Volume 182 Treatises 135: Finance and Economics 2d

食貨下四○鹽中

Finance and Economics, Part Four — Salt Policy (continued)

元豐七年，知滄州趙瞻請自大名府、澶、恩、信安、雄、霸、瀛、莫、冀等州盡榷賣以增其利，才半歲，獲息錢十有六萬七千緡。哲宗即位，監察御史王岩叟言：「河北二年以來新行鹽法，所在價增一倍，既奪商賈之利，又增居民之價以為息，聞貧家至以鹽比藥。伏惟河朔天下根本，祖宗推此為惠，願陛下不以損民為利，而以益民為利，復鹽法如故，以為河北數百萬生靈無窮之賜。」會河北轉運使範子奇奏，鹽稅欲收以十分，遣範鍔商度。岩叟復言：「臣在河北，亦知商賈有自請於官，乞罷榷買，願輸倍稅。主計者但知於商賈倍得稅緡以為利，不知商賈將於民間復增賣價以為害也。慶曆六年，既不行三司榷買之法，又不從轉運司增稅之請，仁宗直謂朕慮河北軍民驟食貴鹽，可令依舊。是時計歲增幾六十萬緡，仁宗豈不知為公家之利？意謂藏之官不若藏之民。今陛下即位之始，宜法仁宗之意，不宜以小利失人心也。」明年，遂罷河北榷法，仍舊通商。六年，提舉河北鹽稅司請令商賈販鹽，於場務輸稅，以及等戶保任，給小引，量道里為限，即非官監鎮店，聽以使煮之，鹽稅舊額五分者，增為七分。則鹽稅蓋已行焉。

In the seventh year of the Yuanfeng reign (1084), Zhao Zhan, prefect of Cangzhou, asked that Daming Prefecture and the prefectures of Chan, En, Xin'an, Xiong, Ba, Ying, Mo, and Ji adopt full government monopoly on salt sales to boost revenue. Within half a year the measure yielded 167,000 strings in interest. After Emperor Zhezong came to the throne, Supervising Censor Wang Yansou memorialized: "For two years Hebei has operated under the new salt law. Prices have doubled everywhere — merchants have been stripped of their margin while commoners pay more so the state can collect interest. I have heard that the poor now treat salt like medicine. The Hebei heartland is the foundation of the empire; our forebears extended this region special favor in salt policy. I beg Your Majesty to seek profit in benefiting the people, not in burdening them — restore the former salt law as an enduring gift to Hebei's millions." Meanwhile Hebei transport commissioner Fan Ziqi reported that salt tax collection was to be raised to the full rate, and Fan E was sent to study the change. Yansou added: "During my service in Hebei I learned that merchants themselves had petitioned the government to end monopoly purchase, offering to pay double the tax instead. The fiscal officers saw only the doubled tax receipts from merchants as gain; they did not see that merchants would pass the cost on to the populace by raising retail prices — that was the real harm. In the sixth year of Qingli (1046) the court rejected both the Three Departments' monopoly-purchase scheme and the transport commission's bid to raise taxes. Emperor Renzong said plainly, "I fear Hebei's soldiers and civilians would suddenly face dear salt — let the old arrangements stand." The proposed change would have added nearly 600,000 strings a year to the treasury. Did Renzong not understand that was revenue for the state? His view was that wealth held by the people was better than wealth held by the government. At the outset of Your Majesty's reign you should follow Renzong's example and not sacrifice popular goodwill for petty gain." The following year the Hebei salt monopoly was abolished and free commerce in salt was restored. In the sixth year (1091) the office charged with Hebei salt taxes proposed letting merchants retail salt, pay tax at market offices, and obtain small transport permits backed by guarantors of equal household rank, with distance limits; outside government-supervised market towns they could arrange boiling. The salt tax rate, formerly five-tenths, was raised to seven-tenths. In this way the salt tax system was already operating.

其在兩浙曰杭州場，歲煮七萬七千餘石，明州昌國東、西兩監二十萬一千餘石，秀州場二十萬八千餘石，溫州天富南北監、密鸚永嘉二場，七萬四千餘石，台州黃岩監一萬五千餘石，以給本州及越、處、衢、婺州。天聖中，杭、秀、溫、台、明各監一，溫州又領場三，而一路歲課視舊減六萬八千石，以給本路及江東之歙州。

In the Two Zhes, the Hangzhou salt works produced over 77,000 piculs yearly; Ming's eastern and western Changguo supervisors over 201,000; Xiuzhou over 208,000; Wenzhou's northern and southern Tianfu supervisors plus the Miying and Yongjia fields over 74,000; and Taizhou's Huangyan supervisor over 15,000 — supplying their home prefectures plus Yue, Chu, Qu, and Wu. Under Emperor Renzong's Tiansheng reign each of Hang, Xiu, Wen, Tai, and Ming had one supervisor; Wenzhou also administered three fields. The circuit's annual salt quota fell by 68,000 piculs from earlier levels, with output allocated to the circuit itself and She Prefecture in Jiangdong.

慶曆初，製置司言：比年河流淺涸，漕運艱阻，靡費益甚，請量增江、淮、兩浙、荊湖六路糶鹽錢。下三司議，三司奏荊湖已嘗增錢，餘四路三十八州軍，請斤增二錢或四錢。詔俟河流通運復故。既而江州置轉般倉，益置漕船及傭客舟以運，製置司因請六路五十一州軍斤增五錢。民苦官鹽估高，無以為食，諸路皆言其不便。久之，韓絳安撫江南還，亦極言之。其後兩浙轉運使沈立、李肅之奏：「本路鹽課緡錢歲七十九萬，嘉祐三年，才及五十三萬；而一歲之內，私販坐罪者三千九十九人；弊在於官鹽估高，故私販不止，而官課益虧。請裁官估，罷鹽綱，令鋪戶衙前自趨山場取鹽，如此則鹽善而估平，人不肯冒禁私售，官課必溢。」發運司難之。立、肅之固請試用其法二三年，可見利害，詔可。

Early in the Qingli era the fiscal planning office reported that rivers had run shallow, making grain transport costly and wasteful, and asked to raise somewhat the price of government salt sold in the Jiang, Huai, Two Zhe, and Jing-Hu circuits. The Three Departments were consulted. They replied that Jing-Hu had already seen a price hike and proposed raising the price by two or four cash per jin in the other four circuits' thirty-eight prefectures and military commands. The court ordered the increase deferred until river transport returned to normal. Later a transfer depot was set up at Jiangzhou, with more transport vessels and hired merchant boats added; the planning office then asked for a five-cash-per-jin increase across fifty-one prefectures and commands in the six circuits. The people struggled under high official salt prices and could scarcely afford salt for their meals; every circuit reported hardship. Eventually Han Jiang, back from his Jiangnan pacification assignment, spoke out strongly on the same point. Later the Two Zhe transport commissioners Shen Li and Li Suzhi reported: "Annual salt revenue for this circuit had been 790,000 strings; in the third year of Jiayou (1058) it fell to only 530,000; yet in a single year 3,099 people were convicted of illegal private salt trade; the trouble is that official salt is overpriced, private trade never stops, and government revenue keeps falling. They asked to lower official prices, abolish the salt transport convoys, and let shopkeepers and yamen runners fetch salt directly from the production sites — then salt quality would improve, prices would stabilize, people would not risk illegal sales, and government revenue would surely rise." The commissary transport office objected. Shen Li and Li Suzhi pressed to trial the plan for two or three years to judge results; the court approved.

立嘗論東鹽利害，條亭戶、倉場、漕運之弊，謂：「愛恤亭戶使不至困窮，休息漕卒使有以為生，防製倉場使不為掊克率斂，絕私販，減官估，果能行此五者，歲可增緡錢一二百萬。」集《鹽策》二十卷以進，其言亭戶困乏尤甚。然自皇祐以來，屢下詔書輒及之，命給亭戶官本，皆以實錢；其售額外鹽者，給粟帛必糧；亭戶逋歲課久不能輸者，悉蠲之。所以存恤之意甚厚，而有司罕有承順焉。

Shen Li had analyzed eastern salt policy, detailing abuses against saltern households, depot officials, and transport workers. He argued: "Care for saltern households so they are not ruined; ease transport laborers so they can earn a living; stop depot extortion; end illegal trade; cut official prices — if all five are enforced, annual revenue could rise by one or two million strings." He submitted a twenty-juan compilation, Salt Policies, stressing above all the dire poverty of saltern households. Since the Huangyou era (1049–1053) repeated edicts had ordered official advance payments to saltern households in hard cash; for salt sold above quota, payment in grain and cloth had to be actual grain; and long-overdue annual quotas that saltern households could not pay were wholly forgiven. The court's intent to protect them was generous, but local officials rarely complied.

熙寧以來，杭、秀、溫、台、明五州共領監六、場十有四，然鹽價苦高，私販者眾，轉為盜賊，課額大失。二年，有萬奇者獻言欲撲兩浙鹽而與民，乃遣奇從發運使薛向詢度利害。神宗以問王安石，對曰：「趙抃言衢州撲鹽，所收課敵兩浙路，抃但見衢、湖可撲，不知衢鹽侵饒、信，湖鹽侵廣德、升州，故課可增，如蘇、常則難比衢、湖。今宜製置煎鹽亭戶及差鹽地人戶督捕私販，般運以時，嚴察拌和，則鹽法自舉，毋事改製。」

Since the Xining reforms (1068 onward), Hang, Xiu, Wen, Tai, and Ming together ran six supervisors and fourteen fields, but salt prices stayed painfully high, illegal trade flourished, many smugglers turned to banditry, and revenue quotas collapsed. In the second year (1069) a man named Wan Qi proposed abolishing the Two Zhes salt monopoly and returning trade to the people; Wan Qi was sent with commissary transport commissioner Xue Xiang to study the idea. Emperor Shenzong asked Wang Anshi, who replied: "Zhao Bian claimed that ending the monopoly in Quzhou alone could match all Two Zhe revenue. Bian saw only Qu and Hu as candidates; he did not see that Qu salt competes with Rao and Xin, and Hu salt with Guangde and Sheng — so revenue might rise there, but Su and Chang cannot be compared to Qu and Hu. The right course is to organize boiling households, assign local residents to hunt smugglers, keep transport on schedule, and strictly police adulteration — then the salt law will work without systemic overhaul."

