In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 391 Doubling the Population

Now the imperial court's ships are the largest and fastest, and can be exported to places that private merchant ships cannot reach.

"Places like Persia, Dashi, and even further afield, our merchant ships from the Ministry of Maritime Trade can already reach and trade with them."

"We used to make a batch ourselves and collect a batch from the private sector. The cost of purchasing from the private sector was relatively high, so we didn't make much."

"If you build everything yourself, you will naturally make more money."

As soon as Qin Zhuo explained this, everyone understood that the emperor did not want to compete with the people for profit, but mainly for export, to reach farther places that private merchants could not reach.

In fact, there were private merchants in the Song Dynasty who could go to places as far away as Persia, but after all, they were only a few, and only the officials of the Song Dynasty could sell more and farther.

The main purpose of the Korea Capital Division is to make money. Of course everyone understands and will support it.

Then Li Huang, the official minister, talked about provinces.

If it is changed to a province, the chief officers will remain the same and are called Zhizhi envoys and deputy envoys.

Zhao Yurui originally wanted to learn from the Ming Dynasty and be called the chief envoy on the left and the chief envoy on the right, or follow the Qing Dynasty and call them governor and chief envoy.

Later I thought about it and called them Zhizhi envoys and deputy envoys according to the Song Dynasty.

When everyone heard it, there was no difference. The chief officials of the province and the road were the same, but the names of the road and the province were different.

Zheng Qingzhi was silent at this moment. He had to know the emperor's intention first and then express his support.

Qin Zhuo spoke at this time: "Call the province."

"Lulu, Lu, there are only a few roads in Lin'an City. There are roads all over the world. Foreign envoys who don't know this think they are just one big road -"

Qin Zhuo rotated through the posts of Minister of Rites, and this year he was changed to Minister of Maritime Trade.

He said that when the Ministry of Rites welcomes foreign envoys, sometimes people think that Jiangnan Road is just a big road.

Zhao Rushu smiled. Jiangnan Road was so famous, so the foreign envoy didn’t know, but Qin Zhuo’s words clearly meant what the emperor meant.

He immediately expressed his opinion that it would be better to change the province, Jiangnan Province, Jiangnan Road, you listen, which one sounds better and which one is more grand, of course it is Jiangnan Province.

This change of title is not a big matter, but it is not a small matter either, because the seals and documents of the imperial court will have to be changed in the future.

But when Zhao Rushu and Qin Zhuo said this, everyone agreed.

Definitely it sounds better to save.

Zhao Yurui saw that everyone had no objections, so he decided to change it, but there were still a few key points.

One is the obvious area.

The Southern Song Dynasty is different from the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Zhao and Rui basically follow the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The country is divided into Shandong Province, Zhejiang Province, Jiangnan Province, Henan Province, Shaanxi Province, Jiangxi Province, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Province, Sichuan Province, Hunan Province, Hubei Province, Guizhou Province, Ningxia Province, Liaodong Province, Hainan Province, There are sixteen provinces in Taiyuan Province, plus Jeju Prefecture, which is a separate prefecture, with a total of seventeen regions.

Most of them are divided according to the original sixteen roads of the Southern Song Dynasty, and a small number of them were merged by Zhao and Rui in the second year of Baoqing, and some were merged near Sichuan. The rest are mainly based on During the Song Dynasty, the original region was the main area, but the name was changed to province.

Zhao Yurui has not changed much because all regions in the Song Dynasty can continue to be managed as they were before, without the need for regional adjustments.

Some of the important changes are that the territory of Sichuan Province has become larger. Basically, several roads in Sichuan from the original Southern Song Dynasty were merged. This merger does not affect regional adjustment and does not need to be drawn from other roads.

Henan Province is also relatively large, including almost all the Central Plains areas ruled by the original Jin Kingdom.

Liaodong Province is of course bigger. Zhao Yurui showed everyone the map they got from Haisan City.

From Jinzhou Island in the south, to the later Harbin in the west, to Kuye Island and the seaside in the east, and to the north including Sakhalin Bend, all the ministers were stunned to see that place. The Southern Song Dynasty was still big before it got the Great Jin Kingdom.

"A province in such a big place?" a minister asked in surprise, obviously feeling it was too big.

"The land there is sparsely populated, and no one has been seen for dozens or hundreds of miles. There are only large areas of jungle in the east and north near the sea. The west is also relatively deserted at the moment. Our Song Dynasty has immigrants and troops there, plus Goryeo People, all of them combined, number less than half a million.”

Everyone was amazed that such a big place only had less than [-] people.

Zhao Yurui said that when the population increases in the future, adjustments can be made.

Then the prefectures, prefectures, counties, towns, villages (streets), etc. under the province remain unchanged.

Later, Zhao Yurui expressed that he would add the post of governor.

Governor-Generals are generally established during wartime and colonial periods.

The ministers did not understand what colonization meant.

Zhao Yurui explained, for example, we conquer Goryeo, set up several provinces, and then set up a governor who will be fully responsible for military and civil affairs there.

Liang Chengdaodao: "Isn't this equivalent to becoming a king?"

