In Guangling City of Xu Province, it could be said that the streets and alleys of Guangling City were empty today. In an instant, the entire Guangling City was filled with the people of the Han Dynasty from all over the country. Among them were high-ranking officials and nobles, as well as commoners, but most of them were merchants.
Within ten days, the number of people in Guangling had increased by dozens of times.
There was a reason why so many people had come.
A few months ago, the Yangzhou Navy, which had set off from Guangling on the Yangzhou Sovereign Class Warship, was returning with a mighty caravan.
This was the reason why the streets of Guangling were empty.
Just the return of the navy alone was not enough to satisfy people. However, this time, the return of the caravan made the entire territory of Yangzhou boil.
In particular, there were ships that had returned to report.
In a tall building at the port of Guangling, a group of people were looking at the sea.
Both the building and the building were guarded by soldiers. At a glance, one could tell that they were high-ranking officials and nobles.
"Your Highness, please forgive me for not going out to meet you." A middle-aged scholar wearing an official's robe came to the building. Behind him were dozens of officials who knelt down in front of the high-ranking officials and nobles.
"Isn't that our Provincial Governor?" someone with sharp eyes recognized the middle-aged scholar's identity and shouted loudly.
"Yes, that's really the Provincial Governor. Look, isn't that the Prefect on his left?"
"It really is. Not only is there the Provincial Governor, there are other people as well!"
Some of the well-informed people in Guangling naturally recognized the middle-aged scholar and the others.
The Provincial Governor of a province could be considered a high-ranking official. However, such a person was kneeling down in front of a young man in the building. The identity of this young man was unknown.
"The Provincial Governor called him Your Highness? Could it be? "someone guessed vaguely.
"Elder Brother Yuanlong, why are you treating him like an outsider?" A helpless voice sounded in the building. A man wearing a royal robe walked out and spoke to the Provincial Governor of Xu Province.
"Ah, it really is Your Highness!" Liu Mang's appearance rate could be considered very high in Yangzhou. From the scholar-officials and aristocratic families to the common people, as long as they were representatives of various trades and professions, they had all seen Liu Mang. Liu Mang was also very close to the common people. He had gone to the fields many times. During harvest or sowing seasons, he would enjoy the joy with the common people.
And this Xuzhou Provincial Governor was not a stranger either. He was the old leader of the Lvbu's Army, our Mr. Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong.
Chen Deng looked at the man in front of him who was called His Highness the King of Han. It had only been a few years, but the entire world had undergone earth-shaking changes. Just a few years ago, on the land of Xu Province, he, Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong, had led tens of thousands of troops to besiege the young man in front of him and the remnants of the Lü Bu's army.
He had almost turned the Lvbu's Army into history.
However, it was also because of that incident that Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong, boarded the Lvbu's Army's warship. Later on, the Lvbu's Army changed into the current Yangzhou Army. He, Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong, Chen Yuanlong, was able to return to Guanli. He was originally the Governor of Guangling, but now, he was the Governor of Xuzhou.
Liu Mang only had a few provinces under his command. It was clear how important the position of the Governor of Xuzhou was.
When Chen Deng thought of this, he was so distracted that he even forgot to listen to Liu Mang's shout.
"How dare you!" The two guards by Liu Mang's side could not stand it, especially Guan Hai.
Guan Hai had already placed protecting Liu Mang as his number one priority. He was very loyal to his role as Liu Mang's henchman.
In Yangzhou, how could anyone ignore the King of Han's words?
Even the Governor of Xuzhou could not.
"Ai!" Liu Mang waved his hand to stop Guan Hai. Chen Deng was a veteran of the Lvbu's Army. He had made great contributions to the Lvbu's Army. His Guangling Army was the predecessor of Liu Mang's City Guard.
"Ah!" Chen Deng finally reacted. "Your Highness, please forgive me. This subject was distracted!" “
Could it be that our Provincial Governor is thinking of that family's daughter? This won't do. I'm going to tell your wife! "Liu Mang laughed.
The awkward atmosphere was swept away.
Liu Mang asked Chen Deng to take a seat. Their purpose for coming here was the same. They were waiting for the warriors who had returned from the sea to return to Yangzhou.
