After confirming the construction site with Li Yueyang and arranging matters for the Maritime Trade Office, Han Mo immediately embarked on his journey to Quanzhou.
On the third day of his trip, before he even reached Quanzhou city, his memorial had already arrived in Bianliang city.
After reading Han Mo's memorial, Zhao Ji, who had been troubled by the affairs in Hebei for many days, finally showed a hint of a smile.
"Your Majesty, is there any good news?"
Seeing the smile on Zhao Ji's face, Liang Shicheng asked directly.
"As expected, it still has to be Mr. Yuan Miao. The nation's fortune has just stabilized, and good news is pouring in!"
Upon hearing Liang Shicheng's question, Zhao Ji burst into laughter and handed the memorial in his hand to Liang Shicheng.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand piculs of spices?"
Liang Shicheng's eyes widened after reading the contents of the memorial.
In the letter Han Mo had sent him earlier, he had only mentioned helping to facilitate the southward migration of artisans from Xingzhou and Cizhou, and the expansion of the Mingzhou Arsenal. He hadn't mentioned anything else.
He had been worrying about how to bring this matter up with the Emperor.
After all, the war was over. Continuing to expand the arsenal and iron mines at this time seemed unreliable no matter how you looked at it!
But he never expected that Han Mo would hide such a big surprise for him!
"Look closely. The spices this young man brought back are all valuable goods like cloves, nutmeg, and pepper!"
Although Zhao Ji was an emperor who never touched the soil, he was very clear about the price of spices.
After all, other emperors were certainly confined to their palaces, but this emperor had to personally mingle with the people!
"Then, if we calculate it, just these items alone would be worth..."
Liang Shicheng spoke while frantically counting on his fingers. However, he was not good at mathematics, and the numbers were too astonishing, making it difficult for him to calculate immediately.
"Hahaha, no need to count. I've already calculated it for you. If these items are sold at the current market price, even if the price drops slightly, the money received will be at least twelve to thirteen million guan!"
Seeing Liang Shicheng's flustered state, Zhao Ji laughed even more heartily.
Even for an emperor, having so much money suddenly appear in his coffers brought immense joy!
"In that case, Your Majesty should not have the same difficulties this year as last year. I would say that Mr. Yuan Miao's contributions are certainly indispensable, but the main reason is Your Majesty's immense fortune, which has allowed heaven to bestow such talented individuals upon you!"
Seeing the Emperor's beaming face, Liang Shicheng immediately flattered him further.
"Hahaha, you old rascal!"
Although he said this, Zhao Ji was quite pleased with Liang Shicheng's flattery.
"However, speaking of which, Han Mo has truly solved an urgent problem for me. After he sells these goods, the court should not have to worry about military expenses this year!"
With money in hand, there was no panic.
Previously, with the money sent by Han Mo and the wealth confiscated from Wang Fu's home, the empty national treasury finally looked presentable.
Once Han Mo sold this batch of spices, he, as the Emperor, would finally no longer have to worry about the military expenses in Hebei.
Even Liang Shicheng had to marvel at Han Mo's talent for making money, seeing the smile on the Emperor's face.
The money he had contributed in just the past few months had almost filled the imperial treasury. Not to mention the horse racing club and the football club he had established in Bianliang city!
These two seemingly insignificant clubs had been expanding rapidly during this period.
They had initially been confined to the vicinity of Bianliang but were now gradually spreading throughout the entire metropolitan area!
As a direct beneficiary of this, Liang Shicheng felt it most keenly.
In the beginning, the money delivered to his mansion from these two clubs each month was only two to three hundred thousand guan.
But after this period of development, the money delivered to his mansion each month had increased to nearly a million guan!
Even for the wealthy Liang Shicheng, this sum could not be ignored!
He only owned a ten percent share, while the Emperor's share was far greater than his!
He didn't know exactly how much money the Emperor received each month, but last night he heard that the Emperor was already preparing to reopen the "Fengzhuang Treasury" established by Emperor Shenzong!
"Your Majesty, why is this young man so good at making money? The Maritime Trade Office only contributed a few hundred thousand guan to the court annually before, but now, this small office has contributed almost as much to the court in this period as the Song Dynasty's annual revenue!"
Since he had already accepted favors from Han Mo, Liang Shicheng naturally had to put in a good word for him.
"Didn't I say before that this young man is the prime minister I am leaving for future generations? The people are not taxed, yet the national treasury is sufficient. This is the greatest skill in the world. I believe only this skill of his can be called unparalleled talent!"
After listening to Liang Shicheng's words, Zhao Ji couldn't help but praise him.
"Huh? What is this young man doing? It's just a small Mingzhou navy, but are they going to tailor equipment for them?"
Seeing that the stage was sufficiently set, Liang Shicheng picked up the memorial again, flipped through it as if pretending to be surprised, and said.
"Didn't you see what he said later? They discovered several small islands overseas, which were full of spices. However, there are many pirates lurking nearby, and if they cannot be eradicated, the scale of this business will be greatly reduced in the future!"
"But, wouldn't doing this be a bit against the rules..."
Looking at the smile on the Emperor's face, Liang Shicheng slowly spoke again.
"Rules? Are there not enough cautious and law-abiding officials in this court? When the national treasury was empty, why didn't they offer their own money to alleviate the disaster? Why didn't they sell their own property to fund the military?"
Hearing this, Liang Shicheng immediately understood. It seemed that Han Mo could accomplish this matter even without his help!
Even he had to sigh, it wasn't that the Emperor was too partial, it was just that this young man gave too much!