Chapter 51 Chapter 48 Currency

Exchange is an important economic institution in today's society, and currency is the means of exchange.Therefore, the perfection of the monetary system has a lot to do with the development and stability of the economy.China's currency system is not perfect.This is because (1) China's economic theory focuses on production and consumption rather than exchange, and there is a lack of research on this part. (2) The territory is vast, the habits of different places are different, and the administrative power is too weak to control it. In ancient China, the most common currency was about Bei.Therefore, the characters for goods and wealth are all from Bei, which is used by fishing peoples.There are also skins.Therefore, the country uses leather coins for betrothal gifts, and deer skins are also used for wedding collections, which should be used by hunting peoples.It was not until the farming society that millet and silk were commonly used.That's why it is said that "hold the millet to make divination", and also say "hold the cloth and trade silk".Pearls, jade, gold, silver and copper are all needed by nobles.Among them, the price of pearl and jade is the most expensive, followed by gold and silver, and copper is the second. Therefore, "Guanzi" said: "Pearl and jade are the upper currency, gold is the middle currency, and knife cloth is the lower currency." Copper is relatively expensive. "Historical Records: Biography of Huozhi" and "Hanshu: Shihuo Zhi" said that the selling price at that time was from 20 to 80 wen per stone.The measurement at that time was about one-fifth of modern times.That is to say, the five stones at that time were equal to one stone today (the measurement method was Dendrobium at that time, and the weight method was called stone, and the amount of stone and Dendrobium was roughly equal), and its price was 100 to 400 Wen.During the time of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, grain and stone were worth five coins, but now a grain of grain is only worth twenty-five coins.So, sporadic trade, how can money be used?So Mencius asked Chen Xiang: Where did Xu Xing's clothes come from?Chen Xiang said: "It's all based on millet" ("Teng Wengong Part 1").And the virtuous literature of the Han Dynasty said that people who bought meat at that time still "went away with a grain of grain and returned with a change of meat" ("Salt and Iron Theory · Sanshou"). It can be seen that from the Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, the use of copper coins and Not very common.Looking at this, we know that the ancients had many advocates for the abolition of currency.If the use of currency in ancient times is the same as it is today, then even if the ancients had this proposition, they would have to consider it carefully, have a detailed method, and then put it forward, it cannot be said too easily.From Zhou to Han, this is still the case, let alone before Xia and Yin?Therefore, "Shuowen" said: "In the ancient times, there were treasures and tortoises, and there were springs in Zhou Dynasty, and money was used in Qin Dynasty." Mi Ji" is actually the most accurate. "Historical Records Ping Zhun Shu" said: "Yu Xia's coin, gold is three grades: or yellow, or white, or red, or money, or cloth, or knife, or turtle shell." In the original text of "Historical Records", these numbers are attached to the end of the chapter, and they were inserted by later generations, so it can be understood without saying anything. "Hanshu Shihuozhi" also said: "The Grand Duke established the nine-mansion law for Zhou. The gold square inch weighs a catty. The money is the letter square (the letter is the eye word for money in the saying), and the weight is in baht. The cloth and silk are two feet and two inches wide. It is a spoke, and it is four feet long. It is a horse. The Grand Duke retreats, and he walks in Qi." According to "Historical Records: Huozhi Biography": "Guanzi has nine government offices." ", "Mountain High", "Riding a Horse", "Light and Heavy", "Nine Houses", the so-called Nine Houses Won Law is indeed the system of Qi State.But when it happened is unknown.It is even more groundless to say that it was established by the Taigong, and it is already suspected of being attached to the association. Besides, it is even more unfounded to say that the Taigong established it for Zhou and retreated to Qi.In ancient civilization, the East was originally earlier than the West.Qi State is in the east, and its economy is the most developed.A relatively neat currency system seems to have originated from Qi. The chapters of "Guanzi Light and Heavy" talk more about the principles of currency and goods relative to each other, which shows that the use of currency at that time was quite flexible. Although "Guanzi" was not written by Guan Zhong, it cannot but be said to be the book of Qi State. "Shuowen" says that Zhou has springs, so it can be seen that the casting of copper coins started in the Zhou Dynasty and gradually became common in various places.Not as soon as there are copper coins, they are generally used everywhere.

