Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 193 The World Becomes Transparent Again (Part 2)
The tenth day of May in the fortieth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty.
That morning, just as the sky was getting light, a soup dumpling shop outside Tongji Gate in Nanjing City was already crowded with people and business was booming.
"Boss Wang, your Jinling Daily."
"Hey, leave it there. Thanks, bro. My kid will be up soon."
As a small shop owner who made a living from a small shop, Wang Laoshi was of course illiterate. However, Wang Laoshi understood very early that if he could not read, he would be bullied by others. Therefore, although the monthly profit of this small shop did not exceed five taels of silver, Wang Laoshi still gritted his teeth to support his son's education.
"Boss Wang, when will the young master get up?"
"Yes, Boss Wang, we are still waiting for your young master to read us today's "Battle Through the Heavens"!"
"Right away, right away. Hey, isn't it here? Did you oversleep again, little brat? Hurry up and read today's novel , and then hurry to school."
"Oh, okay."
"Wait, even though your father can't read, he knows that any extremely important news in the Jinling Daily will be on the front page in large bold font . What's on the front page today? Why is the font so large? Read it to your father first."
"Oh, yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's order!"
When Xiao Laoshi read out these six words, everyone in the shop stopped what they were doing and turned their heads in unison.
"Recently, I inspected the Yellow Book Library in Houhu, but I found that the data reported in the books were absurd and full of errors... There is a county with 3,000 households, and all the heads of households are over 100 years old. There is also a county where the population has decreased by 30% in ten years. The worst case should be Yingtian Prefecture. Since the Zhengde period, over 90 years, the population of the population has decreased by 50%! Alas, how can there be Yingtian Prefecture where the market is getting more and more noisy, but the population of the population has decreased by half? Therefore, the Yellow Book is very inconsistent with the reality! The Yellow Book is the foundation of the country. If the Yellow Book is out of order, the country will not be at peace. So I asked my emperor for an order to re-check the household registration from today, starting from Yingtian Prefecture. You soldiers and civilians, each stay in your position. This time, the investigation will only be carried out without punishment. If there are exiles, they will be re-registered at their current place of residence. However, if there are those who are sneaky and cunning, or even resist the investigation with brute force, the axe will be put on them today! Don't say I didn't warn you!"
After all, Xiao Laoshi had studied with a private school teacher for many years, and he was in Nanjing, a capital city. Therefore, he was somewhat politically sensitive. After reading the decree, he quickly scanned the pages of the newspaper that day, and then said aloud: "Father, elders, today's newspaper, page 32, 16 pages are talking about the re-inspection of household registration. I think your Highness's meaning is very clear."
As soon as Xiao Laoshi made this conclusion, the soup dumpling shop, which had been very quiet, suddenly became bustling and lively.
"Your Highness, what's wrong? Why do you need to recheck the household registration?"
"Didn't you hear the boss read the newspaper? The current Yellow Book is really too messed up. There are 3,000 heads of households in a county, all of whom are over 100 years old? How messed up and how bold must the local officials be to dare to do this?"
"Hey! I know about the mess in the household registration system. Everyone in the Ming Dynasty knows about it. But because everyone knows about it, it's not that easy to rectify it. Hey, Your Highness has been in Nanjing for more than five years, and this is the sixth year. You have done everything very well. How come you suddenly lost your mind?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Hey, you see, the household registration system in our Ming Dynasty has been in chaos for a long time. The military households have fled, the civilian households that can't make a living in the countryside have moved to the city to do small businesses, the kitchen households no longer dry salt but buy fields to grow crops... How can we check all these things? What should we do if we find out? Isn't this going to cause unrest among the people?"
"So you didn't listen to the newspaper carefully, did you? Didn't the boss just read it? This time, we will only investigate but not punish. If there are any exiles, they will be re-naturalized at their current place of residence. In other words, no matter what you did before or where you fled from, you will not be held accountable. Instead, your household registration will be re-determined based on your current place of residence and current occupation!"
" Eh? Is there such a saying? Little Boss, is that true?"
"Yes, Uncle Liu." Xiao Laoshi had found a bench and was eating soup dumplings while reading the newspaper. "My dear elders, there are no novels in today's newspaper. It's all about the re-check of household registration. In addition to the decree from His Highness, there is also the decree from the Yingtian Governor, as well as the specific methods for checking household registration and the process for people to report voluntarily. Everything you thought of just now is explained here."
"That's great!" The middle-aged man called Uncle Liu quickly wiped his mouth and stood up and said, "Boss Wang, check out!"
Watching Uncle Liu hurrying away, Wang Laoshi muttered in confusion, "Why is Uncle Liu leaving in such a hurry? This silver coin is at least half worth a penny, right? Why would you need so much just to have a good morning? I haven't even given him the extra money yet."
"Hey~~ Boss Wang, don't you know? Lao Liu's family is an illegal resident. Although he has made some money by beating cotton for others over the years, he has no household registration. Not only can he be bullied at any time, but even his children can't take the boy's exam."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, father." Xiao Laoshi nodded beside him: "The eldest brother of the Liu family is a very good student in our school. The teacher has repeatedly praised him. Unfortunately, he has no household registration and no one dares to guarantee him, so he can't take the boy's exam. He can only work as an accountant for other businesses."
"Well... I told you that His Highness is a blue dragon born to do good things. This household registration check is a good thing!"
…
Starting from May 10th, for a full ten days, the tone of Jinling Daily became higher and higher, but Zhu Youdong did not really launch the movement.
"What is the public opinion outside now?"
"Your Highness, the information collected by the Royal Guards is that most people in various places are in a stable mood, and some are looking forward to it. But there are also a very small number of people who are very angry."
"Well, they are probably angry because their land was taken away by someone in the past, and I am not going to pursue the matter this time, so they are dissatisfied, right?"
"Your Highness, there are such people. But there are also some unruly people who are lazy and sell their family land. Your Highness's edict of letting bygones be bygones has deprived them of the opportunity to blackmail."
"It doesn't matter. There are many kinds of people in the world. Most of the people in our Ming Dynasty are hardworking, loyal and honest, but it is normal for some of them to be unruly." After listening to Tian Ergeng's report and learning that the public did not react strongly to the re-inspection of household registration, Zhu Youdong breathed a sigh of relief. Then he said to Yang Tingyun, "Mr. Yang, how do the officials in Yingtian Prefecture react now?"
"Your Highness, the smart officials who have done so many bad things can only sit in the hall and let bygones be bygones. As for those officials caught in the middle, they have been trying their best to fill in the blanks in the past ten days."
"These idiots!" He snorted contemptuously: "I have already said that bygones will be forgiven and a new investigation will be conducted. I will not look at either the yellow or white registers. How can they be so stupid!"
After saying this, Zhu Youdong did not wait for Yang Tingyun to reply, but turned to Yuan Keli and said, "Pass the order down, 400 work teams, mobilize!"
