Underpopulation was indeed a problem that affected the upper, middle and lower classes of the Tang Dynasty, especially those around Chang'an.
Needless to say, the royal family and the imperial court themselves.
Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, household has been an important indicator for evaluating officials at the prefecture and county levels.
The state and county classification in Datang was also based on the indicator of the number of household registrations.
Those with less than 1,000 households are called Lower County, 3,000 households in Zhong County, and 5,000 households in Upper County. Those with more than 30,000 households in Upper County, 20,000 households in Zhongzhou, and 10,000 to 20,000 households are Lower County. This is the most real population. Problem.
Before Li Yuanxing's New Deal was detailed by Wei Zheng, it can be said that the number of people in Chang'an who knew about the New Deal already exceeded 70% of Chang'an's population.
From the emperor down to the merchant.
Li Er sat at the table in a daze. Queen Changsun shouted several times, but Li Er never came back to his senses. This made Queen Changsun very anxious, and she immediately summoned Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Wang Jishan, Cui Junsu, and others. Wei Zheng and Du Ruhui, who were in the Qin Palace, entered the palace.
Du Ruhui originally came to Chang'an with Li Yuanxing to have a drink with some old friends.
For Du Ruhui, this is a holiday in itself.
But who would have thought that before the empty wine glass was filled, the palace summoned him urgently, so he had to enter the palace immediately.
"Your Majesty, His Highness the King of Qin may have thought too simply. He did not consider His Majesty's mood and just wanted to increase the population. If there is any overstep, please His Majesty the King of Qin for the sake of the Tang Dynasty and be given a lighter punishment. !" When Wei Zheng saw Li Er's face, he thought something bad was wrong, and the Holy Spirit became angry.
But Li Er let out a long sigh: "I also want to exempt the people of the Tang Dynasty from food taxes."
Ah, it turns out the problem is grain tax.
All the ministers remembered that Li Yuanxing once said that the people of the Tang Dynasty no longer had to pay grain taxes, and Li Er was tempted at that time.
Li Er's dream is to make the Tang Dynasty no longer have food taxes in his lifetime.
But now, it can be said that Li Yuanxing is already exempt from grain tax.
"Your Majesty, His Highness the King of Qin once said that if you want to truly exempt food taxes, you must ensure that there are two ways. One is that the commercial tax is sufficient, and the other is that it belongs directly to the national economy. For example, Yaozhou!" Du Ruhui also said next to him.
Li Er's eyes narrowed. Yaozhou belonged to Li Yuanxing. How much is Yaozhou worth now?
Thinking of this, Li Er asked: "If Yaozhou is converted into silver coins, how many Yaozhou are there?"
Only Cui Junsu, the Minister of Household Affairs, can answer this question.
"Your Majesty, it's hard to calculate. But if we really want to do the math, Yaozhou is worth ten Luoyang! Last year's Luoyang! It's worth more than a hundred Laizhou, last year's Laizhou!"
A very vague concept.
"Gentlemen, tell me, what do you think of Wulang's decree to encourage childbirth?" Li Er changed the question.
"Returning to the Holy Spirit is a good policy. But only the Qin King's fiefdom can do this. If it were another one, it would not be possible for any prince in the Tang Dynasty, because they would starve to death first if they exempted the grain tax. His Highness the King of Qin is not afraid , because His Highness the King of Qin does not need small money."
"If you don't need small money, then you need big money?" Li Erban asked jokingly.
Wei Zheng said: "Yes, I have calculated that the money your Highness needs now is about 1.3 billion guan. If the new palace is built for the Holy Sage and the money for the new Chang'an City is also provided by the Qin Palace, then it will be close to 1.4 billion guan." Money. The amount of money needed by the palace is only a fraction of the total amount of money His Highness the King of Qin needs!"
A drop in the bucket is already a very exaggerated metaphor.
But Wei Zheng said, "A hundred nips are a drop in the bucket."
Li Er couldn't even laugh. What did Li Yuanxing want to do? He needed so much money.
However, Li Er didn't know how to ask, and there was no need to ask.
Li Yuanxing would never implement it without formally reporting it to him. It must be a long-term and great plan. In other words, Li Yuanxing drew a huge pie for the ministers of the Qin Palace.
"I have decided that Huazhou will be returned to the state. King Qin Li Yuanxing will take charge of it." When Li Er said this, an evil thought suddenly occurred in his heart: "Huazhou is a state after all. I have promised it to King Qin. Now I can take it back."
I made a mistake, so I will choose a few more counties as fiefdoms for the King of Qin."
Wang Jishan had not spoken since he came in. He chose to observe quietly.
At this time, he heard that Li Er said that he wanted to divide several more counties for Li Yuanxing to make fiefdoms. He turned to Changsun Wuji and said: "Changsun Pushe, why not pick a few of the poorest, most miserable and worst counties."
"Why?" Changsun Wuji said in his heart, Wang Jishan, you and Li Yuanxing don't have any grudges, now you can punish him.
Wang Jishan had no grudge against Li Yuanxing, but he had other thoughts. After listening to Changsun Wuji's question, he said to Changsun Wuji: "His Royal Highness King Qin chose Yaozhou in advance. The same goes for Huazhou. He had chosen it beforehand."
If you choose, will there be a miracle in any state or county?"
"What Wang Shangshu said makes sense!"
"For selfish reasons, there are many poor places in the Tang Dynasty. Even my Wang family has many poor people who only have one meal a day, and there is no way to eat dry food every day. If His Highness the King of Qin can turn a poor county into a rich one, among them
The cleverness must be what we need to learn." Wang Jishan's reason could be said directly even in front of Li Yuanxing.
