Volume 179 Treatises 132: Finance and Economics 2a

食貨下一〈（會計）〉

Finance and Economics, Part Two (Accounting) closing mark〉

宋貨財之製，多因於唐。自天寶以後，天下多事，戶口凋耗，租稅日削，法既變而用不給，故興利者進，而征斂名額繁矣。方鎮握重兵，皆留財賦自贍，其上供殊鮮。五代疆境逼蹙，藩鎮益強，率令部曲主場、院，其屬三司者，補大吏以臨之，輸額之外亦私有焉。

Song institutions governing wealth and commodities largely inherited those of the Tang. After the Tianbao reign, the empire was beset by turmoil: registered households declined, land tax revenues shrank steadily, and repeated legal reforms still failed to meet expenditure. Profit-seeking officials rose in influence, and the roster of taxes and exactions multiplied. Regional military governors controlled large armies, kept tax revenues for their own support, and sent very little to the central government. During the Five Dynasties, as territory shrank, regional governors grew more powerful. They usually placed their own retainers in charge of markets and monopoly bureaus; even where an office fell under the Three Departments, they posted senior men to supervise it and kept for themselves whatever exceeded the official quota.

太祖周知其弊，及受命，務恢遠略，修建法程，示之以漸。建隆中，牧守來朝，猶不貢奉以助軍實。乾德三年，始詔諸州支度經費外，凡金帛悉送闕下，毋或占留。時藩郡有闕，稍命文臣權知所在場務，或遣京朝官廷臣監臨。於是外權始削，而利歸公上，條禁文簿漸為精密。諸州通判官到任，皆須躬閱帳籍所列官物，吏不得以售其奸。主庫吏三年一易。市征、地課、鹽曲之類，通判官、兵馬都監、縣令等並親臨之，見月籍供三司，秩滿較其殿最，欺隱者寘於法。募告者，賞錢三十萬。而小民求財報怨，訴訟煩擾，未幾，除募告之禁。

Taizu understood these abuses well. Once he took the throne, he set about restoring long-range policy, strengthening the legal framework, and introducing reform step by step. As late as the Jianlong era, prefects and governors attending court still did not send tribute to bolster military stores. In Qiande 3, an edict for the first time required every prefecture, after meeting its budgeted expenses, to send all gold and silk to the capital with no local retention. When a post in a former regional command fell vacant, the court increasingly assigned civil officials to manage local revenue offices on a provisional basis, or dispatched capital officials to supervise them directly. Regional power was thus pared back, revenue flowed to the central treasury, and regulations and account books grew steadily more exact. On taking office, each prefectural general assessor had to inspect the official goods recorded in the ledgers in person, so clerks could not conceal fraud. Warehouse chiefs were rotated every three years. Market taxes, land dues, salt and liquor monopolies, and similar revenues had to be overseen in person by general assessors, military inspectors, and magistrates. Monthly registers went to the Three Departments; at term's end officials were ranked on performance, and concealment was prosecuted. Informants were offered a reward of three hundred thousand cash. Commoners soon used the reward to settle scores and enrich themselves, flooding the courts with suits, and before long the informant bounty was abolished.

先是，茶鹽榷酤課額少者，募豪民主之。民多增額求利，歲更荒儉，商旅不行，至虧常課，乃籍其資產以償。太宗始詔以開寶八年為額，既又慮其未均，乃遣使分詣諸州，同長吏裁定。凡左藏及諸庫受納諸州上供均輸金銀、絲帛暨他物，令監臨官謹視之。欺而多取，主稱、藏吏皆斬，監臨官亦重置其罪。罷三司大將及軍將主諸州榷課，命使臣分掌。掌務官吏虧課當罰，長吏以下分等連坐。雍熙二年，令三分勾院糾本部陷失官錢，及百千賞以十之一，至五千貫者遷其職。

Previously, where tea, salt, and liquor monopoly quotas were low, wealthy locals were recruited to run the franchises. Contractors often raised quotas to maximize profit. In bad harvest years trade collapsed, regular revenue fell short, and their assets were seized to cover the loss. Taizong first fixed quotas at the Kaibao 8 level, then, fearing uneven burdens, dispatched envoys to each prefecture to set quotas jointly with local chiefs. Gold, silver, silk, and other tribute and transport goods accepted into the Left Treasury and other storehouses were placed under strict supervision. Fraudulent over-collection was punishable by decapitation for weighers and warehouse clerks, with heavy penalties for supervising officials as well. The court abolished Three Departments generals and military officers who ran prefectural monopolies and assigned imperial commissioners to take over. Officials responsible for revenue shortfalls were punished, with graded joint liability extending down from the prefectural chief. In Yongxi 2, the Three Departments' audit bureaus were ordered to pursue missing official funds in their jurisdictions: informants received one-tenth of sums recovered from one hundred strings upward, and officials who recovered five thousand strings were promoted.

淳化元年詔曰：“周設司會之職，以一歲為準；漢製上計之法，以三年為期。所以詳知國用之盈虛，大行群吏之誅賞，斯乃舊典，其可廢乎？三司自今每歲具見管金銀、錢帛、軍儲等簿以聞。 ”四年，改三司為總計司，左右大計分掌十道財賦。令京東西南北各以五十州為率，每州軍歲計金銀、錢、繒帛、芻粟等費，逐路關報總計司，總計司置簿，左右計使通計置裁給，餘州亦如之。未幾，復為三部。

An edict of Chunhua 1 read: "Zhou established the office of Grand Accountant on an annual standard; Han devised the upward accounting system on a three-year cycle. Thereby to track the state's surplus and deficit and to reward or punish officials at scale. Such was the ancient practice—can it be abandoned? Henceforth the Three Departments shall submit annual registers of gold, silver, cash, silk, military stores, and related holdings. " In the fourth year the Three Departments became the General Accounts Office, with Left and Right Grand Accountants each overseeing the finances of five circuits. Each of the four capital circuits was to take fifty prefectures as a unit. Every prefecture and army district was to report annual expenditures in gold, silver, cash, silk, fodder, and grain to its circuit, which forwarded them to the General Accounts Office. The Left and Right Accountants then calculated allocations; other prefectures followed the same procedure. Before long the office reverted to the three-department form.

宋聚兵京師，外州無留財，天下支用悉出三司，故其費浸多。太宗孜孜庶務，或親為裁決。有司嚐言油衣、帟幕損破者數萬段，帝令煮之，染以雜色，製旗幟數千。調退材給窯務為薪，俾擇其可用者造什物數千事。其愛民惜費類此。

Because the Song concentrated armies in the capital and allowed no funds to remain in the provinces, virtually all imperial expenditure passed through the Three Departments, and their costs steadily rose. Taizong attended diligently to administration and sometimes decided fiscal matters in person. When officials reported tens of thousands of damaged oiled coats and tent panels, the emperor had them boiled, dyed in mixed colors, and turned into several thousand banners and flags. Surplus lumber was sent to the imperial kilns as fuel, and usable pieces were fashioned into thousands of assorted goods. His frugality and care for the people took such forms.

真宗嗣位，詔三司經度茶、鹽、酒稅以充歲用，勿增賦斂以困黎元。是時條禁愈密，較課以租額前界遞年相參。景德初，榷務連歲增羨，三司即取多收者為額。帝慮或致掊克，詔凡增額比奏。上封者言：“諸路歲課增羨，知州、通判皆書曆為課最，有虧者則無罰。 ”乃令諸路茶、鹽、酒稅及諸場務，自今總一歲之課，合為一，以額較之。有虧則計分數，知州、通判減監官一等科罰，州司典吏減專典一等論，大臣及武臣知州軍者止罰通判以下。

On succeeding to the throne, Zhenzong ordered the Three Departments to manage tea, salt, and liquor taxes for annual needs and not to increase levies that would burden the people. Regulations grew tighter, and revenue targets were assessed against prior quotas and year-by-year comparisons. Early in the Jingde era, as monopoly revenues rose several years in a row, the Three Departments promptly set quotas at the highest collected level. Fearing extortion, the emperor required every quota increase to be reported for imperial approval. A memorialist said: "When circuit revenues exceeded quota, prefects and general assessors recorded the surplus as outstanding performance, but shortfalls went unpunished. " The court then ordered that tea, salt, liquor taxes, and all field offices on each circuit combine their annual receipts into a single total for comparison with the quota. Deficits were measured in proportional points. Prefects and general assessors were penalized one grade below supervising officials; prefectural clerks one grade below specialists. Where a grand minister or military man served as prefect, only the general assessor and subordinates were punished.

至道末，天下總入緡錢二千二百二十四萬五千八百。三歲一親祀郊丘，計緡錢常五百餘萬，大半以金銀、綾綺、絁綢平其直給之。天禧末，上供惟錢帛增多，餘以移用頗減舊數，而天下總入一萬五千八十五萬一百，出一萬二千六百七十七萬五千二百，而贏數不預焉。景德郊祀七百餘萬，東封八百餘萬，祀汾陰、上寶冊又增二十萬。丁謂為三司使，著《景德會計錄》以獻，林特領使，亦繼為之。凡舉大禮，有司皆籍當時所費以聞，必優詔獎之。

By the end of the Zhidao era, total empire-wide revenue in cash strings was 22,245,800. Every three years the emperor performed the suburban sacrifice, costing routinely more than five million strings of cash, mostly paid in gold, silver, and silks at assessed value. By the end of Tianxi, only cash and silk tribute had risen sharply, while other categories transferred for use fell well below earlier levels. Total revenue reached 150,850,100 strings, expenditure 126,775,200, not counting surpluses. The Jingde suburban rite cost over seven million; the eastern feng over eight million; the Fenyin sacrifice and presentation of the precious register added another two hundred thousand. As Three Departments commissioner, Ding Wei compiled and presented the 《Jingde Accounting Records》; Lin Te, who succeeded him as commissioner, did the same. Whenever a major rite was held, officials recorded its costs and reported them, and the emperor invariably issued a commendatory edict.

初，吳、蜀、江南、荊湖、南粵皆號富強，相繼降附，太祖、太宗因其蓄藏，守以恭儉簡易。天下生齒尚寡，而養兵未甚蕃，任官未甚冗，佛老之徒未甚熾；外無金繒之遺，百姓亦各安其生，不為巧偽放侈，故上下給足，府庫羨溢。承平既久，戶口歲增，兵籍益廣，吏員益眾。佛老、外國耗蠹中土，縣官之費數倍於昔，百姓亦稍縱侈，而上下始困於財矣。

At first Wu, Shu, Jiangnan, Jinghu, and southern Yue were all renowned for wealth. After they submitted in turn, Taizu and Taizong drew on their accumulated stores while governing with respectful frugality. The population was still small, the army not yet very large, the bureaucracy not yet bloated, and Buddhist and Daoist establishments not yet dominant; no great foreign drain on treasure existed, and the people lived securely without fraud or extravagance. Supply met demand at every level, and the treasuries brimmed with surplus. After prolonged peace, population, military rolls, and the civil service all expanded year by year. Buddhist and Daoist institutions and foreign relations drained the empire; state costs rose severalfold over earlier times; the people grew somewhat extravagant—and court and country alike began to feel fiscal strain.

