Volume 175 Treatises 128: Finance and Economics 1c

食貨上三〈（布帛和糴漕運）〉

Finance and Economics, Part Three. (Cloth and Silk, Grain Procurement, and Canal Transport)

布帛宋承前代之制，調絹、綢、布、絲、綿以供軍須，又就所產折科、和市。其纖麗之物，則在京有綾錦院，西京、真定、青益梓州場院主織錦綺、鹿胎、透背，江寧府、潤州有織羅務，梓州有綾綺場，亳州市縐紗，大名府織縐縠，青、齊、鄆、濮、淄、濰、沂、密、登、萊、衡、永、全州市平絁。東京榷貨務歲入中平羅、小綾各萬匹，以供服用及歲時賜與。諸州折科、和市，皆無常數，唯內庫所須，則有司下其數供足。自周顯德中，令公私織造並須幅廣二尺五分，民所輸絹匹重十二兩，疏薄短狹、塗粉入藥者禁之；河北諸州軍重十兩，各長四十二尺。宋因其舊。

In cloth and silk the Song continued the systems of earlier dynasties, assessing silk gauze, silks, cloth, thread, and cotton for military supply, while also converting tax quotas from local output and purchasing in the markets. Finer fabrics were handled by specialized offices: the Brocade and Damask Office in the capital; weaving yards at the Western Capital, Zhending, and in Qing, Yi, and Zizhou for brocades, damasks, deer-fetus weave, and open-backed gauze; gauze workshops at Jiangning and Runzhou; a damask yard at Zizhou; crepe gauze sold at Bozhou; crepe and thin silk woven at Daming; and plain silk supplied by markets across Qing, Qi, Yan, Pu, Zi, Wei, Yi, Mi, Deng, Lai, Heng, Yong, and Quan. Each year the Eastern Capital Monopoly Trade Office took in ten thousand bolts apiece of medium plain gauze and small damask for court use and seasonal bestowals. Conversion levies and market purchases varied by prefecture without fixed quotas, except when the inner storehouses needed supplies—in which case the responsible offices set exact amounts to be met. From the Zhou dynasty's Xiande era, all weaving—public and private—had to be two feet five inches wide; each bolt of silk paid in by commoners had to weigh twelve ounces; loose, thin, short, or narrow cloth, and cloth adulterated with powder or fillers, were banned; In Hebei prefectures and garrisons each bolt weighed ten ounces and ran forty-two feet long. The Song kept these standards unchanged.

開寶三年，令天下諸州凡絲、綿、綢、絹麻布等物，所在約支二年之用，不得廣科市以煩民。初，蓬州請以租絲配民織綾，給其工直，太祖不許。太宗太平興國中，停湖州織綾務，女工五十八人悉縱之。詔川峽市買場、織造院，自今非供軍布帛，其錦綺、鹿胎、透背、六銖、欹正、龜殼等段匹，不須買織，民間有織賣者勿禁。馬元方為三司判官，建言：「方春乏絕時，預給庫錢貸民，至夏秋令輸絹於官。」大中祥符三年，河北轉運使李士衡又言：「本路歲給諸軍帛七十萬，民間罕有緡錢，常預假於豪民，出倍稱之息，至期則輸賦之外，先償逋欠，以是工機之利愈薄。請預給帛錢，俾及時輸送，則民獲利而官亦足用。」詔優予其直。自是諸路亦如之。或蠶事不登，許以大小麥折納，仍免倉耗及頭子錢。

In Kaibao year 3 the court ordered every prefecture to estimate only two years' worth of silk, cotton, fabrics, gauze, hemp cloth, and similar goods, and forbade broad levies or purchases that would burden the people. Earlier Pengzhou had asked to assign rent silk to commoners for damask weaving with wages paid for their labor; Taizu refused. During Taizong's Taiping Xingguo era the Huzhou damask workshop was shut down and all fifty-eight women workers were freed. An edict directed Chuan and Xia purchase offices and weaving yards that, aside from military textiles, they need no longer commission brocades, damasks, deer-fetus weave, open-backed gauze, six-zhu weave, slanting weave, tortoise-shell patterns, and the like; private weaving and sale of such goods was not to be prohibited. Ma Yuanfang, serving as an assistant commissioner of the Three Departments, proposed: "When spring shortages hit, advance treasury funds to lend to the people, then have them deliver silk to the government in summer and autumn." In Dazhong Xiangfu year 3, Hebei transport commissioner Li Shihang added: "This circuit supplies seven hundred thousand bolts of cloth to the armies each year. Cash is scarce, so people often borrow ahead from wealthy lenders at double interest; when taxes come due they must clear debts first, and profits from weaving grow ever thinner. I ask that cloth payments be advanced so deliveries can be made on time—the people would benefit and the government would have enough." The court ordered generous payment at full value. Thereafter the other circuits followed suit. When the silkworm harvest failed, people were allowed to pay in wheat and barley instead, and warehouse loss and surcharge fees were waived.

天聖中，詔減兩蜀歲輸錦綺、鹿胎、透背、欹正之半，罷作綾花紗。明道中，又減兩蜀歲輸錦綺、綾羅、透背、花紗三之二，命改織綢、絹以助軍。景祐初，遂詔罷輸錦背、繡背、遍地密花透背段，自掖庭以及閭巷皆禁用。其後歲輒增益梓路紅錦、鹿胎，慶曆四年復減半。既而又減梓路歲輸絹三之一，紅錦、鹿胎半之。先是，咸平初，廣南西路轉運使陳堯叟言：「準詔課植桑棗，嶺外唯產苧麻，許令折數，仍聽織布赴官場博市，匹為錢百五十至二百。」

During the Tiansheng era the court halved the two Shu regions' annual tribute of brocades, damasks, deer-fetus weave, open-backed gauze, and slanting weave, and stopped making patterned damask gauze. In the Mingdao era the court cut the two Shu regions' annual tribute of brocades, damasks, gauze, open-backed gauze, and patterned gauze by two-thirds and ordered plain silks and gauze woven for military supply instead. Early in Jingyou the court abolished tribute of brocade-backed, embroidered-backed, and densely patterned open-backed gauze, forbidding their use from the inner palace down to common streets. Later the annual quotas of red brocade and deer-fetus weave from the Zi circuit kept rising until Qingli year 4, when they were halved again. Soon after, the Zi circuit's annual silk gauze tribute was cut by one-third, and red brocade and deer-fetus weave by half. Earlier, at the start of Xianping, Guangnan West transport commissioner Chen Yaosou reported: "The edict requires mulberry and jujube planting, but south of the passes only ramie and hemp grow. Allow quota conversion and let woven cloth be exchanged at government markets at one hundred fifty to two hundred cash per bolt."

至是，三司請以布償芻直，登、萊端布為錢千三百六十，沂布千一百，仁宗以取直過厚，命差減其數。自西邊用兵，軍須綢絹，多出益、梓、利三路，歲增所輸之數；兵罷，其費乃減。嘉祐三年，始詔寬三路所輸數。治平中，歲織十五萬五千五百餘匹。

Then the Three Departments asked to pay fodder allowances in cloth, valuing Deng and Lai fine cloth at 1,360 cash and Yi cloth at 1,100. Renzong thought the rates too generous and ordered them reduced. Once war began on the western frontier, military silk and gauze came mainly from the Yi, Zi, and Li circuits, and annual deliveries kept rising; after the armies stood down, those costs fell. In Jiayou year 3 the court first eased delivery quotas for the three circuits. During Zhiping annual output exceeded 155,500 bolts.

神宗即位，京師米有餘蓄，命發運司損和糴數五十萬石，市金帛上京，儲之榷貨務，備三路軍須。京東轉運司請以錢三十萬二千二百貫給貸於民，令次年輸絹，匹為錢千，隨夏稅初限督之。詔運其錢於河北，聽商人入中。

At Shenzong's accession the capital had surplus grain. He ordered the Transport Bureau to cut harmonized grain purchases by five hundred thousand piculs, buy gold and silks for the capital, store them at the Monopoly Trade Office, and stock supplies for the three frontier circuits. The Jingdong transport commission asked to lend 302,200 strings of cash to the people, with silk due the next year at 1,000 cash per bolt, collected with the first summer-tax deadline. The court ordered the cash sent to Hebei and allowed merchants to tender goods in exchange.

熙寧三年，御史程顥言：「京東轉運司和買綢絹，增數抑配，率千錢課絹一匹，其後和買並稅絹，匹皆輸錢千五百。」時王廣淵為轉運使，謂和買如舊，無抑配。顥言其迎合朝廷意。王安石謂廣淵在京東盡力以赴事功，不宜罪以迎合。乃詔所給內帑別額綢絹錢五十萬緡，收其本儲之北京，息歸之內帑。右正言李常亦言：「廣淵以陳汝羲所進羨餘錢五十萬緡，隨和買絹錢分配，於常稅折科放買外，更取二十五萬緡，請以顥言付有司。」定州安撫司又言：「轉運司配綢、絹、綿、布於州鎮軍砦等坊郭戶，易錢數多，乞憫其災傷，又居極邊，特蠲損之。」詔提刑司別估，民不願市，令官自賣，已給而抑配者正之。自王安石秉政，專以取息為富國之務，故當時言利小人如王廣淵輩，假和買綢絹之名，配以錢而取其五分之息，其刻又甚於青苗。然安石右廣淵，顥、常言卒不行。二月，詔移巴蜀羨財，市布帛儲於陝西以備邊，省蜀人輸送及中都漕挽之費。

In Xining year 3 censor Cheng Hao reported: "The Jingdong transport commission raised procurement quotas and forced assignments—about 1,000 cash per bolt of silk. Later, for both procurement and tax silk, each bolt required 1,500 cash." Transport commissioner Wang Guangyuan replied that procurement was unchanged and involved no forced assignment. Cheng Hao said he was merely currying favor with the court. Wang Anshi argued that Guangyuan had done everything he could in Jingdong and should not be punished for currying favor. The court then ordered the five hundred thousand strings of special inner-treasury silk funds treated as principal, stored at the Northern Capital, with interest returned to the inner treasury. Right Remonstrator Li Chang added: "Guangyuan used the five hundred thousand strings of surplus funds Chen Ruyi presented, distributing them with procurement silk money; beyond normal tax conversion and open purchase he took another 250,000 strings. I ask that Cheng Hao's charges be referred to the proper offices." The Dingzhou pacification office reported: "The transport commission assigns silks, gauze, cotton, and cloth to urban households in prefectures, towns, and garrisons for large cash payments. Please show mercy for disaster losses—they are on the far frontier—and grant special reductions." The court ordered judicial commissioners to reassess values; if people refused to buy, officials were to sell directly; forced assignments after payment were to be corrected. Once Wang Anshi took power he made interest extraction the main path to state wealth, so profit-seekers like Wang Guangyuan used silk procurement as a cover to advance cash and charge fifty percent interest—harsher even than the Green Sprouts loans. But Anshi backed Guangyuan, and Cheng's and Li's charges never took effect. In the second month the court ordered surplus Ba-Shu funds used to buy cloth and silk stored in Shaanxi for the frontier, sparing Shu transport costs and capital canal haulage.

七年，兩浙察訪沈括言：「本路歲上供帛九十八萬，民苦備償，而發運司復以移用財貨為名，增預買綢絹十二萬。」詔罷其所增之數。八年，韓琦奏倚閣預買綢絹等，雖稍豐稔，猶當五七歲帶輸。安石以為不然，言於神宗曰：「預買綢絹，祖宗以來未嘗倚閣，往歲李稷有請，因從之。近方鎮監司爭以寬恤為事，不計有無，異日國用闕，當復刻剝於民爾。」

In year 7 Two Zhe inspector Shen Kuo reported: "This circuit supplies 980,000 bolts to the court yearly. People struggle to make up shortfalls, yet the Transport Bureau added 120,000 bolts to advance silk purchases in the name of shifting goods." The court abolished the increase. In year 8 Han Qi memorialized that deferring advance silk purchases would still require five to seven years of catch-up deliveries even after a decent harvest. Anshi disagreed and told Shenzong: "Advance silk purchases have never been deferred since the founding ancestors. Li Ji's request in past years was an exception we granted. Lately regional officials compete to show leniency regardless of resources. When revenue runs short someday, the people will be squeezed again."

元豐以來，諸路預買綢絹，許假封樁錢或坊場錢，少者數萬緡，多者至數十萬緡。其假提舉司寬剩錢者，又或令以絹帛入常平庫，俟轉運司以價錢易取。三年，京東轉運司請增預買數三十萬，即本路移易，從之。四年，遣李元輔變運川陝四路司農物帛。中書言：物帛至陝西，擇省樣不合者貿易，糴糧儲於邊，期以一年畢。五年，戶部上其數凡八百十六萬一千七百八十匹兩，三百四十六萬二千緡有奇。

From Yuanfeng onward circuits could borrow sealed-store or market-licence funds for advance silk purchases—from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of strings. Circuits borrowing promotion-office surplus were sometimes told to deposit silk in Ever-Normal granaries until the transport commission exchanged cash for it. In year 3 Jingdong asked to raise advance purchases by 300,000 bolts, shifted within the circuit itself; the request was approved. In year 4 Li Yuanfu was dispatched to transfer agricultural textiles across the four Chuan-Shaan circuits. The Secretariat directed that textiles reaching Shaanxi not matching provincial standards be traded for grain stored on the frontier, to be completed within one year. In year 5 the Ministry of Revenue reported totals of 8,161,780 bolts and pieces and over 3,462,000 strings of cash.

紹聖元年，兩浙絲蠶薄收，和買並稅綢絹，令四等下戶輸錢，易左帑綢絹；又令轉運司以所輸錢市金銀，遇蠶絲多，兼市紗、羅、綢、絹上供。元符元年，雄州榷場輸布不如樣，監司、通判貶秩、展磨勘年有差；令損其直，後似此者勿受。

In the first year of Shaosheng the Two Zhe regions had a poor silkworm harvest. For procurement and tax silk, fourth-rank households and below paid cash and exchanged for silks from the left treasury; the transport commission was also to use submitted cash to buy gold and silver, and when silk was plentiful, to buy gauze, damask, silks, and silk gauze for court tribute. In the first year of Yuanfu cloth submitted at Xiongzhou's monopoly market failed the sample; supervising officials and assistant prefects were demoted and had merit reviews delayed by varying terms; their valuation was cut, and similar goods were refused thereafter.

