The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 718: Winning His Heart

Heavy snow covered the entire Luoyang.

Everywhere was covered in white, and the whole world was shrouded in this white.

"Father!"

"Father!"

Little Awen was walking unsteadily on the ground, but he kept calling out.

The little guy learned to call "Father", and Cao Mao was very happy. However, he only knew how to call "Father", and he also called "Father" to the queen. This made Cao Mao a little depressed. When will the little guy be able to sit next to me and chat with me?

Awen's height seemed to be like his father's. Over the past year, his chubby white face gradually disappeared, and his height grew rapidly. He walked unsteadily, and wanted to pick up anything he came across and put it in his mouth.

Cao Mao sat in the Changqiu Palace, sipping hot tea and watching Awen walking around. He couldn't help but say to the empress, "You have to keep a close eye on him from now on. He's only just learned to walk, and he's already become so naughty. He's no longer as well-behaved as he used to be. What will happen if he gets a few more years older?"

Zheng Xian chuckled and said, "The child is just active, how can you say he's not well behaved?"

Cao Mao ate a few more bites, warmed himself up, and then stood up.

"I have to go get busy now, I'll come back later."

Cao Mao said, and then looked at the little guy, "Be obedient! Don't learn bad things!"

The little guy just smiled, "Father! Father!!"

Cao Mao couldn't help but hug him and kiss him for a while before turning around and leaving.

It was very cold outside, and the biting cold wind seemed to be trying to penetrate through every gap in Cao Mao's clothes. In just a moment, Cao Mao's face turned red and a little numb.

Cao Mao couldn't help but frown, feeling worried.

This winter is getting colder every year.

The snowfall is also getting heavier.

The Wei and Jin Dynasties was also an era with the most frequent disasters in history.

Is the time to fight against natural disasters coming?
Cao Mao looked up and saw the sun through the flying snow. At this moment, the sun seemed gloomy.

Cao Mao walked quickly into the Taiji Hall and shook off the snow on his body.

"His Majesty!"

Zhang Hua was waiting for Cao Mao at this moment.

Cao Mao took his hand and walked straight to the West Hall.

After the two entered the West Hall, Zhang Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief. His face was flushed and he was trying hard to suppress his trembling.

Cao Mao said unhappily, "Why are you dressed so lightly? Is your salary not enough?"

"When I left home, it wasn't snowing this heavily yet."

"Wasn't it colder then?"

Cao Mao spoke to him for a few words before the two of them sat down. Zhang Hua also hurriedly took out a lot of documents and placed them in front of Cao Mao.

"Your Majesty, after the land award order was issued, construction projects began in various places, and some have already produced results. Here are the details of many of these projects."

Cao Mao lowered his head and began to read.

It was still feasible to resettle the tenants by means of work-for-relief. Although it put great pressure on the national treasury, Cao Mao's frequent actions against the big families in recent days allowed the national treasury to survive this most dangerous time.

This is thanks to the efforts of Dazu.

By now, the work-for-relief policy had finally gotten on the right track, and all places had gained experience. Du Yu had done a very good job, and Cao Mao was no longer worried about what would happen next.

With the current reserves of the national treasury, we can definitely withstand it.

Many areas have also recovered due to the work-for-relief program.

Many abandoned canals, roads and cities in the Central Plains have been repaired.

Although Emperor Wen stabilized the Central Plains and restored the people's strength in various places, the world was in years of war throughout the Wei Dynasty.

This kind of stability was established under the military farming system, because it was necessary to maintain a large army and be prepared for war at all times. Therefore, even the Central Plains region, the richest area of the Wei State, was riddled with holes.

Although decades had passed since the initial chaos in the Central Plains, the damage was so great that nine out of ten houses were empty, and many things could not be repaired.

This time, Cao Mao gritted his teeth, tightened his belt, and built large-scale projects all over the world only when he had no choice.

Although the national treasury was depleted, the repair work in most places went smoothly, and many buildings and projects from the Later Han Dynasty were restored to their original state.

Cao Mao felt a sense of accomplishment when he read the report.

The first thing to do is to repair the damage. After the repairs are completed, we will focus on reclamation and new water conservancy projects. By that time, it will not be a big problem for the prosperity of the north to surpass that of the Later Han Dynasty.

Of course, this cannot be achieved in terms of population for the time being, as the gap in manpower between the Wei Dynasty and the Later Han Dynasty is still a bit too large.

When the Later Han Dynasty was in decline, it had a population of more than 30 million.

Today, after the Great Wei Dynasty implemented the land reward order and severely rectified the powerful families, the registered population is just over 15 million.

If the land award hadn't been made, the population wouldn't have reached nine million!
Cao Mao put these away, and Zhang Hua put the second document on.

"This is the situation in Youzhou and Pingzhou."

"The Grand Marshal has transported too many Xianbei people to Pingzhou, and there's been a severe snowstorm here in Jiangdong. All over Hebei is now providing relief."

