Reasons for frequent lack of money
The Song Dynasty, like previous dynasties, prohibited the mining and smelting of metallic and nonmetallic minerals, and the ownership was monopolized by the state. Supervisors were set up in copper-producing areas, and full-time officials were responsible for mining and field affairs. However, the actual mining and refining are all contracted by local pit smelting households, and the annual shift is paid according to the amount stipulated by the government, both state-owned and private. This is different from the previous situation that all kinds of handicrafts were directly recruited by the government or operated by employees.
During the 37 years from the first year of Jianlong in Song Taizu to the third year of Daodao in Emperor Taizong (960 ~ 997), people were allowed to mine copper, gold and silver privately. In 970, the History of Song Dynasty declared: "The ancients paid little for rare goods, and later generations endowed mountains with grace, which increased aggression and reduced fatigue. Every time I read this, they are deeply sorry. " If you fail to donate mountains, you can't take advantage of others. Since Guiyang Prison (now Guiyang County, Hunan Province) lost its bank, it should be reduced by one third. "(Tuotuo et al., History of Song Dynasty, Volume 185, Shihuozhi, Qikeng Metallurgical, Zhonghua Book Company, 1964 edition) shows that the court did not compete with the mining and smelting owners for profits, so that they engaged in mining and smelting under certain tax reduction and exemption policies. Later, mining and smelting were once taken back to the official camp, and all copper mining areas were banned by the people. However, after a period of time, the mining rights were partially liberalized, mainly controlling the smelting and casting rights.
Distribution and annual shifts of metal mines in Song Dynasty. According to "The History of the Song Dynasty Seven Kiln Smelting", "There are 200 supervision and smelting operations in gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and tin ... thirty-five armies in eight states of Rao, Chu, Jian, Britain, Xin, Ting, Zhang and Nanjian, and two armies of Nan and Shaowu; There is one thing in Zhangzhou. " Copper, iron, silver and other metal mines are concentrated in today's Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces, which are extremely prosperous for a time, far exceeding the Tang Dynasty; Followed by Anhui, Zhejiang and Sichuan. Tin ore and lead ore are mainly distributed in Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong. During the Pingping period (1064 ~ 1067), copper mines were distributed in * * * 1 state, and1army had 46 smelters, mainly in Jiangxi and Fujian, followed by Guangdong and Sichuan. The distribution of copper mines in Yuanfeng period was 22 states (armies), which was basically similar to that in Zhiping period. Five more copper mines were opened in Zhejiang, Henan and Shaanxi. The output of metal mines is also rising. Wei Zhanshi (1049 ~ 1053) taught 565,438+ten thousand Jin of copper, about 65,438+ten thousand Jin of lead and 330,000 Jin of tin. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, copper was 6.97 million Jin, lead was increased to 2 million Jin, and tin was increased to more than one million Jin. In the first year of Yuanfeng (1078), Zongshen taught copper 1460000 Jin, lead 9 19000 Jin and tin 2.32 million Jin. The number of coins has also increased from 800,000 from Emperor Taizong to Taoist Temple to 6,543.8+0.83 million from Zhenzong Jingdezhen, 5 million from Zongshen Yuanfeng, 6,543.8+0.7 million from copper mines and 5 million from iron mines.
Coins in Song Dynasty are the most complicated period in the history of coins in China, with a large number of castings and the richest types of money names. Tang Tianbao asked about the year, and the amount of money cast each year was only 320,000. In terms of the national population, each person only spread six or seven articles. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the amount of money cast reached more than 6.5438+0 million, and in Yuanfeng, it reached more than 5 million. Excluding iron money and paper money, it is dozens of times higher than that in the Tang Dynasty. According to the amount of copper coins cast every year, from the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty to the end of Yuanfeng, the total amount of copper coins cast should be 1.45 billion tons, and if the privately cast money is added, the total amount should be close to 200 million tons. The official copper coins were cast under the supervision of the copper supervisor. Copper materials generally come from surrounding mines, but also from distant producing areas.
