Why did the Ming Dynasty emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce? What is the nature of the heavy agriculture and suppression of commerce?

Today, the school easy to search for you to bring the Ming dynasty why heavy agriculture suppresses business? I hope it can help you.

Preface; as we all know, most feudal regimes tend to attach great importance to the "agricultural production" level of improvement, and they do so at the expense of suppressing the "commodity economy", which makes many people think that the Ming dynasty implemented the "sea ban". This makes many people think that the "sea ban" implemented by Emperor Ming Taizu can be regarded as one of the manifestations of the Ming Dynasty's emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce. However, as early as the Yuan Dynasty, "commodity economy" has been a great development, the early Ming Dynasty has established a more complete "commodity trade" system, it is obvious. Then, why Ming Taizu also "heavy agriculture and business"? Originally, the beginning of the Ming Dynasty did emphasize agriculture, but the suppression of business is not the intention of Ming Taizu. It is only the current situation forced Ming Taizu temporary suppression of business.

Shang Yang, a representative of the Legalists, painted his portrait.

The essence of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce"

Let's first understand what "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" means. Literally, it means emphasizing the natural economy, which is based on the agricultural production system, and suppressing the commodity economy, which is based on commodity trade.

Like the famous representative of the legal system during the Warring States period, Shang Yang, in the Qin State, "Shang Yang's change of law", clearly put forward "the country's rich people's territories, the food will be expensive, but the non-cultivation of the levy is large, the city's rent is heavy. Then the people must make good use of their merchants and skills. Therefore, the exhaustion of the people lies in the geographical advantage", and the proposition of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce".

For example, Liu Bang, Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty, also put forward the proposition of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce", "Jia people shall not obtain brocade, embroidery, silk, grain, clothes, soldiers, horses," which is written in the lines of "The people shall not obtain brocade, embroidery, silk, grain, clothes, soldiers, horses. "The words even have a kind of inexplicable "depreciation of business". No!

As Shang Yang said, "Agriculture is the hardest work, but it is less lucrative than the work of merchants and the skilled." Obviously, he was well aware of the huge benefits of a "commodity economy". Then why did Shang Yang still advocate "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce"? The reason was simple: the basis of the "commodity economy" was the "natural economy". goods" in the feudal era. What were the "goods" of the feudal era? "The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on some of the most popular products in the world. In the end, it was the "natural economy" that was responsible for creating the raw materials needed for these "goods", and it was the "agricultural production" that created them.

To ensure the perfection of the "agricultural production" system, it is necessary to provide a "stable" "production environment" for the people. Is this correct? This means that it involves the "war", but there is a war, there is consumption, and war consumption and what is it? In addition to the consumption of manpower, the rest is only "material resources", that is, "food, weapons, clothing" and so on, but also very dependent on the "agricultural production system".

The so-called "marginal profits go to the military, while the market profits go to the farmers. Therefore, the "strong body, retire to wealth", that is, "heavy agriculture", in order to realize "strong military for rich farmers", and then ultimately through "strong military and then ultimately realize the ultimate demand of "strengthening the country" through "strengthening the army".

Just like the record of the year of the Shiji Pinghuaishu, "the world was set in motion at the very beginning, and Los Angeles

So let's take a look at the commodity trade system of the early Ming Dynasty. In fact, as early as the Yuan Dynasty before the Ming Dynasty, its "merchandise trade" system of "foreign trade" system has been extremely developed, especially Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Qingyuan and other places.

Let's take the "trading company" set up by the Yuan Emperor Kublai in Quanzhou as an example. According to historical records, in the fifteenth year of the late Yuan Dynasty, Kublai had disseminated a letter overseas through the many merchants of the Quanzhou Trading Company, which said: "If you can come to the court, I will treat you with courtesy, and if you trade with the other side, you can do whatever you want.

Obviously, Kublai, the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, strongly supported the establishment and development of the Yuan Dynasty's "foreign trade" system, which led to the Quanzhou Maritime Transportation Company becoming one of the world's largest overseas trading ports at that time.

History records, "goods, far things, strange treasures, strange plays, the world's first", which is undoubtedly the "Quanzhou Shipping Company" at the time of the prosperity of the true picture. It can't be any worse than that.

The illustration of Zheng He's treasure ship

At the same time, the feat of "Zheng He's seven voyages to the West" during the Yongle period, as well as the "Zheng He's treasure ship" that he traveled on, is undoubtedly enough to prove that handicrafts in the Ming Dynasty were definitely not weak. --After all, under the technological conditions at that time, Ming craftsmen were able to build such a huge and sturdy "wooden structure" ship, which was much larger than the largest of the Columbus fleet of the late 15th century, the "Santa Maria", which was 23.66 meters in length and 7.84 meters in width, and the "Santa María", which was the largest of the Columbus fleet. It is true that the "Santa Maria", the largest ship in Columbus' fleet in Europe at the end of the 15th century, was several times larger. That's enough to be called a "shipbuilding myth", isn't it?

