■孟元濤

在翻閱檔案卷號(hào)為2018-347的英文歷史檔案時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)了1910 年灤州公司與代理人關(guān)于訂立煤炭銷售合同的草擬范本（On the perfection of trade regulations from the coal purchase and sale contract of luanzhou company in 1910 全英文版），經(jīng)過(guò)全面細(xì)致的翻譯后，筆者發(fā)現(xiàn)110 年前的商業(yè)法律條款之完備，貿(mào)易規(guī)章之健全令人嘆為觀止。原件如圖：

圖1 合同第一頁(yè)

圖2 合同第二頁(yè)

合同的原文是：

Agreement, made on the day of one thousand ninehundred and ten( the day of the year S.T.) between the LANCHOW MINING CO.Ltd,( hereinafter called the”Company ”and hereinafter called the Agents )of the other part, whereby it is mutually agreed as follows:

1) The Company hereby appoint, the Agents as the Agents of the Company at,and the Agents undertake to act during the curreney of this agreement as such agents on and subject to the conditions hereinafter containded:

2) The Agents shall with the aera of their Ageney

a) make sales from stock or ex ship and or

b) secure and book orders for delivery or shipment for the Company and use their best endeavours to promote the companies intereats.

3) The Agents shall not sell under the prices, given them from time to time by the company.

4) The Agents shall send all orders or recommendations for consign-ments to the headoffices of the company at Tientsin, who will fullfillthem directly.But the Company shall have the right without prejudice to the continuing guarantee by the Agents in respect of a11 business introduced by them in accordance with the provisions of the sixth clause here of to ask, that adequate security be given by purchasers for the due fullfillment of their contracts in the event of any purchasers not beeing well kmown to them or if in the opinion of the company desirable on other grounds,provided always that the existence of this right shall in no case be construed by the Agents as an obligation on the part of the company to call for such security as aforesaid.

5)A stock in accordance with the Agents requisition shall always be layed dowm free of charge by the Company and kept by the Agents for account of the Company at for sale.Special accounts as mentioned below under clause 9, are to be kept for all shipments and all sales with prices are to be recorded therein immediately after each sa1e，F(xiàn)reight and Marine insurance to port of destination are to be paid by the Company.All customs Dueswharfage,Landing, soring and Insurance-Charges at local rates areto be paid by the Agents on behalf of the Company and to be debited to thetr Companys account with the Bank.

6)The Agents shall be responsible for all payments of goods sold through them up to the full velue.

7) All paymentes, collected by the Agents on behalf of the Company for goods sold from stock against cash of amounts received from pur-chasers for goods, sold on credit or otherwise received on behalf of the Company special account with the.Bank on the date of recand the bank'B special receipt shall be sent by the Agents to the Companies headquarters.- All expences on behalf of the company and Agents commission shall be debited to the same account.

8)All payments for goods sold shall be collected by the Agents for the company not later than a months time from date of delivery and if payment cannot be collected within that time, the Agents shall be responsible according to clause 6.

9) The Agents shall send the following regular reports to the company at the end of every month:

a)statement of movement of stock in hand, showing amount of stock carried forward from previous monthe and landed weights of arrivals during the month,giving namens of carrying steamers,and showing aswell diliveries from stock and exsteamer.

b) statement of sales from stock and exsteamer,showing purchaser's name,quantities and prices.

c) statement of money,collected on behalf of the company and also statement of money,expengded on behalf of the company.

d) statement of accounts outstanding with names of debitors and quantity and price aswell as the date,when the amount falls due for collection.

10) After arrival of each shipment a statement of the landed weight shall be sent to the company and this quanty,received by the Agent,shall be considered as the consignment.

11) The Agents shall receive 2% commission on the value of goods,sold by them and 2% commission on all contracts,made by the company direct and handled or delivered or collected by the Agents.

12) No Commission shall be payable until payments for delivery of goods have been received by the Agents from the purchasers and the proceeds credited to the Company's account.

