“爪牙”亦“商贾”:晚清巴县财政运作中的书吏债务

“Talons and Teeth”as Merchants:The Clerk's Debts in the Operation of Baxian Governmental Finance in the Late CQing Dynasty

本文利用州县司法档案,以重庆府巴县为案例,考察晚清县衙书吏的经营活动与财税运作之间的关系。晚清四川的地丁加征为地方政府债务的形成创生了空间。书吏利用其所有的或能够施加影响的钱铺、商号,作为县衙策动公共资金的融资工具。在这一过程中,书吏的私人产业与公共资金融混在一起,既加剧了税款流失的可能,亦为其个人招致赔补风险。这使得书吏内部发展出基于抵御风险及短期资金需求的“合伙(朋参)”机制。本文描绘了19世纪后期一个与科层组织相嵌生的商业性“场域”是如何参与到政府财政活动中来的,以及地方政府是如何处理由此引发的借贷、债务及信用问题。

This article investigates the relationship between the clerks'business activities and the operation of county governmental finance in Late Qing Dynasty through the county judicial archives by the case of Baxian,Chongqing.The increased levies in Sichuan created the space for the formation of county government debts.The clerks used their private business or the money shops under control as financing tools to collect public funds for the county government.The clerks'private properties were mixed with public funds,which not only increased the possibility of tax loss,but also incurred their own risks of compensation.A partnership called“Pengcan(朋参)”was developed by clerks based on risk resistance and short-term capital needs.This article intends to illustrate how a commercial field embedded in bureaucratic organization participated in the governmental financial activities,and how the local government dealt with the resultant loans,debts,and credit in the late 19th century.