Draping the roof beam in red

The main hall of the imperial palace in Yanhuai City.

Fang Weiyan sat on the dragon throne and looked at the assembled officials below.

After the last admonition, the number of officials in the hall immediately increased, and they were all new faces.

At first glance, all you see are rather young and inexperienced faces.

"Your Majesty, the ships need to clear the canals. Several sections of the canals are already blocked, and clearing them will require a huge amount of manpower and resources."

At this moment, Fang Weiyan was discussing waterway transportation with his ministers in the imperial court.

Even though the return route has been paved with cement, it is still more convenient to travel by water, and the losses are also lower.

The amount of cargo a ship can carry is enormous.

"There's no need to worry about money; the canal needs to be dredged."

Upon hearing this, Fang Weiyan immediately said something.

"In that case, Your Majesty, please allocate 200,000 taels of silver to dredge the canal."

Two hundred thousand?

Fang Weiyan's cheek twitched slightly when he heard the number.

This 200,000 silver coins isn't literally 200,000 RMB; in terms of monetary value, it far exceeds 200,000 RMB.

In addition, over time, the silver he had stored up had been continuously depleted, and now he felt a pang of regret.

Go back to the warehouse to collect it.

Fang Weiyan had a bit of a headache, feeling that he was running out of money again, but he still agreed.

Upon seeing this, the Minister of Ministry of Works' face lit up with joy, and he quickly nodded.

Seeing this, the other ministers quickly stood up one by one, "Your Majesty, Huaixi Commandery suffered from severe flooding a few days ago, destroying many houses and leaving many more homeless people. This disaster relief..."

"Your Majesty, the funds allocated for land reclamation and road construction have been exhausted..."

"As per His Majesty's orders, several breeding farms have already been built outside the city, but we still need money..."

The ministers began to speak one by one, their first demands being for silver.

There was nothing that could be done about it. Fang Weiyan offer his opinion, but if they were to actually do it, it would cost money at every turn.

In particular, the emperor abolished corvée labor.

Under such circumstances, hiring anyone to do the work would cost money.

Fortunately, the emperor's family seemed to be extremely wealthy, so they didn't need to worry about money.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the emperor sometimes seems to be having a really tough time. You'd never know how rich he really is unless you put him under some pressure.

This matter has almost become a consensus among the ministers.

Fang Weiyan felt an even bigger headache watching the ministers below demanding money one by one.

I don't know when it started, but the atmosphere in the imperial court began to change a little.

During every court session, asking for money almost became the main topic of conversation among the ministers.

Building tombs costs money, repairing palaces costs money, and repairing roads in various places costs money.

In short, there's nowhere that's free.

It's fortunate that Fang Weiyan brought over ten million taels of silver beforehand; otherwise, it really wouldn't have been enough to cover all the money they've been squandering lately.

Even so, his wealth was gradually being depleted.

After recording the amount of silver requested by each minister, Fang Weiyan agreed to them all.

There was no other way; it was a place that required money, and he couldn't refuse to pay.

However, the cement plant here needs to be established as soon as possible, otherwise relying on shipping cement from the other side of the earth is not a sustainable solution.

First, we need to develop the basic industries here.

The initial rise of industry can drive a vigorous economic development.

If we can first improve the economy of the Jiang Kingdom, we can then use that to make up for the shortcomings of the Jiang Kingdom in various aspects.

With an industrial foundation in place, further development becomes much easier.

"How is the construction progressing in the other counties?"

After discussing the money, Fang Weiyan began inquiring about the construction progress in various locations.

He had reports from various places, but Fang Weiyan still wanted to ask these ministers about the situation.

"Your Majesty, Huaixi Commandery has been hit by a major flood, and the fertile fields that were previously stored there have been destroyed. As for the other counties, I hear they are all converging on Jiangling Commandery, and everything is fine."

"Your Majesty, I have heard that there is a large lake in Anyou Commandery called Weaver Girl Lake. Recently, many children have gone missing in this lake. I fear that a great demon has emerged in this lake and has devoured many people of the Jiang Kingdom. The Underworld Administration of Anyou Commandery is unable to handle it and wishes to request the Underworld Administration of the Capital to intervene."

Anyou Commandery...

