Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 643: Postal Code, ID Number, and Office Relocation

After determining the principles for adjusting the alleys, the next step is to determine the alleys in the capital.

The north and south sides of Donglu Gate are both Mingshifang, and this does not need to be changed.

Huanghuafang to the south of Chaoyangmen expanded its scope, and Sichengfang to the north expanded northward.

To the north and south of Dongzhimen are the North and South Juxianfang.

It can be said that the changes in the several districts of Dongcheng Bingmasi are not that big.

Those officials who were worried that the emperor would make drastic changes were also relieved.

However, even so, Chen Qiyu, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, still reminded:

"I and Liu Siqing of the Weiwei Temple have worked together to determine the names of the roads in the capital and to compile house numbers for the residents."

"It has only been a short time since it was confirmed, so it is not appropriate to make major changes."

Zhu Youjian was of course receptive to this reminder, and he explained carefully to Chen Qiyu:
"The proposal to renovate the streets and alleys of the capital was made by the Weiwei Temple."

"There are many dead-end roads in the capital now. Once you walk into one, you can only return the same way you came."

"This is very inconvenient for public security and mail delivery. Only people who are familiar with the road know how to get there."

"There are many complaints from the postal companies in the Imperial Household Department about this, saying that it is difficult to recruit people in some areas, but it is not convenient to transfer people from other areas."

"So I decided to sort out the alleys and lanes while adjusting the streets this time, connect all the roads, and renumber the houses."

"Even unfamiliar personnel can find the residents corresponding to the house number by following simple maps and rules."

As he spoke, he pointed to the Huanghuafang street map and said:

"Look at Sichengfang, aren't there a lot of dead-end roads?"

"It's not good for feng shui, it's not conducive to the flow of energy, and it's not smooth for traffic."

“In the future, we will try to open up the roads, let the neighborhood committees of each shop be responsible for supervision, and strictly prohibit the occupation of roads.”

The emperor had mentioned the idea of ​​a dead end road before, but not many of his ministers paid attention to it.

Now, if you look closely at the roads in Sichengfang, it is indeed as the emperor said, there are many dead-end roads that cannot be connected. If an unfamiliar person walks into it, he can only retreat.

Compared with Nanjuxianfang where the road to the north is unobstructed, some people think that this may be the reason why Sichengfang, although close to Chaoyangmen, has worse feng shui than Nanjuxianfang.

Those officials who lived near the dead-end roads, thinking of what the emperor said about bad feng shui, decided to push forward the matter as soon as they returned and urged the districts where they lived to open up the dead-end roads near their homes.

Chen Qiuyu felt a little ashamed at this time.

Because the postal company jointly run by the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Household Department did have this complaint.

However, as a high-ranking official in the court, he naturally did not take the complaints of those businessmen to heart.

Unexpectedly, the emperor remembered it and specifically mentioned this matter when he adjusted the streets and alleys in the capital.

This is actually the reason why Zhu Youjian believes that the current business environment in the Ming Dynasty is not good enough, not only because if the business grows bigger, it may be coveted by the powerful, but also because the court does not pay attention to businessmen in all aspects.

Especially for the officials in charge, as long as they feel that the market is not good or the city appearance is not neat enough, a single order can make a formed market disappear in an instant.

Zhu Youjian was not very satisfied with this, so he kept pushing forward the construction of parliament and incorporating workers and businessmen into it.

When adjusting the alleys this time, the market was also given great importance:

"In order to facilitate the lives of residents, each district must set aside an area in a convenient place for transportation as the market of the district."

"This market must have special police officers to be responsible for public security management. The centurions responsible for recruiting soldiers in the district must also take turns to draw militia to assist in public security management."

"Busy card shops can also set up small markets, which will be managed by the militia led by the security committee of the surrounding card shops. Small vendors occupying the road should be arranged inside as much as possible, or a range should be designated to prevent them from occupying the road at will."

This is an aspect that was particularly mentioned in the report from the Weiwei Temple.

