Most of the aristocratic bureaucrats in the Southern Dynasties did business, even the emperor did business in the palace. Liu Yifu of Song Shaodi bought it for Les in Yuhua Garden. Xiao Baojuan, a faint Hou in Jidong, was in the city. The Taiguan entered the wine, meat and miscellaneous vegetables every day, making the imperial secretary, (the imperial concubine) Pan Shi as the city order, the emperor as the city chief, punishing the dispute, and Pan Shi ruled. During the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen dynasties, it was common for aristocratic bureaucrats to do business. When Xiao Ben, the king of South Chyi Yu, assassinated Jingzhou, he forbade 2,000 stone officials to do business with others. Since such a ban has been issued, it can be seen that many senior officials are in business. At the same time, it is doubtful whether such a ban is effective. During the reign of Xiao Liang, all the Guangzhou secretariat became rich in business, and even after passing through the city gate, they could get a huge sum of money, that is, according to historical records, they got 30 million yuan when passing through the city gate. Xu Du, a bureaucrat in the Chen Dynasty, always let the boy kill the grass. In the Song Dynasty, bureaucrats were quiet and thrifty, did not do housework, and did not have gardening or commodity industry, so they were called it. It seems rare for bureaucrats in the Southern Dynasties to be idle.
In addition to bureaucratic commerce, private commerce has also developed to a certain extent. Shen Yue, the author of The Book of Song Dynasty, once said: Things are different, the prosperous times have come, and it is difficult for a slave to do it. So, the old man went into business, business was easy to do, and the last business was also immersed in it. "Northern History" also said in Biography of Wei Royal Family: There are many merchants in Hedong, and farming and mulberry are rare. It was not until the age of 30 that thunder was discovered. It can be seen that there are also many private vendors. Since there are private enterprises, there will be no wealthy businessmen. During the Song Dynasty, there were many big businessmen coming and going to Yizhou, and some of them had millions of wealth. However, the government restricts big businessmen to only a certain number of transactions. (fee) Qian and others are not allowed to exceed 50 kg each. Horses have no good or evil, and the limit is 20 thousand yuan. If you can have a million dollars, you are naturally a big businessman.
Domestic transactions can be run by the private sector, but the North-South mutual market and foreign trade are in the hands of the government, and ordinary businessmen cannot interfere. At that time, the Southern Dynasties traded with Southeast Asian countries, as well as Tianzhu, Lion Country (now Sri Lanka), Persia and other countries.
The largest commercial city in Southern Dynasties was Jiankang, Shi Jing. There are 280,000 households in Shi Liang. If there are 5 households on average, it can reach1400,000 people. Here, the villain leads many vendors, the gentleman is funded by Lu Guan, and the city is in the second capital (Chang 'an and Luoyang). The largest commercial city outside of Jiankang is Jiangling in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. It has close business contacts with Chengdu, and the famous Chuanma and Chuanjin are shipped to all parts of the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, Jingkou (now Dantu, Jiangsu), Guangling, Wu Jun, Huiji and Yuhang in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Qiantang River, Shouchun in the north (now Shouxian, Anhui), Xiangyang and Guangzhou in the south are also important commercial cities, and Guangzhou is the center of maritime trade.
Due to the relatively prosperous business in the Southern Dynasties, the demand for money increased and money was minted many times. However, the political corruption in the Southern Dynasties led to the poor quality of coins, whether official or private. For example, at the end of Liu and Song Dynasties, private casting prevailed and the quality of coins was extremely poor. There is a kind of money, light and small, with no outline, called Lei Zi. The smaller one is called Goose Eye Money, which is small and thin. A thousand pence is less than three inches. In addition, there is the so-called money, which does not sink into the water and is easily broken. One hundred thousand dollars is not a surplus, which can be regarded as the worst coin in ancient times.
From the Jin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the use of gold and silver became more popular, especially silver. The most common form of gold and silver is cake or ingot (or collar), and it is also cast into the shape of money. About the weight of the cake, it is said that it is a catty, but it is probably not customized. Yuanbao or collar appeared at the latest in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The earliest record of the appearance of silver money was in the Northern Dynasties. The earliest monetary records appeared at the end of Qi or the beginning of Liang Dynasty. Gold, silver and money were probably cast under the influence of Byzantine gold coins and Persian silver coins.