西汉时期武功爵制及其“类国债”职能

武功爵制是西汉武帝时期为缓解财政支用不足而专门设立的新爵制度。政府对该种爵制作出有别于传统军功爵的政策安排,允许中下级爵位获得者自行寻求变现。在一定时期内,武功爵在弥补政府支出不足上的确发挥“国债”作用,即将短期内需要大量支付的赏赐支出转化为可以在长期以爵位收益进行偿还的政府债务,为西汉政府解决短期的财政困难提供缓冲时间。但是,由于在爵位交易中存在着不对称信息以及缺乏长效的制度建设,武功爵逐渐成为西汉政府将战争成本转嫁至爵位持有者的手段。

论明代前期白银的“双轨”流通及其内涵

学界并不熟知明代前期白银的流通状况,实际上可将其归纳为一种因政策阻隔的"双轨"流通状态:在制度层面的"公领域",政府在极力维持并重申"禁银"政策的同时,在宝钞兑换、赋役课税等诸多领域单向折收白银,赏赐、采办等也不乏行用白银。在民间社会的"私领域",白银在不少经济发达之地,首先呈现为一种基准计价手段,其后随着宝钞的急速贬值、实物型经济体制的推进等,又与黄金、布帛、米麦等构成了多种通货并存的混杂流通状态,屡禁难止。综合言之,明代前期白银的"双轨"性流通虽显得广泛,但内涵却极为有限:在"公领域",它仅是实物劳役型财政体制下诸多折色物中的一种,与布帛、丝绢、米麦、黄金等实物区别不大;在私领域,它也仅是多元通货中的一种,属于并非先进的民间实物货币范畴。无论是对于财政体制还是民间经济而言,白银的流通状况折射出明前期浓厚的实物主义特征。

明清铜钱流通体制的式微与重整

明中后叶形成的银钱并行格局一直延续至清代,但相同的货币格局下,两朝政府对钱法的管理能力却显现出很大的区别:明朝自成化弘治时期(1465—1505年)以后强力疏通钱法、屡开铸局挽救铜钱流通体制,然效果甚微,明晚期私钱泛滥、铜钱价值紊乱、银进钱退、铜钱流通范围大幅缩小,政府几近丧失对货币市场的干预能力;反观清朝,铸钱制度有序开展,钱价围绕官价上下波动、较为稳定。铜钱流通突破明代“行钱之地”的局限,出现广泛的“钱进银退”现象。政府对货币市场的干预能力相对较强。明清铜钱流通体制从式微到重整的转变原因在于明清商品经济既有基础不同,市场组织力量存在差异,民间对于小额通货的需求不断上升,以及最为关键的原因是清廷强有力的货币政策。

价值基准的深化与离散:再论明清以降的虚银两制度

虚银两制度是银两史研究的重难点问题。作为一种制度,虚银两有效运行的背后存在一套由各类金融机构、商人组织操持运行的制度构架。虚银两在晚清时期大量涌现,实际是白银价值基准日益深化发展的产物:从官方“纹银”标准到不同库平银两的出现,说明政府财政领域的各种平制与银色标准的有机结合;民间社会除“纹银”“足银”标准外,另有纷繁多样的地方诸色银两,它们与地方差异化的平制结合形成更为多元的地方虚银标准,而不同的兑制反映着行业和地域习惯的差别。近代虚银两标准虽有地域局部统一的趋势,然与西欧国家逐渐成形的本位制度以及“一国一币”的主权货币制度所呈现的信用聚合特质相比,虚银两与白银的价值基准演化路径,具有离散特点。

转向“白银时代”:明宣德至景泰时期的赋役折银与公私用银的发展

对于明代社会是何时以及如何转向"白银时代"这个问题,学界进行了十分有益的探索,通过史料分析,对明宣德(1426～1435)至景泰(1450～1457)年间赋役折银以及公私用银问题进行系统分析和论证。近来研究表明,宣德前期的皂隶折银作为徭役折银与均徭制度改革之先导,不仅规模庞大,而且源于官僚阶层对于自身利益的追求。正统初年,源于官俸支给困难出台的南方税粮折银政策,扩大了此前的临时改折则例,为白银财政的建立提供条件。更为重要的是,正统景泰时期沟通底层白银流通与国家赋役制度折银的改革不仅进一步发展,且在更广阔范围内,由于军事供应的压力及政府的主导,白银逐步被调拨至北边边镇地区,呈现出跨越南北地区一体流通行用的局面,促进着贡赋银经济的形成。此时期的民间交易市场,白银也日益崛起,不仅从明初多种通货并行的局面下脱颖而出,且逐步占据主导地位;在财政领域,白银行用的范围不断扩展,在籴米备边、召商买粮、开中事例、赈济灾荒、俸钞禄米、商税课程等领域都显现白银的身影。公私用银的急速发展表明中国社会转向"白银时代"的趋势越发明显。

