明代张居正执政时期冗官问题新探

A New Probe into the Problem of Redundant Officials during the Reign of Zhang Juzheng in the Ming Dynasty

自嘉靖中期至隆庆后期明朝面临着持续的军事危机,"北虏"和"南倭"问题的加剧尤其是蒙古的持续入侵导致了财政危机的久拖不决。在此背景下,明朝裁革冗官之令屡下,且实际裁革的力度很大,主要是出于减少财政支出的目的。无论是明世宗还是明穆宗君臣都对裁革冗官很重视,甚至出现一些过度的裁革,大大抑制了万历初年冗官增长的速度。所以,在明神宗即位之际张居正任首辅的初期,明朝并没有严重的冗官问题,这对张居正的改革无疑是一笔良好的政治遗产。

From the middle period of Jiajing’s reign to the later period of Longqing’s,the Ming Dynasty was confronted with a continuous military crisis,and the aggravation of the problems of"northern prisoners"and"southern bonobos",especially the continuous invasion of Mongolia,led to the protracted financial crisis.In this context,the Ming Dynasty made repeated orders to reform redundant officials,and the actual reform was very strong,mainly for the purpose of reducing financial expenditure.Both Ming Shizong and Ming Muzong attached great importance to the redundant officials,and even some excessive reforms appeared,which greatly suppressed the growth rate of redundant officials in the early years of Wanli.Therefore,in the early days when Zhang Juzheng became the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty,there was no serious problem of redundant officials in the Ming Dynasty,which was undoubtedly a good political heritage for Zhang Juzheng’s reform.