Volume 174 Treatises 127: Finance and Economics 1b

食貨上二〈（方田賦稅）〉

Finance and Economics, Part Two Section heading: Square Fields and Land Tax.〉

方田神宗患田賦不均，熙寧五年，重修定方田法，詔司農以《均稅條約並式》頒之天下。以東西南北各千步，當四十一頃六十六畝一百六十步，為一方；歲以九月，縣委令、佐分地計量，隨陂原平澤而定其地，因赤淤黑壚而辨其色；方量畢，以地及色參定肥瘠而分五等，以定稅則；至明年三月畢，揭以示民，一季無訟，即書戶帖，連莊帳付之，以為地符。

The Square Fields system began because Emperor Shenzong was troubled by unequal land taxes. In Xining 5 the law was revised, and the Directorate of Agriculture was ordered to issue the 《Treatises and Formulas on Equal Taxation》 empire-wide. Each field square was one thousand paces on every side, equivalent to 41 qing, 66 mu, and 160 paces. Every ninth month, magistrates and assistants divided and measured the land, classifying plots by terrain and marking soil types by color—red silt, black clay, loam, and the like. Once measurement was finished, soil was graded in five ranks from fertility and color, and tax rates were set accordingly. Work had to be completed by the third month of the next year. Results were posted for public review; if no disputes arose within one season, household registers linked to village rolls were issued as official land certificates.

均稅之法，縣各以其租額稅數為限，舊嘗收蹙奇零，如米不及十合而收為升，絹不滿十分而收為寸之類，今不得用其數均攤增展，致溢舊額，凡越額增數皆禁。若瘠鹵不毛，及眾所食利山林、陂塘、溝路、墳墓，皆不立稅。

Under equalized taxation, each county was capped at its existing rent and tax totals. Officials had once rounded up odd fractions—charging a full sheng when less than ten ge of rice was due, or a full cun when silk fell short of ten fen—and such practices could no longer be used to inflate assessments beyond the old quotas. Barren saline land, communal woodlands, ponds, ditches, roads, and grave sites that served public use were all exempt from tax.

凡田方之角，立土為峰，植其野之所宜木以封表之。有方帳，有莊帳，有甲帖，有戶帖；其分煙析產、典賣割移，官給契，縣置簿，皆以今所方之田為正。令既具，乃以濟州钜野尉王曼為指教官，先自京東路行之，諸路仿焉。六年，詔土色分五等，疑未盡，下郡縣物其土宜，多為等以其均當，勿拘以五。七年，京東十七州選官四員，各主其方，分行郡縣，以三年為任。每方差大甲頭二人、小甲頭三人，同集方戶，令各認步畝，方田官驗地色，更勒甲頭、方戶同定。諸路及開封府界秋田災傷三分以上縣權罷，餘候農隙。河北西路提舉司乞通一縣災傷不及一分勿罷。

At each corner of a measured square, officials raised an earthen marker and planted locally suitable trees to bound the plot. Records included square registers, village rolls, tithing placards, and household placards. Household divisions, mortgages, sales, and transfers were all recorded in county ledgers and official contracts based on the newly measured fields. Once the regulations were in place, Wang Man, assistant magistrate of Juye in Jizhou, was named instruction officer and piloted the system in the Jingdong Circuit; other circuits then followed suit. In the sixth year, an edict held that five soil grades might not suffice; prefectures and counties were to classify land according to local conditions in as many grades as needed for fair taxation, without being limited to five. In the seventh year, four officials were chosen from Jingdong's seventeen prefectures; each oversaw assigned squares and toured the counties on three-year terms. Each square had two senior and three junior tithing heads who assembled local households to confirm boundaries; Square Fields officers inspected soil quality, and heads and households jointly finalized the assessment. In all circuits and the Kaifeng metropolitan area, counties with autumn crop losses of thirty percent or more were temporarily exempted; elsewhere work waited until the farming slack season. The Hebei West Circuit supervisory office asked that counties with disaster losses under ten percent not be exempted from the program.

元豐五年，開封府言：「方田法，取稅之最不均縣先行，即一州而定五縣，歲不過兩縣，今府界十九縣，準此行之，十年乃定。請歲方五縣。」從之。其後歲稔農隙乃行，而縣多山林者或行或否。八年，帝知官吏擾民，詔罷之。天下之田已方而見於籍者，至是二百四十八萬四千三百四十有九頃雲。

In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, Kaifeng Prefecture reported that under Square Fields policy the most unevenly taxed counties were to be done first—five per prefecture, no more than two per year. With nineteen counties in the metropolitan area, completion would take ten years at that pace. It asked to measure five counties each year instead. The request was approved. Thereafter the work proceeded only in good harvest years during the farming slack season, and mountainous counties sometimes participated and sometimes did not. In the eighth year, learning that officials were harassing the populace, the emperor ordered the system suspended. By then, land squared and entered in the registers reportedly totaled 2,484,349 qing empire-wide.

崇寧三年，宰臣蔡京等言：「自開阡陌，使民得以田私相貿易，富者恃其有餘，厚立價以規利，貧者迫於不足，薄移稅以速售，而天下之賦調不平久矣。神宗講究方田利害，作法而推行之，方為之帳，而步畝高下丈尺不可隱；戶給之帖，而升合尺寸無所遺；以賣買，則民不能容其巧；以推收，則吏不能措其奸。今文籍具在，可舉而行。」詔諸路提舉常平官選官習熟其法，諭州縣官吏各以豐稔日推行，自京西、北兩路始。四年，指教官每三縣加一員，點檢官每路二員。未幾，詔諸路添置指教官不得過三員，又不專差點檢官，從提舉司於本路見任人內選差。五年，詔罷方田。大觀二年，復詔行之，四年罷其稅賦依未方舊則輸納。十一月，詔：「方田官吏非特妄增田稅，又兼不食之山方之，俾出芻草之直，民戶因時廢業失所。監司其悉改正，毋失其舊。」

In Chongning 3, Chief Minister Cai Jing and others argued that ever since private land trade was allowed, the wealthy had inflated prices for profit while the poor had shifted tax burdens to sell quickly, leaving the empire's tax system chronically unequal. Emperor Shenzong had studied Square Fields carefully, enacted the law, and created registers so that boundaries, acreage, elevation, and dimensions could no longer be concealed. Household placards recorded dues down to the smallest measures of grain and cloth. In sales and purchases, commoners could no longer hide their tricks. In assessment and collection, clerks could no longer practice fraud. The records still exist and the system can be revived. An edict ordered circuit ever-normal granary supervisors to train officials in the law and instruct prefectures and counties to implement it in good harvest years, beginning with the Jingxi and Jingbei circuits. In the fourth year, one additional instruction officer was assigned per three counties, and two inspection officers per circuit. Soon afterward, an edict capped added instruction officers at three per circuit and ended dedicated inspection posts, requiring supervisors to appoint inspectors from existing circuit officials. In the fifth year, Square Fields was abolished by edict. In Daguan 2 the system was revived by edict; in Daguan 4 it was abolished again, and taxes reverted to pre-square assessment rules. In the eleventh month, an edict declared that Square Fields officials had not only inflated land taxes but also measured barren hills and charged for fodder, driving households to abandon their livelihoods. Supervisory officials were ordered to correct all abuses and restore former standards.

政和三年，河北西路提舉常平司奏：「所在地色極多，不下百數，及至均稅，不過十等。第一等雖出十分之稅，地土肥沃，尚以為輕；第十等隻均一分，多是瘠鹵，出稅雖少，猶以為重。若不入等，則積多而至一頃，止以柴蒿之直，為錢自一百而至五百，比次十等，全不受稅；既收入等，但可耕之地便有一分之稅，其間下色之地與柴蒿之地不相遠，乃一例每畝均稅一分，上輕下重。欲乞土色十等如故外，折十等之地再分上、中、下三等，折畝均數。謂如第十等地每十畝合折第一等一畝，即十等之上，受稅十一，不改元則；十等之中，數及十五畝，十等之下，數及二十畝，方比上等受一畝之稅，庶幾上下輕重皆均。」詔諸路概行其法。五年，福建、利路茶戶山園，如鹽田例免方量均稅。

In Zhenghe 3, the Hebei West ever-normal granary office reported that local soil types numbered at least a hundred, yet equalized taxation used only ten grades. First-grade land paid the full rate, yet on fertile soil even that was considered too light. Tenth-grade land was taxed at only one-tenth; much of it was barren saline soil, and though the levy was small, it was still felt as burdensome. Land excluded from the grades could accumulate to a full qing yet be valued only at one hundred to five hundred cash for brush and weeds—less burdensome than tenth-grade land, which paid no tax at all. Once graded, any cultivable plot owed one-tenth per mu, yet poor soil and brushland were taxed the same as better plots within the grade—making the burden lighter on the rich and heavier on the poor. They proposed retaining the ten soil grades but subdividing tenth-grade land into upper, middle, and lower thirds with converted acreage to equalize assessments. For example, ten mu of upper tenth-grade land would convert to one mu of first-grade assessment, yielding an effective rate of eleven-tenths without altering the original tax schedule. Middle tenth-grade land would require fifteen mu, and lower tenth-grade land twenty mu, to equal one mu of upper-tier assessment, so that burdens would be balanced across grades. An edict ordered all circuits to adopt the reform. In the fifth year, tea planters' hillside gardens in Fujian and Lizhou were exempted from measurement and equalized taxation, as with salt fields.

宣化元年，臣僚言：「方量官憚於跋履，並不躬親，行繵拍峰、驗定土色，一付之胥吏。致御史臺受訴，有二百餘畝方為二十畝者，有二頃九十六畝方為一十七畝者，虔之瑞金縣是也。有租稅十有三錢而增至二貫二百者，有租稅二十七錢則增至一貫四百五十者，虔之會昌縣者是也。詔望常平使者檢察。」二年，遂詔罷之。民因方量流徙者，守令招誘歸業；荒閑田土，召人請佃。自今諸司毋得起請方田。諸路已方量者，賦稅不以有無訴論，悉如舊額輸納；民逃移歸業，已前逋欠稅租，並與除放。

In Xuanhe 1, an official reported that measurement officers refused to travel the land themselves and delegated rope surveys, boundary markers, and soil inspection entirely to clerks. The censorate received complaints that in Ruijin County, Qianzhou, more than two hundred mu had been recorded as twenty, and two qing ninety-six mu as seventeen. In Huichang County, Qianzhou, rent of thirteen cash had been raised to two strings two hundred, and rent of twenty-seven cash to one string four hundred fifty. An edict directed ever-normal granary commissioners to investigate. In the second year, the system was abolished by edict. Prefects and magistrates were to encourage people displaced by land measurement to return to their occupations. Abandoned land was to be opened for tenant cultivation. Henceforth no agency could propose reviving Square Fields. Where land had already been measured, taxes could no longer be disputed and were to be paid at former quotas. Returning refugees were granted remission of all prior tax arrears.

賦稅自唐建中初變租庸調法作年支兩稅，夏輸毋過六月，秋輸毋過十一月，遣使分道按率。其弊也，先期而苛斂，增額而繁征，至於五代極矣。

Since the Jianzhong reform of 780, Tang had replaced the zu-yong-diao system with the two-tax system: summer dues by the sixth month, autumn dues by the eleventh, with envoys sent on separate routes to set rates. Its abuses included premature collection, harsh levies, quota inflation, and multiplying exactions—reaching their worst under the Five Dynasties.

宋制歲賦，其類有五：曰公田之賦，凡田之在官，賦民耕而收其租者是也。曰民田之賦，百姓各得專之者是也。曰城郭之賦，宅稅、地稅之類是也。曰丁口之賦，百姓歲輸身丁錢米是也。曰雜變之賦，牛革、蠶鹽之類，隨其所出，變而輸之是也。歲賦之物，其類有四：曰穀，曰帛，曰金、鐵，曰物產是也。穀之品七：一曰粟，二曰稻，三曰麥，四曰黍，五曰穄，六曰菽，七曰雜子。帛之品十：一曰羅，二曰綾，三曰絹，四曰紗，五曰絁，六曰綢，七曰雜折，八曰絲線，九曰綿，十曰布葛。金鐵之品四：一曰金，二曰銀，三曰鐵、鑞，四曰銅、鐵錢。物產之品六：一曰六畜，二曰齒、革、翎毛，三曰茶、鹽，四曰竹木、麻草、芻菜，五曰果、藥、油、紙、薪、炭、漆、蠟，六曰雜物。其輸有常處，而以有餘補不足，則移此輸彼，移近輸遠，謂之「支移」。其入有常物，而一時所輸則變而取之，使其直輕重相當，謂之「折變」。其輸之遲速，視收成早暮而寬為之期，所以紓民力。諸州歲奏戶帳，具載其丁口，男夫二十為丁，六十為老。兩物折科物，非土地所宜而抑配者，禁之。

Song annual levies fell into five categories: public-field tax on state land rented to cultivators. Private-field tax on land held exclusively by commoners. Urban tax, including residence and land taxes in cities and towns. Poll tax, the annual head-tax in cash and grain paid by commoners. Miscellaneous commutations such as ox hides, silk, and salt, delivered in whatever form local production allowed. Annual levy goods fell into four categories: grain, silks, metals, and local products. Grains comprised seven types: millet, rice, wheat, broomcorn millet, panicled millet, beans, and miscellaneous seeds. Silks comprised ten types: gauze, damask, silk, fine gauze, coarse silk, silk fabric, miscellaneous folded goods, silk thread, cotton, and cloth and hemp. Metals comprised four types: gold, silver, iron and tin, and copper and iron currency. Local products comprised six types: livestock; ivory, hides, and feathers; tea and salt; bamboo, timber, hemp, grass, and fodder; fruit, medicine, oil, paper, fuel, charcoal, lacquer, and wax; and miscellaneous goods. Though deliveries had fixed destinations, surplus regions could supply deficient ones by shifting goods from place to place or from near to far—called "branch transfer." Though dues were nominally fixed in kind, payments were often converted to equivalent values in other goods—called "commutation." Payment deadlines were adjusted to early or late harvests to ease the burden on the populace. Prefectures submitted annual household registers listing all members; males counted as adult laborers at twenty and as aged at sixty. Forced commutation of unsuitable goods not native to a region was prohibited.

