Today's Tang Dynasty does not lack land, but it lacks people.
In the third year of Yonghui after Li Zhi ascended the throne, Gao Ji, the Minister of Household Affairs, reported that there were more than 3.8 million households and a population of about 14 million.
There were only more than 10 million people in such a huge territory, but there were more than one billion people in a similar territory in later generations. Comparing the two, we can see how vast the Tang Dynasty is today and how sparsely populated it is.
Therefore, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the biggest problem that has troubled the three generations of emperors is how to encourage births. In order to allow the people to have more children, the imperial government has introduced many incentive policies.
The issue of civil marriage between men and women related to fertility has also been raised to a political level.
The term "official media" was coined in the Zhenguan year. Official media is not a media in the Tang Dynasty, but a matchmaker with an official background. It is usually held by the county government's secretary. His task is to go to the mountains and countryside, and travel through the villages and alleys. .
When a child reaches the marriageable age, he or she will come to the house to urge them to get married. It doesn't matter if there is no partner. The official media is responsible for the introduction, the matchmaking, and even the wedding. In short, it is the official achievement of the official media to successfully get a couple into the bridal chamber.
These days, no one dares to mention the sky-high price of gifts given by the government. I really can’t understand how miserable the working people lived in ancient times...
Li Zhi was an aspiring emperor, and he was definitely not as miserable as described in history books.
What is recorded in the history books is just the historian's personal venting, blaming Wu Zhou's anger on Li Zhi for usurping the country, even though everyone knows that Wu Zhou usurped the country after Li Zhi's death.
Li Zhi's ambitions were very lofty. What he wanted to do was not to be the emperor of peace and enjoy the shadow of his predecessors, but to be a heroic king and holy lord who was more talented and strategic than the late emperor Li Shimin.
No one wants to live in the shadow of the achievements of their predecessors, especially Li Zhi.
It is too difficult to surpass Li Shimin. Not only must the territory be expanded to a larger area, but the treasury must be more abundant than during the Zhenguan period, and the population must be larger. All aspects of data must be surpassed before Li Zhi can truly deserve the title.
Fortunately, he met Li Qinzai.
God saw that he had chosen the hell level game difficulty and was really dissatisfied with it, so he secretly gave him a plug-in.
The cheat is Li Qinzai. Judging from his performance in various aspects in the past few years, he does look like an unjust cheat, the kind who will not be unjustly banned by the official for a hundred years.
"If the population of the Tang Dynasty can really exceed 100 million, what can't be done in the world?" Li Zhi's face exuded a brilliant light.
The so-called "big country" must have prerequisites.
The first is the vast land area, the second is the abundant resources, and the last is the extremely large population base. All three are indispensable.
In the former two, the Tang Dynasty could launch wars to plunder, but in the latter, it could only encourage people to have more children.
If the Tang Dynasty had sufficient food, population would no longer be a problem that troubled the emperor. When the time was ripe, the number of births among the people would naturally increase.
The external conditions for a powerful empire have unconsciously taken shape in the past few years.
If you think about it carefully, it seems that everything is related to Li Qinzai. Land, food, and military affairs all have Li Qinzai's vital contributions.
what's next? The Li Tang Dynasty had to face many problems, not only external but also internal. …
"Jingchu, in one month, the imperial court will hold the scientific examination." Li Zhi said seriously: "I attach great importance to every scientific examination."
"You know, I want to get rid of the shadow of aristocratic families. I don't want the court to be filled with people from aristocratic families, who will participate in or restrict the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty."
"The power of the world must belong to the Heavenly Family and to the emperor. Just like Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, he commands the world like an arm. That is what an emperor should be like. Not now. To implement any national policy, I have to balance all parties. That would be too tiring for the interests of the forces, and the imperial power would be threatened all the time."
"Selecting people from poor families through scientific examination is the ultimate way for the court to get rid of the aristocratic families. While suppressing the aristocratic families, it also gives the world's poor people a glimmer of hope to get ahead, which makes the world return to its heart."
Li Zhi said deeply: "In the early days of Jing Dynasty, the Mingshu textbook was written by Li Chunfeng of the Taishi Bureau. However, Li Chunfeng was a Taoist and was already very old. In recent years, he has lived in seclusion and devoted himself to the pursuit of immortality. He rarely bothered with ordinary things. Ming I have no choice but to leave it to you when there are questions in the arithmetic subject."
Li Qinzai showed hesitation. He really didn't want to take on this job. Not only was it thankless, but it was also easy to make enemies and cause trouble.
Having Li Zhi's back doesn't necessarily mean there are no taboos. If he had a real feud with someone and was stabbed by someone, he would be embarrassed to ask Li Zhi to block the knife for him, right?
"Your Majesty, there are many talented people in the world who are good at calculation. As far as I know, there are many Ph.D.s in the calculation department of the Imperial College of the Imperial Academy. Why don't Your Majesty let them write the questions? I was born without any books and I am still young. , the reputation and qualifications are not enough, I am really worried that the scholars will not accept it and will cause trouble in the end."
Li Qinzai tried to refuse. He knew very well that Li Zhi attached great importance to the scientific examination, and Li Qinzai really couldn't afford the responsibility of messing up.
Li Zhi waved his hand and said: "In terms of proficiency in Mingshu, who in the world can compare with you? I'm afraid Mr. Li Chunfeng is not as good as you. This is a fact recognized by all the nobles in Chang'an City. Otherwise, why do you think everyone treats the younger members of the clan?" Sent to you to study?"
"Every time there was a scientific examination in the Tang Dynasty, there were as many people as crucian carp crossing the river who reported Ming classics, but only a few people reported Ming classics. Firstly, Ming Jing was the mainstream, and the imperial court had a lot of scholars. Secondly, there were really not many people in the world. What a calculative person."
"This time I have issued a decree. This year's scientific examination is expected to recruit fifty more candidates than before. To select suitable talents from among the thousands of candidates, I can only ask Jing Chu to write the questions, review the papers, and select candidates. .”
Li Zhi patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't reject me Jingchu, I need your help."
Now that the talk has come to this, Li Qinzai really can't refuse.
"I... would like to share your worries for Your Majesty." Li Qinzai sighed and said, "If I become enemies with others because of this, please Your Majesty decisively order him to beheaded."
"Don't worry, Jingchu. I understand all the dark things in the scientific examination. As long as I'm here, no one will dare to embarrass you."
…………
Every time Li Zhi gave Li Qinzai an errand, it was not easy. Li Qinzai wanted to refuse every time, but he was forced to agree every time, making it very pretentious, especially for green tea.
Early the next morning, Empress Li Zhiwu left Ganjing Village with his courtiers.
There was a great wedding yesterday, and the emperor and his ministers were all drunk. It is said that the courtiers sang and danced in the front hall of Li's house, and almost demolished the front hall.
Fortunately, Li Ji was there last night. In the end, he couldn't stand everyone's dissolute behavior, so he personally kicked Shangguan Yi, and everyone became more honest.
The sweet potato harvest was good, and the next step was to save the seeds for further planting. Li Qinzai was also responsible for this matter, and there was another assistant who assisted him, Prince Teng, who had just been named a farmer. It was said that he was on his way to Ganjingzhuang.
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