"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

When the emperor took the initiative to promote their fame, the officials who had felt sorry for donating money immediately put on smiles.

In this era, although money was important, a good reputation and laughter were even more valued by scholars who were not short of money.

After the court session ended, the Imperial Secretariat quickly issued an edict as Liu Hong had requested, announcing it to the world.

The imperial edict quickly spread throughout the prefectures and counties, and countless scholars and students praised the officials and families for donating money.

Seeing this, other powerful families followed suit, donating money and grain in hopes of gaining a good reputation and paving the way for their descendants to enter officialdom.

Liu Hong and Cao Song's actions made Liu Hong incredibly wealthy, not only covering the costs of repairing the water conservancy project but also providing enough surplus to build an army of 30,000.

"Tsk tsk tsk, the Zhen family of Jizhou and the Mi family of Xuzhou are really rich and powerful! One donated 300 million coins and the other donated 200 million coins."

Looking at the amounts donated by the two families reported by the local prefect, Liu Hong admired the contributions but couldn't help but secretly regret arriving too early...

“They are all local wealthy businessmen who have been doing business for many years and have a wide range of businesses. This amount of money is not much for them.”

Sima Fang, who had just been promoted by Liu Hong, gave a detailed account of the two companies' situations.

Liu Hong nodded. He was naturally aware of these famous wealthy merchants from the late Han Dynasty, but he had never considered taking advantage of them. Moreover, these merchants would be of great help to the future development of the Han Dynasty's economy.

"Yes! Although they come from merchant backgrounds, they have a patriotic heart, so I naturally cannot treat them unfairly."

Liu Hong then looked at Zhao Zhong and said, "You go there yourself and have them select an outstanding young man to be assigned to the Imperial Guard."

"promise!"

Seeing Zhao Zhong's somewhat bitter expression, Zhang Rang couldn't help but feel a surge of secret joy.

"Zhang Rang, go to Jiangdong and take charge of the selection of Imperial Guard students."

"ah?"

Zhang Rang also left Deyang Palace with a bitter expression. This Emperor... truly...

Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang, who bumped into each other on the way, snorted at each other and then turned and left.