Drawing Up the Blueprint

The Imperial Palace in Yanhuai City.

Fang Weiyan one of the palaces in the inner palace to store silver.

When piles of gleaming silver are stacked up, they actually look quite beautiful.

"Where... where did all this silver come from?"

Standing to the side, Yunxi looked at the silver in front of her with some shock, because there was just too much silver in front of her.

"I have some special abilities; it took me a lot of effort to get this much silver."

While they were together in the palace, Fang Weiyan knew that he probably couldn't hide some of his abilities from Yunxi, who had now become Yin God, so he simply stopped trying to hide them from her.

Upon hearing this, Yunxi glanced at the silver in front of her but did not ask any further questions.

She had noticed Fang Weiyan's disappearance before, and now that he's back, he's showing her so much silver.

She knew that Fang Weiyan had no intention of hiding this from her.

Knowing this is enough for her.

"From this perspective, perhaps entrusting the Jiang Kingdom to you is a more suitable choice."

Looking at the large sum of silver in front of her, Yunxi couldn't help but sigh.

The Jiang Kingdom's treasury is severely depleted. If Fang Weiyan possessed such financial resources, he might not have been able to govern the Jiang Kingdom effectively.

But now things are better. Since the other party has so much money, she can rest assured a little.

Fang Weiyan chatted with Yunxi for a while, and then left.

With the silver kept here and Yunxi watching over it, there's no need to worry about it being stolen.

He still has a lot to do and needs to hurry.

The Jiang Kingdom's army stationed abroad was recalled, Fang Weiyan arranged for Lin Liyun to take over.

While we're at it, let's see how well these soldiers are training. If they're just idle and lazy, then we can simply pay them their salaries and let them retire.

If there are soldiers who are well-trained, then keep them and let Lin Liyun continue training them.

Having witnessed the strength of the rebels in a previous battle, Fang Weiyan realized that they weren't all that formidable.

Therefore, Fang Weiyan did not have much confidence in the 200,000 troops that had been mobilized.

However, these tasks can be left to Lin Liyun.

"Have all the craftsmen from Pingshui City been found? What about the craftsmen from Yanhuai City?"

Fang Weiyan hurriedly entered the study. Having only recently taken over the Jiang Kingdom, Fang Weiyan was still eager to draw up his blueprint.

He planned to build the Jiang Kingdom according to his own vision.

"As per His Majesty's orders, one hundred craftsmen have been transferred to Yanhuai City. As for the craftsmen in Yanhuai City, they have all been summoned and are currently awaiting further instructions."

"Take me there quickly."

Upon hearing this, Fang Weiyan Fang Weiyan nodded, and then, led by a guard, he met the craftsmen who had been summoned.

Upon seeing Fang Weiyan arrive, the craftsmen in front of him immediately knelt down in unison.

"Alright, get up, everyone."

Anyway, it's the rule of this dynasty, and Fang Weiyan has no intention of abolishing it.

Keeping some of the rules in place is still more advantageous for him.

The craftsmen looked up, and Fang Weiyan looked at them one by one. Some of them came from Pingshui City, so they looked somewhat familiar.

The artisans from Pingshui City clearly had it easier than those from Yanhuai City.

Having spent some time with him in Pingshui City, I know that Fang Weiyan is relatively easy to get along with.

"I have summoned you here because I have important matters to discuss with you."

Fang Weiyan spoke, he waved his hand, and immediately maids came up carrying trays containing books.

These are some things that Fang Weiyan copied from the Friend of Talents. It can be said that the content is full of practical information and extremely useful.

The essence of construction is condensed within it.

"Everyone should have a copy and take a look. If you don't understand anything, you can ask."

Fang Weiyan waved his hand, instructing the maids to distribute the books one by one.

The artisans received the books and immediately began to peruse them.

As they turned the pages one by one, their eyes widened in astonishment.

They are experienced craftsmen who have been working in the field for many years, and they can understand the contents of the book almost instantly.

They already knew some of this knowledge themselves, but they hadn't seen it expressed in such a concise and condensed way.

Many of these things were completely new to them, yet they were still able to understand them.

Immediately, a group of craftsmen were engrossed in the book, reading it repeatedly for a long time.

Fang Weiyan stood aside, originally thinking that if they had any questions, he could answer them.