五年，以盧秉權發遣兩浙提點刑獄，仍專提舉鹽事。秉前與著作佐郎曾默行淮南、兩浙，詢究利害。異時灶戶煮鹽，與官為市，鹽場不時償其直，灶戶益困。秉先請儲發運司錢及雜錢百萬緡以待償，而諸場皆定分數：錢塘縣楊村場上接睦、歙等州，與越州錢清場等，水勢稍淺，以六分為額；楊村下接仁和之湯村為七分；鹽官場為八分；並海而東為越州餘姚縣石堰場、明州慈溪縣鳴鶴場皆九分；至岱山、昌國，又東南為溫州雙穗、南天富、北天富場為十分；蓋其分數約得鹽多寡而為之節。自岱山以及二天富煉以海水，所得為最多。由鳴鶴西南及湯村則刮堿淋鹵，十得六七。鹽官、湯村用鐵盤，故鹽色青白；楊村及錢清場織竹為盤，塗以石灰，故色少黃；石堰以東近海水咸，故雖用竹盤，而鹽色尤白。秉因定伏火盤數以絕私煮，自三灶至十灶為一甲，而煮鹽地什伍其民，以相幾察；及募酒坊戶願占課額，取鹽於官賣之，月以錢輸官，毋得越所酤地；而又嚴捕盜販者，罪不至配，雖杖者皆同妻子遷五百里。仍益開封府界、京東兵各五百人防捕。

In the fifth year (1072) Lu Bing was dispatched as acting Two Zhe judicial intendant with sole charge of salt administration. Bing had earlier toured Huainan and the Two Zhes with assistant academician Zeng Mo to study the system's strengths and flaws. Previously saltern households boiled salt and sold to the state, but depots often delayed payment, deepening their hardship. Bing first asked to set aside one million strings from transport and miscellaneous funds for prompt payment, and fixed quota shares for each field: Yangcun in Qiantang, bordering Mu and She, with Yue's Qianqing and similar shallow-water sites, at six-tenths; Yangcun's downstream link to Renhe's Tangcun at seven-tenths; the Yanguan field at eight-tenths; east along the coast, Yue's Yuyao Shiyan and Ming's Cixi Minghe at nine-tenths each; at Daishan and Changguo, and southeast to Wenzhou's Shuanghui, southern Tianfu, and northern Tianfu at the full ten-tenths; the shares were scaled roughly to each site's salt yield. From Daishan through the two Tianfu fields, seawater boiling yielded the most salt. Southwest from Minghe through Tangcun they scraped alkali and leached brine, recovering six or seven parts in ten. Yanguan and Tangcun used iron pans, producing bluish-white salt; Yangcun and Qianqing wove bamboo pans coated with lime, giving a slightly yellow cast; east of Shiyan, where seawater is especially briny, even bamboo-pan salt came out exceptionally white. Bing fixed the number of licensed boiling pans to stop illegal production, grouped three to ten stoves into one unit, and organized saltern populations in mutual surveillance groups; and recruited wine-shop operators to assume sales quotas, buy salt from the state, pay monthly, and stay within licensed territories; He also cracked down on smugglers: even when punishment fell short of exile, those merely flogged were relocated with their families five hundred li away. Five hundred additional troops each from the Kaifeng metropolitan zone and Jingdong were assigned to enforcement.

時惟杭、越、湖三州格新法不行，發運司劾奏虧課，皆獄治。王安石為神宗言捕鹽法急，可以止刑。久之，乃詔兩浙提舉鹽事司，諸州虧課者未得遽劾，以增虧及違法輕重分三等以聞。七年，以盧秉鹽課雖增，刑獄實繁，慮無辜即罪者眾，徙其職淮南，以江東漕臣張靚代之，且休量其事。靚言秉在事，越州監催鹽償至有母殺子者，詔劾其罪，然竟免，仍以增課擢太常博士，升一資。歲餘，三司言兩浙漕司寬弛，鹽息大虧，命著作佐郎翁仲通更議措置。元祐初，言者論秉推行浙西鹽法，務誅利以增課，所配流者至一萬二千餘人，秉坐降職。兩浙鹽亭戶計丁輸鹽，逋負滋廣，二年，詔蠲之。後更積負無以償，元符初，察訪使以狀聞，有司乃以朝旨不行，右正言鄒浩嘗極疏其害。

Only Hang, Yue, and Hu still resisted the new law; the transport office impeached them for revenue shortfalls and all were prosecuted. Wang Anshi told Shenzong that strict salt enforcement would eventually reduce criminal penalties. Eventually the court ordered the Two Zhe salt office not to impeach prefectures immediately for revenue shortfalls, but to report three grades by severity of loss and violation. In the seventh year (1074), though Lu Bing had raised salt revenue, criminal cases had multiplied and many feared wrongful conviction; he was transferred to Huainan, replaced by Jiangdong transport official Zhang Jing, and the program was paused for review. Zhang Jing reported that under Bing's tenure Yue supervisors pressing salt payments drove cases as extreme as mothers killing sons. An investigation was ordered, yet Bing was excused and promoted to Erudite of the Imperial Sacrifices for raising revenue, advancing one grade. A year later the Three Departments reported that Two Zhe transport officials had grown lax and salt profits had collapsed; assistant academician Weng Zhongtong was ordered to redesign the system. Early in the Yuanyou era (1086) critics charged that Bing's western Zhe salt policy pursued revenue through harsh punishment, exiling more than 12,000 people; Bing was demoted. Two Zhe saltern households owed salt by household head count; arrears kept mounting until the second year (1087), when an edict forgave them. Arrears piled up again beyond repayment; early in the Yuanfu era (1098) investigators reported that court orders were ignored; Right Remonstrator Zou Hao had memorialized at length on the harm.

明州鳴鶴場鹽課弗登，撥隸越州。宣和元年，樓異為明州，請仍舊，且於接近台州給舊鹽五七萬囊。詔曰：「明州鹽場三，昨以施置不善，以鳴鶴一場隸越，客始輻湊。猶有二場積鹽以百萬計，未見功緒，此而不圖，東欲取於越，西欲取於台，改令害法，動搖眾情。」令狀析以聞。

Ming Prefecture's Minghe salt field failed to meet its quota and was reassigned to Yue Prefecture. In the first year of Xuanhe (1119), Lou Yi as Ming prefect asked to restore the former arrangement and receive 50,000 to 70,000 bags of legacy salt from nearby Taizhou. The court replied: "Ming has three salt fields. Poor planning led us to subordinate Minghe to Yue, and only then did merchants converge. The other two fields still hold a million bags in stock with little progress. If we do not address this, Ming will seek supply from Yue in the east and Taizhou in the west — constant rule changes undermine the law and unsettle the trade." He was ordered to submit a detailed report.

其在淮南曰楚州鹽城監，歲煮四十一萬七千餘石，通州豐利監四十八萬九千餘石，泰州海陵監如皋倉小海場六十五萬六千餘石，各給本州及淮南之廬和舒蘄黃州、無為軍，江南之江寧府、宣、洪、袁、吉、筠、江、池、太、平、饒、信、歙、撫州、廣德臨江軍，兩浙之常、潤、湖、睦州，荊湖之江陵府、安、復、潭、鼎、嶽、鄂、衡、永州、漢陽軍。海州板浦、惠澤、洛要三場歲煮四十七萬七千餘石，漣水軍海口場十一萬五千餘石，各給本州軍及京東之徐州，淮南之光、泗、濠、壽州，兩浙之杭、蘇、湖、常、潤州、江陰軍。天聖中，通、楚州場各七，泰州場八，海州場二，漣水軍場一，歲煮視舊減六十九萬七千五百四十餘石，以給本路及江南東西、荊湖南北四路，舊並給兩浙路，天聖七年始罷。

In Huainan: Chuzhou's Yancheng supervisor produced over 417,000 piculs yearly; Tongzhou's Fengli over 489,000; Taizhou's Hailing with Rugao depot and Xiaohai field over 656,000 — supplying their home prefectures plus Huainan's Lu, He, Shu, Qi, and Huang and Wuwei Army; Jiangnan's Jiangning, Xuan, Hong, Yuan, Ji, Jun, Jiang, Chi, Tai, Ping, Rao, Xin, She, and Fu, Guangde and Linjiang; the Two Zhes' Chang, Run, Hu, and Mu; and Jing-Hu's Jiangling, An, Fu, Tan, Ding, Yue, E, Heng, Yong, and Hanyang. Haizhou's Banpu, Huize, and Luoyao fields boiled over 477,000 piculs yearly; Lianshui Army's Haikou over 115,000 — supplying their home commands plus Jingdong's Xuzhou, Huainan's Guang, Si, Hao, and Shou, and the Two Zhes' Hang, Su, Hu, Chang, Run, and Jiangyin. Under Tiansheng, Tong and Chu had seven fields each, Taizhou eight, Haizhou two, Lianshui one; annual output fell by 697,540 piculs from earlier levels to supply the home circuit and Jiangnan east and west and Jing-Hu south and north. Formerly Two Zhe was also supplied until the seventh year of Tiansheng (1029).

凡鹽之入，置倉以受之，通、楚州各一，泰州三，以受三州鹽。又置轉般倉二，一於真州，以受通、泰、楚五倉鹽；一於漣水軍，以受海州漣水鹽。江南、荊湖歲漕米至淮南，受鹽以歸。東南鹽利，視天下為最厚。鹽之入官，淮南、福建、兩浙之溫、台、明斤為錢四，杭、秀為錢六，廣南為錢五。其出，視去鹽道里遠近而上下其估，利有至十倍者。

Incoming salt was received at warehouses: one each at Tong and Chu, three at Taizhou for the three prefectures' output. Two transfer depots were added: one at Zhenzhou receiving salt from Tong, Tai, and Chu's five warehouses; one at Lianshui Army for Haizhou and Lianshui salt. Each year Jiangnan and Jing-Hu sent tribute grain to Huainan and took salt back in exchange. Southeastern salt profits were the richest in the empire. Salt paid to the state was priced at four cash per jin in Huainan, Fujian, and Wen, Tai, and Ming in the Two Zhes; six in Hang and Xiu; five in Guangnan. Retail prices varied with distance from the source, and markups could reach tenfold.

明道二年，參知政事王隨建言：「淮南鹽初甚善。自通、泰、楚運至真州，自真州運至江、浙、荊湖，綱吏舟卒，侵盜販煮，從而雜以沙土。涉道愈遠，雜惡殆不可食，吏卒坐鞭笞，徒配相繼而莫能止。比歲運河淺涸，漕挽不行，遠州村民，頓乏鹽食；而淮南所積一千五百萬石，至無屋以貯，則露積苫覆，歲以損耗。又亭戶輸鹽，應得本錢或無以給，故亭戶貧困，往往起為盜賊，其害如此。願權聽通商三五年，使商人入錢京師，又置折博務於揚州，使輸錢及粟帛，計直予鹽。鹽一石約售錢二千，則一千五百萬石可得緡錢三千萬以資國用，一利也；江、湖遠近皆食白鹽，二利也；歲罷漕運糜費，風水覆溺，舟人不陷刑辟，三利也；昔時漕鹽舟可移以漕米，四利也；商人入錢，可取以償亭戶，五利也。」

In the second year of Mingdao (1033), Vice Grand Councilor Wang Sui proposed: "Huainan salt was once excellent. Transported from Tong, Tai, and Chu to Zhenzhou, then onward to Jiang, Zhe, and Jing-Hu, convoy clerks and boatmen stole, resold, and illicitly boiled salt, adulterating it with sand and dirt. The farther it traveled, the fouler it grew, nearly inedible — officials flogged and exiled men in succession yet could not stop it. In recent years canals ran shallow, grain transport stalled, and distant villages suddenly lacked salt; while Huainan sat on fifteen million piculs with no warehouse space, salt piled in the open under mats and wasted away each year. Saltern households delivered salt but often went unpaid, grew destitute, and frequently turned to banditry — such was the damage. I ask to permit free salt trade for three to five years, let merchants pay cash in the capital, and establish an exchange office at Yangzhou where they pay cash, grain, or cloth and receive salt at calculated value. At roughly 2,000 cash per picul, fifteen million piculs would yield thirty million strings for state use — a first benefit; near and far along the rivers and lakes all would get good white salt — a second benefit; ending annual transport waste, shipwrecks, and criminal punishment for boatmen — a third benefit; former salt transport vessels could carry grain instead — a fourth benefit; merchant payments could reimburse saltern households — a fifth benefit."

