Great Qin had a prosperous age

Chapter 684: Population issues left over from history (please give me a monthly ticket recommendation!)

"Reporting back to your majesty, according to the household registration list made by the minister, calculated based on the population, it turns out that when the world was peaceful, the elderly accounted for an excessively large proportion of the world's population, nearly three out of ten. However, due to the perennial wars, the population of prime-age people decreased, and the elderly population There is no one to support them, and their infants and young children have no one to take care of them. As a result, these elderly people have died one after another in the past 14 years, and the number of people in the country has dropped sharply."

When Fusu heard this, he couldn't help but think of the geographical population pyramid figure he had learned in high school. Because of the war, the population of prime-age people was small, and the population of elderly people and women were relatively large. However, in just ten or twenty years, those huge elderly people would Population figures would disappear.Once that time is reached, the total population of the country will drop dramatically.

This means that the people at the bottom who were originally forced to work as laborers ended their miserable lives in the misery and rain, and for the empire, those who were finally exploited also fell.

From this point of view, the disintegration of the Qin Empire was mainly due to the failure to handle the post-war affairs well. Instead of stopping, the Qin Empire continued to consume young and middle-aged labor.

The previous seven generations of kings of the Qin State frequently launched wars, and finally exhausted all the strong labor force in the country.After the war ended, in the 14th year of the war, the last remaining labor force of the Qin State also experienced the 20-year war of Qin State's unification and annexation of the world. Those who were originally in their teens to 40 years old when they joined the army experienced the world again. In the 14 years after unification, people in their thirties and forties went straight to their fifties and sixties, and the low birth rate problem caused by the war also began to erupt. In the past, there were few newborns and many elderly people in the family. Then young and middle-aged warriors , coupled with corvee labor, in this situation, countless families must be broken up.

Therefore, the situation of Jiang Xi's family being a widow and a daughter is actually a common situation in the world.

As far as you can see in a village, they are all old, weak, women and children.But what is even more frightening is that because they are all old, weak, women and children, the young children cannot survive at all.The most common thing during the Warring States Period was to exchange children for food and burn bones for cooking.

It's not that Fusu has not solved this matter before, but the reality is that according to this base, even after the completion of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor and the release of 50 million prisoners to go home, their working age is still limited...

So why did the Central Plains drive away the Xiongnu during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty? It is because after the Han Dynasty succeeded the Qin Dynasty, it has been cleaning up the mess left by history, so that the population ratio was seriously imbalanced, and the reality of family breakdown did not wait until 100 years Later, it took three or four generations to change the historical situation through generations.

From this point of view, the situation in the world today is indeed not optimistic.

The Second King couldn't help sweating. This was the only problem that gave him a headache. You can't change the actual population base.However, when this kind of contradiction falls on the individual family, it will be a lifetime of heavy toil and even disaster.

The second generation couldn't help but said:

"This matter is probably an urgent matter. The proportion of the elderly population is too large, the population base of young adults is too small, and there is no one to care for infants and young children. Now the longer the empire lasts, the more precarious the world becomes."

Those who were officials in the court during the reign of Qin II will never forget this day in their lives, because their emperor and ministers openly cursed the country in the court hall.It seems that the ceremony at the Tianzi's Ancestral Temple in the morning was just perfunctory.

At this time, all the scholars, generals and ministers had their hearts in their throats.

Meng Yi frowned and said:

"Your Majesty the Emperor, this matter is really my fault. Just because I once suggested that the late emperor order men to read the age of these people, although the empire has mastered the ages of these people, in fact it only focused on men who can fight and ignored The population ratio, now it seems, the entire empire feels like it is crumbling."

On the first day of the new year, the courtiers said in the court that the empire felt crumbling, which required courage.

Fusu frowned. Now comes the important task of governing the country. In the past, the adjustment of class relations was a trivial matter. Now under such circumstances, it is almost difficult for the empire to maintain operation.One wrong string, and the wheels of the empire's chariots are useless.

However, the prosperous age that I have always pursued includes a prosperous population.In a sense, if Fusu can solve this matter in this era, he will have created a prosperous era.

What finally restricts the progress of the empire is actually the problem of population imbalance. The current material means of production are not as rich as after 2000.And because of Yingzheng, the empire's finances have always been unable to make ends meet.

"Population is related to the people's livelihood and the national economy. I have abolished hundreds of thousands of troops and released 50 prisoners. In total, nearly 100 million people have returned to the countryside. I thought it would be effective in a few years. But It would be too slow for this to be effective. Do you have any suggestions?"

Meng Yi stepped forward and bowed:

"Your Majesty, I have another way to solve the current siege in the country."

"What's your idea, Sikou?"

"I discovered that the area with the greatest shortage of young and middle-aged people is in Guanzhong, but outside the Guanzhong, especially in Qi, Chu and Wei, there is a large number of young labor force."

When Qin Ershi heard this, he already knew what Meng Yi was going to say.

Immigration, 2000 years ago, was the thing that made people complain the most.

As expected, Meng Yi then said:
"For the great plan of future generations, I think that His Majesty should further loosen the restrictions on the flow of places into Guanzhong, and attract those young and strong people to enter Guanzhong. If they refuse, I think that His Majesty can only mobilize an army to force them to move into Guanzhong. Now it is The land in the pass will be deserted, but the fields outside the pass are crowded with people."

Qin II then asked:
"Forcibly driving those Qichu aborigines to Guanzhong has aroused the resentment of many people in the past. If I let them forcefully emigrate now, my reputation in front of the world will be completely lost because of this move. The only way to continue Lowering the taxes in Guanzhong and attracting them to enter Guanzhong, many county kings will definitely not agree to this, and the landowners may not be willing to let them go."

"Your Majesty, the oxen are almost exhausted from working day and night. Do you still have to worry about whether their yokes are wide enough at this time?"

For a moment, the whole hall was silent. If someone else were the emperor, they would definitely think that Meng Yi was too arrogant.

Fusu didn't have a fit on the spot. His meaning was correct, but his tone was a bit frivolous.

Meng Tian couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth after hearing this.

His younger brother is now so proud that he has forgotten the courtesy of the king and his ministers.

After Zhang Cang heard this, he also felt that Meng Yi had no special occasion today. To say so would be too embarrassing for His Majesty the Emperor.

(End of this chapter)