Deng Gaofeng
Finance, in short, is the financing of funds. Today, a developed market economy is bound to be accompanied by a large-scale monetary capital movement, so finance has long been the core of modern economy. But historically, finance is a very old department and industry. This year's college entrance examination Chinese (Henan volume) modern Chinese reading test is a short article about finance and credit in Song Dynasty. This paper summarizes the forms, characteristics and functions of credit in Song Dynasty. In fact, in the history of China's ancient financial development, finance and its credit in Song Dynasty played a connecting role. On the one hand, it continued to write a new chapter in China's ancient financial development, which promoted the social and economic development, on the other hand, it also left many profound lessons for future generations.
Adjustment of monetary system
After the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, China fell into a split period of five dynasties and ten countries for more than half a century. The five dynasties all claimed to be orthodox, so they all minted their own currencies. Among the ten countries, Chu, Min, Nan Han, Hou Shu, Nan Tang and other countries also issued money, casting copper coins, iron coins, lead and tin coins and so on. Among them, iron coins are the most, and private casting of bad money has been repeatedly banned, so the currency material in this period is inferior. The proliferation of political power leads to the fragmentation of the monetary system, which, in individual capital's words, means that the value scale and circulation means are very chaotic, just like going back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which is a retrogression of the ancient monetary system in China.
After the establishment of the Northern Song regime, it began to rectify the currency, and it was strictly forbidden to privately cast currency and circulate bad money. In the history of the Song Dynasty, when Zhao Kuangyin was in power, "any state that belittles money and treats money with iron formula is forbidden. Letter to the official, limited to January. Those who are full and do not make an official are guilty of evil, and those who privately cast them all abandon the market. " When Emperor Taizong was in power, he issued another imperial edict: "Supervise the people to privately cast and sell good money and abandon the market; Those who exchange new and evil money with barbarians will make up for it. " As a result of the rectification, except Sichuan and Shaanxi, copper coins have become the currency used in many parts of the country, and the traditional copper-based currency system has been re-established. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, copper coins gradually replaced the old coins of the Five Dynasties.
To this end, the court also stipulated the composition and weight of copper coins, which varied from time to time. For example, during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Jingdezhen, the standard of copper coin casting stipulated by the imperial court was that each penetration (i.e. 1000 product) used 3 Jin of copper, lead 1 Jin and tin 8 Liang.
Coin-making institutions in Song Dynasty were distributed all over the country according to the old system of Tang Dynasty, also known as Qian Jian. Due to the different materials of coins, they are divided into two categories: iron coin supervision and copper coin supervision, of which copper coin supervision is the main one.
In order to maintain absolute control over copper coins, the imperial court implemented the policy of "copper ban", the state monopolized the mining and smelting of copper coins, and at the same time prohibited private storage of copper coins or bronzes, which violated the "copper ban" by hell to pay; In foreign economic relations, prevent the outflow of copper coins. However, due to the limited effect of the above policies, the increase in currency circulation, the outflow of copper coins and the folk hoarding eventually led to the famous "money shortage". In this regard, "History of Song Dynasty" contains: "Compared with the previous year, public and private, money is scarce, department stores are blocked, and people are embarrassed, which is called money shortage."
As for precious metal gold and silver, its purpose is not in daily trading and circulation, but as a means of wealth storage and batch payment. In the fourth year of Taizu Kaibao (97 1), the court announced that it was forbidden to forge gold and silver. The government casts gold and silver into gold and silver collars, which are stored as representatives of wealth. The cast gold and silver money is mainly used for rewards and celebrations. Silver and silk are widely used in foreign trade and relations with Xixia and Liao.
Northern song jiaozi
The essence of money is universal equivalent, which is produced for the convenience of commodity exchange. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Jiaozi, the earliest paper money in the world, appeared in Sichuan, which was the biggest highlight of the monetary achievements in the Song Dynasty. Its appearance certainly has its inevitability.
