Yang Jian

Yang Jian (, died 1121) was a huanguan (eunuch) and minister under Emperor Huizong of Song, best-known for implementing oppressive tax policies to increase government revenue. In subsequent works of fiction, such as the classic novels Water Margin and Jin Ping Mei, he is almost always portrayed as treacherous and corrupt. Early career Yang Jian became a eunuch at a young age. During Emperor Huizong's early reign he worked in the imperial garden and often pleased the emperor. In the chongning (1102–1106) era he was promoted and put in charge of various affairs such as the management of the shrines, the casting of ding (tripods), and the construction of the Bureau of the Music of Great Brilliance and the Dragon Virtue Palace (, the emperor's former princely mansion). In 1114, Yang Jian was appointed as the jiedushi (military governor) of Zhanghua (, in modern Gansu). There, he initiated the establishment of a guard army for the emperor's travels. Later, Yang Jian successively served as jiedushi in Zhen'an (, in modern Henan), Qinghai (, in modern Guangdong), and Zhendong (, in modern Zhejiang), and was promoted from Junior Inspecting Guardian to the powerful position of Grand Mentor. Tax policies While he was in Ru Prefecture, one of his subordinates named Du Gongcai came up with a plan to acquire land deeds from commoners and increase tax revenue. In 1116, Yang Jian created a Public Lands Bureau in Jingxi Circuit to manage wastelands and tax-exempt lands. Commoners were forced to become tenant farmers and pay rent, and those who opposed the policy were cangued and imprisoned. This was later applied in the regions of Jingdong and Huainan, and rent was collected even on nonarable land like abandoned embankments, abandoned weirs, barren hills, beaches and silted rivers. In areas affected by floods or drought, no tax breaks were given. Fishermen in Ji and Yun Prefectures were forced to pay taxes based on the number of boats in their possession. These measures increased a typical county's tax revenues by more than 100,000 strings of cash coins, which pleased the emperor.