The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 684 Hidden Ding
Compared to Zheng Xian, Sima Yi is more sensible.

In the early days of his business, Cao Mao took advantage of her background and gained a lot of benefits.

It was because of her character that she was not cleared out after completing her great cause.

Zheng Xian's position as queen was already secure, but Cao Mao was still willing to listen to Sima Yi's advice on many issues in the harem.

But when things concerned Guo Ping, she lost her usual composure and easily lost her composure.

At this moment, Sima Yi's face was full of worry.

"This kid hangs out with people older than him all day, and now he's gotten into trouble again."

When Cao Mao heard her concerns, he couldn't help laughing.

"It is not good?"

"Although his attack this time to hurt someone is not considered smart, it shows what kind of person he is."

"I would rather my child not be so smart, but I hope he is a moral person."

"If he can help others when he sees injustice, I can leave the important matters to him in the future!"

After hearing what Cao Mao said, Sima Yi's mood immediately improved.

The two of them started talking about things in the harem again.

"The Queen has recently summoned many ministers and royal wives. I've noticed that many of them are trying to establish a relationship with the Crown Prince, and all they talk about is their own daughter."

Cao Mao snorted coldly, "Oh, like husband, like wife."

"Ah Wen is just a child, and they're already targeting him. You should also keep a close eye on Ah Ping to prevent him from being deceived by thieves."

The next day, Cao Mao opened his eyes early, had his meal, and went to practice sword.

After practicing for half an hour, Cao Mao returned to Taiji Hall to handle government affairs.

During these days, Cao Mao was in a particularly good mood.

When the order to reward land was issued, the aristocratic families were in chaos.

Hu Zun played a huge role in this process. He would summon his ministers from time to time, talk about this matter, and warn everyone that they should be grateful for the emperor's kindness!

The minister who had previously confronted the emperor in person has now received the exile package, and his whole family is happily preparing to go to Nanzhong to live a happy life.

That guy actually said that the arable land given by the emperor was too little to feed them! !
Thinking of these words, Cao Mao was so angry that his teeth were itching.

You know, a family can survive a year with 70 acres of arable land, and these officials in the court almost all own 1,000 acres of arable land.

And this farmland is not their only source of income.

The salaries in the Wei Dynasty were not low. They received salaries and income from farmland, and did not have to pay taxes. Under such circumstances, how could they dare to say that they had too little farmland and could not support themselves? ? ?

Yes, you are right. With this kind of income, it is not enough to use coins to build a horse farm.

The salary from the temple alone is enough for these officials to live a good life. Even if they have large families, at least they will have no problem supporting them. In addition, the farmland is tax-free, so they can live a very comfortable life!

Cao Mao didn't want his ministers to starve and live a poor life.

Just look at Wang Ji and you will know that the ministers’ salaries are still too high!
After the decree was announced, it caused an uproar in all parts of Wei. Although no one came out to oppose it, everyone was unhappy about it.

Cao Mao almost cut off the financial resources of many people.

But they didn't dare say anything more, after all, their lives were at stake.

Is it worth it for Cao Mao to take the risk of offending all the ministers in the world to do this?
The answer is it’s totally worth it!

Let’s not talk about taxes for now. We won’t know how much taxes have increased until next year. Let’s talk about the population first.

According to official data from the Wei Dynasty, the Wei Dynasty now has a population of more than 9 million.

Among them, the Central Plains had a population of more than 6 million, Bashu had more than 1 million, and Wu had more than 2 million.

You know, during the peak period of the Later Han Dynasty, the population counted by the imperial court was over 50 million!

At this point, they couldn't even raise 10 million, and this was all thanks to Cao Mao's efforts.

The statistics were collected when there was no civil unrest in Wei, no massacre in Chengdu, and no frantic engineering projects in Wu.

If it weren't for Cao Mao, I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to raise eight million.

Did more than 40 million people really die in over a hundred years of war?

This is not necessarily the case, because during the Sima Yan period, the population recovered to 16 million, and more than ten years later, the statistics showed that it was 35 million.

It is impossible for the population to suddenly increase by tens of millions or suddenly disappear by tens of millions, especially within a few decades.

What's the reason?
The powerful families are concealing their population!

You should know that the slaves, tenants and other private property of the big families are not counted as household registration. They do not pay taxes and are not the labor force of the temple.

Cao Mao forced his ministers to set a limit on the number of tenants. Ordinary powerful people, if they did not have relatives in official positions, either rose up in arms to resist Cao Mao's tyranny or obediently hand over their excess farmland and tenants.

The same thing was done by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty.

In order to raise military funds, he forced merchants and powerful people to hand over all their property that exceeded the quota, including tenants and farmland.

And no one dared to say anything at that time.

Only the most powerful and influential emperor would dare to do this.

When thorough investigations began in various places, the local population began to skyrocket.

Large numbers of tenants broke away from their masters, and the government hurriedly began to draft new laws.

