Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 220 The Ninth Year

Beijiwu had little interest in Lingnan; after eating a few lychees, he stopped caring about things there.

For Arctic Wu, it has done almost everything it needed to do, and there is no need to be so anxious about national affairs now.

Inside the Divine Martial Palace, Beijiwu was busy selecting the best design to build an even more luxurious palace for himself.

The desk was located on the steps, half a meter above the ground, and two ministers in charge of statistics were kneeling in front of it.

"Your Majesty, according to the statistics, the population this year is over 60 million, with about 7 million births this year, which is a significant increase compared to last year."

Arctic Martial Arts had already estimated and agreed with this data.

The current population growth rate of over five million per year is just the beginning; the population of Shan Nong Kingdom will rapidly increase from sixty million to six hundred million.

Six hundred million is a matter for many years to come. Arctic Martial is not worried about having too many people. The territory is large enough at present, and six billion can be arranged.

"The workforce doesn't seem to have changed much; it's still around ten or twenty million."

Beiji Wu casually remarked something that made the two ministers reporting on their work tense.

The two did not compile specific data for each age group, but only counted the differences between Han Chinese, non-Han Chinese, foreigners, and people from common households.

Both of them knew exactly how many people lived in each province, and they weren't afraid of being asked questions by Beijiwu.

But Arctic Martial Arts mentioned things beyond their comprehension...

While pondering his thoughts, Bei Jiwu continued, "Most of the people born in the last ten years are not part of the labor force. Excluding the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, the majority of the current labor force consists of people who have gradually grown up over the last ten years."

"Let's rest and recuperate for a while longer. Now is the time of transition. Except for the railways in Western Europe, we should prohibit the construction of roads without authorization in all places, and we should not arbitrarily connect highways, which would be a waste of manpower and resources."

The roads in Beijiwu were built by themselves; no one else can take advantage of them.

The territories of hereditary lords are carefully arranged, and only those who have contributed to the Arctic War can continue their journey, while the rest stay in their hometowns to live out their retirement.

Compared to those meritorious officials who were eliminated by successive dynasties, Beiji Wu was already very merciful, letting them go home to enjoy their wealth and power.

"Yes!" Both ministers breathed a sigh of relief, no longer stumped by the question.

Arctic Martial added, "Western Europe has sent good news. The Mountain Farmers Legion and the Naturalized Tribe have now reached the Danube River, the Liaodong region has reached Northern Europe, and the Yunzhong region is sweeping through the West Asian peninsula, capturing many beautiful women from the Desert Empire."

"The population will become increasingly diverse in the future. For the sake of the empire's stability, all foreign books except those written in Chinese are hereby ordered to be burned throughout the country."

"With standardized cart tracks and a unified written language, I have no interest in learning foreign languages. Anyone who doesn't speak a language I can understand shouldn't be alive."

"After you go down there, organize the current data. Regardless of ethnicity, all children over the age of seven must go to school to learn the mountain farmers' language and arithmetic, and attend school for at least five years."

The two replied in unison, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

Arctic Warrior was well aware that there wasn't enough manpower available, but he still had to continue repairing his palace.

It's been almost ten years. If we don't repair the palace soon, how many more years do we have left to enjoy it?
Now that there is no war and no defense pressure, military spending is a drop in the ocean for Arctic forces.

In agriculture, not many people are needed either. Apart from repairing the canals and transporting goods, people basically do their own thing.

With the implementation of mechanization, many of those who went out to work in earlier years have lost their jobs.

This year, the Arctic Army has reduced the cultivated area again, allowing hereditary lords and commoners across the country to grow their own grain to sell, so that these people don't have nothing to do.

After working themselves to the bone all year, and then facing both drought and floods this year, only eight or nine out of ten people will have a good harvest if they're lucky.

That is to say, every year, one-tenth to one-third of the places will encounter trouble.

Climate change remains unpredictable, and all that Arctic forces can do is to share the risks as much as possible, allowing the Jiangnan, Lingnan, and Southwest regions to manage their own affairs.

