Chapter 376: Governing the Country with Mathematics

Li Shimin did not intend to play a slow game with Tubo. Wingdings: ♦︎♦︎⬧︎♦︎◆︎⌧︎♦︎♦︎□︎❍︎

This method takes too long and is too slow, which is not his style.

Previously, he did not know about Tubo and therefore did not pay attention to it, which gave it the opportunity to show its teeth to the Central Plains, but now that the danger is known, there are naturally many ways to solve it.

And these, Li Jing, the general manager of the Qinghai Road, naturally knew, and Li Shimin was very relieved.

Therefore, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty now still focuses more on the present:

This year's imperial examination is over.

The scale is larger, the categories of examinations are more, and the most important thing is that according to what the younger generation Wen Mang said, the name-blind system has been added.

The benefits of the name-blind system are obvious, so the poor children who went to Chang'an to take the exam all praised it. The resistance encountered by this system is as weak as Li Shimin expected, which can be ignored.

After all, Jie Li now lives in the palace and dances for the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Anyone who jumps out to oppose him at this time will inevitably weigh his own weight.

In addition, the aristocratic families now live in Qi and Lu, which is quite far away from Guanzhong. Not to mention confronting Li Shimin, it is quite difficult to even spread the news to Chang'an.

Of course, another important reason is that Li Shimin has not yet started to deal with the family shadow. For most people, inheriting the father's shadow and entering the officialdom is a more labor-saving choice.

For Li Shimin, the next step of the officialdom reform is already quite clear in front of him.

Just like a blacksmith forging iron, these poor children who are selected for their talents are the best iron embryos.

What he has to do is to patiently and carefully forge this iron embryo, and when it is tempered into steel, he can rely on it to sweep the world!

But when Li Shimin thought of this, he thought of Fang and Du.

If the poor children are good embryos, then Fang and Du can be called Longquan Tai'a.

It's just that Longquan Tai'a seems to be quite busy recently...

But just as this thought came up, an eunuch came to report that the Duke of Liang and the Duke of Cai were coming to see the emperor together.

When the two important ministers came at the same time, Li Shimin instantly smelled the smell of something important, and his expression unconsciously became serious.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui are both dukes, and now they are prime ministers, so it doesn't have to be so cumbersome to see the emperor.

After sending the eunuchs to report, they can go straight in, and then the eunuchs also came back to report that everyone was meeting in Ganlu Hall.

Now the renovation of Taiji Palace has been completed, but what puzzled the ministers was that the current emperor stayed in Ganlu Hall most of the time unless he encountered a court meeting.

Fang and Du naturally knew why.

After entering Ganlu Hall, the most conspicuous position opposite the door was a framed scroll, on which Li Shimin copied "Qin Fu Yin"

Even though they could recite it by heart, Fang and Du still felt heartbroken every time they read it.

His Majesty's intention to hang it here as a warning could not be more obvious.

In addition, "Land Border Map", "East Sea Island Map" and "Earth Map" are hung in the most conspicuous place in the hall.

"Hundred Crossbow Machines", "City-breaking Ordnance", "Chang'an Never Sleeps", "Tower Heavenly King Image" and so on are hung everywhere.

It is no wonder that His Majesty often stops here, looking at these many images, or can have all kinds of ideas.

Moreover, many of the contents are shocking, and it is not appropriate to hang them in the Taiji Hall.

Looking around, Fang Xuanling was full of emotion. The scenes of later generations often appeared in his dreams, which made him linger. After waking up, he was more confident in his official duties.

Du Ruhui was most emotional-if there was no light curtain, how to say it in the word of later generations?

Oh yes, if there was no light curtain, he might have died at this moment.

The little feeling did not last long. After Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui greeted His Majesty, they personally presented a memorial:

"Ke Ming and I spent more than a month to sort out the list of Hu County. Please take a look."

Looking at Fang Xuanling's solemn expression, Li Shimin also became a little nervous and took it in person with the same solemnity.

This memorial was different from what Li Shimin had seen before. As soon as it was opened, there was a string of dense numbers.

Hu County was established during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was only forty or fifty miles southwest of Chang'an. Because it was close to the capital, many of its civilian household registers were also preserved in Chang'an. These data were also completely preserved after the Tang Dynasty and Sui Dynasty.

The beginning of the memorial took the fifth year of Kaihuang, the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, as an example, and listed in detail the number of acres of cultivated land in Hu County and the number of civilian households, and then through simple calculations, it was found that each household had about how many acres of good land.

