Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 91: Lively and Vivacious Lu Jining
Lu Kang looked at Yu Fan, but the latter obviously had no intention of explaining. Lu Kang did not delve into it, but agreed: "Zhong Xiang's ability is enough to make him a marquis and prime minister in the future. He is also a loyal man. It is naturally great to have Zhong Xiang to assist me."
At the same time, Lu Kang knew in his heart that his Ministry of Revenue was already a bridge between the aristocratic families and the provincial governor's office, and the Ministry of Revenue had the deepest interests entangled with the aristocratic families. Letting Yu Fan be the Chief Clerk of the Ministry of Revenue, that is, the second-in-command of the Ministry of Revenue, must mean that in Bai Tu's heart, Yu Fan would favor the provincial governor's office!
Lu Kang couldn’t understand why Yu Fan and Bai Tu got along so well given their personalities, but the good thing about Old Man Lu was that if he didn’t understand something, he wouldn’t think about it.
Now Old Man Lu has a clear idea of his position, which is "bridge", and he strives to help Bai Tu coordinate the relationship between the other families, so as to achieve a smooth transition and common development...
"Mr. Lu, what do you think about the population problems in Kuaiji, Wujun and Yuzhang?" Bai Tu asked proactively.
Among the four counties, Danyang County has the least . If we have to point out the problem, it is because of the existence of the "Danyang elite soldiers". Tao Qian, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shu have plundered this place one by one. Now it is a little bald. In recent years, it needs to recuperate, so the registered population is a little small...
However, even in Danyang County, which had been stripped bare, the population decline was not as severe as in the other three counties!
"This... The Shanyue people in Yuzhang County have become a problem, and many refugees become civilians when they come in and bandits when they leave. Especially in recent years, the world has been in turmoil, and the number of refugees and Shanyue people has increased significantly. Therefore, the registered population is much smaller than the actual population. As for Kuaiji County and Wu County, ahem... maybe the statistics are wrong. I am also going to re-sort the households of the two counties. My lord, please let me know if you have any instructions." Lu Kang said directly.
In the area east of the Yangtze River, Kuaiji is mountainous and Yuzhang is forested, and the Shanyue people often cause chaos.
In fact, most of the "Shanyue" today are not the ancient Yue people, and there is no essential difference between them and the Han people in terms of ethnicity. Many of them are refugees who go to the mountains to become "bandits", and some of them don't even rob much, but are just afraid of harm from the government. They are equivalent to "Wu Fort" who take advantage of the geographical location.
On the contrary, there are very few real native ancient Yue people, and there are only a few in Kuaiji County.
The population of Yuzhang County decreased severely because of the trouble caused by Shanyue, or rather, because of the pretense that Shanyue was causing trouble.
In comparison, Kuaiji County is actually much better in this regard, and... objectively this is the credit of the aristocratic families.
There were many aristocratic families in Wu County and Kuaiji County, so the living space of the Shanyue was suppressed. It was difficult for the imperial army to completely disperse these people who came down the mountain and became Han people, and went up the mountain and became Shanyue. Instead, it was a huge waste.
The reason why there are so few people in Wu County and Kuaiji County is not because they are hiding in the mountains, but because the local prominent families are hiding their population.
Which of these noble families didn't have servants? Even Lujiazhuang, which barely had any connection with the nobles, had hundreds of hectares of land and hundreds of servants, and could easily produce thousands of dan of grain.
In terms of influence in the court, the Jiangdong families are far less prominent than the Central Plains families due to their regionality. However, in terms of local influence, it is places like Jiangdong that are more likely to give birth to powerful families. If it were the three states of Yan, Yu and Xu, the families could pass on their titles to officials for generations, but they would never be as wealthy as the Jiangdong families.
Bai Tu, Chen Gong and Lu Su had previously calculated that the number of people hidden in Wu and Kuaiji counties was as high as 600,000.
In fact, in the middle of the Three Kingdoms period, the courage and appetite of the noble families in various places were trained to be bigger. The registered population of the entire Han Dynasty dropped from more than 50 million at its peak to a total of 6 to 7 million in the middle of the Three Kingdoms period and the lowest point of the Three Kingdoms period...
Of course, natural disasters, man-made disasters, and a sharp decline in population were some of the reasons, but a considerable part of it was that the aristocratic families at that time had already advanced into the form of "aristocratic families", and the population was also a "resource" for the aristocratic families!