The local tyrants in the city are not found everywhere. The place where they are most concentrated is the market.

Bullies are most likely to appear in markets, and the location of a popular stall can lead to a fight between many people.

What to do after a dispute occurs? Naturally, you should find a manager to resolve it. If there is no manager, then there are other people who have the final say.

In particular, some local tyrants with strong armed forces will stand out in disputes. After they occupy multiple stalls and have money, they can gather more thugs and develop into evil forces.

Zhu Youjian handed the management of the market over to the garrison militia, which meant digging up the soil in which they lived and replacing their ecological niche.

In this way, the possibility of the emergence of local tyrants will be greatly reduced. Even if they really emerge, they are most likely just the black gloves of the guards and police stations.

In order to prevent this, Zhu Youjian stipulated that the districts under the charge of each thousand households needed to be regularly replaced by the Wucheng Bingmasi to prevent them from occupying the local area and colluding with evil forces.

The Weiweisi Police Station will check and balance them, and they also have the responsibility to check and balance the police station.

The Five Cities Guards and the Imperial Censorate will keep an eye on them.

If a certain guard has a very bad reputation in the local area, some guards may even suggest transferring them and replacing them with other guards.

Listening to the emperor's meticulous arrangements, the ministers felt even more deeply the emperor's emphasis on urban management.

They had already thought that the previous adjustments to the three districts were very detailed, even including arrangements for officials of the eighth and ninth ranks. They had not expected that the emperor would be so detailed that he could even go down to the streets and alleys.

Seeing that the Prime Minister Han Yu, who had been listening, had not expressed anything yet, Yang Jingchen, who was behind him, sneered in his heart:

The more this kind of thing happens, the more people in the world will think that the Prime Minister is incompetent.

If the prime minister can arrange it on his own initiative, why does the emperor have to arrange every detail?
Thinking about the various reforms that Zhang Fujing and Zhang Juzheng had promoted, he felt that he should study them more carefully. Even if he wanted to die of exhaustion like Zhuge Liang, he could not be like Han Yu and think that it had nothing to do with him.

It can be said that after the position of regent was established, those who aspired to be the prime minister became more and more aware of the need to become prime minister.

Han Yu felt that Huang Li was incompetent and was no more than a clay puppet.

Yang Jingchen felt that Han Yu was not proactive and was still holding on to his previous mindset as the prime minister of the cabinet.

But they don’t know that this is a responsible cabinet, and the prime minister has both power and responsibility.
-
After arranging the alleys and markets, Zhu Youjian continued:

"Every lane in the capital city must be numbered."

"You can't just use numbers for the house number, but not the street or alley where it is located."

"In the future, we should strive to use a string of numbers to determine the location of the house."

“This will make it easier to sort letters and train postal workers.”

Chen Qiyu, with the intention of making amends, said:
"Your Majesty, this is a very good idea. I think each prefecture and county should also have a specific number."

“It is convenient to classify letters directly when mailing them.”

This reminded Zhu Youjian of the postal codes of later generations, and he nodded in approval:
"Chen Qing has a good idea. Every place should have a fixed postal code."

"Use two digits to identify the jurisdiction of each province and overseas governor, then add two digits to identify the prefecture and vassal state, then add two digits to identify the district, county, and territory. Finally, add two digits to identify the specific ward or police station, or the lijia, dujia, baojia, township, and censorship department. This makes up the eight-digit postal code."

"This way, when letters are sorted, you can determine which post office they are assigned to by looking at the postal code."

"The Imperial Household Department must formulate standards as soon as possible to determine the postal codes for various places during the current adjustment of the alleys in the capital and the future adjustments of prefectures, states and counties."

"We ensure that every letter can be delivered quickly. In the future, we will issue and sell stamps based on the distance between different places."

Chen Qiuyu happily accepted the order, feeling that he must be more valued in the emperor's heart.

Zhu Youjian was indeed very satisfied with his proposal, and he also thought of the ID number, and continued:

"These eight digits, plus the year, month and day of the Yellow Emperor era determined by the date of birth, can be used as the resident's ID number."

