陋規與清嘉道之際的地方財政──以嘉慶二十五年清查陋規事件為線索

Lougui and Local Government Finance in the Early Nineteenth Century: Seen in the Lougui Investigation of 1820

本文以嘉慶二十五年（1820）清查陋規一事為線索，觀察十八世紀中期以降地方財政體制的演變，展現十九世紀初期地方財政的一般狀況。嘉慶二十五年九月十一日，道光帝諭令各省督撫清查所屬府廳州縣相沿陋規，分別應存應革，明定章程，作為地方官員公費之用。該事件反映出：至遲在嘉道之際，雍正年間建立的以養廉銀制度為核心的地方財政體制已經名存實亡，地方各級的行政經費基本來源於陋規、攤捐代表的外銷∕額外財政體系。政府間的財政管理也因此呈現明顯的「分權」色彩，不僅戶部無法「控制」外省的陋規、攤捐，地方各級政府也不瞭解下級收入的「詳細曲折」，各級政府間的財政關係類似於一種「包徵包解」的承包機制。清查陋規旨在從財政結構上革除陋規，也是財政管理的集權嘗試。清查之議的夭折，固是多方面因素綜合作用的結果，但筆者認為，陋規等額外財政的普遍存在，以及「包徵包解」的財政管理模式的長期存續，才是清代財政的常態與基調，嘉慶二十五年清查陋規事件正為此提供了合理的注腳。

In 1820, the Daoguang Emperor issued an edict that the governors-general and governors investigate the lougui practice in each province in order to legitimize the necessary ones openly in the government regulations. It indicated that at the turn of the Jiaqing and Daoguang periods, the local fiscal system that had been established in the Yongzheng era was already defunct. Consequently, the administrative expenses of local governments at all levels were provided by the nonstatutory system of funding, which consisted of lougui (customary surpluses and fees) and tanjuan (assigned contributions). Under these conditions neither the Board of Revenue nor the provincial governments were able to exercise effective supervision over the funding of local governments. In other words, it was the baozheng baojie (fiscal contracting system) that played the most important role in coordinating intergovernmental fiscal relations. The lougui investigation was aimed at eliminating lougui practice and increasing fiscal control of the central and provincial governments. It failed, and this failure highlights the long-standing existence of the nonstatutory fiscal system and the fiscal contracting system as the hallmark of Qing government finance.