Copper coins in ancient times were very expensive, and they were not available for ordinary people, let alone pearls, jade, gold and silver.Why are these many things called currency together with copper coins?This is because at the beginning of the currency, it was used in distant places and traded with nobles. "Guanzi" said: "Jade originated from the Yu family, gold originated from Ru and Han, and pearls originated from Chiye. It is seven thousand or eight hundred miles away from east to west, north to south ("Tong Dian" quoted as seven or eight thousand miles), and the water is endless. If it is broken, boats and vehicles cannot pass through. The former kings thought it was a long way and difficult to reach, so they entrusted it with its weight." ("Guozhu") also said: "Tang seven years of drought, Yu five years of water, Tang used Zhuangshan Gold, Yu used the gold from Lishan to mint coins, and there was no one who sold his sons to redeem people." ("Mountain Quanshu") Such a large number of sales and purchases must be sought from noble families.Because at that time, only the nobles would have a large amount of grain storage (for example, "Shan Quan Shu Pian" also said that Ding's family millet can eat the divisions of the three armies).From this, we can understand the reason why ancient merchants often handed over to nobles, and the use of pearls, jade, gold and silver is also without doubt.Pearls, jade, gold and silver, etc., are too expensive to be used for ordinary purposes.There is only copper, which is relatively cheap, but has a wide range of uses. It is cherished by ordinary people and can be used by them.Copper was then developed into common money, which took the form of casting.The most expensive ones are gradually dominated by gold, while pearls and jade have been eliminated.

Qian Yuan's letter must be based on the image of Yu Bei.Therefore, the casting of money initially played the role of currency.It is unknown whether it is made by the people because the country is accustomed to using shellfish and loves copper.Looking at the "Hanshu", the four characters of baht are used for weight and weight, and it can be seen that the weight of copper coins in Qi State is not the same.Restricting its weight must be an integer equal to the baht, just like restricting the length and width of cloth.The money at that time was quite complicated.From this point of view, the casting of copper coins seems to have originated from the folk, but if it originated from the country, it must have been more orderly from the beginning.It can also be seen that there are very few things that the country can initiate by itself, and they are all organized because of the inherent things in society.After the currency was popularized, a large amount of casting was naturally from the state.Because non-states cannot have this large amount of copper.But that's just the way it is.The principle that currency cannot be minted privately seems to be unclear in ancient times.Therefore, Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty also let the people cast it privately.

"Hanshu Shihuozhi" said: "Qin merged the world, and the currency was second-class. Gold was named after Yi, and the currency was listed. The quality of copper coins is like Zhou money, and the text is half-liang, which is as important as its text. And pearls, jade, turtle shells, silver tin The genus is for decoration and treasures, not currency. However, each of them is impermanent at any time." It can be seen that in the society at that time, pearls, jade, tortoise shells, silver tin, etc. were all used as a medium of exchange, while the country was more than copper coins. , only recognize gold.This is not an evolution of the non-monetary system. "Shi Huo Zhi" also said that Han Xing thought that Qin money was heavy and difficult to use, which made the people make pod money. "Gaohou Benji": In two years, eight baht money will be sold.Ying Shao said: "This is Qin money. The quality is like Zhou money, and the text is half-liang, which is as heavy as its text. That is, eight baht. The Han Dynasty thought it was too heavy, so it made pod money. Today, it is called elm pod money among the people. The people are in trouble. It's too light. So far, eight baht coins will be paid." Six years, five cents.Ying Shao said: "The so-called pod money. Emperor Wen thought that five cents was too light and small, so he made four baht coins. Wen also called half a tael. Today's folk half a tael is the lightest and smallest." According to the copper coins that have been cast , Since it is different from raw copper.However, when several kinds of currencies are mixed in the market, the people must believe in the heavy ones, and doubt the light ones; believe in the well-cast ones, and doubt the rough-cast ones, this is helpless.Although there are many kinds of currencies in ancient times, their prices vary according to their size, and they will not drive each other out.Today's "Hanshu Shihuozhi" says: After the money in the Han Dynasty, rice is worth ten thousand dollars, and horses are worth a hundred gold.Although there were wars in the early Han Dynasty, the wilderness was not covered by bones, thousands of miles were uninhabited, and the prices were high. Why is this so?Moreover, prices should not grow at the same time.At the same time, it grows together, that is, it is not the growth of commodity prices, but the decline of currency prices. The reason is very clear.The ancient one and two weigh twenty-four baht.The weight of the eight baht is only two-thirds of the half tael, and only one third of the four baht, and the texts are all half the tael. It seems that the currency in the early Han Dynasty forced its name and price to be equal regardless of its actual weight.Based on this, it seems that in the early Han Dynasty, it was an excuse that Qin coins were heavy and difficult to use.In fact, it is a way to raise funds by issuing light goods.So prices increase accordingly.At that time, I didn't know the reason why currency should not be minted privately.Emperor Wen let the people cast it privately. Looking at Jia Yi's memorials recorded in "Hanshu", the damage can be described as severe.After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the throne, he first cast three baht coins, then made Chiping coins, made leather coins from deerskin, and made third-class platinum coins with silver and tin.Later, all kinds of copper coins were cancelled, and five baht coins were specially minted.Private casting by the people is prohibited, and counties and states are not allowed to cast, but the three officials of Shanglin are specially ordered to cast (so-called Shuiheng Duwei belongs to Guan Junguan, Zhongguan, and Biantong Sanlingcheng), which imperceptibly coincides with the theory of currency.So far, the currency system has been stabilized.It was not until the early Tang Dynasty that Kaiyuan Tongbao coins were minted.Since then, the money minted in all dynasties has been written in five baht.Five baht is always the most trusted money by the people.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the currency system has been roughly stable.In the meantime, Wang Mang once changed the currency system to five items, six names, and twenty-eight items (gold, silver, tortoise, shellfish, money, and cloth are six names. The money and cloth are all made of copper, so they are five items. Its value is twenty. Eighth class), and then passed away immediately.By the time of Guangwu in the later Han Dynasty, five baht coins were still restored.Until the end of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo broke the five baht coins and made small coins, and then the money method gradually deteriorated.Since then, through the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the political chaos and the currency system have not been rectified.Among them, the worst ones, such as goose eyes and ring coins in the Southern Dynasties, are "unsinkable in water and broken easily".In the transactions at that time, physical objects were mostly used as the medium.Where there is trade with foreign countries, gold and silver may be used together.For example, "Sui Shu Shihuo Zhi" said: "At the beginning of Liang, only the capital and the three Wu, Jing, Ying, Jiang, Xiang, Liang, and Yi used money. The rest of the states and counties were mixed with grain and silk. Jiao, Guangquan used Gold and silver. He also said: After the death of Chen, the states in the south of the Lingnan mostly traded with money and rice cloth. The counties in the west of the Hexi, or the gold and silver money from the Western Regions. It was not until the early Tang Dynasty that Kaiyuan Tongbao coins were cast, and the currency system was reorganized. However, private casting will start soon.