The food needed for a population of 60 million is not much; any one of the three provinces can supply enough.

Beijiwu began organizing today's autumn harvest log, revising some parts that needed embellishment.

***
"By the autumn of 9 AD, the total population of the country was 6127 million. This year, 703 million newborns were registered, and another 200 million foreigners were naturalized, mainly Vietnamese from Annam province in the southeastern peninsula."

"There are 30 billion mu of public arable land in the country. This year, 1 million mu will be cultivated, mainly for the northern provinces, to reduce the transportation of grain to other places."

"The country has added 24 billion mu of public cultivated land in the western and southwestern regions, and 1400 million square kilometers of land area. The specific number of people involved has not yet been counted. The western region is managed by the Expeditionary Army Corps, and Liu Jingshun, a public household of mountain farmers in Annam Province in the southwest, is responsible for the cultivation and construction of rice fields."

"The national cattle inventory is 1580 million head, and 505 million head have been slaughtered, mostly to northern provinces."

"There were 1500 million horses in the country, mainly used for expeditions to the west and farming. Among them, more than one million horses and eight hundred thousand camels were seized."

"Currently, there are 2 million horse-drawn harvesters nationwide, with 3 million horses used this year, and 3 million agricultural workers employed. The harvesting time for 100 million mu of winter wheat has been shortened to one day."

"The number of horses in the country is too large, so we will no longer breed inferior horses, but focus on breeding top-quality warhorses."

"There are 1.02 million sheep in the country, producing 165 million tons of mutton annually. On average, each person eats 66 jin (38 catties) of mutton, an increase of one-third compared to last year."

"After verification by the censor, it was found that this year, officials in various regions were issued an average of 100 jin of meat, soldiers were given meat once every three days, the average annual consumption of mutton in Luoyang was 101 jin, the average annual consumption of mutton in provincial capitals was 65 jin, and the average annual consumption of mutton in prefectural capitals was 30 jin. The data are basically consistent."

"Wool prices have been relatively stable this year, and grains from the private sector have gradually entered the market, resulting in relatively stable prices for grains and vegetables."

“公元九年，全国人均可支配收入3两180钱，比上年下降2%。居民人均消费支出2两383钱，增长12%。”

"By place of residence, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in northern provincial capitals (including Luoyang) was 6 taels,456 yuan, an increase of 50%, and the per capita consumption expenditure of urban residents was 3 taels,416 yuan, an increase of 31%."

"In Luoyang, the average income for non-local residents was 4 taels and 100 coins, and the average expenditure was 1 tael and 16 coins. This is per capita. Typically, a family of five, consisting of a man, a woman, and three children, earns more than 20 taels for manual labor. The total family expenditure is 5 taels of silver for daily necessities such as rice, flour, cooking oil, and clothing, including expenses for bathing, haircuts, and various social obligations."

"The average income per household in Luoyang is 57 taels, and the average expenditure is 22 taels. The average income per person is 6 taels, and the average expenditure is 3 taels."

"The per capita disposable income of rural residents in the south was 2,436 qian, an increase of 30.0%, while the per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was 2,610 qian, an increase of 41%. Income increased due to increased grain sales, while expenditure increased due to land disasters and debt."

"The average annual income per household in the public households was 47 taels and 526 coins, and the average consumption expenditure per household was 24 taels and 10 coins. Except for Luoyang, the public households in Shan Nong Guo maintained a basic level of equality."

"By the end of autumn, a total of 700 million strings of cash had been distributed for military pay throughout the year, and 100 million strings of cash had been spent on military expenses and the purchase of land in Western Europe."

"A total of eleven million strings of cash were distributed to officials (including cadres and workers from mountainous areas) throughout the year."

"A total of 280,000 taels of silver were allocated for disaster relief throughout the year, and 5 million taels of silver were spent on supporting the children of those who died in the war. This money was used to support their schooling, marriage, and house building. Pensions were provided on time every year and every month until the children reached adulthood (18 years old)."