The growth of copper smelting in the Song Dynasty is as mentioned above, but it is worth noting that in the period of Zongxi Ning and Yuanfeng, when the money was the most abundant, the problem of long-term accumulated money shortage was prominent. As Zhang, a person at that time, pointed out, "compared with the previous year, public and private businesses are suffering from lack of money, department stores are impassable, and people are embarrassed, which is called money shortage" ("Song History" volume 180).
The reasons for the shortage of money in the Song Dynasty are as follows: First, people sell and melt copper coins and make utensils for profit. Copper is prohibited by the state and strictly controlled by the state. The people are short of copper, and the prices of general civilian bronzes in the market are rising. Driven by interests, some people sell copper coin casting utensils, and it is recorded that the profit is 5 ~ 10 times. Secondly, although it was forbidden to "send copper coins out of the Great Wall and other countries in southern Tibet" in the Northern Song Dynasty ("History of Song Dynasty", volume 180), the private outflow of copper coins became more and more serious, and a large amount of copper coins not only flowed to countries established by northern ethnic minorities through various channels, but also flowed overseas, which was difficult to stop; Thirdly, a large number of iron coins are cast, but their actual value is getting lighter and lighter, and the ratio with copper coins is constantly changing. Therefore, people store more copper coins and are unwilling to circulate in the market. In particular, nobles and landlords hoarded a lot of copper coins, which made the copper coins that were not abundant even scarcer. This situation was more prominent under the background of the development of commodity economy, commerce and handicraft industry in Song Dynasty. Finally, the currency circulation in Song Dynasty was very localized, and its coins were the most complicated dynasty in China's currency history, with the most kinds of materials. In addition, there is no unification, copper and iron are used at the same time, and the uncertainty of the size of coins and the exchange ratio of copper and iron is also the reason that hinders the normal circulation of coins.
Second, mitigation measures
After all, money shortage is copper shortage. Although a large number of copper mines and tin mines were mined and copper coins were set up everywhere in the Song Dynasty, coins were still insufficient. In order to alleviate or solve the problem of money shortage, the Song Dynasty adopted the following measures to increase the casting and investment of coins.
One way is to make up for the shortage of copper coins with big cast iron money and iron money.
As early as the early Song Dynasty, iron money was parallel to copper money, forming the circulation area of copper money and iron money, which became an important phenomenon in the circulation of metal coins in the Song Dynasty. The circulation area of iron money has expanded from the original Sichuan area to Shaanxi and Hedong. After Du Nan, in order to prevent copper coins from flowing into the north, Huaibei, Jingxi, Jingmen and other places in Hubei began to use iron coins, and the court set up iron bars in important iron-producing areas.
