Volume 48 Treatises 28: Finance and Economics 1

志第二十八食貨上

Treatise Twenty-Eight — Finance and Economics, Part One

高祖發跡太原，因晉陽宮留守庫物，以供軍用。既平京城，先封府庫，賞賜給用，皆有節制，征斂賦役，務在寬簡。未及逾年，遂成帝業。其後掌財賦者，世有人焉。開元已前，事歸尚書省，開元已後，權移他官。由是有轉運使、租庸使、鹽鐵使、度支鹽鐵轉運使、常平鑄錢鹽鐵使、租庸青苗使、水陸運鹽鐵租庸使、兩稅使，隨事立名，沿革不一。設官分職，選賢任能，得其人則有益於國家，非其才則貽患于黎庶，此又不可不知也。如裴耀卿、劉晏、李巽數君子，便時利物，富國安民，足為世法者也。

When Gaozu first rose in Taiyuan, he relied on the stores left by the Jinyang Palace quartermaster to equip his armies. Once the capital was secured, he sealed the imperial treasuries first; grants and expenditures were kept within bounds, and taxation and labor levies were kept light and simple. In less than a year he had secured the throne. Afterward, men competent in fiscal affairs were always at hand. Before the Kaiyuan reign, fiscal matters fell under the Department of State Affairs; afterward, power passed to other officials. There followed a succession of special offices — transport commissioners, zu-yong commissioners, salt-and-iron commissioners, and others down to the dual-tax commissioners — each created to meet a particular need, with titles and duties shifting over time. When offices are created and the right men appointed, the state prospers; when unfit men hold power, the people suffer. This lesson must not be forgotten. Men such as Pei Yaoting, Liu Yan, and Li Xun, who adapted policy to circumstance, enriched the treasury, and brought stability to the people, remain models worthy of emulation.

開元中，有御史宇文融獻策，括籍外剩田：色役偽濫，及逃戶許歸首，免五年征賦。每丁量稅一千五百錢，置攝御史，分路檢括隱審。得戶八十余萬，田亦稱是，得錢數百萬貫，玄宗以為能，數年間拔為御史中丞、戶部侍郎。融又畫策開河北王莽河，溉田數千頃，以營稻田，事未果而融敗。時又楊崇禮為太府卿，清嚴善勾剝，分寸錙銖，躬親不厭。轉輸納欠，折估漬損，必令征送。天下州縣征財帛，四時不止。及老病致仕，以其子慎矜為御史，專知太府出納。其弟慎名又專知京倉，皆以苛刻害人，承主恩而征責。又有韋堅，規宇文融、楊慎矜之跡，乃請于江淮轉運租米，取州縣義倉粟，轉市輕貨，差富戶押船，若遲留損壞，皆征船戶。關中漕渠，鑿廣運潭以挽山東之粟，歲四百萬石，帝以為能，又至貴盛。又王鉷進計，奮身自為戶口色役使，征剝財貨，每歲進錢百億，寶貨稱是。雲非正額租庸，便入百寶大盈庫，以供人主宴私賞賜之用。玄宗日益眷之，數年間亦為御史大夫、京兆尹、帶二十餘使。又楊國忠藉椒房之勢，承恩幸，帶四十餘使，雲經其聽覽，必數倍弘益，又見寵貴。太平既久，天下至安，人不願亂。而此數人，設詭計以侵擾之，凡二十五人，同為剝喪，而人無敢言之者。及安祿山反于范陽，兩京倉庫盈溢而不可名。楊國忠設計，稱不可耗正庫之物，乃使御史崔眾於河東納錢度僧、尼、道士，旬日間行錢百萬。玄宗幸巴蜀，鄭昉使劍南，請於江陵稅鹽麻以資國，官置吏以督之。肅宗建號于靈武，後用雲間鄭叔清為御史，于江淮間豪族富商率貸及賣官爵，以裨國用。德宗朝討河朔及李希烈，物力耗竭。趙贊司國計，纖瑣刻剝，以為國用不足，宜賦取於下，以資軍蓄。與諫官陳京等更陳計策，贊請稅京師居人屋宅，據其間架差等計入。陳京又請籍列肆商賈資產，以分數借之。宰相同為欺罔，遂行其計。中外沸騰，人懷怨望。時又配王公已下及嘗在方鎮之家出家僮及馬以助征行，公私囂然矣。後又張滂、裴延齡、王涯等，剝下媚上，此皆足為世戒者也。

During Kaiyuan, Investigating Censor Yuwen Rong proposed registering unreported surplus land, cracking down on fraudulent service exemptions, and allowing fugitive households to register without penalty and enjoy a five-year tax amnesty. Each adult male was assessed 1,500 cash; acting censors were dispatched along the routes to hunt down concealed households. He uncovered more than 800,000 households and a commensurate amount of land, yielding several million strings of cash. Xuanzong judged him capable and within a few years promoted him to vice censor-in-chief and vice minister of revenue. Rong also planned to reopen the Wang Mang River in Hebei to irrigate thousands of qing for rice cultivation, but the project never came to fruition before his downfall. At the same time Yang Chongli served as grand treasury intendant, renowned for his severity and skill at auditing accounts down to the last cash, which he pursued in person without tiring. Shortfalls in transport deliveries, reassessment losses, and spoilage — he always demanded full compensation. Prefectures and counties across the empire collected wealth and silks without pause through all four seasons. When age and illness forced his retirement, his son Shenjin was appointed investigating censor with sole charge of grand treasury receipts and disbursements. His younger brother Shenming took charge of the capital granaries; both brothers exploited imperial favor to levy harsh exactions that harmed the people. Wei Jian followed the example of Yuwen Rong and Yang Shenjin, proposing to transport rent grain from the Jiang-Huai, draw on county charity granaries, convert the grain to light goods, and assign wealthy households as guarantors for shipping — any delay or loss was charged to the shipowners. He excavated the Guangyun Pool on the Guanzhong transport canals to draw four million shi of grain annually from east of the mountains. The emperor praised his ability, and Wei rose to the highest wealth and rank. Wang Hong likewise offered schemes, taking the post of household and service-exemption commissioner himself to squeeze out wealth, presenting ten billion cash and comparable treasures to the throne each year. Funds outside the regular zu-yong quotas were funneled into the Hundred Treasures Great Surplus Treasury to finance the emperor's banquets, private indulgences, and largesse. Xuanzong's favor deepened daily; within a few years Wang was censor-in-chief, metropolitan governor of Jingzhao, and held more than twenty concurrent commissioner titles. Yang Guozhong, drawing on his ties to the empress's clan, enjoyed imperial favor and held more than forty commissioner posts; it was said that revenues passing through his hands multiplied several times over, and he too rose to wealth and high rank. After long peace the realm was profoundly settled, and the people had no wish for turmoil. Yet these men devised schemes to harass the people; twenty-five of them together plundered the realm, and none dared speak out. When An Lushan rebelled at Fanyang, the treasuries and granaries of both capitals were so full they could scarcely be counted. Yang Guozhong argued that the regular treasuries must not be touched and sent Investigating Censor Cui Zhong to Hedong to sell ordination certificates to monks, nuns, and Daoist priests — within ten days a million in cash changed hands. When Xuanzong fled to Ba-Shu, Zheng Fang was dispatched to Jiannan and proposed taxing salt and hemp at Jiangling to fund the state; officials were appointed to enforce the levy. Suzong proclaimed his reign at Lingwu and later appointed Zheng Shuqing of Yunjian as investigating censor to compel loans from wealthy Jiang-Huai merchants and sell offices and ranks to replenish the treasury. Under Dezong, campaigns against Hebei and Li Xilie drained the state's material resources. Zhao Zan oversaw state finances with petty, relentless exactions, arguing that revenues were insufficient and that the people must be taxed further to fill military coffers. Together with remonstrance officials including Chen Jing he proposed new schemes: Zhao Zan urged a tax on dwellings in the capital, assessed by beam spacing into graded categories. Chen Jing further proposed registering merchants' assets in the markets and compelling graded loans against them. The chief ministers colluded in the deception, and the schemes were implemented. Turmoil spread through court and country alike, and popular resentment ran high. The court also requisitioned male servants and horses from princes, dukes, and families with ties to regional commands to support the campaigns, throwing public and private affairs into chaos. Later men such as Zhang Pang, Pei Yanling, and Wang Ya plundered the people to curry favor above — each a warning for posterity.

先是興元克復京師後，府藏盡虛，諸道初有進奉，以資經費，復時有宣索。其後諸賊既平，朝廷無事，常賦之外，進奉不息。韋皋劍南有日進，李兼江西有月進。杜亞揚州、劉贊宣州、王緯李錡浙西，皆競為進奉，以固恩澤。貢入之奏，皆白臣於正稅外方圓，亦曰「羨餘」。節度使或托言密旨，乘此盜貿官物。諸道有謫罰官吏入其財者，刻祿廩，通津達道者稅之，蒔蔬藝果者稅之，死亡者稅之。節度觀察交代，或先期稅入以為進奉。然十獻其二三耳，其餘沒入，不可勝紀。此節度使進奉也。其後裴肅為常州刺史，乃鬻貨薪炭案牘，百賈之上，皆規利焉。歲餘又進奉。無幾，遷浙東觀察使。天下刺史進奉，自肅始也。劉贊死于宣州，嚴綬為判官，傾軍府資用進奉。無幾，拜刑部員外郎。天下判官進奉，自綬始也。習以為常，流宕忘返。

After the recovery of the capital at Xingyuan, the treasuries stood empty; circuits began sending presentation offerings to cover expenses, while the court continued to issue requisitions. Once the rebels were suppressed and the court was at peace, presentation offerings beyond regular taxes flowed without cease. Wei Gao of Jiannan sent daily offerings; Li Jian of Jiangxi sent monthly offerings. Du Ya at Yangzhou, Liu Zan at Xuanzhou, Wang Wei and Li Qi in western Zhejiang — all vied in presentation offerings to secure imperial favor. Memorials on these offerings always reported them as surplus beyond regular taxes — the so-called 「surplus remainder.」 Some military commissioners claimed secret imperial orders and used the pretext to trade illicitly in government goods. Circuits fined demoted officials and seized their property, cut salaries and grain allowances, taxed travelers on major roads, taxed vegetable and fruit growers, and even taxed the dead. When military and surveillance commissioners changed office, some collected taxes in advance for presentation offerings. Yet only two or three parts in ten reached the court; the rest were pocketed beyond reckoning. Such was presentation offering by military commissioners. Later, as prefect of Changzhou, Pei Su monopolized trade in goods, fuel, charcoal, and office supplies — more than a hundred kinds of merchandise, all turned to profit. Within a year he was sending presentation offerings as well. Shortly afterward he was promoted to surveillance commissioner of eastern Zhejiang. Presentation offerings by prefects empire-wide began with Pei Su. When Liu Zan died at Xuanzhou, his aide Yan Shou drained the military headquarters treasury for presentation offerings. Shortly afterward he was appointed vice director in the Ministry of Justice. Presentation offerings by prefectural aides empire-wide began with Yan Shou. The practice became routine and could not be reversed.

