(Source: "Guangming Daily》 2025-12-08）

Liu Shaohang

The reconstruction of the national reserve warehouse during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was a process in which the Changping warehouse gradually replaced the reserve warehouse. This was a key stage in the development history of the reserve warehouse during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The important achievements of the Qing Dynasty’s national reserve warehouses were precisely because of the inheritance and adaptation of the Ming Dynasty reserve warehouses in the early Qing Dynasty. At the turn of Shun and Kang, the warehouse building model of Changpingcang has got rid of the influence of the old reserve warehouse system. The state and society have conducted positive interactions in aspects such as warehouse capital raising, established basic supervision processes, and explored operational methods on the basis of realizing the initial relief function.

Rebuild the waste storage under the name of "Changpingcang"

The reserve warehouse began to decline during the Hongxi and Xuande years of the Ming Dynasty. According to Qi Biaojia, the author of "The Complete Book of Famine Relief" in the late Ming Dynasty, the essence of the reserve warehouse is "to combine the beauty of the previous three warehouses with one warehouse." However, in actual operation, "since Jiajing, although there is a name for preparing for famine, there is no actual preparation for famine." After the transitional period of the Yi Dynasty, the Qing government made clear the general direction of rebuilding government-run warehouses for preparing for shortages. Although they took over the Ming Dynasty's scattered reserve warehouses, the government still obtained redemption money in the name of storing grain, and the entry into the warehouse was still a mere paper. In the 10th year of Shunzhi (1653), Emperor Shunzhi asked all officials of the Hanlin Academy of the third rank and above to submit memorials on the construction of Changping Cang. Among them, Fu Weilin's "Request for the Construction of Changping Cangshu" was representative. He used the "Three Generations Discourse" to highlight the political significance of the construction of national famine preparation and storage, and regarded famine preparation and relief as a good strategy to win the hearts of the people. Continuing the thinking of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty clearly focused on rebuilding the national reserve warehouse for shortages in Changpingcang. The key lies in the method used to build the warehouse. The comprehensive restoration of famine preparation and warehousing began in the eleventh year of Shunzhi (1654). The direct impetus came from the stimulation of serious famines in reality. At that time, because "the famine policy had not been repaired and the warehouses were unprepared," internal funds could only be used to provide relief to Jifu areas. In June of that year, the Qing government decided to first let local grain channels be responsible for "inspecting old storage and managing new storage", and changed the Ming Dynasty's reserve warehouse filing system from reporting once "at the end of the year" to "registering and reporting to the department twice a year." In the first month of the twelfth year of Shunzhi (1655), an edict was issued requiring all yamen across the country to actively discuss strategies to promote benefits and eliminate disadvantages. One of them was to use the "Jinongcang" as a template to discuss the feasibility of "detailed placement of Changpingcang under the item of survival". However, in the early Qing Dynasty, local fiscal reserves were significantly reduced to support military expenditures, which meant that the Changpingcang style "Jinongcang" was stymied. Some officials also proposed a Changping warehouse plan similar to that of the Ming Dynasty social warehouse with "official supervision and private operation" and suggested that the gentry be introduced to participate in the management of waste storage. However, in fact, it repeated the failure of the "official supervision and private operation" of the social warehouse in the Ming Dynasty and was rejected by the court. In order to implement the construction of reserve warehouses, the Qing government could only first introduce the Changping warehouse construction plan of "preparatory warehouses". Taking into account the reality that neither the national power nor the people's power was sufficient at that time, the Qing government finally introduced a plan including the old reserve warehouse system. From the 11th year of Shunzhi to the 13th year of Shunzhi (1654-1656), a series of edicts were issued one after another. The local government recognized the importance of Changpingcang as a dynasty's major policy, and launched a nationwide movement to build warehouses. At this point, the Qing Dynasty's national waste preparation and warehousing construction gradually got on the right track. In the early Qing Dynasty, the name "Changping" was used to name the government-run shortage preparation warehouse. On the one hand, it followed the Changpingcang movement spontaneously promoted by some local governments in the Ming Dynasty, which highlighted the function of Changpingcang in stabilizing rice and grain prices. On the other hand, it was more because its reputation was in line with the political needs of the founding of the Qing Dynasty. The actual connotation was different from the ancient Changping system. Although the name has been changed, there is no obvious difference between the Changping Cang in the Qing Dynasty and the reserve warehouse in the Ming Dynasty when it was first established.

