1
食貨下二 〈（錢幣）〉 錢幣
Finance and Economics 2b. (Coinage) Coinage.
2
錢有銅、鐵二等，而折二、折三、當五、折十，則隨時立製。 行之久者，唯小平錢。 夾錫錢最後出，宋之錢法至是而壞。 蓋自五代以來，相承用唐舊錢，其別鑄者殊鮮。 太祖初鑄錢，文曰「宋通元寶」。 凡諸州輕小惡錢及鐵鑞錢悉禁之，詔到限一月送官，限滿不送官者罪有差，其私鑄者皆棄市。 銅錢闌出江南、塞外及南蕃諸國，差定其法，至二貫者徒一年，五貫以上棄市，募告者賞之。 江南錢不得至江北。
Coins came in two kinds, copper and iron; denominations such as double-value, triple-value, five-for-one, and tenfold coins were instituted as circumstances demanded. Of these, only the standard small-denomination coin remained in circulation for long. The tin-adulterated coins appeared last, and with them the Song monetary system collapsed. From the Five Dynasties onward the dynasty largely continued using Tang-era coinage, and fresh minting was rare. At the outset of his reign, Emperor Taizu minted coins inscribed Song Tong Yuan Bao. Taizu banned lightweight debased coins and iron-lead alloy coins throughout the empire; people had one month from the edict's arrival to surrender them to the authorities, with graduated penalties for failing to do so, while private minting was punishable by execution. Illegal export of copper coin to Jiangnan, beyond the frontier, or to southern foreign states was regulated by a tiered code: up to two strings of cash brought one year of penal servitude, five strings or more meant execution, and informants were rewarded. Coin from south of the Yangzi could not be taken north of the river.
3
蜀平，聽仍用鐵錢。 開寶中，詔雅州百丈縣置監冶鑄，禁銅錢入兩川。 太平興國四年，始開其禁，而鐵錢不出境，令民輸租及榷利，鐵錢十納銅錢一。 時銅錢已竭，民甚苦之。 商賈爭以銅錢入川界與民互市，銅錢一得鐵錢十四。
After the conquest of Shu, the court allowed iron coin to remain in circulation there. During the Kaibao reign, a mint was established at Baizhang County in Yazhou, and copper coin was barred from entering the Two Sichuan Circuits. In Taiping Xingguo 4 (979), the copper ban was eased, though iron coin still could not leave the region; for land tax and monopoly dues, one copper coin was required for every ten iron coins. By then copper coin was already scarce, and the burden on the people was severe. Merchants rushed copper coin into Sichuan to trade with locals, getting fourteen iron coins for each copper one.
4
明年，轉運副使張諤言：「川峽鐵錢十直銅錢一，輸租即十取二。 舊用鐵錢千易銅錢四百，自平蜀，沈倫等悉取銅錢上供，及增鑄鐵錢易民銅錢，益買金銀裝發，頗失裁制，物價滋長，鐵錢彌賤。 請市夷人銅，斤給鐵錢千，可以大獲銅鑄錢。 民租當輸錢者，許且輸銀絹，候銅錢多，即漸令輸之。」 詔令市夷人銅，斤給鐵錢五百，餘皆從之。 然銅卒難得，而轉運副使聶詠、轉運判官範祥皆言：民樂輸銅錢，請歲遞增一分，後十歲則全取銅錢。 詔如所請。 詠祥等因以月俸所得銅錢市與民，厚取其直，於是增及三分，民益以為苦，或發古塚、毀佛像器用，才得銅錢四五，坐罪者甚眾。 知益州辛仲甫具言其弊，詔使臣吳承勳馳傳審度。 仲甫集諸縣令、佐問之，多潛持兩端，莫敢正言。 仲甫以大誼責之，乃皆言其不便。 承勳復命。 二年，遂令川峽輸租榷利勿復徵銅錢。 宋詠祥等皆坐罪免。 既而又從西川轉運使劉度之請，官以鐵錢四百易銅錢一百，後竟罷之。
The next year Vice Transport Commissioner Zhang E reported: "In Sichuan, ten iron coins equal one copper coin, yet rent collection takes two copper coins from every ten iron coins paid. He explained that formerly 1,000 iron coins traded for 400 copper coins, but since the Shu conquest Shen Lun and others had drained copper coin for tribute, minted more iron coin to extract copper from the populace, and bought gold and silver for dispatch—all beyond prudent limits, driving up prices and depreciating iron coin further. He proposed buying copper from non-Han peoples at 1,000 iron coins per jin to obtain large quantities for minting. Rent due in coin could temporarily be paid in silver or silk until copper became more plentiful, when coin payment would be phased back in." The court authorized buying Yi copper at 500 iron coins per jin (half Zhang's rate) and adopted the rest of his plan. Copper remained hard to obtain; Nie Yong and Fan Xiang reported that people would accept paying in copper coin if the requirement increased by one-tenth yearly until full copper payment after ten years. The court approved. Nie and Fan then sold their salary copper coin to the public at inflated prices, pushing the annual increase to three-tenths; hardship drove people to rob tombs and melt Buddhist implements for a few coins, and prosecutions mounted. Yizhou prefect Xin Zhongfu detailed the abuses, and Commissioner Wu Chengxun was dispatched post-haste to investigate. Zhongfu summoned county magistrates and aides; most equivocated, fearing to speak plainly. He rebuked them on principle until all admitted the policy was unworkable. Wu Chengxun returned with his report. In the second year of the reign, copper coin collection for rent and monopoly dues in Sichuan was abolished. Nie Yong, Fan Xiang, and their associates were convicted and removed from office. Later, on Liu Du's petition as West Sichuan transport commissioner, the state exchanged 400 iron coins for 100 copper coins—a measure eventually revoked.
