[Chinese Culture Picking Bed] The market in the copper coin "Jiaizi"

In any costume drama, copper coins and silver ingots are indispensable elements. The main plot of the story of "Menghua Record" occurred in Tokyo, the Northern Song Dynasty, known for its prosperity of the commodity economy. Zhao Pan'er, Gu Qianfan and other protagonists naturally had to deal with "money".

This TV series has a relatively real portrait of "money". For example, the most commonly used currency is copper coins, the unit that calculates the copper coins is "Guan", and silver and gold rarely appear. So, in the Northern Song Dynasty, how much "consistent money" represents how much copper coins, and what is its purchasing power in the market?

The currency value in the evolution

We all know that the Northern Song Dynasty ended the troubled times since the end of the Tang Dynasty, which brought China to reunification. In fact, the unified territory is only the first step. After that, the Northern Song Dynasty also had to unify administration, unified military, unified taxes, and even unified currencies in the new occupation zone.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, most of them had coins on their own, regardless of the Central Plains dynasty or the southern countries. Their drum -casting copper coins are different, and the Tianfu Yuanbao of the later Jin is very bad, and Zhou Yuantongbao in the later Zhou Dynasty is more exquisite. The size, severity, and materials of these coins are different, and they cannot be exchanged between each other. They can only be circulated in the casting.

In order to show the orthodox nature of the new dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty, and at the same time, it also set up "money prison" in various places to set up "money prison" to large -scale copper mines and cast new money. Earlier, the two Han Dynasty had been using five baht money, the Tang Dynasty basically used Kaiyuan Tongbao, and the new principle of casting money was established in the Northern Song Dynasty -the emperor had to cast the corresponding "annual money" every time he changed the yuan, for example The emperor's prototype Song Zhenzong cast a variety of coins such as Xianping ingot, Jingde ingot, and Tianxi Tongbao. In addition, there are "national money" in the Northern Song Dynasty, such as Song Yuan Tongbao and Holy Song Yuanbao.

In terms of copper coin casting, the Northern Song Dynasty reached the highest in the past. In the "Research on Circulation of Currency and Currency in the Song Dynasty", Gao Smart has a total of about 600 million copper coins in the Northern Song Dynasty. The ancients used to putting 1,000 copper coins on a rope, called "consistent", "one thousand" or "one thousand", which means that the copper coins cast in the Northern Song Dynasty reached 600 billion yuan. To this day, Song Qian, who is still often discovered. In 1981, the Song Dynasty cellar was found in Hanyin County, Shaanxi Province, and 0.85 tons of copper coins were unearthed. In 1985, a number of Song money was unearthed here, with a total weight of 0.95 tons.

In the Sichuan and northwest of the Northern Song Dynasty, iron money was also passed. Later, because the value of iron coins was too low, it was not easy to carry, and it gradually developed the earliest banknote in the world. During the Southern Song Dynasty, common currencies became iron money and another banknote "meeting", and the importance of copper coins decreased.

The Song Dynasty coins are mostly innovative in terms of text, face value, etc. Qian Wen has true books, Lishu, cursive script, sealing books, and a thin gold body written by Song Huizong. In addition to the "small ping money" of the face, the face value is more than two texts. "Fold two money", "Dang Five Money" of Five Texts, "Ten Money" of Ten Management, etc. The official casting Xiaoping's money weighs about 4 grams, and most of the two dollars are more than 8 grams. The currency value and weight are directly proportional. In order to collect money, Song Huizong made "Ten money" for Chongning Childbao and Chongning Tongbao, but about 10 grams, but about 10 grams. The currency value and weight are imbalanced, and the currency devalues ​​seriously.

At this time, silver and gold are not currency, mainly as wealth storage, or the emperor's reward for ministers. Relatively speaking, silver is more important than gold. The military distribution, foreign transactions in the Song Dynasty sometimes used silver payment. The three provinces of Hu in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan said, "Today, people smelted silver, fifty, half of the middle, half of the middle, the small crickets, the world's" 铤 铤 '. " It is equivalent to the current 466 grams (about 37.3 grams of one or two in the Song Dynasty), and the face value is obviously too large, which is difficult to use for daily consumption.

If you look at the "Chinese Price Issues" edited by Huang Mian Tang, you can easily find that whether copper coins, iron, and silver, the purchasing power is very different in different periods of the Northern Song Dynasty. Let's focus on the situation in the middle and early days of the Northern Song Dynasty today.

The purchasing power of "consistent money"

As mentioned earlier, the so -called "consistent money" is 1,000 copper coins, and it can always be divided into ten "Mo", each of which is equal to 100 copper coins. However, in actual transactions, people often use "Foot Mo", but "Short Mo" because of their cheap psychology. Over time, "Short Mo" has received dual recognition of the court and the people. As for "footmo", it is more written in the legal provisions, such as "theft of 5,000 full -foots, but to death" -the amount of theft reached 50,000 copper coins and sentenced to death.

Meng Yuan Lao said in "Tokyo Menghua Record", "Metropolis Qian Mo, seventy -seventh, seventy -five for the market ... There are short and long use of the market", that is, in accordance with the regulations of the court, 77 Most of the consumption takes 75 texts. In addition, in different industries such as vegetable farms, hotels, calligraphy and painting, the specific amount of money represented by Yizhan is also more and less. Generally speaking, the consistent money is usually about 770.

