Preface:
It was only in the middle of the Qing Dynasty that the first national "branch field money" appeared. From then on, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, the annual "money of the science field" was maintained at the level of 25~500,000 taels. After two revisions by Yongzheng and Qianlong, the setting of this paragraph completely solved the difficulty of "fee" and "service" in the late Ming Dynasty.
Local governments regulate local public funds by means of envy and return to the public, increase their amounts, and strictly reimburse them through explicit regulations, so that the "funds of science fields" are determined and managed by the state.
First, the amount of the Qing government's "funds in the field" is re-identified, and what is the total expenditure of the Qing government on the imperial examination?
Based on the "Meeting Codex", Tang Xianglong calculated that the annual expenditure of the science field was about 300,000 taels. This statement is still used by the academic community, but there are still many problems when examined in detail. First, the funding of the field cannot be estimated on an annual basis.
Compared with the Ming Dynasty, although the imperial examination in the Qing Dynasty occasionally had some bias, it was basically carried out according to the triennial imperial examination system.
In the breakdown of the expenses of the 25-year Enke and Jiaqing 5-year "Enke Wen Township Trial" in Qianlong, Hunan Province, the fees and names listed are consistent with those contained in the "Canon", mainly including the field fee, the repair fee of the tribute institute, and the labor workshop fee.
Among them, the workshop fee of 900 taels for lifting people is roughly equivalent to the 920 taels of "flag plaque silver" in Hunan, indicating that the "flag plaque silver" of lifting people has been counted in the "township examination" subject in the "Huidian", so there will be no duplication in the statistics. Second, the relevant data are ineffective. Before the Huidian, the official records of the Qing court on the imperial examinations in various places could also be compared through some of the analogies in Qianlong's Hubu Rules.
Since the Tang and Song dynasties, the imperial examination has become the norm and cost a lot, but there is no unified scripture system. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the reform of the military service system and the rise of imperial examination groups, local governments also appeared to compile and collect funds related to the imperial examination, but a national unified management and accounting system had not yet been formed.
Judging from the records of the "Rules" and the "Dictionary", by the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the state already had a relatively clear understanding of the scientific research funds, but the source of funds was unknown, the figures were confused, and the amount of "300,000 taels" per year scientific research funds recognized by the academic circles still had room for further calculation.
In other words, in order to accurately grasp the nature of the "section fund", it is necessary to sort out the formation, evolution and management of the national science field funds in the Qing Dynasty.
Second, the formation of the "branch of the field" in the Qing Dynasty and its causes
In the early Qing Dynasty, state spending on the imperial examination basically followed the practice of the Ming Dynasty. During the 6th year of Shunzhi, Huguang levied 12,000 taels of silver according to the "old amount" in the Ming Dynasty's "Book of Endowments".
In the early Qing Dynasty, although the state finances were stipulated, due to financial difficulties, the actual expenditure of the state was often greatly affected. In the ninth year of Shunzhi, Guangxi Township had no hope of trying, so following the practice of Henan and Guangdong, in each prefecture and county, a place where temples were not burned, minor repairs were made, and the number of participants in the imperial examination was halved to save money.
The Sichuan township trial in the eleventh year of Shunzhi was still held at the Guanyin Temple in Baoning Fucheng, and the required money and grain were temporarily borrowed from the granary, subject to the cattle breed. In the fifteenth year of Shunzhi, due to the reduction of the income of the Zhejiang Science Farm, local officials finally completed the repair of the Gongyuan by selling property and donating money.
During the Shun Kang period, the reduction ratio of local scientific research funds ranged from half to full reduction, and it was not improved until Taiwan's reconquest. Insufficient funding has forced local officials to maintain the operation of the local imperial examination through "additional levies".
In some areas, the funding of the field is also supplemented by other funds, such as salaries mobilization. The financial reform during the Yongzheng period alleviated the embarrassment of imperial examination funds since Shunkang. On the one hand, the export and subsidy parts of the Shunkang period are included in the positive sales in a "consuming" way.
