1
賦役之法，唐租庸調猶為近古。 自楊炎作兩稅法，簡而易行，歷代相沿，至明不改。 太祖為吳王，賦稅十取一，役法計田出夫。 縣上、中、下三等，以賦十萬、六萬、三萬石下為差。 府三等，以賦二十萬上下、十萬石下為差。 即位之初，定賦役法，一以黃冊為準。 冊有丁有田，丁有役，田有租。 租曰夏稅，曰秋糧，凡二等。 夏稅無過八月，秋糧無過明年二月。 丁曰成丁，曰未成丁，凡二等。 民始生，籍其名曰不成丁，年十六曰成丁。 成丁而役，六十而免。 又有職役優免者，役曰裏甲，曰均徭，曰雜泛，凡三等。 以戶計曰甲役，以丁計曰徭役，上命非時曰雜役，皆有力役，有僱役。 府州縣驗冊丁口多寡，事產厚薄，以均適其力。
In matters of tax and corvée, the Tang practice of zu, yong, and diao still resembled the older order more closely than what followed. After Yang Yan introduced the two-tax system, its simplicity and ease of administration won lasting adoption; dynasty after dynasty kept it, and the Ming did not alter it. While the Founding Emperor was still King of Wu, he levied taxes at one tenth, and apportioned corvée labor according to holdings in land. Counties ranked upper, middle, or lower based on whether their registered levies fell below one hundred thousand, sixty thousand, or thirty thousand dan. Prefectures likewise fell into three grades, keyed to whether their levies stood above or below two hundred thousand dan, or below one hundred thousand. Soon after his enthronement he codified tax and corvée law, with the yellow registers as the sole authority. The registers listed household males and land: males bore corvée duty, land bore grain rent. Land tax came in two forms: summer tax and autumn grain. Summer tax had to be paid by the eighth month at latest; autumn grain by the second month of the new year. Household males were classified as adults or minors—two grades in all. Newborns were registered as minors; at sixteen they became liable adults. Adults performed corvée until age sixty, when they were released from duty. Certain officeholders enjoyed corvée exemptions. Duties fell into three kinds: li-jia service, equalized corvée, and miscellaneous levies. Household-based duties were jia service; male-based duties were yao corvée; extraordinary imperial orders were miscellaneous corvée. Each category could be fulfilled by labor or by hired substitutes. Prefectures, subprefectures, and counties checked registers for household size and wealth, then apportioned burdens to match each taxpayer's capacity.
2
兩稅，洪武時，夏稅曰米麥，曰錢鈔，曰絹。 秋糧曰米，曰錢鈔，曰絹。 弘治時，會計之數，夏稅曰大小米麥，曰麥荍，曰絲綿並荒絲，曰稅絲，曰絲綿折絹，曰稅絲折絹，曰本色絲，曰農桑絲折絹，曰農桑零絲，曰人丁絲折絹，曰改科絹，曰棉花折布，曰薴布，曰土薴，曰紅花，曰麻布，曰鈔，曰租鈔，曰稅鈔，曰原額小絹，曰幣帛絹，曰本色絹，曰絹，曰折色絲。 秋糧曰米，曰租鈔，曰賃鈔，曰山租鈔，曰租絲，曰租絹，曰粗租麻布，曰課程棉布，曰租薴布，曰牛租米穀，曰地畝棉花絨，曰棗子易米，曰棗株課米，曰課程薴麻折米，曰棉布，曰魚課米，曰改科絲折米。 萬歷時，小有所增損，大略以米麥為主，而絲絹與鈔次之。 夏稅之米惟江西、湖廣、廣東、廣西，麥荍惟貴州，農桑絲遍天下，惟不及川、廣、雲、貴，餘各視其地產。
Under the two-tax system in the Hongwu reign, summer tax was paid in grain, paper notes, or silk. Autumn grain likewise could be paid in rice, paper notes, or silk. By the Hongzhi reign the summer-tax ledger had grown elaborate: grain and wheat in several grades, chaff, silk floss and waste silk, tax silk, floss and tax silk commuted to fabric, silk paid in kind, farm-mulberry silk and loose ends, per-capita silk, reclassified silk, cotton and ramie commuted to cloth, native ramie, safflower, hemp cloth, various paper notes, small silk at original quotas, currency silk, and commuted silk of every description. Autumn grain entries likewise multiplied: rice, rent and lease notes, mountain-rent notes, rent silk and fabric, coarse hemp and course cotton, ramie cloth, ox-rent grain, cotton floss by the mu, jujube levies commuted to rice, ramie and hemp courses, cotton cloth, fish levies, and reclassified silk—all reckoned against the autumn quota. Under Wanli the categories shifted slightly, but grain remained primary and silk and paper notes secondary. Summer tax in rice applied chiefly to Jiangxi, Huguang, Guangdong, and Guangxi; wheat and chaff chiefly to Guizhou; farm-mulberry silk nearly everywhere except Sichuan, Guang, Yunnan, and Guizhou; other items followed local production.
3
太祖初立國即下令，凡民田五畝至十畝者，栽桑、麻、木棉各半畝，十畝以上倍之。 麻畝徵八兩，木棉畝四兩。 栽桑以四年起科。 不種桑，出絹一疋。 不種麻及木棉，出麻布、棉布各一疋。 此農桑絲絹所由起也。
As soon as the dynasty was founded, the Taizu ordered that holdings of five to ten mu plant half a mu each of mulberry, hemp, and cotton, and holdings above ten mu plant double that amount. The levy was eight taels of hemp per mu and four taels of cotton per mu. Mulberry plots began to bear tax after four years. Households that failed to plant mulberry paid one bolt of silk instead. Failure to plant hemp or cotton required payment of one bolt of hemp cloth and one bolt of cotton cloth. Such were the origins of the farm-mulberry silk and fabric levies.
4
洪武九年，天下稅糧，令民以銀、鈔、錢、絹代輸。 銀一兩、錢千文、鈔一貫，皆折輸米一石，小麥則減直十之二。 棉薴一疋，折米六斗，麥七斗。 麻布一疋，折米四斗，麥五斗。 絲絹等各以輕重為損益，願人粟者聽。 十七年，雲南以金、銀、貝、布、漆、丹砂、水銀代秋租。 於是謂米麥為本色，而諸折納稅糧者，謂之折色。 越二年，又令戶部侍郎楊靖會計天下倉儲存糧，二年外並收折色，惟北方諸布政司需糧餉邊，仍使輸粟。 三十年諭戶部曰：「行人高稹言，陝西困逋賦。 其議自二十八年以前，天下逋租，咸許任土所產，折收布、絹、棉花及金、銀等物，著為令。」 於是戶部定：鈔一錠，折米一石； 金一兩，十石； 銀一兩，二石； 絹一疋，石有二斗； 棉布一疋，一石； 薴布一疋，七斗； 棉花一斤，二斗。 帝曰：「折收逋賦，蓋欲蘇民困也。 今賦重若此，將愈困民，豈恤之之意哉。 金、銀每兩折米加一倍。 鈔止二貫五百文折一石。 餘從所議。」
In Hongwu year 9 the court allowed taxpayers nationwide to remit grain taxes in silver, paper notes, cash, or silk. One tael of silver, one thousand cash, or one string of notes each commuted to one dan of rice; wheat was valued at twenty percent less. A bolt of cotton or ramie cloth counted as six dou of rice or seven dou of wheat. A bolt of hemp cloth commuted to four dou of rice or five dou of wheat. Silk and fabric conversions varied by weight, and those who preferred to pay grain directly were allowed to do so. In year 17 Yunnan was permitted to pay autumn rent in gold, silver, cowries, cloth, lacquer, cinnabar, and mercury. Hence rice and wheat paid in kind were called ben payment, and all commuted dues were called zhe payment. Two years later Vice Minister Yang Jing audited granary stocks empire-wide: wherever stores exceeded two years' supply, commuted payment was accepted; only northern commissions feeding the frontier still required grain in kind. In year 30 he told the Ministry of Revenue: "The traveling clerk Gao Zhi reports that Shaanxi is crushed by tax arrears. Consider allowing all rent arrears from before year 28 to be settled in local products—cloth, silk, cotton, gold, silver, and the like—and codify this as law." The ministry then set commutation rates: one ingot of paper notes for one dan of rice; one tael of gold for ten dan; one tael of silver for two dan; one bolt of silk for one dan and two dou; one bolt of cotton cloth for one dan; one bolt of ramie cloth for seven dou; one jin of raw cotton for two dou. The emperor said: "Commuting arrears is meant to ease the people's hardship. Rates this heavy will only crush them further. Is this what compassion looks like? He doubled the grain equivalent for each tael of gold and silver. Paper notes were set at two strings and five hundred cash per dan. Everything else followed the original proposal."
