清代两淮私盐考辩——基于对淮盐重要行销口岸江西的量化分析

清代两淮私盐异常活跃,尤其是清中叶,为了获取更大的市场份额,私盐与官盐之间展开了激烈的争夺,私盐的市场份额甚至一度超过官盐。有学者认为,在清代,两淮盐区老百姓的食盐消费量基本上有一半来自私盐,即所谓的＂官私之半＂说。但对私盐经过合理的量化后便可发现,在不分时间与空间差异的情况下,笼统地将两淮私盐比重定性为＂官私之半＂其实是不确切的,这种现象可能只是在某一年、某几年,或是某些特定区域内出现过,而并非有清一代和两淮各个行盐口岸的常态。

Salt Smuggling in the Area of Huai in the Qing Dynasty

In the Qing Dynasty, especially in the middle of it, salt smuggling was very active in the ar- ea of Huai. Fierce fight over bigger market shares took place between official salt and smuggled salt. Some scholars think that almost half the consumption of the residents in the area of Huai came from salt smuggling in the Qing Dynasty. However, a proper calculation shows that this conclusion is inex- act considering different phases of the Qing Dynasty and different regions as well.