There has always been a record of "higher gold content" in the Western Han Dynasty in history books. There is a radical view that the gold reserve of the Western Han Dynasty is equal to 4 1.4% of that of China in 2003. At that time, "gold was rewarded by weight, and gold was used for trading and even paying fines".
Although "gold" in ancient books does not necessarily refer to gold, it seems that the statement that "the Western Han Dynasty was rich in gold" can also be confirmed from a large number of gold products unearthed in contemporary times (such as a large number of gold cakes in Shaanxi Museum).
Since the gold in ancient vaults mainly came from the development of gold mines, it can be inferred at least that the Western Han Dynasty, which was rich in gold, was a peak of gold mining in China.
In addition, in recent years, the "golden frog" and "golden turtle" in the Tang Dynasty, which are widely circulated in the antique world, are said to have come from the treasury of the Tang Dynasty, but there is no explicit record in the historical materials. After all, the Han and Tang dynasties have a long history, and it is impossible to verify the state treasury's gold reserves at that time.
Extended data:
Although it is difficult to verify the gold production and reserves in the Tang Dynasty, the development of gold mines in Guangxi and Hunan at that time marked the beginning of the utilization of gold mines in the south. By the Northern Song Dynasty, a large area of land in the west was lost, and the gold mine in Shandong Peninsula became the main source of gold mine development.
The peak annual output of gold in Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties exceeded 1 ton (more than 30,000 taels), and records about gold mines in Northeast China began to appear in history books. In the Ming Dynasty, Lijiang, Yunnan and northern Sichuan became the regions with the highest gold production, with the highest annual output of 1.25 tons (more than 40,000 taels).
At the beginning of Qing dynasty, due to the influence of war and other factors, gold production once entered a trough. In the late Qing Dynasty, the ratio of gold production in Northeast China and Mongolia increased significantly. "1888- 1890, the average annual output in the late Qing dynasty reached about 13.5 tons", but by "190 1 year, it dropped to 4.5 1 ton, which was only the peak in the previous period. 19 1 1 year recovered to 15 tons or more (482,000). "
Because the output and reserves of gold in ancient dynasties can only be inferred from documents and unearthed cultural relics, it is difficult for future generations to have a more intuitive feeling because of the lack of documents.
However, before and after the recent regime change in China-the collapse of the Kuomintang regime in mainland China, the importance of gold was fully brought into play.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, especially after the outbreak of the civil war, the national economy of the Kuomintang government was on the verge of collapse. By August of 1947, the currency issued by the Kuomintang government had reached 663,694.4 billion yuan, which was about 1 190.8 times higher than when the Anti-Japanese War was won.
The sharp increase in currency issuance not only failed to alleviate the financial crisis, but also caused the collapse of the entire financial system. When the credit currency is in crisis, the value of gold as a natural currency will be fully reflected.
When the regime was in turmoil, the rulers of the National Government naturally understood the importance of "hiding gold in troubled times". The national government began to issue gold certificates in August of 1948, through which gold, silver and foreign currencies were forcibly converted and nationalized.
1949 10 year 10 month 10 day, Chiang Kai-shek sent his son Jiang Jingguo to Shanghai to meet Yu Hung chun, governor of the central bank, and asked him to move the dollars and gold deposited by the central bank to Taiwan Province province for storage.
In fact, this secret transport started at the end of 1948. Under Chiang Kai-shek's direct command, at least 4.5 million taels of gold were packed in wooden boxes and secretly delivered to Taiwan Province Province seven times in half a year, which was the largest secret cross-sea transportation of gold in the history of China.
It was because of a large amount of gold that Chiang Kai-shek's government was able to successfully implement the monetary reform after the defeat of Taiwan Province Province, and implemented the new Taiwan dollar reform on July 1950, which stabilized the economy of Taiwan Province Province.
In turbulent times, the influence of gold reserves on the survival of a regime can be seen.
People's Network-How did the ancient dynasties in China reserve gold?