康定元年，詔商人入芻粟陝西並邊，願受東南鹽者加數與之。會河北穀賤，三司因請內地諸州行三說法，亦以鹽代京師所給緡錢，糴二十萬石止。慶曆二年，又詔：「入中陝西、河東者持券至京師，償以錢及金帛各半之；不願受金帛者予茶鹽、香藥，惟其所欲。」而東南鹽利厚，商旅皆願得鹽。八年，河北行四說法，鹽居其一，而並邊芻粟，皆有虛估，騰踴至數倍。券至京師，反為蓄賈所抑，鹽百八斤舊售錢十萬，至是六萬，商人以賤估售券取鹽，不復入錢京師，帑藏益乏。皇祐二年，復入錢京師法，視舊錢數稍增予鹽，而並邊入中先得券受鹽者，河東、陝西入芻粟直錢十萬，止給鹽直七萬河北又損為六萬五千，且令入錢十萬於京師，乃聽兼給，謂之對貼，自是入錢京師稍復故。

In the first year of Kangding (1040) merchants delivering fodder to Shaanxi and the border who chose southeastern salt received an extra allotment. When Hebei grain prices fell, the Three Departments asked inland prefectures to adopt the three-exchange method, substituting salt for capital cash payments, limited to 200,000 piculs of grain purchase. In the second year of Qingli (1042) another edict ruled: "Deliverers to Shaanxi and Hedong who brought certificates to the capital would be paid half in cash and half in gold and silk; those who declined gold and silk could take tea, salt, or aromatics as they preferred." Southeastern salt profits were rich, and merchants all preferred salt. In the eighth year (1048) Hebei adopted the four-exchange method with salt as one component; borderland fodder valuations were inflated several times over. At the capital hoarding merchants depressed certificate values; 108 jin of salt that had sold for 100,000 cash now fetched 60,000. Merchants sold certificates cheaply to claim salt and stopped paying cash in the capital, draining the treasury further. In the second year of Huangyou (1050) the capital cash-payment system was restored with slightly more salt per old cash amount. Border deliverers who took salt on certificate first received only 70,000 in salt value for 100,000 in fodder in Hedong and Shaanxi, and 65,000 in Hebei; they also had to deposit 100,000 cash in the capital before receiving the full payment — called "matching paste." Capital cash payments gradually recovered.

初，天聖九年，三司請榷貨務入錢售東南鹽，以百八十萬三千緡為額，後增至四百萬緡。嘉祐中，諸路漕運不足，榷貨務課益不登，於是即發運司置官專領運鹽公事。治平中，京師入緡錢二百二十七萬，而淮南、兩浙、福建、江南、荊湖、廣南六路歲售緡錢，皇祐中二百七十三萬，治平中三百二十九萬。

At first, in the ninth year of Tiansheng the Three Departments asked the monopoly goods office to take cash for southeastern salt sales, with a quota of 1,803,000 strings that was later raised to 4,000,000. In the Jiayou era transport from the circuits fell short and monopoly goods office receipts kept missing their targets, so the consignment transport directorate appointed officials solely responsible for moving salt. Under Zhiping the capital took in 2,270,000 strings, while annual sales in the six southeastern circuits — Huainan, Liang-Zhe, Fujian, Jiangnan, Jing-Hu, and Guangnan — rose from 2,730,000 strings in Huangyou to 3,290,000 in Zhiping.

江、湖運鹽既雜惡，官估復高，故百姓利食私鹽，而並海民以魚鹽為業，用工省而得利厚。繇是不逞無賴盜販者眾，捕之急則起為盜賊。江、淮間雖衣冠士人，狃於厚利，或以販鹽為事。江西則虔州地連廣南，而福建之汀州亦與虔接，虔鹽弗善，汀故不產鹽，二州民多盜販廣南鹽以射利。每歲秋冬，田事才畢，恒數十百為群，持甲兵旗鼓，往來虔、汀、漳、潮、循、梅、惠、廣八州之地。所至劫人穀帛，掠人婦女，與巡捕吏卒鬥格，至殺傷吏卒，則起為盜，依阻險要，捕不能得，或赦其罪招之。歲月浸淫滋多，而州官糶鹽歲才及百萬斤。

Official salt shipped through the Jiang and Hu basins was adulterated and overpriced, so people turned to illicit salt; coastal dwellers who worked in fishing and salt-making earned large profits with little effort. Thus a large number of unruly smugglers appeared, and when the authorities pressed arrests too hard they turned into outright bandits. Even gentry between the Yangtze and Huai, lured by heavy profits, sometimes made their living smuggling salt. In Jiangxi, Qian prefecture bordered Guangnan and Ting prefecture in Fujian lay adjacent; with poor official salt in Qian and no local production in Ting, residents of both prefectures smuggled Guangnan salt for profit. Each autumn and winter, as soon as the harvest ended, they formed bands of dozens or hundreds, armed and bearing banners, and roamed among the eight prefectures of Qian, Ting, Zhang, Chao, Xun, Mei, Hui, and Guang. They robbed grain and cloth, seized women, and fought patrol troops; once they killed officials they became full bandits, holding mountain passes where pursuers could not reach them — or the court pardoned them and brought them in. The problem grew year by year, while official salt sales in the prefecture amounted to only one million jin annually.

慶曆中，廣東轉運使李敷、王繇請運廣州鹽於南雄州，以給虔、吉，未報，即運四百餘萬斤於南雄；而江西轉運司不以為便，不往取。後三司戶部判官周湛等八人復請運廣鹽入虔州，江西亦請自具本錢取之。詔尚書屯田員外郎施元長等會議，皆請如湛等議。而發運使許元以為不可，遂止。

During Qingli, Guangdong transport commissioners Li Fu and Wang Yao asked to ship Guangzhou salt to Nanxiong to supply Qian and Ji; without waiting for approval they moved more than 4,000,000 jin there; but the Jiangxi transport commission found the arrangement impractical and refused to collect the salt. Later Zhou Zhan, a Three Departments revenue commissioner, and seven colleagues again proposed shipping Guang salt into Qian, and Jiangxi offered to pay the capital costs itself. The court ordered Vice Director of Field Revenue Shi Yuanchang and others to meet, and all endorsed Zhou Zhan's plan. Consignment Commissioner Xu Yuan objected, however, and the plan was dropped.

嘉祐以來，或請商販廣南鹽入虔、汀，所過州縣收算；或請放虔、汀、漳、循、梅、潮、惠七州鹽通商；或謂第歲運淮南鹽七百萬斤至虔，二百萬斤至汀，民間足鹽，寇盜自息；或請官自置鋪役兵卒，運廣南、福建鹽至虔、汀州，論者不一。先嘗遣職方員外郎黃炳乘傳會所屬監司及知州、通判議，謂虔州食淮南鹽已久，不可改，第損近歲所增官估，斤為錢四十，以十縣五等戶夏秋稅率百錢令糴鹽二斤，隨夏稅入錢償官。繼命提點鑄錢沈扶覆視可否，扶等請選江西漕船團為十綱，以三班使臣部之，直取通、泰、楚都倉鹽。詔用炳等策，然歲才增糶六十餘萬斤。

Since Jiayou various proposals circulated: let merchants carry Guangnan salt into Qian and Ting with transit fees at each stop; open salt trade entirely in the seven prefectures of Qian, Ting, Zhang, Xun, Mei, Chao, and Hui; simply ship 7,000,000 jin of Huainan salt yearly to Qian and 2,000,000 jin to Ting so the people would have enough salt and smuggling would die down; or have the state run shops and troops to haul Guangnan and Fujian salt to Qian and Ting — opinions remained divided. Earlier Field Works Vice Director Huang Bing had been sent by imperial courier to consult local commissioners and prefectural officials; they argued that Qian had long relied on Huainan salt and the supply should not be switched, but the recent price hike could be rolled back to forty cash per jin, with households in ten counties required to buy two jin per hundred cash of summer and autumn tax and repay the state through their tax payments. Shen Fu, the mint supervisor, was then told to reassess the plan; he proposed forming ten convoys from Jiangxi transport boats under third-rank commissioners, drawing salt straight from the Tong, Tai, and Chu central stores. The court adopted Huang Bing's scheme, but annual sales rose by only a little over 600,000 jin.

江西提點刑獄蔡挺製置鹽事，乃令民首納私藏兵械給巡捕吏卒，而販黃魚籠挾鹽不及二十斤、徒不及五人、不以甲兵自隨者，止輸算勿捕。淮南既團新綱漕鹽，挺增為十二綱，綱二十五艘，鎖栿至州乃發。輸官有餘，以畀漕舟吏卒，官復以半賈取之，繇是減侵盜之弊，鹽遂差善。又損糶價，歲課視舊增至三百餘萬斤，乃罷炳等議所率糴鹽錢。異時，汀州人欲販鹽，輒先伐鼓山谷中，召願從者與期日，率常得數十百人已上，與俱行。至是，州縣督責耆保，有伐鼓者輒捕送，盜販者稍稍畏縮。朝廷以挺為能，留之江西，積數年乃徙。久之，江西鹽皆團綱運致如虔州焉。

When Jiangxi judicial intendant Cai Ting took over salt policy, he required civilians to surrender hidden weapons to patrol troops; smugglers carrying less than twenty jin of salt in fish baskets, with fewer than five men and no arms, had only to pay transit fees and were not arrested. Huainan had already organized new salt convoys; Ting expanded the system to twelve convoys of twenty-five boats each, kept sealed until they reached the prefecture. Surplus salt delivered to the state was allotted to boat crews, whom the government then bought it back from at half price; this cut down theft and improved salt quality. He cut sale prices as well, raising annual receipts to more than 3,000,000 jin over the old level, and ended the mandatory salt-purchase levy tied to Huang Bing's plan. In earlier times Ting smugglers would drum in the hills to rally recruits and set a rendezvous, routinely mustering scores or even hundreds before setting out together. Now prefectures and counties pressed village elders and baojia heads to act: anyone who beat the drum was arrested at once, and smugglers slowly pulled back. The court judged Ting effective and kept him in Jiangxi for several years before moving him elsewhere. In time all Jiangxi salt was shipped in convoys on the Qian model.

初，荊湖亦病鹽惡，且歲漕常不足，治平二年，才及二十五萬餘石。三年，撥淮西二十四綱及傭客舟載鹽以往，是歲運及四十萬石。四年，至五十三萬餘石。

Jing-Hu likewise struggled with bad salt and chronic shortfalls in transport; in the second year of Zhiping deliveries totaled barely 250,000 piculs. The third year they assigned twenty-four Huixi convoys plus hired merchant vessels, and shipments that year reached 400,000 piculs. The fourth year deliveries rose to more than 530,000 piculs.

慶曆初，判戶部勾院王琪言：「天禧初，嘗以荊湖鹽估高，詔斤減三錢或二錢，自後利入寢損。請復舊估，可歲增緡錢四萬。」許之。治平中，淮南轉運使李復圭、張芻、蘇頌，三司度支判官韓縝，相繼請減淮南鹽價，然卒不果行。

Early in Qingli, Wang Qi of the Revenue Review Office reported: "At the start of Tiansi, Jing-Hu salt prices were cut by two or three cash per jin because assessments were too high, and receipts have steadily fallen since. Restore the old price and revenue should rise by 40,000 strings a year." The request was approved. Under Zhiping, Huainan transport commissioners Li Fugui, Zhang Chu, and Su Song, together with fiscal commissioner Han Zong of the Three Departments, repeatedly asked to cut Huainan salt prices, but none of the proposals took effect.