仁宗承之，經費浸廣。天聖初，首命有司取景德一歲用度，較天禧所出，省其不急者。自祥符天書一出，齋醮糜費甚眾，京城之內，一夕數處，至是，始大裁損。京師營造，多內侍傳旨呼索，費無藝極。帝與太后知其弊，詔自今營造所須，先下三司度功費然後給。又減內外宮觀清衛卒及工匠，分隸諸軍、八作司。舊殿直已上，雖幼未任朝謁，遇乾元、長寧節皆賜服，至是亦罷給。故事，上尊號、諡號，隨冊寶物並用黃金。帝曰：“先帝、太后用黃金，若朕所禦，止用塗金。 ”時洞真宮、壽寧觀相繼災，宰相張知白請罷不急營造，以答天戒。及滑州塞決河，御史知雜王鬷復以為言。既而玉清昭應宮災，遂詔諭中外，不復繕修。自是道家之奉有節，土木之費省矣。

Renzong inherited this situation, and routine expenditure steadily grew. Early in Tiansheng he first ordered officials to compare Jingde annual spending with Tianxi outlays and cut nonessential items. Since the appearance of the Xiangfu Heavenly Writ, fasting rites had consumed vast sums, with several sites active in the capital on a single night. Now these were sharply reduced for the first time. Capital construction was often ordered by palace eunuchs summoning materials on imperial authority, with costs bound by no rule. The emperor and empress dowager recognized the abuse and decreed that henceforth all construction needs must be estimated by the Three Departments before funds were issued. They also cut guard soldiers and artisans attached to palace and temple establishments, reassigning them to regular armies and the Eight Works Office. By former custom, even junior palace attendants too young for court audiences received festival garments on Qiankun and Changning days; these grants were now abolished. By precedent, honorific and posthumous titles were accompanied by register and treasure objects made of solid gold. The emperor said: "My predecessors used solid gold; for my own regalia, gilding alone will suffice. " When fires struck the Dongzhen Palace and Shouning Abbey in succession, Chief Councilor Zhang Zhibai asked to halt nonessential construction in response to Heaven's warning. When the breach at Huazhou was sealed, Supervising Censor Wang Zong raised the same plea. When the Yujing Zhaoying Palace burned, an edict announced to the empire that it would not be rebuilt. Daoist state patronage was thereafter restrained, and construction costs fell.

帝天資恭儉，尤務約己以先天下，有司言利者，多擯不取。聞民之有疾苦，雖厚利，舍之無所愛。貢獻珍異，故事有者，或罷之。山林、川澤、陂池之利，久與民共者，屢敕有司毋輒禁止。至於州縣征取苛細，蠲減蓋不可勝數。

The emperor was naturally modest and frugal, leading by personal restraint. Proposals aimed chiefly at profit were usually rejected. When he learned that the people suffered hardship, he would abandon even lucrative revenue without hesitation. Some exotic tribute items required by precedent were abolished. He repeatedly ordered officials not to prohibit access to mountains, rivers, marshes, and ponds long shared with the people. Harsh or petty levies by prefectures and counties were remitted in countless instances.

至寶元中，陝西用兵，調度百出，縣官之費益廣。天章閣侍讀賈昌朝言：“臣嚐治畿邑，邑有禁兵三千，而留萬戶賦輸，僅能取足，郊祀慶賞，乃出自內府。計江、淮歲運糧六百餘萬石，以一歲之入，僅能充期月之用，三分二在軍旅，一在冗食，先所蓄聚，不盈數載。天下久無事，而財不藏於國，又不在民，儻有水旱軍戎之急，計將安出？ ”於是議省冗費。右司諫韓琦言：“省費當自掖庭始。請詔三司取先朝及近歲賜予日費之數，裁為中製，無名者一切罷之。 ”乃令入內內侍省、禦藥院、內東門司裁定，有司不預焉。

By Baoyuan, war in Shaanxi multiplied supply arrangements, and state costs grew still further. Hanlin reader Jia Changchao said: "I once governed a capital-region county. It had three thousand garrison troops but only the tax yield of ten thousand households, barely enough to meet obligations; suburban rewards came from the inner treasury. The Jiang-Huai grain transport exceeds six million piculs a year, yet annual revenue barely covers one month's spending: two-thirds goes to the military, one-third to waste. Stored reserves would not last several years. The empire has been at peace for years, yet wealth sits neither in the treasury nor with the people. If flood, drought, or war strikes, where will funds come from? " The court then debated cutting waste. Right Remonstrator Han Qi said: "Economy should begin in the inner palace. I ask that the Three Departments review daily grants and gifts of earlier reigns and recent years, set a moderate standard, and abolish all unnamed items. " The Inner Palace Directorate, Imperial Pharmacy, and Inner East Gate Office were ordered to set the amounts without regular agencies taking part.

議者或欲損吏兵奉賜。帝謂：“祿廩皆有定制，毋遽變更以搖人心。 ”尹洙在陝西，請為鬻爵之法，亦不果行。其後西兵久不解，財用益屈，內出詔書：“減皇后至宗室婦郊祠半賜，著為式；皇后、嬪禦進奉乾元節回賜物皆減半，宗室、外命婦回賜權罷。 ”於是皇后、嬪禦各上奉錢五月以助軍費，宗室刺史已上，亦納公使錢之半。荊王元儼盡納公使錢，詔給其半，後以元儼叔父，全給如故。帝亦命罷左藏庫月進錢一千二百緡。公卿、近臣以次減郊祠所賜銀絹，舊四千、三千者損一千，千損三百，三百損百，百損二十，皆著為式。

Some proposed cutting official and military salaries and allowances. The emperor said: "Salaries and rations are fixed by regulation; do not change them hastily and unsettle morale. Yin Zhu in Shaanxi proposed selling offices for revenue, but that too was not adopted. As the western war dragged on and finances tightened, an inner edict declared: "Halve suburban grants to the empress and clanswomen, and make this permanent rule; halve Qiankun festival gifts to the empress and consorts; suspend return gifts to the imperial clan and titled ladies. " The empress and consorts then each contributed five months' stipends to military funds, and imperial clansmen of prefect rank and above paid half their public-service allowances. Prince Jing Yuan Yan paid his full public-service allowance; the court returned half, then restored the full amount because he was the emperor's uncle. The emperor also abolished the Left Treasury's monthly advance of 1,200 strings of cash. Grand ministers and close officials had suburban gifts of silver and silk reduced stepwise: former grants of four or three thousand were cut by one thousand; one thousand by three hundred; three hundred by one hundred; one hundred by twenty—all codified as permanent rules.

三司使王堯臣取陝西、河北、河東三路未用兵及用兵後歲出入財用之數，會計以聞。寶元元年未用兵，三路出入錢帛糧草：陝西入一千九百七十八萬，出二千一百五十一萬；河北入二千一十四萬，出一千八百二十三萬；河東入一千三十八萬，出八百五十九萬。用兵後，陝西入三千三百九十萬，出三千三百六十三萬，蓋視河東、北尤劇，以兵屯陝西特多故也。又計京師出入金帛：寶元元年，入一千九百五十萬，出二千一百八十五萬，是歲郊祠，故出入之數視常歲為多；慶曆二年，入二千九百二十九萬，出二千六百一十七萬，而奇數皆不預焉。

Three Departments commissioner Wang Yao-chen compiled and reported annual revenue and expenditure for the Shaanxi, Hebei, and Hedong circuits before and after the war. In Baoyuan 1, before hostilities, the three circuits' cash, silk, grain, and fodder accounts were: Shaanxi, revenue 19,780,000, expenditure 21,510,000; Hebei, revenue 20,140,000, expenditure 18,230,000; Hedong, revenue 10,380,000, expenditure 8,590,000. After hostilities, Shaanxi revenue was 33,900,000 and expenditure 33,630,000—far heavier than Hedong or Hebei because troops were concentrated there in greatest number. Capital gold and silk accounts were also compiled: in Baoyuan 1, revenue 19,500,000 and expenditure 21,850,000—the higher figures reflected that year's suburban sacrifice; in Qingli 2, revenue 29,290,000 and expenditure 26,170,000, not counting miscellaneous items.

會元昊請臣，朝廷亦已厭兵，屈意撫納，歲賜繒、茶增至二十五萬；而契丹邀割地，復增歲遺至五十萬，自是歲費彌有所加。西兵既罷，而調用無所減，乃下詔切責邊臣及轉運司趣議裁節，稍徙戍兵還內地。命三司戶部副使包拯行河北，與邊臣、轉運司議罷省冗官，汰軍士之不任役者。詔翰林學士承旨王堯臣等較近歲天下財賦出入之數，相參耗登。皇祐元年，入一億二千六百二十五萬一千九百六十四，而所出無餘。堯臣等為書七卷上之，送三司，取一歲中數以為定式。初，真宗時，內外兵九十一萬二千，宗室、吏員受祿者九千七百八十五。寶元以後，募兵益廣，宗室蕃衍，吏員歲增。至是，兵一百二十五萬九千，宗室、吏員受祿者萬五千四百四十三，祿廩奉賜從而增廣。及景德中，祀南郊，內外賞賚金帛、緡錢總六百一萬。至是，饗明堂，增至一千二百餘萬，故用度不得不屈。

When Yuan Hao submitted, the court, weary of war, conciliated him and raised annual gifts of silk and tea to 250,000; but the Khitan demanded territory and raised the annual tribute to 500,000, and yearly costs rose still further. When the western war ended, military spending did not fall. The emperor issued a stern edict ordering frontier officials and transport commissioners to propose cuts and gradually moved garrison troops back to the interior. The court ordered Bao Zheng, vice commissioner of the Three Departments' Households Bureau, to tour Hebei and, with frontier officials and transport commissioners, discuss cutting redundant officials and dismissing soldiers unfit for duty. The emperor ordered Hanlin expositor Wang Yao-chen and others to compare recent empire-wide revenue and expenditure and reconcile surpluses and deficits. In Huangyou 1, revenue reached 126,251,964, with nothing left after expenditure. Wang Yao-chen and his colleagues compiled a seven-scroll report, sent it to the Three Departments, and established one year's figures as the permanent standard. Under Zhenzong, inner and outer forces totaled 912,000 men, and clansmen and salaried officials numbered 9,785. After Baoyuan, recruitment expanded, the imperial clan grew, and the bureaucracy increased yearly. By then troops numbered 1,259,000 and salaried clansmen and officials 15,443, with salaries, rations, and allowances rising accordingly. At the Jingde southern suburban sacrifice, inner and outer rewards in gold, silk, and cash totaled 6,010,000. By then the Bright Hall feast cost over twelve million, forcing expenditure to be squeezed.

至和中，諫官範鎮上疏曰：“陛下每遇水旱之災，必露立仰天，痛自刻責，而吏不稱職，陛下憂勤於上，人民愁歎於下。今歲無麥，朝廷為放稅免役及發倉廩拯貸，存恤之恩不為不至。然人民流離，父母妻子不相保者，平居無事時，不少寬其力役，輕其租賦；歲大熟，民不得終歲之飽；及有小歉，雖加重放，已不及事。此無他，重斂之政在前也。國家自陝西用兵以來，賦役煩重。及近年，轉運使復於常賦外進羨錢以助南郊，其餘無名斂率不可勝計。”

During Zhihe, Remonstrator Fan Zhen memorialized: "Whenever flood or drought strikes, Your Majesty stands in the open air, looking heavenward in self-reproach, while officials fail in their duties. You toil in concern above as the people groan below. This year the wheat crop has failed. The court has remitted taxes, exempted corvée, and opened granaries for relief loans—mercy could hardly be more complete. Yet people still flee their homes, unable to keep families together. Even in peaceful times their corvée is not lightened nor their taxes reduced; in bumper years they cannot eat their fill for a whole year; and when harvests fail, even heavier remissions come too late. The reason is simple: heavy exactions came first. Since the Shaanxi war, levies and corvée have multiplied. In recent years transport commissioners again submitted surplus funds beyond regular levies to help fund the southern suburban rite, while countless other unnamed exactions piled on.

又言：“古者塚宰製國用，今中書主民，樞密主兵，三司主財，各不相知。故財已匱而樞密院益兵不已，民已困而三司取財不已。中書視民之困，而不知使樞密減兵、三司寬財者，製國用之職不在中書也。願使中書、樞密通知兵民財利大計，與三司量其出入，製為國用，則天下民力庶幾少寬。 ”然自天聖以來，帝以經費為慮，屢命官裁節，而有司不能承上之意，卒無所建明。

He also said: "In antiquity the Grand Steward regulated state expenditure. Today the Secretariat governs the people, the Bureau of Military Affairs the army, and the Three Departments wealth—each in ignorance of the others. Treasury funds are exhausted, yet the Bureau of Military Affairs keeps enlarging the army; the people are exhausted, yet the Three Departments keep extracting revenue. The Secretariat sees popular distress but cannot order troop cuts or fiscal relief because regulating state expenditure is not its charge. Let the Secretariat and Bureau of Military Affairs coordinate with the Three Departments on troops, people, and revenue, and set national expenditure accordingly—the people's burden might then ease somewhat. Yet from Tiansheng onward, though the emperor repeatedly ordered economies, the agencies failed to carry out his intent and proposed nothing effective.

