Chapter 2464 Secret Plan
Manbao's acne matured very quickly, and he only had a low fever that never exceeded 37.8 degrees Celsius. However, in just two days, the acne matured and formed scabs that could almost be peeled off.
Xiao Yuanzheng and the others also came to see it and nodded with satisfaction.
When the emperor heard that everything was going well, he couldn't help but curl his lips and said to Bai Shan: "It won't be long before this disease will be eliminated from our Great Jin."
This is impossible. The Imperial Medical Bureau has estimated that even if all teenagers under the age of sixteen do not object to vaccination, it will take at least seventy or eighty years to eradicate smallpox.
However, regardless of whether the teenagers under the age of sixteen are willing or not, they currently do not have the ability to cover every place in Dajin.
This is a long and arduous task. Xiao Yuanzheng privately told his subordinates, "It will probably take two or three hundred years to achieve peace and prosperity for the country."
And who can guarantee that the country will be peaceful and prosperous for the next two or three hundred years?
In the past two years, they were always worried about the princes seizing the throne, so Xiao Yuanzheng was too lazy to remind or criticize the emperor about his confidence. He just wanted him to be happy, because time would slap him in the face anyway.
Bai Shan knew it was impossible because the place was very poor. Not to mention the faraway places, just take Qili Village as an example. Who would be responsible for the cowpox vaccine?
County government office?
Or the county medical department?
By the way, Luojiang County doesn’t have a medical department yet. Currently, there are only 38 counties and prefectures equipped with medical departments.
This is just a few more that have opened this year, compared to only about twenty before.
The entire Jin Dynasty had 358 prefectures and 1,551 counties. No, that's not right. After Gaochang was pacified, two more prefectures and six counties were added. In order to facilitate management, prefectures and counties in the interior sometimes had to be merged or increased.
Just use your toes to think about it. Even if there is one medical department in each state, there will be 360 of them. At the current rate of increase in local medical departments, how many years will it take to achieve this?
The emperor did not get recognition, but it did not stop him from entertaining himself. After imagining the future, he happily summoned Wei Zhi to ask how the new city plan in Yongzhou was going.
Wei Zhi said that the area had been surveyed and they had moved it a little within the area designated by the emperor so that the new city could better function, but most of it was still within the area designated by the emperor.
The emperor was very satisfied after taking a look at it and immediately approved it, "Let the Ministry of Works build it."
Wei Zhi refused and proposed to postpone the construction of the new city for a month. He said, "Your Majesty, it is the busy farming season now. Let's wait until the summer harvest is over before imposing labor service."
Yes, it was said that the Ministry of Works would be responsible for its construction, but it was also under the leadership of the Ministry of Works, and the workers still had to pay labor service.
The emperor thought for a moment and agreed, but could only regretfully postpone it for another month.
Bai Shan knelt aside and listened quietly, thinking to himself that the autumn harvest would be here in a month, which meant that everyone would have to work all year round with such a high labor intensity. I'm afraid the adults in Yongzhou would have a hard time. I don't know what the Ministry of Revenue plans to feed them.
Bai Shan, who had seen forced labor since childhood and had conducted a series of investigations and even written articles, knew that for the forced laborers, their difficulties lay not only in the intensity of the labor, but also in their diet.
In fact, as long as the diet can keep up with the intensity of their work, most of them can tolerate it. But based on his many years of experience, the food provided by the local county government can hardly keep up with the intensity of the labor of the Dingyi.
Bai Shan was lost in thought. The emperor had already sent Wei Zhi away, and he couldn't help but reveal a little secret to Bai Shan. "Isn't Zhou Man's fiefdom in Liyang? They're building a new city there, and she could build some shops or something like that on her fiefdom."
Bai Shan was stunned for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, you cannot build houses on farmland, let alone shops."
The emperor choked, then said after a moment, "The five hundred households assigned to her will have some wild hills and wilderness within their living area. Building a few shops there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Bai Shan said, "There's also Liyang County between them, so they can't connect to Xincheng."
The emperor could only express regret and said to the empress when he returned to the harem, "I don't know what the county magistrate of Luyang was thinking. He drew Zhou Man's fief in the nearby Wannian County. If Bai Shan hadn't told me today, I wouldn't have known about it."
The Queen asked him, "Why did you think of asking about Zhou Man's fiefdom?"
"I saw her loyalty and thoughtfulness, and since I couldn't give her anything more, I thought of giving her something. But who knew her fiefdom wasn't in Xincheng, but in Wannian County, which is quite far away. So I had to let this go."
The Queen narrowed her eyes and asked, "What do you want to give her?"
"I want to teach her how to make a fortune," the emperor said proudly. "I originally wanted to let her build a shop in her own fiefdom, and then she could rent it out and make a lot of money."
The Queen blinked, and after a while she said, "I remember we have two imperial estates in Yongzhou. One is outside the north of the city, and it's quite large. You said you wanted to give it to Mingda as a dowry."
The emperor nodded.
"There's also a little one in the southwest. Who are you going to give it to?"
"Give it to Mingda as well," the emperor said with a narrowed smile. "I've already allocated land to Wei Zhi and his men to build a new city. When the time comes, we'll build a separate courtyard for Mingda there, and two streets of shops. They'll all belong to Mingda. Didn't she have an extra 300 guards? If the Ministry of Revenue doesn't give us this money, then let Mingda support herself."
The shops on two streets should be able to support three hundred people, right?
In this way, 300 of the 800 guards would be Mingda's private soldiers. Even if something happened in the future, the princess's mansion would not have to return them and could give them to the children to continue using, so as to prevent them from being bullied.
The queen looked at the "thoughtful" emperor and was speechless for a long time.
The emperor, however, was still trying to take credit for it with the queen, "Zi Tong, what do you think of my arrangement?"
The queen looked at him quietly.
The emperor slowly put away his smile and said to her seriously, "I've considered it all. Wei Zhi and the others won't object."
"The land is mine. At worst, I won't need the Ministry of Works to help. I'll let the Imperial Household Department build it. Anyway, I must build two shops for Mingda." The emperor paused and said to her, "Changyu's fiefdom is a bit far away, so I can't do the same. I'll give her a restaurant in the capital when the time comes."
The emperor felt a little sad when he said this. The restaurant was a property he had bought when he was still in the palace. Although the business was average, he and Duke Su used to go there often to drink.
The Queen rubbed her forehead and reminded him, "Your Majesty, please don't publicize this matter for now. Wait until the new city is built."
The emperor knew she agreed, and immediately said happily: "Okay, I will obey the queen in everything."
No way!
The queen glanced at him and said nothing.
Just as the emperor was secretly saving some money for Mingda, Manbao's acne scabs finally fell off, leaving three shallow acne marks on the inside of her arm. She reached out and pressed them, but there was no feeling at all, just a few bumps.
(End of this chapter)
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