After the Kangxi Emperor quelled the "Three Domains Rebellion", the Qing Dynasty entered an era of relative stability, the so-called "Kang Qian Prosperous Era".
However, there were also various problems during this prosperous period, and the policy of "adding ding" and "exempting from taxation" implemented during the Kangxi period greatly reduced the fertility pressure of the people and led to a rapid increase in population.
The food problem in the prosperous era
According to the "Qing History Draft", the Qing government once conducted a census after entering the customs, and the census results showed that in the eight years of Shunzhi, the entire Qing Dynasty had a population of 14 million.
By the sixth year of Qianlong, there were more than 143.1 million people in the entire Qing Dynasty, breaking all previous official figures.
Throughout the Qianlong period, the population of the Qing Dynasty increased at a rate of 13% per year, and by the 60th year of Qianlong, the total population of the entire Qing Dynasty exceeded 300 million.
In order to ensure the stability of the country, the most important thing is to ensure that the people have enough food, and based on the data in the Qing History Manuscript, the Qing Dynasty land area was estimated, and it was concluded that there were one billion and fifty million mu of arable land during the Qianlong period.
Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are harvest areas, and according to Li Xu's report to Kangxi in Suzhou, rice acres in Suzhou and Yangzhou can reach four stone, and rice acres in both seasons can reach as many as five or six stones.
The "King James Time Examination" recorded: "Jiangnan paddy fields, mu more than two or three stones, the second one or two stones". Roughly, the total amount of grain per capita during the Qing Dynasty was 680 kilograms, which is still not a natural disaster or a tax.
It is precisely because of this that in the face of population surge, the Qing Dynasty still had a food crisis in a thriving atmosphere, and this crisis had three causes:
First, environmental issues. At that time, it was the fourth severe cold season in Chinese history, and the temperature would be one or two degrees lower than normal, and each degree drop in average temperature would have a serious impact on food production.
The second is the issue of agricultural land. It is estimated that the growth rate of cultivated land area fell from an average of 0.45% per year during the Kangxi Dynasty to 0.18% during the Yongzheng Dynasty and the early Qianlong Dynasty.
Over the past four hundred years, the population has increased more than twenty times, but the area of farmland has only tripled, and although the grain production of the Qing Dynasty has increased to a certain extent, it still cannot keep up with the rapidly developing population.
Third, there was corruption, and the corruption and abuse of power of the Qing court made the country's food shortage more and more serious, and local officials not only imposed high taxes on the people, but were also extremely irresponsible.
For example, if some low-quality, low-cost materials are used when building water conservancy projects, it is likely to turn into floods when heavy rains come, flooding all the originally fertile farmland, resulting in a reduction in local food production.
Because of the shortage of food supplies and frequent famines, as soon as the British envoy Macartney entered China, he saw groups of hungry, sallow-faced, malnourished hungry people.
In the eyes of many people who firmly supported the rule of the Qianlong Emperor, such a statement was undoubtedly slandering the Great Qing Dynasty, but it had to be admitted that the Great Qing Dynasty did have a food problem, so how to solve the problem became the top priority of the Qing Dynasty rulers.
Promote reclamation and migration
During the Shunzhi period, the Qing court promulgated the Regulations on Reclamation of Wasteland, which clearly stipulated: "The wasteland of the guardhouse in Fanzhou County shall be allocated to the displaced people and officials and soldiers, and those who have the owner will order the original owner to reclaim it." ”
It is recorded in the "Record of the Shunzhi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty": "If there is no owner of wasteland, the prefecture and county officials give the seal a license, cultivate and cultivate, and always allow it to be a business, and after cultivating for 6 years, a magistrate personally inspects the number of mature fields, caresses the facts, and makes up the lucky order, and discusses the collection of money and grain." ”
After the Yongzheng Emperor ascended the throne, he decreed that officials were strictly prohibited from exploiting cultivators, and that Ding Jin who cleared wasteland be exempted or reduced, and that the reclaimed land be linked to the achievements of local officials.
According to the "Qingshi Record", during the Yongzheng period, in addition to disaster relief, land reclamation reduction, border land relief, etc., other expenses were reduced by at least 10 million taels of silver.
During the Yongzheng period, there were not many cases of people promoted for reclamation work, such as Tian Wenjing, the governor of Henan, whose reclamation work was commended by the Yongzheng Emperor, and his successor Wang Shijun vigorously promoted the reclamation policy.