"However, there are probably more than one person born on the same day in one place, so we need to add a two-digit serial number to prevent duplicate ID numbers. We also need to add a gender code, with odd numbers for males and even numbers for females."

"Every four digits are separated by a space or separator to reduce copying errors. When the Weiweisi police check the household registration, they can see the place of origin, age, gender and other identities at a glance."

"It will also be much simpler for the military preparation departments and the garrisons to recruit males according to age."

"In the future, we will strive to ensure that everyone has an ID number, so that when they handle official business, they must bring their household registration booklet or an ID issued by the local police station."

"If conditions permit in the future, we will also add images to prevent counterfeiting."

Such a strict numbering method made the ministers secretly sweat.

Because no one would think that this was something the emperor came up with on the spur of the moment.

If this system is implemented, the Ming Dynasty's control over household registration will be greatly enhanced.

Everyone will be included in it, and without a household registration book and ID card, it will be difficult to take a single step.

Zhu Youjian certainly did not come up with this idea on the spur of the moment. He proposed the ID card number based on the ID cards of later generations.

The difference is that he set the postal code to eight digits, and the first eight digits of the ID card are also the same number. Add the eight digits of the date of birth, the two digits of the sequence code, and the one digit of the gender code, and the total number is nineteen digits.

It was inconvenient to divide the numbers into five groups using four digits, and in order to prevent copying errors, he added a verification code similar to the ID card number of later generations.

However, he did not remember how to calculate the ID card verification code. So he gave this task to Xu Guangqi, who was good at mathematics: "Multiply the 19 digits of the ID card by a certain coefficient, then add the results and divide by a certain number. Get different remainders from zero to ninety as the first digit of the ID card."

"If you suspect that there was an error in copying or someone forged an ID card, you can use this method to calculate and easily determine the authenticity."

"Master Xu, you need to be more careful with the calculation method. You need to make it as easy to calculate as possible so that it can be used for verification. You also need to make the remainders different to further prevent the possibility of duplicate ID numbers."

Xu Guangqi responded and proposed to conduct a trial in a certain town to determine the calculation method.

Zhu Youjian pointed to Nanjuxianfang and said:

“There aren’t many dead-end roads in Nanjuxianfang, so the adjustments that need to be made aren’t big.”

“Let’s start from Nanjuxianfang and try out the new lane and market system.”

"The numbering of the East City District of Shuntian Prefecture in Northern Zhili needs to be determined as a whole after the Imperial Household Department has come up with the standard. As for the numbering of the wards..."

After a pause, he also did not confirm directly, but made overall arrangements:

"The capital's thirty-six wards will not exceed one hundred after the adjustment. The overall numbering will be determined, and there is no need to divide it into three districts."

"Starting from Dashiyongfang, the nine fangs surrounding the imperial city are numbered from 01 to 09."

“The area of ​​these blocks will be expanded to surround the future ring road.”

"The Imperial City Road is frequented by civil and military officials and eunuchs, so it is not convenient for pedestrians. In the future, a true first ring road should be opened up to facilitate the passage of the public."

Pointing to Chang'an Avenue, Chongwenmenli Street, Gulou Street and Xuanwumenli Street, Zhu Youjian included all the alleys and lanes inside them into the central city.

After merging some wards, there are still nine wards, with the numbers occupying the first nine.

The ministers had no objection to this.

The Zhongcheng Bingmasi is not in charge of government affairs now, so it doesn't matter if its scope is slightly expanded.

On the contrary, people living in these districts will be more confident in saying that they live near the imperial city.

However, these officials did not agree with the emperor's decision to use Chang'an Avenue as the southern street of the first ring road.

Because if there were a lot of pedestrians, what if they were hit by carriages and horses while traveling between the government office and the imperial palace?
Their old arms and legs can't stand the hard work.

These people said that Chang'an Street was only suitable for officials to pass through. The same was true for Chengtian Street, and no strangers could be allowed to enter easily.

