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

While Ye Mo and his son were arguing, Jiang Chong met with Yang Song in another room.

Without saying a word, Jiang Chong sat down in the main seat, picked up a teacup, and asked directly, "So, have the people from the palace visited the weaving workshop?"

Yang Song respectfully replied, "Your Highness, I have already met with them. The Duke of Zhenguo is quite satisfied with the weaving workshop."

"Relatively satisfied?" Jiang Chong put down his teacup. "What else did he say?"

Yang Song: "The Duke of Zhenguo was worried about whether the 600,000 bolts of silk could be delivered on time."

Jiang Chong flicked his sleeve and snorted, "You know more about textiles than I do. So, tell me, should we do this business or not?"

Yang Song replied, "Such an unexpected windfall is certainly something we must take advantage of. I've carefully considered it, and as long as we increase the number of looms to over ten thousand..."

The weavers worked day and night, encouraging private weaving to donate on their behalf. These 600,000 bolts of silk brocade could, with a bit of grit, be produced within a year, even if…

"What is it? Stop hesitating. What's there to hesitate about? Just say what you want to say."

"Yes, Sichuan has no shortage of looms and weavers, but the production of raw silk is insufficient."

Jiang Chong was taken aback: "How much raw silk can the mulberry fields in my Shu region produce?"

"In reply to Your Highness, it's only 100,000 horses."

"One hundred thousand horses..."

Jiang Chong pondered for a moment.

"That's a difficult problem. Do you have any ideas?"

Yang Song thought for a moment and said, "This humble servant does have a way to solve the current problem of the severe shortage of raw silk."

"any solution?"

"Convert rice paddies to mulberry trees."

When Yang Song uttered those four words, he looked at Jiang Chong cautiously.

"Change rice paddies to mulberry trees?" Jiang Chong got up and paced back and forth for a while. "If we do that, the grain production in my Shu region will be insufficient."

Yang Song said, "Your Highness need not worry. If there is a shortage of grain, we can purchase it from the Chu Kingdom and the Guanzhong region. Currently, the Chu Kingdom has a bumper harvest, and the price of grain is stable at around one tael of silver and two shi (a unit of dry measure)."

The food shortage in Shu (Sichuan) can be completely compensated for by purchasing grains from outside, thus ensuring that the millions of people in Shu will not go hungry despite planting mulberry seedlings.

"That's a good idea, but I'm afraid the farmers in Sichuan won't agree to it."

"Your Highness need not worry. The profits from mulberry cultivation far exceed those from planting crops, and the people will certainly be willing to participate."

Jiang Chong thought about it and agreed that it made sense.

"Alright, then let's do as you say. Before next spring, we'll gather enough mulberry fields to weave 700,000 bolts of silk brocade. We must secure this order no matter what!"

"It's natural."

Yang Song thought for a moment, then said, "However, converting rice paddies to mulberry fields also requires Your Highness to consult with the Duke of Zhenguo."

We hope he can reduce or waive customs duties in Shu and prioritize supplying grain to Shu.

"You don't need to worry about that. I will discuss it with Prime Minister Ye myself. What you need to do now is..."

This involved disseminating the edict to convert rice paddies to mulberry orchards throughout Sichuan, encouraging farmers to plant mulberry seedlings.

You don't need to worry about the rest.

"Yes, Your Highness. I will draft a detailed plan as soon as I get back."

"Well, go get busy."

The thought of receiving four or five million taels of gold made Jiang Chong extremely happy.

With this money, they could provide their army with better armor and weapons, thus increasing their chances of victory in any future uprising.

Just then, another person came to report: "Your Highness, merchants from Guanzhong have sent us an order, saying they want to purchase 300,000 bolts of low-grade Shu brocade."

"What did you say, powerful clans of Guanzhong?"

Jiang Chong was stunned.

"They also want to buy Shu brocade? Why is that?"

"Your Highness, the people who came to negotiate said that, in response to the imperial court's call, they will establish a long-term cooperative relationship with the Shu region, effective immediately."

