The chieftain system is a form of compromise in which the central and local ruling classes of all ethnic groups unite and struggle with each other during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Under the rule of the chieftain, the land and people were all owned by the chieftain, and the chieftain formed a sphere of influence, resulting in a state of division and separatism, which led to hatred and war between nations and within nations.
The reform in Guizhou began in the Ming Dynasty, but the climax was in the Yongzheng period of the early Qing Dynasty. There are profound historical reasons for Yong Zhengdi to adopt E Ertai's suggestion of changing soil into water. This is manifested in: economically, the feudal landlord economy under the chieftain system was hindered by the feudal Lord economy; Politically, chieftain enjoys all kinds of privileges, owns the army, sets up prisons privately, and fights against each other, which seriously hinders centralization; However, the internal contradictions among ethnic groups caused by the evil deeds of Tusi and Tusi and their slavery to natives are increasingly prominent, which is not conducive to the stability of rule; In terms of traffic, the Tusi area, especially the "foreign land", blocked the land where Kaijiang Road connected with Guizhou and Guangdong and Sichuan and Chu connected with Yunnan, which was not conducive to the central dynasty's control and governance of the frontier.
During the Yongzheng period, the prelude to the reform was the reform of Wu Nai, Wu Sa and other chieftains, focusing on the development of the Hunan-Guizhou border region, the area centered on Leigong Mountain, and the junction of Guang Shun, Ding Fan (now Huishui) and Luodian.
"... the" returning home "in Guangxi began to unfold gradually in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. It came into being when the contradiction between local officials and feudal dynasties became increasingly acute. This contradiction has existed for a long time since the Tang and Song Dynasties. With the continuous development of social productive forces, the local official system is becoming more and more unsuitable for the needs of society. The constant resistance of the broad masses has shaken the rule of the local official system. At the same time, local officials are increasingly opposed to the feudal dynasty and its jurisdiction. Naturally, the Ming Dynasty could not tolerate this kind of behavior that was detrimental to the national unity of the feudal dynasty. Therefore, it is imperative to "change the soil and return to the flow".
When starting to change the flow, two methods are generally adopted: first, from top to bottom, change the local government first, and then change the local state. The second is to seize all favorable opportunities. If some local officials have no heirs, successors, or clan struggles, they will send floating officials to take over; After the local officials killed each other and were pacified, they sent Liu Guan to take over; Some local officials committed crimes, or were "dismissed for crimes" after the anti-DPRK was suppressed, and they were replaced by floating officials; When some natives applied to the feudal dynasty for "changing the land to the stream", the dynasty abolished the hereditary of local officials and changed them to stream officials, which meant obeying the people. In short, the feudal dynasty changed its course as soon as it had the opportunity. "(from Huang Xianfan's General History of Zhuang Nationality)
During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the chieftain system was abolished in some minority areas in southwest China, and the bureaucratic political reform was implemented. The Tusi system, which began in the Yuan Dynasty, has many disadvantages. Tusi brutally ruled the people in China, rarely rebelled against the central government and harassed the Han people bordering them, and wars between Tusi continued. In order to solve the long-standing disadvantages of chieftain's separatist regime, most rulers in Ming and Qing dynasties advocated the policy of changing soil into water. That is, where conditions are ripe, the hereditary system of chieftain should be abolished, and the government, Ministry, state and county should be set up, and the floating officials with a certain term should be assigned to manage it. During the reign of Kang Yong, the national strength of the Qing Dynasty was strong, and Yong Zhengdi was an enterprising monarch. Therefore, the conditions for large-scale implementation of the policy of "returning home" are ripe.
