"The soldiers are well equipped and the money and food are abundant. The great Chu can have such savings, all thanks to the ministers."
After taking stock of his family's assets, Lu Yuan was so happy that he looked at the officials present and couldn't help but praise him.
"I don't dare."
"This is all the result of the great king."
Your Highnesses all saluted repeatedly but did not dare to accept the merit.
"Ha ha!"
Seeing this, Lu Yuan laughed loudly, waved his hands and said, "You don't have to be like this, gentlemen. You can conquer the world alone, but you can't rule the world. The only thing that is beneficial to running a country is to select talents and appoint them to do their best.
The state of Chu is what it is today, thanks to the many talented people present, so I will not compete with the ministers for credit. "
When the ministers heard this, they quickly said: "I am ashamed."
There was an endless scene of mutual affection between the monarch and his ministers in the palace.
After each praised and flattered for a while, everyone's enthusiasm subsided for a while, and then Sun Siwen coughed lightly, and then continued to give a rough report.
"I have reported to your Majesty the tax treasury. In addition, the results of this summer's household registration census in the ninth year of Shenwu have also been completed."
Sun Siwen saluted, then took out a book and asked the eunuch to hand it to Lu Yuan, and then said loudly: "Da Chu already has five counties, among which Dongting and Xiangyang counties have been in my hands for more than ten years. Years can be said to be the foundation of the country.
Qianzhong and Xichuan counties have been under governance for five years. During this period, household registrations have been continuously transferred to enrich the area and have become a source of money and grain.
Although a new county in the river valley was established, in the past two years, the establishment of prefectures and counties, and the immigration of immigrants have begun to take shape.
At the beginning of the year of the king's reign, he ordered all prefectures and counties in the world to check household registrations and compile household registrations. He also sent censors to inspect each county to supervise this matter.
Half a year has passed, and the household registrations of Dachu have been collected. After being counted by the Ministry of Households, the number has been obtained, so the king is here to show that he is listening.
There are now 700,000 households and 3.5 million people in Dongting, one county and ten prefectures.
There are 200,000 households and 1.1 million people in one county and four prefectures in Xiangyang.
In one county and ten prefectures in central Guizhou, there are 280,000 households and 1.4 million people.
There are 400,000 households and 2 million people in one county and ten prefectures in Xichuan.
There are 150,000 households and 800,000 people in one county and six prefectures in the river valley.
The five counties and forty prefectures of the great Chu state totaled 1.73 million households and 8.8 million people. "
Sun Siwen was well versed in political affairs, and after his breakthrough, his memory was greatly improved. At this time, when talking about various data, he was confident and talked about it eloquently.
Everyone in the field listened to his report, and everyone listened attentively and thought secretly.
After he finished talking about the household registration of the five counties and making statistics, many people looked shocked and looked confused.
Just because the 8.8 million people Sun Siwen said at the end was really shocking.
Some things, if you don't talk about them clearly, you won't know how terrible they are.
This is the case for the household registration of Chu State.
Many people knew that the Chu State was powerful in the past. After all, it had five counties and an area of tens of thousands of miles. Just looking at the territory, one would know that it was a big country.
But knowing that it is a big country and what kind of big law it is, many people can't explain why.
At this time, Sun Siwen used this most direct data to tell everyone that Chu State was a large country with a household registration of 8.8 million people.
In this world, having more than one million troops and a population of over ten million is the standard for hegemony.
At this time, the state of Chu had 490,000 standing soldiers. With a little mobilization, the number of troops could easily exceed one million. The population is 8.8 million, which is only 1.2 million away from the tens of millions.
Even if the three vassal states of Jianchuan, Chili, and Kunhai are included, the population of Chu State actually exceeds ten million.
The three vassal states in the southwest obeyed the orders of the Chu State, paid tribute to the Chu State, and respected the King of Chu as their master. Naturally, they were also citizens of the Chu State.
When all countries in the world look at the Chu State, they will naturally regard the three countries of Jianchuan, Chili, and Kunhai as part of the Chu State and as its strength.
Just like the three countries of Changsha, Nanhai, and Ninghai were regarded by the world as members of the Yue Kingdom.
Of course, even excluding these three vassals, it is only a matter of time for Chu to make up for this gap between its status as a hegemon.
