1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 877 Economic Census
January 1673, 1, Chang'an Prefecture, Liangping County (now Dalby City, Australia).

Liangping County is located in a hilly area more than 60 kilometers northwest of Chang'an. It was established in two years and has six townships and 28 villages under its jurisdiction, with a population of more than [-].There is a large amount of fertile black soil here, which mainly grows cotton, sorghum, wheat, barley, etc. It is the most important grain and cotton production area in Chang'an Prefecture.

The Little Liang River (the Meyer River that flows through the city of Dalby) meanders through the county seat and provides abundant irrigation water for the area.Here is a typical subtropical climate, with warm winter and early spring, short autumn and long summer, strong sunshine and no frost throughout the year, which is very conducive to the growth of cotton.At present, among the more than 12 mu of cultivated land reclaimed in Liangping County, almost [-]% of the cultivated land is planted with cotton.

Han Fuyong, the village chief of Shabao Village, with a look of impatience on his face, led a clerk from the county household registration office to walk among the cotton fields to check the actual data in the land book.

"I'm afraid this cotton field is more than 120 mu?" Xu Henghua stood on the field ridge and looked at the large cotton field in front of him.

It was the slack season in summer, and there were only a few farmers in the fields, who were clearing the weeds in the cotton fields.The cotton stalks with curved legs and green leaves all show that this cotton field is growing gratifyingly. It is estimated that in a month or so, it will bloom and bear fruit, and then give birth to soft white cotton wool, which will eventually become comfortable and warm. Cotton clothes.

"I said it's 120 mu, that's 120 mu!" Han Fuyong said in a low voice: "The few squares of land on both sides of the land are barren slopes opened by others, and some vegetables and watermelons are planted for their own consumption. What's wrong, these are also Should it be included in the farmer’s harvest?”

"Oh, that's not necessary." Xu Henghua had already seen the impatience of the village head, but as a clerk of the household registration office, his duty was to strictly complete the tasks assigned by his superiors, right?
What's more, this nationwide economic census is a decree from His Majesty to the cabinet, requesting a scientific, reasonable and comprehensive investigation of the "foundation" of the country's development over the past 30 years.It is said that this matter should not only be carried out in the mainland of Hanzhou, but also those overseas territories should also carry out the work of "finding the bottom line".

For this reason, they, the clerks and clerks of the household registration office in the county, also rushed to Chang'an Mansion for half a month of training and learning to understand the methods and procedures of the economic census.

Xu Henghua just turned 19 years old this year. He graduated from the Daxing Business and Economics Training School two years ago. After some consideration, he signed up for the civil affairs examination in Chang'an Prefecture. After passing, he was assigned to the household registration office of Liangping County and became a " The scribes of the national establishment".

In fact, given the current level of thirst for talents in various industries in Qi State, the best way for a professionally trained economic talent like him to get a job is naturally to enter a major domestic trading company, and he can get at least ten yuan a month. A high salary of 12 yuan.After two or three years of hard work in a trading company, you will soon be promoted to manager or shopkeeper, earning 300 or [-] yuan a year, which is very easy.

However, his father came from the north of Ming Dynasty, um, to be precise, he came from the area that was once ruled by the Qing captives, and he still had a strong idea of ​​official standard in his bones.No matter how well you do in the workshop of the trading company, and no matter how high your salary is, you are still a white man, with no status or status!

Entering the government and becoming an official family member is different. After all, you are eating the emperor's food, and you are an official master.Therefore, after Xu Henghua graduated, he firmly arranged the future life path for him.

Of course, the treatment is not low to become a "public family". There is also a monthly salary of [-] yuan, which exceeds the income of most people in the country, but compared with those rich and powerful trading companies, it seems to be a little lower. .

Liangping County has just been established for two years. Except for a few brick kiln factories, cement factories, and grain and oil workshops, there are almost no decent industries. It is a proper agricultural county.

As for the national economic census in the first half of this year, the officials in charge of the Liangping Household Registry Office could only send five clerks and clerks to various townships and villages under their jurisdiction to count and check the poor "family background" in the county.

The census and statistics were done almost every year in Qi State in the earliest period.Although the geographical area and the population size have increased dramatically since then, this kind of demographic work has to be carried out every five years.However, this kind of economic nuclear census work is the first time in Qi State in 30 years, and there is no existing method and process.

It is said that the ministers, ministers, and officials of various departments of the Ministry of Household Affairs also specially invited gentlemen from Chang'an University Hall and Daxing University Hall who were related to economic affairs to study and discuss how to implement the economic census.

