| The grain administration system was a relatively successful policy system implemented by the Nationalist government in the field of finance and economy during the Anti-Japanese War.After the full-scale outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War,a food crisis also occurred in Guizhou,which is deep in the southwest inland.The Guizhou government,under the leadership of the Nationalist government,implemented a wartime food policy.This is also an important opportunity for Guizhou to play a strategic role and develop the province since the establishment of the province in the Ming Dynasty..In the early Ming Dynasty,Guizhou established a province mainly due to political and military dominance.After the establishment of the province,its economic development was always weak,agricultural productivity was low,and food was insufficient for self-sufficiency.The government of the Ming Dynasty relied on the measure of "assistance" in neighboring provinces to solve the obvious shortage of silver and grain in Guizhou at that time,and promoted the slow development of the feudal economy in Guizhou.After the stability of the Qing Dynasty,the Qing government took a series of measures to promote social stability and development in Guizhou,which made it enter a period of relatively rapid development.It has a positive interaction with the agricultural production of the province,bringing sufficient power to the reclamation of arable land and the change of the planting structure of food crops.Although Guizhou in the Qing Dynasty still needed the"cooperation" of neighboring provinces,it basically met the food self-sufficiency needs of the province to a large extent.Since modern times,Guizhou has entered the period of warlord rule,and its agriculture has been stagnant and declining,resulting in the low level of grain production in Guizhou during this period,which is far lower than that of most domestic provinces during the same period.Until 1935,the Nationalist government controlled Guizhou,stabilized Guizhou society,gradually returned to normal agricultural production in Guizhou,and stabilized the grain market in Guizhou at that time.These grain developments in Guizhou since the Ming Dynasty constituted the background and foundation for the implementation of unified grain policy in Guizhou during the Anti-Japanese War,and the food problems left over from it were also initially resolved in the wartime grain policy.After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937,Guizhou was far inland and was less affected by the war.The food problem was not significant.The price of food fluctuated within the normal range.In order to make up for the deficiency,there are still a few surplus counties that will help neighboring provinces,and the counties that are insufficient will also be made up by neighboring provinces to carry out food self-regulation.However,in 1940,affected by the partial defeat of the Anti-Japanese War and the failure of the Sichuan grain harvest,a food crisis occurred,mainly manifested in the supply of military grain and the skyrocketing grain price.In response to this crisis,the National Government set up a special agency for grain management,and entered the period of unified grain administration during the Anti-Japanese War.Guizhou also implemented a unified grain administration under its control and leadership.In response to the existing grain problems in the province,the Guizhou government has implemented a unified grain policy from the aspects of grain organization,production,procurement,processing,transportation,and storage.Among them,according to the actual situation of the province,it focuses on the two aspects of grain production increase and farmland tax collection.In terms of increasing grain production,Guizhou has introduced advanced production technologies and professionals,and established a specialized agricultural management agency,the Guizhou Provincial Agricultural Improvement Institute,to expand the area of grain planting,increase grain yield per mu,limit crop types,promote winter ploughing,and prevent pests and diseases.These series of measures have basically more than doubled the output of grain crops in Guizhou until the end of the Anti-Japanese War,and also led to further reclamation and utilization of the land in Guizhou.Field tax collection is the top priority of Guizhou’s grain administration work,and it is also an important source of grain for the Guizhou government.Under the standards of the National Government,Guizhou established grain collection agencies at all levels according to the actual situation of the province,formulated collection standards that changed with the situation of the Anti-Japanese War,and also carried out official propaganda on the collection of land fu,and carried out supervision and competition work.At the same time,Guizhou has also set up a special military ration agency,the Guizhou Provincial Military Food Bureau,to purchase and borrow military rations.In the end,Guizhou’s field tax collection work achieved good results,and the annual collection amount basically reached more than 70%of the established standard.During the Anti-Japanese War,the grain administration of Guizhou was the most important means for the National Government to seek political and economic interests in Guizhou,which enabled the rapid development of grain and agriculture in Guizhou at that time.Fragility persists throughout its implementation.With the end of the war,the shortcomings of Guizhou’s grain administration were exposed,which seriously affected the national government’s rule in Guizhou.On the whole,the grain administration in Guizhou during the Anti-Japanese War had advantages and disadvantages,but from the special historical background of the Anti-Japanese War at that time,it was an inevitable historical system,and its advantages outweighed the disadvantages.Its implementation,on the one hand,promoted the grasp of various regions and agricultural productivity in Guizhou,changed the agricultural planting structure in Guizhou,improved the quality of agricultural development,and helped Guizhou temporarily enter the mainstream economic circle;The strength of the province supported the Anti-Japanese War,made important contributions in food,and left an important mark in the history of China’s grain policy,and at the same time showed the beginning of the modernization of Guizhou during the Anti-Japanese War. |
