Wuzhong, the back garden of the royal palace.

Xiang Zhuang held Xiang Zheng in his left hand, Xiang Zhi in his right hand, was slipping in the bay by the lotus pond, in the hot summer, the house was as hot as a steamer, Xiang Zhuang really couldn't stay, so he simply held his son to the lotus pond to enjoy the cool, at this time, it has been more than half a month since the end of the battle of Jiujiang and the alliance between Chu and Huainan.

Xiang Zheng and Xiang Zhi are also six months old, chubby, pink, and very cute.

Xiang Zhuang did not deliberately keep a distance from his son like the ancients of this era, and Xiang Zhuang naturally knew the ancient precept of filial piety with sticks, but no matter what, the two little guys are only six months old, and even Abba and Mother can't call it, so why should Xiang Zhuang pretend to be a strict father?

The two little guys look about the same, but their personalities are very different.

Xiang Zheng'an quietly snuggled in Xiang Zhuang's arms, just staring at Xiang Zhuang with big black eyes, and he couldn't see enough for half a day, and he didn't know what the little guy was observing, but Xiang Zhi's attention was not on Xiang Zhuang at all, just waving his little lotus root-like hands, desperately trying to provoke the willows on the side of the road.

Behind Xiang Zhuang, he was followed by Wei Yue, Yu Ji and more than a dozen palace maids.

Looking at the back of Xiang Zhuang holding his beloved son, Wei Yue's pretty face was full of happiness and satisfaction, as a woman, she has the favor of her husband, and now she has two lovely sons, life is like this, what else can you ask for? Now, Wei Yue only hopes that his two sons can grow up happily.

Of course, Xiang Zhi was nominally already the heir of the first king.

Yu Ji's pretty face was also full of indescribable love, but unlike Wei Yue, Yu Ji's eyes fell more on Xiang Zhi, since Xiang Zhi succeeded Xiang Yu. No matter the wind, rain, or even hail, Yu Ji would insist on coming to Wei Yue's dormitory and playing with Xiang Zhi for half an hour.

Not far away, Ying Zhen was standing in the attic and silently looking into the distance.

Standing behind the guardrail of the attic, you can just see the secluded path opposite the lotus pond, looking at Xiang Zhuang embracing Xiang Zheng and Xiang Zhi and looking happy and happy, Ying Zhen couldn't help but sigh faintly. Xiang Zheng and Xiang Zhi are already more than six months old, and if she can't give birth to a son, she will never want to be the queen of Chu.

But what can be done? For more than a year, Xiang Zhuang has stayed in her Yingzhen's room for far more days than in Wei Yue's room, even if Wei Yue's body recovers after giving birth. Xiang Zhuang still chooses to stay in Yingzhen's room more often, but even so, her Yingzhen's stomach still hasn't moved, and there has been no movement.

Ying Zhen knew that she couldn't wait any longer, she had to find another way.

Suddenly, there was a sound of light footsteps behind him, and Ying Zhen turned around when he heard it. Baili Yishui's shadow had already gone up to the attic, and she was blessed to win Zhen, and said, "Yishui has seen Mrs. ”

"Little sister, you're here." Ying Zhen stepped forward and took Baili Yishui's little hand affectionately.

Baili Yishui is now a famous concubine in Wuzhong City, the eldest brother Baili Xian is deeply trusted by the King of Chu, and the second brother Baili Mao is also a famous general in the army. Baili Yishui himself is also more beautiful and glamorous.

In the past six months or so, the threshold of Baili Mansion has almost been flattened by an endless stream of matchmakers.

However, all the wealthy families who came to propose marriage were closed, and there were even grandsons of Uncle Sun Guan, no one knew what kind of golden beetle son-in-law Baili wanted to choose, only Ying Zhen faintly knew Baili Yishui's thoughts, and changed to before. Ying Zhen would never take the initiative to promote the good deeds of Baili Yishui, but now, the situation is different.

After the cold noise, when Ying Zhen looked back again, she saw that only Wei Yue, Yu Ji and a dozen palace maids were left on the path opposite the lotus pond. Xiang Zhuang was gone, looking at the bright and moving Wei Yue, Ying Zhen's face suddenly showed a hint of struggle, but when her eyes fell on Xiang Zheng in Wei Yue's arms, her expression immediately became firm.

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When Xiang Zhuang hurriedly walked into the side hall, Xiang He had been waiting for a long time.

"Ziyi, have the statistics of the people of the household have been completed?" As soon as Xiang Zhuang entered the door, he asked impatiently.

It is no exaggeration to say that the household is the cornerstone of a country, the army's source of soldiers comes from the household and the people, and the country's taxes come from the households, and the number of households directly determines the strength of a country. Historically, the reason why Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to attack the Xiongnu in the north relied on the huge base of Qi people, and it was precisely because of the inexhaustible tax and inexhaustible military resources that the Han Empire was able to use troops against the Xiongnu for decades.

