Li Hong looked at Ren Lao Wu in surprise, then looked at Bai Chun who was encouraging the two of them, took the water handed over by Hua Meng and put it aside, saying, "Tell me, what's going on, don't you have a household registration?"

The two men looked at each other, and then slowly began to tell the life stories of these children.

Originally, Li Hong thought that it would be like the TV dramas he watched in his previous life, where these children were descendants of loyal ministers, but were framed by treacherous ministers, their families were destroyed, and they ended up living in Chang'an.

He was then adopted by a kind-hearted person, raised, and returned after learning martial arts to avenge his biological parents, and finally killed his enemies with his own hands. It is a touching story.

But I didn't expect that I was overthinking it. They were just some merchants coming to Chang'an. Some of them picked up these children on the road and brought them to Taiyi City. They planned to either keep them as their servants or hand them over to human traffickers and sell them for as much money as they could.

But unexpectedly, there were a few people who were noticed by the hardworking and patient people. He thought that these children had the potential to become craftsmen like themselves, so he took these children with him out of his love for talent.

However, since they had no household registration, it was impossible for them to enroll in school. They went to Bai Chun for discussion, but unexpectedly, Bai Chun, this idiot, directly suggested that they go to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

According to that silly Bai Chun, it would be better to ask the prince for help with this matter, as it would only take a word. So he hoped that Li Hong could come over and take a look, and help the two of them to make this matter come true.

Li Hong looked at Bai Chun with contempt. Like Ren Lao Ren Yuan, she was admitted to the prince's palace in the same year. The only difference was that Ren Lao Ren Yuan was now an official official in the prince's mansion, while Bai Chun was still a slave without any title.

...

...

"Bai Chun, it's been so many years, can you change? Do you think your concealment of the truth can be considered an act of deception? Will you let me handle the household registration issue alone? Don't you know Zong Chuke? Don't you know that it's better to go to him than to me? Tell me, what else are you hiding from me!" Li Hong's expression turned cold, and he looked at Bai Chun and asked.

Bai Chun curled his lips, before he could say anything, he saw his two hardworking wives holding their children, followed by Ren Lao Ren Yuan and the two seven or eight-year-old children, all kneeling on the ground.

Li Hong sighed helplessly and shook his head weakly, "Get up, get up, why are you kneeling? Tell me, what's the matter? Why do you want me to come forward?"

Bai Chun looked at the people kneeling on the ground and dared not say a word. Finally, she spoke on behalf of Ren Lao Ren Yuan and others, "Master, Yu Zhining passed away last year, and some of the maids in the mansion were dismissed. Before that, there were two maids who served in Yu Zhining's mansion in Taiyi City. I don't know how they got to know Ren Lao Ren Yuan, so I hope you can agree."

Li Hong's brain suddenly short-circuited and he immediately asked, "These two children were born to them... Oh, I'm wrong, how is this possible?" Li Hong was too embarrassed to laugh.

Looking at the few people who were still kneeling on the ground, he said, "Get up. This is not a big deal. Why make such a big scene and lure me here? When I was with my father in Taiyi City, I had no grudge against Yu Zhining. I will not bear a grudge against him for such a small matter."

"Really?" The two hardworking men suddenly looked up at the same time and asked excitedly. Even their wives who were holding their children looked happy for their husbands.

Li Hong could only curl his lips helplessly. In the Tang Dynasty at that time, women sometimes cared more about their husbands taking concubines than their own husbands, and willingly hoped that their husbands would take concubines, so he did not find it strange to see the happy expressions of the two men's wives.

"Okay, call them out and let me see, do they also need to be registered?" Li Hong knew that in the homes of these officials, sometimes after some maids were dismissed, especially when the master died, it was basically rare for them to be able to complete the household registration, public verification, and body contract.

Therefore, the maids in the homes of some high-ranking officials, commonly known as "official slaves", often ended up either continuing to serve their masters' children or being sold after their masters' death.

Only a few people can be taken in as concubines by someone who likes them or is truly kind to them, like the two maids kneeling in front of Li Hong.

Being a concubine is actually not much different from being a slave. You can still sell her at any time if the wife is not satisfied. She has to work hard and endure being beaten and scolded. Her fate may not be as good as continuing to be a maid in the house of a high-ranking official.

But looking at their wives who are willing to work hard and never complain, and they don't seem like mean people, I think these two maids are still quite lucky.

So Li Hong said to Bai Chun with ease and confidence: "Ask them what the three of them have now, take what they should have, and go to the Fangzheng to handle the household registration now."

Li Hong's face revealed a mysterious confidence. In his opinion, it was really shameful for him to do such a thing. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be scared to death if he went to the Fang Zheng for such a small matter.

Four years ago, Li Hong prepared for the future by asking Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu to start studying the various defects of the household registration system. In his opinion, this kind of work of picking up the missing pieces and filling in the gaps, just like how to discipline people, is most suitable for people like Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu to do.