Fang Weiyan frowned upon hearing the name. He did indeed have a document from the Underworld Administration stating that a great demon had emerged from Weaver Girl Lake.

The Underworld Administration there are currently unable to deal with it and want to request the intervention of the Underworld Administration in Yanhuai City.

However, the Underworld Administration of Yanhuai City has not yet recovered its strength, so how could it possibly be able to go and subdue the demon?

Fang Weiyan rubbed his temples. Should he send Tao Lingluo? Or Yunxi would also be fine.

Yunxi's strength has increased considerably since she came in.

"I am aware of this matter and will send someone to investigate later."

At this point, Fang Weiyan paused slightly, then his gaze swept across the faces of the ministers in front of him, and his expression darkened.

"But why hasn't anyone mentioned anything about Shitai County yet?"

Fang Weiyan's face was filled with anger as he coldly stared at the assembled ministers.

Upon hearing this, the ministers felt a chill run down their spines.

In Shitai County, this happened recently; several spies that Cheng Feng sent out have disappeared.

At first, we just thought they might have encountered a ferocious beast or been eaten by some kind of demon.

However, Cheng Feng sent several more people afterward, but they also disappeared.

Then, several scholars sent by the imperial court also disappeared.

Since there had been no news, Cheng Feng realized something was wrong and immediately reported it.

The ministers should have received news of the disappearance of the students who went to take up their posts.

But why hasn't anyone brought this up yet?

"Your Majesty, officials we've dispatched have been disappearing on the way. They've probably been abducted and eaten by demons. We've gotten used to it by now."

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is quite normal in the Jiang Kingdom..."

The ministers exchanged glances, then cautiously began to speak.

Just like Linbei County before, because the officials sent there died on the way several times, the imperial court stopped sending officials there.

Even when dispatched, death is still possible.

With so many such incidents occurring, no official would dare to go anymore.

"That was the case in the Jiang Kingdom before, but now that I have ascended the throne, I will absolutely not allow such a thing to happen again!"

"Remember this clearly: whenever the people of the Jiang Kingdom are wantonly murdered, Jiang Kingdom turns a blind eye. Sooner or later, this will happen to you too. You don't want Jiang Kingdom to remain indifferent then, do you?"

Fang Weiyan stared coldly at the ministers below.

He hadn't brought it up before because he wanted to see if the ministers would.

The result disappointed him somewhat; these ministers were too heavily influenced by the past.

So much so that people think it's normal.

If everyone thinks like that, then his efforts to improve the national strength of the Jiang Kingdom will likely fail.

Because these guys will always think that Jiang Kingdom is still the same Jiang Kingdom as before.

Upon hearing this, the ministers immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness, knowing that the emperor was angry.

"Send men to investigate this matter thoroughly. I don't care what kind of powerful demon is behind it; once the truth is out, kill them!"

Fang Weiyan snorted coldly and left with a flick of his sleeve.

If these people don't realize that the Jiang Kingdom is gradually becoming stronger, its national strength will not be able to improve in the future.

This will have an impact, especially on ordinary people.

In addition, the rampage caused by demons in various places was more serious than he had imagined.

Previously, I was focused on quickly building up the various places, but I overlooked the fact that demons were still causing trouble in those places.

Fang Weiyan left the main hall and then returned to the imperial study.

Fang Weiyan's anger had not yet subsided because of what had just happened.

Yunxi, who was carrying a food box, was stunned by what she saw. It was rare to see Fang Weiyan return with such a furious expression.

Logically speaking, no one in the imperial court should dare to provoke Fang Weiyan.

After all, the defenses of Yanhuai City have now been replaced by Fang Weiyan's men.

Fang Weiyan isn't incapable of killing those ministers.

"What's wrong and why are you angry...?"

Yunxi walked in gracefully, opening the food box as she softly asked Fang Weiyan.

Yunxi's voice was extremely gentle, as if she wanted to soothe the anger in Fang Weiyan's heart.

When Fang Weiyan saw that it was Yunxi who had arrived, he calmed down his anger and then told Yunxi what had just happened.

"These ministers are all used to being bullied; they don't know how to resist."

Putting everything else aside, Fang Weiyan simply couldn't stand the attitude of these ministers.

The ministers he wanted were, at the very least, the kind who would rather die standing than live on their knees.

