The reason for the economic prosperity in Song Dynasty was purely economic. In the final analysis, the purpose of war is to rob the other side of wealth or the ability to create wealth (land, resources, talents, technology, etc. ). The invasion of the Song Dynasty by ethnic minorities such as Khitan, Jurchen, Tangut and Mongolia, in the final analysis, stems from their yearning for the richness of the Central Plains. They know that it is impossible to reach this height by their own development. To the north? Barbarians? Generally speaking, because the population that the land can carry is really limited (agricultural areas need to feed a horse to produce food for 25 people), their own production capacity can not meet their own desire for material desires, or even meet the most basic survival needs. In this way, robbing others of their wealth has naturally become one of the basic means of making a living and growing up.
At the same time, under the premise of not improving production efficiency, there is an upper limit to the population that a certain amount of land can carry. Once the population exceeds the upper limit, the solution is either to expand the territory or to reduce the population, and the inevitable result of both can only be war. These? Barbarians? They not only invaded the Song Dynasty, but also fought for their own survival. This way of life of plundering and killing each other runs through the life of every nomadic people.
As a passive party to the war, what is the attitude of the Song government towards the war? According to the hypothesis of rational man, the party who started the war must have determined that the expected benefits of the war are greater than the cost of the war. To the north? Barbarians? Generally speaking, their war cost is relatively low. Limited by natural conditions and their own development level, the wealth creation ability of these ethnic groups is far lower than that of the surrounding Song Dynasty. As a result, they gave up their own production and plundered the Song Dynasty, and the expected income was far greater than the wealth satisfaction they could provide by giving up their production activities for this reason.
However, we know that this choice is not in this game? Pareto optimal? . ? Pareto optimal? The choice is that neither side chooses? War? , but both sides choose? And then what? In this way, the utility of both parties can be maximized. We know what this goal is. Non-cooperation cannot be achieved in the game. So in the end, the battle between Song and Liao turned into a battle? Cooperative game? . The two sides signed the Great Lakes Alliance according to the idea of the Song people. From then on, Liao people stopped harassing the Song Dynasty. Song dynasty spent some money to buy a peace, and both sides were happy. In this way, the optimal choice based on the premise of cooperation between the two parties is finally realized. Pareto optimal? At the same time, it avoids the choice of both sides from the starting point of maximizing their own interests. Double defeat? A scene with a tragic ending happened.
However, some comrades do not think so. They think that "the alliance of monasteries" is a disgrace to the Song people. Do you want to call it Song Dynasty? Weak? The performance of. What's more, I still remember the year? Old coins? It was regarded as a heavy burden for the Song people, and even accelerated the class contradictions in the Song Dynasty. I think the above views are sheer nonsense. Song dynasty gave it to Liao people every year? Old coins? how much is it? 200,000 taels of silk and 654.38 taels of silver. What was the annual income of Song government at that time? Over 100 million (two? ), just? Old coins? These are nine Niu Yi hairs. Compared with hundreds of millions of taels of compensation paid by the Manchu government, it is a world of difference to borrow foreign debts on a large scale after losses. So what? Old coins? How much is the head spread? Someone has calculated an account: the population in the Northern Song Dynasty was over 100 million at that time, and the per capita annual burden was about 4 copper coins. What are the concepts of four copper coins? Answer: a biscuit! Imagine that if everyone ate one less biscuit every year, the world would be peaceful. Saved countless military expenses. Not to mention, don't fight, don't die. Is it gone? Doesn't the spring breeze pass through Yumen Pass? Complain, less? How many people fought in ancient times? Sadness can save many happy families and avoid the tragedy of how many white-haired people send black-haired people. What's wrong with such a good thing? How much does the loss of money from a biscuit affect a person's financial situation?
Besides, do we really have to throw it away? Silk 200,000, silver 65438+ million? have you finished? Don't forget that the Song-Liao border was established after the Single Source Alliance? Absence? , exchange needed goods. Song dynasty, with its strong production capacity, put a lot of? Good quality and low price? Our products (such as silk, porcelain, tea and handicrafts, etc.). ) are exported to Liao. It was obtained in this way every year in the Song Dynasty? Super? How many/much? How much tax does the government collect from the fields of production and circulation? How much can you hold? Old coins? Is it? Has anyone calculated this account? In modern international trade, for those? Into the super? Too many countries give back internationally? Trade compensation? And then what? Will. Old coins? Like Song people gave it to Liao? Trade compensation? What's wrong with it?
