After eting with Fang Ying, Li Xuan didn’t even inspect the front lines at Huayin and the Pingyang Governnt. Instead, he returned to the Capital City.
In the past three months, although it could be said that the politics within The Court were clear and everything was proceeding smoothly,
Li Xuan had already clashed with several regent ministers, led by the Grand Secretary Chen Xun, particularly in personnel matters.
Li Xuan was determined to reform the Great Jin Dynasty and eliminate the longstanding malpractices of the dynasty.
But the key to governing a state lies in managing its people. Without capable individuals as his arms and legs, even the best policies by Li Xuan wouldn’t be entirely implented and might be distorted or exploited by the subordinates, becoming detrintal laws to the people.
Therefore, before implenting new policies, Li Xuan needed to master a team of bureaucrats who were enlightened, competent, and hardworking.
If this foundation could also be just and incorruptible, that would be even better.
Thus, Dugu Bilo and those Zhongshu and Sheren under Li Xuan had a very important political mission during these months he was away, which was to gather information on 4th-rank officials and above, as well as all scattered writings of Hanlin and Kedao officials, to discern their political stances and find those whose views aligned with Li Xuan’s.
Li Xuan didn’t have much hope for the civil officials of this era, but finding even three to five court officials who shared his views would be a significant help to support his reforms as a foundation.
Then, there were those without specific political views who were willing to serve him, capable of carrying out his orders. These individuals could also be relied upon.
The recent palace coup, along with the chaos caused by Prince Xiang, Prince Ning, and Prince Yi, had left nearly half the positions in the court vacant. It was an ideal situation for Li Xuan to promote his subordinates and weave his network of influence.
Particularly the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the pri regions along the Yangtze River and the Canal were areas that Li Xuan needed to firmly control.
However, Li Xuan’s intentions in personnel matters vastly differed from those of the regent ministers.
After he left, Quan Dingtian found it hard to stand alone and could only struggle to delay things until Li Xuan returned to the capital.
Another urgent reason for his hasty return was that this year’s "Enke" was about to begin.
Enke refers to a type of imperial exam in which the emperor, outside the regular exams, grants a special session for selecting scholars, this ti in the na of the new emperor’s enthronent.
Li Xuan had also petitioned to compensate for the previously canceled spring imperial exams and to fill the nurous vacant official positions in the court by increasing the number of Jinshi to seven hundred for this session.
He was eager and itching to select talents in this Enke to support his future reforms.
However, after entering the capital, the first thing Li Xuan did was rush back to his own Fen Yang Mansion to check on the staggering wealth totaling seventy million taels.
Luo Yan had temporarily constructed an underground treasury at Fen Yang Mansion, where all the space-consuming gold and silver were stored. The rest of the rare treasures filled five Qiankun bags, each with a twenty-zhang space inside.
Li Xuan first reviewed the items in the Qiankun bags and then excitedly rolled around on the mountains of gold and silver in the underground treasury.
Seeing this, Luo Yan could not help but mock him, "You are, after all, the dignified County Prince of Fen Yang of the Great Jin Dynasty, the protector of Neo-Confucianism. To lose your composure over so trinkets, is it really necessary?"
She wouldn’t admit that she too had rolled around on those mountains of gold and silver two days prior to her return to the capital. Afterwards, she and Xue Yunrou had also played with various expensive jewelry, comparing themselves in the mirror.
Mrs. Liu and Lady Jiang had also co to see, and they had been carried out fainting.
Li Xuan didn’t feel ashad at all; he chuckled, "Is it wrong to love wealth? You don’t know how much these funds can help accomplish. In others’ hands, these are just trinkets, but in my hands, they can be used to benefit the common people."
Luo Yan raised an eyebrow, "Are you going to follow Shaofu Yu Jie’s example and donate all this wealth to The Court?"
This ti, Shaofu Yu Jie also shared twenty million taels of various properties, yet he had turned around and donated all his wealth to The Court, which left her astounded.
"How could that be possible?" Li Xuan shook his head, "I have other uses for these funds."
If this gold and silver property reached The Court, they would no longer be under his control in the future.
Moreover, as a subject, donating so much money to The Court, no matter how it was viewed, was inappropriate and could even invite endless troubles.
In the current state of the Great Jin Dynasty’s governance, giving up such a vast fortune of seventy million taels would only breed insatiable greed among the officials inside and outside the court?
He estimated that in the end, less than a third of it would actually be used for the people.
This did not align with Confucian teachings either; the Saints did not advocate such practices.
Moreover, at this ti, the total amount of gold and silver circulating in the market of the Great Jin Dynasty was only between sixty and eighty million taels. Suddenly releasing such a large amount of wealth would surely cause inflation. Even the actual silver and cash were only about fifty million taels.
Li Xuan would not make such a foolish move nor did he possess Yu Jie’s noble integrity; he had his own pristine ’way,’ which differed from Shaofu Yu Jie.
After inspecting his spoils of war this ti, the second place Li Xuan rushed to was a large imperial manor south of the city.
He didn’t go to his managed Shen Nong Institution but to the imperial manor outside the city because at this ti, potatoes had begun to be planted on a large scale in various imperial manors and in many estates of his family and friends.
It had already been nearly a month, and in fifty or sixty more days, the harvest period would arrive.
The nurous stewards and servants at the imperial manor were actually reluctant, for to them, avoiding one chore ant sparing an additional effort.
Li Xuan understood this sentint, as they were eating the governnt’s food, after all!