In 1724, Yongzheng introduced the "eight-grade peasant official" system nationwide, requiring the prefectures and counties to elect a farmer, who was hardworking and thrifty every year, to wear the eight-grade farmer.
These people were called "model workers" by the emperor, the most famous of which were Tao Youzeng and Wu Weiming, who promoted advanced agricultural production techniques in the local area and were deeply supported by the local people.
In the Qianlong Dynasty, under the encouragement of successive emperors, most of the land had been cleared, so he made a workaround and adopted two special measures, namely opening up "mountain corners" and "exempting land rent".
That is, the Qing court could distribute all the wasteland, beaches, silt, and islands that were found to the landless poor, let them plant for free, reduce land rent, and reduce taxes.
After assuming the throne, the Qianlong Emperor made an important decision: all agricultural taxes that had been accumulated in various places for a long time were reduced, and all taxes that had not been paid before the three years of Yongzheng were exempted.
More than twenty days later, the Qianlong Emperor issued an edict exempting all agricultural taxes that had not been paid before the Yongzheng Dynasty, a measure that exempted the poor peasants from the backlog of taxes for several years.
This decision was significant for a country where agricultural taxation was dominant, and according to the book "State and Society in the Qing Dynasty", Qianlong was exempted by a total of 20 million taels of silver, making him the largest emperor of agricultural tax relief in China.
In addition to advocating farming in the Central Plains, great attention was paid to the development of land along the border, which was already inpopulated, and transporting surplus people to the border was also a way to alleviate famine.
Although after the Manchus entered the customs, strict controls were imposed on the Han people, prohibiting them from emigrating to the areas outside the customs, but even this could not prevent them from sneaking into the customs by sea and land.
In the eighth year of Qianlong, when drought broke out in Shandong and Hebei, and a large number of hungry people left their homes and were displaced to the frontiers, Qianlong secretly ordered various gates on the Great Wall: "If there are poor people who exit, there is no need to block the door, and they will be released immediately." ”
On the surface, he continued to prohibit the people from going outside the customs, but in fact he still secretly allowed them to go, which not only saved the face of the imperial court, but also avoided the peasant riots caused by the coercive measures.
In 1792, Qianlong encouraged the people to emigrate: "In Shanhaiguan, Shengjing, and other places, although the banner people are mixed, but the land is vast and fertile, the poor people and their dependents can eat and drink, that is, the number of people is large, and there will be no trouble." ”
By the 17th year of Jiaqing, according to the statistics of the Qing government, the total land area of the three provinces of Liaojihei was 2.9 million mu, an increase of 2 million mu compared with the early Qing Dynasty.
In a sense, this population problem is actually an opportunity, immigration has greatly developed the economy of the border, brought the border and inland civilizations closer together, and most importantly, made the relationship between various ethnic groups more harmonious.
Rice and high-yield crops
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the import of Western rice became a good means of alleviating the grain shortage, mainly because Western rice imported from abroad was not only full of grain, but also very low.
In the eighth year of Qianlong, Qianlong ordered: "Remembering the hardships of the people, we should take rice grain as the foundation of the people's food." It is based on the tax on each customs rice, which is exempted from the tax, and the rest of the goods are levied as usual. ”
According to the regulations of the Qing court, if a ship carries more than 10,000 stones of rice, it can be exempted from 50% of the tax, and if the amount of rice carried exceeds 5,000 stones, it can be exempted from 30% of the tax.
In addition, there are preferential policies for foreign businessmen, foreign businessmen selling rice can not only be exempted from shipping tariffs, but if the rice cannot be sold, it can also be purchased by the government.
From the sixteenth year of Qianlong, the Qing government allowed individuals to buy rice at their own expense and transport it back to China, and if the rice was transported to meet certain requirements, the imperial court would also give rewards, and even directly seal officials.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, when Ruan Yuan became an official in Guangdong Province, the grain harvest in Guangdong was poor, and local merchants hoarded grain, but with the introduction of foreign rice, grain prices not only did not rise, but even fell, stabilizing grain prices.
In addition to importing foreign rice, increasing land yields was also an extremely effective method, when the Qing government encouraged farmers to grow high-yield crops such as corn and sweet potatoes.
The viability of these crops is extremely strong, even the barren land can still survive, the most important thing is that the yield of these crops is very high, such as sweet potatoes in the folk has "one year sweet potato half a year food" saying.
