盐与权:清代的盐店与州县场镇社会

Salt and Power:Salt Shops and the Society of Counties and Towns in the Qing Dynasty

清代官盐运销市场中的基层经营性组织,随着“认地行盐制”的确立而形成“总店—子店”的层级结构。顺治至雍正年间,各销区州县的盐商凭借朝廷授予的特许经营权,在中间集镇、基层集镇广设盐店,建立食盐贸易的市场壁垒。至清中叶,许多资本不继的州县盐店为维持经营,纷纷采取“出典”盐引或将“引地”作股招商的办法,吸引民间资本投资高回报、高风险的官盐贸易。嘉道以后,地方社会日益动荡,州县盐店为降低风险,更多地运用“非市场”的办法维持垄断经营,即以缉私为名大举招募武装巡丁,积极介入地方事务,成为影响地方社会进程的重要势力。因此,清代州县盐店不仅是垄断官盐销卖市场的商业机构,还是基层市场社区中“威霸一方”的权力组织。

In the Qing Dynasty,the grass-roots operating organizations in the official salt distribution market formed a hierarchical structure of“head office-branch”with the establishment of the business monopoly system.From Shunzhi to Yongzheng years,relying on the concession rights granted by the imperial court,salt merchants in various counties set up salt shops in intermediate market towns and grassroots market towns to establish market barriers for salt trade.In the middle of the Qing Dynasty,many salt shops with unsustainable capital have adopted the method of selling salt sales licenses(yin)or using designated salt sales places(yin di)as shares to recruit merchants to attract private capital to invest in high-return,high-risk official salt trade in order to maintain their operations.After the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns,local society became increasingly turbulent.In order to reduce risks,the prefecture and county salt shops made more use of“non-market”methods to maintain monopoly operations,that is,in the name of anti-smuggling,they recruited armed patrolmen on a large scale and actively intervened in local affairs,becoming an important force influencing the local social process.Therefore,the salt shop in the Qing Dynasty was not only a commercial organization that monopolized the sale of official salt,but also a powerful organization in the grassroots market community.