清乾嘉两朝盐商捐输数额新考

A New Study on the Donation Amount of Salt Merchants during the Qianlong-Jiaqing Reigns

乾嘉两朝是清代盐商捐输最为踊跃的时期。既有研究主要根据盐法志统计两淮等5个盐区的盐商捐输数额,对不同盐区捐输差异的原因未做解释。本文主要根据档案资料补充大量数据,统计乾隆朝盐商捐输数额约3 936.3万两、嘉庆朝约6 857.6万两,其中嘉庆朝的数额是以往研究结果的两倍以上。通过不同类型史料的对比,本文认为,由于不同盐区商人资本差异悬殊,在清代内地11个盐区中,两淮、两浙、长芦、山东、两广等五区盐商是乾嘉两朝的捐输主体,河东、福建两区盐商偶有捐输,四川、云南、陕甘、奉天等四区盐商并未捐输。盐商捐输款项难以按期缴纳的情况出现于乾隆末年,至嘉庆朝成为常态,反映出至此捐输已成为盐商的沉重负担。作为捐输的绝对主力,两淮盐商在乾隆朝的捐输约2 893.3万两、嘉庆朝约5 360.7万两,其中政府先后减免未完捐输银120万两、514万余两。嘉庆朝的统计数据远超以往,不仅有助于重新认识嘉庆朝盐商捐输对国家财政的补充作用,也为理解清中期盐商——尤其是两淮盐商——没落的时间节点、原因等关键问题提出新的思考。

Qianlong and Jiaqing Era were the periods when salt merchants donated most enthusiastically in Qing Dynasty.Existing related studies mainly count the amount of donations from salt merchants in five salt divisions according to the Yanfa Zhi,but do not explain the reasons for the differences of donations in different salt divisions.According to the archives,this paper supplements a large amount of records,which show that the amount in the Qianlong reign is about 39.363 million taels of silver,while that in the Jiaqing reign is about 68.576 million taels.The latter is more than twice what people thought in the past.After comparing different historical materials,this paper holds the following view,due to the great differences in financial resources of salt merchants,among the 11 salt divisions in China proper during the Qing Dynasty,salt merchants in Lianghuai,Liangzhe,Changlu,Shandong and Liangguang were the main donors in the Qianlong and Jiaqing reign;In addition,salt merchants in Hedong and Fujian made occasional donations,while salt merchants in Sichuan,Yunnan,Shaanxi,Gansu and Mukden(Fengtian)did not.It was difficult for salt merchants to pay their donations on time at the end of the Qianlong reign,and it became the norm in the Jiaqing reign,which reflected that donations had become a heavy burden for salt merchants.As the main force of donations,salt merchants from Lianghuai donated about 28.933 million taels in the Qianlong reign,and the government reduced 1.2 million,while they donated about53.607 million taels in the Jiaqing reign,and the government reduced 5.14 million taels.The amount of donations from salt merchants in the Jiaqing reign far exceeded the previous scholars’imagination,which not only helps to re-understand the supplementary role of salt merchants’donations in the Jiaqing reign to the state finance,but also puts forward new thoughts for understanding the key issues such as the time node and reasons of the decline of salt merchants,especially salt merchants in Lianghuai,in the middle Qing Dynasty.