Reorganization and improvement of the old system in the reserve warehouse

In the early days of the construction of Changpingcang in the Qing Dynasty, the long-standing disadvantages of the reserve warehouses in the Ming Dynasty were avoided and eliminated, and a new style of prudent and prudent was formed. The most fundamental system design is to work hard on inspection and auditing, strengthen judicial and administrative supervision powers during the construction process of Changpingcang, and achieve "proper auditing." First of all, strictly verify the records of circumstances and crimes for redemption and collection, to avoid "small circumstances and heavy punishments", and strictly prohibit officials from various yamen from abusing their law enforcement powers on the pretext of Chang Pingcang accumulating grain. The Qing Dynasty transferred the power of grain redemption review back to the Ministry of Punishment to ensure that the approved grain redemption was legal and compliant. The Qing government drafted a "new regulation" that stipulated that all year-end reports of grain redemption in Changpingcang after the 12th year of Shunzhi must first be submitted to the Ministry of Punishment for verification of the crime records and then transferred to the Ministry of Households for inspection and collection. There are no statistical records or irregularities in redemption, and expenditures can only be made after compliance. Secondly, we should slow down the implementation of the fixed quota performance appraisal system, prudently file lawsuits, and be considerate of the people's needs. It was not that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not want to realize the rapid growth of Changping warehouse reserves, but considering that redeeming grain and entering warehouses was only a temporary measure, the mainstream opinion was that it was not appropriate to set hard reserve indicators under the circumstances. Under the power of the prime minister, the Qing court chose to "act according to its ability", accumulate grain appropriately, and advocated the political ideology of "compassion for punishment" and "banning litigation". Thirdly, we should solve the problem of "nano atonement" committed by soldiers and civilians that undermines the authority of the law. The Qing ruling group realized that the bottom-line "exemption of criminals" would seriously damage the fundamental authority of the dynasty's laws. The judicial practice of "exoneration" in the "Qing Dynasty Regulations" was limited to approving "extenuating" criminals such as disciples and rods. Even if Changping's storage volume increased slowly, in the early Qing Dynasty, there were no Nashu rice grains that lightly opened the army and expelled serious crimes to quickly replenish the warehouse. Finally, we strengthened the supervision of rice and grain reserves in Changping Cang, combined the daily inventory system with non-routine inspections, and submitted an audit inventory of grain redemption at the end of each year. The Metropolitan Procuratorate systematically intervened in Chang Pingcang affairs and punished corruption through strict administrative supervision. In order to grasp the true quantity of rice and grain stored in the warehouse, the top-down "inspection" by the inspectors on behalf of the imperial court was carried out simultaneously with the "self-inspection" of each yamen's year-end reports, "all of which were reported based on the actual accumulation." At the same time, we must insist on receiving "real" rice grains instead of money when entering the warehouse. Since the redemption of grain is compliant and audited, it not only reduces the abuse of law enforcement power, but also increases the actual reserves of the Changping warehouse, and all the redemption of grain that was originally wasted is turned into practical use.

