In the Xianchun period of Du Zong (1265-1274 AD), the "Xianchun Yuanbao" was minted in Xiaoping, which was broken into two copper coins. After the Yuan army invaded the Southern Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty died, and several other reign titles failed to make money.
In addition to the round coins with square holes mentioned above, a rectangular coin called "Qian Pai" appeared in the Song Dynasty. During the reign of Lizong Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty, a strange-shaped currency was issued, which was a rectangular small plate, the size of the small plate used to deposit and withdraw bicycles today. This kind of money is made of copper and has words on both sides. The front of the money is "Lin'an Prefecture Xingyong", and the back of the money is recorded as "Zhun Wu Bowen Province", "Zhun San Bowen Province" and "Zhun Er Bowen Province". "wait. The word "zhun" in Qian Wen is "ping", "bo" is "hundred", and "sheng" means "sheng bai", which means that the small plate paid during the transaction is equivalent to × 100 copper coins. Lin'an is now Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty at that time. "Lin'an Prefecture for Use" stipulates that this kind of money card can only be a proxy coin that is limited to Lin'an Prefecture. Its casting business is related to the money shortage and the ban on money leaving the city at that time. Due to the rapid development of the monetary economy in the Song Dynasty, the market demand for copper coins increased significantly. When the supply of copper exceeded demand, money shortages often occurred. In order to maintain normal commercial activities, city officials at that time banned copper coins from leaving the city. "Wenwen Tongkao Coin Research" once said: "Since the state set up ships in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangzhou, ship merchants came and went, and the money and treasure were leaked. Therefore, there are prohibitions on going out from Lin'an, going down the river, and entering the sea. "There is a ban." After copper coins are banned from leaving the city, the number of copper coins entering the city will naturally decrease accordingly. Trade circulation inside and outside the city had to rely on paper money. When large amounts of coins were put into the market, it was inconvenient to make change, so tokens such as money cards were created. Most of the money cards from the Southern Song Dynasty were unearthed in Hangzhou, but the number is small and extremely rare.
There are many reasons for the money shortage in the Southern Song Dynasty, which can be summarized as follows: First, the development of the commodity economy greatly increased the demand for money. The Southern Song Dynasty was a peaceful corner, located on the southeastern coast, the richest country in the country. There was no war for a long time and the politics were relatively stable. In addition, the northern people who could not bear the oppression of the Jin Dynasty moved southward, bringing with them advanced Central Plains culture and technology. , thus making the economy of the Southern Song Dynasty develop significantly. According to records, at that time, Lin'an Prefecture was full of shops and merchants. It was already a world-class metropolis with a population of one million. Only rice and grain were included. "The food of the poor people cost no more than one or two thousand dan, and they all needed shops." From this we can imagine how active commodity trading was at that time, followed by a surge in currency circulation. Second, copper coins were leaked and flowed into the north and overseas in large quantities. The Southern Song Dynasty government was corrupt and incompetent. It bowed to the Jin Kingdom and sued for peace. It paid 3 million taels of compensation to the Jin Kingdom every year, most of which were converted into copper coins. Moreover, private copper smuggling was very serious, and foreign trade was very developed, and copper coins were circulated through trade. Part of it goes overseas. "History of the Song Dynasty: Food and Huo Zhi" records: "On the southern crossing, the shipping companies on the three routes had a lot of income every year. However, gold, silver, copper and iron were lost a lot by flying ships, and the leakage of copper coins was especially serious." The third is copper. The resources are insufficient and the amount of minted money is reduced. During the Southern Song Dynasty, as the number of prefectures and counties occupied decreased, copper resources were correspondingly scarce. In addition, most of the centers for minting coins were damaged and could not be restored, so the amount of copper dropped sharply. The fourth is to sell money as a tool, which makes copper coins withdraw from circulation. Due to the lack of copper sources and the shortage of copper utensils, a considerable number of copper coins were destroyed by people and used as utensils. The demand for copper coins in the Southern Song Dynasty was large, but there were few casting houses. In summary, the money shortage in the Southern Song Dynasty was caused.
In short, the coins of the Song Dynasty are famous for their exquisite calligraphy, neat production and wide variety. However, these exquisite and beautiful Song coins are soaked with the blood and sweat of countless money supervisors at that time. They were the direct creators of the brilliant Song Dynasty coin culture, but they all lived at the bottom of society and lived a turbulent life. Ordinary life was cruelly deceived and oppressed by the rulers.
The agency in charge of coinage in the Song Dynasty was called Qianjian. Money supervisors implemented militarized management, and money-casting craftsmen were called servants. The number of soldiers in each Qianjian is uneven. "Song Hui Yao Collection" records: "In the first year of Daguan, there were 695 military craftsmen in Yongfeng Prison, which was 64 short of the designated number." It also records: "(Fumin Prison) saw more than 200 craftsmen in charge." In addition to recruiting some skilled craftsmen from the private sector to make up for the shortage, most of them are recruited from prisoners. Once a person enters the Qian Prison, it is like entering the gate of hell. Every soldier has the word "Prison" or a military bugle tattooed on his face. Casting money is an extremely labor-intensive manual work. The soldiers have been exposed to the smoke of furnace fires all year round, the pollution caused by lead poisoning, and the torture of the foremen. Their physical condition is extremely poor. Some of them are old and frail and have lost their ability to cast money. The capable soldiers were returned to prison.
As for those who could not bear the hard labor and escaped from prison, they would be punished more severely and even be beaten to death. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, when the Jin soldiers went south and the country was about to perish, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty also formulated "the method of stabbing the hands of the soldiers in charge of Qian's supervision" ("History of the Song Dynasty, Art of War"). The money prison in the Song Dynasty was another form of prison for the soldiers. The people here were talking tools, using their lives to exchange for more coins. Song money is beautiful, and the beautiful Song money is filled with the blood and tears of the money supervisors.