In the seventh year of Yongzheng, the funds for the science field were set, and the deed tax was requisitioned by the local government in the last year of Shunzhi, and it was reimbursed in the register. In addition to the examination fee of the examiner and the salary of the examiner, they are all issued according to the capitation, they are fixed, and there is no need to report it, and the cost of repairing the tribute court for civil and military officials ranges from 8,500 taels to 9,900 taels of silver, adding up to less than 10,000 taels of silver. ”
The Jiangnan conference test, on the other hand, was in the seventh year of the Yongzheng Dynasty, and Anhui allocated 1,000 taels of silver every year, a total of 6,000 taels of silver, for the purpose of the examination. On the other hand, local governments have also increased their spending. In the Ming Dynasty, Sichuan was originally more than 10,000 taels of silver, but in the early Shunzhi Dynasty, it was reduced to about 3,000 taels, and this was used as the standard for future taxes.
In the eighth year of Yongzheng, because the number of candidates for the examination exceeded the number of admitted, at the request of local officials, 5,000 taels of silver were added. After the Huguang Science and Technology Field cut its funds during the Shunzhi period, only 5,200 taels of silver remained; In the second year of the Yongzheng Dynasty, Hubei only received 2,828 taels of silver, which was not enough, and the imperial court allocated an additional 1,470 taels of silver, for a total of 4,298 taels of silver.
This has been the case every time since then. Local fiscal revenue is relatively high, and this phenomenon is highlighted in the fraudulent use of scientific research funds. In the fifth year of Yongzheng, Shanxi reported that the funds for the three departments of the township examination and the two subjects of martial arts were insufficient, a total of 1,482 taels of silver, and the chief and deputy examiners of the three subjects totaled 3,920 taels of silver, please withdraw from the silver consumed locally, and the emperor Zhu approved: "Why do you need so much?" ”
After the local inspection, the silver was reduced by more than 2,200 taels, and the silver was reduced by more than 700 taels for one section, which shows the hypocrisy of local reporting. In view of local fraud, the main measures adopted by the Yongzheng Dynasty were to improve the system of refutation of funds from the department through the inventory of local money and grain, which was specifically manifested in the following: Local officials at all levels explained to the household departments at every level, and made clear reports on the settled and unsettled funds.
In the fifth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty, Hubu made a compromise in Anhui Province and asked Governor Wei Tingzhen to find out as soon as possible and fill in the missing personnel for "Xie Si Yin", "Gongsheng Banner Plaque Bonus", "Coiled Entanglement", "Coiled Treasure", and "Unpaid Tribute Bonus".
In the early years of Qianlong, due to the corruption of local officials, the imperial court began to establish a system of selling stolen goods in vain. In this context, the expenditure of the field has formed a pattern of joint distribution between the main part of the amount of the Diding and the public consumption of the bank, which is the source of the figures listed in the Rules.
In the fifteenth year of Qianlong, the Jiangnan Science and Technology Field set 1,020 taels of silver based on the expenses of the Yongzheng period, plus Wu Zetian's expenses of 2,000 taels of silver, for a total of 1,200 taels of silver, which is equal to the "Rules".
The management of branch funds in the Qianlong period is mainly manifested in two aspects:
First, the management of funds is more meticulous, and there are clear standards for the quantity, standard and even price of each payment.
In the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty, the Hunan Science and Technology Field submitted a list, and after careful verification by the Ministry of Engineering, it was found that when the Gongyuan was repaired, there were no eaves, hallways, archways and other eaves, walls, fences, etc., nor did it have regulations on length, width and thickness, wood, stone, masonry, iron, paper, etc., there were no regulations, only stone, no weight, all craftsmen were generalized, not calculated according to materials, so they asked the local government to make another list, indicate the date, and then do the verification on the day.
In the third year of Qianlong, the local reported expenditure was 5,540 taels of silver, which was 1,344 taels of silver more than the original 5,446 taels.
The second is to reform the supply and marketing system of local science farms and further control the sales cost of science farms; In the early Qing Dynasty, financial constraints forced local governments to use "bankers" and "merchants" as the main means to raise materials through "addendums" and "recruitment". During the Kangxi Dynasty, Guangdong readers wanted to buy examination papers, candle flames, and other things to join the association, and they often colluded with the government, first collecting money, then smuggling it, and then using this as a bargaining chip, and sending them to all parts of the province.
In Fujian, the supply of materials in the Wenwu Township trial was in short supply, and one or two people were elected to control the prices in the two counties where the Marquis of Min was located, nominally pawnshops, but these pawnbrokers took advantage of the lack of prices and wantonly distributed goods, causing great losses to the shops. The two provinces of Hubei and Hunan, since the first year of the Yongzheng Dynasty, have only taken half of the quotas, which is not enough, and they must be ordered to transfer the households, because "the quotas are full, and the officials everywhere have squandered them wantonly with the power of the households..."
