1
食貨下七○酒坑冶礬香附
Finance and Economics 7 — Wine Monopoly, Mines, Smelting, Alum, and Incense
2
酒宋榷酤之法：諸州城內皆置務釀酒，縣、鎮、鄉、閭或許民釀而定其歲課，若有遺利，所在多請官酤。 三京官造曲，聽民納直以取。
Wine. Under the Song monopoly on intoxicants, every prefectural seat had government brewing offices; in counties, towns, villages, and hamlets private brewing might be allowed subject to a fixed annual levy, but wherever untapped revenue remained local authorities usually petitioned for state monopoly sales. In the three metropolitan capitals the state produced distiller's yeast, which private brewers could purchase for cash.
3
陳、滑、蔡、潁、隨、郢、鄧、金、房州、信陽軍舊皆不榷。 太平興國初，京西轉運使程能請榷之，所在置官吏局署，取民租米麥給釀，以官錢市薪槱及吏工奉料。 歲計獲無幾，而主吏規其盈羨，及醞齊不良，酒多醨薄，至課民婚葬，量戶大小令酤，民甚被其害。 歲儉物貴，殆不償其費。 太宗知其弊，淳化五年，詔募民自釀，輸官錢減常課三之二，使其易辦； 民有應募者，檢視其資產，長吏及大姓共保之，後課不登則均償。 是歲，取諸州歲課錢少者四百七十二處，募民自酤，或官賣曲收其直。 其後民應募者寡，猶多官釀。
Chen, Hua, Cai, Ying, Sui, Ying [Jingzhou], Deng, Jin, Fang prefectures and Xinyang Military District had long been exempt from the monopoly. Early in the Taiping Xingguo era (976–984), Jingxi transport commissioner Cheng Neng petitioned to bring these regions under monopoly control. Officials were posted to bureaus everywhere; tenant grain in rice and wheat was requisitioned for brewing, and government funds covered fuel and staff wages. Annual returns proved meager, yet supervising clerks still chased paper surpluses; fermentation was poor and the wine often thin and sour. Households were assessed by size and compelled to purchase for weddings and funerals, to the people's great distress. In lean years, when prices were high, the operation barely covered its costs. Emperor Taizong recognized these abuses. In 994 (Chunhua 5) he ordered private brewing under license, with the statutory payment to the state cut by two-thirds to ease compliance. Applicants had their assets reviewed; local magistrates and leading families stood as joint guarantors, with shared liability if quotas later went unmet. That year, at 472 low-yield districts, licensed private sale was introduced; elsewhere the state sold yeast and collected payment directly. Afterward few people took up the licenses, and government brewing still predominated.
4
陝西雖榷酤，而尚多遺利。 咸平五年，度支員外郎李士衡請增課以助邊費，乃歲增十一萬餘貫。 兩浙舊募民掌榷，雍熙初，以民多私釀，遂蠲其禁，其榷酤歲課如曲錢之制，附兩稅均率。 二年，詔曰：「有司請罷杭州榷酤，乃使豪舉之家坐專其利，貧弱之戶歲責所輸，本欲惠民，乃成侵擾。 宜仍舊榷酒，罷納所均錢。」 天禧四年，轉運副使方仲荀言：「本道酒課舊額十四萬貫，遺利尚多。」 乃歲增課九萬八千貫。
Shaanxi was under the monopoly, yet much revenue still went uncaptured. In 1002 (Xianping 5), Revenue Bureau vice commissioner Li Shiheng petitioned to raise levies to help frontier costs, adding more than 110,000 strings of cash per year. The Two Zhe circuits had once licensed private operators to run the monopoly. Early in the Yongxi era (984–987), widespread illicit brewing led to lifting the ban; the wine levy was then folded into the two-tax rolls like the yeast fee. In 985 an edict declared: "When officials proposed ending Hangzhou's wine monopoly, wealthy clans seized the trade while poor households still paid annual assessments. A measure meant to help the people became harassment instead. The monopoly on wine should be restored and the apportioned levy abolished." In 1020 (Tianxi 4), transport vice commissioner Fang Zhongxun reported: "This circuit's wine quota stands at 140,000 strings, yet considerable revenue remains untapped." The annual levy was raised by 98,000 strings.
5
川峽承舊制，賣曲價重，開寶二年，詔減十之二。 既而頗興榷酤，言事者多陳其非便，太平興國七年罷，仍舊賣曲。 自是，惟夔、達、開、施、瀘、黔、涪、黎、威州、梁山雲安軍，及河東之麟、府州，荊湖之辰州，福建之福、泉、汀、漳州、興化軍，廣南東、西路不禁。
Sichuan followed the old system, with yeast prices set high. In 969 (Kaibao 2) an edict cut the price by one-fifth. Monopoly brewing was soon extended widely, but memorialists repeatedly protested its drawbacks. In 982 (Taiping Xingguo 7) the monopoly was withdrawn and yeast sales resumed under the old rules. Thereafter only Kui, Da, Kai, Shi, Lu, Qian, Fu, Li, Wei, Liangshan, Yun'an, Hedong's Lin and Fu, Jing-Hu's Chen, Fujian's Fu, Quan, Ting, Zhang and Xinghua, and all of Guangnan East and West remained exempt from the monopoly.
6
自春至秋，醞成即鬻，謂之「小酒」，其價自五錢至三十錢，有二十六等； 臘釀蒸鬻，候夏而出，謂之「大酒」，自八錢至四十八錢，有二十三等。 凡醞用粳、糯、粟、黍、麥等及曲法、酒式，皆從水土所宜。 諸州官釀所費穀麥，準常糴以給，不得用倉儲。 酒匠、役人當受糧者給錢。 凡官曲，麥一斗為曲六斤四兩。 賣曲價：東京、南京斤直錢百五十五，西京減五。
From spring through autumn, wine was sold as soon as fermentation finished — called "small wine," priced from 5 to 30 cash in twenty-six grades; Winter brews were steamed and held until summer — called "large wine," from 8 to 48 cash in twenty-three grades. Grains used — japonica, glutinous rice, millet, broomcorn, wheat, and so on — together with yeast recipes and wine styles, all followed local soil and water conditions. Grain for official brewing in the prefectures had to be bought at regular market rates; granary stocks could not be used. Brewers and corvée workers who would normally receive grain rations were paid in cash. Official yeast was made at the rate of one dou of wheat to six jin four liang of yeast. Yeast prices: 155 cash per jin in the Eastern and Southern Capitals, 150 in the Western Capital.
7
咸平末，江、淮製置增榷酤錢，頗為煩刻。 景德二年，詔毋增榷，自後製置使不得兼領酒榷。 四年，又詔中外不得更議增課以圖恩獎。 天禧初，著作郎張師德使淮南，上言：「鄉村酒戶年額少者，望並停廢。」 從之。
Late in the Xianping era, Jiang-Huai commissioners raised monopoly revenues in ways that proved burdensome and exacting. In 1005 (Jingde 2) an edict barred further monopoly increases; commissioners were thereafter forbidden to oversee the wine monopoly concurrently. In 1007 another edict forbade officials at court and in the provinces from proposing levy increases to win favor and rewards. Early in the Tianxi era, Academician Zhang Shide, on mission to Huainan, proposed abolishing rural wine franchises with low annual quotas." The court approved.
8
至道二年，兩京諸州收榷課銅錢一百二十一萬四千餘貫、鐵錢一是五十六萬五千餘貫，京城賣曲錢四十八萬餘貫。 天禧末，榷課銅錢增七百七十九萬六千餘貫，鐵錢增一百三十五萬四千餘貫，曲錢增三十九萬一千餘貫。
In 996 (Zhidao 2), the two capitals and prefectures collected monopoly revenues of 1,214,000+ strings in copper cash, about 1,565,000 strings in iron cash, and 480,000+ strings from yeast sales in the capital. By the end of the Tianxi era, monopoly revenues had risen by 7,796,000 strings in copper cash, 1,354,000 in iron cash, and 391,000 from yeast sales.
9
五代漢初，犯私曲者並棄市； 周，至五斤者死。 建隆二年，以周法太峻，犯私曲至十五斤、以私酒入城至三斗者始處極刑，餘論罪有差； 私市酒、曲者減造人罪之半。 三年，再下酒、曲之禁，凡私造差定其罪：城郭二十斤、鄉閭三十斤，棄市； 民持私酒入京城五十里、西京及諸州城二十里者，至五斗處死； 所定里數外，有官署酤酒而私酒入其地一石，棄市。 乾德四年，詔比建隆之禁第減之：凡至城郭五十斤以上、鄉閭百斤以上、私酒入禁地二石、三石以上、至有官署處四石，五石以上者，乃死。 法益輕而犯者鮮矣。
Early in the Later Han of the Five Dynasties, illicit yeast production was punished by public execution; under the Later Zhou, amounts up to five jin carried the death penalty. In 961 (Jianlong 2), finding Zhou penalties too harsh, capital punishment was limited to fifteen jin of illicit yeast or three dou of illicit wine brought into cities; lesser amounts received graded sentences; buyers of illicit wine or yeast received sentences half as severe as producers. In 962 prohibitions on wine and yeast were reissued. Private manufacture: twenty jin in cities or thirty jin in the countryside meant execution; carrying illicit wine within fifty li of the capital or twenty li of the Western Capital and prefectural seats: five dou or more meant death; beyond those limits, one shi of illicit wine brought into an official sales zone meant execution. In 966 (Qiande 4) penalties were eased below Jianlong levels: death applied only at fifty jin or more in cities, one hundred jin in the countryside, two to three shi of illicit wine in restricted zones, or four to five shi near official sales offices. As the law grew milder, violations became rare.
10
端拱二年令：民買曲釀酒酤者，縣鎮十里如州城二十里之禁。 天聖以後，北京售曲如三京法，官售酒、曲亦畫疆界，戒相侵越，犯皆有法。 其不禁之地，大概與宋初同，唯增永興軍、大通監、川峽之茂州、富順監。
In 989 (Duangong 2) licensed brewers who bought yeast and sold wine faced the same ten-li restriction around county towns as the twenty-li rule around prefectural seats. After the Tiansheng era, Beijing followed the three-capital yeast rules; official wine and yeast sales were bounded by territories with penalties for encroachment. Exempt regions largely matched those of early Song, with Yongxing, Datong, Maozhou in Sichuan, and Fushun added.