There were many storms on the sea, so the journey was naturally different from the plan.
Originally, the ship that came back to report said that according to the route, the ships should have returned last night. However, it had been delayed until today, and they still did not see any ships.
Bored to death, the waiting time was always long.
On the tall building, the tea was changed again and again. Liu Mang himself had to go to the toilet several times.
"Your Highness, why don't we go back first?" Chen Deng said respectfully to Liu Mang.
Liu Mang shook his head and looked at Chen Deng. The world was unpredictable. Everything had changed. Chen Deng was dressed in white and had a cleavage on the battlefield. Moreover, Chen Deng's martial arts were not weak. He was even stronger than Liu Mang, who was at the peak of the second-rate.
At that time, he was neither arrogant nor humble. His elegant demeanor was sharp and exquisite.
However, after this meeting, there was no closeness like before. Instead, there was a kind of respect.
Even if Liu Mang was prepared, he still smiled bitterly in his heart. It was lonely at the top! It had happened in Yangzhou, and now it happened in Xuzhou.
In the past, Liu Mang could still call Yang Hong Uncle Hong. But now, Yang Hong was unwilling to accept it. In the past, he could still get along with Chengyu and Huang Xu. But now, when he met them, it was His Highness. It was very uncomfortable.
Among these people, the only ones who did not change were Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu. However, one of them was still far away in Xiliang, and the other was too busy to leave.
"Delicious, delicious!" Just as Liu Mang was sighing with emotion, the voice of a foodie came from the other side.
The corner of Liu Mang's mouth twitched. If he still wanted to count, he really forgot about one person, and that was Zhou Cang. People say that one falls into the pit, one learns from one's mistakes. However, this Zhou Cang was completely a negative example.
Because of his big mouth, Liu Mang had given him many punishments. For example, he had to help in the kitchen. He was only allowed to watch but was not allowed to eat. Another example was to help in the stable.
There were all kinds of punishments, but this Zhou Cang still did not care.
You punish you, I do mine. This made Liu Mang's teeth itch.
"Yuanlong, how is Xuzhou's harvest?" Liu Mang chatted with Chen Deng.
"Reporting to Your Highness, Xuzhou has a big harvest this year!" Chen Deng's face had a trace of red light. Xuzhou could be said to be thriving under his leadership. Liu Mang also nodded. Xuzhou's grain supply this year was almost comparable to that of Shangzhou.
"It's just that!" Chen Deng said.
"But what?" Liu Mang asked doubtfully.
"But Your Highness, the people in Xuzhou have more children. Although Xuzhou has a large population, there is no one to farm!" Chen Deng looked at Liu Mang with difficulty.
Liu Mang understood Chen Deng's meaning. Liu Mang had always been encouraging people to have more children. If they had a son, they would be rewarded the same amount. If they had a daughter, they would be rewarded the same amount. Most of the time, they would be rewarded with land to the people.
This was because the people did not have much of an impression of money. If you told them that one gold or one thousand gold was a lot of money in their eyes, they did not have much of a concept. It could only be abstract.
But land was different. If there was land, there would be farming. If there was farming, there would be food. If there was food, they would naturally be able to eat their fill and live.
For a family of three, five mu of fertile land was enough to eat their fill. If there was ten mu of fertile land, it would be enough to live a good life. During festivals or birthdays, it would not be a problem to eat a little fish and meat.
Therefore, the reward of land was very intuitive.
When there was a reward, there would be brave people. The reward of land stimulated many people. In addition, there was not much entertainment in ancient times. When night fell, the sky would be dark. Everyone would be dark. What would they do if there was no entertainment?
Create!
A very simple activity, that was to make a baby.
The medical conditions in ancient times were not good. Therefore, the fertility rate and survival rate were not high. However, there were many people.
There were no condoms, no family planning and so on.
It was impossible to make a baby a year, but it was still possible to make a baby a year and a half.
Especially after the first baby was born, the second and third babies were much smoother.
All of a sudden, there were a lot of newborns in Xuzhou.