After waiting for a long time without seeing the craftsmen raise their heads, they simply went about their other tasks.

"These books were sent to the imperial physicians, and another portion was distributed to doctors in various prefectures and counties."

Right now, Fang Weiyan was holding Barefoot Doctor's Manual. He planned to distribute these books to each doctor so that they could read and study them carefully.

These doctors already had relevant knowledge, so giving them this book now will be very helpful.

"Qiao'er obeys the decree."

Qiao'er responded and immediately took the books to run her errand.

Fang Weiyan turned around, saw that the craftsmen still showed no sign of raising their heads, and then went back to doing other things.

"Where is the Minister of Ministry of Works? Summon him here."

After Fang Weiyan gave the order, the ministers of the Ministry of Works were quickly summoned to his side. The Ministry of Works, who had just arrived, were panting heavily, but they still quickly straightened their clothes and calmed their breathing.

To avoid incurring the offense of being disrespectful in front of the emperor.

"Your subject, Chu Jiehe, pays his respects to Your Majesty."

What rank do you hold in government?

Fang Weiyan glanced at the other person and asked.

"Principal Fifth Rank official, serving as the Director of the Ministry of Works, in charge of all matters related to land reclamation."

"Oh, not the Minister?"

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Works, who colluded with the rebels, has been beheaded. Now, the Minister of Ministry of Works is in charge of all matters concerning the government."

Hearing Fang Weiyan's words, Chu Jiehe cautiously replied.

The Minister of Ministry of Works was also killed?

Upon hearing this, Fang Weiyan stroked his chin. "I've called you here today to ask you a few questions."

How many acres of farmland are there around Yanhuai City now?

"Your Majesty, at the beginning of the Kaide era, Yanhuai City had 21.61 million mu of fertile land, but now only 19.36 million mu remain. The Jiang Kingdom has a total of 540 million mu of fertile land."

Therefore, the arable land of Yanhuai City occupies about 25% of the entire Jiang Kingdom.

Upon hearing this data, Fang Weiyan secretly calculated it and arrived at this approximate figure.

Huaxia has a total of 1.851 billion mu of arable land, while this region only has a little over 500 million mu.

However, the reduction in arable land here is probably due to the infestation of demons, coupled with the effects of exorbitant taxes and land consolidation.

Therefore, arable land has been continuously decreasing.

"How much land does the imperial court currently hold in Yanhuai City, and how much does the common people own?"

Fang Weiyan continued to ask.

"Well, some time ago, His Majesty confiscated the homes of many high-ranking officials. All the fertile land they owned totaled 8.53 million mu, while the common people likely owned about 3.4 million mu."

How many people live in the city?

Fang Weiyan frowned upon hearing this data.

Three million four hundred thousand mu? Is that enough land for the city dwellers to cultivate?

Given the grain production here, it's probably not even enough to fill our stomachs.

"Your Majesty, there are over 800,000 people in the city."

Eight hundred thousand? That means each person would only get a little over four mu of land?

Fang Weiyan's eye twitched slightly upon hearing this.

The average yield per mu here is about 300 jin, so four mu would yield 1,200 jin.

Even if there are three people in the family, and each person eats one jin of grain per day, then the three people would need to eat 1095 jin of grain per year.

With only 1,200 catties of grain from four mu of land, and taxes to be paid, where would we find enough grain to feed the farmers?

Moreover, there may not only be three people in the family.

With Yanhuai City in such a state, it's no wonder there are so many refugees and famines in other places.

"Eight hundred thousand people, and this is all the arable land they have."

Fang Weiyan snorted coldly, clearly extremely dissatisfied, "If this little bit of fertile land belongs to the people, how will they fill their stomachs?"

"Your Majesty, those fertile fields bought by the gentry were actually cultivated by the common people they hired..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Jiehe replied cautiously.

Upon hearing this, Fang Weiyan immediately glared back, "How much grain can those gentry give to the people? Do you even know how many people in each household are desperately waiting for such a small amount of food?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Jiehe immediately apologized.

Fang Weiyan glanced at the other party. If the other party hadn't answered his questions so fluently and had such a clear understanding of all the data, Fang Weiyan might have dismissed him on the spot.