尚書省言：「民多願請預買錢，宜視歲例增給，來歲市綢絹計綱赴京。」左司員外郎陳瓘言：「預買之息，重於常平數倍，人皆以為苦，何謂願請？今復創增，雖名濟乏，實聚斂之術。」提點京東刑獄程堂亦言：「京東、河北災民流未復，今轉運司東西路歲額無慮二百萬匹兩，又於例外增買，請罷之。」乃詔諸路提舉司勿更給錢，俟蠶麥多，選官置場。崇寧中，諸路預買，令所產州縣鄉民及城郭戶並準資力高下差等均給。川陝路取元豐數最多一年為額，舊不給者如故。江西和買綢絹歲五十萬匹，舊以錢、鹽三七分預給。自鹽鈔法行，不復給鹽，令轉運司盡給以錢，而卒無有，逮今五年，循以為常，民重傷困。大觀初，詔假本路諸司封樁錢及鄰路所掌封樁鹽各十萬緡給之。其後提舉常平張根復言：「本路和買，未嘗給錢，請盡給一歲蠶鹽，許轉運司移運或民戶至場自請。」而江西十郡和買數多，法一匹給鹽二十斤，比錢九百，歲預於十二月前給之。轉運司得鹽不足，更下發運司會積歲所負給償。

The Department of State Affairs reported: "Many people wish to request advance purchase funds; payments should rise per annual precedent, with silks bought next year in convoys for the capital." Left Division Vice Director Chen Guan objected: "Advance purchase interest is several times heavier than Ever-Normal loans—everyone suffers; how can this be called voluntary? This new increase, though called relief for want, is really exaction." Jingdong judicial intendant Cheng Tang added: "Disaster victims in Jingdong and Hebei have not returned. Eastern and western routes now exceed two million bolts yearly with extra purchases beyond quota—I ask that these be abolished." The court ordered circuit promotion offices to stop advancing cash until silkworms and grain were plentiful, then appoint officials and open markets. During Chongning advance purchases required rural and urban households in producing districts to receive graduated equal shares based on wealth. The Chuan-Shaan circuit set its quota at the highest Yuanfeng year's figure; districts that had never received payments were unchanged. Jiangxi procured five hundred thousand bolts of silk yearly; advance payment had been seventy percent salt and thirty percent cash. Once salt certificates replaced salt payments, the transport commission was ordered to pay entirely in cash—but never did. For five years this has been routine, and the people are badly hurt. Early in Daguan the court allowed borrowing 100,000 strings each from this circuit's sealed-store cash and neighboring circuits' sealed salt for payments. Later Ever-Normal promoter Zhang Gen reported: "This circuit's procurement has never paid cash. Please supply a full year's silkworm salt, with transport shifts or household pickup at markets." Jiangxi's ten prefectures had large quotas: twenty catties of salt per bolt, equivalent to nine hundred cash, advanced before December each year. When transport offices lacked salt, the Transport Bureau was ordered to settle years of accumulated arrears.

尚書省言大觀庫物帛不足，令兩浙、京東、淮南、江東西、成都、梓州、福建路市羅、綾、紗一千至三萬匹各有差。二年，又令京東、淮南、兩浙市絹帛五萬及三萬匹，並輸大觀庫；又四川各二萬，輸元豐庫。江東西如四川之數，輸崇寧庫。而州縣和買，有以鹽一席折錢六千，令民至期輸綢絹六匹，又前期督促，致多逃徙，詔遞加其罪。坊郭戶預買有加至四五百匹，興仁府萬延嗣戶業錢十四萬二千緡，歲均千餘匹，乃令減半均之。

The Department of State Affairs reported Daguan storehouse shortages and ordered Two Zhe, Jingdong, Huainan, Jiangdong West, Chengdu, Zizhou, and Fujian to buy 1,000 to 30,000 bolts of gauze, damask, and yarn each. In year 2 Jingdong, Huainan, and Two Zhe were ordered to buy 50,000 and 30,000 bolts of silk cloth respectively for the Daguan storehouse; Sichuan circuits each delivered 20,000 bolts to the Yuanfeng storehouse. Jiangdong West matched Sichuan's amounts for the Chongning storehouse. Yet some prefectures valued one mat of salt at 6,000 cash and demanded six bolts of silk at deadline, pressing collection early and driving many to flee; the court increased penalties in stages. Urban advance purchases reached 400–500 bolts; in Xingren Prefecture Wan Yansi's household, with 142,000 strings in assets, averaged over 1,000 bolts yearly and was ordered to halve and redistribute the burden.

兩浙和買並稅綢絹布帛，頭子錢外，又收市例錢四十，例外約增數萬緡，以分給人吏。政和初，詔罷市例錢。諸路綢絹布帛比價高數倍，而給直猶用舊法，言者請稍增之，度支以元豐例定，沮抑不行，令如期給散而已。江東和買，弊如江西，比而才給二百，轉運司又以重十三兩為則，不及則準絲價補納以錢，兩準二百有餘。宣和三年，詔提刑司厘正以聞。先是，成都、河北預買，官戶許減半，四年，令舊嘗全科者如舊。即又以兩浙多官戶，令預買通敷。七年冬，郊祀，河北、京東和買科取物帛絲綿等數並免，以供奉物給降，其所蠲貸，幾數百萬。

In Two Zhe, beyond surcharges on procurement and tax textiles, officials collected forty cash in market fees plus tens of thousands of strings in exceptional increases for clerks. Early in Zhenghe the court abolished market-standard fees. Circuit textile prices had risen severalfold, yet payment still followed old rates. Memorialists asked for increases; the Revenue Bureau cited Yuanfeng precedent, blocked the change, and ordered only timely disbursement. Jiangdong procurement was as abusive as Jiangxi: only 200 cash was paid; the transport commission required thirteen ounces per bolt, with cash at silk price for short weight—over 200 per ounce. In Xuanhe year 3 the court ordered judicial commissioners to rectify abuses and report. Earlier Chengdu and Hebei allowed official households half their advance purchase quota; in year 4 those who had paid full assessments before were restored to full payment. Soon after, because Two Zhe had many official households, advance purchase quotas were spread evenly. In the winter of year 7, at the suburban sacrifice, Hebei and Jingdong were exempted from procurement levies of cloth, silk, and cotton; tribute goods were bestowed in reduction, remitting nearly several million in obligations.

初，預買綢絹務優直以利民，然猶未免煩民，後或令民折輸錢，或物重而價輕，民力浸困，其終也，官不給直，而賦取益甚矣。十二月，詔令轉運司各會一路之數，分下州縣經畫，不以錢以他物、不以正月以他月給者，並論以違制。然有司鮮能承順焉。靖康元年，命轉運司以常平錢前一季預備，如正月之期給之，毋貸以他物而損其數。京東州縣勿以遷移戶舊數科著業人，仍先除其數，俟流民歸業均敷。餘路亦如之。

Advance silk purchase began as generous payment meant to help the people, yet it still burdened them. Later people paid cash instead, or received low prices for heavy goods; by the end the government paid nothing fair while exactions grew worse. In the twelfth month the court ordered each transport commission to tally circuit totals, assign them to prefectures and counties, and punish payment in goods other than cash or in months other than the first month as regulatory violations. Yet officials rarely complied. In the first year of Jingkang transport commissions were ordered to prepare Ever-Normal cash one season ahead and pay in the first month as scheduled, without substituting other goods that reduced payments. Jingdong prefectures and counties were not to charge registered households using relocated households' old quotas; those amounts were deducted first and reassessed evenly when refugees returned. Other circuits followed suit.

三年三月，以兩浙和買物帛，下戶艱於得錢，聽以七分輸正色，三分折見緡。初，洪州和買，八分輸正色，二分折省錢，匹三千。四年，帥臣胡世將請以三分匹折六千省。又言絹直踴貴，請匹增為五千足。戶部定為六千足。殿中侍御史張致遠言：「江西殘破之餘，和預買絹請折輸錢，朝廷從之，是欲少寬民力。匹輸錢五千省，比舊直已增其半，較之兩浙時直，匹多一千五百，戶部又令折六貫文足，是欲乘民之急而倍其斂也。物不常貴，則絹有時而易辦；錢額既定，則價無時而可減。」於是詔江西和買絹匹折輸錢六十省，願輸正色者聽。是冬，初令江、浙民戶悉輸折帛錢。當是時，行都月費錢百餘萬緡，重以增戍之費，令民輸綢者全折，輸絹者半折，匹五千二百省。折帛錢由此愈重。

In the third month of year 3, because lower Two Zhe households struggled to obtain cash for procurement textiles, they were allowed seventy percent in kind and thirty percent in cash at current rates. Earlier Hongzhou required eighty percent in kind and twenty percent in reduced cash at 3,000 per bolt. In year 4 commander Hu Shijiang asked that the thirty percent cash portion be valued at 6,000 reduced cash per bolt. He also said silk prices had soared and asked to raise the rate to 5,000 full cash per bolt. The Ministry of Revenue set it at 6,000 full cash. Palace Attendant Censor Zhang Zhiyuan said: "In devastated Jiangxi, procurement and advance silk purchase requested cash substitution; the court agreed to ease the people's burden slightly. Five thousand reduced cash per bolt is already half again the old price—1,500 more than current Two Zhe rates. The Ministry of Revenue now orders six full strings per bolt—doubling exaction by exploiting the people's distress. When goods are not always costly, silk can sometimes be supplied more easily; Once the cash sum is fixed, the price can never come down. An edict followed: Jiangxi government-procured silk could be paid as sixty reduced cash per bolt; those who preferred to deliver actual silk were allowed to do so. That winter, Jiang and Zhe households were for the first time required to pay converted silk-cloth cash. At the time the mobile capital spent over a million strings a month, on top of added garrison costs; silk gauze was fully converted to cash, plain silk half converted, at 5,200 reduced cash per bolt. Converted silk-cloth payments grew heavier still.

九年正月，復河南，減折帛錢匹一千，未幾又增之。十七年，減折帛錢：江南匹為六千，兩浙七千，和買六千五百；綿，江南兩為三百，兩浙四百。二十年，詔：「廣西折布錢因張浚增至兩倍以上，今減作一貫文折輸。」二十九年，中書省奏：江、浙四路所起折帛錢，地裏遙遠，宜就近儲之。詔除徽、處、廣德舊折輕貨，餘州當折銀者輸錢，願輸銀者聽，浙西提刑司、三總領所主之。先是，江、浙路折帛錢歲為錢五百七十三萬餘緡，並輸行都，至是，始外儲之以備軍用。

In the first month of the ninth year, after Henan was recovered, converted silk-cloth payment was cut by 1,000 per bolt—only to be raised again soon after. In the seventeenth year converted silk-cloth payments were cut: 6,000 per bolt in Jiangnan, 7,000 in Two Zhe, and 6,500 for government procurement. For cotton floss: 300 in Jiangnan and 400 in Two Zhe per two jin. In the twentieth year an edict declared: "Guangxi converted cloth payments, more than doubled under Zhang Jun, are now cut to one string cash per conversion." In the twenty-ninth year the Secretariat reported that converted silk-cloth payments from the four Jiang and Zhe circuits were too distant to transport and should be stored locally. An edict ended the old light-goods conversion in Huizhou, Chuzhou, and Guangde; elsewhere silver conversions became cash payments, though silver was still accepted; the Western Zhe intendant and three general supply offices would oversee it. Previously Jiang and Zhe converted silk-cloth payments exceeded 5.73 million strings a year, all sent to the mobile capital; now, for the first time, they were stored locally for military use.

乾道四年，減兩浙、江東西路乾道五年夏稅、和買折帛錢之半。六年，知徽州郟升卿代還，奏：「州自五代時陶雅守郡，妄增民賦，至今二百餘年，比鄰境諸縣之稅獨重數倍，而雜錢之稅科折尤重，請賜蠲免。」九年，詔徽州額外創科雜錢一萬二千一百八十餘緡，及元認江東、兩浙運司諸處絹一萬六千六百餘匹，並蠲之。

In Qiandao year four, converted silk-cloth payments on summer tax and government procurement for Qiandao year five in Two Zhe and Jiangdong/West were cut by half. In the sixth year Huizhou prefect Xi Shengqing, returning from his post, memorialized: "Since Tao Ya raised levies capriciously in the Five Dynasties, Huizhou's taxes have for two centuries been several times heavier than neighboring counties, with miscellaneous cash and conversion burdens worst of all. I beg remission." In the ninth year an edict remitted Huizhou's extra miscellaneous cash of over 12,180 strings and more than 16,600 bolts of silk originally owed to Jiangdong and Two Zhe transport offices.

紹熙五年，詔兩浙、江東西和買綢絹折帛錢太重，可自來年匹減錢一貫五百文，三年後別聽旨。所減之錢，令內藏、封樁兩庫撥還。

In Shaoxi year five an edict found converted silk-cloth payments on government-procured silk in Two Zhe and Jiangdong/West too heavy; from the next year each bolt would be cut by 1,500 cash, with further orders after three years. The shortfall was to be made up from the Inner Storehouse and Sealed Reserves treasuries.

慶元元年，戶部侍郎袁說友言臨安、餘杭二縣和買科取之弊：「乞將餘杭縣經界元科之額配以絹數，不分等則，以二十四貫定敷一匹，袞科而下，足額而止，捐其餘以惠末產之民。如此則吏不得而製民，民無資於詭戶，救弊之良策也。」說友又奏：「貫頭均科之法行，則縣邑無由多取，鄉司無所走弄，而詭挾者不能以幸免，是以奸民頑吏立為異論以搖之。」詔令集議。二年，吏部尚書葉翥等議請如帥漕所奏推行之，詔可。

In Qingyuan year one Vice Minister Yuan Shuoyou reported abuses in government procurement in Lin'an and Yuhang: "Match Yuhang's original land-survey quota to bolt counts, ignore grade ranks, fix the levy at twenty-four strings per bolt, apportion evenly until the quota is filled, and remit the rest to help the poorest households. Officials could no longer manipulate the people, and the people would no longer need fraudulent household registration—a sound remedy for these abuses." Shuoyou added: "Uniform levy by total quota would stop counties from overcharging and village clerks from gaming the system; fraudsters could not evade it—so corrupt commoners and stubborn clerks raise objections to undermine it." The court ordered a joint review. In the second year Minister Ye Zhu and others recommended adopting the circuit transport commissioner's plan; the court approved.