Logically speaking, this was a happy event. However, something that made Chen Deng worried happened. Those families who had more sons and daughters were rewarded with more than ten mu of fertile land. In addition, there were other things added in. For example, women had to recuperate after giving birth.
How could a man alone be enough for more than ten mu of fertile land? Therefore, these people only had fertile land, but there was no one to farm it.
There was a serious shortage of labor. After all, women nowadays worked less and gave birth more. A baby would get a few mu of fertile land. If you were to farm the land, how much could you earn in a year? This brought about a consequence, which was that the land was abandoned. The food reserves were also running out.
A half-grown child would eat the old man to death.
"Haha!" Liu Mang heard Chen Deng's dilemma and suddenly laughed. "Yuanlong! These children are the hope of our Yangzhou's future! "
Liu Mang could not listen to Chen Deng's words and stop these policies to encourage childbirth.
This was because these policies belonged to Liu Mang's real national policies.
How many years had the Great Han been in chaos? At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, before the death of Emperor Ling of Han, the Yellow Turban Rebellion began.
The population of the Great Han Dynasty went from 40 million people to 12 million people. This was a reduction of several times. If the war continued and chaos came again, then it would be a miracle if the Great Han Dynasty had a few million people.
Why was there a Five Barbarians Rebellion? One of the most important reasons is that our Great Han Dynasty doesn't have enough people. Our strong and healthy people have all died in battle, dying in the civil war. What's left are the old, the weak, the women and the children. How can we resist the invasion of those foreign races?
Therefore, Liu Mang had always been encouraging childbirth. No matter what, as long as you can give birth, you are a good person.
Liu Mang also met with a farmer's family when he was in Yangzhou. Their family's wife was simply a lucky star. She gave birth to four children. This was rare. In modern times, it would also be difficult to give birth. But this was not the first child, so the risk was greatly reduced. In addition, Hua Tuo and Zhang Ji, these old Divine Doctors, were there, so they were able to resolve the problem very quickly.
After giving birth to quadruplets, two boys and two girls, Liu Mang was so happy that he even conferred a title. This was a typical example of Yangzhou.
Only when the population was large could they compete for survival in the future.
Right now, Xu Province is a bit difficult, but if you wait for another eight to ten years, then Xu Province's population will inevitably double. Young adults will make Xu Province exude exuberant vitality, and not the kind of deathly aura that comes from having too many old people and having a negative population growth.
"Yes! I am enlightened! " Chen Deng also nodded. The image of the Great Han Dynasty had long been engraved in people's hearts. Chen Deng also knew that the impact of the war on population, so this policy of childbirth must not be easily changed.
"As for the food problem you mentioned, it can be solved!" Naturally, I can also solve this problem! "Liu Mang said with a smile. Xu Shu had once asked this question in Yangzhou.
Liu Mang gave two solutions!
The first one was to plant sweet potatoes. This thing was high in yield and easy to grow. But this thing was very high in starch. If it was used for a long time, it would be harmful to the body. Therefore, Liu Mang could only treat it as an emergency.
The other one was to buy it. Where to buy it? The only places that had food were Jing Zhou, Yi Zhou, and Lao Cao. But Lao Cao's side was not doing well. After all, it had been so big for so many years, and a lot of land had been abandoned.
Liu Mang could not let the people of the Great Han Dynasty eat their fill and let the people of Lao Cao starve.
The Great Han Dynasty was born from the same root.
Then there was only one place left, and that was to go out to sea. Liu Mang already knew that there was good land overseas, and there was also good food supply. Therefore, Liu Mang added a condition to the ships that came back.
That was to bring back food.
As long as everything went smoothly, they would definitely make a lot of money. However, they couldn't let the merchants become rich alone. Even if they were rich enough to rival a country, they wouldn't be able to do so. Only when the country became rich could they truly become a person of the Celestial Empire.
Therefore, the taxes that came back from the sea were naturally not low. Now, Liu Mang was saying that if you brought back a ship's worth of food, he would exempt you from paying taxes. He would not even take the food for free. He would buy it for you according to the world's price, so that you would not suffer a loss.
"They're here, they're here! They're here! "Suddenly, there was an explosion of excitement at the port.
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