乾隆十三年再检讨——常平仓政策改革和国家利益权衡

1748 Re-examined:Raison D'état and Policy Change Towards the Ever-Normal Granaries

本论文试图对乾隆十三年的米价大论战进行再检讨,指出朝廷将米价上涨归咎于常平仓储备的扩大并不一定与事实相符。1748年8月乾隆帝决定每省常平仓定额“应悉准康熙、雍正年间旧额”,亦非各省督抚一致同意的反映。而且,这一不加选择的命令之粗率也使读者怀疑朝廷可能另有用意。如果仔细阅读1749年1月建议将全国仓储总额定为3379万石的报告,不难发现其作者并不拒绝寻找机会节省资金。这些财政上的考虑很可能跟第一次金川战争不无关系。

The present article attempts a re - examination of the great debate of 1748 on grain prices. It points out that the court＇ s position - that the expansion of the ever - normal granaries ＇ reserves was to blame for the on - going inflation in the price of grain - does not necessarily fit the facts. When the emperor decreed, in August 1748, that the provincial storage targets should all revert to the ＂old levels of the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods,＂ this decision cannot be considered a reflection of the consensus of the provincial governors and governors - general. Not only were there differences of opinion among the provincial chief administrators; the crudeness of the emperor＇ s indiscriminate order makes the reader suspect that he may have had an uherior motive. If one reads between the lines of the January 1749 report that recommended that the nationwide storage target be cut to 33. 79 million shi, it is not hard to discern that the report＇ s authors did not object to finding opportunities to save funds. It is entirely possible that these fiscal considerations had some connection with the first Jinchuan campaign.