北宋交子新论——纪念官交子诞生一千年

北宋四川交子的出现是金融史上的里程碑,学界对其研究积累甚厚,但仍有再探索的空间。交子的发展先后经历了私交子和官交子两大阶段。在私交子演化的过程中,交子逐步从商业票据蜕变成正式货币,不仅建立起适应市场需求的弹性发行机制,其资产、负债直接作用于商业经济,这有助于商业资本的积累,符合金融史的普遍逻辑。然而,私交子被整顿为官交子后,私交子户系统不仅被完全替代,且作用于商业经济的正向逻辑逐渐被塑造为主体服务于政府财政融资,堪称是金融史上的“另途”,这深刻影响了其后纸币演化的方向。交子被引介至西北地区,实质是在收兑发行机制下投放渠道的拓宽,并逐渐形成了财政发行的新机制。相较于传统其他纸币,这是一种独特的外部因缘拓展方式。官交子中的“天圣旧制”虽不乏众多优点,然难以有效应对发行机制拓宽、纸币增发带来的担保资产不足,以及货币市场动态变化引致的铁钱数量下降等难题。而且,管理模式的机械刚性,不仅使得交子发行难以有效根据市场的需求进行弹性调整,且在主体为财政融资的纸币发行背景下,该模式的崩溃和调整有了内在驱动力。南宋时期赵开新法下的钱引新模式因相当程度解决资产手段不足,灵活调度各种资源,适用了纸币巨量发行而又一定程度维持纸币的价值,从而开辟了宋代纸币发展的新方向。这一系列制度演化的逻辑,无不折射出宋代交子作为传统纸币先导的特性。

宋明时期货币分区流通的形成与运行机制比较——以四川、北边为例

宋明两代均形成了多元货币分区行用的格局,两宋在中央政府主导调控下先后形成了四川、西北以及江北等特殊货币区;除北边货币区外,明代国家在货币制度长期缺失下主要由市场主导衍生出“行钱之地”“非行钱之地”“行银之地”等货币区。宋明货币区的衍生与运行机制存在重要差异,以四川、北边为例可得以说明。在四川地区,宋朝为建立货币缓冲地带、掠夺川地财富,依靠政策将四川由铜铁兼行区转变为铁钱区;明朝在四川则形成了以“茴银”为主的多元实物货币区,背后更多的是市场力量所致。在北方边境地区,面对巨量军事需求,宋明两朝虽然都通过投放大量货币形成特殊货币区,但维系与运行的机制存在重要差异。宋朝在西北地区积极引入市场机制与信用制度维持本地铸行的铁钱的信用,并将铁钱嵌入区域内外的货币信用体系中,形成相对稳定的循环机制;明朝在北方边镇地区并没有形成内部稳定的货币循环机制与信用机制,而是通过单向而持续的外部白银注入来维持白银和多元实物货币分层行用的格局。宋明货币分区运行机制的差异折射出宋明王朝社会经济运作理念与运行方式的差异。

十六至十九世纪中日货币流通制度演进路径的分流

16—19世纪中日两国货币流通制度的演进路径发生两次重要分流。第一次分流发生在16世纪中下叶以降,从货币发行管理权的视角看,中国是“主导权下移”,表现为自下而上的货币称量银化,以及政府货币发行权动摇、弱化了对核心货币的管理干预能力;日本则是“主导权上移”,表现为幕府建立了政府主导的金银铜三货制度,有能力多次改铸货币、调节货币流通市场。19世纪下半叶,中日两国在建立近代货币金融体制的过程中呈现出更明显的分流。中国货币金融制度不但发展迟缓,而且呈现出混乱不堪的局面,货币主权遭遇严重侵蚀;日本较早且较顺利地建立起近代货币金融制度,确立了国家货币主权。这不仅影响了中日两国的历史命运,也彰显了国家金融能力的传统特质对构建近代金融体制的深层次作用,折射出历史遗产的路径依赖对于制度变迁的深层影响。