After all, unlike the two counties of Xiangyang and Dongting, which have been deeply developed, the three counties of Xichuan, Qianzhong and Hehe in the Chu State have only recently been opened up. The counties are vast and sparsely populated, and there are still large areas of wasteland that have not been cultivated at all.
The land in these three counties can at least support another five million people.
Even in Dongting and Xiangyang counties, there are actually many remote places that no one has cultivated.
If all these lands were developed, it would be no problem to support another two million people.
The above is only the agricultural population.
If the city absorbs more craftsmen as the population multiplies, the five-county city alone will be able to live an additional two million people.
All added up, the existing land of Chu State, with current agricultural and industrial technology, can support twice the population.
At today's population growth rate.
Even if the Chu State does nothing now and continues to recuperate and recuperate, it will only take ten years at most for the population to naturally multiply to tens of millions.
In thirty or forty years, the population will double.
And if the population doubles, the military strength can naturally double.
Now the Chu State has 490,000 standing soldiers. It is only natural that thirty years later, there will be more than one million standing soldiers.
With this strength, he is naturally the well-deserved overlord of the world.
From this perspective, we can understand why everyone present was so shocked, right?
Because with Chu State's current background, it only takes thirty years of cultivation for the population to be as large as that of Ning State. When it comes to national strength, it is far superior.
If they want to compete for the hegemony of Yangzhou, the Chu State does not need to go to war with the Ning State at all. After thirty years, they will be the proper lord of Yangzhou.
Because Ning Guo's current potential has essentially reached its peak.
No matter how hard Emperor Jianwu worked, he couldn't find more strength.
But with the current national strength of the Chu State, it could compete with the Ning State without losing the slightest bit.
Then after thirty years, the Chu State's national power will double, and it will be able to directly crush the Ning State simply by relying on its size.
The battle between the two has actually already decided the winner at this moment.
It's just that the Chu State and the Ning State did not fight and defeat each other on the battlefield, and the time was not yet thirty years later, so the world still didn't understand it clearly.
But among the many ministers present, which one is not an outstanding figure in the world?
Those who can achieve the position in the field are all leaders in the world. They naturally have long-term vision and extraordinary knowledge.
After listening to Sun Siwen's summary at this time, who can't understand the meaning?
As ministers of the Chu State, the Chu State could be so powerful. As important ministers in the court, their status would naturally increase.
With both prosperity and loss, who wouldn't feel excited and happy about this?
Even Lu Yuan was quite happy in his heart.
He looked through the household registration booklet submitted by Sun Siwen, and couldn't help but feel quite emotional when he saw the specific numbers on it.
For the Chu State to have such a household registration, Lu Yuan's hard work was naturally indispensable.
In the past three years of recuperation, he didn't just stay in the palace, focusing only on martial arts training and his concubine, and did nothing else.
In the past three years, under Lu Yuan's instructions, the Chu State conquered the Tibetan people in the valley, not only opened up a county, but also gained a population of 300,000 Tibetan people.
In addition, in the Soviet Union, about 100,000 fugitives have been accepted in the past three years, and a lot has been gained.
The remaining three kingdoms of Jianchuan, Chili, and Kunhai continued to attack Nanzhao and captured many Nanzhao Yi people.
Among these captives, there were about 150,000 Yi people who were exchanged for food by Lu Yuan and placed in various places in Xichuan and Dongting.
In addition, about 50,000 Yi servants who were originally captured by the Chu State were also released. They took their original families and moved to Hehe County to enrich the local population.
All parties combined, through various means, Chu State gained a population of approximately 600,000 both externally and internally.
The remaining places multiplied a little more, and this resulted in a population that was originally only about 8 million, and increased by as much as 800,000.
However, at the end of last year, the three southwestern countries of Jianchuan, Chili, and Kunhai had a truce and peace talks with Nanzhao, and the fighting had ceased.
After several years of cultivation in the Su State, local order and production have mostly been restored, the people have gradually stabilized, and the number of escapees has decreased day by day.
Chu State's channels for obtaining a large population from the outside world have almost been cut off.
As for the barbarian prisoners of war in the country, after years of consumption and release, there are only about 80,000 left.
These people have all been filled in more than a dozen mines in Qianzhong County and have become an indispensable labor force for mining. It is basically impossible to release them to local areas and become a registered population.