5
永樂中，既得交阯，以絹，漆，蘇木，翠羽，紙扇，沉、速、安息諸香代租賦。 廣東瓊州黎人、肇慶瑤人內附，輸賦比內地。 天下本色稅糧三千餘萬石，絲鈔等二千餘萬。 計是時，宇內富庶，賦入盈羨，米粟自輸京師數百萬石外，府縣倉廩蓄積甚豐，至紅腐不可食。 歲歉，有司往往先發粟振貸，然後以聞。 雖歲貢銀三十萬兩有奇，而民間交易用銀，仍有厲禁。
After Yongle conquered Jiaozhi, rent and tax there were paid in silk, lacquer, sappanwood, kingfisher feathers, paper fans, and assorted aromatics including aloes, sandalwood, and benzoin. When the Li of Qiongzhou and the Yao of Zhaoqing in Guangdong submitted, their tax obligations matched those of the interior. Empire-wide grain tax in kind exceeded thirty million dan; silk, notes, and commuted dues totaled more than twenty million units. The realm was prosperous and revenues abundant. Besides the millions of dan shipped to the capital, prefectural and county granaries overflowed until grain rotted red and inedible. In lean years officials often distributed relief grain and seed loans first and reported to the throne afterward. Though annual silver tribute exceeded three hundred thousand taels, private silver trade among the people remained strictly forbidden.
6
初，太祖定天下官、民田賦，凡官田畝稅五升三合五勺，民田減二升，重租田八升五合五勺，沒官田一斗二升。 惟蘇、鬆、嘉、湖，怒其為張士誠守，乃籍諸豪族及富民田以為官田，按私租簿為稅額。 而司農卿楊憲又以浙西地膏腴，增其賦，畝加二倍。
When the Taizu first set land tax empire-wide, official land paid five sheng three he five shao per mu, civilian land two sheng less, heavy-rent land eight sheng five he five shao, and confiscated official land one dou two sheng. Suzhou, Songjiang, Jiaxing, and Huzhou alone were punished for holding out for Zhang Shicheng: elite and wealthy holdings were registered as official land and taxed at private-rent rates recorded in ledgers. Minister of Agriculture Yang Xian then doubled per-mu rates across western Zhejiang on grounds of its exceptional fertility.
7
故浙西官、民田視他方倍蓰，畝稅有二三石者。 大抵蘇最重，鬆、嘉、湖次之，常、杭又次之。 洪武十三年命戶部裁其額，畝科七斗五升至四斗四升者減十之二，四斗三升至三斗六升者俱止徵三斗五升，其以下者仍舊。 時蘇州一府，秋糧二百七十四萬六千餘石，自民糧十五萬石外，皆官田糧。 官糧歲額與浙江通省埒，其重猶如此。 建文二年詔曰：「江、浙賦獨重，而蘇、鬆準私租起科，特以懲一時頑民，豈可為定則以重困一方。 宜悉與減免，畝不得過一斗。」 成祖盡革建文政，浙西之賦復重。 宣宗即位，廣西布政使周幹巡視蘇、常、嘉、湖諸府還，言：「諸府民多逃亡，詢之耆老，皆云重賦所致。 如吳江、崑山民田租，舊畝五升，小民佃種富民田，畝輸私租一石。 後因事故入官，輒如私租例盡取之。 十分取八，民猶不堪，況盡取乎。 盡取，則民必凍餒，欲不逃亡，不可得也。 仁和、海寧、崑山海水陷官、民田千九百餘頃，逮今十有餘年，猶徵其租。 田沒於海，租從何出？ 請將沒官田及公、侯還官田租，俱視彼處官田起科，畝稅六斗。 海水淪陷田，悉除其稅，則田無荒蕪之患，而細民獲安生矣。」 帝命部議行之。 宣德五年二月詔：「舊額官田租，畝一斗至四斗者各減十之二，四斗一升至一石以上者減十之三。 著為令。」 於是江南巡撫周忱與蘇州知府況鐘，曲計減蘇糧七十餘萬，他府以為差，而東南民力少紓矣。 忱又令松江官田依民田起科，戶部劾以變亂成法。 宣宗雖不罪，亦不能從。 而朝廷數下詔書，蠲除租賦。 持籌者輒私戒有司，勿以詔書為辭。 帝與尚書胡濙言：「計臣壅遏膏澤」，然不深罪也。 正統元年令蘇、鬆、浙江等處官田，準民田起科，秋糧四斗一升至二石以上者減作三斗，二斗一升以上至四斗者減作二斗，一斗一升至二斗者減作一斗。 蓋宣德末，蘇州逋糧至七百九十萬石，民困極矣。 至是，乃獲少蘇。 英宗復闢之初，令鎮守浙江尚書孫原貞等定杭、嘉、湖則例，以起科重者徵米宜少，起科輕者徵米宜多。 乃定官田畝科一石以下，民田七斗以下者，每石歲徵平米一石三斗； 官民田四斗以下者，每石歲徵平米一石五斗； 官田二斗以下，民田二斗七升以下者，每石歲徵平米一石七斗； 官田八升以下，民田七升以下者，每石歲徵平米二石二斗。 凡重者輕之，輕者重之，欲使科則適均，而畝科一石之稅未嘗減云。
Western Zhejiang's official and civilian rates thus ran several times higher than elsewhere, with per-mu levies reaching two or three dan. Suzhou bore the heaviest burden, followed by Songjiang, Jiaxing, and Huzhou, then Changzhou and Hangzhou. In Hongwu year 13 the ministry trimmed quotas: rates from seven dou five sheng down to four dou four sheng were cut twenty percent; from four dou three sheng down to three dou six sheng were capped at three dou five sheng; lower rates stayed unchanged. Even after trimming, Suzhou prefecture alone owed more than 2.74 million dan of autumn grain—only 150,000 dan of it civilian tax, the rest official-field rent. Suzhou's official-grain quota alone matched all of Zhejiang province—such was the burden's scale. In Jianwen year 2 an edict declared: "Jiang and Zhe taxes are uniquely heavy; Suzhou and Songjiang were assessed at private-rent rates only to punish those who had resisted. Such punishment cannot become a permanent rule that crushes a whole region. Reduce and exempt them all; no holding may be taxed above one dou per mu." Chengzu reversed Jianwen's reforms, and western Zhejiang's taxes grew heavy again. Soon after Xuanzong's accession, Guangxi commissioner Zhou Gan reported after touring Suzhou, Changzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou: "Mass flight afflicts these prefectures. Elders unanimously blame crushing tax burdens. In Wujiang and Kunshan civilian land once paid five sheng per mu, but tenants on wealthy landlords' fields paid private rent of one dan per mu. When such land later passed to the state, officials collected the full private-rent rate. Eight parts in ten already broke them—what if the state took everything? Full extraction would leave them freezing and starving; flight would be inevitable. At Renhe, Haining, and Kunshan seawater had swallowed more than 1,900 qing of official and civilian land, yet rent was still collected after more than ten years. When fields lie beneath the sea, whence can rent come? Please assess confiscated official land and land returned from noble estates at the local official-field rate of six dou per mu. Exempt all seawater-lost fields entirely, and wasteland will cease while commoners may live in peace." The emperor ordered the ministries to deliberate and carry this out. In Xuande year 5, month 2, an edict ordered: official-field rent at one to four dou per mu was cut twenty percent; from four dou one sheng up to one dan or more, thirty percent. This was codified as law." Grand Coordinator Zhou Chen and Suzhou Prefect Kuang Zhong then engineered further cuts of more than 700,000 dan for Suzhou and proportional relief elsewhere, easing the southeast somewhat. Zhou Chen also tried to assess Songjiang official land at civilian rates; the Ministry of Revenue impeached him for overturning established law. Xuanzong declined to punish him but could not approve the change. The court meanwhile issued repeated edicts remitting rent and tax. Revenue officials privately warned local magistrates not to cite imperial remissions as grounds for reduction. The emperor told Minister Hu Ying that revenue planners were blocking imperial relief, yet he did not punish them severely. In Zhengtong 1 official land in Suzhou, Songjiang, Zhejiang, and elsewhere was reassessed like civilian land: autumn rates from four dou one sheng up to two dan or more were cut to three dou; from two dou one sheng to four dou, to two dou; from one dou one sheng to two dou, to one dou. By late Xuande Suzhou's grain arrears had reached 7.9 million dan and the people were at breaking point. Only then did they gain a little relief. Early in Yingzong's restoration, Minister Sun Yuanzhen guarding Zhejiang was told to set rates for Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou so that heavily assessed land paid less grain per nominal dan and lightly assessed land paid more. They ruled that where official land was assessed below one dan per mu or civilian land below seven dou, each nominal dan owed 1.3 dan of evened grain annually; where either was assessed below four dou per mu, each nominal dan owed 1.5 dan; where official land was below two dou per mu or civilian below two dou seven sheng, each nominal dan owed 1.7 dan; where official land was below eight sheng per mu or civilian below seven sheng, each nominal dan owed 2.2 dan. Heavy assessments were eased and light ones weighted to equalize burdens—yet the nominal per-mu rate of one dan was never actually reduced.