Also, the reason why Qin Shi Huang was able to sweep the world and dominate the world, in addition to the sharp weapon of the farming and warfare system, another very important reason is that the number of households and Qi people supported by the Qin State at that time far exceeded that of any country in the Kwantung region, and even more than the sum of the six countries in the Kwantung region.

Before Qin Shi Huang ruled the world, the total population of the Huaxia ethnic group was about 30 million, of which the population of the Qin State was about 10 million, but most of these 10 million were yeoman farmers, mercenaries, tenant farmers, etc., and the total population of the six countries in the Kwantung region was about 20 million, but among the 20 million, the number of households was less than half!

One might ask, where did the other half of the population go? In fact, the other half of the population has become domestic slaves, servants or tenant farmers of wealthy families, such as Qi Guotianwen, that is, Meng Weijun, one of the four princes of the Warring States Period, there are 3,000 diners alone, how many industries and tenant farmers do you have to feed so many diners?

The domestic slaves, servants, and tenant farmers of the wealthy families are not included in the household of the people, and these domestic slaves, servants, and tenant farmers are only responsible to the master's family, and they do not have to pay taxes when the state transfers strong men, and they do not have to pay taxes when the state collects the poll tax, and even when the state collects land taxes, the tenant farmers of the wealthy families do not have to pay taxes.

Because of this, it is the general trend for the Qin State to unify the world.

It can be seen from this that the number of people in the household is very important to a country!

As early as when he had just inherited the throne, Xiang Zhuang had already instructed Xiang He to start the inventory of Jiangdong's household Qi people, and now several months have passed, the Seven Route Alliance Army has retreated, Jiujiang has been pacified, and the alliance with Huainan has also been signed.

However, Xiang his mood seemed to be a little low, after the salute to Xiang Zhuang, he took out a booklet from his sleeve and handed it to Xiang Zhuang, now the paper industry in Jiangdong has been quite developed, all the books in circulation are already paper, and the official government yamen books and notices are also made of paper.

Xiang Zhuang took the booklet, and his mood was a little apprehensive for a while.

The first page of the booklet records the results of the inventory of Qi Min in Wuzhong County, Wuzhong County, Wuzhong County, Wuzhong County

In a dignified Wuzhong County, where the King City of Chu is located, there are only more than 5,000 households, less than 30,000 Qi people!

"Ziyi, isn't that right?!" Xiang Zhuang shook the pamphlet and said in surprise, "Wuzhong is such a majestic city, it is crowded and bustling in its spare time, how can it be that there are only more than 5,000 households, less than 30,000 people?!" It's impossible, it's absolutely impossible, Ziyi, there must be something wrong with your inventory. ”

Xiang He shook his head and explained: "Great King, there are indeed only more than 5,000 households in Wuzhong, and the number of Qi people is indeed less than 30,000, which is true, the reason why Wuzhong City is crowded and bustling in his spare time is because there are too many wealthy families gathered here, plus their domestic slaves and servants, the number is even larger. ”

Xiang Zhuang slapped his forehead when he heard this, and said with a wry smile: "How did the widow forget this stubble." ”

When Xiang Zhuang continued to flip down, but the more he flipped it, the more frightened he became, especially when he turned to Huiji County, the number of households in each county was only one or two thousand or even a few hundred, and the number of Qi people was only five or six thousand or even more than a thousand.

Turning to the end, the final figures of this great clearance are impressive.

There are more than 40 counties in three counties under the rule of Chu State, and the number of households is only 210,967, and the number of Qi people is 897,927, this number is too far from the number expected by Xiang Zhuang, Xiang Zhuang originally thought that the number of Qi people in Jiangdong was two million, or even more, but he didn't want to be only more than 800,000, less than one million!

Putting down the household registration book, Xiang Zhuang said with a solemn expression: "Ziyi, is this final number credible?" Are there any discrepancies? ”

Xiang He sighed, and said a little helplessly: "King, this number is definitely wrong, the number of households in the thirteen counties of Wu County is probably not bad, but the number of households in more than 30 counties under the rule of Danyang County and Huiji County is absolutely not credible, especially in the fifteen counties under the rule of Huiji County, the actual number of households is definitely far more than the number on the household register. ”

Xiang Zhuang said in a deep voice: "You mean, the county orders of the counties under the rule of Huiji County lied about the number of households and people? ”

Xiang He nodded, and said: "The minister once secretly went to Shanyin County under the rule of Huiji County, and found that the clans under the rule of Shanyin County were extremely reluctant to check the household and the people, and the county order of Shanyin County was the child of the local clan, and he also ignored the official documents issued by the county guard, and the county lieutenant wanted to investigate, but he was found dead at home a few days later. ”

"How can it be!" Xiang Zhuang was furious and said, "Is there any royal law here?!" ”

Xiang He sighed again and said with a wry smile: "The king may not know that there is such a folk song circulating in Shanyin County, saying that the three major clans are the kings of Shanyin, and what they say is the law!" (To be continued......)