The Zhao and Song regime ended the divisions of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and re-established a centralized feudal state. During the two and three centuries of the Song Dynasty, although the country never achieved true unification and was a weak dynasty throughout history, my country's feudal economy still developed greatly during the relatively stable stage of the two Song Dynasties. Agriculture and handicrafts The progress of the country has promoted the prosperity of commerce and urban economy. The mining and smelting technology of mining and metallurgy, including gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, etc., have been greatly improved. Currency circulation and currency casting have become distinctive industries. content. The Song Dynasty was the dynasty that minted the largest number of coins and the most diverse varieties in Chinese history. However, in the last two Song Dynasties, the voice of "money shortage" was endless, and sometimes it was quite serious. On the one hand, this reflects the increase in demand for coins due to the development of the commodity economy. It is also one of the more difficult problems among a series of problems caused by the special political situation of the Song Dynasty, and has become a factor that seriously restricts economic development and social stability. The following only discusses the causes of the money shortage in the Song Dynasty and the countermeasures to alleviate it.
The reason for frequent money shortages
The Song Dynasty, like previous dynasties, banned the mining and smelting of metal and non-metallic ores, and the ownership was monopolized by the state. In copper mines, The production areas are supervised, and mining and site affairs are managed by full-time officials; however, the actual mining is contracted by the local pit smelting households, who pay annual taxes according to the amount specified by the government, and are state-owned and privately owned. This is different from the various handicraft industries at that time, which were directly operated by the government recruiting or hiring workers.
During the 37 years from the first year of Jianlong of Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty to the third year of Emperor Taizong Zhidao (960-997), people were allowed to privately mine copper, gold, silver and other mines. "History of Song Dynasty: Food and Huo Zhi" records that in the third year of Kaibao's reign (970), an edict was issued: "In ancient times, rare goods were not valuable, but later generations endowed them with mountains and rivers. The tops were invaded, and the bottoms were withered and exhausted. Every time I think about this, I feel deeply guilty. If I fail to donate money to the mountain, how can I take advantage of others? From now on, the annual payment of silver in Guiyang County (now Guiyang County, Hunan Province) should be reduced by one third." (Tuo Tuo et al. "Song Dynasty" "History" Volume 185 "Shi Huo Zhi 2 7·Keng Smelting", Zhonghua Book Company 1964 edition) stated that the imperial court did not compete with mining and smelting owners for profits, allowing them to engage in mining and smelting under certain tax reduction and exemption policies. Later, mining and smelting was once brought back to the government, and civilian mining was prohibited in areas where copper was produced. But after a period of time, the mining rights were partially liberalized, and the rights to smelting and casting were mainly controlled.
The distribution and annual course volume of metal mines in the Song Dynasty. According to "History of the Song Dynasty, Food and Huo Zhi 2, VII. Keng Smelting": "There are two hundred and one smelting sites for gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin...copper production is in Rao, Chu, Jian, Ying, Xin, The eight states of Ting, Zhang, and Nanjian, and the two armies of Nan and Shaowu, had thirty-five mines; Zizhou had one. "Copper, iron, silver and other metal mines are concentrated in the three provinces of today's Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong. The prosperity of the time far exceeded that of the Tang Dynasty; followed by Anhui, Zhejiang, and Sichuan. Tin mines and lead mines are mainly found in Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, and Guangdong and Guangxi. By the Zhiping period (1064-1067), copper mines were distributed in 11 states, 1 army and 46 smelters, mainly in Jiangxi and Fujian, followed by Guangdong and Sichuan. During the Yuanfeng period, the copper mines were distributed in 22 states (militaries), which was basically similar to the Zhiping period. Five more mines were opened in Zhejiang, Henan, and Shaanxi. The output of metal mines is also on the rise. Emperor Renzong Wei Zhanshi (1049-1053) had an annual tax of 5.1 million jins of copper, about 100,000 jins of lead, and 330,000 jins of tin; during normal times under Emperor Yingzong, the amount was 6.97 million jins of copper and 6.97 million jins of lead. It increased to 2 million jins, and tin increased to more than 1 million jins. In the first year of Shenzong Yuanfeng (1078), the annual tax was more than 14.6 million jins of copper, 9.19 million jins of lead, and 2.32 million jins of tin. The number of coins minted also increased from 800,000 guan in the reign of Emperor Taizong to Dao, to 1.83 million guan in the reign of Zhenzong and Jingde. In the Yuanfeng period of Shenzong, only 5 million guan of copper coins were minted, the number of bronze supervisors increased to 17, and the number of cast iron coins also reached 17. 5 million yuan, there are 7 railway prisons.