国家“救市”与货币转型——明中叶国家货币制度领域与民间市场上的白银替代

在海外白银大量流入中国前,称量银已在明中叶的中国社会渐成广泛流通之势,这首先应归因于国家货币制度和祖例政策的接连失败,但其背后有着显见的市场机制。正统中后期,在经历了之前政府的大力救钞举措后,宝钞在低值层面稍有起色,但正景之际的政治变乱严重冲击了宝钞体制。与此同时,铜钱与实物货币实际并主要支撑着基层的市场交易。然而,明廷囿于祖宗成例依然限制并打压铜钱,国家认可的制度性货币逐步陷于真空状态。随着商业的恢复和市场的拓展,长期通货紧缩的局面无法避免。面对市场上通货不足的局面,国家与市场俱做出了反应。国家"救市"的做法为:先解禁铜钱,而后整顿钱钞法,禁止私铸,乃至不断重开铸局,却连连受挫。市场的反应则步步先于国家:民间挑拣私铸之风很早兴起,物价逐步抬升,继而私铸钱泛滥成灾、难以禁治。劣币竞择的格雷欣法则现象在景泰至嘉靖时期的中国社会达到了极致性的呈现。最终,源于民间的稳定通货白银因需求进入市场,形成"良币驱逐劣币"之势。行钱地区多出现"银进钱退"的现象,但并未完全替代铜钱;未行钱地区,白银及多种实物货币充斥。货币流通在地域上依然呈现分割化、细碎化等欠深度整合特点。

战争、市场与国家：正统景泰之际通货流通体制的变迁

明代正统景泰之际的通货流通体制经历了由微入显的变迁过程:首先,历经信用制度转型且为国家体制强力支撑的法定货币宝钞,因土木之变等战乱因素冲击,愈加难以为继,彰显了明初货币体制运转的困境。其次,自洪武末年一直被禁行用的铜钱在此前后不断突破禁令,逐步在大运河一线及沿海的商贸地带广泛恢复流通,迫使政府不得不放开钱禁,昭示了市场力量的自发崛起。最后,因财政体制转型所需与民间稳定通货缺乏等因素,白银稳步崛起,开启了中国"白银时代"的重要转向,预示着货币转型的可能发展方向。此一时期通货流通体制的变迁堪称明代纷繁曲折的货币转型的先声。

基准转移、结构嵌入与信用离散——近世货币变迁中的白银问题

元明以降,白银逐步成为举国上下的基准货币,深度影响着中国社会经济的演进路径。围绕白银货币化至货币白银化的历史源起、动态过程、促动机理及影响评价等问题,学界存有广泛争议。本文认为在宋金元时期白银货币化向货币白银化的演进过程中,中国货币体系经历了“铜钱基准”的陵夷并转向“白银基准”的内在变动过程。宋金时期白银在“铜钱基准体系”中的作用不断上升,金元之际白银价值基准地位初步确立,为明代货币白银化的出现提供了条件。明代白银通过均则折纳、加耗、折价等形式成规模并结构性地嵌入贡赋体制,并与民间市场上的白银替代一道形成了难以逆转的货币白银化态势。对于中国以银为核心基准的近世货币结构而言,结合信用制度的角度可以看出,在西欧新兴国家信用日益聚合的趋势下,中国社会呈现出信用离散的特征。国家信用层级的缺失、金融技术与构架的迟滞及称量银本身所致的信用外在化、记账单位的紊乱是其最明显的表征,中西方金融体制在信用层面发生日益显见的分流。

清代“东钱”问题再探

清代东钱作为一种极具特点的地域性货币,最早来源于明末“行钱之地”所用的旧小实钱,其行用范围包含直隶东部26县、奉天全境、吉林大部分地区、黑龙江、蒙古以及山西部分地区。东钱称谓在民间形成较早,而官方称为“小数钱”。经过不断发展,东钱最终确立了制钱165文左右兑换小数钱1000文的比价定制或惯例。从货币性质角度看,东钱的表现形式多样,短陌形式的虚拟钱法、纸券形式的官私凭帖、纸币钱票等不仅并存行用,还存在所谓制钱形式的“东钱”,需要仔细甄别和区分。

Evaluation of soil fertility of the shelter-forest land along the Tarim Desert Highway

