"What? Your Majesty is back?"

At Nangong Yiyu's residence, Meng Changping hurriedly walked in, his words coming before he even arrived.

"Yes, Your Majesty entered the palace at 3:00 PM with a small entourage."

Nangong Yiyu frowned slightly, "Master Meng, please take a seat... Your Majesty, it's good that he's back. Is there any other news?"

"A piece of great news!"

Meng Changping sat opposite Nangong Yiyu, stroking his beard with a look of excitement on his face. He leaned over, his eyebrows raised, and said, "The Kingdom of Liu... no longer exists!"

Nangong Yi Yu was shocked. His Majesty once said that a fleet from afar was attacking the Kingdom of Ryukyu. Because of the domestic war, the fleet of Daxia went to Jinling and was unable to provide rescue. Does this mean that the Kingdom of Ryukyu was destroyed by foreign enemies?

But this is not good news!

Regardless, there had been some exchanges between the Ryu Kingdom and the former Wu Dynasty, and the Ryu Kingdom had always prided itself on learning the culture of the Wu Dynasty. This guy had been destroyed… He was suddenly startled, his eyes widening. “You mean… Your Majesty eliminated the invaders and conquered the Ryu Kingdom?”

Meng Changping slapped his thigh, "That's right, His Majesty has organized the Kingdom of Liu into the eighteenth province of Daxia, named the Far East Province!"

That place is far enough.

Nangong Yiyu smiled. This guy had suddenly expanded Daxia's territory to the sea, but... his smile gradually faded. "I heard that it takes more than a month to sail there. Besides, the place is so poor. Wouldn't this require a huge investment of money?"

"Your Majesty's policy towards the Far East is still unclear... I came to visit you today, firstly to tell you this good news, and secondly... secondly, the Ministry of Rites recently received some letters from envoys from countries surrounding Daxia. The letters said that their kings wished to come to Guanyun City to pay their respects to our Majesty..."

"I originally didn't care about this matter. Why would I welcome an audience with those tiny nations? But just yesterday, I met the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, Wen Xingzhou, in the palace. We casually chatted about this matter, and his opinion changed my mind. So, I'd like to discuss this with you, sir."

Nangong Yi Yu knew about this, but he didn't take it to heart - everyone is so busy now, and he is busy too, so how could he have the time to care about these lower countries.

When he heard this, he asked, "What did Master Wen say?"

"Old Master Wen said... Since Daxia is a superior state, these inferior states wanting to come and pay homage to Your Majesty is a great opportunity to demonstrate our superior state's power to the world and to enhance Your Majesty's reputation."

Meng Changping paused, then continued, "Old Master Wen also said that Daxia, as the highest form of Eastern civilization, has an obligation to educate the lower states. If we can win the loyalty of these lower states, they can become a barrier for Daxia. This statement made me think for a long time. If there are enemies on the other side of the sea, then there must be enemies on the other side of the mountains as well."

"These countries are all scattered around our Great Xia. If there really is an invasion from foreign enemies... even if they can't resist, they can still inform us so that we can prepare, right?"

"So I think... His Majesty has returned, hasn't he? He'll probably go to the Imperial Study tomorrow. Let's ask His Majesty's opinion. If he wishes to meet with the monarchs of these lower countries, we can ask him to set a time. After all, this is a major event, and we need to make good arrangements for the reception and publicity."

Nangong Yiyu nodded slightly. Master Wen's words were indeed insightful.

In the past, I thought the farthest country was Ryukyu, but now it seems that this is obviously not the case.

It was previously believed that the five countries in this region were hostile to each other, but now it seems that there may be many unknown enemies.

"Which countries have submitted their credentials?"

"Luzon, Persia, the Arab Empire, Goryeo, and the northern Xixia and Liao dynasties. The Liao dynasty is the most powerful and has the largest territory. The story goes like this: Xixia is currently at war with the Liao dynasty, and since they're no match for the Liao, they've sent a letter asking for Daxia's help. Upon learning of this, the Liao dynasty has also sent a letter, hoping Daxia won't interfere in their war."

"The Xixia envoys are quite urgent about this matter. I didn't want to bother with it. If I were to hand these letters to Your Majesty... would Your Majesty be embarrassed?"

Nangong Yiyu thought for a moment and said, "It's okay. Let His Majesty decide. It's still unknown whether he will meet with the monarchs of these lower countries."

In Nangong Yiyu's opinion, these lower countries are dispensable. Although they can enhance the prestige of Great Xia...does this prestige still need other lower countries to enhance it?

He took a sip of tea and talked about other things:

"It's almost the end of the year, and the progress of replacing old currency with new ones is still a bit slow. How about adding a few more banks?"

Meng Changping nodded. "Daxia silver notes are being printed simultaneously in four locations. The problem is that there are too few exchange points. A few days ago, I discussed this issue with President Li Jindou, and he said we should ask colleagues from the local commercial bureaus for assistance... Currently, there are only five banks, making it extremely inconvenient for citizens to exchange these silver notes."

"Last month, Li Jindou and I went to see Yun Xiyan, and we finalized the matter. The bank will count the silver bills and hand them over to the commercial bureaus in each county, which will then open an exchange window. I think there won't be any major problems."

"That's a good idea. We'll have to raise this issue with His Majesty tomorrow. There are too few bank branches. To make things more convenient for the people, we should also lower the fees to the county-level administrative agencies."

Now Daxia's business is developing rapidly. For such a large country, only five banks cannot meet the needs of merchants. It is time to solve the problem urgently.

"But if that were the case, the bank would probably have to become an institution like the Ministry of Commerce, which would require a lot of people... During this year's Autumn Examination, while His Majesty was away, only a little over a hundred people were recruited based on official vacancies reported by provincial governors. I wish I had recruited more."

This year's autumn examination, the officials went out to sea, led by Nangong Yiyu and Meng Changping, and presided over by Wen Canghai. They didn't dare to select too many people. His Majesty left in a hurry and did not leave any instructions on this matter. If they selected another three or two hundred to become the so-called reserve cadres, what if His Majesty did not need them? How could they explain to the students who were selected?

"That's all right. Tomorrow, I'll have His Majesty issue an edict to recruit students who were eliminated based on their ranking. By the way, Lord Meng, I heard that before His Majesty went to sea, he allocated a large sum of money to Chang'an... formerly Wofeng City in the northwest of Beijing. What was he planning to do with it?"

Meng Changping looked troubled. "You wouldn't believe it, but His Majesty ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 30 million taels of silver to Chang'an and had Qin Mowen expand the city. He said he wanted to build Chang'an into a metropolis that could accommodate over 3 million people..."

Nangong Yiyu frowned. Why should Chang'an be expanded?

Shouldn’t Guanyun City be expanded?

It is obvious that Guanyun City can no longer accommodate any more people. As the administrative center of Daxia, it should be a metropolis that can accommodate more than three million people.

"Perhaps...didn't His Majesty once serve as a prefect in Wofeng Road? He has feelings for that place, otherwise why would he change the name of Wofeng City to Chang'an?"

"I'm afraid it means long-term peace and stability!"

Nangong Yiyu always felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know where the problem lay.

He didn't think about it any further, "Then I have to suggest to His Majesty that we expand Guanyun City tomorrow."