"The Grand Marshal is still using ships to transport the Goguryeo people to Yang, Jing, Jiang and other places."

Cao Mao frowned. "Well, then, haven't the captives of the Goguryeo King returned yet?"

"The heavy snow has blocked many roads in Hebei and has not yet arrived." Zhang Hua continued to talk one by one.

Next is the matter of the school officials.

The affairs of the school officials were progressing quite smoothly, and the government had no objection to the establishment of the new department. In their view, the more official titles, the better.

And those celebrities who were eager to find a job also "rose up and attacked" after hearing the news.

Cao Mao asked Zhong Yu to be responsible for examining the famous scholars, and then the Ministry of Personnel would make the decision.

With their cooperation, academic officials from Shu Kingdom appeared all over the world, and celebrities were quite interested in this official position. After all, it was a position that required little effort and was popular. Who wouldn't be tempted to get a fifth-rank official position right from the start?

After rigorous review, all the academic officials from all over the country were present, but there were still many famous scholars who had not been selected and were anxiously waiting to be appointed.

Most of the famous scholars in the Wei and Jin dynasties were shameless, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they were shameless.

Therefore, they can change their stance at any time. Those who originally shouted that they wanted to live in seclusion in the mountains all day long are now shouting that they want to assist the emperor and make great achievements.

Both of these things are relatively successful.

Then you can slowly see the results.

In this new year, Cao Mao had bigger ideas.

I have almost wiped out all the big families in Wu. Next, it is time to let the big families in Shu have a taste of the same pain.

Compared with Wu, Shu's development was extremely outstanding.

I don’t know whether to say that Deng Ai was too powerful or Zhuge Liang was too powerful.

Deng Ai governed Shu according to Zhuge Liang's original plan.

The first step was to restore the water conservancy projects from the Zhuge Liang period, and it just so happened that he encountered the land reward order. Deng Ai had a perfect start.

He took advantage of the work-for-relief policy to speed up the things that were already being implemented.

The situation in Shu is getting better and better, and the people's lives are pretty good. In any case, the recovery is definitely more stable and smoother than that in Wu.

Rebellions broke out in Wu from time to time, with one or two uprisings against Wei occurring in a month.

This also made Cao Mao determined to take action against the powerful families in Shu.

Where will these people move to?

Liangzhou, Shazhou.
The emperor and his minister chatted for a long time. When Zhang Hua was about to leave, Cao Mao took off his winter coat and handed it to Zhang Hua.

"It's freezing outside. You should go back wearing this dress."

Zhang Hua was horrified and said, "Your Majesty, how dare I wear it?"

"No problem, just wear it home and then have someone send it back. It's not a crown, so why should you be afraid to wear it?"

Cao Mao forced it into his hand. Zhang Hua bowed to Cao Mao and then turned and left.

Cao Mao put on another winter coat and looked at the freezing cold outside. He pursed his lips and said to Man Changwu beside him, "Prepare the carriage. I want to go out!"

Man Changwu did not ask the emperor why he wanted to go out at this time. He quickly prepared a carriage for Cao Mao.

Cao Mao sat in the carriage and slowly walked out of the palace.

There was no one on the road, and apart from the soldiers in front and behind, there was no living person in sight.

Cao Mao looked at this scene and couldn't help laughing.

When the carriage arrived at its destination, Cao Mao hurriedly jumped off and quickly took off his winter clothes, revealing the thin clothes underneath.

Then he rubbed his face and hands hard.

After staying like this for a while, he hurriedly walked into the mansion.

Lu Kang was reading in his study when a servant suddenly reported, "Master, His Majesty's carriage is parked outside!"

Lu Kang was horrified. He looked out the window to see what was happening outside, then quickly got up and went out.

As soon as I walked out of the inner courtyard, I saw Cao Mao standing in the snow, shivering.

Seeing Lu Kang, Cao Mao quickly straightened up and walked forward with a smile.

"Lu Kang pays respects to His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, why are you standing here?"

At this moment, Lu Kang didn't care about the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects. He hurriedly invited Cao Mao into the inner room and asked someone to bring various things for heating.

Cao Mao, however, smiled and asked someone to put the things they brought on the table.

"Today, the Imperial Household Order prepared Wu food. I took a few bites and then thought of Lord Lu, so I couldn't help but bring the food with me. It's a pity that this trip is not easy, and the food might be cold. Why don't you have someone heat it up first before we eat?"

Lu Kang looked at the food in front of him, and then looked at Cao Mao who was sitting in the upper seat.

At this moment, Lu Kang was speechless.

His eyes were filled with tears, and he fell down in front of Cao Mao, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Your Majesty!! I am but a guilty subject, yet Your Majesty treats me with such respect. I truly do not know how I can ever repay Your Majesty's kindness!!"

Cao Mao was shocked and hurried to help him up.

"Mr. Lu, I respect your talent and admire your character. I did this just now, not to blackmail you for a favor."

Lu Kang burst into tears.

(End of this chapter)