Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 842 - 700 Shrunk Again

Chapter 842: Chapter 700 Shrunk Again

"Send a great general to campaign in the east? So, Xuan, you’re not planning to take the field yourself, are you? That’s fine, it’s like using a cleaver to kill a chicken; subduing Liaodong shouldn’t be difficult."

Yu Hongshang gave a slight nod of her head, then furrowed her brows, "But if we plan to relocate people there to clear and cultivate the land, there might still be a bit of a shortfall in food."

The shortfall wasn’t actually that large, and if the people were to eat a little less, they could still make it through.

But this year was the first year Yu Youlong ascended the throne, and also the first year she governed; Yu Hongshang did not want things to deteriorate to such a state.

Li Xuan’s expression remained calm and confident, "The shortfall can be bought from the nations of Nanyang; although our Great Jin bans maritime trade, in fact, the sea trade in Nanyang is thriving. Besides spices and medicinal materials, there’s not much from Nanyang that can be used by the Central Plains, so the returning ships’ cabins are mostly empty. Moreover, it’s plausible to use rice bags as ballast, we just need a proper way to keep it dry from moisture.

And Jiaozhi State has fertile lands, they have a surplus of grains every year, and the price of rice is very low. Didn’t Shaobao Yu donate twenty million Silver Coins to The Court? I’m thinking of using half of that to buy grains from Jiaozhi."

Yu Hongshang was momentarily stunned, "Ten million Silver Coins? Isn’t that a bit too much?"

She knew that Jiaozhi indeed produced a lot of rice, but their surplus each year wasn’t that substantial, precisely because there’s only so much rice one can eat even if planted in surplus.

And the rice there was extremely cheap, said to be less than one-seventh the price of rice from Jiangnan.

Ten million Silver Coins would likely be enough to buy out Jiaozhi’s surplus twice over.

"I naturally am not doing this just to buy grain," a hint of sharpness flickered in Li Xuan’s eyes, "It’s also to cut off the arm that supports Luchuan Si’s Tu Division, and what if this year or the next, a disaster strikes Nanyang?

"A disaster?" Yu Hongshang, astute and intelligent, quickly grasped the implications, "I see, you’re applying the commercial strategies of Guan Zhong?"

The legendary Guan Zhong once used commercial strategies to destroy another nation.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Yue State destroyed Wu by focusing on their grain supplies.

Li Xuan spoke with dubious certainty, "It’s merely an attempt. After the cold tide begins, the weather in the south may exhibit abnormal changes. Whether a disaster will erupt, I cannot be sure, nor can I predict the extent of this storm or whether it will affect Jiaozhi.

However, purchasing these grains won’t be a loss, definitely better than letting the people of Jiaozhi use it to support Si’s Tu Division. Oh, and speaking of disasters, Hongshang, you should issue an imperial edict to the coastal areas to warn the people to guard against storms."

According to research from later generations, the descent of cold air from the north and oceanic cold currents does increase the likelihood of tropical storms.

But in this world, Li Xuan was not sure what the case would be.

As he’d said, buying the grain would not be a loss.

Yu Hongshang’s eyes gleamed with a unique luster, considering that if a disaster were indeed to strike Nanyang, perhaps she could help it along with her techniques.

Nowadays, there were plenty of spellcasters in the Great Jin Dynasty, and directing the storm toward Jiaozhi would be better than having it wreak havoc on the southeastern coastline.

Then, Yu Hongshang changed the subject, "The imperial examination is approaching, and I haven’t thought of any topics yet. Xuan, do you have any suggestions?"

——In truth, she just wanted Li Xuan to come up with the questions. She was aware that Li Xuan had a weak foundation among the civil officials of the Great Jin Dynasty.

Li Xuan immediately took on a solemn expression, "I’ll propose a question on ’The Book of Changes’, ’To gather the wealth of the world, trade and then withdraw, everyone getting what they need’! And there should be an essay question, as stated in ’The Book of Rites · Royal Regulations’, ’The chief minister shall manage the use of the state’s resources; this must be done at the end of the year. Once all grains are used, only then can the use of state resources be regulated; balance income and expenditure’. Let the candidates discuss the path of national financial management.