Immediately afterwards, the memorial continued to list the time points of Daye Year 3, Wude Year 1, and Zhenguan Year 2 in detail according to this method.

The number of acres of good land per household in the four periods was clearly written, and Li Shimin could gradually see the problem without knowing how to calculate.

The third year of Daye during the pre-Sui Dynasty was the most prosperous, but the good land per household was not as much as during the Kaihuang period.

Moreover, Li Shimin knew that this was just paper data, and the more complicated land annexation issues had not been listed. But in short, the pre-Sui Dynasty was prosperous during Daye, but the people were hungry?

If there were not enough land, they would not be able to eat enough. If the people were hungry, civil unrest would arise. Li Shimin took a deep breath.

This was a new perspective, which made him tremble a little. As an emperor, he could see at a glance that this mathematics could also be a sharp tool for governing the country!

What relieved Li Shimin a little was that the comparison between the first year of Wude and the second year of Zhenguan listed in the Tang Dynasty was not so tragic.

Compared with the first year of Wude, in the second year of Zhenguan, the number of acres of cultivated land increased, the number of households also increased slowly, and the approximate number of acres of good farmland owned by each household also increased.

But Li Shimin also knew very well that there was more than twenty years between the first year of Kaihuang and the third year of Daye, and it was only eleven years from the first year of Wude to the second year of Zhenguan. It is unfair to compare them together.

But even so, Li Shimin also faintly smelled a bad smell.

This Hu County is too close to Chang'an, so Li Shimin also knows its geography very well. Although the land adjacent to floods is fertile, the number of fertile fields in this county will always be limited.

But is there an end to the increase in the number of households? The answer is obvious.

This is the contradiction between limited farmland and unlimited households! Li Shimin's heart was like Huang Zhong Da Lu, and he immediately thought of the horse's trap.

The numbers listed by Fang and Du are not complicated, and such comparisons have even appeared in the memorials of other courtiers.

But just one more step of calculation makes it so intuitive! He is truly the king of science!

"Xuan Ling Ke Ming is the greatest in Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin said this with a mixture of praise and admiration, causing the two of them to wave their hands in disdain.

With this inexplicable feeling, Li Shimin turned over the page of the memorial, and what he saw were more complicated numbers.

Is this really a memorial? But why can’t I understand?

But the words written above were familiar words after all. Li Shimin calmed down and carefully considered the meaning word by word, reading very slowly.

During this process, a chamberlain came in and quietly held the lamp and then left silently.

The sound of the conversation between Prince Chengqian and Prince Tai mixed with the noisy voice of Prince Zhi arrived at the door of Ganlu Hall from far away.

But after talking quietly with the chamberlain, the three princes retreated silently.

During this process, Fang and Du stood meticulously, occasionally looking up at the "Qin Women's Song" hanging in the hall. This framed copybook was reflected by the candlelight, as if every word was crying.

The food delivered here by the imperial kitchen had been taken away and heated twice. It was not until the waiter was about to ask for the third time that the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty let out a long sigh:

"I see."

“The more prosperous a country becomes, the poorer its people become.”

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui bowed to the ceremony together regardless of physical fatigue.

This is what they admire about the young emperor.

Although no one dared to say it when he first came to the throne, I don't know how many people planned to see the joke of this admiral.

After all, everyone knows that the world cannot be governed by military force alone.

But after a few years, the former Tiance general calmly got off his horse and began to orderly govern the world with both civil and military forces.

You are not born knowing it, you are just diligent and eager to learn.

Faced with the attitude of Fang and Du, Li Shimin also solemnly saluted these two ministers.

Then he put this substantial memorial into his arms. At this moment, he felt hungry and quickly invited the two of them to have a meal together.

After spending half a day here, the tiredness on the faces of the two ministers was very obvious after the meal. Li Shimin did not hold back, and ordered his servants to send the two princes back to their homes.

Then Li Shimin, who was extremely excited, entered the harem and went straight to Queen Changsun, and couldn't wait to share his thoughts with Guanyin.

"The richer the country becomes, the poorer the people become? What kind of truth is this?"

Queen Changsun was puzzled.

"If there is no war, how many children can one family have?"

Li Shimin asked back.

Queen Changsun still understands this:

"When there is war, and people are poor at home, they often choose to give birth to children to increase their labor force. However, it is difficult for female babies to survive, and they often drown female babies. In the end, one family may have three children."

"In a peaceful and prosperous age, most ordinary people would care for three to five sons and two to three daughters per household."

Li Shimin nodded and continued to ask:

"Then... what about a hundred years from now in the peaceful age?"