13) In consideration of the commnission as stated,the Agents shall pay their general expences， telegrams,postages, advertisment, tra-veiling and all other expences arrising in connection with the business.

14) This agreement is entered into by both parties for a period of three years from the date hereof, after which period it shall be ter-minated.If the parties are willing to renew the contract, the ne-cessary arrangements are to be made three months before termination of this contract.The company shall have the right, to cancel this contract after one year for such place, where the Agents or theirbranch office should not work to satisfaction, but notice must be given half year in advance.

15) The Company agree ,to constitute,their sole Agents in ,and the Agents undertake, not to deal in any othercoals, excepting those of the Company.

16)The Agents promise to engage &/or charter the necessary tonnage on behalf and for account of the company at cheapest rates possible and **** quickest possible.-A specia contract will be made with the Tientsin branch office of the Agents to that effect.

17)The company reserves the right to make arrangements with a Bank to draw drafts against their consignments and the Agents shall accept such drafts for account and on behalf of the company and be free from the Companies obligations against the bank.

代理合同譯文如下：

灤州礦業(yè)有限公司（以下簡(jiǎn)稱“公司”）與某某代理人，擬定于1910 年簽訂的煤炭購(gòu)銷代理協(xié)議，雙方約定如下：

1）本公司特此任命，某某代理人作為本公司煤炭購(gòu)銷代理人，代理人承諾在本協(xié)議有效期內(nèi)，嚴(yán)格履行以下條件：

2）履約期內(nèi)，代理人應(yīng)時(shí)刻牢記代理身份履行合同。

a）根據(jù)庫(kù)存或船運(yùn)情況進(jìn)行煤炭銷售。

b）確保已預(yù)訂的訂單及時(shí)交貨、裝運(yùn)，并盡最大努力加強(qiáng)上下溝通。

3）代理人不得在公司供貨價(jià)格之下進(jìn)行出售。

4）代理人應(yīng)將所有委托訂單或建議，發(fā)送至天津公司總部，并由天津公司總部確認(rèn)。但公司有權(quán)在不損害代理人在本協(xié)議第6 條規(guī)定的擔(dān)保情況下，要求買方提供足夠多的擔(dān)保金，以便在任何一個(gè)買方出現(xiàn)問(wèn)題的情況下，仍然可以履行其合同，同時(shí)將該協(xié)議內(nèi)容事前告知買方。該內(nèi)容為強(qiáng)制協(xié)議，任何情況下，代理人不得將此權(quán)利解釋為擔(dān)保義務(wù)，而是擔(dān)保責(zé)任。

5）根據(jù)代理人的要求，公司應(yīng)始終免費(fèi)為代理人存放其股票，并替代理人代為保管，以方便股票出售。本協(xié)議第9 條所述的特別賬戶，應(yīng)記錄與所裝運(yùn)貨物相符合的價(jià)值，所有銷售過(guò)程和價(jià)格應(yīng)在每次交易之后，立即記錄到賬戶。運(yùn)費(fèi)和海運(yùn)保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)等費(fèi)用，需到目的港后，由公司支付。所有按當(dāng)?shù)刭M(fèi)率收取的運(yùn)費(fèi)、卸貨費(fèi)、分揀費(fèi)和保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)均由代理人所在公司支付，并通過(guò)灤州公司在銀行所開的賬戶交易。

6）代理商銷售貨物完成后，應(yīng)將銷售所得的貨款全部交給灤州公司。

7）由代理人出售貨物所得款項(xiàng)，應(yīng)與采購(gòu)價(jià)格相對(duì)比，記錄好差額，允許代理商以賒銷或以其他方式代公司在銀行開立的特別賬戶收款。代理人應(yīng)告知銀行將特別收據(jù)寄送至天津公司總部。代表公司的所有支出費(fèi)用和代理傭金應(yīng)記入銀行同一賬戶的借方一欄。

8）所有已售貨物的應(yīng)付款項(xiàng),應(yīng)由代理人在不遲于交貨之日起的一個(gè)月內(nèi)為公司收取，如果在該時(shí)間內(nèi)無(wú)法收取貨款，代理人應(yīng)根據(jù)第6 條執(zhí)行。