8
嘉靖二年，御史黎貫言：「國初夏秋二稅，麥四百七十餘萬石，今少九萬； 米二千四百七十餘萬石，今少二百五十餘萬。 而宗室之蕃，官吏之冗，內官之眾，軍士之增，悉取給其中。 賦入則日損，支費則日加。 請核祖宗賦額及經費多寡之數，一一區畫，則知賦入有限，而浮費不容不節矣。」 於是戶部議：「令天下官吏考滿遷秩，必嚴核任內租稅，徵解足數，方許給由交代。 仍乞朝廷躬行節儉，以先天下。」 帝納之。 既而諭德顧鼎臣條上錢糧積弊四事：
In Jiajing year 2 Censor Li Guan reported: "At the dynasty's founding summer and autumn taxes included more than 4.7 million dan of wheat; today we are short 90,000; rice stood above 24.7 million dan; today we are short more than 2.5 million. Yet the swelling imperial clan, redundant officials, growing eunuch establishment, and expanding armies all draw on the same revenues. Revenues shrink daily while expenditures grow daily. Audit the founding tax quotas against current spending item by item, and the court will see revenues are finite and waste cannot go unchecked." The ministry replied: officials seeking promotion must prove rent and tax were fully collected and remitted during their term before receiving credentials to leave office. We also beg the throne to practice frugality personally and lead the empire by example." The emperor approved the proposal. Soon afterward Instructor Gu Dingchen submitted four reforms targeting chronic abuses in tax collection:
9
一曰察理田糧舊額。 請責州縣官，於農隙時，令裏甲等仿洪武、正統間魚鱗、風旗之式，編造圖冊，細列元額田糧、字圩、則號、條段、坍荒、成熟步口數目，官為覆勘，分別界址，履畝檢踏丈量，具開墾改正豁除之數。 刊刻成書，收貯官庫，給散里中，永為稽考。 仍斟酌先年巡撫周忱、王恕簡便可行事例，立為定規。 取每歲實徵、起運、存留、加耗、本色、折色並處補、暫徵、帶徵、停徵等件數目，會計已定，張榜曉諭。 庶吏胥不得售其奸欺，而小民免賠累科擾之患。 一曰催徵歲辦錢糧。 成、弘以前，裏甲催徵，糧戶上納，糧長收解，州縣臨收。 糧長不敢多收斛面，糧戶不敢攙雜水穀糠粃，兌糧官軍不敢阻難多索，公私兩便。 近者，有司不復比較經催裏甲負糧人戶，但立限敲撲糧長，令下鄉追徵。 豪強者則大斛倍收，多方索取，所至雞犬為空。 孱弱者為勢豪所淩，耽延欺賴，不免變產補納。 至或舊役侵欠，責償新僉，一人逋負，株連親屬，無辜之民死於箠楚囹圄者幾數百人。 且往時每區糧長不過正、副二名，近多至十人以上。 其實收掌管糧之數少，而科斂打點使用年例之數多。 州縣一年之間，輒破中人百家之產，害莫大焉。 宜令戶部議定事例，轉行所司，審編糧長務遵舊規。 如州縣官多僉糧長，縱容下鄉，及不委裏甲催辦，輒酷刑限比糧長者，罪之。 致人命多死者，以故勘論。
First, audit and regularize the original land-tax quotas. Hold county magistrates accountable: in slack farming seasons have li-jia compile fish-scale registers like those of Hongwu and Zhengtong, listing original quotas, plot markers, rate codes, sections, wasteland, and mature acreage; officials should resurvey boundaries, measure field by field, and report reclamation, corrections, and exemptions. Print the registers, store copies in government archives, distribute them to villages, and use them as the permanent basis for audit. Adopt the workable precedents of former coordinators Zhou Chen and Wang Shu as standing rules. Once annual totals for actual collection, transport, reserves, surcharges, in-kind and commuted payments, supplements, temporary and attached levies are fixed, post public notices so everyone knows what is owed. Then clerks cannot practice fraud, and commoners will escape chained liability and harassing exactions. Second, reform the collection of annual taxes and grain. Before the Chenghua and Hongzhi reigns, li-jia pressed collection, grain households paid up, grain chiefs received and forwarded payment, and magistrates supervised receipt on the spot. Grain chiefs dared not pad measures, households dared not adulterate grain, and transport troops dared not obstruct delivery or demand extras—public and private interests alike were served. Lately magistrates no longer track which li-jia and households actually owe grain, but simply set deadlines, beat grain chiefs, and send them into the countryside to squeeze payment. The powerful collected double with oversized measures and extorted on every pretext, leaving villages stripped bare. The weak were bullied by local strongmen, delayed payment, and were forced to sell property to make up arrears. Old appointees' embezzled arrears were charged to new ones; one defaulter's kin were implicated, and hundreds of innocents died under the rod or in prison. Formerly each district had at most a chief and deputy grain chief; now there are often more than ten. In practice little grain was actually collected and accounted for, while exactions, markups, and customary fees consumed far more. In a single year a county could ruin a hundred middling households—the harm was immense. The Ministry of Revenue should codify precedents, transmit them to local offices, and ensure grain chiefs are appointed strictly under the old rules. Magistrates who appoint too many grain chiefs, let them run wild in the villages, or torture grain chiefs instead of using li-jia for collection should be punished. Those responsible for numerous deaths should be prosecuted accordingly.
10
其二則議遣官綜理及復預備倉糧也。 疏下，戶部言：「所陳俱切時弊，令所司舉行。」 遷延數載如故。
The second and third proposals concerned dispatching officials to oversee collection and restoring reserve-granary stocks. When the memorial reached the ministries, Revenue replied: "These proposals address urgent abuses; local offices should implement them." Yet years passed and nothing changed.
11
糧長者，太祖時，令田多者為之，督其鄉賦稅。 歲七月，州縣委官偕詣京，領勘合以行。 糧萬石，長、副各一人，輸以時至，得召見，語合，輒蒙擢用。 末年更定，每區正副二名輪充。 宣德間，復永充。 科斂橫溢，民受其害，或私賣官糧以牟利。 其罷者，虧損公賦，事覺，至隕身喪家。 景泰中，革糧長，未幾又復。 自官軍兌運，糧長不復輸京師，在州里間頗滋害，故鼎臣及之。
Grain chiefs were originally wealthy landowners appointed under the Taizu to supervise local tax collection. Each July magistrates escorted them to the capital to receive transport credentials. Districts delivering ten thousand dan had one chief and one deputy; timely delivery earned an imperial audience, and articulate chiefs were often promoted. Later the rule was fixed at two rotating appointees per district. Under Xuande the posts again became permanent appointments. Exactions ran wild, harming the people, and some sold official grain privately for profit. Dismissed chiefs who had shorted public revenue faced ruin of life and family when exposed. Under Jingtai the post was abolished, then soon restored. Once military transport replaced delivery to the capital, grain chiefs remained locally and caused great harm—hence Dingchen's critique.