治平中，兵數少損，隸籍者猶百十六萬二千，宗室、吏員視皇祐無慮增十之三。英宗以勤儉自飭，然享國日淺，於經紀法度所未暇焉。治平二年，內外入一億一千六百十三萬八千四百五，出一億二千三十四萬三千一百七十四，非常出者又一千一百五十二萬一千二百七十八。是歲，諸路積一億六千二十九萬二千九十三，而京師不預焉。

In Zhiping troop numbers fell somewhat, but registered forces still totaled 1,162,000, while clansmen and officials rose at least thirty percent over Huangyou levels. Yingzong practiced diligence and frugality, but his reign was brief and he had no time to reorganize fiscal institutions. In Zhiping 2, revenue was 116,138,405 and regular expenditure 120,343,174, with another 11,521,278 in extraordinary spending. That year the circuits held reserves of 160,292,093, excluding the capital.

神宗嗣位，尤先理財。熙寧初，命翰林學士司馬光等置局看詳裁減國用制度，仍取慶曆二年數，比今支費不同者，開析以聞。後數日，光登對言：“國用不足，在用度大奢，賞賜不節，宗室繁多，官職冗濫，軍旅不精。必須陛下與兩府大臣及三司官吏，深思救弊之術，磨以歲月，庶幾有效，非愚臣一朝一夕所能裁減。 ”帝遂罷裁減局，但下三司共析。

On succeeding to the throne, Shenzong made fiscal management a top priority. Early in Xining he ordered Sima Guang and others to establish a bureau to review and cut state spending, comparing current costs with Qingli 2 figures and reporting discrepancies. Days later Guang told the emperor in audience: "Revenue is short because spending is extravagant, rewards uncontrolled, the imperial clan large, offices redundant, and the army inefficient. Your Majesty must work with the chief ministers and Three Departments over months and years on real reforms. This cannot be fixed overnight by one official. The emperor dissolved the reduction bureau and ordered only a joint Three Departments review.

王安石執政，議置三司條例司，講修錢穀之法。帝因論措置之宜，言：“今財賦非不多，但用不節，何由給足？宮中一私身之奉有及八十千者，嫁一公主至費七十萬緡，沈貴妃料錢月八百緡。聞太宗時宮人惟係皂綢襜，元德皇后嚐用金線緣襜，太宗怒其奢。仁宗初定公主奉料，以問獻穆，再三始言初僅得五貫爾，異時中宮月有止七百錢者。 ”時天下承平，帝方經略四夷，故每以財用不給為憂。日與大臣講求其故，命官考三司簿籍，商量經久廢置之宜，凡一歲用度及郊祀大費，皆編著定式。

When Wang Anshi took power, he proposed a Three Departments Regulations Office to reform fiscal administration. Discussing policy, the emperor said: "Wealth is not scarce, but spending is uncontrolled—how can revenue suffice? A single palace attendant's upkeep can reach eighty thousand cash; a princess's wedding costs seven hundred thousand strings; Consort Shen's monthly allowance is eight hundred strings. He noted that Taizong's palace women wore only black silk aprons, and Taizong rebuked Empress Yuande for edging one with gold thread. When Renzong first set princess stipends, Empress Xianmu said after repeated questioning that the original amount was only five strings; at one time an empress's monthly allowance was only seven hundred cash. Though the empire was at peace, the emperor was planning campaigns on the frontiers and often worried that revenue would not suffice. He discussed causes daily with his ministers, ordered review of Three Departments registers, and compiled fixed standards for annual spending and major ritual costs.

有司請造龍圖、天章閣覆闌檻青氈四百九十。帝謂：“禁中諸殿欄檻率故弊，不必覆也。 ”既而並延福宮覆檻氈罷之。後呂嘉問復建議省儀鸞司供禁中彩帛。是歲，詔內外勿給土木工作，非兩宮、倉廩、武庫，皆罷省。三年，儀鸞司闕氈三千，三司請命河東製之。帝曰：“牛羊司積毛數萬斤，皆同糞壤，三司不取於此，而欲勤遠民乎？ ”金州歲貢班竹簾，簡州歲貢綿綢，安州市紅花萬斤，梓州市碌二千斤，帝皆以道遠擾民，亟命停罷。

Officials requested four hundred ninety green felt balustrade covers for the Dragon Diagram and Heavenly Writ halls. The emperor said: "Palace balustrades are mostly worn already—there is no need for new covers. Soon after, felt covers for Yanfu Palace balustrades were canceled as well. Later Lü Jiawen proposed cutting colored silks supplied to the inner palace by the Ceremonial Guard Office. That year an edict halted construction empire-wide except for the two palaces, granaries, and armories. In the third year the Ceremonial Guard Office lacked three thousand felts, and the Three Departments asked Hedong to produce them. The emperor said: "The Cattle and Sheep Office has tens of thousands of jin of wool going to waste. Will the Three Departments trouble distant subjects rather than use it? Tribute of bamboo curtains from Jinzhou, cotton silk from Jianzhou, safflower from Anzhou, and indigo from Zizhou were all halted as needlessly burdensome.

製置司言：“諸路科買上供羊，民費錢幾倍，而河北榷場博買契丹羊歲數萬，路遠，抵京皆瘦惡耗死，公私費錢四十餘萬緡。 ”詔著作佐郎程博文訪利害。博文募民有保任者，以產為抵，官預給錢，約期限、口數、斤重以輸。民多樂從，歲計充足。凡供禦膳及祀祭與泛用者，皆別其牢棧，以三千為額，所裁省冗費十之四。其後，又用呂嘉問、劉永淵之言，治灶藏冰，以省工費。

The Regulatory Office reported that circuit requisitions for tribute sheep cost the people several times the market price, while Hebei monopoly purchases of Khitan sheep—many dying en route—cost public and private funds over four hundred thousand strings yearly. The court ordered Editorial Assistant Cheng Bowen to investigate the costs and benefits. Bowen recruited contractors with guarantors and property as security, advanced government funds, and set deadlines, head counts, and delivery weights. People readily participated, and annual quotas were met. Imperial banquets, sacrifices, and general use were supplied from separate herds capped at three thousand head, cutting waste by forty percent. Later, following Lü Jiawen and Liu Yongyuan's advice, ice storehouses were built to reduce labor costs.

帝嚐患增置官司費財。王安石謂增置官司，所以省費。帝曰：“古者什一而稅，今取財百端。 ”安石謂古非特什一而已。帝又以倉吏給軍食，多侵盜，詔足其概量，嚴立諸倉丐取法。中書因請增諸倉主典、役人祿至一萬八千九百緡，且盡增選人之祿，均其多寡。令、錄增至十五千；司理至簿、尉，防團軍監推、判官增至十二千。其後又增中書、審官東西、三班院、樞密院、三司、吏部流內銓、南曹、開封府吏祿，受財者以倉法論。安石蓋欲盡祿天下之吏，帝以役法未就，緩其議。三司上新增吏祿數：京師歲增四十一萬三千四百餘緡，監司、諸州六十八萬九千八百餘緡。時主新法者皆謂吏祿既厚，則人知自重，不敢冒法，可以省刑。然良吏實寡，賕取如故，往往陷重辟，議者不以為善。

The emperor once worried that creating new offices wasted money. Wang Anshi argued that new offices would save money. The emperor said: "Antiquity took one-tenth in tax; today revenue is extracted by a hundred means. Anshi replied that antiquity took more than one-tenth. Because granary clerks often shortchanged army rations, the emperor ordered full measures and strict anti-embezzlement rules for all granaries. The Secretariat then proposed raising granary chiefs' and workers' salaries to 18,900 strings and broadly equalizing officials' pay. Magistrates and registrars were raised to fifteen thousand; judicial reviewers through constables, and defense and militia investigating officials, to twelve thousand. Later clerks' salaries were raised across the central bureaucracy, with bribe-taking punished under granary law. Anshi wanted adequate salaries for all officials empire-wide; the emperor deferred the plan until the labor-service law was ready. The Three Departments reported new clerks' salary costs: 413,400-plus strings yearly in the capital and 689,800-plus in circuits and prefectures. New Law advocates argued that higher pay would make clerks respect their office, deter corruption, and reduce punishments. Yet honest officials remained few, bribery continued, and many faced severe penalties—critics judged the policy a failure.

初，陝西用兵，凡費緡錢七百餘萬。帝以問王安石，安石曰：“楚建中考沈起簿書，計一道半歲費錢銀綢絹千二百萬貫、匹、兩。 ”帝因欲知陝西歲用錢穀、金帛及增虧凡數，乃詔薛向條上。王安石以為擾，力請罷之，止詔三司帳司會計熙寧六年天下財用出入之數以聞。

The Shaanxi campaign initially cost over seven million strings of cash. Asked by the emperor, Wang Anshi cited Chu Jianzhong's audit of Shen Qi's books: one circuit spent twelve million in cash, silver, and silk in half a year. The emperor then wanted Shaanxi's annual spending in money, grain, gold, and silk tabulated and ordered Xue Xiang to report. Wang Anshi called the inquiry disruptive and had it canceled, leaving only an order for the Three Departments to report Xining 6 empire-wide accounts.

韓絳既相，建言：“三司總天下財賦，請選官置司，以天下戶口、人丁、稅賦、場務、坑冶、河渡、房園之類租額年課，及一路錢穀出入之數，去其重復，歲比較增虧、廢置及羨餘、橫費。計贏闕之處，使有無相通，而以任職能否為黜陟，則國計大綱可以省察。 ”三司使章惇亦以為言，乃詔置三司會計司，以絳提舉。其後一州一路會計式成，上之，餘未就緒，未幾遂罷。

After Han Jiang became chief councilor, he proposed a central accounting office to consolidate household, tax, monopoly, and circuit revenue data, compare yearly changes, and track waste. Surpluses and deficits could be balanced across regions, and officials ranked on performance, giving the court a clear fiscal overview. Three Departments Commissioner Zhang Dun agreed, and the Three Departments Accounting Office was established under Jiang's supervision. Prefectural and circuit accounting forms were completed and submitted, but the system was abandoned before empire-wide accounts were finished.

元豐官制既行，三司所掌職務散於六曹、諸寺監。元祐初，司馬光言：“今戶部尚書，舊三司使之任，左曹隸尚書，右曹不隸焉。天下之財分而為二，視彼有餘，視此不足，不得移用。宜令尚書兼領左右曹，侍郎分職而治，舊三司所掌錢穀財用事，有散於五曹及諸寺、監者，並歸戶部。 ”遂詔尚書省立法。

After the Yuanfeng bureaucratic reform, Three Departments functions were dispersed among the six ministries and various directorates. Early in Yuanyou, Sima Guang said: "The Minister of Revenue holds the old Three Departments commissioner's role, but only the left office is subordinate—the right is not. National wealth is split in two: one side has surplus, the other shortage, with no transfer between them. The minister should head both offices with vice ministers dividing duties, and all scattered fiscal functions should return to the Ministry of Revenue. The court ordered the Secretariat to draft regulations.

