"Tong Xiang, you are too worried. This is just a 'plan' to sell, but it has not been sold. This time I entered Beijing, and I wanted to ask the emperor for his will,......" said Old Man Fei.

"Ask me for advice? Fei Aiqing, do you think I will allow you to disobey the system of your ancestors? Kangxi is not like Tong Guowei, there is no angry look on his face, and he does not have any good speech.

"Your Majesty, the servant recently read a book, and I didn't remember much about the rest, but I remembered a sentence............ "The stubbornness and conservatism of the Qing Dynasty almost surpassed that of any dynasty in history, and if you want to change this situation, the best time is of course at the beginning of its founding." However, in the early days of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, there was always a war, and the result of the discord between the Manchus and the Han was to make the Qing rulers at that time more stubborn and conservative, and they did not stop suppressing the Han people, and wanted to change, which can be said to be unimaginable. After that, if you want to change the policy of the Qing Dynasty, the Kangxi Dynasty is the most suitable. Kangxi's exploits gave him absolute authority throughout the Qing Dynasty, and he himself was a scholar of both China and the West. The most important thing is that the Kangxi Dynasty was a period when the policies of the Qing Dynasty were basically determined, and if Kangxi could be said to be moved at this time, then it would have a great role in promoting China's future development. And what's even more important here is ...... Now is Xiaozhuang's birthday, even if Kangxi is unhappy after listening to Old Man Fei's advice, he will never be punished, at most, it is just to dismiss Old Man Fei's official.

"What?"

"'The world is easy to move in time, and it is appropriate to change the law'......"

""Lü's Spring and Autumn Chajin"? ......" Kangxi was a little surprised, and then sighed slightly: "I really can't imagine it, I can read this book now, but there are fewer ...... Ferdinand, it seems that you still like to read. Yes, I'm from Manchuria, and it's rare to have a ...... like you."

"Your Majesty," Tong Guowei didn't know what "Lu's Spring and Autumn Period" was, but he felt that it was becoming more and more unpleasant to see Old Man Fei, so he said in a tough tone: "Your Majesty, Ferdinand's desire to do business is to make it clear that he is dissatisfied with the law of his ancestors, and you should punish him for the crime of 'great disrespect'!" ”

"Hehe......" Kangxi suddenly wanted to laugh. He suddenly remembered an interesting place, that is, although he was a Manchurian, but Old Man Fei and his companions always kept up with the Manchu ministers in the study, from the beginning of Mingzhu, to Suo Etu, and now Tong Guowei, this is the case repeatedly, and on the contrary, they have always had a good relationship with the Han ministers, not only Zhang Tingyu has a good impression of them, but even Gao Shiqi......

"Your Majesty, everything must have a reason. …… Master Fei is not a reckless person, so there must be a reason for saying so. Moreover, he did not cut first and then play, but went to Beijing to ask for a decree, which shows that he also cares about the emperor and the Eight Banners ancestral system. Therefore, the minister thought that the emperor should ask him the reason...... "Seeing Kangxi looking at him, Gao Shiqi would be wrong for a while, so he had to interject and talk about the affairs of the Eight Banners as Hanchen."

"Yes, Gao Shiqi is right. I am not a person who specializes in it, Fei Aiqing, if you have a reason, you can give me a good explanation, and if you say it well, I can forgive you for the crime of 'disrespect', but if you don't say it well, then I can't care about your past merits......" Kangxi said.

"Yes." Old man Fei bowed, and then said: "Your Majesty, before telling the reason, can you let the servants analyze and calculate it for you?" ”

"Analytical calculations? Okay, it's all up to you......" Kangxi said magnanimously.

"Your Majesty, before I speak, the slave wants to ask, how many people do I have now?" Old man Fei asked first.

"Hehe, you should ask Tong Guowei about this, he is now in charge of the Internal Affairs Office, and he knows this matter best...... Kangxi said.

"This," you can be regarded as asking, although Tong Guowei is dissatisfied with Old Man Fei, he is also secretly proud, because he is really clear about this: "Master Fei...... In the land of Gyeonggi, there are a total of 696,681 people, plus the Eight Banners stationed in various places, there are no less than one million people, and ......"

"And that's not counting the idle flagmen who didn't make it to the military, did it? Tong Xiang? Old man Fei asked.

"It's not. The Gyeonggi Eight Banners, including the sergeants of the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade and the idle bannermen, totaled 696,681 people......" Tong Guowei corrected.

"And what about the idle flag men everywhere?"

"Idle flag-bearers everywhere? Master Fei, you are asking the wrong question. Tong Guowei said with a smile: "In the twenty-third year of Kangxi, in order to prevent the courage of the Eight Banners from declining due to the influence of the people in various places, the emperor has already issued a holy decree that all the soldiers of the Eight Banners stationed in various places, once there is a deceased, their families, no matter who they are, need to return to Beijing and are not allowed to stay in various places. Therefore, the number of people in the Gyeonggi Eight Banners is especially better than that of Manchuria. (100,000 when the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, and it was more than 30 years to Kangxi, but it was only forty or fifty years since it entered the customs, and after more than two generations, the total population was actually only more than 500,000)

"That's the case, that's Fei's negligence," Ferdinand was shocked, he didn't expect Kangxi to do this. No wonder the Eight Banners were corrupted to the point that they were corrupted to a nest later. I can't even find an outstanding character, I don't even dare to go out of Beijing, most of them have not been influenced by the outside, isn't it more dangerous to be in this bustling and lively dye vat in Beijing than in other places? …… Kangxi's move really opened a "good" road for his descendants. But this is also good, and it also builds a good relationship for the children of the Eight Banners in the future, there are many people who know each other in the capital, and they will be hard when they become officials in the future, and then, the more corrupt they will become......

