The population issue has been a major problem for dynasties throughout history.

In the 14th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, a national population census was conducted.

There are 1,652,789 households and 6,545,812 people.

Although there was no specific census during the early years of the Hongwu reign, the population must have plummeted due to the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the influx of refugees.

A chaotic world is the nightmare of everyone in the world.

Looking through the official history, the extinction of the population is shocking.

For example, during the Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the population was nearly 60 million.

By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of Central Plains was only 7.6 million.

More than 50 million people, 80 to 90 percent of the population, died in this chaotic world.

For example, during the Sui Dynasty, the population was over 46 million.

When the Tang Dynasty was established, only more than 10 million people were left.

In just a few decades, 30 million people in the Central Plains died.

Even after the Zhenguan Reign and the Kaiyuan Prosperity, the population of the Tang Dynasty finally reached more than 48 million, but after the Anshi Rebellion, it returned to the pre-liberation era.

In this comparison, it seems that not many people died during the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

In fact, it is far more terrifying than imagined.

Because the Ming Dynasty today is no longer a country where 90% of the population is Han Chinese, but rather a fusion of multiple ethnic groups.

Among them, a large number of Mongols, Semites, and various nationalities were all included in the household registration of the Ming Dynasty, which resulted in the current population of 60 million.

There is no detailed estimate of the proportion of Han people among them, but it is conceivable that it is much less than before.

In the 26th year of Hongwu last year, there was also a large-scale population census.

According to common sense, during these ten years of recuperation, the population of the Ming Dynasty should have experienced an explosion.

However, the actual number is not much different from that of the 14th year of Hongwu, not much more, still more than 60 million.

The reason for this is naturally due to the large-scale military operations.

For example, Lan Yu's title of duke and Zhu Di's great contribution to the Northern Expedition may seem to be just a few words in history, but the number of soldiers who died in the process is countless.

Among them, there were military training in various places and some natural disasters and famines.

Including Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown of Fengyang, there was also a peasant uprising because people could not make a living.

However, compared with the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was no large-scale unrest.

Now that the economy is booming, high-yield crops are constantly spreading throughout the Ming Dynasty. In a few years, there will be a major breakthrough in population.

This is what Zhu Yuanzhang has always been looking forward to.

Even if there are no statistics on the number, at least because of the policy of equalizing the land tax, the number of newborns has been increasing since the second half of last year.

Newborns are the hope for the future of the Ming Dynasty.

There is strength in numbers, and this is a real truth for the Ming Dynasty today.

Half a month passed in a flash.

Xiao Yuting is almost two months old.

And today, the letter from Champa arrived in Ming Dynasty.

The first place the letter arrived was naturally Zhu Yuanzhang's hands.

"Good for you, my great grandson. The Champa Kingdom actually gave up a city."

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone revealed surprise, excitement, and even some disbelief.

Nominally speaking, a large number of small countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty were vassal states and vassal states.

But in reality, this is only nominal.

As for other countries' internal affairs, military, laws and other factors, the Ming Dynasty has no ability to interfere.

This is naturally largely related to the long distance, but it is also related to the fact that the Central Plains is too large and vast.

Domestic affairs were enough to keep the emperor busy, so he had no interest in caring about others.

Tribute, in name only, was tribute paid by small countries to the Ming Dynasty, but in reality it was equivalent to some appeasement fees paid by the Ming Dynasty to the surrounding small countries.

Every small country can gain many benefits from tribute trade, so naturally most of them are more obedient as their own interests are not involved.

This also involves the issue of the face of the Celestial Empire.

However, Champa, which had only fifteen cities, gave up one city to Zhu Yunwen to establish his vassal state.

Zhu Yuanzhang had never even thought of such a thing.

Although the eldest grandson's words were very confident before, Zhu Yuanzhang actually didn't really believe it in his heart.

I always feel that my eldest grandson will definitely be rejected.

The final situation would be to raise troops, force the city down, and seize it as an overseas vassal state for Zhu Yunwen.

But now.

Just one imperial edict was sent, and after receiving the news, Champa actually agreed to cede the city.

This really took Zhu Yuanzhang by surprise.

Probably because in a sense, Dasun is doing this without using any soldiers, relying solely on his eloquence.

No, that's not right.

