"Last year, because of your affairs, the imperial court gave the slaves a reward of exemption from service." Wei Fangyun said, "Now there are many things to do, and there are very few people who can be mobilized.
Same situation as last year. "
Meng Changqing took the teapot from the table and poured tea for Wei Fangyun. "If conscription doesn't work, I want to try recruiting."
"So it seems that Beishan County has a good harvest this year?"
"It's not as good as other counties, but it's enough for the people to feed themselves." Meng Changqing said, "The condition of the city wall in this section of Beishan County is not as good as that of Weishan County and Hongjia County. They can probably wait for the servants. I Bian really can’t wait.”
"Yu Tai told me about the situation there, and we really can't wait." Wei Fangyun picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, "Okay, if you decide, then go ahead.
Just how much grain can your county harvest this year? How to determine wages? "
Meng Changqing has thought about this problem for a long time, but at present, the food has not been actually stored in the warehouse, and the estimate is always variable. "Every person has five to ten cents per day. The exact number of cents depends on the harvest."
"Even if it costs five cents a day, it will cost one hundred and fifty cents a month. A thousand people will spend one hundred and fifty cents a month. This only counts their wages. It is inevitable that there will be other expenses." Fang Yun said, “It’s really difficult to accomplish this with just one year’s harvest.
Come on, do it first. This matter will eventually be reported to the court, and there will eventually be some funding. "
"Thank you uncle."
As soon as today came, Meng Changqing never relaxed his brows when he saw Wei Fangyun.
"Uncle may be in trouble."
"There are too many embarrassing things." Wei Fangyun said, "For me, it is naturally about the evaluation in two years. For the people of Liangzhou, it is naturally about how to make life easier.
Based on this, one thing after another happened.
But in the final analysis, it’s the same thing.
money and population.
Compared with the two, money is easier to solve, but there is really nothing we can do about the population. If there are no people, there will be no people. "
Wei Fangyun looked at Meng Changqing, "Your Beishan County had a population of more than 2,000 a few months ago, and now it is still more than 2,000, only more than the dozens of married women.
If there are not enough people, it will be difficult to get things done. If the court wants to do things and the government wants to collect taxes, they all have to come from people. "
"I heard my uncle talk about this in the first half of the year." Meng Changqing said: "This year's harvest is good, and there is no conscription before the autumn harvest. Isn't there an increase in the number of people getting married this year?"
"Hey, how can there be more." Wei Fangyun said, "The conscripts are all men. Logically speaking, there should be more women of the right age than men, but in reality it is the other way around.
There are still more men and fewer women of the right age. "
It is impossible that the birth rate of male babies is much higher than that of female babies.
For what reason, everyone present except Bafang knew it well.
Only Bafang stared back and forth between Meng Changqing and Wei Fangyun, hoping that one of them would explain the matter.
But no one mentioned it.
Wei Fangyun continued: "There are many widows, but it is really difficult for a widow to remarry."
Meng Changqing asked: "Where is the difficulty?"
"Firstly, the husband's family refuses. After all, one more person is just more labor. As long as the woman does the activities, it is impossible to let her out. Secondly, most women themselves are not willing to remarry. Furthermore, compared to being unmarried, Men who have married women will feel disadvantaged if they have married someone before.
This matter is very difficult to handle. With fewer people getting married, there will be fewer new students. "
Meng Changqing was drinking tea. She couldn't answer the question, and she didn't want to.
She heard the meaning of Wei Fangyun's words. He was obviously encouraging the widow to remarry. After all, when you get married, you will naturally have children. After all, he just wants children.
He is not the child of a rich and powerful family.
A family like that would never be able to serve in the military no matter how many children they have.
Looking at the tea leaves swaying in the tea bowl, Meng Changqing thought that even if the government encourages widowed women to remarry, it may not be entirely a good thing for them.
Anyway, the right to marry or not to marry is not in your hands, and you will always be forced to do things against your wishes.
"Chang Qing, Zisun Xiang came up with an idea to me a while ago. I'm still thinking about it. Do you want to hear whether this is feasible?"
"Uncle, please speak."
"For widowed women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, who have no children and whose husband's parents have other brothers who can support them, we advise them to remarry. If they are unwilling to remarry, an additional poll tax will be levied every year."
Meng Changqing's right hand on his knee tightened, but the expression on his face did not change. "Uncle, do you think this plan is feasible?"
"It's a bit radical." Wei Fangyun said, "But it can be imagined that if this order is implemented, many widowed women will have to remarry. There are still many benefits."
He asked Meng Changqing, "What do you think of this plan?"
"In my opinion... as a woman, I really have no choice."
Wei Fangyun: "In order to plan for big things, there must be choices."
"Uncle." Meng Changqing adjusted his mentality and turned towards Wei Fangyun and said: "Since you asked me, I will tell you my immature views. According to Sun Tongpan's idea, the intention is to encourage women to remarry.
However, if this order was actually implemented, it would force women to have no place to stay. It is conceivable that in order to avoid the poll tax, some families would kick women out of the house before collecting the tax.
How could their behavior be contrary to your intentions?
In my humble opinion, since we are encouraging remarriage, it would be better to give some benefits to families who marry such women. "
"Benefits?" Wei Fangyun asked, "What benefits?"
Meng Changqing knew he shouldn't say any more, "I can't think of this."
After thinking about it, Wei Fangyun said, "What you said does make sense. I will consider this matter again."
"Changqing." Wei Fangyun looked at Meng Changqing steadily, "The population problem in Beishan County also needs to be solved urgently. You don't have time to wait for the population to grow on its own. You have to find a way to attract more people from other counties."
Meng Changqing knew this, but it was strange to hear it from Wei Fangyun. After all, he was the prefect of Liangzhou. Even if he was partial to Beishan County, he shouldn't say this openly.
Meng Changqing pretended to be stupid, "Uncle, what you mean is that there is still a place like Luojiacun?"
Wei Fangyun shook his head, "What I mean is, I can't help you for long. If you want to do such an unruly thing, you have to take advantage of these two years to do it well."
"What does uncle mean by this?"
"You should know the appointment rules of local officials in Daliang. One term is three years. Unless there are special circumstances, once the term is up, they must return to Beijing to report on their duties. They will be promoted or demoted based on the evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel.
Liangzhou has a special terrain. It is already my fourth year in office. In the next two years, my official position will definitely be transferred. I will either return to the army or return to the capital. No matter what, it will be impossible for me to continue to serve as the magistrate of Liangzhou. "
"Uncle will be promoted in two years."
Wei Fangyun waved his hand, "Don't talk about me, I made it very clear. In two years, the Liangzhou magistrate will be replaced by someone else. Unless you are replaced, it will be difficult for others to handle many things. "
(End of chapter)
