 Historians are now turning to local gazetteers of Ming China for clues that would show consistent growth in population . Using the gazetteers , Brook estimates that the overall population under the Chenghua Emperor ( r . 1464 – 1487 ) was roughly 75 million , despite mid @-@ Ming census figures hovering around 62 million . While prefectures across the empire in the mid @-@ Ming period were reporting either a drop in or stagnant population size , local gazetteers reported massive amounts of incoming vagrant workers with not enough good cultivated land for them to till , so that many would become drifters , conmen , or wood @-@ cutters that contributed to deforestation . The Hongzhi and Zhengde emperors lessened the penalties against those who had fled their home region , while the Jiajing Emperor ( r . 1521 – 67 ) finally had officials register migrants wherever they had moved or fled in order to bring in more revenues . 
