Text/Feng Youxiang
Chengdu, Chengdu, the capital of splendid embroidery. It is a mixture of prosperity and beauty, abundance and ease. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a city of happiness. Li Bai warned some people who were nostalgic for Chengdu: "Although Jincheng is happy, it is better to return home early." Du Fu said from another angle that Chengdu was fascinated: "The Jincheng silk pipe is full of days, half into the river wind and half into the clouds." This song should only be heard in heaven, and can be heard several times on earth. Li Shangyin did not hide his enjoyment in Chengdu: "Fine wine Chengdu can send the old, when the ditch is still Zhuo Wenjun." "Chengdu people like to eat, like to drink, like to buy, like to play, sometimes accidentally play out of the world first." If nothing else, the world's earliest paper money exchange was invented by Chengdu merchants during the Northern Song Dynasty.
On April 1, 1024 (February 20, the second year of the Northern Song Dynasty), Xue Tian, a privy councillor and Yizhou Zhizhou, presided over the issuance of the first Jiaozi Gong 1256340 in Chengdu. This Xue became China and the first person in the world to preside over the issuance of national legal banknotes. Perhaps he himself did not realize that he had created a glorious page in the history of world currency issuance on behalf of the Chinese. More than 600 years later, in 1661, the Swedish Bank of Stockholm issued the first banknote in Europe. The brilliant laurel crown of "Father of The Son" should be deservedly worn on Xue Tian's head. Because Xue Tian is not only the first person to preside over the issuance of jiaozi, but also the first person to promote the official issuance of jiaozi.
Xue Tian (薛田), courtesy name Xiji, was a native of present-day Yongji, Shanxi. Although he did not have any illustrious family lineage, he was talented and had the aura of a soldier on his head. According to the History of Song, he was good friends with the famous poet hermit Wei Ye at that time, and the two of them sang many poems and sang and sang back and forth. Wei Ye was a well-known high-ranking official in the early Song Dynasty, and he could be said to be the first person in the world to look at the world, and he did not look at ordinary high-ranking officials and officials. And Xue Tian and Wei Ye are friendly, indicating that Xue Tian is a very tasteful person. Not only that, Xue Tian's emotional intelligence is also extremely high. He was gentle and gentle, and he was able to do things, and he was highly praised among the ministers of the DPRK and China. Doing things in a high profile and being a low-key person, Xue Tian was highly valued by Song Zhenzong, and it was natural that he would sail on his career.
Shuzhong can be said to be a blessed land for Xue Tian, who entered Shu three times, rose through the ranks, and eventually became a feudal governor of Yizhou. The first time he entered Shu, Xue Tianguan visited Zhi County, Zhongjiang County, presumably with outstanding political achievements, and soon he was quickly promoted and returned to Zhenzong's side. Xue Tian served as an imperial attendant in the palace, a judge and deputy envoy of the Three Divisions. These three deputy envoys were equivalent to the current vice minister of finance, and Xue Tian could be described as a qingyun all the way and held important positions.
After serving in the "Central Ministry", Xue Tian was once again ordered to enter Shu. Xue Tian, who had "parachuted in", was promoted to the position of powerful Yizhou transport envoy, in charge of taxation, wealth, commerce, etc., and was already under Yizhou. At this moment, Xue Tian and Jiaozi formed an indissoluble relationship. At that time, there were already private relations circulating in the Chengdu market, and it was approved by the Yizhou government to issue the jiaozi banknotes issued by the owners of 16 jiaozi shops with strong financial resources, which were partially used instead of iron coins. Later, some of the shop owners found that it was impossible for all the people who held the children to cash in at the same time. As a result, a small number of shop owners indiscriminately printed and exchanged children, used to buy land, houses, etc., stepping on a piece of paper and becoming rich. This kind of over-issuance of paper money and handovers has led to some holders not being paid in full, and sometimes they can only cash in 70% or 80%. Of course, the holder of the jiaozi did not do it, so he reported the owner of the jiaozi shop who was playing with the account to the yamen with a piece of paper. What's more, there have been vicious incidents of fighting and injuring people because they cannot be paid. This kind of litigation dispute continues to occur, more and more, resulting in a serious decline in the credibility of jiaozi.
