Volume 123 Treatises 98: Food and Money 4, Salt Administration

志九十八

Treatise 98

食貨四

Food and Money, Part Four

鹽法

Salt Administration

清之鹽法，大率因明制而損益之。蒙古、新疆多產鹽地，而內地十一區，尤有裨國計。十一區者：曰長蘆，曰奉天，曰山東，曰兩淮，曰浙江，曰福建，曰廣東，曰四川，曰雲南，曰河東，曰陝甘。

Qing salt policy largely took the Ming system as its basis, adjusting it where needed. Mongolia and Xinjiang contain many salt-producing areas, yet the eleven inland salt districts mattered most for state finance. The eleven districts were Changlu, Fengtian, Shandong, the Two Huai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hedong, and Shaanxi-Gansu.

長蘆舊有二十場，後裁為八，行銷直隸、河南兩省。奉天舊有二十場，後分為九，及日本據金川灘地，乃存八場，行銷奉天、吉林、黑龍江三省。山東舊有十九場，後裁為八，行銷山東、河南、江蘇、安徽四省。兩淮舊有三十場，後裁為二十三，行銷江蘇、安徽、江西、湖北、湖南、河南六省。浙江三十二場，其地分隸浙江、江蘇，行銷浙江、江蘇、安徽、江西四省。福建十六場，行銷福建、浙江兩省。其在台灣者，尚有五場，行銷本府，後入於日本。廣東二十七場，行銷廣東、廣西、福建、江西、湖南、雲南、貴州七省。四川鹽井產旺者，凡州縣二十四，行銷西藏及四川、湖南、湖北、貴州、雲南、甘肅六省。雲南鹽井最著者二十六，行銷本省。河東鹽池分東、中、西三場，行銷山西、河南、陝西三省。陝甘鹽池最著者，曰花馬大池，在甘肅靈州，行銷陝西、甘肅兩省。

Changlu once had twenty salterns, later cut to eight, supplying Zhili and Henan. Fengtian once had twenty salterns, later nine; after Japan seized the Jinchuan tidal flats, only eight remained, supplying Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. Shandong once had nineteen salterns, later reduced to eight, supplying Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, and Anhui. The Two Huai once had thirty salterns, later twenty-three, supplying six provinces: Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Henan. Zhejiang had thirty-two salterns on ground split between Zhejiang and Jiangsu, supplying those two provinces plus Anhui and Jiangxi. Fujian had sixteen salterns, supplying Fujian and Zhejiang. Taiwan had five more salterns serving the island itself until it passed to Japan. Guangdong had twenty-seven salterns supplying seven provinces from Guangdong and Guangxi east to Yunnan and Guizhou. Twenty-four Sichuan counties with productive brine wells supplied Tibet and six provinces: Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Gansu. Yunnan's twenty-six principal brine wells served only the province itself. Hedong's salt pans were split into eastern, central, and western works, supplying Shanxi, Henan, and Shaanxi. The chief Shaanxi-Gansu salt pan was Huama Great Pond at Lingzhou in Gansu, supplying Shaanxi and Gansu.

長蘆、奉天、山東、兩淮、浙江、福建、廣東之鹽出於海，四川、雲南出於井，河東、陝甘出於池。其制法，海鹽有煎、有曬，池鹽皆曬，井鹽皆煎。論質味，則海鹽為佳，池鹽、井鹽次之。海鹽之中，灘曬為佳，板曬次之，煎又次之。論成本，則曬為輕，煎之用盪草者次之，煤火又次之，木則工本愈重。此其大較也。

Changlu, Fengtian, Shandong, the Two Huai, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong drew sea salt; Sichuan and Yunnan, well salt; Hedong and Shaanxi-Gansu, pan salt. Sea salt could be boiled or sun-evaporated; pan salt was always sun-evaporated; well salt was always boiled. In flavor, sea salt ranked first; pan and well salt followed. Among sea salts, beach-evaporated ranked highest, plank-evaporated next, and boiled last. In cost, sun-evaporation was cheapest; boiling with reed fuel came next, then coal, and wood made production most expensive. Such was the broad comparison.

初，鹽政屬戶部山東司。宣統二年，乃命戶部尚書兼任督辦鹽政大臣，外遣御史巡視。後裁歸總督、巡撫管理。其專司曰都轉運使司。無運司各省，或以鹽法道、鹽糧道、驛鹽道、茶鹽道兼理。

Initially salt affairs fell under the Ministry of Revenue's Shandong Bureau. In Xuantong 2 (1910), the revenue minister was also named commissioner of salt policy, with touring censors sent to the regions. The post was later abolished and authority reverted to governors-general and governors. The dedicated agency was the Directorate of Salt Distribution. Where no salt directorate existed, a salt-law, salt-grain, courier-salt, or tea-salt intendant usually handled affairs.

其行鹽法有七：曰官督商銷，曰官運商銷，曰商運商銷，曰商運民銷，曰民運民銷，曰官督民銷，惟官督商銷行之為廣且久。凡商有二：曰場商，主收鹽；曰運商，主行鹽。其總攬之者曰總商，主散商納課。後多剝削侵蝕之弊，康熙、乾隆間，革之而未能去。惟兩淮以道光時陶澍變法，奏除引目，由戶部寶泉局鑄銅板印刷。順治三年，以淮、浙領引距京遠，設都理引務官駐揚州，至七年裁。十五年，發引於運司，尋命運司仍委員赴部關領，票亦領於部。

Seven distribution systems existed: official supervision with merchant sales; official transport with merchant sales; merchant transport and sales; merchant transport with retail sales; popular transport and sales; and official supervision with popular sales. Only official supervision with merchant sales was used broadly and for the longest period. Merchants fell into two types: field merchants, who bought salt at the salterns; and transport merchants, who distributed it. Chief merchants oversaw the network and collected duties from smaller dealers. They later bred extortion and graft; Kangxi and Qianlong tried to abolish the office but never fully succeeded. Only in the Two Huai did Tao Zhu's Daoguang reforms abolish quota registers and have the Ministry's Baojuan Bureau print tickets from copper plates. In Shunzhi 3, because Huai and Zhejiang quota offices lay far from Beijing, a chief quota officer was posted at Yangzhou; the post was abolished in Shunzhi 7. In Shunzhi 15 quotas were issued through the directorates, but soon commissioners again had to collect them at the ministry; tickets too were issued in Beijing.

商人之購鹽也，必請運司支單，亦曰照單，曰限單，曰皮票，持此購於場。得鹽則貯之官地，奉天謂之倉，長蘆謂之坨。未檢查者曰生鹽，已檢查者為熟鹽，熟鹽乃可發售。兩淮總棧始由商主，後改官棧。四川以行銷黔、滇者為邊岸，本省及湖北為計岸，潼川州為潼岸。河東總岸立於咸豐初。其行陝西者，以三河口為之匯。行河南者，以會興鎮為之匯。山西則蒲、解，於安邑運城立岸，而澤、潞等處亦分立焉。

To buy salt, merchants first obtained a payment slip from the directorate—also called a permit, a time-limit slip, or a leather ticket—and presented it at the saltern. Purchased salt went into state depots—cang in Fengtian, tuo in Changlu. Unchecked stock was raw salt; inspected stock was mature salt, and only mature salt could be sold. The Two Huai central depot began under merchant management but later became a government warehouse. In Sichuan, salt for Guizhou and Yunnan used the border shore; for the province and Hubei, the accounting shore; Tongchuan had its own Tong shore. Hedong's main distribution shore was set up early in the Xianfeng reign. Salt for Shaanxi converged at Sanhekou. Salt for Henan converged at Huixing Town. In Shanxi, shores were set up at Yuncheng in Anyi for the Pu and Xie routes, with additional shores at Ze, Lu, and elsewhere.

大抵暢岸外有滯地，或展限，或減引，或停運，或用並引附銷、統銷、融銷諸法。並引附銷者，將積鹽附入，三引銷一引。又納引半之課行一引之鹽，納三引之課行二引之鹽是也。統銷者，將積引統毀，其正雜錢糧令商人分年完繳。融銷者，以暢岸濟滯地是也。

Beyond active shores lay stagnant markets; authorities might extend deadlines, cut quotas, halt transport, or apply combined-quota sales, unified write-offs, or cross-shore blending. Combined-quota attached sales let merchants move backlog salt by attaching three quotas' volume to one quota's clearance. Merchants might pay duty on half a quota to move a full quota, or duty on three quotas to move two. Unified sales voided backlog quotas and let merchants pay regular and miscellaneous taxes in installments. Blended sales shifted surplus from active shores to sluggish markets.

凡引有大引，沿於明，多者二千數百斤。小引者，就明所行引剖一為二，或至十。有正引、改引、餘引、綱引、食引、陸引、水引。浙江於綱引外，又有肩引、住引。其引與票之分，引商有專賣域，謂之引地。當始認時費不貲，故承為世業，謂之引窩。後或售與承運者。買單謂之窩單，價謂之窩價。道光十年，陶澍在兩淮，以其抬價，奏請每引限給一錢二分，旋禁止。票無定域而亦有價。當道光、咸豐間，兩淮每張僅銀五百兩。後官商競買，逮光緒間，至萬金以上。又引因引地廣狹大小而定售額，票則同一行鹽地，售額亦同。嘉慶以前，引多票少，後乃引少票多，蓋法以時變如此。

Quotas included large Ming-era units of well over two thousand jin. Small quotas split a Ming quota in half or into as many as ten parts. Types included regular, revised, surplus, gang, food, land, and water quotas. Zhejiang added shoulder quotas and resident quotas beyond the gang quota. Quotas differed from tickets: quota merchants held exclusive territories called quota lands. Initial registration cost a fortune, so families kept quota rights as hereditary nests. Later they could be sold to transport contractors. The transfer document was a nest slip; the price, nest price. In Daoguang 10 Tao Zhu at the Two Huai capped nest premiums at 0.12 tael per quota, then banned them outright. Tickets had no fixed territory but still carried a market price. Between Daoguang and Xianfeng a Two Huai ticket cost only five hundred taels. Later official and private buyers bid prices above ten thousand taels by Guangxu times. Quota sales volumes varied with territory size; tickets in the same distribution zone carried identical volumes. Before Jiaqing quotas dominated and tickets were rare; afterward tickets proliferated—policy shifted with the times.

若夫歲入，道光以前，惟有鹽課。及咸豐軍興，復創鹽釐。鹽課分二類：曰場課，曰引課。場課有灘課、灶課、鍋課、井課之分。長蘆有邊布，福建有坵折。邊布者，明時灶戶按丁徵鹽，商人納粟於邊，給銀報支，是謂邊鹽。其有場遠鹽無商支，令八百斤折交布三丈二尺。後改徵銀三錢，是謂布鹽。灶課向分地、丁為二。但丁不盡有地。雍正間，用長蘆巡鹽御史鄭禪寶言，將丁銀攤入於地徵收，由是各省如所奏行，然長蘆邊布之名猶仍舊。坵折者，鹽田所納錢糧，謂之折價。程所納錢糧，謂之鹽坵。其供應內府及京師、盛京各衙門之鹽，康熙中悉裁，祗供內府、光祿寺二十萬斤，折銀解部充納。引課有正課、包課、雜課。鹽釐分出境稅、入境稅、落地稅。逮乎末造，加價之法興，於是鹽稅所入與田賦國稅相埒。是以順治初行鹽百七十萬引，徵課銀五十六萬兩有奇。其後統一區夏，引日加而課亦日盛。乾隆十八年，計七百一萬四千九百四十一兩有奇。嘉慶五年，六百八萬一千五百一十七兩有奇。道光二十七年，七百五十萬二千五百七十九兩有奇。光緒末，合課釐計共二千四百萬有奇。宣統三年，度支部豫算，鹽課歲入約四千五百萬有奇。蓋稅以時增又如此。

Annual salt revenue before Daoguang came only from the salt duty. With the Xianfeng wars came the new salt lijin levy. Salt duties fell into field levies and quota levies. Field levies included beach, stove, cauldron, and well taxes. Changlu collected border cloth; Fujian, mound conversion fees. Border cloth dated from the Ming, when saltern households paid salt tax per male and merchants delivered grain to the frontier for silver vouchers—border salt. Remote salterns with no merchant buyers required three zhang two chi of cloth per eight hundred jin of salt. Later the cloth payment became a three-mace silver levy called cloth salt. Stove tax had once been split between land and household registers. Not every registered male held land, however. In Yongzheng, following censor Zheng Chanbao, household tax was folded into land tax nationwide, though Changlu still kept the name border cloth. Mound conversion was the land tax paid on salt pans, called conversion price. Production-schedule payments were called salt mound tax. Kangxi ended most palace and capital salt deliveries, leaving only two hundred thousand jin for the inner palace and the Court of Imperial Entertainments, commuted to silver paid to the ministry. Quota levies included regular, bundled, and miscellaneous duties. Salt lijin comprised exit, entry, and local landing taxes. In the dynasty's final decades price surcharges made salt revenue rival land and national taxes. At the start of Shunzhi, 1.7 million quotas moved and duty yielded just over 560,000 taels. After unification, quotas and revenue both climbed steadily. In Qianlong 18 the total exceeded 7,014,941 taels. In Jiaqing 5 it was 6,081,517 taels odd. In Daoguang 27 it reached 7,502,579 taels odd. By late Guangxu duty and lijin together exceeded 24 million taels. The Xuantong 3 budget projected annual salt revenue at about 45 million taels. Revenue rose with the times in the same way.

順治二年，諭各運司，鹽自六月一日起，俱照前朝會計錄原額徵收。旋蠲免明末新餉、練餉及雜項加派等銀。十六年，戶部議准各商鹽船用火烙記船頭，不許濫行封捉，其過關祗納船料，如借端苛求，以枉法論。十七年，用兩淮巡鹽御史李贊元言，回空糧艘禁緝夾帶私鹽。康熙九年，兩淮巡鹽御史席特納、徐旭齡言：「兩淮積弊六大苦：一，輸納之苦；一，過橋之苦；一，過所之苦；一，開江之苦；一，關津之苦；一，口岸之苦。總計六者，歲費各數萬斤，應請革除。又掣摯三大弊：一，加鉈之弊；一，坐斤之弊；一，做斤改斤之弊。此三弊者，惟有嚴禁斤重一法，乞交部酌議。」定例，凡橋所掣摯，溢斤割沒，少者三四斤，多者七八斤，不得逾額。如夾帶過多，掣官虛填太重者，商則計引科罪，官則計斤坐贓，庶掣摯公而國法信。上命勒石嚴禁，立於橋所及經過關津口岸。席特納又陳：「自康熙七年，鹽臣差遣稍遲，前任鹽差於徵完本年課銀外，又重徵新鹽。鹽尚未賣一引，而課已徵至二十餘萬。此種金錢，追呼無措，非重利借債，即典鬻赴比，應請停止。」如所請行。十六年，用戶科給事中余國柱言，命將商鹽掣驗每引加二十五斤，加課二錢五分，永遠革除，著為例。二十年，命革除三籓橫徵鹽課。

In Shunzhi 2 every directorate was ordered to collect salt from the first day of the sixth month at Ming accounting-record rates. Soon afterward the court remitted late-Ming surcharges for new levies, training pay, and miscellaneous additions. In Shunzhi 16 the ministry required merchant salt boats to be fire-branded on the bow, forbade arbitrary seizure, and limited pass dues to boat fees—extortion was punished as corruption. In Shunzhi 17, on censor Li Zanyuan's advice, empty grain barges returning north were barred from carrying contraband salt. In Kangxi 9 censors Xi Tena and Xu Xuling reported: "The Two Huai suffer six chronic abuses: first, the burden of tax payment; second, bridge tolls; third, travel-permit fees; fourth, river-opening charges; fifth, pass and ferry dues; sixth, port exactions. Taken together, the six abuses each cost merchants tens of thousands of jin of salt every year; the censors asked that they be abolished. They also reported three abuses in bridge weighing: first, padding the scales; second, withholding weight on the books; third, falsifying and altering the recorded weight. These three abuses, they argued, could be curbed only by strictly enforcing standard weights; they asked that the ministry be instructed to consider the matter. A regulation was enacted: at every bridge weighing station, surplus weight was to be cut and confiscated—no less than three or four jin, no more than seven or eight—and never beyond the permitted margin. If merchants carried too much contraband, or inspectors falsely recorded excessive weight, merchants were to be punished by the number of certificates involved and officials by the jin involved as embezzlement—so that weighing would be fair and the law credible. The emperor ordered the rule carved in stone and set up at bridge weigh stations and at every pass, ferry, and port along the route. Xi Tena further reported: "Since Kangxi 7, delays in appointing salt commissioners have allowed outgoing commissioners, after collecting the year's quota, to levy again on salt not yet sold. Before a single certificate of salt had been sold, more than two hundred thousand taels in tax had already been collected. Merchants hounded for this money had no way to pay except at usurious interest or by pawning their goods to satisfy the collectors; he asked that the practice be stopped. The court approved his request. In Kangxi 16, on the advice of supervising secretary Yu Guozhu of the Household Section, the emperor abolished forever the practice of adding twenty-five jin per certificate at inspection and a surcharge of two mace five candareens, and made the abolition statutory. In Kangxi 20 the court ordered an end to the Three Feudatories' unauthorized salt levies.

