How did Russian census records make Chichikov’s scheme possible in Dead Souls?

In Nikolay Gogol’s Dead Souls, the protagonist Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov’s scheme relies on the bureaucratic lag inherent in the Russian census system of the time.

Under the serfdom prevalent in 19th-century Russia, landowners were required to pay taxes on their serfs based on the most recent official census count. Even if a serf died, they remained on the tax rolls as "living" until the next census was conducted to update the records.12

Chichikov exploits this administrative gap by purchasing these "dead souls" from various landowners. The sellers are eager to offload these individuals because it relieves them of the ongoing tax burden for people who are no longer alive. Chichikov then intends to use these legally registered but physically nonexistent serfs as collateral to mortgage them at a bank, thereby acquiring the capital necessary to establish himself as a wealthy, respectable gentleman.12