Xue Tian was a transport envoy in Yizhou, and Jiaozi was his "district". Seeing the social unrest brought about by the chaotic management of the issuance of the jiaozi, he was worried. While Xue Tian cracked down on the "empty glove white wolf" boss of the unscrupulous shop, he was thinking about the method of drawing salaries from the bottom of the cauldron. Through investigation and research, Xue Tian believes that the paper money used as an alternative to iron money is no longer the original simple "deposit slip", it has become a currency that really has the ability to buy and pay credit. Therefore, jiaozi should no longer be issued by the private Jiaozi shop, but should be issued by the official, just as copper coins and iron coins were minted, issued and managed by the government in the past. Of course, there are exceptions. Emperor Wen of Han had given Deng Tong of Shu land the tongshan of Yandao County, Shu County, and allowed him to privately mint money for circulation. This was because Deng Tong served Emperor Wen of Han comfortably and comfortably, and this special act of grace made by the emperor to Deng was a special case that could not be followed. Therefore, Xue Tian went to the imperial court in the last year of Emperor Zhenzong of Song's reign and suggested that the government set up a special agency to hand over the sons to work out the methods, issue the sons, and manage the sons. Jiaozi is equivalent to the "central bank" of later generations, and Xue Tian's idea is simply genius, which is an excellent way to create a precedent for the issuance and management of paper money in the world. Unfortunately, his recital was sent to the imperial court but the stone sank into the sea.
Although the amazing and wonderful strategy was lost, Xue Tian's achievements, talents and loyalty were still highly recognized. Emperor Zhenzong of Song was impressed, and a holy decree promoted Xue Tian to be the prefect of Kaifeng, and Gao went there, and at the same time sent a man named Kou Yu to serve as the governor of Yizhou. Objectively speaking, Kou Yu was a very talented person, who had served in many places in Shuzhong, and was a good hand at suppressing bandits and fighting wars and repairing rivers and controlling water. However, on the issue of intercourse, Kou Yu was arbitrary and lacked responsibility. He believes that the best way to bring too many negative effects to society, leading to financial risks and social unrest, is to cut down trees to avoid the old birds from barking. After he took office in 1020, he immediately announced the abolition of Jiaozi, the closure of Jiaozi Shop, and the resumption of the use of iron money.
According to experts, the earliest jiaozi to replace the use of iron money probably appeared in Chengdu during the Reign of Emperor Taizong of Song (976-983 AD). That is to say, by the time Kou Yu was in Yizhou Zhizhou, the people of Chengdu had been using Jiaozi for more than forty years. Kou Yu's perverse behavior is undoubtedly an act that violates the law of social and economic development. The result is self-evident, in less than three years, Kou Yu had made a country with splendid rivers and mountains and rich and fertile tianfu into a miasma, and the people complained bitterly.
At this time, it was Empress Liu who bowed to the government. Originally a native of Huayang, Chengdu, Empress Liu grew up in the flower-studded Furong City and was exiled to Kaifeng at the age of thirteen. Later, she magically met Song Zhenzong and struggled for nearly thirty years before becoming empress. When Emperor Zhenzong died and was succeeded by Emperor Renzong Zhao Zhen at the age of 12, Empress Liu complied with Emperor Zhenzong's will to punish the military and state affairs and became the de facto ruler. Empress Liu learned that her hometown of Yizhou was disturbed by the abolition of her son, and the people were dissatisfied, so she made a decisive decision, and in April of the first year of Tiansheng (1023), she demoted Kou Yu to The Prefecture of Dengzhou Zhizhou; ordered Xue Tian to enter Shu for the third time, and added the title of Privy Counsellor, Zhiyi Prefecture. Empress Liu understood that to untie the bell, it was necessary to tie the bell, and to solve the problem of making friends, it was also necessary for people who knew how to make a move.
After Xue Tian arrived at his post, he acted quickly and consulted with Zhang Ruogu, the envoy of Yizhou Transit, and others on many occasions, believing that the exchange of paper money was conducive to the circulation of commerce and trade, facilitated the lives of the people, promoted economic development, and should be stored rather than abolished. They put forward a detailed plan for the issuance of the jiaozi by the government, including: Shiyi Prefecture to hand over the sub-affairs, the general consul to hand over the sub-issuance affairs; stipulating that the jiaozi be issued once every two years, determining the amount of each issuance and the issuance reserve; strictly prohibiting forgery, exile of violators, and so on. Xue Tian repeatedly revised the plan and carefully reported it to the imperial court twice.
Empress Liu, who was as wise as a torch, received the report and felt that Xue Tian was very thoughtful, so Zhu Pen praised it with a wave of his hand, and in November of that year, in the name of Emperor Renzong of Song, he ordered Yi prefecture to hand over the affairs of the son and command the issuance of the son. This led to the great birth of the world's first officially issued banknote.
Xue Tian was not only the first person to issue jiaozi, but also the first person to record jiaozi. Shortly after the release of the child, Xue Tian's poetry flourished and he spilled out the long poem "Chengdu Shushi Hundred Rhymes". In the poem, he praised: "The goods are sent out of the army to push the relief, and the transfer of the son is light." The word "lightweight" vividly summarizes the great progress of replacing heavy iron money with children, and the great role of promoting commodity circulation and economic development. Xue Tian's seven-word ancient poem is 1400 words long, which is 560 words more than Bai Juyi's "Long Hate Song". "Chengdu Shushi Baiyun" not only wrote Jiaozi, but almost wrote all over Chengdu at that time, from history, geography to characters, customs, from products, landscapes to humanities, food, almost everything, can be said to be a "small encyclopedia" about Chengdu.
