The unified casting of "five baht" coins completely changed and basically eliminated all kinds of disadvantages caused by different monetary systems and disorderly casting since the early Western Han Dynasty, which played an important role in the central imperial power rule and social and economic development during the Hanwu period and thereafter. This paper tries to discuss the cause and effect of unified currency system in the ruling measures of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, and puts forward some humble opinions on it.
First, the monetary system in the early Western Han Dynasty
To study the cause and effect of the unification of monetary system by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, we have to look at the monetary system in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty.
Qin merged with the six countries, and the country was temporarily unified, but the social economy has not yet recovered. At the end of Qin Dynasty, the peasant uprising rose, the country perished, Chu and Han contended, the social productive forces seriously declined, the economy was depressed, and people's livelihood was difficult. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the scene from the emperor to the people was recorded in history: "After the embarrassment of the Qin Dynasty, all kinds of weather rose together, the people lost their homework, and they were hungry and cold. Five thousand stones per meter, people eat people, and more than half of the dead. ..... The world stands, the people die and hide, and the son of heaven cannot have wine, but must take an ox cart "[1]. In order to consolidate the newly established Western Han Dynasty and save the social economy on the verge of collapse, it naturally became a top priority for the rulers in the early Han Dynasty.
At the beginning of Liu Bang's reign, Emperor Gaozu adopted a looser economic governance strategy than Qin Dynasty. One of the most important measures is that he adopted the measure of "it is difficult to use for the wealth of Qin, but also for the wealth of the people, one gold and one catty, and cherish the law" [2]. The formulation of this measure is based on Emperor Gaozu's one-sided understanding of functions of money, which means that with more money, the social economy will recover quickly; Besides, rulers mean that casting can please people all over the world. Therefore, the monetary system in the early Han dynasty changed the amount of half a coin in the Qin dynasty, which was as thin as a pod and weighed about three baht. In terms of casting lines, there are both official and private casting, and the weight of coins is different, which forms a mixed situation of "half Liang" in Qin Dynasty and "pod money" in Han Dynasty. This can be confirmed from many unearthed physical materials. As far as Zhang Cun, Dianzi Township, Boxing County is concerned, there are 13 pieces unearthed from 1982 in recent years, including "Yu pod" and "four baht and a half", among which "Yu pod" is "Qian Hengjing 1. 1. Another example is Qian Fan, a "fish pod" unearthed in Xiancheng Village of this county in 1986. Its I-type model is: "Mo Qian diameter 1.2, wearing 0.7 cm, and the word" half two "is engraved on the Mo Qian surface". Its type ⅲ model is "the largest diameter of the money mold is less than 0.6 cm, the smallest is only 0.4 cm, and the width is only 0.2 cm" [4]. Another example is the "Ulmus pumila" discovered by Qian Fan at 1985 in Sunjiazhuangzi Village, Juxian County, in which: "Type A:' Banliang' Qian Fan. The diameter of the die is 1.2 cm, and the coin die has a circular square hole with a side length of 0.7× 0.7cm.. ..... From the degree of wear and tear, it can be seen that the Han people have been casting money with this fan for a long time "[5]. The B-type "Yuyue" Qian Fan produced here has an outer diameter similar to that of A-type Qian Fan, but its width is larger than that of A-type Qian Fan.
From the above-mentioned examples of Qian Fan unearthed in recent years in the early Han Dynasty, we can know that similar Qian Fan unearthed in the same place is not consistent in size. The bad influence and serious consequences of this kind of money invested by Qian Fan on the social economy can be imagined. The history book says: "unscrupulous people who seek profits accumulate profits and collect things from the market, and things soar, with a price of 10,000 yuan and a horse full of gold." In the early Han Dynasty, there was a situation of "abandoning the roots and pursuing the end", which was very unfavorable to the social and economic recovery.
