Wang Zhen's words made Li Zhi ponder.

Li Zhi knew the importance of Baidizi. Silk, linen and fur were not enough for ordinary people to cover themselves. It was called a prosperous era, but many ordinary people did not even have clothes to wear when going out. What kind of prosperous era was it? Even in Chang'an, the city where the emperor lived, many people were still wearing patches on their clothes. Li Zhi could not imagine what people in other cities or small farms wore, or even had no clothes at all.

The situation did not improve until Wang Zheng invented vermicelli, and various foods from Yuzhou, such as bacon, spread throughout the world and the price of grain stabilized. Because the court no longer restricted land cultivation so strictly, many people planted mulberry and hemp, and clothing conditions improved to a certain extent.

But it was still not warm enough. Even in the palace, some people still picked reed flowers and stuffed them into their clothes to keep warm.

The situation was better this winter because the white bungee from the Western Regions was finally shipped back on a large scale. The first thing Li Zhi did was to give everyone in the palace a winter coat and a quilt.

Li Zhi stroked his short beard and nodded, "Since you feel it is necessary to prepare for a rainy day now, then do it. However, you have to know your limits. After all, Persia is too far away. No matter how big the territory is, if there is no production and it is not well managed, it will be meaningless to conquer it. Do you understand what I mean?"

Wang Zheng nodded, "I understand. I can guarantee that for every dollar I put in, there will be ten times the benefit, and I will never let the interests of the country suffer."

Wang Zheng shook his head and smiled, "You can't save money. Canned seafood and white buns will still cost them money. Money is not saved. You have to do more work and earn more to make money."

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"almost."

Li Zhi was actually a very qualified monarch. Unfortunately, Li Yuan's experience made Li Zhi attach too much importance to the throne. He was afraid of following in Li Yuan's footsteps, so he did many extreme things.

"It's amazing, it's really amazing."

Wu Zetian laughed and said, "Why is that? Isn't the flattery of the chief steward very good?"

Li Zhi nodded and smiled, "That's good. I can trust people from your Yuzhou clan to do things. After all, your master is pragmatic and doesn't care about empty things as much as Confucianists do. This is very good."

Wang Zhen smiled and said, "My Lingnan is actually also expanding outward, but I don't need to use swords to open the way. I prefer to use money to open the way. After all, my Tang Dynasty is rich, and those people in Lingnan are all poor. If you give them a little benefit, they will come and submit.

After Li Zhi and the others laughed, they looked at Wang Zhen and said, "Lingnan has become prosperous under your leadership. Many people from the Central Plains have migrated there, and even many people from Guanzhong have gone there. I heard that more people will go there after the New Year, proving that they have indeed benefited from it. I want to go and take a look."

Li Zhi then looked at Wang Zhen.

Li Zhi smiled and explained: "Hehe, because the steward is a real person, there is no need to flatter me, so, the steward is speaking from the heart."

There was a chuckle on everyone's face.

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Haha, this is a good idea. I heard that Lingnan is rich in products, and rice and wheat can be harvested three times a year. In addition, there are abundant fruits and seafood, and various workshops are everywhere. The Pearl River coast is now extremely prosperous, and Bao'an City is almost as big as Chang'an City. Is that true or not?"

As for those small monarchs, you can just let their people deal with them. When the time comes, I will just need to provide them with some material support."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Haha, no wonder I heard that the prices of brown and white sugar have dropped this year. It turns out that the competition has become fierce. The people in the Central Plains can save some money."

Wang Zhen nodded and said, "Those places are indeed densely populated now, but it is not my credit. It is the spontaneous behavior of the noble families and the common people. They have squeezed my sugarcane industry in Lingnan."

Wang Zhen nodded and smiled, "Bao'an City does look bigger than Chang'an City on the surface because it has no city walls and has many workshops, but in fact it is very empty inside. Many places are still bamboo forests and fruit trees. It can't be compared with Chang'an City. The population is only more than 300,000."

Wang Zheng bowed to Li Zhi and said, "These are all the results of your majesty's wisdom. I am just showing my strengths."

"Hahaha."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "I don't mind what others say, but I am particularly happy when the steward says this."

Wang Zheng smiled and nodded, while everyone else chuckled.

Li Zhi sighed, "In just two years, you have built a city with a population of more than 300,000 people, and divided so many coastal counties. I heard that there are now many fertile fields on both sides of the Pearl River, Lingqu Canal, and Dongting Lake. Is that true or not?"

"More than 300,000 people?"

As for those people south of Lingnan, they will only become even poorer. I plan to open workshops along the coast to the horizon. Wherever they go, they will be governed by Tang laws, and then they will be educated to open their minds and let them consider themselves Tang people.

Li Zhi nodded and agreed, "Indeed, money still needs to be earned through work. The ancients always said that wealth has a limit. After the steward was gifted by heaven, this wealth is no longer fixed. As long as you are diligent, your wealth will increase."

Li Zhi and Wu Zetian were both a little surprised. Chang'an City had a population of one million, but there was only one Chang'an City in the world. Among all cities with city walls, Chang'an City has always been the largest in the world throughout history.

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Once I leave the palace, that will cost tens of thousands of people. Can you afford it in Lingnan? Let me make it clear first, I will not bring my own copper coins."

The emperor's travel was no small matter. The imperial guards alone had to number at least tens of thousands, plus the palace maids, eunuchs, and various ceremonial guards, totaling at least 20,000 people. Therefore, the emperor generally would not travel far because the expense of traveling all at once was too high.

Now Li Zhi has enough money for traveling, so he just said it as a joke, but Wang Zhen took it seriously.

Wang Zhen nodded and smiled, "Your Majesty, don't worry. Although Lingnan has only been in business for two or three years, I have been urging the noble families to continue to make progress, and I have accumulated some money and grain. At least it will not be a problem to support Your Majesty's southern tour."

Li Zhi hesitated, stroking his short beard. He looked at Wu Zetian and asked, "What do you think, Queen?"