Volume 47 Treatises 28: Finance and Economics 2 - Administration of Farming, Rent and Taxes, Taxes on Oxes

量田以營造尺，五尺為步，闊一步，長二百四十步為畝，百畝為頃。民田業各從其便，賣質於人無禁，但令隨地輸租而已。凡桑棗，民戶以多植為勤，少者必植其地十之三，猛安謀克戶少者必課種其地十之一，除枯補新，使之不闕。凡官地，猛安謀克及貧民請射者，寬鄉一丁百畝，狹鄉十畝，中男半之。請射荒地者，以最下第五等減半定租，八年始征之。作己業者以第七等減半為稅，七年始征之。自首冒佃比鄰地者，輸官租三分之二。佃黃河退灘者，次年納租。

Land was surveyed using the construction-standard foot measure: five feet to the pace, and one mu was defined as one pace wide by two hundred forty paces long; one hundred mu constituted a qing. Private landowners could manage their holdings as they saw fit, and were free to sell or mortgage their land; the sole requirement was that rent be paid on whatever parcel the land happened to be. Mulberry and jujube cultivation was encouraged among civilian households, and those who planted sparingly were required to set aside three-tenths of their land for these trees; meng'an-mouke households faced a one-tenth planting quota. Dead trees were to be replaced so that plantings never fell short. When meng'an-mouke households or the poor applied to claim government land, allotments were one hundred mu per adult male in spacious districts, ten mu in crowded districts, and half those amounts for zhongnan (sub-adult males). Applicants for wasteland received rent assessed at half the lowest fifth-grade rate, with collection deferred for eight years. Those who brought land under cultivation as private holdings were taxed at half the seventh-grade rate, with collection beginning after seven years. Those who confessed to having encroached on and farmed adjacent land paid two-thirds of the standard official rent. Tenants who farmed the Yellow River's newly exposed flood flats began paying rent in the year after cultivation.

太宗天會九年五月，始分遣諸路勸農之使者。熙宗天眷十四年，罷來流、混同間護邏地，以予民耕牧，海陵正隆元年二月，遣刑部尚書紇石烈婁室等十一人，分行大興府、山東，真定府，拘括系官或荒閑牧地，及官民占射逃絕戶地，戍兵占佃宮籍監、外路官本業外增置土田，及大興府，平州路僧尼道士女冠等地，蓋以授所遷之猛安謀克戶，且令民請射，而官得其租也。

In the fifth month of Tianhui 9 (1131), under Emperor Taizong, the court first dispatched agricultural commissioners to the various circuits. In Tianjuan 14 (1151), under Emperor Xizong, the protected Liao frontier between the Lailiu and Hun Tong rivers was opened to civilian farming and grazing. In the second month of Zhenglong 1 (1156), Prince Hailing dispatched Minister of Justice Wanyan Loushi and ten colleagues through Daxing, Shandong, and Zhending to consolidate state and idle pasture lands, claims on defunct households' property, garrison encroachments beyond registered holdings, and monastic lands in Daxing and Pingzhou—primarily to resettle relocated meng'an-mouke households, while permitting civilians to claim plots and the state to collect rent.

世宗大定五年十二月，上以京畿兩猛安民戶不自耕墾，及伐桑棗為薪鬻之，命大興少尹完顏讓巡察。十年四月，禁侵耕圍場地。十一年，謂侍臣曰：「往歲，清暑山西，傍路皆禾稼，殆無牧地。嘗下令，使民五裏外乃得耕墾。今聞其民以此去之他所，甚可矜憫。其令依舊耕種，毋致失業。凡害民之事患在不知，知之朕必不為。自今事有類此，卿等即告毋隱。」十三年，敕有司：「每歲遣官勸猛安謀克農事，恐有煩擾。自今止令各管職官勸督，弛慢者舉劾以聞。」十七年六月，刑州男子趙迪簡言：「隨路不附籍官田及河灘地，皆為豪強所占，而貧民土瘠稅重，乞遣官拘籍冒佃者，定立租課，複量減人戶稅數，庶得輕重均平。」詔付有司，將行而止。複以近都猛安謀克所給官地率皆薄瘠，豪民租佃官田歲久，往往冒為己業，令拘籍之。又謂省臣曰：「官地非民誰種，然女直人戶自鄉土三四千里移來，盡得薄地，若不拘刷良田給之，久必貪乏，其遣官察之。」又謂參知政事張汝弼曰：「先嘗遣問女直土地，皆雲良田。及朕出獵，因問之，則謂自起移至此，不能種蒔，斫蘆為席，或斬芻以自給。卿等其議之。」省臣奏：「官地所以人多蔽匿盜耕者，由其罪輕故也。」乃更條約，立限令人自陳，過限則人能告者有賞。遣同知中都路轉運使張九思往拘籍之。十九年二月，上如春水，見民桑多為牧畜齧毀，詔親王公主及勢要家，牧畜有犯民桑者，許所屬縣官立加懲斷。

In the twelfth month of Dading 5 (1165), Emperor Shizong learned that households in the capital's two meng'an units were neither farming their own land nor harvesting mulberry and jujube for sale as firewood, and ordered Daxing Vice Prefect Wanyan Rang to investigate. In the fourth month of the tenth year (1170), encroachment on imperial hunting grounds was prohibited. In the eleventh year (1171), he told his attendants: "When I took the summer retreat in western Shanxi in earlier years, grain fields lined every roadside and pastureland had all but disappeared. I had ordered that cultivation be permitted only five li from the roads. Now I hear that people have abandoned their homes and moved elsewhere because of this restriction—truly a matter for compassion. Let them resume farming as before, so that none lose their livelihood. Harm to the people arises from ignorance; once I know of it, I will not permit it. Henceforth, report any similar situation to me immediately—do not withhold it." In the thirteenth year (1173), he directed the responsible offices: "Sending officials every year to supervise meng'an-mouke farming is apt to become a nuisance. Henceforth, let local supervising officials handle encouragement and oversight, and impeach and report any who are negligent." In the sixth month of the seventeenth year (1177), Zhao Di of Xingzhou submitted a petition: "Unregistered government fields and river flats along the circuits are monopolized by powerful families, while the poor struggle on barren soil under crushing taxes. I request that officials register illegal occupiers, set fair rents, and reduce household tax quotas so that burdens fall evenly." The court referred the matter to the responsible offices, but implementation was begun and then stopped. The emperor also noted that government land allotted to capital-region meng'an-mouke was mostly poor, while wealthy tenants who had long rented state fields often claimed them as private property; he ordered these lands registered and reclaimed. He told the provincial ministers: "Who else will farm government land if not the people? Yet Jurchen households uprooted from homelands three or four thousand li away have received only poor soil. Unless we allocate good fields to them, they will grow impoverished in time—send officials to investigate." He also told Vice Grand Councilor Zhang Rubi: "When I previously sent inquiries about Jurchen land allotments, everyone reported fertile fields. But when I went hunting and asked directly, they said that since relocating they could not farm at all—they cut reeds for mats or gathered fodder merely to survive. Deliberate on this matter." The provincial ministers replied: "People conceal and illegally farm government land because the penalties are too lenient." New regulations were drawn up setting a deadline for voluntary disclosure; after it expired, informants who reported violators would be rewarded. Associate Commissioner Zhang Jiusi of the Zhongdu Circuit Transport Office was dispatched to register and reclaim the land. In the second month of the nineteenth year (1179), during the spring hunt, the emperor saw mulberry trees destroyed by grazing livestock. He decreed that county officials might immediately punish any prince, princess, or powerful household whose animals damaged civilian mulberry groves.

十二月謂宰臣曰：「亡遼時所撥地，與本朝元帥府，已曾拘籍矣。民或指射為無主地，租佃及新開荒為己業者可以拘括。其間播種歲久，若遽奪之，恐民失業。」因詔括地官張九思戒之。複謂宰臣曰：「朕聞括地事所行極不當，如皇后莊、太子務之類，止以名稱便為官地，百姓所執憑驗，一切不問，其相鄰冒占官地，複有倖免者。能使軍戶稍給，民不失業，乃朕之心也。」二十年四月，以行幸道隘，扈從人不便，詔戶部沿路頓舍側近官地，勿租與民耕種。又詔故太保阿裏先於山東路撥地百四十頃，大定初又于中都路賜田百頃，命拘山東之地入官。五月，諭有司曰：「白石門至野狐嶺，其間澱濼多為民耕植者，而官民雜畜往來無牧放之所，可差官括元荒地及冒佃之數。」

In the twelfth month he told the chief ministers: "Land allocated under the defunct Liao and by our dynasty's Marshal's Office has already been registered and reclaimed. Land that commoners have claimed as ownerless, or rented and newly cleared as private holdings, may still be subject to consolidation. Where land has been under cultivation for many years, sudden confiscation may strip people of their livelihood." He accordingly admonished land-consolidation officer Zhang Jiusi to bear this in mind. He again told the chief ministers: "I hear the land consolidation has been grossly mishandled. Sites such as the Queen's Estate and the Crown Prince's Office are seized as government land on title alone, while commoners' title documents go unexamined, and some who encroached on adjacent state land have escaped scrutiny. My aim is to provide for military households while ensuring civilians do not lose their livelihood." In the fourth month of the twentieth year (1180), because the imperial procession route was too narrow for the entourage, the Ministry of Revenue was ordered not to rent out government land near roadside lodges along the route for civilian cultivation. It was also decreed that the late Grand Guardian Ali Xian had received allotments of one hundred forty qing in Shandong and, at the start of the Dading era, one hundred qing in Zhongdu; his Shandong holdings were ordered reclaimed for the state. In the fifth month he instructed the responsible offices: "Between Baishimen and Yehu Ridge, lakes and marshes are largely under cultivation, yet officials and commoners drive mixed herds through with nowhere to pasture them. Dispatch officials to consolidate original wasteland and illegally occupied plots."

