After hearing this, Liu Bei felt sad and murmured: "I'm so wildly fanciful that even Ziyu can't do anything about it. How can a country be forever established..."
"Although there is no fixed method, there are ways to delay it." Lan Tian replied solemnly.
"Oh? Teach me quickly." Liu Bei crossed his legs and became interested immediately.
Lan Tian sat upright and faced Liu Bei, pointing to the fruits on the small table between the couches, "Your Majesty, look at the fruits on this plate. Can we share them and eat them to satisfy our hunger?"
"Huh?" Liu Bei was puzzled at first, but soon realized that Lan Tian was making an analogy, and nodded in agreement: "There are plenty of fruits and melons on the table, so there will be no problem in satisfying hunger."
Lan Tian nodded and added, "If General Chen invites us to share the meal, I think it will be fine, but if all the officials at today's banquet are invited, these fruits and melons will not be enough to share."
"There are more people and less food, and I don't have enough food. What does Ziyu want to say?" Liu Bei frowned.
Lan Tian looked at the fruits and replied seriously: "The rise and fall of dynasties that your Majesty mentioned before is actually the same as the division of fruits in front of you. The people will not riot if they have a bite to eat. If the people's rations cannot be guaranteed, why not rise up instead of starving to death? They will If it becomes a knife for rebellion in the hands of those who are interested, the decline of the country will become an inevitable outcome, because the country’s land resources are limited, and the population will increase dramatically in the prosperous times. There will be many people but little land, and problems will arise in disaster years.”
Liu Bei nodded, and then asked: "I know the sufferings of the people, but from what Ziyu said, isn't it right to have a peaceful and prosperous age? Do we need to curb population growth?"
Lan Tian shook his head, "The population of all counties in the world is only tens of millions in the end. Our Han Dynasty has a vast territory, and the existing land is more than enough to feed them, even twenty or thirty times."
"Twenty times..." Liu Bei took a breath and thought to himself, how many prosperous times would it take to achieve such a large population? It will be thousands of years before the Han Dynasty can really reach such a population size. It seems that land is not a problem.
Liu Bei asked: "What does Ziyu want to say..."
"To solve the land problem caused by population growth, the first is to increase revenue and the second is to reduce expenditure. In addition to expanding outward and increasing the existing land area, the source of revenue can also cultivate high-yielding crops and continuously increase the yield of food per mu, which can be effectively utilized Farmland." Lantian held out two fingers and paused to let Liu Bei digest.
"Expanding outward? The bitter cold outside the Great Wall, the desolate and miasmatic south, and the hard-earned land of the soldiers may not be a good place. However, Ziyu mentioned that high grain yield is crucial. You have been doing this all these years, right? Zhu Ya The Agricultural College is doing a great job." Liu Bei's face was filled with joy.
Lan Tian replied affirmatively: "Your Majesty is right. I intend to cultivate thousands of miles of land for you, but the limited land may be fertile or poor. Even if the agricultural students pass on the fire, they insist on doing this from generation to generation. The yield per mu One day it will come to an end. Your Majesty, don’t look down upon the land outside the Great Wall and the south. Beyond the Great Wall, there are not only grasslands, cattle and sheep, but also a large number of mineral deposits underground. The south has a mild climate and rich products, and the miasma will be eliminated as the number of people increases."
Liu Bei nodded frequently when he heard this, "Ziyu made me enlightened, but now that I am old, I can only leave the matter of opening up the territory to future generations. Ziyu has given birth to two good sons, and they will definitely be able to assist the prince to succeed, sir." What should we say about reducing expenditure?"
"The younger generations will be able to open up new territories and cultivate grain seeds. The key is to reduce expenditures. Your Majesty had better find a way to solve this problem, otherwise sooner or later the roots of disaster will be laid." Lantian looked serious.
"Is it so serious? Ziyu, tell me quickly." Liu Bei concentrated more.
Lantian Zhengse said: "In the past dynasties, the population and land were not saturated, but riots and rebellions occurred frequently. The reason was distribution problems. The noble clans would occupy a large amount of resources, and long-term accumulation would lead to serious land annexation. In addition, in disaster years, the government Excessive taxation and extortion led to the people with land selling their land as sharecroppers, and the people without land selling their sons and daughters. The result was the Yellow Turban Rebellion..."
