Count Wisely

One  day,  King  Akbar  asked  a  question  in  his  court  that  left  everyone  in  the  courtroom  puzzled.  As  they  all  tried  to  figure  out  the  answer,  beerbull  walked  in  and  asked  what  the  matter  was.  They  repeated  the  question  to  him.  The  question  was,  how  many  crows  are  there  in  the  city?  Beerbull  immediately  smiled  and  went  up  to  Akbar.  He  announced  the  answer.  He  said  there  were  21,523  free  crows  in  the  city.  When  asked  how  he  knew  the  answer,  Beerbaugh  replied,  ask  your  men  to  count  the  number  of  crows.  If  there  are  more,  then  the  relatives  of  the  crows  must  be  visiting  them  from  nearby  cities.  If  there  are  fewer,  then  the  crows  from  our  city  must  be  visiting  their  relatives  who  live  outside  the  city.  Pleased  with  the  answer,  akbar  presented  Burbal  with  a  ruby  and  pearl  chain.