However, not everyone marveled at Hu Changan's wisdom.
Wang Tao, the magistrate of Lishui County, had a different opinion: "Everyone, the combination of the A system and corvee service here can indeed achieve fairness, but in this case, what will happen to the old, weak, sick and disabled in the countryside?"
"They really can't do corvee service, but we have to include them in the household registration!"
Indeed, ideals are beautiful, but reality is skinny.
It is impossible for every household to have able-bodied labor to make up a family of three.
There are always some people who are reduced to the bottom of society due to various reasons.
They may have lost their legs in an accident and become permanently disabled; or they may have lost their legs as white-haired people and become homeless as they grow old; or they may have never married and had children due to various reasons, and they may live alone in their old age.
All in all, they lost their labor force due to various reasons and were unable to perform corvee labor. They could only farm a few acres of thin land and barely maintain their basic livelihood.
It is true that these people cannot be ignored, but how to control them has become a new problem.
The ministers discussed and discussed countermeasures.
Feng Qing, the magistrate of Jiangning County, thought for a moment and took the lead in speaking: "How about we let these people register directly with the district chief? After registration, the people under the district chief's jurisdiction can also help take care of these old, weak, sick and disabled people.
Wouldn’t it kill two birds with one stone?”
After everyone listened, they thought this plan was quite good.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he governed the world with Confucianism, and he naturally attached great importance to ethics and filial piety.
As early as the fifth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang began to build almshouses in various prefectures and counties, specifically to adopt orphaned elderly people and disabled people.
To be honest, the treatment in this almshouse is quite good.
Not only will a certain amount of rice and firewood be distributed on time every month, but also a small amount of cloth will be distributed in summer and winter, which can be said to be very thoughtful.
However, the government's relief is only a drop in the bucket.
Although the scale of almshouses in various states and counties is large, compared with the large number of disadvantaged groups in society, they still seem to be somewhat stretched.
And in order to enter the almshouse, you must meet strict conditions.
Only the elderly or disabled who have absolutely no ability to work and cannot find relatives to support them will be allowed to enter the nursing home.
The old, weak, sick and disabled who can do some light physical work can only stay in their place of origin and farm to support themselves.
If all villagers are to be classified under the Lijia system, the elderly, weak, sick and disabled must be taken into account.
It is indeed a good choice to let the villagers help these old, weak, sick and disabled people.
However, although most people agree with this idea, Gaochun County Magistrate Shen Yichuan has a different opinion: "Magistrate Feng, although your method sounds good, it seems that you have not considered future development."
"Although these old, weak, sick and disabled people do not have to pay taxes or perform corvee for the time being, what should they do if they get married again, have children and start a family in the future, and there is a strong labor force in the family again? Should they still be hanged up?
Don’t you have to pay taxes in your name? Others will definitely have objections.”
"And if a family that was normally included in the Lijia system suddenly encounters a natural or man-made disaster, and the strongest member of the family dies or becomes disabled, and is no longer able to perform corvee service in the future, what should we do?"
After everyone heard this, they fell silent.
Yes, the population is not dead, but is dynamically changing every moment.
You may be a pitiful disabled person this year, but maybe next year you will get married and have children, and become a happy father.
When your son grows up in more than ten years, your family will be full of vitality again!
Now that you have become a normal family with a strong labor force again, corvee labor is naturally inevitable.
Isn’t it possible that if you registered twenty years ago, your family will never have to pay taxes or perform corvee services?
This is not how the government’s loopholes are exploited!
Moreover, it is inevitable for a normal family to encounter natural disasters or man-made disasters, and it is not impossible to become a helpless orphan and widowed mother overnight.
Just when everyone was silent, Hu Changan stood up and walked out of the queue again, and said openly: "Everyone, what County Magistrate Wang said makes sense. The population is changing. You can't register once and be done with it."
"I suggest that families with strong labor force in the family who can afford corvees and taxes can be called regular households, while the old, weak, sick and disabled who cannot afford corvees can be called abnormal households."
"These abnormal households can be under the name of the head of the village, as Magistrate Feng said. They are not allowed to leave the village, and the village cannot get rid of them."
"Population data can be collected once every ten years. Once these abnormal households have regained the ability to perform corvee service, they can be reclassified as regular households and brought under the jurisdiction of the li chief."
"And if the regular households lose their ability to work for various reasons, we can also reclassify them as irregular households and not be included in the category of corvee service."
In this way, the problem raised by Gaochun County Magistrate Shen Yichuan was directly and perfectly solved.
Since the population changes dynamically, as long as the dynamic changes can be achieved when establishing the A system, wouldn't it be done?
Even the county magistrates with rich experience in handling civil disputes were impressed by Hu Changan.
This kid is really awesome. At such a young age, his thoughts are more thoughtful than those of them who have been working at the grassroots level for a long time. I don’t know what he ate growing up.
At this moment, no one had anything to say.
All the problems that can be thought of have been completely solved, and then all we have to do is let go and boldly implement it.
When Zhu Biao, the leader, saw this, he was also deeply moved.
This Hu Changan is worthy of being the hero who saved his son. He is indeed talented.
Originally, when faced with this kind of situation, the ministers below would have to argue for days before they could come up with a seemingly better result.
As a result, when Hu Changan came today, he convinced everyone with just a few words, and his efficiency was incredible.
If his efficiency were so high every day, Zhu Biao would probably wake up from his dreams laughing.
Seeing that everyone had stopped discussing, Zhu Biao also made the final decision: "Since everyone has basically discussed it, let's just implement it."
After that, Zhu Biao assigned tasks to everyone in detail.
Basically, each county sent two aides to the crown prince to assist the county magistrate in implementing reforms.
Hu Changan was assigned to Jiangning County, and his partners were Jiangning County Magistrate Feng Qing and another prince's aide named Li Shu.
This Li Shu was not only an aide to the prince, but also the left minister of household affairs in the Ming Dynasty.
Generally speaking, the prince's staff have official positions in the court, and the prince's staff usually only hold concurrent posts.
It can be said that there are basically no people other than him who were promoted temporarily like Hu Changan.
Therefore, it is no wonder that ministers are envious of this honor held by Hu Changan.
