Lin Xiangru knew better than anyone what a piece of land that was more fertile than the Central Plains meant. Even if it could only be harvested once a year due to climate problems, it would still be enough to become the foundation of a dynasty.
The only problem is that Zhao's current strength is not enough to develop such a large land.
The Zhao State only has a population of 10 million. Spread over such a large territory, the density is already very low. It is impossible to immigrate to the northeast. After all, the Zhao State also has to consider management costs.
If there were only a few thousand people in a county, it would be impossible for Zhao to build roads, colleges, medical centers, and libraries there. All of these would cost money, and a lot of money.
To put it bluntly, such a small number of people can't even support a full county government. If the distance is further away, or in the mountains, the taxes are not enough to cover the road expenses, so how can other facilities and buildings be built.
In recent years, the State of Zhao has been continuously training doctors and building medical clinics in various places. Basically every county has a medical clinic, and some large villages and towns are also equipped with medical clinics to deliver babies to pregnant women free of charge. It is also possible to give birth to twins or triplets. There are rewards.
Zhao also reduced and exempted taxes so that everyone could afford to raise children.
In addition, Zhao Guo insisted on defending the enemy outside the country's borders. No matter how the war was fought outside, the country was never affected by the war.
Various measures have indeed achieved considerable results. The number of children born in Zhao has increased significantly in recent years.
But these children are too young. The eldest is only five or six years old. They have just been able to play soy sauce and are still early to grow up.
"It seems that we need to discuss with doctors to speed up the training of doctors, especially doctors who specialize in pediatrics. If we can equip each township with a doctor, we may be able to reduce the mortality rate to 10% or even lower." Lin Xiangru whispered.
Children are most likely to die before they are ten years old. In some places, the mortality rate is even close to half. Only half of ten children can live longer than ten years old.
There are many reasons for death, including illness, death by wild animals, or even being abandoned by parents, etc.
The last situation will basically not happen in Zhao State. Tiger poison does not eat its children. Normal parents will not abandon their children unless they cannot afford to raise them.
Although the lower-level people of Zhao State have not said that it is very good, except for areas with traffic congestion and no communication with the government, there is basically no problem in eating well in other places.
Although grain output was low in ancient times, there was a lot of land per capita. As long as the government distributed the land to those who were willing to farm it and collected less taxes, it was actually easy to solve the problem of enough food.
It's just that throughout the dynasties, the vast majority of officials have been unwilling or afraid to do such a thing for one reason or another.
The biggest factor leading to the death of children is disease. In the past, the death rate of children in the Zhao Kingdom was about 40%. Even the children of nobles and nobles had a high death rate. In the thirteenth year of King Zhao Huiwen, the princess died in infancy.
After Zhao Kuo ascended the throne, he abducted a large number of doctors from various countries, spent a lot of money to train them, and built medical clinics in various places. This gradually reduced the mortality rate from 40% to less than 20%.
It will be difficult to go down further. On the one hand, the number of doctors is limited and they cannot spread to every place.
On the other hand, the level of doctors is limited, and you cannot expect them to solve all problems. In fact, they cannot solve most problems.
Not to mention that time is limited here, even after more than two thousand years, there are too many diseases that cannot be cured.
In the past, Lin Xiangru thought that the achievements of Zhao State were already great. Apart from Zhao State, there was no other country in the world that could make the people have enough to eat and raise children. Based on the largest population, the growth rate is also the largest.
But Lin Xiangru now felt that it was too slow. He couldn't wait that long. He was already in his seventies and didn't know how long he could live. He hoped to set foot on that land in his lifetime.
"It is too difficult to train doctors. We, Zhao State, started planning six years ago, and we have only just seen the results now, but the direction is always good," Zhao Kuo said.
"Time waits for no one. It would be great if I could be born forty years later!" Lin Xiangru sighed.
"Why should Prime Minister sigh? It won't be long before you see that day." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.
road.
"I hope so." Lin Xiangru said.
"By the way, this is the plan I just made. Prime Minister, please take a look at it." Zhao Kuo handed a document to Lin Xiangru.
Lin Xiangru took it and took a look and was surprised. This plan not only included Hebei, Taihang, and Hetao areas, but also included Yandi, Guanzhong, and the Hexi Corridor.
However, Zhao Guo had been on the front line for the past few months, and after returning to Handan, he was not idle at all. He had no time to make plans at all.
"When did your Majesty do this?" Lin Xiangru asked in shock.