5
平廣南、江南，亦聽權用舊錢，如川蜀法。 初，南唐李氏鑄錢，一工為錢千五百，得三十萬貫。 太宗即位，詔升州置監鑄錢，令轉運使按行所部，凡山川之出銅者悉禁民采，並以給官鑄焉。 太平興國二年，樊若水言：「江南舊用鐵錢，於民非便。 今諸州銅錢尚六七十萬緡，虔、吉等州未有銅錢，各發六七萬緡，俾市金帛輕貨上供及博糴穀麥。 於昇、鄂饒等州產銅之地，大鑄銅錢，銅錢既不渡江，益出新錢，則民間錢愈多，鐵錢自當不用，悉熔鑄為農器什物，以給江北流民之歸附者。 除銅錢渡江之禁。」 從之。
After pacifying Guangnan and Jiangnan, provisional use of existing coinage was allowed, following the Sichuan model. Initially the Li rulers of Southern Tang minted coin at a rate of 1,500 coins per worker, yielding 300,000 strings. Emperor Taizong ordered a mint at Shengzhou and directed transport commissioners to tour their circuits, banning private copper mining and reserving all output for official minting. In Taiping Xingguo 2, Fan Ruoshui argued: "Jiangnan's iron coin was a hardship for the people. He noted 600,000–700,000 strings of copper coin still in regional treasuries; Qian and Ji prefectures lacked copper coin and should each release 60,000–70,000 strings to buy tribute goods and grain. He proposed large-scale minting where copper was mined; keeping new copper coin south of the Yangzi would flood the market, obviate iron coin, and let melted iron be recast as farm tools for resettled refugees from the north. Lift the ban on moving copper coin across the Yangzi." The court agreed.
6
自唐天祐中，兵亂窘乏，以八十五錢為百。 後唐天成中，減五錢，漢乾祐初，復減三錢。 宋初，凡輸官者亦用八十或八十五為百，然諸州私用則各隨其俗，至有以四十八錢為百者。 至是，詔所在用七十七錢為百。
Since Tang Tianyou (904–907), war and scarcity had made eighty-five coins pass for one hundred. Later Tang Tiancheng cut that to eighty; early Later Han Gan You to seventy-seven. Early Song official payments still counted eighty or eighty-five as one hundred, but private usage varied by region, some places as low as forty-eight per hundred. Now an edict standardized seventy-seven coins as one hundred everywhere.
7
西北邊內屬戎人，多齎貨帛於秦、階州易銅錢出塞，銷鑄為器。 乃詔吏民闌出銅錢百已上論罪，至五貫以上送闕下。
Affiliated frontier peoples often traded goods for copper coin at Qin and Jie prefectures, smuggled it beyond the border, and melted it into utensils. An edict penalized illegal export of 100 or more copper coins, with cases of five strings or more sent to the capital.
8
舊饒州永平監歲鑄錢六萬貫，平江南，增為七萬貫，而銅、鉛、錫常不給。 轉運使張齊賢訪求得南唐承旨丁釗，能知饒、信等州山谷產銅、鉛、錫，乃便宜調民采取； 且詢舊鑄法，惟永平用唐開元錢料最善，即詣闕麵陳。 八年，詔增市鉛、錫、炭價，於是得銅八十一萬斤、鉛三十六萬斤、錫十六萬斤，歲鑄錢三十萬貫。 補釗殿前承旨，領三州銅山。 然民間猶雜用舊大小錢。 是時，以福建銅錢數少，令建州鑄大鐵錢並行，尋罷鑄，而官私所有鐵錢十萬貫，不出州境，每千錢與銅錢七百七十等，外邑鄰兩浙者亦不用。
Yongping Mint at Raozhou had cast 60,000 strings yearly, raised to 70,000 after Jiangnan's pacification, but copper, lead, and tin supplies were chronically short. Transport Commissioner Zhang Qixian found Ding Zhao, a former Southern Tang court scholar who knew copper, lead, and tin deposits in Raozhou and Xinzhou, and mobilized the populace to mine them. He also learned that Yongping's Tang Kaiyuan alloy formula was best and presented this at court in person. In the eighth year, higher purchase prices for lead, tin, and charcoal yielded 810,000 jin of copper, 360,000 jin of lead, and 160,000 jin of tin, enabling annual output of 300,000 strings. Ding Zhao was appointed palace director and placed in charge of copper mining across three prefectures. Old large and small coins nonetheless continued to circulate privately. Because Fujian lacked copper coin, Jianzhou briefly minted large iron coin for parallel circulation; minting ceased, but 100,000 strings of iron coin remained confined to the prefecture, valued at 770 copper coins per thousand, unused even in neighboring Two-Zhe districts.
