Chongzhen chao cai zheng zhi yan jiu =: State finance during the last days of the Ming dynasty (1628-1644)

M.Phil.Sizong, the last emperor of Ming, had to fight precarious wars against the bandits in the northwest and the Manchus in the northeast. His reign (1628-1644) ended with his suicide upon the occupation of Beijing by the bandits, and so perished the Ming dynasty. This thesis studies the Ming state finance in her last sixteen years. It shows that the Ming government centralized the fiscal administration in a bid to urgently build up new forces to combat both the bandits and the Manchus. In so doing, however, the Ming court sapped the resources of local governments, in addition to depriving the initiaitves of frontline commanders. Worse, the newly recruited troops led to ever-increasing military expenditure, which in turn pushed the Ming court to further centralize its fiscal apparatus. Finally, in spite of the painstaking management of Bi Ziyan the Minister of Finance, the Ming was strangled by over-centralization of state finance.萬曆末年，為應對建州女真對遼東的侵略，明朝加派遼餉籌措軍費。這一戰時財政體制在天啟後期呈惡化趨勢，最終在崇禎元年激起寧遠兵變，但經過戶部尚書畢自嚴的一番整頓後，財政收支恢復平衡。崇禎二年冬，後金繞過關寧防綫，直掏薊州，兵臨北京城下，史稱「己巳之變」。是次入寇，徹底顛覆了東事以來明朝的國防戰略與財政收支結構，不得不從各地調入大量援軍，並廣募新兵。一直以來受「原額主義」限制，明朝士卒收入偏低，戰爭頻發使得明朝不得不直面市場現實，援軍行糧、月餉兼支與新兵的較高餉例，引發士卒餉例的普遍膨脹，是爲明末軍費持續增長的最重要原因。面對危機，明朝選擇强化中央對地方財政的控制，推動財政中央集權，卻導致地方政府權力的萎縮，促成流寇坐大，陷入惡性循環。彭皓."2020年8月".Parallel title from added title page.Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2020.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-164).Abstract also in English.Title from PDF title page (viewed on March 14, 2022).Peng Hao