Compared with pearls, jade, cloth, etc., using metal as currency has various advantages, but it also has two disadvantages.(1) Private sales and private casting cannot be banned.Private casting, the old saying is "not loving copper and not sparing work" is the enemy.That is to say, the cost of casting is high, and private casting is unprofitable.But without strict government orders to supplement it, bad money will drive out good money. This is not only an economically difficult principle, but if you don't love copper and don't hesitate to work, it will only increase the country's consumption.As for private sales, it is simply unstoppable.The second is that the money is not enough to use.With the progress of the social economy, the transaction will flourish accordingly.The transaction is prosperous, and the chips needed must be more.However, copper is a natural product, and mining is extremely laborious, and its number cannot be increased suddenly.This is a natural cause.From the human aspect, the past dynasties have never paid attention to the shortage of private currency, and tried to adjust it, so the currency often feels insufficient.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the miscellaneous use of real objects and foreign currencies, the disorder of the currency system was certainly one of the reasons, and the lack of currency quantity may also be the reason.These phenomena remained the same until the Tang Dynasty.In the 22nd year of Emperor Xuanzong's Kaiyuan, he ordered the Zhuangzhai to trade horses and horses, and first used silk cloth, silk, cotton, etc.The rest are bought in the market, up to more than one thousand, and money and goods are also used together.Offenders will be punished.is an evidence.In this era, paper money came into being.

The predecessor of banknotes is flying money. "Tang Shu Shihuo Zhi" said: During the Zhenyuan period, merchants went to the capital, and entrusted Qian Zhudao to enter the Zouyuan and the army and envoys to the rich, and went to the four directions with light clothes. The coupons were taken, and they were called Feiqian.This is of course exchange, not banknotes.Then paper money was born. "Literature Tongkao Coin Kao" said: In the early Shu Dynasty, iron money was the most important thing, and it was privately used as a coupon, which was called Jiaozi, so as to facilitate trade.The sixteen heads of households of the rich.Afterwards, the rich declined slightly and were unable to repay their burdens, and there were many lawsuits.Kou Yu tried to guard Shu and begged to ban Jiaozi.Xue Tian is a transshipment envoy, and it will be inconvenient for trade to discuss the abolition of Jiaozi.Please ask the officials to set up the affairs, and prohibit private construction by the people.Please follow the imperial edict.Set up the subsidiary business in Yizhou. "Song History·Xue Tian Biography" said: "It was not reported, Kou Yu defended Yizhou, and the death played with his proposal."The Shu people made it easy. "Shi Huo Zhi" said: During the reign of Zhenzong, Zhang Yong was in Shu.People suffering from Shu have a lot of iron money, so it is inconvenient to trade.The method of quality agent.One exchange and one exchange, with three years as a boundary.Sixty-five years are twenty-two circles.It's called Jiaozi.The head of the sixteen households of the wealthy people.The three opinions disagree with each other, and it is unknown which is true.In short, it is always a fact that it is a boundary of three years.If one exchange is one thread, the number is relatively small, and everyone can use it.Taking three years as a boundary, it takes a long time. During this period, it has the effect of currency, and it can be called banknotes, not double exchange bills.However, it is inconvenient to trade because of the abolishment of Jiaozi. At the beginning, it was also difficult to transport, and the plan was to save money.Its purpose is actually similar to Feiqian.Therefore, banknotes are degenerated from exchange.