自滇、黔告變，所在揭竿蜂起，鹽無行銷地，商皆裹足不前，至亦榛墟彌望，無所得售。計臣以軍需所恃，督餉之檄，急如星火，商於是大困。時天下鹽課兩淮最多，困亦最甚，賴巡鹽御史劉錫、魏雙鳳多方撫恤，輸納忘疲。至是海內殷富，淮南寧國、太平、池州等府，及兩浙、山東、廣東、福建，先後增引，利獲三倍。不特額外照舊行銷，且原先呈課銀，請將以前停引補還。四川經明季之亂，江、楚人民遷移其地，食鹽日多，請引數倍於昔；所開之井，為滇、黔資，水陸無滯。而福建、廣東、兩浙招徠灶丁，墾復鹽地、鹽坵，報部升課者不絕。又兩浙各場漲墾盪地二萬二千七百餘畝，廣東各埠每斤加七十斤，江西南、贛二府鹽引，至三十六年，加斤配課亦如之。上以寰宇昇平，免浙江加斤銀之半，共三萬一千三百八十餘萬。三十八年南巡，復諭各鹽差：「向因軍需，於正額外更納所私得贏餘，著將此項停罷。其兩淮鹽課，前曾加四十萬，著減其半。」四十三年，用江南總督阿山言，革除兩淮浮費數十萬，勒石永禁。五十六年，長廬巡鹽御史田文鏡請將山東所裁鹽引補足辦課，經部議准。上以加引增課無益，不許。

After rebellion broke out in Yunnan and Guizhou, uprisings flared everywhere; salt had nowhere to be sold, and merchants would not venture out. Salterns stood abandoned in wasteland as far as the eye could see, with no buyers at all. Finance officials, relying on salt revenue for military supplies, issued requisition orders fast as wildfire, and merchants were driven to ruin. Nationwide the Two Huai paid the largest salt levy and suffered the most; only the care of censors Liu Xi and Wei Shuangfeng kept merchants paying without collapsing from exhaustion. By then the empire had grown prosperous; Ningguo, Taiping, Chizhou, and other prefectures in south Huai, together with the Two Zhes, Shandong, Guangdong, and Fujian, successively increased quota certificates, and profits tripled. They not only sold beyond quota as before but also asked that previously reported tax silver be credited and suspended certificates restored. Sichuan, ravaged in the late Ming, saw settlers from the middle Yangzi flood in; salt consumption rose daily, and merchants requested several times the old quota of certificates; wells opened to supply Yunnan and Guizhou moved salt without delay by land or water. Meanwhile Fujian, Guangdong, and the Two Zhes recruited saltern workers, reclaimed saltern land and salt pans, and memorials to the ministry for higher levies never stopped. The Two Zhes also reported more than 22,700 mu of reclaimed tidal saltern land; Guangdong ports added seventy jin per certificate; Nan and Gan prefectures in Jiangxi sought salt certificates—and by year 36, extra-weight levies were applied there as well. Because the empire was at peace, the emperor remitted half of Zhejiang's added-weight levy, more than 31,380 taels of silver in all. On his southern tour in Kangxi 38 he again told the salt commissioners: "Because of military needs you have been taking surplus profits beyond the regular quota; that practice is to cease. The Two Huai levy, previously raised by four hundred thousand taels, is to be cut by half. In Kangxi 43, on the advice of Jiangnan governor-general Ashan, miscellaneous Two Huai charges totaling hundreds of thousands of taels were abolished and permanently banned by stone inscription. In Kangxi 56 Changlu censor Tian Wenjing asked that Shandong's reduced quota certificates be restored to meet the tax target; the ministry approved. The emperor held that raising quotas and taxes would do no good and refused.

先是順治二年，世祖定巡視長蘆、兩淮、兩浙、河東鹽政，差監察御史各一，歲一更代。其山東鹽務歸長蘆兼管，陝西歸河東兼管。十年停，鹽務專責成運司。尋因運司權輕，仍命御史巡察。康熙十一年，復停巡鹽。明年，巡撫金世德以直隸事繁，請仍差御史。於是兩淮、兩浙、河東皆復舊制。既而兩廣、福建並設巡鹽御史。五十九年，仍交督撫管理。

Earlier, in Shunzhi 2 the Shizu Emperor established inspection of Changlu, the Two Huai, the Two Zhes, and Hedong salt administration, assigning one supervising censor to each post with annual rotation. Shandong salt was placed under Changlu's concurrent jurisdiction and Shaanxi under Hedong's. In Shunzhi 10 the posts were abolished and salt affairs were left solely to the distribution directorates. Soon afterward, because the directorates lacked sufficient authority, censorial inspection was restored. In Kangxi 11 salt inspection was again suspended. The following year Zhili governor Jin Shide, citing the province's heavy workload, asked that censors be sent again. Thereupon the Two Huai, the Two Zhes, and Hedong all returned to the former arrangement. Later Liangguang and Fujian likewise gained salt-inspection censors. In Kangxi 59 responsibility was again turned over to governors-general and governors.

時鹽課惟廣東、雲南常缺額，因康熙初粵商由里下報充，三年一換，名為排商，故弊端百出。嗣將排商費萬餘兩入正課，舉報殷戶以充場埠各長商，而場商貲薄，不能盡數收買，致場多賣私。五十七年裁場商，由運庫籌帑本三十六萬，分交場員收買。且置艚船給水腳，運向東關潮橋，存倉候配。埠商配鹽，按包納價，獲有盈餘，名為場羨。其滷耗餘賸鹽斤，乃配引外多收餘鹽，發商行運。又有子鹽、京羨、餘鹽、羨銀等名。後餘鹽改引，將餘羨歸入正額，而粵鹽遂有辦羨之事。後粵商倒歇至五十餘埠，滇鹽由商認票辦運，而地無舟車，全恃人力，煎無煤草，全恃木柴，故運費工本皆重，而鹽課率以一分，又重於他省。富商棄之弗顧，強簽鄉人承充。及倒罷末由追繳，乃責里中按戶攤納。迨乾隆時，一蹶不振，遂令歷年督撫分償。

Only Guangdong and Yunnan chronically fell short of their salt-tax quotas. In early Kangxi Guangdong merchants were enrolled through local communities and rotated every three years in a system called paishang, 'rotating merchants,' which bred endless abuses. Later the rotating-merchant fee of more than ten thousand taels was absorbed into the regular levy, and wealthy households were nominated as head merchants at salterns and ports—but with thin capital they could not buy all production, and private sales at the salterns multiplied. In Kangxi 57 saltern merchants were abolished; the distribution treasury advanced 360,000 taels of government capital for saltern officers to buy salt. Lighters were provided for freight, salt was moved to Chaobridge at Dong Pass, and stored in warehouses pending allocation. Port merchants received allocated salt, paid by the bundle, and kept any surplus as changxian, 'saltern surplus.' Leftover salt from brine loss was collected beyond the allotted certificates as yuyan, 'surplus salt,' and released to merchants for transport. Other categories followed—ziyan subsidiary salt, jingxian capital surplus, yuyan surplus salt, xianyin surplus silver, and the like. Later surplus salt was converted to formal certificates, remaining surpluses were folded into the regular quota, and Guangdong salt acquired the practice of banxian, 'handling surplus.' Eventually more than fifty Guangdong ports saw merchant failures. Yunnan salt moved on merchant-acknowledged tickets, but without roads or waterways everything depended on porters, and without coal or reeds boiling depended wholly on firewood—so transport and production costs were crushing, and even a nominal rate of one fen bore harder than levies elsewhere. Rich merchants refused the trade outright, and villagers were press-ganged to fill the posts. When merchants failed and nothing could be recovered, the shortfall was apportioned household by household within the community. By the Qianlong reign the system could not be revived, and successive governors-general and governors were ordered to cover the losses from their own funds.

世宗初年，裁福建、浙江巡鹽御史。時上於鹽政頗加意。河東鹽池形低，屢為山水灌入，向例修牆築堰，皆派蒲、解十三州縣之民應役。從巡鹽御史碩色言，歲撥銀六千兩，以三千作歲修，三千貯運庫備大修，民累始紓。又以鹽法莫急於緝私，但有場私、有商私、有梟私，而鄰私、官私為害尤鉅。欲緝場私，必恤灶而嚴其禁。故於雍正二年兩淮范堤決，沿海二十九場為潮淹，特發帑金以賑。五年，以淮商捐銀建鹽義倉積穀，諭更立數倉於近灶地，以備灶戶緩急之需。此政之在於恤灶者。

Early in the Yongzheng reign the salt-inspection censors for Fujian and Zhejiang were abolished. The emperor was then paying close attention to salt policy. Hedong salt ponds lay low and were often flooded; by custom repairs to walls and dikes were assigned as corvée to the people of thirteen prefectures and counties in Pu and Jie. On censor Shuose's advice, six thousand taels a year were appropriated—three thousand for annual repairs and three thousand held in the distribution treasury for major work—and the people's burden eased. He also held that nothing in salt law was more urgent than suppressing smuggling—saltern smuggling, merchant smuggling, and gang smuggling—but smuggling across boundaries and official complicity did the greatest harm. To stop saltern smuggling, saltern households had to be relieved and regulations strictly enforced. Thus in Yongzheng 2, when the Fan Dike in the Two Huai broke and tides flooded twenty-nine coastal salterns, the court issued treasury funds for relief. In Yongzheng 5, after Huai merchants donated funds for charity granaries at the salterns, the court ordered more granaries built near the salterns to meet emergencies among saltern households. These were measures to relieve saltern households.

六年，江南總督范時繹言：「兩淮灶戶燒鹽，應令商人舉幹練者數人，並設灶長巡役，查核鹽數，輸入商垣，以杜私賣。」兩淮巡鹽御史戴音保言：「場灶燒鹽之具，深者盤，淺者釒敝，設有定數，而煎鹽以一晝夜為火伏，並巡查息火後私燒。近有灶戶私置鹽釒敝，火伏又不稽查，故多溢出之數。請飭鹽官申嚴舊法。至淮南曬掃，惟有商人收買配運，酌加引課。」均命著為例。此所以嚴其禁也。

In Yongzheng 6 Jiangnan governor-general Fan Shiyue proposed: "For salt boiling in the Two Huai, merchants should nominate several capable agents, saltern heads and patrol runners should be appointed to verify quantities and deliver salt into merchant depots, and private sales stopped. Two Huai censor Dai Yinbao reported: "Boiling equipment at the salterns—deep pans and shallow pans—has fixed quotas; one day and night counts as a firing cycle, and patrols must inspect after fires are banked to prevent illicit boiling. Lately households have installed extra shallow pans and fire cycles go unchecked, so output far exceeds the quota. He asked that salt officials be ordered to enforce the old rules strictly. As for sun-dried salt in south Huai, only merchants may buy and distribute it, with an appropriate surcharge on the certificate levy. All were enacted as permanent regulations. This was how the prohibitions were tightened.

欲緝商私，必恤商而嚴其禁。故二年兩淮各場，因災灶鹽不繼，商本倍增，從巡鹽御史噶爾泰言，令將本年成本之輕重，合遠近腳價，酌量時值買賣。至食鹽難銷處，值有綱地行銷不敷，亦准改撥。兵部尚書盧詢請加引免課，以期減價敵私，命長蘆、兩淮每引加五十斤，免納課銀。此政之在於恤商者。十一年，從江南總督尹繼善言，改設淮南巡道，督理揚州、通州等處鹽務，並於儀徵之青山頭立專營緝私。

To stop merchant smuggling, merchants had to be relieved and regulations strictly enforced. Thus in Yongzheng 2, when disaster cut saltern output in the Two Huai and merchants' costs doubled, censor Gaertai persuaded the court to let purchase prices reflect that year's costs together with freight, adjusted to current market value. Where salt was hard to sell, if a distribution zone could not move its quota, redistribution was also allowed. Minister of War Lu Xun asked that extra weight be added to certificates without added tax so prices could undercut smugglers; Changlu and the Two Huai were ordered to add fifty jin per certificate and remit the corresponding tax. These were measures to relieve merchants. In Yongzheng 11, on Jiangnan governor-general Yin Jishan's advice, a Huainan salt circuit was re-established to oversee salt at Yangzhou, Tongzhou, and elsewhere, and a dedicated anti-smuggling garrison was posted at Qingshantou near Yizheng.

其稽官私也，自明以來，膺鹽差者，回京例有呈獻，及上嚴禁，始各將所得報繳。獨福建八萬餘兩為總督滿保查出，於是裁撤鹽官，鹽商命各場由州縣監管。嗣廣東總督楊琳言：「地方官辦課，必委之家丁衙役，非設鋪分賣中飽，即發地里勒派。且恐貲本不足，挪動地丁錢糧。應將場商停設，發帑委官監收，埠商仍留運銷納課。」從之。

To curb official smuggling: since the Ming, salt commissioners returning to the capital routinely presented gifts; only after the emperor's strict ban did they begin to report and surrender their gains. Governor-general Manbao alone uncovered more than eighty thousand taels in Fujian; salt officials were then abolished and salterns placed under prefectural and county supervision. Later Guangdong governor-general Yang Lin argued: "When local officials collect the levy they delegate to servants and runners, who either set up shops, skim the proceeds, and sell salt piecemeal, or levy the community by force. Fearing insufficient capital, they may even divert land-tax payments. Saltern merchants should be abolished, treasury funds issued, and officials appointed to buy salt; port merchants should remain to transport, sell, and pay the levy. The court agreed.

是時上於鹽官量重李衛。衛在浙江可稱者，莫如辦帑鹽。帑鹽者，由松江、台州、溫州三府場鹽產旺，灶多漏私，衛請發帑銀八萬，交場員收買。復奏設玉環同知，使經理收鹽事，而舟山內港內洋、岱山附近之秀山長塗、平陽縣界之肥艚，均委官管理收發。崇明場鹽，令知縣主之。所收帑鹽，侭銷本處魚戶、蜇戶，漁鹽亦准引商、帑商運往他處銷售，各照科則納課外，輸經費銀一二三錢不等，除歸帑本經費，餘銀作為盈餘。由是私淨官暢，每年引不敷運，加領餘引十五萬。凡商運餘引，引輸租銀四分，所完課銀，與帑鹽盈餘，併案題報，年約銀十萬餘。

The emperor then placed exceptional trust in salt official Li Wei. In Zhejiang, Wei's greatest achievement was the government salt purchase system. Under this system, because salterns in Songjiang, Taizhou, and Wenzhou produced heavily but leaked much salt privately, Wei asked for eighty thousand taels of treasury silver for saltern officers to buy the output. He also proposed a Yuhuan subprefect to manage purchases, and appointed officials to handle receipt and distribution at Zhoushan's inner harbors and seas, Xiushan and Changtu near Daishan, and Feichao on the Pingyang border. Chongming saltern salt was placed under the county magistrate. Purchased salt was sold chiefly to local fishermen and jellyfish processors; fishery salt could also be moved by licensed and government merchants elsewhere, each paying tax by statute plus operating fees of one to three mace; after capital and expenses were covered, the remainder counted as surplus. Smuggling fell away and official sales flourished; when annual quotas could not be filled, an extra 150,000 surplus certificates were granted. Merchants moving surplus certificates paid four-tenths rent per certificate; tax paid on these, together with government-salt surpluses, was reported jointly in annual memorials totaling more than one hundred thousand taels.

自上清釐鹽政，積弊如洗。然自裁革陋規，歸入正項，上又有「耗羨入正額，恐正額外復有耗羨，商何以堪」之諭，蓋已知其弊矣。十三年，署副都御史陳世倌言：「鹽課引有定額，斤有定數。按引辦課，未必果有奇贏，即獲微利，何妨留與商人，裕其貲本。乃近年多有以隨利歸公者，考其實乃陰勒商重出。故在官多一分之歸公，在商添一分之誅求，此商受其弊者也。又有以捐助題請者為急公，亦陰勒商總公派。及項無所出，非拖欠引綱，即暗增引斤，或高抬鹽價，此國與民並受其弊者也。請嗣後祗按引辦課，一切歸公捐助等名，應永遠停止。」上命庄親王議。尋覆如所請行。

After the emperor's purge of salt administration, long-standing abuses were swept away. Yet even as shabby fees were abolished and folded into the regular levy, the emperor warned: "If surcharges are absorbed into the quota, new surcharges may appear beyond it—how can merchants endure that?" He already saw the danger. In Yongzheng 13 acting vice censor-in-chief Chen Shiguang argued: "Salt levies have fixed quotas per certificate and fixed weight per jin. Collecting by certificate rarely yields extraordinary profit; even small gains should be left with merchants to strengthen their capital. Yet lately many officials have seized 'windfall profits for the state'—which in practice means secretly squeezing merchants for more. Every extra coin the state took meant another exacted from merchants—merchants bore that harm. Memorialized 'donations' offered as public service likewise forced merchants to pay collective levies in secret. When no funds could be found, quotas went unpaid, extra weight was added secretly, or salt prices were driven up—state and people suffered alike. He asked that thereafter only the certificate levy be collected and that all 'profits to the state,' 'donations,' and similar labels be abolished forever. The emperor referred the matter to Prince Zhuang for deliberation. The reply soon approved his request.

時江西驛鹽道沈起元與江南總督趙宏恩書，亦言「昔年陋規，非皆收納，今以墨吏私贓作報部正款，在大員自無再收之理，而僚佐豈能別無交際？其為商累實甚」。後有聞於高宗者，乃將兩淮鹽政公費、運使薪水，及雲南黑、白、琅井規體銀蠲除。

Meanwhile Jiangxi courier-salt intendant Shen Qiyuan wrote to Jiangnan governor-general Zhao Hong'en: "Old informal fees were not all collected; now clerks' private graft is reported to the ministry as regular revenue. Senior officials may no longer take gifts, but can their staffs truly have no other dealings? The burden on merchants is severe indeed." When the Qianlong Emperor later learned of this, he abolished the Two Huai salt commissioners' public expenses and the distribution commissioner's salary, as well as the standard levy silver for Yunnan's black, white, and Lang wells.

初，世宗從宏恩言，命給貧民循環號籌，聽於四十斤內負販度日。至乾隆初元，戶部題准六十歲以上、十五歲以下及少壯有殘疾、婦女老而無依者，許於本縣報明，給印烙腰牌木籌，日赴場買鹽一次。既兩淮巡鹽御史尹會一、兩廣總督鄂彌達先後奏言：「奸民藉口貧苦，結黨販私，兩查兵役，未便概撤。」後以貧民過多，停牌鹽，每名日給錢十文至二十四文。

At the outset, acting on Zhao Hong'en's recommendation, the Yongzheng Emperor ordered rotating numbered tallies for the poor, allowing them to hawk up to forty jin of salt per day for their livelihood. In the first year of Qianlong, the Board of Revenue approved a rule whereby those over sixty, under fifteen, disabled adults, and destitute elderly women could register in their home county, receive stamped waist-plaques and wooden tallies, and buy salt at the market once a day. Then Yin Huiyi, censor of salt for the Two Huai, and E Mi'da, governor-general of the Two Guangs, memorialized in turn: "Rascals plead poverty while forming gangs to smuggle salt. We have inspected the runner posts in both regions and find it inadvisable to abolish them wholesale." Salt tallies were then discontinued because the poor had grown too numerous; each person received ten to twenty-four cash per day in lieu of salt.

