明朝万历、天启年间宗禄定为永额新考

嘉靖四十四年《宗藩条例》实施后宗禄确实大幅削减,但此后宗禄拖欠问题依然长期严峻。正是万历十一年的周府岁禄拖欠问题,直接触发了宗禄定为永额举措的出台。先由钦差礼科都给事中万象春与各抚按及各该亲郡王条议,数年后又经廷议,万历十八年六月明神宗下令将河南、山西、陕西三布政司宗禄定为永额,并辅以其他重要条款。直到万历末年、天启年间,随着明朝财政危机的加剧和持续,天启五年明熹宗下令也将山东、湖广、江西、广西、四川等地的宗禄定为永额。宗禄定额举措陆续出台后,宗禄的拖欠依然时有发生。因为明朝宗禄的总额实在太过庞大,加以农业灾荒、地方拖欠等原因的制约。但明朝毕竟在明亡前已经根本控制了各地宗禄的继续增长势头,在宗禄时常拖欠的背景下,宗禄定为永额之举,确实也有助于在一定程度上缓解明朝宗藩的生存危机。

A Recent Study on the Setting of Royal Clan Official Salaries as Fixed Amount in the Ming Dynasty

Although the royal clan ’ s official salaries greatly decreased in the Jiajing period in the Ming Dynasty,severe arrears still lasted for long.It thus triggered the measures of setting fixed amount of the royal clan official salaries in the Wanli and Tianqi years in the Ming Dynasty.Despite the gradual enforcement of these measures,the arrears in the official salaries happened from time to time,owing to the vast amount of the salaries,agricultural famines and local delinquency.However,the Ming government managed to control the continued growth of the official salaries in the late years of the dynasty.Even in the context of frequent arrears,the measures of fixing the royal clan official salaries did alleviate the crisis of the Ming Dynasty to a certain degree.