倉儲與漕務:道咸之際江蘇的漕糧海運

The Rise of Sea Transport of Grain Tribute from Jiangsu Province in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century

十九世紀中期,清代漕運制度出現了由河運到海運的重大變革。道光二十七年(1847)、咸豐元年(1851),中央政府迫於倉儲、庫儲之壓力,自上而下地推動江蘇的漕糧海運,海運作爲財政困境下的籌款方策而出臺。籌辦之初,户部將浮費轉化爲正項的初衷大致得到實現。咸豐三年以降,由於太平天國戰爭的影響,海運基本喪失了籌補倉儲、庫儲之機能。另一方面,從河運到海運,漕務最基本的環節——州縣一級的收支未能釐清與規範,故以海運革除漕弊之設想難有成效。無論是倉儲抑或漕務層面,道咸之際的漕糧海運均未産生實質性的影響。這是由於,户部、督撫關注的只是中央與地方之間漕糧收入的分配格局,他們無意從最基本的環節入手,改革漕糧制度。

In the middle of the 19 thcentury,the grain tribute system of the Qing Dynasty experienced striking change that most grain tribute was shipped to Beijing by sea rather than by the Grand Canal. In 1847 and 1851,as a result of financial difficulties,the central government initiated sea transport of grain tribute as a policy to raise money and grain. At the turn of Daoguang and Xianfeng periods,this invention proved fruitful,and various surcharges were transformed into central government's grain tax. But after 1853,ravaged by the Taiping Rebellion,sea transport as a fundraising policy ceased to function. It should be noted that the provincial official was also unable to rebuild the grain tax structure at zhou(州)and xian(縣)level. Viewed from this perspective,in the mid 19 thcentury,sea transport of grain tribute failed. That was because the Board of Revenue and the provincial government merely concentrated on short term separation of grain tax.They had no interest in producing fundamental effects on the fiscal administration of local governments.