尋改浙江巡撫為總督，兼管鹽政，諭酌定增斤改引法，將杭、嘉、紹三所引鹽，照兩淮舊額，每引加五十斤，松所照溫、台例，改票引九萬餘道，引給四百斤，均不加課，以期復舊。又諭裁雲南贏餘，其價減至三兩以下，廣西仍減二釐，免徵兩廣鹽課每千斤餘平銀二十五兩。三年，改浙督仍為巡撫，兼管鹽政。六年，以淮南灶鹽暑月多耗，命五六月每引加耗十五斤，七八月遞減五斤。至十三年，淮北亦仿行。又命兩淮於定額外，每引加給十斤。

The Zhejiang governor was soon made governor-general with concurrent charge of salt affairs. The court ordered measured increases in certificate weight and reform of the quota system: Hang, Jia, and Shao certificates were to match the old Two Huai standard with fifty extra jin per lot; Song was to follow the Wen-Tai precedent, converting to more than ninety thousand ticket certificates of four hundred jin each—all without added levy, to restore former volumes. Another edict trimmed Yunnan's surplus charge, bringing its price below three taels; Guangxi kept its two-candareen reduction; and the Two Guangs were exempted from the twenty-five-tael surplus-balance levy per thousand jin of salt. In the third year the post reverted from governor-general to governor of Zhejiang, who still oversaw salt affairs. In the sixth year, because Huainan furnace salt wasted heavily in summer, the court ordered fifteen extra jin per certificate in the fifth and sixth months, tapering by five jin in the seventh and eighth. Huaibei adopted the same rule in the thirteenth year. The Two Huai were also granted ten extra jin per certificate above the fixed quota.

十六年，以省方所至，諭兩淮綱鹽食鹽於定額外每引加十斤。先是雍正初，因長蘆積欠甚多，每引加五十斤。嗣經部覆按所加斤折中核算，年應增課銀八萬六千餘兩。高宗念商力艱難，命減半納課。二十八年，裁運商支應。以雲南巡撫劉藻言，加給黑、白兩井薪本銀。四十二年，以河東鹽斤陸運虧折，命每斤加耗五斤。時價平銷速，兩淮請豫提下綱之引，歲入至五六百萬。惟乘輿屢次游巡，天津為首駐蹕地，蘆商供億浩繁，兩淮無論矣。

In the sixteenth year, responding to requests from officials across the provinces, the court granted the Two Huai transport and table-salt certificates ten extra jin per lot above quota. Earlier, at the start of Yongzheng, fifty jin per certificate had been added because Changlu's arrears were enormous. The ministry later recalculated the added weight at a median rate, yielding more than eighty-six thousand taels of additional annual revenue. Emperor Qianlong, concerned for the merchants' plight, ordered them to pay only half the added levy. In the twenty-eighth year the transport merchants' support payments were cut. At Yunnan governor Liu Zao's request, fuel subsidies for the black and white wells were restored. In the forty-second year, because Hedong salt shrank in overland carriage, the court ordered five jin of wastage allowance for every jin transported. With steady prices and brisk sales, the Two Huai sought advance drawing of later transport-zone certificates, and yearly intake reached five or six million taels. Yet the emperor's repeated tours made Tianjin the chief staging ground, and Changlu merchants' provisioning costs dwarfed even the Two Huai burden.

或遇軍需，各商報效之例，肇於雍正年，蘆商捐銀十萬兩。嗣乾隆中金川兩次用兵，西域蕩平，伊犁屯田，平定台匪，後藏用兵，及嘉慶初川、楚之亂，淮、浙、蘆、東各商所捐，自數十萬、百萬以至八百萬，通計不下三千萬。其因他事捐輸，迄於光緒、宣統間，不可勝舉。鹽商時邀眷顧，或召對，或賜宴，賞賚渥厚，擬於大僚；而奢侈之習，亦由此而深。或有緩急，內府亦嘗貸出數百萬以資周轉。帑本外更取息銀，謂之帑利，年或百數十萬、數十萬、十數萬不等。商力因之疲乏，兩淮、河東尤甚。

The custom of merchants making voluntary contributions for military needs began in Yongzheng, when Changlu merchants gave one hundred thousand taels. Thereafter, through Qianlong's two Jinchuan wars, the pacification of the west, Yili colonization, the Taiwan rebellion, the Tibet campaign, and the Sichuan-Hubei turmoil at the opening of Jiaqing, merchants of the Huai, Zhe, Lu, and eastern zones gave sums from hundreds of thousands to eight million taels—more than thirty million in all. Contributions for other purposes, down to Guangxu and Xuantong, are beyond counting. Salt merchants sometimes enjoyed imperial favor—called to audience, feasted, and lavished with gifts rivaling those of senior officials; and from this the taste for extravagance only grew. In emergencies the inner palace would lend them several million taels for working capital. On top of treasury principal they paid interest called treasury profit—sometimes one or several million, sometimes hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of taels a year. Merchant capital was drained by this; the Two Huai and Hedong were hit hardest.

五十一年，以兩淮歷四年未豫提，命江督查奏。尋請嗣後每間一綱豫提一次。上諭以正引暢銷為主，無庸拘定年限。厥後惟五十七年及嘉慶五年各行一次。且自三十三年因商人未繳提引餘息銀數逾十萬，命江蘇巡撫彰寶查辦，鹽政高恆、普福，運使盧見曾皆置重典，其款勒商追賠。至四十七、四十九兩年，乃先後豁免三百六十三萬二千七百兩有奇。後遇大經費，商人但藉輸將之數，分限完納，一二限後，率皆拖欠。

In the fifty-first year, because the Two Huai had not drawn certificates in advance for four years, the emperor ordered the Jiangsu governor to investigate. They soon asked that advance drawing be limited to once every other transport zone thereafter. The emperor replied that regular certificates selling smoothly mattered most, and that fixed intervals were unnecessary. Afterward the practice occurred only in the fifty-seventh year and again in Jiaqing 5. From the thirty-third year, moreover, when merchants owed more than one hundred thousand taels in interest on advance-drawn certificates, Jiangsu governor Zhang Bao was sent to investigate; salt commissioners Gao Heng and Pu Fu and distribution intendant Lu Jianceng were all heavily punished, and merchants were compelled to make restitution. Not until the forty-seventh and forty-ninth years were 3,632,700-odd taels successively remitted. Later, when major expenses arose, merchants pledged contributions in installments, yet after one or two payments they typically defaulted.

五十六年，江西巡撫姚棻奏：「建昌府界連閩省，路徑較多，必添設緝私卡巡，始收實效。」上曰：「行鹽分界，必使民食不至捨近求遠、去賤就貴乃善。建昌既距福建為近，其價必輕，何以不就近行銷？若酌改鹽徵、鹽課移彼地輸納，非惟便民，即私販亦將不禁自止。」旋兩江總督覺羅長麟、湖廣總督畢沅等奏稱：「小民惟利是圖，往往得寸思尺。如建昌劃歸閩省，則私販即可越至撫州，於全局所關不細。」乃命仍舊。既長麟奏請建昌設總店，屬縣設子店，分銷課引，依閩省時價斤減二文以敵私，更於各要隘分巡嚴緝。得旨速行。

In the fifty-sixth year Jiangxi governor Yao Fen wrote: "Jianchang borders Fujian and has many routes; only added smuggling checkpoints and patrols will make enforcement effective." The emperor replied: "Salt boundaries should keep people from bypassing nearby cheap salt for distant dear salt—that is sound policy. Jianchang lies near Fujian, where salt must be cheaper—why not market it locally? If levies and tax were reassessed and collected on the spot, the people would benefit and smuggling would stop without further effort." Soon Jiangnan governor-general Aisin Gioro Changlin and Huguang governor-general Bi Yuan argued: "Commoners chase profit and always want more. If Jianchang were transferred to Fujian, smugglers could reach Fuzhou—a serious breach in the overall scheme." The court ordered the status quo maintained. Changlin then asked for a main depot at Jianchang and county sub-depots, selling tax certificates at Fujian's market price minus two cash per jin to undercut smugglers, with tightened patrols at every pass. The emperor ordered prompt execution.

河東自十年眾神保就現行賤價，定為長額，而商始困。後池鹽收歉，借配蘆、蒙、花馬池各鹽，又開運城西六十里之小池。時民食缺少，商倒無人承充，乃令退商舉報短商，五年更換，富戶因受累多規避。四十七年，巡撫農起奏准，仍定為長商，引地分三等配勻，復請加價二釐，試行三年再覈定。嗣經部議駁，得旨允行。久之，力仍竭蹶。五十六年，命馮光熊巡撫山西，調甘肅布政使蔣兆奎為山西布政使。初，兆奎以河東運使入覲，帝問辦潞鹽之策，以課歸地丁對。及光熊入京，命與軍機大臣議之。未定，而山西署巡撫布政使鄭源鸘疏至，力言不便。上曰：「課歸地丁，朕早慮及地方官曾受鹽規，必持異議。今鄭源鸘果然。伊調任河南，河南亦有行銷河東引地。倘從中阻撓，從重治罪。」八月，光熊言：「河東鹽務積疲，惟有課歸地丁，聽民自運。既無官課雜費，又無兵役盤詰及關津阻留，未有不前者。請自乾隆五十七年始，凡山西、陝西、河南課額，在於三省引地百七十二屬地丁項下攤徵。」於是山西攤二十八萬一千一百二兩、陝西攤十四萬六千三十七兩、河南攤八萬六千六百三十三兩各有奇，並議章程十：一，課銀各解本省籓庫，雖遇蠲免地丁之年，不得蠲免；一，部引停領，免納紙硃銀；一，無許地方官私收稅錢；一，鹽政運使以下各官俱裁汰；一，移河東道駐運城，總管三場；一，鹽池照舊歲修；一，三場仍立官秤牙行；一，課項內有並餘積餘等銀，應分別攤免；一，運阜運儲二倉穀石，應分別歸併存借；一，鹽政應支各款，各就近省籓庫動支。從之。五十七年，上幸五台，光熊、兆奎奏言，自弛鹽禁，民無攤課之苦，有食賤之利。而陝西巡撫秦宗恩、河南巡撫穆和藺亦以鹽充價減聞。上甚悅。甘肅鹽課，雍正元年嘗攤入地丁，九年復招商，至是仍行前法。而陝西漢中、延安二府及鄜州各屬之食花馬池鹽者，亦一併攤入地丁焉。

At Hedong, from the tenth year the salt guild fixed the long-term quota at prevailing low prices, and merchants began to struggle. When pool output fell short, salt from Changlu, Mongolia, and Huamachi was mixed in, and a small pool sixty li west of Yuncheng was opened. Salt was scarce for the people yet no merchant would contract; outgoing merchants had to nominate replacements on five-year turns, and the wealthy mostly tried to evade service. In the forty-seventh year Governor Nong Qi won approval to restore long-term merchants, divide certificate territories into three grades for even allocation, and trial a two-candareen price increase for three years before review. The ministry initially rejected the plan, but the emperor overruled and allowed it. In time merchant capital was exhausted all the same. In the fifty-sixth year Feng Guangxiong became Shanxi governor and Gansu administration commissioner Jiang Zhaokui was moved to the same post in Shanxi. Earlier, when Zhaokui came to court as Hedong transport intendant, the emperor asked how to handle Lu salt; he proposed folding the levy into land-and-poll tax. When Guangxiong arrived in the capital he was told to discuss the matter with the Grand Council. Before they decided, acting Shanxi governor Zheng Yuanluan memorialized forcefully against it. The emperor said: "I foresaw that officials who had profited from salt squeeze-money would oppose folding the levy into land-and-poll tax. Zheng Yuanluan has proved it. He is being sent to Henan, which also markets Hedong certificates. If he obstructs the reform there, he will be punished without mercy." In the eighth month Guangxiong wrote: "Hedong salt is chronically crippled; only by folding the levy into land-and-poll tax and letting people carry their own salt can matters improve. Without official surcharges, runner shakedowns, or barrier delays, trade is bound to flourish. He asked that from Qianlong 57 the tax quotas of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan be spread across 172 districts in the three provinces' certificate territories within the land-and-poll rolls. Shanxi was assessed 281,102-odd taels, Shaanxi 146,037-odd, Henan 86,633-odd, and ten rules were set: tax silver went to each provincial treasury and could not be waived even when land-and-poll tax was forgiven; ministry certificates ceased and paper-and-vermilion fees were abolished; local officials were forbidden private tax collection; all posts from salt commissioner and transport intendant down were cut; the Hedong circuit was moved to Yuncheng to oversee three salterns; salt ponds were maintained annually as before; official scales and brokerages remained at the three fields; surplus and accumulated surplus silver in the levy were separately apportioned and remitted; grain in transport granaries was merged for storage and lending; salt-administration expenses were drawn from nearby provincial treasuries. The court approved. In the fifty-seventh year, during the emperor's visit to Wutai, Guangxiong and Zhaokui reported that since salt restrictions were lifted the people bore no apportioned levy and enjoyed cheap salt. Shaanxi governor Qin Zong'en and Henan governor Mu Helan likewise reported lower salt prices. The emperor was greatly pleased. Gansu's salt levy had been folded into land-and-poll tax in Yongzheng 1, merchants were recruited again in Yongzheng 9, and the old method still applied. Shaanxi consumers of Huamachi salt in Hanzhong, Yan'an, and Yizhou were likewise folded into land-and-poll tax.

嘉慶四年，命停各省鹽政中秋節貢物。五年，以雲南課額常虧，從巡撫初彭齡言，改為灶煎灶賣，民運民銷。其法無論商民，皆許領票。運鹽不拘何井，銷鹽不拘何地，完課後聽其所之。就諸井現煎實數，將定額勻算攤徵，有餘作為溢課，侭徵侭解。所有放票收課事宜，即歸井員經理。至八年，著為定章。十年，諭兩淮鹽每引加十斤，不入成本，以補虧折。先是蒙古阿拉善王有吉蘭泰鹽池，向聽民販於托克托城辦鹽，分銷山西食土鹽各地，不準運赴下游。其後稽察漸懈，竟順流而下，不獨池鹽為所佔，且侵及長蘆、兩淮。十四年，陝甘總督那彥成奏辦奸民出販，請飭阿拉善王將所留漢、回奸民獻出。王懼，獻鹽池，命將其歲入銀八千兩如數賞給。尋戶部侍郎英和同山西、陝甘督撫會奏：「潞商賠累，緣以賤價定為常額。請照乾隆十年以前例，按本科價。其吉蘭泰池，潞商力難兼顧，請另招他商。」十五年，以新商虧課，改官運。工部侍郎阮元言：「官運不難，難於官銷。若虧課額，勢必委之州縣，非虧挪倉庫，即勒派閭閻，是能銷之弊更甚於不銷。」於是部議吉蘭泰引，請飭還阿拉善王，賞項停給。原定額引，改為潞鹽，餘引名吉蘭泰活引。

In Jiaqing 4 the court ended Mid-Autumn tribute from provincial salt commissioners. In Jiaqing 5, because Yunnan's quota ran chronic deficits, Governor Chu Pengling's plan shifted to on-site boiling and sale with free transport and retail by the people. Merchants and commoners alike could obtain tickets. Salt could come from any well and be sold anywhere; once tax was paid, carriers went where they pleased. Actual output at each well determined an even apportionment of the fixed quota; surplus became overflow tax, collected and remitted on the spot. Ticket issuance and tax collection were managed by well officers. In the eighth year the arrangement became permanent law. In the tenth year the Two Huai received ten extra jin per certificate beyond cost to offset wastage. Earlier the Alashan Mongol prince held the Jilantai pool; private traders sold at Tokto for Shanxi's native-salt districts but could not ship downstream. Enforcement later slackened until salt flowed downstream, seizing not only pool markets but encroaching on Changlu and the Two Huai. In the fourteenth year Shaan-Gan governor-general Nayancheng reported on smugglers and asked the Alashan prince to surrender the Han and Hui rascals he sheltered. Fearing punishment, the prince surrendered the pool; the court granted him eight thousand taels a year in compensation. Soon Vice Minister Yinghe joined Shanxi and Shaan-Gan governors in memorializing: "Lu merchants lose money because the long quota was fixed at low prices. We ask to price at the current-year rate as before Qianlong 10. Lu merchants cannot also run Jilantai—recruit separate contractors." In the fifteenth year new merchants ran deficits, so the state took over transport. Works Vice Minister Ruan Yuan warned: "State transport is easy; state sale is hard. Shortfalls will land on prefectures and counties—either granaries will be plundered or households squeezed; forced sale harms more than no sale." The ministry then ordered Jilantai certificates returned to the Alashan prince and ended the compensation payment. Fixed quotas became Lu salt certificates; the remainder were called Jilantai flexible certificates.

兩廣自康熙時發帑收鹽，運銷後乃收課。乾隆五十三年，總督孫士毅以商欠積至六十九萬八千餘兩，請停發帑本，令各出己貲，在省河設局經理。五十四年，新任總督福康安會同士毅籌定章程，並兩粵百五十埠為一局，舉十人為局商，外分子櫃六，責成局商按定額參以銷地難易，運配各櫃，所有原設埠地，悉募運商，聽各就近赴局及各櫃領銷，交課後發鹽二十九埠如舊。所謂改埠歸綱也。行之二十餘年，局商以無應銷之埠，歧視埠商。其始准局商捆運餘鹽，彌補帑息。嗣乃不問正引完否，貪銷餘鹽，反礙正引。疲埠欠餉，輒用鹽本墊解，久之虧益鉅，雖局商認完後，埠商仍按引捐輸，而此十人者已物故，家產蕩然矣。嘉慶十一年，總督蔣攸銛以聞，乃裁局商，改公局為公所。擇埠商六人經理六匱事，各有埠地，自顧己貲，不至濫用。且定三年更換，以免把持，謂之改綱歸所。二十五年，命停兩淮玉貢折價銀。

In the Two Guangs, since Kangxi the state had advanced treasury funds to buy salt and collected tax only after resale. In Qianlong 53 Governor Sun Shiyi, citing merchant debt of 698,000-odd taels, asked to end treasury advances and have merchants fund themselves through river bureaus in the province. In Qianlong 54 the new governor-general Fuk'ang-an and Shiyi finalized rules: the 150 ports of both Guangs became one bureau with ten lead merchants and six sub-counters; leads allocated quotas by sales difficulty; former ports recruited carriers who drew salt at bureau or counter after paying tax—twenty-nine ports unchanged. This was the reform known as merging ports into transport zones. After twenty-odd years under the new system, the ten lead merchants scorned port dealers whose outlets had no quota left to sell. Initially they were allowed to ship surplus salt in bulk to cover interest on state advances. Later they sold surplus salt regardless of whether regular quotas were met, undercutting the main trade. Moribund ports fell behind on pay; salt capital was used to cover arrears until losses swelled. Even after the bureau merchants made good the debt, port dealers still paid per quota—and the ten leads were dead, their estates gone. In Jiaqing 11 Governor Jiang Yoji memorialized the throne; the bureau merchants were abolished and the public bureau became a public office. Six port merchants were chosen to run the six treasury chests, each with his own port and his own capital, so funds were not squandered. A three-year rotation was also set to prevent monopoly—the reform was called returning the transport zones to the office. In the twenty-fifth year the court ordered an end to converting Two Huai imperial-tribute salt into discounted silver payments.

