清末禁烟时期的鸦片专卖

On the Opium Monopoly in the Opium-Banning Period of Late Qing

鸦片专卖是清末财政扩张的重要途径。各省为筹措赔款和练兵经费,以禁烟为名,注重调查海外各地的鸦片专卖经验,以举办专卖为急务,借此弥补土药统税制度给地方财政带来的损失,为地方财政拓展空间。部分朝臣出于各种目的对地方专卖的要求给予支持,有关部门也积极介入其中。然而,掌管清廷财政而且圣眷甚隆的度支部尚书载泽,注重推行中央财政集权,维持鸦片统税制度,屡次否决地方省份的专卖请求,鸦片专卖的筹划一波三折,地方省份的专卖请求最终被度支部所阻止。这一事件折射出中央与地方关系在清末新政时期的恶变趋势。

The opium monopoly was an important approach to the financial accumulation of Late Qing.To collect the indemnities and the military training funds and at the same time compensate for the losses of local finances as a result of the unitary opium taxation,every province paid attention to investigating the foreign experience of the opium monopoly and regarded the opium monopoly,in the name of banning opium,as an urgent task.Out of many considerations,some court officials gave support to the proposal of opium monopoly and a few departments also actively intervened in this affair.However,the Minister of Finance Zai Ze,who held the financial power and was regarded highly by the emperor,put emphasis on the centralization of national financial power by maintaining the unitary opium taxation and time and again vetoed the monopoly applications from the provinces.Thus the opium monopoly plan was full of twists and turns and the monopoly applications from the provinces were at last obstructed by the Ministry of Finance.This event reflected the worsening relations between the central and local authorities during the reformation period of the Jate Qing.