商戰與律例:晚清的重商主義法律改革

重商主義是理解中國近代法律史的重要線索。重商主義是近代政治經濟的常見表現形態；其本質是民族國家與國民經濟的同步締造過程。西方各國經濟自近代以來經歷明顯的重商主義階段。晚清中國以不平等條約形式被迫捲入世界體系；喪失大量利權。為捍衛本國經濟利益；實現富強；以鄭觀應為代表的晚清有識之士提出一整套包含法律改革在內的商戰主張；即中國版的重商主義。在國際法層面；商戰改革體現為以調查各國貿易、保護海外中國商民為宗旨的駐外領事制度的確立與完善；以及在商約談判中要求廢除諸多不公平待遇的嘗試。在國內法層面；商戰改革體現為專門應對近代經濟發展的行政組織法改革、一般性重商法律的制定；以及與現代產業政策類似的、直接干預經濟的諸項立法。提倡重商主義這一近代法新理解模式；並非要排斥原有的“法治—權利”和“政治—國族”模式；三者在近代語境中毋寧是兼容乃至互補關係

Mercantilism is an important clue for understanding the modern legal history of China. Mercantilism, a common manifestation of modern political economy, fundamentally represents the synchronous creation of the nation-state and the national economy. Since the modern era, the economies of Western countries have gone through a distinct phase of mercantilism. In late Qing China, the country was forcibly integrated into the world system through unequal treaties, losing a significant amount of rights and privileges. To defend the national economic interests and achieve prosperity, enlightened individuals of the late Qing era, represented by Zheng Guanying, proposed a set of commercial warfare strategies that included legal reforms, marking the Chinese version of mercantilism. At the international law level, these commercial warfare reforms manifested in the establishment and perfection of a consular system aimed at investigating foreign trade and protecting overseas Chinese merchants, as well as attempts to negotiate the abolition of many unfair treatments in trade agreements. Domestically, the reforms were reflected in administrative organizational law reforms tailored to modern economic development, the enactment of general mercantile laws, and various legislations directly intervening in the economy, akin to modern industrial policies. Advocating for mercantilism as a new understanding of modern law does not aim to exclude the existing“rule of law—rights”and“politics—nationality”models; rather, in the modern context, the three are more compatible and even complementary.