道光元年，兩江總督孫玉庭言，淮鹽至楚岸，本無封輪之例，鹽政全德始行之，請散賣為便。湖廣總督陳若霖奏稱積鹽尚多，若全開售，恐疏銷不及，鹽行水販壓價賒欠。諭俟積鹽售畢，再隨到隨賣。二年，兩淮巡鹽御史曾燠奏稱輪規散後，爭先跌價搶售，有虧商本。玉庭奏無其事。若霖言本年較前實溢銷二十六萬餘引。於是定議開輪。既，湖廣總督李鴻寶又言搶售難免，八年復封輪。

In Daoguang 1 the Two Jiangs governor-general Sun Yuting argued that Huai salt on the Chu markets had never been sold by sealed rotation until Salt Commissioner Quande introduced it; he asked that salt be sold openly instead. Huguang governor-general Chen Ruolin replied that stocks were still large; a full release might outrun demand and invite price-cutting and credit sales by dealers and boat peddlers. The court ordered that the backlog be cleared first, then salt sold as it arrived. In year 2 the Two Huai salt censor Zeng Yi reported that once rotation rules were relaxed, merchants raced to undercut one another, and some lost their principal. Sun Yuting denied that any such thing had happened. Chen Ruolin countered that sales this year had in fact exceeded the previous figure by more than 260,000 quotas. On that basis the court agreed to reopen rotation sales. Soon Huguang governor-general Li Hongbao warned that rush selling was unavoidable; in year 8 sealed rotation was restored.

時兩淮私梟日眾，鹽務亦日壞。其在兩淮，歲應行綱鹽百六十餘萬引。及十年，淮南僅銷五十萬引，虧歷年課銀五千七百萬。淮北銷二萬引，虧銀六百萬。上召攸銛還京，以江蘇巡撫陶澍代之。尋遣戶部尚書王鼎、侍郎寶興往查。澍奏言：「其弊一由成本積漸成多，一由藉官行私過甚。惟有大減浮費，節止流攤，聽商散售，庶銷暢價平，私鹽自靖。」命裁巡鹽御史，歸總督管理。自九年後，御史王贈芳、侍講學士顧( 純) 、光祿卿梁中靖皆請就場定稅，太僕少卿卓秉恬又請仿王守仁贛關立廠抽稅法。下澍議。澍商於運使俞德淵，以為難行。遂覆稱：「課歸場灶有三難。一由灶丁起課。淮南煎鹽以釒敝，淮北曬鹽以池，約徵銀百餘兩。灶皆貧民，若先課後鹽，則力未逮；先鹽後課，設遇產歉，必課宕丁逃。此灶丁起課之難行也。一由垣商納課。寓散於整，較為扼要。惟灶以己業而聽命商人，情必不原。況商惟利是視，秤收則勒以重斤，借貸則要以重息。灶不樂以鹽歸垣，商亦必無資完課。此垣商納課之亦難行也。一由場官收買。就各場產鹽引額攤定課額照納，似亦核實。無如淮課為數甚鉅，豈微員所能任？若聽其侭收侭解，難保不匿報侵欺。此場官收稅之亦難行也。」又言：「鹽在場灶，每斤僅值錢一二文，若就而收稅，則價隨課長，爭其利者必多。海濱民灶雜處，掃煎至易，將比戶皆私，課且更絀。至設場抽稅，或可試行一隅。若各省豈皆有隘可守？漏私必比場灶為甚。總之無官無私，必須無課無稅。業經有課有稅，即屬有官有私。如謂歸場灶或設鹽廠，即可化梟為良，恐未能也。」上韙之。

Smugglers in the Two Huai region multiplied daily, and the salt administration decayed with them. The Two Huai were supposed to move more than 1.6 million transport quotas of salt each year. By year 10 Huainan sold only 500,000 quotas, leaving a shortfall of 5.7 million taels in accumulated levy. Huaibei sold 20,000 quotas, with a loss of 600,000 taels. The emperor recalled Jiang Yoji to the capital and appointed Jiangsu governor Tao Shu in his place. Soon Minister of Revenue Wang Ding and Vice Minister Bao Xing were dispatched to investigate. Tao Shu reported: "The evils stem first from costs that have piled up over time, and second from officials using public carriage for private gain. Only by slashing overhead, stopping scattered surcharges, and allowing merchants to sell freely can sales revive, prices stabilize, and smuggling die down." The court abolished the salt inspection censor and placed the trade under the governor-general. From the ninth year on, Censor Wang Zengfang, Hanlin Lecturer Gu ( Chun) , and Director of Imperial Sacrifices Liang Zhongjing all urged levying tax at the salterns; Grand Secretariat Associate Zhuo Bingtian proposed copying Wang Shouren's factory tax at the Gan Pass. The proposals were sent to Tao Shu for review. Tao Shu consulted Transport Commissioner Yu Deyuan and found the schemes unworkable. He answered: "Placing the levy on the salterns faces three obstacles. First, collecting from the furnace households themselves. Huainan boils salt in furnaces; Huaibei dries it in ponds—each household owes roughly a hundred taels. The workers are poor; if tax is collected before salt is made, they cannot pay; if tax follows salt, a bad harvest leaves tax unpaid and workers flee. That is why collection from furnace households will not work. Second, having yard merchants pay the levy. Pooling many small producers is in principle more manageable. Yet workers who own their own trade will resent taking orders from merchants. Merchants care only for profit: they force overweight at the scale and charge usurious interest on loans. Workers will not willingly hand salt to the yards, and merchants will lack funds to meet the full levy. That is why yard-merchant collection is equally impracticable. Third, having field officials buy the salt. Apportioning the levy by each field's output quota sounds exact on paper. But the Huai levy is enormous—junior officials cannot handle it. If they collect and remit at will, concealment and embezzlement are inevitable. That is why purchase and tax by field officials will not work either." He added: "At the saltern salt sells for only a cash or two per catty; tax there would raise the price and multiply profiteers. Coastal villages and salterns intermingle, and illicit boiling is easy—every household would turn private, and revenue would shrink further. Factory taxation might be tried in a limited area. Yet not every province has mountain passes to guard. Smuggling would exceed saltern evasion. In short, no officials and no smuggling require no levy and no tax. Where there is levy and tax, officials and smuggling follow. To claim that saltern levies or salt factories will turn smugglers into law-abiding traders is wishful thinking." The emperor endorsed his analysis.

明年，澍周曆各場，擬行票鹽法於淮北，奏定章程十條。一，由運司刷印三聯票，一留為票根，一存分司，一給民販行運。立限到岸，不準票鹽相離及侵越到岸。二，每鹽四百斤為一引，合銀六錢四分，加以諸雜費，為一兩八錢八分。三，各州縣民販，由州縣給照赴場買鹽。其附近海州者，即在海州請領。四，於各場適中地立局廠，以便灶戶交鹽，民販納稅。五，民販買鹽出場，由卡員查驗，然後分赴指銷口岸。六，委員駐紮青口。七，嚴飭文武查拏匪棍。八，防河。九，定運商認銷法，以保暢岸。十，裁陋規。時窟穴鹽利之官胥吏舉囂然議其不便，澍不為動，委員領運倡導。既而人知其利，遠近輻輳，鹽船銜尾抵岸，為數十年中所未有。未及四月，請運之鹽，已逾三十萬引。是歲海州大災，飢民賴此轉移佣值，全活無算。是法成本既輕，鹽質純淨，而售價又賤，私販無利，皆改領票鹽。但所試行者，僅在湖運滯岸，皖之鳳陽、懷遠、鳳台、靈壁、阜陽、潁上、亳州、太和、蒙城、英山、泗洲、盱眙、五河，豫之汝陽、正陽、上蔡、新蔡、西平、遂平、息縣、確山，與食岸在江蘇境之山陽、清河、桃源、邳州、睢寧、宿遷、贛榆、沭陽、安東、海州三十一州縣，而皖之壽州、定遠、霍山、霍丘、六安，豫之信陽、羅山、光州、光山、固始、商城十一州縣，皆昔所定為暢岸，尚仍舊法也。十三年，乃一律改票，惟前議科則較原額為減，復依原額引徵一兩五分一釐，益以各費，定銀二兩五分一釐，永不議加。於是所未改者，惟例由江運之桐城、舒城、無為、合肥、廬江、巢縣、滁州、來安，及由高郵湖運之天長九州縣，以地與淮南相錯，未宜招販，啟浸灌之端故也。

The following year Tao Shu inspected every saltern and proposed ticket salt for Huaibei, submitting ten regulations. First: the transport commissioner issues triplicate tickets—one stub, one for the sub-office, one for the peddler. A time limit to reach the market is set; ticket salt may not be separated from its holder or sold outside the designated shore. Second: 400 catties make one quota, with 6.4 mace of silver in tax plus fees totaling 1.878 taels. Third: peddlers in each district obtain a county license before buying at the saltern. Those near Haizhou may apply there instead. Fourth: central depot factories at each field receive salt from producers and tax from peddlers. Fifth: peddlers leaving the field are checked by card officers, then sent to assigned markets. Sixth: commissioners are posted at Qingkou. Seventh: civil and military authorities are ordered to crack down on gangsters. Eighth: river patrols are strengthened. Ninth: transport merchants are bound to acknowledge sales to keep markets supplied. Tenth: corrupt customary fees are abolished. Officials and clerks who lived on salt profits protested loudly; Tao Shu held firm and sent commissioners to lead the first shipments. Soon the profits were plain; buyers flocked from afar; salt boats lined the quays in numbers unseen for decades. Within four months more than 300,000 quotas had been booked for shipment. That year Haizhou suffered famine; the poor lived on porterage wages from the trade—countless lives were saved. Costs were low, the salt pure, and retail prices cheap; smugglers could not compete, and all switched to ticket salt. The trial covered only lake-route backlog markets—thirty-one counties in Anhui, Henan, and Jiangsu listed above—while eleven counties that had been flourishing markets in Anhui and Henan still followed the old rules. In year 13 ticket salt was extended everywhere; though the proposed rate was below the old quota, the levy was reset at 1.551 taels per quota plus fees, fixed at 2.551 taels forever, with no further increases. Only counties served by the Yangtze or Gaoyou Lake routes were left unchanged, lest peddlers flood Huainan and invite water damage where territories overlapped.

其立法在改道不改捆。蓋淮北舊額未嘗不輕，而由暢運至口岸，每引成本已達十餘兩，價不償本，故官不敵私。今票鹽不由槓壩淮所舊道，而改從王營減壩渡河入湖，且每包百斤，出場更不改捆，直抵口岸，除鹽價錢糧外，止加運費一兩，河湖船價一兩，每引五兩有奇，減於綱鹽大半。其江運數萬引亦仿此。自改章後，非特完課有贏無絀，兼疏場河、捐義廠、修考院，百廢俱興，蓋惟以輕課敵私，以暢銷溢額，故以一綱行兩綱之鹽，即以一綱收兩綱之課。時頗欲推行於淮南，不果。

The reform changed routes, not bundle sizes. Huaibei quotas were never high, yet moving salt from depot to market cost more than ten taels per quota—official salt could not compete with smuggled salt. Ticket salt bypassed the old Gang Dam route, crossed at Wangying into the lake in 100-catty packs without repacking, and reached markets with only two taels of freight atop tax—about five taels per quota, far below transport-quota cost. Tens of thousands of Yangtze quotas followed the same pattern. After the reform levies came in with surplus; canals, charity granaries, and examination halls were revived—the light tax beat smuggling, sales exceeded quota, and one transport cycle moved two cycles' salt while collecting two cycles' revenue. There was talk of extending ticket salt to Huainan, but it did not happen.

及二十九年，湖北武昌塘角大火，燒鹽船四百餘號，損錢糧銀本五百餘萬，群商請退。於是總督陸建瀛從護理運使童濂言，請淮南改票法，較淮北為詳。如運司書吏積弊，則改為領引納課。設揚州總局辦理。漢口匣費雖裁，而應酬仍多，則改為票鹽運至九江，驗票發販，鹽船經過橋關，有掣驗規費，則改為壩掣後不過所掣，在龍江一關驗票截角，餘皆停免。鹽包出場至江口，其駁運船價及槓鹽各人工勒索，則改為商自雇覓。凡省陋規歲數百萬，又減去滯引三十萬，年祗行百零九萬引，每引正課一兩七錢五分，雜課一兩九錢二分，經費六錢五分八釐，食岸正課同，雜費減半。其要尤在以帶連之乙鹽為新引之加斤。乙鹽者，乙巳綱鹽船遭火，而商已納課，例得補運，故定為每運新鹽一引，帶乙鹽二百斤，每引六百斤，出場至儀徵，改為六十斤子包，一引十包。既裁浮費，又多運鹽二百斤，成本輕減過半。故開辦數月，即全運一綱之引，楚西各岸鹽價驟賤，農民歡聲雷動。是年兩淮實收銀五百萬兩，雖兩綱後復引滯課虧，則以起票自十引至千引不等，大販為小販跌價搶運所誤。始澍行於淮北，亦自十引起。然淮北地隘，淮南則廣，故利弊殊。又值粵亂起，鹺務全廢，非無補救之方也。

In year 29 a fire at Tangjiao in Wuchang destroyed more than four hundred salt boats and 5 million taels of principal; merchants asked to withdraw. Governor-general Lu Jianying then adopted Acting Transport Commissioner Tong Lian's plan for a Huainan ticket system more detailed than Huaibei's. Transport office clerks' abuses were ended by having merchants take quotas and pay tax directly. A general bureau at Yangzhou was set up to manage the trade. Hankou "box fees" were trimmed but gifts remained—so ticket salt went to Jiujiang for verification and resale; hold fees at bridge passes were replaced by a single check at Longjiang, with other stops abolished. Lighterage from saltern to river mouth and extortion by porters were ended; merchants hired their own labor. Customary fees worth millions yearly were cut; 300,000 stagnant quotas were dropped; only 1.09 million quotas ran annually at 1.752 taels main tax, 1.92 miscellaneous, and 0.658 operating fee—consumer markets paid the same main tax and half the miscellaneous fees. The key was attaching "Yi salt" as bonus weight on each new quota. "Yi salt" was salt lost in the yisi-zone fire after tax was paid; each new quota therefore carried 200 extra catties (600 per quota), repacked at Yizheng into ten 60-catty bundles. With fees cut and an extra 200 catties shipped free, costs fell by more than half. Within months a full transport cycle cleared; prices along the Chu markets plunged, and farmers rejoiced. The Two Huai collected five million taels that year, though backlog returned after two cycles because ticket sizes from ten to a thousand quotas let small dealers undercut large ones. Tao Shu had likewise begun Huaibei tickets at ten quotas minimum. Huaibei was compact; Huainan vast—the same rule had different effects. The Taiping rebellion then shattered the salt trade, but remedies were still possible.

其在長蘆，乾隆以來，正雜課共徵七十餘萬。自嘉慶十四年南河大工，每斤加價二文，謂之河工加價。五年，又因高堰大工加價，三年後，半歸商，半歸公。八年，復將充公一文歸商，然歷年欠項已積至千數百萬矣。時銀價翔貴，商虧彌鉅，於是又加價以調劑之，或一文或二文。旋議行減引並包法，蓋蘆鹽三百斤成引，連加耗包索重三百四十斤，搬運築包等費，歷年加增，亦足病商。今以十引改築九包，減引一成。二十一年，再減引二成，照前改築。二十四年，又奏停額引十五萬，減去課銀六萬餘兩，而困仍莫蘇。蓋本因浮費重而欠課，因欠課多而增價，官鹽價貴，私鹽乘之，薊、遵六屬，梟販與官為敵，而永平七屬尤甚，不得已改為官辦。二十八年，商倒引懸，河南二十州縣、直隸二十四州縣，未運積引至百餘萬，未完積欠至二千餘萬。命定郡王載銓、倉場總督季芝昌，會同直隸總督訥爾經額查究。每引因費重需成本五兩有奇，乃就正課、帑利、雜款、積欠，釐為四類，其鹽價每斤減制錢二文以敵私，斤重則每引加百五十斤以恤商，州縣陋規則嚴行裁汰。引地懸岸，則直隸招商，河南改票，皆先課後鹽。至停引原限五年再酌展，約每引攤算僅二兩有奇。

In Changlu, since Qianlong, main and miscellaneous levies together brought in more than 700,000 taels. From Jiaqing 14, after the Southern River works, two cash per catty was added—called the river-works surcharge. In year five another surcharge was levied for the Gaoyan works; after three years half went back to the merchants and half to the government. In year eight the government's one-cash share was again returned to merchants, but accumulated arrears had already reached many millions of taels. Silver had risen sharply and merchant losses deepened, so further surcharges of one or two cash per catty were added as relief. Officials then proposed reducing quotas and consolidating bundles: a Changlu quota was 300 catties but weighed 340 with packing and cord; transport and bundling fees had risen yearly and still burdened merchants. Ten quotas were now packed into nine bundles, cutting quotas by ten percent. In year twenty-one quotas were cut another twenty percent with the same repacking rule. In year twenty-four 150,000 allotted quotas were suspended, cutting revenue by over 60,000 taels, but the distress did not ease. Heavy overhead had bred arrears, arrears had bred surcharges, and dear official salt let smugglers thrive; in the Jizhou and Zunhua districts smugglers openly rivaled the government, worst in Yongping's seven counties, until official operation was unavoidable. By year twenty-eight merchants were ruined and quotas idle; in twenty Henan and twenty-four Zhili counties over a million quotas lay undelivered and arrears exceeded twenty million taels. Prince Ding Zaiquan, granary-route superintendent Ji Zhichang, and Zhili governor-general Ne'erjing'e were ordered to conduct a joint investigation. Each quota now cost over five taels in fees; revenue was reclassified into main levy, treasury interest, miscellaneous charges, and arrears; retail price was cut two cash per catty to match smuggled salt; each quota gained 150 extra catties for merchants; and abusive county fees were ruthlessly abolished. Where quotas had stalled, Zhili recruited new merchants and Henan switched to tickets, both requiring tax before shipment. Suspended quotas, originally capped at five years but repeatedly extended, now averaged just over two taels per quota.

