How much is 48 tons of iron?

I've heard about a lot of iron coins unearthed in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, but I haven't had a chance to visit them. Not long ago, I was lucky enough to see the old town of Cangxian, which was invited by two spring circles. While marveling, many related questions haunt me-when and where were these iron coins unearthed? What varieties and quantities are covered? Are you a local actor? What is its essence? Can we get a glimpse of the currency circulation in the Northern Song Dynasty from behind? In addition, it must be mentioned that the discovery of these coins is very important, but it has not been reported, so it cannot attract the attention of research.

Location and description of discovery

At present, two batches of Cangzhou iron coins can be seen, divided into Nanqian Ku and Beiqian, both of which were found in the ancient city of Jiuzhou, Cangxian County, and the discovery time was about 1997. Among them, 48 tons of iron coins were unearthed in Beiqian * * *, all of which were rusted in piles and in chunks. Now they are mainly stored in the exhibition hall of iron money bank ruins in the old city and Cangzhou Museum. The iron money pile in the south of Qianku is still buried underground, and only a part of it is exposed to the ground. According to the local people, there are three iron money discovery areas, but the number is small and scattered in the surrounding areas.

"Shengsong Yuanbao" seal script money in the iron money pile

The seal script money of "Zheng He and Bao Tong" is faintly visible.

Jiuzhou Ancient City in Cangxian County is located in the first line of Cangzhou Highway, which is 0/8 km northeast of Cangzhou City, with Beijing and Tianjin in the north and Bohai Sea in the east. In the fifth year of the Western Han Dynasty (the first 202 years), Fuyang was built, belonging to Bohai County in Youzhou. In the second year of Xiping in the Northern Wei Dynasty (5 17), Cangzhou was divided into Jizhou and Yingzhou, which was the beginning of Cangzhou's name. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Fuyang was renamed as Qingchi, and the residence of the national government remained unchanged. From the Five Dynasties to the early Ming Dynasty, state governance was fixed as the old state. In the Ming Dynasty, Cangzhou was subordinate to the Chief Secretary of Beiping. In the second year of Hongwu (1404), the state government moved to Luchang Town (now Cangzhou City) and Qingchi County merged. Since then, the old state administration has been abolished and is now called the old state town. It is worth mentioning that the "Zhenhai Roar" iron lion cast in the third year of Guangxu in the late Zhou Dynasty (953) was also found here. The Iron Lion is 6.26 meters long, 2.98 meters wide, 5.47 meters high and weighs 32 tons. It is the oldest and largest cast iron lion in China, and was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council. The discovery of Beiqian is located several hundred meters east of the Iron Lion.

Tieqian pile outside the exhibition hall of Tieqian Bank ruins in the old city.

Stacking state of iron money in the exhibition hall of the old city iron money bank site.

The "Zhenhai Hou" iron lion was cast in Jiuzhou Town in the third year of the last Zhou Guangshun.

The discovery of old state iron money recorded in Cangxian annals of the Republic of China.

In fact, the iron coins unearthed in Jiuzhou Old Town did not start at 1997, but were discovered during the Republic of China. Written in the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), Volume XIII "Facts and Stones" records: "Tieqian is located in the north of Kaiyuan Temple in the old city, which is the site of Tieqian Bank. Worship Ning, Daguan, Zhenghe, Xuanhe and other titles. But it has been condensed into one for a long time and is inseparable. " It can be seen that since the last century, there have been records of iron coins unearthed in Cangzhou area, and the number is large, and most of them are in bulk. As for the unearthed sites, they are all outside the scope of the ancient city.

Type and quantity

According to the records in the Chronicle of Cangxian County quoted above, the iron coins unearthed in Cangzhou area involve four coinage years, which are Chongning, Daguan, Zhenghe and Xuanhe in chronological order, all of which are Song Huizong years. Now the brochure printed in the exhibition hall of Tieqianzhuang site is also introduced in this way.

However, this is not the case. First of all, through our careful observation, we found that this batch of iron money has the words "Shengsong Yuanbao". Secondly, from the physical observation, we didn't see Xuanhe iron money, and according to historical records, such as "Outline of Emperor Song and Ten Dynasties", Volume 17 said: "In August of Zhenghe seven years, Bingzi went to Beijing East and West and Lukeng, Hebei Province to smelt money." It can be seen that in Zheng He's period, the imperial court had cancelled the circulation right of iron money in Hebei, and it was impossible to continue casting iron money in Xuanhe period. Xuanhe iron money found now is mainly used in Sichuan Road and Shaanxi Road, and it is also difficult to circulate to Hebei. So we think there should be no Xuanhe iron money in this batch of iron money.