12
未幾，御史郭弘化等亦請通行丈量，以杜包賠兼併之弊。 帝恐紛擾，不從。 給事中徐俊民言：「今之田賦，有受地於官，歲供租稅者，謂之官田。 有江水泛溢溝塍淹沒者，謂之坍江。 有流移亡絕，田棄糧存者，謂之事故。 官田貧民佃種，畝入租三斗，或五六斗或石以上者有之。 坍江、事故虛糧，裏甲賠納，或數十石或百餘石者有之。 夫民田之價十倍官田，貧民既不能置。 而官田糧重，每病取盈，益以坍江、事故虛糧，又令攤納，追呼敲撲，歲無寧日。 而奸富猾胥方且詭寄、那移，並輕分重。 此小民疾苦，閭閻凋瘁，所以日益而日增也。 請定均糧、限田之制。 坍江、事故，悉與蠲免。 而合官民田為一，定上、中、下三則起科以均糧。 富人不得過千畝，聽以百畝自給，其羨者則加輸邊稅。 如此，則多寡有節，輕重適宜，貧富相安，公私俱足矣。」 部議：「疆土民俗各異，令所司熟計其便。」 不行。
Soon Censor Guo Honghua and others urged empire-wide land measurement to end blanket liability and land-concealment abuses. The emperor feared disruption and refused. Supervising Secretary Xu Junmin said: "Today's land tax includes official fields—land held from the state with annual rent. Fields submerged by river overflow are called collapsed-river land. Where population fled and fields lay abandoned but quotas remained are called incident wasteland. Poor tenants on official land pay three dou per mu, sometimes five or six dou, sometimes more than a dan. Li-jia must cover phantom quotas on collapsed-river and incident land—sometimes dozens or even hundreds of dan. Civilian land costs ten times official land, yet the poor cannot afford even official plots. Official-field rates are heavy and collectors always press for the maximum; add phantom quotas and apportioned liability, with relentless pursuit and beating, and the people know no peace year-round. Meanwhile wealthy schemers and crafty clerks use false registration and shifting to merge light assessments with heavy ones. Such is the common people's suffering and the withering of neighborhoods—hence misery grows daily. Establish systems for equalized grain assessment and land limits. Exempt all collapsed-river and incident phantom quotas entirely. Merge official and civilian land into one register, assess by upper, middle, and lower rates, and equalize grain burdens. Cap wealthy holdings at one thousand mu, allow one hundred mu for subsistence, and levy surplus land at frontier rates. Then scale would be regulated, burdens balanced, rich and poor at peace, and both state and people satisfied." The ministry replied that customs differ by region and local offices should weigh what works." Nothing was done.
13
越數年，乃從應天巡撫侯位奏，免蘇州坍海田糧九萬餘石，然那移、飛灑之弊，相沿不改。 至十八年，鼎臣為大學士，復言：「蘇、鬆、常、鎮、嘉、湖、杭七府，供輸甲天下，而裏胥豪右蠹弊特甚。 宜將欺隱及坍荒田土，一一檢核改正。」 於是應天巡撫歐陽鐸檢荒田四千餘頃，計租十一萬石有奇，以所欺隱田糧六萬餘石補之，餘請豁免。 戶部終持不下。 時嘉興知府趙瀛建議：「田不分官、民，稅不分等則，一切以三斗起徵。」 鐸乃與蘇州知府王儀盡括官、民田裒益之。 履畝清丈，定為等則。 所造經賦冊，以八事定稅糧：曰元額稽始，曰事故除虛，曰分項別異，曰歸總正實，曰坐派起運，曰運餘撥存，曰存餘考積，曰徵一定額。 又以八事考裏甲：曰丁田，曰慶賀，曰祭祀，曰鄉飲，曰科賀，曰恤政，曰公費，曰備用。 以三事定均徭：曰銀差，曰力差，曰馬差。 著為例。
Years later, on Yingtian coordinator Hou Wei's memorial, more than 90,000 dan of Suzhou seawater-lost grain was exempted, but shifting and scattered-allocation abuses persisted. In year 18, now Grand Secretary, Dingchen again reported: "The seven prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Hangzhou lead the empire in tax supply, yet li clerks and local elites abuse the system worst of all. Every concealed or wasteland holding should be audited and corrected." Yingtian coordinator Ouyang Duo then surveyed more than 4,000 qing of wasteland worth over 110,000 dan, offset it with 60,000 dan of concealed holdings, and sought exemption for the rest. The Ministry of Revenue still refused to approve. Jiaxing Prefect Zhao Ying then proposed: "Do not distinguish official and civilian land or rate grades—levy all fields from three dou per mu." Duo and Suzhou Prefect Wang Yi then pooled all official and civilian holdings and balanced increases against decreases. They measured field by field and fixed graded rates. Their land-tax register fixed grain dues in eight steps: trace original quotas; remove incident phantom amounts; itemize categories; reconcile true totals; assign transport; allocate surpluses to reserves; audit retained balances; and set the single levy quota. Li-jia accounts were audited in eight categories: population and land; celebrations; sacrifices; village feasts; examination congratulations; relief; public expenses; and reserves. Equalized corvée was set in three forms: silver, labor, and horse service. These rules were codified as precedent.
14
徵一者，總徵銀米之凡，而計畝均輸之。 其科則最重與最輕者，稍以耗損益推移。 重者不能盡損，惟遞減耗米，派輕齎折除之，陰予以輕。 輕者不能加益，為徵本色，遞增耗米加乘之，陰予以重。 推收之法，以田為母，戶為子。 時豪右多梗其議，鼎臣獨以為善，曰：「是法行，吾家益千石輸，然貧民減千石矣，不可易也。」 顧其時，上不能損賦額，長民者私以己意變通。 由是官田不至偏重，而民田之賦反加矣。
The single levy pooled all silver and grain dues and spread them evenly per mu. The heaviest and lightest assessments were slightly adjusted through transport surcharges. Heavy assessments could not be fully cut; transport-loss grain was reduced stepwise and light commuted deductions were assigned to ease them covertly. Light assessments could not be openly raised; in-kind collection and multiplied transport-loss surcharges covertly increased their burden. Under pushed collection, land was the base and households the derivative unit. Powerful locals mostly blocked the reform, but Dingchen alone endorsed it: "If this law takes effect, my family will pay a thousand dan more, yet the poor will pay a thousand dan less—it must not be changed." Yet the throne could not cut statutory quotas, and local officials improvised as they saw fit. Official land was no longer excessively burdened, but civilian land taxes actually rose.
15
時又有綱銀、一串鈴諸法。 綱銀者，舉民間應役歲費，丁四糧六總徵之，易知而不繁，猶網之有綱也。 一串鈴，則夥收分解法也。 自是民間輸納，止收本色及折色銀矣。
Methods such as gang silver and the one-string-of-bells system also appeared. Gang silver pooled annual corvée expenses, assessed four-tenths by household males and six-tenths by grain, simple and unified like the rope of a net. The one-string-of-bells system collected dues in bulk and then divided them. Thereafter popular payments were accepted only in kind or commuted silver.
16
是時天下財賦，歲入太倉庫者二百萬兩有奇。 舊制以七分經費而存積三分備兵、歉，以為常。 世宗中年，邊供費繁，加以土木、禱祀，月無虛日，帑藏匱竭。 司農百計生財，甚至變賣寺田，收贖軍罪，猶不能給。 二十九年，俺荅犯京師，增兵設戍，餉額過倍。 三十年，京邊歲用至五百九十五萬，戶部尚書孫應奎蒿目無策，乃議於南畿、浙江等州縣增賦百二十萬，加派於是始。
At that time annual revenue to the Grand Storehouse exceeded two million taels. The old rule spent seven-tenths on routine expenses and reserved three-tenths against war and famine. In Shizong's middle years frontier costs soared, construction and ritual spending left scarcely a month without expense, and the treasury was drained. The Minister of Revenue tried every expedient—even selling temple land and selling military pardons—yet still could not cover costs. In year 29 Altan raided the capital region; troop increases and new garrisons more than doubled ration costs. In year 30 capital and frontier spending reached 5.95 million taels; Minister Sun Yingkui, despairing of alternatives, proposed raising taxes in the southern capital region and Zhejiang by 1.2 million taels—thus began supplementary levies.
