Zhao Hanzhang returned to the Imperial City and saw Zhao Shen wobbly trying to leave. She immediately called out to him, "You’re just in time, I have something to discuss with you."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shen immediately perked up and asked, "Is there going to be a war?"

Zhao Hanzhang thought for a moment and nodded, "Pretty much, although it won’t involve swords, it’s pretty much like a war, and it’s a tough one."

Zhao Shen, the newly appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, had not seen any battles since taking office. Every day, his main task was to quarrel with Chang Ning from the Ministry of Revenue, pushing him to find money to pay military salaries and distribute pensions...

Otherwise, he would be busy counting the number of soldiers needing pensions and settling disabled soldiers...

Having been exposed to tragic affairs, Zhao Shen felt his whole self was tragic, too. So he staggered around, absent-minded, while coming to work and leaving.

He felt at least half of his soul had followed those deceased soldiers into hell.

Therefore, he felt he desperately needed a breathtaking battle to ignite his heroic spirit.

Then Zhao Hanzhang led him in front of Chang Ning and said to both of them, "You two should discuss holding a matchmaking event for the military and civilians in Luoyang."

Zhao Shen scratched his ear, "What kind of event?"

Zhao Hanzhang reiterated, "A matchmaking event!"

Zhao Shen was incredulous, "What kind of matchmaking?"

Zhao Hanzhang said seriously, "Zhao Shen, this matter is no joke. Treat it as a tough battle to solve the problem of single male youth in the army who are veterans and have not married. By the way, in our army, men shall only marry one wife and not take concubines; later I’ll issue an edict."

"Wait," Zhao Shen quickly snapped back to reality, frowning, "Isn’t issuing such an edict inappropriate?"

"Why not?" Zhao Hanzhang said, "Isn’t it flexible? Historically, there were legal provisions that only those who met certain conditions could take concubines. I’m just setting the conditions a bit higher."

"But my thoughts are for the common soldiers. Now there are more men than women, and the army is full of bachelors. If a general takes ten or eight concubines, where would the ordinary soldiers find wives? If he takes ten fewer concubines, then ten soldiers can establish families."

"In this matter, I set an example, I swear, I will never take a concubine!"

Chang Ning, at the side: ...

Zhao Shen thought for a while but then raised his thumb, praising, "The Great General is formidable, alright, I’ll handle this matter for the army, but for civilians..."

He looked at Chang Ning.

Chang Ning said expressionlessly, "Shouldn’t this matter be handed over to the County Magistrate of Luoyang County?"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled at him, "It requires cooperation with Luoyang County, but funding for the matchmaking event as well as for rewarding soldiers upon getting married... that money..."

Zhao Shen immediately turned his head to stare at Chang Ning, "Yes, we need money, not to mention overdue military salaries. To marry is to dress and eat, without even paying military salaries, how can soldiers support a wife, children, and parents?"

While Chang Ning was being pestered by Zhao Shen, Zhao Hanzhang slipped away.

Chang Ning was quite angry, and when he finally dealt with Zhao Shen, she had already disappeared without a trace.

"Isn’t this money ultimately coming from the national treasury? Now the treasury’s money requires her to plan and mobilize Zhao Shen to get money from me, isn’t that just getting it from her? Really clueless, brain kicked by a donkey, hurting herself, I..." Chang Ning was furious, standing under the corridor cursing for a while, until his mouth became dry before he stopped.

Zhao Hanzhang, however, went to the palace to find the emperor, telling him about the empty treasury in urgent need of funds, and asked, "Your Majesty, do you have a good solution?"

The emperor felt the sweet-scented osmanthus cake he had just eaten tasted no longer sweet. After pondering for a while, he said, "Increase taxes?"

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, "The people of Central Plains and Northern Land have been very difficult this year and still need relief from the court. How can there be money or grain to supply the court?"

Zhao Hanzhang sighed and left, while the emperor felt uneasy and quickly went to Xun Fan for advice, "I don’t understand what the Great General means, I really can’t think of any solution other than increasing taxes."