However, Yu Hongshang decisively pressed the matter down. These days, she even neglected the major affairs of The Court, devoting all her energies to organizing the imperial manor and promoting potatoes.
For this, she had decisively executed over three hundred people, imprisoned more than a thousand, and expelled over three thousand from the imperial manor, demonstrating thunderbolt asures that silenced the stewards of manors everywhere, compelling them to handle this matter with utmost care.
When Li Xuan rode into the imperial manor on the Jade Qilin, his gaze was captivated by a patch of spring wheat in front of him and a continuous stretch of millet fields in the distance.
At this ti in the northern regions of the Jin Dynasty, fields generally had rotations of winter wheat, beans, and millet. The common people’s staple food comprised primarily of wheat and millet. This allowed for three harvests in two years, maximizing the utilization of the soil’s productivity.
Thus, inside this imperial manor, the vast majority of the fields were planted with millet, with only a small portion dedicated to spring wheat for the royal court and officials’ grain rations.
The displacent of millet as the staple would still have to wait for the introduction of crops like sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn.
What drew Li Xuan’s attention were the millet and wheat ears in the fields.
While Li Xuan was deep in thought, Yu Hongshang, having received advance news of his arrival, ca flying: "The old managers of the imperial manor say this year’s yield might be two to three-tenths less than previous years. However, the potatoes are growing well. I co here daily to check and estimate the yield per acre at thirty-five to forty bushels."
Li Xuan was montarily taken aback, "Only thirty-five to forty bushels? That’s quite a drop?"
"It’s actually quite good," Yu Hongshang explained, "The scholars at the Shen Nong Institution said that our massive plantation of potatoes, which were hurried by taoist techniques, ultimately cannot match naturally grown crops, so it’s inevitable that it might impair the Yuan Qi. Moreover, being a crop from foreign lands, potatoes also need a period to adapt to the local climate and soil here. I reckon it will perform much better next year."
Her lips slightly raised, "According to our sowing area, we are estimated to harvest between twenty to thirty million bushels. Coupling that with the eight million bushels of grain you seized from the Jinque Palace, this year we are more than covered. As for next year, there’s even less to worry about."
The Shen Nong Institution’s trials with sweet potatoes had already yielded two harvests, with an average production of eleven thousand pounds per acre. Although they had a longer growth cycle, they did not occupy the precious paddy and wheat fields."
She favored sweet potatoes more since they could be planted along the edges of millet, rice, and wheat fields.
They neither required attentive care nor processing. Cut into pieces and thrown into rice or millet porridge, they were exceptionally delicious.
Yu Hongshang was not the type of noble lady who was oblivious to the sufferings of ordinary people; she knew that the vast majority of the populace couldn’t even afford a bite of malt sugar throughout the year.
Not only were sweet potatoes sweet, improving the flavor, but they could also conserve rice and millet.
Hearing Yu Hongshang say this, Li Xuan was completely reassured. He then smiled slightly, "Speaking of that eight million bushels of grain, I hope to allocate four million of it to the post stations in Datong, Yulin, Taiyuan, Xuanfu, and north Zhili for settlent. The other four million bushels will be transported to Liaodong."
Yu Hongshang quickly grasped his intent, "Xuan, are you preparing to recruit settlers from Shaanxi to colonize Liaodong?"
The grain stationed at the post stations was clearly prepared for the settlers migrating to Liaodong.
Li Xuan’s expression turned serious, "With the cold wave approaching, Shaanxi will surely be hit by continuous disasters. I’ve burned tens of millions of bushels of grain from the Jinque Palace, and I estimate Shaanxi might face a shortage by the end of this year. I must arrange a lifeline for them."
It is known that at the end of the Yuan dynasty, Shaanxi was one of the few provinces that did not face large-scale warfare or famine, resulting in a densely populated region, accounting for one-tenth of the entire Jin Dynasty at its peak.
The Great Ancestor frequently relocated people from Shaanxi to the frontier, and later, the massive relocation project in Huguang was said to involve four-tenths from Jiangxi and six-tenths from Shaanxi.
Yet even so, Shaanxi’s abundant population remained second only to Shandong, totaling seventeen million people.
Once a famine struck, the region definitely could not sustain such a large population, and it would also pose a trendous burden on the local environnt.
At this ti, however, Liaodong was sparsely populated.
Even though the cold wave would cause a significant temperature drop in Liaodong, as long as there was cotton, corn, and potatoes, even that place could support a large population.
Especially since this world was three tis larger in area; the vastness of the Liaodong plains was almost unbelievable, and its black soil could support tens of millions of households. Not only could it sustain millions of people, but it could also beco a granary for the Jin Dynasty, alleviating the stress of grain transportation, beneficial in hundreds of ways without harm."
"The population in Shaanxi is too large, moving so out would also be good."
Yu Hongshang had no hesitation, "But before that, we need to mobilize troops in the northeastern part of Liaodong first, to sweep through the Jurchen tribes and reclaim the Zhihuishi Division of Nuregan."
"This is simple, after the defeat of the Datan, the Shiwei have already lost the capability to send troops to Liaodong. Just sending one great general for the eastern campaign is effortless,"
Li Xuan was not underestimating the Jurchen people of the present; at this ti, the Jurchen tribes indeed were not formidable and constantly embroiled in internal strife.
He even didn’t need to mobilize a large troop force, rely with the military strength from the Zhihuishi Division of Liaodong and Jizhou, it was sufficient to subdue the Jurchen tribes.
The so-called picking the softest persimmon to squeeze, and at this mont, the Liaodong plains was the softest of them all.
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