In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the government further strengthened its control over private handicrafts, especially mining, porcelain making, textile, salt making and tea making. Restricted, constantly exploited and plundered. In the Ming dynasty, private mining of coal, iron, copper and other minerals was prohibited many times. The porcelain industry uses the official kiln to burn the folk kiln, that is, the porcelain originally fired by the official kiln is handed over to the folk kiln for firing, but the bid is extremely low. If the firing fails, the folk kilns will have to pay compensation, which will lead to the bankruptcy of many folk kilns. In the textile industry, the collar knitting system is mandatory. The government pays for grain production, silk production and machine weaving. After weaving, the machine will be paid by the government. However, there are many deductions in the late stage of each issue, so the market is very prosperous. The machine went bankrupt because of losses. In the Ming Dynasty, the salt and iron monopoly system was also implemented. Businessmen are not allowed to sell salt and iron without permission. In addition, the Ming court strictly implemented the policy of maritime prohibition, prohibiting businessmen from conducting maritime trade. Domestic commercial barriers are numerous, and exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous fees are a dime a dozen. There is a license tax, but the ship; Goods are taxed, but they are houses; Rice, wheat, corn and millet are also taxed; Chicken and dolphin, meat is also taxed; People raise cattle, donkeys and mules, and tax livestock products. Search 15 counties, 1 16 counties. The government's restrictions and exploitation of private handicrafts have greatly hindered social and economic development. In addition, during Jiajing and Jiaqing years, the decadent ruling group made the national treasury increasingly empty and the financial crisis of the imperial court intensified. From the 24th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, in order to get rid of the financial crisis of making ends meet, Zongshen sent a large number of eunuchs as tax inspectors to collect taxes in various places. Set up checkpoints in important towns, passes and water and land arteries, and collect business tax. Ten miles is to build a factory with a flag. Those who regard businessmen as cowards are plundering, but they don't have me and all their goods. Baggage should also be searched. In addition, the names of local businessmen, secluded docks in poor villages and rice salted chicken gizzards are all taxed. The tax official also sent his minions to intercept passing ships on the Yangtze River to collect taxes, so that a ship sailing three or four hundred miles would have to pay taxes five or six times. Only the Linqing-Jining section, which is about 400 miles long, has layers of signs. Mine supervisors are more in the name of mining, and when they see rich people, they falsely accuse him of stealing mines. What Tian Meizhai means is that there is a thread under it, which leads him to round up, humiliate women and even break people's hands and feet. They tear down houses, dig fertile fields, dig graves, and do everything. The arrogance and blood-sucking of mine supervisors and tax supervisors have greatly damaged the development of industry and commerce, making the world desolate and devastated. A large number of industrialists and businessmen went bankrupt and shops closed down. For example, there are more than 160 cloth shops in Hexi, and more than 130 closed down. There are 32 silk shops in Linqing, Shandong Province, which closed down 2 1 home; Seventy-three cloth shops and forty-five closed down; 4 1 The grocery store is closed. Therefore, since taxation has caused controversy, wealthy businessmen are bound by Article 12 or Article 13. Moreover, the tax revenue is increasing, and wealthy businessmen are bound feet 16, 17. Businessmen are bound, business is depressed, and American government tax revenue is greatly reduced. Twenty-five years of Wanli, only Chongwenmen, Hexi, Linqing, Jiujiang, Huai 'an and other places. The annual income was more than 407,500 yuan, which was reduced to 266,800 yuan in the 29th year of Wanli. The extortion of mine managers and tax inspectors has greatly damaged the interests of businessmen and citizens, causing resistance from craftsmen and small and medium-sized businessmen. In some places, the struggle between industrialists and businessmen for armed mining of minerals and illegal trafficking in salt tea eventually developed into a larger-scale struggle against mine supervision and tax supervision. In the twenty-fourth year of Wanli, eunuch Chen Feng was ordered to collect taxes in Huguang Mining. Mine air conditioning supervisor
