Why did the Yuan Dynasty carry out wild cultivation in the western regions, which were far away from the central government and had poor land?

Reclaiming farmland is an organization form of agricultural production in ancient China, whose main purpose is to meet the supply of troops. It is usually related to agricultural and military policies at that time, as well as immigration and ethnic policies at that time. The Yuan Dynasty was the first unified dynasty established by ethnic minorities in the history of China, which inherited the advanced experience of agricultural civilization in the Central Plains and promoted the development of farming management.

Reclaiming farmland is the basic national policy of the Yuan Dynasty, inheriting the Song Dynasty and enlightening the Qing Dynasty. It has a special position in the history of reclamation in ancient China. Because it is the western region that vigorously develops reclamation, it is also caused by many reasons. The different ruling center of gravity also led to the different reclamation in the western region, and the background and reasons of reclamation in different regions were also different. There were also specific factors in the Yuan Dynasty's reclamation in the Western Regions.

1. Why can land reclamation develop into an important strategic decision of the country?

In ancient times, as a form of economic organization, land reclamation was of great significance to military supplies and economic development. Land reclamation? Its essence is a form of agricultural production organization, which refers to the economic activities that the feudal government relied on the state to organize laborers to farm and cultivate on official land at that time.

In ancient times, wasteland reclamation mainly refers to the economic activities that the government asked farmers or businessmen to reclaim wasteland in order to obtain military pay and grain.

(1) As an ancient agricultural production.

Tuntian originated in Qin and Han Dynasties, developed in Sui and Tang Dynasties, matured in Yuan Dynasty, and gradually developed a new trend in Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the collapse of the well field system and the appearance of the iron Niu Geng promoted the germination of land ownership, which was finally established in the Qin Dynasty, providing conditions for the emergence of land reclamation.

With the unification of China in Qin and Han Dynasties, the integration of ethnic minorities and Han nationality, the war between ethnic minorities and Han nationality, and the development of agricultural and economic exchanges, the system of wasteland reclamation came into being.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, reclamation was carried out on a large scale, and the scale of reclamation was continuously expanded due to the war, and the land system was gradually privatized by the state-owned land. The land reclamation system formally established in the Han Dynasty carried out land reclamation on a larger scale.

(B) The advantages of reclamation itself

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to regime change and ethnic migration, the scope of reclamation was also shrinking, and the center of reclamation gradually moved eastward. The progress of reclamation system in Wei and Jin Dynasties is mainly manifested in the improvement of on-the-job official system and the establishment of standard agricultural system. However, after the implementation of the land occupation system, Cao Wei officials established the disintegrated reclamation system in the form of law.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, feudal rulers began to practice the system of reclaiming farmland and raised it to a new level. The feudal corvee in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was more obvious.

During the Liao and Jin Dynasties' rule of the Central Plains, they constantly innovated on the basis of inheriting the traditional farming methods in the Central Plains, and developed the unique agricultural production characteristics of ethnic minorities. The frontier reclamation in the Jin Dynasty was mainly expanded with the expansion of the scope of rule. From the form of land reclamation, the Liao Dynasty mainly used military and folk land reclamation.

Although the regime ruled by ethnic minorities is different from the Central Plains Dynasty in organizational form, the rulers also attach great importance to this form of agricultural organization.

The biggest problem in the Northern Song Dynasty was that it was often harassed by northern minorities, so it was heavily guarded in the northern border areas. In order to solve the food problem of frontier soldiers, a series of measures have been taken, and reclamation is one of the important policies. Since the Qin Dynasty, the system of cultivating farmland began to develop, and the rulers of past dynasties continued to improve, which laid a solid foundation for cultivating farmland in the Yuan Dynasty.

Second, the western regions are far away from the central government, but why did the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty carry out large-scale reclamation in the western regions?

The Ming Dynasty was a dynasty established by Mongols in the history of China. During Kublai Khan's reign, the rulers imitated the legal system of the Central Plains and adopted a series of positive and effective measures to govern the country.

Among them, the land reclamation system is an effective measure to strengthen the frontier, and the scale, effect and management mechanism of the land reclamation system developed in Yuan Dynasty surpassed that of any dynasty in China. However, such a dynasty established by ethnic minorities actively developed the reclamation system. Why?

(1) The need for the Mongolian and Yuan regimes to exercise political and military rule over the Western Regions.

At that time, during the reign of Kublai Khan, the Mongols established political power in the Central Plains, but at that time, the rule of the Yuan Dynasty was threatened because of the rebellion of the northwest kings. In order to stabilize the Yuan Dynasty's rule in the northwest and strengthen its defense ability in the western regions, Kublai Khan sent a large number of troops into the northwest to consolidate the stable rule of border defense.

Such an army needs to solve the food problem of soldiers. Kublai Khan settled the field near the military station and ordered the garrison and local people to settle the field. Later, Kublai Khan made the Central Plains his capital. In order to consolidate his rule, he advocated abolishing the old system, implementing the Han system, and establishing feudal rule suited to the economy of the Central Plains.

However, the rebels in Haidu and Duwa openly opposed Kublai Khan's sinicization policy, saying that they wanted to preserve the nomadic lifestyle.

