"Why is the number of people registered on the household register this year even lower than last year?"

Li Jing went through this year's household registration and found that the number of registered households in this year's census was even less than last year's, so he called the household department to inquire.

"This, perhaps...... Possible...... This is because there are more displaced people this year, which has led to a decrease in the number of households. ”

Hubu Shangshu found a reason to blame the people for the population decline.

As for the root cause, there is not a single word, why this situation occurs, these are actually clear to everyone.

At the beginning of a dynasty, because of the sharp decline of a large number of people, a lot of land and fertile land became ownerless!

Naturally, these ownerless fields had to be taken over by the imperial court, which had a large amount of land, and on this basis, the system of equalizing land was implemented, and the fields were distributed to free people for cultivation to ensure the stability of the number of households.

But with the annexation of land, those who could not survive sold their fields to the landlords, and those who had no land could only go to other places to earn a living.

These people who are on the move in search of a livelihood become displaced people, and these displaced people cannot be registered in the household register because they have no permanent place to live and are on the move.

After some people have no land, in order to survive, they simply rent the land of the landlord Haoqiang, work for the landlord Haoqiang, and earn a ration!

These wage earners who worked for the landlords were collectively called tenant households, also known as tenant farmers.

The emergence of this phenomenon led to the fact that the population of the Tang Dynasty was getting smaller and smaller, and the taxes that could be collected were getting less and less, coupled with the privileges of the landlord class, which made the finances of the imperial court more difficult.

As a landlord class, Hubu Shangshu must also be like other landlords Haoqiang, through land annexation to make himself richer!

Land annexation was a headache for all dynasties, and the rulers tried their best to solve the situation of land annexation.

The end result was defeat, which deepened the contradictions between the classes, and finally led to a peasant revolt to overthrow the decaying dynasty.

A new dynasty is established, but it follows this way, and it evolves again and again!

"Could it be that you just watch and let Datang pay less and less taxes, so that more people become homeless?"

"In the end, the imperial court could not collect taxes, and the homeless people had no food to eat, and finally rose up and shook the foundation of my Tang Dynasty?"

Li Jing questioned Hubu Shangshu, aren't these things he should do?

"The minister is afraid, the minister doesn't want to share the worries of the saint all the time, but there are people in the local area who would rather sell their land and become homeless people than farm, and the minister has nothing to do!"

Hubu Shangshu can only have a bitter face, he doesn't care about those homeless people, the court can't collect taxes, and the poor are only the court, not him.

Besides, the emperor is rich all over the world, and the entire Tang Dynasty is the world of your Li family, if there is really no money, isn't there still an internal fund!

"Get out of here, I don't want to see you!"

Li Jing stretched out his hand and pointed to the door and scolded.

The Hubu Shangshu in front of me is getting worse and worse, and it seems that it is necessary to change the Hubu Shangshu!

If it weren't for the lack of a suitable candidate, Li Jing would want to replace the Hubu Shangshu in front of him immediately.

"Retire!"

He bowed and retreated, and he was happy to let him go, so that the emperor would not keep pushing him about raising taxes and the like.

He is just the financial and household registration steward of the Tang Dynasty, and he is only responsible for managing the household registration population collected by various places on weekdays, as well as the taxes that the imperial court can obtain every year.

As for how not to make more freedmen become vagrants or tenants, that is none of his business, it is beyond the scope of his work.

As for how to raise the tax of the imperial court, if he really wants to say it, it is to increase the rate of taxation, and this will solve the problem!

Looking at the back of Hubu Shangshu leaving, Li Jing said to the inner servant beside him: "Go, call Liu Bowen, Di Renjie, and Yao Chong......"

"No!"

The inner servant saluted and took the order to go.

"Huatian, I have decided to set up the Xichang Factory, and you will be the eunuch of the Xichang Official Academy, the governor of the Qincha, responsible for investigating the officials and the people."

"As for the candidates for the West Factory, you can choose by yourself, I will give you a month to set up the West Factory, and the funds for the West Factory will be paid from within."

Li Jing finally planned to establish a new secret agency, the West Factory, which was different from the Ming Dynasty in that it did not have the right to control the prison, but was only responsible for investigating the officials and the people.

"Slave Command!"

Yuhuatian saluted and took the order.

Fifteen minutes later, Liu Bowen, Di Renjie, and Yao Chong appeared in front of Li Jing.

"Have you seen this year's household registration?"

Li Jing leaned back on the dragon chair and asked the three people in front of him.

"The minister has seen it, the number of households this year is a little less than last year!"

Yao Chong, the new Shangshu left servant, was the first to speak.

"Since Aiqing has seen it, then you should know, what did I call you for?"

"Nowadays, many people in Datang have become homeless people, and even become powerful tenants, how do you think this problem should be solved?"

Li Jing threw the question out, and then asked the three prime ministers in front of him to give him advice!

Land annexation is the foundation that shakes Datang, and if it is not suppressed or eradicated, it will be a matter of time before Datang perishes!

In a dynasty dominated by a small-scale peasant economy, land was the most important thing for the people.

Only with land can we grow food, and only with grain can we have enough to eat and live.

When the whole dynasty stabilized, the landlord class would try to get more land and concentrate it in their own hands.

But the land of a dynasty is limited, there are so many resources, everyone wants more, and the landlord class will do everything possible to obtain more land.

Land was increasingly concentrated in the hands of big landlords and big bureaucrats, while the peasants increasingly lost their land, or even had no land at all.

In order to obtain more land, big landlords and big bureaucrats will use some illegal means to forcibly seize it.

A powerful and powerful landlord, in order to get more, will collude with the local tyrants, such as colluding with the strong to buy and sell.

Originally, an acre of fertile land needed 30 yuan, and the big landlord forced to buy and sell, and an acre of fertile land may directly lower the price to a few yuan, and all the fertile land added up to the same as giving away for nothing!

Some people directly find a way to deceive you, and in the end the land can't be saved, and even under the calculation of the big landlord, they have to sign a deed of sale, become a domestic slave of the landlord's family, and become the slave of the landlord for the rest of their lives!

When they get land, they become the private property of large landowners, which can be passed on from generation to generation!

Then, they accumulate wealth by exploiting the people at the bottom, and the taxes of the Tang Dynasty, no matter how much land you have, are only levied according to the population.

As for the tenants who did not have land, they were black households who were not registered and did not need to pay taxes to the imperial court.

Some people died, but not completely......