The value of iron is far lower than copper coins, and the common exchange ratio is 10: 1. As an intersection of iron money alternatives, it is also based on the consolidation, and the face value is consistent, five, and ten. In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, in order to relieve fiscal pressure, the court excessive printed crossing, which greatly depreciated it. Gu Qianfan's three thousand "checks" left by Zhao Pan'er, the prototype is obviously Jiaizi, but the screenwriter may not know that Jiaozi only circulates in Sichuan and can only be exchanged for iron money. Three thousand penetration friends are full of calculations, and can only be used as three hundred copper coins. As for the comparison price of copper coins and silver and gold, according to the research of Peng Xinwei's "History of Chinese Currency", in the early days of the Northern Song Dynasty, one or two silver was equivalent to 700-800 copper coins, which was consistent; Three through.

The TV series said that Sun Sanniang had killed the pig for three years in order to save money, which really underestimated the income of the people of the Northern Song Dynasty. In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the daily salary of a man's workmanship in Fujian was 40-50; the salary level in Tokyo was much higher, and a worker could make more than 100 texts a day. If you look at it like this, a people who work in the Northern Song Dynasty have to make a short money, which is almost one week, and it is almost half a month.

In the "History of Price of the Song Dynasty", Cheng Min Sheng pointed out that "the minimum living expenses of a person's life are converted into a copper coin in the early stage of the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty."

In the past, people like to use rice prices and gold prices as intermediaries. Calculating one or two silver or how much money is consistent. The problem of this conversion is to ignore the differences in the difficulty of the same product in ancient and modern products, which is often not accurate. We might as well change a way to convert the prices of the Northern Song Dynasty and the current prices with the minimum living cost of an ordinary person. According to the data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the average standard for the lowest guarantee in the country in 2021 is 706.6 yuan per person per month, and the 706.6 yuan is actually equivalent to the purchasing power of consistent money (770) in the Northern Song Dynasty.

In this way, Zhou She owed someone else's fifteen gambling debts in "Menghua Record", which was more than 10,000 yuan; Gu Qianfan gave Zhao Pan'er passing his Hetian jade, saying at least two hundred perception -140,000 yuan It can be called a big deal; Zhao Pan'er wanted to buy Wangyue Building in Tokyo. The owner's price was 1,200 yuan -85,000 yuan. Essence

In addition to copper coins in the play, gold has appeared. At the beginning of the story, Ouyang Xu asked Uncle De to bring 80 gold to Zhao Pan'er as a "breakup fee". Conversion according to the above standards, the money is 735,000 yuan. Zhao Pan'er said at the time that 80 two were not enough, 500 two. 500 two gold is equivalent to RMB 4.59 million.

Food, food, housing and transportation overhead

In summary, "Menghua Lu" is very rigorous in the treatment of the currency and purchasing power of the Northern Song Dynasty, but that is not a real history after all. So, how did people from different classes from the Northern Song Dynasty spend more than a thousand years ago?

If you live alone, you can't do without food and food. In the Northern Song Dynasty, clothes are more expensive. During the Song Renzong period, the minister Ding Du once said that some of the "disadvantages" that robbers were killed in the outskirts of Tokyo were worth "hundreds of dollars". The slightly decent clothes would not be able to buy one or two. Eating is relatively cheap. After Zhang Sheng and Cheng Yan, in Zhuxian Town, not far from Tokyo, the two touched the whole body and made "dozens of money". Dozens of articles are enough for two people to eat staple food.

If you live, it is not cheap at any time. During the Yuan Dynasty of the Song Dynasty, in Tokyo, for the need for urban construction, it dismantled 130 household houses, and in total compensation for "more than 22,600 缗". On average, each household can get about 173. In other words, a people in Tokyo work hard or drink for four consecutive years before they can buy a residence. It is easy to do it. The people rely on two legs. Rich people can "get a car" -the Japanese monk Cheng Xun hired a sedan in Hangzhou and walked for a long time. 50 article.

After understanding the basic expenses, let's look at some high -consumption examples. Zhang Fangping, the Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, helped to hire a maid. In addition, the buyer has always been or secretly stored in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. The monthly crickets from Jiupin's officials are 6-8, as well as some silk and cotton. The "price" of the official position is so high and the salary is so small. After taking office, these buyers naturally have to "return" through the people.

Of course, the one who can spend the most money must be said to be the royal family. Once, Song Renzong ate in the palace and saw a dish for 28 crabs. He turned to the servant and asked the price, and the attendant replied that each "straight one thousand". Song Renzong was angry as soon as he heard it: "Digesting and Ru generations are not extravagant. I can't bear it for 28,000 money. ,I will not eat! It is no exaggeration that such a dish has been enough for a Tokyo people for more than two years.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Li Xinzhuan also remembered an intriguing thing in the "Reception of the Year since the establishment of the Yan". The Empress Dowager Meng and her maids and eunuchs spent a thousand consumption a day and consumed the living expenses of a common people in 83 years.

The commodity market in the Song Dynasty was prosperous, and the elegant life such as tea, dance music, and Cuju in "Menghua Record" did really exist in Tokyo.But this kind of life is not a few monthly money, and ordinary people who have to support their families have the ability to consume.Source | Beijing News

Text | Yang Jintao

Image | originated from the Internet

Edit | Luo Xinyi Zhang Jiamei

School Audit | He Yini

Responsible editor 丨 Sun Xiaoyu Hou Bin

Produced 丨 Zhang Luoying

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