The Eternal Beauty of the City of Wealth

After dealing with these ministers, Zixuan looked around at everyone and said earnestly, "My dear ministers, I know."

"Over the years, due to the war, all of you noble families have suffered a lot following my Zi family."

"Therefore, I have decided that from today onwards, the salaries of all ministers will be completely revised."

"A first-rank official in the court receives one thousand taels of gold per month. A second-rank official receives eight hundred taels of gold per month."

"Third rank, six hundred taels. Fourth rank, four hundred taels. Fifth rank, two hundred."

"Sixth rank, one hundred taels. Seventh rank, eighty taels. Eighth rank, sixty taels. Ninth rank, forty taels."

When the ministers heard this, they were so excited that they almost jumped up. That’s great, that’s great!

This is gold, which is many times higher than my previous salary.

My king, my king, you are truly our adopted parents.

Then, they all knelt on the ground, shouting loudly: "We thank the Lord for His great grace! We thank the Lord for His great grace!"

Zixuan smiled and raised his hand: "Stand up, as long as everyone works hard for the development of Fugui City, I will make sure you live a good life in the future."

Then she said to the Prime Minister and the Grand Marshal, "My dear ministers, please select some talented people to fill the vacancies in the court as soon as possible, so as not to delay the operation of the court."

In addition, Grand Marshal, you must also arrange for all the soldiers defending the cities in the counties and prefectures to be replaced."

"They will be replaced by my regular army. Each county town will have 20,000 garrisons, and each county town will have 10,000."

"From now on, my regular army will be named the City Defense Army."

"The soldiers who were originally replaced, as well as the more than 20,000 captured soldiers, were all reorganized into a reserve construction corps."

"The main mission of this corps is to participate in combat when there is war."

"When there's no war, participate in the construction of Fugui City. This force will be under the command of the Grand Commandant."

"Now, I have decided to establish another department, called the Ministry of War. The highest position in the Ministry of War is the Grand Marshal. This position will be held by Ji Yi. Come, announce Ji Yi!"

After Ji Yi entered the hall and paid his respects, he exchanged a few words with the ministers and then retreated to the inner room.

Then she added, "My dear ministers, now that the external crisis in Fugui City has been resolved, it is time for us to develop and build."

"From today on, I will expand and repair roads in Fugui City, improve residential areas, open mines and reclaim wasteland, overhaul water conservancy projects, build factories, open schools, and so on."

"Before doing these things, I plan to carry out a series of reforms on all the land, houses, minerals, hills, rivers, etc. in the city."

"The content of the reform is to nationalize all of what I just mentioned."

"From now on, all the land, houses, and minerals in Fugui City will belong to the imperial court."

As soon as she finished speaking, the ministers immediately became confused and started discussing: How could this be possible?

Those lands are family properties passed down from generations of ancestors. How can they be confiscated just like that?

Yes, yes, my whole family depends on it for food, you can’t do this, my king!

Seeing the strong reaction from everyone, Zixuan slammed the table and shouted, "Everyone, please be quiet! I haven't finished speaking yet!"

After she shouted, the ministers quickly stopped talking and pricked up their ears to listen.

"My dear ministers, I will take back the land and houses and return them to the court. I will certainly compensate you and will not let you suffer any losses."

"Once I have finished building the building, you, my dear ministers, will surely beg me to live there."

The ministers were still worried: "Your Majesty, I would like to ask, if the city of Fugui is destroyed, do you have enough money to compensate us?"

"This lord asked a good question, and this is exactly what I wanted to say."

"My next step is to unify the currency of Fugui City and replace the knife coins with gold and silver."

"Gold and silver are all measured in taels. Anything below tael is called wen, and anything below wen is called qian."

"Every ten coins is one wen, every hundred coins is one liang, and both coins and coins are made of bronze."

"In addition, there are various gold, silver and copper coins, and another set of plastic-sealed banknotes."

"Paper money is equivalent to real gold and silver. The purpose of making paper money is to make it easy to carry."

"Tomorrow I will order the establishment of banks in every county, township, and town."

"In the bank, everyone can use their old knife coins to exchange for gold and silver of equal value."