To study the changes of soil fertility of the shelter-forest land along the Tarim Desert Highway, soils from the forest land were collected at the layers of 0―10 cm, 10―20 cm, 20―30 cm. Different soil fertility parameters were measured, and quantitative evaluation of soil fertility was performed by the soil integrated fertility index (IFI). The main results show that the construction of the shelter forest along the Tarim Desert Highway improved the soil physical structure, increased soil porosity and enhanced wa- ter-holding capacity. With the increase of plantation time of the shelter forest, soil microbial biomass C, N, P and the activities of six types of enzyme were enhanced, which promoted the accumulation and transformation of soil nutrients of the forest land. Consequently, the soil nutrients in 12-year-old forest land were much higher than in the newer ones and drifting sand. However, soil salt content of the older forest land was higher owing to the drip-irrigation with salt water. Through the comprehensive evalua- tion, we found that soil fertility index in the forest land was enhanced with the forest age, and it had close correlations with the growth indices of the forest trees. In summary, construction of the shelterforest along the Tarim Desert Highway accelerated the improvement of aeolian soil in the forest land, and the soil fertility improved year by year. We conclude that the forest trees grow normally under the stress of the present drip-irrigation with salt water.

Classification and regionalization of the forming environment of windblown sand disasters along the Tarim Desert Highway

Through the systematic field survey and observations, the factor quantification as well as setting the criteria, the sand disaster-forming environment along the Tarim Desert Highway can be divided into four grades by the classification and regionalization based on fuzzy mathematics. The length of the regions with significant sand disaster accounted for 37.1% of the total highway length. Particularly, the area along the Tarim Desert Highway, based on the sand disaster-forming environment classification as well as the difference in the five basic landform units along the highway, combined with the difference of wind regime, can be divided into five regions, in which the length of the regions suffering severe sand damage occupied 64.3% of the total highway length. In addition, the index of disaster formation grade along the highway decreased from north to south, showing a repeated spatial pattern in small length scales.

Comprehensive eco-environmental effects of the shelter-forest ecological engineering along the Tarim Desert Highway

In this work, we report a comprehensive study about the eco-environmental effects of the shelter forest along the Tarim Desert Highway, including the effects on aeolian environment, soil, micro-climate, biodiversity, and groundwater. The results show that: (1) The movement of windblown sand near the ground surface was affected by the shelter forest. The wind speed and sediment transport rate in the shelter forest decreased by 64%―80% and 87.45%―99.02%, respectively. In addition, there were also significant changes in the sand flux structure, the sand grain size, and the deflation and deposition on the ground surface. (2) Compared to the natural mobile sand, the soil bulk density in the forest area decreased while the total salt content, the total porosity, and the water content increased. In addition, the soil fertility was significantly improved in the forest area, and showed the "first rapid, then slow" variation pattern. (3) The shelter forest showed positive effects on the micro-climate. Within the 6 m height above the ground, the air temperature in the shelter forest at different heights was lower than that in the mobile sand, while the air humidity was higher, while, the soil temperature was also lower in the shelter forest than mobile sand. (4) The number of soil microbial species increased significantly with the improvement of habitat in the shelterbelt. However, the population of different species was not distributed evenly across the surveyed area. (5) Currently, no significant effects of groundwater-pumping and forest-irrigation water have been found on the groundwater level and its salinity. The variation amplitude of both groundwater level and salinity was at the level of centimeters and 1g/L, respectively. No obvious variation trend has been observed.

The salt accumulation at the shifting aeolian sandy soil surface with high salinity groundwater drip irrigation in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert

The EC analysis and water serial sampling was performed in the Tarim Desert Highway shelterbelt to explore the water and salt dynamics of the shallow aeolian sandy soil ( 0-30cm) under high salinity groundwater drip irrigation. It was found that in one irrigation cycle, the EC of the shallow shifting aeolian sandy soil ( 0-30cm) increased while the water content decreased. The EC of the surface aeolian sandy soil at the wetting front was far greater than that of the wetting area or the outside of the wetting area. During the irrigation cycle, the EC of the wetting front and the wetting area changed at a significant magnitude, whereas the EC of the outside of the wetting area remained largely steady. The horizontal influence distance of drip irrigation on the salt accumulation at the soil surface was about 100 cm, and the vertical influence depth was 5 cm. The three most abundant ions in the accumulated salt at the aeolian sandy soil surface were Na+, Cl- and SO42-. The salt accumulation at the soil surface was influenced by air temperature, wind speed, mineralization of irrigation water, sand burial thickness, soil texture, and litter content.

