The Research Of The Guangdong Taiping Custom And The Circulation Of Commodity Of It In Ming-Qing Dynasties

In the second year of Tianshun era,Ye Sheng,the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi,founded Taiping Bridge custom house in Nanxiong to levy salt tax to help military supplies.Driven by Han Yong,Qin Hong,Zhou Nan,Wang Shouren,Chen Jin,Wang Tongdao and other local heads of Guangdong,Guangxi and Nangan,the Guangdong Salt District gradually expanded to Jiangxi.Together with the development of Guangzhou’s overseas trade,Dayuling Commercial Road was unprecedentedly prosperous,the tariff collection of Taiping Bridge continued to increase,and the types of taxes expanded from simple salt taxes to taxes on pepper,sappan and iron goods.Starting from Jiajing era,the imperial court supervised and controlled Taiping Bridge’s income through various means.By the end of the Ming Dynasty,the Taipingqiao tax had basically established a quota system and a proportional share system,which became part of the central government’s finances.After the regime changed from the Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty,the Qing government completely incorporated the tax revenues of custom houses in various regions into the central finance.In this context,Taiping Bridge custom house was placed under the administration of the Hubu.In the eighth year of Kangxi,Taipingqiao Bridge custom house was moved to the east of Shaozhou prefecture on the lower reaches of Zhenjiang River,and also managed Yuxian Bridge and Hanguang Chang custom houses.With the pacification of the Yao and Miao people in the Guangdong-Hunan border area and the gradual dredging of the salt transport,the business relationship between the Lingnan region and the inland provinces has been further deepened.The types of goods circulated through Taiping Custom House varied in a big way,and the tax revenue has also increased to more than 130,000 liang per year.During the Yongzheng and Qianlong eras,on the one hand,the imperial court delegated the management of Taiping Pass to Guangdong local governors and officers of Dao level.On the other hand,under the guidance of the concept "all tax revenues should be given to the central government",the central government’s fiscal supervision system on tariffs became more stringent and tight.The tax revenue of Taiping Custom House was completely controlled by the court.After the Opium Wars,the Qing court’s social control power became weak,the domestic and international economic and trade patterns changed,and Taiping Custom House’s income declined in response.Coupled with the impact of the Taiping Rebellion and the Hong Bing Uprising,the trade and commerce at Taiping Custom House were suffocated and income plummeted.In the tenth year of Xianfeng,Qiling,the governor of Guangdong,set up a Lijin custom at the east and west port of Taiping Custom House.In the fifth year of Tongzhi,the governor of Guangdong Jiang Yili used the Lijin system as a blueprint to reform the system of Taiping Custom House.Under the leadership of the governor’s administrative power,Taiping Custom House and Shaozhou East and West Lijin Custom formed a unified management,shared tax base,and rationed in-turn system.