Time flies, and three months have passed in the blink of an eye.
They conquered Gaochang, quelled the Tibetan rebellion, and wiped out the last remaining forces of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands.
In the twelfth year of the Jingkang era, Zhao Huan was very satisfied with the progress made that year.
That year, Zhao Huan finally set foot on the territory of the Western Regions.
Next, in order to extend the territory further west and promote Jiaozi to another world, Zhao Huan had to build a stronghold in Gaochang.
Snow began to fall in Tokyo. A good snow promises a good harvest, and next year will surely be a bountiful season.
Despite the freezing weather, the streets of Tokyo were bustling with traffic and pedestrians.
The restaurants on both sides were packed with customers, and the clothing stores were also crowded with people.
But what really caught the eye were the newspaper boys.
"Look quickly! The latest policy: Li Guang, the Prefect of Youzhou, has been transferred to Gaochang! Li Guang, the Prefect of Youzhou, has been transferred to Gaochang!"
Li Guang was a high-ranking local official. Over the past ten years or so, Youzhou had been thriving under his governance, and the taxes he paid to the imperial court had increased year by year.
By the eleventh year of the Jingkang era, the tax revenue had already surpassed that of the wealthy Chengdu Prefecture.
Many people speculate that Li Guang will be transferred back to Tokyo to join the central government.
But to his utter surprise, he was transferred to Gaochang.
Gaochang had just been conquered, and Li Guang was transferred there, which clearly implied a demotion.
With such outstanding political achievements, why would the emperor demote him?
Conspiracy theorists have started making up stories again, with some saying he had an affair with the Han family and was one of the victims in the last Han Lixian incident.
Some people also say that he protected the Duke of Chongguo in Xianzhou and participated in the struggle for the crown prince position.
Some say that he took a lot of money in Youzhou during his eleven-year reign.
For a time, opinions among the people were varied.
The next day, the headline of the newspaper was about the construction of the highway from Dunhuang to Gaochang.
It caused an uproar.
Someone immediately commented: "If the imperial court recovers Gaochang, it will inevitably reopen the Silk Road of the Han and Tang dynasties. Gaochang will become the first major military town and economic center of the Song Dynasty in the Western Regions."
"Build roads! Transport tea and silk; whoever goes to Gaochang now will make a fortune!"
Whoever goes to Gaochang will make a fortune.
This was also the rumor circulating about Qing Tang City a few months ago.
I've heard that those people who went to Qing Tang City are doing quite well now.
It was still the same writer using the pen name Tang Zhe who wrote an article titled "On the Western Regions," which explained the importance of Gaochang to the future imperial court in the Western Regions from both military and economic perspectives.
Today, the territory of the Song Dynasty extends deep into the heart of the Western Regions, making the revival of the Silk Road an inevitable trend.
Li Guang, the former prefect of Youzhou who had made great contributions to the emperor, was transferred to Gaochang. This was not a demotion, but an important appointment.
Most excitingly, the imperial court planned to invest heavily in building highways between Gaochang, Dunhuang, Xingqing Prefecture, Chang'an, Luoyang, and Tokyo.
This excited many businessmen so much that they couldn't sleep at night.
Clearly, such a massive project would require the mobilization of millions of laborers, and no one knows how much money the imperial court will invest.
This is also a problem that Zhao Huan is currently considering.
In any case, the policy developments at the end of the twelfth year of the Jingkang era touched the hearts of millions.
At the end of the year, all the tax revenues reported from various regions were recorded and filed at the Three Departments.
From the perspective of the prefectures, Tokyo, Hangzhou, Chang'an, and Youzhou still contribute the most taxes.
After the imperial court destroyed the Jin dynasty, the Great Wall became useless, Juyong Pass was completely opened, and Youzhou became the center of the north.
This year, due to the impact of the rebellion, Guangzhou has paid significantly less tax than in the past.
In the second tier, the taxes paid by prefectures such as Jiangling, Daming, Yingtian, Luoyang, and Quanzhou have doubled compared to last year.
However, in the second tier, a very dazzling prefecture suddenly emerged: Xianzhou of Liaodong Circuit!
This year, Xianzhou has entered the second tier of taxpayers.
This greatly surprised Zhou Chao.
It should be noted that the imperial court had just destroyed the Jin dynasty two years ago, and the Duke of Chongguo had just accepted Xianzhou at the beginning of this year.
By the end of the year, tax revenue had entered the second tier, comparable to that of Luoyang and Quanzhou.
When reporting on tax revenue to Zhao Huan, Zhou Chao deliberately paused and said, "Your Majesty, the Duke of Chong is a rare talent for governing the country!"
After reviewing the tax details submitted by Xianzhou, Zhao Huan thought to himself: Good heavens, I underestimated how much the people valued Zhao Chen.
The reason why Xianzhou was able to rise so high was because many wealthy merchants invested huge sums of money in Xianzhou.
Xianzhou has now become the largest mink and leather manufacturing center in the Song Dynasty.
Their consumer base consisted of the wealthiest people in the Song Dynasty.
In recent years, Zhao Huan has invested heavily in building highways in various places, which has not only solved the problem of timeliness, but also brought huge wealth to the people.
Nowadays, there are more and more wealthy people in the Song Dynasty. As winter approaches, these wealthy people all rush to Xianzhou to buy mink fur and leather.
In the past three months alone, mink and leather goods in Xianzhou have been sold out every day.
Zhao Chen was so happy at home that he couldn't stop smiling.
Because of this, the Empress was so happy that she talked about it every day.
In any case, this is a good thing, and Zhao Huan has no reason to suppress or criticize it.
Winters in Liaodong are colder than in Tokyo.
It has been snowing heavily for a month.
Zhao Chen hid in the house drinking, while Zhao Shen ate hot pot on the side.
Zhao Chen did not like hot pot. He ate hot pot in Tokyo before, but that was only to please Zhao Huan.
Zhao Shen, on the other hand, really enjoys it, especially in winter, eating hot pot while drinking fine wine.
"The winters in Liaodong are absolutely awful! When will I be able to go back to Tokyo?!"
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