有司請以府界、諸路在京庫務及常平等文帳悉歸戶部。初，熙寧五年，患天下文帳之繁，命曾布刪定法式。布因請選吏於三司顓為一司，帳司之置始此。至元豐三年，首尾七八年，所設官吏僅六百人，費錢三十九萬緡，而勾磨出失陷錢止萬緡。朝廷知其無益，遂罷帳司，使州郡應上省帳皆歸轉運司，惟錢帛、糧草、酒曲、商稅等別為計帳上戶部。至是，令戶部盡收諸路文帳。蘇轍時為諫官，謂徒益紛紛，請如舊為便。不行。

Officials proposed returning capital, circuit, and Ever-Normal Granary accounts to the Ministry of Revenue. In Xining 5, troubled by complex account books empire-wide, the emperor ordered Zeng Bu to standardize forms. Bu proposed a dedicated Accounts Office in the Three Departments—the origin of the centralized accounts bureau. By the third year of Yuanfeng, after seven or eight years, six hundred officials had cost 390,000 strings while audits recovered only ten thousand in missing funds. Seeing little benefit, the court abolished the Accounts Office, routed most provincial accounts through transport offices, and sent only key revenue categories directly to the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue was then ordered to receive all circuit account books. Remonstrator Su Zhe argued this would only add confusion and asked to keep the old system. His plea was rejected.

三年，戶部尚書韓忠彥、侍郎蘇轍、韓宗道言：“文武百官、宗室之蕃，一倍皇祐，四倍景德，班行、選人、胥吏率皆增益，而兩稅、征搉、山澤之利，與舊無以相過。治平、熙寧之間，因時立政，凡改官者自三歲而為四歲，任子者自一歲一人而為三歲一人、自三歲一人而為六歲一人，宗室自袒免以上漸殺恩禮，此則今日之成法。乞檢會寶元、慶曆、嘉祐故事，置司選官共議。 ”詔戶部取應幹財用，除諸班諸軍料錢、衣賜、賞給、特支如舊外，餘費並裁省。又詔：“方將裁損八流，以清取士之路。命今後遇聖節、大禮、生辰，太皇太后、皇太后、皇太妃所得恩澤，並四分減一。 ”於是上自宗室貴近，下至官曹胥吏，旁及宮室械器，皆命裁損。久之，事未就。議者謂裁減浮費所細碎苛急，甚損國體。於是已議未行者一切寢之。後乃詔：“元祐裁損除授正任以下奉祿，失朝廷優禮，見條悉除之，循元豐舊制。”

In the third year, Minister Han Zhongyan and Vice Ministers Su Zhe and Han Zongdao reported that officials and the imperial clan had doubled since Huangyou and quadrupled since Jingde, while land tax and monopoly revenues had not kept pace. Between Zhiping and Xining reforms had lengthened tenure, reduced hereditary appointments, and trimmed clan privileges—the laws now in force. They asked to review Baoyuan, Qingli, and Jiayou precedents and appoint a commission to discuss further cuts. The Ministry of Revenue was ordered to cut all expenses except army rations, clothing, rewards, and special disbursements. Another edict announced plans to streamline the eight paths of office and clarify examination routes. Henceforth festival, ritual, and birthday favors to the Grand Empress Dowager, Empress Dowager, and Grand Imperial Consort were cut by one-fourth. Cuts were ordered from the imperial clan and nobility down through officials to palace furnishings and equipment. After a long delay, little was accomplished. Critics said the petty economies damaged state dignity. All pending cuts were then abandoned. A later edict restored Yuanfeng salary rules, revoking Yuanyou cuts below regular appointment rank as contrary to court courtesy.

元豐鉤考隱漏官錢，督及一分者賞三厘。自元祐改法，賞薄而吏怠，遂復其舊。時議裁損吏祿，隸省、曹、寺、監者，止以元豐三年錢數為額，而吏三省者，凡兼領因事別給並舊請並罷。劉摯遂乞悉罷創增吏祿，詔韓維等究度，然不果罷。其後有司計中都吏祿，歲費緡錢三十二萬，詔以坊場稅錢給之。於是吏祿之冗濫者，率多革去矣。然三省吏猶有人受三奉而不改者，故孫升、傅堯俞皆以為言。至紹聖、元符，務反元祐之政，下至六曹吏，亦詔皆給見緡，如元豐之製。

Under Yuanfeng, auditors who recovered concealed official funds received three-tenths of one percent of amounts found. After Yuanyou weakened audit incentives, clerks grew lax and the old Yuanfeng reward scale was restored. Reformers sought to cap clerk pay at Yuanfeng third-year rates for ministry and agency staff, and to abolish all extra and legacy allowances for Three Departments clerks. Liu Zhi asked to repeal all newly created clerk salaries; Han Wei and others were ordered to review the matter, but the cuts never took effect. Authorities later reckoned capital clerk salaries at 320,000 strings of cash per year, funded by licensed-shop taxes. Most redundant clerk pay was eliminated. Some Three Departments clerks still drew triple salaries unchanged, prompting memorials from Sun Sheng and Fu Yaoyu. Under Shaosheng and Yuanfu, Yuanyou policies were reversed; even Six Board clerks were ordered paid in cash at Yuanfeng rates.

先是，既罷導洛、堆垛等局，又罷熙河蘭會經製財用司，減放市易欠負及積欠租輸，選官體量茶鹽之法。使者之刻剝害民，如吳居厚、呂孝廉、王子京、李琮，內臣之生事斂怨，如李憲、宋用臣等，皆相繼正其罪。既而稍復講修財利。李清臣因白帝，今中外錢穀艱窘，戶部給百官奉，常無數月之備。章惇遂以財用匱乏，專指為司馬光、呂公著、呂大防、蘇轍諸人之罪。左司諫翟思亦奏疏詆：“元祐以理財為諱，利入名額類多廢罷，督責之法不加於在職之臣，財利既多散失，且借貸百出，而熙、豐餘積，用之幾盡。方今內外財用，月計歲會，所入不足給所出。願下諸路會元祐以前所儲金穀及異時財利名額、歲入經數，著為成式。”

Earlier reforms had abolished canal and warehouse bureaus and the Hexi fiscal commission, forgiven market-trade and tax arrears, and sent officials to review tea and salt policy. Exploitative circuit envoys like Wu Juhou and meddlesome eunuchs like Li Xian were punished in turn. Before long fiscal exploitation resumed. Li Qingchen warned the emperor that treasury funds were so tight the Ministry of Revenue could barely cover a few months of official salaries. Zhang Dun blamed the fiscal crisis entirely on Sima Guang, Lü Gongzhu, Lü Dafang, Su Zhe, and other Yuanyou ministers. Zhai Si attacked Yuanyou fiscal policy for abolishing revenue offices, failing to hold officials accountable, squandering Xi-Feng surpluses, and borrowing recklessly. Monthly and annual accounts now showed income failing to meet expenditure. He urged restoring pre-Yuanyou revenue quotas and stored surpluses as permanent standards.

建中靖國元年，詔諸路轉運司以歲入財用置都籍，定諸州租額，且計一路凡數；即有贏縮，書其籍。崇寧元年，又令：“歲以錢穀出入名數報提刑司保驗，以上戶部；戶部歲條諸路轉運使財賦虧贏，以行賞罰。諸路無額錢物，立式下提刑司，括三年外未發數，期以一季聞奏。 ”二年，官吏違負上供錢物，以分數為科罪之等，不及九分者罪以徒，多者更加之。歲首則列次年之數，聞於漕司，考實申部。又以督限未嚴，更一季為一月。然國之經費，往往不給。

In Jianzhong Jingguo 1, circuit transport offices were ordered to compile master ledgers of annual revenue, fix prefectural rent quotas, and report circuit-wide totals; recording any surplus or deficit in the ledger. In Chongning 1, circuits were further ordered to report annual money and grain receipts and disbursements to judicial commissions for verification and forwarding to the Ministry of Revenue; and the ministry was to rank transport commissioners annually by fiscal surplus or deficit for rewards and punishments. Uncatalogued funds were to be inventoried by judicial commissions, with undisbursed balances over three years reported within one quarter. In the second year, officials who fell short on tribute payments were punished by the proportion defaulted: less than nine-tenths complete incurred penal servitude, with heavier penalties for larger deficits. At year's opening, next year's figures were to be listed, reported to transport commissions, verified, and forwarded to the ministry. Because deadlines had proved too lax, the reporting period was shortened from one quarter to one month. Even so, routine state expenses often could not be covered.

五年，詔省罷官局，命戶部侍郎許幾專切提舉措置。裁罷開封府重祿通引官客司並街道司額外兵士，及罷在京料次錢三十八處。

In year five, the court ordered bureau cuts and put Vice Minister Xu Ji in charge of fiscal retrenchment. Kaifeng's heavy-salary conduit and guest offices and street patrol extras were cut, along with thirty-eight capital ration-payment sites.

大觀三年，罷諸路州軍見貢六上局供奉物名件四百四十餘，存者才十一二，減數十二，停貢六。戶部侍郎範坦言：“戶部歲入有限，支用無窮，一歲之入，僅了三季，餘仰朝廷應付。今歲支遣，較之去年又費百萬。 ”有詔鐫減財賦，命御史中丞張克公與吳居厚、許幾等置局議論。克公抗言：“官冗者汰，奉厚者減，今官較之元祐已多十倍，國用安得不乏。乞將節度使下至遙郡刺史，除軍功轉授者，各減奉半，然後閑慢局務、工伎末作，亦宜減省。自貴及賤，自近及遠，行之公當，人自無詞。 ”時論韙之。

In Daguan 3, over 440 prefectural tribute items to the Six Upper Bureaus were abolished; only one or two in ten remained, twelve quotas were cut, and six tribute categories were ended. Vice Minister Fan Kuan warned that ministry income covered only three quarters of the year, with the rest dependent on court transfers. This year's spending exceeded last year's by another million strings. An edict then ordered fiscal cuts and a review bureau headed by Censor-in-Chief Zhang Kegong, Wu Juhou, and Xu Ji. Zhang Kegong insisted that redundant offices be cut and lavish salaries reduced, noting that posts had grown tenfold since Yuanyou and the treasury could not but be strained. He asked to halve salaries from military commissioners down to distant prefects except merit appointees, then to cut idle bureaus and artisan offices. Applied fairly from the highest to the lowest, near and far, no one could fairly object. Contemporaries applauded his proposal.

時諸路轉運司類以乏告，詔戶部編次一歲財用出納之數，諸路州縣各為都籍，以待考較；工部金、銀、銅、鉛、水銀、朱砂等，亦嚴帳籍之法；令諸路各條三十年以還一歲出入及泛用之數。初，比部掌勾稽天下文帳，吏習偷惰，自崇寧至政和，稽違積數凡二千六百七十有餘。於是申敕六曹，以拘督一歲多寡為寺、監賞罰。

As transport commissions widely reported shortfalls, the ministry was ordered to compile annual fiscal accounts and require prefectures and counties to keep master ledgers for audit; the Ministry of Works likewise tightened ledger rules for gold, silver, copper, lead, mercury, cinnabar, and similar commodities; and each circuit was to report thirty years of annual receipts, disbursements, and miscellaneous spending. The Audit Bureau's clerks had grown habitually lax; from Chongning to Zhenghe more than 2,670 accounts remained unaudited. The Six Boards were then ordered to reward or punish directorates and commissions according to how much of the year's backlog they cleared.

