Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Late June, within the city of Wu County.

"Your Majesty has arrived~"

Accompanied by rousing shouts, Jiang Mengxuan's imperial carriage, escorted by thousands of Central Army soldiers, slowly drove into the city gate.

The Empress, sitting in the carriage, did not look well after the journey.

Since entering the Wu region, all I've seen along the way are two words:

despair.

Displaced disaster victims could be seen everywhere, and starving people could be seen starving to death on both sides of the official road.

On the way, they even killed a group of arresting officers who made their living by selling "rice meat." They specifically targeted young children and women under the age of twenty because their flesh was more delicate and could fetch a better price.

Looking at the women who were about his age, and thinking about how they almost became food for others, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

Even after the Empress entered Wu County, although the scenes of cannibalism were no longer seen, the horrific sight of people selling their children could still be seen everywhere on the streets.

Jiang Mengxuan felt very heavy-hearted until the carriage entered the Wu Palace and she looked at the magnificent palaces around her, and she regained a little bit of the feeling of being an emperor.

The matters that Wu had to deal with were far more numerous than he had imagined, and they had reached a point where there was no time to lose.

Fortunately, before setting off, the Empress had already ordered the Ministry of Revenue to prepare five million shi of grain, which was being sent to Wu without stopping.

It is believed that once this batch of grain arrives in Wu, the disaster situation will be effectively alleviated.

The moment the Empress stepped off the imperial carriage, Shen Lang and his troops were already waiting in front of the Golden Palace.

"See Your Majesty!"

Upon seeing her husband, Jiang Mengxuan's unhappiness vanished instantly.

After only a few months apart, Shen Lang's face showed signs of visibly haggardness, indicating that he had not had an easy time in Wu during this period.

Indeed, after conquering Wu County, Shen Lang was not idle. He first sent Lü Meng to deal with the Heavenly Alliance, then transferred Qu Yi's troops to attack the Wu army forces that were stubbornly resisting in the north, while Meng Gong was stationed in charge of the Wu army.

He himself went to the southern border and annihilated the remaining bandits.

During this period, the approximate number of remaining people in the Wu region was also re-verified.

It's fair to say that Shen Lang was more exhausted than anyone else could imagine.

Exhausted, he had no time to address the current predicament in Wu County, and only rushed back to Wu County the day before he learned that Jiang Mengxuan was about to arrive.

Jiang Mengxuan felt very sorry for Shen Lang, and immediately took his hand and whispered, "A Lang, you've had a hard time these past few days."

Shen Lang smiled and shook his head: "We don't need to say such things between husband and wife. Please come into the hall."

As he spoke, Shen Lang stepped aside and beckoned Jiang Mengxuan to come inside.

Among the crowd, Wu Li, wearing a hood, stared blankly at the familiar Golden Palace before her.

"Finally, I've returned to this place of sorrow."

She clenched her jade-like hand and slowly followed the crowd into the hall.

……

Sitting on the spacious dragon throne, Jiang Mengxuan felt no joy at all.

According to Shen Lang's description, the situation Wu is currently facing is far more complex and serious than expected.

Upon hearing this, Ye Mo, who was traveling with him, couldn't help but sigh: "Although the people of Wu have escaped the oppression and manipulation of the Wu rulers and ministers, they have left a huge mess for our Chu Kingdom."

He looked at Shen Lang and continued, "As the saying goes, 'After a flood comes a three-year drought,' and after a flood comes a locust plague, and after a locust plague comes a rampant epidemic."

The problems facing our Great Chu right now are not only the food problem, but also the prevention of the spread of disease.

Jiang Mengxuan: "I have summoned medical officials from within the Chu Kingdom to rush to Wu as soon as possible to control the disease."

Shen Lang replied, "Your Majesty, I have already summoned physicians from the Wu region to travel in batches to various prefectures within the Wu region."

Temporary control measures were implemented, requiring everyone entering or leaving the state or county to present a medical certificate.

To ensure that the epidemic does not break out on a large scale.

The Empress nodded. It seemed that her husband had already foreseen the current situation in Wu, so she really didn't need to worry too much.

Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief and then asked, "The most urgent task for Wu is to find a way to recuperate and rebuild. In the next few years, Wu will probably need a continuous supply of grain to stabilize the situation."

Jiang Mengxuan sighed softly: "Since our Great Chu has decided to take over Wu, we should do our best to save the people here. No amount of money or grain should be invested. Moreover, starting this year, the court will exempt Wu from taxes for three years."

"No!"

Unexpectedly, Shen Lang directly rejected Jiang Mengxuan's decision.

"Your Majesty, you must not!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan and Ye Mo both showed expressions of surprise.

"Duke Zhenguo, why is that?"

Shen Lang replied, "If Wu is exempt from taxes for three years, then the expenses of Wu during those three years will inevitably fall on the shoulders of the other prefectures."

In this way, even if Wu recovers its vitality after three years, there is no guarantee that the people's livelihood will not be affected by fiscal austerity in other prefectures and counties. This is not a good solution.

Upon hearing this, Ye Mo and Jiang Mengxuan both fell silent.