11
時天下承平既久，戶口浸蕃，為酒醪以靡穀者益眾。 乾興初，言者謂：「諸路酒課，月比歲增，無有藝極，非古者禁群飲、教節用之義。」 遂詔：「鄉村毋得增置酒場，已募民主之者，期三年； 他人雖欲增課以售，勿聽； 主者自欲增課，委官吏度異時不至虧額負課，然後上聞。」 既而御史中丞晏殊請酒場利薄者悉禁增課。
After long peace the population swelled, and ever more grain went into brewing. Early in the Qianxing era critics noted that wine revenues on every circuit rose month on month without limit — contrary to the ancient ideal of curbing communal drinking and teaching thrift." An edict followed: villages might not add new wine stations; existing licensed operators were given three-year terms; others might not raise levies to expand sales; operators who wished to raise their own quotas had to show officials that future yields would cover the increase before petitioning the court." Censor-in-chief Yan Shu then petitioned to forbid levy increases at low-margin wine stations.
12
天聖七年，詔：「民間有吉凶事酤酒，舊聽自便，毋抑配。 而江、淮、荊湖、兩浙酒戶往往豪製良民，至出引目，抑使多售。 其嚴禁止，犯者聽人告，募人代之。」 慶曆初，三司言：「陝西用兵，軍費不給，尤資榷酤之利。 請較監臨官歲課，增者第賞之。」 繼令蕭定基、王琪等商度利害。
In 1029 (Tiansheng 7) an edict declared that households buying wine for weddings and funerals should not face forced quotas. Yet in Jiang-Huai, Jing-Hu, and the Two Zhe circuits wine franchisees often bullied commoners, issuing purchase orders and forcing excess sales. The practice was strictly forbidden; violators could be reported, with informants recruited to take over franchises." Early in the Qingli era (1041–1048) the Three Departments reported that the Shaanxi campaign had strained military funds and that wine monopoly revenues were especially needed. They asked to rank supervising officials by annual yields and reward those who increased revenues." Xiao Dingji, Wang Qi, and others were then ordered to assess the policy's costs and benefits.
13
初，酒場歲課不登，州縣多責衙前或伍保輸錢以充其數，嘉祐、治平中，數戒止之。 治平四年，手詔蠲京師酒戶所負曲錢十六萬緡，又江南比歲所增酒場，強率人酤酒者禁止。 皇祐中，酒曲歲課合緡錢一千四百九十八萬六千一百九十六，至治平中，減二百一十二萬三千七百三； 而皇祐中，又入金帛、絲纊、芻粟、材木之類，總其數四百萬七百六十，治平中，乃增一百九十九萬一千九百七十五。
When wine stations missed quotas, counties often forced yamen runners or ward-and-tithing groups to make up the shortfall; during the Jiayou and Zhiping eras repeated edicts forbade the practice. In 1067 (Zhiping 4) an imperial autograph remitted 160,000 strings of yeast debt owed by capital brewers and forbade the forced sales recently imposed at new Jiangnan wine stations. In the Huangyou era annual wine and yeast revenues totaled 14,986,196 strings; by Zhiping they had fallen by 2,123,703; Huangyou also brought in gold, silk, fodder, timber, and similar goods worth 4,000,760; by Zhiping that in-kind revenue had risen by 1,991,975.
14
熙寧三年，詔諸郡遇節序毋得以酒相饋。 初，知渭州蔡挺言：「陝西有醞公使酒交遺，至逾二十驛，道路煩苦。」 詔禁之。 至是，都官郎中沈行復言：「知莫州柴貽範饋他州酒至九百餘瓶，用兵夫逾一百人。」 故並諸路禁焉。
In 1070 (Xining 3) an edict forbade prefectures from exchanging wine gifts on holidays. Earlier, Weizhou prefect Cai Ting reported that Shaanxi officials exchanged brewed "public-service wine" along routes spanning more than twenty post stations, burdening transport." The court forbade the practice. Now Capital Office director Shen Xingfu reported that Mozhou prefect Chai Yifan had sent more than 900 bottles of wine to other prefectures using over 100 corvée laborers." The ban was therefore extended empire-wide.
15
四年，三司承買酒曲坊場錢率千錢稅五十，儲以祿吏。 六月，令式所刪定官周直孺言：「在京曲院酒戶鬻酒虧額，原於曲數多則酒亦多，多則價賤，賤則人戶損其利。 為今之法，宜減數增價，使酒有限而必售，則人無耗折之患，而官額不虧。 請以百八十萬斤為定額，閏年增十五萬斤。 舊直，斤百六十八，百以八十五為數，請增為二百，百用省數，以便入出。」 七年，諸郡舊不釀酒者許釀，以公使錢率百緡為千石，溢額者以違制論。 在京酒戶歲用糯三十萬石。 九年，江、浙災傷，米直騰貴，詔選官至所產地預給錢，俟成稔折輸於官。 未幾，詔勿行，止以所糴在京新米與已糴米半用之。
In 1071 the Three Departments levied a tax of 50 cash per 1,000 on wine and yeast franchise purchases, reserving the proceeds for clerks' salaries. In the sixth month Statutes Office reviser Zhou Zhiru explained that capital yeast-yard brewers missed revenue targets because excess yeast produced excess wine, depressing prices and eroding household profits. The remedy was to cut volume and raise prices so supply stayed limited yet sold through — sparing households spoilage losses while preserving state quotas. He proposed a fixed quota of 1.8 million jin, with an extra 150,000 jin in intercalary years. The old price was 168 cash per jin, reckoned at 85 per hundred-weight; he asked to raise it to 200, using round hundred-weight units for easier accounting." In 1074 prefectures previously barred from brewing were allowed to do so at 100 strings of public-service funds per 1,000 shi, with excess treated as a regulatory violation. Capital brewers consumed 300,000 shi of glutinous rice yearly. In 1076 Jiang-Zhe flood losses drove rice prices up; officials were sent to growing regions to advance cash, with grain to be delivered after harvest. Soon the scheme was canceled; capital brewers were to use equal parts newly purchased and existing grain stocks.
16
元豐元年，增在京酒戶曲錢，較年額損曲三十萬斤，閏年益造萬斤。 二年，詔：「在京鬻曲，歲以百二十萬斤為額，斤直錢二百五十，俟鬻及舊額，令復舊價。 酒戶負糟、糯錢，更期以二年帶輸，並蠲未請曲數十萬斤。」 先是，京師曲法，自熙寧四年更定後，多不能償，雖屢閣未請曲數，及損歲額為百五十萬斤，斤增錢至二百四十，未免逋負。 至是，命畢仲衍與周直孺講求利病，請：「損額增直，均給七十店，令日輸錢，周歲而足，月輸不及數，計所負倍罰； 其炊醞非時、擅益器量及用私曲，皆立告賞法。」 悉施行之，而裁其價。 三年，詔：「帶輸舊曲錢及倍罰錢，仍寬以半歲，未經免罰者蠲三之一。」 五年，外居宗室酒，止許於舊宮院尊長及近屬寄醞。 增永興軍乾祐縣十酒場。 酒戶負糟、糯錢，更令三年之內增月限以輸，並除限內罰息，其倍罰曲錢已蠲三之一，下戶更免一分。
In 1078 capital brewers' yeast fees were raised while the annual yeast quota was cut by 300,000 jin, with an extra 10,000 jin in intercalary years. In 1079 an edict set the capital yeast quota at 1.2 million jin at 250 cash per jin, with prices to revert to the old rate once sales hit the former quota. Brewers' debts for spent grain and glutinous rice were spread over two years in installments, and 100,000 jin of unclaimed yeast quota was remitted." Since the 1071 capital yeast reform, many brewers could not meet payments despite repeated quota suspensions, a cut to 1.5 million jin, and a price of 240 cash per jin — arrears persisted. Bi Zhongyan and Zhou Zhiru were ordered to review the system. They proposed cutting quotas, raising prices, dividing supply among seventy shops with daily payments due within the year, and double penalties for monthly shortfalls; informant rewards were established for off-season brewing, unauthorized vessel sizes, and private yeast." The reforms took effect, with a modest price reduction. In 1080 installment payments on old yeast debts and double penalties were extended six months, with one-third of unpaid penalties remitted." In 1082 clansmen living outside the capital might brew wine only through elders of their former palace compounds or close kin. Ten wine stations were added in Qianyou County, Yongxing. Brewers' spent-grain and glutinous-rice debts were spread over three years with extended monthly terms; in-term penalty interest was canceled; one-third of double yeast penalties was remitted and poorer households received an additional ten-percent reduction.
17
元祐元年，刪監司鬻酒及三路饋遺條。 紹聖二年，左司諫翟思言：諸郡釀酒，非沿邊並復熙寧之數。 詔：「熙寧五年以前，諸郡不釀酒、及有公使錢而無酒者，所釀並依《熙寧編敕》數。 仍令諸郡所減勿逾百石，舊不及數者如舊，毋得於例外供饋。」 後又以陝西沿邊官監酒務課入不足，乃令邊郡非帥府並酌條製定釀酒數，諸將並城砦止許於官務寄釀。
In 1086 provisions on circuit commissioners selling wine and gift exchanges along the three frontier circuits were removed. In 1095 Left Office remonstrator Zhai Si urged restoring Xining brewing quotas in all non-border prefectures. An edict ordered prefectures that had not brewed before 1072, or had public-service funds but no wine supply, to follow Xining statute quotas. Reductions were capped at 100 shi; prefectures already below quota were unchanged; extraordinary gift supplies were forbidden." Later, because border wine-office revenues in Shaanxi fell short, non-commandery border prefectures set brewing quotas by regulation, and frontier generals and stockades could brew only through official offices.
18
崇寧二年，知漣水軍錢景允言建立學舍，請以承買醋坊錢給用。 詔常平司計無害公費如所請，仍令他路準行之。 初，元祐臣僚請罷榷醋，戶部謂本無禁文。 後翟思請以諸郡醋坊日息用餘悉歸常平，至是，景允有請，故令常平計之。 十月，諸路官監酒直，上者升增錢二，中下增一，以充學費，餘裨轉運司歲用。
In 1103 Lianshui prefect Qian Jingyun, building a school, asked to fund it from vinegar-franchise receipts. The Ever-Normal office was to confirm no harm to public funds, with other circuits allowed to follow suit. Earlier, Yuanyou officials had sought to end the vinegar monopoly, but the Revenue Ministry noted that no prohibition statute existed. Later Zhai Si had proposed routing vinegar-workshop daily surpluses to the Ever-Normal fund; Jingyun's petition now required the Ever-Normal office to assess it. In the tenth month official wine prices on all circuits were raised two cash in upper-tier markets and one in middle and lower tiers to fund schools, with the remainder for transport commissioners.
19
大觀四年，以兩浙轉運司之請，官監鬻糟錢別立額比較。 又詔：「諸郡榷酒之池，入出酒米，並別遣倉官。 賣醋毋得越郡城五里外，凡縣、鎮、村並禁，其息悉歸轉運司，舊屬常平者如故。
In 1110, at the Two Zhe transport commissioner's request, a separate quota was set for official spent-grain sales revenue. Another edict required separate granary officers to oversee grain entering and leaving monopoly brewing pools in every prefecture. Vinegar could not be sold more than five li beyond a prefectural seat; the ban applied to counties, market towns, and villages alike. All proceeds went to the transport commission, while revenues previously assigned to the Ever-Normal Granaries were left unchanged.