In order to curb the development of the situation of "abandoning the roots and chasing the end", the rulers in the early Han Dynasty adopted the countermeasures of emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce. The history book says: "The world is peaceful, and it is difficult for Emperor Gaozu to ask Jia people not to take the bus and pay taxes again. Filial piety, high post, is the beginning of the world, and the business law is loose. However, the descendants of ordinary people are not allowed to be officials. " [7]. Although this kind of countermeasures to curb business has played a certain role in attaching importance to agriculture and consolidating the capital, the root of the drawback of "abandoning the capital and chasing the end" lies in the one-sided understanding of the function of currency as a "special commodity". Although agriculture was adopted to curb commerce, the social and economic governance at that time could only cure the symptoms, but not the root cause, as recorded in the history books: "Law is not as good as commerce, and commerce is already rich; Respect agriculture and be poor in agriculture. " [8].
During the reign of Emperor Wendi of the Western Han Dynasty, he continued to pursue the ruling policy of "less heavy taxes and rest for the people". In view of the social disadvantages brought about by the disorder of currency, such as soaring prices and deterioration of abandoned capital, deflation was adopted to greatly reduce the amount of currency in circulation; Implement weight gain measures for circulating currency to change the disorderly state of circulating currency.
In recent years, the objects of Emperor Wen's change to "four baht and a half" have also been unearthed frequently. For example, when zhangxin Village in Boxing made the "Jade pod" money model on 1982, five "four-and-a-half" money models, "Jade pod" models and two "four-and-a-half" models were made together. As far as the "four baht and half two" model is concerned, "the diameter is 2.2 and the width is 0.6-0.7 cm. The word "half beam" is engraved on both sides of the seal script. Among them, "elm pod" and "four baht and a half" are combined into one, and each model is engraved with "elm pod" money model on one side and "four baht and a half" money model on the other [9]. This batch of Qian Fan seen here has a clear location and obvious characteristics of the times, especially the discovery of "Yu pod" and "four baht and a half", which is of high historical value and proves that the historical records of deflation and currency reform in Han Dynasty are reliable.
Although there were measures to reform the currency in the period of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, most of them were "half-liang", "elm pod" and "four baht and half-liang", so the currency disorder at this time was not fundamentally improved. With the gradual recovery of social productive forces, the social commodity economy has developed faster than before, and the social demand for money is increasing. The previous measures of deflation and currency control have obviously failed to meet the needs of social and economic development. In the fifth year of Emperor Wendi's reign, his currency changed from deflation to "casting money for the convenience of the people". Before and after this imperial edict, some ruling ministers realized that this imperial edict would bring great harm to the social economy, and put forward the suggestion that "copper is distributed all over the world, which is a disaster" [10]. Unfortunately, it was not adopted by Emperor Wen, so official casting, private casting and stolen casting activities flooded everywhere. On the surface, the sudden increase of currency in circulation stimulated the development of commodity economy, but the reality at that time was that "trade with the United States is evil, and it is twice as easy" [1 1], "big businessmen accumulate double interest, and small ones sit in a row to sell, fuck their odd win and go to town every day. If you are in a hurry, you will sell twice as much. [65438+] With the increasing commercial activities, the demand for money is increasing, and minting money is profitable. Coupled with the imperial edict of "removing stolen money", the situation of "abandoning capital and chasing after the end" reappears in society. Among them, "those who abandon donating farmland and collect copper today will become rich, put their bedding, melt charcoal and rape more money" [/kl] Due to the popularity of convenient casting, private casting and capital casting, the quality of money in circulation is mixed, and the quantity is light and miscellaneous. "... and people use money, different counties, or run out of money, add a few hundred; Or spending a lot of money does not mean "[14], which aggravates the chaos of social and economic order.
Due to the disadvantages of circulating currency, social and economic contradictions have become increasingly prominent, endangering the political rule of the Western Han Dynasty. In order to ease the economic contradictions and lay particular stress on agriculture, Emperor Wen of Han issued several letters to persuade farmers to return to the fields, saying, "The husband and the farmer are the foundation of the world. Agriculture is the foundation of the world, and people live on it. However, people may end up doing nothing, so life is not successful, and I am worried. So I personally led the ministers and farmers to persuade them that they gave half of the land rent to the people all over the world this year. ..... The road to being close to the people lies in the book of service. ..... the foundation of life. " [15] While persuading farmers to return to their fields, casting orders are sometimes closed or the amount of coins is reformed, but coins are profitable. Although it was closed, the result was: "the crime of stealing casting like a cloud and abandoning the market is not enough to ban" [16].