政和七年，命戶部參稽熙、豐及今財用有餘不足之數，又立旁通格，令諸路漕司各條元豐、紹聖、崇寧、政和一歲財用出入多寡來上。淮南漕臣張根言：“天下之費，莫大於土木之功。其次如人臣賜第，一第無慮數十萬緡，稍增雄麗，非百萬不可。佐命如趙普，定策如韓琦，不聞峻宇雕牆，僭擬宮省，奈何剝民膚髓，為廝役之奉乎？其次如田產、房廊，雖不若賜第之多，然日削月朘，所在無幾。又如金帛以供一時之好賜，有不可已者，而亦不可不節。至如賜帶，其直雖不過數百緡，然天下金寶糜費日久，夫豈易得？今乃賚及仆隸，使混淆公卿間，貴賤、賢不肖，莫之辨也。如以為左右趨走之人，不欲其墨綬，當別為制度，以示等威。 ”疏奏，不省。

In Zhenghe 7, the ministry was ordered to compare Xi-Feng and current finances and to require transport commissions to report annual receipts and disbursements for Yuanfeng, Shaosheng, Chongning, and Zhenghe. Huainan transport commissioner Zhang Gen declared that no state expense exceeded construction projects. Next came ministerial mansions, each costing hundreds of thousands of strings and easily a million if made more splendid. Founding ministers like Zhao Pu and Han Qi built no palatial mansions rivaling the palace—why strip the people to house servants? Landholdings and rental properties, though less costly than mansions, were being steadily depleted everywhere. Gold and silk for spontaneous gifts could not be abolished entirely, yet had to be restrained. Even bestowed belts worth only a few hundred strings drew on gold and jewels the empire had long been exhausting. Rewards now reached even servants, blurring rank among ministers so that noble and base, worthy and unworthy, could no longer be told apart. If attendants were not to wear official ribbons, separate insignia should mark their rank. The memorial went unanswered.

帝初即位，思節冗費，中都吏重復增給及泛濫員額，並詔裁損。後苑嚐計增葺殿宇，計用金箔五十六萬七千。帝曰：“用金為箔，以飾土木，一壞不可復收，甚亡謂也。 ”令內侍省罰請者。及蔡京為相，增修財利之政，務以侈靡惑人主，動以《周官》惟王不會為說，每及前朝惜財省費者，必以為陋。至於土木營造，率欲度前規而侈後觀。元豐改官制，在京官司供給之數，皆並為職錢，視嘉祐、治平時賦祿優矣。京更增供給、食料等錢，於是宰執皆然。京既罷相，帝惡其變亂法度，將盡更革。命戶部侍郎許幾裁損浮費及百官濫祿，悉循元豐之舊，宰執亦聽辭所增奉。京不便，與其黨倡言：“減奉非治世事。司馬光請聽宰臣辭南郊給賜，神宗卒不允，且增選人及庶人在官者之奉。帝以繼述為事，當奉承神宗。 ”由是官吏奉給並仍舊，而宰執亦增如故。初，宰執堂食亦皆有常數。至是，品目猥多，有公使、乏支之別，台、省、寺、監又增廚錢。侍御史毛注嚐奏論之，不行。蔡京復得政，言者遂以裁損祿廩為幾罪，幾坐奪職。

Early in his reign the emperor ordered cuts to redundant spending, duplicate capital clerk allowances, and bloated quotas. The Rear Park once estimated repairs to palace halls would require 567,000 units of gold leaf. The emperor said that gilding timber with gold leaf wastes metal that cannot be recovered once the building decays—this was absurd. He ordered the Palace Domestic Service to punish those who had submitted the request. Once Cai Jing became chancellor, he expanded revenue extraction and court luxury, citing the 《Offices of Zhou》 that the king alone keeps no accounts, and dismissing earlier thrift as mean-spirited. Building projects were routinely designed to exceed earlier standards and impress later observers. The Yuanfeng bureaucracy had already merged capital office supplies into position salaries more generous than Jiayou and Zhiping allotments. Cai Jing added further supply and food allowances, and the chief councillors followed suit. After Cai Jing left office, the emperor, resenting his disruption of institutions, prepared sweeping reversals. Vice Minister Xu Ji was ordered to cut wasteful spending and excessive salaries and restore Yuanfeng norms; chief councillors could renounce their added pay. Cai Jing objected, and his faction argued that cutting salaries was no way to govern. They cited Shenzong's refusal when Sima Guang asked ministers to decline Southern Suburb gifts, and his increase of pay for examination candidates and commoners in office. The emperor, committed to continuing Shenzong's legacy, should follow his example. Official and clerk salaries therefore remained unchanged, and chief councillors kept their added pay. Chief councillors' hall meals had once been fixed allowances. By then items had multiplied, with separate envoy and shortfall allowances, and censorate, ministry, and agency kitchen funds had grown. Attending Censor Mao Zhu once protested, without effect. When Cai Jing returned to power, critics made Xu Ji's salary cuts a crime, and he was dismissed.

於時天下久平，吏員冗溢，節度使至八十餘員，留後、觀察下及遙郡刺史多至數千員，學士、待制中外百五十員。京又專用豐亨豫大之說，諛悅帝意，始廣茶利，歲以一百萬緡進禦，以京城所主之。其後又有應奉司、御前生活所、營繕所、蘇杭造作局、御前人船所，其名雜出，大率爭以奇侈為功。歲運花石綱，一石之費，民間至用三十萬緡。奸吏旁緣，牟取無藝，民不勝弊。用度日繁，左藏庫異時月費緡錢三十六萬，至是，衍為一百二十萬。

After long peace, posts had swollen to more than eighty military commissioners, thousands of deputies and distant prefects, and 150 academicians and awaiting-draft compilers. Cai Jing preached abundance and grandeur to please the emperor, expanded tea revenues, and presented a million strings yearly to the throne through the Capital Bureau. Later came the Tribute Service, Imperial Provision Office, Construction Office, Suzhou-Hangzhou Manufacture Bureau, and Imperial Shipping Office—agencies that vied in exotic extravagance. The annual Flower and Stone Fleet could cost the people as much as 300,000 strings to move a single stone. Corrupt clerks exploited the system without limit until the people were crushed. Spending soared that the Left Treasury's monthly outlay rose from 360,000 strings to 1.2 million.

又三省、密院吏員猥雜，有官至中大夫，一身而兼十餘奉，故當時議者有“俸入超越從班，品秩幾於執政”之言。又增置兼局，禮製、明堂，詳定《國朝會要》、《九域圖志》、《一司敕令》之類，職秩繁委，廩給無度。侍御史黃葆光論其弊，帝善之而未行；俄而詔云：當豐亨豫大之時，為衰亂減損之計”，自是罕敢言者。然吏祿泛冒已極，以史院言之，供檢吏三省幾千人。蔡京又動以筆帖於榷貨務支賞給，有一紙至萬緡者。京所侵私，以千萬計，朝論喧然。乃詔三省、樞密院吏額用元豐法，其歲賜悉裁之，時翕然以為快。臣僚上言：“諸州遇天寧節，除公使外，別給係省錢，充錫宴之用。獨諸路監司許支逐司錢物，一筵之饌，有及數百千者，浮侈相誇，無有藝極。 ”自是詔：“遇天寧節宴，舊應給錢者，發運、監司每司不得過三百貫，餘每司不得過二百貫，以上舊給數少者，止依舊。”

Three Departments and Privy Council clerks had multiplied; some Senior Grandees drew more than ten salaries, prompting critics to say clerk pay outranked entourage officials and nearly matched the chief councillors. Concurrent bureaus were added to compile rites, the Bright Hall, the 《National Compilation of Important Matters》, the 《Atlas of the Nine Regions》, the 《Single-Bureau Statutes》, and similar works, multiplying posts and salaries without limit. Attending Censor Huang Baoguang criticized these abuses; the emperor approved but took no action; soon an edict declared that in an age of abundance one must not plan as for decline—and few dared speak of cuts thereafter. Clerk salaries had nonetheless reached their peak; the History Institute alone employed nearly a thousand Three Departments clerks for document retrieval. Cai Jing routinely drew payments from the Monopoly Trade Office on written orders, some for as much as 10,000 strings. His private takings were reckoned in the tens of millions, and court opinion boiled over. An edict then restored Yuanfeng clerk quotas for the Three Departments and Privy Council and cut annual grants, to widespread approval. A minister reported that on the Tianning Festival prefectures besides envoy funds also drew tied-province money for banquets. Circuit commissioners alone could spend office funds on feasts costing hundreds or thousands of strings, vying in wasteful display without limit. An edict then capped Tianning banquet funds at 300 guan per transport or supervisory office and 200 guan for others, retaining lower prior limits where applicable.

自崇寧以來，言利之臣殆析秋毫，沿汴州縣創增鎮柵以牟稅利。官賣石炭增二十餘場，而天下市易務，炭皆官自賣。名品瑣碎，則有四腳鋪床、榨磨、水磨、廟圖、淘沙金等錢，不得而盡記也。宣和以後，王黼專主應奉，掊剝橫賦，以羨為功。嶺南、川蜀農民陂罰錢，罷學製學事司贍學錢，皆歸應奉司。所入雖多，國用日匱。

Since Chongning, revenue officials had taxed every petty item, and Bian River counties added market barriers to extract tolls. Government coal depots increased by more than twenty, and market-trade offices nationwide sold coal only through the state. Petty levies multiplied—on shop stalls, presses, water mills, temple maps, gold-panning, and more than can be listed. After Xuanhe, Wang Fu ran the Tribute Service, extorting arbitrary levies and treating surplus revenue as merit. Dyke penalties in Lingnan and Sichuan and abolished-school support funds were all diverted to the Tribute Service. Though receipts increased, the treasury grew daily poorer.

六年，尚書左丞宇文粹中言：

In year six, Vice Director Yuwen Cuizhong memorialized:

“近歲南伐蠻獠，北贍幽燕，關陝、綿、茂邊事日起，山東、河北寇盜竊發。賦斂歲入有限，支梧繁夥，一切取足於民。陝西上戶多棄產而居京師，河東富人多棄產而入川蜀。河北衣被天下，而蠶織皆廢；山東頻遭大水，而耕種失時；他路取辦目前，不務存恤。穀麥未登，已先俵糴；歲賦已納，復理欠負。托應奉而買珍異奇寶，欠民積者一路至數十萬計；假上供而織文繡錦綺，役工女者一郡至百餘人。

"In recent years campaigns against southern tribes, subsidies for the northern frontier, rising troubles on the Guanxi and Mian-Mao borders, and banditry in Shandong and Hebei had strained limited tax revenues, and every need was squeezed from the people. Wealthy Shaanxi households abandoned their lands for the capital; Hedong magnates fled into Sichuan. Hebei had clothed the empire, yet sericulture and weaving collapsed; Shandong suffered repeated floods and missed planting seasons; and other circuits extorted for immediate needs without regard for relief. Grain was requisitioned and bought on credit before the harvest ripened; After the annual tax was paid, officials still collected old arrears. The Tribute Service was used to procure exotic treasures, leaving debts to commoners in a single circuit running into the hundreds of thousands; Court tribute was cited to command brocades and figured silks, with more than a hundred skilled women conscripted in a single prefecture.

陛下勤恤民隱，詔令數下，悉為虛文。民不聊生，不惟寇盜繁滋，竊恐災異數起。祖宗之時，國計所仰，皆有實數。有額上供四百萬，無額上供二百萬，京師商稅、店宅務、抵當所諸處雜收錢一百餘萬。三司以七百萬之入，供一年之費，而儲其餘以待不測之用。又有解池鹽鈔、晉礬、市舶遺利，內贍京師，外實邊鄙，間遇水旱，隨以振濟，蓋量入為出，沛然有餘。近年諸局務、應奉等司截撥上供，而繁富路分一歲所入，亦不敷額。然創置書局者比職事官之數為多，檢計修造者比實用之物增倍，其他妄耗百出，不可勝數。若非痛行裁減，慮智者無以善其後。”

Though Your Majesty repeatedly issued edicts to ease the people's suffering, they amounted to empty words. The people cannot survive; banditry thrives, and I fear Heaven's warnings will multiply. Under the founding emperors, state revenue rested on fixed, verified figures. Fixed tribute quotas brought four million strings, extra tribute two million, and miscellaneous revenues from capital commerce, pawnshops, and related offices exceeded one million more. The Fiscal Commission covered annual expenses from seven million strings in revenue and stored the surplus for emergencies. Salt certificates, Shanxi alum, and maritime-trade profits sustained the capital and frontier alike; flood and drought relief could be met from surplus, for revenue once matched spending with room to spare. In recent years tribute bureaus diverted court funds, and even the wealthiest circuits failed to meet their quotas. Printing offices outnumbered functional officials, audited construction doubled what was actually needed, and countless other wastes proliferated beyond reckoning. Without drastic cuts, even the wise will be unable to repair the aftermath.

