The next day, Zhao Kuo rarely got up until noon. Just as he was about to stand up, his legs suddenly felt weak and he almost fell to the ground.
"No wonder the emperors in ancient times were so short-lived." Zhao Kuo murmured in his heart. He had practiced martial arts, had inner energy, and had better physical fitness than most people. Those who had not practiced martial arts had an emperor with three thousand beauties in his harem.
, it would be strange not to be squeezed dry.
Zhao Kuo looked back at the beauty on the bed, then turned his head the next second, muttering "Women are devils, women are devils...". He forcibly resisted the impulse, got dressed under the service of the palace maid, and faced outside.
Go.
The ministers seemed to have expected that Zhao Kuo would come very late, and did not wait for him. As usual, they finished handling things in the morning and went home, and did not appear one after another until three o'clock in the morning.
"Meet your Majesty." Wei Wuji walked in from outside and said with cupped hands.
"Sit down." Zhao Kuo said.
Wei Wuji walked to the first seat on the right and sat down without hesitation.
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Sheng, Yu Xin, Lin Xiangru, Xunzi, Leyi, Lian Po, Tian Dan and others also entered the hall and sat down each.
Looking at the civil and military ministers gathered together, Zhao Kuo couldn't help but reveal a bright smile on his face.
This is the confidence of Zhao State to strive for world hegemony!
After some congratulations, Wei Wuji handed over the things he had accumulated during this period. All of them had been dealt with. Zhao Kuo did not need to deal with them anymore, but he wanted him to review them and make sure he was aware of them.
Zhao Kuo took a look and found that during the expedition, all parties in the Zhao Kingdom were relatively stable.
The 200,000 captives of the Yan State are still farming in the Zhao State. The old and young in the country are just like the Zhao State after the Changping Battle in history. They cannot spare many troops at all. The north also faces the intrusion of the Donghu.
There is no threat from Zhao State.
In the south, Wei and Zhao were still in their honeymoon period, and while Zhao was attacking the Huns, they were also at war with Qin and could not take care of Zhao.
As for Qi State in the east, since its defeat in the last war, it has chosen to be completely transparent. When Qin and Wei were at war, Qin State sent people to Qi State to persuade Qi State to attack Wei State from behind, but Qi State refused.
Already.
Qi State has a good geographical location, rich products, and enjoys the benefits of fish and salt. Its domestic commerce is also very developed. If a wise king appears, it is possible to restore its original position as the eastern hegemon.
Obviously, Qi Wangjian was not a wise king. King Wei still struggled for a while, sometimes being mediocre and sometimes wise, but Qi Wangjian was completely laid back and did not even take care of the government affairs, leaving everything to the Queen Mother of Qi.
The rest is land reclamation, saline-alkali land management, road construction, commerce and other matters.
Although there were some twists and turns in the process, especially the changes in weights and measures, many merchants had objections and even the goods of Zhao State could not be sold.
After all, although weights and measures were different in different countries in the past, overall, the difference was not very big, and circulation was relatively convenient.
In addition, this incident harmed the interests of some officials, gentry and nobles in the country, making it impossible for them to interfere with it in the future, so they added fuel to the flames and united with businessmen to fight back against Zhao.
Originally, if the officials, gentry and nobles had done it themselves, they would have at least caused some turmoil in the Zhao State. Their years of business foundation and connections were not to be boasted, but in the end they had to unite businessmen.
Is it free money to be a Zhao Guo Chamber of Commerce?
In a comparison of strength among the merchants of Zhao State, who can compare with the Zhao State Chamber of Commerce?
Those officials, gentry and aristocrats were so eager to die that the merchants they were looking for were all from the Zhao Chamber of Commerce, which was no different from throwing themselves into a trap.
The result is obvious. As soon as these businessmen turned around, they sold the officials, gentry and nobles at a good price.
The names of some major rebels are recorded on the list. The largest official is the county magistrate. Further up, we know that the Zhao State Chamber of Commerce controls most of the merchants in Zhao State, and the Zhao State Chamber of Commerce is controlled by Zhao Mu, and Zhao Mu is owned by Zhao Kuo.
My brother, so no one would do such stupid things.
Their biggest mistake is not being well-informed and blindly trusting those businessmen.
These rebels were not beheaded, but were all sent to dig coal in the Yanmen Coal Mine. Now Zhao will hardly impose the death penalty unless the crime is extremely heinous. After all, dead people cannot create wealth.
Most of the offenders were sent to coal mines to dig coal, and depending on the severity of the crime, they could spend one to twenty years digging.
Businessmen from various countries seemed to have seen Zhao's determination to reform weights and measures, and since Zhao was indeed making money, they had no choice but to continue doing business in Zhao.
They can have trouble with Zhao Guo, but they will not have trouble with money.
By the second half of the year, Zhao State's business had completely recovered, and with the news of the victory, especially after a large number of cattle, sheep, horses, and furs from Hetao poured into Zhao State, business taxes repeatedly set new records.
If there is sufficient food, Zhao State can sustain itself even if it launches another war.
However, the war was about money and food. Zhao had enough money but not enough food. The soldiers wanted food, the prisoners wanted food, the workers who built the roads wanted food, the officials and merchants wanted food, and the cattle, sheep, and horses also wanted food.
Every year during the summer and autumn harvests, in order to win over the people, Zhao would send food to the families of 200,000 prisoners captured by the Yan army.
In fact, all the land reclaimed by the Yan army was wasteland, and the food produced was not only enough for themselves, but could barely support the consumption on the road, and the rest of the food was subsidized by Zhao.
But for the long-term interests, Zhao Guo can only choose this.
The Hetao that had just been conquered had not been converted into fertile farmland. Even though Zhao had purchased a large amount of grain and grass from Qi and Chu, it was only just enough.
"Thank you for your hard work." After Zhao Kuo read it, he stood up and saluted.
Everyone quickly returned the gift.
"How was the process of relocating the people being handled? Didn't it cause any resentment among the people?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Because the conditions provided by the government are very good. In the past few years, they not only exempted taxes, but also provided cattle for farming. More importantly, children have the opportunity to receive education. Although many people sneer at this and think that letting children go to school is not enough.
There is one less labor force in the family. But there are still more people who have a long-term vision and take the initiative to move to the Hetao."
"I found that there were so many people who signed up, so I did not enforce it, so it did not cause public resentment. However, many people asked the local government to wait until the autumn harvest before moving. After discussion, I agreed." Lin Xiangru said.
"Is there enough time?" Zhao Kuo asked. Before winter begins in the north, the immigrants must be completed and houses built for the people to spend the winter.
Only in this way can we start clearing wasteland and farming from the beginning of next spring.
If the relocation is not completed before winter, it will be delayed for at least half a year.
"There is no problem with immigration. I will take the people to Hetao when the time comes. But the houses..." At this point, Lin Xiangru hesitated.
Although there is cement, Zhao Guo's houses are still built with rammed earth. This thing requires a little hammering and must be completed by the cooperation of several strong men.
It is time-consuming and labor-intensive and cannot be built in a short time.
As for cement, although it is more convenient, on the one hand, the output is not enough, and it needs to be used to build roads. On the other hand, building houses requires steel bars. Forget the production and quality of steel bars in Zhao State, it is impossible to use them for civilians anyway.