Upon hearing these words, Yunxi paused slightly, then her face darkened.

"These are all drawbacks left over from the past by the Jiang Kingdom. The Jiang Kingdom has been weak for a long time, and it's not something that can be changed so easily."

Yunxi herself knew that this was all because the Jiang Kingdom was too weak back then.

This led the demons to believe that the people of the Jiang Kingdom were at their mercy.

If too many people hold this kind of thought, then many demons will feel that anyone can come and trample on them.

"That was then, but their thinking needs to change."

Upon hearing this, Fang Weiyan replied, and immediately noticed that Yunxi's expression was a little off, so he quickly added something.

"Although these things have happened before, the Jiang Kingdom has not yet perished, and we should change these things."

At this point, Fang Weiyan reached out and grabbed Yunxi's hand, worried that Yunxi might have misunderstood.

Seeing Fang Weiyan's gaze, Yunxi understood what Fang Weiyan was thinking and immediately gave Fang Weiyan a gentle smile.

"Hurry up and eat something."

She just went to the imperial kitchen herself and had the food cooked there brought to Fang Weiyan.

Seeing this Fang Weiyan did not refuse, "I will go and take a look at the matter in Anyou Commandery."

Yunxi thought for a moment, then said something.

Since they've already said there's a powerful demon in Anyou Commandery, if we don't go there soon, even more people will die there.

Yunxi felt that going was the most suitable thing for her.

As for Tao Lingluo, it's best to let her stay by Fang Weiyan's side.

Regardless, Fang Weiyan still needs someone by his side to ensure his safety.

Seeing Yunxi say this, Fang Weiyan thought for a moment and nodded.

The original plan was for one of Yunxi or Tao Lingluo to go.

Since Yunxi has volunteered, then let Yunxi go.

"Be careful."

"Don't worry, I'm almost at the Spirit Platform Realm. Even if I can't win, escaping won't be a problem."

Yunxi smiled upon hearing this, having absorbed the Incense Offerings brought by Fang Weiyan; her cultivation was about to reach the Spirit Platform Realm.

With such cultivation, she felt that even if she couldn't win, escaping wouldn't be a problem.

Seeing Yunxi say this, Fang Weiyan felt a little relieved.

Yunxi waited for Fang Weiyan to finish eating, then called a maid to tidy up the food before bidding farewell and leaving.

After Yunxi left, Fang Weiyan dealt with government affairs in the imperial study for a while before heading to Yanhuai City.

This was also Fang Weiyan's habit; even though he lived in Yanhuai City, he would often come out to take a look.

Check if you've missed anything, and then observe the construction progress of Yanhuai City.

Due to Fang Weiyan's orders, all the cement was used for road repairs, and the roads in Yanhuai City have not yet been repaired.

Several guards stood beside Fang Weiyan, their eyes constantly scanning his surroundings to prevent anyone from harming Fang Weiyan.

"It's much livelier than before."

Fang Weiyan strolled down the street, noticing the bustling crowds and the increased number of vendors hawking their wares.

The number of people stopping to buy things has also increased significantly, seemingly because their pockets are now fuller.

Nearby, one could also see notices issued by the Ministry of Ministry of Rites, which contained information that Fang Weiyan had requested the other party to publish.

Most of them were encouraging people to produce goods and engage in labor.

The proclamation stated that the current emperor, out of compassion for the people, would do his utmost to ensure they lived a life of plenty and freed them from the hardships of the past.

It must be said that such a notice is quite effective.

After seeing the contents of these notices, the people all dreamed about the life they could live in the future.

People in this era had very low expectations for life; being able to eat three meals a day and have food to eat at every meal was already a luxury.

Seeing these notices, the already hardworking people became even more enthusiastic about their work.

The fact that they actually received the money gave them hope for the future.

Fang Weiyan was patrolling the streets, and he could see that the darkness above the people's heads was gradually fading, which made him increasingly satisfied.

Then, I saw a family building a new house nearby, and they were preparing to raise the roof beam.

The Great Liang was erected, and then a carpenter shouted, "Dress the beam red!"

Then a red cloth was draped over the Great Liang, and the homeowner took a small bag wrapped in the red cloth and hung it under the Great Liang.

The items wrapped in the red cloth were some grains and a few copper coins.

These are some customs that were preserved when the house was built.