20
政和二年，淮南發運副使董正封言：「杭州都酒務甲於諸路，治平前歲課三十萬緡，今不過二十萬。 請令分務為三，更置比較務二，毋增官吏兵匠，仍請本路諸郡並增務比較。」 從之。 四年，兩浙轉運司亦請置務比較，定課額釀酒收息，以增虧為賞罰。 詔：「酒務官二員者分兩務，三員者復增其一，員雖多毋得過四務。 內有官雖多而課息不廣者，聽如舊。」 是歲，以湖南路諸務糟酵錢分入提舉司，令斤增錢三，為直達糧綱水工之費。 立酒匠闕聽選試清務廂軍之法。 清務者，本州選刺供踏曲爨蒸之役，闕則募人以充。
In 1112, Huainan dispatch deputy commissioner Dong Zhengfeng reported: "Hangzhou's metropolitan wine bureau led every circuit in revenue. Before the Zhiping era it yielded three hundred thousand strings a year; now it brings in barely two hundred thousand. He asked that the bureau be split into three offices and two new comparison bureaus be set up without increasing staff, soldiers, or artisans, and that every prefecture in the circuit establish comparable offices for revenue auditing." The court approved. In 1114 the Two Zhe transport commission likewise petitioned for comparison bureaus, fixed brewing quotas and profit targets, and tied rewards and penalties to gains or shortfalls. An edict ordered: "Bureaus with two officials were to be split into two offices; those with three were to add a fourth office. No bureau, however many officials it had, could exceed four offices. Bureaus with many officials but modest revenues were allowed to keep their existing arrangements." That year, mash-and-yeast revenues from Hunan wine bureaus were reassigned to the intendant's office, with a three-cash surcharge per jin to pay direct-transport grain convoys and boat crews. Rules were set for recruiting brewers from the Clear-Service corvee militia whenever posts fell vacant. Clear Service referred to men selected and registered by the prefecture for yeast-kneading and brewing work; vacancies were filled by recruitment.
21
渡江後，屈於養兵，隨時增課，名目雜出，或主於提刑，或領於漕司，或分隸於經、總製司，惟恐軍資有所未裕。 建炎三年，總領四川財賦趙開遂大變酒法：自成都始，先罷公帑實供給酒，即舊撲買坊場所置隔釀，設官主之，民以米入官自釀，斛輸錢三十，頭子錢二十二。 明年，遍下其法於四路，歲遞增至六百九十餘萬緡，凡官槽四百所，私店不預焉，於是東南之酒額亦日增矣。 四年，以米曲價高，詔上等升增二十文，上等升增十八文，俟米曲價平依舊。
After the court fled south across the Yangzi, army upkeep forced repeated levy increases under a tangle of new names. Some revenues were managed by circuit intendant offices, some by transport commissions, and some by fiscal management bureaus — all to keep military funds from running dry. In 1129, Zhao Kai, overall director of Sichuan finances, overhauled the wine monopoly. Starting in Chengdu, he ended direct government supply of wine, converted former leased franchises into separate-brewing sites under official supervision, and required households to deliver rice and brew under state license — thirty cash per hu plus a twenty-two-cash surcharge. The following year the system spread across all four Sichuan circuits, with annual revenue rising to more than 6.9 million strings. Four hundred government brewing vats were established; private shops were excluded. Southeast wine quotas climbed steadily thereafter. In 1130, with rice and yeast prices high, the court raised upper-grade wine twenty cash per sheng and lower-grade wine eighteen, to revert once grain and yeast prices normalized.
22
紹興元年，兩浙酒坊於買撲上添淨利錢五分，季輸送戶部。 又增諸酒錢上升二十文，下十文。 其諸州軍賣酒虧折，隨宜增價，一分州用，一分漕計，一分隸經制司。 先是，酒有定價，每增須上請。 是後，郡縣始自增，而價不一矣。 五年，令諸州酒不以上下，升增五文，隸製總司。 六年，以紹興二年以後三年中一年中數立額，其增羨給郡縣用。 罷四川州、軍、縣、鎮酒官百七員，其酒息微處並罷之。
In 1131, Two Zhe wine franchises were assessed an additional five percent of net profit on their lease payments, sent quarterly to the Ministry of Revenue. Wine prices were raised again — twenty cash per sheng for upper grades and ten for lower grades. Where prefectures and garrisons lost money on wine sales, prices were raised as needed; one third went to prefectural funds, one third to transport accounts, and one third to fiscal management offices. Previously wine prices had been fixed, and any increase required central approval. Thereafter prefectures and counties began raising prices on their own, and wine prices ceased to be uniform. In 1135, every prefecture was ordered to add five cash per sheng to all grades of wine, with the revenue assigned to fiscal management offices. In 1136, quotas were set from the median annual yield of the three years after 1132; any surplus was reserved for prefectural and county expenses. One hundred seven Sichuan wine posts at prefectures, garrisons, counties, and market towns were eliminated, along with every office whose wine revenue was negligible.
23
七年，以戶部尚書章誼等言，行在置贍軍酒庫。 四川製置使胡世將即成都、潼川、資、普、廣安立清酒務，許民買撲，歲為錢四萬八千餘緡。 自趙開行隔槽法，增至十四萬六千餘緡， 〈（紹興元年。）〉 及世將改官監，所入又倍，自後累增至五十四萬八千餘緡， 〈（紹興二十五年。）〉 而外邑及民戶坊場又為三十九萬緡。 〈（淳熙二年。）〉 然隔槽之法始行，聽就務分槽醞賣，官計所入之米而收其課，若未病也。 行之既久，醞賣虧欠，則責入米之家認輸，不復核其米而第取其錢，民始病矣。
In 1137, following a proposal by Minister of Revenue Zhang Yi and others, an Army-Support wine warehouse was established at the court in exile. Sichuan commissioner Hu Shijiang set up Clear-Wine bureaus at Chengdu, Tongchuan, Zi, Pu, and Guang'an, leasing them to private operators for more than forty-eight thousand strings annually. After Zhao Kai introduced the separate-vat system, revenue rose to more than 146,000 strings, (Shaoxing 1.) When Hu Shijiang switched to direct official supervision, receipts doubled again and eventually reached more than 548,000 strings, (Shaoxing 25.) While outlying towns and privately leased franchises brought in another 390,000 strings. (Chunxi 2.) When the separate-vat system was first introduced, households brewed and sold at divided vats within official bureaus; the state measured incoming rice and collected the levy — a burden the public had not yet felt. Over time, when brewing revenues fell short, households that had delivered rice were forced to cover the deficit. Officials stopped verifying grain deliveries and simply collected cash — and the public began to feel the strain.
24
十年，罷措置贍軍酒庫所，官吏悉歸戶部，以左曹郎中兼領，以點檢贍軍酒庫為名，與本路漕臣共其事。 十五年，弛夔路酒禁。 以南北十一庫並充贍軍激賞酒庫，隸左右司。 十七年，省四川清酒務監官，成都府二員，興元遂寧府、漢、綿、邛、蜀、彭、簡、果州、富順監並漢州綿州、縣各一員。
In 1140, the Army-Support wine planning office was abolished and its staff transferred to the Ministry of Revenue. A left-section bureau director took concurrent charge under the title Inspector of Army-Support Wine Warehouses, working jointly with the circuit transport commissioner. In 1145, the wine monopoly in the Kuizhou circuit was lifted. Eleven warehouses north and south of the capital were combined into Army-Support and Merit-Reward wine stores, placed under the Left and Right Secretariat offices. In 1147, Sichuan Clear-Wine supervisory posts were cut back to two at Chengdu and one each at Xingyuan, Suining, Han, Mian, Qiong, Shu, Peng, Jian, Guo, the Fushun supervisorate, and the counties of Han and Mian prefectures.
25
二十一年，詔諸軍買撲酒坊監官賞格依舊。 〈（四萬、三萬貫已上場務：增及一倍，減一年磨勘，二倍減二年磨勘，三倍減三年磨勘，四倍減四年磨勘。 二萬、一萬貫已上場務：增及一倍，減三季磨勘，二倍減一年磨勘，三倍減三年磨勘，七千貫以上場務：增及一倍，升三季名次，二倍減一年磨勘，三倍減一年半磨勘，四倍減二年磨勘。 七千貫以下場務：增及一萬貫減一年磨勘，二萬貫減二年磨勘，三萬貫減三年磨勘，四萬貫減四年磨勘。）〉 二十五年，罷諸路漕司寄造酒。 二十七年，以隔槽酒擾民，許買撲以便民。 罷官監，後復製之。
In 1151, an edict restored the previous reward scales for supervisors of army-leased wine franchises. (For franchises yielding forty thousand or thirty thousand strings and above: doubling revenue shortened merit review by one year; tripling by two years; quadrupling by three years; quintupling by four years. For franchises of twenty thousand or ten thousand strings and above: doubling revenue cut merit review by three seasons; tripling by one year; quadrupling by three years. For franchises of seven thousand strings and above: doubling raised rank by three seasons; tripling shortened review by one year; quadrupling by eighteen months; quintupling by two years. For franchises below seven thousand strings: increases of ten thousand strings shortened review by one year; twenty thousand by two years; thirty thousand by three years; forty thousand by four years.) In 1155, commissioned brewing by circuit transport commissions was abolished. In 1157, with the separate-vat system burdening the public, franchises were opened to competitive lease to ease the hardship. Direct official supervision was abolished, then later reinstated.
