唐代官本的經營方式與欠利問題

唐朝官本的經營方式主要有迴易興生與出舉取利兩種，前者在唐初用得較普遍，後者自高宗起已有後來居上之勢，但二者常是並行不悖的。各式官本設置的捉錢人數，或每位捉錢人的所捉本數，因時因情況而異。貞觀年間京司總本數不多，每人所捉本數又高，因此可能不會有太大的捉錢隊伍，然而自高宗以後，官本錢制推廣於全國各州縣，捉錢本數趨於細分化，估計唐前期全國可能就有高達百萬的捉錢人，這使得官本放貸很難再以高戶、典吏為主，勢必影響及於城郊或鄉村居民，而大量貧戶的被納入，也使官本耗損或欠負的問題嚴重起來。唐後期除了壓低每人的捉錢本數，凡捉錢人多的各官司，還置捉錢官，以管理為數龐大的捉錢人。唐代的官方利率呈波動式緩降的形勢，但整體的利率水準還是比宋代以後高很多。唐政府用放貸法籌措財源，固然產生許多弊病，卻因為不必年年編列預算，可節省稅收，所以政府總是勉力維持之。為了保証財政收入，政府對欠利的減免規定得非常嚴苛，故利率不是決定捉錢者欠利多寡的唯一要素，官府的態度才更具關鍵性。

關鍵字

唐；放貸；官本錢；利率；財政；捉錢

並列摘要

During the Tang Dynasty, there were two main types of official loan: business transaction and loan. The former was used extensively during the early period of the Tang Dynasty, while the latter became the main stream since the time of Emperor Gao-Zong, but the 2 systems always operated separately without interference. In different types of official loan, the number of personnel in charge of interest-catching and the amount of capital money responsible for each personnel varied with time and different situations. During the Zhen-Guan period, the amount of capital money responsible by each personnel was very high, therefore, the amount of responsible personnel was not so big, but after the detailed classification of capital money catching, it was estimated that during the early Tang Dynasty, the number of personnel responsible for interest-catching could be as high as one million, this made the official loan not only available to the rich families and clerks but also extended to the people living in the countryside or township and village. The inclusion of poor families in the official loan system made the problems of bad loan more serious. During late Tang Dynasty, the amount of capital money catching for each personnel was reduced, and money-catching clerk was established if a government organization had many personnel responsible for interest-catching. The interest rate of the official loan of Tang Dynasty fluctuated with downward decreasing tendency, but generally speaking, the overall interest rate was much higher than those of Sung Dynasty and thereafter. The Tang government used official loan to collect revenue, which resulted in many shortcomings; however, the government didn't have to prepare annual budget, so as to save revenue; therefore the government still maintained the system. In order to insure financial income, the government established vigorous regulations regarding to the elimination or reduction of the delayed payment of interest by the people, therefore, interest rate was not the only critical factor regarding to interest-catching, and the attitude of the government was the critical factor.