The larger the population base, the more obvious the effect of compound interest will be. With the current population of the Song Dynasty, it only takes a few generations to produce explosive growth.
So Ye An's lecture to Zhao Zhen turned into a duet with Liu E.
As an official of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhen naturally had to listen on the sidelines, but he found that there were many words that Ye An and the eldest lady said that he could not understand.
This is already discussing national policy issues. Ye An is actually using his lectures with officials to extend it to the national level and analyze the pros and cons.
The Han Dynasty in the Central Plains has always been a hotbed of population. The environment and climate here are very suitable for human survival and reproduction, so the history of Chinese civilization has a long history.
But similarly, nothing is perfect in the world. The biggest problem the Han Dynasty faced was the food problem.
Liu E is most concerned about population. In her opinion, food is very important to a country, but population is even more important.
If there is less food, we will eat less, but the growth of population can bring more labor force to the country, so that more land can be cultivated to obtain more food.
For Ye An, this idea goes against the objective common sense of social development.
He could only explain slowly under Lan Jizong's eyes: "The sage's idea is upside down. If there is no high-yielding food, the growth of the population will become extremely slow. Even if more land is reclaimed, the food grown will be
There is a limit, and there is no surplus in the hands of the people. Once natural disasters and man-made disasters occur, the consequences will be disastrous."
Of course Liu E could understand what Ye An said, and frowned and said: "Now that we have potatoes and sweet potatoes, our Emperor Song can produce a huge amount of grain, and can we do our best to treat natural and man-made disasters?"
Ye An nodded slightly: "Sage Mingjian! The land of our Han family is a good land for the reproduction of the people! As long as there is enough land and high-yield food, the population of our Han family will surge!"
Liu E narrowed her eyes slightly and said: "During the reign of Emperor Taizong, there were only four million households in the Song Dynasty. By the time of the late Emperor Xianping, there were more than six million households, and now it is approaching seven million!"
Ye An turned to look at the ignorant little emperor and said, "Guan family, do you know why the population of the former emperor's dynasty grew so fast?"
Zhao Zhen frowned and thought for a while: "Because the country is stable?"
Ye An nodded, then shook his head and said: "Not only that, the late emperor encouraged farming and vigorously built water conservancy. The fertile fields increased food, and the natural population also increased astonishingly, but the most important thing is still in the other two places."
Seeing Zhao Zhen and Liu E staring at him closely, Ye An awkwardly picked up the teacup, moistened his mouth for a while and then said slowly: "One is that the iron tools are more sophisticated, and the other is that the introduction of
Developed Siam’s improved Champa rice variety.
Iron farm tools are much easier to use than wooden farm tools. The iron tools made by the forging method in the past were either too brittle or too soft, and were often damaged and inconvenient. But now our iron tools in the Song Dynasty are quite strong, and with the help of
The agricultural tools have greatly improved their functionality for farmers. Needless to say, it goes without saying about the Champa rice."
Zhao Zhen was slightly surprised and said: "How could Ye Housheng know so clearly?"
Ye An bowed and bowed to Zhao Zhen and Liu E before saying: "This is my family's learning, the way of investigating things! Explore the truth of things themselves, and get things that are beneficial to the people of the country and the dynasty. This is the way of investigating things!"
Seeing that Ye An finally revealed his family background, Liu E felt quite satisfied. Then she sat on the brocade couch that Ye An had just leaned on and slowly said: "I ask you now, how can I make the people of Song Dynasty count?"
A sharp increase?”
Having said so much, I still return to the topic of population. This is what Liu E wants to know most urgently.
Ye An raised three fingers and said: "The first is that the country is stable and the people live and work in peace and contentment; the second is to promote potatoes and sweet potatoes and plant them on a large scale, which will quickly increase the food production of our Song Dynasty; the third is that we need the sage to issue an edict and the court to work hard.
In the 15th Route of the Song Dynasty, all states and even counties and towns opened nursery schools and paid to hire midwives to deliver babies to pregnant women! These midwives must receive lectures from experienced seniors before they can practice!"