This means that the early Ming Dynasty not only due to the influence of the Yuan Dynasty "foreign trade", "commodity trade system" is relatively perfect, its own "handicrafts" have also been developed. It seems to have the capital to vigorously develop the "commodity economy".

Then why didn't Ming Taizu develop a "commodity economy"? Instead, he explicitly demanded that no pieces of wood be allowed to enter the sea, which was a severe crackdown on "foreign trade". What was the situation at that time?

If you combine the essence of the above author's "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce", I believe you can easily get the real answer to the question of the Ming Emperor's "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce". It is because the early Ming Dynasty was politically unstable and was prepared for both internal and external problems.

Yuan Shizu's expedition to Japan illustration

The early Ming Dynasty was politically unstable and prepared for both internal and external problems.

Just as in the case of the "filial piety, prosperity, the beginning of the world, and the law of commerce" mentioned above, the Yuan dynasty was able to create such prosperity in "overseas trade" because it had the external conditions necessary for the development of the commodity economy, namely "Political stability" and a relatively well-developed "agricultural production system".

According to historical records, as early as the first three years of the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Shizu Kublai promulgated the edict "established in the south of the Yangtze River, the overseas must be something", which means that by 1266 A.D., has been expanding from the north to the south of the Yuan army basically consolidated the boundaries of the Yuan Dynasty, and gradually to the sea expansion. It is like the historical event of "Yuan Shizu's expedition to Japan". So the external conditions for the development of the commodity economy have been met. The next step is to make full use of the advantages of the "commodity economy" in order to obtain greater benefits.

As mentioned earlier, "agriculture is the most laborious, but less profitable than businessmen and technicians". After the feudal regime stabilized its territory, if it wanted to obtain greater benefits

On the other hand, in the first year of Hongwu in the early Ming Dynasty, after the incident of "Xu Da entered the Yuan capital, sealed the books of the government treasury, guarded the gate of the palace, and forbade the soldiers to invade and violate the violence," the Ming Emperor was regarded as the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty's "capital city ". Other areas such as the northern grasslands, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. were still practically under the dominion of the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty. -- "Shangjunshu Wai Nei XXII"

That is to say, Ming Taizu's Northern Expedition to exterminate the Yuan Dynasty formally kicked off in the first year of Hongwu. According to the "Ming History Taizu two" years of records, until the Ming Hongwu twenty-nine years, "Yan Wang defeated in the Chucheer Mountain of the enemy, defeated in the Wuliangha Bald City and return. Ming Hongwu years after the eighth Northern Expedition, the Ming Dynasty attaches importance to the "remnants of the Yuan Dynasty"

Ming Tazu Northern Expedition period, from the early years of Hongwu, the invasion of China, the Japanese army a coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty, "on the frequent plundering of Wentai, Mingzhou coastal counties, and then the invasion of Fujian", the massive plundering of coastal merchant ships, and then the invasion of Fujian. Massive plundering of coastal merchant ships had already caused a large number of casualties and property losses. Naturally, the "stable production environment" necessary for people to engage in "agricultural production" is impossible to talk about, where there is still time to develop a "commodity economy"?

Ming Taizu's idea of "emphasizing agriculture"

Ming Taizu's idea of "emphasizing agriculture"

Therefore, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, he could only try his best to raise the level of agricultural production to meet military needs. "to meet military needs, as Ming Taizu once "migrated to the Su, Song, Jia, tribal tiger, Hangmin, more than 4,000 landless families into the city to farm, give cattle, seeds, cars, food sent away." -- "Ming History of Foreign Countries III"

Then to "Xu Da razed the desert" when "more than 35,800 people migrated to the Beiping Mountains, scattered in the various provinces and guards, when the soldiers to provide food and clothing, the people live in Abel Tamata. In addition, more than 32,800 desert remnants settled in Beiping, establishing 254 villages and reclaiming 3,343 hectares of land. One hundred and forty thousand people from Jiangnan migrated to Fengyang." --Ming History, Foodstuffs I

All of this was only part of the "cantonization" of the migrants of the Ming Taizu, and the military system of the Ming Dynasty, which was known as the "Guardianship of Knowledge", also included The "military carriage" system of the Ming Dynasty, "where the government cantonment, the hundred officials to pay fifteen taxes on cattle households, thirteen taxes on peasant farmers". Needless to say, its purpose was also to meet the "strategic materials" needs of the Ming army.