Speaking of finances, I would like to add a few mathematical questions to this year’s imperial examination. The questions will be selected from ’Nine Chapters of Arithmetic’, and must account for twenty percent of the total weight."

He actually wanted to increase the proportion of mathematics in the imperial examination. How could an official not understand the basics of arithmetic?

But for now, he could only proceed step by step; too large a step might cause trouble.

In the future, those scholars would find it harder to excel in the examinations. Li Xuan was planning to write a book called ’Elementary Mathematics’, compiling all the mathematics knowledge from elementary and junior high stages that he remembered.

In the future, any literary person who hadn’t studied this book in depth wouldn’t stand out in various levels of the examinations.

Yu Hongshang gave a slight nod, "And the palace exam?"

Li Xuan thought that the palace exam was still far off, but after a moment’s consideration, he said solemnly, "Marquis of Zhuge used the methods of Shen Buhai without his ambition, while Lord Jing used the reality of Shen Buhai but refused to acknowledge it by name."

"Shen Buhai?" Yu Hongshang’s eyes briefly narrowed, knowing that Shen Buhai was in charge of Han State reforms and Shang Yang carried out reforms for the Qin State.

Marquis of Zhuge referred to Zhuge Liang, while Lord Jing was Wang Anshi.

Just from this one question, she thoroughly understood Li Xuan’s intentions.

At this time, Li Xuan finally noticed Yu Hongshang had come without bringing little Yu Youlong with her.

He couldn’t help but feel surprised, "Where’s the child? Where did you put him?"

Yu Hongshang’s cheeks flushed slightly for some reason, "Today I happened to summon your mother to the palace for a conversation. Hearing that you returned, I entrusted Yu Youlong to your mother’s care and came to find you."

Li Xuan was momentarily taken aback, reflecting how much trust Yu Hongshang seemed to have in his mother.

He knew that she valued the Emperor highly and didn’t entrust his care to others, not even trusting her own mother, Lady Hang.

However, Li Xuan soon realized something, and his breathing grew heavy.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Forbidden City, Mrs. Liu was holding little Yu Youlong in her arms in confusion. She thought to herself how decisive the Princess acting as Jianguo was, to just leave the little emperor in her care and go off to find Li Xuan alone—what kind of situation was this?

And there, by Mrs. Liu’s side, Leng Yurou who had accompanied her into the palace, looked doubtfully at Yu Youlong in Mrs. Liu’s arms.

"Mother, don’t you think that the little emperor looks a bit like Li Xuan when he was young?"

Coming back to her senses, Mrs. Liu carefully observed the infant Yu Youlong, then realized it wasn’t just a slight resemblance; he looked incredibly alike!

But how could that be possible?

Wasn’t this little emperor said to be a posthumous child adopted from the household of Prince Duanhe?

Mrs. Liu thought to herself that she must have seen it wrong, that she must have wanted a grandson too badly. It was just an illusion, an illusion——

※※※※

Li Xuan and Yu Hongshang were discussing state affairs at the imperial manor, so immersed that they neglected food and sleep, utterly lost in the discourse.

Unfortunately, Yu Hongshang had concerns weighing on her mind, so she had no choice but to hurriedly return to the court in the afternoon.

Li Xuan also rode back to the capital, and along the way, he kept staring at his own hands, a hint of puzzlement on his face.

Beside him was Dugu Biluo who found his behavior peculiar, faintly hearing him murmuring to himself, "That’s not right, how come it got smaller again? It clearly looked bigger than this before."

Dugu Biluo looked at him, puzzled, "Prince, what are you talking about? What got bigger and smaller?"

"Matters of national governance—you wouldn’t understand."

Li Xuan shook his head and sped up his return to the capital.

His next destination was the Dudu’s mansion of the Jingying, where a huge pile of affairs waited for his attention.

Especially the personnel matters of the Dudu’s mansion—

In the three months that Li Xuan was away from the capital, the most disturbances had not occurred among the civil officials but at the Dudu’s mansion of the Jingying.

