Chapter 388 Self-examination
After all, North India has only been established for just over a hundred years.

Even if there was a peasant uprising, it would not be that serious.

But if there is one, there will be two.

That is for sure!
And as more and more land is annexed.

There will also be more people who are hungry.

in fact……

Indian people are pretty good.

After all, their tolerance may be stronger than that of the people of the Song Dynasty.

Then…

After learning about the reasons for the peasant uprising, it was found that it was precisely because of the years of war that had resulted in increased taxation. Coincidentally, the Ganges flooded that year, which caused some people to go hungry and thus take risks.

Soon, the imperial court came up with a countermeasure.

Since it is because of the flooding of the Ganges that people have no food to eat.

Then let someone manage the Ganges.

only……

As for this government project, only those who understand it can understand it.

Whether the punishment is effective or not is not the point, but corruption is bound to exist.

And the problem is…

In the end, this problem has not been resolved.

After all, given the rainfall in India’s special seasons, it may not be possible to manage it well without the capabilities of future generations.

Even if you have the ability of later generations, you will still suffer the disaster you deserve.

At last……

There is no way!

The only thing we can do is to exempt taxes for that year if a disaster strikes somewhere.

only……

With such a regulation, who knows, someone might take advantage of this loophole again.

……

Compared to North India, which can only seek answers internally.

Others like the Song Dynasty, Constantinople, and Chola were much better.

of course!

The Song Dynasty was not completely without its own difficulties.

Although the Song Dynasty has been exporting population to reduce domestic conflicts over the years.

But little by little, some relatively strong landlords emerged.

Since these landlords have food and drink, they certainly would not think of rebellion.

But if there are too many people like this, it will actually be a destabilizing factor for the Song Dynasty.

after all……

Once the situation changes, it is inevitable that they may become aristocratic families again.

In addition…

The Song Dynasty has faced even greater difficulties in recent years.

It is also because now that the war has subsided, people from the grassland are rarely sent out.

Although it can be delivered to Australia and America.

But sending too much to these places is not good either.

after all……

It is better to take the people of Song Dynasty as the basic base.

Otherwise, by then the Song people would be even smaller than the nomadic peoples.

What if this nomadic people finally rebels?
Although such a thing may not necessarily happen in the next few decades.

But you still have to pay attention.

and……

Today, the Liaodong region has also become a granary, sufficient to feed more Liao people and Jurchens.

It’s fine as long as these Liao people and Jurchens are fine.

If one day, there is not enough food, and the imperial court is not prepared to provide relief.

Will that cause any problems?
Fortunately, most of the officials of nomadic ethnic groups have now become civil servants.

It can be said that there are very few people who can fight.

otherwise……

I am really afraid that one day the Liaodong region will suddenly rebel.

This year.

The Song Dynasty also planned to conduct an inventory of the country’s land and population.

There is undoubtedly resistance.

only……

After selecting a group of newly graduated scholars with no background to do the job, they finally got the job done.

In addition…

The population census also ensured that no additional taxes would be imposed on the adult population, so the policy was able to be implemented.

The Song Dynasty then planned to implement fiscal taxation.

The meaning is obvious!

Only those who own property pay taxes.

If you don’t even have any property, then of course you don’t need to pay taxes.

And what is property, land, houses.

In history, land has often been easily hidden by wealthy businessmen.

Houses, of course, are not so easy to hide.

It’s just what I say.

As soon as this property tax was proposed, it was immediately opposed by many people.

Since almost everyone has a house, no one would want to pay this amount.

of course!

The court was not in a hurry either.

Anyway…

At present, it is just brought out for discussion.

In fact…

The imperial court hoped to sort out all the previous harsh taxes and levies and make them simpler.

But since the people below don’t agree, there is nothing we can do.

Then continue to retain the previous heavy taxes and levies.

But this land, and its population, must be counted as accurately as possible.

If we cannot know this with a relatively accurate degree, then there is no point in governing this country.

Then in this process, naturally, those below can conceal the facts and they do so.

to be frank!
There is no need to even look at what is finally submitted. As soon as the decree is issued, one can already foresee that someone will conceal the truth.

The imperial court noticed that the population in some areas was decreasing instead of increasing.

It is also a good time to send people to investigate it.

quickly!

Many officials and petty clerks were dismissed.

In this way, it can be considered as getting rid of harm to the country.

Finally, all these criminals were packaged as prisoners and sent to Australia and America.

Directly become a labor camp prisoner.

The court did this.

The people below also reacted immediately.

This is where I fish!
in fact……

For the imperial court, it doesn’t matter whether the population is fully investigated or not.

but……

The imperial court was very happy to send away those who did not listen to it and liked to deceive their superiors and subordinates.

This immediately made the rest of the people dare not lie anymore.

Of course!
You said that there were absolutely no omissions when you checked, which is definitely impossible.

and……

If the people below want to hide something from you, you may not be able to check them one by one.

But some people go too far and treat the imperial court as fools, and they will definitely be punished.

At last……

After nearly two hundred and fifty years, the problem of the Song Dynasty’s use of false names to hold households hostage was finally solved.

At least……

The current data should still be relatively accurate.

In this year, the population of the Song Dynasty had reached 350 million.

to be frank!
Even the court itself was a little surprised.

However, it can still be seen through some phenomena.

For example…

Even in rural Hebei today, you can see many families that can support many children.

But this also made the imperial court very worried.

Because the population is too large, it is definitely not a good thing.

This can also be seen from the data.

Some local officials in the past must have concealed something from the court. For example, when the court needed to relocate people, some officials might have concealed the truth.

Or they might force the people under their rule to not sign up.

And there is…

Maybe the people themselves don’t want to sign up.

Because the people are not stupid. When you stay in the Song Dynasty, it will be very convenient for you to do anything.

