prosperous age

When did the merchant registration system originate?

In fact, the merchant register was first established in the Lianghuai Salt Transport Office in the thirteenth year of the Wanli reign. Ultimately, it was a household registration system specifically created for large salt merchants.

It was a system of supplementary registration established during the Ming and Qing dynasties to solve the problem of merchants' household registration and the imperial examination. Because merchants operated in different places for a long time, their original place of residence became disconnected, so it was created and incorporated into the household registration system.

This system allowed the sons of merchant guilds such as salt merchants to register in the provinces where they traded, thus gaining the qualification to take the imperial examinations and achieving upward social mobility through specially approved places in prefectural schools, where "merchants who excelled could become scholars."

In other words, to this day, apart from those merchants who own land in their hometowns, most of the sons of merchants who do business in other places are indeed not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations.

As a result, merchants had to travel frequently between their hometowns and the places where they did business every year to maintain relationships with the government in order to educate their children and prepare them for the imperial examinations.

This year, Wei Guangde plans to first resolve the issues concerning the Ministry of Personnel, bringing the entire government under the control of the imperial court, reforming the salary system, and then attempting to separate the Commercial Tax Bureau from the Ministry of Revenue next year.

Then he proposed that local tax bureaus could register with the merchants who paid their taxes, thus allowing them to participate in the imperial examinations.

In other words, commercial tax collection is linked to commercial registration; paying commercial tax allows one to obtain commercial registration.

In this way, these wealthy merchants could bring their children to live with them and hire famous teachers to tutor them in preparation for the imperial examinations.

Don't think that the entry of merchants' sons into officialdom will make the Ming Dynasty's officialdom even more chaotic.

In fact, it is not uncommon for sons of merchants to enter officialdom; Zhang Siwei, who is by my side, comes from a merchant family.

As for his family's status as landlords, it was just a cover-up; they acquired their properties after making money through business.

While Wei Guangde was still pondering in his mind, Zhang Juzheng spoke up, saying, "I think the proposal for 'good loans' is feasible. We can't wait until the Single Whip Law is implemented to do this; we need to make plans early."

I think we should start with Beizhili (northern Zhili), register all the positions in the government offices of prefectures and counties, and carefully adjust, add or subtract positions to establish a system.

What do you gentlemen think?

Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing both nodded slightly after hearing this, expressing their support.

"Uncle, everyone, I think we don't really need to do this step by step."

Provinces capable of completing the land survey should be instructed to promptly compile a list of official positions in their respective prefectures and counties and submit it to the Ministry of Personnel.

As for including it in the imperial salary, the news will be kept under wraps for now, and the imperial court will issue a unified order once it has established the regulations.

It is expected that all provinces should complete the land survey within a year, and the official positions can be finalized next year.

After the tax amount under the Single Whip Law in each province is verified, the taxes will be withdrawn together. At that time, each province will be required to recompile the Yellow Register, based on the White Register.

Those officials who passed the imperial examination this year are still observing the administration in their respective departments. My idea is to keep them all, except for those who need to fill the necessary vacancies, and have them remain in their respective departments to work.

When the Yellow Register was being recompiled, the tasks were assigned and supervised together with the Censorate.

In addition, the Ministry of Personnel will also conduct a detailed registration and investigation of the officials and candidates who have been registered but not assigned in recent years, and will arrange them to do this work in due course.

To be honest, we're quite lucky. We should be compiling the Yellow Register again in the next two years, which saves us a lot of effort.

Wei Guangde did not mention the students of the Imperial Academy, because they were the main force in compiling the Yellow Registers, and they would definitely have to go down to the capital.

As for mobilizing so many people, will there be any complaints?

There were definitely such opportunities, but if they performed well, they could obtain a position in the Ministry of Rites. This was the reward the Ming Dynasty gave for their contributions.

It's all the same carrot and stick approach: assign tasks, and reward those who do them well.

It is true that Wei Guangde said that the court should create the Yellow Registers again two years later. The compilation of the fifteenth Yellow Registers in the history of the Ming Dynasty was completed from the forty-first to the forty-second year of Jiajing.

The sixteenth compilation of the Yellow Registers was completed during Gao Gong's reign from the fifth to the sixth year of the Longqing reign. Since the Yellow Registers are compiled once every ten years, they should be compiled again starting next year.

"Yes, because the previous Yellow Registers contained many inaccuracies, and there was also corruption among local powerful and corrupt officials, this time the Yellow Registers must be thoroughly investigated and reconstructed to ensure their authenticity."

The imperial court must be fully committed to the investigation. Any official, scholar, or student of the Imperial Academy who refuses to participate will be dismissed and their family members barred from taking the imperial examinations for three generations.

Zhang Juzheng, who had been in charge of the Imperial Academy, naturally knew that the students opposed participating in the large-scale compilation of the Yellow Registers, as it was a thankless and arduous task. Even if there were rewards for doing it well, they were unwilling to participate.

In fact, the Yellow Register of the Ming Dynasty did have design flaws.

