But in both Ramusio on the one hand, and
in the Geog. Latin and Crusca Italian texts on the other hand, the
equivalent of the toman is 80,000 saggi; though it is true that neither
with one valuation nor the other are the calculations consistent in any of
the texts, except Ramusio's.[1] This consistency does not give any
greater weight to Ramusio's reading, because we know that version to have
been edited, and corrected when the editor thought it necessary: but I
adopt his valuation, because we shall find other grounds for preferring
it. The unit of the toman then is = 8 saggi.
The Venice saggio was one-sixth of a Venice ounce. The Venice mark of 8
ounces I find stated to contain 3681 grains troy;[2] hence the saggio =
76 grains. But I imagine the term to be used by Polo here and in other
Oriental computations, to express the Arabic miskal, the real weight of
which, according to Mr. Maskelyne, is 74 grains troy. The miskal of gold
was, as Polo says, something more than a ducat or sequin, indeed, weight
for weight, it was to a ducat nearly as 1.4: 1.
Eight saggi or miskals would be 592 grains troy. The tael is 580, and
the approximation is as near as we can reasonably expect from a
calculation in such terms.
Taking the silver tael at 6s. 7d., the gold tael, or rather the
ting, would be = 3l. 5s. 10d.; the toman = 32,916l. 13s.
4d.; and the whole salt revenue (80 tomans) = 2,633,333l.; the revenue
from other sources (210 tomans) = 6,912,500l.; total revenue from Kinsay
and its province (290 tomans) = 9,545,833l. A sufficiently startling
statement, and quite enough to account for the sobriquet of Marco Milioni.
Pauthier, in reference to this chapter, brings forward a number of
extracts regarding Mongol finance from the official history of that
dynasty. The extracts are extremely interesting in themselves, but I
cannot find in them that confirmation of Marco's accuracy which M.
Pauthier sees.
First as to the salt revenue of Kiang-Che, or the province of Kinsay. The
facts given by Pauthier amount to these: that in 1277, the year in which
the Mongol salt department was organised, the manufacture of salt amounted
to 92,148 yin, or 22,115,520 kilos.; in 1286 it had reached 450,000
yin, or 108,000,000 kilos.; in 1289 it fell off by 100,000 yin.
The price was, in 1277, 18 liang or taels, in chao or paper-money of
the years 1260-64 (see vol. i. p. 426); in 1282 it was raised to 22 taels;
in 1284 a permanent and reduced price was fixed, the amount of which is
not stated.