Site type classification for the shelter-forest ecological project along the Tarim Desert Highway

Site types of the afforestation region of the shelter-forest ecological project along the Tarim Desert Highway were classified based on the natural conditions and windblown sand damages. The extremely severe environment, the irrigation with saline water, and large-scale linear project makes this classification of site types most unique and significant. It adopted a three-level classification system integrating the dominant factors and restrictive factors in regard to their impacts on plant survival and growth as well as on the protective property. Six site type districts were classified based on the medium-scale geomorphic unit, the windblown sand damages, and the major production facilities; 21 site type groups were obtained according to the small-scale geomorphic type, terrain, and wind regime; 36 site types were further classified based on the salt contents of the underground water and soil types. Especially, in this study, spatial distribution of the six site type districts along the desert highway is continuous, which is unique and different from that of most other classifications. In addition, the salt-stress tolerance threshold of the main afforestation plant species to underground water have been set to 8 g/L and 15 g/L according to selective breeding tests and the salinity spatial distribution of the underground water. Thus, the underground water with salinity lower than 8 g/L is defined as light saline water in this area.

The effect of salt stress on the chlorophyll level of the main sand-binding plants in the shelterbelt along the Tarim Desert Highway

Based on the fact that only high saline water irrigated to the shelterbelt along the Tarim Desert Highway, the experiment about three species with six degree of salinity was carried out to analyze the relation between chlorophyll content and salt stress. The results show that: (1) the chlorophyll content of tree species decreases with aggravating the salt stress, which explains that salt stress can affect chlorophyll accumulation of three plants; (2) from chlorophyll content with different salinity, the chlorophyll content of three shrubs also has twice obvious decrease, which indicates that some plants adapt to salt stress. We divided salt resistance of the plant into three grades, namely the slight salt resistance, the heavy salt resistance and the extreme salt resistance; and (3) according to the experimental results, the salt stress of each plant was divided, which can provide theoretical guidance for constructing the shelterbelt along the Tarim Desert Highway.

Topographical changes of ground surface affected by the shelterbelt along the Tarim Desert Highway

To study the effects of sand protection project on modern aeolian landform, the types, distribution, and intensity of topographical changes of the ground surface affected by the shelterbelt along the Tarim Desert Highway were determined by measuring the deflation and deposition of sand surface in the Tazhong area located in the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert. The results showed that (1) the newly-formed landform in sand protection systems is dominated by aeolian deposition including the small-scale Nabkha Dunes, the medium-scale sheet-like sand deposition and the large-scale ridge-like sand deposition. To some degree, aeolian deflation landform can also be formed in the open space in the shelterbelt. Furthermore, it is difficult for aeolian deflation landform to develop in a large scale in the interdunes. However, aeolian deflation landform can be developed in a large-scale on the windward slope of secondary dunes in longitudinal complex sand ridges; (2) on the windward side of the sand protection systems, both the morphology and strike of dwarf mobile dunes in the interdunes are changed by the sand-obstructing forest belts and the ridge-like sand deposition around it. The wind- ward slope of the ridge-like deposition around the sand-obstructing forest belt forms a stable ground surface. After being damaged by forward-moving dunes in a short period, the ground surface is re- covered gradually; (3) on the leeward side of the sand protection systems, aeolian deflations are formed widely. Particularly, the deflation depression is formed in the interdunes. In addition, the dunes in the region with highly topographic relief are cut flat by aeolian deflations; thereafter its relief of to- pography is reduced. The above analysis indicates that shelterbelts have obvious effects on the windward wind-sand flux in terms of dissipating energy and intercepting sand. With the recovery of wind velocity on the leeward side of the sand protection systems, the wind-sand flux gradually tends to be unsaturated; therefore the sand surface deflation is formed.

The dynamics variation of soil moisture of shelterbelts along the Tarim Desert Highway

We studied the variation of soil moisture as well as its regularity over the irrigation cycle at shelterbelts along the Tarim Desert Highway at different site types and different planting years. The results show that: (1) There is an obvious temporal variation of soil moisture within a typical irrigation period in shelterbelts along the Tarim Desert Highway, and the soil water storage varied linearly with the number of days after irrigation. Along the direction perpendicular to the soil top, the soil profile can be divided into four layers and each shows different dynamics of soil moisture variation, including the quickly changing layer (0—20 cm), the active layer (20—60 cm), the weakly layer (60—100 cm), and the regulated layer (under 100 cm). (2) Both the soil moisture and soil water content decreased gradually with the number of planting year, while the soil water deficit increased. It indicates that shelterbelts along the Tarim Desert Highway can retain the water accumulated from previous years. (3) The soil water storage of harden sand is the maximum among all types of sites. Specifically, it is about 1.58 times higher than that of longitudinal dune, 1.15 times higher than clay, and 1.43 times higher than flat sand. Its soil water deficit was over 900 mm.