其在山東，乾隆以來，引票正課徵銀十八萬九千八百八十餘兩，雜款共十萬一千八百餘兩。自嘉慶初帑息遞增至二十一萬餘兩，較正課增倍。十四年，南河大工加價二文，每年應欠二十九萬兩，較正雜課又增一倍。十七年，復議加價一文，以半歸商，半彌補商欠。而當年課項不能完，乃歸次年帶徵。帶徵又未完，乃按年分限，或十二限，或二十限，遞年推展。至道光元年，將河工加價停徵，而積欠已五百三十餘萬，然尚完課額。五年，因高堰大工，又議加價二文，奏明三年後半歸商、半歸公，然所完僅及半，正課反因之拖欠。至七年，全綱傾敗，於是設法調劑，以積欠款為一案，俟堰工加價歸商後，彌補帑本，酌留百二十九萬生息，餘銀二十七萬。至十二年起限，分二十限拔繳，南運每引加二十五斤，北運加二十斤，其歸補舊欠之半文加價，並歸商以輕成本，免徵南運十三州縣與票地臨朐等六縣堰工加價以敵私。而舊欠暨現年應交帑息猶不能完，於是將報撥之一文堰工加價悉數歸商，並將一分帑息減三釐，此道光十五年也。

In Shandong since Qianlong the main quota and ticket levy had been about 189,880 taels and miscellaneous charges about 101,800. From early Jiaqing treasury interest alone rose to over 210,000 taels, double the main levy. In year fourteen the Southern River works added two cash per catty; annual shortfalls reached 290,000 taels, again doubling the main and miscellaneous levies. In year seventeen another one-cash surcharge was proposed, half for merchants and half to cover their arrears. That year's quotas could not be filled and were carried forward for collection the next year. When carryover still failed, arrears were split into twelve- or twenty-year installment plans, extended annually. In Daoguang 1 the river-works surcharge was halted; arrears already exceeded 5.3 million taels, yet the full quota was still nominally met. In year five the Gaoyan works brought another two-cash surcharge, half to revert to merchants after three years—but only half was paid, and the main levy fell further behind. By year seven the entire merchant guild failed; arrears were consolidated, to be repaid after the dam surcharge reverted to merchants, with 1.29 million taels left at interest and 270,000 remaining. From year twelve arrears were paid in twenty installments; southern quotas gained 25 catties and northern 20; half the dam surcharge for old debt went back to merchants; and thirteen southern counties plus six ticket counties including Linqu were exempted from the dam surcharge to undercut smugglers. Old and current treasury interest still went unpaid, so in Daoguang 15 the full one-cash dam surcharge was returned to merchants and treasury interest cut by 0.03 fen per quota.

時銀價日昂，虧折彌甚，迨臨朐等九州縣票商倒乏，因改官運。十七年，命鹽務歸巡撫管理，尋又議加二文。二十三年，停引票二成，以八成作總額，並停餘引。二十七年，又議引地加價二文，票地加一文。逾年，各岸竟倒懸二十餘處。時新舊積欠計八百餘萬，而十五年後所欠正雜課又九十餘萬，十九年後積欠八十餘萬，二十七八年皆未奏銷。於是定郡王等會同山東巡撫徐澤醇奏准將兩年奏銷免其造報，積引停運，積欠停徵。自二十九年始，改為先課後鹽，除有商運州縣外，皆改官運，無論官商，每引加七十斤，帑息每引減一錢，十八年二文加價亦減一文，以便民食。

Silver kept rising and losses mounted; when ticket merchants in Linqu and eight other counties failed, the trade was placed under official transport. In year seventeen salt was placed under the governor, and another two-cash surcharge was soon proposed. In year twenty-three quotas were cut twenty percent to an eighty-percent total, and surplus quotas were suspended. In year twenty-seven quota lands gained a two-cash surcharge and ticket lands one cash. Within a year more than twenty markets had collapsed. New and old arrears totaled over eight million taels; post-1815 main and miscellaneous shortfalls exceeded 900,000; post-1819 arrears over 800,000; and years 27–28 went unaudited. Prince Ding, Xu Zechun, and others won approval to waive two years of audit reports, halt backlog quotas, and stop collecting old arrears. From year twenty-nine tax came before salt; most counties went to official transport; every quota gained 70 catties; treasury interest fell one mace per quota; and the 1838 two-cash surcharge was cut by one cash to ease the cost of salt.

其在浙江，自道光元年裁巡鹽御史，以巡撫帥承瀛兼管鹽政。承瀛疏言：「嘉慶十五年前，撫臣蔣攸銛清查浙江運庫墊缺銀數僅五十五萬餘兩，甫十載乃至百七十三萬三百兩。緣邇來引壅，舊綱未畢，新綱即開，套搭行銷，不能以一綱之課歸一綱之用。而每年奏銷有定限，但完正課，即報全完，其帶輸之款及外用銀，並未徵足，歷次河餉又須撥解，是以不得不於徵存銀內挪墊。而商捐用款，每遇交辦公事，奸商復借名浮支。臣今飭運司遇支解銀兩，如本款無銀即停給。或不得已，亦止以外款墊發內款，不準以內款墊給外款。」嗣後至六年，銷數皆及額運，庫存銀百二十八萬。自七年至十年復短銷，僅存十一萬。蓋因巡撫程含章請加增餘價，鹽貴引壅所致。迨十一年停止，銷數遂至九成。二十九年，命芝昌往查，時又短銷，僅至五六成。乃請將停歇各地招商承辦，並酌加鹽斤。

In Zhejiang the touring salt censor was abolished in Daoguang 1 and Governor Shuai Chengying took charge of salt. Chengying reported: "Before 1810 Governor Jiang Youtie's audit found only 550,000 taels of padding in the Zhejiang transport treasury; within ten years it had reached 1,730,300. Quotas were congested: old cycles unfinished while new ones opened, so levies from one cycle could not fund that cycle's sales. Annual audits required only the main levy to declare completion, while attached transport and outside expenses went uncollected and river funds still had to be paid—forcing padding from collected balances. Merchants' voluntary contributions were also inflated whenever officials assigned tasks. I have ordered the transport commissioner to stop payment when the designated fund has no balance. If padding is unavoidable, only external funds may cover internal ones—never the reverse." Thereafter through year six sales met quota and the treasury held 1.28 million taels. From years seven to ten sales fell short again, leaving only 110,000 taels. Governor Cheng Hanzhang's request to raise surplus price had made salt dear and sales sluggish. After the surcharge was halted in year eleven, sales recovered to ninety percent of quota. In year twenty-nine Ji Zhichang was sent to investigate; sales had fallen to fifty or sixty percent. He proposed recruiting merchants for stalled districts and adding weight per quota.

其在廣東，所辦羨銀頗多。蓋粵鹽至西省，每包申出鹽十餘斤，嗣又添買餘鹽萬包，發埠運銷，按九折較羨，是為秤頭鹽羨，約二萬七千餘兩。慶遠等五府苗疆食鹽無引額，皆捆運餘鹽，交近埠帶銷，為土司鹽羨，約五千餘兩。海船運鹽，灶戶補船戶耗，官為收買，發商運銷，是為花紅鹽羨，約四千餘兩。粵省鼓鑄，歲資滇銅十餘萬斤，滇省廣南府屬歲資粵鹽九萬餘包，每年兩省委員辦運，至百色交換，謂之銅鹽互易。又廣州駐防食鹽、育英堂鹽，各數十包，皆取之餘鹽，按包計羨，藉此充外支經費，故無雜課。正餉有部飯、平頭、紙硃等銀，又東省鹽船所過抽稅約四千餘，西省約四萬餘，其帑息則八萬餘。各項歷年拖欠，初省河因損款多，致奏銷遲緩。道光二十四年後，潮橋疲滯，甚於省河。然軍興糜爛，廣西淮鹽全棄於地，而粵課猶十得八九焉。

Guangdong also raised substantial surplus levies. Guangdong salt sent west declared over ten extra catties per bundle; later 10,000 bundles of surplus salt were sold at ports at a ten-percent discount—"scale-head" surplus, about 27,000 taels. Five prefectures including Qingyuan on the Miao frontier had no quotas and moved bundled surplus salt through nearby ports—"Tusi" surplus, about 5,000 taels. Sea transport loss was covered by saltern producers, bought by officials and resold—"flower-bonus" surplus, about 4,000 taels. Guangdong's mints used over 100,000 catties of Yunnan copper yearly; Guangnan in Yunnan took over 90,000 bundles of Guangdong salt; commissioners exchanged them at Baise—the "copper-salt swap." Guangzhou garrison and Yuying Hall salt, dozens of bundles each from surplus, funded outside expenses—hence no miscellaneous levy. Main tribute included ministry rice, level-head, and paper vermilion silver; east-province boat tolls about 4,000 and west-province about 40,000; treasury interest over 80,000. Items fell chronically behind; early delays came from heavy loss allowances on the provincial river route. After 1844 the Chaozhou route stagnated worse than the provincial river. Despite war ravaging Guangxi and leaving Huai salt unsold, Guangdong still collected eighty to ninety percent of its levy.

其在四川，始以潼川府之射洪、蓬溪產鹽為旺，嘉定府之犍為、樂山、榮縣，敘川府富順次之。不數年，射洪、蓬溪廠反不如犍、樂、富、榮。方乾隆四十九年，各處鹽井衰歇。有林俊者，官鹽茶道，聽民穿井不加課，蜀鹽始盛。惟潼川難如初。且產鹽花多巴少，又煎鹽用草工費，致欠課七萬，始議與犍商合行，以十二年為限，期滿歸清積欠，因請續合十二年，及期滿自辦。甫一載即欠二萬餘，於是復請續合。至道光八年，三次期滿，而其廠產鹽愈少，每年僅完正課，不完羨截。羨即羨餘。截者，於繳課截角時交納也。時漢州、茂州、巴州、劍州、蓬州、什邡、射洪、鹽亭、平武、江油、彰明、石泉、營山、儀隴、新寧、閬中、通江、安岳、羅江、安縣、綿竹、德陽、梓潼、南江、西充、井研、銅梁、大足、定遠、榮昌、隆昌三十一州縣，因滷衰銷滯，商倒岸懸，民在近廠買鹽以食，正雜課銀歸入地丁攤徵。蓋鹽商奢侈，家產日衰，乃覓殷戶出租於引商，名曰「號商」。所完課羨，須交引商封納，引商往往挪用，且官復有與為弊者。至三十年，全綱頹廢。會徐澤醇為總督，查積欠羨截銀共二十三萬七千餘兩，未繳殘引二十二萬八千五百八十一張。於是酌撥代銷，將號商姓名入冊，責其自行封匭。時惟犍、富邊商及成都、華陽計商稍殷實，銷岸亦暢，餘皆疲滯，而潼商尤甚。乃撤出黔邊所行水引，交犍、富兩商承辦。

Sichuan salt was strongest first at Shehong and Pengxi in Tongchuan, then at Qianwei, Leshan, and Rong in Jiading and Fushun in Xuchuan. Within a few years Shehong and Pengxi fell behind Qianwei, Leshan, Fushun, and Rong. Around Qianlong 49 salt wells everywhere were failing. Salt-tea commissioner Lin Jun let people sink wells without extra tax, and Sichuan salt revived. Only Tongchuan stayed as difficult as before. Its brine was mostly coarse "flower" salt; grass-fuel costs caused 70,000 taels of arrears; Tong merchants partnered with Qian merchants for twelve years to clear debt, renewed twice, then resumed self-management. After one year they owed over 20,000 again and sought another partnership term. By Daoguang 8 three terms had ended; output kept falling and only the main levy was met, not surplus or corner-cut payments. Surplus means surplus remainder. Corner-cut fees were paid when levy salt was trimmed at submission. Thirty-one counties where brine failed and merchants collapsed saw locals buy from nearby wells while salt tax was folded into the land-tax assessment. Extravagant salt merchants leased their quotas to wealthy designation merchants as their fortunes declined. Designation merchants paid levies to quota merchants for sealing, but quota merchants often embezzled the funds, sometimes with official collusion. By year thirty the entire guild had collapsed. Governor-general Xu Zechun found 237,000 taels of surplus and corner-cut arrears and 228,581 unpaid quota tickets. Substitute sales were arranged and designation merchants were registered to seal payments themselves. Only Qianwei, Fushun, Chengdu, and Huayang merchants remained solvent; the rest stagnated, Tong worst of all. Guizhou border water quotas were withdrawn and assigned to Qianwei and Fushun merchants.

其在雲南，自改章後，私鹽尤多，而諸井或常缺額，又在迤西、迤南。其東北隅食川鹽，東南隅食粵鹽，至難如期。道光六年，總督趙慎畛疏請就井稽鹽多寡，定地行銷。御史廖敦行又言分地行鹽，不若廣賝子井。上命新任總督阮元試行。其後諸大井淹廢，猶賴子井挹注，乃復振雲。

After the regulatory change Yunnan had rampant smuggling, chronic quota shortfalls, especially in the far west and south. The northeast ate Sichuan salt and the southeast Guangdong salt—both hard to supply on schedule. In Daoguang 6 Governor Zhao Shenzhe proposed assigning sales by well output. Censor Liao Dunxing argued that expanding subsidiary wells beat zoning sales by region. The emperor ordered the new governor Ruan Yuan to try it. When major wells failed, subsidiary wells kept Yunnan salt alive.

長蘆於咸豐八年，經蒙古親王僧格林沁防津，奏准將道光二十八年減價二文起徵，名鹽斤復價，得銀十八萬餘。時粵匪北犯，運道多阻，鹽集濬縣之道口鎮，自道口南皆以販運。運商省岸費，有餘利，而坐地引商，借官行私，所獲尤厚。故同治五年，河南巡撫因河防，又議行銷河南引鹽，每斤再加二文，得八萬兩撤防。以七年滎陽大工耗帑百數十萬，改為滎工加價。於是較道光末增款二十六萬。山東因捻匪，不能南運。同治三年，積引百三十餘萬，分八年帶銷，雖部議提撥道光十八年一文加價解充京餉，每年約加銀七萬，而正課未能全完。

In Xianfeng 8, when Prince Sengge Rinchen garrisoned Tianjin, the two-cash cut of 1848 was reversed as the "salt-catty restoration," yielding over 180,000 taels. Taiping rebels blocked routes; salt piled at Daokou in Jun county and moved south by peddlers. Carriers saved shore fees; local seated merchants used official cover for private trade and profited most. In Tongzhi 5 Henan's governor added two cash per catty on Henan quotas for river defense, raising 80,000 taels to withdraw troops. In year seven the Xingyang works cost over a million taels and the surcharge was renamed the Xingyang works levy. Revenue thus rose 260,000 taels above late Daoguang levels. Shandong could not ship south because of Nian rebels. In Tongzhi 3 over 1.3 million backlog quotas were spread over eight years; though the one-cash surcharge of 1838 was diverted to Beijing funds at 70,000 taels yearly, the main levy still could not be fully met.

河東自嘉慶十四年南河大工，每斤加價一文，較乾隆課額已增至十六萬餘。十七年加入吉蘭泰活引，又六萬餘兩。河東鹽向侵淮岸，至道光十一年，淮北改票，反灌河東，而商力益困。乃將活引減半，河工加價減二成，既由招商變為舉報，又變為簽商，破產者眾。咸豐二年，命戶部侍郎王慶雲往查。尋奏定留商行票，分立總岸，商運鹽至，發販行銷，裁革州縣陋規銀二十七萬餘兩，運城商廳所攤公費七萬餘兩，並知池價踴貴，由坐商銷乏，將畦地出租，坐食銷價，夥租者按年輪曬，先曬者盜挖鹽根，囤私肥己，故每名價至百二三十兩。於是嚴禁，定白鹽不得過六十兩，青鹽不得過四十兩，澤、潞節省等銀攤入通省引內，每引九分，另籌經費辦公，每引七分，並酌加鹽斤，計成本引僅一兩六錢，商情悅服，原將活引之半及加價二成完納。未幾，殷商九十餘家，以急軍需，共捐銀三百萬，給永免充商執照，改為民運民銷。山西、陝西、河南為官運官銷，刪除河工活引節費名目，定每斤徵課銀三釐五毫，每名合銀百五兩，較前增七萬餘，此咸豐四年也。時長江梗阻，河東以侵淮綱大暢，先後加河南靈寶口岸引三百名。

Hedong's Jiaqing 14 Southern River surcharge of one cash per catty had raised the Qianlong quota by over 160,000 taels. In year seventeen active Jilantai quotas added another 60,000-plus taels. Hedong salt had long encroached on Huai markets; after Huaibei went to tickets in 1831 it flowed back into Hedong and merchants grew weaker. Active quotas were halved and the river surcharge cut twenty percent; recruitment gave way to recommendation, then signed merchants—and bankruptcies multiplied. In Xianfeng 2 Vice Minister Wang Qingyun was sent to investigate. Wang fixed ticket merchants and general shores, cut 270,000 taels of county fees and 70,000 of Yuncheng guild charges; pond shares rented out reached 120–130 taels as early renters stole brine from the pans. Caps were set at 60 taels for white salt and 40 for green; Ze and Lu savings were spread at 0.9 fen per quota and office funds at 0.7 fen; extra weight cut cost to 1.6 taels per quota; merchants accepted and paid the halved active quotas and twenty-percent surcharge. Soon over ninety wealthy merchants donated three million taels for permanent exemption from mandatory merchant service, shifting to free transport and sale. Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan went to official transport and sale, dropping Hedong fee categories at 0.035 taels per catty and 105 taels per share—70,000 taels above the old rate—in Xianfeng 4. With the Yangtze blocked, Hedong boomed on Huai markets and added 300 quotas at Henan's Lingbao crossing.

山西岢嵐等食土鹽十三州縣，引二千四百九十四道，惟陝甘鹽池舊轄於河東。康熙二十八年，改令花馬小池歸甘肅疆臣管理，而大池如故。自咸豐五年，陝西巡撫王慶雲議改課歸地丁。慶雲旋調山西。吳振棫之奏言：「陝民貧乏，若徵鹽課，力實不遑，小民納無鹽之課，駔儈賣無課之鹽，事殊欠允。請飭豫省改招為便。」諭與慶雲會商。尋改為官民並運。時庫款支絀，部議令河東抽釐濟餉。巡撫以難行，第於額引加引，每名各取羨餘，約加銀五萬。直隸總督因海防亦請加斤加價，庚申綱遂加引六百名，辛酉綱加五百名，共加銀四十八萬，然惟辛酉綱全完。旋值陝回亂，捻匪竄河南、陝西，銷路驟塞，乃酌停加引。

Thirteen Shanxi counties on native salt had 2,494 quotas; only the Shaanxi-Gansu ponds had been under Hedong. In Kangxi 28 the Huama small pond passed to Gansu's governor while the great pond stayed unchanged. In Xianfeng 5 Shaanxi Governor Wang Qingyun proposed folding the salt levy into the land tax. Qingyun was soon transferred to Shanxi. Wu Zhenqi memorialized: "Shaanxi people are destitute; if salt duty is levied they cannot bear it—commoners would pay tax without receiving salt while brokers sell untaxed salt. This is wholly improper. He asked that Henan be instructed to revert to recruitment instead. The court directed him to consult with Qingyun. It was soon changed to joint official and private transport. With the treasury short, the ministry proposed levies on Hedong salt to fund the army. The governor found this impracticable and instead added extra quotas on the regular allotment, taking surplus per share—about 50,000 taels. The Zhili governor-general, citing coastal defense, also sought added weight and price; the Gengshen cohort added 600 quotas and the Xinyou cohort 500—480,000 taels in all—but only the Xinyou cohort was fully collected. When Shaanxi's Muslim rising broke out and Nian bands raided Henan and Shaanxi, markets suddenly closed and the extra quotas were suspended.