Before and after the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, iron coins were widely used in Sichuan, and large iron coins were also cast during the Zhenzong Jingdezhen period. Iron money is heavy and of little value. "Money weighs sixty-five catties every ten penetration, which translates into twelve catties of big money. Market transactions, to three or five penetration, are difficult. " In this context, "Shu people value iron money, and private money is the voucher, which is called' jiaozi' for trade". It can be seen that the defect of iron money itself is the direct cause of "intersection".
There is a process for jiaozi to become paper money. At first, friends were published privately by Sichuan businessmen and were "personal friends", which led to "a lot of rape and abuse, and many prison lawsuits." Yizhou (now Chengdu, Sichuan), which is famous for its governance of Shu, has been reorganized, making 16 rich households "even friends" and "printing the same color paper". The seal is made of wooden characters, and the store has a word, each with a secret title. Zhu Mo made a mistake and thought it was private. ”。 Therefore, Zhang Yong got the view of "the father of the child" from China. At this time, the jiaozi is actually a credit certificate, which can also be said to be a certificate. After the appearance of Jiaozi, it is convenient to trade because it can be realized at any time, but there is also a problem, that is, some rich households are "slightly declining, unable to make up for what they have lost, and there are endless disputes." The situation forced JIAOZHOU to upgrade from private credit to government credit.
In the first year of Tiansheng (1023), Xue Tian and Zhang Ruogu, who were the transshipment ambassadors of Yizhou, played in the court. "Please set up a boat across the clothes, to check its access, private creators banned. Renzong followed his advice. " Yizhou Jiaozi Service was established in Chengdu, and Jiaozi was issued the following year. Since then, Jiaozi has been officially issued and circulated as the official legal tender, which is called "Guanjiaozi". Its face value was originally 1 to 10, and there are *** 10. In the second year of Renzong Baoyuan (1039), it was changed to 5 penetration and 10 penetration.
Jiaozi has another name, called "money" or "coupon". According to the "History of Song Dynasty", "Shu used iron money, because it was difficult to transfer it, so the right was given as a voucher." This is because the paper used for printing is made of paper bark. Chengdu's paper industry is developed and the paper is well made, so it is used. In the first year of Yuanfeng (1078), Damon knew Mianzhou and asked the court to "set up a paper copying office to correct the disadvantages of counterfeit banknotes" and strictly control the printing process.
Huizi in the Southern Song Dynasty
Huizi first appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. There are many kinds of Huizi, such as Huizi, Huizi, Huizi and Huizi. Here, "Huizi" means exchange and withdrawal, so Huizi is a kind of securities or a certificate to accept money, not paper money. At the beginning of Southern Song Dynasty, the folks in Lin 'an, the capital, spontaneously produced "Huizi before compilation". In the thirty years of Shaoxing (1 160), Qian learned about the situation of Lin 'an Prefecture, and "ordered Lin 'an Prefecture to print it, allowing it to be used in parallel with copper coins inside and outside the city ... Huizi began to be used in southeastern China". Since then, the distribution right of Huizi has been returned to the government, and Huizi was formally born as a kind of paper money in the Southern Song Dynasty. After Qian was appointed Assistant Minister of Finance, the meeting was taken over by the Ministry of Finance. In the thirty-first year of Shaoxing (1 162), the "Bank of China Branch" was established (later renamed "Bank of China Branch"). There are 1 transparent, 2 transparent, 3 transparent, and then print a small denomination of 200,300,500. Because the publisher is in charge of the conference and conference library, the conference is called "conference" and because it mainly circulates in the southeast, it is also called "southeast conference". Four years of trunk roads (1 168) Huizi issued a restriction that "three years is the boundary and the boundary is 10 million feet".