Since the affairs of Jiaozi were set up by the government, Jiaozi became a banknote issued by the government.During Shenzong's Xining period, due to the bitterness of iron money in Hedong, he was placed in Luzhou.Later, it was carried out in Shaanxi.When Huizong Chongning, Cai Jing promoted it everywhere.Later changed its name to Qian Yin.At that time, only Fujian, Zhejiang, Hu and Guang could not do it.The area of ​​implementation is quite wide.This kind of paper currency is of exchange nature.There must be cashable money, and then there can be credit.However, at that time, there was already a problem of excessive distribution. During Huizong's time, it fell to a value of only tens of dollars.Fortunately, although the scope of its implementation is wide, the number is not very large, so it will not have a great impact on the social economy.In the first year of Shaoxing, Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, he ordered the goods to be closed.In the twenty-ninth year, the household department began to build a club.Still take three years as a boundary.Travel to the Eighteenth Realm.In the Nineteenth Realm, Jia Sidao is still reforming Guanzi.Jiaozi in the Southern Song Dynasty had the disadvantages of limited expansion and the parallelism of the two worlds.Therefore, prices vary from all walks of life.In the fourth year of Ningzong Jiading, he ordered the 17th and 18th circles to be used forever without setting limits.It's easy to drop the price.However, according to "Song History Shihuo Zhi": In the fourth year of Duzong Xianchun, Guanzi was recently awarded, and he wrote 770 essays.The son of the Eighteenth Realm, with two hundred and fifty-seven writing feet.Sanzhunguanziyi, the same as cash.At this time, the Song Dynasty was on the verge of extinction, and Guanzi only scored 27% off, which was much better than that of the Jin Dynasty.

The banknotes of the Jin Dynasty began in the second year of Zhenyuan, a commoner in Hailing.One guan, two guan, three guan, five guan, and ten guan are used as big notes, and one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, five hundred, and seven hundred are small notes.At that time, it was said that it was a power system with little copper.But (1) Mining is not an easy task, including the casting of folk copper wares, the prohibition of folk privately storing copper wares and transporting copper wares out of the country are all harassing things.Minting money is therefore not easy to do actively. (2) At that time, there was also a coin minting prison, but most of the old coins were destroyed to be minted.Although new money is minted, old money is gone. (3) Since money and banknotes run side by side, following the law that bad money drives out good money, the people are bound to collect cash, and the newly minted money will disappear in an instant.Therefore, when there is never enough copper money, paper money must be used forever.However, if the issuance is legal, the banknotes and copper coins are parallel, which is harmless and beneficial. Therefore, "Golden History·Shihuo Zhi" said: After Zhang Zong came to the throne, some people wanted to stop the banknote method.Yousi said: "Business travel is beneficial to its long-distance, and money is often used to buy banknotes. How can we stop doing things that are convenient for public and private purposes?" This is a fact.Yousi also said: "Because there is a limit for reform, there is no doubt. Begging to cut the limit of seven years for reform, so that the people can use it frequently." Just pay) The person who wrote "Food and Huo Zhi" said: "From then on, there is no way to restrain, and more expenditures are less than income, and the people will take it lightly." In fact, restraint and reform are two different things.If it is possible to review the economic situation, so as not to spread it indiscriminately, even if there is no limit to reform, what harm is there?If there is a limit to change if you want to distribute it sparingly, why is it difficult to expand the number of prints in each realm, or to parallelize the number of realms?Therefore, there was nothing wrong with Yousi in Zhangzong's time.However, the later Yousi should bear great responsibility for "making money out for profit and taking money out as a taboo".Usually there are a lot of bitter money, but after Xuanzong moved to the south, it has been printed and distributed infinitely.In the second year of Zhenyou, according to Xu Ding, the Xuanfu envoy of Hedong, it was only worth one penny per pen.

The banknote law has collapsed so far that it is irreparable.Copper coins suffer less, and after being expelled by paper money, they cannot come back for a while.Silver is taking advantage of the opportunity.Gold and silver have been used as a medium of exchange for a long time, as can be seen from the foregoing.Since the advancement of the economy, copper coins have been scarce and difficult to transport. At this time, it seems extremely convenient to use gold, silver and copper as supplements.However, since the end of gold, no one has thought of this method. What is the reason?It turns out that money is a measure of prices.There can be one ruler, but not two.Since copper coins are used as currency, other currencies besides copper coins are not allowed. (1) It is certainly unreasonable to replace copper coins with gold and silver. (2) The casting of gold and silver as currency and the strict price comparison with copper coins was beyond the imagination of the ancients.In this way, gold and silver are no longer eligible to be used as money.Those who suffer will say: people in the past did not have special copper coins.Have not corn, cloth, etc., been regarded as substitutes for money?That's certainly true.However, at that time, gold and silver were not substitutes for money.But its use is not as common as that of grain cloth.Why is the use of gold and silver not as common as that of grain and silk?It should be noted that the root of price is born of value. Gold and silver are popular today because they are widely and long-lasting as a medium of exchange. Everyone has a kind of confidence in it. Change to.In particular, although all countries in the world today use paper, they still mostly use gold and silver for their preparations.It is the easiest way to exchange gold and silver into currency, and there is a price, so it is naturally welcomed by people.This is a monetary system, and the value created for gold and silver is not gold and silver itself, which has its own value.If the present currency does not use gold and silver as preparations, when people look at gold and silver, they do not regard it as direct or indirect currency, but only as goods.Only those who really use it will find it valuable.In this way, the value of gold and silver will decrease; those who want it will also decrease; the use of gold and silver will be greatly reduced.In this way, we can know why the Chinese did not think of using gold and silver as currency before the end of gold.Because price is born of value, its object must first be wanted by someone, and then it can be used as a medium of exchange. Gold and silver, as objects, were rarely wanted by people in the past.Because it is a thing, it is worthless to most people (gold and silver are used for themselves, but for making utensils for playing, neither of which is urgent for ordinary people).