9）代理人應(yīng)在每月月底向公司發(fā)送下列定期報(bào)告：

a）庫(kù)存變動(dòng)表，顯示從上個(gè)月結(jié)轉(zhuǎn)的庫(kù)存量和當(dāng)月到達(dá)的到岸貨物重量，寫出運(yùn)輸船的名稱、庫(kù)存、出口貨物船舶所載貨物清單。

b）庫(kù)存和出口貨物銷售報(bào)表，必須顯示買方名稱、數(shù)量和價(jià)格。

c）代表公司收到的對(duì)賬單，以及代表公司支付的對(duì)賬單。

d）有借方名稱、數(shù)量和價(jià)格以及到期收款日期的未清帳目報(bào)表。

10）每批貨物到達(dá)后，應(yīng)向公司發(fā)送一份卸貨貨物重量表，代理人收到的這批貨物應(yīng)視為已經(jīng)安全收到的貨物。

11）代理人應(yīng)獲得由其銷售的貨物價(jià)值的2%作為其傭金，以及由公司直接制定、由代理人處理、交付或收取的所有合同的2%作為其傭金。

12）在代理人收到買方交付貨物的款項(xiàng)和記入公司賬戶的款項(xiàng)之前，不得支付傭金。

13）考慮到上述約定，代理人應(yīng)支付一般費(fèi)用包括電報(bào)、郵資、廣告費(fèi)、運(yùn)輸費(fèi)和與業(yè)務(wù)有關(guān)的所有其他費(fèi)用。

14）本協(xié)議由雙方簽訂，有效期為三年，自本協(xié)議簽訂之日起計(jì)算。如果雙方愿意續(xù)簽合同，則應(yīng)在本合同終止前三個(gè)月作出必要的安排。公司有權(quán)在代理商或其分支機(jī)構(gòu)不能圓滿完成工作的地方，在一年后取消本合同。但必須提前半年通知代理人。

15）本公司同意由***和***組成獨(dú)家代理商，且代理商必須承諾不經(jīng)營(yíng)我公司以外的其他任何煤炭生意。

16）代理商承諾以盡可能低的價(jià)格和最快的速度，代表公司和為公司租用或購(gòu)買必要的船舶運(yùn)輸所需噸位。為此，將與代理商負(fù)責(zé)船運(yùn)的下屬天津分公司簽訂特別合同。

（說(shuō)明此時(shí)已經(jīng)明確代理商人選，并明確知道其下屬擁有船員公司。）

17）本公司保留與銀行對(duì)其委托物開具匯票的權(quán)利，代理人應(yīng)代表本公司接受該匯票，并免除本公司對(duì)銀行的義務(wù)。

經(jīng)過(guò)深入探究，筆者提煉出一些歷史信息：

圖3 清政府發(fā)給灤州公司的采礦執(zhí)照

一是110 年前商業(yè)法律條款之完備，貿(mào)易規(guī)章之健全令人嘆為觀止。1910 年商業(yè)代理合同的法律內(nèi)容與現(xiàn)在最新頒布的《中華人民共和國(guó)民法典》和《國(guó)際貿(mào)易法》中關(guān)于商業(yè)代理的法律規(guī)定有許多類似之處，說(shuō)明1910 年的灤州公司英籍高級(jí)管理人員十分熟知法律知識(shí)和法律條款，且法律維權(quán)意識(shí)強(qiáng)烈，管理思維之縝密令人贊嘆。

二是煤炭在110 年前屬于稀缺資源，煤炭實(shí)業(yè)公司社會(huì)地位較高。通過(guò)17 項(xiàng)條款的嚴(yán)格約束和合同中的嚴(yán)厲措辭，可以看出在合同簽訂過(guò)程中，灤州公司占有主導(dǎo)地位。說(shuō)明當(dāng)時(shí)的煤炭開采并不廣泛，煤炭在110 年前的中國(guó)屬于稀缺資源，掌握煤炭資源的公司屬于行業(yè)翹楚，擁有談判話語(yǔ)權(quán)。