Even though the Song people really couldn't beat the Liao people militarily, they did it economically. Song people gradually put the wealth created by Liao people into their own hands through trade and surplus. This practice is simpler and rougher than that one. No technical content at all? Isn't it smarter to rob directly? On the one hand, Liao people got it? Old coins? Production and living conditions have been improved, and at the same time, the evolution of the Khitan nationality has been promoted, and the number of people waging war has increased? Opportunity cost? ; On the other hand, Song people also realized the growth of wealth through exchange. Instead of fighting each other to the death? Double defeat? In the end, what did the Song people do? Double defeat? Became? Win-win? Why not? Don't forget, under this condition, although the wealth of both sides is growing, the wealth of Song people is always growing faster than that of Liao people! In other words, some of the wealth created by Liao people flowed into the pockets of Song people through the trade surplus. Can this be regarded as the contribution of Song people to Liao people? Exploitation? All right! This is called truth? Use your strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses? Give full play to your own? Comparative advantage? , in quietly got great benefits. I have to sigh the strategic vision and wisdom of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty.
Apart from the opportunity cost, what about war? Moral cost? The invasion of northerners hardly requires material reserves. In fact, I doubt whether there is such a thing in these countries. Material reserve? . What we haven't seen is where these barbarians hit, burning and looting all the way, and never storing materials themselves. Maybe this is what they call it? A savage battle? Because of them? Not satisfied with Wang Hua? There is no humanity at all, and there is no guilt for doing bad things. On the contrary, Song Jun did not.
So what? Lucky? Yes The military commander has something to say? The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass go first? War reserve is an indispensable top priority at any time. See what happened to coach Lin in the Water Margin? Dry grassland? It is not difficult to imagine how much money the Song government spent on military logistics supply. Look at him again? Yue Jiajun? ,? Freeze to death without tearing down the house, starve to death without robbing it? , is a microcosm of the whole of Song Jun. More unfortunate soldiers will still be because? Disturb people? Or? Abuse of prisoners? He was punished for his behavior and even lost his mind. Who has heard of this? Barbarians? What does it matter? Qiu didn't commit a crime? The concept of? According to Song Jun's military discipline, those savages should be executed by their own officers!
Thus, when Song Jun is engaged in war, the cost is huge, and the benefits are relatively insignificant. However, for the northern minorities, the cost of war is almost negligible, but what about victory? Fruit? The temptation is enormous. This is also the fundamental reason why the Song people advocated peace and barbarians fought the main battle. There is not a place in this world that was not written by Adam Smith? Natural person? Song people are, so they rely on their own production activities to maximize their effectiveness; So are barbarians, so they achieve the same goal by plundering from abroad, and they also play their respective roles, right? Comparative advantage? Let's go Here, we might as well regard the relationship between Song and Liao as a game. In fact, both Song and Liao are in deep trouble. Prisoner's dilemma? In a dilemma For Liao, although the national strength was much smaller than that of Song, the cost of war was relatively small. Risk reward? But it's big. So you can do it many times? Trial and error? In order to win in danger. For Song, although the national strength is strong, it is unrealistic to ask the people to give up their life of being addicted to money and look forward to working in a bitter and cold place at any time. So we might as well assume that this is a two-way game? Non-cooperative game, so how to choose to realize this game? Nash equilibrium? And then what? The reason why some people can't accept the practice of the Song Dynasty is, in the final analysis, a deep-seated reason. Han chauvinism? Complicated work. These people don't really respect that the country established by the Khitans is our counterpart. What are they thinking? Barbarians? The concept is to be quick after that. What does this mode of thinking have to do with those old and young in the Qing Dynasty? China is still a country? This idea is like a withdrawal. They did not feel the real difficulties of the Song government, nor did they feel the most fundamental wishes of the people. Instead of concentrating the manpower, material resources and financial resources of the whole country on a strategic adventure with uncertain outcome, it is better to exchange long-term peace with a small price. You know, if the war continues, are we still here? Use your own shortcomings to attack the enemy's strengths? This is an unwise choice and irresponsible for people's lives and property. Compared with Liao people, besides force, we should be able to find a better way to solve the contradiction between the two sides. Starting from maintaining the international order and the development and stability of the country at that time, the Zen-Yuan Alliance provided a good model for resolving conflicts between countries such as territorial disputes. After 100 years of consistent implementation, it has fully proved its effectiveness and foresight, and should be fully affirmed.
