Chapter 17 The third section checks household registration and rectifies finances

In the early years of Kaiyuan, population flight continued. "The household version of the world is hidden, and many people go to their hometowns, and they live in their homes. They are tricky and obsessed, and the strong and the weak are combined, and the states and counties cannot be controlled" ("Old Tang Book·Yuwen Rongzhuan").The existence of a large number of refugees is very unfavorable to the stability of the rule and the country's financial revenue.In the first month of the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721 A.D.), Yu Wenrong, the supervisory censor, reported to the imperial court: "There are many cunning and false accounts in the world, please add them." Emperor Xuanzong of Tang approved his request and ordered him to persuade the nuclear field Farm envoy, make preparations to review household registration matters.In February, the imperial court promulgated the "Prohibition of Escape from the States", which stipulated: "People who flee from the army in various states are limited to surrender within 100 days. "If you are willing to return and do not agree with the order, you will be dispatched first, and the record of the case will be cleared, and you don't need to be dispatched." "If the limit is exceeded, it will not be the first, and it will be taken and delivered to remote areas, attached to the common people, and those who flee with their families will also be sent together."The policy of censoring escaped households was announced, which is conducive to the resettlement of fugitives.The imperial court appointed ten judges to persuade farmers, awarded them the title of censor, and distributed them to various places to "inspect the fields and recruit household registrations."A large-scale household registration check was carried out across the country.

In the inspection of household registration, monks and nuns were also eliminated, and they were ordered to return to vulgarity and engage in production.In the early Tang Dynasty, due to the vigorous promotion of Wu Zetian and other rulers, Buddhism developed rapidly. There were many temples, a large number of scriptures were printed, and the number of monks and nuns increased rapidly.The monasteries occupy a large number of people's fields as manors, and the temples have strong economic strength. In some places, there are even temple landlords who are evil. "Fleeing and avoiding crimes, and gathering methods."At that time, "Temples were built more than tens of billions of people spent money and goods; countless people were saved, and hundreds of thousands of mediocre people were exempt from rent. Those who went out were rich and those who went in were few."The vicious expansion of temples has seriously hindered the development of social economy and affected the country's fiscal revenue.In the first month of the second year of Kaiyuan (714 A.D.), Ziwei ordered Yao Chongjin to prosecute all monks and nuns.Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty strictly ordered the reduction of monks and nuns in all monasteries.In August, it was ordered to prohibit all schools from communicating with monks, nuns, and Taoist priests; it was strictly forbidden to cast Buddha statues and engrave Buddhist scriptures among the people, so as to suppress the development of Buddhism.Cracking down on temple landlords is also an important part of Li Longji's improvement of finances.

Facing the current situation of empty national treasury and shrinking financial resources, Tang Xuanzong set about rectifying finances.First, continue to attach importance to the development of agriculture and produce more grain and agricultural by-products.In the "agriculture-oriented" feudal society, agriculture is the most important sector of the national economy, which is related to the national economy and people's livelihood.In order to promote agricultural production, on February 1st every year, Emperor Xuanzong "prospered by farming, and ordered Bailiao to enshrine the deleted "Zhaoren Benye Ji" by Zetian Dasheng Empress".This agricultural book after Jin Chengwu was customized to show that agriculture was placed in an important position.Whenever the farming season is booming, Xuanzong personally cultivates the land, "adding up to nine pushes", and "ending the mu under the Qing".In the spring of the 22nd year of Kaiyuan (734 A.D.), Emperor Xuanzong set up land in the garden to grow wheat.In May, when the wheat was ripe, he led the crown prince and below to personally harvest the wheat, and educated the princes, saying: "This general recommends the ancestral temple, so I personally bow down. I also want you to know the difficulty of harvesting." After practice, Xuanzong found some inspections. The agricultural officials made false reports and said to their courtiers: "It is not true to inspect the seedlings and crops every year, so I plant them myself to see their success. And the "Spring and Autumn" book wheat grains, isn't it the ancients who valued it?" ("Old Tang Book·Xuanzong 1") Xuanzong planted wheat by himself, gained experience, and guided agricultural production.When natural disasters occurred, Xuanzong immediately ordered the relevant government offices to take disaster relief measures to ensure that agricultural losses were smaller.In June of the third year of Kaiyuan (715 A.D.), there was a plague of locusts in the prefectures of Shandong.Emperor Xuanzong sent the censor to various ways to supervise and urge the officials and the people to drive away the burning locusts (yiyi) to save the autumn crops.Back then in Shandong, "the fields were harvested, and the people were not very hungry."For the severely affected areas, Juan (juan donation) exempts land tax, allocates grain seeds, and helps restore production.Because the imperial court attached great importance to agriculture, during this period, some places were "high mountains and ravines, and Leisi was full", and the land with hazelnut bushes was also turned into a river of japonica rice.The area of ​​cultivated land across the country has expanded, and the output per unit area has increased. "The years are rich and rich".During the Tianbao period, the per capita grain reached 700 catties, which reflects the continuous growth of agricultural production.

