"I have an idea." Sheng Hong said as he traced his finger on the map: "Look, Dasheng's vast territory is adjacent to the sea. If crops can't be grown on the land, can we find food from the sea?"
"……ah?"
Li Qiao was stunned when he heard this, then took two steps forward and came to the imperial case.
Sheng Hong stretched out his hand and gestured on the long coastline of Dasheng: "Is it feasible to rely on the mountains to eat, to rely on the sea to eat the sea, and to find food from the sea?"
"Well... given the current level of our Da Sheng ships, it seems impossible to obtain a large amount of food from the sea stably and for a long time."
"The risks in the sea are too great. If the food caught can meet the needs of the people along the coast, it is God's blessing."
Li Qiao tried to be as tactful as possible to dispel Sheng Hong's whimsical thoughts.
As far as fishermen's boats are concerned, it would be great if they can come back safely every day when they go out to sea. Food and other things cannot be forced.
This is even more uncertain than hunting in the mountains.
If you can't find prey in the mountains, you can still dig some wild vegetables. If that doesn't work, you can still chew tree bark, but it's hard to say when you go to sea.
This year's grain harvest has had a big impact on Sheng Hong.
After hearing this, Sheng Hong stared at the long coastline a few more times, then his shoulders slumped and he weakly sat back on the chair behind him.
How could he not know.
But there is nothing we can do about it.
"Yesterday I received a secret report that there was a locust plague among the Hu people half a month ago. The pastures and crops were gnawed. This is considered to have destroyed the lives of the Hu people. The Hu people will definitely go south this year."
"I have decided to send more troops to the border town next month."
"Do you think life is difficult this year? I was so worried that I didn't sleep well last night."
Li Qiao: "..."
very good.
Without his reminder, Sheng Hong decided to send more troops to the border town.
This year is really difficult.
In fact, he had a clever plan in mind, but it was too offending, and he was not as smart as Xin Zhi. He could only think about this clever plan in his heart, and did not dare to say a word.
However, looking at the red bloodshot eyes in Sheng Hong's eyes and the gray hair on his temples, he said: "Your Majesty, I suggest that we build more rivers, dig trenches, build bridges and pave roads in the future. That's all we can do."
"No, that's all we can do. The rest depends on whether God is merciful or not." Sheng Hong sighed again, then stood up slowly with his hands on the edge of the table: "What you said requires ability. I asked the local magistrate to execute it, but it seems that I will be more ruthless."
Li Qiao: "?"
He had a bad feeling.
"If you fail to provide disaster relief, you will no longer be demoted from now on. If you take my salary, you can handle the matter for me. If you can't handle it well, then don't even think about having a peaceful life."
Sheng Hong snorted coldly as he spoke and walked towards the back hall: "Li Aiqing, just go about your business."
Li Qiao: "...Yes."
He is worthy of being the emperor who was able to stabilize the situation in his previous life.
Have courage.
When there is really not enough food in the future, maybe Sheng Hong can turn the clever plan he just thought into reality without him opening his mouth.
He quickly dealt with the remaining papers and left the palace before lunch.
It was too late to order takeout at this time, so he ate the big pot rice from Tobe. After lunch, Xu Ying came to him with a stack of brochures. Xu Ying was the doctor in charge of Zhehai Province. The harvest in Zhehai Province this year was not bad.
The stack of brochures Xu Ying brought was the estimated autumn grain output of each county and prefecture in Zhehai Province. The autumn harvest has not yet ended, and he will not know the real output until it is over.
The food grown in Zhehai Province is quite mixed. Although rice is the main type, many other coarse grains and cash crops are also grown.
However, as the richest province in Dasheng, although the province is mainly mountainous and hilly, the area of arable land is actually a bit small.
Someone must be occupying the cultivated land.
The clever plan he had in mind in the Qiuxian Palace in the morning was to ask Sheng Hong to order an inventory of Da Sheng's farmland, and to uncover the owners, bureaucrats and dignitaries who had hidden the true number of farmland in their homes.
By the way, let the nobles and bureaucrats also pay taxes.
Dasheng really treated bureaucrats and nobles very favorably. Not only did they give high salaries, but they also provided tax exemptions based on official rank and title level.
He now has 300,000 acres of cultivated land in his name, but he is a third-rank official, so he does not need to pay grain taxes on these 300,000 acres of cultivated land.
There is also the Xin family. The Xin family's 500,000 acres of cultivated land are all under the name of Marquis Wu'an. There is no need to pay grain taxes on these 500,000 acres of cultivated land.
If Sheng Hong asked them to pay taxes, then the treasury would definitely have enough food and money.
But if he really tells this clever plan, he will completely offend the nobles and rich people in Dasheng.
He wasn't Xin Zhi's naive person. He wouldn't mention a word of this kind of trick to Sheng Hong.
It took him an afternoon to read the information on Zhehai Province. By the time he left the Ministry of Household Affairs, it was already dark.
The night breeze was a bit chilly, and he returned home in a carriage. Everyone at home had just had dinner.
He came back early today. Several children who had not seen him yesterday were all gathered around him, chattering about what happened in the past two days.
Whoever makes progress in reading is praised.
Whoever wins the game today, praise me.
Whoever ate well today and grew taller, praise me.
After being kissed and hugged one by one, the three little guys, Li Xiaorui, Li Erbao, and Brother Ju, jumped back to their own courtyard to prepare for bed.