The government rented the public land owned by the imperial court to them, and issued a land occupation order. The new law allowed the people of Cao Wei to reclaim 70 mu of farmland for their own use, but the reclaimed land was not allowed to be sold.

The labor force of these big families became the labor force of the temple, and local officials quickly organized them to engage in land reclamation and production.

Lu Zhi's mouth is almost crooked from smiling these days.

Lu Zhi found Cao Mao with a thick stack of documents.

These have recently been sent in from various places, concerning tenants who have broken away from their masters.

"Your Majesty!! We should have issued such a decree long ago!"

"These bastards are truly wicked! In Yanzhou alone, nearly 100,000 people have been re-enrolled in the imperial court!"

“These are all young and strong!”

Lu Zhi took out one document after another and placed them in front of Cao Mao, who looked through them one by one.

Cao Mao knew that the population concealed by the big families might be more than just this few. These people might have tens of thousands of acres of fertile land and nearly ten thousand servants. If he really wanted to be precise, Cao Mao felt that there might be millions of people hidden in the Central Plains alone.

Adding the troops from Shu and Wu, it might be enough to double the population of Wei.

Only half of the world's labor force is in the hands of the government. Is this the politics of the aristocratic families?
Cao Mao couldn't believe what the world would be like after Anshi.

How arrogant the aristocratic families must have been at that time.

Has their labor force already gone beyond the temple?
Looking at the silent Cao Mao, Lu Zhi said again: "Your Majesty, it's just that the tenants are leaving on a large scale, and it will take a long time to reclaim the land. I'm afraid there will be problems."

Cao Mao glanced at him and asked, "Are you worried that a large number of tenants will starve to death?"

"Your Majesty, those great clans would rather distribute the farmland to their relatives than return it. I'm afraid the public land in the temple is not enough to accommodate so many people."

"I'll have to trouble Duke Lu to find a solution to this matter."

"We've finally increased the population so much, but these bastards are so reluctant. They must still want to cause trouble. Keep a close eye on them."

Lu Zhi looked embarrassed.

He also didn't know how to solve the problem of arable land, and he couldn't create arable land himself.

Cao Mao suddenly asked, "Duke Lu, do you care about your reputation?"

Lu Zhi was stunned. "What does your majesty mean?"

"Once I issue this decree, I'm afraid I'll be branded a tyrant."

Cao Mao looked up, recalling something.

"Emperor Xiaowu of the Former Han Dynasty was accused by later generations of greed and forcibly plundering the people's wealth because of similar policies. Of course, Emperor Xiaowu did have some excessive policies in his later years, but I don't think there was anything wrong with what he did to those powerful people."

"A hundred years from now, I'm afraid I'll become a tyrant who exploits the people's wealth and imposes heavy taxes."

"However, I don't care about this. I am determined to support the country and create a prosperous era. When I first implemented harsh punishments and vigorously rectified the administration in the country, I didn't care about these things."

"I want to know if Duke Lu cares about this?"

Hearing Cao Mao's question, Lu Zhi stroked his beard and laughed.

"Your Majesty, when I was young, I vowed to comfort the people of the world and free them from suffering, so that they would no longer suffer from war, chaos, and famine."

"Empty reputation is like dirt to me!"

Cao Mao laughed, "He is truly my subject!!"

He grabbed Lu Zhi's hand and said, "If that's the case, then Duke Lu can go and discuss this matter with Censor He."

"When I wanted to reward the army, I confiscated all the houses and destroyed all the households. The money I collected was enough to reward the entire central army."

Cao Mao said this quietly.

Lu Zhi actually understood it a long time ago.

Lu Zhi said calmly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Even the great families in the world today, those most favored by Your Majesty, are definitely not clean. There is nothing wrong with punishing the powerful families, taking their farmland, and distributing it to the people."

"I will go find Mr. He to do this."

Lu Zhi strode out of the Taiji Hall. Cao Mao frowned and looked at the thick documents in his hands with a slightly gloomy look.

It's time to start arranging the migration of these powerful families.

With the prestige of a founding monarch, are you still afraid that you dogs can't be punished?
"His Majesty!!!"

Then I heard footsteps outside the door.

Zhang Hua ran in with great joy and bowed deeply to Cao Mao.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty!!”

"The Grand Marshal has sent victory news! General Wen Yang of Pingbei has captured Shengle City and captured its leader, Tuoba Liwei, alive. The Tuoba tribe has been completely annihilated, with over 300,000 captives captured. They have all been transported to various locations in Youzhou for resettlement!"

Cao Mao's eyes widened and he looked at Zhang Hua in disbelief.

So fast? ?

Isn't it difficult to fight outside the Serbia? Chasing back and forth?
Cao Mao was silent for a long time before he asked, "Where is Cheng Ji?"

"General Echeng just arrived in Youzhou. I didn't catch up."

The king and his minister looked at each other, and then laughed with "gloating" attitude.

"Hahaha~~~"

(End of this chapter)