二十一年正月，上謂宰臣曰：「山東、大名等路猛安謀克戶之民，往往驕縱，不親稼穡，不令家人農作，盡令漢人佃蒔，取租而已。富家盡服紈綺，酒食遊宴，貧者爭慕效之，欲望家給人足，難矣！近已禁賣奴婢，約其凶吉之禮，更當委官閱實戶數，計口授地，必令自耕，力不贍者，方許佃於人。仍禁其農時飲酒。」又曰：「奚人六猛安，已徙居咸平、臨潢、泰州，其地肥沃，且精勤農務，各安其居。女直人徙居奚地者，菽粟得收穫否？」左丞守道對曰：「聞皆自耕，歲用亦足。」上曰：「彼地肥美，異於他處，惟附都民以水害稼者賑之。」三月，陳言者言，豪強之家多占奪田者。上曰：「前參政納合椿年占地八百頃，又聞山西田亦多為權要所占，有一家一口至三十頃者，以致小民無田可耕，徙居陰山之惡地，何以自存？其令占官地十頃以上者皆括籍入官，將均賜貧民。」省臣又奏：「椿年子猛安參謀合、故太師耨碗溫敦思忠孫長壽等，親屬計七十余家，所占地三千餘頃。」上曰：「至秋，除牛頭地外，仍各給十頃，餘皆拘入官。山后招討司所括者，亦當同此也。」又謂宰臣曰：「山東路所括民田，已分給女直屯田人戶，複有籍官閑地，依元數還民，仍免租稅。」六月，上謂省臣曰：「近者大興府平、灤、薊、通、順等州，經水災之地，免今年稅租。不罹水災者姑停夏稅，俟稔歲征之。」時中都大水，而濱，棣等州及山后大熟，命修治懷來以南道路，以來糶者。又命都城減價以糶。又曰：「近遣使閱視秋稼，聞猛安謀克人惟酒是務，往往以田租人，而預借三二年租課者。或種而不耘，聽其荒蕪者。自今皆令閱實各戶人力，可耨幾頃畝，必使自耕耘之，其力果不及者方許租賃。如惰農飲酒，勸農謀克及本管猛安謀克並都管，各以等第科罪。收穫數多者，則亦以等第遷賞。」七月，上謂宰臣曰：「前徙宗室戶於河間，撥地處之，而不回納舊地，豈有兩地皆占之理？自今當以一處賜之。山東刷民田已分給女直屯田戶，複有餘地，當以還民而免是歲之租。」八月，尚書省奏山東所刷地數，上謂梁肅曰：「朕嘗以此問卿，卿不以言。此雖稱民地，然皆無明據，括為官地有何不可？」又曰：「黃河已移故道，梁山濼水退，地甚廣，已嘗遣使安置屯田。民昔嘗恣意種之，今官已籍其地，而民懼征其租，逃者甚眾。若征其租，而以冒佃不即出首罪論之，固宜。然若遽取之，恐致失所。可免其征，赦其罪，別以官地給之。」禦史台奏：「大名、濟州因刷梁山濼官地，或有以民地被刷者。」上複召宰臣曰：「雖曾經通檢納稅，而無明驗者，複當刷問。有公據者，雖付本人，仍須體問。」十月，複與張仲愈論冒占田事。

In the first month of the twenty-first year (1181), the emperor told the chief ministers: "In Shandong, Daming, and other circuits, meng'an-mouke households are often arrogant—they neither farm themselves nor require their families to do so, but lease everything to Han tenants and merely collect rent. The wealthy dress in silk, feast and carouse, and the poor strive to imitate them—how can we expect every household to prosper? We have recently banned the sale of slaves and regulated funeral and wedding rites. Officials should verify household registers, allocate land by head count, and require self-cultivation—leasing to others should be permitted only when households lack the labor to farm for themselves. Drinking during the farming season should also be prohibited." He added: "The six Xi meng'an units relocated to Xianping, Linhuang, and Taizhou have fertile land and farm diligently—they are settled and content. Are Jurchens relocated to former Xi territory harvesting beans and grain successfully?" Left Vice Councilor Shoudao replied: "I hear they all farm for themselves and their annual needs are met." The emperor said: "That land is uniquely fertile—relieve only those near the capital whose crops were damaged by flooding." In the third month, a petitioner reported that powerful families were widely seizing others' land. The emperor said: "Former Vice Councilor Nahan Chunnian held eight hundred qing, and I hear that in Shanxi powerful families monopolize farmland—some single-person households hold thirty qing—leaving commoners landless and driving them to the harsh Yin Mountains. How can they survive? Order that all holdings of ten qing or more of government land be registered and confiscated, then distributed evenly to the poor." The provincial ministers added: "Chunnian's son Meng'an Can Mouhe, the late Grand Preceptor Nao'ai Wendun Sizhong's grandson Changshou, and their kin—over seventy households in all—held more than three thousand qing." The emperor said: "By autumn, apart from ox-head tax allotments, grant each household ten qing and confiscate the remainder for the state. Land consolidated by the Rear Mountains Pacification Commission should be handled likewise." He again told the chief ministers: "Consolidated civilian fields in Shandong have been allotted to Jurchen garrison-farming households; registered idle government land should be returned to civilians in the original amounts, with rent and tax waived." In the sixth month, the emperor told the provincial ministers: "In Daxing and the prefectures of Ping, Luan, Ji, Tong, and Shun, areas stricken by flooding are exempt from this year's rent and tax. Areas not flooded shall have the summer tax deferred until a good harvest year." The central capital was severely flooded, while Bin, Di, and other prefectures and the rear mountains enjoyed bumper harvests; roads south of Huailai were ordered repaired to facilitate grain shipments. The capital was also ordered to sell grain at reduced prices. He added: "Envoys recently inspected the autumn harvest and report that meng'an-mouke households care only for drink—they often hand fields to rent-collectors and even borrow two or three years' rent in advance. Some plant but neglect weeding, allowing fields to lie fallow. Henceforth, verify each household's labor capacity—how many qing and mu they can work—and require self-cultivation; leasing out land should be permitted only when labor is genuinely insufficient. Lazy farmers and drinkers shall trigger graded penalties for their agricultural encouragement mouke, supervising meng'an-mouke, and regional overseers. Those with large harvests shall likewise receive graded promotions and rewards." In the seventh month, the emperor told the chief ministers: "When imperial clan households were relocated to Hejian and allotted new land, they did not surrender their old holdings—how can anyone occupy land in two places? Henceforth, grant land in only one location. Consolidated civilian fields in Shandong allotted to Jurchen garrison-farming households left surplus land, which should be returned to civilians with this year's rent waived." In the eighth month, the Ministry of Revenue reported the amount of land consolidated in Shandong. The emperor said to Liang Su: "I once asked you about this, and you said nothing. Though called civilian land, none of it has clear title—why should it not be consolidated as government land?" He added: "The Yellow River has returned to its old course and the Liangshan Marsh has receded, exposing vast tracts—we have already sent envoys to establish garrison farms. People once farmed the area freely, but now that the state has registered the land, many have fled for fear of rent. Levying rent and punishing those who failed to report encroachment promptly would be just. Yet sudden confiscation may leave them destitute. Waive their rent, pardon their offenses, and grant them other government land instead." The Censorate reported: "In Daming and Jizhou, consolidation of Liangshan Marsh government land also swept up some civilian holdings." The emperor again summoned the chief ministers: "Even land that passed general inspection and paid taxes, if lacking clear proof, should be reinvestigated during consolidation. Even where official title documents exist, land returned to holders must still be investigated." In the tenth month, he again discussed illegal land occupation with Zhang Zhongyu.

二十二年，以附都猛安戶不自種，悉租與民，有一家百口壟無一苗者。上曰：「勸農官，何勸諭為也，其令治罪。」宰臣奏曰：「不自種而輒與人者，合科違例。」上曰：「太重，愚民安知。」遂從大興少尹王修所奏，以不種者杖六十，謀克四十，受租百姓無罪。又命招複梁山濼流民，官給以田。時人戶有執契據指墳壟為驗者，亦拘在官，先委恩州刺史奚晦招之，複遣安肅州刺史張國基驗實給之，如已撥系猛安，則償以官田。上曰：「工部尚書張九思執強不通，向遣刷官田，凡犯秦、漢以來名稱，如長城、燕子城之類者，皆以為官田。此田百姓為己業不知幾百年矣，所見如此，何不通之甚也。」八月，以趙王永中等四王府冒占官田，罪其各府長史府掾，及安次，新城，宛平、昌平、永清、懷柔六縣官，皆罰贖有差。

In the twenty-second year (1182), because capital-attached meng'an households farmed nothing themselves and leased all their land to civilians, one household of one hundred members had not a single seedling in its fields. The emperor said: "What sort of agricultural encouragement are these officials providing? Order them punished." The chief ministers replied: "Those who fail to farm themselves but lease land to others violate regulations." The emperor said: "Too harsh—how would simple folk know better?" They adopted the proposal of Daxing Vice Prefect Wang Xiu: non-cultivators received sixty strokes, mouke leaders forty, and rent-paying civilians were held blameless. The court also ordered displaced people of Liangshan Marsh recalled and granted government land. Some households held contracts citing grave mounds as proof of ownership; these too were held in escrow. Enzhou Prefect Xi Hui was first commissioned to recruit returnees; Ansu Prefect Zhang Guoji was then sent to verify claims and grant land. Where allotments had already gone to meng'an units, compensation was paid in government fields. The emperor said: "Minister of Works Zhang Jiusi is rigid and unreasonable. During the government land consolidation, any place bearing a name from Qin and Han times—Great Wall, Swallow City, and the like—he treated as government land. Commoners have held this land as private property for centuries—yet this was his judgment. How utterly unreasonable!" In the eighth month, because the establishments of Princes Zhao, Yong, and two others encroached on government land, their chief administrators and clerks were punished, along with officials of Anci, Xincheng, Wanping, Changping, Yongqing, and Huairou—all fined in varying amounts.