建炎元年，知越州翟汝文奏：「浙東和預買絹歲九十七萬六千匹，而越乃六十萬五百匹，以一路計之，當十之三。望將三等以上戶減半，四等以下戶權罷。」尋以杭之和買絹編重，均十二萬匹於兩浙。乾道九年，秘書郎趙粹中言：「兩浙和買，莫重於紹興，而會稽為最重。緣田薄稅重，詭名隱寄，多分子戶。自經界後至乾道五年，累經推排，減落物力，走失愈重，民力困竭。若據畝均輸，可絕詭戶之弊。」淳熙八年，詔兩淮漕臣吳琚與帥臣張子顏措置。子顏等言：「勢家豪民分析版籍以自托於下戶，是不可不抑。然弊必有原，謂如浙東七州，和買凡二十八萬一千七百三十有八；溫州本無科額，合台、明、衢、處、婺之數，不滿一十三萬；而紹興一郡獨當一十四萬六千九百三十有八，則是以一郡視五郡之輸而又贏一萬有奇，此重額之弊也。又如賃牛物力，以其有資民用，不忍科配；酒坊、鹽亭戶，以其嘗趁官課，難令再敷；至於坍江落海之田，壞地漂沒；僧道寺觀之產，或奉詔蠲免；而省額未除，不免陰配民戶，此暗科之弊也。二弊相乘，民不堪命，於是規避之心生，而詭戶之患起。舊例物力三十八貫五百為第四等，降一文以下即為第五等，為詭戶者誌於規避，往往止就二三十貫之間立為砧基。今若自有產有丁係真五等依舊不科，其有產無丁之戶，將實管田產錢一十五貫以上並科和買，其一十五貫以下則存而不敷，庶幾偽五等不可逃，真五等不受困。」於是詔：「紹興府攢宮田園、諸寺觀、延祥莊並租牛耕牛合蠲和買，並於省額除之；坊場、鹽亭戶見敷和買物力，及坍江田、放生池合減租稅物力，並核實取旨。」

In Jianyan year one Yuezhou prefect Zhai Ruwen reported: "Eastern Zhe's annual government procurement and advance silk purchase is 976,000 bolts, yet Yue alone owes 600,500—nearly thirty percent of the whole circuit. I ask that third-grade households and above pay half, and fourth-grade households and below be temporarily exempt." Soon after, because Hangzhou's procurement quota was too heavy, 120,000 bolts were spread across Two Zhe. In Qiandao year nine Secretariat Gentleman Zhao Cuizhong said: "Government procurement in Two Zhe falls heaviest on Shaoxing, and within Shaoxing on Kuaiji. With thin holdings but heavy taxes, people hide assets under false names and split into many sub-households. From the land survey through Qiandao year five, repeated reassessments cut registered property values, yet shortfalls worsened and the people were exhausted. Apportioning by acreage would end fraudulent household registration." In Chunxi year eight an edict charged Lianghuai transport commissioner Wu Ju and military commissioner Zhang Ziyan with reform. Ziyan and others said: "Powerful families split their registers to pass as lower-grade households—this must be checked. But abuse has roots: in Eastern Zhe's seven prefectures government procurement totals 281,738 bolts; Wenzhou had no quota of its own; together with Taizhou, Mingzhou, Quzhou, Chuzhou, and Wuzhou the total is under 130,000; Yet Shaoxing circuit alone owes 146,938 bolts—one circuit paying what five circuits pay, with more than 10,000 extra. That is the problem of inflated quotas. Registered value for rented oxen was not assessed, since oxen support livelihoods; distillery and salt-works households already paid official levies and were hard to assess again; fields lost to river collapse or the sea were ruined and submerged; monasteries and temples were sometimes exempted by edict; yet provincial quotas were not cut, so ordinary households were quietly assessed instead—the evil of hidden levies. These two abuses compounded until the people could not bear it; evasion followed, and fraudulent household registration spread. By old rule 38 strings 500 cash marked fourth grade; one cash less made fifth grade; evaders often set a base property value of only twenty or thirty strings. Genuine fifth-grade households with both property and adult males would remain exempt; households with property but no adult males would be assessed for procurement if their field property value reached fifteen strings or more, and recorded but not assessed below that—so false fifth-grade households could not escape and real ones would not suffer." An edict followed: "Imperial tomb gardens, monasteries and temples, Yanshan Estate, and rented and plow oxen in Shaoxing Prefecture are exempt from government procurement and struck from the provincial quota; property values for distillery and salt-works households, and reduced assessments on river-collapse fields and release-life ponds, are all to be verified and submitted for imperial decision."

十一年，臣僚言兩浙、江東西四路和買不均之弊，送戶部、給舍等官詳議。鄭丙、丘崈議，畝頭均科之說至公至平，詔施行之。十六年，知紹興府王希呂言：「均敷和買，曩者亟於集事，不暇核實，一切以為詭戶而科之，於是物力自百文以上皆不免於和買，貧民始不勝其困。乞將創科和買二萬五十七匹有奇盡放，則民被實惠矣。於是詔下戶和買二萬五十餘匹住催一年，又減元額四萬四千匹有奇；均敷一節，令知紹興府洪邁從長施行。紹熙元年，邁定其法上之，詔依所措置推行，於是紹興貧民下戶稍寬矣。

In the eleventh year officials reported unequal government procurement across Two Zhe and Jiangdong/West; the Ministry of Revenue and drafting reviewers were ordered to study it. Zheng Bing and Qiu Ke argued that equal per-acre assessment was perfectly fair; an edict ordered it implemented. In the sixteenth year Shaoxing prefect Wang Xilü said: "When procurement was uniformly assessed, officials rushed the work and verified nothing; everyone was treated as a fraudulent household. Even property worth a hundred cash or more was assessed, and the poor could not endure it. Remit the more than 20,057 bolts of newly assessed procurement entirely, and the people will feel real relief. An edict halted collection of more than 20,050 bolts from lower-grade households for one year and cut the original quota by more than 44,000 bolts; Hong Mai as Shaoxing prefect was given discretion to carry out the uniform assessment. In Shaoxi year one Mai finalized the rules and submitted them; the court approved and implemented them, and Shaoxing's poor lower-grade households gained some relief.

和糴宋歲漕以廣軍儲、實京邑。河北、河東、陝西三路及內郡，又自糴買，以息邊民飛挽之勞，其名不一。建隆初，河北連歲大稔，命使置場增價市糴，自是率以為常。咸平中，嘗出內府綾、羅、錦、綺計直緡錢百八十萬、銀三十萬兩，付河北轉運使糴粟實邊。繼而詔：凡邊州積穀可給三歲則止。大中祥符初，三路歲豐，仍令增糴廣蓄，靡限常數。後又時出內庫緡錢，或數十萬，或百萬，別遣官經畫市糴，中等戶以下免之。

Harmonized grain purchase: each year the Song moved grain by canal to expand military stores and supply the capital. Hebei, Hedong, Shaanxi, and inner provinces also bought grain locally to spare border people forced emergency transport—the policies went by many names. Early in Jianlong Hebei had successive bumper harvests; envoys set up markets and bought grain at premium prices, and the practice became routine. During Xianping the inner palace issued damask, gauze, brocade, and fine silk worth 1.8 million strings and 300,000 taels of silver to the Hebei transport commissioner to buy grain for border stores. An edict followed: wherever border stores held three years' grain, purchases would cease. Early in Dazhong Xiangfu all three circuits had good harvests; the court still ordered expanded purchases and storage beyond the usual quota. Later the inner treasury periodically released cash—tens or hundreds of thousands of strings—and sent officials to organize market purchases; households below middle grade were exempt.

初，河東既下，減其租賦。有司言其地沃民勤，頗多積穀，請每歲和市，隨常賦輸送，其直多折色給之。京東西、陝西、河北闕兵食，州縣括民家所積糧市之，謂之推置；取上戶版籍，酌所輸租而均糴之，謂之對糴，皆非常制。麟、府州以轉餉道遠，遣常參官就置場和糴。河北又募商人輸芻粟於邊，以要券取鹽及緡錢、香藥、寶貨於京師或東南州軍，陝西則受鹽於兩池，謂之入中。陝西糴穀，又歲預給青苗錢，天聖以來，罷不復給，然發內藏金帛以助糴者，前後不可勝數。寶元中，出內庫珠直緡錢三十萬，付三司售之，取其直以助邊費。歐陽修奉使河東還，言：「河東禁並邊地不許人耕，而私糴北界粟麥為兵儲最為大患。」遂詔岢嵐、火山軍閑田並邊壕十里外者聽人耕，然竟無益邊備，歲糴如故。大抵入中利厚而商賈趨之，罷三路入中，悉以見錢和糴，縣官之費省矣。

When Hedong was first subdued, its rents and levies were reduced. Officers reported fertile land, industrious people, and ample stored grain, and asked for annual market purchase tied to regular tax delivery, with payment mostly in kind. When Jingdong/West, Shaanxi, and Hebei lacked military rations, counties requisitioned grain stored in private homes—called push-placement; using upper-grade household registers to weigh rent paid and apportion purchases equally—called matched purchase; all were extraordinary measures. Because supply routes from Lin and Fu prefectures were long, regular-attendance officials were sent to set up on-site harmonized purchase markets. Hebei also recruited merchants to deliver fodder and grain to the border, redeeming certificates for salt, cash, spices, and treasures in the capital or southeastern garrisons; Shaanxi took salt from the two salt pools—called entry submission. Shaanxi grain purchase had once received annual green-sprout loans; since Tiansheng those were abolished, yet inner-treasury gold and silk issued to aid purchase were beyond count. During Baoyuan pearls from the inner treasury worth 300,000 strings were sent to the State Finance Commission for sale, with proceeds aiding border expenses. Ouyang Xiu returned from a mission to Hedong and said: "Hedong forbids farming along the border, yet private purchase of northern grain and wheat for military stores is the gravest danger." An edict then allowed farming on idle fields at Kezhou, Lanzhou, and Huoshan Army and beyond the border moats by ten li—but border defense did not improve, and annual purchase continued unchanged. Entry submission paid well and merchants flocked to it; abolishing it in the three circuits and paying cash for harmonized purchase saved the state considerable expense.

熙寧五年，詔以銀絹各二十萬賜河東經略安撫司，聽人賒買，收本息封樁備邊。自是三路封樁，所給甚廣，或取之三司，或取之市易務，或取之他路轉運司，或賜常平錢，或鬻爵、給度牒，而出內藏錢帛不與焉。

In Xining year five an edict granted 200,000 each of silver and silk to the Hedong military commission for credit sales; principal and interest went into sealed reserves for border defense. Thereafter sealed reserves for the three circuits drew widely—from the State Finance Commission, the market bureau, other transport offices, Ever-Normal funds, sale of rank titles and ordination certificates—without using inner-treasury cash and silk.

七年，以岷州入中者寡，令三司具東南及西鹽鈔法經久通行利病以聞。知熙州王韶建議：「依沿邊和糴例，以一分見緡、九分西鈔，別約價，募入中者。凡邊部入中有闕，則多出京鈔或饒益誘之，以紓用度。」是歲，河東並邊大稔，詔都轉運使李師中與劉庠廣糴，積五年之蓄。復命輔臣議，更與陝西並塞芻糧之法，令轉運司增舊糴三分，以所糴虧羨為賞罰，仍遣吏按視。而陝西和糴，或以錢、茶、銀、綢、絹糴於弓箭手。

In the seventh year, because few merchants submitted grain at Minzhou, the State Finance Commission was ordered to report on the long-term merits and flaws of southeastern and western salt-certificate policies. Minzhou prefect Wang Shao proposed: "Follow the border harmonized-purchase precedent: pay one tenth cash and nine tenths western salt certificates at set prices to recruit entry submitters. Whenever border entry submission fell short, issue more capital salt certificates or add incentives to ease the strain on expenditures." That year Hedong's border region had a great harvest; an edict ordered transport commissioners Li Shizhong and Liu Xiang to expand purchases and build five years' stores. Leading ministers were also ordered to revise Shaanxi's border fodder and grain policy: transport offices would add three tenths to old purchase quotas, reward or punish by surplus or deficit, and send officials to inspect. In Shaanxi harmonized purchase, cash, tea, silver, silk gauze, or plain silk were sometimes used to buy grain from archer militia households.

八年，河東察訪使李承之言：「太原路二稅外有和糴糧草，官雖量予錢、布，而所得細微，民無所濟，遇歲凶不蠲，最為弊法。」繼而知太原韓絳復請和糴於元數省三分，罷支錢、布，乞精選才臣講求利害。詔委陳安石。元豐元年，安石奏：「河東十三州二稅，以石計凡三十九萬二千有餘，而和糴數八十三萬四千有餘，所以歲凶仍輸者，以稅輕、軍儲不可闕故也。舊支錢、布相半，數既奇零，以鈔貿易，略不收半，公家實費，百姓乃得虛名。欲自今罷支糴錢，歲以其錢令並邊州郡和市封樁，即歲災以填所蠲數，年豐則三歲一免其輸。」朝廷以為然，始詔河東歲給和糴錢八萬餘緡並罷，以其錢付漕司，如安石議。因用安石為河東轉運使。其後經略使呂惠卿復請別議立法，除河外三州理為邊郡宜免，餘十一州可概均糴。下有司議，以歲和糴見數十分之，裁其二，用八分為額，隨戶色高下裁定，毋更給錢；歲災同秋稅蠲放，以轉運司應給錢補之，災不及五分，聽以久例支移。遂易和糴之名為助軍糧草。

In the eighth year Hedong investigation commissioner Li Chengzhu said: "Beyond the two taxes on the Taiyuan route lies harmonized purchase of grain and fodder; officials pay some cash and cloth, but the amounts are trifling and bring no relief, and in famine years it is not remitted—the worst abuse." Taiyuan prefect Han Jiang then asked to cut harmonized purchase by three tenths from the original quota, abolish cash and cloth payments, and send capable officials to study the policy's costs and benefits. The court assigned Chen Anshi to the task. In Yuanfeng year one Anshi memorialized: "Hedong's thirteen prefectures owe more than 392,000 shi in the two taxes, yet harmonized purchase exceeds 834,000 shi; people still pay in bad years because taxes are light and military stores cannot fail. Payments had been half cash and half cloth; amounts were irregular, and traded for certificates they barely recovered half—the state spent real money while the people received empty nominal benefit. He proposed abolishing purchase payments, using the funds each year for border prefectures to buy and seal reserves; in disaster years to cover remissions, and in good years to exempt one payment every three years." The court agreed; an edict abolished Hedong's annual harmonized-purchase payments of more than 80,000 strings and assigned the funds to the transport office as Anshi proposed. Anshi was then appointed Hedong transport commissioner. Later military commissioner Lü Huiqing asked for separate legislation: three prefectures beyond the Yellow River, as border counties, should be exempt; the remaining eleven could share purchase equally. Lower offices deliberated: take one tenth of current annual harmonized purchase, cut two tenths, set eight tenths as the quota apportioned by household grade, and pay no further cash; in disaster years remit as with autumn tax, with transport-office funds covering the shortfall; where loss did not reach five tenths, allow deferral under longstanding practice. Harmonized purchase was then renamed grain and fodder aiding the army.

元豐四年，以度支副使蹇周輔兼措置河北糴便司。明年，詔以開封府界、諸路闕額禁軍及淮、浙、福建等路剩鹽息錢，並輸糴便司為本。令瀛、定、澶等州各置倉，凡封樁，三司毋關預，委周輔專其任，司農寺市易、淤田、水利等司所計置封樁糧草並歸之。六年，詔提點河北西路王子淵兼同措置。未幾，手詔周輔：今河朔豐成，宜廣收糴。是歲，大名東、西濟勝二倉，定州衍積、寶盈二倉與瀛之州倉皆成，周輔召拜戶部侍郎，以左司郎中吳雍代之。明年，雍言河北倉廩皆充實，見儲糧料總千一百七十六萬石。詔賜同措置王子淵三品服。宣和中，罷畿內和糴。

In Yuanfeng year four Vice Commissioner of Revenue Jian Zhoufu was also charged with organizing Hebei's grain-purchase convenience office. The next year an edict assigned palace-guard shortfall funds from the capital region and other circuits, plus surplus salt-interest money from Huai, Zhe, and Fujian, to the grain-purchase office as capital. Ying, Ding, and Chan prefectures each set up granaries; the State Finance Commission would not interfere in sealed reserves; Zhoufu held sole authority, including grain and fodder reserves planned by the Agriculture Bureau's market, silt-farming, and waterworks offices. In the sixth year Hebei West circuit intendant Wang Ziyuan was also charged with joint organization. Before long an imperial hand-edict told Zhoufu: with the Hebei north now abundantly harvested, purchases should be broadly expanded. That year the Daming East and West Jisheng granaries, Dingzhou's Yanji and Baoying granaries, and Yingzhou's prefectural granary were completed; Zhoufu was promoted to Vice Minister of Revenue and replaced by Left Department Director Wu Yong. The next year Wu Yong reported that Hebei granaries were full, with 11.76 million shi of grain and fodder in storage. An edict granted co-organizer Wang Ziyuan third-rank court robes. During Xuanhe harmonized purchase within the capital region was abolished.

