"Your Majesty, good news has arrived from Bingzhou!"

Just as Liu Hong and Song Yue were playing with their son, Zhang Rang also came up not far behind Liu Hong.

"Oh? Is it about the Southern Xiongnu?"

Liu Hong, holding little Liu Cheng, asked without turning his head.

Zhang Rang: "Your Majesty, it is a letter of surrender from Qiangqu, the Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu!"

"read!"

Liu Hong only said one word, his voice very soft, as if he didn't care, or as if he was afraid of disturbing his son.

Zhang Rang also picked up the letter of surrender and read it softly: "Your subject Qiangqu respectfully pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty..."

Throughout the entire listening process, Liu Hong kept his eyes on his son in his arms, a loving smile on his face.

Only after Zhang Rang finished reading did Liu Hong reach out and gently stroke Xiao Liu Cheng's forehead.

"Cheng'er, Cheng'er, are you satisfied with this birth gift?"

As soon as Liu Hong finished speaking, little Liu Cheng grinned and kicked his little legs, looking very happy.

"Haha~, very good, as expected of my son!"

Seeing Liu Cheng's appearance, Liu Hong couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Then, Liu Hong raised his hand and gestured to Zhang Rang: "Go, issue an edict to the cabinet to accept the submission of the Southern Xiongnu and posthumously confer upon Qiangqu the title of Marquis Shiming."

The former territory of the Southern Xiongnu was renamed Huhe Commandery (Hohhot), and placed under the jurisdiction of Bingzhou. Mao Jie was appointed as the governor of Huhe Commandery!

"Here you go!"

Zhang Rang respectfully agreed, then bowed and withdrew.

After receiving Liu Hong's decree, the cabinet also summoned officials from the six ministries to discuss the governance and resettlement of Huhe County.

The consensus reached by the group was the same as that of Ding Yuan and Huangfu Song: to relocate Han Chinese, convert farming to animal husbandry, and replace other nomadic peoples with Han Chinese.

Of course, for subsequent management, a person with governance skills is needed to explore and provide the court with a feasible solution.

Mao Jie, whom Liu Hong specifically named, is undoubtedly the most suitable person.

Soon, the cabinet delivered the drafted edict and memorial to Liu Hong's desk.

After reviewing the edicts and memorials drafted by the cabinet, Liu Hong nodded in satisfaction. He then personally approved them in vermilion ink and issued them to various ministries for implementation.

Since the completion of the official system reform, the division of responsibilities among various departments has been clear, and the administrative efficiency of the imperial court has been significantly improved.

Therefore, for many government affairs, Liu Hong only needed to issue an instruction or direction, and the cabinet and the six ministries could carry them out well.

At this time, the political system of the Han Dynasty had largely become similar to the cabinet system of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Liu Hong, as the emperor, wielded more power, and in addition to the cabinet, there was also a Privy Council, making the system of separation of military and political affairs more stable.

Now, with the birth of his son, Liu Hong has begun to ponder the imperial examination system that he has longed for.

Although the Han Dynasty has been using assessments to select talent for the past few years, most of those talented individuals still come from high-ranking families.

Even those who are able to enter the Third Group Academy are mostly from wealthy families or are illegitimate children of some families. The channels for upward mobility from the bottom are still not open.

Although Liu Hong was still vigorously promoting the construction of schools, and the subjects were based on the elementary to junior high school level of later generations, the time was still short and the children receiving education were only about ten years old, so Liu Hong's vision could not be realized yet.

After much deliberation, Liu Hong realized that the imperial examination system still could not be implemented.

"Sigh, it seems that some things really can't be accomplished in just one or two generations!"

After shaking his head and giving a wry smile, Liu Hong began to ponder another idea he had been thinking about for a long time: a bank.

The importance of banks to a country is self-evident.

Today, the industry and commerce of these essential regions in the Central Plains have reached a certain scale. The Grand Canal will be fully opened in two years, and border and foreign trade are becoming more and more frequent, in addition to the continuous issuance of new currency.

The monetary system of the Han Dynasty has now stabilized.

Therefore, Liu Hong felt that it was time to put the construction of the bank on the agenda.

Subsequently, Liu Hong proposed a general framework based on the banking model of later generations and sent it to the cabinet.

Upon receiving Liu Hong's instructions, the cabinet ministers dared not delay.

The establishment of the bank had a huge impact on the Han Dynasty, and they had to be extremely careful.

Subsequently, the cabinet convened the Ministry of Revenue and other officials in the court who were well-versed in economics to begin discussions and research.

For a time, economic works such as "Guanzi" and "Discourses on Salt and Iron" became highly sought-after by officials.

Although the official conduct in the court has improved significantly, people are still driven by self-interest. The reason why officials are so enthusiastic about building banks is mostly due to their own interests.

It is obvious that banks will inevitably become an important department controlling the national treasury in the future, and naturally, they will want to seek profits in the construction of banks.

Liu Hong was fully aware of what the officials were thinking, but he didn't feel anything was wrong.

That's human nature; those who can remain unmoved by self-interest are always a minority.

Furthermore, for Liu Hong, those who are without desires or wants are the people he should be most wary of.

After nearly a month of discussion and research, the cabinet has finally drafted a preliminary proposal on bank construction.

Deyang Palace.

Chen Fan, Cao Song, Yuan Feng, and others couldn't help but feel a little nervous as they watched the emperor frowning and deep in thought while holding the proposal.

After a long while, Liu Hong put down the proposal in his hand, and Chen Fan, Cao Song and others immediately sat up straight and looked at him.

Although these people were all prominent figures in the court, they knew that in the present Han Dynasty, the emperor was the one who set the rules, and no one dared to act recklessly without the emperor's permission.

"The cabinet's proposal is very good, but it will be difficult to implement it on a large scale. Let's implement it in the Sili region first!"

Liu Hong approved the cabinet's proposal, but limited the scope to banks, essentially making it a pilot program.

After all, things like this, which concern national stability, cannot be rushed.

Upon hearing that the Emperor had approved the Cabinet's proposal, the cabinet ministers breathed a sigh of relief and were overjoyed.

In any case, as long as the bank can be established, it will grow and thrive in just a few years.

The issue now facing everyone is the distribution of profits within the bank.

None of the cabinet members dared to speak on this matter; they all stared intently at Liu Hong.

Liu Hong was well aware of everyone's thoughts. She would not allow anyone to put their hands in the Great Han Bank, but she had to consider the issue of profit distribution.

After a moment of contemplation, Liu Hong said in a deep voice, "In addition to the Great Han Bank, I also plan to establish a Royal Bank, with 30% of its shares going to the Imperial Household Department!"