Did the social economy of the Wu and Zhou Dynasties exceed those of any previous era?

Wu Zetian is one of the most controversial emperors in Chinese history and the only female emperor in Chinese history. People have mixed praise and criticism for her. Most people think that Wu Zetian changed dynasties for her own selfish interests and sought to seize the Li family. Her behavior was rebellious and treasonous. It not only violated the moral character of a woman to a certain extent, but also To a large extent, it also destroyed the economic development of the Tang Dynasty, criticizing her for having no political achievements and making no contribution to the country. However, some people hold the opposite view and believe that Wu Zetian made considerable contributions to the economy, politics, and culture during her reign. We should look at history from a fair, fair and objective perspective, and look at Wu Zetian's merits and demerits in two parts. The Wu-Zhou period inherited the "Government of Zhenguan" and initiated the "Kaiyuan Dynasty". It was an indispensable bridge connecting the two generations and made great contributions to the economic development of the Tang Dynasty. Many measures were taken during this period. These measures have greatly benefited the people and the country.

1. Development of Agriculture

Wu Zetian reigned from 650 to 705 AD. She was the only female emperor in Chinese history. She actually held power for nearly half a century and later established herself as emperor. , changed the name of the Tang Dynasty to Wuzhou. The economic situation at that time was relatively severe: on the one hand, in order to promote their own development and seize vast development space, ethnic minorities from the Turkic tribes and Khitan tribes continued to infringe and destroy the Tang Dynasty, which severely affected the economic development of the Tang Dynasty. On the other hand, during Wu Zetian's reign, a series of natural disasters occurred in the Guanzhong area and the eastern capital Luoyang, such as floods, droughts, locust plagues, and epidemics, which caused extremely serious consequences. A large number of people died, and prices skyrocketed. For example, a bucket of rice rose to 400 cents, and a situation emerged where "the dead in the two capitals were lying on each other's shoulders and people were eating each other" [①]. These natural disasters seriously threatened Wu Zetian's rule. In order to promote economic development, improve people's lives, stabilize social order, consolidate her rule, she vigorously developed agriculture.

(1) Encourage teaching in farming and mulberry farming

Wu Zetian, like all previous feudal rulers, attached great importance to the development of agriculture and regarded agriculture as the foundation for the survival and development of the people and the country. Only when the people work hard to develop production in agriculture, and the various cash crops obtained through hard work can sustain farmers' own lives, and the surplus crops can be sold on the market, purchased when they are cheap and sold when they are rich. This method not only combated the hoarding behavior of wealthy businessmen, but also maintained the stability of market prices. When the people's food and clothing problem is solved, the country will be stable. In the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (674) when she was the empress, she made twelve suggestions to Emperor Gaozong, the first of which was to "encourage farmers to do mulberry farming and reduce the corvee tax". After the death of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, she took power personally and said in the book "Chen Gui": "Whoever rules the world must have a rich country and an abundance of millet. Millet grows in agriculture, so the previous kings valued it. If the fields are cultivated, there will be an abundance of millet, and if there is an abundance of millet, then People get rich."[②] It can be seen that she understands the principle that "the foundation of a country must lie in agriculture" and attaches great importance to the development of agricultural production and the construction of water conservancy.

At the same time, she published the agricultural book "Zhaoren's Business Record" throughout the world and widely publicized it, asking everyone to pay attention to agriculture, develop agriculture, and work together for the progress of agriculture. In order to develop agricultural production, Wu Zetian used the various conditions of farmland within the territory as the standard for rewarding and punishing officials. The quality of farmland was directly related to the rewards and punishments of officials in the region. That is, it was stipulated that within the prefectures and counties, "fields are cultivated and the family has surplus food." If the officials are rewarded, if they are "harsh and abusive in the administration, and their household registration is transferred", they will inevitably be punished. If the officials are less serious, their grades will be degraded at the end of the year, and if the more serious cases are serious, they will be fired and the officials will be removed directly.