自熙寧以來，和糴、入中之外，又有坐倉、博糴、結糴、兌糴、俵糴、寄糴、括糴、勸糴、均糴等名。其曰坐倉：熙寧二年，令諸軍餘糧願糴入官者，計價支錢，復儲其米於倉。王珪奏曰：「外郡用錢四十可致斗米於京師，今京師乏錢，反用錢百坐倉糴斗米，此極非計。」司馬光曰：「坐倉之法，蓋因小郡乏米而庫有餘錢，故反就軍人糴米以給次月之糧，出於一時急計耳。今京師有七年之儲，而府庫無錢，更糴軍人之米，使積久陳腐，其為利害非臣所知。」呂惠卿曰：「今坐倉得米百萬石，則減東南歲漕百萬石，轉易為錢以供京師，何患無錢？」光曰：「臣聞江、淮之南，民間乏錢，謂之錢荒。而土宜粳稻，彼人食之不盡。若官不糴取以供京師，則無所發泄，必甚賤傷農矣。且民有米而官不用米，民無錢而官必使之出錢，豈通財利民之道乎？」不從。明年，又慮元價賤，神、龍衛及諸司每石等第增錢收糴，仍聽行於河北、河東、陝西諸路。元符以後，有低價抑糴之弊，詔禁止之。

Since Xining, besides harmonized purchase and entry submission, there were also seated-granary, gambling purchase, contracted purchase, exchange purchase, distributed purchase, entrusted purchase, comprehensive purchase, encouraged purchase, equal purchase, and other such names. This was seated-granary purchase: In Xining year two, armies with surplus grain that wished to sell to the state were paid at assessed rates, and the rice was stored back in the granaries. Wang Gui memorialized: "Outer prefectures can deliver a dou of rice to the capital for forty cash, yet the capital, short of cash, pays a hundred cash per dou under seated-granary purchase—this is a thoroughly bad plan. Sima Guang said: "Seated-granary purchase began when small prefectures ran short of grain but their treasuries still held cash, so they bought grain from soldiers to cover the next month's rations—it was only a stopgap measure. The capital now holds seven years' reserves, yet the treasury is empty of cash; buying more grain from soldiers will only let it sit until it rots—I cannot judge whether that does good or harm. Lv Huiqing said: "If seated-granary purchase brings in a million shi, we cut a million shi from the southeast's annual canal transport and convert the grain into cash for the capital—what shortage of cash is there to fear? Guang replied: "I have heard that south of the Yangtze and Huai the people are starved for cash—they call it a cash famine. The land there favors japonica rice, and the people cannot eat it all. If the state does not buy it for the capital, there is no outlet for the surplus, prices will collapse, and farmers will suffer. Besides, the people have grain while the state refuses grain; the people lack cash while the state insists they pay cash—is that how wealth is circulated and the people helped? The emperor did not heed them. The next year, worried the original price was too low, the Divine and Dragon Guards and other offices paid tiered premiums per shi, and the practice was extended to Hebei, Hedong, and Shaanxi. After Yuanfu, officials began forcing sales at low prices; an edict banned the practice.

其曰博糴：熙寧七年，詔河北轉運、提舉司置場，以常平及省倉歲用餘糧，減直聽民以絲、綿、綾、絹增價博買，俟秋成博糴。崇寧五年，又詔陝西錢重物輕，委轉運司措置，以銀、絹、絲、綢之類博糴斛斗，以平物價。

This was competitive purchase: In Xining year seven, Hebei transport and excise offices were ordered to open markets, using Ever-Normal and reduced-cash granary surpluses, cutting prices and letting people trade in silk, floss, damask, and gauze at a markup until the autumn harvest brought competitive purchase. In Chongning year five Shaanxi, where cash was plentiful and goods cheap, was told to have its transport commissioner buy grain competitively with silver, silk, thread, and cloth to steady prices.

其曰結糴：熙寧八年，劉佐體量川茶，因便結糴熙河路軍儲，得七萬餘石，詔運給焉。未幾，商人王震言：結糴多散官或浮浪之人，有經年方輸者。詔措置熙河財用孫迥究治以聞。迥奏總管王君萬負熙、河兩州結糴錢十四萬六百三十餘緡、銀三百餘兩。乃遣蔡確馳往本路劾之，君萬及高遵裕皆坐借結糴違法市易，降黜有差。崇寧初，蔡京行於陝西，盡括民財以充數。五年，以星變講修闕政，罷陝西、河東結糴、對糴。

This was contracted purchase: In Xining year eight Liu Zuo, surveying Sichuan tea, contracted grain for Xihe military stores on the side, securing more than seventy thousand shi; an edict ordered it shipped and issued. Before long merchant Wang Zhen reported that contracted purchase went mostly to unattached officials or idle drifters, some of whom delivered only after years. An edict ordered Sun Jiong, commissioner for Xihe finances, to investigate and report back. Jiong reported that overall commander Wang Junwan was short 140,630-odd strings in contracted-purchase funds for Xi and He prefectures and more than three hundred taels of silver. Cai Que was sent posthaste to impeach them; Junwan and Gao Zunyu were both punished for diverting contracted purchase into illegal market trade and demoted to varying degrees. At the start of Chongning Cai Jing imposed it in Shaanxi, squeezing every penny of civilian wealth to meet quotas. In year five, citing a celestial omen as grounds to review flawed policies, contracted and matched purchase in Shaanxi and Hedong were abolished.

其曰俵糴：熙寧八年，令中書計運米百萬石費約三十七萬緡，帝怪其多。王安石因言：「俵糴非特省六七十萬緡歲漕之費，且河北入中之價，權之在我，遇斗斛貴住糴，即百姓米無所糶，自然價損，非惟實邊，亦免傷農力。」乃詔歲以末鹽錢鈔、在京粳米六十萬貫石，付都提舉市易司貿易。度民田入多寡，豫給錢物，秋成於澶州、北京及緣邊入米麥粟封樁。即物價踴，權止入中，聽糴便司兌用，須歲豐補償。紹聖三年，呂大忠之言，召農民相保，豫貸官錢之半，循稅限催科，餘錢至夏秋用時價隨所輸貼納。崇寧中，蔡京令坊郭、鄉村以等第給錢，俟收，以時價入粟，邊郡弓箭手、青唐蕃部皆然。用俵多寡為官吏賞罰。

This was distributed purchase: In Xining year eight the Central Secretariat calculated that shipping a million shi of rice would cost about 370,000 strings, and the emperor was astonished at the figure. Wang Anshi then said: "Distributed purchase would save six or seven hundred thousand strings in annual canal transport costs, and for Hebei entry submission the pricing power would be ours—when grain is dear we stop buying, the people's rice has nowhere to go, and prices fall on their own. That not only stocks the frontier but protects farmers as well. An edict then assigned end-of-season salt tax notes and six hundred thousand guan-shi of capital rice each year to the chief Market Trade commissioner for trade. Land income was assessed, advance payments in cash and goods were issued, and at harvest farmers delivered rice, wheat, and millet to Cangzhou, Beijing, and frontier posts for sealed storage. If prices spiked, entry submission could be halted by decree; the grain-purchase office could draw on stored grain and make good the debt when harvests were plentiful. In Shaosheng year three, on Lv Dazhong's advice, farmers were grouped in mutual guarantees, given half the official advance as a loan, and pressed on the tax schedule; the balance was paid in summer and autumn at current prices according to grain delivered. During Chongning Cai Jing ordered towns and villages paid by household grade, with grain delivered at harvest at market prices; frontier archer militia and Qingtang tribal groups were included. The volume distributed became the basis for officials' rewards and punishments.

其曰兌糴：熙寧九年，詔淮南常平司於麥熟州郡及時兌糴。元祐二年，嘗以麥熟下諸路廣糴，詔後價若與本相當，即許變轉兌糴。

This was exchange purchase: In Xining year nine the Huainan Ever-Normal office was ordered to conduct timely exchange purchase wherever wheat ripened. In Yuanyou year two, when wheat ripened a broad purchase was ordered on all circuits; if later prices matched the original rate, conversion to exchange purchase was allowed.

其曰寄糴：元豐二年，糴便糧草王子淵論綱舟利害，因言：「商人入中，歲小不登，必邀厚價，故設內郡寄糴之法，以權輕重。」七年，詔河北瀛、定二州所糴數以钜萬，而散於諸郡寄糴，恐緩急不相及，不若致商人自運。李南公、王子淵俱言：「寄糴法行已久，且近都倉，緩急運致非難。」於是寄糴卒不罷。

This was entrusted purchase: In Yuanfeng year two grain-purchase officer Wang Ziyuan, discussing convoy transport, said: "When merchants submit grain in lean years they demand steep prices, so entrusted purchase in inner prefectures was set up to balance supply. In year seven an edict noted that Ying and Ding in Hebei bought tens of thousands of shi yet scattered the grain for entrusted purchase across counties, fearing emergencies could not be met in time, and suggested inducing merchants to transport it themselves instead. Li Nangong and Wang Ziyuan both argued: "Entrusted purchase has long been in use, and being close to capital granaries, emergency shipment is not hard. Entrusted purchase was never abolished.

其曰括糴：元符元年，涇原經略使章楶請並邊糴買；豫榜諭民，毋得與公家爭糴，即官儲有之，括索贏糧之家，量存其所用，盡糴入官。

This was comprehensive purchase: In Yuanfu year one Jingyuan frontier commissioner Zhang Zhe asked for combined border purchase; Notices were posted telling the people not to compete with the state for grain; where official stores already held supplies, households with surplus grain were searched—enough was left for their use, and the rest was bought into government stores.

其曰勸糴、均糴：政和元年，童貫宣撫陝西議行之。鄜延經略使錢即言：「勸糴非可以久行。均糴先入其斛斗乃給其直，於有斛斗之家未有害也。坊郭之人，素無斛斗，必須外糴，轉有煩費。」疏奏，坐貶。時又詔河北、河東仿陝西均糴，知定州王漢之坐沮格奪職罷。未幾，遂立均糴法。三年，以歲稔，諸路推行均糴。五年，言者謂：「均糴法嚴，然已糴而不償其直，或不度州縣之力，敷數過多，有一戶而糴數百石者。」乃詔諸路毋輒均糴。既而州縣以和糴為名，低裁其價，轉運司程督愈峻，科率倍於均糴，詔約止之。宣和三年，方臘平，兩浙亦量官戶輕重均糴。明年，荊湖南、北均糴，以家業為差。勸糴之法，其後浸及於新邊，鄯廓州、積石軍蕃部患之。

These were encouraged purchase and equal purchase: In Zhenghe year one Tong Guan, pacification commissioner for Shaanxi, proposed putting them into practice. Yan-Yan frontier commissioner Qian Ji said: "Encouraged purchase cannot be kept up indefinitely. Equal purchase takes grain first and pays afterward, which does no harm to households that already hold grain. Urban residents usually keep no grain on hand and must buy from outside, which only adds trouble and expense. His memorial was submitted, and he was demoted for it. An edict then ordered Hebei and Hedong to follow Shaanxi's equal purchase; Dingzhou prefect Wang Hanzhi was removed from office for blocking it. Before long the equal purchase system was formally established. In year three, with a good harvest, all circuits rolled out equal purchase. In year five critics said: "Equal purchase is strict in theory, yet grain was taken without payment, or quotas were set beyond what counties could bear—some households were levied hundreds of shi. An edict forbade circuits from imposing equal purchase at will. Then counties used harmonized purchase as a cover to slash prices; transport commissioners pressed harder still, and levies doubled what equal purchase had required; an edict tried to rein it in. In Xuanhe year three, after Fang La was suppressed, the Two Zhes also imposed equal purchase graded by official household standing. The next year Hunan and Hubei imposed equal purchase graded by household wealth. Encouraged purchase later spread to the new frontier, and tribal groups at Shanzhou, Kuozhou, and Jishi Army groaned under it.

自熙寧以來，王韶開熙河，章惇營溪洞，沈起、劉彝啟交址之隙，韓存寶、林廣窮乞第之役，費用科調益繁。陝西宿兵既多，元豐四年，六路大舉西討，軍費最甚於他路。帝先慮科役擾民，令趙禼廉問，頗得其事。又以糧餉粗惡，欲械斬河東、涇原漕臣，以厲其餘，卒以師興役眾，鮮克辦給。又李稷為鄜延漕臣督運，詔許斬知州以下乏軍興者，民苦折運，多散走，所殺至數千人，道斃者不在焉。於是文彥博奏言：「關陝人戶，昨經調發，不遺餘力，死亡之餘，疲瘵已甚。為今之計，正當勞來將士，安撫百姓，全其瘡痍，使得蘇息。」明年，優詔嘉答。初，西師無功，議者慮朝廷再舉，自是，帝大感悟，申飭邊臣固境息兵，關中以蘇。

Since Xining, Wang Shao had opened Xihe, Zhang Dun developed the stream-cave country, Shen Qi and Liu Yi provoked war with Jiaozhi, and Han Cunbao and Lin Guang exhausted the Qidi campaigns—levies and requisitions grew ever heavier. Shaanxi kept large garrisons; in Yuanfeng year four a major western campaign from six circuits made its military costs the heaviest of any circuit. The emperor, fearing levies were harassing the people, sent Zhao Xu to investigate and found the complaints largely justified. Because rations were coarse and poor, he wanted to execute the Hedong and Jingyuan canal transport officers in irons as a warning—but with armies raised and levies massed, few could meet the demand. Li Ji, Yan-Yan transport commissioner, supervised convoys under an edict allowing execution of prefects and below who failed military needs; people suffered forced transport, many fled, and those killed ran to thousands—not counting those who died on the road. Wen Yanbo then memorialized: "Households in Guan-Shaan have been mobilized to the last ounce of strength; of those who survive, many are grievously afflicted. The right policy now is to encourage the troops, reassure the people, preserve what is left of them, and let them recover. The next year a gracious edict commended and answered him. When the western campaign failed, critics feared the court would try again; from then on the emperor was deeply moved, admonished frontier officers to hold the border and cease war, and Guanzhong began to recover.

哲宗即位，諸老大臣維持初政，益務綏靜，邊郡類無調發，第令諸路廣糴以備蓄積，及詔陝西、麟府州計五歲之糧而已。紹聖初，乃詔河北鎮、定、瀛州糴十年之儲，餘州七年。其後陝西諸路又連歲興師，及進築鄯、湟等州，費資糧不可勝計。元符二年，涇原經略使章楶諫曰：「伏見興師以來，陝西府庫倉廩儲蓄，內外一空，前後資貸內藏金帛，不知其幾千萬數。即今所在糧草盡乏，漕臣計無所出，文移指空而已。今者，正休兵息民、清心省事之時，唯深察臣言，裁決斯事。若更詢主議大臣，竊恐專務興師，上誤聖聽。」主議大臣，指章惇也。時內藏空乏，陝西諸路以軍賞銀絹數寡，請給於內藏庫，詔以絹五十萬匹予之。帝謂近臣曰：「內庫絹才百萬，已輟其半矣。」

When Emperor Zhezong took the throne, senior ministers upheld the early policies and pursued tranquillity; frontier prefectures were largely free of levies, circuits were told only to buy grain broadly for reserves, and Shaanxi and Lin-Fu were ordered to stock five years' grain. At the start of Shaosheng, Zhen, Ding, and Ying in Hebei were ordered to buy ten years' reserves; other prefectures, seven. Later Shaanxi circuits again fought year after year and pushed forward fortifications at Shan, Huang, and other prefectures, at a cost in funds and grain beyond reckoning. In Yuanfu year two Jingyuan commissioner Zhang Zhe remonstrated: "Since the campaigns began, Shaanxi's prefectural treasuries and granaries, inner and outer, have been emptied; loans from the inner treasury in gold and silk must run to tens of millions. Grain and fodder are exhausted everywhere; canal transport officers have no solution; their reports point only to empty stores. Now is the time to rest the armies, ease the people, and simplify affairs—I beg Your Majesty to weigh my words carefully and decide this matter. If Your Majesty consults the chief policy ministers again, I fear they will fix on war alone and mislead the throne." The chief policy ministers" meant Zhang Dun. The inner treasury was then empty; Shaanxi circuits, finding military rewards in silver and silk too scant, asked the inner storehouse for aid, and an edict granted them five hundred thousand bolts of silk. The emperor told his close ministers: "The inner storehouse holds only a million bolts of silk, and we have already given away half."