By the end of the Jin Dynasty, the economic situation was different from before.Previously, when the currency was in disorder, the bad coins were used to drive out the good coins.At this time, the coins are driven out by banknotes.In the Han Dynasty, the price of money was very high, and sporadic transactions did not cost money, as mentioned above.Afterwards, as the economy progresses and transactions become more and more numerous, the number of currencies is bound to increase along with public casting and private casting.As there are so many currencies, their prices must fall day by day.So sporadic trade, gradually using currency.For bulk payments, switch to cloth.Copper coins were wiped out by paper money, and the paper money was at least one hundred cash, so the trade was sporadic and there was nothing to use.It is impossible to go back to the ancient way of using millet to change it, and the cloth and silk cannot be divided in size, so silver is used as a last resort.Therefore, the origin of silver is to replace copper coins for sporadic trade. It is not that copper coins are light in weight and value, and are used for storage and transportation.So in the Qing Dynasty, because of the labor cost of making coins, the edicts repeatedly urged the people to use silver as well, but the people always refused to listen.This is no wonder.Because in their minds, only copper coins are regarded as currency.They have hoarded silver taels, and the price of silver taels will increase against copper coins, which is good, but if the price of copper coins falls, they will consider it a loss.They don't want to engage in this speculative enterprise.By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the concept of using silver as the main currency and copper as the auxiliary currency was still difficult to explain to ordinary people.Because they never understood: There are two things that can be considered currency at the same time.You said to him: Silver is the main currency and copper is the auxiliary currency. This copper coin should not be regarded as copper, nor should it be regarded as a copper coin, but should be regarded as a fraction of a silver dollar. Difficult to understand.This seems to be their stupidity, but their opinion is actually right.Because it is neither regarded as copper nor copper coins, why not find something worthless to represent silver coins, but copper coins?Copper itself is valuable, so it has a price. Although it is possible to maintain the price ratio of the main and auxiliary coins, it is laborious.Why not use a piece of paper, write down the number of copper coins, and send it to act as a representative, which is quick and easy?Their opinion is right.And they've done it.That is Feiqian, Jiaozi and other things.If this kind of thing can be developed smoothly, the evolution of Chinese currency can be made a thousand years earlier.Because a small number of transactions use copper coins, and most of them give and receive, and those who think money is bulky, use paper as the representative of money. In this way, any huge number can also be turned into light money, and it can expand and contract freely. Compared with gold and silver, It is much more reasonable.However, it is a pity that the country seizes the right to distribute it to meet financial urgency, which deflects this natural and reasonable evolution. Here, we can know the disadvantages of banknotes.Why can't gold be replaced by silver.People in the past said that there was a lot of gold in ancient times, but it was less in later generations, and they blamed it on the consumption of Buddhist affairs (Gu Yanwu, Zhao Yi's "Notes on the Twenty-two History" and "Gao Yu Cong Kao" all said the same), but it is not the case. .When Wang Mang was defeated, there was still a shortage of 10,000 catties of gold in the province.The number is 600,000 jin.If one-fifth of the ancient weight is today, then one hundred and twenty thousand catties is obtained today, that is, one hundred and ninety-two thousand taels.The number of Chinese is said to be 400 million.Women should be half, usually with gold ornaments, mostly women.If one out of a hundred women has gold ornaments, the number is still less than one tael.Now the number of folk deposits is more than that? "Book of Qi·Donghunhou Ji" says that it "serves the emperor in the harem and selects rare treasures. The old things in the treasury are no longer used. The people of the noble town. The price of gold and silver treasures is several times, and the rent of wine in the capital is all discounted. If you lose gold, you will think it is painted with gold."These few words can explain the historical records, the reason why there is more gold in ancient times and less gold in later generations.The living standards of the ancient people were low.In the feudal world, there were different levels of food utensils.Civilians cannot overstep.Pearls, jade, gold and silver, etc., must be rare in folk collections.This is true not only for gold and silver, but also for copper.Everyone laughed at Qin Shihuang's stupidity when he sold his troops.However, the robbers in the Han Dynasty will surely rob the library soldiers.In the later Han Dynasty, the Qiang people rebelled. Because they had been subdued for a long time and had no weapons, they often carried bronze mirrors as soldiers.It can be seen that there were not many civilian weapons at that time.Not only are there not many weapons, but there are also not many coppers.Therefore, Jia Yi's strategy for sorting out the currency system is "to collect copper without ordering cloth".If bronze ware is common among the people, it is the same as in later generations, so