Apparently, they thought of the last sit-in by the scholars and felt that this area should be closed off.

It is their right to kneel down and cry for advice, and students and candidates are not allowed to participate.

Yang Jingchen knew the officials' thoughts very well, so he stood up and said:

"Your Majesty, there are many officials coming and going on Chang'an Street, and there are Chang'an Left Gate and Chang'an Right Gate, so it is not easy to pass through."

"I think we can change the First Ring Road South to Shuncheng Street on the north side of Xuanwumen, Zhengyangmen, and Chongwenmen. In this way, the nine districts in the middle city will all be within the First Ring Road."

This statement was agreed by all the ministers.

They all agreed that Chang'an Avenue was for officials to pass through, and as for ordinary pedestrians, it didn't matter if they took a longer detour.

(The T-shaped square formed by Chang'an Avenue and Chengtian Street can be entered through the East and West Jiangmi Lane south of Daming Gate)
Zhu Youjian intended to make Chang'an Avenue a thoroughfare for east-west traffic, and even wanted to demolish the Chang'an Left Gate and Chang'an Right Gate after the east and west city gates were opened to make the road completely unobstructed.

But he did not expect the officials to react so strongly and not want to allow ordinary people to pass through Chang'an Avenue at all.

Considering that these people really need to travel between the imperial city and the government offices frequently, the resistance to demolishing the left and right gates of Chang'an, known as the Dragon Gate and the Tiger Gate, would be very great, so he had to give in and said:

“It’s OK to designate the First Ring Road South as Shuncheng Street, but are they wide enough?”

“Beyond building two tracks, will it be possible to pass pedestrians?”

Shuncheng Street is mostly a small street with a width of less than 20 meters.

Compared with the newly formulated 50-meter street standard, it is far from enough. If it is expanded, a lot of demolition will be required.

In response to this, Yang Jingchen said:

"I heard that Your Majesty intends to expand the government offices of the Executive Yuan and the Privy Council and include East and West Jiangmi Lanes."

"In this case, we can demolish all the residential buildings on the north side of Zhengyang Gate and build government offices, leaving space for the construction of the First Ring South Road."

"After this area is demolished, it will be easier to move east and west, as we can create enough space for demolition."

It was indeed Zhu Youjian's idea to demolish the Jiangmi Lane area, and he had also revealed it to his ministers, asking those government offices that were under great pressure to be patient for the time being.

However, after adapting to the adjusted official positions, it was obvious that they did not want to endure it any longer. After Yang Jingchen spoke, Border Defense Minister Liu Zunxian said:
"Your Majesty, the Border Defense Department and the Logistics Department are now working together in the original Right Army Governor's Office, which is really inconvenient."

"I think that Xijiang Mixiang should be demolished as soon as possible to build a border defense office."

Navy Minister Yu Anxing also holds the same opinion.

After making a fortune from shipping company stocks, the officials of the Navy Department no longer wanted to stay in the former Military Governor's Office with the Equipment Department.

Zheng Shiyi, the chief of the Imperial Guard, the governor of the Northern Secretariat, and the Minister of Intelligence, who were present at the meeting, also said hesitantly that the Weiwei Temple was now too large and had too many affairs to deal with, and the Imperial Guard needed more official residences.

These three yamen together requested the demolition of Xijiang Mixiang and the construction or expansion of official residences.

The nine ministers who attended the meeting also saw an opportunity. Wang Yongguang, the Minister of Justice who usually did not show much, said:
"The five ministries of the State Council are all on the east side of Chengtian Street, but the Ministry of Justice is located outside."

"We, the officials of the Ministry of Justice, are willing to move to the Mixiang area of ​​Dongjiang."

Obviously he was also somewhat dissatisfied with the decline in the status of the Ministry of Justice, but he was not in a position to complain to the emperor.

Now we are planning to join forces with the other five ministries of the Executive Yuan to strengthen the influence of the Ministry of Justice.

