Li Bao defeated the cannibal fleet and captured Lingya Gate in March of the 11th year of Jingkang.

This naval battle in the South China Sea, which would have far-reaching consequences for the future, has not yet reached the Song Dynasty.

At least at this time, the market on Guangnan West Road is still trading according to the previous rules, and the Guangzhou seaport has not changed.

The vast villages on both sides of the Yangtze River have completed spring plowing.

The weather in the Central Plains has also returned to that of the past, with smoke curling up from cooking stoves.

Even Hebei and Hedong have experienced significant population growth.

At least the memorial submitted by the Ministry of Revenue at this time clearly reported the current population distribution of the Song Dynasty.

This is both a good thing and a challenge for the Zhao Guan family.

Mei Zhili said: "Your Majesty, not only is the population in Hebei and Hedong growing, the Central Plains and the South have been stable all year round. The new agricultural reform has achieved immediate results. The surplus grain in the hands of the people has increased, and the number of newborns has increased."

The governor and his ministers stood aside.

Zhao Guanjia was holding this "Compilation of Population in the Ten Years of Jingkang" in his hand, and he said: "The increase in the population is a good thing. It means that the world is peaceful and the people have enough food and clothing. However, we cannot only see this."

Mei Zhili said: "Your Majesty, please make it clear."

"The more people there are, the more food they need. What will happen if we don't give them food?"

"Now, under the new policies of the imperial court, the people already have a surplus of food." Mei Zhili continued.

"Can you guarantee that these hundreds of state capitals and more than 100 million people will have a surplus of food?"

"this……"

“Once the population in some places seriously exceeds the local food supply, where will the excess people go?”

"This..." Mei Zhili couldn't answer for a while.

Lu Yihao said: "People will gather in wealthy places. When there are too many people in certain places, these people will naturally go to more prosperous places, such as Jiangnan, Chengdu, or Gyeonggi."

The three places mentioned by Lu Yihao were among the richest areas in the Song Dynasty.

"Everyone wants to gather in a prosperous place. The growth of Tokyo's population in recent years illustrates this truth. Tokyo is now expanding into a new city, but Mr. Zhao also said that the total population of Tokyo cannot exceed 3.5 million.

Exceeding this number will cause a lot of trouble."

Tokyo is equivalent to a first-tier big city. Of course, people want to squeeze into the first-tier big cities. After all, the business atmosphere of the Song Dynasty was strong, business was free, and the myth of getting rich overnight was performed all the time in the capital.

However, the problem is that every organization has its own tolerance limit.

Lu Yihao said that local development is uneven and the population will naturally migrate to big cities. What happens when big cities have insufficient resources?

This is a contradiction.

Lu Yihao continued: "There are sixteen counties in the capital. They are closer to the capital, have more opportunities, and are easier to get rich. They can share the burden for the capital. When the population of Tokyo seriously exceeds the resources it can provide, people will go there on their own.

The surrounding area is spread out, His Majesty also said, there is an invisible hand that can adjust it."

"What Xianggong Lu said makes sense, but what if the entire Gyeonggi Road can no longer bear it?" Zhao Ning put down the "Compilation of Population in the Ten Years of Jingkang" in his hand, "The most densely populated places in the Song Dynasty, one is Gyeonggi Road

, the second is Jiangnan, the third is Chengdu, there are already a lot of people in Gyeonggi Road, how can these three places share the population pressure?"

Lu Yihao continued: "Jinghu, Lianghuai, and Hebei can all share the burden."

"How much can be shared?" Zhao Guanjia asked again, "Now there are 130 million people in the Song Dynasty. If it reaches 200 million people in ten years, and if it reaches 300 million, 500 million, or 800 million people in 20 years, what will happen again?"

How to share the burden?”

The ministers fell silent.

"How many people can the world support?" Zhao Guanjia asked again, "Can't the imperial court prohibit people from having children?"

In fact, this issue involves a deeper issue in ancient dynasties: the three-hundred-year law of rise and fall.

Several characteristics of the ancient feudal dynasty and the three hundred year rule of the dynasty:

First, the lack of productivity makes it difficult to expand the total resources of the whole society.

Second, as time goes by, interest groups use their power to continuously compete for resources.

Third, the speed at which interest groups compete for resources is far greater than the growth rate of total resources, which will inevitably deprive the powerless.

Fourth, in the era when there was no civil strife, the powerless were deprived of survival resources, but the population continued to increase, until finally the resources at the bottom were not enough to meet people's basic survival. When this phenomenon became widespread, peasant uprisings would occur.

Therefore, an increase in population can meet production requirements, but when the population is overloaded and production cannot keep up, it becomes a social problem.

This is not only a problem of increasing population, but also a problem of resource imbalance caused by institutional inertia.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Ding came out and said: "In addition to the current internal self-balance of the Song Dynasty, if the imperial court achieves the success of opening up territories in the South China Sea, Yinshan, or even the Western Regions, people can move to these places. Also.

Including the Southwest.”

Mei Zhili came out and said: "Master, facts have proven that moving people to these places will cost the court a lot of money, and the national treasury cannot afford it in the long run."

"There is no need for money from the treasury." Zhao Ding said, "The current migration of people is all quickly organized in a short period of time. Money is needed to ensure efficiency, but what your Majesty and Lu Xianggong discussed just now will take place in the next few decades.

There is no need to arrange people there in a short time."

"Who wants to leave their homeland?"

"People who have difficulty making a living in their hometown and young people who want to see the outside world."

"There are not many such people compared to the total number." Mei Zhili continued.

"There will be more and more." Zhao Ding said, "If Li Bao can win in the South China Sea, no matter it is the Zhejiang Road, Fujian Road, or Guangdong and Guangxi, there will be people willing to go to the South China Sea. If Yu Yunwen wins in Yinshan, Shaanxi Road, Hedong Road

, and even some people from the Central Plains are willing to go there, as there are new opportunities there."

Finally, he added: "If the imperial court can destroy Xia, there will be people in Xingqing Mansion, Hexi, and even the Western Regions who are willing to go."

Of course, there is one sentence that is not said: If Jin is destroyed, Yanyun and Liaodong can all immigrate.

Zhao Guanjia nodded and said: "What the Grand Prime Minister said makes sense."

In fact, this matter can be summed up as follows:

1. Reform the distribution system.

Second, develop more resources and enlarge the total cake, such as changing rice to mulberry, enlarging the commercial supply side, and enlarging the demand side through infrastructure construction.

Third, expand the territory and spread out the population, such as conquering the South China Sea and encouraging immigration.

That is to say, get rid of involution.

Everyone said: "Your Majesty is wise."

"Zhengshitang must make policies for the next hundred years and divide them into ten decades."

Zhao Ding said: "I accept the decree."

"Mr. Qian."

"I'm here."
Chapter completed!