In ancient times, salt has always been something that the country attached great importance to, so the country rarely liberalized the salt industry. The court not only prohibited private production and mining of salt, but also prohibited private sales. It could only be unified by the government. It is sold, and all the money obtained must be paid into the national treasury.

The main reason why the rulers of the past dynasties paid special attention to the sale of salt and strictly controlled the salt is that in addition to the fact that salt is a necessary item in people's lives, the other reason is that salt can Bringing a lot of taxes to the court. In ancient times, one-third of the money in the imperial treasury came from the mining and sales of salt.

If officials mine and sell salt privately, the country's finances will be unstable. As a result, the court will not have too much money to pay military salaries and other expenses, so the court has specially established officials such as salt and iron transfer envoys. .

So in ancient times, the imperial court could have allowed private merchants to operate and sell salt by themselves, and then asked these merchants to pay taxes on salt. Why should it prohibit private mining and sales of salt. We can first analyze the origin of salt being controlled by officials.

1. The origin and development of official salt: an inevitable product of the continuous strengthening of centralization

Official salt originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in order to expand their armaments, the princes and countries needed a large amount of salt every year. Military salaries, and these military salaries are increased by increasing private taxes to increase fiscal revenue.

During the period of Prime Minister Guan Zhong, the State of Qi established an edible salt monopoly in order to increase domestic economic income and enhance economic strength, which meant that the mining and sales of salt were nationalized.

Guan Zhong’s proposal was supported by Duke Huan of Qi. After that, Qi’s national power became unprecedentedly strong. Therefore, official salt was adopted by all dynasties. After the Qi State, many dynasties banned the existence of private salt and strengthened the management of official salt.

Later in the Han Dynasty, emperors gradually liberalized official salt and allowed private merchants to trade through the court. However, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, due to the empty treasury, the number of merchants had grown a lot. Emperor Wu ordered that the management rights of salt and iron be completely vested in the government.

After the Eastern Han Dynasty, official salt was again liberalized. It was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that the management rights of salt were gradually taken back by the government, but the salt tax was exempted at that time. During the Anshi Rebellion, salt was again taken back to the government.

So from the way these dynasties controlled salt, we can see that salt was related to the court's fiscal revenue. When the national treasury was sufficient and ushered in a period of peace and prosperity, the control of official salt would be relaxed. When the treasury was empty and wars continued, Official salt will be strictly managed. In ancient times, official salt made the imperial court rich and became a tool for the feudal ruling class to make money and replenish the national treasury. Therefore, salt was a monopoly commodity firmly grasped by the ruling group.

However, in ancient times, because of the strict hierarchy of salt and iron official positions, and because the silver from the sale of official salt was turned over step by step, many corrupt officials were involved in corruption. According to historical records, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, official salt could be used for annual sales. The imperial court brought tens of millions of taels of financial revenue, but in fact the benefits brought by official salt were not limited to these.

2. Official salt has become an important channel for national finance

In ancient times, salt was monopolized by feudal ruling groups and reached its peak several times. One was in the late Tang Dynasty and the other was in the Tang Dynasty. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and again during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the imperial court had experienced several wars, large and small.

As far as the Qing Dynasty is concerned, there is a set of data that can prove how important salt was to the court’s financial revenue. According to the "Manuscript of Qing History - Salt Law", in the 18th year of Qianlong's reign, the imperial court obtained more than 7 million taels of silver from the official salt monopoly. This money accounted for one-fifth of the Qing Dynasty's fiscal revenue at that time, and this amount The amount of money does not include the silver taels embezzled by successive salt officials. By the time of Guangxu, the fiscal revenue brought by official salt was as much as 24 million taels.

Qianlong visited Jiangnan several times in his life. Every time he went to Jiangnan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would be very worried, because every time he went out, he spent a lot of money, equivalent to one-sixth of the fiscal revenue of the Qing Dynasty, so One time when Qianlong went to Jiangnan again, the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked Jianghuai salt officials and salt merchants to pay. It is conceivable that the Jianghuai Salt Administration alone could pay for Emperor Qianlong's trip to Jiangnan. Therefore, in ancient times, salt control did not allow the existence of private salt, because they were worried that money from the national treasury would flow out and into the hands of ordinary people, thus strengthening the wealthy merchants.

