Mu Zixi sat down gently, "This humble official will follow Your Highness's arrangements."

Xiao Zhixing shook his head and smiled, "You're starting to try to outsmart me too. Don't you all know my personality? I trust those I employ and don't employ those I don't trust. Tell me, do you want to go back to Nanfan?"

Mu Zixi appears slow, low-key, and gentle on the surface, but deep down he is restless and adventurous.

Mu Zixi breathed a sigh of relief, his smile relaxed. "Your Highness is truly a kindred spirit to me."

"To be honest, I do want to go back to Nanfan, earn some money, and offer you a country."

Xiao Zhixing readily agreed, "Alright, if this great undertaking succeeds, you will be a hereditary king of a different surname, is that acceptable?"

Mu Zixi's eyes blazed, and he rose and knelt down, "Your humble servant obeys!"

This journey was fraught with difficulties and dangers, but for this unparalleled achievement, he was willing to risk everything, even his life.

After the gentleman's agreement was signed, Mu Zixi contracted a strange illness and was taken back by Xue Chen to recuperate, but he died on the way.

Then a big news broke in Nanfan: the deceased eldest prince, Wei Wen, reappeared, was recognized by the Nanfan emperor, and was included in the family genealogy.

These are things to be discussed later.

The day after meeting Mu Zixi, Xiao Zhixing was summoned to the palace by Zhao Yunqi. He first went to see the Empress Dowager and then went to the Shengde Hall.

"My health has been declining these days. Yuansheng, I'm entrusting these memorials to you. It'll be good for you to familiarize yourself with government affairs in advance."

Zhao Yunqi left those words behind, ignoring her expression, and leisurely went to the inner palace with his hands behind his back.

Xiao Zhixing turned to Fulu, who was standing there, and asked, "Why aren't you following His Majesty?"

Fu Lu: "This old, old servant is ordered to take care of Your Highness."

Waaah, I actually want to leave too, but why does His Highness's expression look a little scary?

Xiao Zhixing flicked his sleeves and resignedly sat down on the newly added throne next to the imperial throne to read the memorials.

Soon, all the officials in the court knew that the emperor had officially entrusted the crown prince with handling state affairs.

It is said that the first minister to enter was scolded by the crown prince, who found him too long-winded.

This stopped the old ministers, who were carrying memorials to request instructions and were about to see the emperor, in their tracks.

They all turned to the officials of the Northern State to learn about the Crown Prince's temperament and style of handling affairs.

It's true what they say, "A new monarch, a new court."

Xiao Zhixing happened to see the memorial from the Ministry of Revenue complaining that the national treasury was empty, the taxes that had just been collected had been spent, and there was a shortage of money everywhere.

For such a large country, the current national treasury only has 100,000 taels of silver, which is truly worrying.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Zhixing said, "Eunuch Fulu, convey my order to have Duke Li and several elders come here."

The empty national treasury definitely needs to be addressed, and she already had a plan in mind.

Fu Lu should personally go and deliver the order.

The officials who were in the jail received the order and came together, but they all brought several newcomers with them. Upon closer inspection, they were the Gentlemen's Court who had been thrown into the Six Ministries by Zhao Yunqi.

It's not that they value them that much, but with these children around, the Crown Prince probably won't scold people easily, right?

Upon entering the Shengde Hall, everyone immediately saw Xiao Zhixing behind the throne.

The crown prince's throne, entwined with a four-clawed golden dragon, made her majestic features appear even more stern, intimidating anyone who dared not look directly at her.

"Gentlemen, I have invited you here today to discuss how to solve the problem of the empty national treasury."

After they bowed and took their seats, Xiao Zhixing cut to the chase, "Duke Li, do you have a plan?"

Li Guogong said: "If we choose to increase revenue or reduce expenditure, then there is nothing left to reduce, so we can only increase revenue."

The imperial court has expenses everywhere, and in recent years even the year-end bonuses for officials have been cut back. The imperial harem is also living frugally. He racked his brains to save a little money from all the expenses.

A drop in the ocean.

Xiao Zhixing immediately knew he already had an idea. "Open source? From where?"

Duke Li coughed, his voice slightly weak, and mustered his courage to say, "Um, Haiyan, Your Highness, what do you think?"