17
嗣後，京邊歲用，多者過五百萬，少者亦三百餘萬，歲入不能充歲出之半。 由是度支為一切之法，其箕斂財賄、題增派、括贓贖、算稅契、折民壯、提編、均徭、推廣事例興焉。 其初亦賴以濟匱，久之諸所灌輸益少。 又四方多事，有司往往為其地奏留或請免：浙、直以備倭，川、貴以採木，山、陝、宣、大以兵荒。 不惟停格軍興所徵發，即歲額二百萬，且虧其三之一。 而內廷之賞給，齋殿之經營，宮中夜半出片紙，吏雖急，無敢延頃刻者。 三十七年，大同右衛告警，賦入太倉者僅七萬，帑儲大較不及十萬。 戶部尚書方鈍等憂懼不知所出，乃乘間具陳帑藏空虛狀，因條上便宜七事以請。 既，又令羣臣各條理財之策，議行者凡二十九事，益瑣屑，非國體。 而累年以前積逋無不追徵，南方本色逋賦亦皆追徵折色矣。
Thereafter capital and frontier spending ranged from over five million to more than three million taels, while annual income could not cover half of outlays. The budget office then resorted to every expedient: rake levies, labeled surcharges, confiscations and redemption sales, deed taxes, converting civilians to corvée, ti-bian, equalized corvée, and expanded precedent purchases. At first these measures relieved shortages, but over time each source yielded less. Meanwhile troubles multiplied everywhere and local officials sought retention or exemption: Zhejiang and Zhili for anti-pirate defense, Sichuan and Guizhou for timber, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Xuanfu, and Datong for war and famine. Not only were wartime exactions suspended, but even the two-million-tael annual quota fell short by a third. Yet inner-court rewards and ritual construction continued; a midnight slip from the palace had to be fulfilled at once, no matter how pressed the clerks were. In year 37, when Datong Right Guard raised alarm, only 70,000 taels entered the Grand Storehouse and total reserves fell below 100,000. Minister Fang Dun and others, desperate, seized an opportunity to report the empty treasury and submit seven expedient proposals. He then ordered ministers to submit fiscal proposals; twenty-nine were debated for implementation, most trivial and unworthy of state policy. Yet arrears from prior years were relentlessly pursued, and southern in-kind arrears were collected as commuted silver.
18
是時，東南被倭，南畿、浙、閩多額外提編，江南至四十萬。 提編者，加派之名也。 其法，以銀力差排編十甲，如一甲不足，則提下甲補之，故謂之提編。 及倭患平，應天巡撫周如鬥乞減加派，給事中何煃亦具陳南畿困敝，言：「軍門養兵，工部料價，操江募兵，兵備道壯丁，府州縣鄉兵，率為民累，甚者指一科十，請禁革之。」 命如煃議，而提編之額不能減。
The southeast then suffered pirate raids; the southern capital region, Zhejiang, and Fujian faced extra ti-bian levies, Jiangnan alone reaching 400,000 taels. Ti-bian was simply another name for supplementary levy. Silver and labor corvée were assessed across ten jia; if one jia fell short, the next was tapped to make up the deficit—hence ti-bian, "drawing on the next jia." After the pirate threat eased, Yingtian coordinator Zhou Rudou sought cuts to supplementary levies; Supervising Secretary He Kun reported the southern capital region's exhaustion: "Troop maintenance, Works Ministry materials, Yangzi defense recruitment, circuit militia, and county levies all burden the people—sometimes one category becomes ten. Abolish these abuses." The court followed He's proposal in principle, but ti-bian quotas could not be cut.
19
隆、萬之世，增額既如故，又多無藝之徵，逋糧愈多，規避亦益巧。 已解而愆限或至十餘年，未徵而報收，一縣有至十萬者。 逋欠之多，縣各數十萬。 賴行一條鞭法，無他科擾，民力不大絀。
Under Longqing and Wanli, supplementary quotas persisted, irregular exactions multiplied, arrears mounted, and evasion grew ever more sophisticated. Delivered grain could remain overdue for more than ten years; uncollected dues were reported as received—single counties showed false receipts of 100,000 taels. Arrears ran to hundreds of thousands per county. Fortunately the single-whip law was enforced, other exactions were curbed, and popular strength was not utterly broken.
20
一條鞭法者，總括一州縣之賦役，量地計丁，丁糧畢輸於官。 一歲之役，官為僉募。 力差，則計其工食之費，量為增減； 銀差，則計其交納之費，加以增耗。 凡額辦、派辦、京庫歲需與存留、供億諸費，以及土貢方物，悉並為一條，皆計畝徵銀，折辦於官，故謂之一條鞭。 立法頗為簡便。 嘉靖間，數行數止，至萬曆九年乃盡行之。
The single-whip law pooled a prefecture or county's taxes and corvée, assessed land and household males, and required all grain and labor dues to be paid to the state. Annual corvée was hired by the government. Labor corvée was commuted by calculating wages and rations, adjusted up or down as needed; silver corvée by calculating delivery costs plus transport surcharges. Quota assignments, dispatched duties, capital needs, local reserves, supply costs, and tribute goods were merged into one levy, assessed per mu in silver and remitted to officials—hence the single whip. The law was notably simpler to administer. Under Jiajing it was tried and suspended repeatedly; full empire-wide implementation came only in Wanli year 9.
21
其後接踵三大徵，頗有加派，事畢旋已。 至四十六年，驟增遼餉三百萬。 時內帑充積，帝靳不肯發。 戶部尚書李汝華乃援徵倭、播例，畝加三釐五毫，天下之賦增二百萬有奇。 明年復加三釐五毫。 明年，以兵工二部請，復加二釐。 通前後九釐，增賦五百二十萬，遂為歲額。 所不加者，畿內八府及貴州而已。
Three major wartime surcharges followed in succession, each lifted when the crisis ended. In year 46 Liaodong military funds were suddenly raised by three million taels. The inner treasury was full, yet the emperor refused to release funds. Minister Li Ruhua cited anti-pirate and Bozhou precedents and added 3.5 li per mu, raising empire-wide taxes by more than two million taels. The following year another 3.5 li per mu was added. The next year, at the request of War and Works, another 2 li was added. The nine li combined raised taxes by 5.2 million taels, which became the new annual quota. Only the eight capital-region prefectures and Guizhou were exempt.
22
天啟元年，給事中甄淑言：「遼餉加派，易致不均。 蓋天下戶口有戶口之銀，人丁有人丁之銀，田土有田土之銀，有司徵收，總曰銀額。 按銀加派，則其數不漏。 東西南北之民，甘苦不同，布帛粟米力役之法，徵納不同。 惟守令自知其甘苦，而通融其徵納。 今因人土之宜，則無偏枯之累。 其法，以銀額為主，而通人情，酌土俗，頒示直省。 每歲存留、起解各項銀兩之數，以所加餉額，按銀數分派，總提折扣，裒多益寡，期不失餉額而止。 如此，則愚民易知，可杜奸胥意為增減之弊。 且小民所最苦者，無田之糧，無米之丁，田鬻富室，產去糧存，而猶輸丁賦。 宜取額丁、額米，兩衡而定其數，米若干即帶丁若干。 買田者，收米便收丁，則縣冊不失丁額，貧民不致賠累，而有司亦免逋賦之患。」 下部覆議，從之。
In Tianqi 1 Supervising Secretary Zhen Shu said: "Supplementary Liaodong levies easily produce unfair distribution. Households, males, and land each carry their own silver assessments; officials collect them into a total silver quota. Assessing surcharges against the silver quota ensures nothing is missed. People across the realm differ in hardship; cloth, grain, and labor dues are collected differently by region. Only local magistrates know local conditions and can adjust collection flexibly. Following local conditions avoids one-sided hardship. The method takes the silver quota as its base, accommodates local custom, and is promulgated to the provinces. Annual retained and forwarded silver is apportioned by silver quota against the added military funds, pooled and discounted from rich to poor districts, without falling short of the ration total. Commoners would understand easily, and clerks could no longer manipulate assessments at will. Worst of all is grain tax without land and male tax without grain: when land is sold to the rich, the quota remains but the seller still owes male tax. Balance quota grain and quota males so that a given grain assessment carries a fixed number of males. When land is sold, grain and male quotas transfer together; county registers stay accurate, the poor avoid chained liability, and magistrates escape arrears." The ministry approved and implemented the proposal.
