明代太仓州的设置

太仓在元初海上漕运时代成为重镇。明初因镇设卫,卫所兼理卫事及周遭民政。明中叶,太仓卫出现军强民弱、兵丁入寇贩盐等弊端,在赋役改革艰难、沿海防卫吃紧的情势下,太仓由卫建州,相关州县也免除欠粮,缓解了困境。此后由于州卫并存共治,军民杂居,利益抵触,军政关系仍趋紧张,又因太仓州、昆山县税则龃龉,昆山县以州大县小、州不利县为理由,在正德、嘉靖海氛不平的形势下兴起"废州"案。在州、卫、县的利益博弈以及官员对决的过程中,朝廷的态度由暧昧渐趋明朗,最终存州复道。在从卫所到州县的转变中,既体现了特定的地域特质,又反映了明代国家在地方行政体制上的转变态势。

The Establishment of Taicang Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty

Taicang became an important city in the water transportation of grain to the capital in the early Yuan dynasty.Later,in the early Ming,the existence of the city led to the setting up of a garrison.The office of the garrison handled its own affairs as well as the region’s civil affairs.In the middle of the Ming dynasty,evils proliferated in Taicang:a strong military and weak civilian power,soldiers joining with bandits to smuggle salt,etc.In circumstances where reform of taxes and corvée labor was difficult and coastal defenses were hard pressed,Taicang Garrison was upgraded into a prefecture and the associated counties and prefectures were also exempted from the grain they owed,alleviating the situation.But relations between the military and the civilian arm remained tense due to the coexistence and joint rule of the prefecture and garrison,the fact that the military lived amongst the civilians,and conflicts of interest.In addition,because of taxation disagreement between Taicang Prefecture and Kunshan County and the coastal unrest during the reigns of emperors Zhengde and Jiajing,Kunshan County requested that Taicang Prefecture be dismantled because the discrepancy in size between the large prefecture and the small counties was disadvantageous to the latter.In the course of the interest gaming among the prefecture,the garrison and the counties,as well as the conflicts among officials,the attitude of the imperial court shifted from an ambiguous to a clear-cut stance:that is,Taicang Prefecture was to be maintained and the Dao(sub-prefecture) was to be restored.The transition of Taicang from a garrison to a county and thence to a prefecture reflects both the specific geographical characteristics of the area and the history of changes in the local administrative system of the Ming dynasty.