At the beginning of Huizi's circulation, Huizi's currency was strong because it had 65,438 million copper coins as reserves. After Xiaozong Road, due to the Song-Jin War, the military expenditure continued to increase, the amount of distribution increased greatly, and once depreciated. In this regard, Xin Qiji once said: "In the past, people had to lose money, the lawsuit was scattered, and they saw less money and more children. Therefore, the people will always switch to 6 12, and the military and civilians will sigh and complain about the road. After the Song and Jin Dynasties made peace, the court was reorganized. During the reign of Xiaozong, three years was the boundary, and each boundary was worth 10 million. With the border, the new is replaced by the old, and Huizi's currency remains stable. After Guangxu and Shao Xi came to power, in order to raise military expenditure, the circulation of Huizi soared and the price of Huizi continued to depreciate. By the end of Li Zong's reign, hyperinflation became more and more serious. Two hundred people can't buy a pair of sandals, which are almost worthless. The monetary system in the Southern Song Dynasty completely collapsed. In this regard, Xu Heng, a scholar, once criticized "no hesitation". Scholar Gauss also said, "Woo! Coinage is the foundation of the country, regardless of the harm of its last stream, but if you are trying to save the present, it is to quench your thirst by drinking poison. "
There were also local versions of Huizi in the Southern Song Dynasty, including Huguang Huizi, Huaibei Huizi, Yinhuizi and Tieqian Huizi. Li Zongbao's formula lasted for four years (1256), and the court changed the money to Sichuan until the death of the Song Dynasty.
Yin Qian and Guanzi
The circulation of paper money is limited, and excessive issuance will inevitably lead to inflation and paper money depreciation. The initial issue of jiaozi was divided into two years, the borders were all new jiaozi, and the currency was stable. After Wang Anshi's political reform, the demand for money increased greatly, and the military expenditure on the northwest border aggravated the money shortage in the Northern Song Dynasty. On the one hand, the government increased the casting of copper coins; on the other hand, since the fifth year of Zong Shenxi Ning (1072), the two circles have been circulating in parallel. During the reign of Zhezong Shaosheng, Jiaozi "did not issue a fixed number of books every year", and the government began to lose control of Jiaozi's distribution. In the fourth year of Huizong Chongning (1 105), 42 kinds of jiaozi were issued, with a circulation of more than 24 million, equivalent to more than 20 times that of Renzong Tiansheng, and jiaozi was in a vicious expansion. In this case, the court changed "Jiaozi" to "Yin Qian", changed "Jiaozi Service" to "Yin Qian Service", and "made all roads use more money" ... when money is the way ". In the first year of Daguan (1 107), "Zhao changed to Sichuan Jiaozi". Due to random issuance, the currency continued to depreciate. In the Southern Song Dynasty, banknotes continued to circulate, with two years as the boundary (later changed to three years as the boundary), and the circulation continued to increase. "Adding more quotations can't be banned", so that "the coupons are lighter, people's livelihood is displaced, prices are soaring, and there is nothing to do". Cross-fertilization, money becomes a tool for the government to seize social wealth and make up for the huge fiscal deficit, and the result will inevitably be the total collapse of the monetary system.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, there was another kind of paper money called "Guanzi" (later called "Qian Guanzi"), which was originally issued by the household department in the first year of Gaozong Shaoxing (1 13 1). The reason is that Wuzhou (now Jinhua, Zhejiang Province) wants to send troops to transport military expenses, and the capital Lin 'an "cannot reach Wuzhou by water, so it is difficult to move to Tianjin", so the imperial edict of the Ministry of Household Affairs "signed an oath to pay off the money in Wuzhou, called people to enter China, held money in Hangzhou, and demanded goods and money ....... If there are counterfeiters, they will be punished according to Sichuan's money". Holders of the pass can go to the goods store to exchange cash, which is actually an official exchange. After the release of "Guanzi", because of sufficient reserves, it can be cashed at any time, so it has a high reputation. In the fifth year of Shaoxing (1 135), the court asked the people to "use according to their needs" (1000 copper coins were strung together and called 1), and the imprisonment became paper money. Later, there were "copper coin pipes", "gold and silver pipes" and Huguang pipes, Huaixi pipes and Suizhou pipes.
In order to guarantee the credit of the imprison son, in Shaoxing for six years (1 136), the court stipulated that the imprison son son "should be used according to the will of the people, that is, he should not be reduced." If someone talks nonsense and buys at a low price, the Lord will reward 500 yuan, and the Yi people will tell Chen that their prisoners will be severely punished. "Currency devaluation and low-price exchange are prohibited to protect prisons as currency circulation. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, Jia Sidao was in power because of financial difficulties. He took advantage of Li Zong's critical illness to issue gold and silver, and prices rose sharply. After the death of the Southern Song Dynasty, imprisonment and participants became history.