大抵有唐之禦天下也，有兩稅焉，有鹽鐵焉，有漕運焉，有倉廩焉，有雜稅焉。今考其本末，敘其否臧，以為《食貨志》云。

Broadly speaking, Tang governance of the realm rested on the dual tax, salt and iron monopolies, grain transport, granary systems, and miscellaneous levies. What follows examines their origins and outcomes, records their successes and failures, and constitutes the 《Treatise on Finance and Economics.》

武德七年，始定律令。以度田之制：五尺為步，步二百四十為畝，畝百為頃。丁男、中男給一頃，篤疾、廢疾給四十畝，寡妻妾三十畝。若為戶者加二十畝。所授之田，十分之二為世業，八為口分。世業之田，身死則承戶者便授之；口分，則收入官，更以給人。賦役之法：每丁歲入租粟二石。調則隨鄉土所產，綾、絹、絁各二丈，布加五分之一。輸綾、絹、絁者，兼調綿三兩；輸布者，麻三斤。凡丁，歲役二旬。若不役，則收其傭，每日三尺。有事而加役者，旬有五日免其調，三旬則租調俱免。通正役，並不過五十日。若嶺南諸州則稅米，上戶一石二斗，次戶八斗，下戶六斗。若夷獠之戶，皆從半輸。蕃胡內附者，上戶丁稅錢十文，次戶五文，下戶免之。附經二年者，上戶丁輸羊二口，次戶一口，下，三戶共一口。凡水旱蟲霜為災，十分損四已上免租，損六已上免調，損七已上課役俱免。

In the seventh year of the Wude era (624), the foundational statutes and ordinances were promulgated. The field-measurement system defined five chi as one bu, 240 bu as one mu, and 100 mu as one qing. Adult and medium males received one qing; those with severe or crippling illness received forty mu; widows and concubines received thirty mu. Household heads received an additional twenty mu. Granted fields were divided into two parts: two-tenths as hereditary estate and eight-tenths as per-capita allotment. Hereditary estate passed directly to the household heir upon death; per-capita allotment reverted to the state and was reassigned to others. Under the tax and corvée system, each adult male paid two shi of rent grain per year. The dia levy followed local products: two zhang each of damask, silk, or coarse silk, with an additional one-fifth for cloth. Those paying in damask, silk, or coarse silk also contributed three liang of cotton; those paying in cloth contributed three jin of hemp instead. All adult males owed twenty days of corvée labor per year. Those who did not serve paid a corvée substitute of three chi of cloth per day. Additional corvée for special projects exempted the dia levy after fifteen days and both rent and dia after thirty days. Total regular corvée duty never exceeded fifty days per year. In Lingnan prefectures the levy was paid in grain: upper households one shi two dou, middle eight dou, lower six dou. Non-Han tribal households paid at half the standard rate. Foreign peoples who submitted to Tang rule paid ten cash per adult male for upper households, five for middle, and lower households were exempt. After two years of submission, upper households contributed two sheep per adult male, middle households one, and lower households one sheep per three households. When flood, drought, pests, or frost caused crop loss, rent was waived at four-tenths damage, dia at six-tenths, and all levies and corvée at seven-tenths.

凡天下人戶，量其資產，定為九等。每三年，縣司註定，州司覆之。百戶為裏，五里為鄉。四家為鄰，五家為保。在邑居者為坊，在田野者為村。村坊鄰里，遞相督察。士農工商，四人各業。食祿之家，不得與下人爭利。工商雜類，不得預于士伍。男女始生者為黃，四歲為小，十六為中，二十一為丁，六十為老。每歲一造計帳，三年一造戶籍。州縣留五比，尚書省留三比。神龍元年，韋庶人為皇后，務欲求媚於人，上表請以二十二為丁，五十八為老，制從之。及韋氏誅，復舊。至天寶三年，又降優制，以十八為中男，二十二為丁。天下籍始造四本，京師及東京尚書省、戶部各貯一本，以備車駕行幸，省于載運之費焉。

Households empire-wide were assessed by assets and ranked in nine grades. Every three years county offices registered households and prefectural offices reviewed the rolls. One hundred households formed a li; five li formed a xiang. Four households formed a lin; five households formed a bao. Urban residents belonged to wards; rural residents belonged to villages. Villages, wards, and neighborhood units kept mutual watch over one another. Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants each pursued their proper occupation. Officials on stipend were forbidden to compete with commoners for profit. Artisans, merchants, and miscellaneous tradesmen were barred from the scholar-official ranks. Newborns were classified as 'infant'; at four years as 'minor'; at sixteen as 'medium'; at twenty-one as liable adult males; at sixty as elderly. Accounting registers were compiled annually; household registers every three years. Prefectures and counties kept five copies; the Department of State Affairs kept three. In the first year of Shenlong (705), Empress Wei sought popular favor and memorialized to raise the adult-male threshold to twenty-two and lower the elderly threshold to fifty-eight; the edict was approved. After the Wei clan was destroyed, the former standards were restored. In the third year of Tianbao (744), a further favorable edict set eighteen as the medium-male age and twenty-two as the adult-male age. Household registers were first compiled in four copies, one each for the capital, the Eastern Capital, the Department of State Affairs, and the Ministry of Revenue, so the emperor's travels would not require transporting the full national register.

凡權衡度量之制：度，以北方秬黍中者一黍之廣為分，十分為寸，十寸為尺，十尺為丈。量，以秬黍中者容一千二百為龠，二龠為合，十合為升，十升為鬥；三升為大升，三斗為大鬥，十大鬥為斛。權衡：以秬黍中者百黍之重為銖，二十四銖為兩，三兩為大兩，十六兩為斤。調鐘律，測晷景，合湯藥及冠冕，制用小升小兩，自餘公私用大升大兩。又山東諸州，以一尺二寸為大尺，人間行用之。其量制，公私又不用龠，合內之分，則有抄撮之細。

The standards for weights and measures: for length, the width of a single grain of medium black millet from the north defined one fen; ten fen made one cun, ten cun one chi, and ten chi one zhang. For volume, 1,200 grains of medium black millet defined one yue; two yue made one he, ten he one sheng, and ten sheng one dou; three standard sheng made a large sheng, three large dou a large dou, and ten large dou one hu. For weight: one hundred grains of medium black millet defined one zhu; twenty-four zhu made one liang, three liang a large liang, and sixteen liang one jin. Tuning pitch pipes, measuring sundials, compounding medicines, and making ceremonial caps and robes required the small sheng and small liang; all other public and private uses employed the large measures. In the eastern provinces, a chi of twelve cun — the 'large chi' — was used in everyday commerce. In practice, neither public nor private parties used the yue measure; within the he, finer divisions were reckoned in chao and suo.

天寶九載二月，敕：「車軸長七尺二寸，面三斤四兩，鹽鬥，量除陌錢每貫二十文。」先是，開元八年正月，敕：「頃者以庸調無憑，好惡須准，故遣作樣以頒諸州，令其好不得過精，惡不得至濫，任土作貢，防源斯在。而諸州送物，作巧生端，苟欲副於斤兩，遂則加其丈尺，至有五丈為疋者，理甚不然。闊一尺八寸，長四丈，同文共軌，其事久行，立樣之時，亦載此數。若求兩而加尺，甚暮四而朝三。宜令所司簡閱，有逾於比年常例，丈尺過多，奏聞。」

In the second month of Tianbao 9 (750), an edict stipulated: 「Axles shall be seven chi two cun long, hubs three jin four liang; for the salt dou, deduct twenty cash per string from market payments.」」Earlier, in the first month of Kaiyuan 8 (720), an edict explained: 「Because zu-yong deliveries lacked uniform standards, sample pieces were issued to all prefectures: quality must not be excessively fine nor inferior goods too shoddy — tribute according to local products, to stop abuse at the source.」 Prefectures nevertheless found crafty ways to evade the rules: to meet weight requirements they stretched dimensions until a single bolt reached five zhang — plainly unreasonable. The standard width was one chi eight cun and length four zhang — uniform measures long established; these dimensions were recorded when the samples were issued. To meet weight by adding length is like the monkey keeper's trick of 'four in the evening, three in the morning' — a mere sleight of hand. Responsible offices should review deliveries; any exceeding recent norms in length or breadth should be reported to the throne.」

二十二年五月，敕：「定戶口之時，百姓非商戶郭外居宅及每丁一牛，不得將入貨財數。其雜匠及幕士並諸色同類，有蕃役合免征行者，一戶之內，四丁已上，任此色役不得過兩人，三丁已上，不得過一人。」其年七月十八日，敕：「自今已後，京兆府關內諸州，應徵庸調及資課，並限十月三十日畢。」至天寶三載二月二十五日赦文：「每載庸調八月征，以農功未畢，恐難濟辦。自今已後，延至九月三十日為限。」二十五年三月，敕：「關輔庸調，所稅非少，既寡蠶桑，皆資菽粟，常賤糶貴買，損費逾深。又江淮等苦變造之勞，河路增轉輸之弊，每計其運腳，數倍加錢。今歲屬和平，庶物穰賤，南畝有十千之獲，京師同水火之饒，均其餘以減遠費，順其便使農無傷。自今已後，關內諸州庸調資課，並宜準時價變粟取米，送至京逐要支用。其路遠處不可運送者，宜所在收貯，便充隨近軍糧。其河南、河北有不通水利，宜折租造絹，以代關中調課。所司仍明為條件，稱朕意焉。」

In the fifth month of year 22, an edict ruled: 「When registering households, commoners may not count movable property except for merchant households with suburban residences or one ox per adult male.」 For miscellaneous artisans, tent guards, and similar trades with legitimate Fan-service exemptions, households of four or more adult males could assign no more than two to such duties; households of three or more, no more than one. 」On the eighteenth day of the seventh month, an edict ordered: 「Henceforth the Metropolitan Prefecture and all Pass-region prefectures must complete zu-yong and asset levies by the thirtieth day of the tenth month.」」An amnesty of the twenty-fifth day of the second month of Tianbao 3 (744) noted: 「Zu-yong was levied each year in the eighth month, but harvest work was often unfinished, making timely payment difficult.」 Henceforth the deadline was extended to the thirtieth day of the ninth month. 」In the third month of year 25, an edict observed: 「Pass-region zu-yong levies are heavy; with little sericulture, households rely on grain, constantly selling cheap and buying dear at great loss.」 The Jiang-Huai regions also bore the burden of conversion levies, and river transport added costs several times over. This year of peace brought abundant harvests — ten thousand per field in the south, plenty in the capital — and surplus grain should ease distant transport costs without harming farmers. Henceforth Pass-region zu-yong and asset levies should be converted to grain at market prices and delivered as rice to the capital for disbursement as needed. Where transport to the capital was impractical, grain should be stored locally for nearby military provisions. In Henan and Hebei, where irrigation was lacking, rent should be converted to silk weaving to substitute for Guanzhong dia levies. Responsible offices should issue clear regulations reflecting Our intent.」

天寶元年正月一日赦文：如聞百姓之內，有戶高丁多，苟為規避，父母見在，乃別籍異居。宜令州縣勘會。其一家之中，有十丁已上者，放兩丁征行賦役。五丁已上，放一丁。即令同籍共居，以敦風教。其侍丁孝假，免差科。」廣德元年七月，詔：「一戶之中，三丁放一丁庸調。地稅依舊每畝稅二升。天下男子，宜二十三成丁，五十八為老。」永泰元年五月，京兆麥大稔，京兆尹第五琦奏請每十畝官稅一畝，效古什一之稅。從之。二年五月，諸道稅地錢使、殿中侍御史韋光裔等自諸道使還，得錢四百九十萬貫。乾元以來，屬天下用兵，京師百僚俸錢減耗。上即位，推恩庶僚，下議公卿。或以稅畝有苗者，公私鹹濟。乃分遣憲官，稅天下地青苗錢，以充百司課料。至是，仍以御史大夫為稅地錢物使，歲以為常，均給百官。

The New Year's amnesty of Tianbao 1 (742) noted that wealthy households with many adult sons were splitting registers and living apart while parents still lived, to evade tax obligations. Prefectures and counties were ordered to investigate. Households with ten or more adult males were granted exemption from levies for two of them. Households with five or more adult males received exemption for one. They were required to share one register and live together, to uphold family morality. Sons on filial leave to care for parents were exempt from miscellaneous levies. 」In the seventh month of Guangde 1 (763), an edict granted: 「For every three adult males in a household, one zu-yong obligation was waived.」 The land tax remained two sheng per mu. Males empire-wide should be classified as adult at twenty-three and elderly at fifty-eight. 」In the fifth month of Yongtai 1 (765), after a bumper wheat harvest in the capital, Metropolitan Governor Diwu Qi proposed taxing one mu in ten — reviving the ancient tithe. The proposal was approved. In the fifth month of year 2, Land-Tax Commissioner Wei Guangyi and other palace censors returned from the circuits with 4,900,000 strings of cash. Since the Qianyuan era, with war across the realm, capital officials' salaries had been cut. On his accession the emperor sought to restore officials' benefits and referred the matter to the chief ministers. Some proposed a seedling tax per mu, which would benefit both state and people. Investigating censors were dispatched to levy green-sprout land taxes empire-wide to fund the hundred offices. The censor-in-chief was appointed permanent land-tax commissioner, with collections distributed annually among officials.

