有關清初地方財政經費中的耗羨問題，往大多集中對雍正年間（1723-1735）進行研究，至於繼位之清高宗乾隆皇帝（1736-1795）對此制度的態度與立場等方面的討論卻未多見。本文撰寫動機，即以乾隆初年為中心，探索清高宗即位初期對地方耗羨經費的態度與立場。 文中首先對清高宗即位當時地方耗羨經費狀況作初步分析，藉以瞭解清高宗銳意對地方耗羨財政厲行整頓的背景；其次探討自乾隆五年發佈的「耗羨清查令」，至乾隆十三年正式頒行「耗羨章程」的過程中，其間引發中央與地方有關耗羨核銷權歸屬問題的分歧與對立，如何顯現清高宗的耗羨政策；本文最後指出，綜觀十八世紀耗羨體制的變化，主要體現著清高宗為因應即位初期國家財政的變化，並力圖強化中央財政權的立場出發，由此造成清初耗羨財政自地方州縣私徵私用，進而統歸各省藩司支配，最後正式納入中央管控體制，正呈現著由「地方之公」到「國家之家」的歷程。

　　　　　Previous discussions of the meltage problem confronting the fiscal budgets of local governments in the early ch'ing have focused on the reign of the Yung-cheng emperor (1723-1735). The Ch'ien-lung emperor's (1736-1765) attitude toward and stance on this issue has yet to be addressed. The present essay seeks to open discussion on this question by examining Ch'ien-lung position on meltage fees during his first year on the throne. The paper begins with a preliminary analysis of local meltage fees at the time of Ch'ien-lung's accession, so as to establish the context for the emperor's harsh corrective measures. It then turns to the period between the imperial proclamation of the Orders on the Clarification of the Orders on the Clarification of the Meltage Problem (Hao-hsien ch'ing-ch'a ling) in 1740, to the formal implementation of the Regulations on Meltage (Hao-hsien chang-ch'eng) in 1748. The period saw the development of a conflict between central and local governments over how to implement the emperor's meltage policy with regard to jurisdiction over annual accounting. The paper concludes with a broader examination of the meltage system of the eighteenth century, which highlights Ch'ien-lung's early efforts to strengthen the financial authority of the central government by enacting changes in fiscal policy. These changes ended local magistrates' monopoly on meltage fees by transferring them first to offices of provincial governors, and then formally into the hands of the central government. Essentially, the new policies reallocated the benefit of meltage from the local to the state.