九月，遣刑部尚書移剌慥于山東路猛安內摘八謀克民，徙于河北東路酬斡、青狗兒兩猛安舊居之地，無牛者官給之。河間宗室未徙者令盡徙于平州，無力者官津發之，土薄者易以良田。先嘗令俟豐年則括籍官地，至是歲，省臣複以為奏，上曰：「本為新徙四猛安貧窮，須刷官田與之，若張仲愈等所擬條約太刻，但以民初無得地之由，自撫定後未嘗輸稅，妄通為己業者，刷之。如此，恐民苦之，可為酬直。且先令猛安謀克人戶，隨宜分處，計其丁壯牛具，合得土田實數，給之。不足，則以前所刷地二萬餘頃補之。複不足，則續當議。」時有落兀者與婆薩等爭懿州地六萬頃，以皆無據驗，遂沒入官。

In the ninth month, Minister of Justice Yelü Gao was sent to select households from eight mouke units in Shandong meng'an and relocate them to the former territories of the Chouwo and Qinggou'er meng'an in Hebei East Circuit; those without oxen received government supplies. Imperial clan members in Hejian who had not yet relocated were ordered to move to Pingzhou; the indigent received government transport, and those on poor soil received exchanges for fertile fields. Earlier the court had ordered land consolidation deferred until a bountiful year. When the provincial ministers raised the matter again that year, the emperor said: "The consolidation was meant to aid four newly relocated impoverished meng'an units. Zhang Zhongyu's proposed regulations are too harsh—consolidate only land that people had no legitimate claim to, that they never taxed since pacification, yet falsely held as private property. Even so, the people may suffer hardship—provide compensation. First distribute meng'an-mouke households as appropriate, calculating adult males, oxen, and implements, and grant the land they are entitled to. If insufficient, supplement from the more than twenty thousand qing previously consolidated. If still insufficient, further measures will be deliberated." At this time Luowu'er and Pos'a disputed sixty thousand qing in Yizhou; lacking proof on either side, the land was confiscated for the state.

二十七年，隨處官豪之家多請占官地，轉與它人種佃，規取課利。命有司拘刷見數，以與貧難無地者，每丁授五十畝，庶不至失所，餘佃不盡者方許豪家驗丁租佃。章宗大定二十九年五月，擬再立限，令貧民請佃官地，緣今已過期，計已數足，其占而有餘者，若容告訐，恐滋奸弊。況續告漏通地，敕旨已革，今限外告者宜卻之，止付元佃。兼平陽一路地狹人稠，官地當盡數拘籍，驗丁以給貧民。上曰：「限外指告多佃官地者，卻之，當矣。如無主不顧承佃，方許諸人告請。其平陽路宜計丁限田，如一家三丁己業止三十畝，則更許存所佃官地一頃二十畝，餘者拘籍給付貧民可也。」七月，論旨尚書省曰：「唐、鄧、潁、蔡、宿、泗等處，水陸膏腴之地，若驗等級，量立歲租，寬其征納之限，募民佃之，公私有益。今河南沿邊地多為豪民冒占，若民或流移至彼，就募令耕，不惟貧民有贍，亦增羨官租。其給丁壯者田及耕具，而免其租稅。」八月，尚書省奏：「河東地狹，稍凶荒則流亡相繼。竊謂河南地廣人稀，若令招集他路流民，量給閒田，則河東饑民減少，河南且無曠地矣。」上從所請。九月戊寅，又奏：「在制，諸人請佃官閑地者免五年租課，今乞免八年，則或多墾。」並從之。十一月，尚書省奏：「民驗丁佃河南荒閑官地者，如願作官地則免租八年，願為己業則免稅三年，並不許貿易典賣。若豪強及公吏輩有冒佃者，限兩月陳首，免罪而全給之，其稅則視其鄰地定之，以三分為率減一分，限外許諸人告詣給之。」制可。

In the twenty-seventh year (1187), powerful official families everywhere widely claimed government land, sublet it for cultivation, and extracted rent profits. Responsible offices were ordered to consolidate discovered holdings and grant them to landless poor—fifty mu per adult male—so none would be displaced; only surplus land might powerful families rent according to verified household size. In the fifth month of Dading 29 (1189), under Emperor Zhangzong, officials proposed a new deadline for poor tenants to claim government land; the prior deadline had passed and quotas were deemed met—for surplus occupiers, permitting informants might breed corruption. Moreover, edicts on reporting concealed land have been revoked; informants filing after the deadline should be rejected, and land returned only to original tenants. In Pingyang circuit as well, where land was scarce and population thick, the court ordered every parcel of government land registered in full and allotted to the poor by household head count. The emperor replied: "Reports that exceed the quota, accusing many of tenanting government land, should be turned aside—and rightly so. Others may petition only when the land has no registered holder and no one will take it on lease. In Pingyang, per-capita land limits should apply: a household of three adult males with only thirty mu of private holdings might keep an additional qing and twenty mu of leased government land; whatever remained would be registered and reassigned to the poor." In the seventh month the throne instructed the Ministry: "At Tang, Deng, Ying, Cai, Su, Si, and elsewhere lie rich lands watered by river and canal. Grade the fields, fix annual rent accordingly, ease collection deadlines, and recruit tenants—state and subjects alike would gain. Much borderland in Henan had been seized by local magnates. If displaced peasants were settled there under recruitment to farm, the poor would be fed and the treasury's rent would swell besides. Able-bodied settlers were to receive fields and implements, with rent and tax waived." In the eighth month the Ministry reported: "Hedong is cramped; the slightest bad harvest sends people fleeing in waves. Henan is wide and thinly peopled," they argued. "Summon refugees from other circuits, grant them spare fields in measured allotments, and Hedong's hungry would diminish while Henan's idle soil was put to use." The throne assented. On wuyin in the ninth month they petitioned again: "The rule grants five years' rent-free tenancy on idle government land; we ask for eight, to encourage more reclamation." All was granted. In the eleventh month the Ministry proposed: "Tenants of Henan's idle government wasteland, counted by household males, may hold it as leased government land with eight years' rent forgiven, or claim it as private land with three years' tax forgiven—but neither arrangement permits sale or pawn. Magnates and clerks who had encroached illegally were allowed two months to confess: no penalty, full title restored, tax assessed against neighboring fields at a one-third reduction. After the deadline, anyone might denounce them and take the land." The statute was enacted.

明昌元年二月，諭旨有司曰：「瀕水民地，已種蒔而為水浸者，可令以所近官田對給。」三月，敕：「當軍人所受田，止令自種，力不足者方許人承佃，亦止隨地所產納租，其自欲折錢輸納者從民所欲，不願承佃者毋強。」六月，尚書省奏：「近制以猛安謀克戶不務栽植桑果，已令每十畝須栽一畝，今乞再下各路提刑及所屬州縣，勸諭民戶，如有不栽及栽之不及十之三者，並以事怠慢輕重罪科之。」詔可。八月，敕：「隨處系官閑地，百姓已請佃者仍舊，未佃者以付屯田猛安謀克。」三年六月，尚書省奏：「南京、陝西路提刑司言，舊牧馬地久不分撥，以致軍民起訟，比差官往各路定之。凡民戶有憑驗己業，及宅井墳園，已改正給付，而其中複有官地者，亦驗數對易之矣。兩路牧地，南京路六萬三千五百二十餘頃，陝西路三萬五千六百八十餘頃。」五年，諭旨尚書省：「遼東等路女直、漢兒百姓，可並令量力為蠶桑。」二月，陳言人乞以長吏勸農立殿最，遂定制：「能勸農田者，每年謀克賞銀絹十兩匹，猛安倍之，縣官于本等升五人。三年不怠者猛安謀克遷一官，縣官升一等。田荒及十之一者笞三十，分數加至徒一年。三年皆荒者，猛安謀克追一官，縣官以升等法降之。」為永格。六年二月，詔罷括陝西之地。又陝西提刑司言：「本路戶民安水磨、油栿，所占步數在私地有稅，官田則有租，若更輸水利錢銀，是重並也，乞除之。」省臣奏：「水利錢銀以輔本路之用，未可除也，宜視實占地數，除稅租。」命他路視此為法。

In Mingchang 1, second month, officials were told: "Where floodwater has drowned fields peasants had already sown along the waterways, compensate them with adjacent government land of equal measure." In the third month an order ran: "Land granted to soldiers must be worked by the soldier himself. Only if he lacks the strength may another tenant it, paying rent in kind according to yield—or in cash, if he prefers. No one who refuses tenancy shall be compelled." In the sixth month the Ministry noted: "Meng'an-mouke households have neglected mulberry and orchards; the rule already requires one planted mu per ten. Send the order again through circuit commissioners and local magistrates. Those who omit planting, or plant less than a third of the quota, should be punished in proportion to their slackness." The edict was approved. In the eighth month the throne decreed: "Wherever idle government land lay, existing peasant leases would stand; unleased parcels would pass to garrison meng'an-mouke units." In year three, sixth month, the Ministry relayed complaints from Nanjing and Shaanxi: old pasture boundaries had never been drawn, sparking endless suits between soldiers and civilians. Inspectors were sent circuit by circuit to fix the lines. Households with documented private fields, homesteads, wells, and burial grounds had already been corrected and restored; any government land mixed into those holdings was swapped out acre for acre. Pasture totaled in the two circuits to 63,520-odd qing in Nanjing and 35,680-odd qing in Shaanxi. In the fifth year the court told the Ministry: "In Eastern Liaodong and elsewhere, Jurchen and Han subjects alike should be required, each as he was able, to take up sericulture and mulberry planting." In the second month a petitioner asked that magistrates be graded on how well they encouraged farming. The new rule promised ten taels of silver and bolts of silk yearly to each mouke who succeeded, double that to each meng'an, and promotion within rank for five county officials. Three years without lapse would advance a meng'an-mouke one rank and raise a county magistrate one grade. Land left fallow to one-tenth of the allotment earned thirty strokes of the bastinado; larger fractions escalated to a year's penal servitude. Three consecutive years of total neglect cost a meng'an-mouke one rank and dropped a county official by the inverse of the promotion scale. The measure became permanent law. In the sixth year, second month, the court canceled land consolidation in Shaanxi. Shaanxi's judicial commissioner added: "Households running water mills and oil presses pay tax on private ground they occupy and rent on government ground. A further waterworks levy piles burden on burden—we ask that it be lifted." The Ministry replied: "Waterworks silver supports the circuit's budget and cannot be scrapped outright. Measure the land actually used and waive tax or rent on that basis instead." Other circuits were told to follow the same rule.