Without even the slightest effort of words, just a simple order was sent, and along with one hundred thousand silver coins, Champa gave one of its cities directly to the Ming Dynasty.

Exaggeration, too much exaggeration.

"Grandpa, what are you talking about? Our Great Ming is now the ruler of the world, and Champa is just a small country. If Grandpa sends the order, how dare they resist?"

Zhu Ying said with a smile in a slightly exaggerated tone.

It was obvious that he was trying to make the old man happy.

Zhu Yuanzhang was really happy, but he also understood that there must be something he didn't know about, so he asked, "Tell us in detail how your grandson defeated the enemy without fighting."

"If this matter is really that simple, then our Ming Dynasty would be much more than its current territory."

Seeing the old man asking the question, Zhu Ying did not hide anything and began to explain the reason.

"This Champa Kingdom is different from other countries. The whole nation believes in Buddhism. Even the king of Champa has to be baptized before he can officially become the king."

"This Champa envoy Chaduo is actually the brother of the current Champa King Chaye. According to the primogeniture system of our Ming Dynasty, Chaduo should naturally be the king. However, it happened that Chaye was recognized by Buddhism and became the king."

"This is naturally closely related to Chaye's mother's family."

"In general, the one with the greatest power and reputation in Champa is not the king but Buddhism."

"My grandson sent people to communicate with the Buddhist elders, presented them with more than ten golden Buddhas, and told them that if they refused to give up a city, he would attack Champa just like he attacked Japan."

"Even Japan, separated by the sea, could not stop the Ming army, so how could Champa possibly stop it? In addition, Champa has not recovered from the war with Annan in the past few years. There is no doubt that Champa now has no way to go to war with the Ming Dynasty."

"In Buddhism, it is not just one elder who has the final say. All parties have used both soft and hard tactics to break through, and we have the current situation."

"The Champa king has long been a devout Buddhist and is not a stubborn person. Seeing that the elders all agreed, he could not voice any objection, so he naturally had to give up the city."

It seems like a simple matter, but in fact, the arrangements had already been made when Zhu Ying agreed to let Zhu Yunwen become a vassal in Champa.

Actually, it is very simple to say.

Everyone has his or her own desires, and money can be said to be the best motivator.

For the elders of Champa Buddhism, in their eyes they are not Champa people at all, but believers of Buddha.

The Ming Dynasty also had Buddhist believers.

What they needed was not the so-called territory at the national level, but the spread of Buddhism.

If the grandson of the Ming emperor, who was canonized as a vassal king, could become a follower of Buddha, it would be a truly big thing for Champa Buddhism.

In comparison, what is a city?

In the end, this city is still here and will not run away. As long as the Emperor's grandson of the Ming Dynasty becomes a Buddhist, then there will be no difference from now.

The complicated relationships here were a little difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to understand. After all, apart from the White Lotus Sect, Zhu Yuanzhang was not very familiar with religion.

I haven't spent too much time researching it.

That’s why I don’t understand the ins and outs here.

After listening to what his eldest grandson said, Zhu Yuanzhang's first reaction was not to think about Champa Buddhism, but to think directly of Ming Dynasty Buddhism.

"Is the influence of Buddhism really so strong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked subconsciously.

He was a rather suspicious person, so when he heard about Champa, he naturally thought of his own Ming Dynasty.

At present, in the Ming Dynasty, the influence of Buddhism is relatively greater than that of Taoism.

Zhu Yuanzhang himself was a monk when he was young, but he did it just to have food to eat, so after fifty days he was forced to wander, that is, go out to beg.

Because of this experience, I have a more favorable impression of Buddhism.

The three major temples in the capital today, Tianjie Temple, Linggu Temple and Da Baoen Temple, are the best examples.

Among them, Tianjie Temple, to a large extent, also represents the majesty of imperial power. When foreign envoys came to pay tribute, they had to first familiarize themselves with the court rituals in Tianjie Temple before they could choose a day to pay homage.

This can be seen from this aspect.

But now Zhu Yuanzhang was a little more cautious.

But Zhu Ying didn't care.

Because apart from Zhu Yuanzhang, the entire Ming Dynasty was relatively more devoted to Taoism.

This has a lot to do with Zhu Di.

Zhu Di called himself the Taoist Xuanwu Emperor, and the Northern Xuanwu was stationed in the Wudang Mountain in the south, which implied the legitimacy of the Jingnan Campaign.