大曆四年正月十八日，敕有司：「定天下百姓及王公已下每年稅錢，分為九等：上上戶四千文，上中戶三千五百文，上下戶三千文。中上戶二千五百文，中中戶二千文，中下戶一千五百文。下上戶一千文，下中戶七百文，下下戶五百文。其見官，一品准上上戶，九品准下下戶，餘品並准依此戶等稅。若一戶數處任官，亦每處依品納稅。其內外官，仍據正員及占額內闕者稅。其試及同正員文武官，不在稅限。其百姓有邸店行鋪及爐冶，應准式合加本戶二等稅者，依此稅數勘責征納。其寄莊戶，准舊例從八等戶稅，寄住戶從九等戶稅，比類百姓，事恐不均，宜各遞加一等稅。其諸色浮客及權時寄住戶等，無問有官無官，各所在為兩等收稅。稍殷有者准八等戶，餘准九等戶。如數處有莊田，亦每處稅。諸道將士莊田，既緣防禦勤勞，不可同百姓例，並一切從九等輸稅。」其年十二月，敕：「今關輔墾田漸廣，江淮轉漕常加，計一年之儲，有太半之助，其於稅地，固可從輕。其京兆來秋稅，宜分作兩等，上下各半，上等每畝稅一斗，下等每畝稅六升。其荒田如能佃者，宜准今年十月二十九日敕，一切每畝稅二升。仍委京兆尹及令長一一存撫，令知朕意。」五年三月，優詔定京兆府百姓稅。夏稅，上田畝稅六升，下田畝稅四升。秋稅，上田畝稅五升，下田畝稅三升。荒田開佃者，畝率二升。八年正月二十五日，敕：「青苗地頭錢，天下每畝率十五文。以京師煩劇，先加至三十文，自今已後，宜准諸州，每畝十五文。」

On the eighteenth day of the first month of Dali 4 (769), an edict fixed annual cash taxes for commoners and nobles in nine grades: upper-upper households 4,000 cash, upper-middle 3,500, upper-lower 3,000. Middle-upper households 2,500 cash, middle-middle 2,000, middle-lower 1,500. Lower-upper households 1,000 cash, lower-middle 700, lower-lower 500. Incumbent officials were taxed by rank: first rank as upper-upper household, ninth rank as lower-lower, with intervening ranks scaled accordingly. If one household held offices in several places, tax was paid at each according to rank. Inner and outer officials were taxed based on regular posts and vacancies within authorized quotas. Probationary and acting officials were exempt from this tax. Commoners with inns, shops, or smelters who by regulation owed two additional tax grades were assessed and collected accordingly. Attached estate households had paid eighth-grade tax and attached residents ninth-grade under old rules; to align with commoners, each category was raised one grade. Floating sojourners and temporary residents, with or without office, were taxed in two grades at each locality. The moderately prosperous were assessed as eighth-grade households; the rest as ninth-grade. Estate fields in several places were taxed at each location. Soldiers' estate fields, given their defense service, could not be taxed like commoners; all paid at the ninth grade. 」In the twelfth month, an edict noted: 「Reclaimed fields in the Pass region are expanding and Jiang-Huai transport growing — annual stores are more than half supplied from these sources; land tax may be reduced.」 The capital's autumn land tax should be split into two grades, half upper and half lower: upper fields one dou per mu, lower six sheng per mu. Reclaimable wasteland should follow the edict of the twenty-ninth day of the tenth month: two sheng per mu. The metropolitan governor and magistrates were charged to explain the policy and comfort the people. 」In the third month of year 5, a favorable edict fixed capital household land taxes. Summer tax: upper fields six sheng per mu, lower fields four sheng per mu. Autumn tax: upper fields five sheng per mu, lower fields three sheng per mu. Newly opened wasteland: two sheng per mu. On the twenty-fifth day of the first month of year 8, an edict fixed green-sprout land tax at fifteen cash per mu empire-wide. The capital had been charged thirty cash because of its burdens; henceforth it should match other prefectures at fifteen cash per mu.」

元和十五年八月，中書門下奏：「伏准今年閏正月十七日敕，令百僚議錢貨輕重者，今據群官楊於陵等議，'伏請天下兩稅榷鹽酒利等，悉以布帛絲綿，任土所產物充稅，並不征見錢，則物漸重，錢漸輕，農人見免賤賣匹帛'者。伏以群臣所議，事皆至當，深利公私。請商量付度支，據諸州府應徵兩稅，供上都及留州留使舊額。起元和十六年已後，並改配端匹斤兩之物為稅額，如大曆已前租庸課調，不計錢，令其折納。使人知定制，供辦有常。仍約元和十五年征納布帛等估價。其舊納虛估物，與依虛估物回計，如舊納實估物並見錢，即當於端匹斤兩上量加估價回計。變法在長其物價，價長則永利公私。初雖微有加饒，法行即當就實。比舊給用，固利而不害。仍作條件處置，編入旨符。其鹽利酒利，本以榷率計錢，有殊兩稅之名，不可除去錢額。中有令納見錢者，亦請令折納時估匹段。上既不專以錢為稅，人得以所產輸官，錢貨必均其重輕，隴畝自廣於蠶織。便時惠下，庶得其宜。其土乏絲麻，或地連邊塞，風俗更異，賦入不同，亦請商量，委所司裁酌，隨便宜處置。」詔從之。大和四年五月，劍南西川宣撫使、諫議大夫崔戎奏：「准詔旨制置西川事條。今與郭釗商量，兩稅錢數內三分，二分納見錢，一分折納匹段，每二貫加饒百姓五百文，計一十三萬四千二百四十三貫文。依此曉諭百姓訖。經賊州縣，准詔三分減放一分，計減錢六萬七千六百二十貫文。不經賊處，先征見錢，今三分一分折納雜物，計優饒百姓一十三萬貫。舊有稅薑芋之類，每畝至七八百。征斂不時，今並省稅名，盡依諸處為四限等第，先給戶帖，餘一切名目勒停。」

In the eighth month of Yuanhe 15 (820), the Secretariat memorialized following an edict for officials to debate currency values, citing Yang Yuling and others: 「We propose that dual tax, salt, and wine revenues be collected in local cloth and silk rather than cash, so goods gain weight, cash loses it, and farmers need not sell fabric cheap.」 The ministers' proposals are entirely sound and would greatly benefit both state and people. We request the Revenue Bureau to calculate dual-tax quotas for each prefecture to supply the capital and retained local quotas. From Yuanhe 16 onward, tax quotas should be set in bolts, pieces, and weight measures, as rent and zu-yong were before Dali — not in cash — with conversion payments required. Fixed regulations would give people certainty and steady fulfillment. Valuations should follow Yuanhe 15 cloth and silk assessment prices. Former inflated-assessment payments should be converted at inflated rates; former real-assessment and cash payments should be converted with added valuation on bolts and weight measures. The reform aimed to raise the value of goods; higher values would permanently benefit state and people. There might be slight initial allowance, but once implemented the system would settle to actual values. Compared with old disbursements, it would benefit without harm. Detailed regulations should be drafted and entered into imperial directives. Salt and wine profits were originally calculated in cash at monopoly rates, distinct from dual tax — cash quotas could not be eliminated. Where cash payment was required, conversion to fabric at current market prices was also requested. If taxes were not exclusively in cash, people could pay in local products; currency would stabilize in value and sericulture would expand. Timely and beneficial to the people — perhaps achieving what is fitting. Where silk and hemp were scarce or frontier customs differed, deliberation was requested for offices to judge and dispose as appropriate. 」The edict approved. In the fifth month of Dahe 4 (830), Pacification Commissioner Cui Rong of southwestern Sichuan memorialized: 「Pursuant to the edict arranging western Sichuan affairs.」 After deliberation with Guo Zhao, of dual-tax revenue two-thirds would be paid in cash and one-third in fabric; for every two strings, five hundred cash allowance to the people — totaling 134,243 strings. The people were informed accordingly. Bandit-afflicted prefectures received a further one-third reduction per edict, reducing revenue by 67,620 strings. Unaffected areas, which had collected only cash, now converted one-third of one-third to goods in kind — benefiting the people by 130,000 strings. Former taxes on ginger, taro, and similar crops had reached seven or eight hundred per mu. Levies had been irregular; all extra tax names were abolished, following the four-period graded system with household certificates issued first; all other levies were strictly halted.」

初，開元錢之文，給事中歐陽詢制詞及書，時稱其工。其字含八分及隸體，其詞先上後下，次左後右讀之。自上及左回環讀之，其義亦通。流俗謂之開通元寶錢。及鑄新錢，乃同流俗，「乾」字直上，「封」字在左。尋寤錢文之誤，又緣改鑄，商賈不通，米帛增價，乃議卻用舊錢。二年正月，下詔曰：「泉布之興，其來自久。實古今之要重，為公私之寶用。年月既深，偽濫斯起，所以采乾封之號，改鑄新錢。靜而思之，將為未可。高祖撥亂反正，爰創軌模。太宗立極承天，無所改作。今廢舊造新，恐乖先旨。其開元通寶，宜依舊施行，為萬代之法。乾封新鑄之錢，令所司貯納，更不須鑄。仍令天下置爐之處，並鑄開元通寶錢。」既而私鑄更多，錢復濫惡。

The Kaiyuan coin inscription was composed and written by Attendant-in-Ordinary Ouyang Xun, renowned for his calligraphy. The characters blended eight-divisions and clerical script; the inscription was read top to bottom, then left to right. Read circularly from the top and left, the meaning also held. Popular usage called it the Kai-tong yuan-bao coin. When new coins were cast, they followed popular usage: 「Qian」 upright above and 「Feng」 on the left. The court soon recognized the inscription error; the recoinage disrupted commerce and raised grain and cloth prices, and officials proposed reverting to the old currency. In the first month of year 2, an edict declared: 「Currency has ancient origins.」 It is essential to past and present, a treasure for public and private use. Over time counterfeiting and debasement proliferated, prompting adoption of the Qianfeng title and recoinage. On reflection, this would be inadvisable. Gaozu quelled disorder and restored order, establishing the foundational models. Taizong received the Mandate and altered nothing. Abolishing the old to make the new may depart from our ancestors' intent. The Kaiyuan tong-bao should continue in use as the currency for all generations. Newly cast Qianfeng coins were ordered stored and no further casting permitted. All mints empire-wide were ordered to resume casting Kaiyuan tong-bao coins. 」Before long private counterfeiting increased, and currency again became debased.