承安二年，遣戶部郎中上官瑜往西京並沿邊，勸舉軍民耕種。又差戶部郎中李敬義往臨潢等路規畫農事。舊令，軍人所授之地不得租賃與人，違者苗付地主。泰和四年九月定制，所撥地土十裏內自種之數，每丁四十畝，續進丁同此，余者許令便宜租賃及兩和分種，違者錢業還主。上聞六路括地時，其間屯田軍戶多冒名增口，以請官地，及包取民田，而民有空輸稅賦、虛抱物力者，應詔陳言人多論之。五年二月，尚書省奏：「若複遣官分往，追照案憑，訟言紛紛，何時已乎？」遂令虛抱稅石已輸送入官者，命於稅內每歲續克之。泰和七年，募民種佃清河等處地，以其租分為諸春水處餌鵝鴨之食。八年八月，戶部尚書高汝礪言：「舊制，人戶請佃荒地者，以各路最下第五等減半定租，仍免八年輸納。若作己業，並依第七等稅錢減半，亦免三年輸納。自首冒佃比鄰田，定租三分納二。其請佃黃河退灘地者，次年納租。向者小民不為久計，比至納租之時多巧避匿，或複告退，蓋由元限太遠，請佃之初無人保識故爾。今請佃者可免三年，作己業者免一年，自首冒佃並請退灘地，並令當年輸租，以鄰首保識，為長制。」

In Cheng'an 2, Shangguan Yu of the Households Bureau was dispatched to the Western Capital and the frontier to urge soldiers and civilians into the fields. Li Jingyi of the same bureau was sent to Linhuang and neighboring circuits to lay out agricultural policy. By the old statute, soldiers could not lease out their allotments; offenders forfeited the year's crop to the nominal holder. Taihe 4, ninth month, fixed new terms: within ten li of a soldier's grant, each adult male must farm forty mu himself, each additional male the same; surplus land might be leased or share-cropped freely. Violators lost both payment and title. The emperor learned that during the six-circuit land consolidation, garrison households had inflated rolls to grab government land and swallowed civilian plots, leaving commoners paying tax on fields they did not hold. Petitioners flooded the court under the open-call edict. In the fifth year, second month, the Ministry warned: "Send inspectors out again to chase every deed and docket, and the lawsuits will never end." The court ruled instead that grain already paid on phantom assessments would be written off year by year against future tax. Taihe 7 recruited tenants for Qinghe and neighboring districts; the rent was earmarked to feed geese and ducks kept at the spring ponds. Taihe 8, eighth month: Revenue Minister Gao Ruli reported: "Under the old rule, wasteland tenants paid half the fifth-lowest circuit rate and owed nothing for eight years. Those who converted holdings to private land paid half the seventh-grade tax and enjoyed three years' exemption. Encroachers who came forward paid two-thirds of the rent fixed on adjoining fields. Tenants of the river's newly exposed shoals began paying rent in the second year. Peasants had played short games: when rent fell due they dodged, disclaimed, or petitioned to quit—because the old grace period was too long and no neighbor stood surety when they first leased. Henceforth tenancy would carry three rent-free years, private conversion one tax-free year; confessors and shoal tenants would pay immediately, with headmen of the lane as guarantors—a standing rule going forward."

宣宗貞祐三年七月，以既徙河北軍戶于河南，議所以處之者。宰臣曰：「當指官田及牧地分畀之，已為民佃者則俟秋獲後，仍日給米一升，折以分鈔。」太常丞石抹世績曰：「荒田牧地耕辟費力。奪民素墾則民失所。況軍戶率無牛，宜令軍戶分人歸守本業，至春複還，為固守計。」上卒從宰臣議，將括之，侍御史劉元規上書曰：「伏見朝廷有括地之議，聞者無不駭愕。向者河北、山東已為此舉，民之塋墓井灶悉為有軍有，怨嗟爭訟至今未絕，若複行之，則將大失眾心，荒田不可耕，徒有得地之名，而無享利之實。縱得熟土，不能親耕，而複令民佃之，所得無幾，而使紛紛交病哉！」上大悟，罷之。

Xuanzong, Zhenyou 3, seventh month: with Hebei's garrison households already relocated to Henan, the court debated how to support them. The chief ministers proposed carving up government fields and pasture. Where peasants already leased the soil, wait for autumn harvest—but keep issuing one sheng of rice a day per mouth, commuted to paper notes. Grand Ceremonialist Shimamo Shiji objected: "Wild fields and pasture cost dearly to break. Strip peasants of land they have worked for generations and they have nowhere to stand. Garrison families rarely own oxen. Better to rotate men home to their old farms until spring, then march them back—sound policy for a war of attrition." The emperor sided with the ministers and moved toward consolidation—until Attendant Censor Liu Yuangui wrote: "Word of another land roundup has spread; everyone who hears it is appalled. Hebei and Shandong had already tried it: graves, wells, and hearthstones were seized by the powerful, and the grumbling and litigation never stopped. Repeat the experiment and the throne loses the people's trust. Wasteland cannot be farmed—you gain acreage on paper, not harvest in the granary. Even fertile plots would go untilled by soldiers who then press peasants to rent them—little revenue, much misery all around!" The emperor saw the force of it and dropped the scheme.

八月，先以括地事未有定論，北方侵及河南，由是盡起諸路軍戶南來。共圖保守，而不能知所以得軍糧之術。眾議謂可分遣官聚耆老問之，其將益賦，或與軍田，二者孰便。參政汝礪言：「河南官民地相半，又多全佃官地之家，一旦奪之，何以自活？小民易動難安，一時避賦遂有舍田之言，及與人能勿悔乎，悔則忿心生矣！如山東撥地時，腴地盡入富家，瘠者乃付貧戶，無益於軍，而民有損。惟當倍益官租，以給軍食。複以系官荒田牧地量數與之，令其自耕，則民不失業，官不厲民矣！」從之。三年十月，高汝礪言：「河北軍戶徙居河南者幾百萬口，人日給米一升，歲費三百六十萬石，半以給直，猶支粟三百萬石。河南租地計二十四萬頃，歲租才一百五十六萬，乞於經費之外倍征以給之。」遂命右司諫馮開等五人分詣諸郡，就授以荒官田及牧地可耕者，人三十畝。

In the eighth month, with consolidation still unsettled, northern armies pressed into Henan and garrison households from every circuit streamed south. They resolved to hold the line—but had no plan to feed the troops. Debate turned to sending commissioners to consult village elders: raise taxes, or grant army land—which served better? Councilor Gao Ruli argued: "Henan splits evenly between government and private land, and many families live entirely on leased government fields. Seize those overnight and they starve. Common folk are quick to panic and slow to calm. Fleeing taxes they talk of walking away from their farms; hand land back and can they not regret it? Regret breeds rage. Remember Shandong: rich soil to the wealthy, stony scraps to the poor—no gain for the army, only loss for the people. Double the rent on government land and feed the troops from that. Grant measured plots of idle government wasteland and pasture for soldiers to work themselves—civilians keep their livelihood, the state avoids crushing the people." The court agreed. Tenth month, year three: Gao Ruli calculated that nearly a million relocated Hebei mouths ate one sheng of rice a day—3.6 million shi yearly; even halving cash payments, grain still ran to three million shi. Henan's leased fields totaled 240,000 qing yielding only 1.56 million in rent. He asked to double collections beyond routine revenue to cover the bill. Five officials led by Right Remonstrance Supervisor Feng Kai were sent county by county to assign thirty mu of cultivable wasteland or pasture to each man on the spot.

十一月，又議以括荒田及牧馬地給軍。命尚書右丞高汝礪總之。汝礪還奏：「今頃畝之數較之舊籍甚少，複瘠惡不可耕，均以可耕者與之，人得無幾。又僻遠之處必徙居以就之，彼皆不能自耕，必以與人，又當取租於數百里之外。況今農田且不能盡辟，豈有餘力以耕叢薄交固、草根糾結之荒地哉！軍不可仰此得食也，審矣。今詢諸軍戶，皆曰：'得半糧猶足自養，得田不能耕，複罷其廩，將何所賴？ '臣知初籍地之時，未嘗按閱其實，所以不如其數，不得其處也。若複考計州縣，必各妄承風旨，追呼究結以應命。不足其數，則妄指民田以充之，則所在騷然矣！今民之賦役三倍平時，飛挽轉輸，日不暇給，而複為此舉，何以堪之。且軍戶暫遷，行有還期，何為以此病民哉！病民而軍獲利，猶不可為，況無所利乎！惟陛下加察。」遂詔罷給田，但半給糧、半給實直焉。四年，複遣官括河南牧馬地，既籍其數，上命省院議所以給軍者，宰臣曰：「今軍戶當給糧者四十四萬八千余口，計當口占六畝有奇，繼來者不與焉。但相去數百里者，豈能以六畝之故而遠來哉！兼月支口糧不可遽罷，臣等竊謂軍戶願佃者即當計口給之。自餘僻遠不願者，宜准近制，系官荒地許軍民耕辟例，令軍民得占蒔之。」院官曰：「牧馬地少，且久荒難耕，軍戶複乏農器，然不給之，則彼自支糧外，更無從得食，非蓄銳待敵之計。給之則亦未能遽減其糧，若得遲以歲月，俟頗成倫次，漸可以省官廩耳。今奪於有力者，即以授其無力者，恐無以耕。乞令司縣官勸率民戶，借牛破荒，至來春然後給之。司縣官能率民戶以助耕而無騷動者，量加官賞，庶幾有所激勸。」宰臣複曰：「若如所言，則司縣官貪慕官賞，必將抑配，以至擾民。今民家之牛，量地而畜之。況比年以來，農功甫畢則並力轉輸猶恐不及，豈有暇耕它人之田也。惟如臣等前奏為便。」詔再議之。乃擬民有能開牧馬地及官荒地作熟田者，以半給之為永業，半給軍戶。奏可。四年，省奏：「自古用兵，且耕且戰，是以兵食交足。今諸帥分兵不啻百萬，一充軍伍咸仰於官，至於婦子居家安坐待哺，蓋不知屯田為經久之計也。願下明詔，令諸帥府各以其軍耕耨，亦以逸待勞之策也。」詔從之。