圖5 灤州公司下屬的馬家溝礦

三是銀行業(yè)和銀行支付轉(zhuǎn)賬在110 年前的華北地區(qū)，已經(jīng)蔚然成風(fēng)。鑒于合同中提到的煤炭銷售應(yīng)收貨款和其他雜費(fèi)，可以通過(guò)灤州公司在銀行開設(shè)的賬戶交易，可知1910 年的銀行業(yè)務(wù)除了在富庶的江浙、廣東一帶流行之外，在華北地區(qū)同樣擁有完備的銀行收支體系。

四是110 年前的煤炭實(shí)業(yè)公司單純專注于煤炭單一生產(chǎn)，尚未發(fā)展煤炭上下游產(chǎn)業(yè)鏈。通過(guò)合同內(nèi)容可以看出，1910 年的灤州公司只負(fù)責(zé)煤炭生產(chǎn)，沒(méi)有下設(shè)銷售分公司，煤炭的銷售只能依靠代理人來(lái)完成。合同中提到的代理人實(shí)為中方買辦。

買辦原意是采買人員，指清朝末期的1800年-1910 年，受雇于外商并協(xié)助其在中國(guó)進(jìn)行貿(mào)易活動(dòng)的中間人、經(jīng)理人。買辦是外國(guó)資本家認(rèn)為忠實(shí)、得力的人物。買辦為外國(guó)資本家服務(wù)，受到外國(guó)資本家的“培育”。買辦違法犯罪，因受雇于外商企業(yè)，可以在治外法權(quán)庇護(hù)下，逃避中國(guó)法律的制裁。[1]

這類被外商雇用之商人通常外語(yǔ)能力強(qiáng)，一方面可作為歐美商人與中國(guó)商人的翻譯，也可處理歐美國(guó)家商界與中國(guó)政府之雙向溝通。除此之外，這類型商人還可自營(yíng)商鋪，因此致富者頗眾。[2]買辦一職，中國(guó)人不得隨便充當(dāng)，外商亦不能任意選雇，受到清政府的嚴(yán)格控制。買辦階層推動(dòng)了中國(guó)的洋務(wù)運(yùn)動(dòng)，催生了中國(guó)的民族資本主義。自清末至1949 年新中國(guó)成立前，買辦階層與官僚、資本家結(jié)合在一起，形成“官僚買辦資產(chǎn)階級(jí)”。官僚買辦資本主義是舊中國(guó)“三座大山”之一。[3]

圖6 晚清時(shí)期的中國(guó)買辦

五是通過(guò)合同中關(guān)于船運(yùn)的反復(fù)描述，可知110年前華北地區(qū)的煤炭運(yùn)輸主要依靠水路航運(yùn)。

六是該代理人合同為簽署前的草擬合同范本。經(jīng)過(guò)在歷史檔案中反復(fù)查找，只找到了紙張類型不一樣但為同一內(nèi)容的合同歷史草稿3 份，紙張類型分別為硬版紙和軟紙2 種。這3 份合同歷史草稿均沒(méi)有總經(jīng)理親筆簽名，也沒(méi)有官方印章。因此，推斷此為正式簽署之前的草擬合同范本。

七是110 年前的灤州公司管理制度完善。合同草稿經(jīng)多名高級(jí)管理人員審議和批注，說(shuō)明合同起草和訂立過(guò)程中，企業(yè)管理民主，管理過(guò)程集思廣益。3份草擬合同出現(xiàn)了3 種不同筆體的勾畫和備注，且全部為英文書寫，說(shuō)明該合同經(jīng)過(guò)3 位英籍高級(jí)管理人員的分別審議，并各自提出了修改意見，因時(shí)間超過(guò)110 年，需要進(jìn)一步搜集史料證據(jù)來(lái)考證3 位英籍高級(jí)管理人員的具體姓名。

圖7 三份歷史合同原件