The coins of the Two Song Dynasties were the most complex period in the history of Chinese coins, with a particularly large number of mints and the richest types of coin names. During the reign of Tang Tianbao, only 320,000 coins were minted every year. Based on the country's population, each person could only get six or seven coins. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the amount of coins minted reached more than 1 million guan, and the highest amount was more than 5 million guan during the Yuanfeng period. Not including iron coins and paper money, it was dozens of times that of the Tang Dynasty. Calculated based on the number of copper coins minted in each year, from the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty to the end of Yuanfeng, the total number of copper coins minted was 145 million guan. If private money is included, the total should be close to 200 million guan. Government copper coins are cast under the supervision of copper supervisors. The copper materials are generally sourced from surrounding mines, and some are also deployed from distant production areas.
The growth of copper smelting in the Song Dynasty has been as mentioned above, but it is worth noting that during the Xining and Yuanfeng periods of Shenzong when money was minted at its peak, the long-standing money shortage problem came to the fore. As Zhang Fangping, a person at the time, pointed out, "In recent years, both public and private people have been suffering from a lack of money, department stores are blocked, and people are in distress, which is called money shortage" ("Song History" Volume 180, "Food and Goods Chronicles 2: Coins").
The main reasons for the money shortage in the Song Dynasty are as follows: First, people sold copper coins to make utensils for profit.
Copper is a prohibited item in the country and is strictly controlled by the state. There is a shortage of copper among the people, and the price of general civilian copperware has risen in the market. Driven by profit, some people sell copper coins to cast utensils. According to records, they can make a profit of 5~ 10 times; secondly, although the Northern Song Dynasty strictly prohibited "copper coins from leaving the Great Wall and the southern Tibetan countries" ("Song History" Volume 180 "Food and Goods Chronicles 2. Coins"), the private outflow of copper coins became more and more intense, and a large number of copper coins not only passed through It flows to the countries established by the northern ethnic minorities in various ways, and also flows overseas, which is difficult to stop; thirdly, iron coins are minted in large quantities, but their actual value is getting lighter and lighter, and the ratio with copper coins is constantly changing. Therefore, people tend to hoard copper coins and are unwilling to circulate them in the market. In particular, nobles and landowners hoarded a large number of copper coins, which made the already insufficient copper coins even more scarce. This situation became more prominent in the context of the development of the commodity economy in the Song Dynasty and the great progress in commerce and handicrafts; finally, the currency of the Song Dynasty The local nature of circulation is very prominent. Its coins are the most complex in the history of Chinese currency and have the most types of coin materials. In addition, there has been no unification. Copper and iron coins are used together. The coins are divided into different sizes and the exchange ratio of copper and iron coins is uncertain. The reason why the normal circulation of coins is blocked.
Two Mitigation Countermeasures
In the final analysis, the money shortage was a copper shortage. Although copper and tin mines were mined in large quantities in the Song Dynasty, and copper supervisors were set up everywhere to mint coins, there was still a shortage of coins. The Song Dynasty took the following measures A number of measures were taken to increase the minting and investment of coins in order to alleviate or solve the problem of money shortage.
One of the methods is to use large cast iron coins to make up for the shortage of copper coins.
As early as the early Song Dynasty, iron coins and copper coins existed in parallel, and formed a circulation area for copper coins and iron coins, which became an important phenomenon that always existed in the circulation of metal coins in the Song Dynasty. The area where iron money circulated expanded from Sichuan in the early days to Shaanxi, Hedong and other places. After the southern crossing, in order to prevent copper coins from flowing into the north, iron coins were also used in Huaihei, western Beijing, and Jingmen, Hubei, and the imperial court set up iron supervisors in important iron-producing areas.
