Abstract: Increasing the price of salt as a compensation for the loss of opium taxation was an important fiscal measure during the ban on opium in the late Qing , but this caused many complicated controversies in the court and placed financial burden on the people.Naturally , the great burden of the increased salt price on the people’s livelihood led to the opposition.By this measure , the central government had intended to centralize state power over salt affairs , and this inevitably damaged the financial interests of the salt-producing and selling areas.Therefore , many senior provincial officials joined together to intervene in the decisions of the central government by frequent telegrams , thwarting the realization of the anticipated centralization of the state power.