Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

What's it like to have children under five years old making up 60% of the total population?

Li Chengqian's forehead was covered in sweat.

He quickly flipped through the documents in his hand.

The number of newborns in Guannei Circuit, Hebei Circuit, and Hedong Circuit in the sixth year of Zhenguan was significantly lower than that in the fifth year of Zhenguan. This was partly due to the fact that the parents' work may have been affected, and partly because the population structure of these three circuits was approaching complete saturation.

However... while the population growth rate in these provinces slowed down, the rest of the Tang Dynasty, thanks to the full implementation of the new policies, experienced a surge in childbirth.

The population growth rate, which should have decreased, has instead increased...

Now, the pressure on the imperial court will increase exponentially.

The following day at court, Li Chengqian focused on discussing this matter with his officials.

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui had always been very wary of the population growth in the Tang Dynasty, and they did advise Li Chengqian to reduce the number of births among the people.

However, Li Chengqian rejected it, and he knew the cruelty of the family planning policy in later generations.

Putting aside the fact that people want to have children, it means that they are living a prosperous and peaceful life and there is still profit to be made. If they are not allowed to have children, does that mean that people will really stop having children?

Isn't that another form of population concealment?

It will only make things worse.

“Your Highness, although the population of our Great Tang has exceeded 100 million, the proportion of young and middle-aged people is less than 30%, which may cause instability in the country. If we want to stabilize the situation, it is urgent to reduce the allocation of land to newborns…” Duan Lun, Minister of Works, stepped forward to offer his advice.

Before he could finish speaking, Tang Jian, the Minister of Rites, objected: “Your Highness, this is not right! The government has been encouraging childbirth for several years now. Suddenly stopping or reducing the allocation of land to newborns may incite public resentment. We must know that the problem is not inequality, but scarcity... Some families have already received more land, and those with fewer children are at a disadvantage. I fear the people will complain.”

“Then let’s relocate! Hexi Circuit, Zhenbei Circuit, and the newly established Liaodong Circuit are all places with a shortage of population and a large amount of land,” said Li Daozong, Minister of Justice.

"Now that the land has been distributed and the people have separated into different households, why would they abandon the land they are currently cultivating so well and the slaves, and travel thousands of miles to those harsh and cold lands?"

"......"

The officials in the court all spoke reasonably, but each had their own thoughts.

Beside Li Chengqian, the Ninth Prince, Prince Jin, Li Zhi, and the Eighth Prince, Prince Yue, Li Zhen, watched quietly.

In fact, the general framework had already been set up by the Crown Prince and the officials of Taiyuan Prefecture in the early years of the new policy.

We don't have enough young and able-bodied men to cultivate all that land.

Then let's change the way we produce!

They researched new agricultural tools and captured and purchased slaves from abroad.

The population surge has certainly led to a severe food shortage.

Then we should study agriculture, cultivate new high-quality varieties, or import them from abroad to change the diet, so that people have more oil in their stomachs and naturally consume less grain.

There are also education, healthcare, and other areas that require a significant investment...

In short, despite it being the long holiday approaching the end of the year, the Six Ministries and the key officials of the Tang Dynasty found themselves in an embarrassing situation: an even more daunting workload awaited them in the coming year.

The Ministry of Revenue is to arrange for population migration.

The Ministry of Works should increase investment in infrastructure construction in areas such as Hexi Road, Liaodong Road, and Zhenbei Road.

The Ministry of Rites wanted to build more universities, especially the Great Tang Normal University proposed by Li Chengqian. In this era where the identity of a teacher is highly valued, this was a significant responsibility.

The Ministry of Justice should formulate stricter punishments for slave escapes and adultery between masters and slaves.

The Ministry of War also received orders from the Crown Prince to screen and integrate the local city guards and constables.

They were divided into professional city guards, who were specifically responsible for preventing large-scale armed uprisings in the area; patrol officers, similar to the local police in Li Chengqian's later years; and legal officers who were specifically responsible for handling murder and serious crimes.

The Ministry of Personnel, as in previous years, will continue to increase its efforts in training and selecting local officials to ensure the smooth implementation of various tasks in the coming year.

