Sentence / Kodama
The southward shift of the economic center is a historical necessity, and the emergence of troubled times has undoubtedly accelerated this process.
During the Warring States Period, the north was the Central Plains culture with the Three Jin Dynasty as the main body, and the south was the Nanban culture represented by the Chu State, and the north and the south not only had a huge gap in culture, but also the huge difference in economy, and the culture, population, and productivity of the Chu State were not enough to support its development and prosperity of the southern economy.
Therefore, unification has become a trend.
In 221 B.C., after the Qin State annexed the Six Kingdoms to unify the world, the First Emperor helped the development of the south by digging spiritual canals, building new roads, and immigrating, but with the death of the second Qin State, the help of the north to the south was passively suspended, and even regressed, and Zhao Tuo, the king of Nanyue, was assimilated by local customs.
Until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the south was still separated from the north, and the economic and cultural communication must have been minimal. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the empire's dominance over the south was also relatively weak, and in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court even had to send distant clans to serve as state pastors to guard the local area, so as to strengthen the central court's control over its land, such as: Liu Biao out of Jingzhou, Liu Yan out of Yizhou, Liu Miao out of Yangzhou.
Political alienation has certainly led to an economic and cultural divide that will never be bridged, and this historical issue will ultimately be driven by troubled times.
Since Dong Zhuo's rebellion, due to the turmoil in Zhongzhou, a large number of scholars from the Central Plains have fled to the south, and Yizhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou have become their places of refuge.
It is certain that the infusion of elites must have also led to the cultural and economic development of Jiangnan: Liu Yan and Liu Zhang, father and son, ruled mainly in Yizhou from the Central Plains elite known as the "Dongzhou faction";
With the help of the northern elite, Jiangnan has also entered a period of fast-forward development.
First of all, Sun Quan integrated the Shanyue forces in Jiangdong into the organizational system of Dongwu through continuous use of force, making it a part of the source of troops and taxes in Dongwu, which indirectly led to the economic development of Jiangdong.
Due to the practical needs of fighting against Cao Wei, Sun Quan built a series of military towns along the Yangtze River defense line and carried out tuntian, which indirectly led to the formation of urban agglomerations along the Yangtze River. The cities of Wuhan, Zhenjiang, and Nanjing were all developed in the hands of Sun Quan.
At the same time, with the continuous improvement of shipbuilding technology, Soochow also began to explore the marine world, so that the maritime trade has been developed. According to some historical records, Soochow was able to build a large ship with a length of more than 20 zhang and six or seven hundred people, some of which were equipped with seven sails, and if the wind was down, it could reach Rome, which was called Great Qin at that time, in a month.
In addition, Soochow was also able to calculate the speed and range at that time, and mastered the technique of adjusting the sail wind, and could also borrow force by adjusting the position of the sail in the case of headwinds. This is also the reason why Dongwu didn't have to worry about whether the southeast wind would blow that day during the Battle of Chibi, because people's technology was there, and they could directly use fire attack tactics.
That is to say, the living environment forced Soochow to explore the marine world, and then in the process of exploration, the navigation technology was innovated, and behind the innovation not only made the marine trade upgrade from offshore navigation to transoceanic navigation, so that the geographical pattern of the Silk Road changed, but also greatly prospered the economy of the south of the Yangtze River. It's a closed loop.
Of course, the contribution of Soochow is limited after all, and Jiangnan still cannot be compared with the north in terms of economy. After the Rebellion of the Eight Kings in the Western Jin Dynasty led to the Wuhu Rebellion, those northern elites who crossed to the south also brought the advanced culture and production technology of the north to the south of the Yangtze River at the same time, especially the northern elites led by Sima Rui and Wang Dao also established the Eastern Jin Dynasty regime in Jiangdong.
The influx of population, the popularization of advanced production technology, and the infusion of high-quality culture from the Central Plains have directly enabled the economy of Jiangnan to develop by leaps and bounds. At that time, the Pearl River basin was developed, and Guangzhou quickly rose to become the economic center of Lingnan.