In the eleventh month the court again debated consolidating wasteland and horse pasture for the troops. Vice Minister Gao Ruli was put in charge. Gao returned with bad news: "Measured against old rolls, today's qing and mu are paltry—and much of it barren. Split the tillable portion and each man gets almost nothing. Remote allotments force families to move; they cannot farm alone, must sublet, then chase rent across hundreds of li. Existing fields are not fully worked—who has strength left for brush-choked, root-bound wilderness? The army cannot eat from this. That much is certain. Ask the garrison households and they answer: 'Half rations still feed us; give us land we cannot plow and cut our grain—what then?' The first registry never matched the ground—that is why the figures lie and the plots sit in the wrong places. Send auditors back to every county and each magistrate will fake compliance—summoning, hounding, closing books to satisfy the order. Short of quota they will mark peasant fields as army land—the whole region will erupt. Peasant burdens already triple peacetime; grain convoys leave no day free—how can they survive another roundup? These garrison families are only passing through—they will go home. Why scourge the countryside for them? Harming civilians to benefit the army would be wrong even if it worked—and it does not work. I beg Your Majesty to look closely." The throne canceled land grants and kept half rations, half cash. Year four brought another Henan pasture consolidation. With the rolls complete, the emperor asked the ministry and Court how to provision the troops. Ministers counted 448,000 mouths on grain rolls—roughly six mu each, excluding late arrivals. Men hundreds of li away will not trek home for six mu of scrub. Monthly grain cannot stop overnight. Willing tenants should receive land by head count at once. For the rest—remote families who refuse—apply the recent rule on opening idle government wasteland and let soldier and civilian alike claim and sow it. Court officials countered: "Pasture is thin, wasteland stubborn, tools scarce—yet deny them land and apart from rations they have nothing to eat. That is no way to keep an army sharp for battle. Grant land and you still cannot cut rations tomorrow—but given years, once fields take shape, state granaries might slowly breathe easier. Snatch from the strong and hand to the weak, and I doubt anyone will plow it. Order local magistrates to rally peasants, lend oxen, break ground—and grant title only next spring. Magistrates who mobilize help without unrest deserve graded rewards—perhaps that would stir them to act." Ministers rejoined: "Reward hungry officials and they will force quotas on peasants until the countryside boils. Farmers keep only as many oxen as their own acreage requires. These past years, harvest barely ends before every hand turns to convoy duty—who has time to break someone else's field? Our earlier proposal remains the better path." The throne ordered another round of debate. They settled on a compromise: peasants who bring pasture and wasteland under the plow would keep half in perpetuity; half would pass to garrison households. The plan was approved. That same year the Ministry recalled the old principle: "Armies that farm while they fight never run short of grain. Today the field armies number well over a million men, every soldier in the ranks fed from the public granaries, while wives and children sit idle at home waiting to be fed—they seem to have forgotten that colony fields are the only enduring solution. I beg Your Majesty to proclaim clearly that every command should put its troops to the plow—rest the army while wearing down the land." The throne assented.

興定三年正月，尚書右丞領三司事侯摯言：「按河南軍民田總一百九十七萬頃有奇，見耕種者九十六萬餘頃，上田可收一石二斗，中田一石，下田八斗，十一取之，歲得九百六十萬石，自可優給歲支，且使貧富均，大小各得其所。臣在東平嘗試行二三年，民不疲而軍用足。」詔有司議行之。四年十月，移剌不言：「軍戶自徙于河南，數歲尚未給田，兼以移徙不常，莫得安居，故貧者甚眾。請括諸屯處官田，人給三十畝，仍不移屯它所，如此則軍戶可以得所，官糧可以漸省。」宰臣奏：「前此亦有言授地者，樞密院以謂俟事緩而行之。今河南罹水災，流亡者眾，所種麥不及五萬頃，殆減往年太半，歲所入殆不能足。若撥授之為永業，俟有獲即罷其家糧，亦省費之一端也。」上從之。又河南水災，逋戶太半，田野荒蕪，恐賦入少而國用乏，遂命唐、鄧、裕、察、息、壽、潁、亳及歸德府被水田，已燥者布種，未滲者種稻，複業之戶免本租及一切差發，能代耕者如之，有司擅科者以違制論，闕牛及食者率富者就貸。五年正月，京南行三司石抹斡魯言：「京南、東、西三路，屯軍老幼四十萬口，歲費糧百四十余萬石，皆坐食民租，甚非善計。宜括逋戶舊耕田，南京一路舊墾田三十九萬八千五百餘頃，內官田民耕者九萬九千頃有奇。今饑民流離者太半，東、西、南路計亦如之，朝廷雖招使複業，民恐既複之後生計未定而賦斂隨之，往往匿而不出。若分給軍戶人三十畝，使之自耕，或召人佃種，可數歲之後畜積漸饒，官糧可罷。」令省臣議之，更不能行。

In the first month of Xingding 3, Hou Zhi, Vice Director of the Right of the Secretariat and head of the Three Offices, reported: "Henan holds nearly two million qing of military and civilian land, of which more than nine hundred sixty thousand qing are under the plow. Top fields yield one shi two dou, middling fields one shi, poor fields eight dou; assessed at one part in eleven, the yearly harvest comes to nine million six hundred thousand shi—enough to meet annual needs in full, and to let rich and poor, great and small, each take a fair share. I trial-tested the policy in Dongping for two or three years: the peasants did not buckle, and the army never wanted for grain. The throne referred the proposal to the responsible offices for deliberation and execution. In the tenth month of year four, Yelü Buyan said: "Garrison households were moved to Henan years ago, yet many still have no land. They are shunted from post to post and cannot put down roots; no wonder poverty runs so deep. Register the government fields at every garrison and grant thirty mu per man, without shifting the camps elsewhere. The soldiers would finally have a livelihood, and the state ration rolls could slowly shrink. The council replied: "Land grants have been proposed before. The Bureau of Military Affairs said to wait until the crisis passed. Henan has just been drowned; refugees crowd the roads. Wheat plantings fall short of fifty thousand qing—nearly half last year's acreage—and this year's intake will barely cover expenses. Grant the land as permanent holdings, and once they harvest, cut off the family rations—that alone would save a fortune. The emperor approved. Floods struck Henan again. More than half the registered households had fled, and the countryside lay fallow. Fearful that revenue would collapse and the treasury run dry, the court ordered the inundated districts of Tang, Deng, Yu, Cha, Xi, Shou, Ying, Bo, and Guide: where the soil had dried, sow grain; where water still stood, plant rice. Households returning to their farms were freed from base rent and every corvée levy, and those who tilled for others received the same relief. Unauthorized exactions by local officials were punished as violations of statute; peasants short of oxen or food were sent to borrow from the wealthy. In the first month of year five, Shimo Walu of the Jingnan Branch Three Offices said: "On the Jingnan, Eastern, and Western routes, four hundred thousand garrison mouths, young and old, consume more than 1.4 million shi of grain each year—all of it drawn from civilian rent. There is no sound policy in this. The old fields of fugitive households should be registered and reclaimed. On the Nanjing circuit alone, formerly cleared land comes to more than 398,500 qing; of that, civilians already farm nearly 100,000 qing of government soil. More than half the hungry have scattered; the Eastern and Western southern routes fare no better. The court calls them home, but peasants fear that the moment they return, taxes will follow before their livelihood is secure—so they stay hidden. Give each garrison household thirty mu to farm for itself, or lease the land to tenants, and within a few years the granaries would fill; then the state rations could end. The throne ordered the provincial ministers to debate the plan—and once again nothing came of it.

金制，官地輸租，私田輸稅。租之制不傳，大率分田之等為九而差次之。夏稅畝取三合，秋稅畝取五升，又納秸一束，束十有五斤。夏稅六月止八月，秋稅十月止十二月，為初、中、末三限，州三百裏外，紓其期一月。屯田戶佃官地者，有司移猛安謀克督之。泰和五年，章宗諭宰臣曰：「十月民獲未畢，遽令納稅可乎？」改秋稅限十一月為初。中都、西京、北京、上京、遼東、臨潢、陝西地寒，稼穡遲熟，夏稅限以七月為初。凡輸送粟麥，三百裏外石減五升，以上每三百里遞減五升。粟折秸百稱者，百里內減三稱，二百里減五稱，不及三百里減八稱，三百里及輸本色槁草，各減十稱。計民田園、邸舍、車乘、牧畜、種植之資，藏鏹之數，征錢有差，謂之物力錢。遇差科，必按版籍，先及富者，勢均則以丁多寡定甲乙。有橫科，則視物力，循大至小均科。其或不可分摘者，率以次戶濟之。凡民之物力，所居之宅不預。猛安謀克戶、監戶、官戶所居外，自置民田宅，則預其數。墓田、學田，租稅、物力皆免。

Under Jin law, government land owed rent; private land owed tax. The rent code itself has not come down intact; in general, fields were ranked in nine grades and taxed accordingly. Summer tax was three he per mu; autumn tax five sheng per mu, plus one bundle of straw weighing fifteen jin. Summer tax was due between the sixth and eighth months, autumn tax between the tenth and twelfth, each in three installments; prefectures more than three hundred li distant were granted an extra month. Tuntian households farming government land were overseen by the local meng'an-mouke, as ordered by the civil authorities. In Taihe 5, Emperor Zhangzong asked his ministers: "In the tenth month the harvest is still underway—is it right to demand tax payment so soon? The first autumn-tax installment was moved to the eleventh month. In the cold northern circuits—Zhongdu, Western Capital, Northern Capital, Upper Capital, Liaodong, Linhuang, and Shaanxi—where grain ripens late, the first summer-tax deadline was set to the seventh month. For grain deliveries, five sheng per shi was forgiven beyond three hundred li, and another five sheng per shi for every additional three hundred li. When grain was commuted to straw at one hundred cheng per unit, carriers within one hundred li were forgiven three cheng, at two hundred li five cheng, under three hundred li eight cheng; at three hundred li, or when paying straw in kind, ten cheng were forgiven in each case. The state tallied each household's gardens, townhouses, carts, livestock, plantings, and hoarded coin, and levied cash in graded amounts—this was called the wuli levy. Whenever special corvée was imposed, officials checked the household registers, called on the wealthy first, and where wealth was equal, ranked households by the number of adult males. For emergency exactions, officials looked to each household's wuli assessment and spread the burden from the richest down. When a levy could not be divided precisely, the shortfall was usually made up from the next lower grade of households. In assessing civilian wuli, the home one lived in was excluded. Only the residence of a meng'an-mouke, prison, or official household was exempt; any private civilian land or dwelling they owned elsewhere was counted. Grave plots and school lands owed no rent, no tax, and no wuli levy.

