Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 492 Emperor Brother
"Your Majesty is busy with many affairs every day, so naturally he doesn't have time to leave the palace often." Zhang Guifen said with a smile.

The palace is big, but also small.

For the ancient emperors, ruling the world and holding supreme power was nothing special.

But Zhao Xing had the memories of later generations after all, and to him, the palace was more like a cage.

Zhang Guifen couldn't understand Zhao Xing's feelings.

So Zhao Xing just smiled and said nothing.

Half an hour later, the carriage stopped at the entrance of an alley not far from the city gate in the outer city.

The housing prices here are cheap, so Zhang Guifen chose this place when she arranged for her servants to adopt the orphans.

The alley was narrow, so the emperor's carriage could not enter.

Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen got off the carriage and shook their heads slightly when they saw the imperial guards on martial law all around them.

Sometimes it is right not to leave the palace, but his leaving the palace would cause too much trouble.

At this time, the nearby streets were under martial law, and people at home were restricted from going out.

Although Zhao Xing didn't want to do this, he was the emperor and did so for his own safety.

Even if he didn't want to, the officials would not agree.

"This old slave respectfully welcomes your majesty, the queen!"

An old man in his fifties was waiting at the entrance of the alley. When he saw Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen get off the car, he came forward, followed by the imperial guards.

This person was none other than the old maidservant beside Zhang Guifen, Xiang Mama's husband.

Xiang Mama and his wife had been servants of the Duke of Yingzhou's mansion for generations, so the task of adopting those orphans was entrusted to him by Zhang Guifen.

"No gift!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "Take me to see those children."

"Yes, Your Majesty, Queen, please come in."

He responded to his mother's husband, bent over and led the way in front.

"Several houses in the alley have been bought, and the children adopted are all very young. If I have been impolite, please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"Why would I bother with some children?" Zhao Xing waved his hand when he heard that.

She smiled at her mother and husband and led them to a yard.

"Greetings to His Majesty, and to the Queen!"

Inside the courtyard, a dozen middle-aged women and more than thirty children lined up in an orderly queue.

The oldest of these children was only about five or six years old, and the youngest was only two or three years old.

Because there were many imperial guards standing nearby, there was some fear in the children's eyes.

"No gift!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand and looked at the children. They all looked good. Although they were thin, they were not the kind that looked pale and skinny.

The clothes on his body were clean and tidy.

You can fake the external appearance, but since I was just notified yesterday, you definitely can’t fake the complexion.

It can be seen that these servants are quite attentive in taking care of the children.

The children were young and a little nervous, so Zhao Xing didn't say anything profound to them. He just took a quick look and went into the house to take a look.

The whole house was converted into a large bunk bed. Although it was old, it was kept clean.

After visiting several courtyards in succession, Zhao Xing was very satisfied.

However, he also understood why the output from the farms and shops that Zhang Guifen brought as a dowry was not enough to feed these children.

Those who are four or five years old are okay, they are sensible and can take care of themselves as they just need someone to look after them.

But some of them are still infants, ranging from only six months to over one year old.

These people have no ability to take care of themselves and need a lot of people to take care of them.

There are more than 500 children, and there are more than 100 people just to take care of them.

Although they were all servants of the Duke of Yingguo's mansion, their monthly allowance for food and drink had to be provided by Zhang Guifen.

When Zhao Xing went out of the palace this time, he asked people to prepare some food and cloth.

Although the older children were sensible, they actually didn't know what the emperor and empress meant.

However, the people who were taking care of them told them to be respectful, and since there were many imperial guards present, they were very reserved when facing Zhao Xing.

However, when Zhao Xing had people distribute snacks to them, they looked at Zhao Xing with less fear.

Zhang Guifang had come here several times before she married Zhao Xing, and it has been a long time since then.

After so much time had passed, not only had the number of adopted children increased several times, but she also couldn't recognize them all.

Seeing so many children and thinking about their lack of parents, Zhang Guifen felt very sad and helped distribute snacks personally.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing also came to help. Although these children posed no threat, Zhang Feng still followed Zhao Xing closely.

"Don't be so nervous. They are just children of a few years old. Can they really assassinate me?"

Zhang Feng was wearing armor and had a sword on his waist, which frightened the children.

Seeing this, Zhao Xing told Zhang Feng not to follow too closely.

Zhang Feng had no choice but to fall behind a few steps.

"Here, this is yours."

Zhao Xing picked up a piece of dessert and handed it to a little girl who looked about three or four years old with a smile.

Facing the complicated affairs of state in the palace every day, Zhao Xing felt his soul was cleansed when facing so many children.

The little girl took the snack and held it out to Zhao Xing.

"Brother Emperor, please have a bite."