It's not that the registration system is wrong, but rather that there are many problems with the work arrangements.

During the Hongwu reign, when the Yellow Register was being compiled, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty arranged for 1,200 students from the Imperial Academy to conduct the verification on the lake.

However, by the Jingtai era, the number of students participating in the review had decreased to eight hundred, and by the Hongzhi era, it had decreased to two hundred.

Later on, the imperial court often couldn't even afford the few thousand taels of silver needed for the review process, and the students complained bitterly about taking on this responsibility.

Therefore, the so-called registration and verification is mostly just a formality.

After Hongwu, when the Yellow Registers were created, the emperor only cared about making them, not about their content, and the cost was borne by the local authorities.

So, unfortunately, the paper used for the booklets became inferior, and they would fall apart after a few decades. The copying was also no longer done carefully, since it was difficult to find literate people in the vast rural areas.

Locally, village chiefs, along with clerks and officials, filled out the forms according to their own needs, creating too much black box space. The yellow register became a vehicle for the ever-evolving corruption.

Land consolidation and the imposition of corvée labor became the most distinctive features of Ming Dynasty governance.

By the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the Yellow Registers had become practically useless, and everyone from the bottom up was just fooling around. No wonder the Manchus, after conquering the Central Plains, actually managed to find the Yellow Registers from the twenty-fourth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

It should be noted that the Yellow Register of the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign was not even finalized before the country collapsed.

Zhang Juzheng's words naturally meant that the number of officials and students to be inspected and reviewed should be greatly increased, and that the practice of appointing officials without proper oversight should not continue.

Knowing the huge differences between the white book and the yellow book, Zhang Siwei didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly.

He could imagine that once the Yellow Register was recompiled, the local area would be in an uproar, and who knew how much commotion would occur.

But there was no way around it; it was clear that both the Grand Secretary and the Second Grand Secretary supported revising the Yellow Register.

He could understand that no one wants a bunch of numbers they have to prove to be false.

For those below them, having a blank certificate was enough to serve as an official in the local area.

However, for the officials in the imperial court, the harm caused by the false imperial registers was much greater, as it would affect their decision-making.

As for the previous Yellow Register issue, the best solution is to follow Wei Guangde's suggestion and let it go.

"The court will probably have to send some people to Burma, Luzon, and Palembang first, so that they can start registering in the Yellow Register next year."

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng looked at Wei Guangde and said.

"Yes, I will speak with the Ministry of War and ask the Ministry of Personnel to send more officials and scholars there."

It's not like they're trying to become independent, so naturally they can't actually set up a faction and prevent the court from sending people in.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The Yellow Register was very important, as it was related to the formulation of national policies, so Wei Guangde naturally had no other thoughts.

"By the way, should we also arrange for someone to supervise Dongfan Island? Although there are military clerks there, they still need to be supervised."

Wei Guangde suddenly thought of Taiwan Island, where there are said to be tens of thousands of inhabitants, most of whom are local natives.

Following Yu Dayou's strategy, the South China Sea naval officers and soldiers first eliminated the most powerful tribe, then incorporated the other smaller tribes, thus gaining control of the entire Dongfan Island. Wei Guangde knew that these people, though called natives, were later known as the Gaoshan tribe.

Since Dongfan Island had been incorporated into the Ming Dynasty and was nominally under the jurisdiction of the Fujian Provincial Administration Commission, the Fujian government had never actually paid any attention to it.

I really don't want to go to that place; it's too poor and dilapidated, and I'm afraid I'll be taken advantage of if I go.

"Let the Fujian censors supervise this."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said that he was still considering how many students the Imperial Colleges in the two capitals, North and South, had, and whether they could meet the requirements for this grand task of compiling the Yellow Register.

If that doesn't work, we'll have to ask the palace for an imperial decree this year to increase the number of students in the two capitals.

These matters were not Wei Guangde's responsibility; Zhang Juzheng handled the Ministry of Personnel's affairs meticulously.

"There is another matter, which is whether the revised Single Whip Law should be made permanent."

If we open the door and allow local authorities to make changes based on their own circumstances, it's likely that things will revert to their original state in a hundred years or so.

Wei Guangde suddenly spoke up.

"Good Loan, what do you mean by this?"

Zhang Juzheng asked, puzzled.

"This time, the poll tax is calculated based on the actual population, for example, the population of the two capitals and thirteen provinces is 90 million, and all of them are included in the Single Whip Law. But what if the population increases or decreases in the future?"
Even if the amount of land remains the same, the population will always change. Logically, if the population increases, the poll tax allocated to the land should also increase.

But what if the population has decreased again when the local government compiles the Yellow Register next time?

Wei Guangde smiled wryly.

He could actually foresee that once he and Zhang Juzheng were gone, the population of the Ming Dynasty would likely soon decrease to only tens of millions.

In an era when imperial power did not extend to the countryside, local authorities had a great deal of room to maneuver.

The rural people are ignorant and foolish. Even if the imperial court gives them preferential policies, they probably won't understand them and will mostly be manipulated by local officials and gentry.