民訴水旱應免者，河南、山東、河東、大名、京兆、鳳翔、彰德部內支郡，夏田四月，秋田七月，余路夏以五月，秋以八月，水田則通以八月為限，遇閏月則展期半月，限外訴者不理。非時之災則無限。損十之八者全免，七分免所損之數，六分則全征。桑被災不能蠶，則免絲綿絹稅。諸路雨雪及禾稼收穫之數，月以捷步申戶部。凡敘使品官之家，並免雜役，驗物力所當輸者、止出雇錢。進納補官未至廕子孫、及凡有出身者、謂司吏、譯人等。出職帶官敘當身者、雜班敘使五品以下、及正品承應已帶散官未出職者，子孫與其同居兄弟，下逮終場舉人，系籍學生、醫學生，皆免一身之役。三代同居，已旌門則免差發，三年後免雜役。

Peasants claiming flood or drought relief had to petition by fixed deadlines: in the branch counties of Henan, Shandong, Hedong, Daming, Jingzhao, Fengxiang, and Zhangde, by the fourth month for summer crops and the seventh for autumn; elsewhere by the fifth month for summer and the eighth for autumn; paddy fields in all circuits by the eighth month. An intercalary month added half a month; late petitions were rejected. Disasters that struck out of season carried no time limit. If eight parts in ten were lost, tax was remitted entirely; if seven, remission matched the loss; if six, the full levy stood. When disaster ruined the mulberry and silkworms could not be raised, taxes in silk, cotton, and cloth were waived. Every circuit sent monthly courier reports to the Ministry of Revenue on rain, snow, and harvest totals. Families of appointed officials of rank were freed from miscellaneous corvée; where wuli obligations remained, they paid hire-money in lieu of labor. This covered men who had purchased office but not yet earned hereditary rank for their sons, and all who held formal entry—clerks, translators, and the like. Also exempt were men who had retired but still carried nominal rank; miscellaneous envoys of fifth rank and below; attendants of regular grade who held scattered rank but had not yet taken formal leave—their sons and brothers living under the same roof, down to final-session examination graduates, registered students, and medical students—all were freed from personal corvée. Where three generations dwelt together and the family gate had been honored by imperial commendation, corvée dispatch was waived at once and all miscellaneous corvée after three years.

太宗天會元年，敕有司輕徭賦，勸稼穡。十年，以遼人士庶之族賦役等差不一，詔有司命悉均之。熙宗天眷五年十二月，詔免民戶殘欠租稅。皇統三年，蠲民稅之未足者。世宗大定二年五月，謂宰臣曰：「凡有徭役，均科強戶，不得抑配貧民。」有言以用度不足，奏預借河北東西路、中都租稅，上以國用雖乏，民力尤艱，遂不允。三年，以歲歉，詔免二年租稅。又詔曰：「朕比以元帥府從宜行事，今聞河南、陝西、山東、北京以東、及北邊州郡，調發甚多，而省部又與他州一例征取賦役，是重擾也。可憑元帥府已取者例，蠲除之。」五年，命有司：「凡罹蝗旱水溢之地，蠲其賦稅。」六年，以河北、山東水，免其租。八年十月，彰德軍節度使高昌福上書言稅租甚重，上諭翰林學士張景仁曰：「今租稅法比近代甚輕，而以為重，何也？」景仁曰：「今之稅斂殊輕，非稅斂則國用何從而出？」二年二月，尚書省奏：「天下倉廩貯粟二千七十九萬余石。」上曰：「朕聞國無九年之蓄則國非其國，朕是以括天下之田以均其賦，歲取九百萬石，自經費七百萬石外，二百萬石又為水旱之所蠲免及賑貸之用，余才百萬石而已。朕廣蓄積，備饑謹也。小民以為稅重，小臣沽民譽，亦多議之。蓋不慮國家緩急之備也。」

In Tianhui 1, Emperor Taizong ordered the offices to ease corvée and taxes and to encourage farming. In year ten, because corvée fell unevenly on Khitan nobles and commoners alike, the throne commanded that all distinctions be leveled. In the twelfth month of Tianjuan 5, Emperor Xizong remitted outstanding rent and tax owed by civilian households. In Huangtong 3, unpaid civilian taxes were forgiven. In the fifth month of Dading 2, Emperor Shizong told his ministers: "Whenever corvée is imposed, spread it across the strong households—never force the burden onto the poor. When officials cited empty coffers and proposed advancing rent and tax from the Hebei Eastern and Western circuits and Zhongdu, the emperor replied that though the treasury was bare, the people's strength was far more exhausted—and he refused. In the third year, harvests failed, and the throne ordered a two-year remission of rent and taxes. Another edict declared: "I had lately allowed the Marshal's Headquarters to act at discretion. Now word reaches me that Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong, the country east of the Beijing circuit, and the northern frontier districts are being levied for war deployments far beyond their capacity—yet the ministries still collect the same levies and corvée as every other circuit. The people are being harassed twice over. Whatever the Marshal's Office has already collected should serve as precedent; the rest is to be remitted." In the fifth year he directed the responsible offices: "Wherever locusts, drought, or flood have struck, remit all levies and taxes there." In the sixth year, floods in Hebei and Shandong brought a remission of rent. In the tenth month of the eighth year, Zhangde's military commissioner Gao Changfu memorialized that rent and taxes were crushingly heavy. The emperor told Hanlin academician Zhang Jingren: "Our tax laws are lighter than anything in recent memory—so why does he call them heavy?" Zhang replied: "Tax collection today is remarkably light. Without it, where would state revenue come from?" In the second month of the second year, the Ministry reported: "Realm-wide granaries hold more than 20.79 million shi of grain." The emperor said: "A realm without a nine-year grain reserve is no realm at all. That is why I surveyed the empire's fields and equalized the levy, collecting nine million shi each year. Seven million cover ordinary expenditure; two million go to drought and flood remissions and relief loans. Barely a million remain in reserve. I am building reserves against famine—that is the point. Common folk call the taxes heavy; petty officials court popularity, and many join the chorus of complaint. They spare no thought for what the state must hold in reserve for crisis."

十二年正月，以水旱免中都、西京、南京、河北、河東、山東、陝西去年租稅。十三年，謂宰臣曰：「民間科差，計所免已過半矣。慮小民不能詳知，吏緣為奸，仍舊征取，其令所在揭榜諭之。」十月，敕州縣官不盡力催督稅租，以致逋懸者，可止其俸，使之征足，然後給之。十六年正月，詔免去年被水旱路分租稅。十七年，上問宰臣曰：「遼東賦稅舊六萬余石，通檢後幾二十萬。六萬時何以仰給，二十萬後所積幾何？」戶部契勘，謂：「先以官吏數少故能給，今官吏兵卒及孤老數多，以此費大。」上曰：「當察其實，毋令妄費也。」十七年三月，詔免河北、山東、陝西、河東、西京、遼東等十路去年被旱蝗租稅。十八年正月。免中都、河北、河東、山東、河南、陝西等路前年被災租稅。十九年秋，中都、西京、河北、山東、河東、陝西以水旱傷民田十三萬七千七百餘頃，詔蠲其租。二十年三月，以中都、西京、河北、山東、河東、陝西路前歲被災，詔免其租稅。以戶部尚書曹望之之言，詔減鄜延及河東南路稅五十二萬余石，增河北西路稅八萬八千石。又詔諸稅粟非關邊要之地者，除當儲數外，聽民從便折納。二十一年九月，以中都水災，免租。前時近官路百姓以牛夫充遞運者，複於它處未嘗就役之家征錢償之。二十三年，宗州民王仲規告乞征還所役牛夫錢，省臣以奏，上曰：「此既就役，複征錢於彼，前雖如此行之，複恐所給錢未必能到本戶，是兩不便也。不若止計所役，免租稅及鋪馬錢為便。其預計實數以聞。若和雇價直亦須裁定也。」有司上其數，歲約給六萬四千余貫，計折粟八萬六千余石。上複命，自今役牛夫之家，以去道三十裏內居者充役。二十六年，軍民地罹水旱之災者，二十一萬頃免稅凡四十九萬余石。二十七年六月，免中都、河北等路嘗被河決水災軍民租稅。十一月，詔河水泛溢，農田被災者，與免差稅一年。懷、衛、孟、鄭四州塞河勞役，並免今年差稅。章宗大定二十九年，赦民租十之一。河東南北路則量減之。尚書省奏，兩路田多峻阪，磽瘠者往往再歲一易，若不以地等級蠲除，則有不均。遂敕以赦書特免一分外，中田複減一分，下田減二分。舊制，夏、秋稅納麥、粟、草三色，以各處所須之物不一，戶部複令以諸所用物折納。上封事者言其不可，戶部謂如此則諸路所須之物要當和市，轉擾民矣。遂命太府監，應折納之物為祗承宮禁者，治黃河薪芻增直二錢折納，如黃河岸所用木石固非土產，乃令所屬計置，而罷它應折納者。