熙寧初，江西鹽課不登，三年，提點刑獄張頡言：「虔州官鹽鹵濕雜惡，輕不及斤，而價至四十七錢。嶺南盜販入虔，以斤半當一斤，純白不雜，賣錢二十，以故虔人盡食嶺南鹽。乃議稍減虔鹽價，更擇壯舟，團為十綱，以使臣部押。後蔡挺以贛江道險，議令鹽船三歲一易，仍以鹽純雜增虧為綱官、舟人殿最，鹽課遂敷，盜販衰止。自挺去，法十廢五六，請復之便。」詔從之。仍定歲運淮鹽十二綱至虔州。及章惇察訪湖南，符本路提點刑獄朱初平措置般運廣鹽，添額出賣，然未及行。元豐三年，惇既參政，有郟亶者，邪險銳進，素為惇所喜，迎合惇意，推仿湖南之法，乞運廣鹽於江西。即遣蹇周輔往江西相度。周輔承望惇意，奏言：「虔州運路險遠，淮鹽至者不能多，人苦淡食，廣東鹽不得輒通，盜販公行。淮鹽官以九錢致一斤，若運廣鹽盡會其費，減淮鹽一錢，而其鹽更善，運路無阻。請罷運淮鹽，通般廣鹽一千萬斤於江西虔州、南安軍，復均淮鹽六百一十六萬斤於洪、吉、筠、袁、撫、臨江、建昌、興國軍，以補舊額。」詔周輔立法以聞。周輔具鹽法並總目條上，大率峻剝於民，民被其害。舊，江西鹽場許民買撲，周輔悉籍於官賣之。遂以周輔遙領提舉江西、廣東鹽事，即司農寺置局。

Early in Xining Jiangxi salt receipts fell short; in the third year judicial intendant Zhang Ji reported: "Qian's official salt was wet, adulterated, and underweight, yet sold for forty-seven cash a jin. Smuggled Lingnan salt offered a jin and a half for the price of one jin of pure white salt at twenty cash, so Qian residents ate nothing but Lingnan salt. He proposed trimming Qian's official price, reassigning sturdy boats into ten convoys under imperial commissioners. Cai Ting later argued that the Gan River route was treacherous and salt boats should be replaced every three years; convoy officers and crews would be graded on salt purity and losses, which brought receipts back up and curbed smuggling. Since Ting left, five or six tenths of his measures had lapsed; restoring them would be advisable." The court agreed. It also set twelve annual Huainan salt convoys for Qian prefecture. When Zhang Dun toured Hunan he told judicial intendant Zhu Chuping to organize Guang salt shipments and raise sales quotas, but the plan was never carried out. In the third year of Yuanfeng, with Zhang Dun already in power, a protégé named Jia Dan — cunning and ruthlessly ambitious — flattered him by extending the Hunan model and asking to ship Guang salt into Jiangxi. Jian Zhoufu was immediately sent to Jiangxi to survey the plan. Currying favor with Zhang Dun, Zhoufu reported: "Qian's route was long and dangerous, so little Huainan salt arrived; people lacked salt, Guangdong salt was barred, and smuggling flourished openly. Official Huainan salt cost nine cash per jin to deliver; Guang salt at equal total cost could replace it with a one-cash reduction, better quality, and no transport obstacles. Stop shipping Huainan salt and move 10,000,000 jin of Guang salt to Qian and Nan'an in Jiangxi, while reallocating 6,160,000 jin of Huainan salt among Hong, Ji, Jun, Yuan, Fu, Linjiang, Jianchang, and Xingguo to cover the old quota." The court told Zhoufu to draft regulations and report back. Zhoufu submitted the full salt code and summary articles, which on the whole squeezed the populace harshly. Previously Jiangxi salterns could be leased by private bid; Zhoufu placed them all under direct state sale. Zhoufu was then put in remote charge of Jiangxi and Guangdong salt policy, with a bureau set up in the Ministry of Revenue.

四年，周輔改漕河北。明年，提舉常平劉誼言道途洶洶，以賣鹽為患。詔江東提點刑獄範峋體量，未報，誼坐言役法等事罷。及峋奏至，但以州縣違法塞詔，竟無更張。未幾，周輔奏：「虔州、南安軍推行鹽法方半年，已收息十四萬緡。」自以為功。詔命發運副使李琮體訪利害，琮知周輔方被獎用，止謂鹽法宜變通而已，不敢斥言其害。六年，周輔為戶部侍郎，復奏湖南郴、道州鄰接韶、連，可以通運廣鹽數百萬，卻均舊賣淮鹽於潭、衡、永、全、邵等州，並準江西、廣東見法，仍舉郟亶初議，郴、全、道三州亦賣廣鹽。詔委提舉常平張士澄、轉運判官陳偲措置。明年，士澄等具條約來上，詔施行之，額利增加，一方騷然。於時淮西亦推行周輔鹽法，發運使蔣之奇奏立知州、通判、鹽事官賞罰，下戶部著為令。

The fourth year Zhoufu was reassigned to Hebei transport duties. The following year Ever-Normal Granary intendant Liu Yi reported widespread unrest caused by forced salt sales. Jiangdong judicial intendant Fan Xun was ordered to investigate; before he reported, Liu Yi was removed after criticizing the corvee laws. When Fan Xun's report arrived it blamed local officials for blocking the edict, and no policy change followed. Soon Zhoufu reported: "Qian and Nan'an had run the new salt law for only half a year and already cleared 140,000 strings in profit. He counted it as his achievement. Vice Commissioner Li Cong was told to assess the policy on the ground; knowing Zhoufu was in favor, he merely suggested minor adjustments and did not denounce the harm openly. The sixth year, now Vice Minister of Revenue, Zhoufu proposed extending Guang salt shipments of several million jin into Chen and Dao in Hunan, which border Shao and Lian, while reallocating former Huainan salt sales among Tan, Heng, Yong, Quan, and Shao under the Jiangxi-Guangdong model Jia Dan had first suggested; Chen, Quan, and Dao would sell Guang salt as well. Zhang Shicheng, intendant of the Ever-Normal Granaries, and transport vice commissioner Chen Si were ordered to implement the plan. The next year they submitted detailed regulations, the court put them into effect, quotas rose, and the region erupted in unrest. Huixi adopted Zhoufu's salt law as well; consignment commissioner Jiang Zhiqi asked for reward-and-punishment rules for prefects, vice prefects, and salt officials, which the Revenue Ministry codified.

紹聖三年，發運司言淮南亭戶貧瘠，官賦本錢六十四萬緡，皆倚辦諸路，以故不時至，民無所得錢，必舉倍稱之息。欲以糴本錢十萬緡給之，不足，畀以憑由，即欲質於官，與平之七，而蠲其息，鹽本集，復給其三分，憑由毀棄。

In the third year of Shaosheng the consignment directorate reported that Huainan saltern households were destitute: the state's 640,000 strings in capital funds relied on circuit contributions that arrived late, leaving saltern families without cash and forcing them to borrow at usurious rates. They proposed advancing 100,000 strings in purchase capital, or issuing pawn certificates redeemable at seventy percent of face value with interest waived; once salt capital was collected the remaining thirty percent would be paid and the certificates destroyed.

崇寧元年，蔡京議更鹽法，乃言東南鹽本或闕，滯於客販，請增給度牒及給封樁坊場錢通三十萬緡。並列七條：一、許客用私船運致，仍嚴立輒逾疆至夾帶私鹽之禁；二、鹽場官吏概量不平或支鹽失倫次者，論以徒；三、鹽商所繇官司、場務、堰閘、津渡等輒加苛留者，如上法；四、禁命吏、蔭家、貢士、胥史為賈區請鹽；五、議貸亭戶；六、鹽價大低者議增之；七、令措置官博盡利害以聞。明年，詔鹽舟力勝錢勿輸，用絕阻遏，且許舟行越次取疾，官綱等舟輒攔阻者坐之。遂變鈔法，置買鈔所於榷貨務。凡以鈔至者，並以末鹽、乳香、茶鈔並東北一分及官告、度牒、雜物等換給。末鹽鈔換易五分，餘以雜物，而舊鈔止許易末鹽、官告。仍以十分率之，止聽算三分，其七分兼新鈔。定民間買鈔之價，以抑豪強，以平邊糴。在河北買者，率百緡毋得下五千，東南末鹽鈔毋得下十千，陝西鹽鈔毋得下五千五百，私減者坐徒徙之罪，官吏留難、文鈔展限等條皆備。

In the first year of Chongning, Cai Jing proposed revising the salt law, noting that southeastern salt capital sometimes ran short and sat idle among merchant traders; he asked for an extra 300,000 strings in ordination certificates and sealed-reserve market funds. He added seven provisions: first, allow merchants to ship on private vessels but strictly forbid crossing boundaries or carrying illicit salt; second, saltern officials who short-measured or issued salt out of turn would face penal servitude; third, officials at offices, market posts, locks, and ferries along merchant routes who detained salt shipments would be punished the same way; fourth, ban appointed clerks, yin families, tribute scholars, and petty officials from procuring salt for merchant zones; fifth, provide loans to saltern households; sixth, raise prices where they had fallen too low; seventh, require arranging officials to report fully on costs and benefits. The next year the court exempted salt boats from capacity transit fees to prevent holdups, allowed them to pass out of turn for speed, and penalized official convoys that blocked them. The certificate system was then revised and purchase offices set up at the monopoly goods office. Certificate holders could exchange them for powdered-salt certificates, frankincense, tea certificates with the northeastern one-tenth share, official appointments, ordination certificates, and other goods. Powdered-salt certificates could be redeemed fifty percent in kind and the rest in miscellaneous goods; old certificates could be exchanged only for powdered salt and official appointments. On a ten-part basis only three parts could be settled in cash; the other seven had to include new certificates. Certificate purchase prices were fixed to curb powerful speculators and stabilize border grain procurement. In Hebei the floor was 5,000 per hundred strings; southeastern powdered-salt certificates could not fall below 10,000; Shaanxi salt certificates not below 5,500; unauthorized discounts brought penal servitude or exile, with full rules against official obstruction and deadline extensions.

四年，又以算請鹽價輕重不等，載定六路鹽價，舊價二十錢以上皆遞增以十錢，四十五者如舊；算請東南末鹽，願折以金銀、物帛者聽其便。而亭戶貸錢，舊輸息二分者蠲之。五年，詔算請不貼納見錢，以十分率之，毋過二分。大觀元年，乃令算請東南末鹽貼輸及帶舊鈔如見條外，更許帶日前貼輸三分鹽鈔，輸四分者帶二分，五分者帶三分。後又貼輸四分者帶三分，五分者帶四分，而東南鹽並收見緡換請新鈔者，如四分五分法貼輸。其換請新鈔及見錢算東南末鹽，如不帶六等舊鈔者，聽先給；如止帶五等舊鈔，其給鹽之敘，在崇寧四年十月前所帶不貼輸舊鈔之上。六等者，謂貼三、貼四、貼五、當十鈔、並河北公據、免貼納錢是也。

The fourth year, because cash-settlement salt prices varied, the six circuits' prices were standardized: former prices of twenty cash or more rose by ten, while forty-five cash stayed unchanged; those settling in cash for southeastern powdered salt could convert payment to gold, silver, or cloth at their option. Interest on loans to saltern households, formerly two percent, was waived. The fifth year the court ruled that cash settlements need not include supplementary cash payments, capped at two-tenths on a ten-part basis. In the first year of Daguan, beyond existing rules on supplementary payments and old certificates for southeastern powdered salt, holders could also include prior supplementary three-tenths salt certificates: four-tenths payers could add two-tenths, five-tenths payers three-tenths. Later four-tenths supplementary payers could add three-tenths and five-tenths payers four-tenths; cash payers exchanging for new southeastern salt certificates followed the same supplementary ratios. Those exchanging for new certificates or paying cash for southeastern powdered salt without six-grade old certificates could receive salt first; if they carried only five-grade old certificates, they ranked above holders of non-supplementary old certificates from before the tenth month of Chongning's fourth year. The six grades were supplementary three-, four-, and five-tenths certificates, ten-for-one certificates, Hebei public vouchers, and certificates exempt from supplementary payment.