The formation of currency chaos in the early Western Han Dynasty is difficult to eradicate, which is not only caused by the rulers' one-sided understanding of the currency itself in the early Han Dynasty, but also influenced by many factors within the ruling class. Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, learned the lesson of "punishing Qin for losing his orphans" [17]. In order to stabilize his feudal rule and cover the central dynasty, he "inspired Qin to be an orphan vassal, so Dafeng shared the same surname and made the town the world" [18], and nine people were named vassals of various countries. However, the development of the country later ran counter to the original intention of Gaozu. Most countries are located in Kanto, and their economic development has superior environmental conditions. In addition, the governors of the country completely mastered the power of appointing and dismissing officials and collecting taxes and casting money, which provided many convenient conditions for the country to gradually form an "independent kingdom" independent of the central dynasty.
With the gradual recovery and development of social economy in Wenjing period, the economic power of sealing off the country was also expanding day by day, gradually forming a separatist situation of "boasting Zhou and county, dozens of cities, hundreds of officials in the same capital [19]". The formation of this "too big to fail" separatist situation has its main political factors, but the possession of the right to coin makes the princes gather wealth and move towards economic unity, which is the first of the economic factors. For example, Liu Bi, the king of Wu, ruled three counties and fifty-three cities, with a vast territory and rich resources. The history book says: "Wu has a copper mountain in the county, which makes the outlaws steal money, boil seawater and make salt, and make the country rich and strong." [20], "... At that time, Wu made a fortune on the mountain and became a rich man. Another example is Liu Fei, the eldest son of Liu Bang, who lives in Qi. "If you eat more than 70 cities, all people can say" Qi "in unison [22]. Later, although Qi was divided into seven parts, the territory of Qi was still in the hands of the first part of Liu Fei, and its economic base did not change much. Therefore, the economic strength of Qi is still in the forefront of other countries. Judging from the archaeological data we have seen at present, it is also common to see the physical objects of coins minted by various countries in the State of Qi during the Wenjing period. From 1976 to 1987, "four baht and a half Liang" Qian Fan was unearthed in Linzi four times in the early Western Han Dynasty, with a total of 14 pieces. "No one has Guo", which is the model of "four baht and a half Liang" in Wenjing period [24] and "four baht and a half Liang" has also been unearthed in boxing today. The "half-beam" model in the early Han Dynasty was also found behind Loushan Mountain in Qingdao [25]; Seven "four-and-a-half-baht" Qian Fan [26] were unearthed at Tongshan site in Laiwu. In recent years, there are more and more kinds of coins unearthed during the Wenjing period in Shandong Province, among which only one "half-two" coins were found in Changyi, with the number as many as100000. [27] According to the above, it can be seen that in the Wenjing period, coins were minted in all directions, and the scale and quantity of coins were also considerable.
Due to the unification of feudal economy in various places, it gradually formed a powerful economic force independent of the central dynasty. Later, the political contradiction between the central imperial power and the feudal imperial power intensified, which eventually led to chaos in the seven countries of Kanto and Wu Chu. The root of this rebellion is, of course, the power struggle between the ruling classes, but the basis of national rebellion is the self-sufficient development of the national economy, which constitutes the rebellious economic power. As Liu Ying, the king of Wu, claimed after the rebellion, "My money is always in the world, so I want to take it from Wu, and the king can't use it day and night" [28]. "Although Wu was poor, I scrimped and saved, trained soldiers and generals, and gathered food day and night for more than 30 years" [29]. Accordingly, it is not an exaggeration to say that the right to coin is subordinate to the hands of governors, which is the primary factor in treason's economic strength. Second, the process and results of the unification of the monetary system by Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, in view of the changes since the Han Dynasty, on the basis of "the rule of culture and scenery", in order to strengthen the autocratic imperial power, he adopted strengthening strategies in politics, economy and military affairs, and implemented major measures in economy, such as leveling, sharing losses, monopolizing salt and iron, and unifying currency. In terms of currency in circulation, in view of the adverse social and economic impact caused by the circulation of different amounts of currency, such as "half-liang", "four-baht" and "Yu-pod", in the first year of Jianyuan, the "four-baht and half-liang" of Emperor Wenjing was abolished and replaced by "three-baht" currency with "no national appearance", and private ownership was strictly prohibited. This kind of "three baht" is rare in the world, but it has also appeared in kind in recent years. "1972, 35 pieces were unearthed from the No.1 tomb of Yinhuan Mountain in Linyi, Shandong Province, and another one was three baht. ..... In addition, the "three baht" Qian Fan of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was also unearthed at Tongshan Site in Laiwu, Shandong Province on 1973 [30].
