通惠河的修浚及争议——兼论明代朝廷决策中的利益权衡

The Debates over the Dredging of the Tonghui River: Interests Balance in Ming Dynasty's Policy

通惠河是元代修建用于连接张家湾与大都的漕运通道,在明永乐重建北京城后,因水源问题遭到废弃,从通州到北京的漕粮不得不改用陆路运送。鉴于陆路运输存在诸多弊端,朝廷中屡有疏浚通惠河的呼声和行动,但直到嘉靖初年,通惠河才得以彻底疏通并维持长期运行。围绕通惠河疏浚争议的背后牵涉到朝廷内部以及朝廷与地方势力的角逐,这种类型的角力使得古代中国的公共工程的成本和效益并不是按照最优化的方向进行配置,而在很大程度上受到各种利益博弈的影响。

The Tonghui River, which at first built as a man-made canal to connect Zhang Jia Wan and the capital city in the Yuan Dynasty, was deserted after the Ming Yongle period, due to the lack of water sources after rebuilding of Beijing city. Efforts to dredge it and keep it from silting failed in the early Ming Dynasty. Itwas not until the early Jiajing period it was successfully dredged and maintained since then. The debates over dredging this river in the Ming Dynasty show the background of economical conflicts among different groups in the central government and in local government. Through the study of this case, we can see that this kind of conflicts deeply affected the distribution of resources on the public projects in ancient China.