Chapter 9 Section 8 Field Fu and Yiyi Whip in Ming Dynasty

In the Ming Dynasty, cultivated land was also divided into official land and private land, and land tax was also divided into two taxes, which were levied on the basis of acres of land. The summer tax was only in August, and the autumn tax was only in February next year.The specific tax rates are as follows: five liters per mu tax for official land and five liters for three combinations (one scoop = 1/10 combination), 2 liters for private land, which is three liters for three liters and five spoons, eight liters for re-rented land and five liters for five spoons, and reed land for five liters and three Four pinches of spoons (one pinch = 1/10 spoon), three-in-one spoon of grass tatami, one bucket and two liters of no official land.In the Ming Dynasty, official farmland accounted for about 1/7 of the total land, Suzhou official farmland accounted for more than 1/2, and Shaanxi official farmland accounted for more than 4/10.The official land mentioned in the tax law specifically refers to the official land leased by peasants with little or no land.In the Ming Dynasty, the vast majority of private land was owned by landlords and bureaucrats. Therefore, the tax on private land was light, which was beneficial to the big landlords, while the tax on official land was heavy, which was not good for farmers who rented official land.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was stipulated that the land tax tax items should be produced from the soil, the summer tax was wheat, and the autumn tax was rice.Later, it was stipulated that people with 5-10 mu of land must plant cash crops such as mulberry and hemp, so the two taxes were added to rice and wheat, and silk, hemp, and cotton were also levied.The field tax is paid with rice and wheat, which is called "true color", and rice and wheat are folded into silver, banknotes, money, silk, etc., which are called "fold color".In the ninth year of Hongwu (1376 A.D.), it was stipulated that "the tax and grain of the world, the people are required to use silver, banknotes, money, and silk as substitutes for transportation. One tael of silver, one thousand Wen of money, and ten pieces of banknotes are all exchanged for one stone of rice, and the wheat is reduced directly. Two out of ten: One head of cotton ramie is folded into six dou of rice, seven dou of wheat, one head of linen is folded into four dou of rice, five dou of wheat, silk and silk, etc. The profit and loss are determined according to the weight, and those who are willing to enter the millet listen." ("Ming Shi·Shi Huo") Two") clearly stipulates that land taxes and grains can be converted into currency.In the first year of Yingzong Zhengtong (AD 1436), it was stipulated that the national taxes and grains should be paid in silver, and four stones of grain could be converted into one tael of silver, which was called Jinhuayin.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, due to the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, most of the household registration and land registers were lost. In order to prevent the common people from concealing their land properties and evading taxes and duties, in the 14th year of Hongwu (AD 1381), all prefectures and counties were ordered to be divided into li (at that time, the grassroots organizations were based on 110 households. Weili) made up four copies of the tax and service books, which were mainly based on households and listed in detail the number of households, land properties, and tax payables, and were distributed to governments at all levels as the basis for tax collection. It is yellow paper, so it is called the Yellow Book of Taxation and Service.In the 20th year of Hongwu (AD 1387), each prefecture and county district was ordered to compile land registers. The semicolon above detailed the area, shape, surroundings, soil quality and the name of the owner of each piece of land. As the basis for tax collection, this is the fish scale atlas of the Ming Dynasty.These books played a certain role in clearing up hidden population and land and ensuring the state's land tax collection.However, due to the collusion of officials and landlords, these books were often falsified, and the land of each household increased or decreased indefinitely, and the time was a little longer, which often did not match the reality.Therefore, these books gradually lose their usefulness as time goes by.In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the feudal dynasty began to turn from prosperity to decline, and land annexation became more violent.A large amount of land was concentrated in the hands of big landlords, who tried every means to evade state taxes.In the Ming Dynasty, the families of officials and gentry enjoyed the privilege of exemption from labor. Landlords and peasants who did not have the privilege of exemption often sent their fields under the names of these families to avoid taxation and labor, which was called "guiji".Some big landlords also assigned their property sporadically to their relatives, neighbors, tenant servants and other household names to avoid embarrassment, which was called "huafen".Ask the Jinshen to pretend to be their names in order to reduce the tax and labor, which is called "contribution".In the first year of Longqing (AD 1567), only the four prefectures of Su, Song, Chang and Zhen were found to have donated nearly 2 million mu of guiji fields and more than 3.3 million mu of Huafen fields.This situation has seriously affected the country's land tax income.At the same time, due to the huge military expenditure and royal salary expenditure, as well as the extravagance and waste of the ruling class, the financial expenditure is increasing day by day.The country's annual fiscal revenue is less than half of its fiscal expenditure.During the Shenzong period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng served as the chief assistant and Bingzheng. In order to suppress mergers and equalize taxation and labor, he ordered the land clearing of the whole country in the sixth year of Wanli (AD 1578). 