赋役豁免政策的嬗变与亚述帝国的盛衰

The Change in Policies on Tax and Corvee Exemption and the Rise and Fall of the Assyrian Empire

亚述帝国的赋役豁免政策是统治者利用经济手段维护政权的一种策略。赋役豁免并非一种普惠全体臣民的政策,而是少数人享有的特权;国王垄断了赋役的豁免权,并藉此与各方势力进行政治博弈。帝国政治经济的发展,引起了统治阶级内部各派力量的此消彼长,推动了赋役豁免的方式、内容和受益者不断变化。通过豁免赋役,统治者笼络了统治阶级内部的各派力量,稳定了政局,为亚述帝国的快速崛起创造了条件。然而,帝国晚期,军事贵族异军突起,赋役豁免政策遂演变成权臣乱政的手段,导致帝国财政状况恶化与社会两极化程度加深,进而加剧了政局的动荡。总之,亚述赋役豁免政策的变革与帝国的盛衰关系密切,善于利用该政策有利于帝国的稳定发展,而滥用它则导致帝国的衰败。

The Assyrian empire tax and corvee exemption policy was a strategy aimed at enabling the rulers to safeguard their regime by economic means.Relief from taxes and corvee was a privilege enjoyed only by a few nobles rather than one shared with the whole people,and served as a tool for the king's political games with different parties in the ruling class.The development of the empire's politics and economy led to the rise and fall of different groups within the ruling class and to constant changes in the manner,contents and beneficiaries of tax and corvee exemption.The policy enabled the rulers to win over different parties,stabilize the political situation,and lay a foundation for the development of the Assyrian empire.In the late empire,however,with the rise of the military nobility,the policy of exemptions became a tool for powerful ministers' manipulation of political affairs.This intensified fiscal problems,deepened social polarization,and ultimately worsened political turbulence.In short,changes in the tax and corvee exemption policy of the Assyrian empire were closely related to the fate of the empire.The wise use of this policy was conducive to the empire's stable development,but its abuse led to the empire's fall.