Zhao Xing was stunned by the little girl's address. He smiled and touched her head, saying, "Why do you call me Emperor brother?"

"Mother Wu said you are the emperor, so I will call you Emperor Brother." The little girl said with a blink of her eyes.

Zhao Xing smiled when he heard this. Perhaps in the little girl's mind, the emperor was just a name, a title.

"Your Majesty, the little girl is ignorant, please don't..."

The middle-aged maidservant at the side hurried forward, looking a little panicked.

"It doesn't matter."

Zhao Xing waved his hand to interrupt her, looked at the little girl and said, "Your name is Xiaoya, right?"

"Yeah." The little girl nodded.

"If I eat it, you will have less. Do you really want me to eat it?" Zhao Xing said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the little girl handed over the snack again without hesitation.

"Emperor brother, you eat."

"His Majesty…"

Zhang Feng, who was behind, saw this and hurried forward to stop it.

Because there was some dust on the back of the little girl's hand from somewhere, it didn't look clean.

"Get out!"

Zhao Xing turned around and said with some displeasure.

"Yes."

Seeing that Zhao Xing was a little angry, Zhang Feng hesitated for a moment and retreated.

Zhao Xing turned around and saw that the little girl looked a little frightened. He knew that she was scared when he scolded Zhang Feng just now, and a smile appeared on his face again.

"Why, you don't want to give it to me?"

"Emperor brother, eat."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ya handed over the snack again.

Zhao Xing didn't hesitate and took a bite.

The snacks in the palace were all small and delicate, so Zhao Xing had the imperial kitchen make them bigger. However, in order to keep their shape and not break, they were not that big, not even as big as the little girl's hand.

Zhao Xing bit off half of it in one bite. The little girl didn't feel reluctant at all, but smiled happily instead.

"Hmm...it's delicious. You can eat it too." Zhao Xing said vaguely.

"Ah."

The little girl took a bite and her eyes narrowed with joy.

This was the best thing she had ever eaten.

"I'll give you another piece."

Zhao Xing swallowed the snack, took a piece of snack and handed it to Xiao Ya.

"No." The little girl shook her head.

"Ok?"

Zhao Xing was stunned and asked, "Is it not delicious?"

"It's delicious. This is the most delicious thing Xiaoya has ever eaten."

"Then why not?"

Xiaoya said, "Mother Wu said that everyone should get the same amount, and we can't ask for more."

Zhao Xing fell silent after hearing that. The little girl was only two or three years old, but she was so sensible that it made people feel distressed.

"It's okay, this piece belongs to my brother. You treat me to some, and I treat you to some too."

Xiao Ya looked at Mother Wu when she heard this. When she saw her nod, she took it and said, "Thank you, Brother Emperor."

…………

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

It was not until the evening that Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen set out for the palace.

After getting on the carriage, Zhang Guifen saw Zhao Xing in a daze and asked him with concern.

"nothing."

Zhao Xing shook his head and said, "I was thinking, according to the etiquette and law, if children are unfilial, they will not only be despised, but also punished. But parents who abandon their children do not receive any punishment, nor will they be morally condemned. Do you think this is fair?"

In feudal society, children were considered unfilial if they did not support their parents or even talked back to them.

Parents can even go directly to the police.

But parents can abandon their children openly.

"It's very unfair, but that's the rule. What can your majesty do?"

Zhang Guifen comforted him, "There are no bad parents in the world. This saying may not be true. But I believe that most people would not be willing to abandon their children unless they had no other choice."

"Yeah, don't blame their parents, it's the way the world is." Zhao Xing sighed.

"I have no intention of blaming Your Majesty. This world..."

"All right!"

Zhao Xing took Zhang Guifen's hand, interrupted her, and smiled, "The Book of Rites says: When the great way is practiced, the world is for the public, the virtuous and the capable are selected, and trust and harmony are cultivated. Therefore, people not only love their relatives and their children, but also ensure that the old have a place to live, the strong have a place to work, and the young have a place to grow. The poor, the widowed, the orphaned, the lonely, and the disabled are all taken care of. Men have their share and women have their home. Goods are not worth seeing thrown away, so they don't have to hide them; strength is not worth not being used, so they don't have to use it for themselves. Therefore, conspiracies are not aroused, thefts and robbers are not committed, and the outer doors are not closed. This is called great harmony."

"The idea of ​​a harmonious world is too good to be true. But it does make sense to ensure that the old have a good place to live and the young have a good place to be raised."

"It is obviously not enough to say that the law only punishes unfilial children. I plan to make laws to punish those who abandon their children."

"But the Queen is right. If they were not forced to do so, how could there be so many people abandoning their children? We need to solve the problem fundamentally."

