Contents and Summaries

No. 1

February, 2023

The Justification and Analysis on Poll Tax in Medieval England

GU Luanzhai and Li Ling

Poll tax was a tax with universal characteristics levied on the whole country. Domestic publications usually translated it into rentoushui in ancient China, neglecting the differences between them. In order to avoid misunderstanding, poll tax will be transliterated into puershui in Chinese in this article. With regard to the collection of poll tax in medieval England, the academia mostly evaluated it in combination with Wat Tyler 's Rebellion(1381), and basically held a negative viewpoint. However, the specific investigation of the collection process shows that its collection was not only reasonable and lawful, but also had a certain degree of progressiveness.

The Historical Evolution of British Income Tax

TENG Shuna

Abstract：Income tax was one of the main types of modern direct tax. Britain was the first country to levy income tax in the world, and was also the first country to realize the modernization of income tax. The British income tax was levied temporarily because of the Anglo-French War, suspended because of the peace, and resumed because of the the Napoleonic War. After that, the British debated for decades about whether and how to levy income tax. Finally, the income tax changed from temporary tax to permanent tax. It changed from proportional tax rate to differentiated taxation and realized the principle of progressive taxation. At the beginning of the 20th century, it completed the modernization of income tax. The historical evolution of British income tax shows that, income tax is an important part of the country's modern tax system, and an important means to realize the redistribution of social wealth, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and achieve long-term social stability. The social basis and use of income tax cannot be ignored.

The Evolution and Influence of the Danegeld in England

LI Lingdi

Abstract：The British danegeld was initially a tribute paid temporarily when the Vikings invaded, and ceased to be collected after the invasion was resolved. After the Norman Conquest, with the development of the feudal system and strengthening of the feudal kingship, the danegeld was levied again and became an important part of the royal revenue. In accordance with the tradition of primitive democratic tribes, kings had to obtain the consent of the witan to collect the danegeld. In order to levy taxes successfully, monarchs of the Norman dynasty inherited this tradition, and their tax decisions were subject to the approval of the curia regis. The danegeld was levied according to the area of the land. However, due to the implementation of the feudalism, lands were enfeoffed at different levels and the ownership became ambiguous. Moreover, there was also the factor of “excessive exemption”. All of these made the collection of the danegeld difficult to implement and gradually became extinct. The danegeld was of great importance in the history of British taxation. Its collection was based on the hidage system, and a whole set of taxation system had been established, which provided a solid foundation for improvement of the future taxation system; it was also one of the origins of the principle of “spend-and-tax”; it nurtured the sprouts of “common consent”, which was one of the British theories of taxation.

An Analysis of British Stock Option Market in Early Modern Times

LI Xinkuan

Abstract: A stock option market had initially formed in Britain since the 1690s. Although options were new, the British were not unfamiliar with derivatives trading and soon mastered the rules of the financial derivatives market. The purpose of stock option trading was to avoid stock market risks or to gain profits purely for speculation. At that time, the basic types and forms of stock option trading formed a standardized and unified market, which promoted the deepening of the British financial market and the diversification of investment strategies, and prepared the conditions for London to grow into an international financial center in modern times.

The British and French Maritime Acts and the Construction of Maritime Trade Order in the 17th Century

CHAI Bin and QI Yufeng

Abstract：In the 17th century, the political situation in Europe was turbulent, and European powers fought for maritime hegemony frequently. In order to fight against the Dutch, which was the European dominant maritime trade power at the time, the British and French governments had successively promulgated the Navigation Acts(1651) and Ordonnance De La Marine(1681). The Navigation Acts of 1651 was the “white paper” of Britain's intention to establish global maritime trade hegemony, and Ordonnance De La Marine of 1681 was the “declaration” of France's request to occupy the position of the number one power in maritime trade. The two countries engaged in a fierce game of maritime trade with the Dutch with the Code as a weapon. Both of them were trying to build a world maritime trade pattern centered on themselves, and their struggle had profoundly infuenced the development of the modern international maritime trade system and maritime legal system.