高宗嘗臨軒謂侍臣曰：「錢之為用，行之已久，公私要便，莫甚於斯。比為州縣不存檢校，私鑄過多。如聞荊、潭、宣、衡，犯法尤甚。遂有將船筏宿于江中，所部官人不能覺察。自今嚴加禁斷，所在追納惡錢，一二年間使盡。」當時雖有約敕，而奸濫不息。儀鳳四年四月，令東都出遠年糙米及粟，就市給糶，鬥別納惡錢百文。其惡錢令少府司農相知，即令鑄破。其厚重徑合斤兩者，任將行用，時米粟漸貴，議者以為鑄錢漸多，所以錢賤而物貴。於是權停少府監鑄錢，尋而復舊。則天長安中，又令懸樣於市，令百姓依樣用錢。俄又簡擇艱難，交易留滯。又降敕非鐵錫、銅蕩、穿穴者，並許行用。其有熟銅、排鬥、沙澀、厚大者，皆不許簡。自是盜鑄蜂起，濫惡益眾。江淮之南，盜鑄者或就陂湖、巨海、深山之中，波濤險峻，人跡罕到，州縣莫能禁約。以至神龍、先天之際，兩京用錢尤濫。其郴、衡私鑄小錢，才有輪郭，及鐵錫五銖之屬，亦堪行用。乃有買錫熔銷，以錢模夾之，斯須則盈千百，便齎用之。

Emperor Gaozong once addressed his ministers from the throne: 「Money has long served as currency; nothing is more essential to public and private commerce. Recently, because local officials failed to enforce inspections, private counterfeiting had grown rampant. Reports indicated that Jing, Tan, Xuan, and Heng prefectures were the worst offenders. Counterfeiters began anchoring boats and rafts on the rivers, beyond the reach of local officials. Henceforth counterfeiting was to be strictly prohibited, debased coins collected throughout the realm, and the supply eliminated within a year or two. 」Despite these edicts, counterfeiting and debasement continued unabated. In the fourth month of Yifeng 4, the Eastern Capital was ordered to release stored brown rice and millet for sale at market price, collecting one hundred wen in debased coins per dou. The debased coins were turned over to the Ministry of Palace Revenues and the Directorate of Grains for immediate melting and recoining. Coins of proper weight and thickness were permitted to circulate. As grain prices rose, commentators attributed the inflation to the increasing volume of coin in circulation — cheap money, dear goods. Coin minting at the Directorate of Palace Manufactories was temporarily suspended, then soon resumed. During Empress Wu's Chang'an reign, sample coins were displayed in markets, and the people were ordered to accept only coins conforming to those standards. Before long, the screening process grew burdensome and trade ground to a halt. A subsequent edict permitted all coins except those made of iron and tin, copper slag, or with holes punched through them. Coins of refined copper, edge-trimmed pieces, coarse sandy coins, and thick heavy ones could no longer be rejected. Illicit minting then proliferated, and debased currency flooded the market. South of the Yangtze and Huai, counterfeiters operated in remote lakes, coastal waters, and mountain fastnesses where treacherous terrain kept officials at bay. By the Shenlong and Xiantian eras, currency in both capitals had become especially debased. In Chen and Heng, privately cast small coins barely had rims, and iron-tin five-zhu pieces and similar debased currency circulated freely. Some bought tin, melted it, and pressed it in coin molds — producing hundreds or thousands of counterfeit coins in moments, ready for immediate use.

開元五年，車駕往東都，宋璟知政事，奏請一切禁斷惡錢。六年正月，又切斷天下惡錢，行二銖四絫錢。不堪行用者，並銷破復鑄。至二月又敕曰：「古者聚萬方之貨，設九府之法，以通天下，以便生人。若輕重得中，則利可知矣；若真偽相雜，則官失其守。頃者用錢，不論此道。深恐貧窶日困，奸豪歲滋。所以申明舊章，懸設諸樣，欲其人安俗阜，禁止令行。」時江淮錢尤濫惡，有官爐、偏爐、棱錢、時錢等數色。璟乃遣監察御史蕭隱之充江淮使。隱之乃令率戶出錢，務加督責。百姓乃以上青錢充惡錢納之，其小惡者或沉之於江湖，以免罪戾。於是市井不通，物價騰起，流聞京師。隱之貶官，璟因之罷相，乃以張嘉貞知政事。嘉貞乃弛其禁，人乃安之。

In Kaiyuan 5, when the emperor traveled to the Eastern Capital, Chief Minister Song Jing memorialized for a complete ban on debased currency. In the first month of Kaiyuan 6, debased coins were banned empire-wide, and the two-zhu four-lei standard was enforced. Coins unfit for circulation were melted down and recoined. In the second month, an edict declared: 「In antiquity, the realm gathered goods from all quarters and established the Nine Treasuries system to circulate wealth throughout the empire and serve the people. When weight and value were properly balanced, the benefits were clear; when genuine and counterfeit mingled, the state lost control of the currency. Recently, currency policy had ignored this principle entirely. We deeply feared that the poor would grow poorer while the corrupt and powerful prospered year by year. We therefore restored old regulations and posted sample coins, seeking to secure the people's welfare, restore prosperity, and enforce the ban. 」At the time, Jiang-Huai currency was especially debased, with official-mint, private-mint, edge-trimmed, and contemporary coins among several varieties. Song Jing dispatched Supervising Censor Xiao Yinzhi as commissioner to the Jiang-Huai region. Xiao Yinzhi ordered every registered household to surrender coins, enforcing the policy with harsh penalties. The people substituted good coins for debased ones in their payments, while the worst debased coins were sunk in rivers and lakes to evade prosecution. Commerce seized up, prices soared, and word of the crisis reached the capital. Xiao Yinzhi was demoted, Song Jing was dismissed as chief minister, and Zhang Jiuzhen was appointed to direct state affairs. Zhang Jiuzhen relaxed the ban, and the people regained their composure.

開元二十二年，中書侍郎張九齡初知政事，奏請不禁鑄錢，玄宗令百官詳議。黃門侍郎裴耀卿李林甫、河南少尹蕭炅等皆曰：「錢者通貨，有國之權，是以歷代禁之，以絕奸濫。今若一啟此門，但恐小人棄農逐利，而濫惡更甚，於事不便。」左監門錄事參軍劉秩上議曰：

In Kaiyuan 22, newly appointed Vice Director Zhang Jiuling memorialized to permit private coin minting, and Emperor Xuanzong ordered a full deliberation among the officials. Director Pei Yaoqing, Li Linfu, Vice Prefect Xiao Jiong, and others argued: 「Money is the medium of exchange and a sovereign prerogative; every dynasty has prohibited private minting to curb fraud and debasement. To open this door now would only encourage the common people to abandon farming for profit, worsening debasement — a policy that would serve no good purpose. 」Left Gatekeeper Recorder Liu Zhi submitted a detailed memorial:

伏奉今月二十一日敕，欲不禁鑄錢，令百僚詳議可否者。夫錢之興，其來尚矣，將以平輕重而權本末。齊桓得其術而國以霸，周景失其道而人用弊。考諸載籍，國之興衰，實系於是。陛下思變古以濟今，欲反經以合道，而不即改作，詢之芻堯，臣雖蠢愚，敢不薦其聞見。古者以珠玉為上幣，黃金為中幣，刀布為下幣。管仲曰：「夫三幣，握之則非有補於暖也，舍之則非有損於飽也。先王以守財物，以禦人事，而平天下也。」是以命之曰衡。衡者，使物一高一下，不得有常。故與之在君，奪之在君，貧之在君，富之在君。是以人戴君如日月，親君如父母，用此術也。是為人主之權。

I humbly received Your Majesty's edict of the twenty-first of this month, proposing to permit private minting and ordering the officials to debate its merits. The institution of money is ancient; its purpose is to balance value and regulate the relationship between primary and secondary goods. Duke Huan of Qi mastered this art and achieved hegemony; King Jing of Zhou lost it and currency fell into debasement. Historical records show that the rise and fall of states has always hinged on this matter. Your Majesty seeks to adapt ancient ways to present needs and depart from convention in pursuit of sound policy, yet hesitates to act — consulting even the humblest subjects. Though I am dull and unworthy, I dare not withhold what I have observed. In antiquity, pearls and jade served as superior currency, gold as middle currency, and knife and spade coins as inferior currency. Guan Zhong said: 「These three currencies — held in the hand they neither warm the body nor, released, diminish one's fullness. The ancient kings used them to steward wealth, govern affairs, and bring balance to the realm. 」Hence they were called the Balance. The Balance keeps prices fluctuating — never fixed at one level. To give or take, to impoverish or enrich — all these powers rest with the ruler. Through this art, the people revered their ruler as they do the sun and moon, and cherished him as they do their parents. This is the sovereign's prerogative.

今之錢，即古之下幣也。陛下若舍之任人，則上無以禦下，下無以事上，其不可一也。夫物賤則傷農，錢輕則傷賈。故善為國者，觀物之貴賤，錢之輕重。夫物重則錢輕，錢輕由乎物多，多則作法收之使少；少則重，重則作法布之使輕。輕重之本，必由乎是，奈何而假於人？其不可二也。夫鑄錢不雜以鉛鐵則無利，雜以鉛鐵則惡，惡不重禁之，不足以懲息。且方今塞其私鑄之路，人猶冒死以犯之，況啟其源而欲人之從令乎？是設陷阱而誘之入，其不可三也。夫許人鑄錢，無利則人不鑄，有利則人去南畝者眾。去南畝者眾，則草不墾，草不墾，又鄰於寒餒，其不可四也。夫人富溢則不可以賞勸，貧餒則不可以威禁。法令不行，人之不理，皆由貧富之不齊也。若許其鑄錢，則貧者必不能為。臣恐貧者彌貧而服役于富室，富室乘之而益恣。昔漢文之時，吳濞，諸侯也，富埒天子；鄧通，大夫也，財侔王者。此皆鑄錢之所致也。必欲許其私鑄，是與人利權而舍其柄，其不可五也。

Today's coinage is the inferior currency of antiquity. If Your Majesty relinquishes control of coinage to private hands, the throne loses authority over the people and the people lose their bond to the throne — the first objection. Cheap goods harm farmers; debased currency harms merchants. A wise ruler watches the price of goods and the weight of coin. When goods are dear, money is cheap; cheap money results from abundant goods — when goods abound, the state collects them to reduce supply; when scarce they grow dear; when dear, the state releases them to lower prices. The foundation of monetary policy must rest here — how can this power be entrusted to private hands? This is the second objection. Minting without adulterating copper yields no profit; adulterated coin is debased — and without strict prohibition, debasement cannot be stopped. Even now, with private minting outlawed, people still risk death to counterfeit — how much less will they obey if the floodgates are opened? This would be setting a trap and inviting people to fall in — the third objection. If private minting is permitted, no one will mint without profit — but where profit exists, many will abandon the fields. When many abandon farming, land goes untilled; untilled land brings famine — the fourth objection. The excessively wealthy cannot be moved by rewards; the destitute cannot be controlled by punishment. When laws fail and society falls into disorder, the root cause is always extreme inequality of wealth. If minting is permitted, the poor will certainly be unable to participate. I fear the poor will grow poorer still, bound in service to the wealthy, who will exploit the opportunity to grow ever more tyrannical. In the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Pi of Wu — a feudal prince — amassed wealth rivaling the emperor's; Deng Tong, a mere courtier, accumulated a fortune equal to a king's. All of this resulted from private minting. To permit private minting is to hand the profit and power to others while surrendering the sovereign's control — the fifth objection.

陛下必以錢重而傷本，工費而利寡，則臣願言其失，以效愚計。夫錢重者，猶人日滋於前，而爐不加於舊。又公錢重，與銅之價頗等，故盜鑄者破重錢以為輕錢。錢輕，禁寬則行，禁嚴則止，止則棄矣，此錢之所以少也。夫鑄錢用不贍者，在乎銅貴，銅貴，在採用者眾。夫銅，以為兵則不如鐵，以為器則不如漆，禁之無害，陛下何不禁于人？禁於人，則銅無所用，銅益賤，則錢之用給矣。夫銅不布下，則盜鑄者無因而鑄，則公錢不破，人不犯死刑，錢又日增，末復利矣。是一舉而四美兼也，惟陛下熟察之。

If Your Majesty believes that heavy coinage drains capital and that minting costs exceed profits, then I offer the following analysis of the problem and a humble proposal. Heavy coinage is like a growing population served by the same number of mints — demand outstrips supply. Furthermore, because official coins are heavy and nearly equal in value to raw copper, counterfeiters melt them down to produce lighter coins. Light coins circulate when enforcement is lax and vanish when it is strict — and when they vanish, they are discarded. This is why the money supply shrinks. The shortage of minting materials stems from the high price of copper, which in turn results from widespread private use. Copper makes inferior weapons compared to iron and inferior vessels compared to lacquer — restricting its private use would do no harm. Why not prohibit it? If copper is restricted to the state, private demand disappears, copper grows cheaper, and minting supplies become adequate. Without copper in private hands, counterfeiters cannot operate; official coins remain intact, no one faces execution, the money supply grows, and commerce flourishes again. One measure would achieve four benefits at once — I urge Your Majesty to consider it carefully.

時公卿群官，皆建議以為不便。事既不行，但敕郡縣嚴斷惡錢而已。

The senior officials unanimously advised against the proposal. The proposal was rejected; the court issued only an edict ordering local officials to enforce the ban on debased currency.