蔡京用事，復務拓土，勸徽宗招納青唐，用王厚經置，費錢億萬，用大兵凡再，始克之，而湟州戍兵歲費錢一千二十四萬九千餘緡。五年，熙河蘭湟運使洪中孚言：「本道青稞畝收五石，粒當大麥之三。異時人糧給精米，馬料給青稞，率皆八折，不惟人馬之食自足，而價亦相當。今邊臣不燭事情，精米、青稞與糙米、大麥一例抵鬥給散，即公有一分之耗，私有一分之贏。會計一路歲費斛斗一百八十萬、雜色五十萬外，青稞一百三十萬，抵鬥歲費二十六萬石，石三十緡，計七百八十萬。」帝慮其米仍粗，將士或有饑色，乃命九折。明年，復令計鬥給散，竟罷九折。又於陝西建四都倉：平夏城曰裕財，鎮戎軍曰裕國，通峽砦曰裕民，西安州曰裕邊。自夏人叛命，諸路皆謀進築，陝以西保甲皆運糧。後童貫又自將兵築靖夏、製戎、伏羌等城，窮討深入，凡六七年。至宣和末，饋餉空乏，鄜延至不能支旬月。時邊臣爭務開邊，夔、峽、嶺南不毛之地，草創郡邑，調取於民，費出於縣官，不可勝計。最後有燕山之役，雄、霸等州倉廩皆竭，兵士饑忿，有擲瓦石擊守貳、刃將官者。燕山郭藥師所將常勝一軍，計口給錢廩，月費米三十萬石、錢一百萬緡。河北之民力不能給，於是免夫之議興。

When Cai Jing held power he again pursued expansion, urging Emperor Huizong to bring Qingtang over; Wang Hou was put in charge at a cost of hundreds of millions, and full armies were sent twice before it was taken—yet garrisoning Huangzhou alone cost more than 10,249,000 strings a year. In year five Xihe-Lanhuang transport commissioner Hong Zhongfu said: "In this circuit highland barley yields five shi per mu, and each grain is worth three parts of barley. Formerly troops received refined rice and horses highland barley, both generally at an eight-tenths conversion rate—not only were men and horses fed adequately, but the prices matched. Now frontier officers fail to grasp the matter: refined rice and highland barley are issued at equal measure against unpolished rice and barley—the state loses a tenth and private hands gain a tenth. By the circuit's reckoning, aside from 1.8 million shi of grain and 500,000 of miscellaneous stores, 1.3 million of highland barley converted at equal measure costs 260,000 shi a year—thirty strings per shi, or 7.8 million strings in all. The emperor, fearing the rice was still too coarse and troops might go hungry, ordered a nine-tenths conversion rate. The next year equal-measure distribution was restored and the nine-tenths rate was abolished. Four metropolitan granaries were also built in Shaanxi: at Pingxia Fortress, Enriching Treasures; at Zhenrong Army, Enriching the State; at Tongxia Stockade, Enriching the People; and at Xi'an Prefecture, Enriching the Frontier. After the Xia renounced allegiance, every circuit plotted advance fortifications, and militia west of Shaanxi were all hauling grain. Later Tong Guan personally led troops to build Jingxia, Zhizhu, Fuxiang, and other forts, driving deep into enemy country—for six or seven years in all. By the end of Xuanhe supplies were exhausted; Yan-Yan could not sustain even a month or ten days. Frontier officers competed to open new territory; in the barren lands of Kuizhou, the gorges, and Lingnan they hastily founded prefectures and counties, requisitioning from the people at a cost to the treasury beyond reckoning. Finally came the Yan Mountains campaign; granaries in Xiong, Ba, and other prefectures were drained; soldiers, hungry and furious, threw tiles and stones at deputies or turned blades on their officers. Guo Yaoshi's Ever-Victorious Army in the Yan Mountains was provisioned by head count in cash and grain, at a monthly cost of 300,000 shi of rice and a million strings. Hebei's people could not bear the burden, and debate over corvée exemption payments began.

初，黃河歲調夫修築埽岸，其不即役者輸免夫錢。熙、豐間，淮南科黃河夫，夫錢十千，富戶有及六十夫者，劉誼蓋嘗論之。及元祐中，呂大防等主回河之議，力役既大，因配夫出錢。大觀中，修滑州魚池埽，始盡令輸錢。帝謂事易集而民不煩，乃詔凡河堤合調春夫，盡輸免夫之直，定為永法。及是，王黼建議，乃下詔曰：「大兵之後，非假諸路民力，其克有濟？諭民國事所當竭力，天下並輸免夫錢，夫二十千，淮、浙、江、湖、嶺、蜀夫三十千。」凡得一千七百餘萬緡，河北群盜因是大起。

At first the Yellow River levied corvée each year to repair embankments; those who did not serve immediately paid corvée exemption cash instead. During the Xi and Feng reigns Huainan levied Yellow River corvée at ten thousand per laborer; wealthy households owed as many as sixty laborers—Liu Yi had once protested this. In Yuanyou, Lv Dafang and others championed returning the Yellow River; labor demands were heavy, so labor quotas were assigned with cash payments in lieu of service. During Daguang, when Huazhou's Fish-Pond Embankment was repaired, everyone was first required to pay cash instead of labor. The emperor said the work would be easier to assemble and the people less burdened, and decreed that all spring corvée for river dikes be paid in exemption fees as permanent law. Then Wang Fu proposed, and an edict was issued: "After great armies, how can the task succeed without drawing on the people's strength from every circuit? Tell the people they must exert themselves for state affairs; the whole realm shall pay corvée exemption—twenty thousand per laborer, thirty thousand in Huai, Zhe, Jiang, the lake districts, Lingnan, and Shu. In all more than 17 million strings were collected, and bandit gangs in Hebei rose in great numbers as a result.

南渡，三邊饋餉，糴事所不容已。紹興間，於江、浙、湖南博糴，多者給官告，少者給度牒，或以鈔引，類多不售，而吏緣為奸，人情大擾。於是減其價以誘積粟之家，初不拘於官、編之戶。凡降金銀錢帛而州縣阻節不即還者，官吏並徒二年。廣東轉運判官周綱糴米十五萬石，無擾及無陳腐，撫州守臣劉汝翼餉兵不匱，及勸誘賑糶流離，皆轉一官。七年，以饒州之糴石取耗四斗，罪其郡守。自是和糴者計剩科罪。十三年，荊湖歲稔，米斗六七錢，乃就糴以寬江、浙之民。十八年，免和糴，命三總領所置場糴之。舊制：兩浙、江、湖歲當發米四百六十九萬斛，〈（兩浙一百五十萬，江東九十三萬，江西百二十六萬，湖南六十五萬，湖北三十五萬。）〉至是，欠百萬斛有奇。乃詔臨安、平江府及淮東西、湖廣三計司，歲糴米百二十萬斛：，淮西十六萬五千，湖廣、淮東皆十五萬。二十八年，除二浙以三十五萬斛折錢，諸路綱米及糴場歲收四百五十二萬斛。二十九年，糴二百三十萬石以備振貸，石降錢二千，以關子、茶引及銀充其數。

After the southern crossing, feeding the three frontiers made grain purchase unavoidable. During Shaoxing, competitive purchase in Jiang-Zhe and Hunan paid large sellers with official patents, smaller ones with ordination certificates, or with paper notes—most of which would not sell; clerks exploited the system, and public unrest ran high. Prices were then cut to entice households hoarding grain, and at first there was no restriction to registered official households. Whenever gold, silver, cash, or silk was issued and prefectures or counties obstructed or delayed repayment, the officials involved were all sentenced to two years of penal servitude. Guangdong transport vice-commissioner Zhou Gang bought 150,000 shi without harassment or spoilage; Fuzhou prefect Liu Ruyi kept troops supplied without shortage and encouraged relief sales to the displaced—all were promoted one rank. In year seven Raozhou took four dou in spoilage per shi purchased, and the prefect was punished. From then on, officials conducting harmonized purchase who counted surplus for themselves were subject to punishment. In the thirteenth year the Jinghu region enjoyed a bumper harvest, with rice at six or seven cash per dou; the court then purchased grain locally to ease the burden on the people of Jiang and Zhe. In the eighteenth year harmonized purchase was abolished, and the three general headquarters were ordered to establish procurement depots and buy grain. Under the old system, Liangzhe, the Jiang circuits, and the Hu circuits were each year to dispatch 4.69 million hu of rice, (Liangzhe 1.5 million; Jiangdong 930,000; Jiangxi 1.26 million; Hunan 650,000; and Hubei 350,000.) By this time the shortfall exceeded one million hu. An imperial order directed Lin'an, Pingjiang Prefecture, and the three fiscal circuits of Huaidong, Huaidong-West, and Huguang to purchase 1.2 million hu of rice annually: Huaidong-West 165,000; Huguang and Huaidong each 150,000. In year twenty-eight, aside from Liangzhe's 350,000 hu converted to cash payment, convoy rice from the circuits and procurement depots together yielded 4.52 million hu annually. In year twenty-nine, 2.3 million shi were purchased against future relief lending; each shi was paid two thousand cash, with guanzi notes, tea certificates, and silver making up the purchase sum.

孝宗乾道三年秋，江、浙、淮、閩淫雨，詔州縣以本錢坐倉收糴，毋強配於民。四年，糴本結會子及錢銀，石錢二貫五百文。淳熙三年，詔廣西運司，糴錢以歲豐歉市直高下增減給之。

In autumn of Emperor Xiaozong's third Qiandao year, Jiang, Zhe, Huai, and Min were battered by unseasonable rains; an edict ordered prefectures and counties to use their own capital to buy grain at seated granaries, without forcibly apportioning the burden on the people. In year four purchase funds were paid in huizi notes together with cash and silver, at two strings and five hundred wen per shi. In Chunxi year three the Guangxi transport commission was ordered to adjust purchase payments up or down according to harvest conditions and prevailing market prices.

寶慶三年，監察御史汪剛中言：「和糴之弊，其來非一日矣，欲得其要而革之，非禁科抑不可。夫禁科抑，莫如增米價，此已試而有驗者，望飭所司奉行。」有旨從之。紹定元年，錫銀、會、度牒於湖廣總所，令和糴米七十萬石餉軍。五年，臣僚言：「若將民間合輸緡錢使輸斛斗，免令賤糶輸錢，在農人亦甚有利，此廣糴之良法也。」從之。開慶元年，沿江製置司招糴米五十萬石，湖南安撫司糴米五十萬石，兩浙轉運司五十萬石，淮、浙發運司二百萬石，江東提舉司三十萬石，江西轉運司五十萬石，湖南轉運司二十萬石，太平州一十萬石，淮安州三十萬石，高郵軍五十萬石，漣水軍一十萬石，廬州一十萬石，並視時以一色會子發下收糴，以供軍餉。

In Baoqing year three Supervisory Censor Wang Gangzhong memorialized: "The abuses of harmonized purchase have accumulated over many years; to get at the root and reform them, there is no way around forbidding forced apportionment and price suppression. To stop forced apportionment and suppression, nothing works better than raising the price of rice—a measure already tried and proved. I ask that the responsible offices be ordered to enforce it." The throne assented. In Shaoding year one silver, huizi notes, and ordination certificates were issued to the Huguang general headquarters to harmonized-purchase seven hundred thousand shi of rice for army rations. In year five officials memorialized: "If cash levies owed by the people were instead paid in grain, sparing farmers from having to sell cheap and turn over cash, the benefit to cultivators would be considerable—this is an excellent method of broad procurement." The proposal was adopted. In Kaiqing year one the Yangzi garrison commissioner requisitioned five hundred thousand shi; the Hunan pacification commission five hundred thousand shi; Liangzhe transport five hundred thousand shi; the Huai-Zhe dispatch commission two million shi; the Jiangdong fiscal intendant three hundred thousand shi; Jiangxi transport five hundred thousand shi; Hunan transport two hundred thousand shi; Taiping Prefecture one hundred thousand shi; Huai'an Prefecture three hundred thousand shi; Gaoyou garrison five hundred thousand shi; Lianshui garrison one hundred thousand shi; and Luzhou one hundred thousand shi—all paid down in uniform huizi at prevailing rates to purchase grain for army rations.

咸淳六年，都省言：「咸淳五年和糴米，除浙西永遠住糴及四川製司就糴二十萬石樁充軍餉外，京湖製司、湖南、江西、廣西共糴一百四十八萬石，凡遇和糴年分皆然。」

In Xianchun year six the Secretariat reported: "For Xianchun year five harmonized-purchase rice, aside from western Zhejiang's permanent suspension of procurement and the Sichuan garrison commission's local purchase of two hundred thousand shi earmarked for army rations, Jinghu, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi together purchased 1.48 million shi—a pattern repeated in every harmonized-purchase year."

漕運宋都大梁，有四河以通漕運：曰汴河，曰黃河，曰惠民河，曰廣濟河，而汴河所漕為多。太祖起兵間，有天下，懲唐季五代藩鎮之禍，蓄兵京師，以成強幹弱支之勢，故於兵食為重。建隆以來，首浚三河，令自今諸州歲受稅租及筦榷貨利、上供物帛，悉官給舟車，輸送京師，毋役民妨農。開寶五年，率汴、蔡兩河公私船，運江、淮米數十萬石以給兵食。是時京師歲費有限，漕事尚簡。至太平興國初，兩浙既獻地，歲運米四百萬石。所在雇民挽舟，吏並緣為奸，運舟或附載錢帛、雜物輸京師，又回綱轉輸外州，主藏吏給納邀滯，於是擅貿易官物者有之。八年，乃擇幹強之臣，在京分掌水陸路發運事。凡一綱計其舟車役人之直，給付主綱吏雇募，舟車到發、財貨出納，並關報而催督之，自是調發邀滯之弊遂革。

Canal transport: the Song capital stood at Daliang, served by four rivers—the Bian, the Yellow River, the Huimin, and the Guangji—and the Bian carried by far the greatest volume. While rising to power Taizu won the realm, took warning from the disasters of Tang and Five Dynasties regional military governors, concentrated troops in the capital to keep the center strong and the periphery weak, and therefore treated military provisions as a matter of first importance. From Jianlong onward the three rivers were dredged first; thereafter every circuit's tax grain, monopoly profits, and tribute goods were to be moved to the capital in government-provided boats and carts, without conscripting the people and interfering with agriculture. In Kaibao year five, public and private boats on the Bian and Cai rivers were mobilized to transport several hundred thousand shi of Jiang-Huai rice for army rations. At that time the capital's annual needs were modest, and canal transport remained straightforward. By the early Taiping Xingguo era, with Liangzhe having submitted its territory, annual transport reached four million shi of rice. Everywhere people were hired to tow boats while officials seized every chance for graft. Transport boats sometimes carried extra cash, silk, and goods to the capital, or returned convoys to relay freight to outer circuits; chief storehouse clerks delayed receipts and disbursements—and so some officials traded in government goods on their own account. In year eight capable officials were chosen to divide responsibility for water and land dispatch in the capital. For each convoy the cost of boats, carts, and labor was calculated and paid to convoy chiefs for hiring; boat and cart movements and the receipt and disbursement of goods were all reported and supervised—and from that the abuses of delayed dispatch were eliminated.