1581) implemented a whip law throughout the country.The specific content of a whip method is: 1. Combine the land tax and forced labor that have been collected separately since the early Ming Dynasty, such as lijia, uniform corvee, and miscellaneous labor, etc., to be compiled into one and collected together with the land tax.In this way, the amount levied for a whip includes not only land tax and various miscellaneous taxes, but also various forced labor.2. The One Whip Law stipulates that the amount of payment shall be levied on the basis of acres of land, and those who occupy more land shall be levied more, and those who occupy less land shall be levied less.This will inevitably increase the taxation of large landowners and reduce the burden on farmers with little or no land.Land was the most basic means of production in feudal society, and the amount of land occupied was the basic symbol of wealth and poverty.The one-whip law completely targets acres of land, which more thoroughly embodies the principle of taxation based on financial resources and based on the difference between rich and poor than the two-tax law.Of course, the one-whip method also counts Ding when measuring land, and Dingyin is not completely abolished. Households with Ding but no food are classified as down households, and Dingyin is still paid.3. Taxes are all taxed in silver, from the previous taxation of silver and goods to taxation in silver, so that all taxes in kind are transformed into tax in currency, and the transformation from tax in kind to currency tax started by the two tax laws is completed.The commodity currency economy of the Ming Dynasty developed further than that of the Tang Dynasty, and the sprouts of the capitalist production mode appeared in industry and commerce.The one-whip law stipulated that all taxes should be "collected according to the mu", which was a reflection of the development of the commodity currency economy in the Ming Dynasty in the national taxation system.

When the One Whip Law was implemented across the country, there were great discrepancies in the implementation of it in various places.Taxation across the country does not follow a single whip law. The one-whip law nominally stipulates that all kinds of collections and assignments are combined into one, and all collections are based on mu.In fact, once there is a new need, the feudal ruling class still increases the quota at any time, and imposes additional taxes at will.In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the addition of land taxes became more and more burdensome, the most important of which was the addition of the "three major rates".One is the Liao pay increase.In the forty-sixth year of Wanli (AD 1618), Nurhachi attacked Fushun. In order to strengthen the defense of Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty began to increase the amount of land tax.In the third year of Chongzhen (1630 A.D.), the whole country added 1 cent and 2 cents of silver per mu, and an increase of 9 million taels of tax.The second is to suppress wages and increase distribution.During the Chongzhen period, peasant uprisings had spread throughout the country. In order to raise military salaries to suppress the peasant uprisings, in the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637 A.D.), additional salaries were sent, with a total of 3.3 million taels added successively.The third is to increase the training salary (military training fee).The suppression of salaries was originally scheduled for one year, but the peasant uprising did not extinguish, so in the twelfth year of Chongzhen (1639 A.D.), additional salaries were added, totaling more than 7.3 million taels.In addition, in the eighth year of Chongzhen (AD 1635), there was an increase in the payment of subsidies, 1/10 of the land tax for official households, and 1/10 for households with more than 10 taels of civil tax.All kinds of additional assignments have increased the taxation of the people, coupled with layers of extortion by corrupt officials, hastened the bankruptcy of farmers and caused economic collapse.Especially in Shanxi, Gansu, Henan, Huzhou and Guangxi areas, the burden on farmers is even heavier.When there was no additional "Liao pay" in the northwest region, farmers were already paying half of their grain and half of their subsistence.After the Liao payment is added, it becomes half of the payment and half of the payment.Coupled with the prevalence of famine, a large number of farmers starved to death, went into exile, and were finally forced to revolt.It was under such circumstances that the peasant revolution led by Li Zicheng broke out in the late Ming Dynasty.Li Zicheng's slogans of "equalizing the land" and "exempting taxes" reflected the demands of the peasants and won the support of the masses. The uprising force developed rapidly and finally overthrew the rule of the Ming Dynasty.