23
崇禎三年，軍興，兵部尚書樑廷棟請增田賦。 戶部尚書畢自嚴不能止，乃於九釐外畝復徵三釐。 惟順天、永平以新被兵無所加，餘六府畝徵六釐，得他省之半，共增賦百六十五萬四千有奇。 後五年，總督盧象升請加宦戶田賦十之一，民糧十兩以上同之。 既而概徵每兩一錢，名曰助餉。 越二年，復行均輸法，因糧輸餉，畝計米六合，石折銀八錢，又畝加徵一分四釐九絲。 越二年，楊嗣昌督師，畝加練餉銀一分。 兵部郎張若麒請收兵殘遺產為官莊，分上、中、下，畝納租八斗至二三斗有差。 御史衛周胤言：「嗣昌流毒天下，剿練之餉多至七百萬，民怨何極。」 御史郝晉亦言：「萬曆末年，合九邊餉止二百八十萬。 今加派遼餉至九百萬。 剿餉三百三十萬，業已停罷，旋加練餉七百三十餘萬。 自古有一年而括二千萬以輸京師，又括京師二千萬以輸邊者乎？」 疏語雖切直，而時事危急，不能從也。
In Chongzhen year 3, as war resumed, Minister of War Liang Tingdong sought a land-tax increase. Minister Bi Ziyan could not stop it and added another 3 li per mu atop the existing 9 li. Only Shuntian and Yongping, recently ravaged by war, were exempt; the other six prefectures paid 6 li per mu—half the provincial rate—raising taxes by more than 1.654 million taels. Five years later Grand Coordinator Lu Xiangsheng proposed a ten-percent surcharge on official-household land tax and on civilian taxes above ten taels. Soon a flat levy of one cash per tael was imposed, called aid-rations. Two years later equalized transport was restored: grain paid military funds at six he per mu, one dan commuted to eight qian silver, plus another 1.49 fen per mu. Two years later, under Yang Sichang's command, training-ration silver of one fen per mu was added. War Ministry secretary Zhang Ruoqi proposed seizing war-abandoned land as official estates graded upper, middle, and lower, with rent from eight to two or three dou per mu. Censor Wei Zhouyin said: "Yang Sichang's policies poison the realm; suppression and training funds exceed seven million—popular resentment knows no bounds." Censor Hao Jin added: "At the end of Wanli the nine frontiers together received only 2.8 million taels. Now supplementary Liaodong funds reach nine million. Suppression funds of 3.3 million had been suspended, then training funds of more than 7.3 million were added. When in history was twenty million raked in for the capital in one year, then another twenty million from the capital sent to the frontier?" Though blunt, the memorial could not be heeded in a crisis.
24
役法定於洪武元年。 田一頃出丁夫一人，不及頃者以他田足之，名曰均工夫。 尋編應天十八府州，江西九江、饒州、南康三府均工夫圖冊。 每歲農隙赴京，供役三十日遣歸。 田多丁少者，以佃人充夫，而田主出米一石資其用。 非佃人而計畝出夫者，畝資米二升五合。 迨造黃冊成，以一百十戶為一里，裏分十甲曰裏甲。 以上、中、下戶為三等，五歲均役，十歲一更造。 一歲中諸歲雜目應役者，編第均之，銀、力從所便，曰均徭。 他雜役。 凡祗應、禁子、弓兵，悉僉市民，毋役糧戶。 額外科一錢、役一夫者，罪流徙。
Corvée law was codified in Hongwu 1. One qing of land owed one adult laborer; smaller holdings were grouped to meet the quota—called equalized labor. Registers of equalized labor were soon compiled for Yingtian's eighteen prefectures and for Jiujiang, Raozhou, and Nankang in Jiangxi. Each year in the farming slack season they served thirty days in the capital and returned home. Where land exceeded available males, tenants served as laborers while landowners paid one dan of grain for their support. Where labor was hired by the mu rather than through tenants, each mu paid two sheng five he of grain. When the yellow registers were completed, 110 households formed one li, subdivided into ten jia as li-jia units. Households ranked upper, middle, or lower; corvée rotated every five years and registers were renewed every ten. Annual miscellaneous duties were sequenced and equalized, payable in silver or labor as convenient—equalized corvée. Other miscellaneous corvée duties followed. Attendants, runners, and bow troops were recruited from townspeople, not grain-tax households. Extra levies of even one cash or one laborer beyond quota were punishable by exile.
25
後法稍馳，編徭役裏甲者，以戶為斷，放大戶而勾單小。 於是議者言，均徭之法，按冊籍丁糧，以資產為宗，核人戶上下，以蓄藏得實也。 稽冊籍，則富商大賈免役，而土著困； 核人戶，則官吏裏胥輕重其手，而小民益窮蹙。 二者交病。 然專論丁糧，庶幾古人租庸調之意。 乃令以舊編力差、銀差之數當丁糧之數，難易輕重酌其中。 役以應差，裏甲除當復者，論丁糧多少編次先後，曰鼠尾冊，按而徵之。 市民商賈家殷足而無田產者，聽自佔，以佐銀差。 正統初，僉事夏時創行於江西，他省仿行之，役以稍平。
Later enforcement slackened: corvée compilers favored large households and squeezed small ones. Critics noted two approaches to equalized corvée: assess by registered males and grain with wealth as the standard, or rank households by stored assets. Following registers let wealthy merchants escape corvée while natives suffered; ranking households let officials and li clerks manipulate assessments, crushing commoners further. Both approaches failed. Focusing solely on males and grain might approximate the Tang zu-yong-diao system. Officials then substituted old labor and silver corvée totals for male-and-grain counts, balancing light and heavy burdens. Corvée rotated by due turn; li-jia not on rest leave were sequenced by male-and-grain burden in the rat-tail register and levied in order. Wealthy townsmen and merchants without land could register voluntarily to help meet silver corvée quotas. Early in Zhengtong Commissioner Xia Shi pioneered the reform in Jiangxi; other provinces followed, and corvée burdens eased somewhat.
26
其後諸上供者，官為支解，而官府公私所須，復給所輸銀於坊裏長，責其營辦。 給不能一二，供者或什伯，甚至無所給，惟計值年裏甲祗應夫馬飲食，而裏甲病矣。 凡均徭，解戶上供為京徭，主納為中官留難，不易中納，往復改貿，率至傾產。 其他役苛索之弊，不可毛舉。
Later court supplies were disbursed by officials, but local government needs were again funded from submitted silver given to ward and li chiefs to arrange. They received perhaps one or two tenths of what was required, sometimes ten or a hundred times as much, sometimes nothing—li-jia were charged the full cost of attendants, runners, horses, and food, and were ruined. Under equalized corvée, forwarding households supplying the capital faced capital corvée; chief deliverers were obstructed by eunuchs, commuted payment was difficult, and repeated commodity exchanges usually ruined families. Other corvée abuses of harsh exaction are too numerous to list.
27
明初，令天下貢土所有，有常額，珍奇玩好不與。 即須用，編之裏甲，出銀以市。 顧其目冗碎，奸黠者緣為利孔。 又大工營繕，祠官祝釐，資用繁溢。 迨至中葉，倭寇交訌，仍歲河決，國用耗殫。 於是裏甲、均徭，浮於歲額矣。
Early Ming orders fixed local tribute quotas and excluded rare curios and luxuries. When items were needed, li-jia were assigned to buy them with silver on the market. Yet the categories were fragmented, giving the cunning room for profit. Major construction and shrine rituals multiplied expenditures without end. By mid-dynasty pirate raids and annual river floods exhausted state finances. Li-jia and equalized corvée then exceeded annual quotas.