After he ascended the throne, he built the Forbidden City in the north and Wudang Mountain in the south. Since Zhu Di, the Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, every emperor of the Ming Dynasty would send imperial envoys to Wudang Mountain to pay homage to the Emperor Xuanwu when he ascended the throne.

This was also the key to the prosperity of Taoism in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything, but he already had the idea in his mind to make some changes to Buddhism today.

For now, no matter what, Zhu Yuanzhang was still very happy that the Champa Kingdom gave a city to the grandson of the Ming emperor to establish a fiefdom.

But this matter is not over yet.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Grandson, the Champa king has a lot of ideas. At the end of this letter, he clearly stated that he wants to do the same as the Annan Kingdom and send a princess to you as a concubine."

Zhu Ying had not expected this, but it was also within common sense.

The key here actually lies in Zhu Ying himself.

The previous imperial gazette of the capital had mentioned the visit of Chen Muyue, the concubine of Princess Annan and the crown prince's grandson, to her parents' home.

Naturally, the old enemy Champa would not let this happen and would certainly try to turn the situation around.

Naturally, Zhu Ying would not refuse such a political marriage. Although he did not say the more the better, he accepted all offers.

As for whether they will have a bridal chamber, it depends on Zhu Ying herself.

However, considering that the aesthetic standards of Champa are similar to those of the Ming Dynasty, I think they will have to find someone with good looks.

If there is no particularly beautiful princess among them, a national beauty pageant will be held like in Goryeo, and then the title of princess will be bestowed.

This kind of routine is quite common.

As for the matter of Champa giving up the city, Zhu Ying ordered someone to write it in the Beijing Gazette the next day after receiving the letter, and it was made the front-page headline.

If we don't take the opportunity to publicize such a thing, we will miss a good opportunity.

Sure enough, after the latest imperial gazette of the capital was published, the first group of people in the capital who saw the gazette became excited.

People coming and going in the bars and teahouses are always talking about the Champa Kingdom giving up its city.

This can be said to have given the people of the Ming Dynasty a strong sense of honor.

When one's country becomes extremely powerful, every citizen will be extremely proud of it.

For other countries, it is even more of a deterrent.

Champa was once glorious many years ago.

Previously, Champa was not called Champa, but was called Linyi Kingdom.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Champa rebelled against the Han Dynasty and declared independence. The governor of Jiaozhi, Fan Yan, recruited troops from Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen counties to suppress the rebellion. However, the Han army mutinied because they were afraid of the long expedition against Champa, which led to their failure.

Emperor Shun of Han wanted to send 40,000 troops from Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou to suppress the rebellion, but was eventually dissuaded by his minister Li Gu.

From then on, the Linyi Kingdom came into being.

King Fan Xiong of Linyi united with Funan, invaded the border of Sun Wu, and occupied Xijuan County. When Fan Wen became king, Linyi expanded again, successively conquered Daqijie, Xiaoqijie, Shipu, Xulang, Qudu, Ganlu, Fudan and other neighboring small countries, and presented tribute to the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Soon after, Fan Wen attacked Jin's Rinan and Jiuzhen counties several times and defeated the expeditionary forces sent by the Eastern Jin. After that, Linyi sometimes paid tribute to the Eastern Jin, and sometimes maintained a hostile attitude towards the Eastern Jin, sending troops to harass Rinan and Jiude counties.

It can be said that it is an extremely powerful existence among the countries in Southeast Asia, and even now, it is still well-known.

In addition, Champa is located on the sea, and many Champa people are involved in maritime trade, and it also has some reputation in many places.

And such a country gave up a city just because of a word from the Ming Dynasty.

This has a great deterrent effect on other countries.

After the imperial gazette of the capital spread, many foreign envoys living in Tianjie Temple became more polite.

Even when bowing, one must bend three inches more and stand straight.

As for Cha Duo, he was more concerned about the affairs of the Champa princess.

He even wrote a letter of hundreds of words overnight, explaining in detail to the country the type of people that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince liked, and then ordered someone to send it to Champa as soon as possible.

It may sound a bit unreliable, but the reality is that if the Champa princess is really favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, it will bring unimaginable benefits to Champa's future.

If it is the opposite, or even not in line with the wishes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, then it would be hard to say.