Chapter 3425: Extra Chapter 4
Zhou Man at least has some theoretical knowledge, but Mingda and Yin Huo don't even have any theoretical knowledge, and they can make mistakes just by helping to pass something.
So when the officers and soldiers arrived, they saw five people squatting in the kitchen with gray faces.
The eunuch from the Palace Department pretended not to see and stepped forward to salute respectfully, "Your humble servant pays homage to Her Royal Highness, the Princess, the Prince Consort, the Princess of Liyang, the Duke of Shanghe, and the Earl of Anning."
The village head had no expression on his face.
Bai Shan didn't realize that his face was covered in black dust. He stood up and asked with a smile, "Why are you people from the Palace Department here?"
The eunuch tried hard to ignore the ash on Bai Shan's face, lowered his eyes and replied, "Your Majesty wrote a reply to the Duke of the County, and the Princess's Mansion also sent some things."
He paused and continued, "Your Majesty is concerned about the princess and the others, and has specially allocated some of the melons and fruits that Lingnan has sent as tribute this year for the princess and the others to taste."
After saying that, he waved behind him and the people behind him lifted the box up.
He opened one of the boxes, which contained many boxes stacked on top of each other. He opened it and showed them to them, "These are mandarin oranges, a specialty of Lingnan. They're a bit stale when they're sent to the capital, so the princess and the adults could use some fresh ones now."
Mingda took one out of the box and said with a smile, "It's indeed better than the ones sent to the capital. They are a bit harder."
She paused and asked Bai Shan curiously, "Strange, we have been here for a while, and we don't see any tangerines for sale here."
The village head said quickly: "Oh, we don't have this precious thing here..."
After he finished speaking, he realized who he was talking to and quickly covered his mouth.
The eunuch also glared at the head of the village.
Mingda smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Let him reply."
Seeing her friendly attitude, the village head heaved a sigh of relief and whispered, "This thing is precious. We have only heard of it and rarely see it, let alone eat or grow it."
When Zhou Man heard this, he immediately dropped the fire stick in his hand and ran over, "Let me take a look."
The eunuch hurriedly presented the box. Zhou Man picked it up and looked at it before excitedly asking Ke Ke, "Will you accept it?"
Keke: "What the encyclopedia needs are plants that can be cultivated."
Zhou Man then asked the eunuch, "Where are there any of these species around here? Let's go and have a look."
Eunuch: "...in Liuzhou."
Zhou Man decided and said to his old friends, "Let's go to Liuzhou in a couple of days."
Bai Shan and Yin Huo naturally had no objection. Mingda and Bai Erlang had just had enough fun here, so they agreed immediately, "Okay."
Eunuch: ...
Mingda and the others then looked through other things.
Many people in the capital sent them things, which were originally sent by people from the princess's mansion. However, the emperor suddenly took over, and the things were naturally delivered by the eunuchs of the Palace Department and the guards in the palace.
The eunuch took out two special letters from his bosom and handed one to Bai Shan, "This is from His Majesty to the Duke of the County."
He handed another letter to Mingda, "This is from the young Duke of Anxi."
When Mingda saw Bai Erlang's name on the envelope, she knew that her second son didn't want her to know and didn't even call him father.
She glanced at the anxious Bai Jilang and reached out to take it.
Bai Shan opened the letter and read it.
He was granted the title of Duke of Shanghe County for his contribution to the opening of the canal transportation. After he successfully presided over the tax reform, the emperor intended to grant him the title of Duke of Qin, but Bai Shan insisted on refusing.
Because of the tax reform, he was already hated. When Yang Heshu was demoted, the main reason was not only because of problems in the work he was in charge of, but also because he proposed tax reform and land reform.
In fact, this was the idea of Bai Shan, Zhou Man, Tang He and others together with Yang Heshu.
The speed of local land transfer accelerated, more and more farmers lost their land, and the birth rate that was rising year by year made it difficult for the equal-field system to continue.
Because of the medical bureau system, the child mortality rate in various places dropped significantly, which made the population grow faster.
At present, due to the increase in grain production, grain prices have dropped significantly. Although the per capita land of ordinary people is decreasing, their lives are slowly getting better, so no one has noticed anything wrong.
In addition, with the opening of the canal transportation, the world was stable, and trade became more active. Many people could survive without relying on the land, and no one would notice the hidden dangers.
But Bai Shan is different. Not only does he have a high IQ, he has also been reading the miscellaneous books that Zhou Man brought out since he was a child. He sees the danger hidden behind them.
If the peasants were allowed to lose their land, and the land gradually accumulated in the hands of the wealthy and powerful, the Jin Dynasty would be in chaos within a hundred years.
As the left prime minister at the time, Yang Heshu naturally saw it as well.
So after repeated discussions, they decided to reform.
The first thing to do is to convince the emperor.
The emperor refused at first.
The changes are too big. Once such changes are made, the world, which has been stable for only a few years, will soon be in chaos. He does not want to be the king of a chaotic country.
However, the emperor liked to travel, so Bai Shan and Zhou Man took advantage of the autumn harvest and took the emperor from Yongzhou all the way to Luozhou. On the way, they met many people who had lost their land for various reasons. They also saw young people who could not get land after adulthood because of the large population and the lack of land, and had to compete with their brothers for their father's meager permanent land.
At that time, Bai Shan asked the emperor, "Your Majesty, population growth is a good thing. Due to wars in the previous dynasty, only three out of ten people survived. The late emperor worked hard to govern the country, allowing the people to recuperate for more than 20 years. It is also thanks to your efforts that we have achieved the current number of households and population."
"Can you bear to see war break out again?" He said, "It's not obvious now, but the population is growing, especially in the Guanzhong area. There's a lot of people and little land. Unless the court forces the people to relocate, in another twenty years, another batch of newborns will grow up. They won't have any land to share, and they'll have no way to survive. They'll just become refugees."
The emperor frowned: "Business matters..."
"Even the business can't accommodate so many people."
The emperor pondered, "But what you and Yang Changbo are proposing is too risky. Regardless of my opinion, I have my reasons for advancing or retreating. But if you and Yang Changbo propose this and cannot proceed, you will surely die."
He said: "Not only will you die, but even your family members may..."
Bai Shan immediately said, "I know that Prime Minister Yang and I are not going to achieve everything all at once. We can take it step by step."
The emperor asked, "Which one should come first?"
Zhou Man on the side interrupted and said, "Let's start with the right age for marriage."
She said, "During the Han Dynasty, the imperial court forced the marriage age to be lowered in order to increase population, but this is actually unreasonable. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine says..."
"Why don't you just tell me what age is appropriate?" The emperor interrupted her, fearing that she would not be able to stop and start another long speech.
Zhou Man paused with regret and said, "Why don't you abolish the single tax? Men under the age of twenty and women under the age of eighteen are not allowed to get married."
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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