Xun Fan thought for a moment and said, "It’s not Your Majesty’s fault, our Great General employs many and varied schemes. Ever since pacifying the Xiongnu unrest, she has devised enough ways to raise funds and support the people. Increasing taxes is the least preferable. It’s normal for you not to come up with it, even for us ministers, we can’t think of any method beyond the Great General’s current strategies."

He paused and said, "Not just us, the entire officials in the court probably can’t think of other ways either."

"Then why did she ask me?"

Xun Fan bit his lip but still said quietly, "The Great General only mentioned Central Plains and Northern Land, but Jiangnan and Jiangdong also belong to our Great Jin."

The emperor was taken aback and lowered his eyes, "But that’s under King Langya’s rule, even the Great General can’t control them, what can I do?"

"There’s still a way," Xun Fan said softly, "If Your Majesty personally issue an edict, requesting King Langya to pay taxes, and privately write a letter to beg candidly, King Langya for his reputation might remit a portion."

The portion of taxes from Jiangdong and Jiangnan might be enough to sustain a state’s population in the Northern Land, which is no small amount.

Xun Fan frequently visited the front hall to discuss matters with Zhao Hanzhang, knowing she was currently living very frugally, not only having to split the treasury money into two. She also had to save her own money diligently.

But the emperor did not want to lose face in front of King Langya, feeling eventually this world would be taken over by Zhao Hanzhang, why bother working hard for her territory?

Xun Fan looked at the young emperor’s expression and sighed inwardly, carefully persuading, "Your Majesty is still the emperor now; you are the ruler and father of the people. Zhao Hanzhang, an external minister, is making such exhausting efforts, why doesn’t Your Majesty strive a little? Even if in the future... with such a good reputation, she will treat you well."

"Doesn’t she have copper mines? The copper mines in Yu State and Luoyang are all under her control; now all the copper coins in the market are ’Zhao’ coins, it’s hard to see old coins, isn’t it? Couldn’t she mint as many as she wanted?"

Listening to the young emperor’s childish words, Xun Fan couldn’t help but smile wryly, "Your Majesty, coining money is complicated, it’s not something that can be done on a whim."

He said, "Mining copper needs manpower and resources. A copper mine’s daily copper output has a limit, plus, it needs to be refined into copper blocks before being sent for coin minting."

"The mint can only produce a limited amount of coins each day. As far as I know, the current minting is only supplementing shortages."

What is supplementing shortages?

That’s when, during the war, a large number of coins were sent to the south or got lost, and wealth disappeared out of thin air.

But while liquid assets can disappear, fixed assets are hard to destroy; it’s just that they can’t be converted into money because there’s a lack of money in circulation in the market.

Because a large number of coins were sent to Jiangnan, causing a money shortage in Central Plains and Northern Land, wealth couldn’t be actualized, resources couldn’t be utilized, so now the money Zhao Hanzhang is minting is actually supplementing the shortage.

And besides the money shortage, the main issue in Central Plains and Northern Land is the famine.

Although Zhao Hanzhang has caravans purchasing grain from Jiangnan and Jiangdong and sending it here, it’s not enough, far from enough; they still need more grain.

They can produce money to buy grain, but the problem now is that even with money, they can’t buy grain.

The current balance is maintained by the efforts of all parties, and everyone’s nerves are taut. Should any error occur, the balance Zhao Hanzhang painstakingly maintains would be disrupted, potentially leading Central Plains and Northern Land into a new chaos.

Don’t underestimate hunger.

It’s a threat comparable to the Xiongnu.

It’s winter now, followed by a long five-month silent period. Only after those five months will they see the wheat mature. They’ll go through the scarce months of March and April; if the grain supply is cut off and people reach extreme hunger, for survival, they would definitely storm the county government, the State Mansion, or even the Imperial Palace.

There’s precedent for such occurrences. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Therefore, Xun Fan advised the young emperor, "Your Majesty, this move is not for Zhao Hanzhang but for the people of Great Jin, and thus also for yourself."

He said quietly, "Did you forget how your predecessor was caught in a dilemma during the Luoyang famine?"