Before the Tacitus Congress, Kublai Khan did not pay too much attention to these forces in the old Mongolian headquarters, but concentrated his firepower on the old forces in the Southern Song Dynasty. However, after the Tacitus Congress, Kublai Khan saw the threat of the northwest forces, transferred heavy troops into the Western Regions, established local management institutions, and deployed a large number of troops. Reclaiming farmland is the basic measure to stabilize the situation in the west.

If you want to survive in the local area for a long time, you must solve the food problem of these officials and soldiers. If we rely on transporting grain and grass from the central plains to the western regions, this measure is obviously unrealistic. At that time, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty thought of learning from the measures taken by the previous dynasties to solve the problems in the western regions and the experience of the rulers of the Central Plains in expanding the scale of reclamation.

(2) The rulers of Mongolia and Yuan attached importance to the reclamation of the western regions.

As early as Genghis Khan's period, he attached great importance to reclamation, and Genghis Khan gained the importance of reclamation in war and rule from his own experience.

The Yuan Dynasty was the climax in the history of reclamation in ancient China. During Kublai Khan's reign, the scale and system of reclamation were constantly improved. After Kublai Khan destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty and completely unified China, the society was relatively stable, the centralization of power was strengthened, and the state's control over the labor force was also strengthened, which provided conditions for organizing wasteland reclamation.

Kublai Khan was a very far-sighted monarch, deeply influenced by Confucianism, and also realized the positive influence of reclamation on governing the country. Before Kublai Khan inherited Khan's throne, he recruited Han Confucian scholars and made suggestions for himself, among which the benefits of reclamation system were put forward. Kublai Khan also realized the role of reclamation, and after the consolidation of the regime, he vigorously reclaimed land.

Due to Kublai Khan's emphasis on reclamation, a relatively perfect management system was established in the western regions. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty also brought reclamation into the management of the western regions and implemented it. Kublai Khan also wrote to the western regions many times to give policy assistance. It is precisely because of the rulers' emphasis on reclamation that reclamation in the western regions has developed rapidly.

(3) In order to restore and develop the economy of the western region.

As a dynasty that gained political power by war, the social situation in the Yuan Dynasty was chaotic, agricultural production and economic development could not be carried out normally, people's lives were poor, and people were displaced.

In this context, there are not many measures to quickly restore the pre-war state, and the only way to solve this situation is to use the method of reclamation. At that time, the only feasible measure for social conditions was to cultivate land. Only by taking this measure can the army and the people quickly participate in agricultural production and resume production.

At that time, in the Western Regions, due to the demise of the Mongolian Khanate and the rebellion of the northwestern kings, the region was also shrouded in the dark clouds of war for a long time, resulting in a large number of barren land in the Western Regions, the displacement of people, a large number of refugees from the Western Regions going to the mainland to make a living, the rebels burning and looting in the local area, and the economic development of the Western Regions was facing a serious crisis.

At that time, the natural environment in the western region was relatively fragile and the agricultural production base was weak. In this context, the reclamation system was an effective measure at that time. Kublai Khan's principle of large-scale reclamation in the western regions was undoubtedly very successful, which not only increased the grain output in the western regions, but also solved the food problem of the army and the food shortage of the people in the western regions.

3. Why did the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty reclaim land on a large scale in the western regions?

The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty must have certain conditions and meet certain resistance if they want to carry out the system of cultivating farmland in the western regions. At that time, after the unification of the western regions, the rulers formulated a series of management measures. Before Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, the military and administrative organs in the western regions had a general outline. Later, the Yuan Dynasty was established, and management institutions were set up in the western regions.

At that time, the establishment of military and political management institutions in the western regions was mainly to calm the turbulent situation at that time. At that time, after the kings rebelled and a large number of troops entered the western regions, this measure was about to be implemented.

At that time, due to the rebellion of the northwest kings in the western regions, there were frequent wars in the western regions. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty sent a large number of Han troops to the western regions, and a large number of soldiers who moved to the western regions mastered various technologies in the Central Plains, injecting fresh blood into the technologically backward western regions.

It provides experience for the backward agricultural production technology in the local area, and the soldiers from the Central Plains entering the west also bring a lot of labor to the western region, which accelerates the agricultural production process in the western region. Moreover, due to the war, a large amount of land in the western region is barren, which also provides land for reclamation. Driven by various factors, wasteland reclamation developed rapidly in Yuan Dynasty.

Fourth, the Yuan Dynasty's contribution to the western region economy.

During the period of Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties, wars were frequent, the social economy was greatly destroyed, more expenses were needed in the war, and the people's burden was heavier. Long-term war led to heavy military expenditure, a large number of people joined the army, and the labor force decreased. The Yuan government continued to expand the army, and the supply of military food was difficult for a while.

Later, after the rise of large-scale reclamation, the grain output increased year by year, and the grain reserve in the Yuan Dynasty increased, which ensured the supply of military grain and increased the fiscal revenue. The Yuan Dynasty vigorously governed the Western Regions, and the reclamation measures not only promoted the economic development of the Western Regions, but also promoted national integration.