Why did Guangdong salt flow into Hunan not far from Wan Li in Qing Dynasty?

In ancient times, salt was an important economic source of a dynasty, and all previous dynasties' salt could bring wealth to the country, whether in the earlier Tang and Song Dynasties or in the modern Ming and Qing Dynasties. Because official salt is highly monopolized by the government, the price is high and the quality is poor, so private salt appears among the people.

It not only threatened the rule of the dynasty, but also reduced the government's fiscal revenue. Therefore, every dynasty cracked down on illicit salt very severely. Hunan, which belongs to the Huai salt area in the Qing Dynasty, used Huai salt, but almost all the salt smuggled in Guangdong was in circulation. Guangdong salt. So what caused this situation?

I. Salt Law in Qing Dynasty

In ancient China society, salt has always been a state monopoly commodity. The feudal dynasty's regulations on salt management were called salt law. In fact, the feudal dynasty formulated relevant systems and decrees through dictatorship, and sent officials to control the production and circulation of salt. The salt law in Qing dynasty is the inheritance and development of the previous dynasty.

In terms of salt management, the Qing dynasty implemented the system of selling salt by region, and the regions generally followed the division of the Ming dynasty, and the salt produced in different regions was designated to be sold to specific regions. The whole country is divided into Zhejiang, Huaibei, Shandong, Fujian, Guangdong, Hedong, Shaanxi, Yunnan and Sichuan. There are strict regulations on the division of such areas, and once salt is sold across the border, it belongs to private salt.

In the transportation and marketing of salt, the Qing dynasty implemented the steel salt law, and the sales of salt were handled by businessmen, mainly including official transportation, official transportation and official supervision. A businessman who undertakes salt transportation is called a businessman and holds a license issued by the government? The introduction of salt, in this case, if the transported salt is not imported or has more salt than the prescribed limit, it will also be treated as smuggled salt.

Pickler

Regarding the establishment of salt officials, since the Kangxi dynasty, the Qing government has set up many institutions and officials to strengthen the control of salt. The Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge of national salt. In areas where salt is abundant, there is a salt transport department and a salt transport ambassador. In addition, there are supervisors in Huaibei area and Hedong area of Shandong Province. There are many additional institutions below.

2. Reasons for the prevalence of illicit salt in Guangdong

1. Natural geographical conditions

Under the special marketing and administrative division in Qing Dynasty, although Hunan belongs to the salt area of Guangdong, it is located at the junction of Guangdong, Huaihe and Guangxi, so disputes often occur because of the ownership of salt areas.

Then why do you sell Huai salt, but all the salt in circulation in the market is Guangdong salt?

salt

This is closely related to the geographical location of Guangdong. Guangdong province has a dense river network, and the navigation of rivers in the province is very convenient, forming a transportation river network extending in all directions. Three of the four waterways can reach Hunan; At the same time, due to the scattered salt fields along the river and the convenience of waterways, it is very beneficial for private salt to reach Hunan, and it should be transported backwards to Hunan in Huai salt producing areas.

Waterways not only extend in all directions, but also are dotted. At the junction of Guangdong and Hunan, where illegal salt is prevalent in Guangdong, the mountains in these areas are rampant and the terrain is mostly mountainous. The records of Guangdong and Guangxi salt once recorded:? Most of them are transported to Tanhe River in Guangxi, and the mountain roads in Hunan are rugged. .

Because of this, Hunan is actually far away from Huaiyan area, and it takes several months to go upstream from Huaiyan production area, while Guangdong salt goes upstream. Merchants' transportation costs are high, and Guangdong salt is geographically close to Hunan, and the road is short. Guangdong salt is cheaper, so more Guangdong salt circulates in Hunan market.

2. Institutional corruption

Is there such a sentence in Qing Shi Lu? Due to the system of Ming Dynasty, the profit and loss rate of salt law in Qing Dynasty was very high. ? The meaning of this sentence is that the salt law of the Qing Dynasty basically followed the system of the Ming Dynasty, but there were many cases of corruption.

Because of the strict division of salt areas, at the same time, businessmen can only buy salt in designated areas and sell salt in designated areas. This will harm the interests of the people, because the people are too far from the market, and there will be contradictions between the people and the provisions of the salt law. This provides a prerequisite for the emergence of illicit salt.

At the same time, under the steel salt system, there is another system called specialized merchant transportation and marketing. In this case, the transportation of salt has a prescribed route. Take Hunan as an example, saltworks will be sold to shippers, then transported to Changsha, and then distributed to salt shops in various regions of Hunan. At the same time, the Qing authorities also set up various checkpoints on various roads. In this case, the Qing court and businessmen monopolized the interests by virtue of their rights and harmed the people. In this case, ordinary people can't afford high-priced official salt, so they buy cheap private salt.

The Qing government set up a huge organization to control salt, but officials asked traders to pay extra taxes, which led to an increase in the price of official salt and provided a hotbed for Guangdong salt to flood in Hunan. At the same time, with the establishment of official positions, the efficiency is too low, which also creates a breeding ground for private salt.

It can be seen that the corruption of the salt law of the Qing court authorities contributed to the prevalence of smuggling Guangdong salt in Hunan. This corrupt bureaucracy is inefficient, which is a hotbed of crime, the root cause of the proliferation of illicit salt, and the reason why Guangdong salt is more common than Huai salt.

3. The influence of Guangdong salt on Hunan

1. Affect society

Smuggle salt

Because smuggling Guangdong salt is a huge profit among the people, many people will be jealous and join the ranks of smuggling Guangdong salt. People have been smuggling for a long time, which is considered normal. Seriously affected the local social order. Is it recorded in the Draft of Qing History? Did you visit Ding privately in November of the first year of Qianlong? Touch a gang of private owls, carry poles and other equipment, and injure patrol Ding Wei? It can be seen that the prevalence of illicit salt is also harmful to social security.

2. Facilitate people's livelihood

However, the activities of smuggling salt are also beneficial to the people. Because the price of salt was set by the Qing court, Huai salt was expensive and poor in quality, and salt shortage was prone to occur in remote areas of Hunan. Salt is an indispensable necessity in people's life. The activities of Guangdong Salt have solved the troubles of ordinary people. In this case, people have formed a strong demand for Guangdong salt, and the existence of Guangdong salt is a rare practical product for ordinary people.

Sell salt

Four. abstract

Salt has always played an important role in Chinese history. However, in the Qing Dynasty, the official salt Huai salt could not be sold in the markets of Hunan and other places, and Guangdong salt from Guangdong was rampant in the salt market. The biggest reason is the superior geographical location and low transportation cost of Guangdong Salt. At the same time, the corruption of salt law in Qing dynasty is also a major reason.

Guangdong salt's rampage in Hunan is actually a microcosm of salt industry in Qing Dynasty. Under the double exploitation of salt law and unscrupulous businessmen, private salt entered the historical stage. Private salt activities not only greatly impacted the salt law used by feudal dynasties for thousands of years, but also had an impact on the economy of the whole Qing Dynasty.

refer to

1. Draft of the Qing Dynasty

2. "Qing Shi Lu"

3. Records of salt industry in Guangdong and Guangxi