Especially after the Sima family, Lu family and other aristocratic families in Wei State completed their stranglehold on the military forces of the Cao family and the Xiahou family, it marked the beginning of the aristocratic families' efforts to suppress the warlords and seize power, and the aristocratic families began to fully extend their tentacles of influence.
By the early Jin Dynasty, when the country was finally unified, the population had recovered to 16 million. What’s even more amazing is that from the first year of Taikang to the third year of Taikang, in just two or three years, the population increased by more than 7 million…
On the one hand, the Jin Dynasty ended the unrest and reduced the consumption of civil war, but the miracle of a 40% increase in population in two years was obviously also the reason why the aristocratic families restrained themselves when facing the unified dynasty.
Now Bai Tu has no way to deal with the Shanyue people hiding in the mountains, but the population of Wujun and Kuaiji must be dug out!
Lu Kang has also hinted that if Bai Tu tells him a number, he can go and coordinate...
"I think the two counties should have at least 50,000 more households," Bai Tu said.
At this time, a household in Jiangdong probably consisted of six or seven people, because when statistics were taken, even if adult males had not married and separated from the family, except for the eldest son, would be counted as one household. The population of each household in Jiangdong was similar to that of the Jin Dynasty in later generations, and slightly more than the "family of five" in the Central Plains during the Han Dynasty.
In terms of "households", the aristocratic families in Kuaiji and Wujun have hidden about 100,000 households, and Bai Tu now wants them to give up half of them!
Although Lu Kang didn't show joy when he heard this, he was relieved. The 100,000 households were not hidden by a few families, but by all the noble families. Some were clan members who concealed their identities, and some were refugees who lost their land and became slaves. Moreover, not all of them were swallowed up in recent years...
It does hurt to spit out half of it, but when you think about it... at least I didn't lose any money, and even my efforts in recent years were not completely in vain!
Lu Kang also understood that this number was not something Bai Tu came up with on his own, but was a standard that he, Lu Su, and Chen Gong had already set.
This would not make these aristocratic families feel comfortable, but at the same time it also gave Lu Kang room for coordination.
"Don't worry, my lord. Considering the prosperity of Wu and Kuaiji counties, adding 50,000 households... should be possible!" Lu Kang almost guaranteed it.
Bai Tu doesn't hope that these aristocratic families will have any tendency to develop into powerful clans, and in the future, this kind of "hiding" behavior will not be allowed in the household registration, but... it is not advisable to act too hastily.
But it’s not that easy to just let them go!
"Well, fifty thousand households... is not a small number. It depends on whose family made the mistake before, so the 'ransom' must not be less." Bai Tu said.
Lu Kang understood that Bai Tu still had some threats to make, but since he said it was a "ransom", Lu Kang was not too worried - it was just a fine, and this was to be expected as the governor's office was now penniless.
Since Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there has been a tradition of using money to redeem crimes. During the reign of Emperor Ling, even the positions of the three highest officials were priced clearly. Naturally, the practice of "ransom" was further promoted, and even death penalty crimes could be redeemed.
"Just 200,000 yuan per household." Bai Tu acted as if he was very generous.
When Lu Kang heard this, his eyes widened and he didn't notice that Lu Su was grinning slightly at this time.
"My lord... isn't two hundred thousand coins a bit..." Lu Kang began to have a headache, and even suspected that Bai Tu didn't know what two hundred thousand coins meant.
According to the grain prices in previous years, Liang rice, which is the highest quality millet and only eaten by wealthy families, costs around 400 coins per stone. Other millets, valleys, wheat, and rice, which is considered a specialty of the south at this time, all cost 200 to 300 coins per stone.
Even though prices had risen by 30% to 50% due to the war, as far as money was concerned, 20,000 coins a year were enough for a family to have food and clothing - of course, ordinary people at that time were mainly self-sufficient and did not seldom use currency to circulate goods.
A household will be fined 200,000 yuan. This is a bit like sucking the marrow out of its bones...
"Of course, I also know that it may be difficult for everyone to come up with cash, so we can use goods and materials to pay off debts! Zijing, show Mr. Lu the official storage materials that the Ministry of Civil Affairs is currently purchasing." Bai Tu said.
Lu Su is going to take over the Ministry of Civil Affairs... Lu Kang suddenly realized this, but now he didn't have time to study it in detail. Instead, he immediately looked at the list handed over by Lu Su.
Originally, Lu Kang had already prepared to persuade Bai Tu, but after looking at the list, Lu Kang's expression was strange at first, and then... he breathed a sigh of relief!
After arriving at the governor's mansion today, Lu Kang has been feeling very nervous. He even feels like he is several years younger.
