noun
benevolent rule; debt moratorium
Historical term. In ancient China and early Japan, it referred to virtuous governance. In medieval Japan, it specifically meant a government-ordered cancellation or reduction of debts, often to relieve samurai or commoners.
鎌倉時代、幕府はしばしば徳政令を出して借金を帳消しにした。
In the Kamakura period, the shogunate often issued debt-cancellation edicts (tokuseirei) to wipe out debts.
「徳政」という言葉は、本来は為政者の善政を意味した
The word 'tokusei' originally meant benevolent governance by a ruler.