五代以來，常檢視見墾田以定歲租。吏緣為奸，稅不均適，繇是百姓失業，田多荒蕪。太祖即位，詔許民辟土，州縣毋得檢括，止以見佃為額。選官分蒞京畿倉瘐，及詣諸道，受民租調，有增羨者輒得罪，多入民租者或至棄市。

Since the Five Dynasties, officials had routinely surveyed visible cultivated land to set annual rent. Officials exploited the practice for fraud, taxes fell unevenly, commoners lost their livelihoods, and much land lay fallow. When Taizu ascended the throne, he permitted land reclamation and forbade prefectures and counties from intrusive surveys, fixing quotas only on land already under cultivation. Officials were dispatched to oversee capital granaries and to collect rent and taxes in the circuits; those who inflated receipts were punished, and those who over-collected sometimes faced execution.

舊諸州收稅畢，符屬縣追吏會鈔，縣吏厚斂里胥以賂州之吏，里胥復率於民，民甚苦之。建隆四年，乃下詔禁止。令諸州受租籍不得稱分、毫、合、龠、銖、厘、絲、忽，錢必成文，絹帛成尺，粟成升，絲綿成兩，薪蒿成束，金銀成錢。綢不滿半匹、絹不滿一匹者，許計丈尺輸直，無得三戶、五戶聚合成匹，送納煩擾。民輸夏稅，所在遣縣尉部弓手於要路巡護，後聞擾民，罷之，止令鄉耆、壯丁防援。

Formerly, after tax collection prefectures ordered counties to send clerks to reconcile receipts; county clerks extorted village heads to bribe prefectural staff, who in turn passed the burden to commoners. In Jianlong 4, an edict prohibited the practice. Prefectures were forbidden to record fractional units on rent registers; cash had to be in whole strings, silk in whole chi, grain in whole sheng, floss in whole liang, fuel in whole bundles, and gold and silver in standard cash amounts. Shortfalls under half a bolt of silk fabric or one bolt of silk could be paid in cash by measured length; combining partial dues from several households into one bolt was forbidden as too burdensome. When commoners delivered summer tax, assistant magistrates had once deployed bowmen to patrol key roads; learning this harassed the people, the court abolished the practice and left escort duty to village elders and militia.

諸州稅籍，錄事參軍按視，判官振舉。形勢戶立別籍，通判專掌督之，二稅須於三限前半月畢輸。歲起納二稅，前期令縣各造稅籍，具一縣戶數、夏秋稅苗畝桑功及緣科物為帳一，送州覆校定，用州印，藏長吏廳，縣籍亦用州印，給付令佐。造夏稅籍以正月一日，秋稅籍以四月一日，並限四十五日畢。

Prefectural tax registers were inspected by recording secretaries and overseen by judicial administrators. Powerful households were listed on separate registers supervised by vice-prefects, and both taxes had to be paid in full half a month before the three deadlines. Before each year's two tax collections, counties compiled registers listing households, summer and autumn assessments, acreage, mulberry yields, and attached dues; prefectures reviewed, sealed, and stored them, issuing stamped copies to magistrates. Summer tax registers were compiled from the first day of the first month, autumn registers from the first day of the fourth month, each within forty-five days.

開封府等七十州夏稅，舊以五月十五日起納，七月三十日畢。河北、河東諸州氣候差晚，五月十五日起納，八月五日畢。潁州等一十三州及淮南、江南、兩浙、福建、廣南、荊湖、川峽五月一日起納，七月十五日畢。秋稅自九月一日起納，十二月十五日畢，後又並加一月或值閏月，其田蠶亦有早晚不同，有司臨時奏裁。繼而以河北、河東諸州秋稅多輸邊郡，常限外更加一月。江南、兩浙、荊湖、廣南、福建土多粳稻，須霜降成實，自十月一日始收租。掌納官吏以限外欠數，差定其罰。限前畢，減選，升資。民逋租逾限，取保歸辦，母得禁係。中國租二十石輸牛革一，準錢千。川蜀尚循舊制，牛驢死，革盡入官，乃詔蠲之，定民租二百石輸牛革一，準錢千五百。

In Kaifeng Prefecture and seventy other prefectures, summer tax collection formerly ran from the fifteenth day of the fifth month through the thirtieth day of the seventh month. In Hebei and Hedong, where the climate was later, collection ran from the fifteenth day of the fifth month through the fifth day of the eighth month. In Yingzhou and twelve other prefectures, plus Huainan, Jiangnan, the two Zhe circuits, Fujian, Guangnan, Jinghu, and Sichuan, collection ran from the first day of the fifth month through the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Autumn tax collection ran from the first day of the ninth month through the fifteenth day of the twelfth month; later an extra month was often allowed, and deadlines were adjusted for intercalary months and regional differences in harvest and sericulture. Because Hebei and Hedong autumn taxes were largely shipped to border prefectures, an extra month beyond the usual deadline was regularly granted. In Jiangnan, the two Zhe circuits, Jinghu, Guangnan, and Fujian, where japonica rice ripened only after frost, rent collection began on the first day of the tenth month. Collecting officials faced graded penalties for shortfalls beyond the deadline. Completion before the deadline brought accelerated promotion. Commoners in rent arrears beyond the deadline could give surety and return home to settle; they could not be imprisoned. In central China, one ox hide was due for every twenty shi of rent, valued at one thousand cash. Sichuan still followed the old rule that all hides from dead oxen and donkeys went to the state; an edict abolished this and set one ox hide per two hundred shi of rent, valued at one thousand five hundred cash.

太平興國二年，江西轉運使言：「本路蠶桑數少，而金價頗低。今折徵，絹估少而傷民，金估多而傷官。金上等舊估兩十千，今請估八千；絹上等舊估匹一千，今請估一千三百，餘以次增損。」從之。

In Taiping Xingguo 2, the Jiangxi transport commissioner reported that the circuit had little mulberry and sericulture while gold prices were relatively low. Under the current commutation system, undervaluing silk hurt commoners while overvaluing gold hurt the treasury. Top-grade gold had been assessed at twenty thousand cash per liang; he asked that it be reassessed at eight thousand. Top-grade silk had been assessed at one thousand cash per bolt; he proposed raising it to thirteen hundred, with other grades adjusted proportionally. The request was approved.

咸平三年，以刑部員外、直史館陳靖為京畿均田使，聽自擇京朝官，分縣據元額定稅，不得增收剩數；逃戶別立籍，令本府招誘歸業；桑功更不均檢，民戶廣令種植。尋聞居民弗諭朝旨，翦伐桑柘，即詔罷之。六年，罷廣南西路轉運使馮漣上言：「廉、橫、賓、白州民雖墾田，未嘗輸送，已命官檢括，令盡出常租。」帝曰：「遠方之民，宜省徭賦。」亟命停罷。知袁州何蒙請以金折本州二稅，真宗曰：「若是，將盡廢耕農矣。」不許。

In Xianping 3, Chen Jing—Vice Minister of Justice and Institute Historian—was appointed Equal-Fields Commissioner for the capital region. He could select metropolitan officials himself, set taxes county by county at original quotas, and was forbidden to collect any surplus. Fugitive households were listed on separate rolls, and local prefectures were instructed to induce them to return to farming. Mulberry quotas were no longer uniformly assessed, and households were broadly ordered to plant more mulberry trees. Before long it was reported that residents, misunderstanding the court's intent, were cutting down mulberry trees; the policy was immediately canceled. In the sixth year, after dismissing Guangnan West transport commissioner Feng Lian, a memorial stated: In Lian, Heng, Bin, and Bai prefectures, farmers who had cleared land had never paid taxes; officials had been ordered to investigate and collect full standard rent. The emperor replied: "Frontier subjects deserve lighter corvée and tax burdens." He immediately ordered the measure halted. Yuanzhou prefect He Meng proposed commuting the prefecture's two seasonal land taxes into gold. Emperor Zhenzong said: "At that rate, agriculture would disappear entirely." The request was denied.

大中祥符初，連歲豐稔，邊儲有備，河北諸路稅賦，並聽於本州軍輸納。二年，頒《幕職州縣官招徠戶口旌賞條製》。舊制，縣吏能招增戶口者，縣即升等，乃加其奉；至有析客戶為主戶者，雖登於籍，而賦稅無所增。四年，詔禁之。雍熙初，嘗詔荊湖等路民輸丁錢，未成丁、已入老並身有廢疾者，免之。至是，又除兩浙、福建、荊湖、廣南舊輸身丁錢，歲凡四十五萬四百貫。九年，詔諸路支移稅賦勿至兩次，仍許以粟、麥、蕎、菽互相折輸。

Early in the Dazhong Xiangfu era, after years of good harvests had filled frontier granaries, Hebei circuits were allowed to pay taxes locally rather than ship them elsewhere. In the second year, the court issued the 《Regulations on Rewards for Administrative and County Officials Who Recruited Households》. Formerly, counties whose clerks added registered households were promoted in rank and their officials received higher salaries. Some counties even split tenant households into primary ones—adding names to the register without increasing revenue. In the fourth year, an edict banned the practice. Early in Yongxi, the court had required Jinghu and related circuits to pay the adult poll tax, exempting minors, the elderly, and the disabled. Now the court also abolished the legacy poll taxes in Liangzhe, Fujian, Jinghu, and Guangnan—450,400 strings per year. In the ninth year, edicts limited tax redirection to no more than two transfers and allowed millet, wheat, buckwheat, and beans to be commuted for one another.

凡歲賦，穀以石計，錢以緡計，帛以匹計，金銀、絲綿以兩計，槁秸、薪蒸以圍計，他物各以其數計。至道末，總七千八十九萬三千；天禧五年，視至道之數有增有減，總六千四百五十三萬。其折變及移輸比壤者，則視當時所須焉。

Annual levies were measured in shi for grain, strings of cash for money, bolts for cloth, taels for gold, silver, and silk floss, bundles for straw and firewood, and appropriate units for all other goods. By the end of the Zhidao era, the total reached 70,893,000 units. In Tianxi 5, revenue had risen and fallen in various categories compared with Zhidao, totaling 64,530,000. Conversions and cross-region deliveries varied according to immediate need.

宋克平諸國，每以恤民為先務，累朝相承，凡無名苛細之斂，常加剗革，尺縑鬥粟，未聞有所增益。一遇水旱徭役，則蠲除倚格，殆無虛歲，倚格者後或凶歉，亦輒蠲之。而又田製不立川畝轉易，丁口隱漏，兼並冒偽，未嘗考按，故賦入之利視前代為薄。丁謂嘗言：二十而稅一者有之，三十而稅一者有之。仁宗嗣位，首寬畿縣田賦，詔三等以下戶毋遠輸。河中府、同華州請免支移，帝以問輔臣，對曰：「西鄙宿兵，非移用民賦則軍食不足。」特詔量減支移。

From its conquest of rival states, the Song placed popular welfare first. Dynasty after dynasty canceled obscure petty levies, and not even a bolt of silk or a peck of grain was knowingly added to the burden. Flood, drought, or corvée duty routinely brought remissions and deferred installments—hardly a year passed without relief—and deferred payments were canceled again whenever famine followed. Yet land registers were never systematically maintained, fields changed hands freely, households were undercounted, and consolidation fraud went unchecked—so tax income remained thinner than in earlier dynasties. Ding Wei once observed that effective tax rates ranged from one-twentieth to one-thirtieth of yield. Upon Renzong's accession, he first eased land taxes in the capital region, decreeing that households below the third grade need not ship payments long distances. Hezhong Prefecture and Tong and Hua prefectures asked to be exempt from tax redirection. When the emperor consulted his ministers, they replied: "Troops remain stationed on the western frontier; without redirecting local taxes, the army would go hungry." A special edict ordered a measured reduction in redirected deliveries.

福州王氏時有田千餘頃，謂之「官莊「，自太平興國中授券予民耕，歲使輸賦。至是，發運使方仲荀言：「此公田也，鬻之可得厚利。」遣尚書屯田員外郎幸惟慶領其事，凡售錢三十五萬餘緡，詔減緡錢三之一，期三年畢償。監察御史朱諫以為傷民，不可。即而期盡，未償者猶十二萬八千餘緡，詔悉蠲之。後又詔公田重復取賦者皆罷。天聖時，貝州言：「民析居者例加稅，謂之『罰稅』，他州無此比。」詔除之。自是，州縣有言稅之苛細無名者，蠲損甚眾。

In Fuzhou the Wang clan once held more than a thousand qing of land known as the "Official Estate." Since Taiping Xingguo, farmers had been given leases to cultivate it and pay annual rent. The transport commissioner Fang Zhongxun proposed: "This is public land; selling it would yield a substantial profit." The court sent Vice Director of Colonization Xing Weiqing to manage the sale, which brought in more than 350,000 strings. Leaseholders were granted a one-third reduction, payable over three years. Supervising Censor Zhu Jian argued that the scheme harmed commoners and should not proceed. When the three-year term expired, more than 128,000 strings remained unpaid; the court remitted the entire balance. Later edicts ended all duplicate taxation of public land. During Tiansheng, Beizhou reported: "When households split, they were routinely hit with an extra levy called a 'penalty tax'—a practice unknown elsewhere." An edict abolished the levy. Thereafter, whenever local officials reported obscure or petty taxes, remissions became frequent.

自唐以來，民計田輸賦外，增取他物，復折為賦，謂之「雜變」，亦謂之「沿納」。而名品煩細，其類不一。官司歲附帳籍，並緣侵優，民以為患。明道中，帝躬耕籍田，因詔三司以類並合。於是悉除諸名品，並為一物，夏秋歲入，第分粗細二色，百姓便之。

Since Tang times, beyond standard land tax, officials collected other goods and converted them into levies known as "miscellaneous conversions" or "supplementary deliveries." The items were countless and varied. Each year officials appended new items to the tax rolls, exploiting every loophole—a perennial grievance for taxpayers. During Mingdao, after the emperor performed the ceremonial plowing, he ordered the Three Departments to consolidate levies by category. All separate items were abolished and combined into a single levy, with summer and autumn payments distinguished only as coarse or fine grade—a reform the people welcomed.

