Chapter 957, encourage fertility and insist on immigration
"I finally understand why Liu Jin insists on conducting a census. In the past, it was just a matter of simply registering the population, the ratio of men and women in the population, the population distribution of each province, and the proportion of Han and non-Han people.
, the proportion and number of men, women, old and young, etc., we don’t know anything about it.”
"The current census is to get all the information clearly."
After listening to Liu Jin's words, Liu Jian looked at the tables and drawings in his hands and couldn't help but sigh.
"Yes, I really benefited a lot."
"From these tables and drawings, we can grasp the real situation of our Ming Dynasty, how many young and strong labor force our Ming Dynasty has, how many children need to be raised, and how many elderly people need to be supported."
Li Dongyang couldn't help but sigh. From these tables, everyone finally had an accurate understanding of the population of Ming Dynasty.
"I didn't expect that there would be thousands of octogenarians in our Ming Dynasty, including dozens of centenarians."
Zhang Mao also smiled and nodded. He took one of the forms and smiled and said, according to data gathered from all over the Ming Dynasty, there are still many elderly people in the Ming Dynasty, including dozens of centenarians.
"Your Majesty, I think this is a sign of prosperity. We, the Ming Dynasty, govern the world with filial piety, so we should give these old people certain preferential treatment."
At this time, Xie Qian stood up and said very solemnly.
"I think what Mr. Xie said is true!"
When other people heard this, they also expressed their support.
Treating the elderly well is a tradition of the Chinese nation. Similarly, all dynasties have also given preferential treatment to the elderly over sixty years old, as recorded in the Book of Rites.
If a person is eighty years old, his family will not be engaged in politics; if he is ninety years old, his family will not be engaged in politics. If a person is disabled and has no support, one person will not be engaged in politics. This means that if there are elderly people in the family who are 80 years old or over 90 years old, the children and grandchildren can respond accordingly.
If the elders are sick and need someone to take care of them, one of their children and grandchildren may not do the corvee.
In the Tang and Song dynasties, the court even built special institutions for elderly care. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were also orphanages established by the court to adopt orphaned elderly people who had no children.
"Um!"
Emperor Hongzhi also nodded solemnly, thought for a moment and said: "Let's do this. We will give an order to the local government. All elderly people over sixty years old can receive thirty kilograms of grain, one kilogram of salt, half a kilogram of tea and five kilograms of tea from the government every month."
For ten copper coins, you can receive a piece of cloth from the government every year. In addition, you can not kneel before officials, and people over eighty years old are exempted from punishment!"
Emperor Hongzhi naturally knew about this, and all dynasties had given some benefits to the children of the elderly in this regard, such as exemption from corvee.
But now Emperor Hongzhi is different. He has a lot of money. He directly provides food, salt, copper coins, and publishes. It can be said that this policy is quite good.
With these subsidies from the court, these elderly people basically don’t have to worry too much about their retirement.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
When everyone heard this, they quickly replied to Emperor Hongzhi.
Although Emperor Hongzhi gave too many concessions, he distributed food, salt, tea, cloth, etc., and also directly distributed money, which was very powerful.
But on this matter, no one has any opinions, because since ancient times, all dynasties have governed the world with filial piety, which emphasizes filial piety and respecting the elderly and loving the young.
It is appropriate to give some preferential treatment to the elderly.
If anyone raises any objection or objection on this matter, once the news spreads, his reputation will be ruined. Maybe a group of old people will block your door and curse you to death every day.
Of course, the more important thing is that in this era, there are too few elderly people over sixty.
According to this census, there are only less than 30,000 people over the age of sixty in the entire Ming Dynasty, which can be said to be less than one thousandth.
This is mainly because the medical technology of this era is so poor, coupled with the lack of daily necessities, people can't even eat enough, and it is really difficult to live a long life.
In the Ming Dynasty, the average life expectancy was only thirty years old. Even in the Republic of China, the average life expectancy was only thirty-five years old. There were very few elderly people over the age of sixty.
Therefore, when the number is not large, if the policy of Emperor Hongzhi is followed, it will actually be a very small expense for the court.
"Well, let's do it this way."
Emperor Hongzhi nodded happily. He was a filial person, otherwise he would not have been named Ming Xiaozong after his death. He was very generous in treating the elderly kindly, and his policies were also very strong.
"yes!"
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others nodded quickly.
"Your Majesty, judging from the statistical population data, there are still many problems with the population of our Ming Dynasty. I believe that relevant policies should be formulated to improve the population of our Ming Dynasty."
After discussing the matter of treating the elderly kindly, Liu Jin thought for a while and stood up again.
When everyone heard this, they immediately became interested. Although everyone saw the data and analysis, they did not realize how many problems there were.