26
三十年，以點檢措置贍軍酒庫改隸戶部。 既而戶部侍郎邵大受等言：「歲計賴經、總製，窠名至多，今諸路歲虧二百萬，皆緣諸州公使庫廣造，別置店酤賣，以致酒務例皆敗壞。」 詔罷諸州別置酒庫，如軍糧酒庫、防月庫、月樁庫之類，並省務寄造酒及帥司激買酒庫。 凡未分隸經、總制錢處，並立額分隸，補趁虧額。 三十一年，殿帥趙密以諸軍酒坊六十六歸之戶部， 〈（見九年。）〉 同安郡王楊存中罷殿帥，復以私撲酒坊九上之； 歲通收息六十萬緡有奇，以十分為率，七分輸送行在，三分給漕計。 蓋自軍興以來，諸帥擅榷酤之利，由是，縣官始得資之以佐經費焉。
In 1160, the Inspector and Planner of Army-Support Wine Warehouses was placed under the Ministry of Revenue. Soon afterward Vice Minister Shao Dashou and others reported: "Annual budgets depend on fiscal management offices, and revenue categories have multiplied. Circuits now lose two million strings a year because prefectures' public-service warehouses brew heavily and open separate retail shops, driving official wine bureaus to ruin." The court abolished separately established prefectural wine stores — army-grain wine warehouses, frontier-defense monthly stores, monthly stockpile stores, and the like — along with commissioned brewing at provincial bureaus and commanders' merit-purchase wine warehouses. Where revenues had not yet been assigned to fiscal management offices, fixed quotas were set and revenues reassigned to cover shortfalls. In 1161, Palace Guard commander Zhao Mi transferred sixty-six army wine franchises to the Ministry of Revenue, (See year 9.) When Prince of Tong'an Yang Cunzhong stepped down as Palace Guard commander, he likewise surrendered nine privately leased wine franchises; their combined annual profit exceeded six hundred thousand strings. Seven tenths went to the court in exile and three tenths to transport accounts. Since the wars began, field commanders had kept wine monopolies for themselves. Only then did the central treasury begin tapping those revenues to help meet routine expenses.
27
孝宗乾道元年，以浙東、西犒賞庫六十四隸三衙，輸課於左藏南庫，餘錢充隨年贍軍及造軍器。 二年，詔：「臨安府安撫司酒庫悉歸贍軍； 並贍軍諸庫及臨安府安撫司酒務，令戶部取三年所收一年中數立額。」 日售錢萬緡，歲收本錢一百四十萬，息錢一百六十萬，曲錢二萬，羨餘獻以內藏者又二十萬，其後增為五十萬。 四年，立場務官賞格。 七年，以淮西總領周言，總所庫四，安撫司庫五，都統司庫十八，馬軍司庫一，增置行宮庫一，共為庫二十九，以三年最高年為額； 其行宮新庫息錢，除分認諸處錢及縻費，以淨息三分為率，一分輸御前酒庫； 以提領建康府戶部贍軍酒庫為名，遂鑄印及改庫名。 八年，知常德府劉邦翰言：「湖北之民困於酒坊，至貧乏家，不捐萬錢則不能舉一吉凶之禮。」 乃檢《乾道重修敕令》，申嚴抑買之禁。 淳熙三年詔：「四川酒課折估困弊，可減額錢四十七萬三千五百餘緡，令禮部給降度牒六百六十一道，補還今歲減數，明年於四川合給湖廣總所錢補之。」
In 1165, sixty-four reward wine warehouses in eastern and western Zhe were assigned to the Three Guards. Their levies went to the Left Treasury South Storehouse; surplus funds paid annual army support and arms production. In 1166, an edict ordered: "All wine warehouses of the Lin'an pacification commission were to be transferred to Army Support; along with all Army-Support warehouses and Lin'an pacification commission wine bureaus, the Ministry of Revenue was to set quotas from the median annual yield of the previous three years." Daily sales reached ten thousand strings. Annual principal totaled 1.4 million strings, profit 1.6 million, yeast fees twenty thousand, and surplus presented to the Inner Treasury another two hundred thousand — later raised to five hundred thousand. In 1168, reward scales for franchise supervisors were established. In 1171, following a proposal by Huai West overall director Zhou Yan, four overall-director warehouses, five pacification-commission warehouses, eighteen supreme-command warehouses, one cavalry-command warehouse, and one new traveling-palace warehouse — twenty-nine in all — were placed on quotas based on the highest of three years' receipts; net profit from the new traveling-palace warehouse, after assigned payments and overhead, was divided in thirds, with one third sent to the Imperial Front wine warehouse; the office was titled Director of the Jiankang Ministry-of-Revenue Army-Support Wine Warehouse; new seals were cast and the warehouse renamed. In 1172, Changde prefect Liu Banghan reported: "The people of Hubei are crushed by wine franchises. Even the poorest families must pay ten thousand cash before they can hold a wedding or funeral." He cited the Qiandao Revised Statutes and Decrees and strictly enforced the ban on coerced purchases. In 1176 an edict declared: "Sichuan wine revenues, depressed by devalued assessments, may be cut by more than 473,500 strings. The Ministry of Rites was to issue 661 ordination certificates to cover this year's shortfall; next year the sum would be recovered from Sichuan's payments to the Huguang overall office."
28
寧宗開禧元年，知臨安府兼點檢贍軍激賞庫趙善防、轉運判官提領戶部犒賞酒庫詹徽之言，官吏冗費，請諸司官屬兼管。 明年，又以都省言課額失陷，依舊辟置。
In 1205, Lin'an prefect and concurrent Inspector of Army-Support and Merit-Reward Warehouses Zhao Shanfang and transport vice-commissioner Zhan Hui, who also directed Ministry-of-Revenue reward wine warehouses, petitioned to cut redundant staff by assigning concurrent duties to officials of various offices. The following year, with the Secretariat reporting shortfalls against quota, dedicated posts were restored.
29
初，趙開之立隔釀法也，蓋以紓一時之急，其後行之諸郡，國家贍兵，郡縣經費，率取給於此。 故雖罷行、增減，不一而足，而其法卒不可廢雲。
When Zhao Kai first established separate brewing, it was meant to ease a temporary crisis. The system soon spread through the prefectures, and both army support and local budgets came to depend on it. Though the system was suspended, revived, expanded, and cut back in countless ways, it could never finally be abolished.
30
坑冶凡金、銀、銅、鐵、鉛、錫監冶場務二百有一：金產商、饒、歙、撫四州，南安軍。 銀產鳳、建、桂陽三州，有三監； 饒、信、虔、越、衢、處、道、福、汀、漳、南劍、韶、廣、英、連、恩、春十七州，建昌、邵武、南安三軍，有五十一場； 秦、隴、興元三州，有三務。 銅產饒、處、建、英、信、汀、漳、南劍八州，南安、邵武二軍，有三十五場； 梓州有一務。 鐵產徐、兗、相三州，有四監； 河南、鳳翔、同、虢、儀、蘄、黃、袁、英九州，興國軍，有十二冶； 晉、磁、鳳、澧、道、渠、合、梅、陝、耀、坊、虔、汀、吉十四州，有二十務； 信、鄂、連、建、南劍五州，邵武軍，有二十五場。 鉛產越、建、連、英、春、韶、衢、汀、漳、南劍十州，南安、邵武二軍，有三十六場、務。 錫產河南、南康、虔、道、賀、潮、循七州，南安軍，有九場。 水銀產秦、階、商、鳳四州，有四場。 朱砂產商、宜二州，富順監，有三場。
Mines and smelting comprised 201 supervisory offices and sites for gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin. Gold came from Shang, Rao, She, and Fu prefectures and Nan'an Military District. Silver came from Feng, Jian, and Guiyang prefectures, with three supervisory offices; fifty-one sites in seventeen prefectures — Rao, Xin, Qian, Yue, Qu, Chu, Dao, Fu, Ting, Zhang, Nanjian, Shao, Guang, Ying, Lian, En, and Chun — and three military districts — Jianchang, Shaowu, and Nan'an; and three bureaus in Qin, Long, and Xingyuan prefectures. Copper came from thirty-five sites in Rao, Chu, Jian, Ying, Xin, Ting, Zhang, and Nanjian prefectures and Nan'an and Shaowu military districts; and one bureau in Zizhou. Iron came from four supervisory offices in Xu, Yan, and Xiang prefectures; twelve smelteries in Henan, Fengxiang, Tong, Guo, Yi, Qi, Huang, Yuan, and Ying prefectures and Xingguo Military District; twenty bureaus in Jin, Ci, Feng, Li, Dao, Qu, He, Mei, Shan, Yao, Fang, Qian, Ting, and Ji prefectures; and twenty-five sites in Xin, E, Lian, Jian, and Nanjian prefectures and Shaowu Military District. Lead came from thirty-six sites and bureaus in Yue, Jian, Lian, Ying, Chun, Shao, Qu, Ting, Zhang, and Nanjian prefectures and Nan'an and Shaowu military districts. Tin came from nine sites in Henan, Nankang, Qian, Dao, He, Chao, and Xun prefectures and Nan'an Military District. Mercury came from four sites in Qin, Jie, Shang, and Feng prefectures. Cinnabar came from three sites in Shang and Yi prefectures and the Fushun supervisorate.
31
開寶三年，詔曰：「古者不貴難得之貨，後代賦及山澤，上加侵削，下益雕弊。 每念茲事，深疚於懷，未能捐金於山，豈忍奪人之利。 自今桂陽監歲輸課銀，宜減三分之一。」 民鑄銅為佛像、浮圖及人物之無用者禁之，銅鐵不得闌出蕃界及化外。
In 970, an edict declared: "The ancients did not prize rare goods. Later dynasties taxed mountains and marshes, squeezing the top and grinding down the bottom. Whenever I reflect on this, I feel deep remorse. If I cannot leave gold untouched in the mountains, how can I bear to seize what belongs to the people? Henceforth the annual silver quota of the Guiyang supervisory office shall be cut by one third." Private casting of copper into Buddha images, pagodas, and ornamental figures was banned, and copper and iron were forbidden to cross the frontier.
32
至道二年，有司言：「定州諸山多銀礦，而鳳州山銅礦復出，采煉大獲，而皆良焉。 請置官署掌其事。」 太宗曰：「地不愛寶，當與眾庶共之。」 不許。 東、西川監酒商稅課半輸銀帛外，有司請令二分入金。 景德三年，詔以非土產罷之。
In 996, officials reported: "Ding Prefecture's mountains hold rich silver deposits, and copper mines have reopened in Feng Prefecture. Smelting has yielded excellent ore in quantity. We ask that a government office be established to manage production." Emperor Taizong replied: "The earth does not hoard its treasures — they should be shared with the people." He refused. Beyond the eastern and western Sichuan wine and merchant-tax levies, half payable in silver and silk, officials proposed that two tenths be paid in gold. In 1006, an edict abolished the requirement because gold was not a local product.
