The emperor asked with some excitement: "What Aiqing wants to say is that if you want to solve the problem of the landless people, is it necessary to develop industry and commerce?" But Da Chu is a country based on agriculture? No matter how much gold, silver, and silk there is, you can't eat when you're hungry, and you can't drink when you're thirsty. Or do you want to be agriculture-oriented? ”

Chen Yuanheng said: "The food problem that the emperor is worried about will be solved in the near future. First, we are now trying our best to promote new varieties, and in a few years, as soon as the new varieties are popularized, the food problem will be solved. Second, even if the new species has not yet been fully promoted, in the past two years, we have to provide grain and grass to the soldiers in the northwest, and to appease the people who have been affected by drought and military disasters. ”

The emperor immediately said, "Oh, how can I forget about Nanyang, a place where grain is produced?" Well, as soon as this sea trade was opened, first the grain of Silla, Goguryeo, and the Wa Kingdom flowed to Dachu, which solved a big grain problem in Dachu, and later there was Yizhou Island, a treasure island, a large place for grain production, and there was no problem with the supply of military food to our Dachu. Now there is land in the Nanyang area, although there is not much production now, but, I heard that your Chen family, and many wealthy businessmen and officials of Dachu have bought land there, it is estimated that all these lands will be developed, and it will take two years, and at that time it will be able to supply Dachu more, and at that time, our new varieties will be almost promoted, so where can we worry about food? ”

Chen Yuanheng said: "Exactly, since we don't have to worry about food problems in the future, it is the right time for us to solve the problems of these landless people." ”

The emperor was excited, got up and walked around the throne, and said, "Well, I heard that you are rewarded for having more children in the Jiangnan area, right?" In this way, the population of a place in the south of the Yangtze River will inevitably increase after more than ten years, and you are not only not afraid of a large population, but also increase the population, which seems to be the effect of encouraging industry and commerce. ”

Chen Yuanheng hurriedly said: "The minister does not dare to deceive His Majesty, and the reason why the minister dares to encourage the population is that the minister vigorously develops industry and commerce in the south of the Yangtze River. So that the landless people can work in the workshop, and another point is that a large number of people in the Jiangnan area migrated to Yizhou Island, Silla, and Goguryeo. Some of them went to Nanyang. ”

The emperor frowned and said, "Then Aiqing said that in order to solve the problem of the landless people, in addition to vigorously developing industry and commerce, it is necessary to migrate the people overseas?" ”

Chen Yuanheng hurriedly said: "Exactly, the second point that the minister wants to say is to migrate people overseas. Our people in Dachu are kind and hardworking, but the land in Dachu is limited, and many people want to farm, but they have no land to plant. Nanyang, those places overseas. The land is vast and sparsely populated, the land is fertile, the climate is mild, and there is a lot of food, but no one cultivates it. It's better to let the people of Dachu go to farming. Doesn't this solve the problem of a large population, but also solve the problem of the landless people? In addition to the problems of the people, the reason why the circulation of gold and silver in our Dachu is very slow, and there is often a silver shortage, is because of the concentration of wealth, more and more wealthy merchants and eunuchs. Families, when they have money, they buy land, but it often happens that they can't buy land for a while. Because land is finite. So what do they do? The gold and silver can only be stored at home, and there are often families who have more than a hundred years of pure silver in the silver vault, which has become completely black. If you can develop Nanyang, these rich businessmen. Eunuchs and families can also take out the surplus and blackened silver to buy land. When you buy land, you have to buy seeds, you have to buy farm tools. You have to hire people, you have to pay your wages, and so on and so on, a tael of silver becomes ten taels. ”

The emperor groaned and said, "Aiqing, if this is not what you said, if you change it to someone else, I will punish him for a crime of ill-intentioned and misdeeds." ”

Chen Yuanheng immediately broke out in a cold sweat and quickly knelt on the ground.

The emperor smiled, personally helped Chen Yuanheng up, and said: "Aiqing is loyal to the country, and I know it deeply. Moreover, Aiqing's talent is far better than others, and she is my minister, and I will not doubt you. But if you think about it, I am the Son of Heaven and rules the people, but if the people go overseas, who else will I rule? ”

When Chen Yuanheng heard this, he calmed down a little, and said slowly: "The whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister." It is a great merit to open up the territory and expand the territory, and the herdsmen are also meritorious. It's all about going down in history. If some of the people of the Central Plains were to move overseas, the population of the Central Plains would naturally be smaller, and it would indeed affect His Majesty's reputation in a short period of time. However, have you ever thought that the land of Nanyang is vast and sparsely populated, there are few countries, and most of them are indigenous tribes, so our people of Dachu have multiplied and multiplied there, and the population is increasing, ten years later, a hundred years later, will it still be Nanyang? That is the overseas province of Dachu. ”