至天寶之初，兩京用錢稍好，米粟豐賤。數載之後，漸又濫惡，府縣不許好者加價回博，好惡通用。富商奸人，漸收好錢，潛將往江淮之南，每錢貨得私鑄惡者五文，假託官錢，將入京私用。京城錢日加碎惡，鵝眼、鐵錫、古文、綖環之類，每貫重不過三四斤。十一載二月，下敕曰：「錢貨之用，所以通有無；輕重之權，所以禁逾越。故周立九府之法，漢備三官之制。永言適便，必在從宜。如聞京師行用之錢，頗多濫惡，所資懲革，絕其訛謬。然安人在於存養，化俗期於變通，法若從寬，事堪持久。宜令所司即出錢三數十萬貫，分於兩市，百姓間應交易所用錢不堪久行用者，官為換取，仍限一月日內使盡。庶單貧無患，商旅必通。其過限輒違犯者，一事已上，並作條件處分。」是時京城百姓，久用惡錢，制下之後，頗相驚擾。時又令于龍興觀南街開場，出左藏庫內排鬥錢，許市人博換。貧弱者又爭次不得。俄又宣敕，除鐵錫、銅沙、穿穴、古文，余並許依舊行用，久之乃定。

At the beginning of the Tianbao era, currency in both capitals improved somewhat, and grain was plentiful and inexpensive. Within a few years, debasement returned; local officials no longer permitted premium exchange for good coins, and debased currency circulated alongside sound coin. Wealthy merchants and unscrupulous traders gradually hoarded good coins and secretly shipped them south of the Yangtze, exchanging each one for five privately cast debased coins and passing them off as official currency in the capital. Capital currency grew daily more debased — goose-eye coins, iron-tin pieces, ancient-script tokens, and ring-linked scraps — a full string weighing no more than three or four jin. In the second month of Tianbao 11, an edict declared: 「Currency exists to facilitate exchange between surplus and want; the regulation of weight and value serves to prevent abuse. The Zhou established the Nine Treasuries system; the Han perfected the Three Offices minting system. Lasting convenience depends on adapting policy to circumstances. We have learned that circulating currency in the capital is heavily debased; reform is needed to eliminate this abuse. Yet securing the people's welfare requires nurturing, and changing customs requires flexibility — a lenient approach will prove more enduring. The responsible offices shall immediately disburse several hundred thousand strings of cash, divided between the two market districts; the government will exchange worn and debased coins from the people, with all exchanges to be completed within one month. Thus the poorest will be unharmed and commerce will flow freely. Those who violate the deadline, for any offense, shall be punished according to statute. 」The capital's people, long accustomed to debased currency, were considerably alarmed when the new policy was announced. The court also opened an exchange market on the south street of Longxing Monastery, releasing edge-trimmed coins from the Left Treasury for public exchange. The poor and weak struggled for place in line but often went away empty-handed. Soon afterward another edict was issued, banning iron-tin, copper-sand, pierced, and ancient-script coins; everything else was allowed to continue in circulation, and only after a long interval was the currency stabilized.

乾元元年七月，詔曰：「錢貨之興，其來久矣，代有沿革，時為重輕。周興九府，實啟流泉之利；漢造五銖，亦弘改鑄之法。必令小大兼適，母子相權。事有益於公私，理宜循於通變。但以干戈未息，帑藏猶虛，卜式獻助軍之誠，弘羊興富國之算，靜言立法，諒在便人。御史中丞第五琦奏請改錢，以一當十，別為新鑄，不廢舊錢，冀實三官之資，用收十倍之利，所謂於人不擾，從古有經。宜職于諸監別鑄一當十錢，文曰「乾元重寶」。其開元通寶者依舊行用。所請采鑄捉搦處置，即條件聞奏。」二年三月，琦入為相，又請更鑄重輪乾元錢，一當五十，二十斤成貫。詔可之。於是新錢與乾元、開元通寶錢三品並行。尋而谷價騰貴，米鬥至七千，餓死者相枕于道。乃抬舊開元錢以一當十，減乾元錢以一當三十。緣人厭錢價不定，人間抬加價錢為虛錢。長安城中，競為盜鑄，寺觀鐘及銅象，多壞為錢。奸人豪族犯禁者不絕。京兆尹鄭叔清擒捕之，少不容縱，數月間搒死者八百余人。人益無聊矣。

In the seventh month of the first year of Qianyuan, an edict declared: 「The institution of currency is ancient; each dynasty has revised it, and its weight and value have shifted with the times. When the Zhou dynasty flourished, the Nine Treasuries truly unleashed the benefits of circulating currency; when the Han minted the five-zhu coin, it likewise perfected the practice of recoinage. Large and small denominations must be properly matched, with major and minor coins kept in balance. When policy serves both state and people, it is right to adapt flexibly to circumstances. But war has not yet ended and the treasury remains depleted. As Bu Shi once offered his wealth to support the army and Sang Hongyang devised plans to enrich the state, so now, in quietly establishing this law, the aim is surely to ease the people's burden. Censor-in-Chief Diwu Qi memorialized requesting a coin reform: new coins worth ten old ones, cast separately while old coins remained in circulation, hoping to replenish the Three Offices' resources and capture tenfold profit — the principle, as the ancients held, of enriching the state without troubling the people. The mints were to cast separate ten-for-one coins inscribed 「Qianyuan Heavy Treasure.」 Kaiyuan Tongbao coins were to continue in circulation as before. Requests regarding mining, minting, arrests, and enforcement were to be reported to the throne in detailed memorials. 」In the third month of the second year, Qi entered the capital as chancellor and again requested recoinage of heavy-rim Qianyuan coins, each worth fifty cash, with twenty jin of copper making one string. The edict approved the request. Thereupon the new coins circulated alongside Qianyuan and Kaiyuan Tongbao coins — three denominations in use at once. Before long grain prices soared; a peck of rice cost seven thousand cash, and the starving dead lay piled along the roads. Old Kaiyuan coins were then revalued at ten cash each, and Qianyuan coins reduced to a rate of thirty to one. Because people resented the unstable value of coin, merchants marked up prices in phantom money. In Chang'an, illicit minting ran rampant; temple bells and bronze statues were widely melted down for coin. Schemers and powerful clans violated the ban without cease. Jingzhao Intendant Zheng Shuqing arrested offenders without mercy; within a few months more than eight hundred were beaten to death. The people's misery only deepened.

上元元年六月，詔曰：「因時立制，頃議新錢，且是從權，知非經久。如聞官爐之外，私鑄頗多，吞併小錢，逾濫成弊。抵罪雖眾，禁奸未絕。況物價益起，人心不安。事藉變通，期於折衷。其重棱五十價錢，宜減作三十文行用。其開元舊時錢，宜一當十文行用。其乾元十當錢，宜依前行用。仍令京中及畿縣內依此處分，諸州待進止。」七月敕：「重棱五十價錢，先令畿內減至三十價行，其天下諸州，並宜准此。」寶應元年四月，改行乾元錢，一以當二，乾元重棱小錢，亦以一當二；重棱大錢，一以當三。尋又改行乾元大小錢，並以一當一。其私鑄重棱大錢，不在行用之限。

In the sixth month of the first year of Shangyuan, an edict declared: 「Institutions must be shaped to the times. The recent deliberation on new coinage was a temporary measure, and we know it cannot endure. We have learned that beyond the official mints, private casting is widespread, small coins are being absorbed, and debasement has grown into a serious abuse. Though many have been punished, illicit minting has not been stopped. Moreover, prices continue to rise and public anxiety grows. The situation calls for flexibility and a balanced compromise. Heavy-rim coins currently valued at fifty cash should be reduced to thirty cash in circulation. Old Kaiyuan coins should circulate at a rate of ten cash each. Qianyuan ten-for-one coins should continue in use as before. The capital and its surrounding counties were to implement this at once; other prefectures were to await further instructions. 」In the seventh month an edict followed: 「Heavy-rim coins valued at fifty cash, already reduced to thirty within the capital district, should be applied in the same way in all prefectures under Heaven. 」In the fourth month of the first year of Baoying, Qianyuan coins were reissued at two to one; small heavy-rim Qianyuan coins were also set at two to one; and large heavy-rim coins at three to one. Soon afterward Qianyuan large and small coins were reissued again, all at par. Privately cast heavy-rim large coins were excluded from legal circulation.

大曆四年正月，關內道鑄錢等使、戶部侍郎第五琦上言，請於絳州汾陽、銅原兩監，增置五爐鑄錢，許之。

In the first month of the fourth year of Dali, Diwu Qi, Commissioner of Coinage for the Guannei Circuit and Vice Minister of Revenue, memorialized requesting five additional furnaces at the Fenyang and Tongyuan mints in Jiang Prefecture; the request was approved.

建中元年九月，戶部侍郎韓洄上言：「江淮錢監，歲共鑄錢四萬五千貫，輸于京師，度工用轉送之費，每貫計錢二千，是本倍利也。今商州有紅崖冶出銅益多，又有洛源監，久廢不理。請增工鑿山以取銅，興洛源錢監，置十爐鑄之，歲計出錢七萬二千貫，度工用轉送之費，貫計錢九百，則利浮本也。其江淮七監，請皆停罷。」從之。貞元九年正月，張滂奏：「諸州府公私諸色鑄造銅器雜物等。伏以國家錢少，損失多門。興販之徒，潛將銷鑄。錢一千為銅六斤，造寫器物，則斤直六百餘。有利既厚，銷鑄遂多，江淮之間，錢實減耗。伏請准從前敕文，除鑄鏡外，一切禁斷。」元和三年五月，鹽鐵使李巽上言：「得湖南院申，郴州平陽，高亭兩縣界，有平陽冶及馬跡、曲木等古銅坑，約二百八十余井，差官檢覆，實有銅錫。今請於郴州舊桂陽監置爐兩所，采銅鑄錢，每日約二十貫，計一年鑄成七千貫，有益於人。」從之。其年六月，詔曰：「泉貨之法，義在通流。若錢有所壅，貨當益賤。故藏錢者得乘人之急，居貨者必損己之資。今欲著錢令以出滯藏，加鼓鑄以資流布，使商旅知禁，農桑獲安，義切救時，情非欲利。若革之無漸，恐人或相驚。應天下商賈先蓄見錢者，委所在長吏，令收市貨物，官中不得輒有程限，逼迫商人，任其貨易，以求便得。計周歲之後，此法遍行，朕當別立新規，設蓄錢之禁。所以先有告示，許有方圓，意在他時行法不貸。又天下有銀之山，必有銅礦。銅者，可資於鼓鑄，銀者，無益于生人。權其重輕，使條專一。其天下自五嶺以北，見采銀坑，並宜禁斷。恐所在坑戶，不免失業，各委本州府長吏勸課，令其采銅，助官中鑄作。仍委鹽鐵使條流聞奏。」

In the ninth month of the first year of Jianzhong, Vice Minister of Revenue Han Hui memorialized: 「The Jiang-Huai mints together cast forty-five thousand strings of coin per year and ship them to the capital. Labor and transport costs come to two thousand cash per string — double the principal. Shang Prefecture's Hongya Smeltery now yields ever more copper, and the Luoyuan Mint has long lain idle and neglected. I request increased labor to mine the mountains for copper, revive the Luoyuan Mint, and establish ten furnaces to cast coin — an estimated seventy-two thousand strings per year. With labor and transport at nine hundred cash per string, profit would exceed cost. The seven Jiang-Huai mints should all be shut down. 」The memorial was approved. In the first month of the ninth year of Zhengyuan, Zhang Pang memorialized: 「In prefectures and prefectural offices, both public and private workshops cast copper vessels and miscellaneous goods of every kind. We submit that the state suffers from a shortage of coin, with losses occurring through many channels. Traders secretly melt coin down for recasting. One thousand cash yields six jin of copper; cast into vessels, each jin fetches more than six hundred cash. With profit so large, melting and recasting proliferated, and coin between the Yangtze and Huai was genuinely depleted. We request that previous edicts be enforced: except for mirror-casting, all such production should be prohibited. 」In the fifth month of the third year of Yuanhe, Salt and Iron Commissioner Li Xun memorialized: 「The Hunan Circuit reports that on the border of Pingyang and Gaoting counties in Chen Prefecture lie the Pingyang Smeltery and ancient copper pits at Maji, Qumu, and elsewhere — some two hundred eighty shafts in all. Officials sent to inspect them confirmed the presence of copper and tin. I now request two furnaces at the former Guiyang Mint in Chen Prefecture to mine copper and cast coin — about twenty strings per day, or seven thousand strings per year — to the people's benefit. 」The request was approved. That same sixth month, an edict declared: 「The purpose of currency law is to keep money in circulation. When coin is hoarded, goods inevitably grow cheaper. Hoarders of coin can then exploit others in their need, while holders of goods lose their capital. We now intend to promulgate coin regulations to release stagnant hoards and increase minting to restore circulation, so that merchants know the law and farming and sericulture may prosper. The aim is urgently to rescue the times; the intent is not profit. If reform is imposed all at once, the people may panic one another. All merchants under Heaven who have hoarded cash shall be directed by local officials to purchase goods. Offices must not impose deadlines or pressure merchants; they may trade freely until their hoards are disposed of. After one full year, when this measure has been fully applied, I shall establish new regulations and impose prohibitions on hoarding coin. Advance notice is given now and latitude permitted, so that when the law is later enforced, no mercy will be shown. Moreover, wherever there are silver mountains under Heaven, copper mines are sure to exist as well. Copper serves minting; silver benefits the living not at all. Weighing their relative importance, regulations should be made exclusive. All active silver pits from the Five Ridges northward should be prohibited. Fearing that pit households will lose their livelihood, each prefecture's chief officials should encourage them to mine copper instead and assist official minting. The Salt and Iron Commissioner is further entrusted to report detailed proposals to the throne.」

