Morning on the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month.

Chongzhen sat drowsily on the dragon throne.

The state of the ministers was completely different from his. They all stood up straight and discussed Song Quan's proposal attentively.

Song Quan, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, proposed in the court to abolish the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty.

Faced with this proposal, the Ministry of Revenue clearly expressed its support and stood at the forefront to cheer.

"My dear colleagues!" Minister of Revenue Fang Yuegong stretched out his hands to signal for everyone to be quiet. "Censor Song proposed abolishing the household registration system for the benefit of the people. Without the restrictions of household registration, the people can do whatever they want. This is truly a move to love the people."

There are also many voices of opposition.

"Minister Fang, what you said is wrong," He Qizhi, the transport officer of the Transport Department, stood up. He first bowed deeply to Chongzhen, then bowed to the others and said, "Our dynasty is based on agriculture, and other household registrations are not mentioned for now. If we abandon the civilian household registration, what will the people do if they don't farm?"

"If we don't farm, there will be no food. Not only will the people starve, but the court will also have no tax revenue and the border troops will have no food. Then the Ming Dynasty will be in danger!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, please do not believe Song Quan's evil words and his disruptive policies!" someone echoed.

"I second the motion."

"I second this motion."

Chongzhen raised his eyelids and glanced at the court. About 30% of the ministers agreed, about 30% opposed, and the rest remained silent.

In addition to the Five Military Governors' Office, other government offices including the Transport Department also opposed the move.

Yunsi is the abbreviation of the Salt Transport Commissioner's Office.

Responsible for managing the salt fields, salt-making stoves, collecting salt taxes, and inspecting private salt.

Let's just say they manage everyone and everything related to salt.

Let’s take the simplest example.

If a stove owner managed by the Transport Department kills someone, the local government has no jurisdiction and only the local Transport Department can approve the arrest.

If the local transport company does not intervene, then the cook will remain at large.

The same problem arises when collecting taxes.

In order to avoid paying taxes, stove households would falsely claim their own fields as stove fields and enjoy tax exemptions on stove fields.

Because the stove households were under the management of the Transport Department, local government offices could not forcibly collect taxes without the approval of the Transport Department.

Therefore, when taxes were collected, the stove owners would unite and refuse to pay them.

If they don't pay, there will be a deficit, and the deficit will have to be shared by other people.

Military households and artisan households face similar problems!

This creates unfairness.

Throughout the dynasties, the problem has always been not the scarcity of wealth but the inequality of wealth.

As more and more unfair things happen, people's dissatisfaction will become stronger and stronger.

Once the opportunity arises, it will be met with the wrath of a shipwreck.

Chongzhen looked at Li Banghua and said, "Mr. Li, what do you think of this?"

Li Banghua stood there and thought for a while, then said slowly in an old voice: "Your Majesty, I think that while loving the people, we must also take into account governing the people."

"For the current Ming Dynasty, abolishing the household registration system may not necessarily be a good thing."

Li Banghua tactfully told Chongzhen that he did not agree with abolishing the household registration system.

"What's the reason?" Chongzhen asked.

"Ahem," Li Banghua coughed heavily a few times, "I will take the abolition of the military household system in Northern Zhili as an example."

"After Yan Yingyuan went to Xuanfu, he abolished the local guards and military households, and the guards were transformed into battalion soldiers. This move consolidated the army's morale, improved the soldiers' treatment, and enhanced the soldiers' combat effectiveness."

"But... from what I know, a lot of land has been abandoned."

"Abandoned?" Chongzhen was a little surprised. "Yan Yingyuan said in his memorial to me that after the fields of the garrisons were transferred to the Land Bureau, they were immediately bought or rented by local people. I haven't heard of any abandoned fields!"

"Could it be that Yan Yingyuan is deceiving the emperor?"

Thinking of this, Chongzhen felt a little...angry.

No one is perfect, and Yan Yingyuan does have some problems.

The biggest problem is spending money lavishly and without restraint.

He often rewarded his subordinates and even treated the entire city to a mutton banquet during the New Year!

Of course, he did this to stabilize the situation in Xuanfu, which Chongzhen could understand.

But you can't deceive the king!

Li Banghua immediately explained: "Your Majesty, Yan Yingyuan did not deceive you, but I made a mistake in my statement."

"After the abolition of the military household system, the soldiers no longer farmed the land. However, the families of the soldiers still rented ten mu of land to farm as in previous years."

"However, soldiers are the main labor force in the family. Since they have no time to farm, many farmers rent land but do not have enough manpower to farm, resulting in the land being abandoned."

Someone nearby asked back: "That's their first year and they don't have experience. Can't they just not rent or rent less next year?"

Li Banghua shook his head: "There are many people in the mainland and little land. If the idle land is not rented out or rented out too little, it will be rented out by other people for cultivation."

"But the border is vast and sparsely populated, and the families of soldiers don't rent land, so the land bureau will have idle land. Others who want to rent land are limited by the land rental quota and cannot rent it for cultivation."

“It will still result in idle land.”

"And this is just a land issue! If the national household registration system is abolished, all kinds of problems will arise."

Li Banghua's words calmed the court down.

Officials who opposed the abolition of the household registration system showed smug smiles on their faces.

Officials who supported abolishing the household registration system lowered their heads and remained silent.

Chongzhen knew that what the officials opposed was not the abolition of the household registration system.

Rather, it is an issue of the jurisdiction over military households, civilian households, and kitchen households after the abolition of the household registration system.

The root cause is the distribution of interests.

Previously, military households were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War and the Five Military Governors' Office, while stove households were under the jurisdiction of the Transport Department.

If the household registration system is abolished, who will be in charge of these people?

If it continues to be under the jurisdiction of the previous government office, the officials will definitely not object.

But...if it continues to be under the jurisdiction of the previous government office, wouldn’t the abolition of the household registration system be in vain?

So while it seemed that the court was discussing the household registration system, what was actually being discussed was the allocation of jurisdiction among the various government offices.

Those who already have interests will not tolerate others sharing their interests.

This is true for the imperial power and for all the government offices in the imperial court.

Chongzhen smiled slightly and said, "Everyone, this matter is actually not as troublesome as you think. I think that after abolishing the household registration system, each government office should still take care of its own affairs. Of course, they should take care of the affairs, not the people."

The ministers were stunned, and someone asked in a low voice: "May I ask what your Majesty means by managing affairs but not people?"