I, Altria, only want to rule China.

Leah asked quickly: "But what?"

Merlin glanced at the Ministry of Revenue and said carefully: "If the Ministry of Revenue is willing to take out some money to give as subsidies to the people who have more children..."

Hearing what Meilin said, Liu Ren from the Ministry of Revenue's face darkened immediately: "Take money? That's not how it's done, Master Imperial Master. People are not enthusiastic about having children. Isn't that because of some of His Majesty's policies? You can't always think about taking money out of our treasury!"

"My reason? Why don't you tell me why it's my reason... If you don't tell me the reason, I will punish you!"

Hearing that the Ministry of Revenue actually attributed the cause to herself, Liya frowned immediately. What could be the reason for her policy? And the other party said that she had sex with a girl too early, right?

Is this what she wants? She just happens to like girls, but what does this have to do with her?

Seeing that Liya's face was not right, Liu Ren also hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, in fact, although this matter is not your fault, you can't deny it no matter how hard you try. If you don't believe it, you can ask the Ministry of Industry. They should have data on industries and other messy workshops in various places. Ask them how many female workers there are.

"Many women have gone to work in workshops, so having children has been delayed. Some parents even think that their daughters can work at home, which can bring in more income for the family, so many people are not in a hurry to marry off their daughters."

"There are more women working in the workshops, and the people are not in a hurry to marry off their daughters. Isn't the matter of having children delayed? Moreover, His Majesty has also issued a protection law, which means that women under the age of 18 are not allowed to marry.

At this point, the Ministry of Revenue changed the subject and said, "However, this is also a good thing, just like your Majesty letting those girls go to school, it is a great thing that will benefit future generations, and your Majesty cannot be blamed entirely."

After all, taxes are involved here. For the sake of the rats in the national treasury, Liu Ren decided not to criticize Leah about this matter.

Liya snorted and said, "Anyway, I don't care whether it's good or bad. Now I know that the birth rate of our Wu country has not increased. It has been 30 years since the founding of the country, and the population has only reached 400 million."

"Although these 400 million people would be a prosperous era in other dynasties, it is not possible in our Wu Kingdom. This number of people is not even enough to cover several provinces in the south of the Wu Kingdom."

"We see that other countries' shipbuilding technology is also improving. When they travel around the world, they will discover North America, South America, and Oceania. If we cannot occupy these places due to insufficient population, won't we lose a lot?"

After hearing what Leah said, all the ministers in the court began to have a headache.

How big are these states that Leah mentioned?

Once they are combined, it will be almost as big as Europe and Asia. How many people will Wu State need to fill it?

In other words, can the Wu Kingdom government rest assured if tens or hundreds of millions of people are not relocated there?

In short, the Wu Kingdom will definitely not be able to take over all of those continents in the end, but if you immigrate there first, you can occupy a large tract of land.

After struggling for a while, Xiao Ranhe said, "I think that if Your Majesty wants the people to have more children, it should be up to the people."

Liya laughed and said sarcastically, "If you don't rely on the people, do you want to rely on me? Don't I have enough daughters?"

To be honest, Liya knew what Xiao Ran meant behind his words. It was because Liya, as the emperor of Wu State, took the lead in having affairs with prostitutes that this trend became very unhealthy throughout the State, and many people followed suit.

Although Leah did this, Morgan gave birth to several children for her, so this matter had nothing to do with her. She contributed several daughters to the population of Wu State.

If everyone was like her and contributed five or six children to Wu's population, Wu's population would exceed 10 billion in a few decades!

Although she knew this, Leah couldn't help but want to tolerate him.

He just said that the reason why the population of Wu State is growing slowly is because of the emperor of Wu State, Liya.

Now that she finally has this opportunity, the always magnanimous Leah will of course hold back.

Xiao Ranhe smiled slightly and continued, "Your Majesty, what I mean is that we still need to find a way to improve the living standards of the people so that they can earn more money and have a better life."

"If people feel that there is no pressure to have and raise children, they will naturally have children. After all, the older generation is still around, and the idea that having more children is a blessing will not change just because of the emergence of a few workshops."

"In addition, there is another very important reason, which is that more and more places need to relocate people recently. It is written in the Wu State Newspaper, and the people of the world are also aware of it."