what method should be used to collect it without ordering it to be distributed?This is the case with copper, how much more so with gold and silver?Therefore, the so-called richness of gold in ancient times did not mean that there was more gold than later generations, but that it was seen through gathering.The standard of living of the people in later generations is getting higher and higher; the difference between food and utensils is gradually broken, and the number gathered by the imperial court is scattered among the vast number of people, so naturally they don't realize that there are too many.People who read history will always be blinded by the clear records and ignore the words without words.When I say this, some people will not believe it.Because the ancient books clearly record that the rewards of gold in the Han Dynasty were tens of catties, hundreds of catties, and even thousands of catties. How can it be said that the gold in ancient times was more than that in later generations?But I have a proof that can convince him.During Wang Mang's time, a catty of gold was worth ten thousand yuan, and Zhu Tiyin's first-class silver was worth one thousand five hundred and eighty.It is stated that at the beginning of Hongwu period in Ming Dynasty, one tael of gold was equal to five taels of silver, so the price ratio of gold and silver was the same at the end of Han Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty.We have neither seen the record of a large amount of silver used in ancient books, nor have we heard that silver was consumed in large quantities after the introduction of Buddhism, but the use of gold recorded in ancient books has not been seen in later generations. It is not that gold is really rare, but that it is scattered and rare , it is obvious.Probably the price ratio of gold and silver, in the previous generation, rarely exceeded ten times.However, in the last years of the Jin Dynasty, there was a lot of silver in society, and there was not much gold.The reason for using silver is that copper coins are too bulky, and if you want to replace them with something of small quality and high value, you must give up silver and get gold, at least you can use gold and silver together.But it was never the case.This is obviously due to the origin of silver, which is to replace copper coins, not to compete with copper coins. Therefore, between gold and silver, the lower price is preferred.Here, it can be seen that it is not natural to use the third grade of gold, silver and copper, or the second grade of gold and silver, or the second grade of silver and copper as currency.The natural trend is that copper coins are too heavy, that is to say, they are going to paper money. Both gold and silver were cast with fixed shapes in the old days. "Tong Kao of Qing Documents" said: "The ancient gold and silver have fixed patterns, and they must be cast into coins and then used. Yan Shigu commented on "Han Shu", saying that although the old gold is named after the catty, the official has a regular shape. Also It is like gold ingots with auspicious characters in today's time. Emperor Wu wanted to show auspiciousness, so he changed it into the shape of a lin-toed hoof to change the old system. However, the lin-toed hoof was the style of gold coins at that time. The style of silver coins. "Old Tang Book" contains 2,172 taels of silver from the inner treasury, and it was all silver in the Tang Dynasty." According to the need to cast metal coins, one is to ensure its fineness, and the other is to save money. Trouble with weighing.Although gold and silver in ancient times had a fixed shape, they must still be weighed in two catties when used. It seems that there is no certainty in their weight.And its weight is probably heavy, especially not suitable for sporadic trade. "History of Jin Shihuo Zhi" said: "In the old cases, silver was fifty taels per ingot, and it was straight and hundreds of guan. There may be cut-offs among the people, and the price is also low." Each ingot of 100 guan can not replace copper coins. .In the second year of Zhang Zong Cheng'an, because the banknote method was out of date, he wanted to beg for silver.Recast silver, named Cheng'an Baohuo.From one tael to ten taels, it is divided into five grades, and every tael is folded into two guan.Public and private use money together, and it is also used to replace banknotes.Later, because there were many private casters, it was mixed with copper and tin, so immersion could not be done.Five years later, let it go.During Xuanzong's reign, the Zhenyou Treasure Coupon and the Xingding Treasure Spring were made, both of which had the power of the silver minister.However, among the people, the price is based on silver.Therefore, one tael of silver is limited, and it shall not exceed three hundred guan in Baoquan (according to the price of Baoquan, every two guan is equal to one tael of silver).If the price is below three taels, silver is not allowed.The above three points are divided into rates, one point is used for silver, and two points are used for Baoquan.After this order was issued, "Business travel is not allowed, and shops are closed during the day", it will be revoked.During the Zhengda period of Aizong, the people all traded in silver.Said: "This is the beginning of using silver up and down today." At that time, when there was no money available, it was not used to make power with money, but to replace money with it, which is obviously visible. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, at the beginning of the founding of the country, they both hesitated between using money and banknotes.Due to the lack of copper, the soldiers still gave up money and used banknotes.At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, there was banknotes for banknotes, but its system cannot be tested.In the first year of Zhongtong, the ancestor of Shizu, banknotes were first made, based on silk.In October of that year, Zhongtongbao banknotes were made again.Divided into ten, twenty, thirty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred, five hundred, Yiguan, Erguan (according to "Shihuozhi". Tenth class. It is suspected that "Shihuo Zhi" won the 310th class).One tael of banknotes is paid for each pass, and one tael of silver is paid for two passes.Wen Ling weaving is also used as the central silver product.Divided into one liang, two liang, three liang, five liang, ten liang and so on.Every tael is equal to one tael of silver, which has never been issued.In the twelfth year of the Zhiyuan period, Li banknotes were added.It is divided into one article, two articles, three articles and three articles.Fifteen years, let it be inconvenient for the people.In the twenty-fourth year, the yuan banknote was made.From Erguan to Wuwen, all eleven and so on.There are five guan in each banknote, two guan is equal to one tael of silver, and twenty guan is equal to one tael of gold.In the second year of Emperor Wuzong's reign, he prioritized money over banknotes and transformed them into big silver banknotes.From two taels to two cents, there are thirteen grades in total.Every tael is accurate to five guan in Yuan notes, one tael in silver, and one qian in red gold.When Renzong ascended the throne, there were too many multiples, and the severity was inappropriate, so the big silver banknotes were given up. Among them, the Tong and Zhiyuan two banknotes would always be used in the Yuan Dynasty.According to the fact that every time the banknotes were changed in the Yuan Dynasty, the old banknotes were used five times. It can be seen that when the banknotes were changed, the price of the banknotes fell to one-fifth.Currency depreciation will inevitably affect people's livelihood.Therefore, the "real money law" was really a big problem at that time.In the early Yuan Dynasty, silk was used as the banknote, and the price of silk fluctuated too much, so it was not suitable for banknotes.The one whose price fluctuates less is, of course, metal.Gold and silver, among other metals, are not suitable for piecemeal trade.Mint banknotes and ten-character and five-character banknotes are not suitable for practical use.Therefore, instead of using gold and silver as the banknotes, it is better to use copper coins as the banknotes.From the Yuan Dynasty to the Shun Emperor Zhizheng period, the prime minister took off, so there was such a discussion.An imperial edict: The Central Banknote is consistent, and the right is one thousand copper coins, and it is accurate to the Yuan banknote.Cast Zhizhengtong treasure coins and use them together with copper coins of previous dynasties.This is really a wise way.However, due to the turmoil in the country, the military reserve rewards, and it is printed every day, which is innumerable.Then it came to the point that "the material is scattered all over the world", and "people regard it as if it is a poor thing".In the early Ming Dynasty, a bureau was set up to cast money.In the seventh year of Hongwu, because of the lack of copper, he stopped casting money and issued banknotes.For Daming treasure banknotes, one tael of silver is accepted for thousands of coins, and one tael of gold is accepted for four passes.Later, due to the decline in the price of banknotes, government objects were confiscated many times, or taxation restricted Binabao banknotes to collect banknotes.But in the end it couldn't be maintained.In the third year of Xuanzong Xuande, the banknote production was stopped.At that time, new taxes were added, or the amount of old taxes was increased, and banknotes were collected and burned.After the banknote law was flattened, some new taxes were abolished, the tax amount was restored, and some were followed.Chaoguan is one of them.Since then, taxes and taxes have gradually been collected in silver, and silver has really become a common currency. The main currency can be made of paper, while the auxiliary currency must be made of metal.Because of the complexity of giving and receiving, the paper is easily spoiled, which is not economical.Therefore, it is most ideal to use copper coins and banknotes in parallel.In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, when banknotes were issued, they did not mint money.After the Ming Dynasty, a lot of money was minted, but banknotes were not issued, and the same was true in the Qing Dynasty.During the four dynasties of Shunkang, Yongqian and Qianlong, it was quite possible to implement the theory that the ancients did not love copper and spare no effort.According to centimeters in ancient times, this is the name of the degree rather than the name of the balance.The balance method uses ten millet as a tire, ten tires as a baht, and twenty-four baht as two.Because it is not a decimal, it is inconvenient to calculate, the Tang Dynasty cast Kaiyuan Tongbao money, which is one-tenth of one or two, that is, two baht and four tires, as its weight.In the second year of Song Taizong Chunhua, the balance method was changed.One-tenth of one tael is one coin, one-tenth of one coin is one cent, and one-tenth of one cent is one cent.Money is named after the weight of a copper coin.The name of Fenli is borrowed from various methods.According to the established law of previous dynasties, a copper coin originally weighed only one coin.Cast in the four dynasties of Shunkang, Yongqian and Ganzhou, the weight