This is the second stage of Jiangnan's economic development, and it was also achieved by the troubled times.
The southern crossing of the Jin Chamber is an important turning point in the history of Jiangnan Photo source/stills
Subsequently, through the Grand Canal dug by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty to communicate the north and south, Jiangnan has achieved a certain degree of cultural and economic development in frequent exchanges with the north. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, Jiangnan had become the main source of financial income for the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was able to quell the Anshi Rebellion thanks to the continuous supply of Jiangnan wealth.
However, the historical status of Jiangnan's wealth-rich land is a slow formation process, starting from the Qin and Han dynasties, through the transition of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and only beginning to take shape in the Sui and Tang dynasties.
Like the great integration of nationalities, the economic development of Jiangnan is also a very long cycle. In this process, the Grand Canal dug by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty played a certain role, but Sun Quan, Sima Rui and other heroes in troubled times were also major participants, without their relay, there would be no current situation in Jiangnan.
The third stage was the Anshi Rebellion, but its influence was relatively limited, because the south was still in the ruling order of the Tang Dynasty, and only part of the population flowed in. There are still blind spots in the development of Jiangnan, and this loophole still needs to be filled in troubled times.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms is another troubled era after the Three Kingdoms and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the war is almost normalized, but it also has its progressive significance, that is, the living environment forces the princes to implement fine management in the stock market to feed themselves, which on the contrary promotes the further development of the southern economy, for example, the development of Huainan by Wu and the Southern Tang Dynasty, the development of Jiangsu and Zhejiang by Wu Yue, the development of Liangguang by the Southern Han Dynasty, the development of Fujian by Fujian, and the development of the Two Lakes region by Chu State. Moreover, both the Min and Southern Han made huge profits in the maritime trade.
At that time, the north was fighting in the dark, and the regime changed frequently, but the south was always relatively peaceful, because the south was relatively weak due to the pattern of many princes, and could only be vassals to the Central Plains Dynasty, which allowed the southern princes to devote their minds to economic development. The reason why Qian Biao has been worshiped by the locals for generations is because of his contribution to the economic development of Suzhou and Zhejiang.
By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, Jiangnan was already prosperous and wealthy, and maritime trade was also in full swing. In 971, after the Northern Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Han Dynasty, it rebuilt the city ship division in Guangzhou, and the Zhizhou concurrently served as the city ship envoy, and the general judge concurrently served as the city ship judge, and in the third year of Song Shenzong Yuanfeng (1080), the legal system of maritime trade was introduced - "Guangzhou City Ship Article".
This shows that in the Northern Song Dynasty, the maritime trade was already very mature and orderly, and the foreign trade completed the transfer from the land route in the northwest to the southeast coast, forming an economic and trade pattern of "headresting on the southeast and facing the sea".
Maritime trade is gradually replacing land sources/networks
Maritime trade has become an important source of fiscal revenue for the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is the most important means for the Northern Song Dynasty to solve the financial crisis. ”
Of course, this is also because of the update of navigation technology such as the compass, the nautical compass, and the astrology at that time.
But the development of Jiangnan did not stop there, with the arrival of the next troubled times, Jiangnan ushered in a leapfrog development.
After the Jin army successively destroyed the Liao State and the Northern Song Dynasty, the Southern Song Dynasty regime created by King Kang Zhao Gou could only go into exile in Jiangnan. Since there was only half of the southern part of the Yangtze River, the financial revenue of the Southern Song Dynasty was quite limited, and it was simply not enough to support the operation of a dynasty. In the first month of the fourth year of Jianyan (1130), when the Lin'an court had no money available, Zhao Gou ordered the Fujian City Bosi to transport all the inventory income by sea to solve the urgent need, and the financial embarrassment of the Southern Song Dynasty can be seen.
