In ancient times, population was a strategic resource. More people meant more land to cultivate and more wars to wage. That was the advantage of a large population.
From a business perspective, more people mean more people eating out, which leads to better restaurant business. More people also mean more people buying clothes, which leads to better clothing stores business. With more people, even bandits can collect more tolls, so they are less likely to kill and rob people out of hunger, which also helps maintain social order.
However, a large population also has negative effects. For example, in ancient times, productivity could not keep up with the large population, and many people starved to death.
If a large population cannot keep up with management systems, economic development, and cultural education, problems can easily arise.
Zhao Huan clearly remembered that in later generations there was a country called "A-San Kingdom" whose population was almost as large as that of the Celestial Empire, but the society simply could not absorb so many people, which led to a surge in social crime and frequent chaos.
So population is a double-edged sword; it depends on how you use it.
In Zhao Huan's view, the foundation of Chinese civilization was fully capable of supporting a large population. In this era, China had the world's most advanced bureaucratic management system and the most profound cultural heritage.
By the end of the Song Dynasty, the population of China had exceeded 126 million, more than any previous dynasty, which was a very important foundation for the development of commerce.
Take Tokyo for example, with a population exceeding 1.3 million. What does that mean? At the same time, major international cities like Rome and Paris had populations of only around 60,000. Even Constantinople, which was considered the most developed city in Europe, had a population of less than 100,000.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, the populations of places like Jiangling Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Daming Prefecture all exceeded 100,000, and the urbanization rate of the Song Dynasty had reached 25%, even reaching 30% during the reign of Emperor Shenzong.
In 2018, China's urbanization rate reached 60%, a figure that clearly demonstrates the significant urban development during the Song Dynasty.
However, after the Jin army marched south, many cities in Hebei and Hedong were basically destroyed. So the current situation is not as good as during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, but it is by no means bad either. The economy in the south has experienced unprecedented development.
Based on this data, there were 88 million rural people in the Northern Song Dynasty. These people were invisible in historical records and were not recorded. Their day was very simple: farming, eating, and chatting.
Due to the heavy taxes levied on landlords and the various corvée labor imposed by the imperial court, in addition to farming, they also had to squeeze out time to meet the court's needs. Corvée labor did not bring any income, and the heavy taxes further depleted the value of their labor.
When Zhao Huan arrived in this era, the most important first step of the new policies he promulgated was to lift this repression and unleash the vitality of the people.
According to information recently reported by the emperor's spies, since the strict implementation of the new policies in the capital region, farmers' enthusiasm for farming has soared to unprecedented levels. They now have their own time every day, and families of three no longer need to worry about being conscripted by officials to work as free laborers while farming.
In this way, when they are farming, they can almost see their future food supply, and their children will no longer have to worry about where their next meal will come from.
In addition, the imperial court stipulated that taxes be reduced to one-tenth of the original amount. In the past, after paying all the taxes, farmers would only have one last grain of rice left to keep their families from starving. But now it's different. Now they can not only eat their fill, but also have grain stored up!
What makes everyone even happier is that autumn is just around the corner, the crops will ripen, and the fruits will ripen. This autumn is sure to be a harvest season.
Upon receiving this good news, Zhao Huan was overjoyed. The tense atmosphere in the government hall, which had been tense due to the emperor's recent killing spree, was also swept away. Now everyone was busy and happy, feeling that they could all get their tasks done if things continued this way.
The only thing that worries the bigwigs of the Council of State is attracting a large number of people to Tokyo. According to the emperor's plan for Tokyo over the next twenty years, by the end of next year, Tokyo should increase its population by at least 200,000, and then increase by more than 3 million every year thereafter.
Where will we find these 200,000 people? Will we relocate them from Gyeonggi Province? Who will we relocate? Will we relocate farmers? After the relocation, who will farm the land? If no one farms, what will everyone eat?
Zhao Huan didn't care about all that; he simply issued a task: by the end of next year, the capital city of Tokyo must have an additional 200,000 people—that was the basic requirement.
After ruthlessly exploiting the prime ministers, the emperor summoned Qin Hui, as well as the prime ministers of the two ministries and senior officials of the Hanlin Academy, and they all went to the newly established Academy of Sciences.
Zhao Huan was well aware that while exploitation was possible, without finding a solution, all that would be extracted was human blood, not human life.
Aren't the prime ministers worried that after a large number of people migrate to the cities, there will be no one to farm the land, and the grain production will decrease significantly?
Then we need to find ways to improve agricultural efficiency. If the output of five people can be completed by one person, then the other four people can move to the city. Of course, we can't just convert it like that. After the four people move to the city, the food consumption will increase exponentially. So we should convert it proportionally based on the fact that two people can move to the city.
This was something that the prime ministers couldn't accomplish, and even Zhao Huan was helpless; only the Academy of Sciences could complete the task.
The establishment of the Academy of Sciences was also highly controversial. In the words of the ministers, the emperor was neglecting his duties and actually invested one million strings of cash in the Academy of Sciences.
I don't know where Qin Hui found some strange people among the common people, but he introduced them to the emperor. I heard that the emperor bought property for each of them in the capital city of Tokyo, and their monthly salaries were almost catching up with those of the prime minister.
This is completely putting the cart before the horse. It's one thing for these people to dabble in all sorts of nonsense among the common people, but now they've actually come all the way to Tokyo to deceive the emperor.
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