"But conquering the world requires heavy rewards, so I can't order the clan to give birth to young nobles, right?" Liu Bei understood the stakes, but unfortunately it became an unsolvable problem for him. His ancestor, Prince Jing of Zhongshan, gave birth to 120 sons. Over the past hundred years, the number of royal families surnamed Liu has been huge.
"Therefore, I suggest you not to enfeoff the land. Otherwise, all the good land in the world will be taken away by the noble clans, and the people will one day have no land to cultivate. Your Majesty can use other rewards instead, such as being uniformly supported by the court according to the title level. This can also avoid local Conceal the population tax." Lan Tian suggested.
After Liu Bei heard this, he thought about it and suddenly said seriously: "Ziyu, you, the great minister, have not yet taken office, but you are already thinking about the finance and taxation of the imperial court? It's just that the resistance is too great. Your running a school in Jiaozhou touches the interests of the gentry, and now you have to Aren't you afraid of being doomed if you go to pursue the noble idea?"
"If you want to extend the life of the dynasty, the issue of noble clans must be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise the situation will eventually change. In addition, this matter is not so pessimistic. If you do not give the fiefdom, you can use other things to replace it." Lantian answered, stroking his beard. .
"What to replace it with?"
"contract."
"What?" Liu Bei opened his eyes wide.
Lan Tian nodded and replied: "All wealth in the world is created bit by bit by the people. Your Majesty can set up an yamen to be responsible for the titles and wealth of noble clansmen. Simply put, the country will earn wealth, and finally distribute it according to the title level. ."
"This..." Liu Bei was stunned when he heard this. He knew that Lantian was encouraging business in Guangzhou, but he didn't expect to bring business to the court. He quickly asked: "How to make wealth? Are the merchants doing business? Or are they hiring people to farm? "
"In the House of Cutting Ice, cattle and sheep are not raised. This yamen does not compete with the people for profit. It is best to benefit the people and the country, such as maritime trade, bringing rare treasures and beautiful things from outside the region back to the Central Plains, and selling them to The noble clan members or powerful nobles, for example, help the court fund road construction, bridge construction, reservoir construction, etc. In short, there are always more solutions than difficulties." Lan Tian explained.
"There are more ways than difficulties? I like to hear this. I'm afraid that this yamen is located in Dasinong Mansion. Since it is Ziyu's proposal, of course you will be responsible to the end. I fully support it." Lantian never let him down, Liu Bei I think I can give it a try.
The monarch and his ministers talked late into the night, and even Liu Bei thought of several ways to make money.
Early the next morning, Liu Bei summoned Taichang Lai Gong, and the two accompanied Lan Tian to Da Sinong Mansion to take office.
Since Da Sinong was vacant, the subordinate officials of Taicang, Junshu, Pingzhun, Dunei, and Jitian Wuling were not equipped, so only Song Chen was available in Lantian.
"I know that Ziyu is good at employing people, so the subordinate officials in the mansion are not prepared in advance. You can transfer people from the capital or other counties. If you don't understand anything in the capital, you can ask Deshun. Song Qing will help you in Dasinong Mansion. Sooner or later He will do well." Liu Bei looked around at Lai Gong and Song Chen and nodded, he was full of confidence in Lan Tian.
"Da Sinong's Mansion needs a lot of math talents. Can I ask Jiang Gongyan for some officials who came from Guangzhou Academy?" Lan Tian clasped his fists and asked for instructions.
Liu Bei smiled and nodded, "As long as Jiang Gongyan releases people, of course I will agree."
"I'll ask Deshun, Shiyuan, and Xiaozhi to recommend some, and I'll ask Jiang Gongyan to allocate some people to me. I will definitely make Da Sinong Mansion perform its duties." Lan Tianmian assured Liu Bei.
"I know your talent well."
Lantian has been busy selecting people every day, occasionally going to the palace to meet the emperor but rarely staying overnight. In the blink of an eye, it is the end of the year and the beginning of the new year, and the Da Sinong Mansion has selected some staff to work.
One day, Song Chen anxiously knocked on the door and conveyed the news of summoning Lantian to the palace.
"Why is it so urgent?" Lan Tian asked in surprise.
Song Chen cupped his fists and replied: "The three generals captured Tongguan the day before yesterday. I heard that Your Majesty is going to lead the expedition in person and join forces with General Guan in Luoyang. Maybe he wants to invite you to go with him?"