33
天聖中，登、萊采金，歲益數千兩。 仁宗命獎勸官吏，宰相王曾曰：「采金多則背本趨末者眾，不宜誘之。」 景祐中，登、萊饑，詔弛金禁，聽民采取，俟歲豐復故。 然是時海內承平已久，民間習俗日漸侈靡，糜金以飭服器者不可勝數，重禁莫能止焉。 景祐、慶曆中，屢下詔申敕之，語在《輿服志》。 大率山澤之利有限，或暴發輒竭，或采取歲久，所得不償其費，而歲課不足，有司必責主者取盈。 仁宗、英宗每降赦書，輒委所在視冶之不發者，或廢之，或蠲主者所負歲課，率以為常； 而有司有請，亦輒從之，無所吝。 故冶之興廢不常，而歲課增損隨之。
During the Tiansheng era, gold mining at Deng and Lai yielded several thousand additional taels each year. Emperor Renzong ordered rewards for the officials involved. Chancellor Wang Zeng objected: "Heavy gold mining draws people away from farming — we should not encourage it." During the Jingyou era, famine struck Deng and Lai. The court temporarily lifted the gold ban and allowed private mining, restoring the prohibition once harvests recovered. By then the empire had enjoyed peace for generations. Popular taste grew ever more extravagant, and countless people lavished gold on clothing and vessels — no prohibition could check the trend. During the Jingyou and Qingli eras, the court repeatedly issued edicts reinforcing the ban; the full text appears in the Treatise on Carriages and Apparel. As a rule, mountain and marsh resources are finite. Deposits either burst forth and quickly run dry, or yield over years less than they cost to work. When annual quotas fell short, officials invariably pressed mine operators to make up the difference. Whenever Emperors Renzong and Yingzong issued amnesty edicts, they ordered local authorities to review idle smelteries — closing some, remitting operators' outstanding quotas for others. This became standard practice; When officials submitted requests of their own, the throne usually granted them without hesitation. Smelteries accordingly rose and fell unpredictably, and annual revenue fluctuated with them.
34
皇祐中，歲得金萬五千九十五兩，銀二十一萬九千八百二十九兩，銅五百一十萬八百三十四斤，鐵七百二十四萬一千斤，鉛九萬八千一百五十一斤，錫三十三萬六百九十五斤，水銀二千二百斤。
During the Huangyou era, annual output reached 10,095 taels of gold, 219,829 taels of silver, 5,100,834 catties of copper, 7,241,000 catties of iron, 98,151 catties of lead, 330,695 catties of tin, and 2,200 catties of mercury.
35
其後，以赦書從事或有司所請，廢冶百餘。 既而山澤興發，至治平中，或增冶或復故者六十有八，而諸州坑冶總二百七十一：登、萊、商、饒、汀、南恩六州，金之冶十一； 登、虢、秦、鳳、商、隴、越、衢、饒、信、虔、郴、衡、漳、汀、泉、建、福、南劍、英、韶、連、春二十三州，南安、建昌、邵武三軍，桂陽監，銀之冶八十四； 饒、信、虔、建、漳、汀、南劍、泉、韶、英、梓十一州，邵武軍，銅之冶四十六； 登、萊、徐、兗、鳳、翔、陝、儀、邢、虢、磁、虔、吉、袁、信、澧、汀、泉、建、南劍、英、韶、渠、合、資二十四州，興國、邵武二軍，鐵之冶七十七； 越、衢、信、汀、南劍、英、韶、春、連九州，邵武軍，鉛之冶三十； 商、虢、虔、道、賀、潮、循七州，錫之冶十六； 而水銀、丹砂州冶，與至道、天禧之時則一，皆置吏主之。 是歲，視皇祐金減九千六百五十六，銀增九萬五千三百八十四，銅增一百八十七萬，鐵、錫場百餘萬，鉛增二百萬，又得丹砂二千八百餘斤，獨水銀無增損焉。
Subsequently, acting on amnesty orders or official petitions, more than a hundred smelteries were shut down. Deposits revived in time. By the Zhiping era, sixty-eight smelteries had been added or reopened, bringing the nationwide total to 271 mining and smelting sites: eleven gold works in Deng, Lai, Shang, Rao, Ting, and Nan'en; eighty-four silver works across twenty-three prefectures — Deng, Guo, Qin, Feng, Shang, Long, Yue, Qu, Rao, Xin, Qian, Chen, Heng, Zhang, Ting, Quan, Jian, Fu, Nanjian, Ying, Shao, Lian, and Chun — plus Nan'an, Jianchang, and Shaowu military prefectures and Guiyang Superintendency; forty-six copper works in Rao, Xin, Qian, Jian, Zhang, Ting, Nanjian, Quan, Shao, Ying, and Zi prefectures and Shaowu Military Prefecture; seventy-seven iron works across twenty-four prefectures — Deng, Lai, Xu, Yan, Feng, Xiang, Shan, Yi, Xing, Guo, Ci, Qian, Ji, Yuan, Xin, Li, Ting, Quan, Jian, Nanjian, Ying, Shao, Qu, He, and Zi — plus Xingguo and Shaowu military prefectures; thirty lead works in Yue, Qu, Xin, Ting, Nanjian, Ying, Shao, Chun, and Lian prefectures and Shaowu Military Prefecture; sixteen tin works in Shang, Guo, Qian, Dao, He, Chao, and Xun prefectures; Prefectural mercury and cinnabar works remained unchanged from the Zhidao and Tianxi eras, each staffed with appointed officials. That year compared with Huangyou, gold fell by 9,656 taels while silver rose by 95,384. Copper rose by 1.87 million catties, iron and tin yards by over a million, and lead by two million. Cinnabar output exceeded 2,800 catties. Only mercury showed no change.
36
熙寧元年，詔：「天上寶貨坑冶，不發而負歲課者蠲之。」 八年，令近坑冶坊郭鄉村並淘采烹煉，人並相為保； 保內及於坑冶有犯，知而不糾或停盜不覺者，論如保甲法。
In 1068, an edict declared: "Annual quotas owed by idle imperial treasure mines shall be remitted." In 1075, communities near mines and smelteries were ordered to pan, mine, and smelt collectively, with residents organized into mutual-responsibility groups; Offenses within a group or at mine sites — whether failing to report known violations or overlooking theft through negligence — were punished under the mutual-responsibility militia law.
37
元豐元年，諸坑冶金總收萬七百一十兩，銀二十一萬五千三百八十五兩，銅千四百六十萬五千九百六十九斤，鐵五百五十萬一千九十七斤，鉛九百十九萬七千三百三十五斤，錫二百三十二萬一千八百九十八斤，水銀三千三百五十六斤，朱砂三千六百四十六斤十四兩有奇。
In 1078, nationwide mine output totaled 10,710 taels of gold, 215,385 taels of silver, 14,605,969 catties of copper, 5,501,097 catties of iron, 9,197,335 catties of lead, 2,321,898 catties of tin, 3,356 catties of mercury, and 3,646 catties and 14 taels of cinnabar.
38
先是，熙寧七年，廣西經略司言：「邕州右江填乃洞產金，請以鄧辟鑒金場。」 後五年，凡得金為錢二十五萬緡，辟遷官者再焉。 元豐四年，始以所產薄罷貢，而虔、吉州界鉛悉禁之。 七年，戶部尚書王存等請復開銅禁，各展磨勘年有差。 是歲，坑冶凡一百三十六所，領於虞部。
Earlier, in 1074, the Guangxi Frontier Commission reported: "The Tian region on Yong Prefecture's Right River yields gold from Dong territory. We request appointing Deng Pi to establish a gold field there." Within five years the field yielded gold worth 250,000 strings of cash, and Pi was promoted twice. In 1081, output proved too thin to sustain tribute payments, and the field was closed. Lead along the Qian–Ji prefectural border was fully banned. In 1084, Revenue Minister Wang Cun and others petitioned to restore the copper ban and received merit-review extensions of varying length. That year, 136 mining and smelting sites fell under the Bureau of Parks and Waterways.
39
崇寧元年，提舉江、淮等路銅事遊經言：「信州膽銅古坑二：一為膽水浸銅，工少利多，其水有限； 一為膽土煎銅，土無窮而為利寡。 計置之初，宜增本損息，浸銅斤以錢五十為本，煎銅以八十。」 詔用其言。 諸路坑冶，自川、陝、京西之外，並令常平司同管幹。 所收息薄而煩官監者，如元符、紹聖敕立額，許民封狀承買。 四年，湖北旺溪金場，以歲收金千兩，乃置監官。 廣東漕臣王覺自言嘗領常平，講求山澤之利，岑水一場去年收銅，比租額增三萬九千一百斤，較之常年亦增六十六萬一千斤。 遂增其秩。 是歲，山澤坑冶名數，令監司置籍，非所當收者別籍之，若弛興、廢置、移並，亦令具注，上於虞部。
In 1102, You Jing, commissioner for copper on the Jianghuai and other circuits, reported: "Xin Prefecture's two ancient vitriol-copper pits differ: leaching copper from vitriol solution requires little labor for great profit, but the water supply is finite; smelting from vitriol ore yields an inexhaustible supply but slender profit. Initially, capital outlays should be raised and interest charges lowered — fifty cash per catty of leached copper, eighty for smelted." The court accepted his proposal. Outside Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Jingxi, all circuit mines were placed under joint Ever-Normal Granary administration. Sites where profits were thin but official supervision costly could, under Yuanfu and Shaosheng quota rules, be franchised to the highest bidder. In 1107, Wangxi Gold Field in Hubei, yielding 1,000 taels annually, received an appointed supervisor. Guangdong transport commissioner Wang Jue reported that as former head of the Ever-Normal Granaries he had developed mountain and marsh resources: last year Censhui field's copper output exceeded its lease quota by 39,100 catties and surpassed the normal annual yield by 661,000 catties. He was accordingly promoted. That year, circuit intendants were ordered to register all mine and smeltery sites, keeping separate lists for inactive operations, and to note every closure, reopening, relocation, or merger for submission to the Bureau of Parks and Waterways.
40
大觀二年，詔：「金銀坑發，雖告言而方檢視，私開淘取者以盜論。 坑冶舊不隸知縣、縣丞者，並令兼監，賞罰減正官一等。」 有冶地，知縣月一行點閱。 言者論其職在宣導德澤，平征賦獄訟，不宜為課利走山谷間，遂已之。 八月，提舉陝西坑冶司改並入轉運司。
In 1108, an edict declared: "Even after a gold or silver strike is reported and under official inspection, unauthorized mining shall be punished as theft. Mines not previously under magistrate or assistant magistrate supervision were placed under their joint oversight, with rewards and penalties one grade below regular officials." Where smelteries operated, magistrates were required to inspect them monthly. Critics argued that magistrates should disseminate imperial benevolence and administer taxes and justice, not chase revenue through mountain valleys — and the order was withdrawn. In the eighth month, the Shaanxi mining commission was merged into the transport commission.