時鈔法紛易，公私交弊。四年，侍御史毛注言：「崇寧以來，鹽法頓易元豐舊制，不許諸路以官船回載為轉運司之利，許人任便用鈔請鹽，般載於所指州縣販易，而出賣州縣用為課額。提舉鹽事司苛責郡縣，以賣鹽多寡為官吏殿最，一有循職養民不忍侵克，則指為沮法，必重奏劾譴黜，州縣孰不望風畏威，競為刻虐？由是東南諸州每縣三等以上戶，俱以物產高下，勒認鹽數之多寡。上戶歲限有至千緡，第三等末戶不下三五十貫，籍為定數，使依數販易，以足歲額；稍或愆期，鞭撻隨之。一縣歲額有三五萬緡，今用為常額，實為害之大者。」

Certificate rules shifted constantly, harming both government and private trade. The fourth year, censor Mao Zhu reported: "Since Chongning the salt law abruptly replaced Yuanfeng practice: circuits could no longer profit from return cargo on official boats; merchants could freely use certificates to claim salt, ship it to assigned counties for sale, and those sales became local revenue quotas. Salt intendant offices pressured counties on sales volume as the basis for official rankings; any magistrate who refused to squeeze the people was accused of obstructing policy, impeached, and removed — so who would not compete in cruelty? Across the southeast, third-grade households and above in every county were forced to accept salt quotas based on their wealth and output. Wealthy households faced annual quotas up to 1,000 strings; even the lowest third-grade households owed at least thirty or fifty strings, fixed by register and enforced to meet yearly targets; any delay brought flogging. A county's annual quota could reach thirty or fifty thousand strings, now fixed as a permanent levy — this is the gravest harm."

又言：

He added:

「朝廷自昔謹三路之備，糧儲豐溢，其術非他，惟鈔法流通，上下交信。東南末鹽錢為河北之備，東北鹽為河東之備，解地鹽為陝西之備，其錢並積於京師，隨所積多寡給鈔於三路。如河北糧草鈔至京，並支見錢，號飛鈔法；河東三路至京，半支見錢，半支銀、綢、絹；陝西解鹽鈔則支請解鹽，或有泛給鈔，亦以京師錢支給。為錢積於京師，鈔行於三路，至則給錢，不復滯留。當時商旅皆悅，爭運糧草，入於邊郡。商賈既通，物價亦平；官司上下，無有二價，斗米止百餘錢，束草不過三十；邊境倉廩，所在盈滿。

"The court has long guarded preparedness in the three frontier circuits, keeping grain stores full — and the method was nothing other than circulating certificates so that state and merchants trusted one another. Southeastern powdered salt revenue backed Hebei's frontier stores, northeastern salt backed Hedong's, and Jie-region salt backed Shaanxi's; all proceeds pooled at the capital, and the three circuits received certificates in proportion to what had been amassed. When Hebei grain-and-fodder certificates arrived at the capital, they were redeemed entirely in hard cash — the flying certificates method; Certificates from Hedong's three circuits were redeemed at the capital half in cash and half in silver, gauze, and silk; Shaanxi Jie-salt certificates were exchanged for Jie salt; even when certificates were issued broadly, the capital treasury still paid them out. Cash pooled at the capital while certificates moved through the three circuits; on arrival they were paid out at once, with no delay. Merchants welcomed the arrangement and competed to haul grain and fodder into the frontier prefectures. Trade opened up, and prices steadied; Official and market prices matched; a dou of rice cost barely over a hundred cash, a bundle of fodder no more than thirty; Frontier storehouses stood full wherever one looked.

自崇寧來鈔法屢更，人不敢信，京師無見錢之積，而給鈔數倍於昔年。鈔至京師，無錢可給，遂至鈔直十不得一。邊郡無人入中，糴買不敷，乃以銀絹、見錢品搭文鈔，為糴買之直。民間中糴，不復會算鈔直，惟計銀絹、見錢，須至高抬糧草之價，以就虛數。致使官價幾倍於民間，斗米有至四百，束草不下百三十餘錢，軍儲不得不闕，財用不得不匱。如解鹽鈔每紙六千，今可直三千，商旅凡入東南末鹽鈔，乃以見錢四分、鹽引六分，榷貨務惟得七十千之入，而東南支鹽，官直百千，則鹽本已暗有所損矣。

From the Chongning era onward the certificate system changed again and again until no one trusted it; the capital had no cash reserves, yet issued several times as many certificates as before. Certificates arriving at the capital found no cash to redeem them, until each was worth less than a tenth of its face value. Border counties received no deliveries and could not meet procurement quotas, so silver, silk, cash, and paper certificates were graded and blended to set the purchase price. Private suppliers stopped counting certificate value and priced only in silver, silk, and cash, forcing grain and fodder prices sharply upward to satisfy inflated quotas. Official prices rose to several times market rates; rice reached four hundred cash per dou and fodder at least a hundred thirty per bundle; military reserves ran dry and the treasury emptied. Jie-salt certificates once worth six thousand each now fetched three thousand; merchants buying southeastern powdered salt certificates paid forty percent cash and sixty percent in salt warrants, yielding the monopoly goods office only seventy thousand while southeastern salt was issued at the official hundred-thousand rate — a hidden loss on salt capital.

臣謂鈔法不循復熙、豐，則物價無由可平，邊儲無由可積，方今大計，無急於此。薛向昔講究於嘉祐中，行之未幾，穀價遽損，邊備有餘，逮及熙、豐，其法始備。比年榷貨務不顧鈔法屢變，有誤邊計，惟冀貼納見錢，專買東南鹽鈔，圖增錢數，以僥冒榮賞。前鈔方行，而後鈔又復變易，特令先次支鹽，則前鈔遂為廢紙，罔人攘利，商旅怨嗟。臣願明詔執政大臣，精擇能吏，推明鈔法，無以見行為有妨，無以既往為不可復，如薛向之法己效於昔者，可舉而行之。」

I submit that unless the certificate system is restored to the Xi-Feng model, prices will not stabilize and frontier reserves will not rebuild — no policy today is more urgent. Xue Xiang had worked out the system in the Jiayou period; within a short time grain prices dropped and frontier stores overflowed; by the Xi-Feng years the method was fully in place. Lately the monopoly goods office ignored how repeated certificate changes undermined frontier planning, demanding only supplemental cash and pushing southeastern salt certificates to inflate revenue and win promotion by fraud. New certificates barely circulated before the rules changed again; prioritizing salt payouts left older certificates worthless, letting schemers profit while merchants groaned. I ask that the chief ministers be plainly ordered to choose capable officials, restore the certificate system, neither treat current practice as an obstacle nor the past as beyond recovery — and enact proven methods such as Xue Xiang's."

今之練政事、通鈔法，不患無人；在京三庫之積，皆四方郡縣所入，不患無備。如以三四百萬緡樁留京師，隨數以給鈔引，使鈔至給錢，不復邀阻，上下交信，則人以鈔引為輕齎，轉相貿易。或支請多，惟轉廊就給東南末鹽鈔或度牒之類，如東南末鹽鈔或度牒敕牒唯許以鈔引就給外，餘並令在京以見錢入易，樁留以為鈔引之資，亦計之得者。若舊出文鈔，亦當體究立法，量為分數，支鹽償之。自昔立法之難，非特造始，修復既廢，亦為非易。欲興經久之利，則目前微害，宜亦可略，惟詳酌可否施行之。

Capable administrators who understand certificate policy are not lacking today; The capital's three treasuries were fed by counties across the realm, so reserves were not the problem. If three or four million strings were set aside at the capital and certificates redeemed on arrival without delay, restoring mutual trust, merchants would treat certificates as portable capital and pass them from hand to hand. When payouts exceeded cash on hand, transfer-corridor southeastern powdered salt certificates or ordination slips could be issued; everything except items redeemable only by certificate should be bought with cash in the capital and held as certificate reserves — a workable plan. For older paper certificates already issued, new rules should set proportional salt redemption. Legislation has always been hard — not only to create, but to revive once abandoned. To secure lasting gain, minor present costs may be tolerated; the question is whether the policy can be put into practice.

未幾，張商英為相，乃議變通損益，復熙、豐之舊，令內府錢別樁一千五百萬緡，餘悉移用，以革錢、鈔、物三等偏重之弊。陝西給鈔五百萬緡，江、淮發運司給見錢文據或截兌上供錢三百萬緡。以左司員外郎張察措置東南鹽事，提舉江西常平張根管幹運淮鹽於江西，罷提舉鹽香，諸路鹽事各歸提刑司。議定五等舊鈔，商旅已換請新鈔及見錢鈔不對帶，聽先給東南末鹽諸路貨易。仍下淮、浙鹽場，以鹽十分率之，樁留五分，以待支發官綱，備三路商旅轉廊算請，餘五分以待算請新鈔及見錢鈔與不帶舊鈔當先給者。於是推行舊法，以商旅五色舊鈔，若用換請新鈔對帶，方許支鹽，慮伺候歲月，欲給無由，乃立增納之法。貼三鈔許於榷貨務更貼見緡七分，貼四鈔更貼六分，貼五、當十鈔貼七分，河北見錢文據貼五分算請。

Soon Zhang Shangying became chief councillor and proposed restoring Xi-Feng practice: fifteen million strings from the inner treasury would be reserved, the rest redirected, correcting the skew among cash, certificates, and commodities. Shaanxi received five million strings in certificates; the Jiang-Huai transport commission supplied cash vouchers or diverted three million strings of tribute funds. Zhang Cha, outside director of the Left Department, was charged with southeastern salt; Zhang Gen, Jiangxi Ever-Normal intendant, managed Huai salt shipments into Jiangxi; the salt-and-incense intendant was abolished and salt affairs reverted to circuit judicial commissioners. Five grades of old certificates were fixed; merchants who had swapped for new or cash-only certificates without pairing were allowed first claim on southeastern powdered salt for intercircuit trade. Huai and Zhe salt works were ordered to divide salt into tenths: half reserved for official convoys and three-circuit transfer claims, half for new certificates, cash certificates, and unpaired old certificates due priority. The old rule was restored: merchants' five-color old certificates could claim salt only when paired with new ones; fearing long waits with no payout, a supplemental payment scheme was introduced. At the monopoly goods office, grade-three certificates required seventy percent supplemental cash; grade-four, sixty percent; grade-five and ten-for-one, seventy percent; Hebei cash vouchers, fifty percent to qualify for claims.

有司議，三路鈔法如熙、豐舊法，全仰東南末鹽為本，若許將舊鈔貼納算請，正與推行三路熙、豐鈔法相戾；即不令貼納算還，又鈔無所歸。議將河北見錢文據減增納二分，餘各減二分，以告敕、度牒、香藥、雜物、東南鹽算請給償。帝詔：「東南六路元豐年額賣鹽錢，以緡計之，諸路各不下數十萬。自行鈔鹽，漕計窘匱，以江西言之，和、預買欠民價不少，何以副仁民愛物之意？」令東南諸路轉運司協力措置般運。

Officials argued that the Xi-Feng three-circuit certificate system rested entirely on southeastern powdered salt, so allowing old certificates to claim through supplemental payment directly undercut restoration of that system; Yet banning supplemental redemption left certificates with no outlet. They agreed to cut supplemental payments by twenty percent on Hebei cash vouchers and twenty percent on the rest, redeeming claims with patents, ordination slips, aromatics, goods, and southeastern salt. The emperor ordered: "Under Yuanfeng each of the southeastern six circuits sold salt worth at least several hundred thousand strings annually. Since certificate salt, transport budgets have tightened; in Jiangxi alone cooperative and advance purchases owe substantial sums to the people — how does that honor humane governance?" He commanded southeastern transport commissions to coordinate shipments together.

