Yan Jingming And The Prosperity Of Emperor Tongzhi

During the period of Emperor Xian Feng and Emperor Tongzhi,the rebels,including the Nian Army,Fu Army and Jiao Army,deeply threatened the safety of Beijing.However,the Shandong Governor Tan Tinglxiang can't handle the rebel forces.In 1863,Yan Jingming was appointed as the governor of Shandong,in the name of developing his filial duties into his devotion to the homeland,to deal with the chaos in Shandong.The first challenge for Yan Jingming was to raise the money to suppress the Nian rebel.Later,He collected the money from agricultural tax,business tax,tariff and donation.During the suppression of Nian Army and local bandits,Yan Jingming strengthened his Shandong army by recruiting soldiers,consolidating armies,organizing the formation of the ships loaded with artillery,and establishing cavalcade.And a clear distinction between reward and penalty,and standardization of militias also improved capacity of the Shandong army.At the same time,Yan Jingming helped Zenggelinqin and Zeng Guofan to suppress the Nian army and local Nian rebel.Moreover,Yan Jingming saw the corruption of the Shandong government officials.And Yan believed that reforming the bureaucrat system,which by clearing spending,restricting the and dealing with the cases,was the first step to comfort the residents.In traditional Chinese society,the gentry played a significant role.Since the gentry was stroke by the Nian Army,Yan Jingming tried to recover the gentry.For the victims of the chaos,Yan relieved them by giving exemption from tax,replacing the tax with working and changing the form of tax.The reformation of the bureaucrat system,recovery of the gentry and relief to the victims help to rebuking the old administrative system hit by the chaos.The economical system also was destroyed,Yan tried to recover the system by relieving the victims,clearing the business tax and tariff,dealing with the water transportation and salt affairs.In 1867,Yan Jingming was transferred from Shandong.During his five years as Shandong govonor,Yan surpassed the anti-Qing rebels,reformed the bureaucrat system,increased the fiscal income.His successor,Ding Baozhen,went further to stabilize the society and develop the production.So the society and economy of Shandong recovered at last.We can see the important role that Yan Jingming played for the prosperity of Shandong.