Changsun Wuji also nodded in agreement.
The two of them talked while the others remained silent.
Wang Jishan added: "As a public servant, I also let the state officials and county magistrates of the Tang Dynasty learn how to govern a county."
"It's better to give up the magistrates of these counties to King Qin!" Changsun Wuji's words were really just a casual joke.
"Da Shan, let's see how His Highness King Qin trains these county magistrates!"
"Good!" Li Er was happy when he heard this: "Look, find the most miserable and poorest county!"
Several ministers were full of excitement, but Wei Zheng had a dark face. However, he himself had a dark face, so even Du Ruhui didn't support him if he wanted to refute, so he had to admit it.
"Your Majesty, Yu County! It has a population of only 800 households. It is the second poorest county around Chang'an. It is a truly poor and remote place. There is not much good land. The 800 households guard less than 500 acres of paddy fields and make a living by hunting.
He is so poor that he can’t even pay the county magistrate’s annual salary, and even if he eats meat at home, he doesn’t dare to eat it in the daytime!”
When Cui Junsu said this, he laughed.
"Why don't you eat meat during the day?" Li Er was very curious.
"Because the county is too poor, the smell of meat can attract all the people in the county! Naturally, he can't eat it. It's a pity that he is already thirty-seven and has no money to marry. I think he is the poorest in the entire Tang Dynasty
One of the county magistrates."
There is another sentence that Cui Junsu did not say.
Because this Yu County (later Hu County) was a subordinate county of Jingzhao and was so close to Chang'an that the county magistrate did not even dare to accept a pound of meat as a gift, so he was the poorest county magistrate.
Wang Jishan, the Minister of Rites, added: "The real reason why Yuxian County is poor is that there have been nine disasters in ten years. Starting from the first year of Wude, there has been a severe drought in eight years. This year, it has been the sixth consecutive year of drought. In the seventh year of Wude, the whole county has suffered
There is no harvest. The population of Yuxian County has gone from 1,900 households to less than 800 households that have fled!"
"Zhouzhi and Zhongnan counties are also poor counties. They were only transferred to Jizhou in the third year of Wude."
"From today on, it is a sign that the two counties will return to the capital!" Li Er's words were equivalent to placing the two counties under Li Yuanxing's name: "Add one more, and Lantian County will also belong to him. Prepare the documents immediately, while Wu Lang is still in Chang'an
When the time comes, let him sign it!"
The official imperial edicts of the Tang Dynasty were not like imperial edicts at all, but were very similar to the official documents of later generations. They contained the signatures of various departments, the filing status of the issuing unit, and the person who announced the edict, etc. The imperial edict in a leaflet was actually
It's just a handwritten note from the emperor.
How poor Lantian is, so pitifully poor.
If Hu County suffers from drought every year, then Lantian suffers from flooding one year and drought the next. It can be said that there are constant natural disasters.
These two counties are not only affected by natural disasters, because they are both located on the edge of the Qinling Mountains. Wild animals and the like are another major hazard to crops. Especially when wild boars enter the fields, they cause devastating damage.
When the imperial edict arrived at General Tiance's residence, Li Yuanxing was preparing to return to Qin Wangzhuang.
When he saw the imperial edict, Li Yuanxing was stunned.
"Lao Wei, Lao Du, you think Lantian is a poor county. I heard that Heshibi is Lantian jade, and Lantian produces jade, and they are all high-quality jade. Is it poor?" Li Yuanxing didn't understand.
Du Ruhui and Wei Zheng both laughed.
"It's done. Anyway, I have accepted this imperial edict first." Seeing the two people laughing, there must be a reason. Li Yuanxing first signed and accepted the imperial edict, and then said: "Accompany me in the car and return to Qin Wangzhuang together."
"I can't go. There are still many official matters to be handled in General Tiance's mansion." Wei Zhengxin said that Du Ruhui would explain it, which was no different from his own. When Li Yuanxing heard that Wei Zheng was not going, he approached Wei Zheng and whispered: "I will tell General Qin Qiong
Let’s talk about that matter when you have time.”
Wei Zheng nodded and made a beheading gesture. Li Yuanxing said: "Very good, there must be no mistake in this matter!"
On the way back to Qinwangzhuang, Du Ruhui said: "Your Highness, Heshibi came from Congling, the ancient Kunlun Mountains. There are also rumors that it came from Chushan. It is called Lantian Jade, but it is not from Lantian County, Jingzhao. It is just a coincidence. Your Majesty
I think it is more credible if it comes from Chushan."
"Du Gong, continue!"
Li Yuanxing asked Du Ruhui to continue talking about how Tibetan areas even went to Central Asia, and Chu Mountain is now southeast of Wudang Mountain, in the boundary of Jiangxi. Originally, Li Yuanxing always believed that the Heshi Bi was Lantian jade and should have come from Lantian.
"He's wall is made of soft jade, and there are some beautiful stones in Lantian that look like jade, but they are not jade yet, they are just stones. They are hard stones."
"Is it just a coincidence in the name?" Li Yuanxing asked.
"Exactly, Heshibi is also known as the beautiful jade of Lantian. There is an ancient jade from the Han Dynasty in my family, and the Holy Spirit also sent people to check it in Lantian. It is just a coincidence in the name. Therefore, there is no jade in Lantian, only some strange stones.
!" Du Ruhui said for sure, and Li Yuanxing also believed that what Du Ruhui said was not a lie.
(Note: The history of Jade can be checked) (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)