preface
We love each other as equals because we know each other and respect each other. - Leo Tolstoy
According to the last statistics, China's population has reached 1.4 billion, which is the most populous country in the world, but in fact, in the ancient period of the mainland, the population is not large, even relatively small, and the labor force will be insufficient
For example, in the Qin and Han dynasties, the national population was only 25 million to 30 million, especially in the early Han Dynasty, because of the war just experienced, coupled with some natural disasters, resulting in a sharp decline in the population, only about 13 million, which can be said to be very small at that time.
In order to increase the population, Liu Bang came up with a way
The population is small, which is naturally easier to manage, but at the same time, it will also lead to a shortage of labor, especially after the war, and projects such as repairing palaces require a lot of labor
But because the population is small, so it has to be postponed, and some relatively large projects can only be carried out after the population is large, so after Liu Bang just established the Han Dynasty, in order to quickly recover the population and for rapid economic development, he came up with various strange methods, and finally after thinking for many days, Liu Bang, who has always had a lot of ghost ideas, finally came up with a two-pronged method.
Recuperate
The first way is to rest and recuperate, the so-called rest and recuperation is to let the people be more casual, give the people more free space, the first point of rest and recuperation is reflected in the release of slaves.
Because in times of war, some people will sell themselves or some people in their families as slaves or handmaids because of hunger, so the first manifestation of the first rest is to release these maids and slaves and make them ordinary people, because this will also allow them to marry and have children in their legitimate status, thereby increasing the population.
The second embodiment of rest and recuperation is to divide people's land property, such as those who do not return home for many years because of war or flight, after they return, the field property and knighthood will return to the original owner, so that they feel warmth, the third embodiment is to pardon those Qin Chu's former officials and pawns who fought against Liu Bang, and even knighted them, and then exempt them from conscription according to the corresponding title, rest and recuperation give the country a certain buffer time, and also make people's lives more stable.
Addition and subtraction of man-making law
In addition to recuperation, Liu Bang also came up with a unique method of creating people, that is, the method of adding and subtracting people, the implementation of which is based on the premise of working women, specifically increasing taxes on women, that is, encouraging girls to marry early.
Liu Bang's birth policy stipulates that if a girl has not married before the age of 15, she must pay a tax of 120 yuan to the state, and what kind of concept is 120 money?
120 money was definitely a huge amount of money at that time, equivalent to a person's living expenses for 3 months at that time, so such a tax was difficult for ordinary people to bear.
Therefore, at that time, in order to avoid paying the 120 yuan tax, people would let their children marry and marry before the age of 15, even if there was no suitable candidate at that time, they would randomly pick one to marry first
Some people even do not hesitate to let their daughters marry into a rich and noble family as a concubine, and the second half of their lives are aggrieved, as long as they do not pay a tax of 120 yuan, but this is also achieving Liu Bang's purpose, which is also the "plus" in the addition and subtraction of the law of creating people, simply put, if the woman does not marry before the age of 15, she will be charged an additional 120 yuan tax.
And what does "minus" mean?
"Reduction" is to reduce taxes and conscription, Liu Bang in childbirth stipulates, if ordinary people give birth to a child will be exempted from 2 years of tax and conscription, in order to publicize and implement such a policy, Liu Bang also specially issued a 20-character advertising slogan, that is: do your own food and clothing, many children and happy life, if you give birth to a child will be exempted from 2 years of tax and conscription, which is naturally a great good thing for the man, so Liu Bang's addition and subtraction method will indeed have a certain effect.
Women hate this to the bone, dare to be angry and dare not speak
In 189 BC, Liu Ying, the Han Emperor who inherited Liu Bang's ruler, still inherited Liu Bang's method of creating people, and in order to encourage the creation of people, he also improved the original method a little, although it was the Han Hui Emperor Liu Ying who inherited the great rule, but he was only a puppet, and the actual power was in the hands of Empress Lü. In order to encourage fertility, Empress Lu added a multiplication on the basis of the addition and subtraction method of creating people, and Empress Lu, who has always been ruthless and vicious, naturally practiced this multiplication very ruthlessly.
That is, girls from 15 to 30 years old who have not yet married, every year on the original basis of the tax increase of 5 times, that is, 600 money, as mentioned above to 120 money is already very difficult for ordinary people, if it is increased to 5 times, it is even more unaffordable
This rule means that those girls are okay to be "leftover women", but they have to pay 600 dollars in taxes, and still stipulate that anyone who gives birth to a child will be exempted from paying taxes for 2 years, as mentioned above, which is very good for men, it is simply a pie in the sky, but for women, it is not a good thing.
Because it is mandatory for women to marry so early, and also to have children, this is very harmful to women's bodies and hearts, and give birth to children at a young age, because their own development is not complete, so it is easy to have unexpected situations when giving birth, coupled with the medical conditions at that time are very backward, so there are many difficult births, so for such a policy, the majority of women also dare to be angry and dare not speak, and they also hate it.
However, this method of encouraging fertility has indeed played a very good role, only 70 years after the implementation of such a policy, that is, during the reign of Emperor Wudi of Han, the population of the country has reached 36 million, an increase of more than 20 million people, and the Han Dynasty at this time also reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Wudi of Han, and in the following decades, the population of the Han Dynasty also reached 63 million, which also provided a clear foundation for the economic development of the Han Dynasty.
epilogue
Respect everyone, no matter how humble and ridiculous. Remember that everyone lives in the same spirit as you and me. - Schopenhauer
But in fact, the Han Dynasty was not the first dynasty to stipulate that women should marry in their teens, in fact, as early as the Northern Zhou Dynasty, rulers stipulated that women should marry at the age of 13.
Even now, although China stipulates that women get married at the age of 20, but in many parts of the world it is also stipulated that girls can get married at a young age, for example, in Iran, it is stipulated that girls can marry at the age of 9. Remember to leave a comment, thank you!