政和元年，詔商旅願依熙、豐法轉廊者，許先次用三路新鈔算請，往他所定價給賣。優存兩浙亭戶額外中鹽，斤增價三分。已而張察均定鹽價，視紹聖斤增二錢，詔從其說，仍斤增一錢。議者謂：「異時鹽商於榷貨務入納轉廊，惟視東南諸郡積鹽多寡，鹽多則請鈔者眾，所入亦倍，其闕鹽地，客不肯住。在元豐時遠地須預備二年或三年，次遠一年至二年，最近亦半年及一年，謂之準備鹽，而後鈔法乃通。紹聖間遵用舊制，廣有準備，故均價之後，課利增倍。謂宜嚴責轉運司般運準備鹽外，更及元豐準備之數，則鈔法始通，課利且羨。亭戶煎鹽官為買納，比舊既增矣，止用元豐舊價自可，況用新價，而有本錢，復加借貸，何慮不增？若斤更增一錢，虛費亦大。」詔施行之。六路通置提舉鹽事官，置司於揚州，未幾罷。

In Zhenghe 1 merchants who wished to trade via the Xi-Feng transfer corridor could claim salt first with new three-circuit certificates and sell it elsewhere at fixed prices. Two-Zhe saltern households received favorable terms on extra salt deliveries, with prices raised three fen per jin. Zhang Cha then set uniform salt prices, citing Shaosheng's two-cash-per-jin increase; the court accepted his plan but added only one cash per jin. Advisers noted: "Formerly salt merchants at the monopoly goods office watched southeastern stockpiles; abundant salt drew certificate seekers and doubled revenue, but merchants would not linger where salt ran short. Under Yuanfeng distant areas kept two or three years' prepared salt, mid-range areas one to two years, nearest areas six months to a year; only then did certificates circulate smoothly. Shaosheng restored the old system with ample reserves, and after prices were averaged revenue doubled. Transport commissions should be pressed not only to ship prepared salt but to match Yuanfeng reserve levels; then certificates would flow and revenue would swell. The state already bought saltern salt at prices above the old rate; Yuanfeng prices alone would suffice, and with new prices, capital advances, and loans, why doubt revenue would grow? Adding another cash per jin would waste far too much." The court ordered the policy enacted. The six circuits jointly appointed salt intendant officials based at Yangzhou, but the office was soon abolished.

議者復謂：「客人在京榷貨務買東南末鹽者，其法有二：一曰見錢入納，二曰鈔麵轉廊。今既許三路文鈔得以轉廊，若更循舊制，許以見錢入納，則客旅之錢，當入於榷貨，而不入於兼並，見錢留於京師，客旅走於東南。」詔采用焉。又有謂：「舊法聽以物貨及官錢鈔引抵當，所以扶持鈔價，不大減損，昨禁之非是。其舊轉廊鹽鈔，販至東南，轉運司乃專以見錢為務，致多壅閼。」於是復鈔引抵當，一如其舊。末鹽以十分率之，限以八分給末鈔，二分許煮見緡，後又增見緡為三分。

Advisers added: "Merchants buying southeastern powdered salt at the capital monopoly goods office had two routes: pay in cash, or use the certificate-face transfer corridor. With three-circuit paper certificates already allowed for transfer, restoring cash payment would channel merchant money into the monopoly goods office rather than private hoards — cash staying in the capital while merchants head southeast." The court adopted the proposal. Others argued: "The old law allowed goods and official cash certificates as collateral to support certificate value; banning that was a mistake. Old transfer-corridor salt certificates reached the southeast, but transport offices insisted on cash alone, clogging the trade." Certificate collateral was restored as it had been. Powdered salt was divided into tenths: eight parts paid in powdered-salt certificates, two in cash for boiling; later the cash share rose to three tenths.

二年，江寧府、廣德軍、太平州斤更增錢二，宣、歙、饒、信州斤增錢三，池江州、南康軍斤增錢四，各以去產鹽地遠近為差。是歲，蔡京復用事，大變鹽法。五月，罷官般賣，令商旅赴場請販，已般鹽並封樁。商旅赴榷貨務算請，先至者增支鹽以示勸。前轉廊已算鈔未支者，率百緡別輸見緡三分，仍用新鈔帶給舊鈔三分；已算支者，所在抄數別輸帶賣如上法。其算請悉用見緡，而給鹽倫次，以全用見緡不帶舊鹽者為上，帶舊鹽者次之，帶舊鈔者又次之。三路糴買文鈔，算給七分東南末鹽者，聽對見緡支算二分，東北鹽亦如之。自餘文鈔，毋得一例對算。復置諸路提舉官。於是詔書褒美京功，然商旅終以法令不信為疑，算請者少，乃申扇搖之令，增賞錢五百緡。

In year two Jiangning, Guangde, and Taizhou raised prices two cash per jin; Xuan, She, Rao, and Xin three cash; Chizhou, Jiangzhou, and Nankang four — graded by distance from production areas. That year Cai Jing regained influence and overhauled the salt system. In the fifth month the state stopped transporting and selling salt itself; merchants applied at the works to buy, and salt already in transit was sealed in store. Merchants filing claims at the monopoly goods office received bonus salt if they arrived first, as an incentive. For earlier transfer-corridor certificates calculated but unpaid, merchants paid thirty percent supplemental cash per hundred strings and paired new certificates with thirty percent of the old; Where claims had already been paid, each locality recorded the amounts and applied the same paired-sale rule. All claims were paid in cash; salt was issued in priority to full-cash buyers without old salt, then those with old salt, then those with old certificates. Three-circuit procurement certificates redeemable seventy percent in southeastern powdered salt could pair twenty percent cash; northeastern salt followed the same rule. Other paper certificates could not all be paired under one rule. Circuit intendant posts were reinstated. An edict praised Cai Jing's work, but merchants mistrusted the ever-changing rules and few filed claims; the fan-shaking incentive was revived with a five-hundred-string bonus.

三年，以商人承前先即諸州投勾，乃請鹽於場，留滯，罷之。若請鹽大帶斤重者，官為秤驗，乃輸錢給鈔。時法既屢變，蔡京更欲巧籠商賈之利，乃議措置十六條，裁定買官鹽價，囊以三百斤，價以十千，其鬻者聽增損隨時，舊加饒腳耗並罷。客鹽舊止船貯，改依東北鹽用囊，官袋鬻之，書印及私造貼補，並如茶籠篰法，仍禁再用。受鹽、支鹽官司，析而二之，受於場者管秤盤囊封，納於倉者管察視引據、合同號簿。囊二十，則以一折驗合同遞牒給商人外，東南末鹽諸場，仍給鈔引號簿；有欲改指別場者，並批銷號簿及鈔引，仍用合同遞牒報所指處給隨鹽引；即已支鹽，關所指處籍記。中路改指者仿此。其引繳納，限以一年，有故展毋得逾半年；限竟，鹽未全售者毀引，以見鹽籍於官，止聽鬻其處，毋得翻改。大抵皆視茶法而多為節目，欺奪民利，故以免究盜販、私煎、大帶斤重為名，而專用對帶之法。客負鈔請鹽，往往厄不即畀，必對元數再買新鈔，方聽帶給舊鈔之半。慮令之不行也，嚴避免之禁，申沮壞之制，重扇搖之法，季輒比較，務峻督責以取辦。

In year three merchants had been filing early at prefectures before claiming salt at the works, causing delays — the practice was abolished. Large bulk salt claims were officially weighed before payment and certificates were issued. With laws shifting constantly, Cai Jing sought to capture merchant profits through sixteen new rules: official salt sold in three-hundred-jin bags for ten thousand cash, with prices adjustable over time and old surplus allowances abolished. Merchant salt once stored aboard boats was bagged like northeastern salt in official sacks; marking and forgery rules followed the tea-crate system, and reuse was banned. Salt receipt and disbursement were split: works officials weighed and sealed bags; warehouse officials checked warrants, contracts, and ledgers. Every twenty bags earned one verification contract for the merchant; southeastern powdered salt works also issued certificate ledgers; Merchants changing destination had ledgers and certificates cancelled and notified the new site by contract to issue the accompanying salt warrant; After salt was issued, the designated site recorded the transaction. Mid-route changes followed the same procedure. Warrants had to be surrendered within one year; extensions for cause could not exceed six months; At deadline unsold salt required destroying the warrant; remaining stock was registered with the state and could be sold only locally, with no rerouting. Most rules copied the tea monopoly with added clauses that seized merchant profit — nominally to stop smuggling, private boiling, and bulk claims, but in practice relying entirely on paired certificates. Merchants with certificates were often denied immediate salt; they had to buy new certificates matching the original amount before receiving half on the old ones. Fearing noncompliance, the state tightened evasion bans, sabotage penalties, and fan-shaking rewards, comparing results each quarter and driving officials hard to deliver.

四年，以遠地商販者稀，鹽倉以地遠近為敘，先給遠者。繼令搭帶正鹽，期一月不買新鈔，沒官，而剩鹽即沒納。五年，偽造引者並依川錢引定罪。六年，以產鹽州軍大商弗肯止留，其用小袋住賣者聽輸錢二十給鈔，毋得輒出州界。

In year four distant regions drew few merchants, so salt depots prioritized distant areas in disbursement. Merchants then had to buy new certificates within a month when bundled with official salt or forfeit to the state; surplus salt was confiscated on the spot. In year five forged warrants were punished under the Sichuan money-warrant laws. In year six major merchants refused to remain in producing regions; small-bag local sellers could pay twenty cash for a certificate but could not cross the prefecture border.

宣和二年，詔六路封樁舊鹽數輸億萬，其聽商旅般販，與淮、浙鹽倉即今鹽鈔對算。四年，榷貨務建議：「古有斗米斤鹽之說，熙、豐以前，米石不過六七百，時鹽價斤為錢六七十；今米價石兩千五百至三千，而鹽仍舊六十。崇寧會定鹽價，買鹽折算，酌以中價，斤為錢四十，今一斤三十七錢，虧公稍多。欲囊增為十三千入納，而亭戶所輸並增價，庶克自贍，盜販衰止。」於是舊鹽盡禁住賣，而籍記、貼輸、帶賣之令復用焉。

In Xuanhe 2 the six circuits held hundreds of millions in sealed old salt; merchants could transport and sell it, pairing with Huai-Zhe depots against current salt certificates. In year four the monopoly goods office argued: "Tradition held one dou of rice to one jin of salt; before Xi-Feng rice cost six or seven hundred per picul and salt sixty or seventy cash per jin; Today rice runs twenty-five hundred to three thousand per picul while salt still sells for sixty. Chongning had set salt at forty cash per jin by averaging purchase prices; at thirty-seven cash per jin the state lost considerably. They proposed raising bag prices to thirteen thousand and saltern household payments accordingly, so households could support themselves and smuggling would fade." Old salt sales were banned, and registration, supplemental payment, and paired-sale rules were restored.