The businessman grabbed Chen Feng, bound his hands and feet, and threw it at Jiang. The resistance of Wuchang merchants finally forced Mingting to withdraw from Chen Feng in April. In the twenty-seventh year of Wanli, a struggle against taxes and matang broke out in Linqing, Shandong Province. Tax horse hall and its minions run amok in Linqing, becoming a thoroughfare during the day, and those with well-off families account for half of the business; The servant's wife, a passive millet and cloth dealer, took it away. Ma Tangyuan is a tax supervisor in Tianjin, and he is also in charge of Linqing tax. During his seven years in Shandong, he collected no less than fifteen or six thousand taxes every year, but only seventy-two thousand were turned over to the court. In the meantime, the withholding tax amounted to 654.38+300,000. In Linqing, he recruited hundreds of local ruffians and hooligans as his minions, and it was forbidden to rob and resist during the day. Tang Gang's behavior has created an intermediate family, which has been broken by half. The unbearable Linqing citizens went on strike everywhere. The Weaver Dynasty led more than 10,000 people to besiege Matang, set fire to the tax inspector and killed 37 minions. Later, the government searched for wanted criminals in Linqing, and many cases were involved. Wang Chaozuo stood up and died bravely without changing his face before his execution. In the 29th year of Wanli, the struggle against Governor Sun Long also broke out in Suzhou. Sun, his entourage and twelve local ruffians set up five customs in front of Suzhou and levied business tax at will, which made the turnover of Wuzhong businessmen scarce, reduced the opportunities for weavers, and the weavers who were engaged in weaving fell into an embarrassing situation where there was no way out. Sun Long and his group were not satisfied, so they agreed that every loom in San Qian should have a cashier. It is also stipulated that each craftsman should charge 20 cents for going out of the market. After the promulgation of this law, all the machine operators in Doumen stopped weaving and the machine workers starved to death. On the third day of June, more than 2,000 people, led by the angry Weaver Girl Ge Xian, swore to suppress the chaos in Wu Min in Suzhou Xuanmiao Temple, saying that they would rather try their best to save the nation and put forward the slogan of endless struggle without killing sticks or chasing grandchildren. The rebellious citizens laid down strict discipline and killed only one person without taking a penny. Ge Xian used a banana fan to direct the citizens and beat Sun Long's minion Tang Xin and the program. Successively destroyed the tax administration, forcing the Suzhou government to hand over Sun Long. They also killed several tax collectors, set fire to the rich man's mansion 10, and posted notices everywhere in the suburbs: tax collectors are rampant and the people are struggling. We will uphold justice for the people and eliminate pests. Faced with the resistance of the citizens, Sun Long was scared to hide everywhere. Finally, under the protection of the local government, he sneaked out of Suzhou City and fled to Hangzhou. I am worried that the situation in Mingting will further expand, so I have to replace Sun Long. In Huguang, Linqing, Suzhou and other places, industrial and commercial people and citizens fought against the mine supervisor and tax supervisor in succession, which formed the climax of the struggle against the extortion and brutal rule of the Ming court in the late Ming Dynasty, and soon spread to other areas, forming a flood of large-scale struggle against the mine supervisor and tax supervisor. In September of the 30th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty, in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, porcelain kiln workers fought with Pan Xiang, the tax supervisor. More than 10,000 porcelain workers rose up against the tyranny of tax collectors and set fire to the imperial kiln, killing Pan Xiang's favorite Lu Taishou, while Pan Xiang himself was seriously injured by Confucianism. In the thirty-first year of Wanli, eunuch Chao was in charge of Xishan Coal Mine in Beijing. Relying on the power of the mine manager, he extorted money from the people. Wang Dajing, the kiln owner, negotiated with Wang Chao and others on behalf of the kiln owner, but was caught. This behavior aroused the resistance of kiln owners and kiln workers. Kiln workers and coal trucks drove into Beijing.
Jiang Yihua: Volume IV, Selected Materials of Inscriptions in Jiangsu since Ming and Qing Dynasties. Volume 380.