is more than one coin, and the casting is quite fine.It can be said that they are interested in rectifying the currency system.It is a pity that the principle of currency is not clear, so there is still no visible effect.How can we say that the monetary policy of the Qing Dynasty did not conform to the principle of currency?According to (1) the currency is most suitable for the whole country.This is not like a postage stamp, which will cease to exist after a certain period of time.So stamps can be refurbished, but currency is not.This principle was understood before the Tang Dynasty.Therefore, the five baht coins of the Han Dynasty were the most trusted by the people. Before the Sui Dynasty, the copper coins minted were often called five baht.In the early Tang Dynasty, Kaiyuan Tongbao was recast, probably because the money law was bad at that time, and people wanted to reform with the people, guessing the meaning at that time, or wanting to use Kaiyuan as the only currency in the country.Therefore, the money cast by later generations is still Kaiyuan Tongbao (Gaozong's Qianfeng Quanbao, Suzong's Qianyuan Chongbao, Chonglun Qianyuan, etc., although they are all crowned with year names, they are not Xiaoping coins. official currency).However, the goal of unification was not achieved.After the Song Dynasty, it was ignorant of this reason, and the year names of the emperors of all dynasties were cast on copper coins.So if you change an emperor, you can have one kind of money (if the year name changes from time to time, there can be more than one kind).The inconsistency of currency forms is not due to facts, but to legislation.Even like Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, not only the copper coins of Jiajing's year name were cast, but also the year names that had not been cast in the previous dynasties.Doesn't this mean that copper coins are not regarded as the currency of the whole country, but as a souvenir of the emperor alone?If only one year name is attached to the castings of each dynasty to indicate the year of casting, and everything else is the same, it can be justified.But the past dynasties can not be the case.The same is true of the Qing Dynasty.Moreover, the weight of the copper coins cast in the past dynasties varies from time to time.Doesn't this cause disunity first? (2) Even so, if the money mined is not very bad, then in the era of autocracy, even if the money mined by the dynasty is limited, and the rest of the evil people are banned, it is not impossible to be well-off.This is the method of making money and ancient coins separately in the Ming Dynasty (it is correct to include ancient coins to fill copper waste between Mingqi and Chongzhen, and to unify the currency system), but to implement this method, there is a prerequisite problem, that is, you must first Make the amount of currency sufficient.If the amount of currency is really not enough for use, and there are difficulties in transactions, no matter how bad the currency is, the people will risk using it.From the abolition of paper money in the Ming Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty, it was extremely difficult to make copper coins enough for the people.At this time, it is best to compare paper money with copper coins.The Ming and Qing Dynasties did not know this, and allowed silver and copper to go hand in hand.I don't know the relationship between the main and the auxiliary.In the Ming Dynasty, taxpayers were mainly responsible for collecting silver, and copper coins were banned from time to time. People suspected that copper coins would be abolished, so they dared not accept them, which greatly harmed the circulation of copper coins.In the Qing Dynasty, the people recognized copper coins as authentic goods and were unwilling to accept silver taels.However, the government wanted to force the use of it, and repeatedly annoyed the proclamation, but the pawns could not win.However, the two currencies run side by side at the same time, and various disadvantages (such as tax collection, etc.) also arise.The harm of ignorance of economic principles can be said to be born in his heart and harm his politics. The import of foreign money did not begin in modern times. "Sui Shu Shihuo Zhi" said that the situation of Hexi, Jiao and Guang in the Southern and Northern Dynasties has been seen before.Quoting Tang Hanyu's "Zou Zhang", it is said that Wuling sells and buys for one silver.Yuan Zhen played a petition, saying that from the south of the mountain, gold and silver were used as currency.Zhang Ji said in a poem: Haiguo fights and rides an elephant, and Manzhou uses silver. "Song History Renzong Ji": In the second year of Jingyou, Zhulu was ordered to lose money every year, and Fujian and Erguang used silver. "Ji Shi" said: During the sixth and seventh years of Shunzhi, the sea ban was not established, and most of the market trade was in foreign money.It is popular in various provinces, and there are many places.After the forbidden sea, there was no trace of it.This shows that the intrusion of foreign currencies must be limited to the time and place of doing business with foreign countries.In the past, the communication between China and foreign countries was interrupted from time to time, and it was mostly limited to a corner, so it could not be invaded in large quantities.After the five-port trade agreement, the situation is quite different.外国铸造的货币，使用的便利，自胜于我国秤量的金银（其秤量之法，且不划一）。外国银圆，遂滔滔输入，而以西班牙、墨西哥两国的为多。中国的自铸，始于光绪十三年（广东总督张之洞所为）。重量形式，都模仿外国银圆，以便流通。此时铜钱之数，颇感不足。光绪二十七年，广东开铸铜元，因其名价远超于实价，获利颇多。于是各省竞铸铜元，以谋余利，物价为之暴腾。小平钱且为其驱逐以尽，民生大感困苦。光绪三十年，度支部奏厘定币制，以银圆为本位货币，民国初年仍之。其时孙文创用纸币之议，举国的人，多不解其理论，非难蜂起。直到最近，国民政府树立法币制度，才替中国的货币，画一个新纪元。