On the fifth day of the first lunar month, when all officials were in court, Li Kuo looked at Fu Wenhan and asked, "Prime Minister Fu, has the construction of the Grand Canal begun?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Wenhan stepped forward, saluted and said, "The people from the Ministry of Industry have already set off, but it's just after the New Year and the weather is still very cold. Ordinary farm workers can't adapt."

"So I plan to lead the personnel from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War to build houses at the selected site outside the city. Construction will officially begin in about ten days."

"In the south, I have asked Chen Zhonghe from the Ministry of Industry, Sun Changhai, and Zhao Changlin to take the blueprints and set off."

"The climate in the south is slightly warmer, so the land and trees are relatively easy to harvest. I believe we can basically start construction in ten days."

"As long as the subsequent personnel, materials and logistics are not affected, according to the inference of this minister and the prince consort, the Grand Canal can definitely be completed."

Li Kuo smiled when he heard this.

"Okay, everyone, please cooperate with Prime Minister Fu. The Grand Canal is related to the foundation of the country and must not be vague."

At this time, Song Lian, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped forward with a bad look on his face and said, "Your Majesty, although the national treasury has just collected a sum of tax silver, this tax silver involves many uses."

"The national treasury may not be able to dig four sections of the Grand Canal at the same time."

Li Kuo knew that this was indeed a problem, so he did not get angry directly, but asked calmly: "How much silver is still missing?"

Song Lian was silent for a moment before he spoke: "Now that the Grand Canal has not been dug, it is hard to say how much it will cost. If you add in the remaining tax silver in the treasury, there will definitely be a gap of three million taels."

This is just an initial estimate. If there is any underestimation, the amount of silver will increase by hundreds of thousands.

Li Kuo breathed a sigh of relief. Three million was not a particularly large amount. After Li Xiuzhu sold an official position last time, he sold a few more officials. Although the official positions were not high, they were not small either. He still had more than one million in his private treasury.

"I will find a way to deal with this part of the money."

Huh? At this moment, all the civil and military officials in the court looked up and looked at Li Kuo in surprise, wondering how Li Kuo dared to say this.

The annual tax revenue is only more than 3 million. How dare you do that?

Wait, at this moment, people with smart minds have begun to tremble, especially those smart people who have dirty hands and are very rich.

Who could reach such a high position and power as theirs? Whose family assets were less than 100,000? And those who were extremely wealthy, with assets exceeding 1 million, could not be counted on both hands.

At this moment, all the smart people thought that Li Kuo wanted to target one of them, and this... at least three or five of them would have their property confiscated.

"Prime Minister Fu, continue to report what is needed. You will be the chief judge at the court meeting today."

"Yes, regarding the mobilization of troops, I plan to first mobilize ten of the sixteen guards in Kyoto, and the border generals..."

Deploying troops is not a difficult task. It is nothing more than changing daily military training into hard labor.

Moreover, the food in the army is good. What is hard work for others is no different from training for them.

Li Xiuzhu went to the Prince's Mansion that night. When Hai Bie saw Li Xiuzhu again, his eyes were extremely complicated.

It was a look that showed someone wanting to kill Li Xiuzhu, but not daring and hesitant.

Li Xiuzhu was slightly startled when he felt Hai Bie's vague murderous intent, and then he listened to Hai Bie's inner voice and immediately understood what was going on.

"Why is he Li Xiuzhu? He killed my brother and so many Silla people."

"What should I do? If I kill him, will Silla go to war again?"

"Besides, he is my man now, I..."

"Why is he my man, wuwuwu."

"What happened to Sister Nalan? Didn't she go to kill Li Xiuzhu? Did she fail?"

He looked towards Haibie.

"It seems you know who I am. Do you want to kill me?"

As soon as the word "kill me" was uttered, Xiao Rongyu and Yu Xuanji on the side were stunned, and then immediately looked at Hai Bie vigilantly.

Yu Xuanji had already voluntarily agreed to be with Li Xiuzhu, so how could she let someone else harm her husband? This was the rest of her life.

Hai Bie did not deny it, but looked at Li Xiuzhu with a complicated expression and asked, "Why? Why is it you? I thought it could be anyone and I would accept my fate, but why is it you?"

"Why are you so cruel to me?"

Li Xiuzhu smiled upon hearing this and said, "When two countries go to war, there is no right or wrong. It is normal for people to die."

"Just like you Silla used to take advantage of the border and killed countless people from our Great Zhou. Why are you planning to commit suicide to take the blame for your Silla soldiers?"

"As for your matter, I didn't know about it at first, but of course I didn't object after I found out."

"You are just a woman, a beautiful woman. If the prince is willing to give you, I will accept it."

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

"You can seek revenge, but if you dare to do it, you will be dead regardless of whether you succeed or not."

"Of course you may not be afraid of death, but if you assassinate the future king, Silla will be plunged into war again. If I hadn't died, I would have led my troops to destroy Silla."

"If I die, it means that someone else will lead the army to destroy Silla, and Silla will be gone no matter what."

"Given the current situation of Silla, if you want to kill me, it's best to be patient for thirty to fifty years, and then consider this matter after Silla has recovered its vitality and national strength."

Thirty to fifty years, Hai Bie's mouth twitched slightly. In thirty to fifty years, I would probably be old and dead.

In this world where the average age of 40 is considered a long lifespan, few can live to be 70 or 80.

Hai Bie silently gave up his murderous intent and felt a little confused for a moment.

"So in the future I will have to give birth to a child for my enemy?"

Li Xiuzhu smiled, feeling as if he had slept with a woman of ordinary life, and at the same time contributed to the country.

Well, if there is a chance, we must abort their relationship and kill all the men. The good-looking women will be used to serve the country, and the ugly ones will be intermarried with the people of the Great Zhou to assimilate them into Chinese.

"Speaking of which, I caught an assassin some time ago. Do you know Nalan Mingyue?"

As soon as the assassin and Nalan Mingyue appeared, Hai Bie's pupils shrank instantly.

"Sister-in-law Nalan was indeed captured. It seems that her assassination attempt failed."

“What should I do? Should I tell you? No, I can’t tell you. If he blames Silla for the assassination of Sister Nalan, then Silla will be in danger.”

"I don't……"

"Think about it first. The surname Nalan is not common in Da Zhou. I have sent someone to Silla to investigate. If you lie to me, don't blame me for attacking Silla."

“It’s over. He knows my sister-in-law’s name. He can find it out by just checking in Silla. If I lie again, I will only make him angry.”

Hai Bie was silent for a moment, but decided to tell the truth. All she could ask for now was forgiveness.

"Nalan Mingyue is my sister-in-law, and your army killed her husband, my eldest brother Zhe Luo."

(End of this chapter)