Five years after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty abolished "three baht" and changed it to "half two", which played a certain role in stabilizing the social and economic order. However, due to the large number of soldiers, huge royal expenses, and frequent natural disasters in other places, the slightly improved national financial reserves have been exhausted. History: "Daxing attacked Xiongnu, floods and droughts in Shandong, and poor people moved, all of which were printed on county officials, and county officials were empty" [3 1]. During the financial crisis in the Western Han Dynasty, many tycoons took advantage of the confusion of different currencies to hoard and profiteer. The secretary of history said, "Businessmen change money and accumulate more goods" [32]. "Shandong was flooded, people were starving, and ... food and clothing were given back to the county magistrate. ..... The county magistrate is empty, the merchants are poor or depressed, and they are all prosperous when they turn to the hub and live in the city. Smelting salt, wealth or wealth, and not with the urgent needs of the public, the people are seriously trapped "[33].
In order to alleviate the financial crisis, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty cast a large number of "half two" coins into circulation to solve the urgent need. On the contrary, this move triggered a resurgence of the wave of stealing money by private casting. Although those who forge and steal money without permission have been severely punished, there are still many people who take risks because they emphasize profits. The currency in circulation is mixed with official casting, private casting and stolen casting, and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. There has been a situation of "more money but less money" in society [34], currency depreciation, soaring prices, social and economic chaos again, and the central financial crisis in the Western Han Dynasty remains the same.
"Turn over a new leaf with money and destroy the adulterer" [35]. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was determined to reform the monetary system again. The purpose of this move is threefold: first, use the reformed coins to fill the deficit of the national fiscal reserve; The second is to use the opportunity of casting new coins and abolishing old coins to eliminate the disadvantages of rich businessmen using different currencies to make profits; The third is to cast new coins to minimize or eliminate the great harm brought by private coins and stolen coins to the social economy.
Four years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to make expensive platinum three-level coins and leather coins with white deer skin as the quality. Stop casting "half two" coins, put the newly cast "three baht" into circulation, collect all kinds of coins melted before, and it is strictly forbidden to cast them privately again. This time, because platinum is expensive and inconvenient to circulate, the newly cast "three baht" is not inconvenient for counterfeiters, and the above disadvantages are difficult to eliminate. To this end, five years after his accession to the throne, Emperor Wu changed the amount of money from "three baht" to "five baht". The earliest minted "five baht" coins were square, the weight of coins was appropriate, and the outside was widened accordingly to prevent pirates from grinding and taking copper. This newly minted "five baht" coin shape has played a positive role in stabilizing its currency value.
