The Ming Dynasty's grain length system was profitable and harmless
preface
If you need a full meal, why should you have eight treasures and nine treasures? Seven feet of body, safe with a thousand doors?
cause
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, in order to prevent officials from exploiting and squeezing the common people, and at the same time to increase the income of the state, it was decided to implement a new policy called the grain chief system.
▲Zhu Yuanzhang
outcome
After the implementation of the grain chief system, the state's annual income from land grants has been stable, the central government's management of local governments has also achieved remarkable results, and the people are no longer exploited and squeezed by officials.
▲ Zheng Lian's story comic of crushed pears
disposal
1. Implement the grain length system
In 1371, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, announced the implementation of the grain length system throughout the country, and Zhu Yuanzhang first implemented the grain length system from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention in setting up the grain chief system was to hope that the state's income from the fields would be fully guaranteed, and the specific manifestations of the system were: The state selected rich peasants as grain chiefs, and he was also the person in charge of this system, who specifically collected grain from various regions.
The decision to take the lead in implementing the grain length system in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions was due to the high grain production in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions and the guarantee of the state's income from fields here, so these two places were chosen as pilots of the new system.
▲The people receive grain
2. No officials are required to levy grain
Since ancient times, tax collection work has been handed over to government officials to complete, Zhu Yuanzhang did the opposite, choosing to trust the local rich peasants, let them complete the income from the land, and did not give officials the opportunity to be corrupt. When the grain length system was first implemented, shortly after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, many areas were not yet completely unified, and the war was not yet over, so a large amount of grain and grass was needed.
At this time, officials in some places took advantage of the loopholes in the war and used the war as a pretext to expropriate a large amount of grain and grass from the common people and then take it for themselves.
▲ Collusion between officials
3. Collect grain from locals
Zhu Yuanzhang's idea quickly won the unanimous agreement of the ministers of the DPRK, who said that the reason why those officials were corrupt was because most of these people were officials who did not serve in their hometowns, and they thought in their hearts that the people here were not their fathers and fellow countrymen anyway, and naturally had no pity for them, and corruption was inevitable.
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized when he heard the words of the Qunchen, he believed that the local people who were most familiar with the local people were the most suitable, and if the local rich peasants were appointed as grain transport officials, they knew the roots of the local people and certainly could not act like the local officials. Zhu Yuanzhang felt that this method was good, it could be said that there were many things in one fell swoop, the grain that the people had worked so hard to grow would not be exploited, the financial revenue of the imperial court would be guaranteed, and the grass-roots officials would no longer collect grain, which would be equivalent to handing over all the financial revenue of the grass-roots level to the imperial court.
After the plan was established, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately decided to implement it in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and let the rich peasants collect grain while also letting them be responsible for transporting the collected grain to the imperial court.
▲The official seal of the Ming Dynasty grain chief
4. Think of measures
None of the appointed grain chiefs were willing to do this job, and they felt that they were paying for the imperial court without asking for anything in return, which was voluntary labor. For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang thought of countermeasures, so that those grain chiefs could serve the imperial court with all their hearts, in fact, the grain chiefs were all rich and powerful in the local area, and there was no shortage of money at all, all they wanted was the sense of honor given by the imperial court, to put it bluntly, it was to give the grain chiefs face.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that the grain chiefs before collecting grain every year should go to Beijing to go through the grain transportation procedures, and Zhu Yuanzhang had to personally meet these grain chiefs. When the grain chiefs heard that the grain chief could meet the emperor, they all felt that this was a good job. After the grain chiefs arrived in the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang gave each grain chief a Daming treasure banknote, although the face value was not high, but after all, it was given by the emperor, which was an honor, in addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also knighted each grain chief, giving them enough face.
There is an old grain chief in Fujian named Zheng Lian, who can complete the tasks assigned by the imperial court on time every year, Zhu Yuanzhang asked you, as the oldest grain chief, how can you complete the task on time every year, Zheng Lian smiled and said that he relied on loyalty and filial piety, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to want to make Zheng Lian an official after listening to it, Zheng Lian refused Zhu Yuanzhang to say that he was older, and his fame and fortune were also faded, and finally Zhu Yuanzhang let Zheng Lian's brother become a minor official of Fujian's envoys. Because of their due diligence, the grain chiefs were still ordinary people before entering Beijing, and when they returned, they became officials.
▲Grain grows into Beijing
5. Officials deliberately trip
Some people were happy and some were worried, and the local grass-roots officials, because they were no longer reused, dared to be angry with the imperial court and did not dare to speak, so they had to spread their anger at those grain chiefs, among whom the boldest was Changshu County Ling Chengtianqi. The grain chief system stipulates that the grain chiefs are only responsible for collecting grain, and the area for collecting grain is still divided by local grass-roots officials, at that time, the imperial court stipulated that each grain chief must collect enough 10,000 stones of grain per year.
After the East Window Incident, Zhu Yuanzhang threw Cheng Tianqi into prison and ordered that in the future, there would be a similar situation of obstructing the grain harvest of grain from grass-roots officials in various localities, and the people could tie up officials to the capital for questioning, and all officials who dared to resist arrest would be included in the nine ethnic groups. Since then, no official has dared to obstruct the grain harvest, and the grain chief system has become more and more perfect with the implementation of the grain chief system, and the grain chiefs have played an increasingly important role in grass-roots society.
▲Ming Dynasty grain length
brief summary
After the implementation of the grain chief system, the people no longer complained about the oppression of officials and paid grain for the country with all their might. The country's grain depot is no longer empty, and the country has successfully achieved prosperity and prosperity, and the people live and work in peace and contentment.
【References】:
The Ming Dynasty Grain Chief System
Chinese Economic History
"Detailed Explanation of the Dynasty"