Just as various departments in Chang'an were busy with their meetings and assigning tasks for the coming year after a morning assembly, the situation was quite different.

After several days of deliberation, Emperor Zhenguan finally set off with his entourage to return to the capital for a family reunion.

Lu Shiming, the prefect of Chengdu, let out a long sigh as he watched the convoy disappear from sight.

"My lord, are the things we prepared for His Majesty really alright?"

Lu Shiming sighed, glanced around, and lowered his voice in a warning tone: "Commander Qiang, only you, me, and His Majesty know about this. Those scholars must be taken care of; we can't let them leak this information..."

Qiang Ben worriedly said, "But how can the poems written by those scholars compare to His Highness the Crown Prince?"

He was about to say something when Lu Shiming grabbed him and pressed him down.

"Even if they are not as good as the Crown Prince, are those poems not as good as His Majesty's own? Whether to use them or not is His Majesty's decision. We just need to keep our mouths shut."

In the Tang Dynasty, as the year draws to a close, the entire nation begins purchasing and preparing for this year's Spring Festival.

however.

Tens of thousands of miles away, the open and covert struggle between Sufyan and Muhammad in the Arab world has become increasingly obvious and intense.

"Splash! Splash..."

Amidst the sound of waves crashing against the shore, the clanging of hammers, and the urging shouts in Arabic, dark-skinned, robust slaves, handcuffed and naked, endured the scorching sun.

They carried the items with difficulty and fear.

Those were thick logs, felled from the forests surrounding their tribe.

This is the construction site of the Jeddah Port in Arabia.

With the strong support of the Tang Dynasty, Meccan nobles such as the Quraysh tribe, who had previously been suppressed by Muslims led by Muhammad, and Jewish families in Medina, were finally able to hold their heads high.

Although they were merely borrowing the tiger's power, with the support of Yelü Damu's 10,000 elite Pishi troops stationed in Jeddah, they directly purchased or built their own ships, and in just one year, they actually created a slave-hunting fleet with a variety of ship types but a truly large scale.

The western Red Sea and the East African coast, such as Zera (later northwestern Somalia) and Assab (later the Red Sea coast of Eritrea), immediately became slave-hunting grounds for these people.

With the investment of a large number of slaves and resources, Jeddah Port underwent a dramatic transformation in just one year, changing from its once barren seaside docks.

Square houses, some one-story, some two-story, and some three-story, stand up in perfect harmony with the style of the Arab region.

Buildings like the Governor's Palace in Jeddah, which symbolize status and power, were built by these Jews.

Of all the ports in Jeddah, besides the wharves and berths for handling goods and docking ships, this magnificent governor's palace and the Jeddah slave trading center were the most well-constructed.

"Pusmi, hahaha, this damned intoxication, I had almost forgotten about it ever since that bastard Muhammad appeared. This Eastern wine is even sweeter than the Sassanid Persian wine..."

Hughes, one of the three heads of the Jewish family, looked drunk.

At this moment, in a secluded courtyard of the Jeddah Governor's Mansion, a dozen or so representatives of the slave trade alliance they had brought together were gathered.

They rarely behaved so recklessly on a normal day.

But I'm just so happy today.

Judging by the time, the Tang Dynasty's fleet will soon arrive at Jeddah Port again. According to that Han prince, the Tang Dynasty's second fleet will definitely be even larger.

And it is precisely at this moment that they have 4 healthy black slaves kept and imprisoned in Jeddah.

Based on the current price of Kunlun slaves in the Tang Dynasty, they would be able to make a great fortune by selling these slaves to the Tang Dynasty.

Once their men have tasted the sweetness of the slave trade, those magical goods and wealth from the Tang Dynasty will become their strongest weapon against Muhammad and his followers!

Mecca.

Sufuyang was also looking forward to the arrival of the Tang fleet. Under the quiet night, after he had eliminated a group of traitors from the Gulaishi tribe, the cohesion of the tribe had been significantly strengthened.

However, the Kulai Shi tribe is still in a relatively disadvantaged position at present.

"Who would have thought that Heimzai would do this? That Heimzai who loved to drink, who could fight a lion single-handedly, would so willingly join Muhammad?"