According to historical records, during the Zhenzong period of Jingdezhen, there were three supervisors of iron money: Qiongzhou said benefiting the people, history books said being rich, and Xingzhou said helping the people. Yizhou and Yazhou also had prisons in the old days, which were later abolished. A large sum of money is 12 Jin 10 Liang, subject to copper coins. In Jiazhou and Qiongzhou, 25 Jin 8 Liang was cast, and copper coins 1 were made into small iron coins+10. In the fifth year of Renzong (1045), Quanzhou Qingyang Iron and Steel Metallurgy Co., Ltd. made a fortune and settled the iron business in the spring. During the reign of Zong Xining, six supervisors were established in Xingguo Army (now Yangxin, Hubei), Mu (now Meicheng Town, Jiande, Zhejiang), Heng (now Hengyang, Hunan), Shu (now Anqing, Anhui), Hubei (now Wuchang, Hubei) and Huizhou (now Huizhou, Guangdong). (History of the Song Dynasty (volume 180) Notes on Food II Coins)
In the ninth year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1 139), various roads in Shaanxi were ordered to restore iron money. Fifteen years, put it in Shaoxing and Lizhou, and cast 100,000 yuan, saving money. In twenty-two years, Fu Jiafengyuan and Qiong Huimin were re-supervised, and Xiao Ping made money. Twenty-three years, Zhao Li satrap and cast two money. In the sixth year of Xiaozong Road (1 170), Shuzhoutong Safety Supervision Bureau, Qichun Safety Supervision Bureau and Huangzhouqi Safety Supervision Bureau were added, all of which were cast at a discount of two yuan, with an annual income of 300,000 yuan each, and the cast money passed through Huaibei. Cherish the spring five years (1 178), Zhou Shu was ordered to add 65438+ ten thousand kroner, and Zhou Qi added 50 thousand kroner. In the past seven years, both Shu and Qiu advocated casting money as an official, but Huai people were greatly disturbed. Ten years later, Zhou Shu Sucheng Supervision Company was merged into the same safety supervision company. Later, the shipping company led four supervisors-Guangning Supervisor in Jiangzhou, Daye Supervisor in Xingguo, Fuyu Supervisor in Linjiang (military name, now Linjiang Town in Qingjiang, Jiangxi) and Yuguo Supervisor in Fuzhou, Jiangxi. The three supervisors, led by farmer Xu Zizhong, each recognized 300,000 kronor when they were 30,000 years old, casting large and small iron coins to make the Huaihe River pass. In the first year of Jiading (1208), that is, Lizhou was cast as five big money. In the past three years, the company wanted to collect the old citations, and cast 300,000 crowns in Shaoxing and Huimin No.2 Prison, with the same materials as San Qian. (same as above)
The number and scale of copper and iron prisons in Song Dynasty are unprecedented, and the rise and fall mainly depend on the amount of resources, some of which are sudden and hasty. However, some prisons, such as Raozhou and Chizhou, can persist for a long time mainly because of their rich resources.
The second method, shoddy, mixed with other metals in copper coins.
In order to reduce the consumption of copper, the contents of iron, lead and tin should be appropriately increased when casting copper coins, and copper coins should be cast at the expense of their quality. According to the record of "Two Coins of Shi Shi and Shi Xia in Turquoise", Xu Shen was the judge of the Third Division. It is suggested that medicinal iron and copper should be mixed, such as copper coin method, in which copper accounts for three points and iron accounts for six points, which is both economical and profitable. Try this method to vote in the capital. When casting money, lead and tin are mixed together. In this way, the liquid velocity is easy to become mixed with iron, which makes workers miserable. It will take more than a month to get 10 thousand yuan. Although it didn't succeed in the end, it was a failed attempt.
In the first year of Chongning (1 102), the former Shaanxi transshipment judge had the right to ask for Shaanxi cast iron money again. Wu Juhou, the head of the household, thinks that the casting money in Jiangchi, Raojian and other prisons is not enough, and suggests reducing copper and increasing lead and tin, which can save more than 300,000 Jin of copper and increase casting money 1.59 thousand Jin. The cast money is bright and tough, just like the money in circulation now.
At first, Cai Jing's main bank took tin money and cast it in Shaanxi, and ordered Xu Tianqi, the deputy special envoy of transshipment, to carry it out. The method is to fold tin coins into two copper coins, each with 8 Jin of copper, half black tin and half white tin, which is of poor quality. Subsequently, Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places cast iron money. Two years later, Cai Jing was dismissed, saying that casting tin money in Zhejiang Province was a nuisance, and all the casting in the southeast stopped. The following year, roads in Hebei, Hedong and JD.COM were abandoned, as were prisons and hospitals. However, Hedong Third Road listened to the old prison casting copper money and iron money; Copper-producing counties listen to the deposit and use it to cast small flat money. This method has been used many times since then, which can alleviate the shortage of copper materials, but the effect is not good.
The third method is to reduce the amount of coins and change to a large amount of coins that save materials.