"Alright, the Ministry of Works is in charge of land reclamation. The millions of acres of fertile land belonging to the imperial court are now in your hands. You are responsible for finding people to cultivate them. I will allocate seeds and other such materials to you later."

Fang Weiyan waved his hand, beckoning the other party over, mainly to discuss the matter of land reclamation.

It would be acceptable for Yanhuai City to allocate over eight million mu of land for military farming, but the crops in those fields would need to be uprooted later.

There's no other way; it's for planting crops like corn.

Making some trade-offs is also necessary.

"Yes, Your Majesty understands."

Chu Jiehe nodded quickly, indicating that he understood.

Fang Weiyan then explained some other matters to the other party.

By the time the explanation was finished, the craftsmen who had been reading the book had already finished and were now standing respectfully to the side.

Upon seeing this, Fang Weiyan immediately stepped forward, "Have you all understood the contents of the book?"

"Your Majesty, this humble subject has understood."

The craftsmen said in unison.

"Very well, the books are yours. Study them carefully when you get back. I have other matters to discuss with you now."

As he spoke, Fang Weiyan began to explain.

The main reason for hiring so many craftsmen was to have them repair the roads.

They are responsible for the general direction, but as for tasks such as transporting cement and repairing roads, we will need to recruit more people later.

The roads being repaired connect Yanhuai City to various counties and prefectures; it is imperative that all of these roads be repaired successfully.

Fang Weiyan is no longer in a hurry to repair Yanhuai City; his main priority is to repair the roads in various places first.

Fang Weiyan explained it in great detail, and the craftsmen understood it immediately.

Seeing this, Chu Jiehe became anxious and kept glancing at Fang Weiyan, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

After a long while, Fang Weiyan finally finished arranging things and let the craftsmen leave for the time being. When he turned around, he saw Chu Jiehe with a face full of anxiety.

What is it?

Seeing how flustered the other person was, Fang Weiyan asked a question.

"Your Majesty, the national treasury is empty, and Your Majesty wants to build roads. Where will we find the money? It's impossible to start construction..."

When Chu Jiehe saw Fang Weiyan asking, he gritted his teeth and spoke.

He was from the Ministry of Works, and he was often arguing with the Ministry of Revenue, trying to get them to provide funds for things like water conservancy projects.

Every time this was mentioned, the other party would simply say they had no money.

Previously, he didn't know whether the other party was genuinely broke or pretending.

After Fang Weiyan, he finally learned that the national treasury was indeed empty.

Because all the previous Ministry of Revenue had been executed, and then the Ministry of Revenue Ji Chunzhe, mentioned how much money the national treasury owed.

He later learned that the national treasury was truly out of money.

The Jiang Kingdom is already so poor, yet the Emperor still wants to build roads. Where will the money come from?

He didn't say anything about the land reclamation project, after witnessing how well the grain produced by the emperor could grow.

Even if we uproot the crops that are about to ripen, it won't matter. After all, if we plant the crops brought by the Emperor, the harvest will far outweigh the losses.

This is something that must be done, even if the national treasury is short of funds.

But in his view, building roads was truly unnecessary.

"I will take care of the money; there's no need to worry."

Fang Weiyan waved his hand and then said something.

As for money, he brought so much with him this time, so there's no need to worry about that for the time being.

Hearing this, Chu Jiehe was somewhat bewildered.

Does the Emperor truly know how much money this will require? Where will he find the funds to cover such a large sum?

Chu Jiehe was still somewhat doubtful and was about to say something when Fang Weiyan said, "You can go now. Please keep an eye on the land reclamation and road construction matters when you get back."

Fang Weiyan planned to temporarily entrust these matters to the other party.

If the other party handles the matter well, Fang Weiyan can promote them later.

Chu Jiehe was unaware of Fang Weiyan's thoughts. Seeing that the Emperor had given the order, he could only take his leave.

After watching the other person leave, Fang Weiyan picked up the project plan he had previously prepared and looked at it.

The land reclamation plan has been arranged; next, we'll be setting up a new factory.

As for the factory, Fang Weiyan's current idea is to manufacture some daily necessities.

In addition, we could consider setting up a cement plant here, otherwise we'll continue to rely on cement being transported from over there.

Although he bought a cement plant, how could one plant's output possibly meet the needs of the entire Jiang Kingdom?

The cement plant still needs to be built; I estimate that every household will need it in the future.