purpose
In the final analysis, the policy of "saving the people" in Wenjing period was the policy of the landlord class. Its purpose is to stabilize and strengthen the control over farmers and further consolidate feudal rule. Some measures that seem to be beneficial to farmers are actually more beneficial to landlords and businessmen. For example, the reduction of land tax in Wenjing will benefit landlords the most and help businessmen improve their political status. Therefore, the other side of the stability and prosperity of Wenjing rule is the increasing development of land merger forces. At the same time, in order to achieve political stability, Wendi once restricted the power of princes with the same surname, but basically adopted the policy of appeasement. In the third year of Emperor Jingdi's reign (before 154), seven countries in Wu Chu conspired to revolt, which should be related to this.
nature
The continuation and development of the recuperation policy in the early Han Dynasty made China the first official. The essence of "the rule of Wenjing" is not a concession to the peasant war, but a positive and promising political adjustment made by Qin's death in order to consolidate the dictatorship. It is the embodiment of the landlord class's will to seek long-term stability and laid the political and material conditions for the reunification of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
result
Due to the above-mentioned series of measures taken by Wenjing two generations, the social economy at that time made remarkable development and the feudal ruling order was consolidated day by day. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, there were only ten thousand governors and five or six hundred small countries. In the world of culture and scenery, refugees returned to the countryside, and their accounts soon increased. There are 30,000 to 40,000 people in the country, and the number of small households has doubled, which is much richer than in the past. The development of agriculture has greatly reduced food prices. In the early years of Emperor Wendi, millet ranged from ten yuan to dozens of yuan per stone. According to the Records of Food in the History of Han Dynasty, during the seventy years from the early Han Dynasty to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, due to the stable domestic political situation, as long as there were no floods and droughts, the people always gave their families enough food, and the granaries in the county were full of food. The food in Taicang is rotten because of Chen Xiangyin, so it can't be eaten. The government treasury has more money. There are millions of money in Beijing, and even the strings of money are broken. This is a vivid description of the rule of Wenjing.
However, the purpose of the policy of "resting the people" in Wenjing period was to stabilize and strengthen the control of farmers and further consolidate feudal rule. Some measures that seem to be beneficial to farmers are actually more beneficial to landlords and businessmen. For example, if Wenjing reduced or exempted the land tax, the landlords would gain the most, which would also help improve the political status of businessmen. At the same time, in order to achieve political stability, Wendi once restricted the power of princes with the same surname, but failed to take decisive measures to eliminate the hidden dangers of unrest; In the third year of Emperor Jingdi's reign (before 154), seven countries in Wu Chu conspired to revolt (see "The Rebellion with Seven Countries"), which should have something to do with this.
Reduce miscellaneous taxes
The main measures are: 1, implementing light luxury and thin taxes to reduce the burden on the people.
After Liu Bang acceded to the throne, the law prohibited and the land tax rate was reduced to "fifteen and one tax". When Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, he ordered that "the land rent be reduced, and the latter fifteen taxes will be paid". It can be seen that during Liu Bang's reign of 12 years, the tax rate was raised due to the later national financial needs. However, after Hui Di ascended the throne in the 12th year of Emperor Gaozu, the original tax rate was immediately restored, which enabled the fifteenth tax to be maintained, even when Lv Hou was in power. During the period of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, the rate of land rent was further reduced, and it was taxed according to "30 taxes and one tax". This is the period of the lowest land tax rate in China feudal society, and it will not change in the future.
2. Encourage production, develop economy, expand tax base and increase government revenue.
In agriculture, many imperial edicts have been issued to persuade farmers to take mulberry cultivation courses, and a number of employees have been set up according to the proportion of household registration, which are often rewarded to encourage farmers to develop production, and people are encouraged to open up wasteland through various preferential tax policies. In terms of industry and commerce, Wendi's "closing mountains and banning water" means opening mountains and rivers that originally belonged to the country, thus promoting the development of agricultural and sideline production and salt and iron production, which have a great relationship with the national economy and people's livelihood. In the twelfth year of Emperor Wendi, the system of customs clearance orders was abolished, which promoted the circulation of goods and economic exchanges between regions. With the development of commodity economy, the national industrial and commercial miscellaneous tax revenue has gradually exceeded the land rent revenue, and the government has the financial resources to reduce the land rent. Emperor Han Jingdi and Xiongnu and other neighboring nationalities resumed customs clearance and developed border trade. Under the principle of "foreign matter flows in, but interests do not leak out", a huge trade surplus has been realized.
