The population issue has been a major issue for dynasties throughout history.

In the 14th year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, a nationwide census was conducted.

The household size is 1,652,789 and the population is 6,545,812.

In the early years of the founding of Hongwu, although there was no specific census, the population must have plummeted due to the chaos of the late Yuan Dynasty and the rise of refugees.

Troubled times are a nightmare for everyone in the world.

Looking at official history, the disappearance of the population is shocking.

For example, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the population was nearly 60 million.

By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of the Central Plains was only 7.6 million.

More than 50 million people, 80 to 90 percent of the population, perished in this chaotic world.

For example, during the Sui Dynasty, the population was more than 46 million.

When the Tang Dynasty was established, there were only more than 10 million left.

In just a few decades, 30 million people in the Central Plains lost their lives.

Even after the rule of Zhenguan and the prosperous Kaiyuan era, the population of the Tang Dynasty finally reached more than 48 million. However, after the Anshi Rebellion, it can be said that it returned to before liberation.

By comparison, it seems that there were not many deaths in the troubled times of the late Yuan Dynasty.

It's actually far scarier than imagined.

Because the current Ming Dynasty is no longer 90% occupied by Han people, but a fusion of multiple ethnic groups.

Among them, a large number of Mongolians, Semu people, and various ethnic groups were all included in the household registration of the Ming Dynasty, resulting in a current population of 60 million.

There is no detailed estimate of the proportion of Han people among them, but it can be imagined that it is already much lower than before.

In the 26th year of Hongwu last year, there was also a general census.

According to common sense, during the more than ten years of cultivation, the population of Ming Dynasty should have experienced an explosion.

However, the actual number is not much different from that of Hongwu Fourteenth, not much more, still more than 60 million people.

The reason for this is naturally caused by a large number of military operations.

For example, the title of Blue Jade Duke, including Zhu Di's great contribution to the Northern Expedition, seems to be just a fleeting sentence in history, but the number of soldiers who died in it can be said to be countless.

Among them, there were military training in various places, and there were some natural disasters and famines.

Including Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, peasant uprisings broke out because they could no longer survive.

But compared with the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was no large-scale unrest.

Nowadays, the economy is prosperous, and high-yielding crops are constantly radiating throughout the Ming Dynasty. In a few years, there will be a big breakthrough in the population.

This is what Zhu Yuanzhang has been looking forward to.

Even if there are no statistics on the number, at least because of the policy of sharing every child into an acre, the number of newborns has been increasing from the second half of last year to now.

Newborns are the hope of Ming Dynasty’s future.

There is strength in numbers, and for today's Ming Dynasty, this is truly the last word.

Half a month passes quickly.

Xiao Yuting is almost two months old.

Today, the credentials of Champa arrived in the Ming Dynasty.

The first person to arrive with the credentials was naturally in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Well, my eldest grandson, this Champa Kingdom actually gave up a whole city."

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone revealed surprise, excitement, and even some disbelief.

Nominally speaking, a large number of small countries around the Ming Dynasty were all tributary states or vassal states.

But this is only nominal in reality.

Regarding a series of factors such as other countries' internal affairs, military affairs, laws, etc., Ming Dynasty has no ability to intervene.

This naturally has a lot to do with the distance, and it is also related to the fact that the Central Plains is too large and vast.

A domestic matter is enough to keep the emperor busy, so he has no interest in caring about others.

Tribute, in name, is a small country paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, but in fact it is equivalent to some comfort payments from the Ming Dynasty to neighboring small countries.

Every small country can get a lot of benefits from tribute trade. Naturally, most of them don't care about their own interests and are more obedient.

This also involves an issue of the face of the Celestial Kingdom.

But let the Champa Kingdom, which only had fifteen cities, give up one city to Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yuanzhang had never even thought about such a thing.

Although Sun Yat-sen's statement was conclusive, Zhu Yuanzhang actually didn't believe it in his heart.

I always felt that Da Sun would definitely be rejected.

The final situation was to raise troops and horses, force them down, and seize a city as Zhu Yunwen's overseas vassal state.

But now.

Just a decree passed, and after receiving the news, the Champa Kingdom actually agreed to cede the city.

This simply surprised Zhu Yuanzhang.

The reason is that in a sense, Dasun did not waste any troops and relied solely on the power of words.

No, that's not right.

He didn't even have the power of words, he just gave a simple order, oh, and there are one hundred thousand silver, the Champa Kingdom gave one of its cities directly to the Ming Dynasty.

Exaggeration, too exaggeration.

"Grandpa, what did you say? Our Ming Dynasty now rules the world, and it is just a small country in Champa. Grandpa's decree has been passed, so there is no way to resist."

Zhu Ying said with a smile in a slightly exaggerated tone.

It was obvious that he was trying to make the old man happy.

Zhu Yuanzhang was really happy, but he also understood that there must be something he didn't know about here, so he asked: "Tell us in detail how the great grandson defeated others without fighting."

"If this thing is really that simple, then our Ming Dynasty will not only be the current territory."

Seeing the old man asking questions, Zhu Ying didn't hide it, so she started to tell the reason.

"This Champa country is different from other countries. The whole country believes in Buddhism. Even the king of Champa has to be baptized before he can officially become the king."

"Chaduo, the envoy of Champa, is actually the elder brother of Chaye, the current king of Champa. According to the inheritance of our Ming Dynasty, it is natural that Chaduo should be the king. However, it happens that this tea is also recognized by his Buddhism.

and thus serve as king.”

"This naturally has a lot to do with Chaya's mother's family."

"In general, the most powerful and famous person in the Champa Kingdom is not the king but Buddhism."

"My grandson sent people to communicate with the Buddhist elders, presented more than ten golden Buddhas, and then told them that if they refused to give up the city, they would attack Champa just like they did the Japanese."

"The Japanese country across the sea cannot stop the Ming army, so how can Champa stop it? In addition, because the war with Annan in the early years has not allowed Champa to recover, there is no doubt that the current Champa cannot compete with the Ming Dynasty.

Let’s start a war.”

"In this Buddhism, it is not the one elder who has the final say. All parties have used soft and hard tactics. After a breakthrough, the current situation has emerged."

"The King of Champa has long believed in Buddhist teachings, so it's not a hard problem. Seeing that the elders all agreed, he couldn't express any objections, so naturally he had to give up the city."

It seems like a simple matter, but in fact, arrangements had already been made when Zhu Ying promised Zhu Yunwen to join the Champa City.

In fact, it is very simple to say.

Everyone has their own desires, and money can be said to be the best motivator.

For the elders of Champa Buddhism, in their eyes they are not Champa people at all, but followers of Buddha.

The Ming Dynasty also had followers of Buddha.

What they need is not the so-called territory at the national level, but the spread of Buddhism.

If the emperor's grandson of the Ming Dynasty, his highness who was canonized as a vassal king, could become a follower of the Buddha, this would be a truly big event for Champa Buddhism.

In comparison, a city is nothing.

In the end, this city will still be here, and it will not run away. As long as His Highness the Emperor and Grandson of the Ming Dynasty becomes a Buddhist, there will be no difference from now.

The intricate relationship here is a bit difficult to understand for Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang is not very familiar with religion except the White Lotus Sect.

It’s not like I spent too much time researching it.

That's why I don't understand the secret here.

After listening to what Da Sun said, Zhu Yuanzhang's first reaction was not to think about Champa Buddhism, but directly to think of the Buddhism of the Ming Dynasty.

"Is the influence of Buddhism really so powerful?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked subconsciously.
To be continued...