So, how much is this batch of iron money? We obtained the data of a single coin through the measuring tool we carried with us, with an average diameter of about 2.7 cm to 3.5 cm, a perforation diameter of 0.6 cm to 0.9 cm and a thickness of 0.04 cm. Because iron coins are rusted together, it is impossible to weigh them individually. But we can guess from the above data. According to the data, all the iron coins unearthed in Cangzhou are folded in half, and no small flat coins are found in the real thing. As we all know, the weight of iron coins in the Northern Song Dynasty is mostly uniform, and the weight of two coins is maintained between 8 grams and 15 grams. Let's take an average, 10g. Then, among the 48 tons of iron coins unearthed in northern Qian, there are 4.8 million single iron coins, which is quite amazing.

From where?

Are these iron coins made locally in Cangzhou? The answer is no, because according to historical records, there was no iron money supervisor in Cangzhou during the Northern Song Dynasty, and the money supervisor here was also the mint. During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was only one money supervisor in Hebei Road who could cast iron money, namely Cizhou Yumin Supervisor. According to Zhou Bida's "Manuscript of Provincial Zhai" in the Southern Song Dynasty, "At the beginning of Daguan, Hebei set up toilets and cast tin and iron coins. All of them were transferred to Liang Gongzi, and he was appointed as the second supervisor of Cizhou Yumin. " It can be seen that Cizhou had two money supervisors during the Daguan period, which were divided into the first money supervisor and the second money supervisor, both of which were cast tin and iron coins. In addition, Hebei has no other monetary supervision settings.

The so-called adding tin to iron money means using iron raw materials when casting money, adding lead and tin to make iron brittle, unable to be melted again and turned into a weapon. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was found that the northern minorities began to buy iron money issued in the Song Dynasty for casting weapons. In order to prevent the loss of domestic iron resources and strengthen the enemy's strength, the court in the Northern Song Dynasty began to implement tin iron money in Chongning in the second year.

The iron coins found in Cangzhou area should also be tin coins cast by Cizhou Qianjian. It is clearly recorded in the history books that the iron money cast by Cizhou Qianjian is to supply the whole Hebei Road. In addition, some people think that this batch of iron money was shipped out from Cizhou as a whole, in order to pay for the northern Liao country and redeem the sixteen states of Youyun occupied by Liao country. This statement seems reasonable, but it can't stand historical research and careful scrutiny. Anyone familiar with history knows that the Song-Liao War began with the Northern Expedition in the Northern Song Dynasty in 979, and finally the two sides signed the  League at 1004. These two countries are brotherly countries, ending 25 years of confrontation. Most of the iron coins found in Cangzhou come from Song Huizong. How did the iron money at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty pay for the expenses at the beginning of the Song Dynasty? This is definitely not right.

Only the word "big" can be seen in Daguan Bao Tong.

According to rough calculation, there are about 4.8 million 48-ton iron coins unearthed in the north of Qianku, which is quite amazing.

The Secret Behind

What is such a huge amount of iron money used for? In fact, it is the cellar of Cangzhou Prefecture in the Northern Song Dynasty. We found two ancient architectural relics near the site where the iron money was unearthed. Among these relics, there are three layers of concrete, tiles and rope bricks. During the Northern Song Dynasty, concrete was only used to build official residences and city walls, so I think this was the seat of the county government at that time. Kaiyuan Temple is also located several hundred meters to the north. In addition, the place where iron money was unearthed has long been called "Qian Ku". To sum up, this place should be a money cellar of Cangxian government in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Since the issuance of tin coins in the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the relatively low price of iron, Qian Jian has accelerated the progress of casting money, making the iron money on the market increase day by day. "History of Song Dynasty" Volume 180 "Records of Edible Coins" records: "For a long time, endless money was cast in drums for limited circulation. For decades, it has been stagnant, violent, and harmful to public and private. " It can be seen that the massive issuance of iron money has brought serious social problems, resulting in a huge amount of official and private iron money, which can not be circulated normally, so it is accumulated together and stored in piles. The court had to stop the circulation of tin coins in Zhenghe for seven years.

Wang Zao's Fuxi Collection contains the epitaph of Zhao Jun, which reads: "Know Hejian County, go to Hebei to collect tin money first, and mobilize the people to sell platinum if it is urgent. If you don't have a place to live, you will change your money. The discussant said that it is worthless to accumulate money in the official of Ruxi. " Through the records here, we can understand the Cangzhou iron money discovered today. At that time, because of the low value of iron money, it was regarded as dirt. After leaving the circulation field, because of its little effect, it piled up in the government. Over time, together, evolved into today's appearance. This may be Cangzhou Iron Money The Secret Behind!

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