"My lord, after Ma Teng entered Xudu, Xiliang can be said to be in Cao Cao's pocket."
After the civil and military officials in Xiangyang received the news, they all expressed concern. Just now, Jiang Wan was stating his opinions to Liu Cong.
Liu Cong smiled charmingly, "Not necessarily! There is no need to discuss Ma Teng's matter anymore. I have my own considerations."
The prophetic nature of history will always be Liu Cong's greatest weapon, and he will always be able to move one step faster than other princes.
What the civil and military officials didn't know was that in the fifteenth year of Jian'an (211), Ma Chao would raise an army to rebel against Cao Cao!
Then, Liu Cong asked, "How much money and food income will you make this year?"
It's already the end of November, and all the money, grain, and taxes from various places have been collected.
Upon hearing Liu Cong's inquiry, Ma Liang, the Minister of Household Affairs, immediately went out to report, "My lord, this year the money, silk, cotton and other physical goods collected from Jing, Guizhou, Jiang and three states, plus commercial taxes, totaled 10.2 billion in money and 433.3 billion in grain."
Wanshi."
"In addition, the population statistics in various places are still being strictly implemented, and the population is still increasing. Now the population registered by the government has reached 2.97 million, nearly three million!"
(The previous article was wrong. This money should be measured in hundreds of millions. I’m sorry, dear readers, I beg your forgiveness. Also, I would like to state that the nonsense in brackets will be supplemented by the corresponding number of words.)
"Boom..." Ma Liang's words caused the civil and military officials to discuss again. The civil servants were happy because of the money, food and taxes, but the generals were happy about the population. With such a large population, could they recruit more soldiers?
Liu Cong was not surprised at all by this situation. The reason why he implemented a strict reform system in Jingzhou was because he was suspicious of the population of the Three Kingdoms.
"Three Kingdoms" records that Shu Han has 280,000 households and a population of 940,000; Soochow has 530,000 households and a total population of 2.3 million. "Tongdian" records that Wei has 660,000 households and a population of 4.43 million. So in total, the entire Three Kingdoms period
The population was only 7.67 million, only 12% of the peak value of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Let’s talk about Wei first. From the time Cao Cao unified the north in 208 to the fall of Wei in 266, the population was only over 4.43 million?
For 58 years, there were no major wars in the north. After half a century, the population has not increased at all?
Even if Cao Wei really only has a population of 4.43 million, then its army of more than 500,000 must be supported by the remaining population of less than 4 million? The ratio of soldiers to farmers is 8/1. With such an aggressive military strategy, Cao Wei will not be able to dominate the world, let alone dominate the world.
The collapse is fine.
There is a view in later generations that when Cao Wei fell, the population should have been at least 20 million. However, the government only had that amount, and Liu Cong was even more convinced of this statement.
What about Soochow? It has a population of 2.3 million. It was devastated by Cao Cao after leaving Jingzhou. Since Jiangdong was captured by Sun Ce, the Kingdom of Wu was destroyed. Apart from the occasional Shanyue rebellion, what other wars are there?
Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou, the three largest states in the Han Dynasty, had a population of more than nine million at their peak, but by the end of the Han Dynasty, the population had dropped so much?
The Shu Kingdom has a population of 940,000. Except for Liu Bei who entered Shu, Shu has been at peace for so many years since the time of Liu Yan, and the population has been stuttered?
There is a movie called "Let the Bullets Fly". It says that the county magistrate has to make money on his knees, collect the money under a clever name, then return the money from the wealthy gentry, and then divide the money among the people, 30% for the county magistrate and 70% for Mr. Huang!
After the beginning of the troubled times, how many powerful families took the opportunity to recruit refugees and strengthen themselves? They don't have to pay taxes, so the income is not at their disposal?
The extremely wealthy country is not talking about businessmen, but these powerful people who are almost engaged in the slave trade!
Are you asking Liu Cong to count on those bastards? Don’t even think about it. Either cooperate with me and hand over the hidden tenants and land, or I will fight with you!
The common people have been divided into fields, and with the support of the government, they can just hand over taxes to the government. What the hell does that have to do with you?
After Liu Cong implemented the policy of censusing the population and apportioning people into acres, it directly led to the fact that only a small part of the people's money and food had to be handed over to the government, while a large part was kept for himself. Who do you think they support?
As for the rebellion of the aristocratic family? Without the support of the people, you are just playing tricks on your own. If the people live a good life, who will join you in killing the nine tribes?
Now, Liu Cong is even more looking forward to how far his power will expand after conquering Jiangdong!
"Your Majesty!"
Just when everyone was happy, another inappropriate voice sounded.
"The dragon in Jiangling turned over, causing nearly 100,000 civilian casualties! I have something to say." The speaker turned out to be from Yiji.
Liu Cong smiled and said, "It doesn't matter what Yi Shangshu said!"
Yi Ji cupped his hands and said, "Lord, the official statistics of casualties are only about 2,000 people in more than 400 households. But now, rumors are spreading, and some even say that the casualties exceed 100,000!"
In this era, unlike in later generations where there were so many people living in a city, an earthquake would cause tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of casualties.
Liu Cong put his elbows on the table, raised his chin and looked at Yi Ji, "What do you think should be done?"
Yi Ji continued, "My lord, the rumors are getting more and more outrageous. I would like to ask my lord to open the altar to worship heaven and plead guilty, so as to calm the people's panic and complaints!"
Liu Cong held his chin and asked expressionlessly, "It's just a natural disaster, why do you have to apologize alone?"
Yi Ji replied, "Historically, when heaven brings disasters and people suffer, it is all caused by the emperor's lack of virtue, so it is appropriate to apologize to heaven!"
Yiji is not a sycophant, but he is indeed outspoken and dares to remonstrate. "My lord is naturally wise and powerful, but in order to calm the people's grievances, please think twice. If the lord agrees, the Ministry of Rites will handle the matter immediately. I speak frankly and ask the lord to surrender."
crime."
Liu Cong straightened up and said, "Yi Shangshu bluntly advised me, how can I blame you? However, I do have a few questions to ask you and everyone sitting here."
Under Yi Ji's curious eyes, Liu Cong asked, "Are all disasters from heaven caused by the emperor's lack of virtue?"
Yi Ji thought for a while and said, "That's what the history books say."
"In ancient times, during the time of Dayu, the world was full of floods, but in order to control the floods, Dayu even wore off the hair on his legs. Is Dayu also a coward?"
"This..." Yi Ji was speechless when asked, and the officials were also whispering.
No one thought about this problem before. The period of Dayu was indeed full of disasters, but everyone praised Dayu as the Mingjun!
"I just don't believe it. A mere disaster is not caused by man, but depends on God!"
"Why do such rumors appear, why do they become more and more outrageous, and why do they cause panic among the people? I will let you see the whole story! Bring the person here!"
At the end of the sentence, Liu Cong even stood up and looked straight out of the hall!
"Go! Go in!"
"hurry up!"
After a jingle of iron chains, the Jinyi Guards led by Duan Kun walked into the hall with more than a dozen people whose hands and feet were shackled!
The costumes of Jin Yiwei are not the flying fish suits of the Ming Dynasty. In this era of scarcity of materials, it is still difficult to make the flying fish suits of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Liu Cong also tried his best to make Jinyiwei's exclusive costumes, with six colors of red, yellow, blue, green, white and black as the main colors to distinguish the levels within Jinyiwei.
The clothes are also embroidered with flying fish, birds, bullfights, lions and other animals. There are also flowers and surges on the edges and linings of the clothes!