The summer in Handan is still scorching hot. The leaves are drooping under the bright sun. There is no trace of temper. Even the cicadas are chirping feebly.
Perhaps because there has been no war in the entire Central Plains this year, Handan is more prosperous than before. There are long lines of cars and horses on the road outside the city, waiting to enter the city.
Of course, if you are transporting fruits and vegetables, you can use the green channel without queuing. If you are transporting food, it is also tax-free.
This year's summer grain harvest has been harvested. Thanks to the promotion of curved shaft plows and waterwheels, grain output has been greatly increased in most areas of the world except for a few places.
Grain prices have also fallen, especially the price of wheat. Wheat prices have fallen again and again. In many places, pasta has not yet become popular, and the taste of wheat itself is very average. In some places, the price of wheat has almost dropped to half of its usual price.
However, after the Zhao and Qin states purchased grain on a large scale, the price of grain slowly rose again. Wei and Chu responded a little slower and also purchased grain on a large scale.
Storing anything in troubled times is not as useful as storing food. Of course, if you don't have a gun, the stored food may become someone else's.
At the construction site outside the city, there are busy workers everywhere.
The expansion of Handan City has not yet been completed. In order to continuously transport the goods from Handan, Zhao took advantage of the end of the busy farming season and arranged for people to dredge the Fu River and Zhang River.
In the original plan, a canal was to be dug to shorten the distance from Handan to the river, but because manpower could not be spared, the project could only be postponed.
Compared with Qin, the biggest shortcoming of Zhao is population. Even if Qin lost Hedong, Hanoi, and Sanchuan, and Zhao gained Hetao and other places, Qin still had nearly two million more people than Zhao.
In history, in order to encourage fertility, Gou Jian of the State of Yue ordered that if a woman did not marry at the age of seventeen, her parents would be guilty; if a husband did not marry at twenty, his parents would be guilty.
It is estimated that the policies of the later Han Dynasty were imitated by Gou Jian.
However, compared with the Han Dynasty, Gou Jian was obviously more conscientious. In addition to punishment, there were also rewards.
When a woman gives birth, she reports it to the government, and the government will arrange for medical staff to take care of her.
In addition, giving birth to a boy will reward two jugs of wine and a dog, and giving birth to a girl will reward two jugs of wine and a pig.
If triplets are born, the government will reward a wet nurse; if twins are born, the government will provide food.
If the legitimate son dies, his family will be exempted from taxes for three years. If the bastard son dies, his family will be exempted from taxes for three months. He will be buried in tears, just like the legitimate son died.
The children of orphans, widows, the sick, the poor and the helpless will be adopted by the government to avoid the worries of not being able to raise children.
It is estimated that this is also the earliest orphanage.
After that, Goujian also exempted citizens from taxes for ten years, so that every family could afford to raise children and have a surplus of food.
And he "does not eat what his body does not sow, and does not clothe what his wife does not weave."
The State of Yue became stronger and stronger under Gou Jian's rule, and finally destroyed the State of Wu.
Lin Xiangru once suggested that Zhao Kuo learn from Yue and encourage fertility.
However, although the population of the State of Zhao is not as good as that of the State of Qin, it is far greater than that of the State of Yue. If the reward is a dog for a boy and a pig for a girl... the Zhao State will definitely not be able to bear it.
Moreover, it is easy to issue policies that are beneficial to the people, but difficult to withdraw them later.
After the policy is cancelled, large-scale childlessness will inevitably occur, which will be counterproductive.
It is even more impossible to be exempted from taxes for ten years. Zhao State does not have such conditions now.
In the end, Zhao Guo could only copy part of it, stipulating that when a woman gave birth, she reported it to the government, and the government would arrange medical staff to take care of it. At the same time, if twins or triplets were born, the government would arrange a wet nurse for them.
And built orphanages across the country to raise orphans.
The purpose of this is actually not to encourage childbirth, but to reduce the mortality rate of pregnant women during childbirth and ensure that more children can grow up smoothly.
The risk of giving birth to pregnant women in ancient times was too high. It is not an exaggeration to say that three out of ten women died.
On the contrary, the situation of nobles is much better, which is caused by many factors.
On the one hand, the medical conditions of nobles are better.
Secondly, aristocratic women get married relatively later and are already fully developed when they get married, so the risk is lower.
The third is that the nobles have eaten well since childhood and are healthier. Many women have internal energy, and there are even women who have reached the Gangyuan realm. The risk during childbirth will be minimized.
As for childbirth... Zhao Kuo discovered that this matter does not actually need encouragement...
Since ancient times, China has been emphasizing on having more children, more blessings, and more descendants and blood inheritance. In addition, there is no entertainment at night these days, so after dark, you just hide in bed and have sex.
Having sex every day will naturally make it easier to get pregnant. Once pregnant, the child will naturally be born. As long as the family cannot afford to raise it, who would throw away their child?
Only when people are unable to survive due to war, famine, etc., will they sell or throw away their children as a last resort.
Just like when plants encounter droughts, floods and other disaster years, they will bear less or even no fruit. The same principle is true.
Therefore, what the government needs to do is not to encourage births, but to enable everyone to afford to raise children.
As long as you can afford it, you will have children even if you are not encouraged.
On the other hand, if you can't afford it, there's no point in encouraging it.
The second is to allow children to grow up healthily. The probability of children dying these days is too high. It is very rare for ordinary people to raise half of their ten children to the age of fourteen.
Nowadays, doctors focus on training pediatricians, and similarly, the diseases they focus on conquering are also childhood diseases.
As long as the child is ensured to grow up to the age of fourteen in good health, the probability of death later is very small.
However, it would take ten or eight years to spread it to every place in Zhao State.
There is constant hawking on the streets, and various snacks such as water chestnuts from the south, milk wine from Hetao, local peaches, and candies can be purchased in Handan.
There are many restaurants and shops on both sides. Many restaurants have a plaque hanging in front of the door, which lists the newly launched dishes. Some of them are specially marked as coming from the palace or Handan Academy to attract customers.
猌
The government will not pursue this matter, but encourages them to develop and learn new dishes.
Pedestrians passing by had faint smiles on their faces. People are easily satisfied. Compared with a few years ago, life now is like paradise.
As long as you work a little harder, having enough to eat is not a problem. If you are diligent, you can also get new clothes for the whole family during the Chinese New Year.
"It's not too bad."
Zhao Kuo opened the curtains of the carriage and looked at the Handan City he had built little by little. He pretended to be humble and said. But the smile on his face could not be concealed.