Chapter 23 Section 5 Gold and Silver Coins and Other Currencies in the Song and Song Dynasties

The use of gold and silver in the Song Dynasty was more developed than that in the Tang Dynasty.It is mainly used for taxation, rewards, tributes, wealth reserves, foreign trade and international exchanges, etc.Among them, gold is regarded as a rare treasure, and its most important use is to preserve value against the depreciating paper currency circulation in the Song Dynasty.In addition, it is also used in alms giving, bribery, creditor's rights and debts, gifts, valuation, valuation, atonement, annual accounts, exchange of precious items, etc., but gold is rarely used as a means of circulation in daily transactions.The use of silver has surpassed that of gold, which is recorded in "Song History", "Continued Tongjian", "Continued Zizhi Tongjian Changbian", "Song Huiyao Compiled Draft" and poetry commentary novels.First, gradually increase in silver production.During the reign of Yingzong Zhiping in the Northern Song Dynasty (1064-1067 A.D.), 219,829 taels of silver were obtained at the age of one year, and 271 silver mines were produced.In the first year of Shenzong Yuanfeng (1078 A.D.), it was 215,385 taels, and in the reign of Xiaozong Qiandao in the Southern Song Dynasty (1165-1174 A.D.), it was 263,160 taels.In the early days of Renzong, silver was officially designated for tax collection, making silver a legal currency and circulating in parallel with copper and iron coins.The government's revenue and expenditure also use silver more.For example, hundreds of thousands of taels of tribute are paid to strong neighbors every year, and silver is often used in market transactions and interpersonal relationships at home and abroad.Silver is mostly cast into ingots in use, which is like a weight.Many gold and silver coins were also cast, both official and private, not only for the government, but also for the common people.For example, Huizong visited the market privately and used money to buy snacks.Another example is the record in "Xuanhe Legacy" that in the last years of Huiqin in the Northern Song Dynasty, when the Jin soldiers broke through Bianjing, they robbed 71 guan of money and 142 guan of silver coins in the palace, which can be seen from this.Since the Song Dynasty, there have been a large number of written records about the activities of gold and silver, with rich and colorful contents.A large number of cultural relics unearthed in recent years can also be confirmed.

Due to the intensified inflation in the Song Dynasty, the price of gold and silver rose sharply, and the ratio of gold, silver and copper also changed greatly.The price comparison between gold and money was very different in the early Southern Song Dynasty, but the difference in the late period was astronomical.In terms of the price comparison between silver and money, in the early Northern Song Dynasty, one penny of silver was exchanged for six to seven hundred pennies;The gold-silver ratio was maintained at the beginning of the Song Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, it was 1:6.25. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was 1:13.4. After that, it changed even more. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was determined according to the situation of both supply and demand.In short, the political and economic conditions of the Song Dynasty, especially the chaos of paper money and coins, had an ardent demand for gold and silver.In people's minds, gold and silver, especially gold, not only have high use value, but also represent nobleness in spirit.

Credit, credit currency, and credit circulation tools in the Song Dynasty were relatively developed.Due to the frequent exchange of goods at home and abroad, the need for exchange and exchange is more.The official business is convenient for money and business operations (that is, exchange). Xu Shangmin pays to Zuo Zangku in the capital, and then goes to the states to exchange.In the fifth year of Tianxi (AD 1021), the amount of remittances reached 28.9 million guan.Later, with the rise of banknotes, this official exchange business declined, but the folks became more developed.Gold and silver shops or silver shops (also known as gold and silver exchange shops or gold and silver trading shops) sprang up and spread throughout the commercial cities of the north and south. , transshipment, storage and trading of gold and silver and its products and decorations.Its exchange objects also include gold, silver ingots and copper and iron coins.Sometimes they are also ordered to collect and exchange bad banknotes and handle matters related to dumping banknotes.The bills issued by these gold and silver shops are also circulated and transferred within a certain time, region and within a certain range, just like flying money.Of course, these gold and silver shops are run by princes and ministers, local officials and rich and powerful merchants.These powerful and wealthy businessmen are also keen on usury credit.This kind of usury has the names of loan interest, capital, credit, loan, credit, etc. The interest is extremely high. The government has repeatedly stated that the annual interest is limited to one time of the principal, and it is actually many times as high.The government also provides money to lend money, and the interest money is used for government expenses. Generally, the interest rate of government debt is slightly lower than that of commercial offices.Among Wang Anshi's reforms was the Young Crop Law, whose purpose was to crack down on usurers and increase fiscal revenue for the government. It was divided into Charcot and Qiuke twice a year, with an annual interest of 4 cents. The level is low, and it is opposed by the bureaucratic gentry.By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was used by power traitors to exploit the people.Commercial credit in the Song Dynasty was also very developed.In essence, during the Song Dynasty, commercial credit was also another form of movement of usury capital. It was credit provided by merchants in the form of deferred payment when they sold commodities, and was agreed upon by both parties.At that time, in some commercial cities, such as Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Jiangling, Fuzhou, etc., merchants sold, for example, no cash, and the buyer and the seller signed a written voucher with a time limit, interest, etc., and there was a guarantor, usually repayment every other year.This practice is very popular, especially among some large commercial cities or between some areas dealing with professional products.The imperial court once ordered that all goods bought and sold should be paid in cash, but that didn't work.The Market Change Law in Wang Anshi's reform has relatively lenient conditions and is a commercial credit provided by the government.During the 300 years of the Song Dynasty, commercial capital and usury capital formed by commercial credit continued to flow to bureaucrats and bureaucrats, and constantly combined with powerful bureaucrats and feudal forces, thus gradually forming a trinity of bureaucrats, landlords, wealthy merchants and usurers. profoundly affected the economy.