Function And Order

Qing Dynasty was the dynasty whose system of the transporting tribute grain by water reached for the perfect.And had also made the positive effective exploration to display its every function.When the academic circle elaborated its function of politics and military,they also had the discussion to its social and economical function,but insufficiently thorough and meticulous.Therefore,this article attempts from the government social control angle,and under the looking of the ancient grain security problem,with the dynamic visual angle to reveal various links on the transport,reserve, lower prices,relief and relative activities of the tribute grain in Qing Dynasty,to show its economy and social function and significance,as well as the expedient and realistic requirement on policy choice from the Qing government.The tribute grain concemed national treasury,and must first guarantee the daily demand of grain in the dominant heart—national capital area.Through doing a comprehensive survey to the entire Qing Dynasty,there were always two sets of transportation systems and the utilization plan in the official tribute grain transportation and the use.One was the upward utilization system,after tribute grain collection,through the storage in the water transport warehouse and the transportation in the watercourse, finally the tribute grain arrived at Beijing,transporting to jing and tong warehouses,and realized assignment as well as selling at lower prices and giving relief to the national capital area.This was its direct use and function,its political significance was more than the social economy significance.One was the downward utilization system,when the crop failure caused by natural disasters famine,the warehousing vacancy or the lacking of soldier's pay and so on situations occurred to the place,the government would usually preserve partial tribute grains in the place,through the watercourse transportation and the warehouse storage,lowering the rice prices and giving relief to the place,making the tribute grain a participation to the important provinces' famine relief measures system. Although that was its non-conventional use and function,it still had important social economy significance.Through Qing Dynasty,as part of the executive mobile financial resource,the big quantity,the many times and the high efficiency of tribute grain interception,was more than all previous dynasties.Regarding as a kind of effective emergency mechanism, coordinating with the tribute grain transportation system and the warehousing system, tribute grain interception had effectively realized the shift of tribute grain in time and space.Finally through two ways to the market and the administrative,the government made use of the tribute grain to lower prices and give relief to the national capital area and various provinces.It was an important component in the royal government famine relief measures system,and had manifested its social control idea.But as a result of tribute grain quantity's finiteness and the use particularity,adds the difference on maintenance efforts of the watercourse and the warehouse,the control action on lower prices and relief of the tribute grain to the Qing Dynasty society was limited.The endurance was insufficient in the time,and in the space the profiting scope was limited.It can be said that the tribute grain's economic significance and the display of social relieve function appeared the saddle-shaped development momentum in the entire Qing Dynasty.In earlier period of Qing Dynasty,the converting price of the tribute grain was usually high,causing the tribute grain collection order into disorder as well as an unstable society.After Xianfeng dynasty,the royal government converted it into silver and carded out in most tribute grain tax provinces,and in a certain extent had reorganized the transporting order.But because of the time environment as well as the technical flaw,in later period the large-scale tribute grain in converted form had not been able to save the decadent tendency in water transport politics.The policy of ensuring water to guarantee the transportation was the measure which Qing government adopted for guaranteeing tribute grain's smooth transportation. Because it involved to the tribute grain transportation link,and it was easily to have interest conflicts with the private lands nearby watercourse on aspect of water resources' use,therefore this article elaborated it in the appendix part.And through it can analyze the government's manner and adopting reaction measures in this benefit contention caused by water resources.