"History of Song Dynasty, Record of Food Goods II, Coins" contains that in the second year of Chunhua (99 1), Zhao Anyi, a native of Sichuan, suggested that he could buy a Rome for only 20,000 yuan, requesting that one casting be changed to ten big coins, and the casting place be renamed as Imperial Book Money Supervisor; All the old small iron coins were changed into big ones. But the big iron money had a very poor reputation, and then it voted. In fact, Zhao Anyi's method should be effective, but the measures are not in place and the effect is not significant. Soon, the Third Division stopped casting big iron coins in Hedong, while Shaanxi recovered brass from Yizhou Zhujianling and set up Ji Bo to cast big money. "Because jiangnan cast big copper coins, jiang, late, rao, yi, guo cast small iron coins, namely in customs clearance. Money is mixed in several States, and about three small coppers can cast one of the top ten coppers, so there are many people stealing it. Qian Wen is in chaos and prices are soaring, which is a public or private disaster. " Three small copper coins can be cast into 1 of the top ten copper coins, which can save two-thirds of the materials and should be very attractive. Since then, the practice of casting relatively large amounts of money for saving materials has emerged one after another.
After Xining, Zhejiang stole casting, especially with little money, and the market was easy to stagnate. Life to donate five times, ten times, jiang, late, rao, Jane, less states with money. In Chinese New Year classes, eight points are for small money, and two points are for ten money. He also ordered Guangnan, Jiangnan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jinghu and Huainan to use two yuan to cast and fold ten yuan. This measure also brings many problems. The history book says: "Ten yuan is in power, and many people are willing to take it. ..... Who offend with private money, there are several names in the department, and hundreds of thousands of people are worried to death. Cai Jing's neglect of poisonous people is fierce. When the imperial government widely used it, the amount of money in the southeast was insufficient, especially after Xuanhe. It is to let Rao and Gan Qian supervise the casting of small flat coins. Using three taels of iron per roll will double the copper and slightly damage the lead. Later, he ordered Jiang, Chi and Rao Qian to change the small flat money into two dollars to save money. However, some departments still failed. In the first year of Jingkang, the soldiers went on strike and Shaanxi Road was cut off for two years with copper coins. " (The History of the Song Dynasty 180 "Notes on Two Coins of Grain") Reducing copper and increasing iron, replacing small coins with pawns, and cracking down on private casting at the same time can be described as a combination of several methods, but the effect is not ideal. During Hui Zong's reign, he made another imperial edict, minted ten coins, established Qian Gang's sample inspection method, and set up a coin casting institute. Chongning supervisor took the imperial book as ten yuan, nine catties and seven taels of copper, half of which was lead and one third was tin. All kinds of imperial edicts, calligraphy and painting are clear. When the top ten money was widely circulated. The implementation of this measure has reduced the quality of money. Although a lot of money was popular, 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 businessmen in Sichuan and Shaanxi, because iron money is heavy and its value is low. Small coins weigh 65 Jin per 10, which is consistent with large coins and weighs 12 Jin. It is difficult to carry in the market, and it is extremely inconvenient for businessmen, especially big businessmen. Objectively, they need a currency that is easy to carry and very light. In Song Zhenzong (998 ~ 1022), 16 Chengdu wealthy businessmen made money coupons privately, which was called "jiaozi". Later, the merchant who presided over the jiaozi store misappropriated and embezzled cash, which led to jiaozi's failure to cash it, which led to a lawsuit and the government ordered it to be banned. In the first year of Song Renzong Tiansheng (1023), Yizhou officially established the "Jiaozi Department" and the government issued Jiaozi, which was the beginning of the issuance of banknotes in China.
