284 million people, this figure is the conclusion of a census that ended last year.

Throughout Newsar, there are more than 200 million people of the empire. Of these, 2,472 were noble, and 47,000,000 were freedmen.

The remaining 230 million or so people are almost all poor.

Dussart didn't quite understand the practical significance of the "census" work, but it was only after taking on the work of the Home Affairs Committee that he realized a fatal flaw in the management of the colony.

For one hundred and seventy-five years, the Colonial Hall of Newsal has never figured out how many Imperial citizens live in the whole of Newsal.

If you don't even know how many people you have under your rule, then all policies are just water without a source and a tree without roots. It can neither serve the people nor achieve effective results for the ruling apparatus of Newsar. One of the simplest examples is the education subsidy system that Dussander and Androni are working on.

If Dussand's vision goes, what should be implemented throughout Newsar is not the painless change of "council-funded provision of free education and lunches in schools to recruit students".

His goal from the beginning was simple – to make education compulsory. All school-age children are required to attend school, and any parent who refuses should be subject to penalties including, but not limited to, fines, detention or even corporal punishment. School-age children should have at least six years of schooling and complete basic literacy in literacy, mathematics, natural sciences and law before they graduate.

But such a plan was ruthlessly beaten back by Androni, and the reason was very simple.

No money.

There is no money, and it is not just that the House of Commons cannot afford the cost of compulsory education. If Doussaint's vision were to follow, at least 92 million school-age children would need education out of the more than 230 million poor people in Newsar.

A school capable of accepting 2,000 students requires an investment of 4,800 gold pounds and takes more than half a year to build the school building. At least 46,000 such schools are needed in the whole of Newsar to meet the most basic needs of compulsory education. The total investment amounted to 220.8 million gold pounds

In order to educate these pupils, each school was to have at least 160 teachers, and each of the 160 teachers was to be paid at least 15 shillings a week, or 6,200 gold pounds a year.

The cost of a student lunch is sixpence per person per day, or eighteen thousand gold pounds a year.

If education for all were to be achieved in Newsar, the annual cost of running all schools would be 1,113,200,000 gold pounds. In the first year of compulsory education for all, it will cost at least 1.3 billion gold pounds to achieve Dussand's "ideal".

And all the financial revenues of the whole of Newsal in a year together are only 1.6 billion gold pounds.

Of course, this huge expenditure could not have been approved, but without the data that "the total population of the whole colony of Newsar was 284 million", it would have been difficult for Androny to convince Dussander directly. And Dussander did not simply give up his ideas, but instead supported the investment of 80 million gold pounds a year to fund schools, and agreed to the policy of "leaving it up to the general public to decide whether to send their children to school or not".

The second reason is even more frustrating – child labour is also one of the most important sources of income for poor families.

Children are very suitable for working in confined spaces because of their short stature. Many factories and mines employ child laborers to dig and install explosive points in the mines. Or let them wait inside the running machine, ready to add lubricant to the machine's running parts.

The working conditions of child labourers are extremely poor and the pay is extremely low. But their presence is really the key to the normal operation of many factories and mines, and more importantly, their income is completely disproportionate to their expenses. Although the income is very low, it is able to contribute the vast majority of the income to the family.

Removing these children from their positions as child labourers and forcing them to go to school is certainly a good thing for the future of child labourers and for the future of Newsart society as a whole. But for families that rely heavily on child labor wages, and for companies that use child labor to increase productivity and reduce operating costs, the blow is devastating.

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After four years of intensive operation, the House of Commons has reached an unprecedented level of mastery and understanding of the whole of Newsal. It is precisely because of this that Dussart is full of worries about the current Newsal.

He knows very well and is sure that if Newsar's strategic materials are not controlled, and if Orin does not reopen the authorization in a short time, I am afraid that the entire social system of Newsar will collapse directly within a month.

According to the reserve survey three months ago, Newsal's daily consumption of strategic materials is basically the same as the total growth rate, and there are almost no excess reserves - the local production of coal, metals and grain can only meet about 30% of the society's needs, and among the four major strategic materials, only the production of Ypsy Dragon can exceed Newsal's daily consumption.

But...... The shift from the current almost completely unregulated free economy to a rationing system is likely to cost many businesses enormous, and the wave of bankruptcies will have a direct impact on the entire economic system.

Dusand asked Androni to rush to the Heraldic Authority as soon as possible to discuss a plan of response.