初，荊湖、江、浙、淮南諸州，擇部民高資者部送上供物，民多質魯，不能檢御舟人，舟人侵盜官物，民破產不能償。乃詔牙吏部送，勿復擾民。大通監輸鐵尚方鑄兵器，鍛練用之，十裁得四五；廣南貢藤，去其粗者，斤僅得三兩。遂令鐵就冶郎淬治之，藤取堪用者，無使負重致遠，以勞民力。汴河挽舟卒多饑凍，太宗令中黃門求得百許人，藍縷枯瘠，詢其故，乃主糧吏率取其口食。帝怒，捕鞫得實，斷腕殉河上三日而後斬之，押運者杖配商州。雍熙四年，並水陸路發運為一司。主綱吏卒盜用官物，及用水土雜糅官米，故毀敗舟船致沉溺者，棄市，募告者厚賞之；山河、平河實因灘磧風水所敗，以收救分數差定其罪。端拱元年，罷京城水陸發運，以其事分隸排岸司及下卸司。先是，四河所運未有定制，太平興國六年，汴河歲運江、淮米三百萬石，菽一百萬石；黃河粟五十萬石，菽三十萬石；惠民河粟四十萬石，菽二十萬石；廣濟河粟十二萬石：凡五百五十萬石。非水旱蠲放民租，未嘗不及其數。至道初，汴河運米五百八十萬石。大中祥符初，至七百萬石。

At first in Jinghu, Jiang, Zhe, and Huainan prefectures wealthy local men were chosen to escort tribute goods; most were plain countrymen who could not control boat crews, and when boatmen plundered official goods the escorts were ruined and unable to make restitution. An edict ordered yamen clerks to escort the goods instead, so the people would no longer be harassed. The Datong supervisor transported iron to the imperial workshop for casting weapons; after forging and refining, only four or five usable pieces were obtained from every ten; Guangnan tribute rattan, once the coarse parts were removed, yielded only three liang of usable material per jin. Thereupon iron was ordered to be quenched and finished at the smith's shop, and only usable rattan was to be taken, so that heavy long-distance hauls would not exhaust the people's strength. Bian River boat-towing conscripts mostly starved and froze; Taizong ordered inner eunuchs to find about a hundred of them—tattered and emaciated—and when asked why, they said chief grain clerks routinely seized their rations. The emperor was furious; the culprits were arrested, interrogated, and found guilty; their wrists were severed and the limbs displayed on the riverbank for three days before execution; the escort officials were caned and exiled to Shangzhou. In Yongxi year four the water and land dispatch offices were merged into a single bureau. Convoy chiefs and conscripts who embezzled official goods, adulterated official rice with dirt and sand, or deliberately wrecked boats and caused sinking were executed in public, with rich rewards offered to informants; If loss truly came from shoals, sandbanks, or wind and water on rivers or level stretches, guilt was determined according to the shortfall in the amount salvaged. In Duangong year one the capital water and land dispatch office was abolished, and its duties were divided between the bank-arranging office and the unloading office. Previously the four rivers' transport quotas were not fixed; in Taiping Xingguo year six the Bian River moved three million shi of Jiang-Huai rice and one million shi of beans annually; the Yellow River five hundred thousand shi of grain and three hundred thousand shi of beans; the Huimin River four hundred thousand shi of grain and two hundred thousand shi of beans; the Guangji River one hundred twenty thousand shi of grain—in all five million five hundred thousand shi. Except when drought or flood brought tax remissions, the quota was never missed. In the early Zhidao period the Bian River transported 5.8 million shi of rice. In the early Dazhong Xiangfu era it reached seven million shi.

江南、淮南、兩浙、荊湖路租糴，於真、揚、楚、泗州置倉受納，分調舟船溯流入汴，以達京師，置發運使領之。諸州錢帛、雜物、軍器上供亦如之。陝西諸州菽粟，自黃河三門沿流入汴，以達京師，亦置發運司領之。粟帛自廣濟河而至京師者，京東之十七州；由石塘、惠民河而至京師者，陳、潁、許、蔡、光、壽六州，皆有京朝官廷臣督之。河北衛州東北有御河達乾寧軍，其運物亦廷臣主之。廣南金銀、香藥、犀象、百貨，陸運至虔州而後水運。川益諸州金帛及租、市之布，自劍門列傳置，分輦負擔至嘉州，水連達荊南，自荊南遣綱吏運送京師。咸平中，定歲運六十六萬匹，分為十綱。天禧末，水陸運上供金帛、緡錢二十三萬一千餘貫、兩、端、匹，珠寶、香藥二十七萬五千餘斤。諸州歲造運船，至道末三千二百三十七艘，天禧末減四百二十一。先是，諸河漕數歲久益增，景德四年，定汴河歲額六百萬石。天聖四年，荊湖、江、淮州縣和糴上供，小民闕食，自五年後權減五十萬石。慶曆中，又減廣濟河二十萬石。後黃河歲漕益減耗，才運菽三十萬石，歲創漕船，市材木，役牙前，勞費甚廣；嘉祐四年，罷所運菽，減漕船三百艘。自是歲漕三河而已。

Rent and purchase grain from Jiangnan, Huainan, Liangzhe, and Jinghu was received at granaries established at Zhen, Yang, Chu, and Si prefectures; boats were dispatched upstream into the Bian to reach the capital, under a dispatch commissioner appointed to oversee the system. Cash, silk, miscellaneous goods, and military equipment sent up from the prefectures followed the same system. Beans and grain from Shaanxi prefectures moved from the Yellow River's Sanmen Gorge downstream into the Bian to reach the capital, likewise under a dispatch office. Grain and silk reaching the capital via the Guangji River came from seventeen Jingdong prefectures; Those reaching the capital via Shitang and the Huimin River came from Chen, Ying, Xu, Cai, Guang, and Shou—six prefectures—all supervised by metropolitan court officials stationed on site. Northeast of Weizhou in Hebei the Yu River reached Qianning army, and its freight was likewise overseen by court officials stationed there. Guangnan gold, silver, aromatics, rhinoceros horn, ivory, and general merchandise went overland to Qianzhou and then by water. Gold, silk, and rent and market cloth from Sichuan and Yi prefectures were relayed from Jianmen in stages to Jiazhou, then connected by water to Jingnan, whence convoy officials were dispatched to carry them to the capital. In the Xianping period annual transport was fixed at six hundred sixty thousand bolts, divided into ten convoys. By the end of Tianxi, water and land transport of tribute gold, silk, and cash totaled more than 231,000 units of guan, liang, duan, and pi; pearls, gems, and aromatics more than 275,000 jin. Prefectures built transport boats each year; by the end of Zhidao there were 3,237 vessels; by the end of Tianxi the number had been reduced by 421. Previously the various rivers' transport quotas had steadily risen over the years; in Jingde year four the Bian River's annual quota was fixed at six million shi. In Tiansheng year four Jinghu, Jiang, and Huai prefectures and counties harmonized-purchased grain for tribute while common people went short of food; from year five onward the quota was temporarily reduced by five hundred thousand shi. During the Qingli period the Guangji River quota was reduced by another two hundred thousand shi. Later Yellow River transport dwindled further until only three hundred thousand shi of beans were moved; each year new transport boats were built, timber purchased, and yaqian labor conscripted—at enormous cost; In Jiayou year four bean transport was abolished and three hundred transport boats were cut from the fleet. From then on annual canal transport ran through only the three rivers.

江、湖上供米，舊轉運使以本路綱輸真、楚、泗州轉般倉，載鹽以歸，舟還其郡，卒還其家。汴舟詣轉般倉運米輸京師，歲折運者四。河冬涸，舟卒亦還營，至春復集，名曰放凍。卒得番休，逃亡者少；汴船不涉江路，無風波沉溺之患。後發運使權益重，六路上供米團綱發船，不復委本路，獨專其任。文移坌並，事目繁夥，不能檢察。操舟者賕諸吏，得詣富饒郡市賤貿貴，以趨京師。自是江、汴之舟，混轉無辨，挽舟卒有終身不還其家、老死河路者。籍多空名，漕事大弊。

For Jiang and Hu tribute rice, circuit transport commissioners formerly used local convoys to deliver grain to relay granaries at Zhen, Chu, and Si, loaded salt for the return voyage, sent boats back to their home circuits, and sent conscripts home. Bian boats went to relay granaries to haul rice to the capital, making four round trips a year. When the river ran low in winter, boat conscripts also returned to camp and reassembled in spring—a practice called "release freeze." Conscripts received rotating rest, and desertions were few; Bian boats did not enter the Yangzi routes, so there was no risk of wind, waves, and sinking. Later dispatch commissioners grew more powerful; tribute rice from the six circuits was dispatched in unified convoys no longer delegated to home circuits, and they alone bore the full responsibility. Documents piled up and business multiplied beyond what could be inspected. Boat crews bribed clerks and were able to reach wealthy circuits, buy cheap and sell dear, and hurry on to the capital. From then on Jiang and Bian boats were indistinguishably mixed in transport, and some boat-towing conscripts never returned home in their lives, dying old on the waterways. Registers were filled with phantom names, and canal transport fell into grave disorder.

皇祐中，發運使許元奏：「近歲諸路因循，糧綱法壞，遂令汴綱至冬出江，為他路轉漕，兵不得息。宜敕諸路增船，載米輸轉般倉充歲計如故事。」於是牟利者多以元說為然，詔如元奏。久之，諸路綱不集。嘉祐三年，下詔切責有司以格詔不行，及發運使不能總綱條，轉運使不能斡歲入。預敕江、淮、兩浙轉運司，期以期年，各造船補卒，團本路綱，自嘉祐五年汴船不得復出江。至期，諸路船猶不足。汴船既不至江外，江外船不得至京師，失商販之利；而汴船工卒訖冬坐食，恒苦不足，皆盜毀船材，易錢自給，船愈壞而漕額愈不及矣。論者初欲漕卒得歸息，而近歲汴船多傭丁夫，每船卒不過一二人，至冬當留守船，實無得歸息者。時元罷已久，後至者數奏請出汴船，執政不許。治平三年，始詔出汴船七十綱，未幾，皆出江復故。

During the Huangyou period Dispatch Commissioner Xu Yuan memorialized: "In recent years the circuits have grown lax and the grain-convoy system has broken down, so Bian convoys now go out onto the Yangzi in winter to handle other circuits' relay transport, and the crews never get rest. The circuits should be ordered to add boats and deliver rice to relay granaries to meet the annual quota as in former practice." Profit-seekers mostly agreed with Xu, and an edict followed his memorial. Before long the circuits' convoys failed to assemble. In Jiayou year three an edict sharply rebuked officials for defying imperial orders, the dispatch commissioner for failing to master convoy regulations, and transport commissioners for failing to manage annual intake. Advance orders went to the Jiang, Huai, and Liangzhe transport commissions with a one-year deadline to build boats, replenish crews, and organize home-circuit convoys; from Jiayou year five Bian boats were not to go out onto the Yangzi again. When the deadline arrived, the circuits still lacked enough boats. Bian boats no longer reached the Yangzi, Yangzi boats no longer reached the capital, and merchant profits were lost; Bian boat workers and conscripts sat idle through winter on rations that were always too short; they stole and stripped boat timber for cash to live on, boats deteriorated further, and transport quotas fell ever further short. Critics had initially wanted canal conscripts to get home leave, but in recent years Bian boats mostly hired laborers, with at most one or two conscripts per boat; in winter, when boats had to be guarded, none in fact got home leave. By then Xu Yuan had long since been dismissed; later appointees repeatedly memorialized to send Bian boats out again, but the chief ministers would not allow it. In Zhiping year three an edict first authorized seventy Bian convoys to go out; before long all were going out onto the Yangzi again as before.

治平二年，漕粟至京師，汴河五百七十五萬五千石，惠民河二十六萬七千石，廣濟河七十四萬石。又漕金帛緡錢入左藏、內藏庫者，總其數一千一百七十三萬，而諸路轉移相給者不預焉。繇京西、陝西、河東運薪炭至京師，薪以斤計一千七百一十三萬，炭以秤計一百萬。是歲，諸路創漕船二千五百四十艘。治平四年，京師粳米支五歲餘。是時，漕運吏卒，上下共為侵盜貿易，甚則托風水沉沒以滅跡。官物陷折，歲不減二十萬斛。熙寧二年，薛向為江、淮等路發運使，始募客舟與官舟分運，互相檢察，舊弊乃去。歲漕常數既足，募商舟運至京師者又二十六萬餘石而未已，請充明年歲計之數。

In Zhiping year two canal grain reaching the capital totaled 5.755 million shi on the Bian River, 267,000 shi on the Huimin, and 740,000 shi on the Guangji. Gold, silk, and cash moved by canal to the Left Treasury and Inner Treasury totaled 11.73 million units, not counting inter-circuit transfers and mutual supplies. From Jingxi, Shaanxi, and Hedong firewood and charcoal were transported to the capital: 17.13 million jin of firewood and one million scales of charcoal. That year the circuits newly built 2,540 transport boats. In Zhiping year four the capital's store of polished rice would last more than five years. At this time canal clerks and conscripts up and down the system jointly embezzled and traded in government goods; in the worst cases they feigned losses to wind and water to cover their tracks. Official goods lost and damaged each year came to no less than two hundred thousand hu. In Xining year two Xue Xiang became dispatch commissioner for Jiang, Huai, and other circuits; he first recruited merchant boats to transport alongside official boats under mutual inspection, and the old abuses were eliminated. Once the regular annual quota was met, merchant boats had delivered another 260,000-plus shi to the capital and were still coming; he asked that this surplus count toward the next year's quota.

三司使吳充言：「宜自明年減江、淮漕米二百萬石，令發運司易輕貨二百萬緡，計五年所得，無慮緡錢千萬，轉儲三路平糴備邊。」王安石謂：「驟變米二百萬石，米必陡賤；驟致輕貨二百萬貫，貨必陡貴。當令發運司度米貴州郡，折錢變為輕貨，儲之河東、陝西要便州軍，用常平法糶糴為便。」詔如安石議。七年，京東路察訪鄧潤甫等言：「山東沿海州郡地廣，豐歲則穀賤，募人為海運，山東之粟可轉之河朔，以助軍食。」詔京東、河北路轉運司相度，卒不果行。是歲，江、淮上供穀至京師者三分不及一，令督發運使張頡亟辦來歲漕計。

Three Departments Commissioner Wu Chong said: "From next year Jiang-Huai canal rice should be cut by two million shi; the dispatch office should exchange the surplus for two million guan worth of light goods; over five years that should yield at least ten million guan, to be stored for equal purchase in the three circuits and border readiness." Wang Anshi replied: "Suddenly converting two million shi of rice would make rice crash in price; suddenly bringing in two million guan of light goods would make those goods soar in price. The dispatch office should identify rice-dear prefectures and circuits, convert payments into light goods, store them at strategic garrisons in Hedong and Shaanxi, and use the Ever-Normal method of sale and purchase—that would be the better course. An edict followed Wang Anshi's proposal. In the seventh year, Deng Runfu, inspector of Jingdong Circuit, and others memorialized: "The coastal prefectures of Shandong span a wide territory, and in good harvest years grain is cheap. If men were recruited for sea transport, Shandong grain could be moved to the Hebei frontier to help feed the armies. An edict directed the transport commissioners of Jingdong and Hebei circuits to study the proposal, but in the end it was never implemented. That year, less than one-third of the grain tribute from the Jiang and Huai regions actually reached the capital. The court ordered Transport Commissioner Zhang Kie to hurry preparations for the following year's canal transport plan.