Successfully solved it by using the alliance of the yuan dynasty? Foreign invasion? After suffering, how did the Song government achieve a great leap in productivity? Here, we especially want to discuss the special policies adopted by the Song government in managing the economy. After the Northern Song Dynasty entered the mid-term, the population grew rapidly because of environmental peace, production recovery, and even broke through the 100 million mark. The contradiction between man and land is fierce, which has never been faced by its dynasties. Let's take a look at what problems will be brought about by population increase: population increase will lead to a relative shortage of land supply and a relative surplus of labor supply, which will lead to an increase in land prices and a decrease in labor prices.
Let's take a look at the result of rising land prices: rising land prices have increased the cost of operating land. If land managers want to maintain the stability of income and the profit rate of land investment, they must try their best to adopt more advanced technology to increase production and reduce costs. They need to use the improvement of labor productivity to make up for the cost increase caused by the rising land price. From this aspect alone, this practice has undoubtedly greatly promoted the progress of agricultural science and technology and the improvement of agricultural labor efficiency. As we all know, social progress is ultimately technological progress, and technological progress comes from the improvement of labor productivity. Is it because of the scientific and technological progress in the Song Dynasty? Only in this way can we truly realize the leap-forward growth of the total social products.
Another result caused by the rising land price can not be ignored is the promotion of the industrial structure adjustment of the Song Dynasty economy. We know that for the feudal dynasty in the era of agricultural civilization, agriculture is always the foundation of the country. What did Chinese dynasties emphasize most? People eat for the sky? Yes? Scholars, farmers, businessmen? Tradition is deeply rooted. But why did it only come true in the Song Dynasty? Building a country through industry and commerce? And then what? We found that there was also industrial upgrading in the Song Dynasty? motive power
The contradiction between a large population and a small land will inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of land management and a decrease in the rate of return on land management. This objective environment has just promoted the transfer of capital and other resources from land-based agriculture to other industries that are relatively less dependent on land. Compared with agriculture, handicraft manufacturing and service industries engaged in land management, their dependence on land is greatly reduced, and the impact of rising land prices on these industries is relatively small, and the impact on their cost structure is not great. Therefore, many investors who used to engage in land management will transfer their funds to manufacturing and service industries with relatively high return on investment. The injection of a large amount of capital and other resources (such as human resources) will undoubtedly promote the unprecedented improvement of production capacity in these industries.
Compared with agriculture whose main evolutionary way is to inherit experience; The survival of handicraft industry and service industry pays more attention to the dependence on technological progress and the improvement of management methods. With the increase of capital and other resources invested in these industries, the competition within the industry will also intensify. Under the pressure of external competition, investors will try their best to improve their competitiveness in order to survive and maintain. Because the core competitiveness of these industries comes from the dependence on technological progress and the improvement of management methods, the result we see is a large number of inventions (including well-known ones? Four great inventions? Three quarters) and countless works aimed at imparting practical experience all originated in the Song Dynasty.