In the first month of the twelfth year, flood and drought brought a remission of the previous year's rent and taxes in Zhongdu, the Western and Southern Capitals, Hebei, Hedong, Shandong, and Shaanxi. In the thirteenth year, he told his chief ministers: "By my reckoning, more than half of the corvée and levies owed by commoners have already been remitted. Fearing that ordinary people would not learn the details and that clerks would exploit the confusion to keep collecting as before, he ordered notices posted everywhere to make the remissions plain." In the tenth month he ordered that any prefectural or district official who failed to press hard for rent and tax, allowing arrears to pile up, should have his salary stopped until the shortfall was made up—only then would he be paid again. In the first month of the sixteenth year, an edict remitted the previous year's rent and taxes in every circuit subdivision hit by flood or drought. In the seventeenth year, the emperor asked his chief ministers: "Liaodong's land tax once yielded a little over sixty thousand shi; after the comprehensive survey it nears two hundred thousand. When the levy was sixty thousand shi, how did the circuit meet its costs? Now that it is two hundred thousand, how much is actually saved?" The Ministry of Revenue investigated and answered: "Before, there were few officials and clerks, so the revenue was enough; now there are far more officials, soldiers, and widowed and elderly dependents, and costs have risen accordingly." The emperor said: "Look into the truth of the matter, and do not permit reckless spending." In the third month of the seventeenth year, an edict remitted the previous year's rent and taxes in ten circuits—Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, Hedong, the Western Capital, Liaodong, and the rest—where drought and locusts had struck. In the first month of the eighteenth year, rent and taxes were remitted for the previous year's disaster in Zhongdu, Hebei, Hedong, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, and other circuits. In the autumn of the nineteenth year, flood and drought ruined more than 137,700 qing of civilian farmland in Zhongdu, the Western Capital, Hebei, Shandong, Hedong, and Shaanxi; an edict remitted the rent on those fields. In the third month of the twentieth year, because Zhongdu, the Western Capital, Hebei, Shandong, Hedong, and Shaanxi had been disaster-stricken the year before, an edict remitted their rent and taxes. Acting on the advice of Minister of Revenue Cao Wangzhi, the throne ordered taxes in Fuyan and Hedong South Circuit cut by more than 520,000 shi and taxes in Hebei West Circuit raised by 88,000 shi. Another edict declared that in regions not vital to the frontier, once storage quotas were met, civilians might commute their grain tax in whatever form suited them. In the ninth month of the twenty-first year, flooding in Zhongdu brought a remission of rent. Previously, when commoners living near the imperial highways supplied ox-drivers for relay transport, the state also collected cash from households elsewhere that had not served, to pay them compensation. In the twenty-third year, Wang Zhonggui, a commoner of Zong Prefecture, petitioned for repayment of the cash levied for ox-driver corvée. The provincial ministers reported the case, and the emperor said: "The households that served are charged again, while money is collected from others who did not. This practice has stood for some time, but I doubt the compensation ever reaches the household that actually bore the labor. Nobody is well served. Better simply to tally who has served and remit their rent, taxes, and relay-horse fees in lieu of cash. Work out the actual numbers and report them. If hired-labor rates are involved, those must be fixed as well." The responsible offices submitted their figures: annual outlay would come to a little over 64,000 strings of cash, equivalent to more than 86,000 shi of grain. The emperor added a further order: henceforth only households living within thirty li of the highway might be pressed for ox-driver corvée. In the twenty-sixth year, 210,000 qing of military and civilian land hit by flood and drought received tax remissions totaling more than 490,000 shi. In the sixth month of the twenty-seventh year, rent and taxes were remitted for military and civilian households in Zhongdu, Hebei, and other circuits that had earlier suffered river-breach floods. In the eleventh month, an edict granted a one-year remission of corvée and taxes wherever river floods had ruined farmland. The four prefectures of Huai, Wei, Meng, and Zheng, exhausted by labor to stem the river, were all granted remission of this year's corvée and taxes. In the twenty-ninth year of Dading, under Emperor Zhangzong, an amnesty remitted one-tenth of civilian rent. In Hedong North and South Circuits the remission was scaled to local conditions. The Ministry reported that in those two circuits much land climbed steep slopes and poor fields were often left fallow every other year; unless remissions followed land grades, the relief would fall unevenly. An order followed: beyond the one-tenth amnesty remission, middle-grade fields received an additional one-tenth cut and lower-grade fields a two-tenths cut. Under the old system, summer and autumn taxes were paid in wheat, millet, and fodder grass. Because each region required different goods, the Ministry of Revenue again ordered taxpayers to commute payment in whatever articles were needed locally. A sealed memorial to the throne argued that this would not do; the Ministry replied that without commutation, every circuit would have to buy what it needed on the market, harassing the people all the more. The throne then ordered the Imperial Household Store to accept commutation, at a two-cash premium, for goods serving the palace and for Yellow River firewood and fodder; timber and stone used on the riverbank, not being local products, were to be procured by the offices concerned—and all other commutation requirements were abolished.

十一月，尚書省奏：「河南荒閑官地，許人計丁請佃，願仍為官者免租八年，願為己業者免稅三年。」詔從之。明昌二年二月，敕自今民有訴水旱災傷者，即委官按視其實，申所屬州府，移報提刑司，同所屬檢畢，始令翻耕。三年六月，有司言河州災傷，闕食之民猶有未輸租者，詔蠲之。九月，以山東、河北三路被災，其權閣之租及借貸之粟，令俟歲豐日續征。上如秋山，免圍場經過人戶今歲夏秋租稅之半。四年冬十月，上行幸，諭旨尚書省曰：「海壖石城等縣，地瘠民困，所種惟黍稗而已。及賦於官，必以易粟輸之。或令止課所產，或依河東路減稅，至還京當定議以聞。」五年，敕免河決被災之民秋租。泰和四年四月，以久旱下詔責躬，免所旱州縣今年夏稅。九月，陳言者謂：「河間、滄州逃戶，物力錢至數千貫，而其差發，有司止取辦於見戶，民不能堪矣！」詔令按察司，除地土物力命隨其業，而權止其浮財物力。五年正月，詔有司：「自泰和三年嘗所行幸至三次者，被科之民特免半年租稅。」八年五月，以宋謀和，詔天下，免河南、山東、陝西六路今年夏稅，河東、河北、大名等五路半之。八月，詔諸路農民請佃荒田者，與免租賦三年，作己業者一年，自首冒佃、及請佃黃河退灘地者，不在免例。

In the eleventh month, the Ministry reported: "Idle government wasteland in Henan may be leased by counting adult males in the household; those who keep the land as government property receive eight years' rent remission, and those who take it as private holdings receive three years' tax remission." The edict approved the proposal. In the second month of the second year of Mingchang, he ordered that whenever commoners petitioned over flood, drought, or crop damage, officials should at once be sent to verify the facts, report to the prefecture or circuit concerned, notify the Judicial Intendant, and only after a joint inspection with local authorities was complete might the fields be cleared for replowing. In the sixth month of the third year, officials reported that Hezhou had been stricken by crop failure. Even among people already short of food, some remained in arrears on rent—so the throne ordered the levies remitted. In the ninth month, because the three Shandong and Hebei circuits had been hit by disaster, deferred rent and loaned grain were to be collected only after a bumper harvest. When the emperor went to Mount Qiu for the autumn hunt, he remitted half the summer and autumn rent and tax for every household lying along the route of the imperial preserve. In the tenth month of winter in the fourth year, on imperial tour, he instructed the Ministry: "In the coastal counties of Shicheng and elsewhere, the soil is poor and the people are hard pressed—they grow nothing but coarse millet and barnyard grass. When taxes come due, they must be paid in grain obtained by barter. Either assess only what the land actually yields, or reduce taxes along Hedong Circuit lines—I will decide on a definitive policy when I return to the capital and report it." In the fifth year, an edict remitted the autumn rent of those stricken when the river broke its banks. In the fourth month of Taihe 4, after a prolonged drought the emperor issued a self-reproach edict and remitted the summer tax for every drought-stricken prefecture and county that year. In the ninth month, a memorialist said: "In Hejian and Cangzhou, absconding households owe thousands of strings in wuli levies, yet when corvée is assigned officials squeeze only the households still on the rolls—the burden is unbearable!" An edict ordered the Intendant Offices to exempt land-based wuli assessments tied to each household's occupation and temporarily suspend levies on movable property. In the first month of the fifth year, the throne told responsible officials: "From Taihe 3 onward, wherever the emperor has toured three times, the districts levied for those visits shall receive a special half-year remission of rent and tax." In the fifth month of the eighth year, with Song seeking peace, an edict throughout the realm remitted the summer tax for Henan, Shandong, and Shaanxi—six circuits in all—and cut it by half in Hedong, Hebei, Daming, and four other circuits. In the eighth month, farmers in every circuit who leased wasteland were granted three years free of rent and levies; those converting land to private holdings received one year. Encroachers who came forward, and anyone applying for newly exposed Yellow River flats, were excluded.