At the same time, it is closer to the Jinyiwei, making it easier to control the Xisifang Weiwei Temple.

To this end, Wang Yongguang also supported the Jinyiwei's proposal to expand its office, believing that the Weiwei Temple could be moved out to establish an independent official residence.

Officials from the Censorate and the Supreme Court knew the Ministry of Justice's idea, but they had no intention of objecting because these government offices also wanted to move in.

After all, the distance from the Three Courts to the Imperial Palace is quite far.

Even if the emperor extended West Chang'an Street to pass through the Sanfasi Yamen, they would still have to walk such a long distance in the future.

Especially after the opening of the ring road, the intersection of West Chang'an Avenue and Xuanwumenli Street will be very busy.

They don't want to waste time on the road and also want to move here.

Cheng Jiming, the Minister of Rites, coveted the official residences left behind by the Imperial Hospital, the Imperial Pharmacy, the Imperial Observatory, and the Shanglinyuan Observatory after their relocation, and said:
"The Taichang Temple is located to the west of the Privy Council, and it is inconvenient to communicate with the Ministry of Rites to the east of Chengtian Street."

"Especially the General Translation Office, which was converted from the Siyi Hall of the Taichang Temple and is still outside the Dong'an Gate."

"The Guanglu Temple only has its official residence in the imperial city, which makes it very inconvenient to handle affairs outside."

"I think since the Imperial Hospital and other inner court offices are moving, we can exchange official residences with them."

The Ministry of Revenue also took a fancy to these places and planned to place the Taifu Temple and Sinong Temple, which had an increasing number of personnel, there.

The Ministry of Works stated that the Shaofu Temple could not always be located in the Ministry of Works or Wensiyuan, and that a Shaofu Temple office should be set up next to the Ministry of Works.

The Lifanyuan stated that the emperor had allowed various vassal states to set up embassies in Dongjiang Mixiang. The Lifanyuan selected the area in the eastern part of Dongjiang Mixiang and south of Huitong Nanguan, intending to divide it into an embassy district for the vassal states to build embassies.

As a result, many government offices saw the opportunity and planned to relocate the government offices they were responsible for during the adjustment of the capital's streets and alleys.

In particular, the government offices they supervise should be placed nearby to strengthen supervision and guidance.

Some officials from the Privy Council and the Ministry of War also looked at Chen Qiuyu, wondering whether the Imperial Household Department should be moved to a nearby location.

However, Taipusi is right next to the imperial city of Xiaoyongfang, so there is little need to move it. Moreover, the emperor just named it Taipusi Street, so it is not easy to move it here.

Chen Qiyu secretly rejoiced at this and was even more grateful to the emperor. He knew that the reason why the Imperial Household Department could maintain its independence under the joint supervision of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War was because the emperor valued the Imperial Household Department.

In the future, he must maintain good relations with the Imperial Household Supervisor to avoid the Privy Council and the Ministry of War from treating the Imperial Household Department as a subordinate government office.

Zhu Youjian could not ignore the demands of these ministries and departments. It can even be said that he was the first to propose the relocation of the government office.

He asked Chen Qiuyu to record these and work with the Ministry of Works to determine the locations of roads and government offices and relocate them according to their needs.

The southern route of the First Ring Road was therefore determined to be Shuncheng Street on the southern wall of the inner city.

Ordinary people could not pass through the Chang'an Left Gate or Chang'an Right Gate without a pass. If they wanted to go east or west, they had to take a longer detour.

In order to facilitate detours, Zhu Youjian asked Chen Qiyu to set up several north-south streets between Chang'an Avenue and Yihuan South Road to make it easier for pedestrians to get around quickly if they went the wrong way.

He also asked for proper arrangements for the residents of East and West Jiangmi Lanes. The market was moved to the Zhushikou area, and a shopping mall was built at the original site of the Sanfasi to attract merchants to enter.

In the future this place will be next to West Chang'an Avenue, with very convenient transportation.

There is also a City God Temple Market nearby, which can attract merchants and citizens.

(End of this chapter)