Ten years of dormancy: Starting as a martial arts master at the pinnacle

The entire court was stunned by this number.

How many?

Thirty million taels!

Think about the annual revenue of the Great Zhou Dynasty. What does this figure really mean?

No one knew this better than these high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

Even the nobles' eyes changed.

Previously, the way they looked at Zhou Hao was that he was a supreme being, and they never thought of anything else.

Now, when they look at Zhou Hao, it's no different from looking at a mountain of gold.

Even Kingsoft is no match for Li Changqing.

After all, gold will eventually be mined out, and even mountains will eventually be hollowed out.

Li Changqing's gold mine could never be completely depleted.

As long as he was alive, and as long as the Kyoto newspaper continued to be published, money would flow into his pockets like water.

"Your Highness, you have been to the border and know how hard it is for us soldiers. Often when winter comes, we can't even get enough cotton-padded clothes. A bunch of soldiers who are protecting our country have frostbite all over their hands and feet. It breaks my heart to see that."

The Grand Marshal of the court came directly to Li Changqing, tears streaming down his face.

Li Changqing was completely dumbfounded.

He never knew that the Grand Marshal of their Great Zhou Dynasty was such a person.

Just as Li Changqing was thinking this, the Minister of Works, trembling with fear, knelt down in front of Li Changqing.

"Your Highness the Regent."

"Please rise, Your Excellency."

Let's set aside the fact that the other party is one of the six ministers, holding a high position and great power in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Given the man's age, Li Changqing couldn't possibly remain unmoved while watching him bow down.

Just as Li Changqing was about to help the person up, he found that the person was very stubborn and knelt on both knees.

"What are you doing, Minister?"

"Your Highness, you are unaware that our Ministry of Works is facing a severe shortage of funds. The dikes for the Changshui River and the Yong'an River have not been repaired, and next year will be the flood season. Of the 800 million taels allocated for river repairs, less than half has been spent. For the sake of the hundreds of millions of people living along these two rivers, I humbly beg Your Highness to generously contribute..."

The newspaper has been published for ten issues and has now made a profit of two and a half million taels.

With just a few more days, the shortfall of a mere 400 million taels can be made up immediately.

Even Li Changqing couldn't bear to refuse.

The number of people gathered on both sides of the two rivers is at least 80 million, if not 100 million.

Just as he was about to speak, the Minister of Revenue grabbed his sleeve.

"Your Highness!"

Li Changqing felt his heart clench.

He originally thought that given the limited accounting skills of the entire court, they simply wouldn't be able to accurately estimate newspaper sales. Naturally, they wouldn't be able to calculate how much money the newspapers could actually make.

Li Changqing insisted that this was the property of the Tianxia Hui (World Society).

As long as he doesn't give in, no one else can get a single copper coin from him.

Now Li Changqing realized that he had been too naive.

He completely underestimated the shamelessness of the entire court.

That's right.

They have no shame, all they care about is money.

This is completely different from a martial artist.

Most martial artists, especially those with high skill levels, don't care much about money, since making money is too easy for them.

In contrast, they prefer rare and precious materials, and they prefer opportunities that can help them advance further.

Whether it's a secret martial arts manual or something else.

Given the opportunity, martial artists would flock to it.

The officials and military officers in the court were all different; whether they were civil officials or military generals, all they cared about was money.

Money is the foundation of food, and money and food are the foundation of manpower.

Then came weapons and equipment, logistical supplies, bridge and road construction, disaster relief, and public safety.

Which one is free?

Even if the Great Zhou Dynasty is prosperous and peaceful, the money in the national treasury is still not enough to cover its expenses every year.

It is no exaggeration to say that even if the national treasury's revenue doubled, it still wouldn't be enough for them to spend.

The soldiers need to be equipped with better gear.

The Ministry of Works needed to repair the river embankment, build palaces, repair bridges and pave roads...

The Ministry of Revenue is responsible for the well-being of the common people.

If they have enough money, they will also open charitable institutions, which are essentially public welfare nursing homes and orphanages.

To put it simply, it's about improving people's livelihoods and welfare.

If money is spent like this, all the money Li Changqing owns will be wasted.

Excessive welfare is absolutely unacceptable; money should only be used to ensure a basic standard of living.

Just as Li Changqing was thinking this, the Minister of Revenue spoke.

"A famine has struck the Jiangnan region, affecting seven surrounding prefectures and ninety-seven counties. Although the imperial court has allocated 300 million taels of silver, and local powerful families have raised 200 million taels, this is still far from enough. Saving the people is urgent. We implore Your Highness..."

That is nice.

Li Changqing wanted to applaud him.

"Five million taels, with over seven hundred thousand taels allocated to each prefecture. Even with so many disaster victims, all they're really asking for is food and shelter. Is it truly not enough?"

Upon hearing Li Changqing's question, the Minister of Revenue blushed.

He never expected this.

The Regent seems to know so much about people's lives?

Five million taels of silver is enough for disaster relief.

The Great Zhou Dynasty is prosperous and powerful, and it would never be careless in disaster relief.

Even if some of it is embezzled in the middle, there will still be enough left.

However, the Ministry of Revenue currently has no other excuses to offer.

He could only use the floods in Jiangnan as an excuse.

After all, he couldn't just stand by and watch such a large sum of money flow into the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, could he?

What became of their Ministry of Revenue?

It's one thing if no one else has any income, but as long as the imperial court has any revenue, the Ministry of Revenue must take a share.

The noise below was deafening.

Sitting on the dragon throne, Li Zheng finally understood.

So everyone's eyeing their precious grandson's secret stash of money.

Li Zheng originally wanted to refuse outright, not wanting the entire court to be eyeing his precious grandson's money.

But no.

Who would have thought that this vault could be so tempting?

If Li Zheng were to refuse such a large sum of money, he would be driven crazy by the officials in the court for the next three to five years.

We're short of money, we're short of money.

If everyone wants to live a good life, how can they not be short of money?

"Qing'er, are what my beloved ministers say true?"

"Of course not."

Li Changqing was initially caught off guard by those old guys.

After all, he never imagined that the entire court of officials would be poor.

Upon seeing such a large sum of money, they went completely mad.

When Li Changqing spoke up and said no, all the officials in the court turned their attention to him, their eyes full of suspicion.

Li Changqing sneered inwardly.

If he can't even out-calculate these people, then wouldn't his time travel have been for nothing?

"My lords, you may not know this, but the accounts aren't calculated that way. The gentleman just mentioned that the cost of paper and printing, minus labor, would basically amount to two and a half coins..."

The officials nodded secretly, even though they had not investigated it.

But that censor dared to speak his mind directly in front of everyone.

There must be a basis for this.

"Your Highness, isn't this calculation incorrect?"

"Of course not! Utterly wrong."

……