"You can think so, but the power and treatment are not as good as those of a king, and the governors in the future must be rotated in three to five years."

Of course, although the Song Dynasty and Mongolia are currently negotiating peace, they are actually in a war period, so Zhao and Rui will also set up governors to oversee military and civilian affairs in several provinces.

After everyone heard this, they understood.

The governor is a temporary one and usually does not exist when there is no war, and must be rotated over time.

At this time, Li Huang, the official secretary, said again that envoys and deputy envoys must be rotated every five years, including the local generals.

Zhao and Rui both used their own people when they first ascended the throne, and Meng Gong stayed in Sichuan for eleven years.

What Emperor Li means is that they need to be rotated, and these people cannot be allowed to stay in one place forever.

Zhao Yurui nodded, but at the same time he said that in this special period, people cannot be replaced frequently. Meng Gong, for example, is very familiar with the Sichuan and Ningxia (Western Xia) regions. It is best not to change people if possible, because Zhao Rui is confident that he can control it.

After this matter was passed, Li Huang, the Minister of Civil Affairs, quickly said that the lists of envoys appointed by each province had been adjusted.

The top envoys in Shandong Province are Du Gao, Zhejiang envoys are Zhen Dexiu, Jiangnan envoys are Chen Guiyi, Henan envoys are Zhao Fan, Shaanxi are Yan Ying, Jiangxi are Wu Chunchen, Fujian are Zhao Kui, and Guangdong are Guo Zhengsun. , Guangxi is Lin Yunxiu (the eldest son of Chen Zhuo, the Minister of Civil Affairs at the time of Shi Miyuan, who was dismissed for opposing Shi Miyuan), Sichuan is Gao Zhiyao, Hunan is Hong Zikui, Hubei is Liu Kezhuang, Guizhou is Cui Shusi (Cui Yu's son), and Ningxia Ozasui, Hainan Wei Jinsi (son of Wei Liaoweng), senior official Liu Xin, and the final prefect of Jeju Island was Zhao Ruteng. Generally speaking, this list of top leaders across the country is relatively fair, and Zhao Yurui also worked hard to arrange various people.

Two of them are still held by Xixia people, including Gao Zhiyao, who is a large province like Sichuan, and Ningxia (formerly Xixia) is still held by Xixia people. In these two places, the original prince of Xixia currently lives in Sichuan, but the Dangxiang people All the troops formed were serving in Ningxia on the front line, and all the troops in Sichuan were Han Chinese. There were less than [-] party members, and they were all helping the court raise horses. Gao Zhiyao also married a Han woman in Sichuan, so it was basically impossible to think about the restoration of Xixia. He also tried his best to help the Song Dynasty and regarded himself as a Song Dynasty person.

Needless to say, Ozhahui had meritorious service in serving the Zhongxing Mansion, and he was quite outstanding in doing things for the Mongols. Now he is also doing things for the Song people.

In addition, Cui Yu, whom Zhao Yurui reused, and Wei Liaoweng's son also began to rise step by step, reaching the position of local chief official.

There are also two Yan Ying and Liu Xin who were trained by Zhao Yurui themselves.

In addition, on Jeju Island, where Zhao Yurui trained and started his career, almost all of Zhao Yurui's private property is located. The island is full of his people, and several county magistrates are also served by his subordinates. Now the clan Zhao Ruteng has been arranged, which can be regarded as stabilizing the rest of the world. The clan's heart proves that Zhao Yurui also knows how to use capable clan members.

Zhao Ruteng was a member of the Song Dynasty clan. He was a high-ranking official and the Minister of Rites in history. He was known for his outspokenness. He once said to Lizong: "These treacherous and flattering ministers before and after hurt good people and virtuous ministers, but they themselves obtained high-ranking positions. What good are they to Your Majesty?" , but it will deeply damage your holiness. Ministers who work for the benefit of others demolish the east wall to make up for the west wall, cater to His Majesty's holy will, and satisfy their endless greed like a ravine. What good does it do to Your Majesty? On the contrary, it deeply hurts the lifeblood of the country. Then His Majesty's desire to do favors to the villains in private can be stopped. ” Then he said: “Your Majesty, you have the reputation of appointing a gentleman, but you have no intention of appointing a gentleman. "

The last sentence was tantamount to criticizing Emperor Lizong of Song Dynasty in person. He was later dismissed from office and refused to be appointed again.

This clan member can be considered a breath of fresh air and is known for his integrity and outspokenness.

It can be said that the top local officials arranged by Zhao Yurui are basically people who are upright and outspoken, or who are willing to do things for the local people.

Some of them are not particularly capable, such as Zhao Fan, but he supported and helped Zhao Yurui in the early stage, and he is not young anymore. He can almost retire after working for one or two terms, which is regarded as a compliment from the emperor.

After the top leaders of local political affairs were determined, Zhao Yurui directly drew up the top leaders of the capital and the number of troops and horses in each capital.