Three of the five major population sources were taken away at once.
Next, Chu State wants to continue to increase its population, or it can rely on natural reproduction and slowly accumulate.
Either you have to find an enemy like the people in the river valley, attack and destroy them, gain a large population, and at the same time expand your territory.
These two methods are one stable and the other fast, and Lu Yuan decided to use both in parallel, a two-pronged approach.
The country must continue to recuperate and multiply its population.
We should also look for targets abroad and take advantage of opportunities to expand.
The former does not require him to worry too much. There are countless ministers working hard in the middle of the court to help the Chu country recuperate.
But as for the latter, to be honest, Lu Yuan really hasn't found a suitable opportunity to expand now.
Now I can only lie dormant slowly and look for opportunities.
However, the above thoughts are only strategies for the future, and there is no need to mention them at this time.
Hearing that the Chu State is so powerful should be celebrated and inspiring.
Therefore, Lu Yuan waited for Sun Siwen to finish what he said, and after many ministers digested it, he laughed loudly and said: "Today, after checking the household registrations in the world, we know that our great Chu is so powerful. This great increase in national prestige should be celebrated.
Today, I am hosting a banquet in Qionghua Garden, inviting all the ministers to gather together to thank you for your hard work over the years.
The princes will be rewarded for this hard work! "
When all the ministers heard this, they all thanked me and said, "Your Majesty is the only one who is so kind to me."
…
After the great dynasty, all the officials of Chu State and the King of Chu had a banquet in Qionghua Garden. During the period, there were endless singing and dancing, and continuous string music. Some ministers wrote poems with pen and ink to celebrate the prosperous age of Shenwu.
And the contents of the imperial court that day, also under the deliberate promotion of the imperial court, quickly spread to all parts of the world.
The annual income is 40 million taels, the grain reserves are 40 million dan, the soldiers are 500,000, the territory is 30,000 li in five counties, there are 8.8 million households, and there are three major vassal states...
No matter who teaches people who listen to these items one by one, they can't help but feel chills in their hearts.
The world once again has a new understanding of Chu State.
The cause of overlord, the foundation of a great country, there is another chess player in the world who can participate in the competition.
The strength of the Chu State was officially recognized by people, and Lu Yuan was regarded as an overlord who could compete with Zhou, Liang and other countries, and was compared with the masters of those great powers.
After knowing that Chu State has such strength, no country can ignore the existence of Chu State.
And Lu Yuan, after taking advantage of the situation to harvest a wave of luck, finally achieved his goal.
Make a name for yourself.
Yes, it means becoming famous.
In this age of great strife, there is no future in being secretive.
In this world, the mainstream is to strive for hegemony, to defeat the other side and annex the other side.
Under this trend, if you are strong, you must declare it, tell the world, let everyone know how powerful and terrifying you are, and let everyone feel awe of you.
In this way, when others want to hit you, they will use a defensive weapon and not dare to attack easily.
In this way, when you send troops to conquer the opponent, the opponent will be afraid and dare not face the opponent directly, and you can defeat the opponent without fighting.
Therefore, after Liang Guo unified Qingzhou, he directly announced to the people of the world that he would expand his army by one million, become extremely powerful, and have enough strength to reap the current benefits.
The neighboring Xu State directly expanded its army by 300,000 to declare to the world, in order to tell Liang Guo that I am a tough guy and I am very powerful.
If you dare to come to trouble me, be prepared to have a mouth full of broken teeth and return in vain.
The State of Zhao also expanded its army by 200,000, and dropped its troops directly to the border of Zhao Liang, telling the world that if you want to fight, come and fight.
Zhou State also expanded its army by 200,000, directly increasing the country's standing troops to one million, claiming to have a million soldiers, in order to shock the hearts of the world.
Ning Guo also expanded its navy and crossed the river, telling people in the north of the river that with this navy here, they should not even think about taking a step south.
What these world hegemons do is nothing short of showing off their force, bullying the weak, and outright barbaric behavior.
Under this trend, the so-called building walls high, hoarding crops, and slowing down to become king has no market at all.
If you don't show your reputation or show your strength, others will only think you are weak and can be bullied, and then they will send troops to conquer, plunder your people, capture your land, and expand their own power.
Only by showing your fangs can you intimidate others, making them fearful and afraid to act rashly.
The most obvious example.
