For Zhao Huan, what worries him most right now is not the conduct of officials, nor their decadent private lives.

These are all minor issues, and very normal ones at that. To eliminate them would require a great deal of effort, and it would be absolutely impossible to eliminate them; on the contrary, it would damage the authority of the central government.

The most important issue now is not corruption; there are very few officials who haven't taken money.

But as long as things in the prefecture are handled well, and not like the officials when I first took office who only took money and did nothing, I can still tolerate it.

The most pressing issue remains the ever-growing power of private capital.

There is an invisible hand trying to interfere in local government affairs, trying to climb up the branches of power.

We killed a batch last time, but it still didn't stop the spread.

This is the most troublesome issue in Zhao Huan's mind right now, and it cannot be resolved in a short time.

Before dawn, an unremarkable carriage stopped at the Chongguo Duke's Mansion, or rather, the Liao Prince's Mansion, although the mansion's plaque had not yet been changed.

A middle-aged man walked in.

Zhao Chen reluctantly dressed and washed before leisurely emerging from the room.

"This humble subject pays his respects to the King of Liao."

"No need for such formalities."

"Thank you, King of Liao."

"Mr. Zhu, what brings you here?"

"I have heard that next year, the government will focus on exploiting the wasteland around Xianzhou Prefecture. I am a humble citizen, but I have three million strings of cash which I am willing to offer to the King of Liao to benefit the people."

"Oh, Mr. Zhu is very generous."

"It's all for the people of the Song Dynasty."

"What are Mr. Zhu's requirements?"

"My daughter is not yet married. I wonder if she could become the King of Liao's concubine?"

Zhao Chen's expression immediately changed, and he almost wanted to insult Zhu Qing for being arrogant and ignorant, but when he saw the box of paper money, he immediately held back.

On second thought, the Song Dynasty has changed.

Nobles are not necessarily better off or more respected than the wealthy.

Zhu Qing is now one of the top ten richest people on the wealth list.

With his support, many things are easier for me to do.

"feasible."