Indeed, whenever a region in the dynasty suffered a disaster, provisions had to be transferred from elsewhere to alleviate the local crisis, and the taxes that were exempted would naturally be apportioned from other regions.

As a result, many originally prosperous counties and prefectures, after providing financial assistance to disaster areas for several consecutive years, will also experience their own fiscal contraction, leading to a situation of hardship for the people within their jurisdiction.

But if we don't do this, won't the disaster-stricken areas never recover?

"Then how do you suggest we solve the current problem?"

Since Shen Lang dared to raise his objections, the Empress believed that he had naturally prepared a countermeasure and was eager to hear his opinion.

"Self-economic downgrade".

Unexpectedly, Shen Lang uttered a word that no one present could understand.

Self-imposed economic downgrade?

What does it mean.

It's no wonder that Jiang Mengxuan and Ye Mo were a little confused, because they simply didn't have a clear idea about it.

Shen Lang explained, "To put it simply, with our economy downgrading, nowadays most people's goods transactions take place in bustling city streets."

This is not a big problem in a year of good harvest, but in a year of great disaster...

The market was impacted by the severe environmental conditions, prices spiraled out of control, and only innocent ordinary people suffered.

At this juncture, the best course of action is to adjust the market. Given the current situation in Wu, no conventional market adjustments can overcome the disaster in a very short time.

If money and resources are endlessly poured into this, it will only cause more regions to suffer. After all, everyone must understand one thing:

People pay taxes hoping for stability and even a better life, not for their lives to become increasingly unsatisfactory.

For a region like Wu that has suffered such a large-scale disaster, the best option at present is to adopt a self-reduced economic approach.

Jiang Mengxuan wanted to ask more questions, but Shen Lang continued, "After saying so much, the so-called economic downgrade method is actually based on the manor economy."

Together we weathered the most difficult times of these years, allowing landowners from various regions to trade through barter.

Only after the disaster was over would measures to restore street trade be introduced in the name of the government.

By then, the market will undoubtedly be far more vibrant than ever before, and during this period,

Not only did the imperial court not need to spend money internally, it could even use currency to acquire goods to replenish the national treasury every year.

Within five years, the economy of Wu will undoubtedly be more prosperous than ever before.

The Empress fell silent, and Ye Mo began to consider the matter.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the way the two looked at Shen Lang again suddenly had a different light in their eyes.

Indeed, at the current market price of thirty taels of silver per shi of rice, ordinary people simply cannot afford it, and continuing to transport grain from Chu to stabilize grain prices is not practical.

Without a stable environment, even if the imperial court holds a large amount of unclaimed farmland, no people will be willing to cultivate it, since no one can guarantee that the land they cultivate will eventually belong to them.

At this time, using a manor as a platform to take in a hundred households as tenant farmers to work not only provides them with a livelihood but also allows the manor to generate profits.

This……

"If only he were my son!"

Ye Mo felt a deep sense of regret, wondering why he couldn't give birth to such a prodigy son.

Jiang Mengxuan was overjoyed and felt genuinely gratified to have such a reliable husband.

In fact, the self-economic downgrading that Shen Lang mentioned has occurred many times in the history of China and even the world.

To take a recent example, the Demon Horse of the Late Ming Dynasty survived the difficult Little Ice Age by relying on a self-degraded manor economy.

Some say that Yezhupi was a madman who slaughtered a large number of "poor Han Chinese devils" in Liaodong.

In fact, not only were the "Han poor devils" killed, but the poor Manchus were also killed without mercy, with the main principle being to treat everyone equally.

They even slaughtered the wealthy, as well as the Jurchens, Han Chinese, and Koreans living in various parts of Liaodong.

Why would they do that?

Actually, it's quite simple. From a materialist historical perspective, the purpose of Wild Boar Skin was to destroy the market economy system and downgrade it to a plantation serf economy to cope with the harsh environment of the supermodel.

After his son, Diabetic, succeeded to the throne, thanks to his father, the obstacles to establishing a manor economy were no longer there, which allowed the notorious horse-drawn slave group—the Eight Banners system—to be perfected.

In terms of strategic vision, Tang Niao Ji is far inferior to his father, Ye Zhu Pi. He was able to improve the Eight Banners system, and he really deserves a shout-out to his father.

It must be said that Ma Chao's ability to seize the Ming Dynasty's throne and rule the Central Plains may have involved many elements of luck.

However, one thing is undeniable: his voluntary economic downgrade did stabilize the then-shaky foundation of the horse demon and allowed him to seize the opportunity to build a large horse herd group.

In addition, during the same period or even earlier, many European fiefdoms were based on the manor economy model, and in many places, this continued until just before the Industrial Revolution when they were fully integrated into market trade.

The advantage of manor economy is that it can withstand the impact of harsh environments, but in terms of prosperity, it cannot be compared with market economy.

However, in the Wu region at present, there is no better option than implementing a manor economy.

Under the implementation of the manor economy, life will indeed be much more difficult than before, and Shen Lang doesn't expect those manor owners to have much conscience.

But it's far better than letting them starve to death or letting the drought spread to other parts of Chu.