The emperor who said this was moved, thought for a while and said, "What Aiqing said is that I am short-sighted. Aiqing thinks long-term. This is equivalent to expanding the territory without spending a single soldier. ”

Chen Yuanheng continued: "Your Majesty, although the people of the Central Plains have temporarily decreased, for example, in a place, there were originally 100,000 people, and 10,000 went out, so there are only 90,000 left. But what about ten years from now? Because the population is smaller, the per capita land has increased, and the family of five originally had one stone of grain a year, but now it has become a family of three to share the grain, naturally eat well, live well, and have more children. Maybe in 10 years, it will be 110,000, 120,000. What about the ten thousand who went out? Originally, there were only 10,000 in Nanyang, because of the sickness on the road, there were fewer people who were not accustomed to the water and soil, but after a few years, the land was successfully opened up and a little money was earned, so they were free to marry, or the Han people themselves married, or they married the natives, anyway, we all have our blood. Ten years from now, will we still have 10,000 people in Nanyang? It could be forty thousand, it could be fifty thousand. All of them add up, and there are a lot of people under His Majesty's jurisdiction. Is it even possible to double it? ”

The Emperor's gaze deepened.

It's easy to see, but it's true. Under the whole world, it is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister. But where is this world? Is it the Central Plains? Or is it the whole world marked on the sea trade map, how big is that? In the future, if it develops to the territory of Dachu, how many people will it have. Also, at present, the tax revenue of the state is composed of several parts, among them, the agricultural tax is the main one, and another very important one is the poll tax, and the rest, such as tea, iron, salt, commercial taxes, etc., are all small parts. There are more acres of land in this great Chu, there are more natural taxes, more population, and more natural poll taxes. How much tax is that?

Now the population is restricted, a large part of the reason is that these limited land can not feed so many people, for example, ordinary people, if there are only two children, then they must be well raised, carefully cared for, but if there are five or six children, or even seven or eight children, then eating is a problem, when you are sick, you can't afford to eat, you can only starve to death, and even in the countryside there are very common children who have too many children, and they are born and drown, so that the population is naturally less, but if there is more land, can feed so many people, whose children are not distressed? How can you be willing to drown? Then there should have been only two or three, but seven or eight would be raised, so how many people would have to be added in this way? Therefore, Chen Yuanheng is very right, in the long run, this is not to reduce the population, this is to increase the population.

Chen Yuanheng continued: "Your Majesty, the minister wants to understand this truth, but he is still inspired by the family. ”

The emperor asked strangely, "Oh, what inspiration did the Chen family give you?" ”

Chen Yuanheng said: "In the family, whenever the population of one branch is small, the stepchild must be passed from other branches. ”

The emperor nodded, this is very common in Dachu, whether it is the princes and nobles or the common people, for example, the second family has no sons, and they will choose one of the three sons of the old family to inherit it. The same is true of the royal family, some time ago, Chen Guifei was thinking about asking for a title for her prince who died early and giving her step-child a child.

Chen Yuanheng said: "But what if there is too much population in which branch? The patriarch will give some according to the situation, so that the Chen family can grow stronger and stronger. Just like the minister now, he has separated from my father's lineage and has become a new branch, the Xiao Chen family. There are too many things like this in our Chen family, and there are too many small branches. In addition to us, there are also the Wang family, the Bai family, and the Li family. ”

The emperor suddenly woke up: "I understand what Aiqing means. There are too many people in Dachu, just like there are too many people in the branches, and they have to divide the small expenditures. However, what if the development of the small branch is better than that of the descendant in the future? What should I do if I take the lead? ”

Chen Yuanheng did not say anything.

The Emperor said, "Of course, in my hands, this will not happen. But what if there are unfilial ones among my descendants in the future, and the people who govern this country are not as good as those branches in Nanyang? ”

Chen Yuanheng said: "This minister is stupid and has not thought about the problem of managing the world. However, Chen knew that for hundreds of years, the Chen family had been standing tall, and there were many heavy situations in the middle, but they all survived. There have also been many branches that have made great contributions, and even overshadowed the main vein, but, please see, has the main vein of the Chen family changed masters? All the patriarchs of the Chen family were born from the main line, although not necessarily any of the main line, but they were all from the main line. Moreover, the disciples of the main lineage of the Chen family are very stressed, and they have received more training than the disciples of the branch lineage since they were children. Because they have branch veins in competition, they sleep with their eyes open and dare not relax, so that under the hard work, they can always maintain the vitality of the main vein, and the Chen family has always been the patriarch of the main vein, and it has never changed for hundreds of years. ”

The emperor suddenly came to his senses.

ps：

The login left me speechless.