"Tell me!"
Emperor Hongzhi smiled and nodded.
"Your Majesty, taking the Western Regions Province as an example, the proportion of Han Chinese in the Western Regions Province is not very high. This requires the imperial court to continue to immigrate to the Western Regions unremittingly. Secondly, among the large and small tribes in the Western Regions, the ratio of men to women is very disparate.
, basically the ratio is between one to seventy-eight, and some are even one to ten.”
"This shows that among these large and small tribes, there are very few men. This is a big problem. We can formulate some policies accordingly, such as specifically emigrating people from some provinces in the pass where there are more men than women to the Western Regions. This way
On the one hand, it can increase the proportion of Han people and solve the problem of marriage difficulties."
Liu Jin thought for a while and then said.
"Hmm~"
After hearing Liu Jin's words, they immediately found the census data of the Western Region Province and nodded immediately.
"It turns out that the tribes in the Western Region are so short of men."
Zhang Mao smiled and said: "Liu Jin, you were too cruel last winter."
"Ahem~"
Hearing Zhang Mao's words, Liu Jin couldn't help but blush. He thought for a while and said: "Mr. Zhang, although the shortage of men in the Western Regions has some relationship with the war to regain the Western Regions last winter, it is not the main relationship.
"
"The Western Regions have been very turbulent since ancient times. Tribes large and small have been constantly fighting each other all year round. Therefore, the folk customs are strong and fierce, which is also the main reason for the scarcity of men in the Western Regions."
"That's it~"
Everyone also nodded slightly. In fact, since ancient times, there have been more women than men at home and abroad, because every war will kill a large number of men. In wars, although women are tortured, they generally do not kill women, but
It's different for men. Basically, there is only one way to die.
"In addition to the Western Regions, the two provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi are located on high loess slopes with very harsh natural conditions, but they have a very large population. I believe that a large number of people should continue to migrate from these two provinces."
"Relocating some people from remote areas with extremely inconvenient transportation and poor conditions can, on the one hand, move to places with better conditions and live a more prosperous life, and on the other hand, it can protect the local environment. The reason why the Yellow River is prone to flooding is
A very important reason is that the environment of the high loess slopes is getting worse and worse, and a large amount of sediment flows into the Yellow River due to rain, causing harm to the middle and lower reaches."
"In addition, in the Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan region, transportation in many areas is extremely inconvenient, and the lives of people in these areas are very difficult. I believe that people from these places can also be relocated on a large scale."
"Also in Jiaozhi in Nanyang, the proportion of Han people is very low. On the one hand, the court should vigorously immigrate to Jiaozhi. At the same time, it should also encourage non-Han people to marry us Han people and encourage Han people to take foreigners as concubines, so that we can
Rapidly increasing the population and proportion of our Han people, it also promotes ethnic integration and consolidates our Ming Dynasty's rule in Jiaozhi."
"Judging from the overall population data of our Ming Dynasty, the total population of our Ming Dynasty is still too small, and the distribution is also very uneven. The population is mainly concentrated in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, while overseas Australia, Huangjinzhou, is lower than the vast
, the land is fertile and the natural conditions are superior, but the population is very small."
"This requires the imperial court to adhere to the immigration policy on the one hand and move a large number of people from the two capitals and thirteen provinces. On the other hand, it must encourage childbirth and increase the total population."
Liu Jin expressed his thoughts in one breath. In the final analysis, Liu Jin still felt that the population of Ming Dynasty was too small.
You must know that the Ming Dynasty has now regarded the Pacific Ocean as its own inland sea, occupying a large area of Asia, monopolizing Australia and the Golden Continent. It has such a vast land, but its population is only 150 million, which is too small.
Therefore, fertility must be encouraged, and the more children the better.
In the past, we were worried that we would not be able to eat enough food and would not be able to feed the many animals. But it is different now. There is not enough food to eat. There is plenty of food, and there is still a lot of land that has not been cultivated. No matter how large the population is,
Several times, ten times, there is no need to worry about running out of food.
"Insist on immigration and encourage childbirth!"
After everyone listened, they also grasped the key points of Liu Jin's words, and nodded after thinking about it.
"Liu Jin, do you have any good ideas for encouraging fertility?"
Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and asked.
"Your Majesty, gentlemen~"
"In terms of encouraging childbirth, I believe that we Han people should be encouraged to take foreign concubines as concubines, especially in places outside the customs and overseas where there are a large number of foreigners. The imperial court should issue a policy requiring every Han to take at least one non-Han as a concubine!"
Liu Jin thought for a while and said.
If you want to have more children, in addition to working hard to create people, the most important thing is to have more women. If there are not enough Han people, you naturally have to encourage foreigners to take them as concubines.
