赫德和晚清蚊子船订造中的佣金惯例

Robert Hart and Commission Practices in Building Rendel Gunboats during the Late Qing Dynasty

19世纪70年代,赫德主持购买的蚊子船是晚清政府第一次向西方造船厂直接订造军舰。赫德通过金登干了解到厂商支付代理人佣金的惯例和准确的价格情报,通过利用和违反相关惯例争取到了最低的购船价格,节省了宝贵的外汇。同时,这次订造活动也为晚清政府在舰船采购中防止经手官员接受佣金起到了积极的示范作用。

In the 1870s, the Rendel gunboats purchased under the charge of Hart were the cus-tomized warships that the Qing government bought from the western shipyard for the first time. Hart came to know the commission paid by the shipyard to the agent and the accurate price information in the trade through Campbell. Then he managed to obtain the lowest price by exploiting and even violating relevant practices, saving precious foreign exchanges for the Qing Government. At the same time, the purchase of Rendel Gunboats also set a good example in preventing Chinese officials from accepting commissions in procurement of warships during the late Qing Dynasty.