兩淮於咸豐三年，以江路不通，南鹽無商收賣，私販肆行，部議令就場徵稅。四年，復令撥鹽引運赴琦善、向榮大營抵餉。怡良旋奏易引為斤，每百斤抽稅錢三百，以二百四十文報撥，以六十文作外銷經費。時湖廣總督、江西巡撫皆以淮引不至，請借運川、粵鹽分售於太湖南北，江西則食閩、浙、粵之鹽。部議由官借運，不若化私為官，奏准川、粵鹽入楚，商民均許販鬻，惟擇堵私隘口抽稅，一稅後給照放行。

In Xianfeng 3, with river routes cut, no merchants bought southern salt and smuggling flourished; the ministry ordered field collection at the salterns. In year four salt quotas were again sent to the camps of Qi Shan and Xiang Rong for rations. Yi Liang soon proposed replacing quotas with a weight tax of 300 cash per hundred jin—240 for allocation and 60 for out-of-region sales expenses. Huguang and Jiangxi, lacking Huai quotas, asked to import Sichuan and Guangdong salt for the Taihu region; Jiangxi turned to Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong salt. The ministry held that legalizing trade beat official loans; Sichuan and Guangdong salt entered Hubei with merchant sale allowed, taxed once at choke points and released on license.

北鹽自軍營提鹽抵餉，遂為武人壟斷。提督李世忠部下赴壩領鹽，棧鹽不足，輒下場自捆，夾私之弊，不可究詰。同治三年，御史劉毓槐疏請整頓。事下江督曾國籓。國籓疏論：「淮南鹽務，運道難通，籌辦有二難。一在鄰鹽侵灌太久。西岸食浙私、粵私而兼閩私，楚岸食川私而兼潞私，引地被佔十年，民藉以濟食，官亦藉以抽釐，勢不能驟絕。一在釐卡設立太多。淮鹽出江，自儀徵以達楚西，層層設卡報稅，諸軍仰食，性命相依，不能概撤。臣思辦法不外疏銷、輕本、保價、杜私四者。自鄰鹽侵佔淮界，本輕利厚，淮鹽難與之敵。查之既煩，堵且生變。計惟重稅鄰私，俾鄰本重而淮本輕，庶鄰鹽化私為官，淮鹽亦得進步。現已咨湖廣、江西各督撫，將鄰私釐金加抽，待至淮運日多，銷路日暢，然後逐之而申其禁，此疏銷之略也。近年楚西之鹽，每引完釐在十五兩以上。今改逢卡抽收為到岸銷售後匯總完釐。前收十五兩有奇，今楚岸祗十一兩九錢八分，西岸九兩四錢四分，皖省四兩四錢。既減釐以便商，人先售而後納，此輕本之略也。商販求利，皆原價昂，然往往跌價搶售。其始一二奸商零販，但求卸物先銷，不肯守日賠利。其後彼此爭先，愈跌愈賤，雖欲挽回以保成本，不可得也。現於楚西各岸設督銷局，鹽運到岸，令商販投局挂號，懸牌定價，挨次輪銷，時而鹽少，民無食貴之虞，時而銷滯，商無虧本之慮，此保價之略也。鹽法首重緝私。大夥私梟，不難捕拏，最易偷漏者，包內之重斤，船戶之夾帶。現改復道光三十年舊章，每引六百斤分八包，每包給滷耗七斤半，包索二斤半，共重八十六斤，刊發大票，隨時添給，並於大盛關、大通、安慶等處驗票截角，如有重斤夾帶，即提鹽充公。其各岸之兼行鄰鹽者，亦另給稅單，苟無單販私，即按律治罪，此杜私之略也。」

Northern salt drawn by armies for pay fell under military monopoly. Li Shizhong's troops took salt at the barrier; when depot stocks ran short they bundled at the salterns themselves—smuggling beyond investigation. In Tongzhi 3 Censor Liu Yuhuai memorialized for reform. The matter went to Jiangsu Governor-General Zeng Guofan. Guofan wrote: "Huainan salt faces blocked transport and two fundamental difficulties. First, neighboring salt has encroached for too long. The west shore took Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Fujian smuggled salt; the Chu shore Sichuan and Shanxi smuggled salt. Quota grounds have been lost for ten years; people depend on it for food and officials for levies—it cannot be cut off at once. Second, too many levy stations have been set up. Huai salt from Yizheng westward passes station after station; armies live on these levies and stations cannot all be abolished. My policy rests on four points: expand sales, lighten cost, stabilize price, and suppress smuggling. Neighboring salt in Huai territory is cheap and profitable; Huai salt cannot compete. Strict inspection is burdensome and blocking invites unrest. The plan is to tax neighboring smuggled salt heavily so its price rises and Huai salt can advance as contraband is legalized. He had already asked Huguang and Jiangxi to raise levies on smuggled salt; when Huai shipments and sales grow, neighboring salt can be expelled and the prohibition enforced—this is his sales policy. Recently western Chu salt paid over fifteen taels in levies per quota. Collection at each station was changed to a single levy after shore sale. Levies fell from over fifteen taels to 11.98 on the Chu shore, 9.44 on the west shore, and 4.4 in Anhui. Lower levies let merchants sell first and pay later—this lightens cost. Merchants want high prices but often undercut to rush sales. At first a few traders sold off stock quickly rather than hold for daily profit. Others followed; prices fell until cost could not be recovered. Supervision bureaus on western Chu shores register merchants, post fixed prices, and rotate sales so scarcity does not raise retail prices and glut does not ruin merchants—this stabilizes price. Salt law above all stresses anti-smuggling. Large smuggling rings are easily caught; the hardest leaks are overweight bundles and boatmen's concealed cargo. Daoguang 30 rules were restored: each 600-jin quota in eight 86-jin bundles (including brine and cord allowance), with great tickets issued and corners clipped at Dasheng, Datong, and Anqing; overweight or concealed cargo was confiscated. Shores selling neighboring salt also receive tax receipts; selling without one is punished by law—this stops smuggling." End of quoted memorial.

又論：「淮北鹽務，有必須停止者三，急宜整理者四。漕臣以清淮設防，令場商每包捐鹽五斤，每引共二十斤，旋因逐包捐繳不便，改每運鹽百包，帶繳五包，其應完鹽課及售出鹽價，雖經吳棠奏明作為清淮軍需，但錙銖而取之，瑣屑而派之，殊非政體所宜。此須停止者一也。徐州本山東引地，前因捻氛，引未到岸，經督辦徐宿軍務田在田奏准散運北鹽，畫收東課，日久弊多，採買則私自赴場，售銷則旁侵皖界。今東引業已通行，不能再託借運虛名，貽侵銷實患。此須停止者二也。北鹽已改捆為淨鹽，未改為毛鹽，皆須納課方准出湖。近來私梟句串營弁，朋販毛鹽，堵之嚴，則營員出而包庇，緝之疏，則官引盡被占銷。此須停止者三也。夫榷鹽之法，革其弊而利自興。臣所謂整理之方，蓋亦就諸弊既去，因勢利導耳。淮北綱引，前奏至戊午為止。今於五月接開己未新綱，惟兵燹後戶口大減，斷不能銷四十六萬引。請先辦正額二十九萬六千九百八十二引，引收正課一兩五分一釐，雜課二錢，又外辦經費四錢，倉穀河費鹽捕營各一分，他款一概刪除。此現籌整理者一也。近來軍餉賴鹽釐接濟，而處處設卡，商販視為畏途。從前每包約完釐錢二千餘。今擬自西壩出湖，先在五河設卡，每包收五百文，運赴上海，再於正陽關收五百文。他卡只准驗票，不準重收。蓋非減釐不足以輕本，非裁卡不足以恤商。此現籌整理者二也。淮北解餉，向以十成分攤。臨淮軍營四成，滁州四成，安徽撫營二成。今臨、滁兩營已裁，而漕臣應量予撥濟，嗣後仍應以十成分派，臣營五成，撫營四成，漕營一成。論兵數則小有裒益，論舊制則無甚更張。此現籌整理者三也。北鹽每引例定四百斤，捆四包，每包連滷耗重百十斤。近來棧鹽出湖，皆在西壩改捆，大包重百三十斤，鹽票不符。臣已嚴禁，並於例給大票外，將每船裝鹽包數亦填明艙口清單，庶可杜避重就輕，不致以多報少。此現籌整理者四也。」均如所請行。

He added: "In Huaibei salt there are three practices that must end and four that need urgent reform. The grain commissioner, for Qinghuai defenses, had saltern merchants donate five jin per bundle (twenty per quota), then five bundles per hundred; though Wu Tang had these dues and sales assigned to Qinghuai troops, such petty exactions were unworthy of proper administration. This is the first practice to end. Xuzhou was Shandong quota territory; when Nian unrest blocked quotas, Tian Zaitian allowed scattered northern salt with eastern duties recorded—over time merchants bought at salterns and sold into Anhui. Eastern quotas now flow normally; the borrowed-transport pretense can no longer mask encroachment on sales. This is the second practice to end. Northern salt must be rebundled as net salt, not gross salt, and pay duty before leaving the lake. Smugglers lately colluded with garrison officers to sell gross salt; strict blocking brought official cover, lax enforcement let contraband displace official quotas. This is the third practice to end. In the salt monopoly, remove abuses and revenue revives of itself. My reforms would follow the removal of these abuses and guide affairs by circumstance. Huaibei gang quotas had been carried through the Wuwu year. The Jiwei cohort opened in the fifth month, but postwar population loss made 460,000 quotas impossible to sell. He asked to handle only 296,982 regular quotas at 1.51 taels regular duty, 0.2 mace miscellaneous duty, 0.4 mace operating funds, and 0.1 fen each for granary, river, and patrol costs—deleting all other charges. This is the first reform now planned. Army pay lately depended on salt levies, but stations everywhere made trade a ordeal for merchants. Formerly each bundle paid over 2,000 cash in levies. He proposed one 500-cash levy at Wuhe when salt left Xiba and another 500 at Zhengyang Pass en route to Shanghai. Other stations may only inspect tickets, not collect again. Levies must be cut to lighten cost and stations abolished to aid merchants. This is the second reform now planned. Huaibei pay funds had been split in ten shares. Linhuai camp took four-tenths, Chuzhou four-tenths, and the Anhui governor's camp two-tenths. Linhuai and Chuzhou camps were abolished; the grain commissioner should still contribute, with future shares at five-tenths to the governor-general, four to the provincial governor, and one to the grain office. Troop numbers changed little; the old ratio was not greatly altered. This is the third reform now planned. Northern salt was fixed at 400 jin per quota in four 110-jin bundles including brine allowance. Lately depot salt was rebundled at Xiba into 130-jin lots that did not match the tickets. He forbade this and required hold manifests listing each ship's bundles besides the usual great tickets, to stop under-reporting weight. This is the fourth reform now planned. The court approved all his requests.

國籓更張鹽法，與陶澍不同者，澍意在散輪，與玉庭、若霖同。國籓意在整輪，與全德、曾燠同。然玉庭、若霖籌辦散輪，必前兩月之輪賣畢，再開後兩月續到之輪，未嘗不以散寓整，澍實師其意。故國籓鑒於搶售之弊而主整輪，爰有總棧督銷之設，一以保場價，一以保岸價。總棧初以儀徵未易修復，設於瓜洲，後岸為水齧而圮，復移儀徵。督銷局鄂岸於漢口，湘岸於長沙，西岸於南昌，皖岸於大通。未幾，國籓移督直隸，李鴻章繼之。其所增捐，莫要於循環給運。其法以認引之事並歸督銷，俾商販售出前檔之鹽，即接請後檔之引。初行之淮南，後及於淮北。蓋參綱法於票法之中，以舊商為主而不易新商。商有世業，則官有責成，視以前驗貲掣籤流弊為少，自是歷任循之。

Guofan's salt reforms differed from Tao Shu: Shu favored scattered cohorts, as did Yuting and Ruolin. Guofan favored unified cohorts, as did Quande and Zeng Shuang. Yet Yuting and Ruolin's scattered cohorts required the first two months' salt to sell out before opening the next arrivals—scattering that embodied order, which Shu followed. Guofan, seeing the harm of rushed sales, upheld unified cohorts and established general depots and supervision bureaus to stabilize saltern and shore prices. The general depot was first at Guazhou because Yizheng was hard to restore; when the shore eroded it returned to Yizheng. Supervision bureaus sat at Hankou for Hubei, Changsha for Hunan, Nanchang for the west shore, and Datong for Anhui. Soon Guofan became Zhili governor-general and Li Hongzhang succeeded him. His chief addition was cyclical quota assignment. Quota claims were placed under supervision sales so that selling one cohort's salt entitled merchants to the next cohort's quotas. It began in Huainan and later reached Huaibei. It blended gang-quota methods with the ticket system, keeping established merchants and not replacing them. Hereditary merchants gave officials clear accountability and fewer abuses than capital tests and lot-drawing; successors followed the practice.

至光緒五年而增引之說起。增引者，部咨淮北增額八萬。時總督沈葆楨疏言：「近年鹽商以票價昂，覬覦增引。歷任鹽臣精鹽政者無過曾國籓，每審定一法，必舉數十年之利病，如身入其中，而通盤計之。然淮北引額，僅定為二十九萬有奇，豈置國計商情於不顧哉？鹽政之壞，首由額浮於銷，其始尚勉符奏銷之限，久乃不可收拾。於是新陳套搭，未幾而統銷融銷矣，又未幾而帶徵停運矣。惟額少則商少，商少則剔弊易，疏銷亦易也。」八年，左宗棠督兩江，乃請增引，淮北十六萬，淮南鄂岸十一萬、湘岸四萬、皖岸四萬二千餘。部議淮北照行，其鄂岸僅增三萬、湘岸一萬、皖岸一萬七千餘。

In Guangxu 5 proposals to increase quotas arose. The increase meant 80,000 added quotas for Huaibei per ministry notice. Governor-General Shen Baozhen wrote: "Lately merchants, seeing high ticket prices, have coveted quota increases. No salt official matched Guofan, who weighed decades of gains and losses on each reform as if inside the trade itself. Yet he fixed Huaibei at only 290,000-odd quotas—hardly ignoring state revenue and merchant conditions. Salt administration fails when quotas exceed sales; at first deadlines are barely met, then affairs collapse. Then old and new quotas were stacked; soon came unified write-offs, then attached collections and halted transport. Fewer quotas mean fewer merchants, easier reform, and easier sales. In year eight Zuo Zongtang as Two Jiangs governor sought increases of 160,000 for Huaibei, 110,000 for Huainan on the Hubei shore, 40,000 for Hunan, and 42,000-odd for Anhui. The ministry approved Huaibei fully but only 30,000 for Hubei, 10,000 for Hunan, and 17,000-odd for Anhui.

及曾國荃涖任，復將淮北加引奏免。蓋兩淮正課，初合織造、河工、銅斤等款，祗百八十餘萬，每引徵銀一兩餘。織造、河工、銅斤者，因鹽政運司養廉厚，陋規亦多，每年解送織造銀二十二萬，捐助河工五萬。三籓之變，滇銅阻隔，派各鹽差採買捐辦，水腳又五萬。及雍正中，裁減養廉規費以為正款，嗣復及他項。於是正雜內外支款遂鉅，每引增至六七兩，自改票後始輕。同治中，引地未復，而以釐補課實過之，正無庸增引也。

When Zeng Guoquan took office he memorialized to cancel the Huaibei increase. Two Huai regular revenue originally combined weaving, river works, and copper funds at 1.8 million taels—just over one tael per quota. Weaving, river, and copper charges arose because salt commissioners had large nurture-integrity salaries and many fees—22,000 taels yearly for weaving and 50,000 for river works. After the Three Feudatories rebellion Yunnan copper was cut off and salt agents were charged to procure it, with 50,000 taels for freight. Under Yongzheng nurture-integrity and fees were cut and made regular revenue, then extended to other charges. Regular and miscellaneous charges inside and out grew until each quota reached six or seven taels; only the ticket reform eased the burden. During Tongzhi, franchised marketing areas had not been restored, yet likin already more than made up for salt duty; there was no need to increase quotas.

至南鹽銷數，向以鄂岸為多。及為川鹽所據，同治七年，國籓請規復引地，部議令川鹽停止行楚。湖廣總督李瀚章疏言未可停，惟於沙市設局，以川八成、淮二成配銷。後以包計，淮鹽較川鹽每包斤少，名二成實不及一成。十年，國籓復言：「川侵淮地，當使淮八成而川二成，或淮七、川三。今楚督以鄂餉數鉅，恐川鹽不暢，入款驟減。臣所求者，淮鹽得銷行楚岸，則商氣蘇，原將應得釐銀，多撥數成或全數歸鄂。」命川、楚督撫會議。國籓等疏言以「武昌、漢陽、黃州、德安四府還淮南，安陸、襄陽、鄖陽、荊州、宜昌五府，荊門州仍准川鹽借銷，湖南祗岳、常、澧三屬行銷川鹽，岳州、常德亦應歸淮，澧州暫銷川鹽」。經部議准。光緒二年，貴州肅清，御史周聲澍疏陳川鹽引地已復，請將湖南北各府州全歸淮南。部議如所請。於是葆楨奏稱湖北川釐，每年報部百五十餘萬串，計合銀不足九十萬，請令淮商包完。然湖廣督撫以川釐有定，慮包餉難憑，合辭袒川拒淮。至八年，宗棠復移文商榷，迄不果行。

Southern salt had long sold most heavily on the Hubei shore. After Sichuan salt took over, in Tongzhi 7 Guofan sought restoration of quota districts; the ministry proposed halting Sichuan salt in Hubei. Huguang Governor-General Li Hanzhang argued against a full halt and proposed a Shashi bureau blending sales eighty percent Sichuan and twenty percent Huai salt. Counted by bundle, Huai packs weighed less than Sichuan; the nominal twenty percent share was under ten percent. In year ten Guofan wrote again: "Sichuan salt encroaches on Huai territory; Huai salt should have eighty percent and Sichuan twenty, or seventy and thirty. The Hubei governor, citing huge provincial revenue needs, fears Sichuan salt will not sell through and receipts will drop sharply. I seek only free sale of Huai salt on Hubei shores to revive the trade; I would assign most or all of the likin to Hubei. The court ordered the Sichuan and Hubei governors and governors-general to confer. Guofan and others proposed returning Wuchang, Hanyang, Huangzhou, and De'an to Huainan; keeping Anlu, Xiangyang, Yunyang, Jingzhou, Yichang, and Jingmen on provisional Sichuan salt; limiting Hunan to Yue, Chang, and Li for Sichuan salt while restoring Yuezhou and Changde to Huai and allowing Li to sell Sichuan salt temporarily. The Board approved the plan. In Guangxu 2, after Guizhou was pacified, Censor Zhou Shengshu reported that Sichuan salt districts were restored and asked that all northern Hunan prefectures return to Huainan. The ministry approved as requested. Baozhen then reported that Hubei Sichuan likin came to over 1.5 million strings a year—under 900,000 taels of silver—and asked that Huai merchants pay it in a lump sum. But Huguang officials, citing fixed Sichuan likin receipts and doubting a lump payment, jointly favored Sichuan salt and blocked Huai. By year eight Zuo Zongtang raised the matter again in correspondence, but it never took effect.

