清代两淮盐业首总考

Research on the Head of Salt Industry in Huainan and Huaibei Regions in Qing Dynasty

清代两淮盐业于总商中,曾设首总,至迟起于乾隆中期,止于道光二年。首总之设,本便于盐运,盐臣不需要上报,任期也无限制。因嘉庆十年发生抬高盐价事件,遂于十一年规定,佥任首总需上报,任期三年。先有“两淮首总”之称,代表两淮盐商,后出现“淮北首总”,代表淮北盐商;原先的“两淮首总”之称亦逐渐变为“淮南首总”。两淮首总、淮南首总先后共有8任,其中黄至筠先后两次出任,实际为7人,分属6家商号;其中洪箴远为商号,具体人名暂无考。

The position, head of salt industry in Huai River Regions in Qing Dynasty was set up in the middle of Emperor Qian Long Period and then was abandoned in the second year of Emperor Daoguang. Its original purpose was to simplify the transportation of salt with no need of report and limitation of office term. However, due to the incident of raising salt price in the 10th year of Emperor Jiaqing, it gave birth to the regulation that the appointment must be reported with three years of term of office. In the history, the title, head of two Huai River region, stood for salt merchants in Huai River region, and the following Head of North Huai River Region was for those in the northern part of the region. Therefore, the original Head turned into Head of South Huai River Region. In total, there were eight successors, among which Huang Zhi-yun took the position twice, so only seven persons from six salt establishments took the place, among which Hong Jian-yuan was the name of salt establishments, but the specific person is still unknown.