"Many people want to move out after being selected, but if they have a one- or two-year-old child, they will inevitably have many concerns if they want to move out, so this is also a very important reason."

"In the final analysis, people are busy making money and want to improve their family's income and living standards, so they put off having children."

Leah had never thought about it this way.

As for why ordinary people don't want to have children because of the pressure of life, Leah can understand it. After all, modern obstetrics and gynecology hospitals have begun to set task targets.

But what Liya couldn't understand was that there were people who delayed having children in order to move to other places?

What the hell is wrong with this?

Chapter 243: Magic Restoration Forbidden!

Xiao Ranhe continued, "In addition, the steam engine lines from Chang'an to all parts of the country have been built for several years. Previously, they were only used by the imperial court and those workshops or merchants. I think it's about time that the people can use them now."

"If it is really liberalized, the flow of goods in the workshop will be accelerated, the cost will be further reduced, and the people's income will increase further. At the same time, it may be easier to relocate people to other places than before."

"Especially in the areas west of Gansu and Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, and the Mongolian grasslands, if the railways can also carry out some of the functions of transporting people, these areas with poor land can be revitalized."

Hearing Xiao Ran talking about the issues in Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Tibet and Qinghai, Liya's face couldn't help but darken.

Land degradation and soil erosion are definitely fatal problems for the Xinjiang region.

Let alone the current Wu Kingdom, even if the flower-growing family of later generations were moved here, it would take a lot of effort to govern it, and it would take decades to show a little effect.

Or to put it more bluntly, the biggest problem in Xinjiang is that it is difficult to be self-sufficient in food. For China, silver is not the biggest confidence, but food is.

People in many places in Wu State no longer rely solely on farming for their living, because the workshops pay a lot of money, and the grain output in Jiaozhi provinces is high and the price is cheap, so people have enough to eat even if they buy all the grain.

But in Xinjiang, the people do not have enough food and have to spend money to buy food.

There is really no way around it because of the problems of soil erosion and desertification, there is not enough food in Xinjiang.

Sweet potatoes? That stuff is fine for emergency use, but who can eat it as a meal every day?

To be honest, the amount of manpower and material resources invested by the Wu State in Xinjiang over the years was definitely not small. The Ministry of Revenue allocated funds, the Ministry of Works set up workshops, and the people became somewhat richer, but the little extra money was invested in food by the people.

Compared with the areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the living conditions of the people in Xinjiang are definitely much worse. After all, the biggest problem there is the environment.

If it weren't for Liya replenishing Morgan's magic power for a year, the road between Xinjiang and Wu Kingdom would not be open yet!

Still need to replenish magic to solve these problems.

But thinking back to the severe lack of water that year, Liya felt that her face was going to turn dark again. It was a pleasure to do that once in a while, but if you do it every day, who can stand it? Your skin will peel off!

If she wants to solve the desertification problem in Xinjiang, she will probably have to work with Morgan for decades. It is absolutely forbidden to work with him for decades!

But if we really follow what Xiao Ranhe said, build a few more double-track railways there to further reduce transportation costs, and vigorously guide the people to plant trees, maybe we can really solve the problem of land degradation in Xinjiang?

After thinking for a while, Liya said, "Building railways on a large scale can not only allow the people to make more money, but also take the opportunity to solve the problem of land degradation in Xinjiang."

"How about this, your Ministry of Works should prepare the survey and budget first, and your Ministry of Revenue should also prepare the corresponding money and grain, so that you won't be caught off guard when the time comes."

After Liu Ren from the Ministry of Revenue and Gongsun Zhi from the Ministry of Works agreed, Liya continued.

"Also, if all the railways are really built into double tracks, and are also used to transport people and civilian goods, then this matter will not only be the business of the Ministry of Industry or the Ministry of Revenue, nor will it only be the business of the Ministry of War."

Xiao Ranhe was stunned and asked, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this?"

Liya said: "There are too many aspects involved in this matter. For example, who should collect the money for transporting people and civilian goods?"

The problem of train tickets.

Who will sell?

How to sell?

According to the Ministry of Revenue, the money must be firmly held in their hands, but will the Ministry of Industry agree?

