I am Da Song

Chapter 80 Methods of Counting Population

Zhao Huan's time was precious, so he didn't wait for Li Ruoshui in the palace, but went to Zuokuzang first.

When Li Ruoshui arrived, Zhao Huan was already surrounded by dozens of officials, including the prime minister, the censor, and Zhongshu Sheren. Almost all the prominent and high-ranking officials of the Song Dynasty in Tokyo gathered here, walking together in tall and spacious halls. between the inventory.

After Li Ruoshui took the initiative to meet the ceremony, Zhao Huan stopped with a group of ministers and asked, "It's been a few days since Li Qing took office to know the Kaifeng mansion. It's time to figure out how many people there are in Tokyo, right?"

Li Ruoshui paused, and said vaguely: "The Huiguan's Tokyo claims to have a population of more than one million. The goods are gathered from the north and the south. The world is rich and beautiful, and the population is more than a million."

"More than a million? How much is this surplus? One hundred and twenty thousand, or one hundred and eighty million? The difference is nearly double." Zhao Huan was not fooled, and asked very seriously.

Li Ruoshui complained endlessly in his heart, Da Song had never carefully counted the household registration in Tokyo City, and no information was circulated.His new official, Kaifeng Mansion, just took office, and he is still facing chaos. How can he figure out the household registration in Tokyo in just a few days?
Zuo Xiangmei Zhili relieved him, and said: "Officials, it has always been difficult to count the population of Tokyo. The water transport in Tokyo is well developed, and merchants, watermen, traders, laborers, etc. gathered from the southeast, Huguang, Shaanxi and other places. In terms of 10 people, there is a population gap of [-] people in Tokyo City, which is no big deal.”

Li Ruoshui nodded quickly, and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, there is only one canal of the Bianhe River, which is where the water transportation of the Sixth Southeast Road is located. Hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of residents in and around the city of Tokyo all look up to this canal, which shows the importance of population flow." Big. The government mainly focuses on industrial and commercial taxes, and most of the farmland near Tokyo is owned by officials, so the government has rarely counted the population of Tokyo.”

Zhao Huan glanced at Li Ruoshui, and said: "Hundreds of thousands of garrisons have disappeared, and millions of soldiers and civilians have been killed and injured in the flames of war. The wealth that was used to support the entire wealthy Tokyo in the past has now been vacant. You are in charge of the Kaifeng Mansion. Don't you have any plans to raise money?"

"I'm not too hard on others. The outer city is full of flames, so I can't count it. At least count the population of the inner city. The Prime Minister reported to me last night that the recruiting speed of the Shenwu Youjun is getting slower and slower. Apparently too many people want to fish in the troubled waters of the inner city." , don’t want to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, but want to steal a night’s sleep and enjoy the fruits of other people’s bloody battles.”

Zhao Huan also deliberately said these words to the high-ranking officials and dignitaries around him. When it comes to fishing in troubled waters, these people are the best among them.

Li Ruoshui also wanted to count the household registration, but the Kaifeng government had focused its energy on counting vacant houses to accommodate those people who came from the outer city.The children of their family serve the country loyally in the army, so they can't treat these loyal families badly.

In addition, there are many high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the inner city, which makes the statistics even more difficult.Li Ruoshui is not afraid of offending these people, but the underground officials may not be so conscious.

Zhao Huan took Li Ruoshui as the node to control the entire Tokyo city, and Li Ruoshui also relied on a group of confidants to carry out the government order.

Obviously, the current government orders of the officials of the Great Song Dynasty are very unpopular with "humans", to be precise, they are against the hearts of scholar-bureaucrats.

The reason why the scholar-officials are afraid to resist openly is because the power structure in the inner city is too simplistic, and official edicts can even bypass the court officials and directly issue to every command, and the commanders are all officials. family confidant.

This makes a group of gentry who can only grind their mouths and dare not see blood with bayonets really have no courage to provoke the official steel swords.

But it is too easy for these people to corrupt a government order and secretly obstruct the smooth implementation of the government order.

Li Ruoshui was afraid that he would forcibly check the household registration, and finally find out that there are only a few thousand or even a few hundred people.

Seeing Li Ruoshui's delay in replying, Zhao Huan urged: "Do you have any regulations? I handed over the Kaifeng Mansion to Qing. Millions of soldiers and people live in hunger and cold. Do you plan to eat vegetarian food like this?"

Food and clothing for hunger and cold?
Li Ruoshui was surprised for a moment?When did this saying exist, to fill hunger and cold in front of food and clothing?
Then Li Ruoshui looked up bravely, only to see the official's eyes looking at him sharply, and there was a flash of light in his straight eyes.

When he lowered his head, Li Ruoshui was keen to see that Wang Zongmian, the official's closest confidant, was carrying a package in his hand, and the contents inside had already soaked the cloth black.

After a while, Li Ruoshui probably guessed the official's plan, took a deep breath, and replied in a deep voice: "I have a charter, but I don't know whether it should be implemented."

The corners of Zhao Huan's lips turned upwards, which is why I chose him to be in charge of the Kaifeng Mansion. He has a passion and mediocre ability, and he will be the best executor of his will.Then he replied: "That's just right, today the Prime Minister Zuo and all the officials of the court are here, and all the sages will come together to decide whether it should be implemented."

Li Ruoshui solemnly said: "The city has been besieged for a long time, and those who starve to death belong to the Tao, and those who freeze to death sleep together in the house. Every family has the pain of zombies, and every room has the sorrow of crying. Therefore, I plan to build more in the inner city, and sell corn farms." , buy charcoal field."

Zhao Huan remained silent, and cast a cold look at Zuo Xiangmei Zhili.

Mei Zhili immediately took the initiative to stand up, and said righteously: "Bringing the world to the people, saving the people from hunger and cold, this is a well-deserved good government. It can show the generosity and benevolence of the officials, and the virtue will be followed by the people. Carry out this kind of good deed." , why hesitate?"

With the prime minister on the left taking the lead, his disciples, old officials, and party members attached to him immediately came out one after another, praising this benevolence and righteousness.

After all, this is a matter of morality, and the others have no choice but to follow suit a few times.

But is it really a good offer?
From the standpoint of the common people, this is undoubtedly the first benevolent government.

The Jin army besieged the city, and it snowed heavily for several days. The people were cold and hungry. The most scarce thing in Tokyo was corn and charcoal.

In history, the prince set up a millet factory and a charcoal factory, so that each person’s millet was no more than five liters, their salary was no more than five catties, and the price was only one or two tenths of the market price. Therefore, there was an endless stream of people going to buy rice and charcoal. Mixed.

But this is well-deserved good governance for officials, scholars, and common people, but it may not be true for these high-ranking officials in front of you.

Whenever there is a national crisis, it is a precious opportunity for these people to make a fortune.

The price of rice and charcoal soared, and all the wealth in Tokyo flowed to the cellars of these wealthy families.After all, at this time of national crisis, only these top ministers were able to store a large amount of supplies and sell them on the market.

The Great Song Dynasty has supported scholars for 200 years. When the wind and rain were turbulent, those who died serving the country were loyal soldiers at the bottom, but those who lay on the country and sucked blood were these scholar-bureaucrats who were deeply favored by the country.

The Kaifeng government has the ability to realize the wartime rationing of materials. Behind each person's five liters of millet and five catties of salary is the strong organizational and control capabilities of the civilian government.

Through the rationing of wartime supplies, the specific population figures of the inner city can be counted very quickly, including those floating population and vagrant household registration.

But there is an important prerequisite for this.

(End of this chapter)