四年閏三月，京城時用錢每貫頭除二十文、陌內欠錢及有鉛錫錢等，准貞元九年三月二十六日敕：「陌內欠錢，法當禁斷，慮因捉搦，或亦生奸，使人易從，切於不擾。自今已後，有因交關用欠陌錢者，宜但令本行頭及居停主人牙人等檢察送官。如有容隱，兼許賣物領錢人糾告，其行頭、主、人、牙人，重加科罪。府縣所由祗承人等，並不須干擾。若非因買賣自將錢于街衢行者，一切勿問。」其年六月，敕：「五嶺已北，所有銀坑，依前任百姓開採，禁見錢出嶺。」

In the intercalary third month of the fourth year, regarding circulating capital coin short twenty cash per string, short-hundred coins, and lead-tin debased coin, per the edict of the twenty-sixth day of the third month of the ninth year of Zhengyuan: 「Short-hundred coin should by law be prohibited, but fearing that arrests may breed further fraud, compliance should be made easy and disturbance kept to a minimum. Henceforth, where short-hundred coin is used in commercial transactions, only guild heads, lodging-house masters, and brokers shall investigate and deliver offenders to the authorities. If concealment occurs, sellers who received payment may also report the offense; guild heads, masters, and brokers shall receive heavier punishment. Prefecture and county runners and attendants need not interfere at all. Those who carry coin through the streets for purposes other than buying and selling shall not be questioned at all. 」That sixth month, an edict stated: 「North of the Five Ridges, all silver pits — common people may continue to mine as before; the export of cash beyond the ridges is prohibited.」

六年二月，制：「公私交易，十貫錢已上，即須兼用匹段。委度支鹽鐵使及京兆尹即具作分數，條流聞奏。茶商等公私便換見錢，並須禁斷。」其年三月，河東節度使王鍔奏請于當管蔚州界加置爐鑄銅錢，廢管內錫錢。許之，仍令加至五爐。七年五月，戶部王紹、度支盧坦、鹽鐵王播等奏：「伏以京都時用多重見錢，官中支計，近日殊少。蓋緣比來不許商人便換，因茲家有滯藏，所以物價轉高，錢多不出。臣等今商量，伏請許令商人于三司任便換見錢，一切依舊禁約。伏以比來諸司諸使等，或有便商人，錢多留城中，逐時收貯，積藏私室，無復通流。伏請自今已後，嚴加禁約。」從之。八年四月，敕：「以錢重貨輕，出內庫錢五十萬貫，令兩市收市布帛，每端匹估加十之一。」

In the second month of the sixth year, a regulation declared: 「In public and private transactions of ten strings of cash or more, bolts of silk must also be used. The Revenue Commissioner, Salt and Iron Commissioner, and Jingzhao Intendant were entrusted immediately to prepare the required proportions and report detailed proposals. Public and private cash exchange by tea merchants and others was to be entirely prohibited. 」That third month, Hedong Military Commissioner Wang E memorialized requesting additional furnaces on the Wei Prefecture border under his jurisdiction to cast copper coin and abolish tin coin within his command. The request was approved, and the number of furnaces was increased to five. In the fifth month of the seventh year, Wang Shao of the Ministry of Revenue, Lu Tan of the Expenditure Office, Wang Bo of Salt and Iron, and others memorialized: 「We submit that daily life in the capital depends heavily on cash, yet recent government disbursements have been exceptionally scarce. This is surely because merchants have not been permitted to exchange cash freely; households therefore hoard coin, prices rise, and money fails to circulate. We have deliberated and request that merchants be permitted freely to exchange cash at the Three Offices, while all other prohibitions remain in force. We submit that recently various offices and commissioners have exchanged cash with merchants, leaving much coin in the city to be collected over time and hoarded in private chambers, so that it no longer circulates. We request that this practice be strictly prohibited from now on. 」The memorial was approved. In the fourth month of the eighth year, an edict declared: 「Because coin is scarce and goods cheap, five hundred thousand strings shall be disbursed from the inner treasury, and the two market districts ordered to purchase cloth and silk at one-tenth above the assessed value per bolt.」

十二年正月，敕：「泉貨之設，故有常規，將使重輕得宜，是資斂散有節，必通共變，以利於人。今繒帛轉賤，公私俱弊。宜出見錢五十萬貫，令京兆府揀擇要便處開場，依市價交易。選清強官吏，切加勾當。仍各委本司，先作處置條件聞奏。必使事堪經久，法可通行。」又敕：「近日布帛轉輕，見錢漸少，皆緣所在壅塞，不得通流。宜令京城內自文武官僚，不問品秩高下，並公、郡、縣主、中使等，下至士庶、商旅、寺觀、坊市，所有私貯見錢，並不得過五千貫。如有過此，許從敕出後，限一月內任將市別物收貯。如錢數較多，處置未了，任于限內於地界州縣陳狀，更請限。縱有此色，亦不得過兩個月。若一家內別有宅舍店鋪等，所貯錢並須計用在此數。其兄弟本來異居曾經分析者，不在此限。如限滿後有違犯者，白身人等，宜付所司，決痛杖一頓處死。其文武官及公主等，並委有司聞奏，當重科貶。戚屬中使，亦具名銜聞奏。其剩貯錢，不限多少，並勒納官。數內五分取一分充賞錢，止於五千貫。此外察獲，及有人論告，亦重科處分，並量給告者。」時京師里閭區肆所積，多方鎮錢，王鍔、韓弘、李惟簡，少者不下五十萬貫。於是競買第屋以變其錢，多者竟裏巷傭僦以歸其直。而高貲大賈者，多依倚左右軍官錢為名，府縣不得窮驗，法竟不行。

In the first month of the twelfth year, an edict declared: 「Currency is established with fixed regulations so that weight and value may be kept in balance and gathering and dispersing kept in measure. Policy must adapt to benefit the people. Silk and cloth have grown ever cheaper, to the harm of both public and private interests. Five hundred thousand strings of cash should be disbursed, and Jingzhao Prefecture ordered to select convenient sites to open markets and trade at market prices. Upright and capable officials should be selected for strict supervision. Each responsible office should first prepare terms of implementation and report to the throne. The measure must be durable and the law practicable. 」Another edict followed: 「Recently cloth and silk have grown cheaper while cash has grown scarcer — all because local hoarding blocks circulation. Within the capital, from civil and military officials of every rank, princesses of ducal, commandery, and county houses, and palace envoys, down to gentry, commoners, merchants, travelers, temples, and market wards — private cash hoards must not exceed five thousand strings. Those exceeding this limit may, within one month of the edict's issuance, freely purchase other goods in place of their hoarded coin. If the amount is large and disposal cannot be completed in time, a petition for extension may be filed with the local prefecture or county within the deadline. Even with an extension, the total period may not exceed two months. If a household owns separate dwellings or shops, all coin stored therein must count toward this limit. Brothers who originally lived separately and had already divided their households are exempt. Those who violate the deadline — commoners among them — shall be handed to the authorities and sentenced to death by beating after one session of severe strokes. Civil and military officials and princesses shall be reported by the responsible offices for heavy demotion and punishment. Consorts' relatives and palace envoys shall also be reported by name and title. All surplus hoarded coin, regardless of amount, shall be compelled surrendered to the government. One-fifth of the seized amount shall be taken as reward money, capped at five thousand strings. Beyond this, those caught through investigation and those reported by accusers were also heavily punished, and informants were rewarded in proportion. 」At this time, the hoardings in the capital's neighborhoods and market districts were largely provincial military funds. Wang E, Han Hong, and Li Weijian each held no less than five hundred thousand strings. Thereupon they competed to buy mansions to convert their coin into property; many even rented out entire lanes and alleys to recover their capital. Wealthy merchants, however, mostly shielded themselves under the name of Left and Right Army official funds. Prefectures and counties could not fully investigate, and the law was never enforced.

十四年六月，敕：「應屬諸軍諸使，更有犯時用錢每貫除二十文、足陌內欠錢及有鉛錫錢者，宜令京兆府枷項收禁，牒報本軍本使府司，差人就軍及看決二十。如情狀難容，復有違拒者，仍令府司聞奏。」十五年八月，中書門下奏：「伏准群官所議鑄錢，或請收市人間銅物，令州郡鑄錢。當開元以前，未置鹽鐵使，亦令州郡勾當鑄造。今若兩稅盡納匹段，或慮兼要通用見錢。欲令諸道公私銅器，各納所在節度、團練、防禦、經略使，便據元敕給與價直，並折兩稅。仍令本處軍人熔鑄。其鑄本，請以留州留使年支未用物充，所鑄錢便充軍府、州、縣公用。當處軍人，自有糧賜，亦較省本，所資眾力，並收眾銅，天下並功，速濟時用。待一年後鑄器物盡，則停。其州府有出銅鉛可以開爐處，具申有司，便令同諸監冶例，每年與本充鑄。其收市銅器期限，並禁鑄造買賣銅物等，待議定便令有司條流聞奏。其上都鑄錢及收銅器，續處分。將欲頒行，尚資周慮，請令中書門下兩省、御史台並諸司長官商量，重議聞奏。」從之。

In the sixth month of the fourteenth year, an edict declared: 「All personnel under the various armies and commissioners who again violate current coin regulations — by deducting twenty cash per string, short-changing on full-count exchange, or using lead-tin coin — shall be placed in cangue and imprisoned by Jingzhao Prefecture. The prefecture shall notify the relevant army and commissioner offices by dispatch and send men to the army for summary judgment of twenty strokes. If the circumstances are intolerable and there is further defiance, the prefectural office shall still be ordered to report to the throne. 」In the eighth month of the fifteenth year, the Secretariat-Chancellery memorialized: 「We have respectfully received the officials' deliberation on coin casting. Some propose collecting copper goods from among the people and having prefectures and commanderies cast coin. Before the Kaiyuan era, before the Salt and Iron Commissioner was established, prefectures and commanderies were also ordered to handle coin casting. If the two-tax system now accepts only cloth bolts in full, we fear there will still be a need for circulating cash. We propose that public and private copper vessels in each circuit be turned in to the local military, training, defense, or frontier commissioners, who shall pay prices according to the original edict and credit the amounts against the two taxes. Local soldiers should still be ordered to melt and cast the coin. The capital for casting should come from unused annual allocations retained by prefecture and commissioner; the coin cast shall serve the public needs of army headquarters, prefectures, and counties. Local soldiers already receive rations and stipends, which also saves on capital. Relying on mass manpower and collecting copper from the people, the whole empire working together can quickly meet present needs. After one year, when all castable vessels are exhausted, the program shall stop. Where prefectures and commanderies have sources of copper and lead suitable for opening furnaces, they should report in detail to the responsible offices and, following the precedent of the smelting overseers, be supplied annually with capital for casting. The deadline for collecting market copper vessels and the prohibitions on casting and trading copper goods await deliberation; responsible offices should then be ordered to formulate regulations and report. Coin casting at the capital and the collection of copper vessels would receive further disposition. Before promulgation, further thorough consideration is needed. We request that the two bureaus of the Secretariat-Chancellery, the Censorate, and the chiefs of all offices consult, deliberate anew, and report. 」The memorial was approved.

