The big bandit in the Red Mansion robbed Lin Daiyu at the beginning

Upon hearing this, Qingfeng Li nodded slowly. This was indeed the truth.

In today's feudal society, under the rule of various classes, those who are privileged or wealthy are all surrounded by people and served by many maids and servants.

However, what Qingfeng Li was considering was not this, but population.

If Qingfeng Village wants to develop, it cannot do without people.

The official population statistics of Yangzhou City are about 817,600. Judging from this list of executions alone, the phenomenon of hidden populations in these wealthy families across Yangzhou is definitely not a serious problem.

Thinking of this, Qingfeng Li ordered someone to call Xiao Ai, who was busy in the back mountain.

Ask directly,

"Xiao Ai, how many people were hidden in various places during the Ming and Qing dynasties?"

After hearing this, Xiao Ai searched briefly and replied without any emotion,

"There are no exact statistics or clear records on the exact number of people hidden by wealthy families across the country during the Ming and Qing dynasties."

"During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there may have been some wealthy families who hid their people in various ways to avoid taxes and corvee labor, but..."

Qingfeng Li interrupted Xiao Ai directly.

"Okay, okay, just tell me the relevant data directly."

"Okay, got it."

Xiao Ai nodded and answered without any emotion,

"Based on the records in the Ming Shilu, some scholars speculate that the official population at the end of the Ming Dynasty should have been 1 million, but nearly 3 million people were unregistered."

"I'll go! So many!"

Even Qingfeng Li was shocked when he heard this.

The ratio of unregistered residents is 1:3. How the hell is this?!

Even if we exclude those due to subjective reasons or remote locations, without official statistics, how many such people are there?

The rest are all people hidden away by the wealthy and powerful families!

Then Qingfeng Li began to think seriously.

Although it is Daqian now, not the Ming Dynasty.

But I think the nature of those black-hearted guys who exploit the working people is similar. Let's just calculate it based on the current hidden population ratio of 1:2 in various places.

There are more than 800,000 people in Yangzhou now. If we raise the flag and release the people hidden by those wealthy people, the population in Yangzhou will immediately double!

By then, the population will be at least 1.6 to 1.7 million people. If it’s more, it will probably be more than 2 million!

When Qingfeng Li thought of so many people, his heart became even more excited!

With so many people, how many elite soldiers can they produce, how much food can they produce, and how many weapons can they make!

If he were to capture Jinling and occupy Jiangnan...

Thinking of the touching part, Li Qingfeng couldn't help but wipe away the tears of excitement that flowed from the corner of his mouth.

He slurped and then said to Xiao Ai,

"Xiao Ai, go and do your thing."

"Remember to draw up a plan for a thorough population census after taking Yangzhou. I'll need it later."

"Okay, got it!"

Xiao Ai answered without any emotion, then turned and walked out.

Then Qingfeng Li's gaze fell on the list of executed people again, and he flipped through the pages one by one.

Sure enough, apart from the assassins and spies that Qingfeng Village had "accumulated" to be killed in recent days, the rest were almost all people from the salt merchants' homes.

Moreover, most of them were servants and maids in various mansions.

Li Qingfeng couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, the emperor is so far away!

However, when I think of the Rongguo Mansion in the capital, after the construction of the Grand View Garden, the total number of people in the mansion is more than a thousand.

This is all under the nose of Emperor Xinglong, not to mention things further away.

Then I didn't think it was a big deal. After all, that's how it was for all those in power. The emperor had tens of thousands of people in his palace, not to mention the others.

Li Qingfeng flipped through the list and pondered in his mind.

Among the more than 1,300 people in the document, about 1,200 of them were servants of various wealthy families.