41
三年，尚書省言：「陝西路坑冶已遣官吏提轄措置，川路金銀坑治興廢，慮失利源。」 詔：「令陝西措置官兼行川路事。 坑冶所收金、銀、銅、鉛、錫、鐵、水銀、朱砂物數，令工部置籍簽注，歲半消補，上之尚書省。」 自是，戶工部、尚書省皆有籍鉤考，然所憑唯帳狀，至有有額而無收，有收而無額，乃責之縣丞、監官及曹、部奉行者，而更督遞年違負之數。 九月，措置陝西坑冶蔣彝奏：本路坑冶收金千六百兩，他物有差。 詔輸大觀西庫，彝增秩，官屬各減磨勘年。 四年，令監司遣官同諸縣丞遍視坑冶之利，為圖籍簽注，監司覆實保奏，議遣官再覆，酌重輕加賞，異同、脫漏者罪之。 六年，川、陝路各置提轄措置。 坑冶官劉芑計置萬、永州產金，一歲收二千四百餘兩，特與增秩。 十二月，廣東漕司言：「本路鐵場坑冶九十二所，歲額收鐵二百八十九萬餘斤，浸銅之餘無他用。」 詔令官悉市以廣浸，仍以諸司及常平錢給本。 尚書省奏：「五路坑冶已有提轄措置專司，及淮南、湖北、廣東西亦監司兼領，其餘路請並令監司領之。」 於是江東西、福建、兩浙漕臣皆領坑冶。
In 1109, the Department of State Affairs warned: "Shaanxi mines are already under special administration, but Sichuan gold and silver operations risk revenue loss through unchecked closures." The throne ordered the Shaanxi mining administrator to take charge of Sichuan operations as well. The Ministry of Works was ordered to keep annotated registers of all gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, iron, mercury, and cinnabar collected at mines, retiring half each year and forwarding updated records to the Department of State Affairs." Thereafter Revenue, Works, and the Department of State Affairs all maintained audit registers — but relying solely on ledger forms produced quotas without collections and collections without quotas. Assistant magistrates, mine supervisors, and responsible clerks were held liable, then pressed to make up accumulated annual shortfalls. In the ninth month, Shaanxi mining administrator Jiang Yi reported 1,600 taels of gold and varying amounts of other metals from circuit mines. The court ordered delivery to the Daguan West Treasury, promoted Jiang Yi, and shortened merit-review periods for his staff. In 1110, circuit intendants were to send officials with every assistant magistrate to survey mine profitability and prepare annotated maps. Intendants would verify and recommend awards proportional to findings; discrepancies or omissions would be punished after a second review. In 1112, Sichuan and Shaanxi each received dedicated mining administration offices. Mine administrator Liu Qi, who had developed gold production at Wan and Yong prefectures, yielded over 2,400 taels in a single year and received a special promotion. In the twelfth month, Guangdong's transport office reported: "This circuit's ninety-two iron mines yield over 2.89 million catties annually, with no use beyond copper leaching." The court ordered officials to buy it all for expanded leaching operations, funding purchases from departmental and Ever-Normal Granary accounts. The Department of State Affairs recommended: "Five circuits already have dedicated mining offices; Huainan, Hubei, Guangdong, and Guangxi are jointly managed by circuit intendants — the remaining circuits should follow suit." Transport commissioners in Jiangdong-West, Fujian, and the Two Zhes accordingly assumed mining oversight.
42
七年，提舉東南九路坑冶徐禋奏：「太平瑞應，史不絕書。 今部內山澤、坑冶，若獲希世珍物及古寶器，請赴書藝局上進。」 蓋自政和初，京西漕臣王璹奏太和山產水精，知桂州王覺奏枕門等處產金及生花金田，提轄京西坑冶王景文奏汝州青嶺鎮界產瑪瑙，其後湟州界蕃官結彪地內金坑千餘，收生熟金四等，凡百三十四兩有奇。 蔡京請宣付史館，帥百官表賀，故禋復有是請焉。 是時，河北、京東西及徐禋所領九路興修坑冶，類鑿空擾下，抑州縣承額，於是降黜河北提轄官，遣廉訪使者鄭諶並諸路廉訪悉究陳利病真偽。 八月，中書奏坑冶浸已即緒，詔京東西、河北路並提舉東南九路坑冶並罷。 十一月，尚書省言：「徐禋以東南黑鉛留給鼓鑄之餘，悉造丹粉，鬻以濟用。」 詔諸路常平司以三十萬輸大觀西庫，餘從所請。
In 1113, Xu Yin, commissioner for the Southeast Nine Circuits' mines, argued: "Portents of peace fill the historical record without interruption. Rare finds from our circuit's mountains, marshes, and mines — extraordinary treasures or antique vessels — should be submitted to the Directorate of Books and Arts." Since early Zhenghe, Jingxi commissioner Wang Dan had reported crystal from Mount Taihe; Gui Prefecture prefect Wang Jue reported gold and "living-flower" gold fields at Zhenmen; Jingxi mining commissioner Wang Jingwen reported agate from Ru Prefecture's Qingling boundary. Later, over a thousand pits in Fan official Jie Biao's Huangzhou territory yielded raw and refined gold of four grades — 134 taels in all. Cai Jing had such finds announced to the Historiography Institute and led officials in congratulatory memorials — hence Yin's petition. Hebei, Jingdong-West, and Yin's nine circuits were reopening mines by fabricating strikes and pressuring local quotas. The Hebei mining commissioner was demoted, and integrity censor Zheng Chen with counterparts on every circuit were dispatched to investigate claimed benefits and abuses. In the eighth month, the Secretariat reported leaching operations underway. The court abolished Jingdong-West and Hebei mining commissions and the Southeast Nine Circuits post. In the eleventh month, the Department reported: "Xu Yin reserved southeastern black lead for coinage and converted the surplus into red lead powder for sale to cover expenses." Ever-Normal Granaries on all circuits were ordered to deliver 300,000 strings to the Daguan West Treasury; the rest of Yin's request was approved.
43
明年，令諸路鐵仿茶鹽法榷鬻，置爐冶收鐵，給引召人通市。 苗脈微者聽民出息承買，以所收中賣於官，私相貿易者禁之。 先是，元豐六年，京東漕臣吳居厚奏：「徐、鄆、青等州歲製軍器及上供簡鐵之類數多，而利國、萊蕪二監鐵少不能給。 請鐵從官興煽，所獲可多數倍。」 自是，官榷鐵造器用以鬻於民，至元祐罷之。 其後大觀初，入內皇城使裴絢為涇原幹當，奏上渭州通判苗衝淑之言：「石河鐵冶既令民自采煉，中賣於官，請禁民私相貿易。 農具、器用之類，悉官為鑄造，其冶坊已成之物，皆以輸官而償其直。」 乃禁毋得私相貿易，農具、器用勿禁，官自賣鐵唯許鑄瀉戶市之。
The following year, iron on all circuits was monopolized along tea-and-salt lines: government smelters collected ore and issued permits for licensed trade. Thin ore veins could be privately franchised with capital advances, with a portion of output sold to the state; private trade was banned. Earlier, in 1083, Jingdong commissioner Wu Ju-hou reported: "Xu, Yun, Qing, and neighboring prefectures need large quantities of arms and tribute ironware, but the Liguo and Laiwu smelteries cannot meet demand. Government smelting, he argued, could multiply output several times over." The state thereafter monopolized iron, cast goods, and sold them to the public — until the Yuanyou reforms abolished the practice. Later, early in Daguan, Inner Palace envoy Pei Xuan, Jingyuan administrator, relayed Weizhou vice prefect Miao Chongshu's proposal: "At Shihe Iron Smeltery, where miners smelt privately and sell a portion to the state, private trade among miners should be banned. Farm tools and household wares would be government-cast; finished workshop goods would be surrendered to the state at fair price." Private trade was banned — except for farm tools and household wares. Government iron could be sold only to licensed casting shops.
44
政和初，臣僚言：「鹽鐵利均，今鹽筴推行已備，而鐵貨尚未講畫。 請即冶戶未償之錢，收其已煉之鐵，為器鬻之。 兼京東二監所出尤多，河北固鎮等冶並官監，其利不資，而河東鐵、炭最盛，若官榷為器，以贍一路，旁及陝、雍，利入甚廣，且以銷盜鑄之弊。 又夏人茶山鐵冶既入中國，乏鐵為器，聞以鹽易鐵錢於邊，若官自為器，則鐵與錢俱重，可伐其謀。 請榷諸路鐵，擇其最盛者，可置監設官總之，概諸路不越數十處，餘止為鑄瀉之地，屬之都監或監當官兼領。 凡農具、器用皆官鑄造，表以字號，官本之餘，取息二分以上，仍置鐵引以通諸路，儲其錢助三路鈔本。」 詔戶部下諸路漕臣詳度。 會次年，廣東路請以可監之地如舊法收其淨利，苗脈微者召人承買，官不榷取，遂並諸路詳度之旨不行。 至是，臣僚復以為言，故嚴貿易之禁，而鐵利盡榷於官，然農具、器用從民鑄造，卒如舊法。
Early in Zhenghe, officials argued: "Salt and iron yield equal profit, yet while salt policy is fully enforced, iron commerce remains unregulated. They proposed seizing operators' unpaid debts, taking their smelted iron, casting it into goods, and selling them. Jingdong's two smelteries were especially productive; Hebei's Guzhen and other government works needed no subsidy; Hedong's iron and coal were richest of all. A government iron monopoly casting goods for one circuit — extending to Shaan and Yong — would yield broad revenue and curb illicit casting. With the Tangut Chashan smeltery now in Chinese hands, the Tanguts lacked iron for casting and reportedly traded salt for frontier iron coins. Government casting would make both iron and coin scarce, undermining their designs. They proposed monopolizing iron circuit-wide, establishing supervisory offices at the busiest sites — perhaps several dozen total — with remaining works as casting shops under chief supervisors or warehouse managers. All farm tools and wares would be government-cast and marked with serial numbers; after recovering capital, interest of twenty percent or more would be charged. Iron trade permits would circulate nationwide, with proceeds supporting paper-note reserves on three circuits." The Revenue Ministry was ordered to survey the proposal with transport commissioners on all circuits. The following year Guangdong petitioned to collect net profits at supervised sites under the old method, franchising thin veins without state monopoly — and the nationwide assessment was never carried out. Officials raised the matter again, tightening trade restrictions and fully monopolizing iron profits — though farm tools and wares remained privately cast, as before.
45
四月，廣東廉訪黃烈等言：「廣、惠、英、康、韶州、興慶府，政和中，寶貨司立坑冶金銀等歲額，或苗脈微，或無人承買，而浮冗之人虛托其名，發毀民田，騷動邀販。」 詔：「政和六年所立額並罷，舊有苗脈可給歲課者如故。」 十一月，復諸路元罷提舉坑冶官，其江南路仍令江西漕臣劉蒙同措置。
In the fourth month, Guangdong censor Huang Lie reported: "During Zhenghe, the Treasure Bureau set annual gold and silver quotas for Guang, Hui, Ying, Kang, Shao, and Xingqing — but thin veins and absent bidders let idle opportunists claim franchises in others' names, ravaging farmland and extorting locals." Zhenghe 6 quotas were abolished; viable old veins would continue under former levy arrangements." In the eleventh month, abolished circuit mining commissioners were restored; Jiangnan operations remained jointly managed by Jiangxi commissioner Liu Meng.