Therefore, the income of sea trade has become a life-saving straw in the Southern Song Dynasty, according to the late Ming Dynasty scholar Gu Yanwu in the "Tianxia County Guoli Disease Book" record: "After the southern crossing, the funds are poor, everything depends on the sea boat. ”
Therefore, Song Gaozong attached great importance to maritime trade, and he repeatedly warned the minister: "The income of the market is the thickest, and the income is in the millions, so we must operate rationally, which is better than us reaching out to ask the people." ”
The Southern Song Dynasty regarded maritime trade revenue as an important way to alleviate the fiscal deficit and alleviate the people's strength.
In order to encourage maritime trade, the Southern Song Dynasty also took out official titles to reward the prominent, for example, the maritime merchant Cai Jingfang made a profit of more than 980,000 guan in the time period from 1127 to 1134, and was awarded the title of "Chengxin Lang" by the imperial court; Wang Yuanmao, a merchant from Quanzhou, was awarded the title of "Congyi Lang"; and Pu Luoxin, a merchant of the Great Food Country, was awarded the title of "Chengxin Lang" because he attracted a shipload of goods and paid taxes of 300,000 yuan...
This is an institutionalized rule of the Southern Song Dynasty court in 1136: as long as the total amount of tax paid for investment promotion reaches 50,000 guan, an official position can be granted.
Later, the Arab businessman Pu Shou Geng was even appointed as the head of the city and the city, as the ambassador of the city.
Of course, those officials with poor performance will also be punished accordingly. At the same time, the Southern Song Dynasty also actively strengthened the construction of ports, such as after the port of Mingzhou was damaged by the Jin army, the imperial court immediately allocated special funds for repair. The importance attached to maritime trade in the Southern Song Dynasty can be seen from this.
Therefore, in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the revenue from maritime trade was as high as 2 million, accounting for 20% of the fiscal revenue. Among them, the import and export trade volume of Quanzhou and Guangzhou alone reached about 20 million yuan.
With the strong support of the imperial court, the scope of maritime trade in the Southern Song Dynasty also greatly surpassed that of the previous dynasties, and trade not only with the western coast of the Arabian Sea became the norm, but also with the Red Sea coast and the east coast of Africa. At that time, there were more than 60 countries and regions that had trade relations with the Southern Song Dynasty.
With the pull of maritime trade to the economy, the commodity economy of Zhejiang, Fujian, Liangguang and other coastal areas has also achieved rapid development, driving the economic take-off of the entire Jiangnan. The reason why the Southern Song Dynasty was able to deal with the war with the Jin State and Mongolia for a long time was to rely on the support of sea trade income.
The foreign wars of the Southern Song Dynasty were all supported by maritime trade Source/Internet
As for why the Southern Song Dynasty maritime trade was so prosperous, one is the progress of navigation technology, and the most important thing is the improvement of shipbuilding technology. As far as the military field is concerned, the warships of the Southern Song Dynasty include more than 40 kinds of building boats, sea falcon ships, loach boats, and swordfish boats.
In 1974, Quanzhou unearthed a Southern Song Dynasty sea ship, its length is 24.2 meters, width is 9.15 meters, depth is 1.98 meters, with 12 partitions divided into 13 watertight cabins, carrying more than 200 tons. It proves that the historical records of the shipbuilding technology of the Southern Song Dynasty are not false.
That is to say, the Southern Song Dynasty has reached a new height in terms of navigation technology and marine trade, and at the same time, it has also pulled the economy of Jiangnan to the highest level in history.
After the Two Song Dynasty, although the maritime trade was affected by the imperial court policies, the economy of Jiangnan was always in a leading position, and the prosperity of the economy also indirectly promoted the humanities, and Jiangnan also crushed the rhythm of the north in the imperial examination.
It can be seen that although the economic development of Jiangnan is inevitable, the troubled times are definitely a booster.
Therefore, any plot arranged by history has its positive significance and should be objectively evaluated.
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