After the "five baht" coins were minted, the shape and weight of coins were customized, but in addition to the central dynasty, local county governments could also be minted, which was called "five baht county". There are many reports about the county government casting "five baht". Shandong Province1March, 979, 23 bronze five-baht models were unearthed in Changcheng Town, Zhucheng, dating from the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty [36]. 1965, Laiyang ancient city also unearthed 13 pieces of copper coins, which also belonged to the period of Emperor Wu [37]. Due to the phenomenon that local county officials lose weight and profit when casting "five baht" coins, there is a saying in history that "traitors cast more money and the money is light" [38]. In order to prevent the above abuses, in the second year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, "your official asked the Imperial Capital to cast a white bone clock official, and he was given the official at five o'clock, and he was not allowed to go unless he was a white bone" [39]. The newly cast "Red Five-baht" is made of exquisite materials, and one is equivalent to five five baht in the county. The three-level platinum coins and the three Thai baht coins that were previously cast were discarded. "Red five baht" coins are rare in the world. In recent years, 247 pieces [40] have been unearthed from the tomb of Liu Sheng, Zhongshan King in Mancheng, Hebei Province. If Mr. Jiang talks about this, it is undoubtedly "red five baht" [4 1].
Because the price of "red five baht" is five times higher than that of "county five baht", it is very inconvenient in circulation. The history of those who were convicted of refusing the "Red Five baht" contains that "(Qu Cheng) and other rulers in Runan know that the people don't need red money as a gift and the country is excluded." Suoyin means: don't use red as a symbol. Case: using red money, Runan doesn't think so "[42]. ""Dan Hou and Zhou Zhongju think that it is too often to take money from the red side and the bank. Yan Shigu's note: "If the red side doesn't accept it, it will accept the toll" [43]. In addition, due to the high price of "Red Five baht" and the thick profit of stolen casting, private casting and stolen casting turned to it. History records: "When I was five years old, I made platinum for five baht, and hundreds of thousands of people died. It doesn't realize that the killer can't win "[44]. Due to the above reasons, when the five baht was cast for two years, "it was inconvenient and useless because of the cheap money" [45].
In view of the disadvantages exposed by several monetary reforms, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty saw that the dispersion of coinage rights was the main source of many disadvantages. In order to eliminate the source of disadvantages, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty entrusted the ancient historian Sang Hongyang to carry out a thorough reform of the currency system. In the fourth year of Emperor Ding Yuan of the Han Dynasty, he wrote, "... I learned that casting money was forbidden in the county, so I ordered Lin Sanguan to cast it. There is a lot of money, which makes it impossible to have money without three officials; The money cast in front of the counties and countries was abolished and sold, and it entered its three bronze officials [46]. At this time, it was dedicated to casting five baht, which was called "Shanglin Sanguan Money" in history. This model is exclusively cast by the company, so it is of high quality, graceful, round and uniform in style, and the money is as heavy as it is, so it is not easy to be stolen. Therefore, after the casting of "Shanglin, Sanguan and Guanqian", "while the people cast less money, the cost can not be comparable, and the real work is a thief" [47]. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, the disadvantages of privately minting stolen coins have been exhausted for a while, and the accumulated disadvantages of decentralized coin-making rights have also been eradicated. The reform of the unified monetary system of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty finally succeeded. Third, the conditions for the success of the unified monetary system of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty.
The reform of the unified monetary system of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty lasted for 27 years, from the first year of Jianyuan (140 BC) to four years (1 13 BC). After several changes, the final success was cast as "three officials and five baht in the forest" The conditions (or reasons) for its success can be summarized as follows:
It took more than 80 years from the establishment of the Han Dynasty to the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. During this period, the autocratic rule of the central imperial power in the Western Han Dynasty was stabilized by eliminating the princes with different surnames, pacifying the rebellion of the seven countries of Wu and Chu, and implementing "cutting vassals" and "pushing favors". After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he continued to use troops to appease the Xiongnu and the surrounding ethnic minority regimes, which contributed to the further stability of the domestic situation. Since Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, Huang Lao's thought of "governing by doing nothing" has been adopted in his ruling thought. History says: "Filial piety is good, people are free from drug poisoning, people want to support the elderly, Xiao and Cao treat each other equally, do nothing, follow the will of the people without disturbing, eat their food and clothing, and the punishment will be sparse" [48]. Since the Emperor Gaozu, the rule of "doing nothing" has been more extensive, and "forbidding laws" and "sharing interests with the people" have made the people more relaxed. The relative stability of the situation at home and abroad and the final establishment of the autocratic system of the central imperial power in the Western Han Dynasty can be said to be the political premise for the success of the unified currency system reform of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
From Li Han to Yuanshou period, due to political preconditions, social productive forces were restored and developed. The history book says: "In the early days of Emperor Wudi, during the 70 years, the country was destroyed, and unless there was a flood and drought, the people were miserable to give their homes;" Moreover, there is a lot of money in the national treasury, and the money in the capital is hundreds of millions. It is not easy to shuttle when you are old; Chen Xiangyin, the millet of Taicang, overflowed and exposed, rotted and inedible "[49]. On the premise of relative improvement of social economy, the financial control ability of the central dynasty was strengthened and the national financial reserve was increased, which actually constituted the economic basic condition for the success of the unified currency system reform of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty.