Finance in Song Dynasty (Ⅱ)
Deng Gaofeng
Financial institutions in Song Dynasty
Today's financial institutions are divided into banks and non-banks (such as insurance, securities, trust, etc. ) according to their different status and role. Taking this as a reference, in the financial institution system of the Song Dynasty, Jiaoziwu and Huiziwu can be called "banks" in the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty respectively. Because, as mentioned above, Jiaoziwu is the organ responsible for printing and issuing money in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Huiziwu (Huiziku) is the organ responsible for printing and issuing money in the Southern Song Dynasty. In addition, other financial institutions in the Song Dynasty mainly included:
1. Convenient money service: In order to increase the copper reserves of the capital and meet the large demand of the market, the court in Song Dynasty implemented the exchange of convenient money with reference to the method of flying money in Tang Dynasty, which was called convenient money. In the third year of Taizu's treasure-opening (970), the capital set up a money service, saying, "Those who ask businessmen to pay money will visit Zuoku on the same day and give them coupons, but they will still be punished in various States: all businessmen who arrive with coupons will spend money on the same day and will not be detained, and offenders will be punished." In other words, businessmen put money into the left bank, get the withdrawal voucher "coupon", and then go to the counties where they do business to withdraw money, and the court has the guarantee of credit. The coupons here are equivalent to fixed checks now. Businessmen carry this kind of "check" to avoid the trouble of carrying a lot of cash for trading, so the exchange system promotes economic development.
2. Commodity monopoly: Since ancient times, most dynasties in China have implemented monopoly system, and the government monopolized important commodities such as salt, iron, wine, tea and spices. The same is true in the Song Dynasty, which was strengthened by the "three redundancies" (redundant officials, redundant soldiers and redundant expenses) and the invasion of foreign enemies. As a financial institution in the Song Dynasty, Quehuo was first established in the second year of Emperor Taizu Gande (964), and it was established in both the capital and local governments. In addition to playing an important role in monopoly, monopoly services also undertake many financial functions, in short, there is a convenient currency, that is, cash transfer. For example, in the third year of Jingdezhen (1006), the imperial edict said: "If a guest sees money and goes to a certain state for military service, he will accept it only after purchasing goods, and he shall not change it privately." This is the earliest record of collecting money for goods operation. In the first year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1 13 1), because of the garrison in Wuzhou, "money and food are rare. It is to make Tongtong pay for the five continents, call businessmen into China, and hold Tongtong for money. " In terms of currency exchange and withdrawal, in the Hui Zong period, after currency was used to replace currency, the holder of currency had to go to the currency purchase office to exchange currency. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong and Emperor Xiaozong in the Southern Song Dynasty, the banknote collection agency also undertook the function of collecting banknotes. When purchasing grain and grass, the government is also responsible for allocating funds to local governments or paying credit securities issued by local governments for purchasing grain and grass on credit. Xining three years (1070), "Hebei border, the goods are delivered at the end of the year (
Three or two million, for convenience. "Xining four years (107 1 year)," Zhao Que goods sealed silver127,200, silk10.7 million, went to Shaanxi to transport troops to warehouse ".
3. Municipal Shipping Department (Affairs): In the fifth year of Shen Zongxi Ning (1072), the Municipal Shipping Law (one of Wang Anshi's reforms) was promulgated and implemented. Accordingly, Tokyo set up a city shipping department, and later set up a city shipping department or a city shipping department in some border areas and important cities: "Anyone who can sell goods at a fair price will listen to the change of officials." Jiayi, the city's easy-to-serve lender, buys the unsalable goods in the market at a low price, and sells them when the market is in short supply, with an annual interest rate of two points. It can be seen that his main duty is to stabilize prices, turn money into money, limit the control of big businessmen on the market, help stabilize prices and commodity exchange, and increase the government's fiscal revenue. In addition, e-commerce can also call on people to borrow money and provide credit. The formula was abolished in the first year of Zhezongyuan (1086) and resumed in the fourth year of Shaosheng (1097). In the third year of Fu Yuan (1 100), Hui Zong was abolished after he acceded to the throne.
