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What is the Coin

Sui coin used to refer to the money and goods that the imperial court sent to foreigners every year, and also refers to the money and goods that localities pay to the country every year. Regarding the number of old coins, according to the “Continued Zizhi Tongjian Changbian” and “Song Huiyao Compiled Draft” and other materials, the old coins given to Liao and Jin in the Song Dynasty, and the old gifts to Xixia should all be calculated.

Among them, whether to pay during the war and negotiation can also be determined according to historical data. It’s just that the history of the Song Dynasty has a lot of data, which is more troublesome. Taking the Liao Dynasty as an example, in terms of the general situation, after the Chanyuan Alliance, the annual coins gave a total of 300,000 taels of silk and silver, which increased to 500,000 taels during the reign of Renzong, and they were paid regularly every year.

Give Liao Sui coins again. The situation with Jin can also be calculated according to the “Records of the Years Since Jianyan” and other materials, but Song and Jin have fought many times, and the calculation is more troublesome.

Use

As for the purpose of the old coin, it is estimated that it is mainly used for the royal family. It is worth noting that after the peace talks between Song and Liao, on the one hand, Song sent the old coins to Liao, and judging from the trade situation on the border between the two sides, the profits earned by the Song side were higher than the expenditure on the old coins.

Background

Gold and silver have existed as money since a long time ago. The old coins need silver and silk, which can also express the value of silver. Why the Song Dynasty restricted the outflow of copper coins but not silver, this can be explained by the theory of good money and bad money: if there are many kinds of general equivalents circulating in society, most people will tend to store good money (relatively high and stable value).

However, if bad money is used first, bad money will become the most popular currency in society in the long run. Therefore, copper coins were more popular in the Song Dynasty, and the outflow of copper coins was serious. In order to ensure the normal operation of domestic trade, the government would try to limit the outflow of copper coins. Silver doesn’t have this problem at all.

History

1004 AD (the 44th year of the Song calendar)

Song Zhenzong was determined to make peace, and regardless of Kou Zhun’s opposition, he sent an envoy Cao Li to Liaoying to negotiate the terms of peace. When Cao Li was about to leave, Song Zhenzong told him: “If they have to pay compensation, they have to agree to pay one million a year.”

Kou Zhun was very sad when he heard it, but it was inconvenient to argue in front of Zhenzong. Cao Li left the camp, and Kou Zhun followed closely behind. As soon as he went out, he grabbed Cao Li’s hand and said, “The amount of compensation cannot exceed 300,000 yuan, or I will want your head when I come back!”

Cao Li knew how powerful Kou Zhun was. When they arrived in Liaoying, after some bargaining, it was finally agreed that the Song Dynasty would give the Liao Dynasty 300,000 silver silks every year. Then Song and Liao formally reached a peace agreement. The Song Dynasty gave the Liao Dynasty 200,000 pieces of silk and 100,000 taels of silver every year. Needless to say, this huge amount of compensation has long been an additional heavy burden on the people of the Northern Song Dynasty. In history, this peace conference was called the “Chanyuan Alliance”. Since then, there have been no large-scale wars between Song and Liao.

AD 1045

The Liao State asked the Song Dynasty to increase the old coins, and the Song and Liao countries re-negotiated on the old coins. The Song State would give the Liao State 300,000 pieces of silk and 200,000 taels of silver every year.

In 1034 AD, the party members rebelled under the leadership of the leader Li Yuanhao and announced the official establishment of the Xixia Kingdom. The Song Dynasty sent a large army to fight against Xixia, but failed again and again. In the end, Fan Zhongyan and Di Qing led the army to save the decline. In 1044 AD, Li Yuanhao returned to the Song Dynasty when he saw that the situation was not good. The Song Dynasty and Xixia agreed that the Song Dynasty would give Xixia 255,000 silver silk every year, and agreed that Xixia would occupy the occupied Song territory.

AD 1120

The Liao Kingdom has gradually weakened. Someone suggested to Song Huizong that the Liao Dynasty was about to perish, and it was a good opportunity to regain the lost land of Yanyun in the north. Song Huizong sent people across the sea from Shandong to the Jin Dynasty to meet Jin Taizu and expressed his willingness to attack the Liao Dynasty. The two parties agreed that after the Liao Dynasty was destroyed, the Northern Song Dynasty would take back the lost land of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun ceded to the Liao Dynasty during the Later Jin Dynasty. The Northern Song Dynasty would transfer the silver and silk that was given to the Liao Dynasty every year to the Jin Dynasty. For “Sea Union”.

Later, the Kingdom of Jin conquered several capitals of the Liao Dynasty as planned, but the Song Army commanded by Tong Guan suffered a defeat in the attack on Yanjing, which was occupied by the Song Dynasty. In order to avoid responsibility for the failure, Tong Guan secretly sent someone to invite the Jin Army Attack Yanjing. The Jin army took Yanjing in one fell swoop and refused to return it to the Northern Song Dynasty. Tong Guan had no choice but to promise to donate one million guan of Yanjing’s tax per year to the Jin Dynasty, and then redeemed Yanjing.

In this way, the Song Dynasty not only gave the Kingdom of Jin 300,000 pieces of cloth and 200,000 taels of silver every year, but also gave an additional one million guan.

AD 1139

Due to the small population, the Jin Dynasty was unable to occupy a larger territory, so it renegotiated peace with the Southern Song Dynasty. The coins are 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 bolts of silk.

After 1165 AD

The two countries agreed that the Southern Song Dynasty would reduce the yearly coins given to the Kingdom of Jin to 200,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk every year.

AD 1206

Prime Minister Han Tuozhou launched the last Northern Expedition in the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, but failed due to insufficient preparation.

AD 1208

The Southern Song Dynasty killed Han Yuzhou to seek peace with the Kingdom of Jin. After that, the Southern Song Dynasty increased the annual coins to the Kingdom of Jin to 300,000 taels of silver and 300,000 pieces of silk. Two years later, the Mongols rose up and invaded the Kingdom of Jin, defeating the Kingdom of Jin completely.

After Mongolia became stronger, the Southern Song Dynasty still wanted to claim its vassal status to Mongolia. Kublai Khan didn’t pay much attention to it. He first agreed, and when he returned to the grassland to win the Khan throne, he turned around and swept the Southern Song Dynasty court into the smoke and dust of history.