"How are you doing?"

Zhang Juzheng frowned and asked again.

"Based on this revision of the Yellow Register, the land tax for each province shall be established as a permanent system, and the increase or decrease in population shall remain unchanged. We request Your Majesty to issue an edict that taxes will never be increased."

Wei Guangde's idea was to fix the agricultural tax, regardless of whether the land was abandoned or not, and to calculate the tax based on the land survey figures.

Even if a landlord's land is left uncultivated, as long as it's still registered in your name, you still have to pay taxes to me.

The tax on each acre of land is the same, and regardless of any changes in conditions, the tax is levied according to a fixed amount, which sets an upper limit for land tax.

If the emperor increased land reclamation in the localities, the tax rates for each prefecture and county would have to be reduced accordingly.

The denominator remains unchanged, while the numerator can only increase and not decrease.

"This also aligns with the original intention of Emperor Taizu to never impose additional taxes. We have simply added local miscellaneous taxes and poll tax to the existing tax base of 2950 million shi."

Wei Guangde continued.

During the Hongwu era, the annual tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty was roughly between 2800 million and 3200 million shi. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang set the annual revenue of the Ming Dynasty at 2950 million shi based on this figure and decreed that no additional taxes would be levied.

In fact, this tax was levied until the Three Great Taxes were introduced, which broke the tradition. For more than two hundred years prior, the annual grain tax of the Ming Dynasty was roughly the same amount.

With the addition of local miscellaneous taxes and even the poll tax to land taxes, grain taxes are bound to rise sharply.

Wei Guangde brought this up to silence some people, lest they accuse the court of competing with the people for profit.

In reality, these benefits belonged to the common people, but rather came from the hands of the gentry and powerful, since they were the major landowners, and the grain taxes all came from the land, so they bore the entire burden.

"At the very least, with the decree that no more taxes will be levied, the compilation of the Yellow Register will be unrelated to taxes, so no one will have any ulterior motives, and the court will be able to receive the most accurate figures."

Although the actual population is usually meaningless due to the abolition of the poll tax, it can be used to select households for military service based on the Yellow Register during wartime, which is a matter of national importance.

Wei Guangde continued.

The Ming Dynasty no longer undertakes large-scale population migrations, whereas in the early Ming Dynasty, many households were relocated according to the Yellow Register.

Wei Guangde didn't mention it because there were no places available for people to migrate to for the time being. But during the Little Ice Age a few decades later, it would be necessary to consider relocating the people of the Northwest to places like Luzon and Myanmar.

We're not doing it now because it would be pointless and a waste of resources.

Moreover, those newly attached areas are unstable.

"This cabinet meeting has covered the main political affairs of the court for the next few years. Everyone, please think about it again afterward. If you have any good suggestions or find any problems, please feel free to bring them up during the cabinet meeting."

Zhang Juzheng began his concluding remarks, stating that Wei Guangde's suggestions were good and that Zhang Juzheng could accept them.

He was also thinking about how to prevent future generations from changing the system back. Although it was supposed to be a permanent system, people could still find ways to change it.

Wei Guangde's suggestion to fix the tax on each mu of land is a good idea.

The young emperor would certainly be happy to issue an edict promising never to increase taxes.

However, since there were many things settled today, Zhang Juzheng wanted to go back and think them over carefully to make sure there were no oversights before implementing them.

After the meeting, Wei Guangde was kept behind by Zhang Juzheng, and they chatted for a few more minutes in the duty room. The main topic was, of course, the fixed tax rate, which Zhang Juzheng had some concerns about.

The idea is good, but execution might be difficult.

"Strictly speaking, this method should not be used in this way."

Upon hearing Zhang Juzheng's concerns, Wei Guangde frankly stated, "So-called top-quality land requires careful maintenance, but after prolonged cultivation, the soil fertility inevitably deteriorates, turning into medium-quality land, or even inferior land."

However, if the power is not fixed and is handed over to local authorities, many twists and turns are inevitable.

It's like when Uncle Da implemented the performance evaluation system, the original intention was to improve the efficiency of officials, but they still dragged their feet when doing things, but they were swift and decisive when collecting taxes.

In the end, the blame is pinned on you. Ha! I've heard the people of Jiangbei call you the "Decadent Prime Minister."

Wei Guangde's words are the origin of Zhang Juzheng's infamy.

Zhang Juzheng demanded that officials act swiftly and decisively, with tax collection being the most important aspect.

As a result, local officials did many outrageous things in order to complete their tax collection tasks on time.

After the incident, Zhang Juzheng was the one who took the blame.

Zhang Juzheng demanded that they collect taxes on time, but theoretically the bulk of the tax should have gone to the gentry, with little to no taxation from the common people.

However, due to the flexible enforcement of laws at the local level, it is always the ordinary people who suffer in the end.

After a long discussion this afternoon, Zhang Juzheng inevitably felt a bit tired. With a wry smile, he took out a snuff bottle, poured some onto the back of his hand, and inhaled directly under his nose, then sneezed several times. (End of Chapter)