In the eleven years since Zhao Yurui took power, he has recruited new soldiers and mobilized troops and horses several times. At the beginning, there were [-] infantry and cavalry armies, about [-] people, and [-] naval armies, about [-]. Ten thousand people, plus the [-] emperor's personal troops adapted from the Capital Forbidden Army, there are about more than [-].

Later, five major naval battalions were established, and new recruits were recruited every year. The total number of naval and land armies exceeded [-] million. By the second year of Yuanzhen (this year), the number of naval armies nationwide was sixty and thirty-six. Ten thousand, [-] infantry camps, nearly [-] plus, and [-] cavalry corps, [-].

The total number of troops in the Song Dynasty was [-] million.

So what is the current population of the Song Dynasty?

As mentioned earlier, the total number of households in Jiading in the mid-term statistics was 1267, with a population of more than [-] million.

Moreover, in the Southern Song Dynasty, "a man in his twenties is considered a young man, a man in his sixties is considered an old man, and women do not need to be married".

People over sixty, women, children, and servants of officials, the army, and landlords and merchants were not counted in the population in the Southern Song Dynasty.

And Zhao Yurui made statistics in the fourth year of Baoqing, and everyone was included in the statistics. By the fifth year of Baoqing, Zhao Yurui calculated that the national population, including Shandong and other places that were recovered at that time, was [-] million. .

Later, they successively recovered the Central Plains and conquered Tubo. After adding up these two places, plus Zhao and Rui's desperate efforts to encourage births, statistics were collected for the second time in the early year of Yuanzhen. By this year, in the second year of Yuanzhen, the data came out.

Zhao Yurui asked at this time: "Guess, everyone, what is the population of our Song Dynasty now?"

After hearing this, all the ministers looked at each other, how could they guess this?
  But everyone is thinking about a problem. After Zhao Yurui ascended the throne, there were almost no major battles in the country. All the battles were fought outside the Song Dynasty, and almost all of them were victorious. A few were undefeated and retreated in a draw.

In the eleven years since Zhao Yurui had been emperor, they had fought more wars than Ning Zong had in the previous decades combined, but the casualties were not as high as the previous battles.

It can be said that the country is peaceful and the people live and work in peace and contentment. The population is definitely increasing explosively.

Moreover, Zhao Yurui also went around to attract immigrants. In the past few years, more than [-] people were attracted to Goryeo. In the rest of the remote areas, it is said that there were also people who immigrated to Hainan Province because of the good conditions in the Song Dynasty.

"I think I have [-] million now." Liang Chengda was the first to speak, flattering him first.

Everyone despises it.

Zhao Yurui laughed and said: "Judging from the data of later generations, it usually takes about sixty years to double the population."

"This is still under a peaceful situation without disasters or wars."

Zhao Yurui is talking about the data of the later Qing Dynasty, which basically doubled in sixty years.

Everyone was stunned for a moment: "Later generations?"

"Uh" Zhao Yurui then realized that he had let slip, and immediately said: "Li Houshi, I mean Li Houshi."

Everyone was confused and seemed to have never heard of this name, but the emperor had many confidants, so it was normal for them not to recognize him.

Therefore, the current population of the Song Dynasty cannot reach [-] million.

The Qing Dynasty had about [-] million people at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it basically doubled in the next sixty years. The population began to rise from Kangxi's order to "never increase taxes", and then to Yongzheng's forcible promotion of "dividing a small person into an acre". These two policies were conducive to Ordinary people, the population began to rise significantly, reaching the peak of Qianlong's population of [-] million.

Zhao Yurui couldn't say these words to the ministers, but he had to let the ministers know that the increase in population was related to the court's policies.

If you make the cost of giving birth and raising children too high, or if ordinary people cannot survive or even have a home, who will be willing to give birth?

"The data from the Song Dynasty was just released in May this year. After more than a year of statistics from April last year to May this year, the current population of the country is about [-] million."

After hearing this, all the ministers praised the emperor for his wisdom, and they were sincere.

The increase in the population of the imperial court proves that the imperial court is effective and the emperor is wise.

Of course, the population has exploded to more than [-] million in recent years, mainly due to the recovery of the territory of the Jin Kingdom in the Central Plains and the conquest of Tubo. Zhao Yurui also included Tubo.

Calculated based on the population of the Song Dynasty, the Song Ting army probably had more than one hundred soldiers.

Not too much, but not too little either.

After the minister's calculations, some people felt that the number of soldiers and population was still a bit too high, and that out of more than a hundred people, one would have to be selected as a soldier.

But others think not much, because now is the time to compete with Mongolia.

Zhao Yurui said that there was nothing he could do. The opposite side was Mongolia at its peak, and he had to raise this small number of troops.

At the same time, the Southern Song Dynasty in another time and space is said to have more than one million troops, but their combat effectiveness is incomparable to Zhao Yurui's troops now.

At this time, Zhao and Rui began to adjust their military strength, and the Ministry of War reported some areas, which were basically non-combat areas.

The garrison forces in places like Jeju Island, Jinju (Port Arthur), Dayuan, Hainan and other places have not changed much, and some have even decreased. They are mainly naval forces, and their main daily tasks are doing business and combating pirates.

(End of this chapter)