With the improvement of labor productivity brought by scientific and technological progress, the labor value of Song Dynasty has been correspondingly enriched. In other words, the wealth created by each worker in the same working hours has greatly increased, and the wealth of the people has also greatly increased. Through the progress of technology, when people get rich, their consumption will naturally increase. The demands of the public have been increasing from the beginning. Depth? Development. From the intuitive feeling of The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival and the profile description of countless literary works, we can find that the demand for goods in Song Dynasty has increased by leaps and bounds compared with that in previous dynasties: teahouses, wineries and brothels in Liyuan in Tokyo have mushroomed; Private consumption of silk, tea, books, paper and other relatively luxurious products is more promising. What's more, the public's attention to leisure culture and entertainment is unprecedented, in the modern sense? Service industry? In the song dynasty, it can be said that it was brought into full play. Which one does not reflect people's pursuit of spiritual consumption, the singing and dancing in brothels and the literary talent of poets in pubs? This was unimaginable in that era of insufficient food and clothing, which also reflected the national wealth of the Song Dynasty from one side. According to economics? Demand pull? The prosperity of commodity economy in Song Dynasty was largely the result of demand. It is precisely because of the relative wealth of the people that the demand continues to be strong, which in turn leads to the inclination of capital and labor to handicrafts and service industries; On the other hand, the high return on investment in handicrafts and service industries has once again pushed demand to a new height, and the national economy has thus embarked on a virtuous circle.
In addition, when the progress of science and technology leads to the improvement of productivity and the development level of productivity reaches a new level, it is logical to transform the old production relations that do not meet the requirements of the development level of productivity. For this, countless? Worry about the world first? Our sages began to think about reforming the old relations of production. Small to the management of a single production workshop, product marketing (microeconomics? ); From the reform of government institutions to the formulation of national major policies (macro-economy? ), intellectuals in the Song Dynasty made extensive and in-depth research. These studies are measured by the classification of disciplines in the modern sense, covering not only the scope of economics, but also many aspects of social sciences such as philosophy, sociology, political science and management. These studies not only brought about the prosperity of economy in Song Dynasty, but also realized the prosperity of culture and education in Song Dynasty. As an implementation? Civilian politics? During the Song Dynasty in China, the number of intellectuals, their high status and relaxed academic environment were also unique in history. This also ensures that the sustainable innovation ability of science and technology and the ruling and contingency ability of government agencies can meet the requirements of rapid economic development.
As mentioned above, the change in the ratio of people to land will have another consequence, that is, the decline in labor prices. With the increase of labor supply and the relative decrease of land supply, land owners will be more cautious when choosing land lessors. On the one hand, the rise of land price leads to the increase of opportunity cost and risk of land management; On the other hand, the increase of labor supply increases the choice space of land owners. As a result of the superposition of the two, land operators will only lease their land to farmers with good reputation and relatively high production technology to reduce their own risks and ensure their own benefits. For land lessors, they must try their best to improve their farming skills and management ability.
Prevent being eliminated in the increasingly fierce market competition. From this, it is not difficult to find the internal improvement of agricultural production efficiency? The improvement of power land use efficiency has become the inevitable result under this mechanism.
On the other hand, the surplus of rural labor resources and the intensification of labor market competition will also lead to the increase of social unemployment. This will inevitably lead to the diversion of a large number of rural surplus labor to other industries. Here we find a very interesting phenomenon: on the one hand, the capital originally engaged in land management is pulled out of agriculture and enters the market? Rent seeking? ; On the other hand, a large number of surplus labor forces have also been released from the agricultural labor force and pushed to the market. All these provide conditions for the re-integration of the two in other industries, and also provide a good opportunity for the great development of industry and commerce. We know that the development of any industry is inseparable from the support of capital and the supplement of labor. The social conditions at that time in the Song Dynasty just realized the organic combination of the two in the industrial and commercial field, and the prosperity of the industry became a natural thing.
It is different from the agricultural economic production mode in which farmers are landowners. In the field of industry and commerce, especially the handicraft manufacturing industry, wage labor is more used to operate. Will some parts of Jiangnan stand on the bridge in the middle and late Ming Dynasty in history textbooks? Wait for the price to sell? Personally, I think it is not appropriate to regard weavers as the seeds of capitalist relations of production in China. It is hard for us to imagine that there is no capitalist production relationship represented by wage labor in such a huge industrial and commercial field in the Song Dynasty. It is also hard for us to imagine that there were a large number of handicraft workshops in the Song Dynasty, involving many industries, such as mining, publishing, porcelain making and so on. It is maintained by the traditional management mode of one household. Take the porcelain industry as an example, there were many in the Northern Song Dynasty. Official kiln? And then what? Folk kiln? Is it complicated management, meticulous division of labor, huge output, integrating professional and technical personnel and management personnel, and modern? Enterprise? The prototype of a huge production cooperation organization with one-stop production and sales. For an individual or a single family, what is this scale? An impossible task? .