久之，乃詔蔡攸等就尚書省置講議財利司，除茶法已有定制，餘並講究條上。攸請：內侍職掌，事幹宮禁，應裁省者，委童貫取旨。時貫以廣陽郡王領右府故也。於是不急之務，無名之費，悉議裁省。帝亦自罷諸路應奉官吏，省六尚歲貢。

Eventually the throne ordered Cai You and others to set up a Fiscal Review Bureau at the Department of State Affairs; except for the established tea regulations, all other levies were to be examined and reported. Cai You proposed that cuts to eunuch offices and palace affairs be referred to Tong Guan for imperial approval. This was because Tong Guan, as Prince of Guangyang, headed the Right Bureau. Nonessential projects and pointless spending were then reviewed for elimination. The emperor also abolished Tribute Service agents in every circuit and cut the Six Workshops' annual tribute.

七年，詔諸路帥臣、監司各條所部當裁省凡目以聞。後苑書藝局等月省十九萬緡，歲可省二百二十萬。應奉司所管諸色窠名錢數內：兩浙路錢旁定帖息錢，湖、常、溫、秀州無額上供錢，淮南路添酒錢等，並行截節，更不充應奉支用。十二月，詔曰：“比年寬大之詔數下，裁省之令屢行。有司便文而實惠不至，蓋緣任用非人，興作事端，蠹耗邦財。假享上之名，濟營私之欲，漁奪百姓，無所不至。朕夙夜痛悼，思有以撫循慰安之。應茶鹽立額結絕。應奉司兩浙諸路置局及花石綱等，諸路非泛上供拋降物色，延福宮西城所租課，內外修造諸處采斫木植、製造局所，並罷。諸局及西城所見管錢物並付有司，其拘收到百姓地上，並給還舊佃人。減掖庭用度，減侍從官以上月廩，及罷諸兼局，以上並令有司據所得數撥充諸路糴本，及樁充募兵賞軍之用。應齋醮道場，除舊法合有外，並罷道官及撥賜宮觀等房錢、田土之類。六尚，並依祖宗法。罷大晟府，罷教學所，罷教坊額外人。罷行幸局，罷采石所，罷待詔額外人。罷都茶場，依舊歸朝廷。河坊非危急泛科、免夫錢並罷。”

In year seven, circuit commanders and supervisory commissioners were ordered to itemize proposed cuts in their jurisdictions and report. The imperial ateliers alone saved 190,000 strings per month, or 2.2 million per year. Among Tribute Service accounts, Liangzhe deposit interest, non-quota tribute from Lake, Chang, Wen, and Xiu prefectures, Huainan's supplemental wine tax, and similar levies were all terminated and no longer funded the Tribute Service. In the twelfth month an edict declared: "Magnanimous edicts have been issued repeatedly in recent years, and austerity orders enforced again and again. Offices complied on paper while the people saw no relief, for unworthy appointees stirred up trouble and devoured state wealth. They abused the name of imperial service to pursue private gain and plundered the people without limit. I grieve day and night and seek ways to comfort and reassure them. Fixed tea and salt quotas are abolished. Tribute Service offices in Liangzhe, the Flower and Stone Convoys, irregular tribute and surrendered goods, rents from Yanfu Palace and the Western Park, and timber and manufacturing bureaus everywhere were all abolished. Funds held by abolished bureaus were transferred to regular agencies, and land seized from commoners was returned to former tenants. Palace spending, officials' stipends, and concurrent posts were cut, with savings allocated to grain purchases in the circuits and to recruitment and military rewards. Ritual feasts and Daoist ceremonies beyond what law allows were ended, along with stipends to Daoist officials and grants of temple property. The Six Workshops were restored to ancestral regulations. The Great Splendor Office, the Teaching Institute, and excess Music Bureau staff were abolished. The Imperial Progress Bureau, the Quarry Office, and excess awaiting-edict posts were abolished. The Capital Tea Market was abolished and restored to direct court control. Miscellaneous river-ward levies and corvée exemption fees were abolished.

是時天下財用歲入，有御前錢物、朝廷錢物、戶部錢物，其措置裒斂、取索支用，各不相知。天下財賦多為禁中私財，上溢下漏，而民重困。言者請令戶部周知大數，而不失盈虛緩急之宜。上至宮禁所須，下逮吏卒廩餼，一切付之有司，格以法度，示天下以至公。詔可。戶部尚書聶山亦請以熙、豐後增置添給，如額外醫官、內中諸閣分位次主管文字等使臣、福源靈應諸觀清衛卒、後妃戚裏及文武臣僚之家母妻封國太夫人郡太夫人等請給，並添給食料、茶湯等錢四十萬八千九百餘緡，凡熙、豐無法該載者罷之。

Annual revenue was split among imperial privy funds, court funds, and Ministry of Revenue funds, whose collection and spending were kept separate. Much of the empire's revenue became palace private funds; wealth pooled above while the people bore the cost below. Critics urged the Ministry of Revenue to oversee aggregate accounts and balance surplus against urgent need. From palace needs to clerks' rations, all spending was to pass through regular offices under law, demonstrating fairness to the realm. The throne approved. Minister Nie Shan also sought to abolish post-reform stipends—extra medical officers, inner-palace clerks, temple guards, stipends for imperial kin and officials' wives with noble titles, and supplemental food and tea allowances totaling over 408,000 strings—anything not authorized under Xining and Yuanfeng law.

靖康元年，詔曰：“朕托於兆庶之上，永念民惟邦本，思所以閔恤安定之。乃者，減乘輿服禦，放宮女，罷苑囿，焚玩好之物，務以率先天下；減冗官，澄濫賞，汰貪吏，為民除害。方詔減上供收買之額，蠲有司煩苛之令，輕刑薄賦，務安元元；而田裏之間，愁痛未蘇，儻不蠲革，何以靖民！今詢酌庶言，疏剔眾弊，舉其綱目，以授四方。詔到，監司、郡守其悉力奉行；應民所疾苦，不在此詔，許推類聞奏。 ”於是凡當時苛刻煩細、一切不便於民者皆罷。

In Jingkang year one an edict declared: "Standing above the myriad people, I hold that the people are the foundation of the state and seek ways to pity and reassure them. I have reduced imperial regalia, released palace women, abolished parks, and burned luxuries to lead the realm by example; cut redundant offices, curbed lavish rewards, and removed corrupt officials to spare the people. I had ordered reduced tribute purchases, repeal of onerous regulations, lighter punishments, and lower taxes to settle the people; yet in the countryside distress had not eased—without broad reform, how can the people be pacified! Now, having consulted widely and sifted abuses, I set forth these measures for the realm. When this edict arrives, supervisors and prefectural officials must enforce it fully; and may report by analogy on hardships not covered here. Thereupon every harsh or burdensome measure then troubling the people was abolished.

高宗建炎元年，詔：“諸路無額上供錢，依舊法，更不立額。 ”三年二月，減婺州上供額羅二萬八千匹，著為定制。八月，減福建、廣南路歲買上供銀三分之一。紹興二年，罷鎮江府禦服羅，省錢七萬緡，助劉光世軍。四年二月，詔：“諸路州縣天申節禮物，並置場和買，毋得抑配於民。 ”十有一月，免淮南州軍大禮絹。五年，以四川上供錢帛依舊留以贍軍。十一年，始命四川上供羅復輸內藏，其後綾、紗、絹悉如之。〈（四路天申節大禮絹及上供綢、綾、錦、綺，共九萬五千八百匹。）〉

In Gaozong's first Jianyan year an edict ordered: "Non-quota tribute money in every circuit shall follow former law, with no new quotas imposed. In the second month of year three, Wuzhou's tribute quota of thin silk was cut by 28,000 bolts and fixed as permanent regulation. In the eighth month, annual tribute silver purchases in Fujian and Guangnan were cut by one-third. In Shaoxing year two, Zhenjiang's imperial-robe silk levy was ended, saving 70,000 strings for Liu Guangshi's forces. In the fourth year, second month, an edict ordered: "Tian Shen Festival gifts must be bought at fair price and not forcibly levied on the people. In the eleventh month, great-ritual silk levies on Huainan circuits and armies were remitted. In year five, Sichuan tribute funds and silks were retained locally to support troops. In year eleven, Sichuan tribute thin silk was again sent to the inner treasury, followed by twill, gauze, and silk. (Silks for the Tian Shen Festival and court tribute from four circuits—figured silk, twill, brocade, and gauze—totaled 95,800 bolts.) closing mark〉

淳熙五年，湖北漕臣劉焞言：“鄂、嶽、漢陽自紹興九年所收賦財，十分為率，儲一分充上供始，十三年年增二分。鄂州元儲一分，錢一萬九千五百七十緡，今已增至一十二萬九千餘緡；岳州五千八百餘緡，今增至四萬二千一百餘緡；漢陽三千七百緡，今增至二萬二千三百餘緡。民力凋弊，無所從出。 ”於是以見增錢數立額，已後權免遞增。詔夔州路九州百姓科買上供金、銀、絹，自淳熙六年為始盡免。十六年，蠲兩淮州軍合發上供諸窠名錢物，極邊全免，次邊展免一年。

In Chunxi year five, Hubei transport commissioner Liu Yun reported: "Since Shaoxing year nine, Ezhou, Yuezhou, and Hanyang had set aside one-tenth of tax receipts for court tribute, then raised the reserve by two-tenths each year from year thirteen. Ezhou's reserve had been 19,570 strings and had risen to over 129,000; Yuezhou's from 5,800 strings to over 42,100; and Hanyang's from 3,700 strings to over 22,300. The people are exhausted, with no means left to pay. The throne fixed quotas at current levels and barred further yearly increases. From Chunxi year six, court tribute levies of gold, silver, and silk were abolished for the nine prefectures of Kuizhou. In year sixteen, Huai-Hai tribute levies were remitted entirely on the outer frontier and deferred one year on the next tier.

紹定元年，江、浙諸州軍折輸上供物帛錢數，除合起輕貨，並用錢、會中半；路不通水，願以銀折輸者聽，兩不過三貫三百文。兩浙、江東共四百一十三萬八千六百一十二貫有奇，並輸送左藏西庫。

In Shaoding year one, commuted tribute payments in Jiang and Zhe were half paid in cash and merchant notes, except for light goods still due in kind; where waterways were unavailable, silver payment was allowed at no more than 3,300 cash per tael. Liangzhe and Jiangdong together delivered over 4.13 million strings to the Left Treasury Western Storehouse.

鹹淳六年，都省言：“南渡以來，諸路上供數重，自嘉定至嘉熙，起截之數雖減，而州縣猶以大數拘催，害及百姓。 ”有旨：“自鹹淳七年為始，銀、錢、關、會用鹹淳三年起截中數拘催，綢、絹、絲、綿、綾、羅用鹹淳二年起截中數拘催。錢、關、會子二千四百九十五萬八千七百四十八貫，銀一十六萬九千六百四十三兩，綢四萬一千四百三十八匹，絹七十三萬七千八百六十匹，絲九萬五千三百三十三兩，綿一百五萬七千九百二十五兩，綾五千一百七十九匹，羅七千三百五十五匹，戶部遍牒諸路，視今所減定額起催。”

In Xianchun year six the Secretariat reported: "Since the southern crossing, tribute burdens had grown; though intercepted quotas fell from Jiading to Jiaxi, counties still collected at old high figures and harmed the people. The throne ordered that from Xianchun year seven, cash and silver collections follow the year-three intercepted median, and silk goods the year-two median. Totals were set at 2.49 billion strings in cash and notes, 169,643 taels of silver, and specified silk quantities; the Ministry of Revenue ordered every circuit to collect only at these reduced quotas.

