The "Jiaozi" in the Northern Song Dynasty in China may be the earliest paper money issued in the world. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, only iron coins were allowed to circulate in Sichuan, and the weight of iron coins was heavier than that of copper coins. In the second year of Chunhua, Song Taizong (AD 991), Zhao Anyi went to Shu, and saw that "one horse is worth 2, yuan". According to the weight of iron money circulating in the market at that time, this 2,-Wen iron money weighed about 12 Jin. You can imagine how difficult it was to use iron money in commodity exchange in the market at that time. People feel that the iron money in circulation is of little value, but it is very heavy to carry on their backs, which is very inconvenient in business communication. It is said that at that time, "every ten times, the small money weighed 65 kilograms, and the big money was always discounted, weighing 12 kilograms. When it was bought and sold in the market, it was difficult to carry it." At that time, not only businessmen felt inconvenience, but also officials and residents felt inconvenience, which prompted people to want to replace iron coins and copper coins with a lighter and convenient currency. "A Mirror for Continuing Capital Management" said: "At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the Shu people valued iron money and private money as coupons, which was called making friends." Northern Song Zhenzong years. In Chengdu, Sichuan, 16 wealthy businessmen jointly initiated, printed and distributed a "Jiaozi" and opened a "Jiaozi Shop". At that time, on the "Jiaozi" issued, wooden houses and figures were printed, and the words "each with a secret title" were printed. Zhu Mo made mistakes and it was difficult to forge them. However, problems appeared after the issue of paper money "Jiaozi". As a Mirror for Continuing Capital Management says: At first, Jiaozi was issued by "enriching sixteen households": at that time, Jiaozi was just like today's banks, which specially kept cash for businessmen and charged a certain safekeeping fee from it. Jiaozi was just like today's bank checks, and people held Jiaozi. Go to Jiaozipu and change it for Jiaozi: But later, the rich businessman who presided over Jiaozipu misappropriated and swallowed the cash in Jiaozipu, but the Jiaozi people held could not be changed into cash, which caused a dispute. During the years of Jingdezhen in Song Zhenzong (14 ~ 17), Zhang Yong was a designated state in Yizhou. When he saw that "Jiaozi" was used in market exchange at that time, "rape rose at sunrise, and there were many lawsuits in prison", he decided to rectify it. Sixteen "rich households" jointly guaranteed each other to issue Jiaozi, and the face value of Jiaozi was temporarily filled in according to the number of cash receipts. When "Jiaozi" is cashed, 2 articles will be deducted as profit income. However, the "Jiaozi" households must bear certain obligations to the government and pay certain property taxes. In spite of this, the "Jiaozi" households still made a fortune, "buying and accumulating, and widely buying houses, houses and precious goods". At that time, there was no fixed time and quota for the issuance of "Jiaozi", and many "Jiaozi" empty coupons were issued, which led to the expansion and depreciation of "Jiaozi". During the Xiangfu period in Dazhong, Song Zhenzong (18-122), due to problems in the issuance of Jiaozi, "gathering people to fight" often appeared among ordinary people. In this case, some people asked the government to take the "Jiaozi" shop back to the official camp and set up the "Jiaozi Service". However, the officials at that time thought that it was better to do more than one thing, strongly advocated abolishing the circulation of "Jiaozi" and decided to close the "Jiaozi Shop". After the closure of "Jiaozipu", the trading in the market decreased suddenly, and "trade is not convenient": In the first year of Song Renzong Tiansheng (AD 123), the government finally set up "Yizhou Jiaozi Service". From then on, "Jiaozi" became legal tender, which was circulated and used together with iron money in the market. This kind of "Jiaozi" issued in the Northern Song Dynasty continued to be used until the Southern Song Dynasty.
The issuance and circulation time of paper money "small notes" is only three years. According to historical records, in the fifth year of Emperor Huizong's devotion to Ning in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 117), the court issued a kind of paper money called "small paper money". The court used this "small note" to exchange "ten" copper coins, and the face value of this "small note" was "consistent" at that time. This kind of "small notes" didn't circulate in the market for a long time. By the third year of Huizong Daguan in the Northern Song Dynasty (A.D. 111), the court ordered all "small notes" to be invalidated, and the time before and after was only three years. Although this kind of "small note" was circulated in the market for a short time at that time, from the historical point of view, the area where "small note" was circulated was much wider than that where "Jiaozi" was circulated, because it was a note issued by the court for the whole country, unlike Jiaozi, which was only issued in Sichuan.