alternatehistory.com

One thing I've seen in a few texts is that an insufficient number of bureaucrats to serve(& control) the booming population did great harm to the stability of the Qing dynasty. For example, taking on more bureaucrats could have perhaps employed some people who became leaders of rebellions on behalf of the regime instead of against it. Also, with more bureaucrats to carry out and check property surveys and collect taxes, perhaps the Qing could have avoided tax-farming and its negative effects on both the population and government revenue.

On the other hand, paying the salaries of a greatly increased number of bureaucrats is expensive and can cause its own fiscal challenges.

Was there an affordable "sweet spot" for the Qing, a scaling up to
a certain number/proportion of additional officials, that would be fiscally and economically sustainable and result in better administration and tax collection and avoided tax farming? And could such have saved the regime from facing the Taiping and other contemporary rebellions?


A follow up question, imagine they significantly scale up the ratio of officials to population - would his work better in the same territorial setup as OTL, or if there was a policy of land based expansion or a policy of sea-based expansion beyond the already substantial Qing agenda of conquest in Taiwan, Mongolia, Qinghai/Amdo/Kokonor, Tibet and Dzungaria/Xinjiang?
Top