Riding the wind of rebirth

"Old Zhao, have you ever thought about another problem?" Another scholar next to him said, "The shortage of money during the Song Dynasty resulted in no unified currency value for the exchange of goods. If we use grain to unify the exchange value, there will be the problem you just mentioned. The price difference between good and bad times is also huge. Finally, the 'subject matter' used to indicate the value of goods is difficult to find."

"Old Wang, that's a very good question." Another old man said, "I found that currency depreciation in feudal dynasties was also very serious. This problem is easy to understand in modern times. In the 1950s and 1960s, eggs were five cents per pound, but now they cost one or two yuan per pound. Therefore, even if Xiao Zhou and his team made this "Table of Annual Price Changes in Various Regions during the Two Song Dynasties", it would still be difficult for everyone to accurately grasp the true value of commodities at that time."

"Of course I know about this situation," said the scholar called Lao Zhao. "Let's not worry about the details for now. Let's build the data table first, and then we can do the analysis slowly. Don't you agree?"

The old man was so enthusiastic that he even called out the nickname that Mr. Gu had just called out.

"This is indeed something we haven't considered before. This project is very meaningful." Zhou Zhi was also very happy, so he didn't bother the old man about calling people by their nicknames. "And the analysis is also very simple, because all currencies have units, and in Song Dynasty documents, they are mostly represented by '金', '贯', '陌', and '文', which conforms to our search function label setting method. From a technical point of view, there is no need to find a new way, and it will not be more complicated than searching for people's names."

"There are also '缗', '皮', and '石'." Gu Lao added: "Don't forget that ancient grain and silk cloth also had some monetary functions."

"Should this '石' be read as shi or dan?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"You can ask Professor Zhao about this." Gu Lao smiled and said, "He even wrote a paper on this. You have scratched his itch."

"This is a typical example of vulgar sounds usurping the elegant sounds. From the perspective of phonology, should 'Danshizhilu' be read as 'Danshizhilu' or 'Dandanzhilu'? Your master said that you have a talent for phonology, so there's no need to ask, right?"

"Yes," Zhou Zhi replied, "From Shuowen Jiezi to Kangxi Dictionary, Shidu has only one pronunciation, Changzhiqie. In Li Bai's "The Tiger Song", there is also 'Yesterday I was a guest in Xuancheng, and I rang the bell to communicate with 2,000 stones. Sometimes I play six-bo to cheer up, and I go around the bed three times and throw it.' Judging from the rhyme, 2,000 stones should be pronounced as Changzhiqie."

"The basic skills of the elbow are still solid," Zhou Zhi's answer made Lao Zhao very satisfied, even a little surprised, and said: "This name is actually for the simplification and change that occurred when keeping accounts. The people in Jianghuai call the small bucket for measuring grain "dan". The weight carried by one person is equivalent to a "tan" in Shu, that is, one "dan", two baskets."

"But this word Dan is difficult to write, so people think of 'food salary of 1200 shihu, known as 2000 shi', and associate it with 'Danshizhilu', and use 'shi' to replace 'dan' and 'dan'."

"After the Song Dynasty, this usage gradually spread from Jianghuai to the whole country, and thus stone also had a new pronunciation that was not found in Shuowen Jiezi or Kangxi Dictionary."

"Well, it seems that this is also a kind of text hegemony of developed regions over underdeveloped regions." Zhou Zhi thought of another question: "Just like now everyone likes to call their husbands "husband", which is the impact that Cantonese has brought to the whole country as the economy has become stronger."

"Your disciple is really smart." Old Zhao turned to Old Gu and said with a smile: "Old Gu has finally got it!"

"The key is to be eager to learn and to raise doubts as soon as possible, regardless of the occasion or time." Another old man said, "If you maintain this attitude, it will be strange if you can't make good academic achievements."

"Don't praise me anymore." Mr. Gu was very happy in his heart, but he had to keep a straight face.

"Actually, I have a suggestion about finding a value reference in the Song Dynasty to measure the value of goods." "Oh?" Several old men immediately became interested: "Tell me about it."

"Through document retrieval, we discovered that there was a commodity with a very stable value in the Song Dynasty," Zhou Zhi said, "and that was... salt."

"I don't know if the Song Dynasty intended to stabilize the price of salt for a long time, and by the way, stabilize the price of salt permits for a long time. In the Song Dynasty, except for salt producing areas such as the coastal areas and Jiechi and Lingjing, the price was basically maintained at 40 to 50 wen per catty for a long time, with a ratio of 1 to 2 in Shu coins, and 80 to 100 wen per catty in Keen."

"This is the price imposed by the government. In addition to this, there is also private salt."

"What's even funnier is that the price of private salt in these non-salt-producing areas is comparable to the official price in salt-producing areas, which is basically half of the official price in non-salt-producing areas."

"This also illustrates a potential value system, that is, the official price of salt is actually the price of private salt dealers, and the price of official salt is twice the price of private salt. There seems to be a potential relationship between the prices."

"We still need to continue to study the underlying relationship, but at least the price of salt can be used as a commodity with relatively stable value for hundreds of years during the Song Dynasty. Measuring the prices of various commodities with the salt that could be exchanged at the time can help to distinguish the value of commodities."

A few old men looked at each other. It should be said that although salt was important in all dynasties, the use of salt permits as currency only became popular in the Song Dynasty. This phenomenon was far more common than in the subsequent Ming and Qing Dynasties.

However, although everyone knows the importance of salt permits in the Song Dynasty, few have quantified how salt permits were used as currency. These data are hidden in the vast historical materials, and it is too troublesome to collect them specifically. There are almost no scholars who specialize in studying this exchange rate.

"Have you published a paper on this, Elbow?"

This magical phenomenon was actually discovered by Elbow when he was writing the Song Dynasty novel. In order to get the details in the novel, it was necessary to grasp the value of some commodities at that time, and even understand the changes in commodity prices over the span of several decades in the book. Therefore, when the old men discussed this issue, Zhou Zhi thought of it.

However, when it comes to writing a paper, Zhou Zhi has never really thought about it.

"Write one by one." The old men encouraged with a smile: "It is still very important to clarify this issue."

"Then it's settled." Mr. Gu nodded. "Elbow, go and compile a paper for us to read, and then establish the commodity price system of the Song Dynasty. Now everyone says that the economy is in command, and we should also have several projects in our literature and history projects leaning in this direction to fill in the previous gaps."

After that, he said to the others, "Old guys, now that we know what this digital library can do, why don't you learn from Lao Zhao and see how fast he reacts?"

"We are old now, and we can only come up with some ideas. The business still needs young people like Elbow to do it." Old Zhao waved his hand and said, "In the past, it would take several years just to follow Elbow's advice and figure out the salt prices in various places and dynasties in the two Song dynasties." (End of this chapter)