The weight of the service and the lightness of the land
In ancient China, tax collection mainly relied on two major systems: poll tax (ding silver) and land tax. However, with population growth and social change, the system became increasingly unfair: the poor were burdened with taxes because of their large population, while the rich were able to escape their responsibilities with large amounts of land. This unbalanced tax burden not only aggravates social contradictions, but also seriously hinders economic development. Although the landlord class has huge wealth in the land, it has relatively little payment of Ding Yin, forming a deformed phenomenon of "people are bitter and the land is happy".
The turning point of history, the spark of reform
In the long years of China, every reform of the tax system is an accurate grasp of the pulse of the times. Among them, the policy of "spreading the land into the mu" implemented during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty can be called a shocking move in the history of taxation in ancient China. This was not only an economic reform, but also a profound social revolution that quietly changed the face of the empire in a seemingly mild but radical way. So, why can this measure harm the interests of landlords, but still successfully take root? This article will reveal for you how Emperor Yongzheng promoted this epoch-making change with an iron fist and wisdom.
Dilemma: The end of the per capita tax and the rebirth of the land tax
Since ancient times, the poll tax (Ding Yin) has been an important means for the feudal state to extract the fat and ointment of the people, which ignores the wealth of the individual and only takes the population as the basis, resulting in the social injustice of "the rich have no land for the rich, and the poor have no place to stand". In the Qing Dynasty, this problem was particularly prominent, and the population boom went hand in hand with the concentration of land, and the people at the bottom were miserable. Kangxi's proposal in his later years of "breeding people and never giving them more" has slightly relieved the people's difficulties, but it has failed to fundamentally solve the drawbacks of the tax system.
Breaking the game: Yongzheng's determination and strategy
After Emperor Yongzheng ascended the throne, he was faced with a mess that urgently needed to be reformed. He knew very well that in order to consolidate his political power, it was necessary to fundamentally adjust the tax system, reduce the burden on the people, and at the same time strengthen the state finances. As a result, the "apportionment into the mu" came into being, which was a bold idea: the Ding silver was spread into the field endowment, and the tax was levied according to the land rather than the population, and the poll tax that had been passed down for thousands of years was abolished in one fell swoop.
Challenge: The game and balance of interests
This policy directly touched the interests of the landlord class. For a long time, landlords avoided the per capita tax by owning large amounts of land, while the "apportionment of the land" required them to pay more taxes according to the area of the land. In the face of strong opposition, Yongzheng showed his iron-clad political skills: on the one hand, he strengthened the centralization of power, severely cracked down on corruption, and ensured the smooth implementation of government decrees; on the other hand, through precise calculations, reasonable tax rates were set to ensure that the reform would not excessively hit agricultural production, and at the same time, supplemented by a series of measures to encourage farming, to ensure the stability of grain production and social stability.
Wisdom: The subtlety of institutional design
Yongzheng's cleverness lies in the fact that he did not simply and rudely increase the land tax, but realized the fairness of the tax by "apportioning the land into the mu". In fact, this policy is also a consideration of land utilization, which encourages landowners to either improve the productivity of their land or transfer surplus land to farmers who have the ability to cultivate it, thus promoting the circulation of land and the development of productivity. In addition, the policy also indirectly encouraged population growth, because the population was no longer directly linked to the tax burden, and the phenomenon of hidden population was greatly reduced, laying the foundation for the subsequent population explosion.
Success: The Witness and Impact of History
The success of "spreading the land into the acre" lies not only in its implementation despite many difficulties, but also in its far-reaching social impact. This policy not only lightened the burden of the common people and strengthened the state finances, but also promoted population growth and agricultural production, laying a solid economic foundation for the later Qianlong Dynasty. More importantly, it marked the further relaxation of the personal dependency relationship in feudal society, and was an important step in the transformation of ancient Chinese society to modern times.
Echoes and revelations of history
"Spreading the land into the mu" is not only a political gamble of the Yongzheng Emperor, but also a milestone in the evolution of the ancient Chinese tax system. It tells us that even in the face of opposition from powerful vested interests, reforms can succeed with firm will, sound strategy, and flexible implementation. Today, when we examine various social reforms, the wisdom and determination of Emperor Yongzheng still give us profound enlightenment: although reform is difficult, as long as the direction is correct and the method is appropriate, a road to the light can eventually be opened. History has always been moving forward in the midst of such challenges and adaptations.