The years are still peaceful.
On the sixth day of March, Fu Xiaoguan canonized Yu Wenyun as empress, and the other nine wives were all appointed as imperial concubines.
On the seventh day of March, he led the harem and ministers to worship the emperor's tomb and announce it to the world.
In this way, in the eyes of the ministers, His Majesty has completely completed the transformation of his identity, marking the official beginning of a new era.
It’s July now and summer has arrived.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and during this half year, the new order of the Wu Dynasty has gradually stabilized.
The outline of the First Five-Year Plan has been familiar to all officials from top to bottom, and the construction of the market economy is being implemented slowly and with bumps and bruises - this thing is really too new, officials are groping for it, and businessmen are also adapting. It is inevitable that officials will intervene, and businessmen dare not speak out to resist.
The idea of officialism is still firmly rooted in the minds of businessmen. The Ministry of Commerce has accelerated the pace of setting up commercial bureaus in various states - businessmen need a platform for appeal, and the commercial bureaus must play this role well. This matter is supervised by Fu Xiaoguan himself, and Yun Xiyan personally went to various states to discuss with businessmen.
Also in July, news came from the Yu Dynasty that Emperor Xuan abdicated on the eighth day of June, and the fifth prince of the Yu Dynasty, Yu Wendao, ascended the throne and was named Emperor Yuan. He also vigorously implemented new policies, which were almost exactly the same as the outline of the Wu Dynasty's First Five-Year Plan.
"Yu Wendao is quite cunning, but it doesn't matter. Yu Chao's actions may have some effect, but they won't be very good."
Fu Xiaoguan did not explain to Nangong Yiyu and others why the same policy of the Yu Dynasty had different effects. He talked about something else:
"The official salt wells of the Wu Dynasty have been reorganized into the United Salt Company. I have appointed Zhuo Donglai as the company's first general manager, and Li Wan as the finance minister."
Fu Xiaoguan looked at Zhuo Donglai and said, "Remember, all white salt produced by the Salt Company is absolutely not allowed to be transported via the Lü family's canal. Also, the selling price remains 500 wen per jin. Because production capacity is currently insufficient, this stuff cannot be sold openly yet. It can only be sold on a monopoly basis."
Zhuo Donglai looked at Fu Xiaoguan in bewilderment. "What we mean by monopoly is that you will work with the salt company to set up exclusive outlets, selling only salt! Start in the big cities, and as production capacity increases, gradually expand to the township market."
"The ultimate result I want is for white salt to completely dominate the market. Therefore, until the Wu Dynasty market is satisfied, no one will be allowed to resell the salt produced by the United Salt Company for export."
The market cannot be in chaos. The salt from Chi Lechuan has been exported in large quantities, and as for the salt of the Wu Dynasty, the first priority is to defeat the Chen family salt mine, and of course it is also for his next plan.
"Remember, if Chen's salt dares to lower its price, you should follow suit and keep the same price until Chen's salt mine closes down."
"Also, leave the salt wells we purchased from Yi Country alone for now. Don't make any noise about it, and don't let anyone know we've taken action."
"Just leave it there?"
"Yes, just leave it there. I can use it in a big way!"
There was a moment of silence in the imperial study.
After a while, Zhuo Bieli asked, "Why not just clean up the Chen family?"
Fu Xiaoguan shook his head. "Big families like the Chen and Lu are like a tree with deep roots. Even if you cut down the top, the roots below will still sprout and bloom."
"...The Emperor intends to eliminate him completely?"
Fu Xiaoguan grinned, "No, a large clan also has its advantages. There are many people and many talented people. What is the Wu Dynasty lacking the most now? It is people and talents."
So he did all these things just to make these big clans submit?
This is one of the reasons. Fu Xiaoguan also wants to see whether these big families can find other ways to survive under such cruel market pressure.
Of course, the most important thing is that he is waiting for news.
He really had no interest in killing these people. What he needed was to make good use of them and give his brother-in-law Yu Wendao a big surprise.
"By the way..." Fu Xiaoguan turned to look at Shangshu Ling Meng Changping, "How is the shipbuilding progress at Jiangcheng Wharf?"
Meng Changping cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, we are short of money and progress is slow."
"The Wu Dynasty's road network, according to Your Majesty's design, has now been contracted out in sections by merchants along the east-west thoroughfare and north-south main line. However, there are numerous branch lines, which, when added together, far outnumber the east-west, north-south, and south-north main lines. Many branch lines have also been contracted out in the north and south regions of our dynasty, but for various reasons, no one has contracted out the east-west route."
"This is mainly because three hundred miles east of Guanyun City is the sea, and to the west is the bitter cold land of the Five States of the Western Region. This land is extremely vast, almost the same size as the Six States of Beixiao. However, the Six States of Beixiao are actually located in the northwest and are connected to the Five States of the Western Region."
"These two places together comprise eleven states, occupying 30% of our dynasty's territory, but their population is only about 10%. This is after Emperor Wu migrated a million people to the six states of Beixiao."
"Therefore, this entire road network must be funded by the Ministry of Revenue."
"Your Majesty, at the newly established Wu Dynasty National Academy of Sciences in Liluoyuan... Your Majesty, this thing is really too expensive, right... should we hold off for now?"
On March 30th, Fu Xiaoguan expanded the original research institute into the National Academy of Sciences, and further subdivided the research directions of the academy, which now involve chemistry, materials science, mechanical mechanisms, and even biology!
All the civil and military officials in the court, including the Minister of Works, were confused by these new words. On the contrary, those crazy people in the Academy of Sciences became even more fanatical after listening to His Majesty's lectures several times.
His Majesty seems to have a special fondness for the Academy of Sciences. He is pouring money into it at all costs, which has even caused the Minister of Revenue to suffer from his old illness.
But His Majesty wants to do more than that. He said... next spring, a university will be built on Li Luoyuan!
It’s not Taixue, but a little less than Taixue.
It is obvious that this university is another money-burning thing.
Fu Xiaoguan thought for a moment and said firmly, "We can't delay any of this." He turned to look at Zhou Tongtong, "Send two messages out. One is to Chi Lechuan Tuoba Kang, ordering him to escort the tax silver to Guanyun City. The other is to tell Yan Hanyu that I need him to pay tribute of 10 million taels of silver!"
Meng Changping was shocked. In March, the Yi Kingdom had already sent tribute, which included five million taels of silver. "This Yi Kingdom... I'm afraid it doesn't have much silver left."
"If we squeeze in, there will always be room. Otherwise, Yan Hanyu doesn't know how great his potential is."
"By the way, six months have passed. How are Peng Fang's pigs doing?"
"Your Majesty... That pig is indeed growing very fast. It's currently around 150 to 160 kilograms. Peng Fang said it could grow to 200 kilograms, so he's still raising it."
"Come on, let's go kill one... Liu Jin, please invite the six ministers to eat pork together in the imperial kitchen tonight!"
"By the way, call my father and the Queen too. We'll only eat pork tonight!"
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