46
宣和元年，石泉軍江溪沙磧麩金，許民隨金脈淘采，立課額，或以分數取之。 十月，復置相州安陽縣銅冶村監官。 先是，詔留邢州綦村、磁州固鎮兩冶，餘創置冶並罷，而常平司謂銅冶村近在河北，得利多，故有是命。 六年，詔：「坑冶之利，二廣為最，比歲所入，稽之熙、豐，十不逮一。 令漕臣鄭良提舉經畫，分任官屬典掌計置，取元豐以來歲入多數立額，定為常賦，坑冶司毋預焉。」 時江、淮、荊、浙等九路，坑冶凡二百四十五，鑄錢院監十八，歲額三百餘萬緡。 五月，詔：「坑冶舊隸轉運司者，如熙、豐、紹聖法； 崇寧以後隸常平司者，如崇寧法； 其江、淮等路坑冶官屬，如熙、豐員數，餘路官屬並罷，仍令中書選提點官。」
In 1119, placer gold at Shiquan Military Prefecture's Jiang Stream sandbars was opened to licensed panning along gold veins, with levies set as fixed quotas or fractional shares. In the tenth month, the supervisor at Xiang Prefecture's Anyang County Tongye Village copper works was reinstated. An earlier edict had kept only Xing Prefecture's Qicun and Ci Prefecture's Guzhen smelteries, closing all others — but the Ever-Normal Granaries noted Tongye Village's proximity to Hebei and strong profits, prompting reinstatement. In the sixth month, an edict lamented: "Mining profits were richest in the Two Guangs, yet recent revenue barely matched one-tenth of Xining–Yuanfeng levels. Transport commissioner Zheng Liang was charged with restructuring operations, setting permanent quotas based on peak Yuanfeng-era yields — without mining bureau involvement." At the time, nine circuits including Jiang, Huai, Jing, and Zhe operated 245 mines, 18 coin-casting offices, and annual quotas exceeding three million strings. In the fifth month, an edict restored Xining–Yuanfeng–Shaosheng rules for mines formerly under transport commissions; Chongning rules for mines placed under Ever-Normal Granaries after that era; Jianghuai circuit staffing would match Xining–Yuanfeng levels; other circuits' mining posts were abolished; the Secretariat would appoint circuit intendants."
47
南渡，坑冶廢興不常，歲入多寡不同。 今以紹興三十二年金、銀、銅、鐵、鉛、錫之冶廢興之數一千一百七十，及乾道二年鑄錢司比較所入之數附之：
After the Southern Crossing, mines rose and fell unpredictably, and annual revenue fluctuated widely. Below are appended 1,170 records of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin smelteries' status in 1162, plus comparative revenue figures from the Coin-Casting Office in 1166:
48
湖南、廣東、江東西金冶二百六十七，廢者一百四十二； 湖南、廣東、福建、浙東、廣西、江東西銀冶一百七十四，廢者八十四； 潼川、湖南、利州、廣東、浙東、廣西、江東西、福建銅冶一百九，廢者四十五。 舊額歲七百五萬七千二百六十斤有奇，乾道歲入二十六萬三千一百六十斤有奇。
Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangdong-West gold works: 267 total, 142 closed; Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhedong, Guangxi, and Jiangdong-West silver works: 174 total, 84 closed; Tongchuan, Hunan, Lizhou, Guangdong, Zhedong, Guangxi, Jiangdong-West, and Fujian copper works: 109 total, 45 closed. Former quota: 7,507,260 catties annually; Qiandao intake: 263,160 catties.
49
淮西、夔州、成都、利州、廣東、福建、浙東、廣西、江東西鐵冶六百三十八，廢者二百五十一，舊額歲二百一十六萬二千一百四十斤有奇，乾道歲入八十八萬三百斤有奇。
Huai West, Kuizhou, Chengdu, Lizhou, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhedong, Guangxi, and Jiangdong-West iron works: 638 total, 251 closed; former quota 2,162,140 catties, Qiandao intake 880,300 catties.
50
淮西、湖南、廣東、福建、浙東、江西鉛冶五十二，廢者一十五，舊額歲三百二十一萬三千六百二十斤有奇，乾道歲入一十九萬一千二百四十斤有奇。
Huai West, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhedong, and Jiangxi lead works: 52 total, 15 closed; former quota 3,213,620 catties, Qiandao intake 191,240 catties.
51
湖南、廣東、江西錫冶一百一十八，廢者四十四，舊額歲七十六萬一千二百斤有奇，乾道歲入二萬四百五十斤有奇。
Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi tin works: 118 total, 44 closed; former quota 761,200 catties, Qiandao intake 20,450 catties.
52
慶元二年，宰執言：「封樁銀數比淳熙末年虧額幾百五十萬。 今務場所入歲不滿三十萬，而歲奉三宮及冊寶費約四十萬，恐愈侵銀額。 欲權以三分為率，一分支銀，二分支會子。」 上曰：「善。」
In 1196, chief counselors reported: "Sealed silver reserves have fallen nearly 1.5 million short of late Chunxi levels. Exchange bureau revenue now falls below 300,000 annually, while ceremonies for the Three Palaces and imperial regalia cost some 400,000 — threatening further erosion of silver reserves. They proposed a provisional rule of thirds: one third paid in silver, two thirds in paper notes (huizi)." The emperor replied: "Very well."
53
端平三年，赦曰：「諸路州縣坑冶興廢，在觀寺、祠廟、公宇、居民墳地及近墳園林地者，在法不許人告，亦不得受理。 訪聞官司利於告發，更不究實，多致擾害。 自今許人戶越訴，官吏並訟者重置典憲。 及有坑冶停閉、苗脈不發之所，州縣勒令坑戶虛認歲額，提點鑄錢司核實追正。」
In 1235 an amnesty decreed: "Where mines and smelteries were opened or closed on monastery, temple, shrine, or government grounds, on residential burial plots, or on grave groves and woodlands nearby, the law forbade private denunciations — and officials were forbidden to accept such cases. Officials were said to encourage denunciations for profit without verifying facts, causing widespread abuse. Households were henceforth allowed to appeal directly to higher authority; officials and plaintiffs alike would face severe statutory penalties. Where closed mines or exhausted veins led prefectures to force operators to report false quotas, the Commissioner for Minting was ordered to verify the figures and set them right."
54
礬唐於晉州置平陽院以收其利。 開成三年，度支奏罷之，乃以礬山歸之州縣。 五代以來，復創務置官吏，宋因之。
Alum — under Tang, Jin Prefecture established the Pingyang Office to capture alum revenues. In 838 the Revenue Department petitioned to abolish the office, and alum hills reverted to local prefectural control. From the Five Dynasties onward the monopoly was revived with appointed officials; the Song kept the arrangement.
55
白礬出晉、慈、坊州、無為軍及汾州之靈石縣，綠礬出慈、隰州及池州之銅陵縣，皆設官典領，有鑊戶鬻造入官市。 晉、汾、慈州礬，以一百四十斤為一馱，給錢六十。 隰州礬馱減三十斤，給錢八百。 博賣白礬價：晉州每馱二十一貫五百，慈州又增一貫五百； 綠礬：汾州每馱二十四貫五百，慈州又增五百，隰州每馱四貫六百。 散賣白礬：坊州斤八十錢，汾州百九十二錢，無為軍六十錢； 綠礬，斤七十錢。
White alum came from Jin, Ci, and Fang prefectures, Wuwei Army, and Lingshi County in Fenzhou; green alum from Ci and Xi prefectures and Tongling in Chizhou. Each region had supervising officials; licensed cauldron households brewed alum for the state market. For alum from Jin, Fen, and Ci, one load equaled 140 jin and paid 60 strings of cash. In Xi Prefecture the load was 110 jin, with a payment of 800 strings. Bulk-sale prices for white alum: Jin Prefecture charged 21,500 cash per load; Ci Prefecture added another 1,500; Green alum: Fenzhou 24,500 cash per load; Cizhou added 500; Xizhou 4,600 per load. Retail white alum sold for 80 cash per jin in Fangzhou, 192 in Fenzhou, and 60 in Wuwei Army; Green alum sold for 70 cash per jin.
56
先是，建隆二年，命左諫議大夫劉熙古詣晉州製置礬，許商人輸金銀、布帛、絲綿、茶及緡錢，官償以礬，凡歲增課八十萬貫。 太平興國初，歲博緡錢、金銀計一十二萬餘貫，茶計三萬餘貫。 端拱初，銀、絹帛二萬餘貫，茶計十四萬貫。」 至是，言者謂：「礬直酬以見錢，商人以陳茶入博，有利豪商，無資國用。」 詔今後惟聽金銀、見錢入博。
Earlier, in 961, Left Remonstrance Grandee Liu Xigu was sent to Jin Prefecture to reorganize the alum monopoly. Merchants could deliver gold, silver, cloth, silk, cotton, tea, or cash and receive alum in return; annual revenue rose by 800,000 strings. Early in the Taiping Xingguo era, annual barter brought in more than 120,000 strings in cash, gold, and silver, and more than 30,000 strings' worth of tea. Early in the Duan Gong era, silver and silk amounted to more than 20,000 strings, and tea to 140,000. By then critics argued: "Alum ought to be paid for in ready cash, but merchants were bartering with stale tea — enriching powerful traders while doing nothing for the treasury. An edict limited future barter to gold, silver, and ready cash alone.
57
至道中，白礬歲課九十七萬六千斤，綠礬四十萬五千餘斤，鬻錢一十七萬餘貫。 真宗末，白礬增二十萬一千餘斤，綠礬增二萬三千餘斤，鬻錢增六萬九千餘貫。 天聖以來，晉、慈二州礬募民鬻之，季鬻礬一盆，多者千五、六百斤，少者六、七百斤，四分輸一入官，餘則官市之。 無為軍亦置務鬻礬，後聽民自鬻，官置場售之，私售礬禁如私售茶法。 六年，詔弛兩蜀榷礬之禁。
During the Zhidao era, white alum yielded 976,000 jin a year, green alum more than 405,000 jin, and sales revenue exceeded 170,000 strings. By the end of Zhenzong's reign, white alum had risen by more than 201,000 jin, green alum by more than 23,000 jin, and sales revenue by more than 69,000 strings. From the Tiansheng era onward, Jin and Ci recruited households to sell alum quarterly. Each batch filled one basin — as much as 1,500–1,600 jin or as little as 600–700. One quarter went to the state; the rest was bought at the official market. Wuwei Army likewise established an alum monopoly office; later households were allowed to brew alum themselves while the state ran sales depots. Private alum sales were banned under the same penalties as illicit tea. In 1028 an edict lifted the alum monopoly in both Shu circuits.