3. Strictly practise economy and forbid waste.
Emperor Wendi advocated frugality. During his reign, the number of palaces and cars did not increase. He once wanted to make a terrace, and when he submitted the budget, he needed 100 yuan, so he gave up the idea. He said: "Hundred gold is equivalent to the sum of the property of ten middle-class families. I inherited the palace of the first emperor, and I often feel ashamed. How could I spend a hundred dollars to build a terrace? " In order to reduce the tax burden of the people, he also reduced his own expenses and reduced the number of guards. Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty refused to accept the resplendence and other luxuries presented by local authorities, and prohibited local officials from buying gold, pearls and jade, otherwise it would be regarded as theft.
4. Increase farmers' income through the "expensive millet" policy.
With the development of agriculture, food prices have been greatly reduced. When Emperor Wen was recorded in history, each stone was "millet to more than ten yuan". In order to ensure farmers' income and attract farmers to pay attention to agricultural production, Emperor Wen and his ministers thought that the only way was to raise food prices and reward those who could provide food. Their strategy is to encourage wealthy families to buy farmers' food and donate it to the country. For those who can donate grain to the border grain depot, the state grants different titles according to the amount of grain donated, and can also make atonement. In this way, the grain reserves in the frontier fortress will soon be sufficient, and then the reserves in various counties will be further enriched. As long as the county reserves enough for one year, the county can exempt farmers from land rent. Encouraged by this policy, farmers' income has been guaranteed, their burden has been reduced, and the country's reserves have been sufficient.
5. Implement a management system combining centralization and decentralization, and gradually strengthen centralization.
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, in view of the disadvantages of the extreme autocracy in the Qin Dynasty, the county-level parallel system was implemented in the state system. At first, it played a certain role in reducing the financial burden of the central government, alleviating financial difficulties in the early Han Dynasty and promoting local economic development. Local governments can also implement some policies to benefit the people according to local conditions. For example, if the industry and commerce of Qi is developed and there are benefits from fishing and salt, agricultural tax will not be levied. Wu has copper mountains and sea salt, which can make huge profits, so there is no tax.
Attach great importance to agriculture
Emperor Wen of Han attached great importance to agricultural production. After he acceded to the throne, he issued imperial edicts many times to persuade farmers to teach mulberry, set up a number of employees according to the proportion of household registration, and often gave rewards to encourage farmers to develop production. At the same time, he also pays attention to reducing the burden on the people. In the first two years (before 178) and the first twelve years, Wendi "reduced the rent by half" twice, that is, the rent rate was reduced to 30 tax, and the rent was completely free in the first thirteen years. Since then, the Han Dynasty has customized thirty taxes. During the reign of Emperor Wendi, the tax was reduced from 120 yuan per year to 40 yuan per person, and the corvee was reduced to once every three years. In the second year of Emperor Jingdi (before 155), he changed the summer season of Qin Dynasty 17 to 20 years old, while the summer season of writing Han law was 23 years old. In addition, Emperor Wendi also issued the imperial edict of "forbidding Chishanze", that is, opening the forests and rivers originally owned by the state, thus promoting the development of farmers' marginal production and salt and iron production, which are closely related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Twelve years ago, Emperor Wendi also abolished the system of customs clearance orders, which was conducive to the circulation of goods and economic ties between regions. It also promoted the development of agricultural production. Emperor Wen of Han also carried out major reforms in criminal law since Qin Dynasty. (1) Criminals in the Qin Dynasty, that is, those who were sentenced to official service and were heavier than official service, mostly had no prison term and served hard labor for life. Emperor Wendi issued a decree and re-enacted the law, stipulating the term of imprisonment according to the seriousness of the crime; A sinner will be exempted from serving his sentence as Shu Ren. (2) According to the Qin law, the parents, brothers, sisters, wives and children of sinners should sit together, and the heavy ones should be put to death, while the light ones should be buried as official servants, which is called "sitting by death". Emperor Wen explicitly abolished it. (3) There were four kinds of corporal punishment in Qin Dynasty, namely, beating, licking, gouging out and palace. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty abolished flogging, flogging and gouging and replaced them with flogging. Emperor Wen of Han also reduced flogging. These reforms are of great significance, but the latter two items were not seriously implemented at that time and later. During the reign of Emperor Wendi, many officials were lenient, not demanding, so prison affairs were simple and the oppression suffered by the people was significantly reduced compared with that in Qin Dynasty.
