The Operation Of The Lianghuai Salt Administration In The Qing Dynasty And The Reform Of The Salt And Salt Of The Tao

Huainan-Huaibei salt system in the Qing Dynasty was based on the salt method in in Ming Dynasty.,setting different link to monitor different salt operations,including Huofu laws to stop salt-makers from smuggling the illegal salt in the salt fields,granting certificates like Zhudan,Zhaopiao,Xianpiao and Yanyin as the vouchers for customs clearance,checking the number of the salt and the Yanyin of the nerchants on the salt transport routes to stop salt smuggling and control the the sales of salt.Besides,Qing government checked the state county officials and taotais by the sales of official salt,checked Huainan-Huaibei Salt Transportation Department and Salt Commissioner by the number of salt tax,and granting Huainan-Huaibei Salt Commissioner to supervise the subordinate salt officers.In such a series of measures,the salt fields,salt merchants and Qing government officials had received strict supervision,in order to ensure the official salt marketing.However,there were still many problems in the salt system in the actual operation,such as the salt fields inspection was useless,inspection authorities accepted bribes,general merchants taxed the common merchants under the system of general merchants and the salt authority taxed the merchants arbitrarily in Huainan-Huaibei salt citation case,This series of maladministration consequences is the proliferation of private salt and increasing of the cost of official salt.In this case,the merchants had to bootleg private salt to make up the loss from official salt cost which made the illegal salt more rampant.In addition,the salt officers diverted the money of the salt administration treasury,taxed merchants advanced and deal with audit through various means,which made accumulated vouchers after Jiaqing and Daoguang periods and created a deficit of forty million liang silver.The Daoguang emperor used all sorts of means but useless.The reason is not only because of official corruption.The establishment of salt administration system in the Qing Dynasty at the beginning is according to the census salt area,the number and size of Yanyin and the scale of salt tax,which call“distributing of salt according to the population”.As long as the official salt sold out,private salt should be eliminated.On this basis,the salt merchants sold salt to the public to make profit and then government taxed the merchants.So the status of sales of the official salt was linked to the salt tax and the status of private salt.However,the“distributing of salt according to the population” had not been seriously implemented.The data of salt sales system in Qing Dynasty is based on the data of Ming Dynasty,and increasing or decreasing of official salt according to commissioner's opinion.This situation caused that three times the official salt in one year can be sold in the salt area in Daoguang years.The official salt marketing situation can not reflect the status of private salt.The private salt make up for the shortage of official salt,meet the salt necessary of people.Therefore,the official salt was facing the competition of private salt chronically.In this situation,the unfavorable economic environment that the silver price soared in the Daoguang period made the situation of the official salt more difficult.In the 10 th years of Daoguang,Taoshu held the post of Huainan-Huaibei Salt Commissioner.To the Huainan provice occupying the most share of Huainan-Huaibei salt area,under the premise of retaining the original salt laws,Taoshu cut the official salt to sell unsold vouchers by cancelling salt administration,reducing salt transport program,cut down the price of the vouchers and strictly controlling the treasury cashier.Finally,slat of six years was sold in seven years.To the Huaibei salt area which was nearly paralyzed,Taoshu carried out the reform of the ticket salt law by abolishing the general business and salt voucher,recruiting businessmen from the whole society,liberalizing the limit of salt ports,permitting the additional transportation of the official salt,cancel the magistrate's duty of finishing the sales of official salt and the reform was a great succeed finally.The concept changes of Taoshu ticket salt law reform is giving up the control of salt distribution and commercial capital of salt,abandoning monopoly of special merchant and taking the folk transportation and marketing ability which reflected by the private salt problem into the official salt transportation.Taoshu in his office finally eliminated the private salt and met the tax necessary of the Qing government.