長蘆自順治初祗徵課二十萬二千有奇。十二年，按明制查出寧餉酬商滴珠缺額等款，照舊徵解。康熙中，復增課增引，遂至四十二萬六千有奇。乾隆季年，以逐年誤課，參革者眾，於是眾商公議，完課外每引捐銀二錢，以備彌補，名為參課。迨道光末，課額愈重，岸懸愈多，於是又添懸岸課，每引交銀四分，而仍不足。至是國籓督直，疏言：「認商既交寄庫銀千餘兩，宜與保商以三年定限，凡欠在限內，於本商追繳二成，其一成綱總與出結之散商分賠，過限即無涉，以免畏避。」從之。

Changlu salt duty from early Shunzhi was only about 202,000 taels. In year twelve, following Ming practice, Ning payments, merchant compensation, drip-bead shortfalls, and other items were recovered and levied as before. Under Kangxi, duties and quotas rose again to about 426,000 taels. Late in Qianlong, repeated shortfalls led to many dismissals; merchants then agreed to pay two qian per quota above the regular duty as a reserve fund, called reference duty. By late Daoguang quotas and suspended shores had multiplied; a suspended-shore surcharge of four fen per quota was added, but revenue still fell short. Then as Zhili governor Guofan proposed: where merchants had posted over 1,000 taels in escrow, guarantors should face a three-year limit—two-tenths chased from the principal debtor, one-tenth split between the guild head and bonding merchants, with no liability after the term, to avoid evasion. The proposal was approved.

是時鹽臣自國籓、鴻章、葆楨外，惟宗棠及丁寶楨以能名。同治初，宗棠撫浙，疏言：「自金陵陷，淮鹽侵灌杭、嘉、松三所，惟紹所勉力搘柱。後行鹽地多不守，浙省亦陷。及浙東克復，始飭紹興暫辦票鹽，省城及嘉、湖繼定，而舊商力難運銷，請將四所通改票鹽，並設局稽查銷數。」經部議准。十年，御史奇臣奏言：「浙東府局，於商販鹽至，輒低其價，以便鹽行收買，旋復高其價，以便轉售，利歸中飽。應請裁撤。」部議敕下巡撫楊昌濬查覆。尋覆稱：「兩浙本先課後鹽。自改票運，因商力薄，僅完半課，其半課俟銷後補完。擬撤鹽行，仍留府局，督催後半課銀。」報可。

Among salt officials of the day, only Zuo Zongtang and Ding Baozhen rivaled Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Shen Baozhen in reputation. Early in Tongzhi, as Zhejiang governor Zongtang reported: after Nanjing fell, Huai salt flooded Hang, Jia, and Song, and only Shaoxing held the line. Later most marketing areas were lost and Zhejiang too fell. After eastern Zhejiang was recovered he ordered provisional ticket salt in Shaoxing, then Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou; old merchants could not supply the trade, so he sought ticket salt throughout the four districts with bureaus to track sales. The Board approved the plan. In year ten Censor Qichen charged that eastern Zhejiang prefectural bureaus depressed prices when merchants arrived so guilds could buy cheap, then raised them on resale, pocketing the margin. They should be abolished. The ministry ordered Governor Yang Changjun to investigate and report. He soon replied: "The Two Zhejiangs had long collected duty before salt. Under ticket transport, weak merchants paid only half the duty upfront and the rest after sales. He proposed abolishing salt guilds but keeping prefectural bureaus to collect the balance of duty. The memorial was approved.

福建當乾隆時，西路延平、建寧、邵武三府屬十五州縣，東路福寧府屬五州縣，南路閩侯二縣，歸商辦，號「商幫」。南路福州、興化、漳州、泉州四府屬二十一廳州縣，由官辦，號「官幫」，亦謂之「縣澳官幫」，包與商辦，名「朴戶」。嗣後勻配西路各商代銷，於是有「代額」之名。商幫以課輕，樂於承運，而本課轉拖欠。嘉慶初，乃行帶徵與減引法。旋革除代額，久之倒罷相繼。道光元年，乃改簽商。時舊欠皆價新商，加以場務廢弛，官居省城，聽海船裝鹽，私相買賣，謂之「便海」，流弊滋多。至二十九年復倒罷，乃改官運，而承辦者以運本半入囊橐。蓋閩省行鹽，乾隆時用團秤，每百斤折申砝秤百六十斤，以三十斤抵償折耗。嘉慶中，改用部砝秤，又不給耗鹽，其擔引摺篷引每百斤僅給四十二斤，令作百斤售賣，而完代額百斤之課，是以虧折日甚。其後法愈變愈壞。同治四年，宗棠為閩督，乃請改票運，飭各場官住場。西路以引商為票商，縣澳以朴戶為販戶，用鹽道票代引，名曰「販單」。西路以三十引起票，東南兩路及縣澳以百引起票，蓋西路每引六百七十五斤，東南路並縣澳每引百斤故也。裁雜課，令正課一兩加耗一錢，於領票時交納。外抽釐五錢，於行鹽各地設局抽收。計西路每引徵銀四兩五錢零，東南路及縣澳四錢四分零。後以西路課重，奏減每課一兩隨徵釐四錢。凡舊欠各款豁免。帑息既免，帑本則責令陸續歸還。是年徵課耗釐銀四十萬餘，帶收舊欠課十九萬餘，即以四十萬定為正額。行之數年，商情大歡，私販斂跡。

Under Qianlong in Fujian, fifteen counties in Yanping, Jianning, and Shaowu on the west, five in Funing on the east, and two in Minhou on the south were merchant-run as the Merchant Gang. Twenty-one jurisdictions in Fuzhou, Xinghua, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou on the south were official-run as the Official Gang or County Anchorage Official Gang, with contractors called Pu households. Later western merchants were assigned substitute sales quotas, hence the term substitute quota. Merchants welcomed the light duty but the principal revenue fell into arrears. Early in Jiaqing attached collections and quota reductions were introduced. Substitute quotas were soon abolished, and bankruptcies followed in succession. In Daoguang 1 the system shifted to contracted merchants. Old debts were loaded onto new contractors; with yards neglected, officials in Fuzhou allowed coastal ships to trade salt privately as convenient-sea traffic, and abuses multiplied. By year twenty-nine contractors failed again and official transport was tried, but contractors pocketed half the transport capital. In Qianlong Fujian used the gang steelyard: each 100 jin was declared as 160 jin on the ministry scale, with 30 jin allowed for loss. Under Jiaqing the ministry steelyard was adopted without loss salt; burden and folded-sail quotas delivered only 42 jin per nominal 100 jin for sale while full substitute-quota duty was still due, so losses mounted. Later reforms only made matters worse. In Tongzhi 4, as Fujian governor Zongtang sought ticket transport and ordered yard officials to remain on site. On the west, quota merchants became ticket merchants; at county anchorages Pu households became retailers, using salt-route tickets instead of quotas, called sales slips. The west issued tickets per thirty quotas and the southeast and anchorages per hundred, because a western quota was 675 jin and a southern or anchorage quota 100 jin. Miscellaneous charges were cut; one tael of regular duty plus one qian for loss was paid when tickets were issued. Five qian likin was collected at bureaus along marketing routes. The west paid about 4.5 taels per quota; the southeast and anchorages about 4.4 taels. Because the western duty was heavy, they memorialized a cut of one tael per duty with four qian likin attached. All old arrears were remitted. Treasury interest was forgiven and principal was to be repaid over time. That year over 400,000 taels in duty, loss, and likin were collected, plus 190,000 in old arrears; 400,000 was fixed as the regular quota. Within a few years merchants were content and smuggling dwindled.

陝西花馬池鹽課，向由布政使收納。及同治十二年，宗棠為陝甘總督，因西陲用兵，改課為釐，在定邊設局抽收，名曰花定鹽釐。於是陝西鹽利歸於甘省。

Shaanxi Huamachi salt duty had long been collected by the provincial treasurer. In Tongzhi 12 Zuo Zongtang as Shaanxi-Gansu governor-general, for frontier warfare, converted duty to likin at a Dingbian bureau, called Huading salt likin. Shaanxi salt revenue then passed to Gansu.

初川鹽以滇、黔為邊岸。而黔岸又分四路，由永寧往曰永岸，由合江往抵黔之仁懷曰仁岸，由涪州往曰涪岸，由綦江往曰綦岸。至是運商困敝，所恃以暢銷者，惟濟楚一策。及淮南規復引地，滯引積至八萬有奇，積欠羨截百數十萬金。光緒初，寶楨督川，定官運商銷，先從事黔岸，籌章程十五條：曰裁減浮費，曰清釐積引，曰酌核代銷，曰局運商銷，曰兼辦計岸，曰引歸局配，曰展限奏銷，曰嚴定交盤，曰慎重出納，曰認真黔釐，曰實給船價，曰刪減引底引底者，運商向於坐商租引配鹽，引給銀二十餘兩，由商總租收，作為課稅羨截，領繳引費，及官吏委員提課規費，商局公費，餘數二兩，分交各坐商。至是歷年羨截，運商已繳，本應全革。惟因年久，姑准存一兩，曰添置辦票，曰酌留津貼，曰酌給獎敘。設總局於瀘州，四岸各設分局，檄道員唐炯為督辦。其後接辦滇岸，川鹽行滇，祗昭通、東川兩府有張窩、南廣兩局，謂之大滇邊、小滇邊。其辦理較黔岸為難者，滇自有鹽，侵越最易。寶楨籌堵遏法，至五年乃開運。

Sichuan salt originally marketed chiefly in Yunnan and Guizhou. The Guizhou shore had four routes: from Yongning (Yong shore), from Hejiang to Renhuai (Ren shore), from Fuzhou (Fu shore), and from Qijiang (Qi shore). Transport merchants were now exhausted and relied only on sales into Hubei. When Huainan sought to restore quota districts, backlog quotas reached over 80,000 and surplus skims owed millions of taels. Early in Guangxu, as Sichuan governor Ding Baozhen instituted official transport with merchant sales, beginning on the Guizhou shore, he drafted fifteen rules: cut overhead, clear backlog quotas, audit substitute sales, bureau transport with merchant sales, manage plan shores jointly, allocate quotas through bureaus, extend memorial clearance deadlines, tighten handover audits, control receipts and payments, enforce Guizhou likin, pay fair freight, and abolish quota-base fees—by which transport merchants rented quotas from seated merchants for about twenty taels each, covering surplus skims, quota fees, official extractions, bureau costs, and two taels to seated merchants. Years of surplus skims already paid by transport merchants should have been abolished entirely. Because of long usage, one tael was temporarily kept for ticket handling, allowances, and rewards. A headquarters was opened at Luzhou with branch bureaus on each shore, and Circuit Intendant Tang Jiong was appointed supervisor. He later took the Yunnan shore, where Sichuan salt entered only Zhaotong and Dongchuan through Zhangwo and Nanguang bureaus, called the great and small Yunnan frontiers. The Yunnan shore was harder than Guizhou because Yunnan had its own salt and smuggling was easy. Baozhen devised blocking measures, and transport opened only in year five.

自官運商銷，計本年邊計各額引全數銷清外，復帶銷積引萬餘，所收稅羨截釐及各雜款又百餘萬，而奸民不便。會上遣恩承、童華查辦他岸，至川，富順富紳王余照假灶戶具詞呈控，請改官督商銷。有旨垂詢。寶楨奏言：「官督商銷，利歸官與商，官運官銷，權全歸官，流弊皆大。惟官運商銷，官商可相箝制。」既而控案訊明，奏請拏辦。迨光緒末，各計岸亦多改官運焉。

Under official transport with merchant sales, that year frontier quotas were fully cleared and over 10,000 backlog quotas were sold, with over a million taels in taxes, skims, likin, and fees—yet local rackets were disrupted. The court sent En Cheng and Tong Hua to inspect other shores; in Sichuan the Fushun magnate Wang Yuzhao, posing as a saltern owner, petitioned to replace the system with official supervision and merchant sales. The throne sought comment. Baozhen replied: "Official supervision with merchant sales benefits officials and merchants alike; official transport with official sales concentrates power in officials—both invite serious abuse. Only official transport with merchant sales lets government and merchants restrain one another. When the case was tried, he memorialized for Wang's arrest. By late Guangxu most plan shores had shifted to official transport as well.

此外如奉天由納稅改行引，自康熙中停止，無課者百七十餘年。同治六年，將軍都興阿奏准行榷釐法，每鹽一榷東錢千，為本地軍需。光緒三年，將軍崇厚請加作二千四百文。八年，將軍崇綺再請加二千四百文，名四八鹽釐，是為練兵之款。十七年，戶部籌餉加二千四百文，名二四鹽釐，是為解部之款。二十四年，將軍依克唐阿加千二百文，名一二鹽釐，是為興學之款。此三項總稱八四鹽釐。二十八年，將軍增祺又奏設督銷局，每斤加榷制錢四，謂之加價，以為官本。然原議由官設局收買，置倉運售，名為督銷，實則官運也。值日、俄戰起，亦未實行。三十二年，將軍趙爾巽請裁督銷之名，在奉天立官鹽總局，吉林、黑龍江立分局，聽商就灘納稅運銷。三十三年，東三省設行省，總督徐世昌又改官鹽總局為東三省鹽務總局，於是吉林、黑龍江始實行官運。初歲徵課銀二十四萬或四十萬，及爾巽至，滿百萬，其後至百四十萬。

Elsewhere, Fengtian had shifted from tax payment to quota salt in Kangxi and then gone without salt duty for over 170 years. In Tongzhi 6 General Duxing'a won approval for monopoly likin of 1,000 eastern cash per salt unit for local military expenses. In Guangxu 3 General Chonghou sought an additional 2,400 wen. In year eight General Chongqi added another 2,400 wen as the four-eight salt likin for troop training. In year seventeen the Board of Revenue added 2,400 wen as the two-four salt likin for remittance to Beijing. In year twenty-four General Yiktangga added 1,200 wen as the one-two salt likin for schools. Together these three were called the eight-four salt likin. In year twenty-eight General Zengqi proposed a supervision sales bureau with a four-cash-per-jin surcharge as official capital. The plan was for official bureaus to buy, warehouse, and sell salt—called supervision sales but effectively official transport. The Russo-Japanese War prevented implementation. In year thirty-two General Zhao Erxun abolished supervision sales, opened an Official Salt General Bureau in Fengtian with branches in Jilin and Heilongjiang, and let merchants pay at the salterns and market salt freely. In year thirty-three, with provincial government in the northeast, Governor-General Xu Shichang renamed the bureau the Three Eastern Provinces Salt Affairs General Bureau, and Jilin and Heilongjiang then began official transport. Annual revenue had been 240,000 or 400,000 taels; under Zhao Erxun it passed one million and later 1.4 million.

蒙古鹽向歸籓部經理。其行銷陝、甘者，以阿拉善旗吉蘭泰池鹽為大宗，俗謂之紅鹽。道光以前，聽民運銷。咸豐八年，始招商承運，每百斤收銀八兩。同治間，遭回亂，商困課逋，經宗棠改課為釐，斤加制錢五。其在山西者，亦紅鹽最多。嘉慶初，阿拉善王獻吉蘭泰池，由官招商辦運，將口外各廳，大同、朔平二府，及太原、汾州等屬，向食土鹽州縣，劃為吉岸引地。至十七年廢除。凡入口者，由殺虎口徵稅，每斤一分五釐。其外尚有三種：曰鄂爾多斯旗鹽，曰蘇尼特旗鹽，俗謂之白鹽，曰烏珠穆沁旗鹽，謂之青鹽。初照老少鹽例，於口內行銷。嘉慶末納稅。至光緒時，皆改用抽釐法。

Mongolian salt had long been managed by the banners. Salt sold in Shaanxi and Gansu came chiefly from Jilantai in Alashan Banner, known as red salt. Before Daoguang private transport was permitted. In Xianfeng 8 merchants were contracted at eight taels per hundred jin. During Tongzhi, Muslim rebellions ruined merchants and revenue; Zongtang converted duty to likin with a five-cash surcharge per jin. In Shanxi too red salt predominated. Early in Jiaqing the Alashan prince offered Jilantai; the government contracted merchants and marked outlying departments, Datong and Shuoping, and native-salt counties around Taiyuan and Fenzhou as Ji-shore quota districts. The arrangement was abolished in year seventeen. All salt entering through Shanhaiguan Pass was taxed at one fen five li per jin. Three other types were also marketed: Ordos Banner salt, Sunit Banner salt, popularly known as white salt, and Ujimqin Banner salt, called blue salt. At first they were sold inland under the laoshao salt precedent. Taxes were imposed late in the Jiaqing reign. By the Guangxu era all had shifted to likin collection.

其在直隸者，則青鹽、白鹽，光緒二十八年察哈爾都統奏請抽釐，每斤制錢四，約年得銀十二萬有奇。明年，熱河都統亦照抽，每斤五文。是年直督又請在張家口設督銷局，在口外設廠收鹽，招商承辦，每千斤包納課銀二兩，約年得三萬有奇。三十三年，熱河亦設局，每百斤徵銀四錢。宣統元年，減為二錢五分，約年得六萬有奇。

In Zhili, blue and white salt were likined in Guangxu 28 at four cash per jin, yielding about 120,000 taels a year. The next year Rehe followed suit at five cash per jin. That year the Zhili governor asked for a supervision bureau at Zhangjiakou and collection depots beyond the pass, with contractors paying two taels per thousand jin, about 30,000 taels annually. In year thirty-three Rehe opened a bureau charging four qian per hundred jin. In Xuande 1 the rate fell to two qian five fen, yielding about 60,000 taels a year.

