本篇文章共分 5 段，將威尼斯從製鹽到以鹽業貿易為主，後來成為地中海地區主要的鹽業交易核心以及其帶來的商業、政治、軍事影響一一加以說明陳述。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

Salt and the Rise of Venice 鹽與威尼斯的崛起

1. 威尼斯的食鹽生產

   The city of Venice, on Italy's coastline, achieved commercial dominance of southern Europe during the Middle Ages largely because of its extensive trade in the valuable commodity of salt. At first, Venice produced its own salt at its Chioggia saltworks. For a time, its principal competitor in the region was the town of Cervia, with Venice having the advantage because Chioggia was more productive. But Chioggia produced a fine-grained salt, so when Venetians wanted coarser salt, they had to import it. Then, in the thirteenth century, after a series of floods and storms destroyed about a third of the salt-producing ponds in Chioggia the Venetians were forced to import even more salt.

   位於意大利海岸線上的威尼斯市，在中世紀實現了對南歐的商業主導地位，這主要是因為它對鹽這種寶貴商品的廣泛貿易。起初，威尼斯在其奇奧嘉鹽廠生產自己的鹽。有一段時間，它在該地區的主要競爭對手是切爾維亞鎮，由於奇奧嘉的產量更高，所以威尼斯擁有優勢。但奇奧嘉生產的是細粒度的鹽，所以當威尼斯人想要更粗的鹽時，他們不得不進口。然後，在 13 世紀，在一連串的洪水和風暴摧毀了奇奧嘉大約三分之一的產鹽池後，威尼斯人被迫進口更多的鹽。

2. 鹽業貿易的興起

   That was when the Venetians made an important discovery. More money could be made buying and selling salt than producing it. Beginning in 1281, the government paid merchants a subsidy on salt landed in Venice from other areas. As a result of this assistance, shipping salt to Venice became so profitable that the salt merchants could afford to ship other goods at prices that undersold their competitors. Growing fat on the salt subsidy, Venice merchants could afford to send ships to the eastern Mediterranean, where they picked up valuable cargoes of Indian spices and sold them in western Europe at low prices that their non-Venetian competitors could not afford to offer. That meant that Venetians were paying extremely high prices for salt, but they did not mind expensive salt if they could dominate the spice trade and be leaders in the grain trade. When grain harvests failed in Italy, Venice would use its salt income to subsidize grain imports from other parts of the Mediterranean and thereby corner the Italian grain market.

   這時，威尼斯人有了一個重要的發現。買賣鹽比生產鹽能賺更多的錢。從 1281 年開始，政府對從其他地區運到威尼斯的鹽向商人支付補貼。由於這種補貼，向威尼斯運鹽變得如此有利可圖，以至於鹽商能夠以低於其競爭對手的價格運送其他商品。在鹽業補貼下，威尼斯商人越來越肥，他們有能力派船到地中海東部，在那裡載運寶貴的印度香料貨物，並以非威尼斯人的競爭對手無法提供的低價在西歐銷售。這意味著威尼斯人要為鹽支付極高的價格，但如果他們能在香料貿易中佔據主導地位並成為穀物貿易的領導者，他們並不介意昂貴的鹽。當意大利的糧食歉收時，威尼斯將利用其鹽業收入來補貼從地中海其他地區進口的糧食，從而壟斷意大利的糧食市場。

3. 鹽業管理方式

   Unlike the Chinese salt monopoly, the Venetian government never owned salt but simply took a profit from regulating its trade. Enriched by its share of sales on high-priced salt, the salt administration could offer loans to finance other trade. Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, a period when Venice was a leading port for grains and spices, 30 to 50 percent of the tonnage of imports to Venice was in salt. All salt had to go through government agencies. The salt administration issued licenses that told merchants not only how much salt they could export but also to where and at what price. The salt administration also maintained Venice's palatial public buildings and the complex hydraulic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away. Many of Venice's grand statues and ornamental buildings were financed by the salt administration.

   與中國的食鹽壟斷不同，威尼斯政府從未擁有過食鹽，只是通過監管食鹽貿易來獲取利潤。通過對高價鹽的銷售份額，鹽業管理部門可以提供貸款來資助其他貿易。在 14 世紀到 16 世紀之間，威尼斯是穀物和香料的主要港口，威尼斯的進口噸位中有 30% 到 50% 是鹽。所有的鹽都必須通過政府機構。鹽務管理部門發放許可證，不僅告訴商人他們可以出口多少鹽，而且還告訴他們可以出口到哪裡，以什麼價格出口。鹽務管理局還負責維護威尼斯的宮殿式公共建築和複雜的水力系統，以防止大都市被沖走。威尼斯的許多宏偉雕像和裝飾性建築都是由鹽務局資助的。

4. 鹽業貿易的壯大

   Venice carefully built its reputation as a reliable supplier, and so contracts with the merchant state were desirable. Venice was able to dictate terms for these contracts. In 1250, when Venice agreed to supply Mantua and Ferrara with salt, the contract stipulated that these cities would not buy salt from anyone else. This became the model for Venetian salt contracts. As Venice became the salt supplier to more and more countries, it needed more and more salt producers from which to buy. Merchants financed by the salt administration went farther into the Mediterranean, buying salt from many distant sources. Wherever they went, they tried to dominate the supply, control the saltworks, and even acquire them if they could.

   威尼斯小心翼翼地建立了其作為可靠供應商的聲譽，因此，與商人國家的合同非常受歡迎。威尼斯能夠對這些合同的條款進行支配。1250 年，當威尼斯同意向曼圖亞和費拉拉供應鹽時，合同規定這些城市不得從其他任何地方購買鹽。這成為威尼斯鹽業合同的模式。隨著威尼斯成為越來越多國家的食鹽供應商，它需要從越來越多的食鹽生產商那裡購買。由鹽業管理部門資助的商人們深入地中海，從許多遙遠的地方購買鹽。無論他們走到哪裡，他們都試圖支配供應，控制鹽廠，甚至在可能的情況下收購它們。

5. 鹽業的價格控制

   Venice manipulated markets by controlling production. In the late thirteenth century, wishing to raise the world market price, Venice had all saltworks on the Greek island of Crete destroyed, and it banned the local production of salt. The Venetians then brought in all the salt needed for local consumption, built stores to sell the imported salt, and paid damages to the owners of the saltworks. The policy was designed to control prices and at the same time keep the locals happy. Aiding its ability to ruthlessly manipulate commerce and control territory, Venice maintained the ships of the merchant fleet as a naval reserve and called them into combat when needed. The Venetian fleet patrolled the Adriatic Sea, stopped ships, inspected cargo, and demanded licensing documents to make sure all commercial traffic was conforming with its regulations.

   威尼斯通過控制生產來操縱市場。13 世紀末，為了提高全球市場價格，威尼斯將希臘克里特島上的所有鹽廠摧毀，並禁止當地生產鹽。威尼斯人隨後將當地消費所需的所有鹽運入，建立商店出售進口鹽，並向鹽廠的所有者支付賠償金。這一政策旨在控制價格，同時讓當地人滿意。為了幫助其無情地操縱商業和控制領土的能力，威尼斯將商船隊的船隻作為海軍儲備，並在需要時將其召集加入戰鬥。威尼斯艦隊在亞得里亞海巡邏，攔截船隻，檢查貨物，並要求提供許可文件，以確保所有商業運輸都符合其規定。