Let's look at the circulation field again. What are the commodities in the circulation field in Song Dynasty in terms of quantity and value? Never before, never after? . Judging from the total amount of money supply reflecting the value of commodities in the circulation field, the average number of coins minted every year after the mid-Northern Song Dynasty will exceed the sum of coins minted in the Tang Dynasty for decades. You can imagine how amazing the number of goods imported into the circulation field for the purpose of exchange at that time. Self-sufficiency in traditional agricultural society? Small peasant economy? It is impossible for the circulation field to produce products that can meet such huge demand. Therefore, we have no reason to doubt that in the Song Dynasty, where industry and commerce were so developed, there were a large number of capitalist modes of production characterized by wage labor.
Based on the above analysis, we can see that the capitalist mode of production characterized by wage labor should be popularized on a large scale in Song Dynasty. From the perspective of the history of economic development, can it be called the history of human civilization from the small-scale peasant economy in feudal society to the mechanized mass production in capitalist society? The biggest leap? . We are proud that this leap should first take place in the eleventh century, the east of the world! Not from the other half of the earth, as most scholars think, the one on the Apennine Peninsula is called? Florence? This place.
Based on the above analysis, we can see that all the rulers of the Song Dynasty? Specializing in internal affairs? Under the guidance of the new policy, the Song government not only successfully won a long-term peaceful environment for the country's economic construction, but also paid attention to the actual and effective control of regional governance as always. After a long period of peaceful development and recuperation, when the proportion of people and land changed, they learned to use economic laws and adopted the method of diverting capital and labor to other industries, which solved the contradiction of the proportion of people and land that had been plaguing the development of feudal dynasties once and for all and successfully realized industrial upgrading. At the same time, the government has made great strides in science, technology and management through its liberal policy towards intellectuals, which has provided a strong impetus for economic development? Motive force Driven by the vigorous and sustained social demand, the unprecedented prosperity of industry and commerce and the century-old prosperity of social economy and culture were finally realized. All these practices of doing things according to economic laws, even in today's society, should be regarded as very creative and constructive measures.
Introduction to Song Dynasty Song Dynasty (AD 960? A.D. 1279) is a dynasty in the history of China that inherited the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and initiated the Yuan Dynasty. Divided into two historical stages, the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, eighteen emperors enjoyed the country for 3 19 years.
In 960 AD, the generals of the Later Zhou Dynasty launched a mutiny in Chen Qiao, made Zhao Kuangyin emperor and established the Song Dynasty. In order to avoid the chaos in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, Song Taizu adopted the policy of emphasizing literature and restraining military power. On the one hand, it strengthened centralization, on the other hand, it deprived military commanders of their military power and entered the period of Song Zhenzong and Song Renzong. 1 125, the state of Jin invaded the south on a large scale and was destroyed in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Gou succeeded to the throne in Yingtianfu (now Shangqiu, Henan Province) and established the Southern Song Dynasty. After the Shaoxing peace talks, he and the State of Jin took the Qinling Mountains and Huaihe River as the boundary. Later, song and yuan war broke out and the Yuan Dynasty captured Lin 'an on 1276. After the war between Yashan and Shanhai, the Southern Song Dynasty perished.
Song Dynasty was an era of high prosperity in China's ancient commodity economy, culture, education and scientific innovation. In Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism revived, science and technology developed rapidly, and politics became more enlightened.
Chen Yinque, a famous historian, once said: The culture of the Chinese nation has developed for thousands of years and reached its peak in the Zhao and Song Dynasties. ?
After the release of the Song Dynasty, Duke Zhou succeeded to the throne and sent me back to Germany. The German army was stationed in Songzhou (now Shangqiu, Henan). The following year, Zhao Kuangyin mutinied and acceded to the throne in Chen Qiao. Because of his fortune in Songzhou, his country was named? Song? , its capital is Bianliang (now Kaifeng). During the Jingkang period, Jin Bing captured Bianjing and died in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Gou, the ninth son of Huizong, rebuilt the Song Dynasty in Lin 'an (now Hangzhou). Southern Song Dynasty? .