Tianhao struck while the iron was hot, and continued to increase the weight on the basis of the commitments already made: "To be a man is to be trustworthy!" Thanks to your help, the Imperial Army was able to avoid heavy casualties when attacking London. I will not prevaricate you with remote villages and towns as rewards, and every city I will give you will not have a population of less than half a million. And there is no upper limit to this reward, as long as you contribute more and the greater the credit, the more you will get. 600,000, 700,000, 800,000...... A million can even get more cities. ”

Most of the people who followed the Count of Laurent in surrender were minor nobles, as well as officers beside the Marquis of Brackbarne. Even if these people had the opportunity to obtain a noble title from the king, they would not be able to obtain the favor of the fief. Tianhao's promise was undoubtedly full of temptation for them, and it was unprecedented, and the attraction was infinitely strong.

Although Laurent is also one of the tempted ones, he has served as the kingdom's chancellor of the exchequer after all, and he has a clear understanding of this kind of thing.

He bowed to Tianhao and asked seriously, "Your Majesty, I have no intention of questioning your decision. There is no doubt that you are a generous monarch and a wise emperor. But I would like to receive confirmation from you, Your Majesty, that while receiving and enjoying such a great reward, what should we do as your subordinates? ”

Tianhao's face was filled with a kind smile: "Laurent, you are a first-hand witness to the Battle of London, and you also witnessed the whole process of cleaning up the slums of the city later. Tell me, what do you think is the biggest problem in the City of London? ”

The Count was a little dazed.

When the new monarch summons his subordinates, he will definitely ask some questions. But to be honest, this question is beyond the response plan he had spent a lot of time on last night, and it is not even on the list of questions he had prepared before.

Laurent's eyes flashed before the mountain of corpses in the slum. The poor man who refuses to obey orders hangs and drags, and his inferiority reveals a deep, indescribable arrogance. They never face reality squarely, they only act according to their own ideas. In short, in the eyes of the poor ghosts, the king and the nobles did not have a good thing, and the northern giants were also monsters, and none of them could believe it.

"There are too many poor people in the slums. They were difficult to discipline and refused to obey Kingdom decrees. The Count blurted out instinctively.

Tianhao smiled and nodded, he seized the gap in the earl's words, and went directly to the topic he wanted: "There are too many people in the city of London, and this will cause all kinds of problems. The simple truth is that too many people will cause chaos, and worse, they will also have a higher and higher demand for food. I don't know if you've ever thought about the correlation between "production and consumption". To take the simplest example: a plot of land produces a fixed amount of food per year. So please tell me, what can you do to increase the yield of this land and harvest more food? ”

Although none of the defectors were familiar with farming, it seemed to them that the question was not difficult to answer, especially the Count of Laurent.

He thought for a moment and said seriously: "There are many ways to improve the soil, increase fertility, and also grow high-yielding crops, such as potatoes instead of wheat." ”

Tianhao smiled and slapped his face: "That's right, these methods are all feasible." Now I would like to ask the second question: can it meet the needs of more and more people, given that the grain production of this land has been increased and the maximum yield has been reached? ”

All the white defectors, including Count Laurent, were stunned.

Tianhao continued to follow the good path: "People have to eat if they live, otherwise they will starve to death." The arable land outside London is limited, and the food produced is far from enough for the civilian population. Laurent, you are the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Kingdom, and you should have a deep understanding of this. ”

The Count nodded hesitantly.

Yes, the food produced around London could not meet normal demand, and large quantities of grain and flour had to be brought from outside the country every year.

"It's not just food that can cause problems with too many people. As a ruler, you not only need to collect taxes from the common people, but also need social stability and peace. Not all land can be used for farming, and some must be used to build houses. And their birth, old age, sickness and death, maintaining a densely populated area requires a large number of police, as well as hospitals and schools, all kinds of related institutions...... So the population problem is the biggest problem in peacetime. In particular, the ratio between civilians and available resources can lead to a terrible catastrophe if it goes wrong. ”

Tianhao played the hole card in his hand in a loud voice: "I announce that family planning will be implemented in all cities: a husband and wife can only have one child. ”

This sentence is tantamount to a boulder thrown into a deep pool, and it immediately caused a storm among the listeners.

"Only one child?"

"It's impossible, no one is going to obey such a law."

"I think there is a certain reason for this, and what His Majesty the Emperor said also has a basis, but it is not ordinarily difficult to implement."

Count Laurent was in a state of panic, and panic and fear ran through his body. All of this was very different from what I expected, and although what the Giant Emperor said sounded normal, there was always a sense of hesitation that I didn't know what was wrong.

Tianhao always had a smile on his face, and he turned a blind eye to the panic and various actions of the white people under his feet: "Family planning is the foundation for optimizing society. In fact, if you take a moment to think about it, you can understand: if a couple has a monthly income of one and a half pounds (the basic income of a Saxon commoner), what level of life can they enjoy when they are used to support a child? ”

The Count of Laurent had a lot to say on this question: "Back to Your Majesty, their lives will be of a certain quality. You can enjoy white bread and bacon for two weeks, you can get some nuts, fresh vegetables, a small amount of fruit and wine. ”

Tianhao added with a smile: "They also have spare money to buy books and even hire commoner-level tutors to provide a better education for their children." ”

The Count nodded slowly, this was an accepted fact that could not be denied.

Tianhao continued to throw out new questions: "What if this family has two children? ”

The Count thought for a moment, "They must replace the white bread with the black bread, and the bacon with the fatter cured meat, the kind that is not very good in taste or appearance." No nuts, no wine, but vegetables are guaranteed. ”

"What about books and governesses?" Tianhao asked.