"The exchange period is one year. After one year, the knife coins will become invalid and will no longer circulate in Fugui City."

"From now on, the salaries of all ministers and the wages of the people will also be paid in the new currency."

A minister asked, "Your Majesty, then, how will you compensate us for the houses and land?"

"My dear minister, all good farmland must be based on land deeds. First-class good farmland will be compensated with a lump sum of 100 taels of silver per mu."

"Second class, fifty taels; third class, thirty taels. The new building will be exchanged for the old house, and no compensation will be given."

"Your Majesty, if we and the people lose our land, what will we eat?"

Zixuan chuckled and said, "Don't worry, my dear minister. I have already made plans. After all the old houses are demolished, they will all be turned into farmland."

"All the wasteland and barren hills in Fugui City must be reclaimed."

"I have purchased high-quality seeds from overseas. Each acre can produce thousands of kilograms of grain. There is no problem supplying the less than one million people in my Fugui City."

Also, I have decided that all officials above the third rank in my court will receive a monthly salary in addition to their salaries."

"Every month, each person will receive 100 kilograms of rice, 100 kilograms of flour, 100 kilograms of coarse grains, and 30 kilograms of cooking oil for free."

"Ranks six to four are given 80 kilograms of rice, 80 kilograms of flour, 80 kilograms of coarse grains, and 20 kilograms of cooking oil each month."

"Ranks nine to seven are given 50 kilograms of rice, 50 kilograms of flour, 50 kilograms of coarse grains, and 10 kilograms of cooking oil each month."

"In addition, the children of all the people in the city will be supported by the court."

"For those aged one to five, twenty catties of grain per month, a mix of coarse and fine, and five ounces of silver per month."

"From six to ten years old, thirty catties and ten ounces of silver per month."

"For those between ten and eighteen, forty catties and twenty ounces of silver per month."

"For those over 18, it will no longer be given for free and must be earned through their own labor."

"The wages of the common people were all set at one ounce of silver and one pound of grain per day."

"After the land was returned to the court, the people could work on the land and earn wages and food."

"Also, women over fifty and men over sixty receive a monthly free subsidy from the imperial court."

"Fifty catties of grain and thirty ounces of silver per person per month."

I want to make my people in this city rich and prosperous, so that everyone has food to eat, money to spend, and a house to live in."

“No one will go hungry anymore, and no one will live on the streets because they have no place to live.”

"What do you think of my strategy, my dear ministers?"

All the ministers were so engrossed in listening that they did not react for a moment.

Zixuan coughed lightly, and everyone came back to their senses.

Prime Minister Bo Qu came out and said, "Your Majesty, your plan is indeed good, but where are we going to get the gold and silver?"

"Haha, my dear old Lord, there is something you don't know."

"Just yesterday, I received a report that a gold and silver mine had been discovered within the territory of Fugui City."

"There are also many kinds of minerals that we need in our daily lives. They are currently being mined and refined. My dear ministers, rest assured now."

After hearing this, everyone knelt down excitedly and shouted, "Your Majesty is wise. We thank you on behalf of the people. We agree with your strategy."

Is it okay to disagree? In this era where royal power is supreme, if the king orders his subjects to die, they have to die, let alone reclaim their property and land.

Okay, Zixuan stood up and said, "My dear Lord Bo, you will be fully responsible for the land reform."

"Three days later, you will bring your men to the palace, and I will hand over 40 million taels of silver to you."

"Remember, don't make things difficult for the people. Make sure to compensate them with the silver they received for the land purchase."

Boqu quickly replied: "Old minister, I obey your command!"

After the court session, everyone went to the imperial kitchen for dinner.

Zixuan did not go to eat. He returned to his bedroom. After entering the space, he asked the chef to make him a bowl of egg and tomato noodles.

Ever since she drank too much that day, she has been feeling irritated and doesn't want to eat greasy food anymore.

After she slurped down her noodles, she called over the machine boss and said, "Boss, I have a task for you."

"You have one month to produce 20 million taels of silver worth of plastic-wrapped paper money for me."

"And ten million taels of gold in plastic-wrapped banknotes. Can you possibly complete this mission?"

The machine boss replied loudly: "Minister! I promise to complete the mission!"