宣宗貞祐三年十月，禦史田迥秀言：「方今軍國所需，一切責之河南。有司不惜民力，徵調太急，促其期限，痛其棰楚。民既罄其所有而不足，遂使奔走傍求於它境，力竭財殫，相踵散亡，禁之不能止也，乞自今凡科征必先期告之，不急者皆罷，庶民力寬而逋者可複。」詔行之。十二月，詔免逃戶租稅。四年三月，免陝西逃戶租。五月，山東行省僕散安貞言：「泗州被災，道殣相望，所食者草根木皮而已。而邳州戍兵數萬，急征重役，悉出三縣，官吏酷暴，擅括宿藏，以應一切之命。民皆逋竄，又別遣進納閑官以相迫督。皆怙勢營私，實到官者才十之一，而徒使國家有厚斂之名。乞命信臣革此弊以安百姓。」詔從之。興定元年二月，免中京、嵩、汝等逋租十六萬石。四年，禦史中丞完顏伯嘉奏：「亳州大水，計當免租三十萬石，而三司官不以實報，止免十萬而已。」詔命治三司官虛妄之罪。七月，以河南大水，下詔免租勸種，且命參知政事李複亨為宣慰使，中丞完顏伯嘉副之。十月，以久雨，令寬民輸稅之限。十一月，上曰：「聞百姓多逃，而逋賦皆抑配見戶，人何以堪？軍儲既足，宜悉除免。今又添軍須錢太多，亡者詎肯複業乎？」遂命行部官閱實免之，已代納者給以恩例，或除它役，仍減桑皮故紙錢四之一。三年，令逃戶複業者但輸本租，余差役一切皆免。能代耕者，免如複戶。有司失信擅科者，以違制論。

In the tenth month of Zhenyou 3, under Emperor Xuanzong, Censor Tian Jiongxiu said: "Everything the army and the state now need is loaded onto Henan alone. Officials spare no civilian labor; levies come too fast, deadlines too tight, and the lash falls too hard. When people had spent everything and still could not meet the demands, they wandered into neighboring districts for help; exhausted and destitute, they fled in waves no prohibition could stop. He asked that every levy hereafter be announced well in advance, that non-urgent collections be canceled outright, so the people might breathe and absconders might come home." The throne ordered his proposal carried out. In the twelfth month, an edict remitted the rent and taxes of absconding households. In the third month of the fourth year, the rent of absconding households in Shaanxi was remitted. In the fifth month, Pusan Anzhen of the Shandong Branch Secretariat reported: "Sizhou has been devastated. Corpses line the roads, and people survive on roots and bark. Yet Pizhou's garrison of tens of thousands pressed urgent and heavy corvée, draining three counties dry. Officials were brutal, seizing hidden stores at will to satisfy every requisition. The people fled in mass; idle surplus officials were sent out separately to hunt them down. They abused their authority for private profit—barely a tenth of what was collected ever reached the treasury—while the state earned only a name for rapacious taxation. He asked that trustworthy officials be dispatched to end these abuses and restore order among the people." The throne assented. In the second month of Xingding 1, 160,000 shi of arrears in Zhongjing, Song, Ru, and neighboring districts were remitted. In the fourth year, Censor-in-Chief Wanyan Bojia memorialized: "Bozhou suffered severe flooding—a full remission should have amounted to 300,000 shi of rent, but Three Departments officials underreported the figure and remitted only 100,000." An edict ordered the false-reporting Three Departments officials punished. In the seventh month, after catastrophic flooding in Henan, an edict remitted rent and urged replanting. Vice Grand Councillor Li Fuheng was named Pacification Commissioner, with Censor-in-Chief Wanyan Bojia as his deputy. In the tenth month, prolonged rains brought an extension of the tax-payment deadline. In the eleventh month, the emperor said: "I hear that commoners are fleeing in numbers, yet unpaid levies are forced onto the households still on the rolls—how can anyone endure it? With military stores already full, these levies should be remitted outright. And now military-supply levies are piled on top—why would anyone who has fled ever come home?" He ordered touring officials to verify the accounts and grant remissions. Those who had already paid arrears for others were rewarded with favors or exempted from other corvée, and the mulberry-bark and waste-paper levy was cut by one quarter. In the third year, absconders who returned to farming owed only their basic rent; all other corvée and special levies were waived. Those who could farm on behalf of absconders received the same exemptions as returning households. Officials who broke faith and levied without authorization were prosecuted for violating regulations.

四年十二月，鎮南軍節度使溫蒂罕思敬上書言：「今民輸稅，其法大抵有三，上戶輸遠倉，中戶次之，下戶最近。然近者不下百里，遠者數百里，道路之費倍於所輸，而雨雪有稽違之責。遇賊有死傷之患。不若止輸本郡，令有司檢算倉之所積，稱屯兵之數，使就食之。若有不足，則增斂於民，民計所斂不及道裏之費，將忻然從之矣！」五年十月，上諭宰臣曰：「比欲民多種麥，故令所在官貸易麥種。今聞實不貸與，而虛立案簿，反收其數以補不足之租。其遣使究治。」

In the twelfth month of the fourth year, Zhennan Army Military Commissioner Wendihan Sijing wrote: "When people deliver taxes today, the rule divides households into three grades: upper households haul to distant granaries, middle households to middling ones, lower households to the nearest. Even the nearest granary lies a hundred li away and the farthest several hundred; transport costs can double the tax itself, and rain or snow bring penalties for late delivery. Bandits along the road bring risk of death. Better to pay taxes locally: let officials tally each granary's stores against local garrison strength and feed the troops on the spot. If stores still fall short, levy a surcharge—but when people find the surcharge cheaper than haulage, they will gladly pay it!" In the tenth month of the fifth year, the emperor told his chief ministers: "I wanted farmers to grow more wheat, so I ordered local offices to lend seed on exchange terms. I now hear they never lend the seed at all—they keep hollow ledger entries and simply collect the nominal amounts to cover rent shortfalls. Send investigators and punish the offenders."

牛頭稅

Tax on Ox Teams

即牛具稅，猛安謀克部女直戶所輸之稅也。其制每耒牛三頭為一具，限民口二十五受田四頃四畝有奇，歲輸粟大約不過一石，官民占田無過四十具。天會三年，太宗以歲稔，官無儲積無以備饑謹，詔令一耒賦粟一石，每謀克別為一廩貯之。四年，詔內地諸路，每牛一具賦粟五斗，為定制。

This was the ox-team tax paid by Jurchen households registered in meng'an-mouke units. The rule fixed three draft oxen as one team. A household of twenty-five mouths received just over four qing of land and owed at most one shi of grain yearly. No meng'an household, official or civilian, could hold more than forty teams. In Tianhui 3, after a bumper harvest left the state with no reserves against famine, Emperor Taizong ordered one shi of grain per plow ox. Each mouke was to maintain its own granary. In the fourth year, interior circuits were ordered to fix the levy at five dou per ox team as standing law.

世宗大定元年，詔諸猛安不經遷移者，征牛具稅粟，就命謀克監其倉，虧損則坐之。十二年，尚書省奏：「唐古部民舊同猛安謀克定稅，其後改同州縣，履畝立稅，頗以為重。」遂命從舊制。二十年，定功授世襲謀克，許以親族從行，當給以地者，除牛九具以下全給，十具以上四十具以下者，則於官豪之家量撥地六具與之。二十一年，世宗謂宰臣曰：「前時一歲所收可支三年，比聞今歲山西豐稔，所獲可支三年。此間地一歲所獲不能支半歲，而又牛頭稅粟，每牛一頭止令各輸三斗，又多逋懸，此皆遞互隱匿所致，當令盡實輸之。」二十三年，有司奏其事，世宗謂左丞完顏襄曰：「卿家舊止七具，今定為四十具，朕始令卿等議此，而卿皆不欲，蓋各顧其私爾。是後限民口二十五，算牛一具。」七月，尚書省複奏其事，上慮版籍歲久貧富不同，猛安謀克又皆年少，不練時事，一旦軍興，按籍征之必有不均之患。乃令驗實推排。閱其戶口、畜產之數，其以上京二十二路來上。八月，尚書省奏，推排定猛安謀克戶口、田畝、牛具之數。猛安二百二，謀克千八百七十八，戶六十一萬五千六百二十四，口六百一十五萬八千六百三十六，內正口四百八十一萬二千六百六十九，奴婢口一百三十四萬五千九百六十七，田一百六十九萬三百八十頃有奇，牛具三十八萬四千七百七十一。在都宗室將軍司，戶一百七十，口二萬八千七百九十，內正口九百八十二，奴婢口二萬七千八百八，田三千六百八十三頃七十五畝有奇，牛具三百四。迭剌、唐古二部五颭，戶五千五百八十五，口一十三萬七千五百四十四，內正口十一萬九千四百六十三，奴婢口一萬八千八十一，田四萬六千二十四頃一十七畝，牛具五千六十六。後二十六年，尚書省奏並征牛頭稅粟，上曰：「積壓五年，一見並征，民何以堪？其令民隨年輸納。被災者蠲之，貸者俟豐年征還。」

In Dading 1, Emperor Shizong ordered unmoved meng'an units to pay the ox-team grain tax, with each mouke supervising its granary; losses were punishable. In the twelfth year, the Ministry reported: "Tanggou tribesmen once paid taxes under meng'an-mouke rules; after they were treated like county households and taxed per mu, the burden was widely felt as crushing." They were ordered back to the old system. In the twentieth year, when meritorious service earned hereditary mouke rank and kin were permitted to follow, land grants were fixed: households owed fewer than nine ox teams received full allotments; those rated ten to forty teams received land equivalent to six teams, reassigned from official and wealthy estates. In the twenty-first year, Shizong told his ministers: "Once a year's harvest could feed the realm for three. I hear Shanxi is having a bumper year—enough, they say, for three years' supply. Here one harvest barely lasts six months. For the ox-head grain tax, each ox owes only three dou—yet arrears mount, all from hidden evasion. Make them pay every bit owed." In the twenty-third year, when officials memorialized on the matter, Shizong said to Left Vice Grand Councillor Wanyan Xiang: "Your clan once held seven ox teams; now the register lists forty. I asked you ministers to debate this—you refused, each protecting his own interest. Thereafter one ox team was tallied for every twenty-five mouths." In the seventh month the Ministry raised the issue again. The emperor feared that after decades on the rolls, wealth no longer matched the records—and with young, inexperienced meng'an-mouke in charge, a war mobilization keyed to old registers would land unevenly on the people. He ordered a verified household reassessment. Household registers and livestock were audited; returns came in from the twenty-two circuits north of Shangjing. In the eighth month, the Ministry reported the reassessment totals for meng'an-mouke households, field acreage, and ox teams. The count: 202 meng'an, 1,878 mouke, 615,624 households, 6,158,636 mouths (4,812,669 registered, 1,345,967 servile), 1,690,380-plus qing of land, and 384,771 ox teams. At the capital's Imperial-Clan General's Office: 170 households, 28,790 mouths (982 registered, 27,808 servile), 3,683 qing 75 mu plus a fraction of land, and 304 ox teams. For the Diela and Tanggou divisions across five banners: 5,585 households, 137,544 mouths (119,463 registered, 18,081 servile), 46,024 qing 17 mu of land, and 5,066 ox teams. Twenty-six years later, when the Ministry proposed collecting five years of ox-head grain tax at once, the emperor said: "Five years piled into one levy—how can the people endure it? Let the people pay year by year. Remit levies where disaster strikes; collect loans only in bumper years."

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