The early Western Han Dynasty was an active stage in the development of China's feudal monetary thought. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, the monetary thought had changed from the pre-Qin "money is heavy but everything is light, money is light and everything is heavy" [50] to the "light and heavy" monetary consciousness that simply emphasized the function of money itself, and developed into: "(Coinage) is unified, so people are different. The cognitive stage of state power under the autocratic rule of imperial power "[5 1] shows that China's feudal monetary thought has gradually matured. It can be considered that the gradually mature feudal monetary thought constitutes the ideological dominant condition for the success of the unified monetary system reform of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty.
In the reform of unified currency system, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used people boldly and correctly, which was also one of the conditions for his successful reform. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty promoted and appointed great businessmen or their descendants as officials and entrusted them with heavy responsibilities, which changed the suppression of businessmen's "humiliation" since the early Han Dynasty and improved their social status. The first move is to change the important position of heroes in the former dynasty in the court, which is not only the disadvantage of the hereditary children of heroes; The second is to appoint tycoons or children to be responsible for the formulation and implementation of major economic strategies at that time, such as the theory of salt and iron, the theory of average loss, the theory of leveling, the theory of liquor monopoly, etc., which can be said to be based on talents. Sang Hongyang, the son of a businessman, won the trust of Emperor Wu because he was good at planning and "analyzed the autumn in detail with words" [52]. He participated in the formulation and implementation of a series of major economic policies during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, took charge of the central financial power for more than 30 years, and helped Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "set the road to great cause and build an inexhaustible foundation", which made great contributions. According to historical records, during his reign, it was "the people didn't get tax benefits, and the world used taxes" [53], which laid the economic foundation of "the prosperity of Hanwu". As a famous financier in the history of China, Sang Hongyang is highly respected by later generations. Historians commented that "Sang Hongyang is indispensable" [54]. According to this, it can be said that the talent conditions for the successful reform of unified currency system were formed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Four. conclusion
The reform of the unified monetary system of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was finally successful, leaving a brilliant page in the history of China. Its historical achievements are indelible. According to the historical records, "Emperor Wudi's talent is average, and he did not change his literary scene to save the people. Poetry and books say so, but what's the point? " [55]. Although this language is positive, it is not entirely unreasonable. Looking at the reasons for the unified monetary system reform of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, we can sum up that we should not only consolidate our autocratic rule, but also control the source of the economy and enrich the national treasury. However, the purpose of its reform is to consolidate the autocratic system of the central imperial power in the Western Han Dynasty, and achieve the basic purpose of facilitating the collection of taxes and saving people's wealth for the ruling class to enjoy and squander. From a historical perspective, it can be seen that in the feudal era of China, especially in the early period, the natural economy was dominant, the level of commodity economy was relatively low, the unification of social currency was relative, and the disorder of monetary system was a common phenomenon throughout the feudal era.
We use the viewpoint of historical materialism to analyze the cause and effect of the reform of unified currency system in Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, and draw a historical reference from it, that is, social and political stability and unity are the premise of social and economic development and prosperity; Social and economic development and prosperity will further promote social and political unity and stability. The two are interrelated, complementary and impartial. Whether the monetary system of social currency is unified and whether its value scale and circulation function are correctly used is a very sensitive "barometer" of social politics and social economy, which is also confirmed by history.