"A total of 130 million taels of silver were awarded throughout the year, which were used for King Wu's rewards and individual relief."

"The total fiscal revenue for the year was 5500 million taels, and the total expenditure for the year was 2470 million taels."

"The total length of railways in the country is 5000 kilometers, the length of highways is 8000 kilometers, and there are 3 trains."

"Pig iron production reached 800,000 tons, steel production reached 3000 tons, cement production reached 200,000 tons, coal production reached 14 million tons, firearms production reached 170,000, warships were built, and cotton textile products reached 800 tons."

"The newly added public households number 50, whose sources are: families of soldiers who died in battle, inventors of technology in public households, those who entered officialdom through the imperial examination, construction workers of railways and highways, and outstanding performers in the construction team of Xia City."

"The western lands need governance, and the railways are expanding into the western regions. Those who go to the west to serve as officials and govern will be given priority for promotion."

"All free people are allowed to go to the west to develop. Couples will be given 200 mu of farmland and will be escorted by mountain farmers to migrate west by train. One of their children or grandchildren can be designated as a member of the common household. They can return to visit relatives once every five years. They will be exempt from taxes for 30 years and will be provided with oxen, seeds and farming tools. Multiple people are allowed to go together and form 100 households to govern themselves."

"The Legion will assist in the construction of housing and ensure the safety of residents. Those who are not inheritors of household registration in the public households of each province can obtain household registration after immigration." "Those without front-line grassroots experience and who do not pass the professional examination shall not inherit household registration, nor shall they be appointed as officers."

****
Beiji Wu abandoned the idea of ​​building a luxurious palace and simply arranged for several thousand people to build an entertainment club in the palace, without undertaking any large-scale construction to build another palace.

The autumn harvest log of 9 AD quickly became a bestseller.

"Line up! Get your money ready first!"

Si Jiuba shouted loudly, watching more than twenty women working there.

Although only three women, Chen Xianzhi and another woman, were employed, these three women had quite a few maids, nannies, cooks, and embroiderers...

In short, they are the people who do the work.

There are policies and measures to counter.

If you don't allow people to keep slaves, then keep servants.

If you won't allow servants, then keep helpers.

By limiting the number of helpers an ordinary person can bring, one can use the idlers working next door.

If all else fails, there are always female relatives from neighbors, friends, or subordinates to be ordered around.

If Arctic Wuzhen really wanted to be strict, he could be controlled; killing a few people would make them all behave.

However, Arctic Martial Arts generally doesn't forbid others from doing what they themselves do.

He had so many wives and women of his own, so he didn't forbid others from having multiple wives and concubines.

In any family, the throne can only be inherited by one son, and the same applies to other families.

By prohibiting merchants from keeping slaves, the officials in Luoyang were not strictly controlled.

Chen Xianzhi, the wife of a high-ranking official, wasn't there to do any work; her main purpose was to expand her social circle.

The chores were naturally done by the maids and servants.

After working busily in the front yard for two or three hours, Sijiuba finally had time to go back and have a drink of water.

Upon entering the courtyard, they saw Chen Xianzhi leisurely reading a newspaper. Si Jiuba couldn't help but say, "Sister Zhi, instead of having the maid do the work, why don't you go home and rest? It doesn't seem right."

Chen Xianzhi put down her newspaper, smiled and said, "After all, I am the wife of a prefect. Now that my husband has gone to govern Tibet, he may not return for three or five years. It is not good for me to be alone at home. Coming here is a good way to relieve my boredom."

“I certainly won’t get in your way. I’m not good at showing my face in public, and it’s not busy outside right now. But doing business isn’t about dealing with those customers outside. I can help you with other things. Do you think this shop is a bit too shabby?”

"After all, it was a gift from His Majesty. If it is too shabby and simple, His Majesty will definitely feel something is not good when he comes to inspect it in the future."

Chen Xianzhi began to educate and guide Sijiuba in doing things, looking at the house and yard and saying, "Since you have made money, you should also learn how to spend it."

