明代九边十三镇的月粮折价与粮价关系考释

The Relations between Yueliang's Converted Price in the Thirteen Military Bases in North Frontier and the Grain Price during the Ming Dynasty

明代边镇军士月粮,按制度规定,必须照时价折银。而从当时边镇非灾荒、虏患时期的粮价以及月粮售价、军士对月粮折价认可度等方面考察,明代月粮折价反映的是边镇正常年份的粮价状况。边镇月粮折银有例折价、常折价、临时调整折价三种类型,其中例折价与常折价反映的是各边镇粮食价格的平价或常价,临时调整折价反映的是个别年份的价格。根据边镇月粮折价梯级分布的特点看,明代边镇并没有形成统一的粮食市场,这符合当时陆运成本极高的市场分割原则。在明代北方的普遍情形是,1市石等于1.67仓石(标准石),故按市石计量的北方及边镇粮价显得很高,以至于普遍认为北方粮价高于南方,这可能是个误区。

Regulated by the system, that soldiers in the frontier military bases converted their Yueliang to silver was based on the current price. Investigated the grain prices in north frontier military bases during the period without famine or invasion, the Yueliang＇s selling price, the degree of recognition on Yueliang＇s converted price in soldiers mind and other various aspects, we could find that Yueliang＇s converted price in the Ming dynasty reflected the grain price in the frontier military bases during the usual period. In the bases, converting Yueliang to silver had three types, which called case price converting, usual price converting and temporarily adjusted price converting. The former two mirrored the usual grain price in the frontier military bases, while the latter one reflected the grain price in some special years. Yueliang＇s converted price presented as a kind of ladder distributior. And in the light of this characteristic, the frontier military bases had not formed a unified grain market iri the Ming dynasty,which conformed to the principle of market segmentation when the land transportation costs were extremely high, During the Ming dynasty, 1 shidan was equal to 1.67 cangdan（standard dan）in northern China. Therefore, grain price in the North and frontier military bases measured in shidan was higher on the surface. That leaded to the common view that grain price in northern China was much higher than the South,which might be a misunderstanding.