4. Quality warehouse: As a loan financing method with property as pledge, pawnbroker is also an ancient industry. In Song Dynasty, cities, especially Tokyo and Lin 'an, had developed commodity economy and active financing, so the pawnbroking industry was very prosperous, and the government and people's temples pawned in parallel and gradually developed into franchises. A quality bank is a financial institution engaged in the pawn industry, making mortgage loans and collecting interest. Private repositories are also called "solution repositories" and "standard repositories", and repositories run by monasteries are called "longevity repositories". In the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, the signboard of a shop is "Xie", which is a pawnshop. "Tokyo Menghua Record" records that "scholars, farmers and businessmen, hundreds of households in all walks of life, each with their own clothes, dare not cross the line ... quality warehouse management, that is, wearing soap shirts, edges and corners, without hats." During the Southern Song Dynasty, private libraries became more common. The capital Lin 'an "has dozens of libraries of rich people inside and outside the city, with tens of millions of books". A high-quality bank run by the government is called the Arrival Bank. Zongshen Yuanfeng was established in Shi Jing in the fourth year (108 1) and implemented in Zhulu in the seventh year (1084). Belonging to the government-run lending institutions, its main responsibility is to "listen to the quality of the people with official money and help the people get the most", that is, to operate mortgage loans. In Wang Anshi's political reform, two decrees on the government, the Municipal Easy Law and the Young Crops Law, stipulated that people can borrow money from the government with valuable property such as land and real estate as collateral, with an annual interest of 2%. If they fail to redeem the interest within the time limit, they will be fined 2% per month. The latter stipulates that every spring, farmers can borrow money from the government with the autumn harvest as a guarantee, with interest of two points, with a term of six months and return it after the autumn harvest.
5. Gold and silver colored silks shop: In the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a street in Tokyo where gold and silver colored silks were concentrated. Senator Meng recorded in "Dream of China in Tokyo": "Nantong Road, also known as the trading place of gold, silver, silk and silk. The house is magnificent, with a wide facade and looks very new. Every transaction is tens of millions, which is shocking. " "Nantong Lane 1" refers to an alley leading to Nantong, and "Jie Shen" is the name of this street. What is this place? It is "a place where gold, silver and colored silk are traded". What is this place? "The house is magnificent, with a wide facade and looks very new"; What is the size of the transaction here? "Every transaction, moving is 10 million, which is shocking." Accordingly, it can be said that this is a financial street in Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty. Because in the Northern Song Dynasty, gold, silver and silks were all representatives of value. In the fourth year of Kaibao (97 1), Song Taizu issued an imperial edict: "It is forbidden to forge yellow platinum, and the whistleblower will be rewarded with 65,438+10,000 yuan." As for colored silks (colored silks), like silver, it was an important material exported by the Northern Song Dynasty court to Liao and Xixia.
6. Jiaoyin Store: Jiaoyin is a commercial certificate issued by the government to businessmen, which is printed and kept by Jiaoyin Library. With the implementation of the monopoly prohibition system, businessmen need to pay grain, grass or cash to get the money, and then exchange it for cash or government monopoly goods. "After Yong Xi, he used his army to cut his salary. He asked more businessmen to put in straw and grain and straighten it according to the distance of the land. He accepted the market price and raised the price. I gave him a voucher called a quotation and gave him money in the capital. " Therefore, in Song Dynasty, there were many kinds of cross-quotation, such as tea cross-quotation, salt cross-quotation, money cross-quotation, etc., and cross-quotation also became a kind of securities. Some people who hold Bank of Communications are willing to sell, so the shops that buy and sell Bank of Communications came into being, and their profits of course came from the difference between Bank of Communications and Bank of Communications. Gold and silver exchange shops also appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, also known as "gold and silver salt money exchange shops" and "gold and silver money exchange shops". According to the records of Lin 'an Road, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, "From Wujianlou North to Guanxiang South Street, there are more than two lines of gold, silver and salt banknotes." Due to the large scale of the transaction and the strong financial resources of the Bank of Communications operators, it is often said that "seeing gold and silver utensils and money in the front row is called looking for money piles". Guanxiang South Street can be said to be a financial street in Lin 'an in the Southern Song Dynasty.
