Cao Song's words immediately silenced everyone in the Deyang Palace.

Although what he said made a lot of sense, and those soldiers and armor were indeed a useless thing for the Han Dynasty, the crowd was still somewhat hesitant.

After all, for hundreds of years, the Han Dynasty had maintained very strict control over even a single piece of iron, let alone forbidden items like weapons and armor.

In other words, everyone knew Cao Song's character and loyalty; otherwise, he would have been attacked by the masses long ago.

Seeing that everyone remained silent, Liu Hong couldn't help but sigh inwardly, and then turned his gaze to Huangfu Gui beside him.

"What does General Huangfu think?"

"Hmm, the Grand Minister of Agriculture is right. Those armors are already rusty and mostly broken, so they are useless to keep."

However... although those were things we discarded, they were still very useful to those barbarians, and selling them for a high price was not a problem.

In this way, the money from the sale can be used to distribute more rations and pay to our Han soldiers, and to forge more and better weapons and armor. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks!

Upon hearing the emperor's question, Huangfu Gui, who was standing to the side, nodded and was the first to speak in support of Cao Song's proposal.

"General Huangfu is truly insightful!"

Upon seeing that Huangfu Gui agreed with his point of view, Cao Song couldn't help but beam with joy.

"The reason they work so hard to plunder slaves for money and food is precisely to expand their power, isn't it, Your Majesty?"

After saying this, Cao Song looked at Liu Hong with anticipation, hoping to gain the emperor's support.

Liu Hong nodded. "This is a good idea. In this way, our Han Dynasty can spend money and grain to buy slaves from them, and then let them use the money from selling slaves or even the looted materials to buy our soldiers and armor at high prices."

At that time, we will not only gain a large amount of free labor and supplies, but also increase their hatred for each other, maximizing the depletion of their population, while all we will give in return is some tattered armor and weapons!

Then Liu Hong looked at everyone and asked, "What do you all think of this method?"

Cao Song: "Your Majesty's considerations are indeed comprehensive and far-sighted!"

Chen Fan: "Yes, this is a brilliant strategy that achieves multiple benefits. We have been too rigid in our thinking!"

Yuan Feng nodded, "That's right, in that case, those barbarians will have been working for our Han Dynasty for nothing!"

After listening to Liu Hong's explanation, everyone understood and agreed to the strategy.

They never imagined that this could be done this way.

Seeing that everyone had finally come to their senses, Liu Hong smiled. There were still so many things he needed to change in the future.

He didn't want his ministers to be a bunch of people who blindly followed the old ways.

Liu Hong then said, "However, the imperial court cannot intervene in this matter. After all, if word gets out that we are providing weapons and armor to the enemy, all of you here will be condemned to death by the people of the world!"

"What does Your Majesty mean?"

Everyone looked at Liu Hong with puzzled expressions, wondering what the emperor was up to now.

Liu Hong smiled and said, "Someone will handle this for us. You all shouldn't worry about it or get too involved!"

"Your humble servants obey!"

Upon seeing the emperor's sudden, eerie smile, everyone immediately understood that some people were about to suffer misfortune.

Then Liu Hong said, "Gentlemen, the Northeast and Northwest are in chaos now, and Bingzhou is also making preparations. Before long, the Xianbei and Xiongnu will also make their move. Our Great Han can finally have some peace and quiet for a while!"

Huangfu Gui nodded and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty is right. I believe that if we handle this properly, the Xianbei, Xiongnu, Qiang, Shi, Wuhuan and other tribes will be severely weakened, and their populations will decrease by at least 30%, or even more."

In this way, they will be unable to invade our borders for five years!

Yuan Feng nodded. "Indeed, this matter needs careful planning!"

Liu Hong waved his hand with a smile, "Hehe~, we don't need to worry about this. Those powerful landlords know better than we do how to exploit them! The imperial court just needs to protect them!"

"Uh... Your Majesty is right!!"

Hearing Liu Hong say this, everyone then remembered the various tricks used by those powerful landlords.

Fortunately, these methods have now been transferred to the barbarians, which has saved them a lot of trouble.

Then Liu Hong looked at everyone and said in a deep voice:

"Now that our Han Dynasty's borders are temporarily stable, we must be prepared for anything that leads to success, and not being prepared will lead to failure. You gentlemen should discuss how to take advantage of these five years to restore our national strength as soon as possible, so as to lay a solid foundation for eliminating border troubles in the future!"

"Your Majesty is right. Under Your Majesty's wise leadership, I believe that within five years, our Great Han will surely regain its former glory!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Song's eyes lit up, and he immediately showered him with flattery.

"This Grand Minister of Agriculture...!"

Seeing this, everyone could only shake their heads helplessly.

Liu Hong and the others then discussed in detail the development plan for the next five years, including land, food, military, economy, people's livelihood, commerce, and so on.

It wasn't until sunset that the group finally settled on a general direction and tone.

After everyone finished their discussions, the Imperial Secretariat, in accordance with the results of Liu Hong's discussion, urgently issued several imperial edicts, which were then sent to various parts of the Han Dynasty.

The contents of the Great Proclamation are as follows:

First: Local authorities are required to conduct thorough investigations, severely curb land annexation, investigate corrupt officials, and improve the performance evaluation system for officials.

Second: We will fully support the various tasks of the three colleges of engineering, agriculture, and medicine, and at the same time send people to the south, southwest, and west to find various material resources and seeds of high-yield crops.

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