(2) Continue to implement the land equalization system

The land equalization system is a system of land allocation based on oral planning implemented in my country from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the mid-Tang Dynasty. The implementation of the land equalization system affirmed the ownership and possession rights of land, reduced disputes arising from competition for land, and facilitated the reclamation of large amounts of ownerless land. The reclaimed land is used for farming by farmers, which increases the annual crop harvest and enriches the granary. Therefore, in order to develop agricultural production, Wu Zetian continued to implement the land equalization system. The land equalization system began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and then passed through the Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, and Sui dynasties. Until the early Tang Dynasty, it has been able to adapt well to the development of productivity. During the Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong periods, they also vigorously promoted maintenance, and during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, they also vigorously promoted the development of agricultural production. The "New Book of Tang" records in detail the specific content of the land equalization system implemented by the Tang Dynasty at that time: "All people are called yellow when they are born, four is small, sixteen is middle, twenty-one is Ding, and sixty Old. Under the land grant system, if a male is eighteen years old or above, one hectare per person will be divided into eighty acres, and twenty acres will be a permanent estate; for an old person, a terminally ill or disabled person, forty acres per person, and for a widower Thirty acres for wives and concubines, and twenty acres for the householder, all of them will be permanent property, and the rest will be divided into oral shares. "[3] In addition, in "Xiaogu, Dunhuang County, Shazhou" in the first year of Zhou Dazu (701). According to the "Township Register", there is a family with one daughter and one widow in Hanshou Shou, and should be granted one hectare and thirty acres of land, as well as one acre of garden and homestead land. Zhang Xuanjun's family has two children and one widow. He should be granted two hectares and thirty acres of land, as well as one acre of garden and homestead land. It can be seen that Wu Zetian not only implemented the land equalization system to promote economic development, but also strictly followed various land equalization orders of the Tang Dynasty.

(3) Construction of water conservancy and development of irrigation

The development of agriculture not only relies on land, but water conservancy construction is also an important lifeline. The construction of water conservancy projects will not only help irrigate farmland, but also help eliminate droughts and floods and regulate water transportation.

During the annual sowing season, water conservancy facilities need to be built in order to ensure that crops can receive sufficient nutrients and sufficient water supply to facilitate the growth of crops; in the two relatively dry seasons of summer and autumn, water conservancy facilities are needed to transport water resources to help. Agriculture is developed in arid areas; in spring and summer when there is heavy rain, water conservancy facilities are needed to help drain away waterlogging and dredge accumulated water sources to prevent floods. For various reasons, Wu Zetian attached great importance to the construction of water conservancy projects to achieve the effect of promoting economic development. According to the book "New Tang Dynasty Geography", there are 19 measures and policies for water conservancy construction. Among them, the more famous ones include the new canal dug in Lianshui, Sizhou (now Lianshui County, Jiangsu Province) in the fourth year of Chui Gong (688), the Dou Gong Canal dug by Dou Yan in the northeast during the Chang'an period (701-704), and the Dou Gong Canal built in Jizhou. Tongli Canal, Yangling Canal and many other water conservancy facilities will not be discussed in detail here. In short, Wu Zetian attached great importance to the construction of water conservancy facilities, which not only promoted the development of agriculture, but also solved people's water problems, transportation problems, and irrigation problems. Moreover, water conservancy facilities are sustainably used. They will not be abandoned due to the changes of dynasties, but can be further improved and developed.

While building water conservancy, Wu Zetian also paid attention to improving the farmland irrigation system and using water conservancy facilities to help agricultural irrigation. At that time, some farmland irrigation networks had been formed in the Central Plains and Jiangnan regions.

(4) Implement farming and develop agricultural production

The farming system originated in the Western Han Dynasty and formed a relatively complete system during the Cao Wei Dynasty. That is, the state forces farmers or soldiers to cultivate state-owned land and collects a certain amount of land rent to achieve the purpose of farming. In the early Wuzhou period, the settlements were divided into two types: civilian settlements and military settlements. However, military camps are mainly established in relatively remote areas, usually in areas where multiple ethnic groups live together, where ethnic conflicts are more acute and military food transportation is very difficult, and where there are dedicated personnel arranged by the government to take charge. Among these people who specialize in management, Lou Shide, Guo Yuanzhen and others have achieved the most remarkable results. Lou Shide, who was born in the common people, was a Jinshi and his younger brother. He first organized soldiers to farm in Jiuyuan, Fengzhou (now Wuyuan, Inner Mongolia), with remarkable results. "Millions of grains were accumulated, and the soldiers were spared." The fruitful results Wu Zetian was very happy and issued an imperial edict to commend his contribution. Later, he was appointed concurrently as the military camp ambassador of Heyuan, Jishi, Huaiyuan and other prefectures of Heyuan, Lan, Shan and Kuo, so that he could carry out large-scale farming in these places. Solve the problem of supplying military rations to local soldiers and reduce national military expenditures for training soldiers and long-distance transportation; Guo Yuanzhen also became a Jinshi and his younger brother, with both civil and military talents. In the first year of Dazu (701), he was appointed governor of Liangzhou and governor of Longyou. The military ambassador, who had been in Liangzhou for five years, "opened up farmland and made full use of the land and water", which greatly boosted the power of Liangzhou's army and its momentum, and its productivity has been greatly developed. The cattle and sheep have been left wild, and the lost items are not picked up on the road." This is a great situation. Therefore, some historians praised "Guo is the best among those who have done well in Liangzhou since the rise of Tang Dynasty". [④]

