Although many people in the Tang Dynasty are guessing that Xiao Lizi's next target is the arrogant Goguryeo!
But Xiao Han believes that with the current situation, Li Shimin may beat Goguryeo, but he will never really kill it!
This is not because Xiaolizi is afraid of Goguryeo.
In fact, after the once arrogant Turks were wiped out, no country in the world would be in Li Shimin's eyes, not even Tubo on the plateau!
And the reason why he thought Xiao Lizi would not kill Goguryeo was because there was only one reason! That was, lack of people!
Goguryeo is not like the northern grasslands. It also has the imprint of civilization and the shadow of the city!
Unless Datang just comes here to beat them up and then leaves, if he wants to actually control this place, he must leave enough manpower to educate, tame, and guide the local people!
But the problem now is: Xiao Lizi has no one in his hands!
Although, in these years, he tried almost every method to increase the population of Datang.
For example, suspending the distribution of all chastity memorial tablets, encouraging widowed women to remarry, and making local population growth a top priority when evaluating officials!
He even personally dismissed the maids from the palace and told them to marry a good family and have a son and a half, so that they would not have to die in the palace all their lives.
But population is just like growing food. When cutting, the crops are cut very quickly, but when it really grows, it will be difficult to slow down!
According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs, when the Sui Dynasty was at its peak, there were nearly 9 million households and about 55 million people!
By the end of the Sui Dynasty, after years of war, the population had dropped sharply to two million households, and the number of people was less than ten million!
Nowadays, after Li Shimin's hard work over the years, the Tang Dynasty only has 2.8 million households and about 13 million people. Even if you include people who hide and live in the mountains and forests, the number of people living in the mountains and forests will not exceed 1,600.
million.
A population of more than 10 million, in later generations, was just the total population of a big city! But now, this is the total number of people in the country combined. How sad is this?
Because there is no one!
Large areas of farmland in the country were abandoned, and countless mines were idle! Even if Xiao Han wanted to dig some gold, he would have to turn to the Goguryeo people.
It was also because there was no one around. Li Shimin saw Xiao Xiao and Huan Shi jumping around, but he could only hold back his temper and couldn't slap them to death!
After all, even the land in the country is idle. No matter how much land he lays down, if no one goes there, it will just be waste land! Apart from looking better in appearance, there is no actual benefit.
And just like that, Xiao Lizi is still an extremely pragmatic king. He will not be like Liu Che, who only needs his troops to redeem his troops, nor will he be like Yang Guang, who is overjoyed with great achievements. He will not do this kind of thing that only involves sacrifice but no benefits!
Perhaps, when there is enough population in the future, there will be a basis for controlling one side.
Only then will Xiao Lizi not hesitate to send his army north to drive out the Tartars, restore the Han Dynasty, and make the world once again intact.
"Xiao Han? Xiao Han?"
Just when Xiao Han was still bowing his head in deep thought, suddenly, a voice in his ear woke him up from his deep thoughts.
"Huh? What's wrong? What happened?"
After coming back to his senses, Xiao Han suddenly raised his head and looked around with confused eyes.
However, he found that the big ship under him had stopped at some point, and the soldiers on the ship were busy driving the prisoners to the small boats below, and transported them one by one to the beach not far away.
"Nothing happened. I just asked you to come ashore. Are you okay?"
Beside him, Luo Shixin looked at Xiao Han in front of him with confusion.
Unlike Xiaodong and the others, he was already accustomed to Xiao Han's distracted behavior. Just now he saw Xiao Han standing there for a long time, and he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
"It's okay! What can happen to me? Hahaha..."
Seeing Luo Shixin's suspicious eyes, Xiao Han laughed dryly, grabbed Luo Shixin's shoulders, and walked towards the rope ladder, winking and saying:
"Today can be regarded as a great victory, so I will treat you to a seafood feast! You don't know, the seafood around here, tsk tsk, is so authentic and fresh... Huh? What's your expression? Could it be?
Don’t believe me?”
Luo Shixin was hugged by Xiao Han's shoulders and said with an embarrassed smile: "Ahem, that Xiao Hou, have you forgotten? What am I doing now?"
Xiao Han frowned and subconsciously replied: "What to do? Become a fleet general? It's the same as eating seafood... Well, you haven't been eating seafood lately..."
Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you!
Likewise, even if it is what you want, don’t do it to others!
Unlike Xiao Han, who had only eaten seafood for a few days, Luo Shixin had been floating on the boat for nearly a year. He almost vomited after eating this seafood!
Now, don't even ask him to eat it, even if he takes a look at it, his stomach will react.
However, no matter what, it is getting dark now, and it is indeed dinner time. It is time to eat.
The group of people got off the boat, and after receiving a lot of rainbow farts from Wang Mengcai and others, Xiao Han didn't bother to say anything and just asked him to find someone to bury the pot and make rice.
Wang Mengcai is a good person, so he naturally knows how to prepare meals for Xiao Han and the others.
But he didn't expect that Xiao Han would bring so many people back this time. The food he prepared was simply not enough, so he had to rush to prepare an extra batch.
However, due to the large number of people and the fact that Luo Shixin did not eat seafood, Wang Mengcai was unable to put together a sumptuous feast in a hurry.
So when it was time to eat later, in front of people like Luo Shixin, except for a few pitiful pieces of meat, the rest were all green vegetables!
"I was in a hurry and didn't take good care of myself. I'm really sorry. It turned out that I wanted to catch a donkey and bring it to make soup, but the donkey ran so fast that a group of men didn't stop it..."
Perhaps because he felt that this feast was too shabby, Wang Mengcai had been carefully keeping a smile on his face since the food was served.
Unexpectedly, when Luo Shixin saw the pots of vegetables, instead of being disgusted, he was overjoyed! He even ate up the vegetables without even using the steamed buns or rice.
Looking at the other soldiers, they are basically similar to Luo Shixin.
Everyone ate the green vegetables with gusto, and some of them had a strong taste. They even chased the cook and asked if he could give him a few more green onions. It would be best if there was a little more sauce, but it would be okay if not!
"Are these people reincarnated as rabbits in their previous lives?"
Seeing with his own eyes a soldier picking up the vegetables that accidentally fell on the table and stuffing them into his mouth, with an expression of enjoyment afterwards, Wang Mengcai felt a chill on his back and thought to himself.