所謂經總製錢者，宣和末，陳亨伯以發運兼經製使，因以為名。建炎二年，高宗在揚州，四方貢賦不以期至，戶部尚書呂頤浩、翰林學士葉夢得等言：“亨伯以東南用兵，嚐設經製司，取量添酒錢及增一分稅錢，頭子、賣契等錢，斂之於細，而積之甚眾。及為河北轉運使，又行於京東西、河北路，一歲得錢近二百萬緡，所補不細。今若行於諸路州軍，歲入無慮數百萬計。邊事未寧，苟不出此，緩急必致暴斂。與其斂於倉卒，曷若積於細微。 ”於是以添酒錢、添賣糟錢、典賣田宅增牙稅錢、官員等請給頭子錢、樓店務增三分房錢，令兩浙、江東西、荊湖南北、福建、二廣收充經製錢，以憲臣領之，通判斂之，季終輸送。紹興五年，參政孟庾提領措置財用，請以總製司為名，又因經製之額增析而為總製錢，而總製錢自此始矣。

The comprehensive fiscal reserve funds originated when Chen Hengbo, as transport commissioner and comprehensive fiscal commissioner at the end of Xuanhe, gave them that name. In Jianyan year two, with Gaozong at Yangzhou and revenues delayed, Lü Yihao and Ye Mengde recalled how Hengbo had created a comprehensive fiscal office during southeastern campaigns, levying small surcharges—added wine tax, a one-percent levy, head-money, deed taxes—that accumulated vast sums. As Hebei transport commissioner he extended the system east and north, raising nearly two million strings in a year. Applied to every prefecture and county, annual intake could reach hundreds of millions. With the frontier unsettled, without this measure emergencies would force harsh exactions. Far better to gather revenue in small steady streams than to seize it in a crisis. Added wine taxes, distillery-sale surcharges, property deed taxes, stipend head-money, and a three-percent shop rent increase were then levied across the southeast and south as comprehensive fiscal reserve funds, overseen by surveillance commissioners, collected by vice-prefects, and remitted quarterly. In Shaoxing year five, Meng Geng, overseeing fiscal policy, renamed the office the General Fiscal Bureau and split a further general comprehensive fund from the comprehensive quota—thus general comprehensive funds began.

財用司言：“諸路州縣出納係省錢所收頭子錢，貫收錢二十三文省，內一十文省作經製起發上供，餘一十三文充本路郡縣並漕司用。今欲令諸路州縣雜稅出納錢貫收頭子錢上，量增作二十三文足。除漕司及州舊合得一十三文省，餘盡入經製窠名帳內，起發助軍。 ”江西提舉司言：“常平錢物，舊法貫收頭子錢五文足。今當依諸色錢例，增作二十三文足，除五文依舊法支用，餘增到錢與經製司別作窠名輸送。”

The Fiscal Affairs Bureau reported that of the twenty-three cash head-money per string on provincial receipts, ten had funded comprehensive reserves for court tribute and thirteen had gone to circuits, counties, and transport offices. It proposed raising head-money on all miscellaneous tax receipts to twenty-three cash per string in full measure. Beyond the thirteen cash retained locally, the remainder would enter comprehensive fiscal accounts to support the army. The Jiangxi Intendant Office noted that ever-normal granary funds had formerly charged five cash head-money per string. It asked that granary receipts follow the new rule of twenty-three cash, retaining five cash under old law and remitting the increase to comprehensive fiscal accounts.

九年，諫議大夫曾統上疏言：“經製使本戶部之職，更置一司，無益於事。如創供給酒庫，亦是陰奪省司之利。若謂監司、郡縣違法廢令，別建此司按之，則又不然。夫朝廷置監司以轄州郡，立省部以轄監司，祖宗製也。稅賦失實，當問轉運司；常平錢穀失陷，當問提舉司。若使經製司能事事檢察，則雖戶部版曹，亦可廢矣。且自置司以來，漕司之移用，憲司之贓罰，監司之妄支，固未嚐少革其弊。罷之便。 ”疏奏，不省。十六年，以諸路歲取經總製錢，本路提刑並檢法幹辦官拘催，歲終通紐以課殿最。二十一年，以守、倅同檢察。二十九年，詔專以通判主之。

In year nine, Remonstrance Adviser Zeng Tong memorialized: "Comprehensive fiscal oversight belongs to the Ministry of Revenue; a separate office serves no purpose. Creating supply wine warehouses merely steals revenue from regular agencies. Nor would a separate inspectorate truly curb illegal spending by supervisors and counties. The court appoints circuit supervisors over prefectures and provincial ministries over supervisors—such was the ancestral system. False tax returns belong to the transport commission; and lost ever-normal funds to the intendant office. If the comprehensive fiscal office could inspect everything, the Ministry's own ledger bureau might as well be abolished. Since its founding, transport diversions, surveillance penalties, and supervisory abuses had scarcely improved. Abolition would be the better course. The memorial was ignored. In year sixteen, circuit judicial intendants and legal-inspection officers were ordered to press annual collection of general comprehensive reserve funds, with year-end totals reconciled for merit rankings. In year twenty-one, prefects and their deputies shared oversight. In year twenty-nine, an edict put collection solely in the hands of supervising vice-prefects.

乾道元年，詔：“諸路州縣出納，貫添收錢一十三文省，充經總製錢，以所增錢別輸左藏西庫，補助經費。 ”自是經總製錢每千收五十六文矣。然遇兵凶，亦時有蠲免。三年，復以守、倅共掌之。

In Qiandao year one, the court ordered that every string of prefectural receipts include thirteen cash provincial for general comprehensive reserves, with the surcharge remitted to the Left Treasury western depot to supplement routine expenses. Thereafter the general comprehensive reserve levy stood at fifty-six cash per thousand strings. Even so, wartime and disaster sometimes brought partial remissions. In year three, prefects and deputies again shared administration.

淳熙十六年，光宗即位，減江東西、福建、淮東、浙西經總製錢一十七萬一千緡。紹熙二年，詔平江府合發經總製錢歲減二萬緡。嘉定十七年，詔蠲嘉定十五年終以前所虧錢數。端平三年，詔：“諸路州軍因災傷檢放苗米，毋收經總製頭子、勘合朱墨等錢；自今已放苗米，隨苗帶納錢並與除放。”

When Guangzong succeeded in Chunxi year sixteen, general comprehensive reserves in the southeast circuits were cut by 171,000 strings. In Shaoxi year two, Pingjiang's annual comprehensive reserve quota was lowered by 20,000 strings. In Jiading year seventeen, the court wrote off deficits accumulated through the end of Jiading year fifteen. In Duanping year three, the court ruled that where disaster relief released seed-grain tax rice, circuits must not charge comprehensive reserve head-money, verification fees, or similar surcharges; and that grain-tied surcharges already remitted with released seed tax should also be forgiven.

所謂月樁錢者，始於紹興之二年。時韓世忠駐軍建康，宰相呂頤浩、朱勝非議今江東漕臣月樁發大軍錢十萬緡，以朝廷上供經製及漕司移用等錢供億。當時漕司不量州軍之力，一例均科，既有偏重之弊，〈（上供經製，無額添酒錢並爭利錢，贍軍酒息錢，常平錢，及諸司封樁不封樁、係省不係省錢，皆是朝廷窠名也。）〉於是郡縣橫斂，銖積絲累，江東、西之害尤甚。十七年，詔州郡以寬剩錢充月樁，以寬民力，遂減江東、西之錢二十七萬七千緡有奇。

The monthly quota funds dated from Shaoxing year two. With Han Shizhong's forces at Jiankang, Grand Councillors Lü Yihao and Zhu Shengfei urged the Jiangdong transport commissioner to advance 100,000 strings monthly for the main army, drawn from court tribute, comprehensive fiscal quotas, and transport diversions. Transport commissioners ignored local capacity and imposed flat quotas, which already bore unfairly on weaker prefectures, (Court tribute for comprehensive fiscal arrangements, discretionary wine surcharges, competitive-profit levies, army-support wine interest, ever-normal funds, and every sealed or unsealed, provincial or non-provincial account—all belonged to the court's nominal revenue schedule.) Prefectures and counties then extorted layer upon layer of petty levies, with Jiangdong and Jiangxi hardest hit. In year seventeen, prefectures were told to meet monthly quotas from surplus funds to ease the populace, cutting Jiangdong and Jiangxi quotas by more than 277,000 strings.

又有所謂板帳錢者，亦軍興後所創也。如輸米則增收耗剩，交錢帛則多收糜費，幸富人之犯法而重其罰，恣胥吏之受賕而課其入，索盜贓則不償失主，檢財產則不及卑幼，亡僧、絕戶不俟核實而入官，逃產、廢田不與消除而抑納，他如此類，不可遍舉。州縣之吏固知其非法，然以版帳錢額太重，雖欲不橫取於民，不可得已。

A parallel category called ledger-account funds likewise arose after the wars began. Deliveries of rice drew surplus charges; payments in cash or silk drew inflated handling fees; officials welcomed rich lawbreakers because fines swelled revenue; clerks were encouraged to take bribes counted as quota; stolen goods were confiscated without restitution; estate surveys skipped junior heirs; dead monks and heirless households were seized before verification; abandoned land stayed on the tax rolls—examples multiplied beyond count. Local officials knew the practice was unlawful, but ledger-account targets were so high that they could not refrain from extortion even when they wished to.

凡貨財不領於有司者，則有內藏庫，蓋天子之別藏也。縣官有钜費，左藏之積不足給，則發內藏佐之。宋初，諸州貢賦皆輸左藏庫，及取荊湖，定巴蜀，平嶺南、江南，諸國珍寶、金帛盡入內府。初，太祖以帑藏盈溢，又於講武殿後別為內庫，嚐謂：“軍旅、饑饉當預為之備，不可臨事厚斂於民。

Wealth kept outside regular agencies belonged to the inner treasury, the emperor's private reserve. When routine revenues fell short of major state costs, the inner treasury made up the gap. Early Song tribute flowed to the Left Treasury; conquests in Jinghu, Sichuan, Lingnan, and the lower Yangzi then filled the inner palace with regional treasures. When state vaults overflowed, Taizu added a second inner depot behind the Lecture on Warfare Hall, remarking that armies and famine should be met from stockpiles, not from sudden heavy levies on the people.

太宗嗣位，漳泉、吳越相次獻地，又下太原，儲積益厚，分左藏庫為內藏庫，令內藏庫使翟裔等於左藏庫擇上綾羅等物別造帳籍，月申樞密院；改講武殿後庫為景福殿庫，俾隸內藏。其後乃令揀納諸州上供物，具月帳於內東門進入，外庭不得預其事。帝因謂左右曰：“此蓋慮司計之臣不能節約，異時用度有闕，復賦率於民，朕不以此自供嗜好也。”

Taizong's reign brought Zhang-Quan, Wuyue, and Taiyuan into the empire and swelled reserves; he split the Left Treasury, had Commissioner Zhai Yi catalog choice silks in separate ledgers reported monthly to the Bureau of Military Affairs, and renamed the rear depot the Jingfu Hall store under inner-treasury control. Later, selected tribute from every prefecture was logged monthly through the inner east gate, beyond outer-court scrutiny. He told his attendants that the reserve guarded against spendthrift fiscal officers who might otherwise re-levy the people in a crisis—not to indulge his personal tastes.

自乾德、開寶以來，用兵及水旱振給、慶澤賜賚、有司計度之所闕者，必籍其數以貸於內藏，候課賦有餘，即償之。淳化後二十五年間，歲貸百萬，有至三百萬者。累歲不能償，則除其籍。

From Qiande and Kaibao on, wars, disaster relief, ceremonial grants, and agency deficits were covered by recorded loans from the inner treasury, repaid when tax revenues allowed. Over the twenty-five years after Chunhua, annual loans ran to one million strings and sometimes three million. Long-unpaid debts were simply written off.