This time, they purchased 300,000 bolts of inferior Shu brocade in one go, solely to ensure that powerful officials from Guanzhong wouldn't lose face when they went to the capital to report on their duties.

Jiang Chong took a deep breath.

The powerful families of Guanzhong placed great importance on face; they wanted to have what others had, and not only that, they wanted to have it in a respectable way.

This characteristic is known to all.

Now that Guanzhong has finally returned to the rule of the Great Chu, the powerful clans, who have been separated from the court for over two hundred years, are even more eager to leave a good impression on the Empress.

He also told the other officials that he was responding to the court's call and would not cause any trouble for His Majesty, and that he would pay for the Shu brocade himself.

For a moment, Jiang Chong felt very uncomfortable.

But on second thought, this might also be an opportunity to win over the powerful clans of Guanzhong.

This business has to be done, even if it's tough.

Furthermore, they should be given certain preferential treatment.

"Order people to treat the merchants from Guanzhong well and not to be slighted in the slightest!"

……

On the other side, after inspecting the weaving workshop, Shen Lang did not return to the palace, but instead had Fa Xiaozhi take him around several mulberry fields.

With winter approaching, Sangtian is naturally desolate, with only mulberry trees swaying in the wind on the land.

According to Fa Xiaozhi, there are a total of one million mu of mulberry fields in Sichuan.

With an average yield of one bolt of Shu brocade per five mu (the waste rate of unprocessed raw silk is extremely high), the current production limit of mulberry fields is probably around 200,000 bolts.

Of course, this is just an optimistic figure, without taking into account natural disasters and man-made calamities.

In fact, under the current conditions, the production of Shu brocade can only be maintained at around 100,000 bolts.

Shen Lang quickly began to calculate the grain revenue from Shu in his mind:

The total cultivated area in Sichuan is currently about 36 million mu, with a registered population of about 9 million. If we include slaves, those who have been released from their registered status, and those of low social status, the total population is probably over 10 million.

In other words, the average arable land per person is 3.6 mu. Given that each mu in Sichuan produces about two shi of grain per season, the people's lives should indeed be quite prosperous.

However, this is still just an optimistic figure.

This is because a large portion of these farmlands are controlled by powerful landowners and sects in Sichuan.

Given the underdeveloped productivity of Sichuan, a natural disaster would inevitably cause a significant famine.

Not to mention that Jiang Chong also had to support nearly a million soldiers in Shu, which put him under tremendous pressure.

After figuring this out, Shen Lang smiled.

"Then let's make things even crazier."

Fa Xiaozhi stayed by Shen Lang's side the whole time. In just half a day, he felt that the Emperor of Great Chu had an extraordinary temperament and was clearly a person who was going to do great things.

Rumors of the King of Shu's rebellion have spread throughout the Shu region, but Fa Xiaozhi believes that this is simply not going to happen.

It is highly unusual for the imperial court to issue such a high-profile decree on Shu brocade, calling on the nobles of Chu to use only Shu brocade when going out, let alone personally delivering such a large order for purchasing Shu brocade.

Although Fa Xiaozhi was in Shu, he was fully aware of the movements of the Great Chu court. Everything the Empress had done in recent years was revealing one message.

That is to take back power.

Even the Qiang and Hu tribes, who had occupied Guanzhong for many years, could be wiped out by the Wu Kingdom, which had been established for 1,200 years. How could a mere Shu king possibly defeat them?

Moreover, the person in charge of this procurement of Shu brocade is none other than the current emperor, that legendary figure. How could he be unaware of the Shu King's plot to rebel...

After a moment's thought, he roughly understood Shen Lang's intention.

"Your Highness, I am truly sorry, but the Great Chu of today is no longer the Great Chu of the past."

Your plan is doomed to fail, and I, Fa Xiaozhi, have no intention of going to the underworld with you.

We must find a way to survive for ourselves and the people of Shu.

After figuring it out, Fa Xiaozhi looked at Shen Lang with even more flattery.