On page 259 of Zhou Zhichun's Late Qing Fiscal and Economic Research, there is a set of figures about the proportion of government revenue in GDP in the late Qing Dynasty.

year

Gross domestic product

Revenue

Specific gravity (%)

Year 1840

2.518 billion taels

045 million taels

1.8%

1887 year

3,327.5 million taels

084.27 million taels

2.6%

Year 1894

4.249 billion taels

081.3 million taels

1.9%

1903 year

5.815 billion taels

104.92 million taels

1.79%

1908 year

6.923 billion taels

301.22 million taels

4.35%

Source: Fiscal Revenue Book, see Volume 66 of the General Examination of Continued Literature of the Qing Dynasty

It can be seen from the table that the proportion of fiscal revenue in GDP in the late Qing Dynasty was indeed at a low level, except for 4.35% in 1908, and the rest of the years were about 2%. In Table 1-11 of Chapter 1, Section 3, the proportion of fiscal revenue in GDP from 31 to 55 years of Qianlong was between 3.2% and 4.1%. In the above table, only the proportion in 1908 is roughly close to that of the middle of the Qianlong period. Judging from this situation, the tax ratio of the late Qing Dynasty will indeed decline on the whole, which is lower than the level of the middle and late Qianlong period.

Zhou Zhichun also compared the proportion of Japanese government revenue to GDP during the same period.

year

Gross domestic product

Revenue

Specific gravity (%)

1887 year

234 million yen

82.15 million yen

35.10%

Year 1894

289 million yen

98.2 million yen

33.98%

1903 year

1066 million yen

250.82 million yen

24.4%

1908 year

1883 million yen

792.43 million yen

42.20%

According to the archives of the Qing Dynasty's Military Aircraft Department, in the first half of the 15th year of Guangxu, the grain prices of Shuntianfu, Daimyofu, and Xuanhua Mansion in Zhili Province were calculated based on three kinds of grain: millet, sorghum, and corn, with an average of 124 yuan and 6 cents of silver per warehouse stone. "Based on the calculation of 1 stone = 100 catties = 70 kilograms, and the price of grain is calculated at 2 yuan per kilogram, the following average value can be obtained: 1 tael of silver: about 170 yuan 1 copper coin (1 wen coin): about 0.2 yuan

The Qing Dynasty's state revenue was the largest in the Qianlong period, with an annual income of 70 million taels. After that, the situation deteriorated, and in the late Guangxu period, the annual income was only more than 10 million taels, and sometimes it could not even reach 10 million taels. (2) At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the monthly salary of the new army was customized as follows: 600 taels of silver for the salary of the president, 1,000 taels of silver at public expense, a total of 1,600 taels; The salary of the commander is 400 taels of silver, 600 taels of silver at public expense, a total of 1,000 taels, and the salary of the commander is 250 taels of silver, and 250 taels of silver at public expense, a total of 500 taels; The salary of the general officer is 200 taels of silver, and the public fund is 200 taels of silver, a total of 400 taels; The salary of the infantry worker with the official salary is 100 taels of silver, and the public fund is 140 taels of silver, a total of 240 taels; The salary of the leader of the horse team is 100 taels of silver, and 80 taels of silver at public expense, totaling 180 taels; The salary of the artillery team leader is 100 taels of silver, and the salary of the public-funded officer is 160 taels of silver, totaling 260 taels; The salary of the infantry officer is 50 taels of silver, and 10 taels of silver at public expense, totaling 60 taels; The salary of the horse team officer is 50 taels of silver, and the public fund is 8 taels of silver, a total of 58 taels; The salary of the artillery officer is 50 taels of silver, and 14 taels of silver at public expense, totaling ** taels;

In the ten years after the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886), the Qing court's fiscal revenue has always remained above 80 million taels, more than double the more than 4,000 taels in the Jiadao period. Not only that, by the 34th year of Guangxu (1908), the Qing government's annual revenue exceeded 200 million taels, and it took five years to double the scale. In contrast, the scale of fiscal revenue in the late Qing Dynasty expanded much faster than that in the previous Qing Dynasty.

A package of fiscal revenues in the Guang and Xuan periods (Note: "Qing Historical Manuscripts" Volume 125, Food and Goods 6; Written by Liu Jinzao: "Qing Dynasty Continuation Literature General Examination" Volume 66, National Examination 4; Papers 67, 5 for the national examination; Paper 68, National Examination 6. ）

Soldiers' earnings are hard to find. Because the soldiers mentioned by the landlord, I don't know whether he refers to Yuan Shikai's recruits or the "flag soldiers" and "green battalions" of the Qing Dynasty, and the income of the "Yong battalion" of the Hunan army and the Huai army.

The price of silver today is 1,400 per kilogram, according to the old system of one kilogram = 32 taels. Then one tael of silver is equal to about 47 yuan now.

If you press the current . One kilogram is equal to 20 taels in the new system, then one tael of silver is equal to 70 yuan now.

The scale of fiscal revenue refers to the overall level of fiscal revenue, which is an important indicator to measure the country's financial strength. The scale of fiscal revenue in the Qing Dynasty showed two development tendencies: in absolute terms, it showed a trend of continuous expansion, especially in the late Qing Dynasty; From the perspective of the relationship between revenue and expenditure, especially after the war, especially after Xianfeng, due to the simultaneous expansion of fiscal expenditure, the situation of making ends meet became increasingly strict, and the scale of its income was relatively weak.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the total amount of fiscal revenue continued to rise, but the increase was not large. The total annual revenue of the Qing government during this period is tabulated as follows.