Si Jiuba certainly doesn't spend money. Looking at the shop he just took over from someone else, he felt that Chen Xianzhi seemed to have a point.

The women all revolved around Chen Xianzhi, but if we were to say who was the most rebellious among them, it would definitely be the lazy and gluttonous Wu Yue.

Wu Yue showed no respect to Chen Xianzhi, focusing more on eating, drinking, having fun, and being lazy.

Fortunately, her father's authority remained. After waking up in the morning, Wu Yue took the initiative to sit behind the table in front of the door, looking at a pile of newspapers and doing business.

It was already past nine o'clock, and there were very few people buying newspapers.

Si Jiuba removed the board blocking his way, walked between the two tables, and gave instructions to Wu Yue, who was sitting and dozing off.

"I'm going to a meeting at the team headquarters and also to pick up some goods. Wu Yue, do you want to come with me?"

“I’m not going,” Wu Yue said decisively. “I’ll stay home and mind the shop.”

Seeing this, Si Jiuba didn't insist and took the money bag to pay taxes and attend the meeting.

After earning more money, he also paid more taxes. Si Jiuba didn't have the habit of spending money recklessly. In addition to paying taxes and the salaries of a few people, he kept some money to buy tea and snacks. The rest was his and Wu Yue's share of the balance.

Not long after Si Jiuba left for a meeting, a little boy came to the door. He was Qiu Wuliang, the son of a pork vendor who lived about 2,000 meters away.

Qiu Wuliang was the third child in his family, and his older sister was named Qiu Sanliang.

Because King Wu gave each girl three taels of silver back then.

Each generation has its own name. Because receiving three taels of silver out of nowhere was a memorable event, many girls in that era were named Sanliang (Three Taels).

Because the eldest sister was called Sanliang, seven-year-old Qiu Wuliang was called Wuliang.

"Buy a newspaper, today's newspaper." Wu Liang handed over yesterday's newspaper and put down ten copper coins.

A new newspaper costs twenty coins, and a recycled newspaper costs ten coins, so it's like buying beer with a bottle—you just need to pay the unit price.

Wu Yue looked up and glanced at the little boy who was doing chores for his family. Suddenly, she thought the boy was quite handsome, a quiet, shy, and thin boy.

"What's your name?" Wu Yue asked directly. Since she had nothing better to do, she sat down and chatted with the little boy.

The two were about the same age, so they had similar things to say to each other.

Qiu Wuliang replied, "My name is Wuliang."

Wu Yue said, "My name is Wu Yue. Go and buy me a tea egg. I'm hungry."

Qiu Wuliang was a little shy and said cautiously, "I have no money."

Wu Yue casually handed over two newspapers, "Go!"

"Okay!" Wu Liang grabbed the two newspapers and quickly ran out to buy tea eggs for the young lady.

The maids and others working nearby dared not say anything, but no one could control this princess.

The power of role models is boundless. Wu Yue, who has discovered that her family has grown bigger and stronger, has already learned to boss people around.

When she was at home, Wu Yue didn't feel any power, and no one cared about her.

In the palace, it's no use saying what you want to eat. If Beijiwu doesn't agree, no one will give her special treatment, not even an extra apple.

But in the 498 area, especially after discovering in the last two days that Chen Xianzhi and others were actually ordering maids to help with chores, Wu Yue suddenly had an epiphany.

Beijiwu's original intention was to make Wuyue more diligent with Sijiuba, to expose her to more things from a young age, and to teach her to be self-reliant. So he arranged this kind of easy job for her that didn't require much hard work and didn't require her to worry about being exposed to the wind and sun.

With so many things to do every day, Beiji Wu rarely had time to pay attention to each child. Arranging a good place for Wu Yue was already a great responsibility. Most of his time was spent on his troublesome sons in Xia City, the women in the palace, and various matters inside and outside the court.

And it had only been less than a month since they last met.

It takes a long time for a child to learn to be good, but it only takes a single thought to learn to be bad.

(End of this chapter)