At first, Guanjiaozi was issued by dividing line, and the amount of each issue was 65,438+0,256,340. Take three years as the boundary. When the boundary is full, make a new jiaozi to replace the old jiaozi. Jiaozi was first spread only in Sichuan and Shaanxi, and was introduced to Qin Zhou during the reign of Renzong (1023 ~ 103 1). The implementation of Jiaozi greatly facilitated the merchants, and made up for the shortage of copper and metal currency. Since then, it has created the issue history of China banknotes and become an epoch-making event in the world currency issue history. During the years of Chongning and Daguan, the reform was carried out, and the child service was changed to money service. The circulation scope of Jiaozi is the same as that of Tieqian, and the scope of monetary services is extended to JD.COM, Jingxi, Huainan and Shi Jing.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, paper money was widely circulated and varied. They were originally called pipes, and later they were called Huizi. In the market, there are not only clubs issued by the imperial court, but also local Chuanyin, Hu Hui and Huaijiao. In the Song Dynasty, all kinds of paper money were mainly cashed in copper and iron. It can be seen that Jiaozi first appeared in the place where iron money was circulated, in order to meet the needs of merchants after economic development, and then to make up for the shortage of metal money, especially copper money. The issuance of paper money has alleviated the contradiction of serious shortage of copper coins to some extent.
Fifth, Shen Yan is forbidden to go to sea.
The export of copper coins was a serious problem in the Song Dynasty. During the years of Xining and Yuanfeng in the Northern Song Dynasty, the outflow of copper coins was quite prominent, and the amount of copper coins cast in the Southern Song Dynasty decreased, but the output continued. The export route seems to be mainly through foreign trade, and the destination is still those regions and countries that use China money. The biggest destination is Jin people in the north, followed by North Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Take Japan as an example. From the Tang and Song Dynasties to the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China copper coins were continuously imported by Japanese, with the largest number in the Song Dynasty and the absolute majority in the Northern Song Dynasty. For example, among a batch of ancient coins unearthed in the Mituo Temple in the second year of Zheng De (17 12), there were * *18816 pieces of Song coins, accounting for 83% of the total, of which 96.6% were coins from the Northern Song Dynasty and only coins from the Southern Song Dynasty. (Quoted from Peng Xinwei's History of China's Currency [15] on page 4 17, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1988 edition), another example is Song Qian * * 20 in a batch of ancient coins unearthed from Quanchang Temple in Okabe Village in the thirty-fifth year of Meiji in Japan (1902). There are 293,026 ancient coins unearthed in Luguojing Village and other places, of which 84% are Song coins, of which 99.3% are Northern Song coins and only 0.7% is Southern Song coins. (Notes on page 650 of Peng Xinwei's History of Chinese Currency [1])
The Song Dynasty has repeatedly banned the export of copper coins. For example, in the early Song Dynasty, it was emphasized that "copper and iron should not be rejected from the world of Buddha's externalization" (History of Song Dynasty, Volume 185, Seven Things of Food, Pit Smelting), and it was reiterated many times later. The Southern Song Dynasty also reiterated this basic policy time and again. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty alone, the outflow of copper and iron was banned for three times, namely, the first year of Baoqing (1225), the first year of Duanping (1234) and the fourth year of Chunyou (1244), especially the ban on going to sea was strictly enforced.
The sixth method is to search for folk bronzes, and it is forbidden to destroy money to cast other utensils.
As early as the founding of New China, in the third year of Song Taizu's treasure-making (970), people were forbidden to cast bronze into useless things such as Buddha statues and floating statues. Since then, similar letters have been common. After the prosperity of Song Renzong, it is forbidden to destroy money to cast bells and bronze wares. Li qingchu raised copper coins, adding to the crime in the old law, destroying thousands of dollars, and the first one was killed. But its effect is limited.
The economic development of the Song Dynasty can be seen from a large number of coins and a large increase in the amount of coins invested. In the Song Dynasty, various methods were adopted to expand the mining of copper mines and establish a money supervision bureau. 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 at the end of the Song Dynasty. The shortage of money objectively reflects the improvement of the importance of monetary economy in feudal society, and also reflects the strengthening of foreign exchanges and exchanges in Song Dynasty.