Although after the recent palace coup, the Court, under his and Shaofu Yu Jie’s supervision, had severely purged the army of Weisuo and the Jingying forces.

Yet the Dudu’s mansion remained tumultuous. In the past few months, there had been all sorts of delays and shirking of military affairs, corruption, redundancy of staff, and even covert non-compliance.

However, this time, it did not stem from the military nobles but rather from the numerous clerks of the Dudu’s mansion.

Those northern military families, the Jingnan Nobles, had already been so chastened by his actions that they shivered in fear.

Since the palace coup, three thousand heads had rolled in the military, and with Li Xuan’s exalted reputation and amazing military feats, few dared to commit further outrages.

But those clerks within the Dudu’s mansion remained unchanged.

They were actually in charge of various affairs at the Dudu’s mansion, and most of them had yet to realize or accept the shifting winds of change.

Having already dealt with the northern military families, Li Xuan naturally wouldn’t indulge these bureaucratic clerks.

However, not long after Li Xuan arrived at the Dudu’s mansion, Leng Yurou came looking for him.

After leaving the palace, she had headed directly to the Dudu’s mansion to find Li Xuan.

What puzzled Li Xuan was that upon her arrival, Leng Yurou just stared steadily at his face for a long time without speaking.

"What’s wrong?" Li Xuan, utterly baffled, touched his own face, "Is there something on my face?"

He wondered if his enhanced cultivation had made him even more handsome.

"What’s wrong?" Li Xuan, utterly baffled, touched his own face, "Is there something on my face?"

He wondered if his cultivation had increased and he had become more handsome as a result. Or perhaps it was like three years had passed with them not seeing each other for three months.

Leng Yurou, thinking of Little Yu Youlong in the palace, ultimately decided against speaking out.

She thought it best not to inform Li Xuan before confirming—it was a significant matter.

What if she was wrong? Neither she nor Mrs. Liu could afford the consequences.

And no matter how Leng Yurou thought about it, it seemed impossible—why would the Jingtai Emperor allow Li Xuan’s child to inherit the Jin throne?

There was also the matter of the royal Jince Yudie, which could not easily be fooled.

Although both the Prince’s legitimate heir and the Princess’s child belonged to the royal bloodline, there were subtle differences that the Jince Yudie could discern.

"Nothing," Leng Yurou shook her head, then took out a stack of paper: "Take a look at this."

"What’s this?"

Li Xuan immediately had a bad feeling upon taking it from her, discovering that it was indeed a list.

One part listed the Silver Coin needed for building factories, including two small blast furnaces for iron smelting, four machinery workshops, a weaving factory with five hundred looms, a silk reeling factory of the same size, and a corresponding silk loom factory.

Another part was a detailed list of various materials, so dense that it made Li Xuan’s head spin just by glancing at it.

Finally, he looked at the total price—over twenty million teals.

Li Xuan couldn’t help but rub his temples with a headache: "Over twenty million? Leng Yurou, you might as well rob us."

Leng Yurou’s demeanor remained calm, with righteous indignation, "These factories are to be a joint venture between our Shenqi Union and you, young master. You hold eighty percent of the shares, we provide technology, and we’ll even help with training. If you want to promote these machinery factories, you have to build some as a demonstration, right? But our Shenqi Union has run out of funds. Your sister-in-law also says that if these factories are built, she will manage them and expects to recoup the investment within two to three years.

The rest of the items are for preliminary material research. You want me to make a steamboat, a Yunzhong warship, and try to lower the price as much as possible, right? Then we must work on the materials. Once these materials are developed, you can also take a cut of the profits."

Li Xuan’s face twitched, but he then picked up a pen and increased the production capacity of the weaving factory, silk reeling factory, and silk loom factory to fifteen hundred machines each, "Take this money and supplies from Dugu Biluo later, and try to conserve as much as possible."

Leng Yurou’s lips curled slightly, "By the way, the Puppet Body you asked me to make is finished. Would you like to see it now?"

She raised her hand and took out an iron coffin from her Qiankun bag, placing it in front of Li Xuan.

Li Xuan’s eyes immediately lit up with interest.