According to historical records, during the Jingde period of Zhenzong, Tieqian had three supervisors: Qiongzhou was called Huimin, Jiazhou was called Fengyuan, and Xingzhou was called Jizhong. Yizhou and Yazhou also had prisons in the old days, but they were later abolished. A big coin weighs 12 catties and 10 taels, which is accurate to copper coins. The coins minted in Jiazhou and Qiongzhou weighed 25 jins and 8 taels, and one copper coin could be used as 10 small iron coins. In the fifth year of Renzong Qingli's reign (1045), Qingyang Iron Smelting in Quanzhou flourished and the iron industry was set up in Quanzhou. During the reign of Shenzong Xining, he established the Xingguojun (now Yangxin, Hubei), Mu (ruling today's Meicheng Town, Jiande, Zhejiang), Heng (ruling today's Hengyang, Hunan), Shu (ruling today's Anqing City, Anhui), and E (ruling today's Wuchang City, Hubei). , Huizhou (now Huizhou City, Guangdong Province) established 6 prisons. (Volume 180 of "History of the Song Dynasty" "Food and Goods Chronicles Part 2·Coins")
In the ninth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1139), all roads in Shaanxi were ordered to resume using iron coins. In the fifteenth year, Lizhou Shaoxing Prison was established, and one hundred thousand coins were minted to save money. In the 22nd year, the two prisons of Fengyuan and Huimin of Qiong were restored, and Xiaoping coins were minted. In the twenty-third year, the imperial edict was issued to Lizhou and two coins were minted. In the sixth year of Emperor Xiaozong's reign (1170), Shuzhou Tonganjian, Qizhou Qichunjian, and Huangzhou Qi'anjian were added, all of which were minted with two coins, each worth 300,000 guan per year. The money they minted was circulated in the Huaihe River. In the fifth year of Chunxi (1178), Shuzhou was ordered to cast 100,000 guan and Qizhou to cast 50,000 guan every year. In the seventh year, the ministers of Shu and Qi all cast money to increase their envy and move to official positions, but the Huai people were greatly disturbed. In the tenth year, Suzhou City Prison in Shuzhou was merged into Tongan Prison. Later, the shipping department was in charge of four prisons - Guangning prison in Jiangzhou, Daye prison in Xingguo, Fengyu prison in Linjiang (military name, governing present-day Linjiang Town, Qingjiang, Jiangxi), and Fu (governing present-day Fuzhou, Jiangxi). Zhiyu Guojian. Sinong Xu Zizhong led the three prisons, each of which was worth 300,000 guan a year, and he made large and small iron coins to make the two Huai rivers pass. In the first year of Jiading (1208), Lizhou cast five large coins. In three years, the production department wanted to collect all the old coins, and cast 300,000 guan in the second prison of Shaoxing and Huimin, and the materials were worth three coins. (Same as above)
The number and scale of copper and iron prisons established in the Song Dynasty are unprecedented. The rise and fall of these prisons is mainly determined by the amount of resources. Some prisons also rise suddenly. , Waste is also in a hurry. However, some prisons, such as Raozhou and Chizhou, were able to last for a long time, mainly due to the abundance of resources.
The second method is to mix the copper coins with other metals.
In order to reduce the usage of copper, the contents of iron, lead, and tin are appropriately increased in the casting of copper coins, and more copper coins are cast at the expense of the quality of the coins. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty, Shi Huo Zhi 2, Coins", Xu Shen was the judge of the third division and recommended that it be mixed with medicinal iron and copper. The weight is like the copper coin method. Copper accounts for three points, iron accounts for six points, and the cost is saved. And profitable. This method was used to cast coins in the capital. When casting coins, they mixed lead and tin. As a result, the liquid flowed quickly and became easy. However, when mixed with iron, the liquid flowed astringently and was difficult to make. The workers were miserable and it took more than a month to get ten thousand coins. Although it was not successful in the end, it can be regarded as a failed attempt.
In the first year of Chongning (1102), the former Shaanxi transshipment judge Du Kuang requested the right to strike off Shaanxi cast iron coins. Wu Juhou, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, believed that the money minted in Jiang, Chi, Rao, Jian and other prisons were not enough, so he suggested reducing copper and increasing lead and tin. This could save more than 300,000 jins of copper per year, and add more than 159,000 min. The coined money is bright and tough, the same as the money currently in circulation.
At first, Cai Jing was in charge of collecting tin coins and ordered them to be cast in Shaanxi, and ordered Xu Tianqi, the deputy transfer envoy, to implement them. The method is to fold one tin coin into two copper coins, and use 8 kilograms of copper for each wire, half of it black tin, and half of white tin. The quality is poor. Later, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang were allowed to cast iron coins. Two years later, Cai Jing was deposed and ordered to disturb the people by casting tin coins in Zhejiang and Zhejiang. All coins cast in the southeast were banned.
The following year, they were stopped along Hebei, Hedong, Jingdong and other roads, and all the prisons and courtyards where they were located were abandoned. However, the old prisons of Hedong Sanlu Tingtun were used to cast copper and iron coins; the copper-producing counties Tingtun used them to cast Xiaoping coins. This method has been used many times since then, and it can alleviate the shortage of copper materials, but the effect is not good.
The third method is to cast less small coins and cast larger coins that are relatively less material-intensive.