州縣賦入有籍，歲一置，謂之空行簿，以待歲中催科；閏年別置，謂之實行簿，以藏有司。天聖初，或言實行簿無用，而率民錢為擾，罷之。景祐元年，侍御史韓瀆言：「天下賦入之繁，但存催科一簿，一有散亡，則耗登之數無從鉤考。請復置實行簿。」詔再閏一造。至慶曆中復故。

Each county kept tax registers renewed annually in a "provisional ledger" used for mid-year collection. In leap years a separate "permanent ledger" was compiled and kept in official archives. Early in Tiansheng, critics called the permanent ledger useless and its fees a burden on taxpayers; it was abolished. In Jingyou 1, Attendant Censor Han Du warned: "Tax revenue is complex nationwide, yet only a single collection ledger survives. If it is lost, revenue figures cannot be audited. He asked that the permanent ledger be restored." An edict ordered the ledger compiled once every two leap years. By the Qingli era the old practice was restored.

時患州縣賦役之煩，詔諸路上其數，俾二府大臣合議蠲減。又詔曰：「稅籍有偽書逃徙，或因推割，用幸走移，若請占公田而不輸稅。如此之類，縣令、佐能究見其弊，以增賦入，量數議賞。」既而諫官王素言：「天下田賦輕重不等，請均定。」而歐陽修亦言：「秘書丞孫琳嘗往洺州肥鄉縣，與大理寺丞郭諮以千步方田法括定民田，願詔二人得任之。」三司亦以為然，且請於亳、壽、蔡、汝四州擇庀不均者均之。於是遣諮蔡州。諮首括一縣，得田二萬六千九百三十餘頃，均其賦於民。既而諮言州縣多逃田，未可盡括，朝廷亦重勞人，遂罷。

Concerned about local tax and corvée burdens, the court ordered every circuit to report figures so the chief ministers could jointly decide reductions. Another edict declared: "Tax registers are riddled with fraud—false records, flight, evasion through land transfers, and occupation of public land without payment. Magistrates who uncover such abuses and increase revenue shall be rewarded in proportion to the gain." Remonstrance Official Wang Su soon followed up: "Land taxes vary unevenly nationwide; please equalize them." Ouyang Xiu added: "Secretariat Director Sun Lin and Court of Judicial Review Director Guo Zi once surveyed farmland in Feixiang County, Mozhou, using the thousand-pace square-field method. Both should be empowered to carry this work forward." The Three Departments agreed and proposed equalizing the most uneven districts in Bozhou, Shou, Cai, and Ru prefectures. Guo Zi was then sent to Caizhou. Guo Zi first surveyed one county, registering more than 26,930 qing of land and equalizing tax burdens among local households. Guo Zi soon reported that widespread abandoned land made complete surveying impossible, and the court, wary of overburdening the populace, abandoned the project.

陝西、河東用兵，民賦率多支移，因增取地裏腳錢，民不能堪。五年，詔陝西特蠲之，且令後勿復取。既而詔河東亦然。又令諸路轉運司：「支移、折變，前期半歲書於榜以諭民，有未便者聽自言，主者裁之。」皇祐中，詔：「廣西賦布，匹為錢二百。如聞有司擅損其價，重困遠人，宜令復故。」州郡歲常先奏雨足歲豐，後雖災害，不敢上聞，故民賦罕得蠲者，乃下詔申飭之。又損開封諸縣田賦，視舊額十之三，命著於法。

Military campaigns in Shaanxi and Hedong drove frequent tax redirection, and officials added overland transport surcharges that people could not bear. In the fifth year, Shaanxi was granted a special remission, and future collection was forbidden. Hedong received the same order shortly afterward. Transport commissioners were further instructed: "Post redirected-delivery and conversion plans six months in advance. Anyone inconvenienced may petition, and responsible officials shall decide." In Huangyou, an edict fixed Guangxi tribute cloth at two hundred cash per bolt. We hear officials have been cutting the price on their own, crushing distant subjects. Restore the original rate." Prefectures habitually reported good rains and bumper harvests early each year, then withheld disaster reports—so tax remissions were rare. The court issued stern admonitions. Land taxes in Kaifeng counties were cut to thirty percent of old quotas and written into law.

支移、折變，貧弱者尤以為患。景祐初，嘗詔戶在第九等免之，後孤獨戶亦皆免。至是，因下赦書，責轉運司裁損，歲終條上。其後赦書數以為言，又令折科為平估，毋得害農。久之，復詔曰：「如聞諸路比言折科民賦，多以所折復變他物，或增取其直，重困良農。雖屢戒敕，莫能奉宣詔令。自今有此，州長吏即時上聞。」然有司規聚斂，罕能承帝意焉。

Redirected delivery and commutation weighed heaviest on the poor. Early in Jingyou, ninth-grade households were exempted; later solitary households were exempted as well. An amnesty edict then charged transport commissioners to trim abuses and file itemized reports at year's end. Later amnesties repeated the command: commutation must use fair valuation and must not harm farmers. Long afterward, another edict complained: "We hear that across the circuits, commuted taxes are often converted again into other goods or marked up in price, crushing honest farmers. Repeated edicts have failed to restrain them. Henceforth, any such abuse must be reported immediately by the prefect." Yet revenue officials remained fixated on extraction, and few heeded the emperor's intent.

初，湖、廣、閩、浙因舊制歲斂丁身錢米，大中祥符間，詔除丁錢，而米輸如故。至天聖中，始並除婺、秀二州丁錢。後龐籍請罷漳、泉、興化軍丁米，有司持不可。皇祐三年，帝命三司首減郴永州、桂陽監丁米，以最下數一歲為準，歲減十餘萬石。既而漳、泉、興化亦第損之。嘉祐四年，復命轉運司裁定郴、永、桂陽、衡、道州所輸丁米及錢絹雜物，無業者馳之，有業者減半；後雖進丁，勿復增取。時廣南猶或輸丁錢，亦命轉運司條上。自是所輸無幾矣。

Hu, Guang, Fujian, and Zhejiang had long collected annual poll taxes in cash and rice. During Dazhong Xiangfu the cash component was abolished, but rice payments continued. Not until Tiansheng were poll taxes in Wu and Xiu prefectures fully abolished. Later Pang Ji proposed abolishing poll rice in Zhang, Quan, and Xinghua—but the responsible offices refused. In Huangyou 3, the emperor ordered the Three Departments to cut poll rice in Chen, Yong, and Guiyang to the lowest annual figure, saving more than 100,000 shi per year. Zhang, Quan, and Xinghua soon received proportional reductions as well. In Jiayou 4, transport commissioners were ordered to fix poll rice, cash, silk, and miscellaneous levies in Chen, Yong, Guiyang, Heng, and Dao: the landless were fully exempt, landholders paid half. Even when new adult males were registered, no additional levies could be imposed. Guangnan still paid some poll taxes, and transport commissioners were ordered to report figures for reduction. Thereafter the burden was negligible.

自郭諮均稅之法罷，論者謂朝廷徒恤一時之勞，而失經遠之慮。至皇祐中，天下墾田視景德增四十一萬七千餘頃，而歲入九穀乃減七十一萬八千餘石，蓋田賦不均，其弊如此。後田京知滄州，均無棣田，蔡挺知博州，均聊城、高塘田；歲增賦穀帛之類，無棣總一千一百五十二，聊城、高塘總萬四千八百四十七，而滄州之民不以為便，詔輸如舊。嘉祐五年，復詔均定，遣官分行諸路，而秘書丞高本在遣中，獨以為不可均，才均數郡田而止。

After Guo Zi's equal-tax reforms were abandoned, critics charged that the court had spared short-term hardship at the cost of long-term fiscal soundness. By Huangyou, cultivated land had grown by more than 417,000 qing since Jingde, yet grain tax receipts had fallen by more than 718,000 shi—the cost of unequal land taxation. Later Cangzhou prefect Tian Jing equalized land in Wudi, and Bozhou prefect Cai Ting did the same in Liaocheng and Gaotang. Wudi gained 1,152 units of grain and cloth, Liaocheng and Gaotang 14,847—but Cangzhou residents found the changes burdensome, and the court restored the old rates. In Jiayou 5, the court again ordered equalization and dispatched officials circuit by circuit. Secretariat Director Gao Ben, among them, argued equalization was impossible, and the effort stopped after only a few prefectures.

景德中，賦入之數總四千九百一十六萬九千九百，至皇祐中，增四百四十一萬八千六百六十五，治平中，又增一千四百一十七萬九千三百六十四。其以赦令蠲除以便於民，若逃移、戶絕不追者，景德中總六百八十二萬九千七百，皇祐中三十三萬八千四百五十七，治平中一千二百二十九萬八千七百。每歲以災害蠲除者，又不在是焉。

Jingde revenue totaled 49,169,900; by Huangyou it had risen by 4,418,665; by Zhiping by another 14,179,364. Amnesty remissions—including write-offs for flight and extinct households—totaled 6,829,700 in Jingde, 338,457 in Huangyou, and 12,298,700 in Zhiping. Annual disaster remissions were not included in these totals.

神宗留意農賦，湖、廣之民舊歲輸丁米，大中祥符以後屢裁損，猶不均。熙寧四年，乃遣屯田員外郎周之純往廣東相度均之。元豐三年，詔：諸路支移折稅，並具所行月日，上之中書。初，熙寧八年，詔支移二稅於起納錢半歲諭民，使民宿辦，無倉卒勞費。時有司往往緩期，故申約之。州縣又或今民輸錢，謂之「折斛錢」，而糴賤頗用傷農。海南四州軍稅籍殘缺，吏多增損，輒移稅入他戶，代輸者類不能自明。瓊州、昌化軍丁稅米，歲移輸朱崖軍，道遠，民以為苦。至是，用體量安撫朱初平等議，根括四州軍稅賦舊額，存其正數；二州丁稅米止令輸錢於朱崖自糴以便民。

Emperor Shenzong focused on agricultural taxation. Hu and Guang had long paid annual poll rice; though repeatedly cut since Dazhong Xiangfu, the burden remained uneven. In Xining 4, Vice Director of Colonization Zhou Zhichun was sent to Guangdong to survey and equalize the levy. In the third year of Yuanfeng, an edict required every circuit to report the dates of redirected deliveries and tax conversions to the Central Secretariat. In Xining 8, an edict had required tax redirection plans for the two seasonal land taxes to be posted six months before collection so households could prepare without sudden hardship. Because officials routinely missed deadlines, the requirement was restated in the third year of Yuanfeng. Local officials also sometimes required cash payments called "commuted peck fees," while cheap state grain purchases often hurt farmers. Tax registers in Hainan's four prefectures and military commissions were incomplete. Officials routinely inflated or cut entries and shifted obligations onto other households, leaving substitute payers unable to clear their names. Each year the ding-tax rice owed by Qiong Prefecture and Changhua Military Commission had to be shipped to distant Zhuyai Military Commission—a burden the people bitterly resented. At this point the court adopted the recommendations of investigation commissioner Zhu Chuping and others, auditing the four prefectures' and military commissions' old tax quotas and retaining only the legitimate amounts; for the two prefectures' ding-tax rice they required only cash payment at Zhuyai, where grain could be purchased locally, to spare the people further hardship.

權發遣三司戶部判官李琮根究逃絕稅役，江、浙所得逃戶凡四十萬一千三百有奇，為書上之。明年，除琮淮南轉運副使。兩路凡得逃絕、詭名挾佃、簿籍不載並闕丁凡四十七萬五千九百有奇，正稅並積負凡九十二萬二千二百貫、石、匹、兩有奇。琮蓋用貫石萬數立賞，以誘所委之吏，增加浩大，三路之民，大被其害。而唐州亦增民賦，人情騷然。六年，御史翟思言：「始，趙尚寬為唐守，勸民墾田，高賦繼之，流民自占者眾，凡百畝起稅四畝而已。稅輕而民樂輸，境內殆無曠土。近聞轉運司辟土百畝增至二十畝，恐其勢再致轉徙。望戒飭使者，量加以寬民。」帝每遇水旱，輒輕馳賦租；或因赦宥，又蠲放、倚閣未嘗絕；賦輸遠方不均，皆遣使按之，率以為常。

Li Cong, acting commissioner of the Ministry of Revenue, was sent to investigate tax and corvée evasion. In the Jiang and Zhe circuits he found more than 401,300 escaped households and reported the figures in a memorial. The following year Cong was appointed vice transport commissioner of Huainan. Across both circuits he recovered more than 475,900 cases of total evasion, false names tied to tenant fraud, unregistered households, and missing adult males, along with more than 922,200 units of regular taxes and accumulated arrears in strings, shi, bolts, and taels. Cong had offered rewards reckoned in tens of thousands of strings and shi to bait the officials under him, and the resulting increases were so vast that the people of all three circuits suffered heavily. Tang Prefecture raised levies as well, and public unrest spread. In the sixth year Censor Zhai Si said: "When Zhao Shangkuan was prefect of Tang, he encouraged reclamation and kept taxes light. Many refugees settled on their own land, and only four mu in every hundred were taxed. Taxes were low and people paid willingly, until almost no land within the prefecture lay fallow. I now hear the transport commissioner has raised the taxable quota on newly opened land from four mu per hundred to twenty, and I fear this will drive people to flee again. I ask that Your Majesty warn the commissioners and adjust the burden to give the people relief. The emperor, whenever flood or drought struck, promptly remitted or deferred land taxes; and through amnesties granted remissions and payment deferrals almost without pause; whenever tax deliveries to distant regions fell unevenly, the court sent investigators—a practice that became routine.

哲宗嗣位，宣仁太后同聽政，務行裕民之政，凡民有負，多所寬減。患天下積欠名目煩多，法令不一，王岩叟為開封，請隨等第立貫百為催法。兗州鄒令張文仲議其不便，遂令十分為率，歲隨夏秋料帶納一分，是為五年十料之法。

When Emperor Zhezong succeeded, Empress Dowager Xuanren shared power and pursued policies to ease the people's burden, granting wide reductions wherever arrears existed. Because accumulated arrears nationwide had grown tangled in category and law, Wang Yansou, prefect of Kaifeng, proposed a collection schedule by household grade in units of one hundred strings. Zhang Wenzong, magistrate of Zou in Yanzhou, argued that plan was unworkable, so the court set a one-tenth rate, allowing one-tenth of each summer and autumn quota to be paid annually—the ten-installment-over-five-years method.

