Evaluate the achievements of economic recovery and development in the early Ming Dynasty.

Social and Economic Recovery and Development in the Early Ming Dynasty

Measures to restore and develop agriculture

In order to restore and develop agricultural production, the rulers in the early Ming Dynasty took some measures. After the war in the late Yuan Dynasty, there were a lot of wasteland in the early Ming Dynasty, and the people did not return to exile. After Zhu Yuanzhang acceded to the throne, he first ordered exiles from all over the country to return to their hometowns for production. Those who return home are exempt from tax for three years and do what they can. If farmer Ding comes to the field now, he can't occupy the field as before. If there are fewer fields in Dingduo now, the local officials will divide Dingduo into barren land. All barren land is cultivated by the people as their own business; If the original owner returns, local officials will distribute the land supply in the nearby wasteland. In his later years, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that all newly reclaimed land in Shandong, Henan, Hebei and Shaanxi should be "never started". In addition, Daxing reclaimed land. There are three kinds of land reclamation: civil, military and commercial, of which military is the largest. People's villages are organized by the government to cultivate land, such as immigrants and raise people's seeds. During the Hongwu period, the Ming government moved a large number of people from a narrow township (a place with a large population and a small population) to a wide township (a place with a small population and a large population), which was a kind of immigration. It is also known that the government once recruited farmers in northern counties to reclaim land in wasteland near the city, and each person got 15 mu of abel tamata, and two mu of land was given to grow vegetables. This is to raise people for planting. Mintun is different from general reclamation. Generally, people cultivate land by themselves, and the cultivated land belongs to the people. However, there is a certain organization in Mintun, which is cultivated by the government and supervised by the people. The land belongs to the government, and the people are the tenants of the government. Garrison is to let the army settle fields and accumulate food for self-sufficiency, so as to reduce government military expenditure. In the early Ming Dynasty, all guards and soldiers in different places were divided into two parts: guarding the city and guarding the city. Generally speaking, the border area is divided into three parts, seven parts and eight parts, while the mainland is divided into two parts. At that time, the national army was basically self-sufficient in farming, with a total amount of more than 600 thousand hectares, and the grain produced was very considerable. Shangtun is a reclamation organized by salt merchants. In the early Ming Dynasty, in order to solve the problem of rations in the border areas, that is, using the national monopoly system on salt, salt merchants were required to transport grain to the border areas to fill rations, in exchange for the government's salt introduction (salt sales license), and then the salt was introduced to the designated saltworks to collect salt and then sold in the designated areas. This is called "opening the middle". In the future, in order to avoid the trouble and cost of transporting grain, merchants hired people to farm in border areas and pay grain on the spot in exchange for the introduction of salt, which was called Shangtun. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Shang Tun played an active role in supplying rations and opening up frontier areas. Encourage the cultivation of mulberry cotton. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that farmers all over the country should plant five to ten acres of land, half an acre of mulberry, hemp and cotton, and double the amount of more than ten acres. Those who don't plant mulberry should pay silk horses; If you don't grow hemp, you will lose a linen horse; If you don't grow cotton, pay a piece of cotton cloth. At the end of Hongwu, it was ordered that farmers all over the country could grow a variety of cotton, so it was tax-free. He also ordered farmers in Shandong and Henan to plant mulberry trees and jujube trees from now on and never get married. Since then, the cultivation and use of cotton has become widespread, which not only developed agricultural production, but also promoted the development of textile industry. After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne to build water conservancy projects, he ordered his local officials to discuss water conservancy matters and sent officials to various places to use the gap between farmers to supervise water conservancy. According to the statistics in the 28th year of Hongwu (1395), there are 4,987 ponds, 4 162 rivers and 548 dikes in China. During the reign of the Ming Dynasty, water conservancy projects continued, such as dredging Wusong River by Xia Yuanji, the minister of household affairs, which greatly benefited the farmland in Jiangsu and Song. Song Li, Minister of Industry, opened the Huitong River in Shandong and built a sluice to regulate the water quantity, which not only connected the North-South Grand Canal, but also irrigated many farmland. Under the above measures, all the wasteland in the early Ming Dynasty was reclaimed. According to the statistics in the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (1393), there were more than 8.5 million hectares of cultivated land in the world, which was more than four times higher than that at the end of Yuan Dynasty. The output of grain has also increased greatly, which is reflected in the growth of tax grain of the Ming government. For example, in the eighteenth year of Hongwu (1385), the tax grain was more than 280 million mangoku, and in the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu, it increased to more than 32 million mangoku, about one and a half times more than the sum of the Yuan Dynasty 1200 mangoku.

2. Reform the craftsman system

In handicraft production, the craftsman system has also changed. In the early Ming Dynasty, the management of craftsmen still followed the craftsman system of the Yuan Dynasty, that is, craftsmen were incorporated into special craftsmen's books, and they were not allowed to leave the craftsmen's books and change jobs at will. However, the craftsmen in the Yuan Dynasty had no freedom at all, and they were ordered to make official handicrafts all the year round, while the craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty were relatively free and their service time was greatly shortened. Artisans in Ming Dynasty were divided into shift craftsmen and sitting craftsmen. Shift craftsmen belong to the Ministry of Industry, and they take turns to work in Beijing. The craftsman shift system began in the 19th year of Hongwu (1386), which stipulated that craftsmen from all over the country would serve in Beijing in turn, once every three years for three months, and then go home after serving. In addition to the class schedule, the rest of the time is at your own disposal. By the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (1393), the shift patterns of craftsmen in various places had changed, some once every five years, some once every four years, some once every three years, some once every two years and some once a year. Under this new method, people who work every five, four or three years can take a few years off; Classes that run every two years can also have a year off. Only those who work hard for one class a year run back and forth on the road without a day off. By the fifth year of Jingtai (1454), all the shift craftsmen in the country were changed to four-year shifts, which remained unchanged for the rest of the Ming Dynasty. Shift craftsmen are completely free of charge, not only on the working day, but also on their own expenses for travelling to and from the capital. Shift craftsmen account for the vast majority. According to the statistics of 1393, there are 23289 people in * *. Living craftsmen are craftsmen working in the capital, mainly engaged in production for the royal family, and are under the official supervision of the imperial court (one of the 24 courthouses of eunuchs), but the management and recruitment of their craftsmen are still under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry. The name of the living craftsman began in Yongle period. Living craftsmen work 10 days a month, and the remaining 20 days are free to control and enjoy certain treatment. Usually they support rice three times a month. The craftsman system in Ming Dynasty was still a kind of labor system, but it gave craftsmen some freedom and was beneficial to the development of handicraft industry.