Li Changfeng and Li Yunfan held hands and jumped to the greenhouse. Li Qiao made several sets of exquisite 3D architectural puzzles for them a few days ago, including the large courtyard of Sanliu Village and the one where they live now. The two of them like the large courtyard that spans the east and west, as well as the topographic map of Sanliu Village, and will work on part of it before going to bed after dinner.
With the children no longer around, Li Qiao and Tao Zhu went to the kitchen to have dinner. Anyway, the food is warm in the pot, so there is no need to put it in a food box and carry it to the conservatory.
Tao Zhu did not go to Shantang today. He took Li Xiaolan to a hot pot shop for a blind date.
Li Xiaolan is really quite old. Although Li Xiaolan didn't say anything, he was quite anxious for Li Xiaolan.
Now Li Qiao has relaxed his marriage requirements to scholars. What he saw today were two scholars and a rich young master.
Of course, this was just a one-sided look at each other between him and Li Xiaolan. The man stayed in the lobby eating hot pot, while he and Li Xiaolan quietly stood on the second floor to look at each other.
Today's two talents were introduced by Xin Zhi, and the rich young master was introduced by Han Ning, but after Li Xiaolan saw them, none of them suited her.
"If you don't get eye-to-eye contact, continue to look at each other. After you get married, you have to face each other every day. If you don't get eye-to-eye contact, wouldn't it mean that you will be filled with disgust every day?"
Li Qiao said while slowly eating the crab in his hand.
Autumn is the season for eating crabs, so the Li family kitchen cannot miss this delicacy.
"I think so too, but from my point of view, the three of them today all look pretty good, and this is Xiaolan..."
"Huh? Who do you think looks good?"
Hearing this, Li Qiao immediately raised his eyes, staring directly at Tao Zhu with his dark pupils.
Tao Zhu paused, then stretched out her hand to hug his arm in a funny way, then came over and kissed him on the cheek: "Xiaolan is a junior, and the boys she looks at are the same as her in my eyes." child."
"That's not possible. The real children are our family. The three people I met Xiaolan today are all 16 or 78 years old, right? Are they still children?"
"Don't praise others like that in the future."
He has never praised any other man or little brother like this.
Ever since he had Tao Zhu, other men and boys only had sex with him, not beauty or ugliness.
Tao Zhu saw Li Qiao's deliberately serious face and hugged Li Qiao's arm tightly: "It's my fault. I take back what I just said. It's because you look good. You are the only man in the world who looks good."
"That sounds pleasant to my ears."
Li Qiao had a smile on her face.
When Tao Zhu saw this, he couldn't help but laugh too. Li Qiao really liked him!
He gently shook Li Qiao's arm, then leaned over and kissed Li Qiao on the lips. They were close to Li Qiao, and then he said: "The ones introduced by Xin Zhi and Han Ning are not good, how can Xiaolan do it?" Let’s do it.”
"There are so many men in the world, let her choose slowly." Li Qiao said unhurriedly.
With Li Chuntao in front, I was afraid that Li Xiaolan wouldn't be able to get married.
"Why don't we just relax the conditions a little more and stop forcing family background and fame? As long as we are literate, then we can see each other. What do you think?"
Tao Zhu expressed the idea that he had been thinking about for a long time.
"You have to ask sister-in-law and Xiaolan. We can't make the decision. I have no objection. As long as you have good character, treat Xiaolan well, and Xiaolan likes it, then I will agree."
"Okay, I'll ask Xiaolan and my sister-in-law tomorrow."
When Tao Zhu heard Li Qiao's words, he immediately felt confident.
It's not that he doesn't love Li Xiaolan, but Li Xiaolan doesn't like anyone who has come to propose marriage. What else can he do besides continuing to relax the conditions?
Li Yu'an and Xin Zhi were making love every day, and Li Yuning and Ming Xi chatted endlessly happily when they were together.
Under such circumstances, how could Li Xiaolan not yearn for getting married?
Li Xiaolan yearns for it, but she just can't find one she likes.
worry.
The next day, after going to work, Li Qiao first picked out the discounts and then went to work in Qixian Hall.
Sheng Hong has been summoning ministers to discuss matters.
The construction of the Grand Canal is progressing very quickly, and the section from Shengjing to Jibei Province is now open to navigation.
If nothing unexpected happens, navigation will be available across the board next summer.
Sheng Hong takes this matter very seriously and asks about the progress every few days.
The issue of adding more troops to the border town was also a big deal. He discussed it with several officials from the Ministry of War and the fourth prince for a long time, and finally decided to dispatch 30,000 forbidden troops and 20,000 red scarf troops to the border town in the middle of next month.
The Red Scarf Army is the collective name for the local garrison in Dasheng. It is named after the soldiers wearing red scarves on their heads.
In addition, it will be September soon, and it will get cold early this year, so we need to prepare materials to keep out the cold. If it happens again that it is so cold that no one is on the street like last year, then at least the people must be able to spend this winter safely.
However, in order to avoid driving up prices, it was not appropriate for the court to come forward to call for it, and Sheng Hong planned to let private spies be responsible for the matter.
We also have to tell a few big coal merchants that a slight price increase is okay, but not outrageous.
Several provinces in the south have been hit by drought this year, and water conservancy projects have to be arranged.
