After experiencing the separatism of vassal towns in the late Tang Dynasty and the ravages of the wars of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the land of China finally returned to unity under the hands of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. The cession of six states to the Khitan opened the Northern Song Dynasty's northern gateway. Coupled with the lack of excellent horse farms, the Northern Song Dynasty's military strength has been difficult to develop. However, the Khitan can march into the Central Plains at any time, so purchasing war horses from outside has become a top priority for the Northern Song Dynasty. .

Due to the loss of the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, there were no horse farms in the north and could only expand to the southwest. Trading with ethnic minorities became an inevitable choice. The tea-horse trade came into being. So how did the Northern Song Dynasty develop tea? What about horse trading?

Although the tea-horse trade developed vigorously in the Northern Song Dynasty, its origins came from the Tang Dynasty. "New Book of Tang Lu Yu Zhuan" records that when Huihe entered the dynasty, he began to drive horses to trade with each other. The Tang Dynasty During this period, officials began to realize the huge benefits of trading with ethnic minorities and began to operate mutual markets. The rise of mutual markets stimulated the prosperity of foreign trade. After the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty naturally and perfectly inherited the legacy of the Tang Dynasty due to the lack of war horses. For the trade of ethnic minorities, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road was opened, and a special Tea-Horse Division was set up to specialize in the tea-horse trade.

The high yield of tea was also one of the economic driving forces of the tea-horse trade. At that time, agricultural tools represented by the curved shaft plow brought the agricultural level of the Northern Song Dynasty to its peak. The yield of tea naturally soared, and the supply and demand of tea was underestimated. Unbalanced, according to "History of Song Dynasty Food and Huo Zhi", there were 13 events in six states in Huainan, totaling more than 8.65 million kilograms per year. This is equivalent to an annual tea production of 23.062 million kilograms in the southeastern region alone, not counting Sichuan. The high production of tea corresponds to a decrease in tea prices. At this time, the southwest region began to drink tea because of the promotion of the "Tea Classic". The trend prevailed, and ethnic minorities regarded tea drinking as an indispensable part of their lives. However, tea was extremely scarce. Driven by huge profits, a large number of businessmen embarked on the Tea Horse Road.

The rise of tea among ethnic minorities is not only due to the prosperity of tea culture, but also to its medicinal value. Because Tibet is located in an alpine area, in order to survive in the harsh environment, Tibetans often eat tsampa, milk, butter, beef and mutton, etc. Although they contain high-calorie fat, long-term use of high-calorie foods lacks vitamin supplements. , will inevitably lead to a weakening of the body. In addition, ethnic minorities do not have a large amount of land to grow fruits and vegetables, and the high vitamin content of tea greatly makes up for this shortcoming. In addition, the Northern Song Dynasty needed war horses to resist the invasion of the Khitan in the north. Both sides took what they had. Demand greatly stimulated the prosperity of the tea-horse trade. In the tea horse trade, the government of the Northern Song Dynasty established the principle of "increasing or decreasing with the market, and the price is variable". Excellent war horses were purchased at high prices and used for military supplements on the frontier, while weak horses of inferior quality were flowed into the private sector for use on the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Transportation and fair and reasonable mutual markets have created a stable tea-horse trade, promoted the prosperity of the Tea-Horse Ancient Road, and enhanced transportation between the Central Plains and ethnic minorities.

Although the Northern Song Dynasty ended the division of the Central Plains, it did not unify the country. There were still powerful ethnic minority regimes around it. In particular, the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun was always controlled by the Khitan. The danger can be defended. In order to regain the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun, the Northern Song Dynasty government made three Northern Expeditions, but all ended in failure. Years of wars resulted in the shortage of war horses on the border. At this time, the Northern Song Dynasty urgently needed a large number of war horses as war supplies to prevent the Khitan from going south. , so the development of the Ancient Tea Horse Road became inevitable.

In the first year of Jingde, Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty's army went south, and Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty was forced to conquer it personally. Later, the Song and Liao Dynasties negotiated a peace and signed the Chanyuan Alliance. The Alliance of Chanyuan gave the Northern Song Dynasty a breath of relief after years of foreign wars. The two countries agreed to use the Baigou River as the boundary and non-aggression. The Song Dynasty gave the Khitan 150,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk every year. From then on, the two countries Mutual trade began, and the short-term stable political environment strengthened the prosperity of the tea-horse trade.

In the early Song Dynasty, when horses were traded, copper coins were used to value the horses, and gold, silver, cloth, tea silk, pool salt and other items were traded. Later, some ethnic minorities used copper coins to cast weapons. "History of the Song Dynasty" records There was a time when the Rong people obtained money and cast it into utensils, so they used tea, silk and other items instead. At the same time, trading horses with silver resulted in a large loss of silver. Therefore, in order to prevent these problems, the Northern Song Dynasty established a tea and horse department to control the tea and horse trade. Although the Northern Song Dynasty officially stipulated that tea should be used to trade horses, the private use of silk, silver, copper, money, etc. for trading has not been completely replaced.

For the Northern Song government, the tea-horse trade was not only to expand the source of war horses, it was also an important restraint policy in the Northern Song Dynasty.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, there had always been a policy of restraining the emperor to express Huaiyuan's intention. Zhenzong often told his ministers that the method of buying horses was not only to recruit domestic horses from Tibet, but also to recruit Tibetan tribes to serve the enemy. Therefore, the tea-horse trade also played an important role in controlling ethnic minorities.

The Western Regions are located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent. The Tang Dynasty had a prosperous country, a strong people, and a stable society. With its strong military strength, it controlled the transportation routes from the Western Regions to the Central Plains, and opened up the famous Silk Road. With the emergence of the Silk Road in the Tang Dynasty, the inconvenience of trade between the East and the West due to transportation and security was solved. The Silk Road played a decisive role in connecting the economic and trade between the East and the West. The development of the Silk Road introduced the tea culture from the Central Plains to Tibet and other Tibet. For the nomadic countries in the Western Regions, their animal husbandry is highly developed but not good at farming. Tea is of great significance to the health of the Tibetan people. Not only tea can As a drink, it relieves the greasy feeling of meat and improves the physical fitness of Tibetans. This greatly promoted the spread of tea among the Tibetan people and laid the foundation for the prosperity of the tea-horse trade in the Song Dynasty.

As Tibetans drink tea more and more, tea-related activities are increasing, which plays a positive role in spreading tea culture to other ethnic minorities. The subsequent opening of the Ancient Tea Horse Road greatly promoted the economic and trade development of southwest China. The needs of ethnic minorities for tea and silk, and the demand of the Central Plains for war horses and medicinal materials, formed an economic center based on the tea-horse trade. Therefore, the Northern Song Dynasty established a special Tea Horse Department to manage the tea-horse trade to promote the cooperation between the Central Plains ethnic groups and ethnic minorities. Economic exchanges and material exchanges between nations have played a great positive role in the exchange of tea culture.

The prosperity of the tea-horse trade not only provided the Northern Song Dynasty with a large number of excellent war horses, which enabled the Northern Song Dynasty's military strength to compete with the northern nomads, maintained the stability of the border, and promoted It promoted economic exchanges between the Central Plains and ethnic minorities. The tea-horse trade promoted the development of the commodity economy in the Northern Song Dynasty, and also promoted the economic and cultural development of ethnic minorities. Tea culture flowed into ethnic minorities, and each ethnic group also developed its own unique tea drinking style. culture, strengthen the integration of ethnic minority culture and Central Plains culture, and provide a foundation and reference for the current national unity.