陝西轉運使呂太忠令農戶支移，鬥輸腳錢十八。御史劾之，下提刑司體量，均其輕重之等。以稅賦戶籍在第一等、第二等者支移三百里，三等、四等者二百里，五等一百里。不願支移而願輸道里腳價者，亦酌度分為三等，以從其便。河東助軍糧草，支移毋得逾三百里。災傷五分以上者免折變，折變皆循舊法。

Shaanxi transport commissioner Lü Taizhong required farming households subject to branch transfer to pay eighteen cash per dou in transport fees. Censors impeached him, and the case was referred to the judicial-intendancy commission to investigate and equalize the lighter and heavier grades of burden. By tax household grade, first- and second-grade households were redirected up to three hundred li, third- and fourth-grade up to two hundred li, and fifth-grade up to one hundred li. Those who preferred paying route transport fees instead of redirecting goods were likewise divided into three grades as appropriate, according to convenience. For Hedong grain and fodder supporting the army, branch transfer could not exceed three hundred li. Commutation was waived where crop loss exceeded fifty percent; otherwise commutation followed the old rules.

紹聖中，嘗詔郡縣貨物用足錢、省陌不等，折變宜用中等。俄以所在時估實值多寡不齊，難概立法，命仍舊焉。言者謂：「欲民不流，不若多積穀；欲多積穀，不若推行折納糶糴之法。今常平雖有折納之法，止用中價，故民不樂輸。若依和糴以實價折之，則無損於民。」

During Shaosheng an edict once ruled that where prefectures and counties used full cash and reduced-percent cash inconsistently in valuing goods, commutation should use the middle rate. Soon, because local market appraisals varied too widely for a uniform law, the court ordered the old practice restored. Memorialists argued: "To keep people from fleeing, the state should stockpile grain; and to stockpile grain, it should expand commuted payment together with state grain purchase and release. The Ever-Normal Granaries already allow commuted payment, but because only the middle price is used, people are reluctant to pay in kind. If commutation followed equitable purchase at actual market price, the people would not be harmed."

崇寧二年，諸路歲稔，遂行增價折納之法，支移、折變、科率、配買，皆以熙寧法從事，民以穀菽、物帛輸積負零稅者聽之。大觀二年詔：「天下租賦科撥支折，當先富後貧，自近及遠。乃者漕臣失職，有不均之患，民或受害，其定為令。支移本以便邊餉，內郡罕用焉。間有移用，則任民以所費多寡自擇，故或輸本色於支移之地，或輸腳費於所居之邑。而折變之法，以納月初旬估中價準折，仍視歲之豐歉，以定物之低昂，俾官吏毋得私其輕重。」七月，詔曰：「比聞慢吏廢期，凡輸官之物，違期促限，蠶者未絲，農者未獲，追胥旁午，民無所措。自今前期督輸者，加一等坐之；致民逃徙者，論更加等。」舊凡以赦令蠲賦，雖多不過三分。四年，乃詔：天下逋賦，五年外戶口不存者，悉蠲之。

In Chongning 2, after a good harvest across the circuits, the court imposed premium commuted payment and restored branch transfer, commutation, assessed extractions, and assigned purchases under the Xining rules, allowing arrears and fractional taxes to be paid in grain, beans, or cloth. In Daguan 2 an edict declared: "Nationwide rent, levies, allocations, branch transfers, and conversions must burden the wealthy before the poor and proceed from near to far. Transport officials have lately failed in duty, causing unequal burdens and harming the people. Let this be established as law. Branch transfer had originally served frontier supply; interior circuits seldom used it. When it was applied, people could choose according to cost: some delivered goods in kind at the transfer point, others paid transport fees in their home district. Commutation was to be calculated from the middle market price appraised in the first ten days of the payment month, adjusted for the year's harvest to set high or low values so officials could not manipulate the rate. In the seventh month an edict said: "We hear negligent officials are forcing deadlines before silkworms are reeled or crops harvested, with tax runners pressing people on every side until they have nowhere to turn. From now on, officials who demand early payment shall be punished one grade more severely; and those who drive people to flee shall be punished still more severely. Formerly, amnesty remissions of levies rarely exceeded thirty percent. In the fourth year an edict remitted all arrears more than five years old where the household no longer existed.

京西舊不支移，崇寧中，將漕者忽令民曰：「支移所宜同，今特免；若地裏腳費，則宜輸。」自是歲以為常。腳費，鬥為錢五十六，比元豐即當正稅之數，而反覆紐折，數倍於昔。民至鬻牛易產猶不能繼，轉運司乃用是以取辦理之譽，言者極論其害。政和元年，遂詔應支移而所輸地裏腳錢不及鬥者，免之。尋詔五等戶稅不及鬥者，支移皆免。

Jingxi Circuit had never used branch transfer, but in Chongning transport officials suddenly told the people: "Branch transfer should be uniform everywhere, so you are now exempt; but overland transport fees must still be paid." Thereafter this became an annual charge. Transport fees reached fifty-six cash per dou—under Yuanfeng already equal to the regular tax—yet repeated commutation drove them several times higher. People sold oxen and property and still could not keep up, while transport commissioners claimed credit for efficient collection until critics denounced the abuse at length. In Zhenghe 1 an edict exempted overland transport fees owed under branch transfer when the amount was less than one dou. Soon another edict exempted all fifth-grade households whose tax fell below one dou from branch transfer entirely.

時天下戶口類多不實，雖嘗立法比較鉤考，歲終會其數，按籍隱括脫漏，定賞罰之格，然蔡攸等計德、霸二州戶口之數，率三戶四口，則戶版訛隱，不待校而知。乃詔諸路凡奏戶口，令提刑司及提舉常平司參考保奏。而終莫能拯其弊，故租稅亦不得而均焉。

Household registers nationwide were largely false. Though the court had instituted comparative audits, year-end reconciliations, and rewards and punishments for concealed omissions, when Cai You and others calculated De and Ba prefectures at barely three households for every four persons, the fraud needed no audit to be obvious. An edict then required judicial-intendancy and Ever-Normal Granary commissions on every circuit to review and certify household reports. Yet the abuse was never corrected, and rent and taxes could not be equalized.

是時，內外之費浸以不給，中官楊戩主後苑作，有言汝州地可為稻田者，因用其言，置務掌之，號「稻田務』。復行於府畿，易名公田。南暨襄、唐，西及澠池，北逾大河，民田有溢於初券步畝者，輒使輸公田錢。政和末，又置營繕所，亦為公田。久之，後苑、營繕所公田皆並於西城所，盡山東、河朔天荒逃田與河堤退灘租稅舉入焉，皆內侍主其事。所括為田三萬四千三百餘頃，民輸公田錢外，正稅不復能輸。

By then internal and external expenses were outrunning revenue. Palace eunuch Yang Jian, who oversaw imperial garden works, heard that land in Ruzhou could be turned into rice paddies; the court acted on the suggestion and established the Rice Field Office. The scheme spread to the capital region and was renamed Public Fields. From Xiang and Tang in the south to Mianchi in the west and beyond the Yellow River in the north, any farmland exceeding the area on the original deed was charged Public Field fees. Late in Zhenghe the court also established a Construction Office under the same Public Fields scheme. In time the rear-garden and construction Public Fields were merged into the Western Capital Office, which absorbed wilderness and abandoned land across Shandong and Hebei together with rent from river-bank retreat lands—all under palace eunuch control. More than 34,300 qing were seized, and beyond Public Field fees people could no longer pay their regular taxes.

重和元年，獻言者曰：「物有豐匱，價有低昂，估豐賤之物，俾民輸送，折價既賤，輸官必多，則公私之利也。而州縣之吏，但計一方所乏，不計物之有無，責民所無，其費無量。至於支移，徙豐就歉，理則宜然。豪民賕吏，故徙歉以就豐，齎挾輕貨，以賤價輸官，其利自倍；而貧下戶各免支移，估值既高，更益腳費，視富戶反重。因之逋負，困於追胥。」詔申戒焉。

In Chonghe 1 a memorialist argued: "When goods are plentiful and cheap, commutation at low appraisal lets people deliver more to the state at little cost—a benefit to both public and private interests. But prefecture and county officials looked only at local shortages, not at what people actually possessed, demanding goods they did not have at limitless cost. Branch transfer, in principle, should move goods from abundance to scarcity. Wealthy families and bribed officials reversed the flow from scarcity to abundance, bringing lightweight goods and paying at low appraisal to double their profit; while poor households, exempt from branch transfer, faced high appraisals plus transport fees and thus paid more than the wealthy. They fell into arrears and were hounded by tax collectors. The court issued a warning edict.

宣和初，州縣主吏催科失職，逋租數廣，令轉運司察守貳勤惰，聽專達於內侍省。浙西逃田、天荒、草田、葑茭蕩、湖濼退灘等地，皆計籍召佃立租，以供應奉。置局命官，有「措置水利農田」之名，部使者且自督御前租課。

Early in Xuanhe, chief clerks failed at tax collection and rent arrears mounted. Transport commissioners were ordered to inspect prefects and vice-prefects for diligence and report directly to the Palace Domestic Service. In western Zhejiang, abandoned fields, wilderness, grassland, reed flats, and lake retreat lands were all registered, leased out, and taxed to fund imperial tribute expenses. The court established an office called "Arrangements for Waterworks and Farmland" and even circuit commissioners personally oversaw imperial-front rent and levies.

三年，言者論西蜀折科之弊，其略謂：「西蜀初稅錢三百折絹一匹，草十圍計錢二十。今本路絹不用本色，匹折草百五十圍，圍估錢百五十，稅錢三百輸至二十三千。東蜀如之。仍支移新邊，謂之遠倉，民破產者眾。」七年，言者又論：「非法折變，既以絹折錢，又以錢折麥。以絹較錢，錢倍於絹；以錢較麥，麥倍於錢。展轉增加，民無所訴。」

In the third year critics described commutation abuses in western Shu: "Originally three hundred cash in tax commuted to one bolt of silk, and ten bundles of fodder counted as twenty cash. Now the circuit no longer accepts silk in kind. Each bolt commutes to 150 bundles of fodder at 150 cash per bundle, turning a 300-cash tax into 23,000 cash owed. Eastern Shu fared no better. Goods were still redirected to new frontier granaries, and many people were ruined. In the seventh year critics added: "Through illegal commutation, silk was converted to cash and cash to wheat. Cash valued against silk doubled the silk burden; wheat valued against cash doubled the cash burden. Each conversion piled on the last, leaving people no recourse."

唐、鄧、襄，汝等州，自治平後，開墾歲增，然未定稅額。元豐中，以所墾新田差為五等輸稅，元祐元年罷之。大觀三年，用轉運副使張徽言之請，復元豐舊制，俄又以訴者而罷。政和三年，轉運使王璹復言官失租賦，詔依元豐法，第折以見錢，凡得三十萬緡。欽宗立，詔蠲焉。舊稅租加耗，轉運司有拋樁明耗，州縣有暗樁暗耗之名，諸倉場受納，又令民輸頭子錢。熙寧以後，給納並收，其數益增焉，至是悉罷。

Since Zhiping, Tang, Deng, Xiang, Ru, and other prefectures had steadily expanded reclamation, but no fixed tax quotas had been set. Under Yuanfeng newly reclaimed land was taxed in five grades; Yuanyou 1 abolished the rule. In Daguan 3, at the request of vice transport commissioner Zhang Huizhi, the Yuanfeng system was restored, only to be abolished again after protests. In Zhenghe 3 transport commissioner Wang Shan again reported lost rent and levies. The court restored the Yuanfeng rule, commuted only to current cash, and collected 300,000 strings. When Emperor Qinzong succeeded, an edict remitted the levy. Rent and tax had long carried added wastage allowances—declared markup at the transport level, hidden markup at the prefecture and county level, and surcharge fees at every granary upon receipt. After Xining these fees were collected together at delivery and steadily increased until they were all abolished at this time.

高宗建炎元年五月庚寅，詔二稅並依舊法，凡百姓欠租、閣賦及應天府夏稅，悉蠲之。庚子，詔被虜之家蠲夏秋租稅及科配。

On gengyin day in the fifth month of Jianyan 1, Gaozong ordered both taxes restored to the old rules and remitted all rent arrears, deferred levies, and Yingtian Prefecture's summer tax. On gengzi day an edict remitted summer and autumn taxes and apportioned surcharges for families taken captive.

紹興元年五月詔：「民力久困，州縣因緣為奸，今頒式諸路，凡因軍期不得已而貸於民者，並許計所用之多寡，度物力之輕重，依式開具，使民通知，毋得過數科率。」八月，減大觀稅額三分之一。十有一月，言者論：「浙西科斂之害，農末殆不聊生。鬻田而償，則無受者；棄之而遁，則質其妻孥。上下相蒙，民無所措手足。利歸貪吏，而怨歸陛下。願重科斂之罪，嚴貪墨之刑。」詔漕司究實以聞。二年正月，知紹興府陳汝錫違詔科率，謫漳州。四月，建盜範汝為平，詔蠲本路今年二稅及夏科役錢。既而手詔：「訪聞州縣以為著令不過三分，甚非所以稱朕惠恤之意，可以赦並免。」十有一月，焚州縣已蠲稅薄，示民以不疑也。五年二月，詔諸路轉運司以增收租數上戶部，課賞罰。

In the fifth month of Shaoxing 1 an edict said: "The people are exhausted and local officials abuse their power. A standard form is now sent to every circuit: any levy forced on the people for military deadlines must list actual costs and local capacity, inform the public, and never exceed authorized quotas. In the eighth month Daguan-era tax quotas were cut by one-third. In the eleventh month critics said: "Forced extractions in western Zhejiang have left farmers and merchants barely able to live. If they sold land to pay, no one would buy; If they abandoned everything and fled, creditors seized their wives and children. Officials deceived one another while the people had nowhere to turn. Greedy officials kept the profit while public resentment fell on Your Majesty. I ask that forced extraction be punished severely and corruption dealt with harshly. The court ordered transport offices to investigate and report. In the first month of the second year Chen Ruxi, prefect of Shaoxing, was demoted to Zhangzhou for unauthorized extractions. In the fourth month, after the bandit Fan Ruwei in Jian was suppressed, an edict remitted the circuit's two taxes and summer corvée fees for the year. Gaozong then wrote by hand: "I hear local officials limit remissions to thirty percent as if that were the law. That does not reflect my intent to show mercy. Let all be remitted through amnesty. In the eleventh month the court burned local remission ledgers so the people would trust the relief. In the second month of the fifth year an edict ordered every circuit's transport office to report increased rent collections to the Ministry of Revenue for reward or punishment.