"I made it this morning." Zhao Kuo said.
"One morning?"
"Yes, how much more time will it take? Hasn't it been done before in Zhao State? Just copy it again. As for the previous plan, just upgrade it." Zhao Kuo said.
It’s just a framework, so what’s the problem? For him, the difficulty lies in the details and how to implement them, never the framework.
But the latter two are matters between Lin Xiangru and Wei Wuji.
This is the best thing for a monarch. Just open your mouth and someone will take care of things for you.
"I am ashamed of myself." Lin Xiangru said with admiration. Although the plan given by Zhao Kuo was very simple, it would take at least a month for him to do it. In the end, it was not perfected by Zhao Kuo, and there were many things that he could not have thought of.
"See if there are any problems. If there are no problems, assign them." Zhao Kuo said.
"Your Majesty... plans to develop Yandi, Guanzhong and the Hexi Corridor at the same time? This may be a bit stressful for our country, Zhao." Lin Xiangru frowned and said after reading.
"As long as I am here, it won't be a problem. By the way, Qin has promised to compensate Qi for five million stones of grain and fifty thousand pieces of Shu brocade. I will discuss with the King of Qi and give them all to Zhao to support Guanzhong. And the development of the Hexi Corridor. We, Zhao State, will give other compensation to Qi State." Zhao Kuo said.
Although with the strength of Zhao State, even if it were directly occupied, Qi State would not be able to do anything against Zhao State.
But Zhao Kuo would not do such a thing.
Reputation and diplomacy are still very important these days. It is not worth ruining your reputation and annoying Qi just for five million shi of food.
Moreover, the King of Qi is honest, has no ambitions, and poses no threat to Zhao. Such neighboring countries cannot be found even with a lantern, so why push them to the opposite side.
"In this case, the pressure on our country, Zhao, can be reduced. Starting next year, Hetao will begin to pay taxes." Lin Xiangru said.
It has been several years since the State of Zhao conquered the Loop, and until now it has not collected a penny or a grain of tax from them, which is quite difficult to say the least.
Of course, the results are also huge.
If Zhao had not given up the benefits of the previous five years and poured money into it, it would never have been possible to complete the initial development of the Loop in such a short period of time.
You know, it took Qin several decades to develop Bashu.
But to be honest, although the money from taxes is not dispensable to Zhao Guo, it is no longer the main proportion. Whether it is commercial taxes or the state's exclusive salt, iron, coal, paper, spirits, etc., they are much more than oral taxes and agricultural taxes.
Moreover, every time the Zhao caravan came back from the Western Regions, it would bring huge wealth.
"By the way, the Prime Minister just mentioned the population issue. I plan to cancel the oral tax. What does the Prime Minister think? To be honest, I don't like the twenty dollars, but for the common people at the bottom, it may be the family's savings for a year. It's Life-saving money." Zhao Kuo said.
Zhao Guokou gave each person 20 yuan, starting from the age of fourteen. Calculated based on 10 million people, it was only 200 million.
Of course, it was much better in the past. It's enough to arm hundreds of thousands of troops, the kind where everyone only has a gun tip.
But now, it's nothing. It can't even support the Xuanjia Army, and Zhao Guo doesn't lack that little money.
"I have only heard that taxes are being continuously increased, but I have never heard that the imperial court took the initiative to cancel taxes. Your Majesty is really a benevolent king. But I wonder if your Majesty has ever thought about it. When you are alive, your oral taxation is dispensable. What will happen to you a hundred years from now? Prince Tai Sun, or your other descendants, if they don't have oral gifts, can they support the huge Zhao State?
It is easy to spend. If the oral tax is re-imposed at that time, I am afraid it will be a huge blow to the entire country. Lin Xiangru said.
"Since ancient times, there has been no dynasty lasting for thousands of years. I have never thought that the Zhao Kingdom can last forever. I can ensure that there will be no problems in this dynasty, and even ensure that the next two or three dynasties will make steady progress. As for the future, that is not what I have to worry about. Future generations have their own things to do, and they cannot rely on just a few people to complete everything. If the Zhao Kingdom has rotted, it is natural for it to be replaced by a new dynasty, and it cannot be affected by mere words." Zhao Kuo said calmly.
Zhao Kuo had never thought about establishing an immortal dynasty. Whether it was theoretically or practically, this matter was unreliable.