"Rationing ......," Androni frowned at hearing the word, "no one has ever had experience with such a large-scale rationing system." ”

In the "Age of Discovery", in order to maximize the voyage time and increase the probability of finding a colony star, those exploration ships that shuttle between the stars often use "rationing" to control the loss of resources. In the imperial Chinese language, "rationing" is a special word composed of "exploration" as a prefix for "distribution" and then with a yin character suffix.

"But this is the scenario that is most likely to guarantee the survival of the vast majority of people at the moment." Dussander stressed to his mother, "Orin's actions are so strange that I can't figure out what their purpose is." If it was to completely purge the Marquis's power, then now their actions are half too violent, and half are unresponsive. ”

Androni thought for a moment, her brow furrowing deeper and deeper. Indeed, as Dussander said, if you want to explore their true purpose through Orin's initiative, I am afraid that this will only end up being a "dead end".

Orin must have other plans, but what exactly are they trying to do...... This will need to be observed to know. If they could, both Dussand and Andronie would have preferred that Newsar receive direct instructions from Orin, even if that directive demanded the immediate arrest and execution of all of Lafayette's family.

This would at least allow the entire colony to settle down and prevent further "cataclysm".

But Orin just didn't say anything, as if in their eyes, the whole of Newsar was no longer credible.

Androni thought for a moment and asked, "In addition to controlling consumption, we still need to increase our own food production as soon as possible, eating less can only make people live two more days, and harvesting more can make everyone live." Is there anything you can do about this? ”

"The solution that I can think of right away right now...... There are three. Dusandra walked his mother to a corner where there were too many people, and he said in a low voice, "First, through star thieves and smugglers, whether it is food imported by the League or the Federation, as long as it can be bought, then buy it." Second, we should give full encouragement to reclamation and agricultural production, subsidize the fuel for agricultural implements, fertilizers, seeds, and agricultural machinery, and also reduce the proportion of taxes on agricultural production and encourage more people to cultivate land – we also need to provide technical training to these land-clearers and farmers who have little experience. ”

Dussander picked up a few of the measures she had seen in the newspapers in her previous life and explained them, and it was clear from Androni's expression that she was a little worried about them.

"Importing through star thieves and smugglers, this is going to be a big problem. What's more, most of the smuggling ships are high-speed small ships, and they smuggle some high-value items and food...... They really can't send much. The Speaker of the House of Commons shook his head and said, "This is absolutely not going to work. ”

"What about the part that encourages production?" Dussander tentatively asked, "Let them start scaling up agricultural production now, and if we plant some crops that can ripen and harvest quickly, we should be able to catch up with ......."

"But there is not enough money, and the House of Commons is limited in the proportion of taxes that can be adjusted." Androni sighed, "It's a good idea to subsidize the price of farm tools, fertilizers, seeds, and fuel for agricultural production machinery, but it's too expensive. ”

After rejecting Dussand's two proposals in a row, Androni was still expecting Dussand's "inspiration", and she asked, "What is the third plan?" ”

Dusand glanced at Androni, who was looking forward to it, a little helplessly, and then hesitated, "This way...... I'm afraid the lethality is greater than the previous two. ”

"As long as it solves the problem, there are things that need to be done...... We will not hesitate to do it. Androni reassured Dusand with a very unconvincing promise, and then said, "So, what's the plan?" ”

Dussander sighed, "Immediately confiscate all the assets of all grain merchants and nobles engaged in grain importation, and seize their shops and warehouses. They collected all the food in their hands and handed it over to the navy or army, which was required to distribute it to all the citizens of Newsar according to the ration system under the supervision of the red-coated postman. ”

"According to our previous surveys and estimates, the number and consumption of grain imports and consumption in the registered Newsal are relatively large, and the price of Newsard's grain can still remain at a relatively stable level, and the only reasonable explanation is that these grain merchants and the nobles behind them have smuggling channels." "It's likely that their undeclared stockpiles are larger than the existing stockpiles in the whole of Newsar, and if they have their own holdings, at least until new food is grown...... There won't be too many people starving to death on Newsar. ”

Androni looked at her son as if she had known him for the first time. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Why would you do that?" ”

"To save more lives." Dussander replied categorically, "As long as necessary, Aika can make each of these merchants and nobles more than innocent......"

"I mean, why such an extreme approach?" Androni interrupted Dussand's explanation, "Can't you use pressure to get these hoarders to voluntarily hand over the food?" That's not how it is used – people should respect it, not fear it. ”

"In special times, only special means can ensure that we achieve our goals." Dussaint sighed and said, "Well, since you think you can do it...... And we do have some time, so you can give it a try. But if within five days, these grain merchants and nobles would not take out the storehouses...... Then use my method. ”