In 1665, the British government in Europe hosted a similar national economic statistics work.At that time, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Royal Government was wondering how much power should be used to support the war without bringing down the domestic economy.Therefore, Charles II ordered Sir William Peron to calculate and count the income and expenditure, population, land and other resources of England and Wales.

Naturally, the economic statistical work done by the British government at that time was strictly different from the GDP statistics in the modern sense, but it was also the earliest prototype of GDP. At that time, it mainly considered how much money taxes could raise for the war.

Then, GDP in the modern sense measures national income, that is, how much a country can produce each year.It started in the 20s when the US stock market crashed and the economy entered the Great Depression, when the government had no idea how the economy was doing.How many people are unemployed, how much consumption, how much investment, how much credit...all are unknown.So the government approved a project and handed it over to Kuznets, a young economist at the time, and thus the first national income statistics in the modern sense appeared.

As a time traveler with memories of later generations, Qi Tian is naturally well aware of the importance of GDP statistics, and he is no stranger to some concepts and statistical methods of GDP. I still know a little about the income method and the expenditure method.

In his opinion, the population of Qi is only 600 million, and the industry category and economic aggregate are far from being comparable to a small country in later generations, so why not take this opportunity to establish a set of statistical methods for the national economic aggregate , so that we can more intuitively understand the country's economic strength and development status.

In addition, through GDP statistics, we can clearly understand the important indicators describing the economic structure, such as industrial structure, demand structure, regional economic structure, etc., which are important tools and key basis for formulating economic development strategic goals and macroeconomic policies.

However, when the scribes and clerks of Liangping County went deep into the towns and villages and began to calculate the agricultural production data of last year, they somehow attracted criticism and speculation from the people.

"Xu Shuban, are you counting our farmers' land income, really not for the purpose of increasing agricultural taxes or expanding other surcharges?" Han Fuyong couldn't help asking this sentence again.

"How could the agricultural tax be increased?" Xu Henghua put away the account books and charcoal pencils, and said with a smile: "The agricultural tax was just reduced a few years ago, how could the government increase it so easily? As the village head, you should start from Various documents and newspapers issued by the government also know the major policies of some countries, has there been any news of raising agricultural taxes?"

"I've watched you in the past two days. Not only have you searched through the land account books in the village, but you have also gone to the fields to check them yourself. Even the cattle, sheep, livestock, chickens and ducks raised at home have to be registered separately. Such careful statistics, Doesn’t it make people suspicious for no reason?” Han Fuyong said: “People in the village have heard that the government will increase taxes and levy from our farmers. Tell me, almost [-]% of our people here are just now. Those who immigrated from the mainland have been squeezed a lot by the government there, so can they not panic?"

"Mr. Han, I remember that you are an old immigrant, and you have been in Hanzhou for eight years. You have served in the army before. Why, you also have some differences with the Qi government with those new immigrants. Concerned?"

"Of course I am grateful to Qi Guo, and I have great admiration for the emperor." Han Fuyong's eyes widened. It would be a heavenly day. But, I'm not worried...I'm worried that the county will come up with some other policy."

"Old Han, how dare you say that." Hearing this, Xu Henghua couldn't help but wryly smiled, "In my country of Qi, it is a serious crime for an official to levy additional taxes and embezzle public children, but he will be fined and confiscated and exiled to a deserted island overseas." , who were used as hard labor."

"Hundreds of years ago, the peeling of grass by Lord Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty didn't scare countless corrupt officials later, let alone being exiled overseas and punished with hard labor?" Han Fuyong murmured softly.

After hearing this, Xu Henghua shook his head and walked straight to another piece of farmland. It's better for him not to listen to such stupid words.If it gets to the county magistrate or the county magistrate, this brave village head must be given some shoes.
-
On February 2, Daxing Prefecture, Shaoliang County (now the Sunshine Coast of Australia).

Shaoliang is located about [-] kilometers north of Daxing, facing the vast Pacific Ocean in the east, with beautiful scenery and pleasant climate.In the eyes of literati and inkmen, Shaoliang can be regarded as an unusually beautiful city.

Shaoliang City has more than [-] permanent residents. If the townships and villages under its jurisdiction are included, the population size will be more than [-]. It is the second largest city in this area after Daxing.Of course, in terms of economic scale and commercial prosperity, it is also the stable second city of Daxing Mansion.

There are nearly a hundred factories in food, woolen textiles, leather, boats, building materials, hardware, sugar, tobacco processing, whale product processing, wood processing, papermaking, etc. in the city, most of which are private capital.