初，鹽鈔法之行，積鹽於解池，積錢於京師榷貨務，積鈔於陝西沿邊諸郡。商賈以物斛至邊入中，請鈔以歸。物斛至邊有數倍之息，惟患無回貨，故極利於得鈔，徑請鹽於解池，而解鹽通行地甚寬；或請錢於京師，每鈔六千二百，登時給與，但輸頭子等錢數十而已。以此所由州縣，貿易者甚眾。崇寧間，蔡京始變法，俾商人先輸錢請鈔，赴產鹽郡授鹽，欲囊括四方之錢，盡入中都，以進羨要寵，鈔法遂廢，商賈不通，邊儲失備；東南鹽禁加密，犯法被罪者多。民間食鹽，雜以灰土。解池天產美利，乃與糞壤俱積矣。大概常使見行之法售給才通，輒復變易，名對帶法。季年又變對帶為循環。循環者，已賣鈔，未授鹽，復更鈔；已更鈔，鹽未給，復貼輸錢，凡三輸錢，始獲一直之貨。民無貲更鈔，已輸錢悉乾沒，數十萬券一夕廢棄，朝為豪商，夕儕流丐，有赴水投繯而死者。

When the salt-certificate system began, salt pooled at Jie Lake, cash at the capital monopoly goods office, and certificates at Shaanxi's frontier counties. Merchants hauled grain to the frontier, delivered it in, and took certificates home. Frontier grain brought several-fold profit, but merchants lacked return cargo — certificates solved that; they could claim Jie salt directly, and Jie salt sold across a wide market; Or they could redeem cash at the capital — six thousand two hundred per certificate, paid instantly, for a fee of only a few dozen copper cash. Trade flourished in every county along the routes. Under Chongning Cai Jing changed the rules: merchants paid first for certificates and collected salt at the source, aiming to drain money from every region into the capital and win favor with inflated revenue; the certificate system collapsed, trade stalled, and frontier reserves emptied; Southeastern salt controls tightened, and prosecutions multiplied. The salt people ate was adulterated with ash and dirt. The fine salt heaven produced at Jie Lake piled up instead alongside muck and refuse. As a rule they let the current system barely keep flowing, then changed it again—the so-called paired-certificate method. By the end of the year paired certificates had become the circulation system. Under circulation, once certificates were sold but salt not yet issued, merchants had to exchange them again; After reissuing certificates, if salt still was not delivered, a supplemental payment was demanded—three separate payments in all before one honest load of salt was obtained. Those who could not afford to exchange certificates lost every coin they had paid; hundreds of thousands of vouchers were voided overnight. Men who were great merchants at dawn were beggars by dusk; some drowned themselves or hanged themselves to death.

時有魏伯芻者，本省大胥，蔡京委信之，專主榷貨務。政和六年，鹽課通及四千萬緡，官吏皆進秩。七年，又以課羨第賞。伯芻年除歲遷，積官通議大夫、徽猷閣待制，既而黨附王黼，京惡而黜之。伯芻非有心計，但與交引戶關通，凡商旅算請，率克留十分之四以充入納之數，務入納數多，以昧人主而張虛最。初，政和再更鹽法，伯芻方為蔡京所倚信，建言：「朝廷所以開闔利柄，馳走商賈，不煩號令，億萬之錢輻湊而至。禦府頒索，百司支費，歲用之外沛然有餘，則榷鹽之入可謂厚矣。頃年，鹽法未有一定之制，隨時變革以便公私，防閑未定，奸弊百出。自政和立法之後，頓絕弊源，公私兼利。異時一日所收不過二萬緡，則已詫其太多，今日之納乃常及四五萬貫。以歲計之，有一郡而客鈔錢及五十餘萬貫者，處州是也；有一州倉而客人請鹽及四十萬袋者，泰州是也。新法於今才二年，而所收已及四千萬貫，雖傳記所載貫朽錢流者，實未足為今日道也。伏乞以通收四千萬貫之數，宣付史館，以示富國裕民之政。」小人得時騁誌，無所顧忌，遂至於此。

At the time a senior provincial clerk named Wei Bochu enjoyed Cai Jing's full trust and ran the monopoly goods office. In the sixth year of Zhenghe, salt revenue passed forty million strings, and every official involved was promoted. The next year rewards were apportioned by how much revenue exceeded quota. Bochu was promoted every year until he held the ranks of Grandee for Discussion of Governance and Awaiting Orders at the Splendid Writings Pavilion; he then sided with Wang Fu, and Cai Jing had him removed. Bochu was no accountant, but he colluded with certificate brokers and routinely skimmed forty percent of every merchant application to pad intake totals, deceiving the throne with inflated performance figures. When Zhenghe revised the salt law again, Bochu was in Cai Jing's confidence and memorialized: "The court need only open and close the profit lever to set merchants running—no orders required—and millions upon millions pour in. The imperial treasury draws freely, ministries spend freely, and surplus remains after the year's needs—salt monopoly income has become truly vast. In recent years the salt law had no fixed form, shifting whenever it suited officials or merchants; with no stable controls, abuse flourished on every side. Since Zhenghe codified the law, the worst abuses had ceased and both state and people benefited. Once a daily intake of twenty thousand strings was thought enormous; now forty or fifty thousand is routine. On an annual basis, one prefecture—Chuzhou—collected more than five hundred thousand strings in certificate money; and one prefectural warehouse—Taizhou's—where merchants drew more than four hundred thousand bags of salt. The new law was barely two years old and had already taken in forty million strings—more than the old saying about money rotting from abundance could express. I humbly ask that this forty-million-string total be recorded at the historiography office as proof of a policy that enriches the state and the people." Such was the end when petty men, emboldened by the moment, pursued their ambitions without restraint.

於時禦府用度日廣，課入欲豐，再申歲較季比之令，在職而暫取告，其月日皆毋得計折，害法者不以官蔭並處極坐，微至於鹽袋鯗鹽，莫不有禁，州縣惟務歲增課以避罪法，上下程督加厲。七年，乃詔：「昨改鹽法，立賞至重，抑配者多，計口敷及嬰孩，廣數下逮駝畜，使良民受弊，比屋愁歎。悉從初令，以利百姓。三省其申嚴近製，改奉新鈔。」然有司不能承守，故比較已罷而復用，抄劄既免而復行，鹽囊既增而復止，一囊之價裁為十一千，既又復為十三千，民力因以擾匱，而盜賊滋焉。

Imperial spending kept rising and revenue targets grew ever higher; annual comparisons and quarterly rankings were reimposed. Leave days no longer counted toward quotas, and even official privilege could not shield violators from the harshest penalties. Rules reached down to individual salt bags and cured salt. Counties raced to raise quotas and avoid punishment while superiors pressed them ever harder. In the seventh year an edict declared: "The recent salt-law changes set heavy rewards and forced allocations so widely that even infants and pack animals were counted, good households suffered, and every home groaned under the burden. Everything shall revert to the original orders for the people's benefit. The Three Departments were to enforce the recent rules and adopt the new certificates." Yet officials failed to comply. Abolished comparisons were restored, waived surcharges reimposed, and bag prices yo-yoed between eleven and thirteen thousand. The people were worn down and banditry spread.

南渡，淮、浙亭戶，官給本錢。諸州置倉，令商人買鈔，五十斤為石，六石為袋，輸鈔錢十八千。紹興元年，詔臨安府，秀州亭戶二稅，依皇祐法輸鹽，立監官不察亭戶私煎及巡捕漏泄之法。二年九月，詔淮、浙鹽令商人袋貼輸通貨錢三千，已算請而未售者亦如之，十日不自陳，如私鹽律。時呂頤浩用提轄張純儀，峻更鹽法。十有一月，詔淮、浙鹽以十分為率，四分支今降旨符以後文鈔，四分支建炎渡江以後文鈔。先是呂頤浩以對帶法不可用，令商人貼輸錢，至是復以分數如對帶法，於是始加嚴酷矣。三年，減民間蠶鹽錢。四年正月，詔淮、浙鹽鈔錢每袋增貼輸錢三貫，並計綱輸行在，尋命廣鹽亦如之。九月，以入輸遲細，減所添錢。然自建炎三年改鈔法，及今所改，凡五變，而建炎舊鈔支尚未絕，乃命以先後並支焉。

After the court fled south, saltern households in Huai and Zhe received capital advances from the state. Prefectures set up warehouses and sold certificates to merchants at eighteen thousand per bag—fifty jin to the picul, six piculs to the bag. In Shaoxing's first year an edict ordered Lin'an and Xiuzhou saltern households to pay their two taxes in salt under the Huangyou rules, with supervising officials and patrol laws against private boiling and leaks. In the ninth month of the second year merchants in Huai and Zhe were ordered to pay three thousand in currency per bag as a supplemental fee; holders of certificates already issued but unsold faced the same rule, and failure to report within ten days brought illicit-salt penalties. Lü Yihao then relied on Supervising Commissioner Zhang Chunyi to overhaul the salt law harshly. In the eleventh month Huai and Zhe salt was divided into tenths: four parts paid in certificates issued after the current edict, four parts in certificates issued after the Jianyan crossing. Lü Yihao had abandoned the paired-certificate method and required supplemental payments; now fractional redemption like paired certificates was restored—and the regime turned harsher. In the third year the levy on private silkworm salt was cut. In the first month of the fourth year Huai and Zhe certificate fees rose by three strings per bag, payable by convoy to the temporary capital; Guang salt soon followed. In the ninth month the supplemental fee was reduced because payments were coming in too slowly. From the Jianyan third-year certificate reform to the present there had been five changes, yet old Jianyan certificates were still unredeemed—so all were ordered paid in sequence regardless of issue date.

孝宗乾道六年，戶部侍郎葉衡奏：「今日財賦，鬻海之利居其半，年來課入不增，商賈不行，皆私販害之也。且以淮東、二浙鹽出入之數言之，淮東鹽灶四百一十二所，歲額鹽二百六十八萬三千餘石，去年兩務場賣淮鹽六十七萬二千三百餘袋，收錢二千一百九十六萬三千餘貫；二浙課額一百九十七萬餘石，去年兩務場賣浙鹽二十萬二千餘袋，收錢五百一萬二千餘貫，而鹽灶乃計二千四百餘所。以鹽額論之，淮東之數多於二浙五之一，以去歲賣鹽錢數論之，淮東多於二浙三之二，及以灶之多寡論之，兩浙反多淮東四之三，蓋二浙無非私販故也。欲望遣官分路措置。」

In the sixth year of Qiandao, Vice Minister of Revenue Ye Heng reported: "Salt monopoly profits now make up half the state's revenue, yet intake has stagnated and legitimate trade has stalled—all because of smuggling. Consider Huai-East and the Two Zhe circuits: Huai-East had 412 salt ovens and an annual quota of more than 2,683,000 piculs; last year its two monopoly offices sold more than 672,300 bags of Huai salt for more than 21,963,000 strings; the Two Zhe quota exceeded 1,970,000 piculs, yet last year only 202,000 bags sold for just over 5,012,000 strings—despite more than 2,400 salt ovens. By quota Huai-East exceeded Two Zhe by a fifth; by last year's sales Huai-East took in two-thirds more cash; yet Two Zhe had three-quarters more ovens—clear proof that smuggling, not production, was the difference. I ask that commissioners be sent to each route to address this."

