The most arrogant in history

Chapter 858 Is this a small problem?

Ye Kun finally had time to talk to Wei Caiqin.

Wei Caiqin is now doing her job in an orderly manner.

Because decades have passed, and she is no longer the playful little girl.

Seeing Ye Kun, Wei Caiqin smiled mischievously: "Your Majesty, come here to guide my work?"

"No, I'm here to ask you to give me some guidance on my work."

Ye Kun sat down and said with a smile: "I heard that you did a survey on farmers' survival, right? I want to see it."

"Your Majesty, I was about to report this to you, but I never found the chance."

Wei Caiqin nodded and asked her assistant to bring the investigation report and give it to Ye Kun for review.

The investigation report is very long, more than twenty pages, like a book.

Ye Kun didn't have time to read it carefully. He just glanced at the outline and details and asked, "I'll take a look at this report. First, tell me, what is the biggest problem in the countryside?"

“The biggest problem is the various problems that come with population growth.”

Wei Caiqin sighed: "To use the emperor's words, there are too many people, resources are tight, and people's sense of happiness has decreased."

Ye Kun chuckled.

Wei Caiqin also learned the word "happiness".

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Wei Caiqin rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Lord Wei is right."

Ye Kun nodded: "Since I unified Kyushu, I have set a population development plan and anticipated this day. But I think this little problem can still be solved."

"piece of cake?"

Wei Caiqin's eyes widened: "Your Majesty, do you know that the current population of China's nine provinces, not counting Jiaozhi and Tianzhu, is close to 100 million!"

"I know, that's why I said it was a small problem."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I also know that in another thirty years, the population of our Chinese Nine Provinces will reach 200 million, or even more. This is because when the tens of millions of children of this generation grow up, they will soon become the main force of reproduction."

Wei Caiqin smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Your Majesty, aren't you worried that people will rebel in the future when they have no food to eat?"

"Don't worry, we have sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, wheat and rice, what are we afraid of?"

Ye Kun comforted Wei Caiqin: "The famine in the past was caused by insufficient agricultural technology and the destruction caused by war. In addition, our forest coverage rate is still 50%, and there is still a lot of land that can be reclaimed and utilized.

In the past, a lot of land was wasted due to problems with crop varieties.

Now it is different. With cotton, we don’t need large mulberry fields; with corn and sweet potatoes, we can use the wasteland on the mountain. Overall, the utilization rate of land has doubled compared to before.

As long as there is no war, this little land in the country can feed 200 million people without any problem."

In later generations, the land of the Nine Provinces of China can feed more than one billion people.

The land of India can even feed two billion people.

The land in Indochina can also feed one billion people.

Ye Kun didn't dare to tell Wei Caiqin about this, for fear of scaring her.

Wei Caiqin was still worried: "But what about a hundred years from now? Our population may reach 400 million or 500 million. What will everyone eat then?"

"Master Wei, we must trust the wisdom of future generations."

"It's the wisdom of future generations." Wei Caiqin said with a smile: "We have created problems and left them for future generations to solve. Future generations will scold us."

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I am not completely dependent on my descendants. Look, isn't our large-scale foreign immigration to solve the population pressure? If we divide half of the population of the nine states of China and send them to Tianzhu and Jiaozhi, wouldn't that solve the problem?

Jiaozhi and Tianzhu can still absorb at least 100 million people."

"It's easy to say, but immigration also costs money."

"When the land in China's nine provinces becomes scarce, everyone will spontaneously migrate."

Ye Kun stopped the topic and asked, "I heard from Yourong that you have some suggestions for me. Tell me, I'm all ears."

Wei Caiqin nodded and said, "The biggest problem in rural areas is the land problem caused by population growth. Some families have many children, and when the children grow up, there is no land to farm.

I think we need to carry out a new round of land distribution to even out the land resources.”

Ye Kun nodded and looked through the report in his hand.

According to the report, land distribution in the countryside is now very uneven.

Some young couples were given 20 mu of land more than a decade ago. But now, they have a lot of children but have not gained any more land. The per capita land is only 3 or 4 mu, or even less.

In ancient times, grain production was not high, so it was difficult to support a family with such a small amount of land.

Fortunately, Ye Kun has been emigrating, otherwise, the land shortage would be even more serious.

Wei Caiqin said: "The court has not yet lifted restrictions on land reclamation. Some places can be reclaimed, but people dare not do so. In addition, the population has increased, and many new houses have been built. These houses have also occupied some good farmland."

Ye Kun nodded: "In this regard, we need to conduct a comprehensive survey of agriculture, make plans as soon as possible, and solve the problem. How about this, let's go to the Ministry of Agriculture together tomorrow to visit. And call the Ministry of Households to discuss it together."

Land redistribution involves many aspects and cannot be handled by one department alone.

Both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice must get involved.

Wei Caiqin said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Qin Chou from the Ministry of Agriculture is actually...very old. I wonder if Your Majesty has ever considered letting Qin Chou retire and replace him with someone younger?"

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Yes, it's time for Qin Chou to retire and enjoy his life."

In fact, in the past five years, Qin Chou has been in semi-retirement.

The specific work of the Ministry of Agriculture is arranged by his two deputies.

Qin Chou had applied for retirement several times, but Ye Kun did not agree.

There is also Ma Zhao, who is also very old.

After bidding farewell to Wei Caiqin, Ye Kun returned to the imperial study and called over Crown Prince Ye Feng to ask him about his feelings about governing the country in recent times.

Ye Feng said: "I am just arranging my father's purpose and governing the country step by step."

"Don't you have your own ideas or any confusions?" Ye Kun asked.

"Father, I have an idea, but I dare not say it..."

"Just say it, it's okay."

"Then I'll tell you." Ye Feng took a deep breath and said slowly:

"My father has been vigorously developing science and technology to improve people's intelligence. But I think that the development of science and technology is not conducive to the rule of the court. When the people become smarter, it will be difficult to manage. In addition, my father has been weakening the imperial power and advocating equality for all. If this continues, the emperor and the court will lose their majesty and it will be difficult to intimidate the people."

Upon hearing this, Ye Kun frowned and asked, "Did you come up with this question yourself?"

Ye Feng nodded and smiled, "Father, you are wise. These are all my own thoughts. I have grown up and have read history books. I can figure these things out. Back then, Shang Yang's strategy was to fool the people, tire them out and weaken them, in order to achieve long-term peace and stability."