Nuclear War Warning: Soviet Totsk Military Exercise

ZHANG Guangxiang and ZHAO Wanxin

Abstract：At the beginning of the Cold War, although the Soviet Union broke the nuclear monopoly of the United States, the nuclear power of them remained far apart. In 1953, the United States began to pursue a strategy of massive retaliation and vigorously developed nuclear weapons and their means of delivery, and the Soviet Union also made great efforts to develop nuclear weapons. At the same time, the Soviet Union began to organize combat exercises in 1954 to train the actual combat capability of the troops to use nuclear weapons, of which the military exercise in Totsk was the most typical. The exercise lasted one day and used one 40, 000 ton TNT equivalent atomic bomb and two 20, 000 to 40, 000 ton TNT equivalent atomic bombs. The participating troops conducted tactical offensive and defense under nuclear attack to verify the effect of nuclear weapons in actual combat. The Totsk military exercise warned of the risk of nuclear war.

The British Censorship and War Reporting of The Associated Newspaper in WWI

LIU Yingqi

Abstract：After the outbreak of the First World War, the British Parliament passed the law of censorship, which was implemented by the Press Bureau and Military Officers. The military imposed strict restrictions on reporters' coverage of front-line battles. The Associated Newspaper led by Lord Northcliffe tried every method to approach the truth in the battlefield. Through exposing the “shell crisis”, ineffectiveness of conscription system and the failure of the Gallipoli Campaign, the public questioned the Liberal Cabinet's poor organization of the war and Lord Kitchener's leadership, which finally led to the collapse of the Asquith government. After Lloyd George took office, he improved the government's decision-making efficiency and executive capacity, and changed the Britain's passive state in the war. The Associated Newspaper insisted on the independence of the press and played the role of media supervision, which was one of the factors for Britain to achieve victory in the war.

A Survey on Nanjing's Real Estate Property Rights and Economic Recovery After the Taiping Rebellion

DONG Shenglan

Abstract：During the Taiping Rebellion, many houses in Nanjing were seriously damaged, and a large number of official archives and real estate deeds were lost, resulting in numerous real estate lawsuits after the rebellion. Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang started with the inspection of the property rights of the real estate, asked the owners to show their original deeds or apply new licenses, and checked the vacant land in the city at the same time, allowing the immigrants to live in empty houses, or rent land for building houses. The various decrees of inspection real estate property rights had been generally implemented. After the clarification of property rights, real estate disputes had been greatly reduced, real estate transactions had recovered in an orderly manner, and urban economy had become increasingly prosperous. From easy to difficult, from south to north, the real estate property rights had a distinctive urban planning nature, which consciously guided the restoration and development of urban ecology, and had received a positive response from the people. At that time, people' awareness of real estate property rights was becoming progressively strong.

The Malpractice of the Hua-hu in Beijing Granaries in the Qing Dynasty and the Social Ecology

WANG Chunwei

Abstract：The Hua-hu（花户）were labourers employed by the granaries in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty, with low status and meager remuneration. Taking advantage of the tiny power of carrying, inspecting, weighing, storing and distributing the Eight Bannermen's rice-as-salary in the granaries, they embezzled and commited fraud. The wealth accumulated by the Hua-hu leaders was far beyond their social status, while the lives of the bannermen at the bottom were in trouble. The Hua-hu had been harming the living of the bannermen for a long time, and the Qing government intended to rectify it, and had also taken some measures to deal with it. However, due to the defects of the system, the corruption of officials and the Hua-hu's good at weaving the network of relationships, a strong force had formed in the basic-level society, and the Qing government couldn't do anything at last. While being oppressed by others, the Hua-hu also oppressed others. Their survival and power development were squeezed out by the autocratic society, which was the reality of the operation of the underclass.