28
凡役民，自裏甲正辦外，如糧長、解戶、馬船頭、館夫、祗候、弓兵、皁隸、門禁、廚鬥為常役。 後又有斫薪、擡柴、修河、修倉、運料、接遞、站鋪、插淺夫之類，因事編僉，歲有增益。 嘉、隆後，行一條鞭法，通計一省丁糧，均派一省徭役。 於是均徭、裏甲與兩稅為一，小民得無擾，而事亦易集。 然糧長、裏長，名罷實存，諸役卒至，復僉農氓。 條鞭法行十餘年，規制頓紊，不能盡遵也。 天啟時，御史李應升疏陳十害，其三條切言馬夫、河役、糧甲、修辦、白役擾民之弊。 崇禎三年，河南巡撫範景文言：「民所患苦，莫如差役。 錢糧有收戶、解戶、驛遞有馬戶，供應有行戶，皆僉有力之家充之，名曰大戶。 究之，所僉非富民，中人之產輒為之傾。 自變為條鞭法，以境內之役均於境內之糧，宜少蘇矣，乃民間仍歲奔走，罄資津貼，是條鞭行而大戶未嘗革也。」 時給事中劉懋復奏裁驛夫，徵調往來，仍責編戶。 驛夫無所得食，至相率從流賊為亂云。
Beyond regular li-jia duties, standing corvée included grain chiefs, forwarding households, boat heads, inn attendants, runners, bow troops, runners in black, gate guards, and kitchen stewards. Later came woodcutting, firewood hauling, river and granary repair, material transport, relay service, courier stations, and shallow-water labor—recruited as needs arose and increasing yearly. After Jiajing and Longqing the single-whip law totaled each province's males and grain and spread corvée evenly province-wide. Equalized corvée, li-jia, and the two taxes merged; commoners were less harassed and collection was easier. Yet grain chiefs and li chiefs survived in practice; when duties arose, peasants were conscripted again. After more than ten years the single-whip regulations fell into disorder and were no longer fully observed. Under Tianqi Censor Li Yingsheng listed ten abuses; three addressed horse grooms, river corvée, grain jia, repair duties, and unauthorized white corvée harassing the people. In Chongzhen year 3 Henan coordinator Fan Jingwen said: "Nothing afflicts the people like dispatched corvée. Money and grain had collecting and forwarding households; courier relay had horse households; supplies had broker households—all recruited from powerful families called great households. In practice those recruited were not the truly wealthy; middling households were often ruined. The single-whip law spread duties across local grain and should have eased burdens, yet people still ran themselves ragged yearly paying subsidies—the whip was enforced but great-household abuses were never abolished." Supervising Secretary Liu Mao then memorialized to cut courier staff, but requisitions still fell on registered households. Courier laborers went unfed until, it is said, they joined bandits in rebellion.
29
凡軍、匠、竈戶，役皆永充。 軍戶死若逃者，於原籍勾補。 匠戶二等：曰住坐，曰輪班。 住坐之匠，月上工十日。 不赴班者，輸罰班銀月六錢，故謂之輸班。 監局中官，多佔匠役，又括充幼匠，動以千計，死若逃者，勾補如軍。 竈戶有上、中、下三等。 每一正丁，貼以餘丁。 上、中戶丁力多，或貼二三丁，下戶概予優免。 他如陵戶、園戶、海戶、廟戶、幡夫、庫役，瑣末不可勝計。
Military, artisan, and salt-maker households all served hereditary corvée. When military households lost members through death or flight, replacements were traced from original registers. Artisan households fell into two grades: resident and rotating shift. Resident artisans worked ten days a month. Those who skipped shifts paid six qian monthly in lieu—called shift payment. Eunuchs in supervisory bureaus seized artisans, conscripted juveniles by the thousands, and traced replacements as with military households when they died or fled. Salt-maker households ranked upper, middle, or lower. Each principal male was supplemented by additional males. Upper and middle households with many males might attach two or three supplements; lower households were generally exempted. Others—tomb, garden, sea, and temple households, banner bearers, treasury laborers—were too numerous to list.
30
明初，工役之繁，自營建兩京宗廟、宮殿、闕門、王邸，採木、陶甓，工匠造作，以萬萬計。 所在築城、浚陂，百役具舉。 迄於洪、宣，郊壇、倉庾猶未迄工。 正統、天順之際，三殿、兩宮、南內、離宮，次第興建。 弘治時，大學士劉吉言：「近年工役，俱摘發京營軍士，內外軍官禁不得估工用大小多寡。 本用五千人，奏請至一二萬，無所稽覈。」 禮部尚書倪嶽言：「諸役費動以數十萬計，水旱相仍，乞少停止。」 南京禮部尚書童軒復陳工役之苦。 吏部尚書林瀚亦言：「兩畿頻年兇災，困於百役，窮愁怨歎。 山、陝供億軍興，雲南、廣東西徵發剿叛。 山東、河南、湖廣、四川、江西興造王邸，財力不贍。 浙江、福建辦物料，視舊日增多。 庫藏空匱，不可不慮。」 帝皆納其言，然不能盡從也。 武宗時，乾清宮役尤大。 乙太素殿初制樸儉，改作雕峻，用銀至二千萬餘兩，役工匠三千餘人，歲支工食米萬三千餘石。 又修凝翠、昭和、崇智、光霽諸殿，御馬臨、鐘鼓司、南城豹房新房、火藥庫皆鼎新之。 權幸閹宦莊園祠墓香火寺觀，工部復竊官銀以媚焉。 給事中張原言：「工匠養父母妻子，尺籍之兵禦外侮，京營之軍衛王室，今奈何令民無所賴，兵不麗伍，利歸私門，怨叢公室乎？」 疏入，謫貴州新添驛丞。 世宗營建最繁，十五年以前，名為汰省，而經費已六七百萬。 其後增十數倍，齋宮、祕殿並時而興。 工廠二三十處，役匠數萬人，軍稱之，歲費二三百萬。 其時宗廟、萬壽宮災，帝不之省，營繕益急。 經費不敷，乃令臣民獻助； 獻助不已，復行開納。 勞民耗財，視武宗過之。 萬曆以後，營建織造，溢經制數倍，加以徵調、開採，民不得少休。 迨閹人亂政，建第營墳，僭越亡等，功德私祠遍天下。 蓋二百餘年，民力殫殘久矣。 其以職役優免者，少者一二丁，多者至十六丁。 萬歷時，免田有至二三千者。
Early Ming labor corvée was immense: building capitals, temples, palaces, gates, and princely mansions, cutting timber, making bricks and tiles, and employing artisans by the tens of thousands. Everywhere cities were built and moats dredged—a hundred kinds of corvée at once. Through Hongwu and Xuande suburban altars and granaries were still unfinished. Under Zhengtong and Tianshun the three main halls, two palaces, southern inner quarters, and detached palaces were built one after another. Under Hongzhi Grand Secretary Liu Ji said: "Recent projects all conscript capital-garrison troops, while officers are barred from controlling how much labor is actually used. Projects needing five thousand men were reported as requiring ten or twenty thousand, with no audit." Minister of Rites Ni Yue added: "Corvée costs routinely reach hundreds of thousands; floods and droughts persist—please suspend some projects." Nanjing Minister of Rites Tong Xuan again described the suffering caused by labor corvée. Minister of Personnel Lin Han also said: "The two capital regions suffer famine year after year, crushed by countless corvées, sunk in poverty, resentment, and despair. Shanxi and Shaanxi feed military campaigns; Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guangxi mobilize against rebels. Shandong, Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, and Jiangxi build princely mansions beyond their means. Zhejiang and Fujian supply materials in greater amounts than before. Treasury stores are empty—this cannot be ignored." The emperor accepted their advice but could not follow it fully. Under Wuzong work on the Palace of Heavenly Purity was especially heavy. The Hall of Great Simplicity, first built plainly, was rebuilt in ornate style at a cost of more than twenty million taels, employing over three thousand artisans and thirteen thousand dan of grain rations yearly. The halls Ningcui, Zhaohe, Chongzhi, and Guangji, the Imperial Horse Stables, Bell and Drum Office, new Leopard Quarters buildings in the southern city, and the gunpowder depot were all rebuilt anew. For favored eunuchs' estates, shrines, tombs, and temples, the Works Ministry embezzled official funds to curry favor. Supervising Secretary Zhang Yuan said: "Artisans support families, rostered soldiers defend the frontier, and capital troops guard the throne—why leave the people destitute, ranks unfilled, profits in private hands, and public resentment mounting?" When the memorial arrived, he was demoted to a courier post in Guizhou. Shizong's construction was heaviest; before year 15 it was called austerity, yet costs already reached six or seven million taels. Costs then rose more than tenfold as fasting palaces and secret halls sprang up together. Twenty or thirty workshops employed tens of thousands of artisans at an annual cost of two or three million taels. When the ancestral temple and Wanshou Palace burned, the emperor took no heed and pressed construction harder. When funds ran short, officials and commoners were told to contribute; contributions continued, and purchase offices were opened again. Burden on the people and waste of wealth exceeded Wuzong's reign. After Wanli construction and imperial workshops exceeded regulations several times over; with requisitions and mining, the people knew no rest. When eunuchs dominated politics, they built mansions and tombs beyond their rank, and private merit shrines spread empire-wide. For more than two centuries popular strength had been exhausted. Officeholders enjoying corvée exemption ranged from one or two males to as many as sixteen. Under Wanli some exemptions covered two or three thousand mu.