7. Ward-round storehouse: The ward-round storehouse here refers to the property that the government rounds, registers and keeps for orphans. Therefore, the ward-round storehouse is the parents' legacy that the custodian has no official property but the orphans and children of the officials deserve, and the income is enjoyed by the orphans and children of the ward-round households, similar to today's trust institutions. During the Renzong period, the court set up a school library in Kaifeng. In Zongshen, the school library used its own orphan assets to borrow money from the school library, and the interest income was used to subsidize the lives of orphans, so the school library had the function of financing.
Impact and lessons
In the Song Dynasty, official finance and private finance developed together, financial services were diversified, credit tools were constantly innovated, and credit management was institutionalized, which had a positive impact on social and economic development. The reorganization of the monetary system has greatly reduced the obstacles to economic development caused by currency separatism since the Five Dynasties and Ten Countries. The appearance and circulation of paper money solved the shortage of copper money and the inconvenience of iron money, and the exchange of money and the implementation of credit business undoubtedly promoted the development of commodity economy. The development of loan, mortgage, school inspection and other businesses has eased people's money problem, ensured the urgent need of production and life, and promoted the preferential treatment and protection of minors by society; The issuance of various financial bills and the increase of paper money have also eased financial difficulties and increased fiscal revenue, and so on.
However, the lessons left by the finance in Song Dynasty are profound and multifaceted. First of all, after the issuance and circulation of paper money, an unavoidable problem is anti-counterfeiting. The Song government strengthened the anti-counterfeiting technology from the aspects of paper selection, printing characters with complex patterns, using multiple seals for anti-counterfeiting, multi-color overprinting, using copper plate printing, and changing boundaries and circulating regularly. At the same time, the government issued a decree to severely punish fraud, reward reporting, and investigate the responsibility for dereliction of duty. However, counterfeit money never stopped, especially at the end of the Song Dynasty and the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, when counterfeit money was rampant, Li Zong of the Southern Song Dynasty once said, "Forgery is not strict, is it true or false?" One of the reasons is that criminals forget their interests and act recklessly, and the quality of paper used is reduced due to the indiscriminate issuance of banknotes, and the use period of banknotes is too long due to the delay in demarcation. Therefore, in order to ensure the credit of paper money, we must strengthen the financial rule of law and financial culture construction on the premise of continuously improving anti-counterfeiting technology and printing quality.
Secondly, the development of financial industry is accompanied by the increase of speculation, parasitism and even decay. There are exploitation and even commercial fraud in currency exchange, pawn mortgage and usury, which are very unfavorable to the social vulnerable groups such as farmers, small producers and small businessmen. It is recorded in Song Huiyao's Food Compilation that during the period, people who agreed with Wang Anshi's political reform once said: "People are often sleepy, and the year is not yet over. The merger family takes advantage of its urgency and invites double interest, while the lenders are often suffering." Even after the implementation of the new law, due to official fraud and other reasons, the actual implementation is not ideal. In this regard, Su Zhe once said: "Wealth for the people's livelihood is not for profit, but at the time of cashier, officials are traitors. Although there are laws, they cannot be prohibited. " Therefore, while developing the financial industry, we must pay attention to caring for the vulnerable groups.
Of course, the most profound lesson left by finance in the Song Dynasty is the collapse of the monetary system and economy caused by the credit crisis and the disorderly and excessive issuance of paper money. Especially at the end of Song Dynasty, faced with huge military expenditure and serious financial crisis, the government of Song Dynasty often passed on the crisis by spamming paper money, which resulted in a large number of paper money issued in Song Dynasty, and the government could do nothing about inflation. The result is, of course, economic collapse, people's lives plunged into disaster, which also shook their own political ruling foundation and accelerated the collapse of the regime. This tells us that the formulation and implementation of monetary policy must conform to the objective laws of commodity economy. For finance, we should manage it scientifically and do a good job in risk assessment and control.
Quote from: Bianliang Evening News