State and Local Interaction: The Taxation Problem and Its Political Regulation in Jiashan County Society in the Late Ming Dynasty

During the reign of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, due to the serious ruling crisis of the whole dynasty, the administrative practice and social regulation of the county society appeared a very tense situation. The tax levy faction, which affects the attention of the whole country and the local government, has long become the focus of various problems in the county society. In Jiashan County in western Zhejiang, Li Chenyu, the Magistrate of the County, paid attention to the understanding of human feelings and local customs. He coordinated the forces of all social strata in the county, adjusted the operation of the system in the local area, and attached great importance to local interest demands. Through the county administration work of Magistrate of the County, we can further understand how the country effectively absorbed resources from the southeast through the collection of grain by water in the turbulent situation at the end of the dynasty. In the county society with high loyalty to the dynasty, the views and attitudes of different strata, such as the Magistrate of the County, the gentry, and the common people, towards the arrangement of taxes and servitude will still affect the implementation of the system and social stability. However, the activities of Magistrate of the County are of a core nature, which represents the implementation of state power at the local level, and also pays attention to protecting local interests in a flexible way. In the county-level society in which the state power is fully embedded, the space for local public consultation is reserved, so that the interaction between the state and the local can be fully reflected.