清代南部县盐厘首事刍议

The Discussion on the Supervisor of Salt Li of Nanbu County in Qing Dynasty

首事在清代乡村社会中极为常见,盐厘首事即为其中之一种。盐厘首事因征收盐厘而设,其选任有严格的限制,多为绅商和灶户代表,主要的任务为盐厘的征收和申解。由于各种原因,按期完成任务对盐厘首事而言十分困难。随着时间的发展,盐厘首事不法行为愈来愈多,盐厘亏挪拖欠情况越来越严重,以至于政府不得不对盐厘事务进行改革,特别是设立盐厘局,以加强对盐厘首事的管束,却无法根除其弊。

Supervisor was an ordinary job in the countryside in Qing Dynasty and supervisor of salt Li was one of the kind. The salt Li supervisor was set for the imposition of salt Li. The appointment had strict demands and were mainly for gentry-merchant and salt cooker representative. The main job of the supervisor was to impose salt Li, however, it was very difficult for them to complete the assignment for many reasons. As time went by, more and more illegal acts of salt Li supervisor appeared and the deficit, misappropriation and payment delay of salt Li were getting more serious, so that the government had to carry out reform on the salt Li. The salt Li bureau was set to strength the control of supervisor but cannot eradicate its disadvantages.