首页
登录
职称英语
The Economic Situation of Japan in the 18th Century In the eighteenth cent
The Economic Situation of Japan in the 18th Century In the eighteenth cent
游客
2023-12-19
50
管理
问题
The Economic Situation of Japan in the 18th Century
In the eighteenth century, Japan’ s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the humblest samurai, found themselves under financial stress. In part, this stress can be attributed to the overlords’ failure to adjust to a rapidly expanding economy, but the stress was also due to factors beyond the overlords’ control; Concentration of the samurai in castletowns had acted as a stimulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers. Since most samuri had been reduced to idleness by years of peace, encouraged to engage in scholarship and martial exercises or to perform administrative tasks that took little time, it is not surprising that their tastes and habits grew expensive. Overlords’ income, despite the increase in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in over- lords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax collectors (the nearly invitable outcome of hereditary off ice holding) as from their higher standards of living, a misfortune like a fire or flood, bringing an increase in expenses or a drop in revenue, could put a domain in debt to the city’ rice - brokers who handled its finances. Once in debt, neither the individual samurai nor the shogun himself found it easy to recover.
It was difficult for individual samurai overloads to increase their income because the amount of rice that farmers could be made to pay in taxes was not unlimited, and since the income of Japan’ s central government consisted in part of taxes collected by the shogun from his huge domain, the government too was constrained. Therefore, the Tokugawa shoguns began to look to other sources for revenue. Cash profits from government -owned mines were already on the decline because the most easily worked deposits of silver and gold had been exhausted, although debasement of the coinage had compensated for the loss. Opening up new farmland was a possibility, but most of what was suitable had already been exploited and further reclamation was technically unfeasible. Direct taxation of the samurai themselves would be politically dangerous. This left the shoguns only commerce as a potential source of government income.
Most of the country’ s wealth, or so it seemed, was finding its way into the hands of city merchants. It appeared reasonable that they should contribute part of that revenue to ease the shogun’ s burden of financing the state. A means of obtaining such revenue was soon found by levying forced loans, known as goyokin; although these were not taxes in the strict sense, since they were irregular in timing and arbitrary in amount, they were high in yield. Unfortunately, they pushed up prices. Thus, regrettably, the Tokugawa shoguns’ search for solvency for the Government made it increasingly difficult for individual Japanese who lived on fixed stipends to make ends meet. [br] The passage is most probably taken from ______.
选项
A、an introduction to a collection of Japanese folktales
B、the memoirs of a samurai warrior
C、an economic history of Japan
D、a modem novel about eighteenth - century Japan
答案
C
解析
A、B、D都不一定会谈到本文内容,且与本文风格不符。故应选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3287184.html
相关试题推荐
Inthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,thefastesturbangrowthwasinWeste
Inthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,thefastesturbangrowthwasinWeste
Inthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,thefastesturbangrowthwasinWeste
Inthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,thefastesturbangrowthwasinWeste
Ineventhebleakestclimatechangescenariosfortheendofthiscentury,sc
Afteracenturyandahalfascordialneighbors,twoofthenation’sbiggest
Afteracenturyandahalfascordialneighbors,twoofthenation’sbiggest
[originaltext]Inthe18thcenturyFrencheconomistsprotestedtheexcessive
[originaltext]Inthe18thcenturyFrencheconomistsprotestedtheexcessive
[originaltext]Inthe18thcenturyFrencheconomistsprotestedtheexcessive
随机试题
Imagineyouareinadepartmentstoretobuyacarry-onsuitcase.Asyouwalk
忠诚loyalty;faithfulness
我国大多数全融企业格内部控制分为五个构成部分,包括()并且各部分之间有密切的联
根据《安全生产法》的规定,施工人员在施工过程中的应当承担的法定义务是()。A
根据《证券发行上市保荐业务工作底稿指引》,下列属于保荐工作底稿的有( )。
用卷轴带给该患者固定敷料,包扎方法应选用A、蛇形 B、螺旋形 C、“8”字形
债券票面金额定得较小,将会()。A:有利于大额投资者购买B:发行工作量大C:
发现问题并按预案程序及时处置,制止事态发展,同时向有关部门报告或请求支援。这是证
A.阿米替林 B.氯米帕明 C.多塞平 D.马普替林 E.吗氯贝胺对四环
《劳动法》明确规定,国家对女职工和未成年工实行特殊劳动保护。下列关于女职工特殊保
最新回复
(
0
)