(5) Carry out organized immigration and correctly deal with the problem of household escape

In Chinese history, it is customary to refer to places with more turbulent society, more depressed economy and less densely populated areas. It is called Kuanxiang; the place with stable society and dense population is called Niaoxiang, that is, "all the land within the boundaries of its prefectures, counties and counties, those with sufficient land are called Kuanxiang, and those with insufficient land are called Narrow Township". [⑤] However, whether the countryside is wide or narrow, it is extremely detrimental to agricultural production. The vast countryside and sparse population can easily lead to a large amount of land that is uncultivated and becomes ownerless wasteland. And there is a lack of land in the countryside, not enough for people to cultivate. This phenomenon of uneven distribution of households and land has existed since ancient times. During the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, the Guanzhong area belonged to narrow townships, while the sparsely populated Henan Province belonged to wide townships, so Wu Zetian decided to move some of the households in Guanzhong to Henan Province. There are historical records that "Yongzhou governs Tongzhou, Taizhou and other states. The land is narrow and densely populated, and farming is difficult. If you are willing to compile a string in Shendu, you should listen and give it another three years. The people who have no land can do whatever they want. "[⑥] "Three years of restitution" means that the people who migrated from Guanzhong to Henan can not do corvee service for three years. From this we can see that Wu Zetian encouraged people to migrate voluntarily and emphasized voluntary migration. In order to allow them to migrate voluntarily, policy guarantees were provided for their migration, thus solving the unreasonable situation of uneven distribution of households and land. The relocation not only alleviated the pressure on the Guanzhong area due to its sparse land and vast population, but also provided Henan Province with a large number of laborers and promoted economic development.

At the same time, Wu Zetian correctly treated the problem of people fleeing their households during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties. During the Wu Zhou period, the flight of a large number of peasants not only affected social stability and normal social order, but also affected the country's corvee service and the fiscal revenue of the treasury. Therefore, Wu Zetian paid great attention to solving the problem of household escape. During the half century she was in power, the areas with more serious household evasion problems were Guanfu, Hebei, Shuhan and other regions. Wu Zetian was not harsh towards those who had fled, but was tolerant and generous. She allowed the fugitive households to register in their locality, encouraged Hanzhou residents who had fled to other places to return to their hometowns, and treated the problem of fugitive households correctly.

Through this series of measures and policies to encourage the development of agriculture, Wu Zetian not only adjusted the production relations at that time, but also eased class conflicts and promoted the development of agricultural production. First, the country's population increased significantly at that time. When Wu Zetian abdicated in old age, the world's population had reached more than 6.35 million households, which was more than twice the number of households during the Zhenguan period during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. The growth rate greatly exceeded that of the Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.

Secondly, grain production reserves were abundant at that time. Not only were a lot of grains stored in national warehouses, but there were also a lot of grains stored in local state and county warehouses. This all reflects the development and prosperity of the agricultural economy and the stability and order of society at that time.

2. Progress of handicraft industry

Handicraft industry is also an important economic category. The development of agriculture during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties also led to the development of handicraft industry. In the Tang Dynasty, there were five prisons: general prison, Shaofu prison, military weapons prison, Guozijian and Dushui prison. Among them, Jiang Zuojian and Shaofu Jian were mainly in charge of the development of handicraft industry. During the Wu Zhou Dynasty, Wu Zetian changed the Shaofu Supervisor to Shangfang Supervisor, which was divided into five departments: Zhongshang, Zuoshang, Zhi Dian, and Zhang Zhi; he changed the Zuo Supervisor to the Camp Repair Supervisor, who was in charge of building palaces and houses, making bricks and tiles, etc. . This shows that Wu Zetian attached great importance to the development of handicrafts such as textile and construction industries.

Although folk brocade weaving was once restricted during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, the textile industry still developed to a certain extent and was mainly operated by the government. In the first year of Wu Zetian's reign (685), there were 5,290 Dufans, 365 Lingjin Qiaoers, 83 internal envoys, and 150 Yeting Lings in Shangfang Prison. , there are forty-two craftsmen inside, and one hundred and fifty miscellaneous craftsmen and envoys in Kyoto" [⑦], totaling 5,794, of which 590 are purely textile craftsmen. Eight people, accounting for more than one-tenth of the craftsmen. Moreover, the Weaving and Dyeing Department under the jurisdiction of Shangfang Prison was responsible for textiles and dyeing. It mainly dyed clothes for the royal family and the aristocratic class. The division of labor was fine and the processes were complicated. The silk fabrics produced were novel in style, exquisite and meticulous, and had a long-standing reputation. The textile industry during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties not only developed to a high degree, but also developed in a wide range of areas. It was not only limited to the inland, but also developed in border areas such as the west. "The family has a lot of wealth, and the family has 500 machines." At that time, the phenomenon of hiring workers for labor clearly appeared. At the same time, the embroidery industry related to textiles is also quite developed. Wu Zetian once gave many "embroidered robes" to ministers.

