首页
登录
职称英语
In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the
In the eighteenth century, Japan’s feudal overlords, from the shogun to the
游客
2024-01-13
10
管理
问题
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 castle- towns had acted as a stimulus to trade. Commercial efficiency, in turn, had put temptations in the way of buyers. Since most samurai 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 in- crease in rice production among their tenant farmers, failed to keep pace with their expenses. Although shortfalls in overlords’ income resulted almost as much from laxity among their tax col- lectors(the nearly inevitable outcome of hereditary officeholding)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 overlords 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 oth- er 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 debase- ment 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 unfeasi- ble. 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 goyo-kin ; 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 implies that which of the following was the primary reason why the Tokugawa shoguns turned to city merchants for help in financing the state?
选项
A、A series of costly wars had depleted the national treasury.
B、Most of the country’ s wealth appeared to be in city merchants’ hands.
C、Japan had suffered a series of economic reversals due to natural disasters such as floods.
D、The merchants were already heavily indebted to the shoguns.
E、Further reclamation of land would not have been economically advantageous.
答案
B
解析
T把城市商人作为国家收税的来源,最重要是因为:原话,直接找。A.战争耗空了国库。无。B.正确。大部分国家财富在城市商人手中。见原文L60—62。C.日本经历了几次如潮水一样的自然灾难后的经济倒退。无。D.商人还欠将军很多债务。无。E.进一步开垦荒地无法获得经济上的好处。此为第二段内容。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.tihaiku.com/zcyy/3359392.html
相关试题推荐
Atthebeginningoflastcentury,medicalscientistsmadeaninterestingdisc
Atthebeginningoflastcentury,medicalscientistsmadeaninterestingdisc
Atthebeginningoflastcentury,medicalscientistsmadeaninterestingdisc
Atthebeginningoflastcentury,medicalscientistsmadeaninterestingdisc
Atthebeginningoflastcentury,medicalscientistsmadeaninterestingdisc
Thecentury-old______betweenthetwotribeseventuallyendedthroughthepersist
Theagriculturerevolutioninthenineteenthcenturyinvolvedtwothings:the
Theagriculturerevolutioninthenineteenthcenturyinvolvedtwothings:the
Theagriculturerevolutioninthenineteenthcenturyinvolvedtwothings:the
Duringthemiddleofthe19thcentury,【T1】Germany,alongwithotherEuropea
随机试题
Manyworkersdependonplans【B1】______bytheiremployerstohelppayfort
[originaltext]M:Imadeareservationthreedaysago.MynameisJohnSmith.W:
A.0 B.220V C.190V D.110V
表3—1是2006年中国31个主要城市年平均相对湿度的数据(单位:%)。
产后6个月,月经周期缩短,经期正常,基础体温呈双相型,但上升缓慢,且黄体期(高温
()是商业银行最古老的业务。A.贷款业务 B.存款业务 C.中间业务
与结核结节形成和干酪样坏死有关的成分是A:磷脂 B:蜡质 C:索状因子 D
截至2015年底,中国创业投资各类机构数已达1775家,同比增长14.4%。其中
教师按一定的教学要求向学生提出问题,要求学生回答,并通过问答的形式生获取或巩固知
反映投资方案盈利能力的静态评价指标有()。A.投资收益率B.内部收益率C.净现
最新回复
(
0
)