"Your Majesty, the crown prince is absolutely right."
A minister stepped forward and cupped his hands toward Emperor Xue Ye. "Over the past two years, more and more refugees have fled to the Spirit Hall Empire. Since the latter half of last year, we have faced shortages of both soldiers and military grain reserves. If this continues, the consequences will be grave."
"Your Majesty."
Another minister stepped forward, his face troubled. "It is not only the cultivation of farmland, the recruitment of soldiers, and our grain reserves. Even the merchants' markets have been badly affected. Recently, the Spirit Hall Empire has imposed sanctions on many of our wealthy merchants and nobles, depressing trade and severely affecting this year's tax revenue."
Hearing the minister's words, Emperor Xue Ye said gravely, "All of you, think of a solution. How can we stop the refugees from fleeing to the Spirit Hall Empire and ensure that someone tills our land? Only with sufficient food and healthy markets can we preserve the Heaven Dou Empire. Our empire has twice the land of the Spirit Hall Empire, yet our commoner population is smaller than that tiny empire's. Why is this? Why?"
Emperor Xue Ye was deeply agitated, his gaze sweeping over the nobles below who held fiefs. All these nobles thought about was indulging in pleasure on their estates, hoarding farmland, seizing land, and squeezing the people's fat and marrow dry. Which of them truly cared about the Heaven Dou Empire's interests or would shoulder his burdens?
"Your Majesty!"
Yu Xiaolong, the leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Yu Xiaogang's elder brother, stepped forward respectfully. "Those people in the Spirit Hall Empire have gone too far. The land in our fiefs now lies barren, with no one to cultivate it. Everyone has fled