六年八月，預借江、浙來年夏稅綢絹之半，盡令折米：兩浙綢絹各折七千，江南六千有半，每匹折米二石。九月，右司諫王搢言：「諸寺院之多產者，類請求貴臣改為墳院，冀免科敷，則所科歸之下戶。」詔戶部申嚴禁之。十有二月，詔淮西殘破州縣更免租稅二年。是月戊申，詔曰：「朕惟養兵之費，皆取於民，吾民甚苦；而吏莫之恤，夤緣軍須，掊斂無藝，朕甚悼之。監司郡守，朕所委寄以惠養元元者也，今漫不加省，復何賴焉！其各勤乃職，察民之侵漁納賄者，按劾以聞。苟庇覆弗治，朕不汝貸。」是歲，兩浙轉運李迨取婺秀湖州、平江府歲計寬剩錢二十二萬八千緡有奇，依折帛錢限起發。自是以為例。

In the eighth month of the sixth year the court prepaid half of Jiang and Zhe's next-year summer silk tax and required all of it paid in rice: Two-Zhe silk and satin at seven thousand each, Jiangnan at six thousand five hundred, with each bolt reckoned at two shi of rice. In the ninth month Wang Jin of the Right Remonstrance Bureau reported that wealthy monasteries often had patrons reclassify them as funerary cloisters to evade levies, shifting the burden onto poorer households. The court ordered the Ministry of Revenue to enforce a strict ban. In the twelfth month an edict granted two further years of rent and tax relief to devastated prefectures and counties in Huai West. On the wushen day that month Gaozong issued an edict: "The cost of keeping armies comes entirely from the people, and my people are sorely burdened; yet officials show no concern, using military supply as a pretext for limitless exactions. I am deeply grieved. Intendants and prefects are the men I rely on to care for the people. If they pay no heed, whom can I trust? Let each of you perform your duties diligently, investigate officials who extort or take bribes, and report them for prosecution. If you shield wrongdoers and fail to act, I will show you no mercy. That year Li Dai, transport commissioner for Two Zhe, drew more than 228,000 strings in surplus annual funds from Wuzhou, Xiuzhou, Huzhou, and Pingjiang and forwarded them on the schedule for converted-silk payments. This thereafter became standard practice.

七年三月，詔：駐蹕及所過州縣欠紹興五年以前稅賦，並蠲之。七月，詔：新復州軍請佃官田，輸租外免輸正稅。〈（己田謂之稅，佃田謂之租，舊不並納，劉豫嘗並取之，至是，乃從舊法。）〉九年，蠲新復州軍稅租及土貢、大禮銀絹三年，差徭五年。初，劉豫之僭，凡民間蔬圃皆令三季輸稅。宣諭官方庭實言其不便，起居舍人程克俊言：「河南父老苦豫煩苛久矣，賦斂及於絮縷，割剝至於果蔬。」於是詔新復州縣，取劉豫重斂之法焚之通衢。

In the third month of the seventh year an edict remitted all tax arrears before Shaoxing 5 in counties and prefectures where the court had sojourned or traveled. In the seventh month an edict exempted tenants of government land in newly recovered prefectures and garrisons from paying regular land tax in addition to rent. Note: tax applied to owned land and rent to leased land; they had not been collected together until Liu Yu combined them. The old rule was now restored.〉 In the ninth year newly recovered prefectures and garrisons received three years' relief from land tax, rent, local tribute, and grand-ceremony silver and silk, and five years' relief from corvée. When Liu Yu first seized power he had even private vegetable plots taxed three seasons a year. Remonstration commissioner Fang Tingshi reported the hardship, and attendant scribe Cheng Kejun said: "The people of Henan have long endured Liu Yu's oppressive levies, taxed down to scraps of cotton and stripped even of fruit and vegetables. The court then ordered newly recovered prefectures and counties to burn Liu Yu's harsh tax regulations in the public streets.

十三年，淮東宣撫使韓世忠請以賜田及私產自昔未輸之稅並歸之官，詔獎諭而可之。初，神武右軍統製張俊乞蠲所置產凡和買、科敷，詔特從之。後，三省言：「國家兵革未息，用度至廣，陛下哀憫元元，俾士大夫及勳戚之家與編戶等敷，蓋欲寬民力，均有無。今俊獨得免，則當均在餘戶，是使民為俊代輸也。方今大將不止俊一人，使各援例求免，何以拒之？望收還前詔。」詔從之。越數年間，俊復乞免歲輸和買絹，三省擬歲賜俊絹五千匹，庶免起例。上以示俊，因諭之曰：「朕固不惜，但恐公議不可。」俊惶悚，力辭賜絹。

In the thirteenth year Han Shizhong, pacification commissioner of Huai East, offered to surrender all back taxes owed on his granted and private lands; the court praised and accepted his request. Earlier Zhang Jun, controller of the Shenwu Right Army, had asked exemption from equitable purchase and special levies on property he had acquired, and the court had granted it. Later the Three Departments argued: "With war continuing and expenses vast, Your Majesty had officials and meritorious families share levies equally with common households to ease the people's burden and spread the cost fairly. If Zhang Jun alone is exempt, his share must fall on everyone else—making the people pay his taxes for him. There are many great generals besides Zhang Jun. If each cites his example, how can any refusal be made? We ask that the earlier edict be revoked. The court agreed. Some years later Zhang Jun again sought exemption from his annual equitable-purchase silk quota. The Three Departments proposed granting him five thousand bolts of silk each year to avoid creating a precedent. The emperor showed him the proposal and said: "I would not begrudge the silk, but I fear public opinion would not tolerate it. Zhang Jun, alarmed, firmly declined the grant.

十五年，戶部議：「準法，輸官物用四鈔，〈（曰戶鈔，付民執憑；曰縣鈔，關縣司銷簿；曰監鈔，納官掌之；曰住鈔，倉庫藏之。所以防偽冒、備毀失也。）〉毀失縣鈔者，以監、住鈔銷鑿；若輒取戶鈔，或追驗於人戶者，科杖。」

In the fifteenth year the Ministry of Revenue ruled: "By law, goods delivered to the state require four receipt slips, Called the household chao, kept by the taxpayer as proof; the county chao sent to the county office to cancel the register; the supervisor chao held by the receiving official; and the retained chao filed in the warehouse. These four copies guarded against forgery and loss.) If county chao were lost or destroyed, the supervisor and retained copies were used to cancel the record; officials who seized household chao or forced households to prove payment again would be beaten with the staff."

二十三年，知池州黃子遊言：「青陽縣苗七八倍於諸縣，因南唐嘗以縣為宋齊丘食邑，畝輸三斗，後遂為額。」詔減苗稅二分有半，租米二分。是時，兩浙州縣合輸綿、綢、稅絹、茶絹、雜錢、米六色，皆以市價折錢，卻別科米麥，有畝輸四五斗者。京西括田，租加於舊。湖南有土戶錢、折絁錢、醋息錢、曲引錢，名色不一。荊南戶口十萬，寇亂以來，幾無人跡。議者希朝廷意，謂流民已復，可使歲輸十二，頻歲復增，積逋至二十餘萬緡。曹泳為戶部侍郎，責償甚急。蓋自檜再相，密諭諸路暗增民稅七八，故民力重困，餓死者眾，皆檜之為也。

In the twenty-third year Huang Ziyou, prefect of Chizhou, reported that Qingyang County's seed tax was seven or eight times higher than elsewhere because Southern Tang had made it Song Qiqiu's fief at three dou per mu, a rate that later became fixed. The court reduced the seed tax by twenty-five percent and rent grain by twenty percent. At the time Two-Zhe prefectures and counties owed six kinds of dues—cotton, silk, tax silk, tea silk, miscellaneous cash, and grain—all commuted to cash at market rates, while grain and wheat were also assessed separately; some households paid four or five dou per mu. In Jing West, land consolidation had raised rents above former levels. Hunan had native-household fees, hemp conversion fees, vinegar-interest fees, and yeast-license fees under many different names. Jingnan had once registered one hundred thousand households, but since the rebellions the region was nearly depopulated. Officials eager to please the court claimed refugees had returned and set an annual quota of 120,000 strings, then raised it year after year until arrears exceeded 200,000 strings. Cao Yong, vice minister of revenue, pressed collection relentlessly. After Qin Hui returned as chief councilor he had secretly ordered circuits to raise taxes by seventy or eighty percent, crushing the people and causing widespread starvation—all of it Qin Hui's work.

二十六年，先是，承議郎魯衝上書論郡邑之弊：「以臣前任宜興一縣言之，漕計合收窠名，有丁鹽、坊場課利錢，租地錢，租絲租紵錢，歲入不過一萬五千餘緡。其發納之數，有大軍錢、上供錢、糴本錢、造船錢、軍器物料錢、天申節銀絹錢之類，歲支不啻三萬四千餘緡。又有見任、寄居官請奉、過往官兵批券、與非泛州郡督索拖欠，略無虛日。今之為令者，苟以寬恤為意，而拙於催科，旋踵以不職罷；能迎合上司，慘刻聚斂，則以稱職聞。是使為令者惴惴惟財賦是念，朝不謀夕，亦何暇為陛下奉行寬恤詔書、承流宣化者哉？」吏部侍郎許興古議：「今銓曹有知縣、令二百餘闕，無願就者，正緣財賦督迫被罪，所以畏避如此。若罷獻羨餘，蠲民積欠，謹擇守臣，戒飭監司，則吏稱民安矣。」乃詔行之。

In the twenty-sixth year Gentlemen for Court Discussion Lu Chong had memorialized on local abuses: "In my former county of Yixing alone, transport-plan receipts under various categories—ding salt, workshop profits, rent-land fees, and rent-silk and rent-ramie fees—totaled barely fifteen thousand strings a year. Yet disbursements—for the main army, tribute, grain purchases, shipbuilding, military supplies, Tian Shen Festival silver and silk, and the like—came to more than thirty-four thousand strings. On top of that came salaries for resident and sojourning officials, travel vouchers for passing troops, and miscellaneous prefectural and county demands for arrears—hardly a day passed without new exactions. Magistrates who tried to be lenient but were poor collectors were quickly removed for incompetence; those who pleased superiors through harsh exaction were praised as effective. Magistrates thus lived in fear for revenue alone, with no time to enforce Your Majesty's relief edicts or carry out benevolent governance. Vice Minister of Personnel Xu Xinggu replied: "More than two hundred county and prefectural posts now stand vacant because officials fear punishment for failing to meet revenue targets. If surplus-revenue tributes were abolished, accumulated arrears forgiven, local chiefs carefully chosen, and intendants warned to enforce relief, officials and people alike would be at ease. The court ordered these measures carried out.

二十九年，上聞江西盜賊，謂輔臣曰：「輕徭薄賦，所以息盜。歲之水旱，所不能免，儻不寬恤而惟務科督，豈使民不為盜之意哉？」於是詔諸路州縣，紹興二十七年以前積欠官錢三百九十七萬餘緡及四等以下官欠，悉除之。九月，詔：兩浙、江東西水，浙東、江東西螟，其租稅盡蠲之。自是水旱、經兵，時有蠲減，不盡書也。

In the twenty-ninth year, hearing of banditry in Jiangxi, the emperor told his chief ministers: "Light corvée and low taxes are what keep people from turning to banditry. Floods and droughts come every year and cannot be prevented. If we refuse relief and only press collection, is that how we keep people from becoming bandits? He then ordered all circuits to remit more than 3.97 million strings in accumulated public debts before Shaoxing 27, along with debts owed by officials of fourth rank and below. In the ninth month an edict remitted all rent and tax in Two Zhe and Jiang East and West after flooding, and in Zhe East and Jiang East and West after crop damage from leaf-borers. Thereafter flood, drought, and war brought periodic remissions and reductions, not all of which are recorded here.