"Boss, the household registration office in the county has recently come to the cabinet several times to verify last year's business data. I am worried that they are deliberately finding fault with us so that we can impose additional apportionments." Zhong Yuanhong held a stack of account books and looked at them worriedly. Liao Yuancheng, his boss.

"Yuan Hong, you have been in our country of Qi for more than ten years. Have you ever seen the government seek trouble for no reason?" Liao Yuancheng sat on the soft chair with a precious pipe in his mouth, took a puff of cigarette comfortably, and then He said indifferently: "You, you always use Daming's experience to speculate on the behavior of our Qi government. Our officials in Qi have always treated us merchants and workshop owners preferentially, and have never treated us harshly. .”

Liao Yuancheng is the owner of the famous "Liaoji" sugar factory in Daxing Prefecture. In addition to a sugar factory in Shaoliang, Yongdeng County (now Caldera City under the jurisdiction of Sunshine Coast, Australia), Yichuan County (now Sunshine Coast City) Maroochydore County) each built a sugar factory, known as the "Sugar King" by the local people.

"Didn't the officials in the county say that this is a nationwide economic census, and His Majesty and the cabinet are planning to find out how much our country's wealth is. Our factory pays taxes every month according to the regulations, and has never done anything illegal. In matters of politics, the officials will definitely not take advantage of us easily."

"Boss, even though that's the case, who knows if the government's policy will suddenly change again?" Zhong Yuanhong still has doubts. Ten years, or even a hundred years later, what will happen? Huanghuang, my Great Ming, is no exception!"

"Look at what you said!" Liao Yuancheng said: "More than 30 years ago, before our state of Qi was officially established, we made a decree that private property should not be violated arbitrarily. Now, after so many years, the decree has not changed at all. , but also added so many legal texts to strengthen and consolidate."

"Although I don't understand that...politics, I think that our Qi State is different from Daming, or even the previous dynasties. In this country, whether it is us rich merchants or ordinary people, , I have an inexplicable sense of security, so I won't worry about being slaughtered as a fat sheep by officials and subordinates for no reason!"

"However, the business tax in our Qi State is much higher than that in Daming, and there are many types, and the verification is strict. After evading taxes, the punishment is even stricter, so people have to be careful. Yuan Hong, what do you think?" Take care of the accounts at the counter, and don't neglect it, so that the officials will find a sore foot and make extra troubles."

"Yes, Master." Zhong Yuanhong saluted.

Just as the general public in Shaoliang County had different interpretations of the ongoing so-called economic census, Xie Xuemin, the county magistrate, was shocked by the county-wide census data reported by the Household Registry.

"With a population of just over 780, our county has created more than [-] million yuan of wealth?...Did you make any false or overreported statistics during the statistical process?"

"County lord." Ma Fengguang, head of household affairs, cupped his hands and said, "These data have been checked twice by the lower officials, and there is absolutely no false report or overreport."

"Based on this data, isn't the annual per capita output of my Shaoliang County more than 100 yuan?" Xie Xuemin still had some doubts, "However, as far as I know, the actual income of the people under the jurisdiction is definitely not so high. Even In some townships and village communities, the annual income of a family does not exceed 60 yuan."

"Master of the county, you are only caring about sympathy, have you forgotten that my Shaoliang County is an economically strong county with both industry and commerce?" Ma Fengguang said with a smile: "The annual output value of the Liaoji Sugar Factory alone is more than 8 yuan. There are more than 300 factories and trading companies of this scale in the county. By analogy, plus other small and medium-sized workshops and trading companies in the county, the output value of industry and commerce alone reaches more than [-] million, accounting for nearly [-]% of all output in our county."

"Sure enough, you can't get rich without work, and you can't live without business!" Xie Xuemin was stunned, and couldn't help but clapped his hands and sighed: "If other prefectures and counties in the country are like my Shaoliang, then the wealth created by my Qi country in a year will reach sixty. Ten thousand gigantic!"

"Master Xian, naturally, all the prefectures and counties in the country cannot be as rich as my Shaoliang. After all, different places have different endowments, development speed, and output. What's more, many overseas territories have a small population and no decent industrial foundation. , its annual output value is probably far less than my Shaoliang." Ma Fengguang lowered his head and thought for a while, then continued to say with burning eyes: "The following officials estimate that the annual output of my Qi country is about [-] million."

"Fifty million? Hehe... Even so, this is an astonishing number. Given the strength of our country, Qi, why not do it!"

(End of this chapter)