Illustration of the sea ban in the Ming Dynasty

Ming Taizu's "suppression of commerce"

It is because of Ming Taizu's "emphasis on agriculture" that many people associate his "sea ban" policy with his "suppression of commerce" policy. policy was associated with the "suppression of commerce".

For example, in the third year of Hongwu, Ming Taizu issued an edict "to stop the Taicang, Huangdu Shipping Company", which is now recorded in history, Ming Taizu issued the earliest with the "foreign trade" related to the "sea ban". Regulations".

As for the series of prohibitions related to the "suppression of commerce", almost all of them were related to the "foreign trade" or "sea ban" policies.

For example, in the fourth year of the Hongwu era, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty issued a ban on "those who are near the sea shall not go out to the sea privately". Those who saw them sold out within three months."

These cases are undoubtedly enough to prove that Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of "suppressing trade" was almost always related to the "prohibition of the sea", but do these cases show that Ming Taizu advocated the "suppression of trade"

This sentence clearly shows that the reason why Ming Taizu practiced the policy of "prohibition of the sea" was only because of the private dealings between the people and the foreigners. The "foreigners" referred to the "Japanese" that ravaged the Ming Dynasty coasts.

Ming Taizu's military actions during the Hongwu period were almost all focused on the Northern Expedition against the "remnants of the Mongol Yuan", and the Japanese were scattered small groups of "pirate forces". Although they often invaded coastal areas, their influence was not enough to pose a serious threat to the Ming regime.

Schematic illustration of the invading Japanese army and its ships during the Ming Dynasty

So when the Ming Emperor fought against the "invading Japanese army" during the Hongwu period, he almost always focused on "passive defense," but the problem was that the "invading Japanese army was hiding on the island," he said. The problem is that the Japanese invasion army is hiding on the island, invading because of the wind and plundering everywhere. When they came, they ran like wolves, and when they left, they were like birds. Still unknown and not easy to catch." Can not enter", inevitably, there are fish continue to plunder the coast of the Ming Dynasty merchants, fishermen and other ships. There is no doubt that it must have become the necessary materials to maintain the survival of the "enemy". As a result, it became an obstacle to the Ming Dynasty's disguised resistance to the enemy. Was Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty willing to do this? Naturally, he was not willing to do so. Therefore, from an objective point of view, Ming Taizu's move to combat the "enemy" has a certain positive significance.

Laid a solid foundation for the good trend of "the gradual demise of the maritime police" and the relatively peaceful sailing environment during Zheng He's voyage to the West. "suppression of commerce" is actually an untenable argument. Or just give us a kind of Ming Taizu "suppression of business" illusion, but the essence of the real, can not be compared with the "suppression of business" in the "agricultural suppression of business".

If you think that this evidence is not enough to prove that Emperor Ming Taizu "did not suppress commerce", then the author will provide you with another evidence. Ming Taizu once said something like this, "I have raised millions of soldiers, and these soldiers do not spend the people's money." The reason why Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty said this is because he basically satisfied the "food needs" of the army with the "military cantonment".

Illustration of the Ming army

This means that the Ming emperor actually separated the "military" from the "people's livelihood" to a certain extent, making the army self-sufficient in a certain sense. Then the civilian "agricultural production" is no longer the main supplier of "strong military", but can be fully developed by virtue of the Ming dynasty handicrafts directly realize "rich people".

In this way, due to the Ming Dynasty's "commodity trade" system is more perfect, do not need to meet the military needs of the people by all means, at best can only be considered as a "meet the military needs of" security system! Then why did Ming Taizu want to suppress the "commodity economy", hindering the "Ming people to get rich"? It's not necessary.

Only need to let the Ming Dynasty's "commodity economy" normal development, after the consolidation of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, can rely on its relatively perfect "commodity trade" system, step into the final stage of prosperity. As the Yongle history of Sheng staged the "ten thousand countries to the dynasty" of the spectacle, undoubtedly enough to prove this point.

So, objectively speaking, the Ming Dynasty's "sea ban", that is, the Ming Dynasty in the middle of many people's "suppression of business", is not the original intention of Ming Taizu. This is only Ming Taizu in the early Ming Dynasty regime is not stable, internal and external problems of the situation to take the expedient. This is still extremely positive significance to the fight against the Japanese invaders.

Therefore, the seemingly "agricultural and commercial" policies of the Ming Dynasty cannot simply be regarded as negative policies that hindered the establishment and development of the "socio-economic system", and should be analyzed in the context of the times in order to get an objective and true answer.