長慶元年九月，敕：「泉貨之義，所貴通流。如聞比來用錢，所在除陌不一。與其禁人之必犯，未若從俗之所宜，交易往來，務令可守。其內外公私給用錢，從今以後，宜每貫一例除墊八十，以九百二十文成貫，不得更有加除及陌內欠少。」大和三年六月，中書門下奏：「准元和四年閏三月敕，應有鉛錫錢，併合納官，如有人糾得一錢，賞百錢者。當時敕條，貴在峻切，今詳事實，必不可行。只如告一錢賞百錢，則有人告一百貫錫錢，須賞一萬貫銅錢，執此而行，事無畔際。今請以鉛錫錢交易者，一貫已下，以州府常行決脊杖二十；十貫已下，決六十，徒三年；過十貫已上，所在集眾決殺。其受鉛錫錢交易者，亦准此處分。其用鉛錫錢，仍納官。其能糾告者，每一貫賞五千文，不滿貫者，准此計賞，累至三百千，仍且取當處官錢給付。其所犯人罪不死者，征納家資，充填賞錢。」可之。四年十一月，敕：「應私貯見錢家，除合貯數外，一萬貫至十萬貫，限一周年內處置畢；十萬貫至二十萬貫以下者，限二周年處置畢。如有不守期限，安然蓄積，過本限，即任人糾告，及所由覺察。其所犯家錢，並准元和十二年敕納官，據數五分取一分充賞。糾告人賞錢，數止於五千貫。應犯錢法人色目決斷科貶，並准元和十二年敕處分。其所由覺察，亦量賞一半。」事竟不行。五年二月，鹽鐵使奏：「湖南管內諸州百姓私鑄造到錢。伏緣衡、道數州，連接嶺南，山洞深邃，百姓依模監司錢樣，競鑄造到脆惡奸錢，轉將賤價博易，與好錢相和行用。其江西、鄂岳、桂管鑄濫錢，並請委本道觀察使條流禁絕。」敕旨宜依。

In the ninth month of the first year of Changqing, an edict declared: 「The principle of currency lies in circulation. We have heard that recently the deductions applied when using coin vary from place to place. Rather than prohibiting what people will certainly violate, it is better to follow what custom permits, so that transactions may be made enforceable. For all public and private payments within and outside the capital, from now on each string shall uniformly deduct eighty cash as handling fee, making nine hundred twenty cash per string. No further deductions or short-counting within exchange shall be permitted. 」In the sixth month of the third year of Dahe, the Secretariat-Chancellery memorialized: 「Per the intercalary third-month edict of the fourth year of Yuanhe, all lead-tin coin was to be surrendered to the government, and whoever reported one cash was to receive a reward of one hundred cash. That edict's provisions aimed at severity, but examining the facts now, it simply cannot be enforced. If reporting one cash is rewarded with one hundred, then reporting one hundred strings of tin coin would require a reward of ten thousand strings of copper coin. Enforced thus, the affair would know no limit. We now propose that those who trade in lead-tin coin, for amounts up to one string, shall be sentenced by the prefecture or circuit to twenty strokes of cudgel on the back; for amounts up to ten strings, sixty strokes and three years of penal servitude; for amounts above ten strings, wherever found, the crowd shall be assembled for execution. Those who accept lead-tin coin in trade shall receive the same disposition. Any lead-tin coin used shall still be surrendered to the government. Those who can report violations shall receive five thousand cash for each string reported. For amounts less than a string, the reward shall be calculated accordingly, up to a cumulative total of three hundred strings, still paid from local official funds. If the offender's crime does not warrant death, household assets shall be levied to cover the reward money. 」The proposal was approved. In the eleventh month of the fourth year, an edict declared: 「Among households privately storing cash, those holding beyond permitted amounts from ten thousand to one hundred thousand strings must dispose of the excess within one year; those holding from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand strings must dispose of the excess within two years. If the deadlines are not observed and hoarding continues peacefully past the limit, anyone may report the violation, and responsible officials may also detect it. The offending household's coin shall all be surrendered to the government per the edict of the twelfth year of Yuanhe, with one-fifth taken as reward. The informant's reward shall be capped at five thousand strings. Sentencing and demotion for all categories of offenders shall follow the edict of the twelfth year of Yuanhe. Officials who detect violations shall also receive half the reward by measure. 」The measure was never implemented. In the second month of the fifth year, the Salt and Iron Commissioner memorialized: 「Within Hunan's circuit, commoners have privately cast coin. Because Heng and Dao prefectures connect to Lingnan, where mountains are deep and caves remote, commoners copied the models of overseer coin and competed to cast brittle, debased, fraudulent coin, trading it cheaply to mix with good coin in circulation. Debased coin in Jiangxi, E'yue, and Guiguan should also be entrusted to the circuit observation commissioners to formulate prohibitions and suppress it. 」The edict's intent was approved.

會昌六年二月，敕：「緣諸道鼓鑄佛像鐘磬等新錢，已有次第，須令舊錢流布。絹帛價稍增。文武百僚俸料，宜起三月一日，並給見錢。其一半先給虛估匹段，對估價支給。」敕：「比緣錢重幣輕，生人坐困，今加鼓鑄，必在流行。通變救時，莫切於此。宜申先甲之令，以誡居貨之徒。京城及諸道，起今年十月以後，公私行用，並取新錢，其舊錢權停三數年。如有違犯，同用鉛錫惡錢例科斷，其舊錢並納官。」事竟不行。

In the second month of the sixth year of Huichang, an edict declared: 「Because the various circuits have cast new coin from Buddha images, bells, chimes, and the like in orderly succession, old coin must be permitted to circulate. Silk and cloth prices have risen slightly. The salaries of civil and military officials shall, beginning on the first day of the third month, all be paid in cash. Half shall first be paid in overvalued cloth bolts, disbursed at assessed value. 」An edict followed: 「Recently, because coin is scarce and goods cheap, the people have been left in distress. Now that casting is being increased, circulation is essential. Adapting policy to save the age — nothing is more urgent than this. Earlier edicts should be reasserted to warn those who hoard goods. In the capital and all circuits, beginning from the tenth month of this year, public and private transactions shall all use new coin, while old coin shall be provisionally suspended for several years. Violators shall be punished under the same precedents as for lead-tin debased coin, and all old coin shall be surrendered to the government. 」The measure was never implemented.

開元元年十一月，河中尹姜師度以安邑鹽池漸涸，師度開拓疏決水道，置為鹽屯，公私大收其利。其年十一月五日，左拾遺劉彤上表曰：「臣聞漢孝武為政，廊馬三十萬，後宮數萬人，外討戎夷，內興宮室，殫費之甚，實百當今，而古費多而貨有餘，今用少而財不足，何也？豈非古取山澤，而今取貧民哉。取山澤，則公利厚而人歸於農；取貧民，則公利薄而人去其業。故先王作法也，山海有官，虞衡有職，輕重有術，禁發有時。一則專農，二則饒國，濟人盛事也。臣實為今疑之。夫煮海為鹽，采山鑄錢，伐木為室。農餘之輩，寒而無衣，饑而無食，傭賃自資者，窮苦之流也。若能以山海厚利，資農之餘人，厚斂重徭，免窮苦之子，所謂損有餘而益不足，帝王之道，可不謂然乎？臣願陛下詔鹽鐵木等官收興利，貿遷於人，則不及數年，府有餘儲矣。然後下寬貸之令，蠲窮獨之徭，可以惠群生，可以柔荒服。雖戎狄、猾夏，堯、湯水旱，無足虞也。奉天適變，惟在陛下行之。」上令宰臣議其可否，鹹以鹽鐵之利，甚益國用，遂令將作大匠姜師度、戶部侍郎強循俱攝御史中丞，與諸道按察使檢責海內鹽鐵之課。「比令使人勾當，除此外更無別求。在外不細委知，如聞稱有侵刻，宜令本州刺史上佐一人檢校，依令式收稅。如有落帳欺沒，仍委按察使糾覺奏聞。其姜師度除蒲州鹽池以外，自餘處更不須巡檢。」

In the eleventh month of the first year of Kaiyuan, Jiang Shidu, magistrate of Hedong, found the Anyi salt ponds gradually drying up. Shidu opened and dredged waterways and established salt fields, greatly benefiting both public and private interests. On the fifth day of the eleventh month that year, Left Reminder Liu Tong submitted a memorial saying: 「I have heard that Emperor Wu of Han governed with three hundred thousand stabled horses and tens of thousands in the harem, campaigning abroad against barbarians and building palaces within. His expenditure was extreme, truly a hundredfold today's — yet antiquity spent much yet goods abounded, while today spends little yet finances are insufficient. Why is this? Is it not because antiquity drew revenue from mountains and marshes, while today draws it from the poor? When revenue is drawn from mountains and marshes, public profit is ample and the people return to farming; when it is drawn from the poor, public profit is thin and the people abandon their occupations. Thus the ancient kings made law: mountains and seas had officials, forest and lake wardens had posts, heavy and light had methods, and prohibition and release had their seasons. First, farming is concentrated upon; second, the state is enriched — a great enterprise benefiting the people. Your servant truly doubts the ways of today. Boiling the sea for salt, mining mountains for coin, and felling trees for dwellings — those beyond farming, cold without clothes and hungry without food, supporting themselves by hired labor, are the destitute sort. If the thick profits of mountains and seas could support those beyond farming, while heavy taxes and corvée were lifted from the destitute — is this not what is meant by reducing excess to supplement deficiency, the way of emperors and kings? Your servant wishes Your Majesty to decree that officials over salt, iron, timber, and the like gather profit and transfer trade to the people. Then within a few years, the treasury will have surplus stores. Then lenient loan edicts may be issued and corvée remitted for the destitute alone, thereby benefiting all the people and softening distant domains. Though barbarians raid, the Xia rebel, and floods and droughts come as in the days of Yao and Tang, there will be nothing to fear. Following Heaven and adapting to change — this lies only in Your Majesty's action. 」The Emperor ordered the chief ministers to debate the proposal's feasibility. All agreed that salt and iron profits greatly benefit state revenue, and he ordered Master Builder Jiang Shidu and Finance Vice-Minister Qiang Xun, both acting as Censor-in-Chief, together with the circuit inspection commissioners to audit salt and iron taxes throughout the empire. 「Envoys have recently been ordered to handle affairs; beyond this there shall be no further demands. We lack detailed knowledge of conditions outside the capital, but we hear reports of extortion. One upper aide from each prefecture should be ordered to inspect and collect taxes according to the regulations. If accounts are omitted or embezzled, inspection commissioners shall still be entrusted to detect and report the matter. As for Jiang Shidu, except for the Puzhou salt ponds, he need not inspect elsewhere.」

貞元十六年十二月，史牟奏：「澤、潞、鄭等州，多是末鹽，請禁斷。」從之。元和五年正月，度支奏：「鄜州、邠州、涇原諸將士，請同當處百姓例，食烏、白兩池鹽。」六年閏十二月，度支盧坦奏：「河中兩池顆鹽，敕文只許於京畿、鳳翔、陝、虢、河中澤潞、河南許汝等十五州界內糶貨。比來因循，兼越興、鳳、文、成等六州。臣移牒勘責，得山南西道觀察使報，其果、閬兩州鹽，本土戶人及巴南諸郡市糴，又供當軍士馬，尚有懸欠，若兼數州，自然闕絕。又得興元府諸耆老狀申訴。臣今商量，河中鹽請放入六州界糶貨。」從之。十年七月，度支使皇甫鎛奏，加峽內四監、劍南東西川、山南西道鹽估，以利供軍。從之。十三年，鹽鐵使程異奏：「應諸州府先請置茶鹽店收稅。伏准今年正月一日赦文，其諸州府因用兵已來，或慮有權置職名，及擅加科配，事非常制，一切禁斷者。伏以榷稅茶鹽，本資財賦，贍濟軍鎮，蓋是從權。昨兵罷，自合便停，事久實為重斂。其諸道先所置店及收諸色錢物等，雖非擅加，且異常制，伏請准赦文勒停。」從之。