新疆向聽民掣銷。光緒三十四年後，始於精河鹽池徵稅萬四千四百兩，迪化徵五千一百兩，鄯善徵二千四百兩，餘仍無稅。

Xinjiang had long permitted private boiling and sale. After Guangxu 34 taxes began at 14,400 taels at Jinghe, 5,100 at Dihua, and 2,400 at Shanshan, while other areas remained untaxed.

初，鹽釐創於兩淮南北，數皆重。自國籓整頓，乃稍減。繼以規復淮綱，又議重抽川釐。咸豐五年，定花鹽每引萬斤抽釐八兩，嗣因商販私加至萬七千斤，川督駱秉章請就所加斤按引加抽十七兩，共正釐二十五兩。後各省皆加。及光緒時行銅圓，鹽價已暗增，而釐金外更議加價。

Salt likin began in north and south Huai at heavy rates. State reorganization of salt administration brought modest reductions. Restoring the Huai salt framework was followed by proposals to raise Sichuan likin again. In Xianfeng 5 flower salt was likined at eight taels per ten-thousand-jin quota; when merchants quietly inflated loads to 17,000 jin, Governor Luo Bingzhang added seventeen taels per quota, making proper likin twenty-five taels. Other provinces soon followed suit. By Guangxu copper coins had already raised salt prices covertly, yet surcharges beyond likin were still debated.

其事起雍正時。蓋長蘆鹽價，自康熙二十七年定每斤銀一分四毫至一分二釐六毫不等。雍正六年，巡鹽御史鄭禪寶疏稱「商課用銀，民間買鹽用錢。康熙時，銀一兩換制錢千四五百，每鹽一斤，錢十六文。今每兩合錢二千，而鹽價如故，亦有減至十三四文者，以錢易銀，不敷原數。應請部臣會同督臣詳議」。至十年，題准每斤加銀一釐。乾隆後推行他省，然其意在恤商而已。嘉慶五年，長蘆巡鹽御史觀豫因川、楚未靖，奏請加價濟用。仁宗諭曰：「以餉需擾及閭閻，朕不為也。今計食鹽者每日止一二文，若增價則人人受累。且私販必因鹽價過昂而起。」已而以河工需費，道光後猶多。至光緒二年，辦西徵糧台，戶部侍郎袁保恆奏請各省一體加二文，以兩江總督沈葆楨力爭乃寢。

This policy dated to the Yongzheng reign. Changlu salt prices had been set in Kangxi 27 between 1.4 hao and 1.26 li of silver per jin. In Yongzheng 6 Salt Censor Zheng Chanbao reported that merchants paid duties in silver while consumers bought salt in cash. In Kangxi one tael bought 1,400 to 1,500 cash and salt sold at sixteen cash per jin. Now one tael fetched 2,000 cash while salt prices stayed put or fell to thirteen or fourteen cash, so cash could not meet the original silver quotas. He asked the ministry and provincial governors to consider the matter jointly. In year ten approval came for a one-li silver markup per jin. Qianlong extended the practice elsewhere, ostensibly to protect merchants. In Jiaqing 5 Changlu Censor Guan Yu sought a salt surcharge to fund operations in unsettled Sichuan and Huguang. Emperor Renzong replied: I will not trouble households to meet military pay. A household's daily salt costs only a cash or two; a markup would burden everyone. High prices would only invite smuggling. Yet river-works costs later revived the practice, especially after Daoguang. In Guangxu 2 Vice President Yuan Baoheng proposed a two-cash surcharge nationwide for the western campaign, but Governor-General Shen Baozhen blocked it.

嗣是新政舉行，罔不取諸鹽利。如二十年因日本構釁設防，部咨各省每斤加收二文。二十七年因籌還賠款，加四文。三十四年，因抵補藥稅，又加四文，半抵補練兵經費，半歸產鹽省分撥用，其最著者也。時疆吏集商會議，僉以滯銷為憂，而勢不能已，自是所入較道光前又增數倍。然長蘆經拳匪之擾，商本損失，至借洋款。山東引票各地，自同治六年酌歸官辦，弊竇殊多。河東仍歸官民並運，而不能暢銷。福建之票運、四川之官運皆然。廣東潮橋，舊由官運，至時與六櫃統歸商辦，成效亦寡。雲南子井，存者寥寥。而淮、浙衰敝尤甚。

New policies thereafter drew on salt revenue for nearly every purpose. In year 20 coastal defense against Japan added two cash per jin nationwide. In year 27 indemnity repayment added four cash. In year 34 a four-cash levy offset opium taxes, half for training troops and half for producing provinces, the most notable surcharge. Governors and merchants alike feared stagnation yet could not halt the levies; revenue now ran several times above the Daoguang baseline. Changlu merchants lost capital in the Boxer turmoil and even borrowed foreign loans. Shandong's ticket system, partly reverted to official management in Tongzhi 6, was riddled with abuse. Hedong kept mixed official-private transport but sales still languished. Fujian's ticket transport and Sichuan's official transport fared no better. Guangdong's Chaoyang and Qiaotou salt, once state-run, was handed to merchants with the six warehouses but yielded little. Yunnan's brine wells were barely viable. Huai and Zhejiang salt declined worst of all.

宣統元年，度支部尚書載澤疏言：「淮南因海勢東遷，滷氣漸淡，石港、劉庄等場產鹽既少，金沙場且不出鹽。若淮北三場，離海近，滷氣尚厚，惟麗鹽出於磚池，例須按池定引。近則磚池以外，廣開池基，甚至新基已增，舊灘未劃，致產額益無限制。而南商同德昌在淮北鋪池，北商尤以為不便。兩浙產鹽之旺，首推餘姚、岱山，次則松江之袁浦、青村、橫浦等場，皆板曬之鹽也。而杭、嘉、寧、紹所屬煎鹽各場，滷料亦購自餘姚。近年滷貴薪昂，成本加重，商家既舍煎而取曬，灶戶亦廢灶而停煎。煎數日微，故龍頭、長亭、長林等場久缺，而注重轉在餘、岱。餘姚海灘距場遠，岱山孤懸海外，向不設場，雖經立局建廒，而官收有限，私曬無窮。此產鹽各處之情形也。淮、浙行鹽，各有引地，而豫之西平、遂平，久成廢岸，湘之衡、永、寶三府及靖州，本淮界而銷粵鹽，鄂之安、襄、鄖、荊、宜五府及荊門州，本淮界而銷川鹽，浙之溫、台、寧、處等處，祗抽釐尚未行引。就目前情形論之，淮北以三販轉運，於岸情每多隔膜，故票販不問關銷，豫販又多歸怨湖販，此其病在商情之不相聯，而各省抽稅，勢亦足以病商。淮南有四岸督銷，權等運司，故運司不能制督銷，分銷亦不盡受轄於督銷，此其病在官權之不相統，而商情渙散，勢亦足以自病。浙場距場近者，有肩引、住引之分。距場遠者，有綱地、引地之別。加以官辦商包，其法不一，紛紜破碎，節節補苴。至捆鹽出場，沿途局卡之留難，船戶之夾帶，則皆不免。此銷鹽各處之情形也。淮鹽行於蘇、皖，與浙鹽、東鹽引界鄰；行於豫岸，與東鹽、蘆鹽引界鄰；行於西岸，與浙、閩、粵鹽引界鄰；行於湘、鄂兩岸，與川鹽、鄂鹽引界鄰。而鄂之襄、樊，又為蘆私、潞私所灌，湘之衡、永、寶，又為粵私所佔，兩浙引地，蘇、皖、西三岸皆與淮鄰，即本省之溫、台等處，亦為閩私所侵，此皆犬牙相錯，時起爭端。近年京漢鐵路通車，貫豫省而下，淮、蘆之爭更烈。將來津浦、粵漢等路告成，淮界且四面皆敵，然此猶言鄰私也。尤甚者，皖、豫同為淮界，而皖之潁州與汝、光界壤，則以加價輕而及豫岸，台、處同為浙境，而處之縉云為台商承辦，則又以包釐微而侵及處郡。江西建昌久為廢岸，近設官運局以圖規復，而貶價敵私。撫州已虞倒灌，上海租界向為私藪，近設事務所以籌官銷，而越界行運，蘇屬時有責言，是以淮侵淮、以浙侵浙也。大抵利之所在，人爭趨之，固未易遏，所恃惟緝私嚴耳。然弁勇窳敗，不能制梟販，而轉擾平民。地方官亦以綱法久廢，不負責成，意存膜視。此又引界毗連各處之情形也。近來籌款，以鹽為大宗，而淮、浙居天下中心，關於全局尤重。為整頓計，非事權統一不可。擬請將鹽務歸臣部總理，其產鹽省分，督撫作為會辦鹽政大臣，行鹽省分，均兼會辦鹽政大臣銜。」制曰可。其言南商鋪池者，蓋光緒三十三年，淮南因鹽不敷銷，於淮北埒子口葦盪左營增鋪新池，謂之濟南鹽池。三十四年，北商稱有礙舊池銷路，經江督張人駿令按淮南缺額，以十萬引為率。三販轉運者，淮北票鹽，舊由票販自垣運至西壩，售於湖販，再由湖販運至正陽關，按輪售於岸販也。

In Xuande 1 Minister Zai Ze reported that as the sea receded in southern Huai, brine weakened: Shigang, Liuzhuang, and other yards produced little, and Jinsha produced none. Northern Huai's three yards, nearer the sea, still had strong brine; refined salt came from brick pools and quotas were fixed per pool. Recently new pools spread beyond the brick basins while old salterns went unmarked, so production lost all limits. Southern firm Tongdechang opened pools in northern Huai, which northern merchants especially resented. Zhejiang's strongest production was at Yuyao and Daishan, then Songjiang's Yuanpu, Qingcun, and Hengpu yards, all sun-dried on boards. Boiling yards under Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Ningbo, and Shaoxing bought brine from Yuyao. Dear brine and firewood raised costs, so merchants favored sun-drying and stove households abandoned boiling. Boiling dwindled, leaving Longtou, Changting, and Changlin short of supply while Yuyao and Daishan dominated. Yuyao's beaches lay far from official yards and Daishan sat offshore without yards; bureaus and sheds could collect only a fraction while private drying went unchecked. Such was the state of production everywhere. Huai and Zhejiang salt each had allotted territories, yet Henan's Xiping and Suiping had long been abandoned shores; Hunan's Hengzhou, Yongzhou, and Baozhou prefectures and Jingzhou, though Huai territory, sold Guangdong salt; Hubei's Anxiang, Xiangyang, Yunzhou, Jingzhou, and Yichang prefectures and Jingmen subprefecture, though Huai territory, sold Sichuan salt; while Wenzhou, Taizhou, Ningbo, and Chuzhou in Zhejiang levied likin but had not yet issued quotas. In northern Huai the three-tier trade often lost touch with shore conditions, so ticket merchants ignored sales clearance, Henan merchants blamed lake merchants, and provincial levies all hurt the trade. Southern Huai's four shore supervision offices rivaled the transport commissioner, who could not control them and distributors obeyed them only loosely; official authority was fragmented and merchants were equally dispersed. Nearby Zhejiang yards distinguished shoulder quotas from resident quotas. Distant yards divided framework territories from quota territories. Mixed official management and merchant contracting produced a patchwork of incompatible rules. Bundled salt leaving the yards faced holdups at stations and smuggling by boatmen. Such was the marketing situation everywhere. Huai salt sold in Jiangsu and Anhui bordered Zhejiang and Shandong quota districts. On the Henan shore it bordered Shandong and Changlu districts. On the western shore it bordered Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong districts. On the Hunan and Hubei shores it bordered Sichuan and local Hubei salt. Xiangyang and Fancheng in Hubei were flooded with Changlu and Shanxi smuggled salt; Hengzhou, Yongzhou, and Baozhou in Hunan were held by Guangdong smugglers; Zhejiang quota lands on the Jiangsu, Anhui, and western shores all neighbored Huai, and even Wenzhou and Taizhou within the province were invaded by Fujian smugglers, so boundaries interlocked and disputes arose constantly. Since the Beijing-Hankou railway opened through Henan, the contest between Huai and Changlu salt grew fiercer. When the Tianjin-Pukou and Canton-Hankou lines were completed, Huai territory would be beset on every side, yet these were still neighboring smuggled salt. Worse still, Anhui and Henan were both Huai territory, yet Yingzhou in Anhui bordered Runan and Guangzhou prefectures and undercut the Henan shore with lighter surcharges; Taizhou and Chuzhou were both Zhejiang, yet Jinyun in Chuzhou was contracted by Taizhou merchants who undercut Chuzhou with lower bundled likin. Jianchang in Jiangxi had long been an abandoned shore; a new official transport bureau sought recovery by undercutting smuggled salt. Fuzhou already feared backflow, Shanghai concessions had been a smugglers' haven, and a new affairs office for official sales crossed boundaries and drew complaints from Jiangsu, so Huai encroached on Huai and Zhejiang on Zhejiang. Profit drew competition that was hard to stop; only strict anti-smuggling enforcement was relied on. Yet troops were slack, failed to curb ringleaders, and harassed civilians instead. Local officials, seeing the quota framework long abandoned, shirked responsibility and looked on indifferently. Such was the state of adjoining quota boundaries. Recent fund-raising leaned heavily on salt, and Huai and Zhejiang at the empire's center mattered most for the whole system. Reform required unified authority. He proposed placing salt affairs under his ministry, with governors of producing provinces as co-managing salt ministers and governors of marketing provinces bearing the same title. The throne approved. His reference to southern merchants opening pools concerned Guangxu 33, when southern Huai, short of sales, added new pools at Laozikou in northern Huai called the Jinan salt pools. In year thirty-four northern merchants claimed the new pools hurt old outlets, and Governor Zhang Renjun capped them at 100,000 quotas to match southern Huai's shortfall. The three-tier trade moved northern Huai ticket salt from the saltern to Xiba for lake merchants, then to Zhengyang Pass, and by rotation to shore merchants.

載澤既受督辦鹽政大臣之命，乃設鹽政處，按各區分為八廳，先籌淮北。章程四：曰規復西遂廢岸，曰撤退淮邊蘆店，曰體恤路捐商累，曰包繳豫省釐價。咨商河南巡撫吳重熹，惟末條堅持仍舊。載澤又奏定於西壩設鹽釐總局，臨淮關設掣驗局，餘局卡悉裁，三販統改岸販，准自赴總局完納釐金加價，定每引為銀幣二元二角，折收庫平銀一兩六錢零，均一次收清。至土銷引地，酌減銀幣四角，折收一兩二錢，較原額少三成。此二年七月事也。

After Zai Ze was appointed supervising salt minister, he opened a Salt Administration Office divided into eight departments and began with northern Huai. Four measures were drafted: restore the western Suiping abandoned shores, withdraw Changlu shops on the Huai border, ease merchants' road levies, and bundle Henan likin payments. He consulted Henan Governor Wu Chongxi, who alone insisted on keeping the last item unchanged. Zai Ze also ordered a likin general bureau at Xiba and an inspection office at Linhuai Pass, abolished other stations, replaced the three-tier trade with shore merchants, and required one payment at the bureau of 2.2 silver dollars per quota, converted to 1.6-something taels treasury silver. Native sales districts received a reduction of four silver dollars, collected as 1.2 taels, thirty percent below the original quota. This was enacted in the seventh month of year two.

直隸張家口外收蒙鹽各場，向由商包辦，宣統元年，改為公司。至是復改設官棧，以各廳州縣為引岸，由商包引，每年二萬，徵銀十五萬七千。四川歸丁各地票運，咸豐後增至六十八廳州縣，官運常為所礙。至是奏查井灶就現有者為額，嚴禁偷賣，以杜票私。三年，以大清銀行款七百萬、直隸銀行款六十萬為蘆商償外債，收引地三十六歸官辦，設局天津。其永平七屬，道光間由州縣辦課。光緒二十九年，改設官運局。至是與新河、平鄉二縣無商認辦者，統歸津局經理。

Mongol salt fields beyond Zhangjiakou in Zhili, long merchant-contracted, were reorganized as companies in Xuande 1. They were then replaced with official stacks, with departments and counties as quota shores under merchant contract for 20,000 quotas a year at 157,000 taels. Sichuan's ticket transport under the ding-tax system spread after Xianfeng to sixty-eight departments and counties and often blocked official transport. A memorial then fixed quotas to existing wells and stoves, forbade illicit sales, and aimed to end ticket smuggling. In year three seven million taels from the Da Qing Bank and six hundred thousand from the Zhili Bank repaid Changlu merchants' foreign debt, thirty-six quota districts reverted to official management, and a bureau was opened at Tianjin. The seven Yongping subordinates had been managed by local officials in the Daoguang era. In Guangxu 29 an official transport bureau was established. Xinhe and Pingxiang counties, which had no merchant contractors, were then placed under the Tianjin bureau.

初與各國通商，違禁貨物，不許出入口，鹽其一也。乃奉天之大連、旅順，吉林之長春，有日本鹽；吉林之琿春、延吉有朝鮮鹽；黑龍江之滿洲里、黑河，吉林之東寧，有俄羅斯鹽；廣西之鎮南關，雲南之蒙自，有法蘭西鹽；香港、澳門所在侵灌。至山東膠州灣租借於德，而侵即墨鹽場；奉天遼東半島租借於俄，又轉於日，而占金州鹽灘；與復州之交流、鳳鳴兩島，有包購餘鹽、派員緝私兩議。後緝私策行，購鹽不果。廣東廣州灣租借於法，吳川之茂琿場為所佔，每運鹽至香港及越南銷售，以入內地，實皆敗亂鹽法。治鹺政者當有以善其後雲。

When foreign trade began, prohibited goods including salt were barred from import and export. Yet Japanese salt appeared at Dalian and Lushun in Fengtian and at Changchun in Jilin. Korean salt appeared at Hunchun and Yanji in Jilin. Russian salt appeared at Manzhouli and Heihe in Heilongjiang and at Dongning in Jilin; French salt at Zhennanguan in Guangxi and Mengzi in Yunnan; and salt from Hong Kong and Macao flooded the market. When Germany leased Jiaozhou Bay in Shandong, it encroached on the Jimo saltern; Russia leased the Liaodong Peninsula in Fengtian, then Japan took it over and seized the Jinzhou salt flats; along with Jiaoliu and Fengming islands off Fuzhou, officials debated contracting surplus salt or posting officers to suppress smuggling. The anti-smuggling plan was adopted, but the purchase scheme failed. France leased Guangzhou Bay in Guangdong and took the Maohui saltern in Wuchuan, shipping salt through Hong Kong and Vietnam into the interior—each case shattered the salt monopoly. Those charged with salt policy would need sound remedies for what followed.

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