景德四年，又以新衣庫為內藏西庫。初，劉承珪嚐掌庫，經製多其所置，又推究置庫以來出納，造都帳及《須知》，屢加賞焉。真宗再臨幸，作銘刻石。大中祥符五年，重修庫屋，增廣其地。既而又以香藥庫、儀鸞司屋益之，分為四庫：金銀一庫，珠玉、香藥一庫，錦帛一庫，錢一庫。金銀、珠寶有十色，錢有新舊二色，錦帛十三色，香藥七色。天禧二年，又出內藏緡錢二百萬給三司。

In Jingde year four, the New Garments Depot became the inner treasury's western wing. Liu Chenggui, who had long managed the depot, shaped many of its rules, reconstructed its ledgers since founding, compiled the 《Essentials to Know》, and won repeated rewards. Zhenzong visited twice and ordered a stone inscription. In Dazhong Xiangfu year five, the depot was rebuilt and enlarged. Aromatics stores and ceremonial offices were later annexed, dividing holdings into gold and silver, gems and aromatics, silks, and coin. Treasures were sorted into ten grades of metal and gems, two coin types, thirteen silk grades, and seven aromatics grades. In Tianxi year two, two million strings were again released to the Three Departments Commission.

天聖以後，兵師、水旱費無常數，三歲一賚軍士，出錢百萬緡，綢絹百萬匹，銀三十萬兩，錦綺、鹿胎、透背、綾羅紗縠合五十萬匹，以佐三司。又歲入饒、池、江、建新鑄緡錢一百七萬，而斥舊蓄緡錢六十萬於左藏庫，率以為常。異時三司用度不足，必請貸於內藏，輒得之，其名為貸，實罕能償。景祐中，內藏庫主者言：“歲斥緡錢六十萬助三司，自天禧三年始。計明道二年距今才四年，而所貸錢帛九百一十七萬。 ”在太宗時三司所貸甚眾，久不能償，至慶曆中，詔悉蠲之。蓋內藏歲入金帛，皇祐中，二百六十五萬七千一十一；治平一百九十三萬三千五百五十四。其出以助經費，前後不可勝數，至於儲積贏縮，則有司莫得詳焉。

After Tiansheng, military and disaster costs grew unpredictable; triennial troop rewards sent the Three Departments one million strings, a million bolts of silk, 300,000 taels of silver, and fifty thousand bolts of brocades and gauzes. Annual new coin from Rao, Chi, Jiang, and Jian mints reached 1,070,000 strings, while 600,000 older strings were transferred to the Left Treasury as standing practice. Whenever the Three Departments ran short, they borrowed from the inner treasury and almost always got the funds—loans in name, seldom repaid in fact. In Jingyou, the inner treasury director reported that 600,000 strings yearly had aided the Three Departments since Tianxi year three, yet in only four years since Mingdao year two loans had reached 9,170,000. Taizong-era Three Departments debts had likewise piled up until Qingli, when the court forgave them entirely. Annual inner-treasury intake in gold and silk reached 2,657,011 in Huangyou; in Zhiping it stood at 1,933,554. Subsidies to routine budgets were countless, and no agency could fully track whether reserves grew or shrank.

神宗臨禦之初，詔立歲輸內藏錢帛之額，視慶曆上供為數。嚐謂輔臣曰：“比閱內藏庫籍，文具而已，財貨出入，初無關防。舊以龍腦、珍珠鬻於榷貨務，數年不輸直，亦不鉤考。嚐聞太宗時內藏財庫，每千計用一牙錢記之。凡名物不同，所用錢色亦異，他人莫能曉，匣而置之禦閣，以參驗帳籍中定數。晚年，出其錢示真宗曰：‘善保此足矣。 ’今守藏內臣，皆不曉帳籍關防之法。 ”即命幹當禦藥李舜舉領其事。繼詔諸路金銀輸內藏庫者，歲以帳上三司拘催。元豐以來，又詔諸路金帛、緡錢輸內庫者，委提點刑獄司督趣，若三司、發運司擅留者，坐之。超發坊場錢勿寄市易務，直赴內藏庫寄帳封樁。當輸內庫金帛、緡錢，逾期或他用者，如擅用封樁錢法。

Early in Shenzong's reign, the court set annual inner-treasury remittances at Qingli tribute levels. He told his chief ministers that inner-treasury ledgers were mere paperwork with no real controls on movement of goods. Dragon-brain and pearls had been sold to the Monopoly Trade Office for years without payment or audit. Taizong, he recalled, had marked every thousand-string lot with a distinctive token coin. Each commodity type had its own token, kept sealed in the imperial pavilion to cross-check ledger totals outsiders could not read. Late in life he showed Zhenzong those tokens, saying, "Guard these and you will have enough." Today's storehouse eunuchs no longer understand those ledger controls." He immediately put Palace Medicines Superintendent Li Shunju in charge of reform. A follow-up edict required circuit gold and silver remitted to the inner treasury to be logged and collected under Three Departments supervision. From Yuanfeng on, judicial intendants supervised gold, silk, and cash bound for the inner depot, punishing the Three Departments or transport offices that withheld remittances. Surplus monopoly-shop revenue was to bypass the Market Exchange Office and go straight to inner-treasury sealed accounts. Late or diverted inner-depot remittances were penalized like misuse of sealed-ledger funds.

初，藝祖嚐欲積縑帛二百萬易敵人首，又別儲於景福殿。元豐初，乃更景福殿庫名，自製詩以揭之曰：“五季失圖，玁狁孔熾，藝祖造邦，思有懲艾，爰設內府，基以募士，曾孫保之，敢忘厥誌。 ”一字一庫以號之，凡三十二庫。後積羨贏為二十庫，又揭詩曰：“每虔夕惕心，妄意遵遺業，顧予不武姿，何日成戎捷。”

Taizu had once hoped to stock two million bolts of silk to ransom enemy heads and kept a separate Jingfu Hall reserve for that purpose. Early in Yuanfeng the Jingfu depot was renamed and inscribed with his verse: "When the Five Dynasties lost the realm and border foes grew bold, Taizu founded the state and built the inner depot to recruit soldiers—may heirs guard it and never forget that aim." Each character of the poem named a depot, thirty-two in all. As surpluses grew, twenty depots were added under a second verse lamenting his own lack of martial success.

崇寧元年，詔：“祖宗置內藏庫貯經費餘財，所以募士威敵，振乏固本，皆有成法。比歲官司懈馳，侵蠹耗減，務在協力遵守，無令偏廢。 ”於是命倉部郎中丘括行諸路驅磨。三年，中書奏：“熙寧之製，江南諸路金銀課利並輸內帑。元祐中，戶部尚書李常於中以三分助轉運司，致內帑漸以虧減。 ”乃詔諸路新舊坑冶所收課利金銀並輸內帑，如熙寧之舊。後又入於大觀東庫。尋命仍舊以七分輸內帑，餘給轉運司。宣和六年，申截留、借兌內帑錢物之製。

In Chongning year one, the court reminded officials that the inner treasury was meant to stock surplus revenue for troops, enemies, and emergencies under fixed rules. Recent laxity had eroded those reserves, and every office was ordered to uphold the old rules without neglect. Revenue Section Director Qiu Kuo was then sent to audit the circuits. In year three the Secretariat reported that under Xining reforms, Jiangnan gold and silver profits had all flowed to the inner vault. Under Yuanyou, Revenue Minister Li Chang diverted thirty percent to transport offices, steadily draining the inner vault. The court restored the Xining rule sending all mine profits to the inner vault. Later receipts were routed to the Daguan eastern depot instead. Soon the split returned to seventy percent for the inner vault and thirty for transport. In Xuanhe year six, rules against withholding or swapping inner-vault goods were reinforced.

時又有元豐庫，則雜儲諸司羨餘錢。諸道榷酤場，舊以守衙前之陪備官費者，熙寧役法行，乃聽民增直以售，取其價給衙前。久之，坊場錢益多，司農請歲發百萬緡輸中都。元豐三年，遂於司農寺南作元豐庫貯之，以待非常之用。

There was also the Yuanfeng depot, holding miscellaneous surpluses from government agencies. Monopoly shops had once funded yamen runners' expenses; under Xining corvée reform, civilians could buy franchises at premium prices that paid those runners. Over time franchise revenues swelled until the Agriculture Commission sought to send one million strings yearly to the capital. In Yuanfeng year three, the Yuanfeng depot was built south of the Agriculture Commission to hold those emergency funds.

元祐元年，右司諫蘇轍論河北保甲之害，因言：“元豐及內庫財物山委，皆先帝多方蓄藏，以備緩急。若積而不用，與東漢西園錢，唐之瓊林、大盈二庫何異？願以三十萬緡募保甲為軍。 ”尋用其議。元祐三年，改封樁錢物庫為元祐庫。未幾，分元豐庫為元豐南、北庫。數月，以北庫為司空呂公著廨，封樁並附南庫仍舊。元豐六年，詔歲以內藏庫緡錢五十萬樁元豐庫，補助軍費。崇寧以後，諸路封樁禁軍闕額給三路外，與常平、坊場、免役、綢絹、貼輸東北鹽錢，及鬻賣在官田屋錢，應前收樁管封樁權添酒錢、侵占房廊白地錢、公使庫遺利等錢，並輸元豐庫。別又置大觀庫，製同元豐，但分東西之別。最後，建宣和庫，有泉貨、弊餘、服禦、玉食、器貢等名，蓋蔡絛欲效王黼以應奉司貢獻要寵，事不足紀。

In Yuanyou year one, Remonstrance Officer Su Zhe, criticizing Hebei baojia militia, urged using Yuanfeng and inner-depot hoards Taizu had amassed for emergencies. Idle hoards, he argued, would repeat the useless Western Garden treasury of Eastern Han or Tang's Qionlin and Daying stores. He proposed spending 300,000 strings to recruit baojia militia as regular troops. The court soon adopted his plan. In Yuanyou year three, the sealed-ledger depot became the Yuanyou depot. Soon afterward the Yuanfeng depot was divided into south and north wings. Months later the north wing became Minister Lü Gongzhu's offices, and sealed goods returned to the south wing. In Yuanfeng year six, the court ordered 500,000 strings yearly from the inner treasury into Yuanfeng for military costs. After Chongning, ever-normal, franchise, exemption, silk, salt, and property-sale revenues—and countless surcharges on wine, land, and shops—joined sealed metropolitan guard funds flowing to Yuanfeng, except shares reserved for the three frontier circuits. A parallel Daguan depot followed Yuanfeng rules with eastern and western divisions. Finally came the Xuanhe depot, labeled for coin, scrap, robes, delicacies, and tribute wares—Cai Jing's imitation of Wang Fu's supply flattery, scarcely worth mention.

靖康元年，詔諸路公使庫及神霄宮金銀器皿，所在盡輸元豐庫。戶部尚書聶山輒取元豐庫北珠，宰相吳敏白帝，言：“朝廷有元豐、大觀庫，猶陛下有內藏庫。朝廷有闕用，需於內藏，必得旨然後敢取，戶部豈可擅取朝廷庫務物哉？若人人得擅取庫物，則綱紀亂矣。 ”欽宗然之。

In Jingkang year one, the court seized circuit public-service depots and Shenxiao Palace plate for the Yuanfeng store. When Revenue Minister Nie Shan seized Yuanfeng pearls, Councillor Wu Min warned the emperor that Yuanfeng and Daguan were to the court what the inner treasury was to the throne. Court shortfalls required imperial assent even to touch the inner treasury—Revenue had no right to raid state depots on its own. If every office looted storehouses at will, public discipline would collapse. Emperor Qinzong agreed.

南渡，內藏諸庫貨財之數雖不及前，然兵興用乏，亦時取以為助。其籍帳之詳莫得而考，則以後宋史多闕雲。

After the flight south, inner-treasury holdings, though smaller than before, still supplemented wartime shortfalls. Detailed accounts are lost to us, for the later Song History itself survives only in fragments.

Cite this Chapter