Adjustments and results of the position building model

In the early Qing Dynasty, institutional changes promoted the transformation of the grain accumulation method in Changping warehouse, gradually getting rid of the influence of the old reserve warehouse system. The Qing government began to pay attention to the regulation and stabilization of daily grain prices. The function of the Changping warehouse was changed from "buying at a fair price" to "earning interest at a fair price", and then using the "interest-earning" operation to increase reserves. The most ideal state was to "use warehouses to maintain warehouses." Because the problem of converting rice grains into silver in prepared warehouses in the Ming Dynasty was not resolved, the Qing Dynasty had an extremely strict attitude towards opening warehouses for buying money when it first entered the customs. This resulted in the "light operation" situation of Changping warehouse when it was first built in the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, there are many policy comments and practices about Changping Canggu Panbao in the government and the public: First, before Changpingcang is widely established across the country, workarounds can be adopted to "imitate Changpingcang's legacy". Secondly, the core of "practical practice" lies in sustainable long-term operation, "accumulation and dispersion with time". Third, we usually follow the seasonal operation of "spring and autumn", and provide relief when there is a severe famine. Fourth, it is necessary to prevent local governments from taking advantage of the process and using measurement tools or prices to rob the people. Many public opinions affected specific policy adjustments, so the Qing government approved the operation method of Changpingcang in the 17th year of Shunzhi (1660): "Changpingcanggu, selling rice in spring and summer, and returning rice in autumn and winter, earning interest at a reasonable price, and providing convenience to the people during the period. In the event of severe famine, it will be given to the poor households scattered by the disaster." On this basis, the Kangxi Dynasty formulated the principle of "save seven and sell three" to standardize the scale of flat selling. We also expanded the source of grain resources by rewarding donations, and especially encouraged officials to donate grain to prepare for relief, balancing the situation of more grain "redemption" and less "grain donation". At first, the Qing Dynasty did not have a special incentive policy for gentry and people to donate and prepare for shortages. Instead, they were extremely cautious about "whether it was convenient for the people" to carry out warehousing donations. As non-tax revenues such as atonement, litigation, confiscation, and recovery of stolen property have dropped significantly, on the basis of maintaining the universally accepted morality of "the welfare of the world," the state and society can engage in positive interactive cooperation on the provision of public goods and encourage local society to participate in the construction of warehousing to reduce the burden on the central government. On this basis, the Kangxi Dynasty expanded the scope of donations and advocated officials, gentry, and citizens to jointly build Changpingcang. The policy of mainly relying on fines and redemption of silver rice to source Canggu was no longer deliberately emphasized, and was basically abandoned in practice. In the middle and late Kangxi period, the state finance participated in the construction of Changpingcang, and records of the purchase and withholding of grain can be seen everywhere. The conditions for the implementation of the Changpingcang quota system began to be met, supplemented by the official accountability system to ensure reserves, and the grain accumulation model of the national reserve warehouse was basically finalized. The effectiveness of waste preparation is first reflected in reserves. In the 17th year of Shunzhi, Jiangning's inspection of Jigu records showed that there were more than 20,000 shi in the area under its jurisdiction, but in the 12th year of Shunzhi, there were only 2,458.5 shi. In the early years of Kangxi's reign, Shanxi Province's actual storehouses of rice and other goods for redemption amounted to 26,860 shi and 500 taels of silver; Guangdong Province's accumulated grain amount reached more than 68,200 shi. After the pacification of San Francisco, the construction of Changpingcang was back on track, and the reserves in each province were roughly on the same level as those at the turn of Shunkang. Grain stored in warehouses began to play a role in famine relief, and "warehouse relief" increasingly appeared in famine relief practices. Those parts that were difficult to be rescued by warehousing were "distributed to collect relief" through immediate donations. This once broke the "local nature" of relief and advocated the role of Changping warehouses in assisting neighboring areas. In short, after the difficult accumulation that began in the late Shunzhi period, the construction of Changpingcang in the Qing Dynasty achieved certain results, and it became a consensus that "one warehouse in Changping, famine relief is the most important". In the early Qing Dynasty, the gradual transformation process of the national disaster preparedness and warehousing construction model, first in name and then in reality, shows that the Qing Dynasty did not simply imitate and inherit the traditions of the previous generation, but made certain choices and adaptations according to the actual situation. This was to some extent the premise and reason for the Qing Dynasty's disaster relief system to be relatively complete.

(The author is a lecturer at the w88 casino of Marxism, w88 casino)

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