schools, bridges, and roads in various places, and these will all be entrusted to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Each prefecture will have its own tasks to undertake. The prefects will come to you, they will give you money, and you will find people to do the work!"

Upon hearing this, some of the officials were dumbfounded. Local officials were giving money to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce—wasn't this just transferring money from one hand to the other? What was the point? The imperial funds were going to the imperial court; there was no increase in the money!

The Emperor added, "The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will recruit caravans from the people to carry out the construction work. You will set a standard salary, and everyone from top to bottom must receive a salary!"

This is the result of suspending corvée labor. The officials are really not used to it. They used to using free labor, but now everyone has to be paid a salary. Where will the court get so much money?

The most troublesome person is Xu Churen. He is now the boss of the East Prefecture and is responsible for all the task targets. Tang Ke can make money, which naturally helps relieve his pressure. But now the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is going to pay salaries, which means that the money he has earned will be given away for nothing!

Even if the local prefectures and cities provide the funds, those funds are still allocated by the imperial court, aren't they?

Ignoring the unpleasant expressions on the faces of the prime ministers, Zhao Huan continued, "Minister Tang, let me remind you again: each prefecture and county has quotas for setting up a Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and each prefecture and county must set revenue and expenditure targets for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. You can handle the specifics; I don't have time to think about that."

Tang Ke was completely dumbfounded. However, Tang Ke came from a wealthy family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. People from that area have always had a very developed business mind. Some fragmented information was quickly reassembled in his mind and began to make some sense.

After giving instructions to the Ministry of Commerce, Zhao Huan said to Xu Churen, "I intend to reorganize the four capitals, with Youzhou as the Northern Capital, Jingzhao Prefecture as the Western Capital, Hangzhou as the Eastern Capital, and Guangzhou as the Southern Capital. What do you think?"