Yan Sikong was still a little dazed when he came out of Yan Zilian's study.

The person Yan Zilian just mentioned turned out to be Concubine Xian’s daughter, Princess Wanyang, Feng Ye’s cousin.

In Yan Zilian's opinion, Concubine Xian is the younger sister of Prince Jingyuan, and the power of the imperial relatives is very strong. Princess Wanyang is intelligent and clever, and is loved by the emperor. If Yan Sikong can really become a son-in-law, he will surely be promoted to a high position. No matter what kind of storms there are in the temple in the future, no one can easily touch him.

Yan Zilian had mentioned this matter to Emperor Zhaowu, but the emperor did not comment, saying that Wanyang was only fifteen years old and that they would discuss it again in two years. However, as long as he did not refuse, Yan Zilian thought the matter was probably settled.

Yan Sikong was able to confirm today that he had spent more than a year and finally became Yan Zilian's most valued student and future successor, so now he had begun to pave the way for him. He did have all the qualities that Yan Zilian appreciated, and he was the only one who had not yet started a family. Yan Zilian's plan was very thoughtful, and he should be grateful and happy.

But when I thought that the princess was Feng Ye’s cousin, and Feng Ye...what would happen to Feng Ye?

Yan Sikong patted his forehead to clear his mind a little.

Why should he think about what would happen if he was banned from the game?

Maybe Feng Ye got married earlier than him, or maybe Feng Ye was just young and hot-headed, and would no longer be interested in him once the novelty wore off. In any case, being the emperor's son-in-law was a great thing, and would certainly help him a lot.

It doesn't matter who you marry, you should marry the most useful one. If she is not Princess Wanyang, she will be someone else sooner or later.

He and Feng Ye will eventually part ways, and this ambiguous and troublesome relationship will become a thing of the past.

——

Deep winter had arrived, and various prefectures and cities along the south bank of the Yangtze River wrote to the court, saying that they had suffered a snowstorm that had not occurred in 600 years, and that countless people's livestock had been frozen to death or injured. They requested funds to help them survive the winter.

The weather that year was extremely strange. The north was much warmer than in previous years, but the south was unbearably cold. The people in the south did not have much to protect themselves from the cold, so a snowstorm caught them off guard and caused heavy losses.

According to the Meteorological and Astronomical Records, the last time such extreme weather occurred was during the Han Dynasty.

This disaster was extremely ominous, shocking the government and the public, and causing panic among the people.

At the morning court session, Emperor Zhaowu discussed disaster relief with his ministers, but they did not expect that the matter would be fraught with difficulties.

First, heavy snow caused many official roads to be blocked, making it difficult to transport food, straw and clothing. Second, and most importantly, the year was coming to an end and the national treasury was in a tight spot.

The morning meeting lasted from dawn until almost noon, and it was said that no good solution was reached in the end.

Yan Zilian returned to Wenyuan Pavilion after court, sighing frequently, his brows unable to relax, and the Hanlin scholars dared not even breathe.

After a while, Yan Zilian called Yan Sikong and Shen Hexuan into the study.

They both sat respectfully.

"You've all heard about the snowstorm in the south, right?"

They both nodded.

"At the morning court today, eh..." Yan Zilian touched his forehead, "there was a huge argument about disaster relief."

Yan Sikong asked, "Does His Majesty have any instructions?"

Yan Zilian shook his head and looked at them. "I have just discussed this with the ministers and have not come to a conclusion. This is not your turn to consider, but you are the prince's tutors. I am training you as a teacher, which means I am training the future king. So, I want to hear your opinions."

The two looked at each other, and Yan Sikong made a "please" gesture to Shen Hexuan.

Shen Hexuan cleared his throat and said, "The difficulty with the snowstorm is that the national treasury is tight. In recent years, the military expenditure has been huge in order to resist the barbarians. Now it is the end of the year, and the taxes paid have been almost spent. Students think that the most important thing now is to get money."

"That's obvious," Yan Zilian said unhappily, "How can we get the money? Do you have any good ideas?"

Shen Hexuan pondered for a moment: "The students think that we can impose a maritime tax on Jiangnan to relieve the urgent need of the national treasury."

Yan Zilian's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of displeasure flashed across his eyes.