Suppress strongmen
Prohibit powerful people from casting money privately; Emphasizing agriculture and restraining business; Gradually divide the princes
The policy of "sharing interest with the people" in the early Western Han Dynasty was a rain and sunshine for farmers, but it contributed to the strength of powerful merchants. Because powerful landlords occupy a lot of land, frivolous tax policies make them profit the most; Rich businessmen benefited the most from the "Akayama Zeban". As a result, while sharing the interest with the people, the powerful businessmen are expanding day by day, and three forces have formed in the society: the military group in the early Han Dynasty with political advantages, the unruly tycoon and the businessmen with increasingly strong financial resources. These rich people have a lot of wealth. On the one hand, they use groups of handmaiden, live a luxurious life, consume a lot of labor results, and affect agricultural production. On the one hand, the crazy annexation of land forced a large number of yeomen into bankruptcy and exile. At that time, the national tax was 30%, that is, 3.33% of the harvest, and the rent rate charged by the landlord to the tenant farmers was 15%, that is, 50% of the harvest, and the difference was the landlord's income, that is, 46.67%. The disparity in the possession of social wealth is the biggest hidden danger of social unrest, which can easily lead to social order turmoil and sharp class contradictions.
In order to protect farmers' rights and interests, maintain social fairness and justice, and maintain social stability, Emperor Wenjing began to take some measures to restrain strongmen. Jia Yi, an important strategist of Wendi, put forward: changing customs and opposing the wind of arrogance and extravagance; Prohibit powerful people from casting money privately; Emphasizing agriculture and restraining business; Gradually divide the princes; A series of suggestions such as strengthening reserves to prevent famine. These thoughts have seriously damaged the interests of the elite, and Jia Yi became the target of their attack, accusing Jia Yi of being "a beginner at a young age, obsessed with politics and confusing people". Finally, Jia Yi was framed and exiled to a damp and barren land. He died at the age of 33.
Chao Cuo is a more pragmatic and courageous politician than Jia Yi. Chao Cuo pointed out that although the law "respects farmers, they are poor". He put forward the financial management idea of "more than the deficit can make up for the deficiency", and induced the rich to buy farmers' grain by donating grain and conferring titles, so as to realize the national policy of attaching importance to agriculture. He advised Jingdi to bravely accept the challenge of the powerful group, which was reused by Jingdi, but it was also attacked by powerful people. Jingdi took more severe measures to crack down on strongmen, especially appointed so-called cruel officials, such as Wang, Yan Yannian and Ningcheng, to punish lawless strongmen. The history books say that "the sea of blood is more than ten miles", "chestnuts are full" and "wei county, a strong man". Chao Cuo's father came from his hometown to dissuade his son and said, "If you do this, Liu will be safe and Chao will be dangerous." Chao Cuo's father was so stressed that he committed suicide by taking poison. Chao Cuo was also killed in the later Seven-Country Rebellion. The thoughts of Jia Yi and Chao Cuo were accepted and put into practice by Emperor Wendi and Emperor Jingdi successively, and were praised by later generations as the important heroes of "the rule of culture and scenery".
Recover from social unrest and resume production.