You have to know that the construction of the railway was originally assigned to the Railway Department of the Ministry of Industry. Now that they are about to see the return of money, the opportunity to collect the money has been taken away by people from other departments. In the end, the Railway Department will be carrying a reputation of spending a lot of money. How can the Railway Department be willing?

If it belongs to the Railway Department, that certainly won't work.

He is a complete iron boss and no one can afford to offend him.

Liu Ren from the Ministry of Revenue immediately shouted, "Of course the National Treasury should collect the money. Otherwise, why should the Ministry of Industry collect it? Don't forget that the money for building the railway was all allocated by our National Treasury!"

The people from the Ministry of Industry laughed when they heard this and said sarcastically, "Minister Liu, don't you think about it? How much money can you collect from transporting people and civilian goods? It's not a good thing to take control of all the money collection matters, right?"

Listening to the argument between the two people below, Liya thought for a moment and said:

"How about this? We will set up a new department responsible for collecting money and temporarily place it under your Ministry of Revenue. But this department can only be responsible for collecting money. As for the construction of railways, it will still be the responsibility of the Railway Department of the Ministry of Industry. In the future, the construction of railways will still be funded by your Ministry of Revenue."

When Liu Ren heard this, he immediately agreed with a smile. The Ministry of Works would be responsible for spending money, and the Ministry of Revenue would be responsible for collecting money. Isn't this perfect?

But the people in the Ministry of Works were not satisfied and said quickly, "Your Majesty, wouldn't it be better if the money collected was kept in the Ministry of Works? At least we can use the collected money to build railways, and we don't have to look at the Ministry of Revenue's face in the future."

Liya's face immediately darkened, and she said in a deep voice: "The Railway Department can be responsible for building railways, but it cannot be responsible for collecting money. This is the rule."

The Ministry of Industry now has a lot of power. If their funds become free in the future, it will be very scary. Therefore, Liya will not allow the Ministry of Industry to have its own source of funds. Once they have money, they will want to secretly research something that she can't predict. If it is something dangerous, won't she have to bear the consequences?

Seeing that Leah's tone was wrong, the people from the Ministry of Industry didn't dare to say anything.

"Okay, let's leave it at that. Today's court meeting ends here. If there is nothing too important, we can discuss it tomorrow." Leah waved her hand, stood up from the dragon throne and left the palace.

After Liya left, the officials below were still in shock. At this time, Xiao Ran looked at the people from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue and said, "Your Majesty is dissatisfied with the court or the local government, but there is no suitable trigger, so it has not erupted. If possible, we'd better take advantage of the opportunity of the railway overhaul to solve these problems."

Chapter 244: As a minister, you should share your king's worries

Gongsun Zhi was stunned and asked, "Your Majesty, are you dissatisfied with the court and local government? The local inspection censors' offices, the inspectors' offices and the Jinyiwei, the current administration is many times more clean and honest than the previous dynasty, and the people's livelihood is much better. What else does Your Majesty want to do?"

Liu Ren was also confused and asked, "Gongsun Pifu is right. The livelihood of the people in our Wu Kingdom is now more than ten times better than that of the previous dynasty. Even the peak of the Han Dynasty cannot compare with it. What else can Your Majesty be dissatisfied with?"

Xiao Ranhe shook his head helplessly and sighed, "The people's livelihood is better and the government is clean, is that enough?"

"Your Majesty encountered several cases during his southern tour. Do you think His Majesty will just let them go? In many cases, just because His Majesty doesn't say anything doesn't mean that we, the ministers, can stop doing anything. Otherwise, what are we, the ministers, doing?"

"Before this, Your Majesty had temporarily put these cases aside because of the UN matter. Now that the UN matter has been resolved, Your Majesty will definitely start dealing with the impact of these cases and some of the things behind them."

"Later, send some people from your Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Works to cooperate with the Buddhist and Taoist Department to start investigating all monks, Taoists, and nuns in the country, including their certificates of ordination and the land of temples and Taoist temples, especially the interest payments and rents left over from the past."

"If there is a problem, deal with it first, so that you can explain it to His Majesty when he asks about it later. If His Majesty comes to deal with it personally, I'm afraid it will be another heinous case."

After being reminded by Xiao Ranhe, Gongsun Zhi, Liu Ren and other ministers immediately broke out in cold sweat.