In addition to some people who believed the rumors that if a first child is a daughter, she must be drowned in order to give birth to a son, otherwise she will keep giving birth to daughters and will be drowned.

Most people abandon their children because they cannot support them.

It doesn’t cost much to raise children, and even the most cruel parents will not abandon their children.

Zhao Xing had previously asked Sheng Wei to contact foreign merchants who came to the Song Dynasty to trade, and ask those merchants to bring some seeds that were not available in the Song Dynasty.

In order to curry favor with Zhao Xing, those merchants gave a lot of gifts.

Unfortunately, when Zhao Xing asked people to try planting, either the seeds did not grow, or they grew but were not grain seeds.

Although it enriched the plant species of the Song Dynasty, there were still some vegetables that were not available in the Song Dynasty.

But it cannot increase food production and is of little significance.

Zhao Xing even thought about sending people out to sea to search for corn and potato seeds.

Even if the yield of these seeds is not as high as in the future, it is still higher than the rice and wheat in the Song Dynasty, right?

It does not mean that the people of the world have enough land to support their families.

Throughout the dynasties, at the beginning of the founding of the country, the people were able to divide up a large amount of land, not because too many landlords and gentry died, but because many ordinary people died.

In his previous life, Zhao Xing had read a post that said wealth and poverty will not last for more than three generations.

Because of famine in ancient times and chaos in the world, those who died were all poor people.

After the world was stabilized, the population dropped sharply, and the landlords and gentry who originally occupied a large amount of land also fled. A large amount of farmland was left barren, and the court naturally had land to distribute to the people.

It can be said that the demise of those unified dynasties in history was actually a redistribution.

But now the Song Dynasty is in its middle period, and the population is growing rapidly. Even if the land that has been checked is distributed to the people, it will only be a drop in the bucket.

Unless Zhao Xing killed all the landlords and gentry in the world.

But this is obviously unrealistic, and not all landlords and gentry are bad people.

The rich get richer, this is an eternal truth.

Even if the landlords and gentry did not use some means to annex land, the concentration of land in the hands of a few people would be irreversible because of low grain production and the risk of the people having no resistance to disasters.

The long-term solution to change this situation is to increase food production, develop industry, and allow a portion of the population to live without relying on the land.

In ancient times, agriculture was emphasized and commerce was suppressed. Wasn’t it because grain production was low and they needed to ensure sufficient food, so they had to suppress commerce?

The commercial prosperity of the Song Dynasty was also due to the fact that wars caused a large number of people to migrate to the south, which was greatly developed. In addition, the yield of Champa rice was higher than the rice originally grown by the Han people.

Only when food production is sufficient can industry be developed.

After returning to the palace, Zhang Guifen returned to the harem, while Zhao Xing went to Longtu Pavilion.

"Your Majesty, this is the preliminary charter drafted by me and a group of university scholars based on your Majesty's wishes. Please review it!"

Not long after Zhao Xing arrived at Longtu Pavilion, Zhang Qingzhi arrived.

Zhao Xing took the charter drafted by Zhang Qingzhi, took a quick look at it, and said, "Let's put this matter aside for now. I didn't think it through before."

The charter drafted by Zhang Qingzhi was drawn up entirely in accordance with Zhao Xing's instructions.

People were not allowed to abandon their children. If they were caught, they would not only be fined but also beaten with a stick.

Those who have many children can be exempted from taxes, corvee labor, etc.

Zhao Xing has figured it out. It would be of little use to implement these measures at this time. He still has to solve the problem fundamentally and then impose punishment. Only a two-pronged approach would be useful.

After sending Zhang Qingzhi away, Zhao Xing became busy dealing with the weapons.

I wasted a day today and have to work overtime in the evening.

…………

"Foreign ministers pay their respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song!"

Liang Yimai and several Xixia officials walked into the hall and bowed.

"No need to be polite!" Zhao Xing waved his hand and said with a smile, "I wonder what the Emperor Xia has sent an envoy to do?"

"The matter is of great importance, and it is inconvenient for an outside minister to speak orally. Here is a handwritten letter from our emperor, please have a look at it, His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song!" Liang Yi said, holding the letter in his hands.

Sanshui stepped forward, took the letter and handed it to Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing unfolded the letter and began to read.

After a while, Zhao Xing put away the letter and said with a smile: "I need to think carefully about what Emperor Xia said."

"Our emperor said that this matter cannot be delayed too long. I hope that His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Song will give an answer to this foreign minister as soon as possible." Liang Yimai said.

"I understand. You guys go back and have a rest first. Minister of the Ministry of Rites, please entertain them well for me." Zhao Xing said calmly.

(End of this chapter)