Traveling through Great Qin: Father Qin Shihuang!

Ying Zheng nodded, he was naturally clear about this calculation.

"Your Majesty, my son, it is a trivial matter to eliminate alien races, but the key issue is that with the current population of our Great Qin, it may be beyond our capabilities to control such a large territory."

"Daqin's current population is only about 2000 million. With such a huge territory, if the head of Guizhou of Daqin is relocated there, I'm afraid the land will be vast and sparsely populated. It will be very inconvenient to travel or communicate."

"But the northern grasslands are so vast. If we just leave it alone, our expedition will lose its original meaning."

……

Li Si put forward his opinion at the right time.

It is true that Great Qin now has a strong army and a vast territory, but the population is flawed, and it is difficult to increase it in a short period of time. No matter how much territory is expanded, it is just a waste.

Ying Zheng didn't say anything when he heard the words, but just looked at Zhao Che.

As the Great Qin Emperor, Ying Zheng certainly had his own opinions, but he didn't know enough about the situation in the Western Regions, so the opinions he put forward were actually very limited.

And since Zhao Che had proposed the idea of ​​the Silk Road from the very beginning, and attacking the northern grasslands was also his plan, then Zhao Che probably had his own set of ideas.

Sure enough, Zhao Che just pondered for a while, then knocked on the table and said.

"The northern grassland is a very important place for us. I don't think I need to say more about the fertile land and climatic conditions here. The ability to breed such a powerful Huns here has already proved the strength of this place. value."

"Nowadays, our Daqin's agriculture has actually been developed. For the time being, potatoes are used as an alternative food, which has already met the basic daily needs of the people in Guizhou, and there is no need to worry about starvation."

"Secondly, hybrid rice has already been promoted in South Vietnam. Within a year, hybrid rice will be popularized. After the traffic conditions to South Vietnam are opened, South Vietnam will become the most important granary of our Great Qin."

"Therefore, I think that the treatment of the northern grasslands should maximize its original meaning, and move the focus of the animal husbandry and breeding industries in Daqin to the past. Secondly, the transportation there should also be built simultaneously."

"Our Silk Road has already been initially constructed. Longxi County and Shang County will be important nodes for us to communicate and trade with the countries of the Western Regions in the future. At the same time, we will use the solution I proposed before to vigorously introduce those from other races. At the same time, spread the culture of our Daqin, and slowly expand the influence of Daqin."

Having said that, Zhao Che paused for a while.

"As for the problem of underpopulation in Daqin mentioned by Li Xiang just now, there is indeed no particularly good solution at present. My idea is still the simplest. Daqin develops the basic economy and encourages childbirth. The court will come forward to set up a special maternity subsidy."

"The role of the maternity subsidy is naturally to solve the current difficulty that the head of the Qin Dynasty is worried about having children and cannot afford to support them. For pregnant women, newborns' treatment, examination, childbirth and other problems, they will all be given maximum subsidies."

"While encouraging childbirth, the work of getting rid of poverty and becoming rich cannot be delayed. For families with insufficient labor force or no labor force at all, they can report to the local government office. According to the actual investigation results, a certain amount of subsidies will be given every month."

……

After listening to Zhao Che's words, everyone nodded.

From the current point of view, the growth of Daqin's population is indeed something that needs to be strongly encouraged.

But population growth does not happen overnight. Even if this measure is directly implemented now, it will take at least 20 years for these newborns to grow up.

However, relying on the method of introducing foreign labor, Daqin's infrastructure and projects don't have to worry about any particularly large impact.

"My lord, this is a report on the situation of newborns in Xianyang City within three years from the investigation by the Imperial Medical Office. Would you like to have a look at it?"

The issue of population growth in Great Qin had already been considered before Zhao Che set out to conquer the Huns, so Li Si naturally prepared the information Zhao Che needed early on.

After receiving the information handed over by Li Si, Zhao Che just glanced at it, then frowned.

"Son, what's the problem?"

Li Si was a little puzzled seeing Zhao Che's expression.

He has also read this report, and he is quite satisfied, because although the population growth of Xianyang City in the past three years is not too high, it is also growing steadily.

Especially after Zhao Che proposed various reform measures, the heads of Guizhou in Xianyang City became rich all of a sudden, and the growth rate of the population increased a lot.

But looking at Zhao Che's current appearance, he seems very dissatisfied. Isn't this fast enough?
"Is the death rate of newborns in Daqin so high? Less than one-third of the babies born in ten months of pregnancy can be born smoothly? Nearly half of the remaining babies will not live to be one year old?"

Looking at the data in front of him, Zhao Che couldn't help but be speechless.

"My lord, this is a normal amount. It is not easy to conceive and give birth in October, and even if the child can live to one year old, whether it can grow up normally is another matter."

Li Si shook his head and said, the others also agreed, as if they were used to this kind of thing.

Zhao Che pondered, and quickly figured out the reason behind it.

For ancient people, it was not easy to conceive in October.

There are many reasons for this, including the young age of the mother, malnutrition during pregnancy, and even the inexperience of the stable woman who delivered the baby, which may lead to miscarriage or even premature death of the baby.

"Go and call Xia Wuqi!"

Zhao Che put down the data in his hand, and ordered casually.

"What does this have to do with Xia Wuqiu?"

Ying Zheng looked at Zhao Che with some doubts and asked.

"Father, it is not a simple matter to have a baby. It cannot solve the problem of the high rate of miscarriage among pregnant women in Daqin. It is difficult for Daqin's population to grow. Moreover, miscarriage and premature death of babies will also affect the body and psychology of pregnant women. cause great harm."

"A large part of the reason why Daqin's miscarriage rate is high is that Daqin women married too early. Premature marriage and childbirth are a great damage to their bodies."

"Women at the age of fifteen or sixteen are at the time when their bodies are developing, and they are far from complete. To put it bluntly, they themselves are still children who have not grown up. Marrying and giving birth at this period will have a great impact to their own physical development."

"Moreover, during the pregnancy process of these women, the nutrition they take in cannot meet the needs of the baby's pregnancy at all. In addition, the development itself has to absorb a lot of influence, which will lead to miscarriage or even birth of deformed children. It happens."

"Therefore, I suggest that an article should be added to the laws of the Great Qin Dynasty, and this matter should be widely publicized. The best age for women to marry should be after 20 years old, and for men at 22 years old. At this time, their bodies have almost developed. When you are full of energy, it is the best age to get married."

……