In 1776, Lu Yue, the governor of Shandong, published the "Sweet Potato Record", which comprehensively summarized the practice of sweet potato cultivation, and Qianlong heard about it and ordered the northern provinces to print and copy it, so that sweet potato cultivation swept the whole country.
During the Qianlong period, the mainland also carried out a large-scale "land reform" campaign, and a large number of "land of toast" was opened up into "good land" and became the main force in grain production.
Qianlong also encouraged the soldiers and people to plant corn kernels suitable for mountain cultivation in order to increase grain production, speed up the development of the southwestern region, and ensure the rations of the local army.
During the Daoguang period, China was an important stage in the development of maize, and its cultivation range has surpassed the traditional grain crops dominated by corn, and it is one of the emerging "six grains".
Establishment of granaries and strengthening of food price management
In order to solve the food problem, the Qing government adopted many food policy policies, most of which revolved around how to use limited food sources, rationally allocate them, and try their best to ensure sufficient food supplies to maintain the stability of their regime.
In order to prevent famine, the Qing Dynasty set up storage systems in various places to store and allocate food, and in the event of a famine, open the storage and distribute relief to cope with the famine and avoid panic caused by hunger and cause social unrest.
The warehouses of the Qing Dynasty were mainly Jingcang and Tongcang, and Changping warehouses were mainly used in various places, supplemented by Shecang and Yicang, as well as targeted auxiliary warehouses such as inner warehouses, banner warehouses, and water secondary warehouses.
The establishment of a storage system has increased the storage of grain and ensured that in the event of a local disaster, not only can warehouses be opened in the province, but also food and grass can be collected throughout the country and transferred from the harvest area to the affected area.
On the other hand, it can also ensure that once a natural disaster occurs, the price of food rises sharply, and the government can open the warehouse in time to suppress the price and alleviate the famine of the people.
The Qing Dynasty's punishment for embezzlement and bribery of quartermasters was also very severe, and when Qianlong was five years old, he sent someone to inspect the Jingtong warehouse and found that "nine out of ten of the roof tiles of the warehouse were leaking, the walls were broken", and the stored grain was also rotten.
The Yongzheng Emperor was furious, dismissed Kuraba and other officials, compensated millions of catties of grain and grass, ordered strict supervision, and built 171 warehouses to store new grain and grass.
For example, in the forty-sixth year of Qianlong, Lerjin, Wang Qiwang and others smuggled grain and grass worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in the name of private pockets. After the case, Lerjin was ordered to commit suicide, and Wang Qiwang was executed on the spot, which caused an uproar at the time.
The Qianlong Emperor also formulated a set of more scientific methods for leveling grain to keep grain prices stable; in harvest years, the government bought surplus grain seeds from peasant households at average prices and sold grain at normal prices in drought years.
While maintaining supply order, the Qing Dynasty would also adopt various measures to maintain price stability, such as issuing decrees requiring local officials to protect local grain varieties.
As for those merchants who secretly store grain, they are severely punished by local officials, and those who buy and sell are also severely cracked down, so as to protect the right of the poor to buy affordable food and play a role in stabilizing food prices.
If there is not enough silver, farmers can also "pay on credit", according to the "Yuchao Miscellaneous Knowledge", there was a clear rule in the Qing Dynasty: when farmers are short of grain, they can borrow grain from local officials and return it when the autumn harvest is over.
After Qianlong ascended the throne, he issued a new decree: "In the event of a drought year, anyone who borrows the grain of the warehouse must still pay the full amount of the grain on the day of returning the warehouse in the autumn, and shall not increase the profit." ”
epilogue
Although Qianlong was a peaceful and prosperous emperor, during his reign, he paid great attention to agricultural affairs and vigorously relieved disasters and famines, and he was well aware of the truth that "water can carry a boat and can overturn it".
During the Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court added three kinds of lilu, collecting 10 million taels of silver more and more every year, completely turning the national capital of the Ming Dynasty upside down, which is a blood lesson.
And it was this bloody lesson that made the Manchu monarchs understand that starving people can also overthrow an imperial dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor realized that only by letting the people have no worries about food and clothing could they ensure the eternal stability of the rivers and mountains.
Therefore, in order to allow the general public to have food to eat, the Qianlong Emperor adopted various measures, paying great attention to the reserve, adjustment and circulation of grain, ensuring rapid population growth, and grain increments to keep up.