三十二年六月戊寅，孝宗受禪赦：「凡官司債負、房賃、租賦、和買、役錢及坊場、河渡等錢，自紹興三十年以前並除之。諸路或假貢奉為名，漁奪民利，使所在居民以土物為苦，太上皇帝已嘗降詔禁約。自今州軍條上土貢之物，當議參酌天地、祖宗陵寢薦獻及德壽宮甘旨之奉，止許長吏修貢，其餘並罷。州縣因緣多取，以違制坐之。」七月，諸縣受民已輸稅租等鈔，不即銷簿者，當職官吏並科罪；民齎戶鈔不為使，而抑令重輸者，以違制論，不以赦免，著為令。八月，詔：「州縣受納秋苗，官吏多收加耗，肆為奸欺。方時艱虞，用度未足，欲減常賦而未能，豈忍使貪贓之徒重為民蠹？自今違犯官吏，並置重典，仍沒其家。」〈（此孝宗初詔也。）〉

On wuyin day in the sixth month of the thirty-second year, Xiaozong's accession amnesty declared: "All government debts, house rents, land tax, equitable purchase, corvée fees, and workshop, ferry, and similar charges owed before Shaoxing 30 are remitted. Some circuits had preyed on the people in the name of tribute, burdening locals with local products. The Retired Emperor had already forbidden this. Henceforth prefectures and garrisons were to list tribute items only for offerings at the altars of Heaven and Earth, ancestral tombs, and delicacies for De Shou Palace; only chief local officials might present them, and all other tribute was abolished. Prefectures and counties that took more on this pretext would be punished for violating regulations. In the seventh month officials in counties that accepted tax and rent receipts without promptly canceling the register were punished; and officials who refused valid household chao and forced taxpayers to pay again were charged with violating regulations, without amnesty, and the rule was written into law. In the eighth month an edict declared: "When prefectures and counties collect autumn grain tax, officials often take illegal surcharges and commit fraud. These are hard times and revenues are short; though we cannot yet cut regular levies, how can we tolerate corrupt officials preying on the people again? From now on offending officials will face severe punishment and confiscation of property." Note: this was an early edict of Xiaozong.〉

乾道元年，蠲興化軍「猶剩米」之半。〈（以知軍張允蹈言「自建炎三年，本軍秋稅，歲餘軍儲外，猶剩米二萬四千四百餘石，供給福州，謂之『猶剩米』。四十年間，水旱相仍，不復減損」，故有是命。至八年，乃並其半蠲之。）〉三年六月，減臨安府新城縣進際稅賦之半。以知縣耿秉言，曩錢氏以進際為名，虛額太重故也。十有一月，蠲臨安府屬縣欠乾道元年二稅、坊場課利、折帛、免丁等錢。七年，敕令所修《輸苗乞取法》，〈（受納官比犯人減一等，州縣長官不覺察與同罪。）〉暨上三等及形勢戶逋賦，雖遇赦不除。八年，蠲紹興府增起苗米四萬九千餘石。

In Qiandao 1 half of Xinghua Army's "surplus grain" levy was remitted. (Army commander Zhang Yundao had reported that since Jianyan 3, after meeting the army's autumn tax and yearly stores, a surplus of more than 24,400 shi of grain was sent to Fuzhou as "surplus grain. For forty years flood and drought had continued without any reduction," hence this order." In the eighth year even the remaining half was remitted.) In the sixth month of the third year half of the jinji tax and tribute in Xincheng County, Lin'an Prefecture, was reduced. Magistrate Geng Bing had reported that the Qian clan had long ago imposed an inflated jinji quota under that name. In the eleventh month arrears in Lin'an's subordinate counties for Qiandao 1—both taxes, workshop profits, converted-silk payments, and ding-exemption fees—were remitted. In the seventh year the Statutes Office revised the Law Against Soliciting at Grain-Tax Collection, Providing that receiving officials were punished one degree less than the offender, while prefectural and county chiefs who failed to detect the offense shared guilt.〉 Arrears owed by the top three household ranks and influential families were not remitted even by amnesty. In the eighth year more than 49,000 shi of additionally assessed seed grain in Shaoxing Prefecture was remitted.

淳熙三年，臣僚言：「湖北百姓廣占官田，量輸常賦，似為過優，比議者欲從實起稅而開陳首之門。殊不思朝廷往年經界，獨兩淮、京西、湖北依舊。蓋以四路被邊，土廣人稀，誘之使耕，猶懼不至，若履畝而稅，孰肯遠徙力耕，以供公上之賦哉？今湖北惟鼎、澧地接湖南，墾田稍多，自荊南、安、復、嶽、鄂、漢、沔汙萊彌望，戶口稀少，且皆江南狹鄉百姓，扶老攜幼，遠來請佃，以田畝寬而稅賦輕也。若從議者之言，恐於公家無一毫之益，而良民有無窮之擾矣。如臣所見，且當誘以開耕，不宜恐以增稅。使田疇盡辟，歲收滋廣，一遇豐稔，平糴以實邊，則所省漕運亦博。望其依紹興十六年詔旨，以十分為率，年增輸一分，不願開墾者，即許退田別佃。期限稍寬，取之有漸，遠民安業，一路幸甚。」詔戶部議之。

In Chunxi 3 an official argued: "Hubei peasants occupy large tracts of government land and pay modest fixed dues, which some think too lenient. Deliberators now want to assess taxes on actual acreage and invite self-reporting. They forget that when the court conducted field surveys in earlier years, only the Two Huai, Jing West, and Hubei circuits were exempted. Those four frontier circuits are vast and sparsely settled. Even incentives to farm barely draw settlers. If every mu were taxed at full rate, who would migrate there to work the land for the state? In Hubei only Ding and Li, bordering Hunan, have somewhat more cleared land. From Jingnan through An, Fu, Yue, E, Han, and Mian, waterlogged wasteland stretches endlessly, population is thin, and settlers are mostly poor migrants from crowded Jiangnan districts who come with families to tenant land because acreage is ample and taxes light. If the deliberators' plan is adopted, the state will gain nothing while honest people face endless harassment. In my view the court should encourage opening new land, not threaten people with higher taxes. If fields are fully cleared and harvests grow, a good year would allow equitable purchase to fill frontier stores and save vast transport costs. I ask that the court follow the Shaoxing 16 edict: starting from a base of ten parts, increase the payment by one part each year; those unwilling to open land may surrender their fields for others to tenant. With a longer deadline and gradual increases, distant settlers could live securely—a great benefit to the whole circuit. The court ordered the Ministry of Revenue to consider the proposal.

四年，臣僚言：「屢赦蠲積欠，以蘇疲民，州縣不能仰承德意，至變易名色以取之。宜下漕司，如合除者毋更取之於州，州毋取之於縣，縣銷民欠籍，書其名數，諭民通知。」詔可。五年八月，詔曰：「比年以來，五穀屢登，蠶絲盈箱，嘉與海內共享阜康之樂，尚念耕夫蠶婦終歲勤動，價賤不足以償其勞。郡邑兩稅，除折帛、折變自有常制，當輸正色者，毋以重價強之折錢。若有故違，重置於法。臨安府刻石，遍賜諸路。」六年，以諫議大夫謝廓然言：「州縣違法科斂，侵漁日甚，其咎雖在縣令，而督迫實由郡守。縣令按劾，而郡守自如。」詔：「自今凡有過需橫取，監司悉行按劾，無詳於小而略於大。」

In the fourth year an official reported: "Repeated amnesties have remitted accumulated arrears to relieve exhausted people, yet prefectures and counties fail to honor the imperial intent and even rename dues to collect them again. Transport offices should be instructed that remitted amounts must not be collected again from prefectures, prefectures must not pass them down to counties, and counties must cancel debt registers, record names and amounts, and notify the people. The court approved. In the eighth month of the fifth year an edict said: "In recent years harvests have been abundant and silk chests are full. I rejoice to share this prosperity with the realm, yet I remember that farmers and silk workers toil all year while low prices scarcely repay their labor. For prefectural and county land taxes, apart from fixed rules on silk and commodity conversion, dues owed in kind must not be forced into cash at inflated prices. Deliberate violations shall be punished to the full extent of the law. Lin'an Prefecture had the edict carved in stone and copies sent to every circuit. In the sixth year, Remonstrance Adviser Xie Kuoran reported: "Prefectures and counties levy illegal exactions and prey on the people more each day. Magistrates may bear the blame, but the real pressure comes from prefects. Magistrates were impeached, but prefects went unpunished. An edict declared: "Henceforth, whenever officials demand excess or seize goods arbitrarily, supervisory commissioners must investigate and impeach them all—do not fixate on petty cases while ignoring the major ones."

七年夏，大旱。知南康軍朱熹應詔上封事言：「今民間二稅之入，朝廷盡取以供軍，州縣無復贏餘，於是別立名色巧取。今民貧賦重，惟有核兵籍，廣屯田，練民兵，可以漸省列屯坐食之兵，稍損州郡供軍之數。使州縣之力浸紓，然後禁其苛斂，責其寬恤，庶幾窮困之民得保生業，無流移漂蕩之患。」八年，詔監司、太守察所部催科不擾者薦之，煩擾害民者劾之。十一年，戶部奏：「諸路州軍檢放旱傷米數近六十萬石。上諭王淮曰：「若盡令核實，恐他年郡縣懷疑，不復檢放。惟寧國數最多，可令漕司核實而蠲之。」

In the summer of the seventh year there was a severe drought. Zhu Xi, prefect of Nankang, submitted a sealed memorial in response to an imperial call: "The court now takes all receipts from the people's land taxes to supply the army, leaving prefectures and counties with no surplus. They therefore invent new dues to extract payment by stealth. The people are poor and taxes are heavy. Only by auditing military rolls, expanding garrison farms, and training militia can we gradually reduce idle garrison troops and trim what prefectures must supply the army. When prefectures and counties are gradually relieved, the court can ban harsh collection and demand leniency, so impoverished people may keep their livelihoods and avoid displacement. In the eighth year an edict ordered circuit supervisors and prefects to recommend officials whose tax collection did not harass the people and to impeach those whose practices harmed them. In the eleventh year the Ministry of Revenue reported that armies and prefectures across the circuits had inspected and remitted nearly 600,000 shi of drought-damaged grain. The emperor told Wang Huai: "If we order full verification everywhere, prefectures and counties may grow wary and stop remitting drought losses in future years. Only Ningguo reported the largest amount; let the transport commission verify that case and remit it."

紹熙元年，臣僚言：「古者賦租出於民之所有，不強其所無。今之為絹者，一倍折而為錢，再倍折而為銀。銀愈貴，錢愈艱得，穀愈不可售，使民賤糶而貴折，則大熟之歲反為民害。願詔州郡：凡多取而多折者，重置於罰；民有糶不售者，令常平就糴，異時歲歉，平價以糶。庶於民無傷，於國有補。」詔從之。

In Shaoxi 1 an official argued: "In antiquity taxes were levied only on what people actually had; the state did not demand what they lacked. Today silk owed in kind is first converted to cash at twice the statutory rate, then converted again to silver at twice that rate. As silver rises in price, cash grows scarce, and grain becomes unsellable, people must sell grain cheaply yet pay conversion at inflated rates—so even bumper harvests become a curse. I ask that the throne instruct prefectures: officials who over-collect or over-convert should face severe penalties; when farmers cannot sell their grain, Ever-Normal Granaries should buy it locally and release it at fair prices in bad years. This would protect the people without harming the state. The court approved.

秘書監楊萬里奏：「民輸粟於官謂之苗，舊以一斛輸一斛，今以二斛輸一斛矣。輸帛於官謂之稅，舊以正絹為稅絹，今正絹外有和買矣。舊和買官給其直，或以錢，或以鹽，今皆無之，又以絹估直而倍折其錢矣。舊稅畝一錢輸免役一錢，今歲增其額，不知所止矣。既一倍其粟，數倍其帛，又數倍其錢，而又有月樁錢、版帳錢、不知幾倍於祖宗之舊，又幾倍於漢、唐之制乎。此猶東南之賦可知也，至於蜀賦之額外無名者，不可得而知也。陛下欲薄賦斂，當節用度。用節而後財可積，財積而後國可足，國足而後賦可減，賦減而後民可富，民富而後邦可寧。不然，日復日，歲復歲，臣未知其所終也。」〈（時金主璟新立，萬里迓使客於淮，聞其蠲民間房園地基錢，罷鄉村官酒坊，減鹽價，除田租，使虛譽達於吾境，故因轉對而有是言也。）〉

Secretariat Director Yang Wanli reported: "Grain paid to the state is called seed tax. Formerly one bushel owed meant one bushel paid; now two must be paid for one. Silk paid to the state is land tax in kind. Formerly only standard silk was owed; now compulsory purchase is added on top. Formerly the state paid for compulsory purchases in cash or salt; now it pays nothing and converts the owed silk to cash at twice the appraised value. Formerly the labor-exemption fee matched the land tax at one cash per mu; now the quota rises every year with no end in sight. Grain has been doubled, silk multiplied several times over, cash several times again—and on top of that come monthly advance payments and ledger fees. Who knows how many times this exceeds the founders' levies, let alone Han and Tang practice? Even these figures cover only the southeast; the unnamed extra levies in Sichuan cannot even be calculated. If Your Majesty wishes to lighten taxes, spending must be cut first. Restrain spending and revenue can accumulate; with revenue accumulated the state is secure; when the state is secure taxes can fall; when taxes fall the people prosper; when the people prosper the realm is at peace. Otherwise, day after day and year after year, I cannot see where this will end." (At the time the new Jin emperor Shizong had just ascended the throne. Yang Wanli received envoys on the Huai frontier and heard that the Jin had remitted taxes on house gardens and foundations, abolished official village distilleries, cut salt prices, and waived field rent—empty boasts that reached our border. Hence his remarks at the rotating audience.) Closing bracket.〉

二年，詔曰：「朕惟為政之道，莫先於養民。故自即位以來，蠲除甚賦，頒宣寬條，嘉與四方臻於安富。郡守、縣令，最近民者也。誠能拊循惠愛，以承休德，庶幾政平訟理之效。今采之人言，乃聞科斂先期，競務辦集，而民之虛實不問；追呼相繼，敢為椎剝，而民之安否不恤。財計之外，治理蔑聞，甚不稱朕委屬之意。國用有常，固在經理，而非掊克督趣以為能也。知本末先後之誼，此朕所貴於守令者。繼自今以軫恤為心，以牧養為務，俾民安業，時予汝嘉。」

In the second year an edict declared: "In governing, nothing comes before caring for the people. Since my accession I have remitted heavy taxes, issued lenient policies, and sought peace and prosperity for the realm. Prefects and magistrates are the officials closest to the people. If they truly care for the people with benevolence and embody the throne's goodwill, government will be fair and lawsuits few. Yet I hear that officials rush collections ahead of schedule to meet quotas without asking whether the people can afford them; they hound taxpayers relentlessly and grind them down without regard for their welfare. Beyond balancing accounts they show no governance at all—far from what I expect of them. State finances have fixed needs and require sound management—not squeezing the people as a mark of ability. Understanding what comes first and what follows—this is what I value in local officials. Henceforth hold compassion in your hearts and the people's welfare as your duty, so they may live in peace—I will reward those who do."