Laurent shook her head: "That's impossible. In fact, I have done a little more and increased the couple's monthly income by one shilling. ”

Tianhao looked into his eyes: "The question continues, this time it's three children. ”

Laurent had a helpless wry smile on her face: "It doesn't get any worse than this...... The brown bread on the table was of reduced quality, not pure wheat flour products, but the kind with a lot of sawdust and grass seeds added to it, which was so cheap that a few pennies could buy a large piece. Don't think about the meat, and there are very few vegetables in the soup, because there must be enough salt. On the subject of education, if they are lucky enough to have a free school in their neighborhood church, they can learn basic vocabulary and sentence patterns there. And the eldest son or eldest daughter of the couple must participate in labor, help people wash clothes, and so on. ”

The white defectors around him were lost in thought.

Tianhao's question doesn't end here: "Go on, four children. ”

"In that case, there's a high probability that it will lead to crime." Count Laurent confessed: "If it were me, I would never let such a terrible thing happen...... Your Majesty, I am beginning to understand what you mean by "family planning". I confess that if I had been in the position of husband in that household, I would not have allowed my wife to have many children under any circumstances. Especially with the birth of a fourth child, it meant hunger for the whole family. In their position, it is impossible to make more money by working. Because the level of education determines that they can only do heavy physical labor. In addition to theft and robbery, murder on the street, become a bar girl or a counterfeit money minter...... I really can't think of a better way to maintain a family. ”

(Don't connect with reality, the story is empty, not realistic, and I don't mean to satirize national politics.) Readers who want to be crooked go face the wall by themselves! ）

There was silence in the hall, no one spoke, and all the whites were deep in thought.

After a long time, a gray-haired middle-aged man stepped forward, he bent down and bowed to Tianhao, with a little trepidation, and obvious fear, he stammered, "...... His Majesty...... Your Majesty, I have no intention of questioning what you have just said, nor have I ever thought of opposing your proposed plan. I just want to...... Well...... I wonder if the population is too small? I...... I mean, a family can only have one child, and a lot of people would be against such a policy. But that doesn't include me, but from those below...... Those who have no money and can't have enough to eat. Your Majesty, you may not know that they ignore the law, and the poorer they get, the poorer they get. ”

Tianhao's smile was unusually gentle, and the whole person exuded a very comfortable sense of closeness, and his voice was magnetic, maintaining a subdued rhythm: "Since it is a law, it must be enforced when it is formulated." We have the army, and we have the police, and it's very simple to deal with those who refuse to obey orders, arrest and imprison them for a period of time, and reform them through forced labor. The poorer you are, the poorer you are...... Hehe, I like that statement. Then let them work, give them more jobs, and let them be busy all day from the time they open their eyes in the morning until the sun sets, and they will not rest for a minute. Human beings are like this, only the tiredness of labor depletes them. As a result, they lose interest in women, and their greatest desire every day is to lie in bed and sleep...... Sleep alone, rest alone. ”

The middle-aged man's face was a little pale, he opened his mouth, and the originally typed abdominal draft was blocked in his throat by Tianhao's strong words, and he couldn't say a word in the back words.

、

In fact, what he really wanted to say was not this, but to express his opposition to "family planning" in a less direct way.

Tianhao stared at him, and there was a little banter in the depths of his eyes.

The middle-aged man was unwilling to admit defeat, and while he was trying to argue, he was also afraid of the majesty from the Giant Emperor: "...... But...... But in this way, will it ......?"

"Do you think even high-intensity labor will completely distract them?" Tian Hao interrupted his words and forcibly misinterpreted what he wanted to say, laughing loudly: "If this is the case, then it can only be sterilized on those who are disobedient and refuse to obey the law. ”

It's a puzzling, completely alien word.

Count Laurent was full of doubts and boldly asked, "Your Majesty, what is ligation?" ”

Tianhao spent nearly ten minutes giving these white people a lesson in physiology and hygiene. In order to describe it more clearly, he called the middle-aged man to demonstrate, took off his shirt on the spot, pulled out the dagger he carried with him, and pointed at the other party, explaining in a simple way the relationship between the vas deferens and male symbols, as well as the entire reproductive system...... It felt bad to be a model and be pointed at with a sharp knife, but the middle-aged man didn't dare to resist at all. He just stood naked, his mind full of fears and remorse.

"Next, I will spend a lot of money to carry out universal health care reform, recruit 100,000 doctors from the private sector, let them receive short-term training, and then become qualified surgeons." Tian Hao bites particularly the combination of the word "surgeon", which is a new word he invented: "Family planning will become a law, all imperial families must report to the officials of the jurisdiction, as long as the man who has given birth to a child, he must take the initiative to go to the hospital in the jurisdiction to undergo surgery." This cost was borne by the imperial government, and they did not have to spend a penny. ”

Count Laurent's expression was a little complicated. He stood there pursed his lips, not saying a word.

It must be admitted that these words of the Giant Emperor are very reasonable, especially from the comparison between the advantages and disadvantages of family income and the number of people, the analysis of the situation is clear at a glance. Reason told the Earl that this was the right thing to do, that it could fundamentally solve the problem of the difficulties of civilian life, and that it could also greatly improve the standard and quality of life of the people. However, there is a voice in the depths of the subconscious that keeps roaring: the Giant Emperor is lying, and he is weakening the Saxons step by step with reasonable, legitimate, and logical excuses and justifications. Without population, there is nothing, and in the end, we will sadly find that there are only a few people left in the vast land of the kingdom.

What is the truth?

What is right?

Count Laurent couldn't make a choice.

He was close to the other defectors, and looking at the eyes that were equally full of doubt, the Count knew that they were all in the same mental predicament as himself.

After several minutes of silence and reflection, Laurent made the final decision.

"Your Majesty, we accept your suggestion that family planning will become law."