淳熙八年，詔住賣帶賣積鹽，以朝廷徒有帶賣之名，總所未免有借撥之弊故也。十年，先是湖北鹽商吳傳言：「國家鬻海之利，以三分為率，淮東居其二。通、泰、楚隸買鹽場十六，催煎場十二，灶四百十二。紹興初，灶煎鹽多止十一籌，籌為鹽一百斤。淳熙初，亭戶得嘗試鹵水之法，灶煎至二十五籌至三十籌，增舊額之半。緣此，鹽場買亭戶鹽，籌增稱鹽二十斤至三十斤為浮鹽。日買鹽一萬餘籌，其浮鹽止以二十斤為則，有二十萬斤，為二千籌，籌為錢一貫八百三十文，內除船腳錢二百文，有一貫六百三十文。其鹽並再中入官，為鈔錢四百五十一萬七千五百餘緡。又綱取鹽一代並諸窠名等，及賣又多稱斤兩，亭戶饑寒，不免私賣。若朝廷嚴究，還其本錢，而後可以盡革私賣之弊。」至是，詔還通、泰等州諸鹽場欠亭戶鹽本錢一百一十萬貫。

In the eighth year of Chunxi paired sale of stockpiled salt was banned because the paired-sale label had masked borrowing and reallocation at headquarters. In the tenth year Hubei salt merchant Wu Chuan had argued: "Of the state's salt monopoly revenue, reckoned in thirds, Huai-East accounts for two. Tong, Tai, and Chu had sixteen purchase stations, twelve boiling stations, and 412 ovens. Early in Shaoxing most ovens produced no more than eleven ladles of salt, each ladle being one hundred jin. Early in Chunxi saltern households learned to test brine, raising output to twenty-five or thirty ladles per boil—half again the old quota. Salt fields therefore counted an extra twenty to thirty jin per ladle as floating/extra salt when buying from saltern households. More than ten thousand ladles were bought daily; counting only twenty jin per ladle as floating/extra salt yielded two hundred thousand jin—two thousand ladles—at 1,830 cash per ladle, or 1,630 after deducting 200 cash for shipping. Entering that salt twice into government accounts yielded more than 4,517,500 strings in certificate revenue. Convoys also seized a full generation's quota plus assorted fees, and sales were again overstated by weight—so hungry, cold saltern households had no choice but to sell privately. If the court investigated strictly and repaid their capital, private sale could be fully suppressed." An edict then repaid 1,100,000 strings in capital owed to saltern households at salt fields in Tong, Tai, and other prefectures.

寧宗慶元初，詔罷循環鹽鈔，改增剩鈔名為正支文鈔給算，與已投倉者通理先後支散。以淮東提舉陳損之言循環鈔多弊，故有是命。於是富商巨賈有願為貧民者矣。開禧二年，詔自今新鈔一袋，搭支舊鈔一袋；如新鈔多於舊鈔，或願全以新鈔支鹽，及無舊鈔而願全買新鈔者聽，以新鈔理資次。嘉定二年，詔淮東貼輸鹽錢免二分交子，止用錢會中半。三年詔：「停鈔引之家，增長舊鈔價直，袋賣官會百貫以上。自今令到日，鹽鈔官錢袋增收會子二十貫，三務場朱印於鈔麵，作「某年某月新鈔」，俟通賣及一百萬袋，即免增收。其日前已未支鹽鈔並為舊鈔，期以一年持赴倉場支鹽，袋貼輸官會一十貫，出限更不行用。」此淮、浙鹽之大略也。

Early in Qingyuan Emperor Ningzong abolished circulation salt certificates, renamed surplus certificates as regular-disbursement certificates, and ordered them paid together with certificates already lodged at warehouses, in sequence. The order followed Huai-East Intendant Chen Sun's report that circulation certificates bred endless abuse. Wealthy merchants now wished they were poor men. In the second year of Kaixi an edict ordered that each new certificate bag be paired with one old certificate bag for redemption; if new certificates outnumbered old ones, holders might redeem entirely in new certificates or buy new certificates without old ones, ranked by date of new certificate purchase. In the second year of Jiading Huai-East supplemental salt fees were exempted from two-tenths in paper exchange notes; only half could be paid in cash notes. In the third year an edict declared: "For households whose certificates had ceased to circulate, raise the value of old certificates; bags shall sell for one hundred official notes or more. From the order's effective date each salt certificate bag would carry an additional twenty strings in notes; the three monopoly offices would red-stamp certificates "new certificate, month and year," and the surcharge would end once one million bags had sold. Certificates issued before that date but not yet redeemed were treated as old certificates, redeemable within one year at warehouses for ten official notes per bag; after the deadline they would be void." Such, in broad outline, was Huai and Zhe salt policy.

唐乾元初，第五琦為鹽鐵使，變鹽法，劉晏代之；當時舉天下鹽利，歲才四十萬緡。至大曆，增至六百餘萬緡。天下之賦，鹽利居半。元祐間，淮鹽與解池等歲四百萬緡。比唐舉天下之賦已三分之二。紹興末年以來，泰州海陵一監，支監三十餘萬席，為錢六七百萬緡，則是一州之數，過唐舉天下之數矣。

Early in Tang Qianyuan, Diwu Qi reformed the salt law as salt-and-iron commissioner; Liu Yan succeeded him; At that time all salt profits under heaven came to only four hundred thousand strings a year. By the Dali era it had risen to more than six million strings. Salt profits made up half of all state revenue. During Yuanyou Huai salt and Jie Lake salt together yielded four million strings a year. That alone was two-thirds of all Tang revenue under heaven. Since late Shaoxing a single Taizhou Hailing supervisor alone disbursed more than three hundred thousand seats—six or seven million strings—so one prefecture now surpassed all Tang revenue under heaven.

寶慶二年，監察御史趙至道言：「夫產鹽固藉於鹽戶，鬻鹽實賴於鹽商，故鹽戶所當存恤，鹽商所當優潤。慶元之初，歲為錢九百九十萬八千有奇，寶慶元年，止七百四十九萬九千有奇，乃知鹽課之虧，實鹽商之無所贏利。為今之計，莫若寬商旅，減征稅，庶幾慶元鹽課之盛，復見於今日矣。」從之。紹定元年，以侍御史李知孝言，罷上虞、餘姚海塗地創立鹽灶。端平二年，都省言：「淮、浙歲額鹽九十七萬四千餘袋，近二三年積虧一百餘萬袋，民食貴鹽，公私俱病。」有旨，三路提舉茶鹽司各置主管文字一員，專以興復鹽額、收買散鹽為務，歲終尚書省課其殿最。淳祐元年，臣僚奏：「南渡立國，專仰鹽鈔，紹興、淳熙，率享其利。嘉定以來，二三十年之間，鈔法或行或罷，而浮鹽之說牢不可破，其害有不可勝言者。望付有司集議，孰為可行，孰為可罷，天地之藏與官民共之，豈不甚盛？」從之。五年，申嚴私販苛征之禁。

In the second year of Baoqing Investigating Censor Zhao Zhidao argued: "Salt production depends on saltern households and salt sales on merchants—both must be protected and both must prosper. Early Qingyuan brought in 9,908,000 odd strings; Baoqing's first year only 7,499,000 odd—the deficit showed merchants could no longer turn a profit. The remedy is to lighten burdens on traveling merchants and cut taxes, so Qingyuan's salt revenues might return." The court approved. In Shaoding's first year, on Attending Censor Li Zhixiao's recommendation, salt ovens newly built on the tidal flats at Shangyu and Yuyao were shut down. In the second year of Duanping the Imperial Secretariat reported: "Huai and Zhe owe a quota of more than 974,000 bags, yet the last two or three years have fallen short by more than a million bags; people pay dear prices for salt and both state and subjects suffer." The throne ordered each of the three routes' tea-and-salt offices to appoint a clerk devoted to restoring quotas and buying up loose salt, with the Ministry of Revenue ranking their performance at year's end. In Chunyou's first year officials memorialized: "Since the founding of the southern dynasty the state has relied chiefly on salt certificates; Shaoxing and Chunxi reaped their benefits. Yet for twenty or thirty years since Jiading certificates have been toggled on and off while the floating/extra salt system has proved immovable—and the harm is beyond words. I ask that responsible offices meet to decide what to keep and what to abolish, so heaven's bounty may be shared by state and people alike—would that not be glorious?" The court approved. In the fifth year prohibitions on smuggling and excessive taxation were strictly enforced.

寶祐元年，都省言：「行在榷貨務都茶場上本務場淳祐十二年收趁到茶鹽等錢一十一千八百一十五萬六千八百三十三貫有奇，比今新額四千萬貫增一倍以上，合視淳祐九年、十年、十一年例倍償之，以勵其後。」有旨依所上推賞。四年五月，以行在務場比新額增九千一百七十三萬五千九百一十二貫有奇，本務場並三省、戶部、大府寺、交引庫，凡通管三務場職事之人，視例推賞，後以為常。十有二月，殿中侍御史朱熠言：「鹽近者課額頓虧，日甚一日。姑以真州分司言之，見虧二千餘萬，皆由台閫及諸軍帥興販規利之由。」於是復申嚴私販之禁。

In Baoyou's first year the Imperial Secretariat reported: "The temporary capital monopoly office's main tea field collected more than 1,181,568,333 strings in tea, salt, and other revenues in Chunyou twelve—more than double the new quota of forty million strings—and should receive double rewards as in Chunyou nine through eleven to encourage future performance." The throne ordered rewards as recommended. In the fifth month of the fourth year, because the temporary capital office exceeded its new quota by more than 91,735,912 strings, everyone overseeing the three monopoly offices—from the main field to the Three Departments, Ministry of Revenue, Grand Storehouse Directorate, and Exchange Certificate Repository—was rewarded by precedent, and this became standing practice. In the twelfth month Palace Attendant Censor Zhu Yi reported: "Salt quotas have collapsed and grow worse by the day. At the Zhenzhou branch alone the shortfall exceeds twenty million—all because regional commissioners and army commanders trade for profit." Private trafficking was again strictly forbidden.

五年，朱熠復言：「鹽之為利博矣。以蜀、廣、浙數路言之，皆不及淮鹽額之半。蓋以斥鹵彌望，可以供煎烹，蘆葦阜繁，可以備燔燎。故環海之湄，有亭戶，有鍋戶，有正鹽，有浮鹽。正鹽出於亭戶，歸之公上者也。浮鹽出於鍋戶，鬻之商販者也，正鹽居其四，浮鹽居其一。端平之初，朝廷不欲使浮鹽之利散而歸之於下，於是分置十局，以收買浮鹽，以歲額計之，二千七百九十三萬斤。十數年來，鈔法屢更，公私俱困，真、揚、通、泰四州六十五萬袋之正鹽，視昔猶不及額，尚何暇為浮鹽計邪？是以貪墨無恥之士大夫，知朝廷住買浮鹽，龍斷而籠其利；累累灶戶，列處沙洲，日藉銖兩之鹽，以延旦夕之命；今商賈既不得私販，朝廷又不與收買，則是絕其衣食之源矣。為今之計，莫若遵端平之舊式，收鍋戶之浮鹽。所給鹽本，當過於正鹽之價，則人皆與官為市。卻以此鹽售於上江，所得鹽息，徑輸朝廷，一則可以絕戎閫爭利之風，二則可以續鍋戶烹煎之利。」有旨從之。

In the fifth year Zhu Yi again memorialized: "The profit in salt is immense. Shu, Guang, and Zhe together did not equal half Huai salt's quota. Brine flats stretched everywhere for boiling and reeds grew thick for fuel. Along the coast were saltern households and boiler households, regular quota salt and floating/extra salt. Regular quota salt came from saltern households and went to the state. Floating/extra salt came from boiler households and went to peddlers—four parts regular quota salt to one part floating/extra salt. Early in Duanping the court, unwilling to let floating/extra salt profits slip to private hands, set up ten bureaus to buy it up—27,930,000 jin by annual quota. For more than a decade certificate policy shifted again and again, exhausting state and people alike; the 650,000 bags of regular quota salt in Zhen, Yang, Tong, and Tai still fell short of old quotas—who had time to worry about floating/extra salt? Greedy, shameless officials, knowing the court had stopped buying floating/extra salt, monopolized the trade for themselves; saltern households lined the sandbars, living day to day on scraps of salt; merchants could neither sell privately nor sell to the state—their livelihood was cut off entirely. The best course now is to follow the Duanping precedent and buy floating/extra salt from boiler households. If advance payments exceed the price paid for regular quota salt, everyone will sell to the state. Resell that salt in the upper Yangzi region and remit the profits straight to the court — ending frontier commanders' scramble for salt revenue while keeping boiler households in business." The court approved.

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