慶元二年，詔浙江東、西夏稅、和買綢絹並依紹興十六年詔旨折納。〈（紹興十六年詔旨：絹三分折錢，七分本色；綢八分折錢，二分本色。）〉

In Qingyuan 2 an edict required Zhejiang East and West to convert summer tax and compulsory-purchase silk according to the Shaoxing 16 conversion rules. (Shaoxing 16 edict: for silk, thirty percent paid in cash and seventy percent in kind; for gauze silk, eighty percent in cash and twenty percent in kind.) Closing bracket.〉

嘉熙二年臣僚言：「陛下自登大寶以來，蠲賦之詔無歲無之，而百姓未沾實惠。蓋民輸率先期歸於吏胥、攬戶，及遇詔下，則所放者吏胥之物，所倚閣者攬戶之錢，是以寬恤之詔雖頒，愁歎之聲如故。嘗覺漢史恤民之詔，多減明年田租。今宜仿漢故事，如遇朝廷行大惠，則以今年下詔，明年減租，示民先知減數，則吏難為欺，民拜實賜矣。」從之。

In Jiadao 2 an official reported: "Since Your Majesty's accession, tax-remission edicts have been issued every year, yet the people have received no real relief. Payments reach clerks and tax contractors early; when remission edicts arrive, only clerks' holdings are released and contractors' debts deferred—so despite imperial leniency, the people's cries of hardship continue. Han edicts relieving the people often cut the following year's land tax. The court should follow Han precedent: announce a major remission this year and apply the cut to next year's tax, so people know the amount in advance, clerks cannot cheat, and the benefit reaches them. The court approved.

淳祐八年，監察御史兼崇政殿說書陳求魯奏：「本朝仁政有餘，而王制未備。今之兩稅，本大曆之弊法也。常賦之入尚為病，況預借乎？預借一歲未已也，至於再，至於三；預借三歲未已也，至於四，至於五。竊聞今之州縣，有借淳祐十四年者矣。以百畝之家計之，罄其永業，豈足支數年之借乎？操縱出於權宜，官吏得以簸弄，上下為奸，公私俱困。臣愚謂今日救弊之策，其大端有四焉：宜采夏侯太初並省州郡之議，俾縣令得以直達於朝廷；用宋元嘉六年為斷之法，俾縣令得以究心於撫字；法藝祖出朝紳為令之典，以重其權；遵光武擢卓茂為三公之意，以激其氣。然後為之正其經界，明其版籍，約其妄費，裁其橫斂，則預借可革，民瘼有瘳矣。」

In Chunyou 8 Supervising Censor Chen Qiulu, also lecturer at the Chongzheng Hall, reported: "Our dynasty is rich in benevolent measures, yet its fundamental institutions remain incomplete. Today's land tax system is inherited from the flawed Dali-era levy. Even regular taxes already burden the people—how much worse is advance collection? One year of advance collection is not enough—they advance two years, then three; three years' taxes are not enough—they advance four, then five. I hear that some prefectures and counties are already collecting taxes owed as far ahead as Chunyou 14. For a household farming a hundred mu, even if they sold all their hereditary land, could they meet several years of advance payments? What began as an expedient lets officials manipulate accounts, breeds collusion between superiors and subordinates, and exhausts both the state and the people. I believe the remedy has four main parts: adopt Xiahou Tuan's proposal to consolidate prefectures so magistrates may report directly to the throne; apply the Liu Song Yuanjia 6 term-limit law so magistrates can focus on governing the people; restore Taizu's practice of sending court officials to serve as magistrates, to increase their authority; follow Emperor Guangwu's example of promoting Zhuo Mao to the highest office, to inspire their ambition. Then fix field boundaries, clarify registers, curb wasteful spending, and stop arbitrary levies—advance collection can be abolished and the people's suffering eased."

咸淳十年，侍御史陳堅、殿中侍御史陳過等奏：「今東南之民力竭矣，西北之邊患棘矣，諸葛亮所謂危急存亡之時也。而邸第戚畹、御前寺觀，田連阡陌，亡慮數千萬計，皆巧立名色，盡蠲二稅。州縣乏興，鞭撻黎庶，鬻妻賣子，而鍾鳴鼎食之家，蒼頭廬兒，漿酒藿肉；琳宮梵宇之流，安居暇食，優遊死生。安平無事之時尤且不可，而況艱難多事之際乎？今欲寬邊患，當紓民力；欲紓民力，當紓州縣，則邸第、寺觀之常賦，不可姑息而不加厘正也。望與二三大臣亟議行之。」詔可。

In Xianchun 10 Censors Chen Jian and Chen Guo reported: "The southeast is exhausted, the northwest frontier is in peril—this is the moment Zhuge Liang called one of survival or extinction. Yet noble mansions, consort clans, and imperial temples hold vast estates worth tens of millions of strings, all exempt from land taxes through invented categories. Prefectures starve for revenue, flog commoners, and drive families to sell wives and children—while great households dine in luxury and servants drink wine and eat meat; Buddhist temples live in idleness and ease, untouched by hardship. This was intolerable even in peaceful times—how much more so now? To ease the frontier crisis, the people must first be relieved; to relieve the people, prefectures and counties must be relieved—and that means regular taxes on mansions and temples cannot be left untouched. I ask that Your Majesty urgently discuss this with the chief ministers and put it into effect. The court approved.

建炎二年，初復鈔旁定帖錢，命諸路提刑司掌之。紹興二年，詔偽造券旁者並依軍法。五年三月，詔諸州勘合錢貫收十文足。勘合錢，即所謂鈔旁定帖錢也。初令諸州通判印賣田宅契紙，自今民間爭田，執白契者勿用。十有一月，以調度不足，詔諸路州縣出賣戶帖，令民具田宅之數而輸其直。既而以苛擾稽緩，乃立價：凡坊郭鄉村出等戶皆三十千，鄉村五等、坊郭九等戶皆一千，凡六等，惟閩、廣下戶差減；期三月足輸送行在，旱傷及四分以上者聽旨。

In Jianyan 2 the deed registration stamp fee was restored and assigned to each circuit's penal-intendant office. In Shaoxing 2 forgery of deed margins was made punishable under military law. In the third month of the fifth year an edict set verification fees at ten cash per string of cash nationwide. Verification money was the deed registration stamp fee. Prefectural vice-prefects were first ordered to stamp and sell official deed paper; in land disputes, informal contracts would no longer be accepted. In the eleventh month, with revenues insufficient, an edict ordered prefectures to sell household deed registers and charge people according to their holdings. Harsh collection caused delays, so fixed rates were set: top urban and rural households paid thirty thousand cash; fifth-rank rural and ninth-rank urban households paid one thousand—six grades in all, with reduced rates for lower households in Fujian and Guangdong; payment was due within three months and sent to the temporary capital; where drought damage exceeded forty percent, special orders applied.

三十一年，先是，諸州人戶典賣田宅契稅錢所收窠名，七分隸經、總製，三分屬係省。至是，總領四川財賦王之望言，請從本所措置拘收，以供軍用，詔從之。凡嫁資、遺囑及民間葬地，皆令投契納稅，一歲中得錢四百六十七萬餘引，而極邊所捐八郡及盧、夔等未輸者十九郡不與焉。乾道五年，戶部尚書曾懷言：「四川立限拘錢數百萬緡，婺州亦得錢三十餘萬緡，他路恬不加意。」詔：「百姓白契，期三月自陳，再期百日輸稅，通判拘入總製帳。輸送及十一萬緡者，知、通推賞；違期不首，及輸錢違期者，許人告，論如律。」淳熙六年，敕令所進《重修淳熙法》，有收舟、驢、駝、馬契書之稅，帝命刪之，曰：「恐後世有算及舟車之言。」

In the thirty-first year: previously, deed taxes on land sales were divided seventy percent to commissariat and general supplies offices and thirty percent to provincial accounts. Wang Zhiwang, director of Sichuan finance, asked to collect these funds locally for military use; the court approved. Dowries, wills, and burial plots all required stamped contracts and taxes; within a year more than 4.67 million strings were collected, excluding eight frontier counties granted remission and nineteen prefectures including Luzhou and Kuizhou that had not yet complied. In Qiandao 5 Revenue Minister Zeng Huai reported: "Sichuan collected several million strings under deadline; Wuzhou gathered more than 300,000—yet other circuits ignore the policy entirely." An edict ordered: "Households with informal contracts have three months to declare them and another hundred days to pay tax; vice-prefects must deposit the revenue in general supplies accounts. prefects and vice-prefects who forwarded 110,000 strings or more would be rewarded; those who failed to report or pay on time could be reported and punished by law. In Chunxi 6, when the Statutes Office submitted the Revised Chunxi Code with taxes on boat, donkey, camel, and horse contracts, the emperor ordered them removed, saying: "I fear future generations will say the state taxed boats and carts."

建炎三年，張浚節制川、陝，承製以同主管川、秦茶馬趙開為隨軍轉運使，總領四川財賦。自蜀有西師，益、利諸司已用便宜截三路上供錢。〈（川峽布絹之給陝西、河東、京西者。）〉四年秋，遂盡起元豐以來諸路常平司坊場錢，〈（元豐以來封樁者。）〉次科激賞絹，〈（是年初科三十三萬匹，俟邊事寧即罷。紹興十六年，減利、夔三萬匹，惟東、西川三十萬匹至今不減。）〉次奇零絹估錢，〈（即上三路綱也，歲三十萬匹。西川匹理十一引，東川十引。自紹興二十五年至慶元初，兩川並減至六引。）〉次布估錢，〈（成都崇慶府、彭漢邛州、永康六郡，自天聖間，官以三百錢市布一匹，民甚便之，後不復予錢。至是，宣撫司又令民匹輸估錢三引，歲七十餘萬匹，為錢二百餘萬引。慶元初，累減至一百三十餘萬引。）〉次常平司積年本息，〈（此熙、豐以來所謂青苗錢者。建炎元年，遣駕部員外郎喻汝礪括得八百餘萬緡，至是，取以贍軍矣。）〉次對糴米，〈（謂如戶當輸稅百石，則又科糴百石，故謂之對糴。）〉及他名色錢。〈（如酒、鹽等。）〉大抵於先朝常賦外，歲增錢二千六十八萬緡，而茶不預焉。自是軍儲稍充，而蜀民始困矣。

In Jianyan 3 Zhang Jun, commander of Sichuan and Shaanxi, appointed Zhao Kai, co-director of the Sichuan-Qin Tea and Horse Office, as army transport commissioner and director of Sichuan finance. Once western armies were stationed in Shu, the Yi and Li offices had already diverted tribute funds from the three supply routes. (Cloth and silk from Sichuan sent to Shaanxi, Hedong, and Jing West.) Closing bracket.〉 In the autumn of the fourth year all Ever-Normal Granary market funds accumulated since the Yuanfeng era were seized, (Funds sealed in storage since Yuanfeng.) Closing bracket.〉 next came the incentive-reward silk levy, (That year the first levy was 330,000 bolts, to be abolished once the frontier quieted. In Shaoxing 16 levies in Li and Kui were cut by 30,000 bolts; only East and West Sichuan's 300,000 bolts remain unchanged to this day.) Closing bracket.〉 next came appraisal and cash conversion of miscellaneous silk lots, (That is, tribute cloth from the three supply routes, 300,000 bolts per year. West Sichuan charged eleven strings per bolt, East Sichuan ten. From Shaoxing 25 through the start of Qingyuan, both circuits were cut to six strings per bolt.) Closing bracket.〉 next came cloth-appraisal charges, (In Chengdu, Chongqing, Peng, Han, Qiong, and Yongkang, since the Tiansheng era the government had purchased cloth at three hundred cash per bolt—a great convenience for the people—until payments ceased. By then the Pacification Commission required three strings of appraisal cash per bolt of cloth—over 700,000 bolts a year, worth more than two million strings. By the start of Qingyuan repeated cuts had reduced the sum to a little over 1.3 million strings.) Closing bracket.〉 next came accumulated principal and interest in Ever-Normal Granary accounts, (This was the Green Sprouts loan fund accumulated since the Xining and Yuanfeng eras. In Jianyan 1 Vice Director Yu Ruli of the Palace Department was sent to gather more than eight million strings; by then those funds were seized for the army.) Closing bracket.〉 next came the paired grain-purchase levy, (If a household owed one hundred shi in tax, another one hundred shi was levied for government purchase—hence the name "paired purchase.") Closing bracket.〉 and other assorted levies. (Such as wine and salt.) In all, beyond the former dynasty's regular taxes, annual revenue rose by 20.68 million strings—not counting tea. Thereafter army stores recovered somewhat, but the people of Shu began to feel the strain.

紹興五年，浚召拜尚書右僕射，以席益為四川安撫製置大使，趙開為四川都轉運使。益頗侵用軍期錢，開訴於朝，又數增錢引，而軍計猶不給。六年，以龍圖閣直學士李迨代開為都轉運使。都官員外郎馮康國言：「四川地狹民貧，祖宗時，正稅重者折科稍輕，正稅輕者折科稍重，二者平準，所以無偏重偏輕之患。百有餘年，民甚安之。近年，漕、總二司輒更舊法，反覆紐折，取數務多，致民棄業逃移。望並罷之，一遵舊制。」詔如所請，令憲臣察其不如法者。

In Shaoxing 5 Zhang Jun was recalled as Right Vice Director of the Ministry of Works; Xi Yi became Sichuan pacification and preparedness commissioner, and Zhao Kai became chief transport commissioner of Sichuan. Xi Yi frequently diverted military deadline funds; Zhao Kai appealed to court, and repeatedly expanded paper-note issues—yet army finances still ran short. In the sixth year Li Dai, academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall, replaced Zhao Kai as chief transport commissioner. Vice Director Feng Kangguo of the Justice Department said: "Sichuan is cramped and its people poor. Under the imperial ancestors, where regular taxes were heavy, commuted levies were lighter; where regular taxes were light, commuted levies were heavier—the two balanced each other, avoiding both over- and under-taxation. For more than a century the people lived in peace. In recent years transport and general-supplies offices have altered the old law, endlessly twisting commutation to maximize revenue—driving people to abandon their livelihoods and flee. I ask that these changes be abolished and the old system restored in full. The court granted the request and ordered censorial officials to investigate violations.