It was like night.

Even in some small towns, you may see places selling late-night snacks.

But what if you go out?
Then you may not be able to have a midnight snack.

Although the survival pressure in the Song Dynasty was high, it had very complete supporting facilities.

When you go to Australia or America, although you can have enough food to eat, you may not be able to live as well as you did in the Song Dynasty.

Although the Song Dynasty was poor, you could still watch shadow puppet shows on the streets.

But if you go outside, you won’t be able to watch the shadow show.

That is to say…

When people feel that they can still survive, they are absolutely unwilling to go out.

The court then produced data on population migration in previous years.

Compare each prefecture and county one by one.

can only say……

The imperial court was of course very happy that the Song Dynasty had so many people.

But if no one was willing to go out, the court would be unhappy.

This means that they would rather stay in the Song Dynasty as slaves than go out and become local landlords.

However, it is true that the Song Dynasty did provide relatively good protection for the personal safety of slaves.

For example, if an official or a wealthy businessman accidentally killed a slave, he would be held accountable by the government.

At the very least, he would lose his job, and at worst, he would be thrown into jail.

But there can’t be so many people who don’t strive for progress.

In order to stimulate more people to go abroad, the imperial court could only come up with relevant drastic policies.

at the same time……

We need to change some people’s misconceptions about the outside world.

Many people think that the outside world is a wild and barbaric place.

It’s not a place for people to live.

But actually…

People can still live outside, and the living conditions there may not be much better than in the Song Dynasty, but at least they are better than they are now.

Then…

The imperial court then sent people to persuade and educate the people.

Especially for those who are illiterate.

The thinking is feudal and conservative.

and……

The key point is that the family is extremely poor.

It can be said that the imperial court was chasing him and feeding him.

While executing.

Of course, we must also be wary of some people who, in order to gain power and achieve political achievements, resort to deception and other means, regardless of the actual situation, and force the people to flee.

finally……

After continuous investigation, screening, persuasion and education by the imperial court.

A large number of poor people were finally persuaded to leave.

It’s not that the imperial court doesn’t want you because you’re poor, and therefore doesn’t want to give you a chance to live.

But the imperial court is too conscientious and does not want you and your family to live too badly.

of course!

When the population moves out, they naturally also negotiate with the receiving country in advance.

Whatever conditions the host country can offer are also written in black and white on paper.

it’s over…

The Song Dynasty court will inevitably have to lose some money in this process.

so……

The court really does not make any money by doing such things, but instead loses money.

For example, if you were traveling from the northwest inland to the southeast coast, you certainly didn’t have the travel expenses yourself, but in the end the court would still reimburse you.

As for what to do next after a large number of poor people have moved away,

Perhaps the Song Dynasty also lacked labor.

One is to allow people from Korea and Japan to come and work.

Give them a chance to earn foreign exchange.

Another option is that the Song Dynasty could also purchase slaves from overseas or hire overseas workers.

Such as Chola, North India.

The price of this worker must be even cheaper.

of course!

This is only being tried in a small number of areas.

The scale has not yet been made very big.

and……

If the scale is really too large, we are actually afraid that these people will rebel in the Song Dynasty.

For example, coal mining in Shanxi and Hebei regions.

nowadays……

There were black people and even Indians digging.

Can’t the imperial court use its own people to dig?

Of course!
But the imperial court was kind-hearted and didn’t want to see its own people digging there.

However, doing so actually had some negative effects.

Because after seeing the Indians, blacks and other cattle and horses, the people of the Song Dynasty could not help but compare themselves with India and the blacks.

After a comparison, they found that there was no difference between themselves and these Indians and black slaves.

This greatly hurt their self-esteem.

But perhaps it is precisely because of this that many people who used to dig coal in coal mines are now willing to take the initiative to sign up to go overseas.

After all, they now finally understand that there is no future in digging coal here for a lifetime.

The relatively accurate land and population data played a very important role in the Song Dynasty’s further formulation of national policies.

and……

The imperial court also plans to make this a fixed system.

of course!

Checking once a year is too cumbersome.

An inspection every five years is considered acceptable.

The officials in the court also felt that the government seemed to be trying a very new way of governing the country.

At least……

If it happened in history, when the imperial court found out that so much land and population were missing, the next step would be to re-impose taxes on these lands and population.

However, at present, the government does not seem to have such plans.

But of course!
Although there is no tax on land and population, the collection of commercial taxes is strictly controlled.

But to be honest, under the conditions in ancient times, even commercial taxes were not easy to collect.

these years……

The commercial taxes that the imperial court collected less were probably calculated in billions.

In fact…

The corruption in the Song Dynasty was no less than that in North India.

This can also be seen from the data of some of the land surveyed this time.

Some officials own thousands or even tens of thousands of acres of land.

Before that, there was no record of it at all.

If it weren’t for the targeting of political enemies, these lands might not have been discovered.

to this end……

The officials whose land was discovered could not give a reasonable reason for concealing their land, and so they were dismissed from their posts.

In fact, if you really want to find a reason, it doesn’t mean you won’t find one.

For example, land transactions in the Song Dynasty were relatively frequent.

It may belong to this person today, but to that person tomorrow.

Then the tax for the land will be paid by the new owner.

In fact, he could argue that he bought these thousands or tens of thousands of acres of land recently.

So I haven’t had time to report it yet.

But the problem is…

This number is too large, and no one would believe it if I told them.

Can you buy thousands or tens of thousands of acres of land in a short period of time?
Is this land divided into many pieces in the east, south, west and north?

Such an inventory of land would certainly cause dissatisfaction among many people.

however……

The Song Dynasty had no choice but to do so.

Moreover, if you don’t do some things now, it will be more difficult to do them later.

(End of this chapter)