After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 587 - 581 Asking for Money

Truly leave them to wander in exile, and the number of affected commoners will only grow, as will the death toll.

This effort isn’t for population or power, but to give those exiled people a place to settle.

Upon hearing this, Fu Tinghan walked behind her, glanced at the account book, and said, "Then let’s take this money from what Gao Hui brought back."

Zhao Hanzhang painfully made a note, "Alright, I’ll allocate a little more from my side and buy more grain. Besides Zhang Gui, also send some to Grandfather Fu and encourage him to gather the refugees."

Handing out the money, Ji Yuan, knowing she had private funds coming in, didn’t ask where the money came from. He also pretended not to notice the pain on her face and directly sent people to buy more grain.

After all, if she didn’t pay herself, public funds wouldn’t be able to squeeze out any money for her.

Ji Yuan discreetly glanced at Zhao Hanzhang, believing that despite her pained expression, she seemed secure, concluding she must still have some money, and sighed softly.

The sound was long and helpless, prompting Zhao Hanzhang to look up at him, "What’s the matter, sir?"

"Perhaps Lord is not aware, but Luoyang is currently severely lacking in cloth," Ji Yuan said. "This spring’s replanting mostly consisted of millet and beans, with few hemp and mulberry being planted. Moreover, this year the hemp in Luoyang has been infested, leading to a severe shortage of hemp cloth." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"The refugees who are taken in have the grain relief provided by Lord, and buying some themselves can manage, but hemp cloth is scarce. Right now, a piece of hemp cloth is sold at eighty cents each in Luoyang City."

Zhao Hanzhang slightly frowned, "Hasn’t Zhao Kuan controlled this?"

Ji Yuan gave her a glance before saying, "Why control it? Cloth isn’t food. A lack of it won’t cause death."

He coldly stated, "If they can’t afford it, they just won’t wear it."

Zhao Hanzhang was startled, then understood, "That’s true. It’s already summer, the weather isn’t cold, and tattered clothing is passable. Only those with the means and sense of propriety would consider buying fabric to make clothes."

Considering something else, Zhao Hanzhang hesitated before asking, "Mr. Ji, this cloth business doesn’t involve you, does it?"

Ji Yuan: "Yuan is alone, life and wealth belong to Lord, so this cloth business isn’t mine, but yours."

Zhao Hanzhang was deeply moved.

"Yet, we can’t let cloth prices remain this high," Ji Yuan said. "Clothing, food, housing, travel—clothing comes even before food, so I think it’s time to stabilize cloth prices."

"Hemp is the most commonly used among fabrics, so I plan to purchase a batch of hemp cloth," Ji Yuan continued gently. "I’ve noticed the people of Luoyang have settled, and with the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, the price of cloth can’t stay high indefinitely."

"Moreover, in schools, workshops, and among various officials, shouldn’t Lord reward those who excel?"

The crux of his lengthy explanation was———time to fork out the money!

The deep emotion Zhao Hanzhang felt instantly turned to a faint trace, but the money that needed to be spent still had to be spent. The little "private stash" Fu Tinghan had just earned for her was instantly depleted by Ji Yuan.

In the Central Plains, the summer harvest was about to begin, with wheat and millet in Shu also starting to ripen, ready for harvest in about ten days under the sun.

Thus, the grain prices, which had been rising since spring, began to drop slightly. Ji Yuan contacted several grain merchants in Yu State, reserved a batch of grain, and sent people to Shu to buy grain and cloth.

The people of Luoyang City, seeing caravans transporting large quantities of goods into Luoyang, couldn’t help but rejoice. Although they may not afford them, seeing Luoyang recover its vitality made them inevitably happy.

Especially with the relatively timely rains in March and April, though there had been minor droughts, the overall impact was negligible. Now the millet had blossomed, and privately counting the blossoms gave everyone hope for a decent harvest this year.

As long as there is a harvest in the fields, the people’s hearts remain steady.

However, they might not be worried, but Zhao Hanzhang was.

Due to difficult times, she didn’t plan to levy taxes this year. But she still had so many troops to support; she couldn’t continue supporting them solely by herself. The war spoils she had were almost spent.

Thinking of those war spoils pained her, and the lack of money made her anxious, leading her to ride out of the city at night to patrol the fields around the military camp.

This spring, both the Zhao Family Army and the Xiliang Army had planted a considerable amount of millet and beans near their stations. They owned the crops they planted and harvested.

Though these fields couldn’t feed all of their numbers, they could at least greatly alleviate Zhao Hanzhang’s pressure.

Before reaching the camp, she reined in her horse, dismounted, and walked to the field’s edge to inspect her millet.

Zeng Yue and others hurriedly dismounted to follow.

Ting He, seeing Zhao Hanzhang walking along the field ridge, quickly grabbed the torch from Zeng Yue’s hand and rushed forward to light Zhao Hanzhang’s path.

Zhao Hanzhang hushed softly, whispering, "Look, it’s blooming."

Ting He focused her gaze and saw within the millet field, clusters of green leaves held high with golden blooms quietly opening. Bathed in the moonlight, more and more yellow flowers opened; as far as the eye could see under the night sky, yellow flowers blossomed everywhere.

Ting He, seeing such a sight for the first time, was so amazed that she was left speechless.

Zhao Hanzhang remained silent too, just quietly watching, until the restlessness and anxiety in her heart gradually ebbed away.

A smile emerged on her face as she breathed a long sigh of relief. Can life get any tougher than it was before?

Isn’t everything getting better bit by bit now?

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Seeing them, a patrolling soldier halted from afar and questioned while readying a bow and arrow.

Zeng Yue quickly replied, "This is the Governor!"

The patrolling soldier, however, didn’t approach immediately but asked for further details and verified the password for the month before stepping forward.

Zhao Hanzhang, along with Ting He, returned to the road.

Recognizing Zhao Hanzhang, the soldier promptly saluted, "Governor."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and nodded at them, asking, "Is Mr. Fu in the camp?"

"Yes, the sky was dark when he left the workshop, and the Luoyang city gate was closed, so he stayed in the camp."

Zhao Hanzhang had left before the Luoyang city gate closed, and since Fu Tinghan hadn’t returned to the city then, she figured he stayed in the camp outside.

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and joined them in heading to the camp.

It was already nighttime; the soldiers, having trained all day, had just finished their meal. Except for the patrolling and night-guard soldiers, everyone else was fast asleep in their tents.

Fu Tinghan had a personal tent there, occasionally staying overnight. Ordinary soldiers could sleep, but he couldn’t yet.

He was soaking his feet while reading documents in hand.

Fu An ran in, saying, "Sir, the lady is here."

Fu Tinghan gave him an odd look, "She’s here, so why are you flustered?"

Fu An: "...You’re soaking your feet; it’s not appropriate to meet a lady like this, right?"

Fu Tinghan raised his foot and said, "Hand me the cloth towel."

Fu An hurriedly took the cloth towel to dry his feet, though Fu Tinghan, still unaccustomed, took it to dry them himself and instructed him to pour away the foot water.

He had just finished drying his feet and hadn’t yet put on his socks when Zhao Hanzhang arrived. She stood outside the tent, politely asking, "May I come in?"

Wearing his socks, Fu Tinghan dragged his wooden clogs and smiled, "Come in."

Zhao Hanzhang lifted the curtain and walked in.

"Why did you come out of the city tonight?"

Zhao Hanzhang replied, "I’m broke and came out to clear my mind."

She laughed and said, "I just saw the millet blooming. Do you want to see it? It’s beautiful."