"History of the Song Dynasty·Shi Huo Zhi 2·Coins" records that in the second year of Chunhua (991), Zhao Anyi, the Shaoqing of Zongzheng, said that the subway money in Shu was very light, only 20,000 yuan. Purchase a piece of Luo, and request to cast it into Yushu Qian style, which is equivalent to ten pieces of money. The casting place is renamed Yushu Qianjian; all the old small iron coins are exchanged for large ones. However, the credibility of the large iron coins was extremely poor, and the minting was later stopped. In fact, the method Zhao Anyi requested should be effective, but the measures were ineffective and the results were not significant. Soon, the Third Division stopped casting large iron coins in Hedong, and Shaanxi resumed mining Yizhou Zhujianling brass, and hired Boji to supervise the casting of large coins. "Because of the order to cast large copper coins in the south of the Yangtze River, small iron coins were cast in Jiangnan, Chi, Rao, Yi, and Guo, and the chariots were sent to Guanzhong. Several states made miscellaneous coins. About three small copper coins can be cast into one ten large copper coins. Therefore, the people There are many counterfeiters, money and literature are in chaos, prices are skyrocketing, and public and private affairs are in trouble. "Three small copper coins can be cast as one ten-large copper coin, and can save two-thirds of the material, so it should be very tempting." Since then, there have been endless practices in various places to recast relatively large amounts of money that saves materials.
After Xining, piracy of forging was especially prevalent in Zhejiang and Zhejiang. Xiaoping's money became less and less, and the market was sluggish. Then he ordered to offer money at half or ten points to the Qianjian of Jiang, Chi, Rao, Jian, and Shaozhou. In the annual class, eight cents should be cast into small flat coins, and two cents should be cast into ten cents. He also ordered Guangnan, Jiangnan, Fujian, Zhejiang and Zhejiang, Jinghu, and Huainan to exchange the coins for two coins and cast them into ten coins. This measure also brings many problems. Historical records say: "Since ten coins have become popular, there are many counterfeiters. ... Anyone who offends with private money will have the number of officials and more than 100,000 people killed. Cai Jing has poisoned the people. , It can be said that it is fierce. At that time, the use of the imperial palace was increasing, and the amount of money in the southeast was insufficient, especially after Xuanhe. He ordered Rao and Ganqian to supervise the casting of Xiaoping coins, using three taels of iron for each pin, which greatly damaged the copper. He then ordered Jiang, Chi, and Rao Qianjian to recast the money as two coins to provide relief. However, in the first year of Jingkang, he was dismissed and ordered to use copper coins to cut off his disciples. "Two years with thousands of miles of money" ("Song History" Volume 180 "Shi Huo Zhi 2·Coins") not only reduces copper but increases iron, replaces Xiaoping coins with dang er, and at the same time severely cracks down on private coinage, it can be said that the number of methods is used at the same time. But the effect is not satisfactory. During the reign of Emperor Huizong, the emperor's imperial letter was once again carried out, and ten large coins were cast in large quantities. The Qian Gang was established to test the samples and the coin casting courtyard was established. The Chongning prisoner valued the cast of the imperial book at ten coins, and it was unusual to use nine pounds and seven taels of copper for the binding, half of which was lead, and one of three of which was made of tin. The imperial edict promulgated its style to all roads, making the red and flat black backs clear and clear in calligraphy and painting. Since then, the top ten coins have spread widely. The implementation of this measure has caused the quality of money to decline. Although big money was available, the money shortage could not be alleviated, and the Northern Song Dynasty was dead.
The fourth method is to issue Jiaozi to make up for the shortage of metal currency.
This is one of the important reasons for the release of Jiaozi. Jiaozi was originally invented by merchants in Sichuan and Shaanxi areas because iron money was heavy and cheap. Small money weighs 65 kilograms per 10 guan, while large money weighs 12 jins per guan. It is difficult to carry when buying and selling in the market. Businessmen, especially big businessmen, find it extremely inconvenient. Objectively, they need a currency that is easy to carry and very light. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty (998-1022), 16 wealthy businessmen in Chengdu secretly created money coupons, which were called "Jiaozi". Later, the wealthy businessman who ran the Jiaozi shop misappropriated and swallowed the cash, causing the Jiaozi to be unable to be cashed in, causing a lawsuit, and the government banned it. In the first year of Tiansheng of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty (1023), "Jiaoziwu" was officially established in Yizhou, and the government issued Jiaozi. This was the beginning of the issuance of banknotes in China.