After all, one is a great villain who has been passed down through the ages, and the other is a smiling but dagger who is equally not inferior. These two people are perfect for testing the household registration system.

Therefore, whether it is the Two-Tax System, the Equal-Field System, or the Rent-Labor System, they are all closely related to the strict household registration system. The collapse of the household registration system represents the collapse of any system.

Now, after four years of being in charge of Li Hong, the entire Ministry of Household Registration has improved the household registration system to a very strict stage.

Whether it was for tax evasion due to failure to report age, or for real death or fake death, it played a very effective role. Including the death and evasion of border soldiers, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu spent a lot of effort to barely meet Li Hong's requirements.

But until now, my impression of the household registration system of the Tang Dynasty is still stuck in the period before Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu reformed the system.

"Every village has a hand-written account, at the end of each year, of the number of people and the size of the land, which is used as a township account. The township reports to the county, the county reports to the state, and the state reports to the Ministry of Revenue. There is also an account, which reports the next year's taxes and labor service."

So no matter what, if one wanted to be registered as a household, or if an official slave wanted to be registered as a household, the real power was in the hands of the head of the neighborhood and the village.

Below the Fangzheng is the Fangxu, who is probably the lowest-ranking official in the Tang Dynasty.

The Fangzheng and Fangxu only had a small house, and usually not many people lived there. Li Hong led a group of people and came to the house with a large crowd.

He waved his hand casually behind him, indicating Bai Chun to hand over some household registration documents of those people to Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng was no more than fifty years old. He took it with a smile. At the same time, seeing that these people were either rich or noble, he hurriedly and politely asked them to sit down nearby.

"I wonder what you guys want to do?" Fang Zheng asked as he sat down and looked through the indentures of two official slaves.

"Oh, yes, there are also them." Li Hong waved his hand and called the seven children to come forward, saying, "They don't have household registration, so it's a good opportunity to register them as well."

Fang Zheng looked at Li Hong. This young man didn't look like someone who was here to handle household registration. His attitude seemed like he was in a restaurant or teahouse giving orders to the waiters.

"Do they have any evidence?" Fang Zheng asked in a friendly manner without getting angry.

"Do you have any evidence?" Seeing the children shaking their heads in unison, Li Hong turned around and said to Fang Zheng, "No."

"This young man..." Fang Zheng looked at the people behind Li Hong, and then at the people standing in front of him. He couldn't figure out what these people were doing. Could it be that they were rich kids with nothing to do and came here to make fun of him?

Fang Zheng considered his words and said truthfully: "Sir, if you don't have the hand certificate, you can't register them. Also, the identities of these two are official slaves, which cannot be changed, and they can't be registered as household registration."

Li Hong looked at Fang Zheng and was too lazy to waste words with him. It would be cheap for him, a prince, to negotiate in person in front of these children. So he decided to let Bai Chun do it.

Bai Chun took a step forward, and suddenly found that he didn't know how to start the conversation, so he blurted out, "Um... um, do you know Zong Chuke? We know him, you... you help us get this done..."

Fang Zheng had just picked up the cup to drink water when he heard Bai Chun's straightforward words. With a "plop" sound, all the water that had just entered his mouth sprayed out without a drop remaining. Fortunately, it did not spray on Li Hong and the others.

Li Hong was also shocked. He didn't expect this silly guy to say such a thing. He must have been kicked in the head by a donkey.

The Fangzheng was choked by Bai Chun's words and started to cough. It took him a long time to catch his breath and said, "My lady, Lord Zong is the chief official of our Jingzhao Prefecture, a high-ranking official of the third rank. I am just a Fangzheng of the sixth rank, not even an intermediate rank. I know Lord Zong, but he doesn't know me."

At this time, Silly Roe saw Li Hong glaring at her, and felt that what he said seemed to be wrong, so he hurriedly corrected: "Then...then do you know who our Jingzhao prefect is? This...he is Zong Chuke's boss, the Jingzhao prefect. Don't worry, no one will blame you for the household registration."

Li Hong's forehead was full of black lines! Are you stupid? His Royal Highness Li Hong, the Prince of Jingzhao Prefecture, personally handles household registration for people! Do you want the ministers in the court to laugh at me?

Fang Zheng couldn't stand Bai Chun's serious look, so he stopped her from talking with one hand, and said with a wry smile: "Young lady, the prefect is the current Crown Prince of Tang Dynasty, but he is a second-rank official. How can I have the blessing to meet the Crown Prince? Please stop making trouble here. You should go back quickly. These children cannot be registered as registered households, but I may be able to register them after asking for permission."

"Who do you want to ask? Ask him to come over and I'll talk to him." Bai Chun said hurriedly.

"Shut up." Li Hong's eyes were sparking with anger. What a spendthrift woman! She is always causing trouble but not being able to do anything good!