因“势”“利”导:李鸿章与近代早期湖北煤铁的开采

Guided by“Situation”and“Benefit”:Li Hongzhang and Coal and Iron Mining in Hubei in Early Modern Times

19世纪70年代,李鸿章、盛宣怀等人在湖北用西法开采煤铁,直接源于洋务企业对煤铁资源的迫切需求,根本上则在于清廷对国际形“势”的新判断,既是其抢先控制战略资源、抵御列强军事威胁的应急之举,也寄托着其开辟利源、借“利”生“势”的远期考量。李、盛主张通过煤铁自给维护经济利权,将“利导”作为“话语”论证西法开矿的合理性,隐含了其借洋务成绩提升政治权力的功利心态。他们用经由洋矿师的勘矿报告等途径获得的矿产新知识指导实践,采取了“先煤后铁、土法先行”等措施应对资金、人才缺乏诸问题。为减弱机器开矿对地方经济—社会生态的冲击,李、盛以“动之以利、结之以义、控之以势”为原则,逐渐摸索出一套对地方利益的补偿机制。

In the 1870s,Li Hongzhang,Sheng Xuanhuai and other celebrities introduced western methods to mine coal and iron in Hubei province.The direct reason for this activity was urgent demand of resources from westernized enterprises.Fundamentally speaking,it resulted from Qing court’s judgment on the international“situation”.It was a contingency move to control strategic resources and resist foreign military threats.The government hoped to gain more profit by applying western methods,so as to become powerful in the long run.Li and Sheng advocated the economical“benefit”of introducing western methods,which also reflected their utilitarian mentality of strengthening the political power of their own.Li and Sheng implemented their ideas with new knowledge of minerals obtained from the prospecting reports of foreign miners,and adopted strategies such as“coal mining first,indigenous methods first”to cope with the lack of funds and talents.A compensation mechanism was gradually formed to reduce the impact of machine mining on the local society and economy.