31
至若賦稅蠲免，有恩蠲，有災蠲。 太祖之訓，凡四方水旱輒免稅，豐歲無災傷，亦擇地瘠民貧者優免之。 凡歲災，盡蠲二稅，且貸以米，甚者賜米布若鈔。 又設預備倉，令老人運鈔易米以儲粟。 荊、蘄水災，命戶部主事趙乾往振，遷延半載，怒而誅之。 青州旱蝗，有司不以聞，逮治其官吏。 旱傷州縣，有司不奏，許耆民申訴，處以極刑。 孝感饑，其令請以預備倉振貸，帝命行人馳驛往，且諭戶部：自今凡歲饑，先發倉庾以貸，然後聞，著為令。」 在位三十餘年，賜予布鈔數百萬，米百餘萬，所蠲租稅無數。 成祖聞河南饑，有司匿不以聞，逮沼之。 因命都御史陳瑛榜諭天下，有司水旱災傷不以聞者，罪不宥。 又敕朝廷歲遣巡視官，目擊民艱不言者，悉逮下獄。 仁宗監國時，有以發振請者，遣人馳諭之，言：「軍民睏乏，待哺嗷嗷，尚從容啟請待報，不能效漢汲黯耶？」 宣宗時，戶部請核饑民。 帝曰：「民饑無食，濟之當如拯溺救焚，奚待勘。」 蓋二祖、仁、宣時，仁政亟行。 預備倉之外，又時時截起運，賜內帑。 被災處無儲粟者，發旁縣米振之。 蝗蝻始生，必遣人捕枌。 鬻子女者，官為收贖。 且令富人蠲佃戶租。 大戶貸貧民粟，免其雜役為息，豐年償之。 皇莊、湖泊皆馳禁，聽民採取。 饑民還籍，給以口糧。 京、通倉米，平價出糶。 兼預給俸糧以殺米價，建官舍以處流民，給糧以收棄嬰，養濟院窮民各注籍，無籍者收養蠟燭、幡竿二寺。 其恤民如此。 世宗、神宗於民事略矣，而災荒疏至，必賜蠲振，不敢違祖制也。
Tax exemptions took two forms: grace remissions and disaster remissions. The Taizu ruled that flood or drought anywhere brought immediate tax exemption; even in good years the poor on marginal land received preferential relief. In disaster years both taxes were fully remitted, grain was loaned, and in severe cases grain, cloth, or notes were granted outright. Reserve granaries were established, with elders exchanging notes for grain to build stores. When Jing and Qi flooded, Revenue section chief Zhao Gan was sent to relieve distress but delayed half a year and was executed in the emperor's anger. When Qingzhou suffered drought and locusts, officials who failed to report it were arrested and punished. In drought-stricken districts, if officials failed to report, elders could appeal and officials faced capital punishment. When Xiaogan starved, its magistrate sought reserve-granary relief; the emperor sent a courier at once and told Revenue: "From now on, in famine years disburse granary grain first and report afterward"—codified as law." In thirty years on the throne he granted millions in cloth and notes, more than a million dan of grain, and remitted taxes beyond counting. When Chengzu learned Henan was starving but officials had concealed it, he summoned and rebuked them. He ordered Censor-in-Chief Chen Ying to post notices empire-wide: officials who failed to report flood, drought, or disaster would not be pardoned. He also ordered annual inspection tours: officials who witnessed hardship and remained silent were imprisoned. While supervising the state, Renzong heard a request to issue relief and sent word: "Soldiers and civilians starve and cry for food—will you only memorialize and wait? Cannot you act like Han's Ji An?" Under Xuanzong the Ministry of Revenue asked to verify famine victims. The emperor said: "When people starve, relief should be like saving someone from drowning or fire—why wait for an investigation?" Under the two founders, Renzong, and Xuanzong, benevolent policies were pursued vigorously. Besides reserve granaries, grain destined for transport was diverted and inner-treasury funds granted. Where disaster areas lacked stores, neighboring counties' grain was released for relief. When locust nymphs first appeared, officials were sent to destroy them at once. Those who sold children were redeemed by the state. The wealthy were ordered to remit tenants' rent. Wealthy households loaned grain to the poor, accepting exemption from miscellaneous corvée as interest, repayable in good years. Imperial estates and lakes were opened for public gathering. Famine refugees returning home received ration grain. Grain from capital and Tongzhou granaries was sold at fair prices. Salary grain was advanced to curb prices; lodging was built for refugees; grain funded adoption of abandoned infants; poorhouses registered the needy; the unregistered were sheltered at the Candle and Banner-Pole temples. Such was their care for the people. Shizong and Shenzong neglected civilian welfare, yet when disaster reports arrived they still granted remissions and relief, not daring to break ancestral precedent.
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振米之法，明初，大口六斗，小口三斗，五歲以下不與。 永樂以後，減其數。
Early Ming relief grain: six dou for adults, three for children, none under age five. After Yongle the amounts were reduced.
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納米振濟贖罪者，景帝時，雜犯死罪六十石，流徒減三之一，餘遞減有差。 捐納事例，自憲宗始。 生員納米百石以上，人國子監； 軍民納二百五十石，為正九品散官，加五十石，增二級，至正七品止。 武宗時，富民納粟振濟，千石以上者表其門，九百石至二三百石者，授散官，得至從六品。 世宗令義民出谷二十石者，給冠帶，多者授官正七品，至五百石者，有司為立坊。
Under Jingdi, grain payment for relief and crime redemption required sixty dan for miscellaneous capital crimes, with exile and penal servitude reduced by one-third and lesser offenses reduced proportionally. Purchase-by-contribution precedents began under Xianzong. Students contributing one hundred dan or more of grain entered the Imperial Academy; soldiers and civilians paying 250 dan received ninth-rank honorary office; each additional 50 dan raised two grades, up to seventh rank. Under Wuzong wealthy donors of relief grain: 1,000 dan or more earned honored gates; 900 down to 200–300 dan earned honorary office up to vice sixth rank. Shizong granted cap and belt to donors of twenty dan; larger donors received seventh-rank office; at five hundred dan magistrates erected commemorative arches.
34
振粥之法，自世宗始。
Relief porridge distribution began under Shizong.
35
報災之法，洪武時不拘時限。 弘治中，始限夏災不得過五月終，秋災不得過九月終。 萬歷時，又分近地五月、七月，邊地七月、九月。
Disaster reporting under Hongwu had no time limit. Under Hongzhi deadlines were set: summer disasters by end of month 5, autumn disasters by end of month 9. Under Wanli nearby regions used months 5 and 7, frontier regions months 7 and 9.
36
洪武時，勘災既實，盡與蠲免。 弘治中，始定全災免七分，自九分災以下遞減。 又止免存留，不及起運，後遂為永制云。
Under Hongwu, once disasters were verified, taxes were fully remitted. Under Hongzhi total disaster brought seventy-percent exemption, with lesser disasters reduced proportionally from ninety-percent downward. Exemption applied only to locally retained grain, not transport quotas—a rule that later became permanent.