Xiao Niangpi said with some worry: "Master, the territory of the Mongols was only this big at the beginning. Can we hold on to such a large land?"
Yang Fan smiled and said: "Do you know why I want to solve the Mongolian issue first? In addition, we are also expanding overseas at the same time."
Xiao Niangpi tilted her head and thought for a while and said: "At first, we attacked Haraqin to solve the problem of insufficient livestock. We lacked cattle and horses. Later, the master wanted to develop the woolen textile industry, and we needed herders to herd our sheep.
.As for Luzon Prefecture, it was because they massacred us Han people, and I was angry. But later I felt that it was more because of the copper mines. Because the Ming Dynasty had a serious shortage of currency."
Lin Yueru was also listening attentively, and Chen Xi was also listening quietly with her big eyes blinking. This was a rare opportunity to learn. She, a talented little girl, was also very interested in social issues.
"Everything you said is right. But they are not the most fundamental problem." Yang Fan smiled.
"Master, what is the fundamental problem?" Lin Yueru asked quickly.
"The most fundamental problem is that Daming is sick, and very seriously ill. He must be treated," Yang Fan said.
Seeing that his wives did not understand what he meant, Yang Fan continued: "Do you know that the highest population in the past dynasties always occurred at the end of the dynasty?"
Xiao Niangpi nodded and said: "I know, I have read the taxation and population data of past dynasties, and I have carefully studied the relationship between finance and population."
Yang Fan's three wives actually have higher IQs than him. He is only 120, Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru are both at 135. Chen Xi is even worse, with an IQ of 160. After Yang Fan finished the test, he was depressed.
They are all smarter than him. Therefore, he never dares to look down upon them.
They like to pretend to be curious babies in front of Yang Fan, but they cannot really treat them as curious babies. They know that they must act stupid in front of their husband to satisfy his vanity.
This is also the reason why Yang Fan has been living with them without separate room management.
Yang Fan was worried that if they were managed separately, they would soon develop their own power and start fighting. It would be better to keep them under the radar.
"Master, I have compiled a table, look." Xiao Niangpi found a table from her drawer. On it is the population situation of China's past dynasties that she painstakingly calculated.
During the Xia and Shang dynasties, the population was several million, and during the Spring and Autumn Period, the population exceeded 10 million.
Qin Dynasty - 26.5 million people.
Western Han Dynasty - 58.5 million people.
Eastern Han Dynasty - 56 million people.
Three Kingdoms - 26.5 million people.
Western Jin Dynasty - 36 million people.
Southern and Northern Dynasties - 40 million people.
Sui Dynasty - 45 million people.
Tang Dynasty - 90 million people.
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms - 32 million people.
Southern Song Dynasty - 132 million people.
Yuan Dynasty - 86.6 million people.
Ming Dynasty - 215 million people.
Yang Fan looked at the table and asked: "The population is growing all the time, so have you counted the output of the land?"
Xiao Niangpi immediately lost her face and said: "The output of food cannot increase year-on-year with the growth of population." Then she took out another piece of statistical information she had collected.
The land area of the Qin Dynasty was 3.47 million square kilometers, the population was 20 million, and the yield per mu was 65 kilograms per mu (the main crop during the Qin Dynasty was millet). Based on 1/4 of the cultivated land area, the land area was 867,500 square kilometers, which was approximately 131 million
mu, the total grain output is 8.515 billion kilograms, equivalent to 425.75 kilograms of rations per capita! An average of 1.18 kilograms of rice rations per day!
The land area of the Han Dynasty was 6.09 million square kilometers, with a population of 58 million. The grain yield per mu was 95 kilograms. The cultivated land area was 1.5225 million square kilometers, approximately 2.283 billion acres. The total grain output was 21.68 billion kilograms. The per capita annual grain ration was 373 kilograms.
The average daily ration is 1.03 kilograms!
The land area of the Tang Dynasty was 9.31 million square kilometers, the population was 60.9 million, the cultivated land area was equivalent to 2.3475 million square kilometers, approximately 3.491 billion acres, the grain output was 138 kg/mu, the total grain output was 48.17 billion kg, and the per capita annual ration was
790 kilograms, the average daily ration reaches 2.19 kilograms!
The Northern Song Dynasty had a land area of 2.8 million square kilometers, a population of 98 million, and a grain yield of 225 kilograms per unit area, which is equivalent to a cultivated land area of 700,000 square kilometers, or approximately 1.05 billion acres. The total grain output was 23.65 billion kilograms, and the per capita annual grain ration was 241.7 kilograms.
The average daily ration is 0.67 kilograms of rations!
The Ming Dynasty had a land area of 9.47 million square kilometers and a population of 99 million, equivalent to a cultivated land area of 2.3615 million square kilometers, approximately 356 million acres. The grain yield per unit area was 330 kilograms per mu. The total grain output was 11.74 billion kilograms, which is equivalent to a per capita annual ration of 118.6
kg, the average daily ration is 0.33 kg.
It is obvious that the people of Ming Dynasty were the worst off. The people did not have enough to eat!
People in the Qin Dynasty had an average daily ration of 1.18 kilograms of rice. People in the Han Dynasty had an average daily ration of 1.03 kilograms of rice. People in the Tang Dynasty had an average daily ration of 2.19 kilograms of rice. People in the Northern Song Dynasty had an average daily ration of 0.67 kilograms of rice. People in the Ming Dynasty had an average daily ration of 0.33 kilograms.
Yang Fan pointed at the data and said: "Look at the comparison between population and per capita rations. The people of Ming Dynasty can only eat this amount of rations in one day. Even if girls eat less, with this ration data, Mei Xiang will not be able to eat enough."
Mei Xiang puffed up her cheeks and said, "I'm sure I won't be full. I have to eat fruits, non-staple food, and meat every day. Just three meals alone would take more than that."
At this moment, everyone understood it. Even Aunt Mei, who was pouring honey and grapefruit tea next to her, understood it. The key problem is that the cultivated land is limited, and the increase in output is also limited. There is only so much land south of the Great Wall, and it cannot feed 20 million people.
population. It is useless to talk about gentry oppression.
How many gentry are there? If we kill them all, will the people of the Ming Dynasty be able to have enough to eat? The population and output are here. It is impossible to have enough to eat.
Lin Yueru felt that she had grasped the key to the problem. She asked: "Master, how are you going to solve the daimyo problem? If we don't intervene, there will probably be another great chaos and the population will be reduced by half. In this way, there will be fewer people in the new dynasty.
The per capita ration has gone up again.”
Yang Fan said: "First of all, I am a Han Chinese, and I can only be responsible for the Han people. Other messy ethnic groups will only be considered if the problem of the Han people is solved first."
"There is only one solution, and that is to expand the territory. Take three pieces of land. And immigrate the Han people to live and farm on these three pieces of land. In the future, even if the Han population grows to one billion, there will be enough food supply."
Lin Yueru asked: "Master, which three pieces of land are these?"
Yang Fan pointed to the map and said: "The first area is the Northeastern region. There are Songnen Plain, Sanjiang Plain and Zeya River Plain. There is also a small piece of Suifenhe Plain, which is the place we occupy now. A Songnen Plain has been developed.
The rice produced can feed the entire population of Ming Dynasty."
