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Upon hearing Mu Zixuan’s response, Lu Chen’s lips curled into a slight smile.

He appreciated a wise and virtuous wife like Mu Zixuan who could discern right from wrong and wouldn’t succumb to jealousy in significant matters.

In terms of beauty, Mu Zixuan had a score of 93, which was still somewhat less compared to Chu Yuqin, but Lu Chen’s affection for her wasn’t based on any system rating.

As long as they were women he liked, they were very important to him, and not something a mere system rating could influence.

At that moment, Lu Chen said, “Alright, then I’ll temporarily let Nanyan take charge of the national treasury to see how she manages, and when I find a suitable candidate, I’ll replace her.”

As the words left him, Lu Chen reached out with his other hand, sidling up to loop an arm around Mu Zixuan’s slender waist.

Even though Mu Zixuan was pregnant, it did not prevent them from hugging and embracing each other.

Suddenly recalling something, Mu Zixuan asked, “Speaking of which, Your Highness, isn’t the construction of the straight road scheduled to start next spring? I heard that you asked people to produce a lot of cement.”

Lu Chen said, “Hmm.”

Mu Zixuan, deep in thought, commented, “Then we’ll need a considerable amount of grain next year, and with Great Sum and Great Wu at war, grain prices inside Great Sum territory have skyrocketed.”

Hearing Mu Zixuan’s words, Lu Chen was taken aback for a moment; since he had delegated the procurement of grain to Mu Zixuan, he wasn’t aware of the current grain prices in Great Sum.

However, upon her mention, Lu Chen could roughly guess that the current grain prices within Great Sum territory must be extraordinarily inflated.

Mu Zixuan continued, “Moreover, grain prices are manipulated by the aristocratic families of the South, and the price of white rice within Great Sum territory has already risen to nearly six silver per dan.”

Lu Chen was stunned by her words; he might not be responsible for buying grain, but he had a rough understanding of past rice prices in the Capital city, which used to fluctuate between 0.5 to 0.6 silver.

If the price of a dan of white rice had climbed to six silvers, that meant the price of grain had increased tenfold.

“Six… Six silvers?”

“That expensive?”

Mu Zixuan replied, “If the conflict between Great Sum and Great Wu continues, grain prices may rise further, and by the time the Great Wu army reaches the Capital city, I fear that the common people will…”

Mu Zixuan suddenly realized that she was being too outspoken and immediately stopped speaking.

Seeing that Mu Zixuan had abruptly ceased talking, Lu Chen said with a smile, “My consort, you don’t need to be so restrained in front of me; speakyour mind.”

“And you’re not wrong; if grain prices continue to rise, the common people might indeed rebel. But they still have surplus grain at home, enough to last another half a year or a year without much issue. Besides, I suspect the war will be over soon.”

War invariably leads to rising grain prices, whether Great Sum initiates it or not. It’s inconceivable that upon the mere onset of war and rising grain prices, the populace would instantly revolt.

For the common people to revolt, it usually takes them being on the brink of subsistence. And the war has only been going on for a few months, not long enough for Great Sum’s population to be at such a point.

But Lu Chen surmised that the war was likely drawing to a close. Although warfare spikes grain prices, the conflict between Great Sum and Great Wu had just begun and was nearing a stalemate. The price hike of Great Sum’s grain should not have been so outrageous.

A tenfold spike in the price of rice clearly indicated the aristocratic families of the South were putting pressure on the Sum Emperor.

On one hand, they manipulated grain prices to exert pressure; on the other, they used the external war. It was very likely that the Sum Emperor was on the verge of conceding.

The only question was what form that concession would take.

Given that his father, the Emperor, was young and strong, abdicating was out of the question, but designating an heir was a possibility.

However, if the Sum Emperor were to capitulate to the aristocratic families of the South and decide to proclaim Prince Lu Shuyun as the Crown Prince, other factions in the Capital city would not stand for it. A bitter round of political strife would erupt once again within Great Sum.

At the thought, the corners of Lu Chen’s mouth lifted slightly. Fortunately, he had been enfeoffed to North City, so whatever happened in the Capital city mattered little to him; he just had to focus on his own development.

Let them fight, preferably to the death. That way, he could swoop in and benefit from the chaos.

Then, Lu Chen spoke, “My consort, in a few days, allocate seventy thousand silver to the Prefectural Government for Li Rui to distribute officials’ salaries and have my Hall of Political Affairs repaired.”

Although Li Rui had only requested fifty thousand silver and obviously exaggerated his request, Lu Chen didn’t intend to quibble over these details. Instead, he even added an extra twenty thousand silver for Li Rui.

He decided to sweeten the situation for the officials of North City first, as he was preparing to take major actions. The principle of ‘combining a carrot with a stick’ was something Lu Chen certainly understood.

Mu Zixuan responded, “I understand. I will have seventy thousand silver transferred from the treasury to the Prefectural Government right away.”

Lu Chen pondered for a moment, and then said, “As for the grain issue…”

He hesitated as he spoke.

Indeed, the grain price was a major concern. Prices in Great Sum were controlled, and North City, being the most affected due to its poverty, nearly exclusively purchased grain from outside.

Paying six or seven silver for a dan of rice made Lu Chen question if there was something wrong with his own mind.

However, crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn had not yet been popularized. Spreading new agricultural crops takes time; it doesn’t mean you can harvest immediately after planting.