| Yangzhou Prefecture, as the location of Lianghuai Salt Fields and a salt transportation hub, had special salt policies in place. It developed a pattern where counties with salt fields implemented the "Chouyan" system, i. e. Centralized Salt Management System, Yizheng county handled the sales of mud salt and merit salt, while other counties managed Shiyin sales. Shiyin was salt distribution certificate for near-field sales. Although officially sold Shiyin was priced lower, it still faced poor sales. In response, besides strengthening control and crackdown on illegal salt, by adjusting salt certificate quotas and implementing measures like quota adjustments, flexible and mandatory sales approaches, the Qing government successfully resolved the accumulation of salt certificates, thus securing the collection of national salt revenue. The main reason for slow Shiyin sales was that low-priced illegal salt had long dominated the market share. The prevalence of illegal salt in Yangzhou Prefecture was mainly attributed to loopholes in salt industry policies, deteriorating local livelihood, illegal transport by grain ships, and complex geographical conditions that made salt smuggling prevention difficult. |