The Wenjing Dynasty did not easily fight against the surrounding ethnic minorities and tried their best to maintain peaceful relations. Lu Houshi, Zhao Tuo, king of South Vietnam, established himself as emperor, serving in Fujian, Vietnam, Ou and Luo, and took advantage of Huang Jiazhi's opportunity to fight against Han. After Emperor Wendi acceded to the throne, he repaired the ancestral grave for Zhao Yue, honored Emperor Zhao Kuangyin, and sent Lu Jia to South Vietnam to write a letter to Zhao Tuo, so Zhao Tuo went to Zuoge, Huang Wu, and joined the Han Dynasty. In the second year of Emperor Wendi (BC 162), he made an engagement with Xiongnu. Since then, although the Huns have repeatedly invaded the border, Emperor Wendi only ordered the border counties to be on strict alert and not to attack dispatch troops, so as not to disturb the people. The reason why Wenjing became the flourishing age of feudal society is inseparable from the personal efforts of Emperor Wen. Not long after he ascended the throne, he abolished the crime of slanderous words, and envoys were able to boldly put forward different opinions. Since the Qin dynasty, there have been so-called "secret wish" officials, and whenever there is a disaster, they will fight. Thirteen years ago, Emperor Wen wrote a letter to abolish it, and declared that the emperor should be responsible for the mistakes and sins of officials. The next year, he forbade temple officials to bless him. Wendi is also very frugal. During his 23 years in office, the palace and the things he rides and serves have not increased. He has repeatedly sent letters prohibiting counties from contributing rare foreign objects. Mrs. Shen, whom he loves, did not mop the floor or embroider curtains. Wendi Deng once wanted to build a terrace. Hearing that he wanted one hundred gold, which was equivalent to the output of ten people in China, he gave up. Because Emperor Wen advocated frugality, the national financial expenditure was restrained and reduced at that time, and aristocratic bureaucrats dared not squander it, thus reducing the burden on the people, which was also one of the important contents of the "rest and recuperation" policy. As a result of the above-mentioned series of measures taken by Wenjing two generations, the social and economic development at that time was remarkable and the feudal ruling order was increasingly consolidated. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, there were only 10,000 governors, and there were only five or six hundred small households. In the world of culture and scenery, refugees returned to the countryside, and their accounts soon increased. There are 30,000 to 40,000 people in the country, and the number of small households has doubled, which is much richer than in the past. The development of agriculture has greatly reduced food prices. In the early years of Emperor Wendi, millet ranged from ten yuan to dozens of yuan per stone. According to Hanshu? According to Shihuozhi, during the 70 years from the early Han Dynasty to the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, due to the stable domestic political situation, as long as there were no floods and droughts, the people always gave their families enough food, and the granaries in the county were full of food. The food in the big granary is rotten because of the item, so it can't be eaten. The government granary has more money.
3 Taiping Shi Sheng Editor-in-Chief
People have no worries at home and abroad, so they have to rest their fields and the world is rich.
Under the guidance of the policy of encouraging low taxes to promote agriculture and sharing interest with the people, the early Western Han Dynasty ushered in a period of peace and prosperity after the governance of Emperor Wenjing in 4 1 year.
First, the burden on farmers has been greatly reduced. From Emperor Gaozu's accession to the throne (202 BC) to Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty's third year (14 1 year BC), during the 62 years around * *, the Western Han Dynasty implemented a typical frivolous and generous tax policy in ancient China, with the lightest burden on farmers. From the 13th year of Emperor Wendi (BC 167), the national land tax was continuously exempted from 1 1 year. During this period, farmers' agricultural tax burden was gone, which was unique in feudal society. Therefore, it is recognized in history that the burden on farmers in the early 70 years of the Western Han Dynasty was very light.
Secondly, the people are rich and the society is stable. Shouyan's eating Liang meat is the eldest son of an official, and those in official positions think that their surnames are a few. An old friend loves himself and breaks the law, and he is righteous before he is ashamed. At this time, the network is sparse and the people are rich. "Such a healthy and harmonious society is rare in the history of China.
Third, economic development and national financial enrichment. Due to the economic development and prosperity, the national finance is very different from that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. For example, in Wenjing, "Taicang has a millet that can't be eaten, and there is money in it." By the time Emperor Wu ascended the throne, the national finance had reached a new level. "Everything is full, but the treasury is full of goods and wealth, and the capital has too much money to correct. The millet in Taicang, because of Chen Xiang, overflowed and exposed, rotted and inedible. " The financial strength of the country is so strong that it is rare in the feudal society of China.
It can be seen that the peaceful and prosperous times marked by "the rule of cultural scenery" in the Western Han Dynasty were realized through the light and thin tax policy. The national policy of "governing by doing nothing" in the early Han Dynasty was not doing nothing, but actively doing something. That is to establish a calm and stable production environment for farmers, strive to minimize the interference to farmers' life and production activities, and strive to ensure that farmers' labor is paid stably. In eliminating the interference of farmers' production, one is to reduce the government's burden of tribute to farmers, the other is to crack down on the invasion of farmers by powerful men; In ensuring farmers' income, on the one hand, the agricultural tax is greatly reduced, on the other hand, the price is stabilized through fiscal and taxation policies. Peace and prosperity, high state revenue and high income of the rich are not signs. It is more important to look at the wealth of the people, especially the wealth of farmers.