明代时估制度初探——以朝廷的物料买办为中心

The System of Official Current Price Assessment in the Ming Dynasty——A Case Study of the Purchase of Court Material

时估是指有关部门按照有关规定、根据市场时价估定的官方价格。明朝初期,实行按月时估制度,凡遇买办物料等项,即以此作为价格依据。后来此制逐渐废格不行,遇到买办物料等项,便采用随时估价的方式。明代中期,为了减少估价的随意性,逐渐形成了会估制度,即由多个部门的官员共同估定价格。会估制度的建立和完善,在一定程度上保障了买办价格的合理。但在会估过程中,也存在着一些弊端,常使铺商或国家蒙受重大损失。

The official current price assessment refers to the assessment of the official price according to the related regulations of the relevant departments and the current market price. During the early Ming Dynasty, the system of a monthly official price assessment was implemented. When a purchase of material was done, it would be used as a basis for price. Later, this system was done away with. A method of currently-estimated price was used instead in the purchases of materials. When it came to the middle of the Ming Dynasty, in order to reduce the casualness of price assessment, a system of collective price assessment was established. The establishment and the perfection of this collective price assessment system, to a certain degree, ensured a reasonable purchase price. In the process of the price assessment, however, some disadvantages caused great losses of the merchants and the country.