Although he thought so in his heart, Ferdinand didn't come to find Kangxi's defeat this time, so he then asked Tong Guowei: "Then I don't know how much the annual salary of these bannermen is?" ”

"Huh? …… Eight banners of forbidden brigades, horsemen are paid four taels of silver per month, and the annual salary is 46 Hu (23 stones); The infantry was paid three taels of silver per month, and the annual salary was 22 taels of rice (11 stones), and there was another ration when the troops were dispatched. ”

"How many people are there in the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade?" Old man Fei asked again.

"Your Majesty!" Hearing Old Man Fei's question, Zhang Tingyu suddenly said out loud.

"What?" Kangxi asked.

"Your Majesty, the minister and Lord Gao still have some things to discuss, please retire for the time being." Zhang Tingyu said.

"Something? Hehe, I know what you mean, the number of the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade is confidential, and you don't want to hear it. However, you and Shiqi are both my cronies and ministers, and I didn't let you know about it because of the system before, so would I deliberately hide it from you? What Fei Aiqing wants to say, I already have some understanding. This is exactly the question I have been thinking about, although you two are not bannermen, you are also my cronies and important ministers, and you have extraordinary knowledge, so you are here to consult for me...... Let's listen to it together. Kangxi said.

"In that case, the ministers obey." Zhang Tingyu and Gao Shiqi, one raised his eyebrows, the other twitched the root of his ears, and stood still.

"Tong Guowei, tell Fei Aiqing how many people are in the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade." Kangxi saw Zhang Tingyu and Gao Shiqi standing still, and instructed Tong Guowei again.

"The minions obeyed. …… Lord Fei, there are a total of 90,000 soldiers in the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade......"

“…… Ninety thousand! Regarding Kangxi's attitude, Old Man Fei glanced at Yu Zhong and Ma De, and was a little surprised. Although the purpose of saying this was to attract Kangxi's attention, he didn't expect Kangxi to react so plainly. In their expectations, Kangxi will be angry, will blame them, and even reduce a little guilt. And the reason why they said these words was just because Kangxi would not play heavy punishment on them during their birthday. However, since the situation is better than expected, there is no reason to say more. Maybe it can really pave a better path for the future.

"Ninety thousand forbidden brigades! Even if each flag soldier is paid three taels of silver per month, that month is 270,000 taels, and a year is more than 3 million taels of silver, which is not counting the money used to buy rice. In other words, in Gyeonggi alone, the total annual salary of the Eight Banners will be more than 4 million taels. At this time, the idle bannermen were only divided by the Qing court, but they did not take the silver, so Old Man Fei did not count the money they had to spend.

"Four million taels, plus the flags from all over the country, it will be almost five or six million taels. In the thirty-third year of Kangxi, the total income of the imperial court was 41 million taels. Tong Xiang, I don't know how much silver you think will be needed if this development continues, and when my Eight Banners reach 2 million, 3 million, or even 10 million? Old man Fei mentioned the population issue without moving.

"Ferdinand, don't be alarmist!" Tong Guowei said, at this time, he broke out in a cold sweat in an instant.

"Alarmist? Tong Xiang, if this is alarmist, wouldn't the other account be even more terrifying? Yu Zhong interjected. According to the plan, these words were originally spoken by Old Man Fei alone, so that even if he was guilty, he would only be blamed. It is also just a good time for Old Man Fei to take a break and be a staff officer for Yu Ma and the two with peace of mind. However, now that Ma De has made Chen Huang and his gang, Yu Zhong can't bear to be lonely.

"Oh? And the account? Yu Zhong, tell me about it. Kangxi said without the slightest expression on his face.

"Your Majesty, as far as the servants know, in the area of Gyeonggi Zhili, within 293 miles of Fangyuan, there is a total of 180,000 hectares of land allocated by the imperial court to the idle bannermen of the Eight Banners, that is, 18 million mu. If, according to what Mr. Fei said before, in the future, the number of bannermen in our Qing Dynasty will reach 10 million, how much land should be allocated to them at that time? As far as the minions know, Qitian does not have to pay taxes. ”

Yu Zhong said.

"Hehe, this account is really even more terrifying. …… Tingyu, how many fields are there in our country now? Kangxi asked Zhang Tingyu. He knew that asking Tong Guowei would not lead to results, so he went directly to the main master.

"Back to the emperor, according to the statistics of Kangxi in the twenty-fourth year, I have a total of more than 60,000 mu of land of all grades in the Qing Dynasty, and now another ten years have passed, plus the imperial court encourages reclamation in various places, and the national field should be about 65,000 mu." Zhang Tingyu replied.

"50 million acres more......" Kangxi nodded and did not speak again.

"Your Majesty, the land of the Qing Dynasty is not infinitely large, and there will always be a time when it will be reclaimed. However, people have to be passed down from generation to generation......" Old man Fei said again.

"Hehe, I know what you mean...... Kangxi smiled, and said to the three old man Fei: "See you today, you make me very satisfied, let's go back first." …… I will summon you another day. ”

"Huh? Oh...... Slaves retreat! "Why don't you go on halfway? How uncomfortable is it to hold back? Old man Fei and the three of them were apprehensive by Kangxi's trick again, and they didn't know the result, and they had no bottom in their hearts. However, Kangxi was the emperor, and they had no choice but to obey the order to withdraw from the upper study and then withdraw from the palace.

……