Yan Sikong wondered whether Shen Hexuan was ignorant or bold enough to even say such a thing.

Yan Zilian came from a Jiangnan gentry family. Jiangnan was a prosperous place that produced many talented scholars and literati. Whenever there was an imperial examination, there were more students from Jiangnan than from all the other provinces in the country. Therefore, most of the gentry officials of Yan Zilian's faction came from there, so they could compete on equal terms with the eunuchs.

Politics and business are inseparable, and local officials and businessmen often have relatives in-law. Yan Zilian naturally had to strive to collect taxes for the wealthy businessmen and farmers in his hometown. Sea tax was a major tax in the local area, and under the planning of the aristocratic officials, it was much less than during the reign of Emperor Ningzong of Sheng.

In fact, what Shen Hexuan said made sense. If we impose heavy taxes on the rich and powerful, and balance the rich and the poor, the disaster will be alleviated immediately. However, if we impose additional maritime taxes, we will offend a large number of Jiangnan gentry. Moreover, the eunuch party has long used maritime taxes to suppress the gentry. The two sides have had countless disputes over maritime taxes. How could Yan Zilian be willing to shoot himself in the foot?

Yan Sikong admires Shen Hexuan's courage, but is also worried about him. Shen Hexuan's straightforwardness has upset Yan Zilian many times, and Yan Zilian's growing appreciation for him is also related to Shen Hexuan's disappointment in him.

Yan Zilian's tone really turned cold: "Adding additional taxes is like tearing down Peter to repair Paul. This move will surely cause public outrage. It's ridiculous."

"In times of emergency, we must have..."

"Shut up!" Yan Zilian no longer concealed his anger. He turned to Yan Sikong and said, "Sikong, do you have any good ideas?"

Ever since Yan Sikong heard about the snow disaster, he knew this was an opportunity.

According to his original plan, She Zhun successfully passed the news of "Prince Liang's rebellion" to Ye Li, and then to Xie Zhongren, and then spread the rumor to the capital, even the emperor was alarmed, it would take at least three months, plus the emperor's investigation of the two lakes and thinking of countermeasures, and then no matter whether there was any movement or not, it would probably take another year or two. Moreover, Prince Liang did not take any substantial action, and the matter would most likely end up in vain. He was laying a long-term plan and casting a wide net, and now he was just planting a seed of suspicion in the emperor's heart.

But if the snow disaster is handled properly this time, what he planted would not just be a seed, but perhaps a sapling. As to whether it can grow into a towering tree, it still requires all parties to "water and fill the soil."

Yan Sikong said hurriedly: "Teacher, I think that the national treasury is tight, not just because of taxation. The expenses of the court, military expenses and clan expenses are the biggest expenses over the years. If we want to nourish the national treasury, we should start with the big expenses."

Yan Zilian nodded and said, "That's true. In recent years, in order to support the army, Minister Yang of the Ministry of Revenue has been working day and night, and all national expenditures have been reduced as much as possible. However, the three major items you mentioned are the heaviest, but also the most difficult to reduce."

"The army is used to protect the foundation of the country, and the palace is the face of the royal family. Both of them cannot be saved. Only..." Yan Sikong hesitated to speak.

Yan Zilian naturally understood and fell silent again.

Da Sheng has enjoyed a reign of more than 200 years, and the royal family has expanded. These descendants of phoenixes and dragons enjoy salaries from the court, and have fiefs and no taxes. They are greedy and use their power to exploit the people's land. Everyone knows that the expenses of the royal family are a headache for Da Sheng, and it cannot be eliminated or managed, and it is not something that can be changed by one dynasty or one minister.

Yan Zilian sighed, "It's probably more difficult to reduce clan expenses than to cut military and palace expenses."

"When the time comes, we, as subjects, will rise to the challenge." Yan Sikong said solemnly, "The student should not be the first person to mention reducing the royal family's salary, and I'm afraid he is not the only one."

Yan Zilian waved his hands: "There are some things that I wanted to do when I was young, but I could never take that step. Even now..." He said in a deep voice, "I am not timid, but this matter involves too much, and we cannot act rashly."

Yan Sikong bowed and said, "Students understand. As a great country, we must have a better way to deal with disasters."

Yan Zilian nodded frustratedly.

Shen Hexuan frowned deeply.