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Chapter 920 ID card

“Your Majesty’s question is also what puzzles me. Unfortunately, it is difficult to collect population statistics in other provinces, and I have not been able to obtain accurate figures, so it cannot serve as evidence.

However, I have an idea. Since the tax revenue can prove the population growth, it should also reflect the population decline. With the great help of Liu Shangshu of the Ministry of Taxation, I think I have found the source.

South Zhili...Jianghuai Province is the area with the largest population loss. In addition, Jiangxi and Huguang provinces should have also lost a lot of people in the past five years.

Especially in Nanjing, it is said that only one out of ten flower shops on the Qinhuai River remains. The sound of cymbals and bells, the music of strings and pipes in the boats, the roar of the ladies leaning on the railings, the chaotic sound and light, the scene of being unable to control the ears and eyes has become a thing of the past.

On the other hand, in Tianjin, Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, Guangzhou and other places, there are many places where people party every night and spend a lot of money in recent years. The decline of one place leads to the rise of many! "

Sun Yuanhua has no definitive answer to this question, but he has an inference, and it is not a blind guess, but is supported by data. He also analyzed the rise and fall of tax revenue and the rise and fall of entertainment venues, and came to a similar conclusion.

"Has Minister Sun ever personally experienced these wonderful places?"

Hong Tao had never heard of such a statement, especially the decline of Qinhuai River, which made him feel a little bit upset. After being an emperor for 20 years, he had never even been to the most famous nightclub in his own country. How embarrassing!
"Uh... I have only heard about it, but I have never been there in person." As an important official of the court, Sun Yuanhua was very embarrassed when he was asked by the emperor in person in the Yangxin Palace whether he had ever been to such a place.

"It doesn't matter if you've been there. I just want you to recommend it... OK, let's get back to the point. Since the statistics are reliable, let's implement the Household Registration Law in these provinces first. This is the new law drafted by the Three Law Departments. Take a look and raise any inappropriate points immediately!"

Hong Tao wanted to enlighten the young Minister of Revenue. He had never been to any place, and he dared not talk about other places, but he must have been to Tianjin a lot! He should tell the story quickly, otherwise it would be considered as deceiving the emperor.

However, he immediately changed the subject halfway through his speech. The emperor had no children yet, but he was so interested in the place of willows and smoke. If it were to be spread out, it would cause complaints from the court officials, which was not worth it. Anyway, since he knew the approximate location, it would be a mature and prudent move to privately ask Wei Zhongxian to send the East Factory to investigate!

"…Your Majesty wants to identify the identities of tens of millions of people one by one!" Household registration law, this word is not too difficult for Sun Yuanhua to understand, but when he opened the thin book, his brows frowned more and more. Before he finished reading, he couldn't help but look up and ask questions, his expression was very stunned.

According to the Household Registration Law, every citizen of the Ming Dynasty will be issued a small metal plate to be hung around their neck, which will record in detail the person's place of origin, name, date of birth, and a string of Arabic numerals, called an identity card.

You can wear it wherever you go. If you lose it for no reason, you have to go back to your hometown and spend money to get a new one. Government offices, armies, schools, workshops, factories, and merchants in all places must use this card as a reference. You cannot be hired without the card, and even staying in a hotel requires registration.

The Ministry of Revenue was responsible for issuing and canceling ID cards, while the Imperial Guard became the department that managed ID cards. Anyone who privately forged or forged an ID card would be sentenced to five years of hard labor if caught, with no upper limit.

Although it was only issuing and canceling certificates, the Ministry of Revenue still held great power and would receive additional budget and staffing. This should have been a good thing, but Sun Yuanhua really didn't understand why the emperor wanted to do this.

The cost is huge, but there is not much benefit. Moreover, this kind of behavior has never been heard of in the past dynasties. It is very difficult to register all the people every few years.

"Yes... Lord Sun, do you think it is inappropriate?"

"I just... don't understand what your majesty expects."

"It's simple. I plan to count the national population every three years, but I don't want to add burden to the prefectures and counties, so I took this action."

What is the ID card used for? Hong Tao's answer is very simple, as an auxiliary means of population census. Without this card, let alone a census every three years, the five-year cycle may be a bit short. We can't let local officials just count heads all day long, and count accurately, otherwise they will do nothing. In fact, this answer is perfunctory and incomplete. ID cards do help with population census. Except for the trouble of issuing statistics at the beginning, it will become simpler and simpler in the future.

The Ministry of Revenue and the Embroidered Uniform Guard only need to count the number of identity cards issued and cancelled in each state and county, and by adding and subtracting, they can get a rough idea of ​​the trend of population growth and decrease.

But Hong Tao did not mention the more important role, which is to limit the means of corruption of officials at all levels. In the past, disaster relief was based on the number of disaster victims reported by local government. If they said 100,000 people, it meant 100,000 people.

It is not impossible to find out how many people are involved and how many villages and towns are involved, but a large number of central officials have to be sent to the local areas to verify one by one, which is time-consuming and laborious, and the execution cost is very high.

With ID cards, local officials could still make up stories, but verification was easier. The Ministry of Households and the Imperial Guards had lists of people in each county and even village.

Even though there was a flow of people, most areas were still stable. Relatively speaking, the cost of breaking the law for officials was greatly increased. The court could also decide the scale of relief based on the data on the ID cards.

Moreover, knowing the population changes in each province was also very helpful for the court to adjust its policies. Especially when it came to immigration, it was important to know how many people there were in order to decide how many could leave or how many could be accepted.

As for the cost, Hong Tao thinks it is not high. It is true that a large amount of money needs to be invested at the beginning, but in the future, it is not necessary to continue to invest huge amounts of money, and only needs to reduce and supplement it every year. Compared with the effect, this investment still has more benefits than disadvantages.

"... With such behavior, I would like to ask, how should Your Majesty deal with it?"

Since the emperor was determined to know how many people there were in the country, Sun Yuanhua had no reason to stop him, so he lowered his head and continued to read the contents of the Household Registration Law. As he read, he found another problem. It said that the royal family also had to have an ID card, which meant that the emperor had to have one too. It always felt a bit strange to have a small badge around one's neck, even like an animal.

"Hehehe, I've already done it... Look, it's gold!"

But Hong Tao really didn't think there was anything wrong with wearing a metal plate around his neck. It was useless to think that some people thought it was not good, so he reached out and took out two pieces, one was the military plate of the Grand Marshal, and the other was an identity card.

"It's a great carving, I'm afraid it's not cheap, right?"

Seeing this, Sun Yuanhua knew that it was a done deal, so he stopped worrying about whether he should do it or not. He stood up and took a closer look. He couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship, but was also amazed at the cost.

"It's not expensive, not expensive. If it's replaced with copper alloy and pressed by machine, it's very cheap!"

"Is there any deep meaning behind this lying number 8?" Sun Yuanhua was very attentive and keenly noticed that there were no Arabic numerals on the identity card worn by the emperor, but instead there was an ∞.

"Haha, this is called infinity. I, it's infinity, what do you think of this?" Even though the emperor has to set an example and take the lead in observing the rules, he still has privileges.

"Very good, very good, I deserve it, I'll take my leave!" What else could Sun Yuanhua say? He could only take the draft of the new law and flee.

(End of this chapter)