The construction industry was also very developed during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties. Among them, civil structure construction has reached a very mature stage. People have understood the principle of using fire reflection, and the furnace temperature of various brick and tile kilns can be as high as 900 degrees Celsius to 1,200 degrees Celsius. The Qianling Mausoleum completed during the Wu Zhou Dynasty is a good typical example. It is praised as "the crown of the Tang Mausoleums with its grand layout and beautiful architecture". [⑧]

The mining industry was also very developed during the Wu Zhou period. In addition to the state's mining of iron ore and other ores, private mining is also allowed. It is stipulated that "all states in the world where copper and iron are produced are allowed to be mined privately, and the officials collect taxes." [⑨] During Wu Zetian’s period, he also devoted himself to establishing Tianshu and casting Jiuding. The so-called Tianshu refers to the Tianshu that praised virtues during the Wu Zhou Dynasty. Its main function was to praise virtues and commemorate illustrious military achievements. Jiuding has always been used as a symbol of imperial power in feudal society. After the death of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian established herself as the queen. After she changed the name of Tang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty, she decided to cast the Nine Tripods to demonstrate the supremacy of Wu Zetian's regime during Wu Zetian's reign. These measures were enough to witness the huge copper and iron production at that time.

3. Prosperity of Commerce

The development of commerce is also an important manifestation of promoting economic development. The development of agriculture and handicrafts has laid a certain economic foundation for the prosperity and development of commerce. There are many reasons for the prosperity of business, including national unity, political stability, developed agricultural handicrafts, and a series of measures to encourage business development. During the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, commercial prosperity was mainly reflected in the increase of cities and the development of urban trade.

(1) The increase of cities

At this time, the cities have developed significantly. In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang, the eastern capital, had two cities, South and North. The South City had "one hundred and twenty industries and more than 3,000 shops." That is to say, the South City alone had 120 industries and more than 3,000 shops. By the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, due to the development of the economy and the improvement of social productivity, the old market could no longer meet people's needs and commercial transactions. In order to meet people's living needs and trade needs, Wu Zetian took measures such as expanding the market size. . In the first year of Changshou (692), the Western Market was added, and in the second year of Changshou (693), Luoguo City, or Waiguo City, was built, making Luoyang a famous political, economic and cultural center in the country and even the world.

Foreign trade was also very developed at that time. Many foreign traders maintained close economic ties with the Tang Dynasty, and there were many Hu merchants in Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Suzhou and other places.

(2) The development of urban trade

During the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, the number of "Xing" increased based on the early Tang Dynasty. The continuous increase of "city" and "line" greatly promoted the development of urban trade during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties. According to historical records: At that time, "all the waters in the world were crowded with boats and ships, and huge ships with thousands of axes were carrying goods and ships back and forth." [⑩]

4. Development of the transportation industry

The development of urban trade and the increase of cities are closely related to the development of the transportation industry and complement each other. The development of urban trade and the increase of cities are inseparable from convenient transportation conditions, and convenient transportation will promote the increase of cities and the continuous development of urban trade. At the same time, in order to enable the government to control and manage things conveniently and quickly, Wu Zetian took measures to develop transportation, thereby benefiting both parties.

In addition, from the early Tang Dynasty to the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, the post station system has developed from its initial establishment to the present quite complete one, with Luoyang and Chang'an as the centers leading to all parts of the country. During the Wu Zhou period, the territory was vast, with both land and water, and important national documents and documents could travel five hundred miles a day, which shows that the transportation at that time was very developed.

To sum up, the Tang Dynasty was a dynasty in which agriculture, handicrafts, commerce and other social and economic development were highly developed and prosperous. There is the "Government of Zhenguan" by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and the "Prosperous Age of Kaiyuan" by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Wu Zhou is an important link between them. This was the most prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty. It was not only rich at home and abroad, but also culturally developed. to a fairly high degree. During Wu Zetian's more than 20 years in power, he encouraged farmers to cultivate mulberry trees, built water conservancy projects, promoted equalization of land, implemented the farmland system, and correctly dealt with the issues of household escape and immigration. At the same time, he was committed to promoting agriculture, commerce, handicrafts, and transportation. development, economic prosperity and national strength during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties. It is not easy to be a female politician in ancient feudal society. When looking at the issue of Queen Wu Zetian, we must use a bifurcated perspective to analyze specific issues. We should affirm her merits, criticize her faults, and evaluate her fairly and objectively.