古代贩卖私盐的暴利
《明朝那些事儿》（八）
一、根据经济学的理论，垄断必然造成行业的退化和官僚化，古代盐业也不例外，老百姓只要花三分之一的价钱就可以买到比官盐好得多的私盐。
1. According to economic theory, monopoly inevitably leads to industry degradation and bureaucratization. The ancient salt industry was no exception - common people could buy much better private salt at just one-third the price of official salt.
二、为了严格控制这一行业利益，历代封建政府，无论是汉、魏、南北朝、隋唐、五代十国、宋元，也不管他们治国的方法是道家、儒家还是法家，在对这一问题的处理上，他们都无一例外遵照了韩非子的理论。
2. To strictly control the interests of this industry, feudal governments throughout history - whether Han, Wei, Northern and Southern Dynasties, Sui and Tang, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, or Song and Yuan, regardless of whether their ruling methods were Daoist, Confucian, or Legalist - all without exception followed Han Feizi's theory in dealing with this issue.
三、这一理论认为：老百姓明知去河里捞金要处死刑还要去干，是因为存在着侥幸心理，所以要加大处罚力度。
3. This theory held that when common people knowingly risked the death penalty to pan for gold in rivers, it was because they had a sense of luck. Therefore, punishment needed to be intensified.
四、对待贩卖私盐的处罚也是不断地加重，到了隋唐时期，贩卖一石（约一百斤）私盐就要处死刑。
4. Punishments for trafficking private salt were continuously strengthened. By the Sui and Tang dynasties, selling one dan (approximately 50 kilograms) of private salt warranted the death penalty.
五、大家知道，程咬金就是私盐贩子，看他的块头，应该不止卖一百斤私盐，居然还能通过大赦出狱，确实让人费解。
5. As we know, Cheng Yaojin was a private salt trader. Given his physique, he probably sold far more than fifty kilograms of private salt. It's truly puzzling that he managed to be released from prison through amnesty.
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