Floating servants

...A type of miscellaneous tax in the Edo period. During the Sengoku period, ukiyaku were called ukiyakushu, ukizei, or ukisonae, referring to the reserve army, but in the early modern period, they were understood as a type of annual tax. Annual taxes can be broadly divided into the regular tax on fields and rice paddies, and the miscellaneous tax on forests, wilderness, rivers, and seas. The minor taxes are further divided into fixed taxes levied annually and irregular taxes, with the irregular taxes being called ukiyaku.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Ukiyakushu" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…江戸時代の雑租の一種。戦国時代に浮役とは，浮役衆または浮勢（うきぜい），浮備（うきそなえ）ともいわれて予備軍を指すが，近世には年貢の一種と理解されている。年貢は田畑にかかる正租の本途物成（ほんとものなり）と，それ以外の山林，原野，河海などにかかる雑租の小物成に大別することができ，小物成はさらに毎年，定額でかかるものと，臨時にかかるものとに分かれるが，臨時にかかるものを浮役という。…

※「浮役衆」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報