58
時河東礬積益多，復聽入金帛、芻粟。 芻粟虛估高，商人利於入中。 麟州粟鬥實直錢百，虛估增至三百六十，礬之出官為錢二萬一千五百，才易粟六石，計粟實直錢才六千，而礬一馱已費本錢六十。 縣官徒有榷礬之名，其實無利。 嘉祐六年，罷入芻粟，復令入緡錢。 礬以百四斤為一馱，入錢京師榷貨務者，為錢十萬七千； 入錢麟、府州者，又減三千。 自是商賈不得專其利矣。 皇祐中，晉、慈入礬二百二十七萬三千八百斤，以易芻粟之類，為緡錢十三萬六千六百； 無為軍礬售緡錢三萬三千一百。 治平中，晉、慈礬損一百九萬六千五百四斤； 無為軍礬售錢歲有常課，發運使領之，視皇祐數無增損； 隰州礬至是入三十九萬六千斤，亦以易緡錢助河東歲糴。
As Hedong alum stockpiles mounted, the state again accepted gold, silk, and fodder grain in payment. Fodder and grain were assessed at inflated values, so merchants profited from delivering goods in kind. At Lin Prefecture grain worth 100 cash per dou was assessed at 360. Alum leaving official stores was priced at 21,500 cash yet bought only six shi of grain — worth a mere 6,000 cash at market rates — while each load had already cost the state 60 strings in capital. The state held the monopoly in name only; in practice it made no profit. In 1061 payment in fodder and grain was abolished and cash payment restored. Alum was reckoned at 104 jin per load; payment at the Capital Monopoly Bureau was 107,000 cash; payment at Lin and Fu prefectures was reduced by another 3,000. Merchants could no longer capture the profit for themselves. During Huangyou, Jin and Ci delivered 2,273,800 jin of alum, exchanged for fodder and grain worth 136,600 strings; Wuwei Army alum sales brought in 33,100 strings. During Zhiping, Jin and Ci alum deliveries fell by 1,096,504 jin; Wuwei Army maintained a fixed annual alum quota under the transport commissioner, unchanged from Huangyou levels; Xi Prefecture now delivered 396,000 jin, likewise exchanged for cash to subsidize Hedong's annual grain purchases.
59
熙寧元年，命河東轉運司經畫礬、鹽遺利。 李師中言：「官積礬三百斤，走鹵消耗，恐後為棄物。」 詔令商人入中糧草，即以償之。 三年，罷潞州交子務，以妨中納糧草、算請礬鹽故也。 知慶州王廣淵言：「河東，礬為利源之最，請河東、京東、河北、陝西別立礬法，專置提舉官。」 詔遣光祿丞楊蟠會議以聞。 蟠言：「坊州產礬，官雖置場，而商多私售。 請置鑊戶，定其數，許於陝西北界黃河，東限潼關，南及京西、均、房、襄、鄧、金州、光化軍，令鑊戶遞相保察。 或私賣越界，禁如私白礬法，仍增官獲私礬輒以夾雜減斤重之法。」 從之。
In 1068 the Hedong transport commission was ordered to recover untapped alum and salt revenues. Li Shizhong warned: "Three hundred jin of alum in government stores was efflorescing and losing salt; it risked becoming worthless scrap. An edict allowed merchants who delivered grain and fodder to be paid in alum. In 1070 the Luzhou jiaozi office was abolished because it interfered with grain deliveries and competitive bidding for alum and salt. Qing Prefecture prefect Wang Guangyuan argued: "In Hedong, alum is the richest revenue source. He asked that Hedong, Jingdong, Hebei, and Shaanxi each receive a separate alum code with dedicated intendant officials. The court sent Palace Provisioner Yang Pan to consult on the proposal and report back. Yang Pan reported: "Fangzhou produces alum, and though the state ran official markets, merchants sold mostly on the black market. He proposed licensing cauldron households within fixed quotas, bounded on the north by the Yellow River in Shaanxi, on the east by Tong Pass, and on the south by Jingxi, Jun, Fang, Xiang, Deng, Jin Prefecture, and Guanghua Army — with households bound to mutual surveillance. Cross-border private sales would be punished like illicit white alum; officials seizing contraband could further reduce weight for adulteration, as under existing white-alum law. The court approved.
60
自熙寧初，礬法始變。 歲課所入，元年為錢三萬六千四百緡有奇，並增者五年，乃取熙寧六年中數，定以十八萬三千一百緡有奇為新額； 至元豐六年，課增至三十三萬七千九百緡，而無為軍礬歲課一百五十萬斤，用本錢萬八千緡； 自治平至元豐數無增損。
From the opening of the Xining reforms, alum policy began to change. First-year revenue was 36,400-odd strings; after five years of growth the median for 1073 was taken and a new quota of 183,100-odd strings was set; By 1083 revenue reached 337,900 strings; Wuwei Army's annual quota was 1.5 million jin, requiring capital of 18,000 strings; From Zhiping through Yuanfeng those figures held steady.
61
初，熙、豐間，東南九路官自賣礬，發運司總之。 元祐初通商，紹聖復熙、豐之制。 大觀元年，定河北、河東礬額各二十四萬緡，淮南九萬緡，罷官賣，從商販，而河東、河北、淮南各置提舉官。 政和初，復官鬻，罷商販如舊制。 淮南礬事司罷歸發運司，上供礬錢責以三萬三千一百緡為額。 三年，有司奏減河北、河東並淮南礬額，計十六萬緡。 四年，礬額復循大觀之制。 五年，河北、河東綠礬聽客販於東南九路，民間見用者，依通商地籍之，聽買新引帶賣，大率循仿鹽法。 宣和中，舉比較增虧賞罰，未幾，以擾民罷。
Initially, under the Xi and Feng reforms, the southeast's nine circuits sold alum directly under transport commission oversight. Yuanyou briefly opened alum to private trade; Shaosheng restored the Xi-Feng system. In 1107 quotas were set at 240,000 strings each for Hebei and Hedong and 90,000 for Huainan; official sales ended and merchant trade was allowed, with new intendants in Hedong, Hebei, and Huainan. Early in Zhenghe official sales resumed and private trade was abolished, restoring the earlier monopoly. Huainan's alum affairs office was dissolved and its work returned to the transport commission, with a tribute quota of 33,100 strings. In 1113 officials petitioned to cut Hebei, Hedong, and Huainan quotas by a combined 160,000 strings. In 1114 quotas were restored to Daguan levels. In 1115 green alum from Hebei and Hedong could be sold by licensed merchants in the southeast's nine circuits. Household stocks were registered as under open-trade rules; new permits allowed resale — broadly mirroring salt policy. Under Xuanhe, surplus-and-deficit comparisons tied to rewards and penalties were introduced but soon abolished for harassing the populace.
62
建炎三年，措置財用黃潛厚奏許商人販淮南礬入東南諸路，聽輸錢行在，而持引據赴場支礬。
In 1129 finance commissioner Huang Qianhou petitioned to let merchants sell Huainan alum in the southeast circuits, pay at the court in exile, and collect alum at depots with official permits.
63
紹興十一年，以鑄錢司韓球言，撫州青膽礬斤錢一百二十文，土礬斤三十文省，鉛山場所產品高於撫，青膽礬斤作一百五十文，黃礬斤作八十文。 二十九年，以淮西提舉司言，取紹興二十四年至二十八年所收礬錢一年中數四萬一千五百八十五緡為定額。 其他產礬之所，若潭州瀏陽之永興場、韶州之岑水場，皆置場給引，歲有常輸。 惟漳州之東，去海甚邇，大山深阻，雖有采礬之利，而潮、梅、汀、贛四州之奸民聚焉，其魁傑者號大洞主、小洞主，土著與負販者，皆盜賊也。
In 1141, following Han Qiu of the minting office, prices were set at 120 cash per jin for Qingdan alum in Fuzhou and 30 for native alum; Qianshan's superior product commanded 150 cash for Qingdan alum and 80 for yellow alum. In 1159 the Huai West intendant's office fixed the quota at 41,585 strings, the median annual alum revenue from 1154–1158. Other alum districts — Yongxing Depot in Liuyang, Tanzhou, and Censhui Depot in Shaozhou — likewise ran licensed depots with fixed annual deliveries. East of Zhangzhou alone, close to the coast in steep mountain country, alum could be mined — but outlaws from Chao, Mei, Ting, and Gan prefectures congregated there. Their chiefs styled themselves Great and Lesser Cave Lords; locals and itinerant traders alike were bandits.
64
香宋之經費，茶、鹽、礬之外，惟香之為利博，故以官為市焉。 建炎四年，泉州抽買乳香一十三等，八萬六千七百八十斤有奇。 詔取赴榷貨務打套給賣，陸路以三千斤、水路以一萬斤為一綱。
Incense — after tea, salt, and alum, incense offered the broadest margins among Song monopolies, and so the state kept it under official control. In 1130 Quanzhou compulsorily purchased 86,780-odd jin of frankincense across thirteen grades. An edict sent the stock to the Monopoly Bureau for bundling and sale — 3,000 jin per overland convoy and 10,000 jin per river convoy.
65
淳熙二年，郴、桂寇起，以科買乳香為言。 詔：「湖南路見有乳香並輸行在榷貨務，免科降。」 十二年，分撥榷貨務乳香於諸路給賣，每及一萬貫，輸送左藏南庫。 十五年，以諸路分賣乳香擾民，令止就榷貨務招客算請。
In 1175 bandits rose in Chen and Gui prefectures, protesting forced frankincense purchases. An edict ordered: "All frankincense held in Hunan Circuit was to be sent to the Monopoly Bureau at the court in exile, exempt from forced requisition. In 1185 Monopoly Bureau frankincense was allocated to circuits for retail sale; every 10,000 strings realized was remitted to the Left Treasury's South Vault. In 1188 circuit distribution was deemed abusive; sales were restricted to competitive bidding at the Monopoly Bureau alone.
66
紹熙三年，以福建舶司乳香虧數，詔依前博買。 開禧三年，住博買。 嘉定十二年，臣僚言以金銀博買，泄之遠夷為可惜，乃命有司止以絹帛、錦錡、瓷漆之屬博易。 聽其來之多寡，若不至則任之，不必以為重也。
In 1192, with Fujian's maritime trade office falling short on frankincense deliveries, the court restored competitive purchasing. In 1207 competitive purchasing was halted. In 1219 officials argued that paying gold and silver for frankincense leaked precious metal to foreign traders; the court limited barter to silk, brocade, porcelain, lacquerware, and similar goods. Imports would be accepted in whatever quantity arrived; shortfalls were to be tolerated — frankincense need no longer be treated as indispensable.