The fat man, whom Emperor Xuan thought lived a carefree life, was now a little worried.
When he returned from the border town, he received a letter from Fu Xiaoguan sent by Tianji Pavilion. His worries came from this letter!
"Nangong, my son said he wants to develop this border town and establish it as a trading post between the Wu Dynasty and the Yu Dynasty... Is it necessary to do business with the Yu Dynasty? If it were up to me, wouldn't it be better to just rob the Yu Dynasty?"
Nangong Yiyu thought that this master was refusing to admit his mistake after consuming it!
"Your Majesty, do you know how much silver is currently in the national treasury?"
"Last July, the Wuyuan dam collapsed, devastating millions of people. Your Majesty, out of compassion for the victims, exempted Wuyuan Prefecture from taxes for three years and allocated over 20 million taels of silver for disaster relief and dam construction."
"Your Majesty has relocated another 400,000 people to the six states of Beixiao, which has cost another 10 million taels of silver."
"Since last year, the road construction has never stopped. In just one year, 40 million taels of silver have been spent!"
"These expenses alone amount to over 70 million taels, while the Wu Dynasty's annual revenue is only 30 million... Your Majesty, the national treasury only has over 20 million taels of silver left. If we go to war with the Yu Dynasty now, I'm afraid the treasury will be empty immediately. What if a natural disaster strikes? How will we survive?"
Official Fu glared, "Is this all the money left?"
Nangong Yiyu spread his hands and said, "Why not ask the Minister of Revenue Meng Changping to come and ask him?"
Official Fu frowned, "How about...stop the road construction?"
Nangong Yiyu waved his hands quickly, "This road construction work must not stop. Your Majesty, look, the journey from Jinguan City to Guanyun City originally took half a month, but now it only takes seven days, which is half the time!"
"According to the national road network planned by Your Highness, these east-west thoroughfares and north-south arterial roads must be built. Your Highness has already explained their significance in detail in the plan, and the public now strongly agrees with this. I believe this is a good thing that will benefit both the country and the people."
The fat man was very depressed. According to the budget of the Ministry of Works, if this road network was to be built, it would cost a full 1.5 billion taels of silver!
The Wu Dynasty only collected 30 million taels of tax a year. If nothing major happened, the remaining amount would be only 10 million taels. It would take one hundred and fifty years to save up this much...!
Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and said, "Won't this thing take several generations to complete?"
"Didn't His Highness say this? This is a great undertaking that will benefit the present and future generations."
Nangong Yiyu paused, glanced at Official Fu, and whispered, "I believe that after Your Highness returns home, this journey will probably only take ten to eight years."
When Fu Daguan heard this, he was furious: "Are you saying that I can't make money?"
Nangong Yiyu chuckled, "How about Your Majesty make some money and show it to me?"
Official Fu puffed his beard and glared, but he was like a deflated ball, and even his voice was a little weaker.
"As for the matter in that city, do as my son says?"
"Of course, once this trade begins, the toll booth set up at Qishankou will be profitable!"
"We need to get more at this toll booth."
"No, we must follow the rules set by His Highness."
“…”
Okay, I’m the acting emperor!
"You said my son turned the Desolate Country into an autonomous region. What's the point of this?"
"I believe that Your Highness is managing the autonomous region with minimal cost. You see, Your Highness didn't ask us for a single ounce of silver, nor did he ask us for a single person. His recruitment of famine relief workers is a brilliant move. Firstly, it stabilizes the autonomous region, and secondly..."
Nangong Yiyu looked profound, "After all, that place was once a country, with a lot of people and resources!"
Official Fu's eyes lit up, "All silver?"
"certainly!"
…
…
All Fu Xiaoguan saw was silver.
Next, he issued several administrative orders through the autonomous region's governor, Tuoba Kang:
One: Build another city in the Blue Flag territory!
The scale of this city is actually designed to be larger than the capital of the Blue Flag State!
Of course, building a city requires people. Aren't there many people in the autonomous region without food? Come to Lanqi Prefecture to build a city! Here, you can eat and get paid.
The wages were not much, only ten cents a day, but for those barbarians who had lost their cattle, sheep and food and were about to starve to death, they would be very happy as long as they were provided with food, let alone wages.
Secondly, Muyang County in Qingqi Prefecture will build a salt field and needs to recruit 10,000 workers, who will also be provided with meals and paid the same ten cents a day.
Third, the scale of the Huangqizhou mine is expanding, and 300,000 workers need to be recruited.
Fourthly, in order to facilitate the travel between the autonomous region’s various states and Yuxiu City, six roads directly leading to the various state capitals will be built with Yuxiu City as the center, which requires the recruitment of three million workers!
Tuoba Feng looked at Fu Xiaoguan's administrative order in great shock. After a long while, he raised his head and asked, "You've squandered all the money in the national treasury in one go!"
"Silver is only money if it's spent. If it's kept in the treasury, what's the difference between it and scrap metal?"
Tuoba Feng was stunned. "Don't you worry about how the troops will function when there's an emergency, such as suppressing a rebellion, without silver?"
Fu Xiaoguan laughed. "Have you ever thought about it the other way around? With all this money, those barbarians have something to do, food to eat, and they can even get paid. Why would they rebel? If they don't rebel, wouldn't the money spent on suppressing the rebellion be saved?"
"Besides... even if there is chaos, it will only be a minor one under such measures. Lao Tuo, it won't cause any big trouble!"
When Tuoba Feng heard this, he was silent for a long time and agreed with Fu Xiaoguan's statement in his heart.
"Are you really confident in leaving the Salt and Iron Administration to me?"
"Remember, my principle in employing people is to trust them. Next, you'll have to get busy. The salt fields are of utmost importance! I've already written down the salt-making method for you in detail. The salt extracted according to my method will be the best salt in the world..."
Fu Xiaoguan stood up and said, "Don't look at me with suspicion. You will know when the time comes. The price of this salt is 500 coins per catty. Remember, no matter how popular it is, it will only be sold for 500 coins!"
Tuoba Feng was puzzled. "Since you said this salt is the best in the world, why do you only sell it at the price of green salt?"
Fu Xiaoguan raised his eyebrows and said, "Just do as I say, and you will understand later."
"Also, after deducting expenses from the salt sales, the autonomous region will keep half of the money, and the remaining half will be given to the national treasury, which means it will be sent to Guanyun City. Don't sell the iron; the autonomous region's firearms bureau needs to be rebuilt."
"As for how many people the Salt and Iron Bureau needs, go directly to Tuoba Kang. But I'll take care of the finances of the Salt and Iron Bureau... the accountants."
After Fu Xiaoguan gave him another detailed explanation, Tuoba Feng left Yuxiu City in confusion.
Fu Xiaoguan was silent for a while, then sat down at the desk and wrote a letter to Li Jindou.
Next, he has to visit the remaining three states.
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