Xiao Ranhe continued, "The same is true for the extended working hours case. A small county like Yongcheng can produce so many weird things. What about other places?"

At this point, Xiao Ranhe couldn't help but sigh again and said, "Apart from these messy problems, there is also the mess of the previous sect fight. It's about time to solve it."

Liu Ren asked in confusion: "Hasn't the fight been resolved?"

Xiao Ranhe snorted coldly and said, "Solved? Then let me ask you, when two sects were fighting each other, thousands of people were able to come out, several artillery pieces were pulled out, and grenades specially made by the imperial court were obtained. What does this prove?"

"This shows that the clan power in each place is still relatively large. If a similar situation occurs in another place, and the local soldiers fail to arrive in time to deal with it, what do you think will happen in the end?"

"Once people get too excited about killing each other on the battlefield, they won't care about anything else, especially in a fight between clans. They are likely to involve women, children, the elderly and the weak, and the end result will be a river of blood."

"Once such a situation occurs, who will bear the responsibility? Will it be the local officials? Or the local garrison? Or will it be us? Who can bear it? I am over 70 years old. I plan to retire after this year. I don't want to take care of these trivial matters anymore. I just want to enjoy my old age."

Xiao Ranhe sighed when he said this.

If it was a smaller scale, or a fight without firearms, it would be fine. But if there were a few more fights involving cannons, no one would be able to bear the consequences.

After hearing what Xiao Ranhe said, the others all broke out in cold sweats. Just as Xiao Ranhe said, those of them who originally followed His Majesty are all old now, and none of them want to leave any black spots in their final political careers.

After thinking for a while, Liu Ren said, "I think this matter can be accomplished by taking advantage of the opportunity of relocating the people."

Xiao Ranhe was stunned and asked, "Relocate the people?"

Liu Ren hummed and said, "Just now the Prime Minister said that the clans are too powerful. It's not just that the people stick together. Sometimes there may be dozens or even hundreds of people in a household registration book."

"So, we simply induce the people to separate into different households. Take the relocation of the people as an example. When we relocate the people in the future, we will directly distribute the resettlement allowance according to the household, not just per person."

"Many other things can be handled this way. Once there is enough benefit, the people will take the initiative to separate. When it is time to migrate, they can be moved to different places so that they can't stick together. This can be regarded as a partial solution, right?"

After thinking for a while, Xiao Ranhe nodded and said, "In that case, let's try it on the people who are migrating to Tianzhu this time."

But when he thought about relocating the people to Tianzhu, Xiao Ranhe couldn't help but scratch his head.

Just like the problem that was worrying Leah, Xiao Ranhe also realized the biggest problem facing Wu State now.

The population distribution is uneven, and many places are sparsely populated. Even if the population density of more than 20 provinces in the Han area is normal, don't forget that there are still a large number of factories in the Han area, and these factories are also short of people!

Then I thought about the factories under the control of the imperial court, which were also crying out for help...

Xiao Ranhe really wanted to pull out his hair, but he didn't have much hair left.

Compared to Xiao Ranhe and other big guys who have such a headache that they want to pull their hair out, Her Majesty the Queen Leah is much more leisurely.

After inviting Nunnally, Leo II, Clovis I and her daughter Long Luxin to dinner, Leah took the lead in proposing a new way to play

The Wu State was preparing to donate a batch of books to Western Europe, including but not limited to the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as enlightenment books such as "The Book of Filial Piety", "Three Character Classic", and "Thousand Character Classic".

In addition, the Wu State also plans to donate a number of hospitals to Western Europe and send some doctors there to provide medical services.

Of course, this Western Europe does not refer to Rome, Persia, or Frank. It refers to other countries except Wu State. After all, in the eyes of China, other places except China are barbaric lands, collectively referred to as Western Europe, which is also simple and convenient to record.

However, when helping other Western European countries, Leah decided to give priority to helping the five great good people, namely, Frank, Rome, Persia, and Britain, so that everyone can run forward together.

This touched Nanali and the others deeply.

If it was just donating books, it would be nothing, but when it comes to hospitals and doctors, Nanali and others can't help but be moved.

In fact, Leo II was originally insane and even had the nickname of the Mad King. After asking a doctor from the Wu State to treat him, his condition is now quite stable.