A Study On The Grain Rates Of Ningxia Town In The Mid-to Late Ming Dynasty

The frontier defense of the Ming dynasty was always troubled by the "north enemy and south pirates".The "north enemy" has greater threat to the Ming dynasty than "south enemy”.The management of the northern frontier in the Ming dynasty was always a military priority,forming a nine-sided system with the border towns as the defense center on the long northern frontier.Ningxia town,as one of the important towns in the nine border areas,has been an important defense barrier in the northwest,and has stationed a large number of troops.The grain supply in the border town is the core problem of the border army’s logistic support.Among them,the village is one of the main sources of grain supply in the border town from beginning to end.The annual silver of capital was appeared in the late of Ming dynasty,as an important supplement to the lack of rates.Ningxia town,as the frontier of the west three sides,was the front line of the defense against the Mongolian tribes,especially after Cheng Hua period,and the importance of food and payment supply was self-evident.The grain supply of Ningxia town also experienced the grain supply structure from the main to the rural areas supplemented by the civilian transport,and the grain supply structure supplemented by the annual silver of capital.Therefore,in the early period of grain supply in Ningxia town was grain and grass and the middle and later period was mainly silver as the main form of grain supply,which to some extent exacerbated the lack of grain supply in the town.And although there are rules on the system of grain and rates supply,the actual allocation process is quite different,because of the "big enemy" infringement,repair the wall,relief and other reasons to increase.This paper,taking Ningxia town’s construction history and military and political setting as the background,tries to clarify the source and management of its grain and rates supply,as well as a series of problems caused by the late grain and rates discount,and the resulting grain and rates crisis,the countermeasures of the Ming government and its financial impact.