The implication is that since you're about to become emperor, it wouldn't be right for you to hold onto such a huge golden egg and not hand it over to the court.

Xiao Zhixing laughed, "How long has Duke Li been eyeing Haiyan?"

Duke Li chuckled dryly, "Not long..."

Xiao Zhixing nodded, "The salt tax from Haiyan can be collected entirely into the national treasury. As for its operation, I intend to entrust it to Dasheng Trading Company."

This means upgrading Beizhou Commercial Firm to Dasheng Commercial Firm, officially making it a state-owned group and beginning to exercise macroeconomic control capabilities.

In the Northern Continent, the trading companies have already proven their effectiveness; anyone with eyes can see their power.

Duke Li was overjoyed when he heard this, "Your Highness is wise!!"

With the sea salt tax, he can finally expect to enrich the national treasury!

Xiao Zhixing chuckled, "You're satisfied with just this little bit of silver?"

She asked Li Wenxiu, who was standing behind Duke Li, "Tell me, what other methods are there for increasing revenue?"

Li Wenxiu, currently a fourth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue, directly serving the Duke of Li, showed no signs of nervousness upon hearing this. He counted on his fingers and said, "Collect commercial taxes, encourage commerce, control prices, revitalize the economy, open workshops, stabilize employment, stimulate trade, and open up business..."

As for the details, they are all in the business school textbooks of Beizhou General College.

Xiao Zhixing smiled and said, "Alright, Ah Xiu, write a detailed report and then go to Ning Jin to explain the upgrade of the Beizhou Merchant Guild to him in detail."

The memorials were for the emperor and senior officials; she directly entrusted the matter of upgrading the business to Li Ningxiu.

Having been by my side for so long, it's time for this girl to graduate.

Li Ningxiu was eager to try and immediately accepted the task, "Yes!"

Li Xiao paused slightly as he stroked his beard. Enough. The child was going to struggle, and the higher-ups trusted him; he didn't need to say anything more.

Xiao Zhixing took out another document, "This is a summary of agricultural taxes from various regions. Please take a look."

Li Xiao was the first to receive it, and upon discovering that the reporter was Lin Muzhen, he put away his casual expression and began to carefully examine it.

Xiao Zhixing said, “Agricultural tax has always been the main tax of the dynasty, which has made our people bear a heavy burden. Whenever there is a major disaster, the harvest is meager, the people suffer, agricultural tax is greatly reduced, which ultimately makes the dynasty unstable. If a few incompetent officials come along, and exorbitant taxes are imposed, it is not uncommon for officials to force the people to revolt.”

The group took turns flipping through the documents and listening to her speak.

"In the past two years, we have been beset by internal and external troubles, and agricultural taxes have been reduced sharply, which is also a reason for the empty treasury. Your Majesty's insistence on not increasing taxes and fees is benevolent, but as role models for all people, we must find ways to stabilize the court, replenish the treasury, and share the burden for Your Majesty and the world."

Zhao Kun pondered, "What does Your Highness mean?"

"The agricultural tax will no longer increase, but it needs to be reformed. You should send your officials to ask the local powerful families and wealthy farmers. I will give them six months to consider it. Either increase the agricultural tax or merge the poll tax into the land tax."

The northern prefecture adopted a multi-pronged approach, first increasing grain production to enrich the people's granaries, and then making newly cultivated land state-owned and prohibiting its sale.

The existing land offered them two options.

They could either continue farming by paying taxes per capita, but with a slight increase in taxes, or they could obediently merge the poll tax into the land tax and pay taxes at the lowest rate based on the number of acres of land.

This psychological game of choosing one of two options easily led wealthy merchant families who were pursuing profits to choose the latter.

Of course, the most important factor was the effectiveness of the military-agricultural settlements and new grain varieties in Beizhou. They astutely realized that the Beizhou government was not threatened by you at all.

The common people would rather cultivate new land themselves and enjoy the new policies than plant your crops.

Therefore, the Northern State and the other three states gradually completed the reform of merging the poll tax into the land tax.

"I will not force them. Let them inquire about the various policies in Beizhou. Now the Agricultural Division will promote new grain varieties and the policy of military farming throughout the country. They can decide for themselves what the final outcome will be."