宣徽南院使張方平言：「今之京師，古所謂陳留，天下四衝八達之地，利漕運而贍師旅。國初，浚河渠三道以通漕運，立上供平額，汴河六百萬石，廣濟河六十二萬石，惠民河六十萬石。廣濟河所運，止給太康、咸平、尉氏等縣軍糧，唯汴河運米麥，乃太倉蓄積之實。近罷廣濟河，而惠民河斛斗不入太倉，大眾所賴者汴河。議者屢作改更，必致汴河日失其舊。」十二月，詔浚廣濟河，增置漕舟。其後河成，歲漕京東穀六十萬石。東南諸路上供雜物舊陸運者，增舟水運。押汴河江南、荊湖綱運，七分差三班使臣，三分軍大將、殿侍。又令真、楚、泗州各造淺底舟百艘，分為十綱入汴。

Privy Seal Director Zhang Fangping said: "The present capital is what the ancients called Chenliu, a crossroads where the empire's great routes converge. Its location favors canal transport and the provisioning of armies. At the dynasty's founding, three canals were dredged to carry tribute grain, and standard quotas were set: six million shi on the Bian Canal, 620,000 on the Guangji Canal, and 600,000 on the Huimin Canal. Grain moved on the Guangji Canal served only to feed garrisons in counties such as Taikang, Xianping, and Weishi. Only the rice and wheat transported on the Bian Canal truly filled the reserves of the Great Granary. The Guangji Canal had recently been shut down, and grain from the Huimin Canal no longer reached the Great Granary. The public supply now depended overwhelmingly on the Bian Canal. Reformers keep proposing changes, and that would inevitably cause the Bian Canal to fall further from its former working order. In the twelfth month an edict ordered the Guangji Canal dredged and additional tribute-transport vessels built. Once the canal was finished, 600,000 shi of Jingdong grain were moved by it every year. Miscellaneous tribute goods from the southeastern circuits that had once gone by land were now carried by newly added boats. Escorts for Jiangnan and Jinghu grain convoys on the Bian Canal were assigned seven parts to third-rank envoy-officials and three parts to army generals and palace attendants. Zhen, Chu, and Si prefectures were each told to build a hundred shallow-draft boats, organized into ten convoys for entry into the Bian Canal.

元豐五年，罷廣濟河輦運司及京北排岸司，移上供物於淮陽計置入汴，以清河輦運司為名。御史言廣濟安流而上，與清河溯流入汴，遠近險易不同。詔轉運、提點刑獄比較利害以聞。江、淮等路發運副使蔣之奇、都水監丞陳祐甫開龜山運河，漕運往來，免風濤百年沉溺之患。詔各遷兩官，餘官減年循資有差。八年，罷歲運百萬石赴西京。先是，道洛入汴，運東南粟實洛下，至是，戶部奏罷之。是年，立汴河糧綱賞罰，歲終檢察。紹聖二年，置汴綱，通作二百綱。在部進納官銓試不中者，注押上供糧斛，不用衙前、土人、軍將。未幾，復募土人押諸路綱如故。

In the fifth year of Yuanfeng the Guangji cartage office and the Jingbei shore-management office were abolished. Tribute goods were rerouted through Huaiyang for entry into the Bian, under the title of the Qinghe cartage commission. Censors pointed out that the Guangji runs easily with the current upstream, while the Qinghe must be navigated against the current into the Bian; the routes differ greatly in distance and difficulty. An edict directed the transport commissioners and judicial intendant-censors to weigh the pros and cons and report back. Jiang Zhiqi, vice-commissioner of Jianghuai dispatch, and Chen Youfu, supervisor of the Directorate of Waterways, opened the Guishan transport canal so that tribute convoys could travel back and forth, ending a century-old danger of foundering in wind and waves. An edict advanced each of them by two ranks, while other officials involved received varying reductions in the years required for routine promotion. In the eighth year the annual shipment of one million shi to the Western Capital was discontinued. Earlier, a canal link from the Luo into the Bian had been used to move southeastern grain and store it at Luoyang. Now the Ministry of Revenue memorialized to abolish that arrangement. That year regulations for rewarding and punishing Bian Canal grain convoys were issued, with inspections held at the end of each year. In Shaosheng 2 the Bian convoy system was reorganized into two hundred convoys altogether. Officials awaiting capital appointment who failed the qualifying examination were assigned to escort tribute grain, and the old practice of using yaqian, local men, and military clerks was discontinued. Before long, however, local men were again recruited to escort convoys on the various routes, just as in the past.

政和七年，立東南六路州軍知州、通判裝發上供糧斛任滿賞格，自一萬石至四十萬石升名次減年有差。張根為江南西路轉運副使，歲漕米百二十萬石給中都。江南州郡僻遠，官吏艱於督趣，根常存三十萬石為轉運之本，以寬諸郡，時甚稱之。宣和二年，詔：「六路米麥綱運依法募官，先募未到部小使臣及非泛補授校尉以上未許參部人並進納人管押；淮南以五運，兩浙及江東二千里內以四運，江東二千里外及江西三運，湖南、北二運，各欠不及五厘，依格推賞外，仍許在外指射合入差遣一次。召募土人並罷。」七年，詔結絕應奉司江淮諸局、所及罷花石綱，令逐路漕臣速拘舟船裝發綱運備邊。靖康初，汴河決口有至百步者，塞之，工夫未訖，幹涸月餘，綱運不通，南京及京師皆乏糧。責都水使者陳求道等，命提舉京師所陳良弼同措置。越兩旬，水復舊，綱運遝至，兩京糧乃足。

In Zhenghe 7 reward standards were established for prefects and vice-prefects in the six southeastern circuits who completed their terms after dispatching tribute grain, with promotion in rank and reduction of required service years varying from ten thousand to four hundred thousand shi. Zhang Gen, as vice-commissioner of Jiangxi West transport, moved 1.2 million shi of rice each year to the capital. Because Jiangnan's prefectures were distant and officials struggled to press collections, Gen regularly kept 300,000 shi on hand as a transport reserve to relieve the counties, a policy much praised at the time. In Xuanhe 2 an edict declared: "Rice and wheat convoys from the six circuits are to recruit officials according to law, giving first preference to junior envoys not yet at court, irregularly appointed officers of captain rank and above who had not yet been allowed to attend court, and tribute submitters to serve as escorts; Huainan convoys were rated at five trips; Liangzhe and Jiangdong within two thousand li at four; Jiangdong beyond that distance and Jiangxi at three; and Hunan and Hubei at two. If the shortfall in each case was less than five li, in addition to the standard rewards they were also allowed one outside assignment of their choosing. Recruitment of local men was abolished altogether. In the seventh year an edict ordered the Tribute Service offices and bureaus along the Jiang and Huai closed and the ornamental stone convoys abolished, and directed transport officials on each route to requisition boats at once and dispatch grain convoys to supply the frontier. Early in the Jingkang era the Bian Canal burst in places up to a hundred paces wide. While repairs were still under way the riverbed dried for more than a month, convoys ceased to move, and both Nanjing and the capital faced grain shortages. Chen Qiudao and other directors of waterworks were held responsible, and Chen Liangbi of the capital tribute office was ordered to join in managing the repairs. Within twenty days the water rose again, convoys arrived one after another, and grain supplies in both capitals were restored.

河北、河東、陝西三路租稅薄，不足以供兵費，屯田、營田歲入無幾，糴買入中之外，歲出內藏庫金帛及上京榷貨務緡錢，皆不翅數百萬。選使臣、軍大將，河北船運至乾寧軍，河東、陝西船運至河陽，措置陸運，或用鋪兵廂軍，或發義勇保甲，或差雇夫力，車載馱行，隨道路所宜。河北地裏差近，西路回遠，又涉磧險，運致甚艱。熙寧六年，詔鄜延路經略司支封樁錢於河東買橐駝三百，運沿邊糧草。

Hebei, Hedong, and Shaanxi yielded thin tax revenues, not enough to cover military expenses, and garrison and military farms produced little each year. Apart from grain purchases and frontier deliveries, millions in gold, silk, and cash were also sent out yearly from the inner treasury and the capital monopoly office. Envoy-officials and army generals were chosen to organize the supply lines. Hebei grain went by boat as far as Qianning Army; Hedong and Shaanxi grain as far as Heyang. From there overland transport was arranged, using depot troops or garrison soldiers, calling up militia, or hiring laborers, by cart or pack animal as the road allowed. Hebei was comparatively close, but the western route was long and crossed desert terrain, so transport there was extremely arduous. In Xining 6 an edict allowed the Bianyan frontier command to draw on sealed reserve funds in Hedong to purchase three hundred camels for moving grain and fodder along the border.

元豐四年，河東轉運司調夫萬一千人隨軍，坊郭上戶有差夫四百人者，其次一二百人。願出驢者三驢當五夫，五驢別差一夫驅喝。一夫雇直約三十千以上，一驢約八千，加之期會迫趣，民力不能勝。軍須調發煩擾，又多不急之務，如絳州運棗千石往麟、府，每石止直四百，而雇直乃約費三十緡。涇原路轉運判官張大寧言：「饋運之策，莫若車便。自熙寧砦至磨移口皆大川，通車無礙，自磨移至兜嶺下道路亦然。嶺以北即山險少水，車乘難行。可就嶺南相地利建一城砦，使大車自鎮戎軍載糧草至彼，隨軍馬所在，以軍前夫畜往來短運。更於中路量度遠近，以遣回空夫築立小堡應接，如此則省民力之半。」神宗嘉之。京西轉運司調均、鄧州夫三萬，每五百人差一官部押，赴鄜延饋運。其本路程塗日支錢米外，轉運司計自入陝西界至延州程數，日支米錢三十、柴菜錢十文，並先並給。陝西都轉運司於諸州差雇車乘人夫，所過州交替，人日支米二升、錢五十，至沿邊止。運糧出界，止差廂軍。六年，詔熙河蘭會經略製置司，計置蘭州人萬馬二千般運糧草，於次路州軍剗刮官私橐駝二千與經制司，自熙、河折運。事力不足，發義勇保甲。給河東、陝西邊用非機速者，並作小綱數排日遞送。

In the fourth year of Yuanfeng the Hedong transport commission mobilized 11,000 laborers to march with the army. Leading urban households might supply as many as four hundred men; lesser households one or two hundred. Those who preferred to supply donkeys were credited three donkeys for five laborers, and every five donkeys required an additional driver. Hiring a laborer cost more than thirty thousand cash, and a donkey about eight thousand. With deadlines pressing hard, the people could not endure the burden. Military requisitions were oppressive and often pointless. Dates shipped a thousand shi from Jiang Prefecture to Lin and Fu were worth only four hundred cash per shi, yet freight alone cost about thirty strings per shi. Zhang Daning, transport judge of Jingyuan Circuit, said: "For moving supplies, carts are the most practical method. From Xining Fort to Moyikou, and from Moyikou to the foot of Dou Ridge, the route follows broad river valleys where carts can pass without hindrance. North of the ridge the country turns mountainous and waterless, and carts cannot easily travel there. A fort could be built south of the ridge at a favorable spot, with large carts from Zhenrong Army bringing grain and fodder that far, and army draft animals making short relay hauls wherever the troops happened to be. Small relay forts could also be built at measured intervals along the middle route, using laborers on their return trips, and in that way civilian burdens would be reduced by half. Emperor Shenzong praised the proposal. The Jingxi transport commission mobilized thirty thousand laborers from Jun and Deng prefectures, with one official assigned to escort every five hundred men on supply runs to Bianyan. In addition to the daily cash and grain paid on the home leg of the journey, the transport commission calculated the stages from the Shaanxi border to Yanzhou and paid thirty cash for grain and ten for firewood and vegetables per day, all in advance. The grand transport commission of Shaanxi hired carts and laborers in the prefectures, with relays at each prefecture along the way, paying two sheng of grain and fifty cash per man per day until the border was reached. Once grain crossed the frontier, only garrison troops were detailed to carry it. In the sixth year an edict ordered the Xihe Lanzhou frontier command to organize ten thousand men and two thousand horses at Lanzhou for grain and fodder transport, and to levy two thousand official and private camels from prefectures along the route for relay shipment from Xi and He. If labor proved insufficient, militia were called up. Non-urgent frontier supplies for Hedong and Shaanxi were sent in small convoys on successive days.

大觀二年，京畿都轉運使吳擇仁言：「西輔軍糧，發運司歲撥八萬石貼助，於滎澤下卸，至州尚四、五十里，擺置車三鋪，每鋪七十人，月可運八千四百石。所運漸多，據數增添鋪兵。」靖康元年十月，詔曰：「一方用師，數路調發，軍功未成，民力先困。京西運糧，每名六斗，用錢四十貫；陝西運糧，民間倍費百餘萬緡，聞之駭異。今歲四方豐稔，粒米狼戾，但可逐處增價收糴，不得輕般運，以稱恤民之意。若般綱水運及諸州支移之類仍舊。」三路陸運以給兵費，大略如此，其他州縣運送或軍興調發以給一時之用，此皆不著。

In Daguan 2 Wu Zeren, grand transport commissioner of the capital region, said: "Grain for the western auxiliary armies receives 80,000 shi each year from the dispatch commission as supplemental aid. It is unloaded at Xingze, still forty or fifty li from the prefectural seat. Three cart relay stations are established, seventy men to each, and they can move 8,400 shi a month. As the volume of grain moved increased, relay troops were added in proportion. In the tenth month of Jingkang 1 an edict declared: "When war is waged in one quarter and several circuits are mobilized together, the armies have not yet won victory while the people's strength is already spent. In Jingxi, moving grain cost forty strings for each man carrying six dou; in Shaanxi the people paid more than a million strings above and beyond—news of it was appalling. This year harvests are abundant everywhere and grain overflows in the fields. Officials should buy locally at higher prices and must not lightly impose transport duties, in keeping with the court's wish to relieve the people. Convoy transport by water and the usual prefectural shift obligations are to continue unchanged. Such was the general pattern of overland transport by the three circuits to meet military expenses. Other county shipments and emergency mobilizations for temporary needs are not recorded here.

轉般，自熙寧以來，其法始變，歲運六百萬石給京師外，諸倉常有餘蓄。州郡告歉，則折收上價，謂之額斛。計本州歲額，以倉儲代輸京師，謂之代發。復於豐熟以中價收糴，穀賤則官糴，不至傷農；饑歉則納錢，民以為便。本錢歲增，兵食有餘。崇寧初，蔡京為相，始求羨財以供侈用，費所親胡師文為發運使，以糴本數百萬緡充貢，入為戶部侍郎。來者效尤，時有進獻，而本錢竭矣；本錢既竭，不能增糴，而儲積空矣；儲積既空，無可代發，而轉般之法壞矣。

As for rotation transport, since the Xining era its methods began to change. Apart from the six million shi moved each year to the capital, the various granaries regularly held surpluses. When a prefecture reported a poor harvest, tribute was collected at premium rates; this was called quota grain. The prefecture's annual quota was met by substituting local granary stocks for shipment to the capital; this was called substitute dispatch. In good years grain was also purchased at fair prices. When grain was cheap the state bought it, so farmers were not harmed; in famine years cash was accepted in lieu of grain, which the people found convenient. Purchase capital grew year by year, and military rations remained ample. Early in the Chongning era, after Cai Jing became chief minister, he began hunting surplus funds for lavish spending. He appointed his protégé Hu Shiwen transport commissioner; Hu presented several million strings of purchase capital as tribute and was promoted to vice minister of revenue. Later appointees followed his example, making periodic tribute submissions until the purchase capital was exhausted; once the capital was gone, no further purchases could be made, and the reserves stood empty; once the reserves were empty there was nothing left for substitute dispatch, and the rotation system broke down altogether.