Second, adjust the food seal system.At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the food seal system was implemented for the clan kings and meritorious officials, also known as "food town".In October of the ninth year of Wude (626 A.D.), Li Shimin, who ascended the throne, gave food seals to all the meritorious officials. There were more than a thousand households and three or four hundred households.For example, Pei Jishi sealed 1,500 households, Changsun Wuji, Wang Junkuo, Yuchi Jingde, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui each had 1,300 households, and Zhang Changxun and other 300 households.These feudal aristocratic bureaucrats enjoy the economic privilege of collecting rent adjustments for closed households.In the period of Emperor Zhongzong and Empress Wei, there was no limit to the number of seal eaters and seal households.The number of bureaucrats sealed off by food has increased from 20 to 30 in the early Tang Dynasty to more than 140, with as many as several thousand households closed, and some as many as 10,000 households. "There are a lot of people who overeat and enfeoff the city", resulting in "the state rents taxes, most of them are private, and the private ones have more than enough funds, but the state has insufficient funds" ("Old Tang Book·Wei Sili Biography").In the early years of Kaiyuan, Xuanzong took effective measures to rectify the chaotic food seal system. On the one hand, he reduced the number of sealed households.Based on the idea of ​​the kings and princesses "what merits are given to others, the food is generous, and the promise is to make them know how to be frugal", he stipulated that the kings and princesses generally eat 2,000 households, and the rest of the princesses each eat 1,200 households.Compared with Princess Anle and others, the three or four thousand households with food seals have been greatly reduced.In general, bureaucratic closures are limited to 500 households.For example, Zhao Guogong and the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs Wang Jushi sealed 300 households, Chu Guogong and Minister of the Ministry of Industry Jiang Jiaoshi sealed 500 households, etc.On the other hand, the method of abolishing food seals directly collects taxes from closed households, and the closed households are taxed by officials sent by the imperial court to adjust with the rent, or collected by state and county officials. Food sealers with more than 300 households go to Taifu Temple and Cichang in the capital to collect the rent and tax they enjoy, and those with less than 300 households must present their household certificates to prefectures and counties to collect.Returning the economic power of Shishifeng to the central government will facilitate the strengthening of local financial management.

Third, extravagance is strictly prohibited and frugality is advocated.In improving finances, Xuanzong regarded strictness, diligence and thrift, and opposing extravagance and waste as an important content.From the later years of Empress Wu, aristocratic bureaucrats advocated extravagance and became a custom.They are extravagant and extravagant, competing with each other.Concubines and hundreds of officials are dressed in beautiful pearls and jade, pasted with gold and hung with silver, which is dazzling.In order to express his determination to ban extravagance, Xuanzong burned pearls, jade, brocade and other clothes in front of the main hall in June of the second year of Kaiyuan.In July, a commander was ordered to destroy gold and silver utensils for military use.It is also stipulated that all officials' clothing belts, wine vessels, horse titles, pedals, etc., can be decorated with jade for officials of the third rank and above, gold for the fourth rank, silver for the fifth rank, and all others are prohibited.The style of heavy burial is very prevalent in the upper class of society.Aristocrats and bureaucrats spent their lives drinking and drinking, drunk and dreamed of death. After death, they were still paved with gold and silver.In September of the same year, Emperor Xuanzong promulgated the "Prohibition of Thick Burial System", pointing out: "It is advisable to order the division of the office to be higher or lower, which is clearly restraint; the color, length and size of the dark objects are still determined, and the garden house is accounted for, and it is appropriate to prohibit it; The cemetery should be kept simple and frugal; gold and silver should not be used as decorations for the funeral utensils. If there is any violation, a hundred sticks will be ordered first. The prefects and counties cannot be prosecuted, and they will be demoted to distant officials." ("Old Tang Dynasty") The implementation of these measures has played a certain role in reversing the bad social customs.However, in feudal society, the luxury and corruption of the life of the ruling class cannot be cured.Tang Xuanzong's late festival "still defeated by extravagance" is a typical example.