My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

Li Longji thought about it for a while and found something wrong. Then he said, "But Marquis Dingkang, your system of private ownership of land seems to be similar to the original equal-field system."

Chang An nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right, but my public ownership of land is very different from your equal land system. The similarities are only in a few parts."

"I would like to hear the details." Li Longji's interest was aroused again.

"The equal-field system only refers to cultivated land. Mountains, rivers, towns and villages are not included in the equal-field system. The public ownership of land includes all the land, mountains, and rivers in the Tang Dynasty. Regardless of whether they are fertile or not, and whether they are fields or not, they are all under one system." Chang An said.

Although public ownership of land cannot be realized at this time, it can be streamlined and slightly modified.

"Also, the equal-field system will lead to the buying and selling of land, but the public responsibility of land ownership can alleviate this problem." Chang An continued, "All the land in the world will be measured and uniformly classified to determine which land can be used for farming and which land can be used for raising livestock."

"The land survey must be conducted by your Majesty's people, preferably the provincial governor. After the land is surveyed, the land deeds will be cancelled and all the land will be recorded. If every household wants to rent out land, they need to register with the government, and it must be checked every year. Of course, taxes must still be paid for rented land."

"Then, according to the equal-field system, each household is allocated a certain amount of land. They can take more or less, but no matter how much they take, they must pay a corresponding share of taxes according to their share of the land."

At this time, Yuan Qianyao asked a question: "But Chang... Marquis Dingkang, what if someone cultivates uninhabited land and is not discovered? In this case, won't someone take a small share of the land and turn to cultivate large wastelands?"

"Prime Minister Yuan may have forgotten what I said. Every inch of land in the Tang Dynasty must be recorded and checked every year." Chang An explained with a smile.

"If it is found that someone has privately reclaimed wasteland without registering it, the land use rights can be retained, but no matter how long the land has been used, whether it is one day or one year, one must pay one year's tax according to the standard."

Li Longji nodded after listening, and then asked: "How does this method solve the problem of escaped households and false households?"

"I have said that if this law is implemented, it means that the land shares of everyone in the world will be limited to a certain range. I have also explained that all records of land are in the hands of the government, and land can only be rented out but not sold. In this case, can a landlord who has lost enough land still be called a landlord?"

"Can they still support and hide the tenants? In other words, if the tenants have no land to farm, will the landlords still support them for nothing? If they are driven out of the landlords' houses, other than registering their identities and getting the land, what other ways do they have to survive? In this way, the problem of fictitious households will be solved."

"The next is the escaped households. There are many people in the Tang Dynasty now, but it is not difficult to check them all. So Your Majesty can issue an edict to check the entire population of the Tang Dynasty, and then produce a certificate to prove their identity."

"What do you mean?" Li Longji said, "They have their own household registration, and it's all recorded in the government. Why do they need other proof?"

Chang An smiled and said, "But ordinary people don't carry anything to prove their identity. They need to get a document from the government when they travel. If they don't have a document, then when they go to other states and counties, won't it be easy for them to be considered refugees?"

"So my idea is to make every citizen of the Tang Dynasty register with the government on the basis of public ownership of land. If they don't register, they won't be able to receive their share of land. If these people privately cultivate land without proof of identity, they will be detained and the land will be returned to the national treasury."

"Then we will remove the pass documents. Every citizen who wants to enter or leave the city must show their ID, otherwise they will not be allowed to enter or leave the city. At the same time, any ship that crosses the prefecture or county will require an ID before boarding."

Li Longji then shouted, "Is the Minister of Revenue here?"

"I'm here." The Minister of Revenue stepped out at this time.

"Come and see if Marquis Dingkang's method is feasible." Population statistics are the responsibility of the Ministry of Households. If the Ministry of Households finds it feasible, it can be implemented directly.

The Minister of Revenue looked at Chang An and asked, "Marquis Dingkang, how do I register the identity certificate you mentioned?"

"If it is a normal call, not all farmers will come to register, so my idea is to implement this law after the land is measured and all is recovered."