Table 1 Summary of the scale of fiscal revenue in the early Qing Dynasty (Note: He Shushu: "A Preliminary Study of the Household Departments of the Qing Dynasty", Nankai Journal, No. 3, 1984; "Qing History Manuscript" volume 125, food and goods 6. ）

Total annual income (10,000 taels)

Shunzhi 9th year (1652) 2,428

Kangxi twenty-four years (1685) 3,123

In the third year of Yongzheng (1725) 3,585

18th year of Qianlong (1753) 4,069

Qianlong 31 years (1766) 4,858

56th year of Qianlong (1791) 4,359

17th year of Jiaqing (1812) 4,013

Daoguang 21 years (1841) 4, 125

According to Table 1, in a period of nearly 200 years, the scale of fiscal revenue of the former Qing Dynasty increased from 24.28 million taels in the early Shunzhi period to 48.58 million taels in the middle of Qianlong, doubling the total amount, and declining slightly after the end of Qianlong. However, considering that Shunkang is in an extraordinary period of economic recovery, this growth rate must be greatly reduced. The tax policy of the early Qing Dynasty basically inherited that of the late Ming Dynasty, and coupled with the economic decline caused by the war, the total amount of fiscal revenue naturally could not reach the scale it should have. If we take the roughly equivalent level of economic development as the basis for investigation, after the Yongzheng Dynasty until before the first war, the scale of the Qing Dynasty's fiscal revenue has been fluctuating around 40 million taels. This pace of development has been slow compared to such a long period of time.

** In the ten years after the war, the Qing government's fiscal revenue remained at about 30 to 40 million taels. There is no historical record of the income of Xian and the same year, but its amount did not increase much. Although new tax items such as centijin were created during this period, the revenue was partially consumed by the expansion of military expenditures to suppress local uprisings. Therefore, the author estimates that the fiscal revenue of the Qing court during this period should be roughly between 50 million and 60 million taels. The rapid growth of the Qing Dynasty's fiscal revenue was during the Guangxuan period, and the income during this period is listed below. (See Table 2 on the next page)

As can be seen from the figures in Table 2, in the ten years after the 12th year of Guangxu (1886), the Qing court's fiscal revenue remained above 80 million taels, which was more than double the more than 4,000 taels in the Jiadao period. Not only that, by the 34th year of Guangxu (1908), the Qing government's annual revenue exceeded 200 million taels, and it took five years to double the scale. In contrast, the scale of fiscal revenue in the late Qing Dynasty expanded much faster than that in the previous Qing Dynasty.

Table 2 Fiscal Revenue Package of the Guang and Xuan Periods (Note: "Qing Historical Manuscripts" Volume 125, Food and Goods 6; Written by Liu Jinzao: "Qing Dynasty Continuation Literature General Examination" Volume 66, National Examination 4; Papers 67, 5 for the national examination; Paper 68, National Examination 6. ）

After the war, China's economy underwent profound changes. With the dumping of foreign commodities and the export of capital, the natural economy based on individual production gradually disintegrated, and the existing capitalist sprouts were transformed under the influence and stimulation of foreign capital, and the capitalist mode of production was born and had its initial development. In order to "improve oneself" and "seek prosperity," the Qing government gradually changed its policy from suppressing and prohibiting industrial and commercial development to recognizing and encouraging it, and also advocated the active introduction of advanced foreign technology. During and after the Westernization Movement, Western scientific works were continuously translated and introduced to China, and practical technology also came along with the invasion of foreign capital and the development of national capitalism, thus promoting the development of modern industrial economy and improving economic efficiency. As far as the iron-smelting industry is concerned, in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), the national pig iron output was 25,890 tons, 32,313 tons in the thirty-first year (1905), and it increased sharply to 119396 tons in the second year of Xuantong (1910) (Note: Du Shiran et al., eds., Manuscripts of the History of Science and Technology in China, Volume II, Science Press, 1982, p. 283). ）。 This great achievement is undoubtedly due to the introduction and application of modern iron-smelting technology. American scholar Fei Weikai believes that "pre-modern" economic expansion is a kind of "low development", which is growth in a backward state; The "modern" economic growth was formed by the continuous progress of science and technology (Note: Fei Weikai, "Economic History of the Qing Dynasty and World Economic History", in Ming and Qing Archives and Historical Research, edited by the First Historical Archives of China, Zhonghua Book Company, 1986, pp. 393-394). ）。 This view is more pertinent, and it also applies to the economic development of the former Qing Dynasty and the late Qing Dynasty. The economic development and technological progress of the late Qing Dynasty led to an increase in fiscal revenue due to the expansion of financial resources, which was incomparable to that of the former Qing Dynasty, and the scale of fiscal revenue also reached an unimaginable expansion of the latter.

It was not until the restoration of nearly 30 taels during the Tongzhi and Guangxu periods that the Qing court's fiscal revenue barely recovered to about 80 million taels, but after removing various expenses, there were only millions of taels left every year, and sometimes they even had to rely on short-term debts to survive. According to incomplete estimates, during the reign of the Empress Dowager Cixi before Gengzi, the Qing court's fiscal and tax revenues accounted for only 3% of the country's GDP

Around 1911, the national fiscal revenue was close to 300 million taels (77 million taels in 1885), of which the agricultural tax increased to 50 million taels (30 million taels in 1885), various miscellaneous taxes were about 45 million taels, and the commercial tax exceeded 200 million taels, becoming the main component of the government's fiscal revenue.

On page 259 of Zhou Zhichun's Late Qing Fiscal and Economic Research, there is a set of figures about the proportion of government revenue in GDP in the late Qing Dynasty.