In the twelfth month of the sixteenth year of Zhenyuan, Shi Mou memorialized: 「Ze, Lu, Zheng, and other prefectures mostly have illicit salt. We request that it be prohibited. 」The memorial was approved. In the first month of the fifth year of Yuanhe, the Finance Office memorialized: 「The troops of Fuzhou, Binzhou, and Jingyuan request, like local commoners, to consume salt from the Black and White ponds. 」In the intercalary twelfth month of the sixth year, Finance Minister Lu Tan memorialized: 「Granular salt from Hedong's two ponds may, according to the edict, be sold only within the borders of fifteen prefectures: the Capital region, Fengxiang, Shaan, Guo, Hedong, Ze, Lu, Henan, Xu, Ru, and the like. Recently, through lax enforcement, sales have also crossed into Xing, Feng, Wen, Cheng, and five other prefectures. I sent a dispatch to investigate and received a reply from the South Shannan West Circuit observation commissioner stating that the salt of Guo and Lang prefectures is purchased by local households and the commanderies south of Ba, and also supplies local troops and horses, yet arrears remain. If several additional prefectures were also supplied, the supply would naturally be exhausted. I also received petitions of protest from the elders of Xingyuan Prefecture. After deliberation, I request that Hedong salt be permitted for sale within the borders of the six prefectures. 」The memorial was approved. In the seventh month of the tenth year, Finance Commissioner Huangfu Bo memorialized to increase salt assessments for the four Inner Gorge overseers, Eastern and Western Sichuan, and the South Shannan West Circuit, so as to benefit military supply. The proposal was approved. In the thirteenth year, Salt and Iron Commissioner Cheng Yi memorialized: 「Various prefectures previously requested the establishment of tea and salt shops for tax collection. We respectfully note this year's first-day amnesty, which prohibited all ad hoc positions and unauthorized levies beyond the regular system that various prefectures had instituted since the military campaigns began. Monopoly taxes on tea and salt were originally meant to fund revenue and supply military garrisons — essentially an expedient measure. Now that the war has ended, they should naturally cease; prolonged, they have truly become excessive levies. The shops previously established in various circuits and the various collections they gathered, though not unauthorized additions, are nevertheless beyond the regular system. We respectfully request that they be compelled to cease per the amnesty. 」The memorial was approved.

十四年三月，鄆、青、兗三州各置榷鹽院。

In the third month of the fourteenth year, Yun, Qing, and Yan Prefectures each established salt monopoly bureaus.

長慶元年三月，敕：「河朔初平，人希德澤，且務寬泰，使之獲安。其河北榷鹽法且權停。仍令度支與鎮冀、魏博等道節度審察商量，如能約計課利錢數，分付榷鹽院，亦任穩便。」自天寶末兵興以來，河北鹽法，羈縻而已。暨元和中，皇甫鎛奏置稅鹽院，同江、淮兩池榷利，人苦犯禁，戎鎮亦頻上訴，故有是命。其月，鹽鐵使王播奏：「揚州、白沙兩處納榷場，請依舊為院。」又奏：「諸道鹽院糶鹽付商人，請每鬥加五十，通舊三百文價；諸處煎鹽停場，置小鋪糶鹽，每鬥加二十文，通舊一百九十文價。」又奏：「應管煎鹽戶及鹽商，並諸鹽院停場官吏所由等，前後制敕，除兩稅外，不許差役追擾。今請更有違越者，縣令、刺史貶黜罰俸。」從之。二年五月，詔曰：「兵革初寧，亦資榷筦，閭閻重困，則可蠲除。如聞淄青、兗、鄆三道，往來糶鹽價錢，近取七十萬貫，軍資給費，優贍有餘。自鹽鐵使收管已來，軍府頓絕其利。遂使經行陣者有停糧之怨，服隴畝者有加稅之嗟，犯鹽禁者困鞭撻之刑，理生業者乏蠶醬之具。雖縣官受利，而郡府益空。俾人獲安寧，我因節用。其鹽鐵先於淄青、兗、鄆等道管內置小鋪糶鹽，巡院納榷，起今年五月一日已後，一切並停。仍各委本道約校比來節度使自收管充軍府逐急用度，及均減管內貧下百姓兩稅錢數。至年終，各具糶鹽所得錢，並均減兩稅。奏聞。」

In the third month of the first year of Changqing, an edict declared: 「Hebei has been newly pacified, and the people hope for benevolent rule. For now, leniency should be pursued so that they may find peace. The Hebei salt monopoly law is provisionally suspended. The Finance Office and the military commissioners of Zhenji, Weibo, and other circuits are ordered to examine and discuss the matter. If estimated tax revenues can be delivered to the monopoly bureaus, that arrangement is also permitted as convenient. 」Since the military uprising at the end of the Tianbao era, Hebei salt law has been only loosely controlled. By the Yuanhe era, Huangfu Bo memorialized to establish tax salt bureaus on the same model as the Yangtze-Huai two-pond monopoly. The people suffered under the prohibitions, and military garrisons frequently appealed — hence this order. That same month, Salt and Iron Commissioner Wang Bo memorialized: 「The two tax-collection sites at Yangzhou and Baisha should be restored as bureaus. 」He further memorialized: 「Where circuit salt bureaus sell salt to merchants, we request adding fifty cash per dou, for a combined price with the previous rate of three hundred cash; At all salt-boiling depots, small shops should be established to sell salt, with an addition of twenty cash per dou, for a combined price with the previous rate of one hundred ninety cash. 」He further memorialized: 「Previous statutes and edicts have held that salt-boiling households under jurisdiction, salt merchants, and the officials and subordinates of salt bureaus and depots may not be subjected to corvée assignments or harassment apart from the dual tax. We now request that any further violations be punished by demotion and salary fines for the county magistrates and prefects involved. 」The memorial was approved. In the fifth month of the second year, an edict declared: 「Now that hostilities have newly subsided, monopolies may still serve [as revenue], but if common households are heavily distressed, they may be remitted. It has been heard that the three circuits of Zibo-Qing, Yan, and Yun have recently taken in seven hundred thousand strings from salt sold back and forth — military supplies and expenses are abundantly provided, with surplus to spare. Since the Salt and Iron Commissioner took over management, the military prefectures have suddenly lost this revenue. Thus soldiers on campaign grumble over halted rations; farmers in the fields lament added taxes; those who violate the salt prohibition are tormented by flogging; and those who tend their livelihoods lack even silkworms and sauce. Although the central government receives the profit, the commanderies and prefectures grow ever emptier. Let the people find peace and security; I will therefore economize expenditures. The small shops set up within the jurisdictions of Zibo-Qing, Yan, Yun, and other circuits to sell salt, and the inspection bureaus that collected the monopoly, are all to cease entirely as of the first day of the fifth month of this year. Each circuit is further entrusted to estimate and verify matters: as heretofore, the military commissioners shall manage revenues themselves to meet urgent military expenses, and equally reduce dual-tax amounts for the poor commoners within their jurisdictions. By year's end, each shall report salt-sale proceeds and the corresponding dual-tax reductions. These matters shall be memorialized and reported.」

安邑、解縣兩池，舊置榷鹽使，仍各別置院官。元和三年七月，復以安邑、解縣兩池留後為榷鹽使。先是，兩池鹽務隸度支，其職視諸道巡院。貞元十六年，史牟以金部郎中主池務，恥同諸院，遂奏置使額。二十一年，鹽鐵、度支合為一使，以杜佑兼領。佑以度支既稱使，其所管不宜更有使名，遂與東渭橋使同奏，罷之。至是，裴均主池務，職轉繁劇，復有是請。大和三年四月，敕安邑、解縣兩池榷課，以實錢一百萬貫為定額。至大中二年正月，敕但取匹段精好，不必計舊額錢數。及大中年，度支奏納榷利一百二十一萬五千餘貫。

The two ponds at Anyi and Jie County formerly had a salt monopoly commissioner appointed, with separate bureau officials established for each. In the seventh month of the third year of Yuanhe, the rear-guard commissioner of the Anyi and Jie County ponds was again made salt monopoly commissioner. Previously, the salt affairs of the two ponds were subordinate to the Finance Office, and the duties were comparable to those of the circuit inspection bureaus. In the sixteenth year of Zhenyuan, Shi Mou, as director of the Treasury Bureau, managed the pond affairs. Ashamed to rank alongside the various bureaus, he memorialized to establish a separate commissioner post. In the twenty-first year, Salt and Iron and Finance were combined into a single commission, with Du You holding both concurrently. Du You held that since the Finance Office already bore the title of commissioner, what it managed should not additionally carry a separate commissioner title. He therefore jointly memorialized with the Dongwei Bridge commissioner to abolish the post. At this point, Pei Jun managed the pond affairs; as the duties grew ever more burdensome, he again made this request. In the fourth month of the third year of Dahe, an edict fixed the monopoly tax for the two ponds at Anyi and Jie County at one million strings of actual cash. By the first month of the second year of Dazhong, an edict required only bolts of fine silk cloth, without calculating the former fixed cash amount. By the Dazhong era, the Finance Office memorialized that monopoly profits submitted amounted to more than 1,215,500 strings.

女鹽池在解縣，朝邑小池在同州，鹵池在京兆府奉先縣，並禁斷不榷。烏池在鹽州，舊置榷稅使。長慶元年三月，敕烏池每年糶鹽收博榷米，以一十五萬石為定額。溫池，大中四年三月因收復河隴，敕令度支收管。溫池鹽仍差靈州分巡院官勾當。至六年三月，敕令割屬威州，置榷稅使。緣新制置，未立榷課定額。胡落池在豐州界，河東供軍使收管。每年采鹽約一萬四千余石，供振武、天德兩軍及營田水運官健。自大中四年党項叛擾，饋運不通，供軍使請權市河東白池鹽供食。其白池屬河節度使，不系度支。初，玄宗已前，亦有鹽池使。景雲四年三月，蒲州刺史充關內鹽池使。先天二年九月，強循除豳州刺史，充鹽池使，此即鹽州池也。開元十五年五月，兵部尚書蕭嵩除關內鹽池使。此是朔方節度常帶鹽池使也。

The Female Salt Pond is in Jie County; the Chaoyi small pond is in Tong Prefecture; the Lu Pond is in Fengxian County, Jingzhao Prefecture — all are barred and not subject to monopoly. Wu Pond is in Yan Prefecture; a monopoly tax commissioner was formerly appointed there. In the third month of the first year of Changqing, an edict fixed the annual Wu Pond salt sales and monopoly rice collections at one hundred fifty thousand shi. Wen Pond: in the third month of the fourth year of Dazhong, because Hexi and Longyou were recovered, an edict ordered the Finance Office to take it over. Management of Wen Pond salt was still assigned to an official of the Ling Prefecture branch inspection bureau. By the third month of the sixth year, an edict ordered it transferred to Wei Prefecture and a monopoly tax commissioner appointed. Because the arrangement was newly established, no fixed monopoly tax quota had yet been set. Huluo Pond is on the border of Feng Prefecture and is managed by the Hedong Army Supply commissioner. Each year roughly fourteen thousand-plus shi of salt are harvested to supply the Zhenwu and Tiande armies and the camp-field and water-transport troops. From the fourth year of Dazhong, because of Tangut rebellions and raids, supply transport was cut off. The Army Supply commissioner requested provisional purchase of salt from the Hedong White Pond for provisions. That White Pond belongs to the Yellow River military commissioner and is not under the Finance Office. Early on, even before Emperor Xuanzong, there was also a Salt Pond commissioner. In the third month of the fourth year of Jingyun, the prefect of Pu Prefecture served as Guannei Salt Pond commissioner. In the ninth month of the second year of Xiantian, Qiang Xun was appointed prefect of Bin Prefecture and served as Salt Pond commissioner — this is the Yan Prefecture pond. In the fifth month of the fifteenth year of Kaiyuan, Minister of War Xiao Song was appointed Guannei Salt Pond commissioner. This is because the Shuofang military commission customarily carried the Salt Pond commissioner title.

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