七年三月，迨以贍軍錢糧令四路漕臣分認，而榷茶錢不用，蜀人不以為是。九月，浚罷，趙鼎為尚書左僕射。十有一月，以直秘閣張深主管四川茶馬，迨請祠。八年二月，命深及宣撫司參議官陳遠猷並兼四川轉運副使。席益以憂去，樞密直學士胡世將代之。十月，鼎罷，秦檜獨相。九年，和議成。簽書樞密院事樓炤宣諭陝西還，以金四千兩、銀二十萬兩輸激賞庫，皆取諸蜀者。會吳玠卒，以世將為宣撫副使，以吏部尚書張燾知成都府兼本路安撫使。上諭輔臣曰：「燾可付以便宜。如四川前日橫斂，宜令減以紓民。」成都帥行民事，自燾始。世將奏以宣撫司參議官井度兼四川轉運副使。

In the third month of the seventh year Li Dai assigned army-support funds and grain among the four circuits' transport commissioners and refused to use tea monopoly revenue—a policy Shu did not accept. In the ninth month Zhang Jun was dismissed and Zhao Ding became Left Vice Director of the Ministry of Works. In the eleventh month Zhang Shen was placed in charge of Sichuan tea and horses, and Li Dai requested leave for temple service. In the second month of the eighth year Shen and Pacification Commission adviser Chen Yuanyou were both appointed vice transport commissioners of Sichuan. Xi Yi left office in mourning and Privy Council academician Hu Shijiang replaced him. In the tenth month Zhao Ding was dismissed and Qin Hui became sole chief councilor. In the ninth year peace was concluded with the Jin. Privy Council signatory Lou Zhao, returning from proclaiming the peace in Shaanxi, delivered four thousand taels of gold and two hundred thousand taels of silver to the Incentive-Reward Vault—all drawn from Shu. When Wu Jie died, Hu Shijiang became pacification vice commissioner and Personnel Minister Zhang Dao became prefect of Chengdu and circuit pacification commissioner. The emperor told his chief ministers: "Zhang Dao may be given discretionary authority. The arbitrary extractions Sichuan recently suffered should be reduced to relieve the people. From Zhang Dao onward, the Chengdu commander handled civil affairs. Hu Shijiang memorialized appointing Pacification Commission adviser Jing Du as vice transport commissioner of Sichuan.

十一年正月，趙開卒。自金人犯陝、蜀，開職饋餉者十年，軍用無乏，一時賴之。其後計臣屢易，於開經畫無敢變更。然茶、鹽、榷酤、奇零絹布之征，自是為蜀之常賦，雖屢經蠲減而害不去，議者不能無咎開之作俑焉。

In the first month of the eleventh year Zhao Kai died. Since the Jurchen invasion of Shaanxi and Shu, Zhao Kai had supplied the armies for ten years without shortage—the realm depended on him. Later finance chiefs changed often, but none dared alter Zhao Kai's system. Yet taxes on tea, salt, wine monopolies, and miscellaneous silk and cloth became Sichuan's permanent levies; though repeatedly cut, the burden persisted—and critics could not help blaming Zhao Kai as the originator.

十月，鄭剛中為川、陝宣諭使。十二年，世將卒，改宣撫使。十三年，剛中獻黃金萬兩。十五年正月，剛中奏減成都路對糴米三之一。四月，省四川都轉運使，以其事歸宣撫司。剛中尋以事忤秦檜，於是置四川總領所錢糧官，以太府少卿趙不棄為之。又改命不棄總領四川宣撫司錢糧。十六年，剛中奏減兩川米腳錢三十二萬緡，激賞絹二萬匹，免創增酒錢三萬四千緡。以四川總制錢五十萬緡充邊費。十七年，以戶部員外郎符行中總領四川宣撫司錢糧，召剛中赴行在，不棄權工部侍郎，知成都府李璆權四川宣撫司事。

In the tenth month Zheng Gangzhong became Sichuan-Shaanxi proclamation commissioner. In the twelfth year Hu Shijiang died and the office was retitled Pacification Commissioner. In the thirteenth year Zheng Gangzhong presented ten thousand taels of gold. In the first month of the fifteenth year Zheng Gangzhong memorialized cutting Chengdu Circuit's paired grain-purchase levy by one-third. In the fourth month the Sichuan chief transport commissioner was abolished and the post's duties transferred to the Pacification Commission. Zheng Gangzhong soon crossed Qin Hui, and the Sichuan General Supplies Office for funds and grain was established, with Palace Storehouse Vice Director Zhao Buqi appointed to head it. Zhao Buqi was reassigned to oversee Pacification Commission funds and grain for Sichuan. In the sixteenth year Zheng Gangzhong memorialized cutting the two Sichuan circuits' rice transport fees by 320,000 strings, incentive-reward silk by 20,000 bolts, and exempting newly added wine levies of 34,000 strings. Five hundred thousand strings of Sichuan general-control funds were allocated for frontier expenses. In the seventeenth year Revenue Vice Director Fu Xingzhong took charge of Pacification Commission funds and grain for Sichuan; Zheng Gangzhong was summoned to court; Zhao Buqi acted as Vice Director of Works; and Chengdu Prefect Li Qiu acted for the Pacification Commission.

先是，剛中奏：「本司舊貯備邊歲入錢引五百八十一萬五千道，如撥供歲計，即可對減增添，寬省民力。」詔李璆、符行中參酌減放。於是減四川科敷虛額錢歲二百八十五萬緡，兩川布估錢三十六萬五千緡，夔路鹽錢七萬六千緡，坊場、河度淨利抽貫稅錢四萬六千餘緡，又減兩川米腳錢四十二萬緡。時宣撫司降賜庫貯米一百萬石，乃命行中酌度對糴分數均減。

Previously Zheng Gangzhong had memorialized: "This office's frontier reserve held 5,815,000 paper notes in annual receipts; if used to supply the annual budget, new levies could be cut proportionally and the people's burden eased. The court ordered Li Qiu and Fu Xingzhong to deliberate and reduce levies. Thereupon nominal collection quotas in Sichuan were cut by 2.85 million strings annually; cloth-appraisal charges in the two circuits by 365,000 strings; Kuilu salt levies by 76,000 strings; market and ferry profit taxes by more than 46,000 strings; and rice transport fees in the two circuits by 420,000 strings. The Pacification Commission's imperial-grant vault held one million shi of rice; Fu Xingzhong was ordered to reduce paired-purchase quotas proportionally.

十八年，罷四川宣撫司，以璆為四川安撫製置使兼知成都府，太府少卿汪召嗣總領四川財賦軍馬錢糧。宣撫司降賜庫錢，除製置司取撥二十萬緡，餘令總領所貯之。二十二年，總領所奏蠲諸路欠紹興十七年以前折估糴本等錢一百二十九萬餘緡，米九萬八千七百餘石，綾、絹一萬四千餘匹。先是，自講和後，歲減錢四百六十二萬緡有奇，朝廷猶以為重。二十四年，遣戶部員外郎鍾世明同四川製、總兩司措置裕民。二十五年，以符行中等言，減兩川絹估錢二十八萬緡，潼川府秋稅腳錢四萬緡，利路科斛腳錢十二萬緡，兩川米腳錢四十萬緡，鹽酒重額錢七十四萬緡，激賞絹九千餘匹，合一百六十餘萬緡；蠲州縣紹興十九年至二十三年折估糴本等逋欠二百九十二萬緡。

In the eighteenth year the Sichuan Pacification Commission was abolished; Li Qiu became Sichuan pacification and preparedness commissioner and prefect of Chengdu; and Palace Storehouse Vice Director Wang Zhaosi was put in charge of Sichuan revenue, horses, funds, and grain. Pacification Commission imperial-grant funds—except for 200,000 strings withdrawn by the Preparedness Commission—were placed under the General Supplies Office. In the twenty-second year the General Supplies Office remitted arrears on appraised purchase principal before Shaoxing 17 across all circuits—more than 1.29 million strings, 98,700 shi of rice, and 14,000 bolts of damask and silk. Even after the peace treaty, annual levies had been cut by more than 4.62 million strings—yet the court still considered the burden heavy. In the twenty-fourth year Revenue Vice Director Zhong Shiming was sent with Sichuan's Preparedness and General Supplies offices to arrange relief for the people. In the twenty-fifth year, on Fu Xingzhong's advice, cuts were made in silk-appraisal charges in the two circuits by 280,000 strings, Tongchuan autumn-tax transport fees by 40,000 strings, Lilu levy transport fees by 120,000 strings, rice transport fees in the two circuits by 400,000 strings, excess salt-and-wine levies by 740,000 strings, and incentive-reward silk by more than 9,000 bolts—totaling more than 1.6 million strings; and 2.92 million strings in prefectural and county arrears on appraised purchase principal from Shaoxing 19–23 were remitted.

是時，朝廷雖蠲民舊逋，而符行中督責猶峻，蜀人怨之。於是以蕭振為四川安撫製置使兼知成都府，行中提舉江州太平興國宮。二十六年，上以蜀民久困供億，詔製置蕭振、總領湯允恭、主管茶馬李澗、成都轉運判官許尹、潼川轉運判官王之望措置寬恤，於是之望奏減四川上供之半。二十七年，用蕭振等言，減三川對糴米十六萬九千餘石，夔路激賞絹五萬匹，兩川絹估錢二十八萬緡有奇，潼川、成都奇零折帛匹一千；又減韓球所增茶額四百六十二萬餘斤，茶司引息虛額錢歲九十五萬餘緡。

Though the court remitted old arrears, Fu Xingzhong's enforcement remained harsh—and the people of Shu resented him. Xiao Zhen was appointed Sichuan pacification and preparedness commissioner and prefect of Chengdu; Fu Xingzhong was transferred to superintend the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou. In the twenty-sixth year, because Shu had long borne the cost of supply, the emperor ordered Xiao Zhen, Tang Yonggong, Li Run, Xu Yin, and Wang Zhiwang to arrange relief—and Wang Zhiwang memorialized cutting Sichuan's tribute payments in half. In the twenty-seventh year, on Xiao Zhen's advice, paired grain-purchase rice in the three circuits was cut by more than 169,000 shi, Kuilu incentive-reward silk by 50,000 bolts, silk-appraisal charges in the two circuits by more than 280,000 strings, and miscellaneous commuted cloth in Tongchuan and Chengdu by 1,000 bolts; and tea quotas added by Han Qiu by more than 4.62 million jin were cut, along with more than 950,000 strings in nominal tea-office note interest.

初，利州舊宣撫司有積緡二百萬，守者密獻之朝，下製置司取撥。振曰：「此所以備水旱軍旅也，一旦有急，又將取諸民乎？請留其半。」是歲振卒，李文會代之。二十八年，文會卒，中書舍人王剛中代之。二十九年，蠲四川折估糴本積欠錢三百四十萬緡。

Initially the old Pacification Commission at Lizhou held two million strings in reserve; the keeper secretly reported this to court, and the Preparedness Commission was ordered to seize the funds. Xiao Zhen said: "This reserve exists for flood, drought, and military emergencies—if crisis comes, will we again squeeze the people? Please leave half in reserve. That year Xiao Zhen died and Li Wenhui replaced him. In the twenty-eighth year Li Wenhui died and Editorial Director Wang Gangzhong replaced him. In the twenty-ninth year accumulated arrears on appraised purchase principal in Sichuan—3.4 million strings—were remitted.

乾道二年，蠲奇欠白稅契錢三十七萬餘緡。三年，蠲川、秦茶馬兩司紹興十九年至三十二年州縣侵用及民積欠六十六萬四千九百餘緡。四年，又詔：四川諸州欠紹興三十一年至隆興二年瞻軍諸窠名錢物，暨退剝虧分之數，及漏底折欠等錢，並蠲之。蠲成都人戶理運對糴米腳錢三十五萬緡。淳熙十六年詔：「四川歲發湖、廣總領所綱運百三十五萬六千餘貫，自明年始，與免三年。當議對減鹽酒之額，製置、總領同諸路轉運、提刑司條上。其湖、廣歲計，朝廷當自給之。」

In Qiandao 2 odd arrears on plain-contract stamp taxes—more than 370,000 strings—were remitted. In the third year embezzlements and accumulated public arrears from Shaoxing 19–32 under the Sichuan-Qin Tea and Horse offices—664,900-odd strings—were remitted. In the fourth year another edict remitted all Sichuan prefectures' army-support arrears from Shaoxing 31 through Longxing 2, including clawbacks for shortfalls and conversion deficits. Transport fees on regulated paired grain purchase owed by Chengdu households—350,000 strings—were remitted. In Chunxi 16 an edict declared: "Sichuan's annual payment of 1,356,000-odd strings to the Huguang General Supplies Office will be waived for three years beginning next year. Salt and wine quotas should be cut proportionally; the Preparedness and General Supplies offices, together with each circuit's transport and judicial-intendancy offices, should report item by item. The Huguang annual budget should be met from central funds."

紹熙三年，蠲潼川府去年被水州縣租稅，資普榮敘州、富順監凡夏輸亦如之。尋又詔：「本路旱傷州縣租稅，官為代輸及民已輸者，悉理今年之數。」四年，蠲紹熙三年成都、潼川兩路奇零絹估錢引四十七萬一千四百五十餘道，潼川府激賞絹一十六萬六千九百七十五匹。又詔：四川州縣鹽、酒課額，自明年更放三年。

In Shaoxi 3 rent and tax were remitted in Tongchuan prefectures and counties flooded the previous year; summer deliveries in Zi, Pu, Rong, and Xuzhou prefectures and Fushun Superintendency were likewise remitted. Soon another edict declared: "In drought-stricken prefectures and counties of this circuit, taxes paid by the government on the people's behalf and taxes already paid by the people shall all count toward this year's quota. In the fourth year miscellaneous silk-appraisal notes from Shaoxi 3 in the Chengdu and Tongchuan circuits—471,450-odd notes—and Tongchuan incentive-reward silk—166,975 bolts—were remitted. Another edict remitted Sichuan prefectural and county salt and wine quotas for another three years beginning the next year.

嘉定七年，再蠲四川州縣鹽、酒課額三年，其合輸湖、廣總領所綱運亦免三年。十一年，蠲天水軍今年租役差科，西和州蠲十之七，成州蠲十之六，將利、河池兩縣各蠲十之五，以經兵也。

In Jiading 7 Sichuan prefectural and county salt and wine quotas were again remitted for three years, and the due payment to the Huguang General Supplies Office was likewise waived for three years. In the eleventh year Tianshui Army's rent, corvée, and apportioned levies for the year were remitted; Xihe Prefecture seven-tenths; Chengzhou six-tenths; Jiangli and Hechi counties five-tenths each—because they had endured warfare.

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