The households of the prefectures and counties were transferred to the shops in the cities, collecting taxes and collecting taxes, and gradually progressing, and every time they went, the shops in the province would suffer. "In the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng Dynasty, shortly after the Qianlong Emperor ascended the throne, he issued a decree requiring local officials to rectify the examiners in the township examination to ensure the identity of the examiners.
In the first year of Qianlong, he also proposed that during the period of Zhunyu Township and Guild Hall, Daxing and Wanping counties should first find out the food needed in the guild hall, and make a detailed book according to the current price to submit; Moreover, this time the township test, each time is 6,000 people, each time is "according to the number of additions". Looking at the recitals of the Qianlong Dynasty, except for occasional overexpenditures, the recitals in various places are relatively stable, which is also a necessary condition for the production of the provisions on "section of the field" in the "Canon".
However, the "wrestling" between the imperial court and the local government shows that behind the "calculation", the imperial court's disregard for the actual situation of the local imperial examination, and the emergence of the "section of funds" does not mean the independent preparation and regulation of the operating costs of the imperial examination. The Qianlong Dynasty remained stable on the one hand because the imperial court was strict, and on the other hand because the local finances were relatively generous. The financial difficulties in the last years of Jiaqing quickly upset this balance.
Third, the loss of control and regulation of the "money of the science field" since Kadao
During the Jiaqing Daoguang period, due to the sharp increase in expenditure on transportation and military supplies, coupled with the corruption of officials, local finances experienced serious deficits. The science field established during the Yonggan period, supported by local fiscal revenues and tributes, could no longer be sustained.
After the Daoguang Emperor ascended the throne, in addition to strengthening the inspection of money and grain as usual, he also ordered the governors of all provinces, severely punished officials, strictly disciplined, and strictly guarded, in order to seek thrift, and did not dare to slack off in the slightest. At the same time, he also used the death date of the Jiaqing Emperor as an excuse that "all banquets were canceled." Therefore, the funds reported by various localities are much less than in the Qianjia period.
In the Zhejiang township test in the first year of Daoguang, his fold reads: "Except for no banquets, hanging red colored flags, hanging brocade tents, and lanterns, the rest are the same as in previous years, there is no superfluous." "Daoguang's six-year Fujian township test, "Nonwu Kewen is on the list, Luming banquet is over, and the eight flags are missing one."
After deducting the silver of "free banquet" and "free golden flower cup", there are still 3,300 taels of silver left, which is 108,000 taels compared with the 4,261 taels of silver in the literary field and 7,888 taels of silver in the martial arts field during the Qianlong period.
The situation of Shandong ledgers is even more obvious, the smallest ledger for each subject during the Daoguang year is only more than 1,700 taels of silver. Therefore, judging from the numbers, it seems that all localities are following the meaning of the Daoguang Emperor's "thrift and use". But in fact, since Jiaqing, the phenomenon of donations on the field has developed to an uncontrollable extent.
In the 25th year of Jiaqing, when talking about the "insufficient funds for undertaking the foundation of science farms" in various provinces, Bao Shichen pointed out: "The strength of one family cannot be swallowed alone, but should work together and share the burden in the province."
In the fifth year of Daoguang, Jiang Yuxuan, the governor directly under him, asked the imperial court to allocate more funds, and suggested that "the public benefit the gong" should reduce the balance to benefit the science field. In the middle of Daoguang, Yuqian raised funds for Bingxing, advocating the use of "local money to run local affairs". In the same year, Zuo Zongtang bluntly said that the funds for the department field were insufficient, so he withdrew from local taxes, centimeters, and tea taxes.
From donation to throttling to open source throttling, although the "money of the science field" is gradually "out of control" under the imperial court system, there is still no lack of positive regulatory measures at the local level.
Epilogue:
The records of "section money" in Qing Dynasty documents can be roughly divided into two categories: "quota" and "actual entry", and through combing the records of "section money" in different periods, we calculate that the national scientific expedition funds in the middle and late Qing Dynasty were 250,000 taels and 500,000 taels respectively in three years.
The appearance of "money from the field" in official documents of the Qing Dynasty marked the evolution of the imperial examination system for more than a thousand years, and it was only in the middle of the Qing Dynasty that the state had a quantitative understanding and standard for its operating costs for the first time.
[References]:
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