Theoretically speaking, linearly increasing technological levels and the materials created by productivity will one day be unable to satisfy the exponentially growing population.
At that time, conflicts will break out. When the conflicts intensify to a certain extent, a change of dynasty will occur.
In fact, all dynasties could not wait for this day and were destroyed by bureaucratic corruption.
No matter how diligent and enterprising the officials at the beginning of a dynasty were, they would be corrupt and incompetent at the end of the dynasty.
This kind of thing will never change according to one person's will.
No matter how powerful a great man is, he can still control his life.
Therefore, Zhao Kuo took a very open view of all this.
He doesn't expect any immortality or an immortal dynasty.
Of course, the main reason is that it is useless to hope.
"..." Lin Xiangru didn't know what to say. This was the first time he had seen such an open-minded monarch. Which king doesn't want immortality and the country's eternity? Why did Zhao have such a weird thing?
"Having the king here...is a blessing for the people of Zhao State." In the end, Lin Xiangru could only say this.
"Since the Prime Minister has no objection, let's inform him. By the way, put this matter in the slanderous newspaper and let everyone know about it." Zhao Kuo said.
There is no technical difficulty in making slanderous reports. The State of Zhao has already produced it. It is issued once a month. The main purpose is to let the Zhao people understand the major events that have happened in the State of Zhao and improve their cohesion.
For example, Zhao Guo's victory over Qin Guo, Zhao Kuo's personal sacrifice to the deceased, etc. will be published in slanderous newspapers.
Each township school and college is given one free copy per issue. If you want more, you have to spend money to buy them.
The price was not cheap, but these days, more than 90% of the literate people were nobles, so it was not a big expense. In addition, it was written about national events, so there were quite a lot of people buying it.
"By the way, let the news go to other countries and let the whole world know." Zhao Kuo said, he never minded disgusting the other five countries when nothing happened.
Although the war is over now and everyone is licking their wounds, the competition is not over.
"No, I will make arrangements now." Lin Xiangru said, silently mourning for the other five countries.
The Zhao family had done this kind of thing back then. During the Spring and Autumn Period, all countries used one hundred steps as one acre. In order to attract people, the Zhao family used two hundred and forty steps as one acre, which was more than twice the size of others. It attracted people from all over the world. The population reaches Zhao Di.
Later, Shang Yang's reform was imitated by Zhao Guo in terms of land reform.
Other countries had no choice but to increase their acres of land to attract refugees.
Commonly known as involution.
But even now, Zhao's farmland is the largest among all countries.
Now that Zhao Kuo has done this kind of thing again and specially informed other countries, Lin Xiangru can already imagine how other countries will scold Zhao Kuo after knowing it.
"By the way, let the caravan organize a batch of goods to go to the Western Regions. Now that our country, Zhao, can use the Hexi Corridor without having to pay money to the country of Qin, it is a good time to do business. By the way... I want to know where Zhao Mu... is." Zhao Kuo sighed deeply.
It has been two years since Zhao Mu left Zhao State and went to the Western Regions. At first, there were news sent back, but since leaving Zhangye, no news has been sent back. Zhao Kuo doesn't even know whether he is dead or alive.
But as Zhao Kuo's elder brother, he couldn't really ignore it. To put it bluntly, if you die outside, you have to
Go collect his body.
"Leave this matter to me. I will go to the Zhuo family and the Guo family later." Yu Xin said.
"Your Majesty, there is an envoy from Qi State." At this time, a guard came in from outside.
"Envoy from Qi? Please come in quickly." Zhao Kuo said.
Soon, an envoy came in from outside the hall. After walking to the center of the hall, he leaned down and saluted: "Foreign Minister Sun Chen pays homage to King Zhao."
"The envoy, please get up and give him a seat." Zhao Kuo looked at the envoy Qi, wondering what he was doing.
"This is a letter from the king to the king of Zhao. The king asked the foreign minister to tell the king that he will come to Handan from Linzi in five days." The envoy of Qi said solemnly.
Only then did Zhao Kuo understand that after Wang Sunjia returned, he told King Qi that he had invited King Qi to come to Zhao to play, and King Qi agreed. The envoy of Qi was here to fight.
After all, it is impossible for the king of a country to come alone in a carriage.
The King of Qi's letter also talked about this matter, as well as some admiration for Zhao Kuo, commonly known as flattery.
"I would like to give a special welcome to King Qi. Taichang, please prepare relevant matters to welcome King Qi." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.
