What were the economic reforms of Zhao during the Warring States period?

Before the founding of the state of Zhao, during the reign of Zhao Jianzi, the Zhao family carried out reforms to expand the mu system and reorganize taxes in the territories under their control. It turned out that the "mu system" (步百為亩), which had been practiced since the Western Zhou Dynasty, was still widely practiced in the countryside of various countries. The state and county canon? (Yongzhou Customs)). With the improvement of production tools, a large number of wasteland reclamation, such a system of granting more and more can not adapt to the needs of the development of productive forces, so all countries are expanding the system of granting acres of land. According to the account of "The Art of War" written by Sun Tzu in Yinchushan Hanjian, at that time, the mu system of land granting was expanded. Wu asked" account, at that time the state of Jin Fan, in the line of the system of field "to one hundred and sixty paces for the mu", Han, Wei's system of field "to two hundred paces for the mu", the only Zhao's system of field mu system is the largest, "to two hundred and forty paces for the mu! "This is the same as the change of Qin's rule by Shang Yang. This is comparable to the reform of the mu system in the Qin state when Shang Yang changed the law, but Zhao's implementation of this system was more than a hundred years earlier than Shang Yang.

Along with the expansion of the system of granting fields and mu, Zhao Jianzi also implemented preferential policies and rectification reforms of the tax system. Again, according to the above quoted record of the Han Jian "Wu Qiao", at that time, the ministers of the state of Jin, Fan, Zhongxing, Han, and Wei, all in their territories to the farmers "Wu tax of", that is, five points of the tax of one, ten points of the tax of two, such a tax system is quite harsh. Only Zhao, on the one hand, practiced "public taxlessness", i.e., "a temporary preferential policy for peasants who went to reclaim the land, similar to that of the later Qin who, in order to recruit the people of the three Jin dynasties, 'favored their fields and houses and restored them to the third generation', and 'did not pay the ten-year levy', i.e., 'did not pay the ten-year levy'. The Qin people, in order to attract the people of San Jin, 'reclaimed their fields and houses for three generations' and 'did not pay for ten years of levies' (Shang Jun Shu? The other hand, adjust the tax rate, Zhao Jianzi pointed out: the tax rate should be "not light, not heavy, heavy is the benefit into the upper, if light is the benefit to the people, the officials have no self-interest and is correct." (Han Fei Zi? Such a tax rate must be lighter than that of the other ministers of Jin. After the reforms of expanding the mu system and adjusting the tax rate, the Zhao regime's agricultural production and the relationship between the ruler and the people were further improved than before. Sun Tzu commented in that year that its "master converges his subjects to collect to defend the rich people, so it is said to be a solid state." (Yinquashan Hanjian "Wu asked") Zhao was famous for reforms before the founding of the state, unique, and people competed for the praise.

By 403 B.C.E., Marquis Zhao Lie again carried out some economic reforms under the impetus of his prime minister Gong Zhonglian. At that time, Zhao Liehou lived a lavish life, indulged in pleasures, rewarded people indiscriminately, and squandered money like dirt. He fell in love with two singers from Zheng, Pistol and Shi, and wanted to give each of them "ten thousand mu" of land. Gong Zhonglian intentionally delayed, claiming illness not dynasty. Later, after being introduced by the king of Pango, Gong Zhonglian recommended three wise men to Liehou. One of them, Xu Yue, told Liehou about the importance of "saving money and using it sparingly" for enriching the state treasury and preventing the occurrence of unforeseen events. After listening to the presentation happily, Liehou Zhao gladly accepted it and sent an envoy to Xiangguo to say, "Stop rewarding the singer's fields for the time being." (Shiji? At the same time, Xu Yue was appointed as the "Internal Historian", a financial officer in charge of the state treasury. Through this economic reform, the financial system of the state of Zhao will be further improved, which will play an important role in improving the economic strength of the country.

When King Huiwen of Zhao, the field minister Zhao She for the rectification of certain clan nobles rely on power not to pay rent and tax corruption, is according to the law "to kill the nine people Ping Yuanjun," and to Ping Yuanjun, said: "the king of Zhao for the noble son, now indulge in the family of the king and not serve the public will be the law of the cuts, the law of the cuts is the country is weak, the country is weak If the law is cut, the state will be weakened, and if the state is weakened, the vassals will increase their troops, and if the vassals increase their troops, there will be no Zhao, so how can you be so rich?" Prince Ping Yuan thought that Zhao She was capable and recommended him to the king of Zhao. The king of Zhao immediately promoted him to a higher position and asked him to manage the national taxes. As a result, Zhao's "national taxes were greatly leveled, the people were rich, and the government treasury was solid" (Shiji (史记)). (Shiji? After this economic reform, corruption was punished, the nobles paid taxes according to the law, and the people's burden was lightened, the state of Zhao was thriving again.

Unlike the Qin State, which practiced the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce after the Qin State's reform of the law, the State of Zhao has consistently pursued the policy of emphasizing agriculture and industry, allowing the development of private industry and commerce and the opening of bazaars and trade, while the State collects industrial and commercial taxes in accordance with the law. In this way, it not only enlivened the market and developed the economy, but also enriched the government treasury and accumulated wealth. According to the Records of the Grand Historian (史记?) The Book of the Historical Records, the famous industrialist of the State of Zhao, Guo Zong, who was rich in iron smelting and enclosure of the king, and the ancestor of the Shu Zhuo family in the Han Dynasty, who was also from Zhao, were all rich in iron smelting and enclosure of the king, and they were all rich in iron smelting. "The first of Shu Zhuo's family in Han Dynasty was also a native of Zhao, and he was rich in iron smelting, which shows how developed the iron smelting industry was in Zhao. At that time, Zhao's Handan was "the richest city in the world" and "the most famous city in the world" ("Salt and Iron"), and there were a lot of famous cities like "Han Dan", "Han Dan", "Han Dan", "Han Dan" and "Han Dan". At that time, "Han Dan of Zhao" was "the richest city in China" and "the most famous city in the world" ("On Salt and Iron"). There were people like Lu Buwei who could make "a hundred times as much profit" ("Strategies of the Warring States") and "had a family of thousands of dollars" ("Records of the Grand Historian"). Lu Buwei's biography"). In the place where the army was stationed, there was also a "military market", where people could buy and sell and collect rent and tax. It is said that "Li Mu, a general of Zhao, lived on the border, and the rents of the military market were all used to entertain the soldiers, and the rewards and gifts were given to the outside world" (Records of the Grand Historian, Feng Tang Lei Zhuan), thus making it possible to collect rents and taxes. It is said that "Li Mu, as a general of Zhao, lived on the border and used the rents in the military market to feed his soldiers, and rewarded them with gifts from the outside" ("The Records of the Grand Historian"), thus accumulating a material base for military victory.

The above series of economic reforms and economic policy measures contributed to the vigorous development of agriculture, industry and commerce in the state of Zhao and the enrichment of the state treasury, which should be based on the statement made by the scholar quoted in the above quote that the state of Zhao had "ten years' supply of corn". In recent decades, within the boundaries of the State of Zhao found a large number of iron smelting sites in the Warring States period, iron production tools and bronze coins, which are the economic policy of the State of Zhao and the achievements of economic reform of the physical evidence.