The Study On The Capital Debt In The Early And Middle Qing Dynasty (1644-1840)

The capital debt was also called officials' borrowing,which was a kind of usury in the ancient of China.The usurer in Beijing lent it to candidates or incoming officials,until they got official position to return the debt.The capital debt was from the start of the Tang Dynasty,and became the most popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The capital debt to the life of the society at that time also has the effect and the influence that can not be ignored in the early and middle Qing Dynasty.The capital debt has been added some new contents from Tang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.It was scholars and officials for the career and consumer to borrow debt in capital.In the Qing Dynasty,most borrowers were officials and they had different reasons.For example,for life,career and so on.While the lenders included businessmen,bureaucrats,wealthy men and those special operators.In the Qing Dynasty the government made clear boundaries about the interest rates that each month was no more than 3%.The borrowers did not hesitate to break the law in order to obtain greater interests.It led to the debt of capital to present the characteristics of high risk,interest rate,and short ticket ago,joint creditors,etc.In the Qing Dynasty,another special debt came into being,which was the debt of the Bannerman.But the cause and affect that the debt of the Bannerman made was different from the debt of capital.After they entered into the capital,because of the increasement of people and the government regulations,the Bannerman can't support themselves,so they started to borrow frequently.In general,the debt of the Bannerman has its profound historical roots.The constitution of the borrowers was very single.It has a different degree of influence in the country's combat effectiveness,finance and society atmosphere.They were both usury and the Qing government managed them from the political and economic parts.But those solutions were not efficient ways to eradicate these two kinds of debt.The capital debt could do things not only meeting the daily consumption of officials but also providing money for extravagant pomp,dredging the relationship in officialdom,buying official title.What's more,the capital debt had the influence in the following aspects:destroying the election officer,corrupting officials,exploiting of the common people,ruining the society tendencies of that time.In addition,the debt of capital also change the relationship between merchants and officials.The impact onthe society cannot be ignored in Qing Dynasty.