乾、嘉时期长芦盐商群体衰落现象分析

An Analysis on the Decline of Changlu Salt Merchants During the Period of Qianlong and Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty

乾、嘉时期,长芦盐商群体经历了一次明显的衰落过程。盐业运营(或专卖)是经济行为,要从经济规律中寻找长芦盐商群体衰落的原因。盐商的垄断地位是各种危机的根源,各方都试图从中获利导致乾嘉时期各种陋规逐渐公开化;盐商的报效实际上是最大的陋规。长芦盐商靠提高盐价来确保各方利益,同时也使得私盐泛滥,最终侵害了盐业运营和盐商可持续发展的根基。另一方面,"银贵钱贱"侵蚀了长芦盐商很大一部分利润。清代的"银贵钱贱"现象并不是随着鸦片贸易出现的,与长芦盐业有关的"银贵钱贱"现象早在雍正九年已经出现,引入"杰科布定律",能够很好地解释由盛世而物价上升,由物价上升而"银贵钱贱"的基本路径。

During the period of Qianlong and Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty, Changlu salt merchants experienced an obvious decline. Since salt business （or monopolization） is an economic behavior, the reasons for decline can be found in the economic rules. The root of all crises is salt merchants＇ monopoly. Different parties trying to profit from salt brought various corruption rules into the open during the Qianlong reign of Qing Dynasty. Among the rules, donation to the emperor is the most corrupt. To insure interests of all parties, Changlu salt merchants raised salt prices, which caused the severe salt smuggling and ultimately damaged the foundation of salt business and their sustainable development. On the other hand, the exchange rate of ＂silver out-valuing currency＂ eroded a large part of their profits, due to the devaluation resulted from the inflation of price in the boom years. Such phenomenon appeared early in the ninth year of the Yongzheng reign rather along with ooium trade. And ＂Jacob＇s Law＂ can explain the phenomenon.