崇寧三年，戶部尚書曾孝廣言：「往年，南自真州江岸，北至楚州淮堤，以堰瀦水，不通重船，般剝勞費。遂於堰旁置轉般倉，受逐州所輸，更用運河船載之入汴，以達京師。雖免推舟過堰之勞，然侵盜之弊由此而起。天聖中，發運使方仲荀奏請度真、楚州堰為水閘，自是東南金帛、茶布之類直至京師，惟六路上供斛斗，猶循用轉般法，吏卒糜費與在路折閱，動以萬數。欲將六路上供斛斗，並依東南雜運直至京師或南京府界卸納，庶免侵盜乞貸之弊。」自是六路郡縣各認歲額，雖湖南、北至遠處，亦直抵京師，號直達綱，豐不加糴，歉不代發。方綱米之來，立法峻甚，船有損壞，所至修整，不得逾時。州縣欲其速過，但令供狀，以錢給之，沿流鄉保悉致騷擾，公私橫費百出。又鹽法已壞，回舟無所得，舟人逃散，船亦隨壞，本法盡廢。

In Chongning 3 Zeng Xiaoguang, minister of revenue, said: "In earlier years, from the Yangtze bank at Zhenzhou in the south to the Huai embankment at Chuzhou in the north, earthen dams held back water and blocked heavy vessels, forcing costly transshipment. Rotation granaries were therefore built beside the dams to receive shipments from each prefecture, and canal boats then carried the grain into the Bian to reach the capital. That spared the labor of hauling boats over the dams, but it also opened the door to embezzlement. During the Tiansheng era Transport Commissioner Fang Zhongxun memorialized to convert the dams at Zhen and Chu into sluice gates. Thereafter gold, silk, tea, cloth, and other southeastern goods went straight to the capital, but tribute grain from the six circuits still followed the rotation system, with officials and soldiers wasting funds and transit losses often reaching tens of thousands. He proposed that tribute grain from all six circuits, like other southeastern goods, be transported directly to the capital or unloaded at the Nanjing prefectural boundary, so as to end embezzlement and unauthorized borrowing. Thereafter each county in the six circuits was assigned its annual quota, and even distant Hunan and Hubei sent grain straight to the capital in what were called direct convoys. In good years no additional purchases were made, and in bad years no substitute dispatch was permitted. When direct convoy grain was on the move, the regulations were harsh. Any damaged boat had to be repaired on the spot without delay. Prefectures and counties, eager to speed convoys through, merely took bonds and paid cash fines. Communities all along the rivers were harassed, and unauthorized fees public and private sprang up everywhere. The salt monopoly had also broken down, so return voyages brought no profit. Boatmen deserted, boats rotted, and the whole system fell apart.

大觀三年，詔直達綱自來年並依舊法復令轉般，令發運司督修倉廒，荊湖北路提舉常平王璹措置諸路運糧舟船。

In Daguan 3 an edict ordered direct convoys from the following year to revert to the old rotation system. The transport commission was told to supervise repair of granaries, and Wang Shao, Ever-Normal intendant of Jinghu North, was to organize grain-transport vessels on the various routes.

政和二年，復行直達綱，毀拆轉般諸倉。譚稹上言：「祖宗建立真、楚、泗州轉般倉，一以備中都緩急，二以防漕渠阻節，三則綱船裝發，資次運行，更無虛日。自其法廢，河道日益淺澀，遂致中都糧儲不繼，淮南三轉般倉不可不復。乞自泗州為始，次及真、楚，既有瓦木，順流而下，不甚勞費。俟歲豐計置儲蓄，立法轉般。」淮南路轉運判官向子諲奏：「轉般之法，寓平糴之意。江、湖有米，可糴於真；兩浙有米，可糴於揚；宿、亳有麥，可糴於泗。坐視六路豐歉，有不登處，則以錢折斛，發運司得以斡旋之，不獨無歲額不足之憂，因可以寬民力。運渠旱幹，則有汴口倉。今所患者，向來糴本歲五百萬緡，支移殆盡。」

In Zhenghe 2 direct convoys were restored and the rotation granaries were torn down. Tan Ji memorialized: "The founders established rotation granaries at Zhen, Chu, and Si for three reasons: to meet emergencies at the capital, to buffer blockages on the canals, and to keep convoy boats loading and sailing in steady rotation without idle days. Since that system was abandoned the canals have grown shallower year by year, and the capital's grain reserves have faltered. The three Huainan rotation granaries must be restored. I ask that restoration begin at Sizhou and then extend to Zhen and Chu. Timber is already on hand and can be floated downstream, so the labor and expense should not be great. When harvests are good, reserves should be built up and the rotation system re-established by law. Xiang Ziyin, transport judge of Huainan, memorialized: "The rotation system embodies the idea of stabilizing grain prices through purchase. Where the Jiang region and lakes have rice, it can be bought at Zhen; where Liangzhe has rice, it can be bought at Yang; where Suzhou and Bozhou have wheat, it can be bought at Si. By watching harvest conditions across the six circuits, officials could substitute cash for grain wherever yields fell short, giving the transport commission room to maneuver. That not only eased fears of failing to meet annual quotas but also lightened the people's burdens. When the transport canals ran low, there was the Bian mouth granary to fall back on. What troubles us now is that the five million strings of purchase capital allocated each year has nearly all been swallowed up by shift obligations."

宣和五年，乃降度牒及香、鹽鈔各一百萬貫，令呂淙、盧宗原均糴斛斗，專備轉般。江西轉運判官蕭序辰言：「轉般道里不加遠，而人力不勞卸納，年豐可以廣糴厚積，以待中都之用。自行直達，道里既遠，情弊尤多，如大江東西、荊湖南北有終歲不能行一運者，有押米萬石欠七八千石，有拋失舟船、兵梢逃散、十不存一二者。折欠之弊生於稽留，而沿路官司多端阻節，至有一路漕司不自置舟船，截留他路回綱，尤為不便。」詔發運司措置。六年，以無額上供錢物並六路舊欠發斛斗錢，貯為糴本，別降三百萬貫付盧宗原，將湖南所起年額，並隨正額預起拋欠斛斗於轉般倉下卸，卻將已卸均糴斗斛轉運上京，所有直達，候轉般斛斗有次第日罷之。靖康元年，令東南六路上供額斛，除淮南、兩浙依舊直達外，江、湖四路並措置轉般。

In Xuanhe 5 the court issued ordination certificates and salt and frankincense certificates worth one million strings each, ordering Lu Cong and Lu Zongyuan to purchase grain evenly and set it aside exclusively for rotation transport. Xiao Xuchen, transport judge of Jiangxi, said: "Rotation transport adds no real distance, and men are not worn out by repeated unloading. In good years grain can be bought in quantity and stored thickly against the capital's needs. Under direct transport the distances are greater and abuses multiply. East and west of the Yangtze and north and south of Jinghu, some regions could not finish even one trip in a year. Convoys entrusted with ten thousand shi might arrive short seven or eight thousand. Boats were abandoned, crews deserted, and only one or two in ten might survive. Shortfalls arose from delays, while officials along the route created endless obstructions. Some transport commissions failed to maintain their own boats and simply seized returning convoys from other routes—a practice especially harmful. An edict ordered the transport commission to take charge of the matter. In year 6 unscheduled tribute funds and six circuits' old dispatch-grain arrears were set aside as purchase capital; three million strings went to Lu Zongyuan to take Hunan's annual quota, advance shortfalls with regular quotas into relay granaries, then ship equal-purchase grain to the capital; direct convoys would end once relay grain moved in order. In the first year of Jingkang the court ordered tribute grain from the six southeastern circuits: Huainan and Two Zhe kept direct convoys, while the four Jiang and Hu circuits switched to relay transport.

高宗建炎元年，詔諸路綱米以三分之一輸送行在，餘輸京師。二年，詔二廣、湖南北、江東西綱運輸送平江府，京畿、淮南、京東西、河北、陝西及三綱輸送行在。又詔二廣、湖南北綱運如過兩浙，許輸送平江府；福建綱運過江東、西，亦許輸送江寧府。三年，又詔諸路綱運見錢並糧輸送建康府戶部，其金銀、絹帛並輸送行在。紹興初，因地之宜，以兩浙之粟供行在，以江東之粟餉淮東，以江西之粟餉淮西，荊湖之粟餉鄂、嶽、荊南。量所用之數，責漕臣將輸，而歸其餘於行在，錢帛亦然。雇舟差夫，不勝其弊，民間有自毀其舟、自廢其田者。

In Gaozong's Jianyan year 1 an edict required one-third of convoy grain from every circuit sent to the mobile court and the rest to the capital. In year 2 convoys from Two Guang, Hunan, and Jiangdong West were sent to Pingjiang; the capital region, Huainan, Jingdong, Hebei, Shaanxi, and the three convoy routes went to the mobile court. Another edict allowed Two Guang and Hunan convoys passing through Two Zhe to deliver at Pingjiang; Fujian convoys passing through Jiangdong West could also deliver at Jiangning. In year 3 convoy cash and grain were sent to the Jiankang Ministry of Revenue; gold, silver, and silks went to the mobile court. Early in Shaoxing the court matched grain to place: Two Zhe fed the mobile court, Jiangdong Huaidong, Jiangxi Huaixi, and Jinghu the E, Yue, and Jingnan garrisons. Required amounts were set, transport commissioners delivered them, and surpluses went to the mobile court—the same for cash and silks. Hiring boats and drafting laborers grew unbearably abusive; some people destroyed their boats or abandoned their fields.

紹興四年，川、陝宣撫吳玠調兩川夫運米一十五萬斛至利州，率四十餘千致一斛，饑病相仍，道死者眾，蜀人病之。漕臣趙開聽民以粟輸內郡，募舟挽之，人以為便。總領所遣官就糴於沿流諸郡，復就興、利、閬州置場，聽商人入中。然猶慮民之勞且憊也，又減成都水運對糴米。紹興十六年。

In Shaoxing year 4 Wu Jie mobilized Sichuan labor to move 150,000 hu of rice to Lizhou at over forty thousand cash per hu; hunger and disease killed many on the road, and the people of Shu suffered. Transport commissioner Zhao Kai let people deliver grain to inner prefectures and hired boats to haul it—a welcome relief. General-command officials bought grain along the river and set up markets in Xing, Li, and Lang, allowing merchant entry submission. Still fearing popular exhaustion, the court also cut Chengdu water-transport matched-purchase grain. Shaoxing year 16.

三十年，科撥諸路上供米：鄂兵歲用米四十五萬餘石，於全、永、郴、邵、道、衡、潭、鄂、鼎科撥；荊南兵歲用米九萬六千石，於德安、荊南、澧、純、潭、復、荊門、漢陽科撥；池州兵歲用米十四萬四千石，於吉、信、南安科撥；建康兵歲用米五十五萬石，於洪、江、池、宣、太平、臨江、興國、南康、廣德科撥；行在合用米一百十二萬石，就用兩浙米外，於建康、太平、宣科撥；其宣州見屯殿前司牧馬歲用米，並折輸馬料三萬石，於本州科撥；並諸路轉運司樁發。時內外諸軍歲費米三百萬斛，而四川不預焉。

In year 30 tribute rice was allocated by circuit: Ezhou's 450,000-plus shi yearly came from Quan, Yong, Chen, Shao, Dao, Heng, Tan, E, and Ding; Jingnan's 96,000 shi came from De'an, Jingnan, Li, Chun, Tan, Fu, Jingmen, and Hanyang; Chizhou's 144,000 shi came from Ji, Xin, and Nan'an; Jiankang's 550,000 shi came from Hong, Jiang, Chi, Xuan, Taiping, Linjiang, Xingguo, Nankang, and Guangde; the mobile court needed 1,120,000 shi yearly; beyond Two Zhe grain, Jiankang, Taiping, and Xuan supplied the rest; Xuanzhou's Palace Front Office horse pastures and 30,000 shi of fodder paid in conversion were allocated within the prefecture; all drawn from circuit transport commissions' sealed stores. Armies inside and outside the capital then consumed three million hu yearly, excluding Sichuan.

嘉定兵興，揚、楚間轉輸不絕，濠、廬、安豐舟楫之通亦便矣，而浮光之屯，仰饋於齊安、舒、蘄之民；遠者千里，近者亦數百里。至於京西之儲，襄、郢猶可徑達，獨棗陽陸運，夫皆調於湖北鼎、澧等處，道路遼邈，夫運不過八斗，而資糧屝屨與夫所在邀求，費常十倍。中產之家雇替一夫，為錢四五十千；單弱之人一夫受役，則一家離散，至有斃於道路者。

When war broke out in Jiading, Yang-Chu transport never stopped and boats reached Hao, Lu, and Anfeng easily; yet the Fuguang garrison depended on supplies from Qi'an, Shu, and Qi; the distant hauls ran a thousand li, the near ones still several hundred. Western Jing stores reached Xiang and Ying directly; only Zaoyang used overland hauls with laborers drafted from Hubei's Ding and Li; roads were vast, each man carried at most eight dou, yet food, sandals, and local exactions often made costs ten times the grain. Middle-income families paid forty or fifty thousand cash to hire a substitute; when a weak household sent one man on corvée the family scattered, and some died on the road.

至於部送綱運，並差見任官，闕則選募得替待闕及寄居官有材幹者，其責繁難，人以為憚。故自紹興以來優立賞格，其有欠者亦多方而憫之。乾道初，蠲欠五十石以下者；三年，蠲欠百石以下者。九年，初，綱運欠及一分者送有司究弊。至是，臣僚申明綱運欠及一分者亦許其補足。淳熙元年，詔：「不以所欠多寡，並無除放。其有因綱欠追降官資者，如本非侵盜，且補輸已足，許敘復。」自是綱運欠失雖責償於官吏，然以其山川逾遠，非一人所能究，亦時寓於蠲放焉。

Convoy escort fell to incumbent officials, or when posts were vacant to acting, awaiting-replacement, or capable resident officials—a complex, dreaded duty. From Shaoxing onward generous rewards were set, and many forms of leniency applied to shortfalls. Early in Qiandao shortfalls of fifty shi or less were remitted; in year 3 shortfalls of one hundred shi or less were remitted. In year 9 convoy shortfalls of one-tenth or more were first sent to the responsible offices for investigation. Then officials ruled that shortfalls of one-tenth or more could be made up instead. In the first year of Chunxi an edict declared: "Regardless of the amount owed, no remission shall be granted. Officials demoted for convoy shortfalls who had not embezzled and had fully paid up could have their ranks restored." Thereafter convoy losses were charged to officials, yet because routes crossed vast distances no one person could fully account for them, and remission was sometimes implied as well.

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