Liu E and Zhao Zhen looked at Ye An dumbfounded. They did not expect that among the three points raised by Ye An, the last one was the most detailed and appropriate.
Birth rate is a very serious issue. In ancient times, the rate of infant mortality was very high. Even the most noble prince in the world was bound to die young, let alone an ordinary family.
Song Zhenzong had several children, but only Zhao Zhen survived. As for Zhao Zhen... he didn't have any sons, and they all died young!
The stability of the country, increasing food production, and increasing the birth rate and survival rate of infants and young children are the necessary conditions for increasing the population.
However, after listening to Ye An's words, Liu E became confused and muttered slightly: "King Wen, Zhao Ti, died young; in memory of Prince Zhao You, died at the age of ten; King Chang, Zhao Zhi, died young; Xin
King Zhao Zhi died young; King Qin Zhao Qi died young!"
Liu E suddenly said to Lan Jizong: "The imperial hospital is called to pick up Wu Kui, and the medical administrator is far away from the Zichen Palace!"
Looking at Ye An who was smiling and saying nothing, Liu E frowned slightly and said: "Don't ask for such remonstrances in the future. If you say it bluntly, you won't be punished if you go to the palace to remonstrate!"
Ye An shrugged his shoulders casually and said: "Once the nursery hall is established in every state capital and every township and county, the reputation of the empress will go without saying..."
If you want to make people attracted, you must provide enough benefits. Ye An is changing the world. Although he cannot directly break the rules of this world, small changes are possible.
With the emergence of potatoes and sweet potatoes, the "population ceiling" will collapse. This is a curse that plagues China and is one of the important reasons for the change of dynasties.
"Guan Jia, do you know why the Zhou Dynasty lasted for eight hundred years, but none of the following generations could last for such a long time?"
Not only Zhao Zhen, but even Liu E next to him also held his breath and listened carefully.
She casually picked up the brush and wrote down another simple noun "land" on the paper. Liu E suddenly understood and gently put down the teacup in her hand. She understood what Ye An meant.
After taking a look at Liu E, Ye An explained to the little emperor: "The output of each acre of land is fixed. No matter how hard you work, the amount of food you get will not make much difference. During the harvest, there will be no difference."
It’s just an extra three to five buckets of harvest, but once there is a natural or man-made disaster, nothing will be gained and all the previous efforts will be wasted!”
After pausing for a moment and letting Zhao Zhen slowly digest what he said, Ye An continued: "After the official family and the First Emperor unified the world, the territory of the Han family continued to grow until the height of the Tang Dynasty reached a point where it could no longer expand.
The Western Region has reached the farthest distance that the imperial court can control, and within this range, the cultivated land continues to increase. At this time, another issue surrounding land arises: annexation!"
Liu E waved Lan Jizong to leave as well. She didn't want Ye An's words to be heard by anyone except her and the emperor. This was not only lecturing to the officials, but also lecturing to herself!
"Land annexation is an unavoidable problem in the past, because people are different. There will always be people who are smarter and better, accumulate wealth faster, and obtain land faster. The amount of land in the hands of officials and powerful people is also constantly increasing.
Increase, our Song Dynasty did not suppress land annexation, so more land was concentrated in the hands of a small number of people. This is one of the reasons why since the founding of the People's Republic of China, more and more people have rebelled and farmers' resistance has intensified!"
"Does Marquis Ye mean to ask this palace and the official family to change the ancestral methods?"
Liu E suddenly interrupted Ye An's words. Until now, she still thought that Ye An was using another method to remonstrate, but she was wrong. Ye An slowly shook his head: "No, I just want to give a more accurate explanation."
A safe way to resolve this problem.”
Liu E stretched out her hand and made a gesture of invitation, which seemed almost unbelievable to Zhao Zhen, but Ye An was even more surprised: "Now is not the time, please tell me this matter secretly!"