As the highest administrator of Yizhou, Xue Tian liked, and could even be said to love, Chengdu very much. In Xue Tian's pen, Chengdu is first and foremost a city with great pyrotechnics: "Yunshiki Muye cultivated mulberry rain, Liufu Qiting City well smoke." "Under the blue sky and white clouds, there are thousands of miles of wilderness; urban streets and alleys are crisscrossed, pavilions and pavilions are everywhere, spring breezes and willows, and people are bustling." For the beauty of Chengdu, Xue Tian spared no effort to praise: "The courtyard locks the Yuxi To stay in a good scene, and the golden horse promotes the prosperity of the strings." A babbling stream of Xieyu Creek runs through the city, clear to the bottom, and the shore is lined with willows; in the Golden Horse Fang, the silk pipes are singing in unison, and the melody is full of ears - a moving picture with sound and color. Moreover, at that time, the ecology was excellent, and the crystal snow mountains could be seen in the distance in the city; the rolling water of the Min River irrigated the vast fertile fields of the Chengdu Plain through Dujiangyan: "The five gates are cold and reflect the snow of Min E, and the springs are sparsely irrigated by thousands of miles." As for the outskirts of the city, it is even more beautiful: "Huayan is like a pavilion that is cool and loveable, and the pure people of Songxi are secluded and pitiful." Learn to shoot Cui Song horizontally and release wide and beautiful ripples. "Huayan Temple and Jingzhong Temple were both famous monasteries on the outskirts of Chengdu at that time, and it can be seen from the poem that the environment here is beautiful and quiet. Xuezhi refers to xuezhao mountain in the northern suburbs of Chengdu. According to records, Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, practiced riding and shooting here when he was young, hence the name. Release refers to the release pond on the outskirts of the city, a beautiful artificial lake. The mountains are magnificent, the lake water is gently rippling, this good mountain and good water, naturally let Xue Tian linger.
Xue Tian not only likes the beauty of Chengdu, but also appreciates the beauty of Chengdu. Under his pen, Chengdu beauties are everywhere: "Beautiful women attack and turn embroidery", look, this is a beautiful embroidery woman who makes Shu embroidery; "carving plate lady presents crisp work", lo and behold, this is a beautiful girl who offers delicious snacks with a delicate carved flower plate; "beautiful Shu Ji Cool Yan" is completely direct praise, praising our Chengdu's beauty like Zhao Feiyan; and "accompanying the crow beard Qi, competing with the sleeve of the companion", and from another side reflects the beauty of Chengdu: even the "crow beard" is so beautiful and colorful, can sing and dance, Its owner can be imagined.
For Chengdu's cuisine, Xue Tian is also full of praise: "Taste of ginger garlic, drama dish meal foot tuna" "Di Ding Ye Tender and Lan Cai, Tian Tian Bud New Powder Fry". Not only are there delicious sturgeon fish for high-end dishes, but even wild vegetables such as di ding and tian tateshina are delicious.
The Jincheng in Xue Tian's eyes can be said to be a cluster of flowers and prosperous: "It seems to be clustered with flowers and flowers: "It seems to be like a cluster of qiluo, like a flowing car and a horse. "People wear brocade and are glamorous, and the streets are bustling with cars and horses. At night, it is even more illuminated, like a fairyland, provoking the good people in the building to roll up the bead curtain and unveil the embroidery curtain to watch: "Willow causeway night moon bead curtain, flower market spring wind embroidery curtain.". This splendid hibiscus city is really beautiful and beautiful. For the Chengdu people's Jinyi cuisine, enjoy the comfort, Xue Tian did not feel strange at all. He gave a comment of his own: "Customs and luxury are ancient ancestors", that is, Chengdu people pay attention to luxury is a fashion since ancient times, and the key is that Chengdu people in the country of Tianfu can afford luxury.
The Chengdu Shushi Baiyun also mentions many historical figures, such as Zhang Yi, Sima Xiangru, Yan Junping, Li Te, Li Bai, etc.; it also writes about many place names that have survived to this day, such as Wen Weng Stone Room, Wuhou Ancestral Hall, Qingyang Palace, Baihuatan, Xipu, Damian and so on. In the poem, the development of the papermaking and printing industries is even vividly depicted, and the fashion of playing with stagnant and swinging is also vividly depicted. "Chengdu Book Affair Hundred Rhymes" can be called the "Qingming River Map" of Chengdu in the Northern Song Dynasty.
<b>[If you have a news thread, please report to us, once adopted, there is a fee reward.] WeChat feed follows: ihxdsb, report qq: 3386405712].</b>