Initially, Guanjiaozi was issued on a demarcated basis. The amount of each issue was 1,256,340 yuan, with three years as the boundary. When the boundary was full, new Jiaozi were created to replace the old ones. Jiaozi was initially only circulated in Sichuan and Shaanxi, but was promoted to Qinzhou during the Tiansheng reign of Renzong (1023~1031). The implementation of Jiaozi greatly facilitated merchants and made up for the shortage of copper materials and metal currency. It created the history of the issuance of Chinese banknotes and became an unprecedented event in the history of world currency issuance. Reforms were implemented during the Chongning and Daguan years, and Jiaozi was changed to Qianyin, and Jiaoziwu was changed to Qianyinwu. The circulation scope of Jiaozi was the same as the area where iron money circulated. Qianyin expanded to Jingdong, Jingxi, Huainan, and Jingshi. Waiting places.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, paper currency had a wide circulation range and many types. It was first called Guanzi and later called Huizi. In the market, there are Huizi issued by the imperial court, as well as local ones such as Chuanyin, Huhui, Huaijiao, etc. During the two Song dynasties, copper and iron coins were mainly used for cashing various banknotes. It can be seen that Jiaozi first appeared in the place where iron money circulated to adapt to the need to facilitate business after economic development. Later, it was to make up for the shortage of metal currency, especially copper coins. The issuance of banknotes alleviated the serious shortage of copper coins to a certain extent.
The fifth method is to strictly prohibit going into the sea.
The export of copper coins was a serious problem in the Song Dynasty. During the Xining and Yuanfeng years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the outflow of copper coins became quite prominent. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the amount of copper coins minted decreased, but the output continued. The export route seems to be mainly through foreign trade, and its destination is still those regions and countries that use Chinese money. The largest destination is the Jin people in the north, followed by Goryeo, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries. Take Japan as an example. From the Tang and Song Dynasties until the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Japan continued to import Chinese copper coins. The amount was surprisingly large. Among them, the Song Dynasty coins were the largest, and the Northern Song Dynasty coins accounted for the absolute majority.
For example, among a batch of ancient coins unearthed at Mito Masamune Temple in the second year of Shotoku Japan (1712), there were 188,116 Song coins, accounting for 83% of the total, of which Northern Song coins accounted for 96.6%, and Southern Song coins accounted for only 3. 4%. (Quoted from the notes [15] on page 417 of Peng Xinwei's "Chinese Monetary History", Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1988 edition) Another example is a batch of ancient coins unearthed at Quanchang Temple in Okabe Village in Japan in the 35th year of Meiji (1902). , there are 24,818 Song coins, accounting for 89.6% of the total, of which Northern Song coins account for 97.6% and Southern Song coins account for 2.4%. Among the 293,026 ancient coins unearthed in Changlu Guojing Village and other places, Song coins accounted for 84%, of which Northern Song coins accounted for 99.3%, and Southern Song coins accounted for only 0.7%. (Note [1] on page 650 of Peng Xinwei's "Chinese Monetary History")
The Song Dynasty had repeatedly issued orders prohibiting the export of copper coins. For example, in the early Song Dynasty, it emphasized that "copper and iron must not be exported out of the Tibetan realm or to foreign countries" ( "History of the Song Dynasty" Volume 185 "Shi Huo Zhi 2 7·Keng Ye"), and it was reiterated many times later. The Southern Song Dynasty also repeatedly reiterated this basic policy. In the late Southern Song Dynasty alone, there were three explicit orders to prohibit the outflow of copper and iron in the first year of Baoqing (1225), the first year of Duanping (1234), and the fourth year of Chunyou (1244), especially after Shen Yan went to the sea. ban.
The sixth method is to search for folk copper utensils, and it is forbidden to destroy the money to cast other utensils.
As early as the third year of the founding of the Song Dynasty (970), Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty issued an edict prohibiting private casting of useless bronzes for Buddha statues, reliefs and figures. (ibid.) Since then, similar edicts have become common. After Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, it was forbidden to destroy money to cast bells or make bronze vessels. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, copper coins were produced from Lanlan, and the old law was regarded as a crime. Thousands of coins were destroyed, and the leader was killed. But its results have been limited.
The economic development of the Song Dynasty can be seen from the large-scale casting of coins and the large increase in coin investment. The Song Dynasty adopted a variety of methods to expand copper mining and set up money supervisors. Although the above six methods increased the amount of copper coins to a certain extent and alleviated the money shortage, this problem was not really solved by the end of the Song Dynasty. .
The money shortage objectively reflects the increasing importance of the monetary economy in feudal society, and also reflects the strengthening of foreign exchanges and ties in the Song Dynasty