It was when Lu Yuan was conquering the southwestern barbarians that the surrounding countries were ready to take action. They had great intentions of taking the opportunity to send troops to attack and directly carve up the Chu Kingdom.
But in the end, the news of Zhou Qing Xiantian and Huang Xuan's joining spread, and the world knew that Chu State had received help from these two major Xiantian forces. Then Lu Yuan urgently expanded the army in the country, recruiting more than 100,000 standing soldiers in one go.
The two things worked together to frighten outsiders so that they did not dare to go south or west.
A living example is right in front of him. It has not been two years, so Lu Yuan naturally understands this deeply.
So after this court meeting, he specially opened the garden to celebrate and used a grand banquet to announce to the world the official rise of the Chu State.
He also used these achievements to let the world know that the Chu State was not something to be insulted lightly.
If you want to cause trouble for Chu State, you must also be prepared to have a mouth full of broken teeth.
certainly.
There are also plans to use this to promote fame and harvest a wave of people's luck.
And through this reputation, he can attract the hearts of the world and recruit wise men.
A good reputation can have a huge impact.
For example, in the original Chu State, if there was any innate sect within the territory, and Lu Yuan went to invite the other innate master to join the Chu State, it goes without saying that he would be rejected 100% of the time.
The innate master is so arrogant. Even if he wants to join the secular dynasty, he will only choose those hegemons in the world in order to seek glory, wealth and ambition.
Although the Chu State was originally powerful and was called a great country, it was still not as good as the Hegemonic State and was still not included in the tomb of the world's heroes.
But now that Chu State has become one of the hegemons, its status and reputation are completely different.
The former Yue Kingdom, as the world's hegemon, issued an order to recruit talents in the world. Guanhai Villa, Jiuchuan Sword Sect, Nanhai Sect, Baifeng Temple, Lu Yuan and other innate sects or innate masters all responded one after another. , joined the Yue court.
Don't worry about what people like Lu Yuan had in mind when they joined the Yue Kingdom.
First of all, it would be enough for the Yue Kingdom to allow the Xiantian Sect or the Xiantian Grandmaster to join.
The same is true for Zhou State in the north.
After Lu Yuan killed two generals of the Zhu Kingdom, he instantly made up for these two vacancies with just a few invitations from home. In addition to the eight great generals of the Pillar Kingdom, they even recruited three additional innate masters to serve.
Zhou and Yue were able to easily let the Xiantian Grand Master serve, relying on the strength of their overlords in the world and their reputation and status in the minds of the people in the world.
The original Chu State did not have this kind of strength, reputation, and status, so it was not qualified to recruit innate masters.
At most, it was just by grasping the key point of Baifeng Temple and subduing Ji Hui, who was worried about the sect's inheritance and could only live for three to five years at most.
But this is only a special case and cannot be counted at all.
If Ji Hui had not been seriously injured several times, his life span had been shortened, and he had lost much value, it is hard to say whether he would have chosen to seek refuge in Chu State in the first place.
It is more likely that people will choose to directly take charge of Baifeng Temple, go north to join the Zhou Kingdom, and sell themselves at a good price.
I would never choose a remote country like Chu State.
Why should I choose a small country like you when I can choose the overlord of the world?
The principle is very simple, nothing complicated.
On the contrary, when the news of Huang Xuan's defection to Lu Yuan spread, the world was extremely surprised. Why did such a master of immortality choose to defect to the small country of Chu?
I couldn't figure it out after thinking about it, but in the end I could only conclude that the King of Chu was too charming and his talent as the God of War was quite impressive, so he attracted talented people to invest, which is touching.
But after sighing, it disappeared.
Huang Xuan had a problem with his mind and couldn't think of joining the Chu State. Other innate masters have no problem with their brains and would not choose Chu State when they have many choices.
With the title of hegemon, Chu State was far behind those other hegemonic countries in terms of talent competition, and it was simply beyond their reach.
But now, under Lu Yuan's operation, and with the reputation of Chu State, this hegemonic status has finally been replenished.
"From now on, our country, Chu, also has the qualifications to recruit innate masters. When the world's heroes choose democracy, Chu can also be one of the choices."
In the palace, Lu Yuan read through the aftermath of the court meeting, the information sent back from various countries, and couldn't help but feel excited when he saw the shocking news above.