In the fourth year of Yongzheng (1726), E Ertai, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, repeatedly instructed the necessity of changing the soil into the stream and demanded immediate implementation. He suggested using tactics to deal with illegal chiefs first, and then using troops to suppress them; Make it automatically superior, and make the soil second; We should not only use the army, but also rely on it. Threaten by force and try to solve it by political means. He demanded that the unreasonable administrative divisions along the borders of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces be adjusted, so that the powers and responsibilities could be unified and local officials could make a difference. Yong Zhengdi appreciated this and told him to handle it carefully. In May of the same year, the chieftain rebellion in Changzhai, Guizhou Province was first suppressed, and Changzhai Hall (now Changshun, Guizhou Province) was established. Soon, the Qing court transferred Wumeng, Zhenxiong and Dongchuan, which originally belonged to Sichuan, to Yunnan. E Ertai sent guerrilla Ha Sheng Yuan to lead the troops, wiped out the rebel forces of Lu, the local magistrate of Wumeng, and Qin Long Hou, the local magistrate of Zhenxiong, and established Wumeng House (later renamed Zhaotong House, now Zhaotong, Yunnan) and Zhenxiong State. The huge momentum of Yunnan-Guizhou returning home soon reached Guangxi. In five years, the Qing court deposed Cen, the local magistrate of Sicheng, by deterrence, and established Yongfeng House (now Zhenfeng Buyi and Miao Autonomous County of Guizhou) in the area north of Nanpanjiang, which was placed under the jurisdiction of Guizhou. At the end of June, Yong Zhengdi appointed E Ertai as the governor of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, and made a unified plan for the transformation of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi. In the same year, Zhang Guangsi, the provincial judge of Guizhou Province, was ordered to carry out the policy of "returning the land to the countryside" in southeastern Guizhou. Zhang Guangsi led the troops into the Miao and Dong ethnic villages in Guzhou (now Rongjiang, Guizhou) of Liping prefecture and Danjiang (now Leishan, Guizhou) of Duyun prefecture, and set up offices to share common sense and manage civil affairs. The toast of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and other provinces bordering Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi is close to the mainland, and its influence is limited. Under the pressure of the situation, they have demanded to hand over the hereditary territory and the seal of the chief and return to the central government. So under the management of governors and officials, villages and counties were established. When the hereditary system of chieftain was abolished, chieftain himself was treated differently according to their attitude. For the automatic printer, participate in the reward, either to the world or to Wu Zhi now. Punish the rebels, confiscate their property, move them to inland provinces outside the above six provinces, and arrange for them to live in abel tamata. While establishing counties, military institutions were added, such as Wumeng Town in Yunnan, Xiong Wei Town in Zhaotong, Wei Yuan Town in Pu 'er, Guzhou Town and Taigong Town in Guizhou, Youjiang Town in Guangxi, Yongshun Club and Yongsui Club in Huguang, etc. In the areas where the land was changed to the countryside, the Qing government inspected households, measured land, collected taxes, built cities and set up schools. Originally, the toast only paid a small amount of tribute and kept a lot of silver from the cruel plunder of the people. After the reform, the tax collection method was changed and the original toast collection system was abolished. Like the mainland, taxes are levied on mu, and the amount is generally less than that in the mainland. The exploitation suffered by indigenous people has been slightly reduced. There are five provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei where the land transfer area of Guizhou Province is relatively wide, which is equivalent to the area of the original county. Many ethnic groups participated in the reform, including Miao, Yi, Buyi, Dong, Yao and Shui. By nine years, Yunnan and Guizhou have basically achieved the goal of improving soil and returning to the flow.
After returning to their homeland, some top chiefs were unwilling to fail and kept trying to recover. However, some Qing troops plundered in the new area, and some officials were not good at management. They suddenly raised taxes, sent corvees, accepted bribes and extorted money. In addition, most of the newly built flood camps were transferred from neighboring areas, which caused the original area to be empty. This not only gave the original toast an excuse to rebel, but also gave them an opportunity. In the spring of 13th year, Shangmiao people in Guzhou and Taigong areas of Guizhou encouraged the people to launch a rebellion. Rebels went deep into Danjiang, Ping Huang, Kaili and other counties, but Yong Zhengdi sent troops to suppress them. After Emperor Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he appointed Zhang Guangsi as the commander-in-chief of seven provinces to quell the rebellion in the first year of Qianlong (1736), and the Qing court ordered the cancellation of taxes in the new district and tried civil disputes according to local customs, so as to consolidate the rule of changing land into flowing areas. During the Yongzheng period, land conversion was only carried out in some areas of southwest ethnic minorities, and many places remained unchanged. (According to the draft of the Qing Dynasty, Zhonghua Book Company, 1986 edition, volume 13, annals of 1995, the system of household food, 3482 pages, "Gansu Fanzi natives, instructed the toast to check" can be cited as evidence. Even in the reformed areas, the remnants of the original toast are still preserved, and the indigenous people can still be controlled to varying degrees. However, the reform abolished the chieftain system, reduced the rebellious factors, strengthened the central government's rule over the border areas, and was beneficial to the social and economic development of ethnic minority areas, which was of positive significance to the unification and economic and cultural development of China's multi-ethnic countries.