You must know that in ancient times, the feudal ruling group did not allow merchants to be more powerful than the gentry and bureaucratic classes, so all dynasties would suppress merchants in disguise. However, the court also needed these merchants to contribute money to enrich the national treasury. In ancient times, there were several cases where the government's ineffective control of salt led to the outflow of salt taxes and the treasury was empty. After the ruling group knew the importance of salt, they ordered strict investigations on illicit salt sales several times.

3. All dynasties have promulgated laws prohibiting the private sale of salt

In ancient times, in order to prevent the empty treasury from causing the country to fall into turmoil, the feudal ruling class strictly controlled salt and iron, and transferred salt officials. They were also very diligent. During the Qianlong period, there were several salt officials who failed to conduct inspections, resulting in insufficient salt taxes. Qianlong directly punished them on the spot, and even executed some of the three tribes.

The same was true during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. According to historical records, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty suppressed illegal salt sales very severely. According to the calendar during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, if a family smuggled illegal salt, their left toe would be hung. Punishments such as iron tongs were very cruel at the time, and were known as "Titanium Left Toe" in history. However, in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the punishment for illicit salt was even more severe. If a person smuggled illicit salt up to one pound or two, he could They were executed directly on the spot. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang became even more cruel. As long as there were bad things related to salt, anyone involved in smuggling private salt and misappropriating salt taxes would be skinned and cramped or killed by the Nine Tribes.

In the Qing Dynasty, because the Qing government clarified the system of selling salt, it gave the opportunity for the development of private salt. As a result, the fiscal revenue of the Qing government was greatly reduced for a while. The Qing government once again smuggled private salt. It was mentioned on the table and a government was specially established to suppress illegal salt.

4. The impact of smuggling salt on the feudal regime

In ancient times, if the ruling class did not crack down on illegal salt, it would cause illegal salt to be rampant and the national fiscal revenue would not be sufficient. In the treasury, if the national treasury is not full, it will greatly affect the morale of the military when the war requires it. In ancient times, the party that launched a war always had a full treasury. Starting a war requires a large amount of silver to support it. As the saying goes, food and grass come first.

Why during the Sui and Tang Dynasties the ruling class was not very strict in the management of official salt, and even private salt was rampant? The reason was that wars were not very frequent at that time, and the national fiscal revenue alone could support fiscal expenditures such as iron ore, but after the Anshi Rebellion , the country frantically suppressed private salt. After the Anshi Rebellion, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty was severely damaged and it urgently needed a large amount of silver.

In ancient times, official salt was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and under the Ministry of Household Affairs, it was divided into iron, agricultural, and salt. These projects accounted for the bulk of the annual fiscal revenue, and of course they were not allowed. The existence of private salt.

In addition, there is a certain relationship between the ancient ban on private salt sales and the suppression of merchants by the ancient feudal ruling class.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the status of merchants was greatly improved, and the ranks of merchants also continued to grow. To a certain extent, it was also because of the rampant illegal salt sales that they grew. In a sense, it is not only one of the vital points of national fiscal revenue but also one of the tools for national economic operation. In ancient times, the most frequent economic operations were the rice industry and the salt industry. Rice and salt were related to the lives of the people. If the people did not have rice and salt, the country would be in turmoil. Therefore, since ancient times, all emperors have attached great importance to rice. Salt.

If illicit salt is rampant, it will affect the economic operation of the imperial court. In ancient times, the reason why the imperial court did not allow merchants to grow in power was because merchants' business was not allowed to affect official business. During the Qianlong period, a shipwreck of official salt caused a short-term economic decline in the Qing Dynasty. When the official salt accident happened, Qianlong was very angry and punished a large number of salt officials. It can be seen how important salt is to people's lives.

5. Conclusion:

Salt can not only make dishes delicious, but proper intake of salt is conducive to the normal operation of human body functions. It is also an important factor for the country and the country to stabilize the people and stabilize the country. In general, official salt can greatly increase fiscal revenue to a certain extent, so private salt is absolutely prohibited by the court.