"And when it was implemented, it said that without proof of identity, one could not take the land that was supposed to belong to him. In this way, the land would be gone. If you want land, you have to register it. If you don't register, you will starve to death. Your Excellency, if you were a commoner, what would you choose?"

The Minister of Revenue thought for a moment, then asked, "But some of the escaped households will flee into the mountains. How will we deal with them then?"

"Measure all the land of Tang, all of Tang. As long as those who have escaped have not fled beyond the borders of Tang, we will eventually find them on the hills where they are. Then we can register with them."

"If we don't do it, we won't have the land. If they want to occupy it illegally, we will arrest them and detain them according to Tang law."

The Minister of Revenue thought about it for the last time and said, "Your Majesty, I think that the method proposed by Marquis Dingkang is feasible. However, I think this method goes against the policy of our ancestors. I beg Your Majesty to think twice."

Yuwen Rong also said in front: "Your Majesty, the ancestors should not be violated. I think this method is good, but it goes against the ancestors. Please think twice."

Even Yuan Qianyao, who had a relatively good relationship with Chang An, remained silent at this time. After all, this was a policy that had been used for hundreds of years. It seemed inappropriate to change it rashly.

Li Longji looked at Chang An at this time, and Chang An took this opportunity to say: "I would like to ask you gentlemen, compared with the original equal-field system, has my method deleted anything, or is there any bad change?"

The adults were stunned when they heard this. It seemed that there were really no major changes and almost no deletions. On the contrary, it seemed that it had been improved and became better.

"It... doesn't seem like it."

"That's it. If there is no such thing, how can it be considered as going against our ancestors? It is better to understand it as adding a new system on top of the original equal-field system."

Li Longji nodded and finally asked, "Yuwen Yushi, what do you think? Is this method feasible? Can it solve the problem of escaped households and empty households?"

"Your Majesty, it is possible, but it will take a lot of time." Yuwen Rong said, "Just measuring the land will take a lot of time."

Chang An said, "I have another idea. I wonder if Yuwen Yushi can consider it?"

"Marquis Dingkang, please speak."

"The current territory of the Tang Dynasty has actually expanded. But when the Tang Dynasty began to implement the equal-field system, it also drew a map, right?" Chang An asked with a smile.

"Yes, that's what happened."

"Since there is a map, it should have also stated how large the territory of the Tang Dynasty was, right? If so, then we only need to calculate the land that the Tang Dynasty has expanded into."

"Moreover, now that we have clear records of the previously recorded territories of the Tang Dynasty, we can begin to try to implement the method I just mentioned in the recorded areas."

Yuwen Rong and the Minister of Revenue looked at each other at this time and no longer had any objections.

Seeing this, Li Longji asked again: "Do you think that this method of Dingkanghou is feasible?"

"I think it is feasible." Yuan Qianyao also stood up and said.

"I second the proposal."

"I also second my opinion."

......

Soon, no one raised any objections. So Li Longji said, "In this case, I assume that you have no objection."

"Order the Secretariat to draft an imperial edict - using the initial territory of the Tang Dynasty as a model, implement a system of public ownership of land in all areas of the initial territory, and start registering and producing identity certificates. As for the newly opened territories of the Tang Dynasty, order the imperial censors to survey and measure them and report the details."

"Your Majesty is holy, long live my emperor, long live, long live."

All the ministers stood up and saluted Li Longji.

After listening to Chang An's method, Li Longji suddenly felt refreshed and said, "Marquis Dingkang, if your method can really help me solve the problem of empty households and escaped households, I will definitely reward you heavily!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Longji smiled, took a sip of wine, and then said, "It's getting late, let's have the banquet!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

All the ministers left, and Yuwen Rong also left the hall. Li Ying also stood up with his brother and sister, stepped forward to offer birthday wishes, and said to Chang An when he left:

"Good for you."

Not sure if it was because of the gifts given to him by his children or because of Chang An's strategy, Li Longji's face was filled with joy at this moment.

"Okay, great!"