9
雍熙初，令江南諸州官庫所貯雜錢，每貫及四斤半者送闕下，不及者銷毀。 民間惡錢尚多，復申乾德之禁，稍峻其法。 京城居民蓄銅器者，限兩月悉送官。
At the start of Yongxi, Jiangnan treasuries were to send strings weighing at least four and a half jin to the capital and melt lighter mixed coin. Debasing private coin remained widespread, so Taizu's Qiande prohibitions were reissued with stricter enforcement. Capital residents holding copper vessels had two months to surrender them to the authorities.
10
端拱元年，內侍蕭延皓使嶺南還，以民間私鑄三等錢來上，且言多與蠻人貿易，侵敗禁法。 因詔察民私鑄及銷鎔好錢作薄惡錢者，並棄市； 輒以新惡錢與蠻人博易者，抵罪。
In Duangong 1, palace attendant Xiao Yanhao returned from Lingnan with samples of privately cast third-grade coin, reporting extensive trade with indigenous peoples in violation of the law. An edict targeted private minting and melting good coin into debased thin coin—both punishable by execution; Trading fresh debased coin with indigenous peoples was also criminalized.
11
江北諸州所用錢非甚薄惡者，新舊大小兼用。 江南雖用舊大錢，淳化四年，乃詔每貫及前詔斤數、有官監字號者皆許用，不分新舊。
North of the Yangzi, coin that was not severely debased could circulate old and new, large and small, together. Though Jiangnan still used old large coin, Chunhua 4 decreed that any string meeting prior weight standards and bearing official mint marks was valid regardless of age.
12
先是，淳化二年，宗正少卿趙安易言：嘗使蜀，見所用鐵錢至輕，市羅一匹，為錢二萬。 堅請改鑄一當十大錢，御書錢式，遣詣川峽路諸州冶鑄，所在並為御書錢監； 諸州舊貯小鐵錢悉輦送官。 民間小錢許送監，計數給以大錢； 若改鑄未集，許民大小兼用。 既而一歲才成三千餘貫，眾皆以為不便。 會安易入奏事，因留不遣，遂罷冶鑄。 五年，安易復請，不許。 第令川峽仍以銅錢一當鐵錢十。
Earlier, in Chunhua 2, Vice Director of the Imperial Clan Zhao Anyi reported from a mission to Shu that iron coin there was so light one bolt of gauze cost 20,000 coins. He urged minting large ten-for-one iron coin; the emperor wrote the design, and imperial-script mints were established throughout Sichuan; Existing stores of small iron coin were carted to the authorities. The public could surrender small coin to mints for large coin at the prescribed rate; Until recoinage was complete, large and small coin could circulate together. After a year only 3,000-odd strings had been minted, and the scheme was universally deemed impractical. When Zhao Anyi came to court, he was kept at the capital and minting was halted. In the fifth year his renewed petition was denied. The court merely reaffirmed the exchange rate of one copper coin to ten iron coins in Sichuan.
13
荊湖、嶺南民輸稅須大錢，民以小錢二或三易大錢一，官屬以奉錢易於民以規利。 詔自今吏受民輸，但常所通行錢勿卻，官吏毋得以奉錢換易。 至道二年，始禁道、賀州錫，官益其價市之，以給諸路鑄錢。
In Jinghu and Lingnan, taxes had to be paid in large coin; commoners traded two or three small coins for one large coin, while officials exploited the exchange using their stipend coin for profit. An edict forbade officials from refusing legally circulating coin or swapping stipend money with taxpayers for profit. In Zhidao 2, private tin trade from Dao and He prefectures was banned; the state bought tin at premium prices to supply mints on various circuits.
14
咸平初，又申新小錢之禁，令官置場盡市之。 舊犯銅禁，七斤以上處死，奏裁多蒙減斷，然待報常淹緩。 四年，詔滿五十斤以上取裁，餘從第減。
Early in Xianping, debased new small coin was again banned and bought up at official depots. Formerly copper violations of seven jin or more carried the death penalty, though imperial review often commuted sentences—a process that delayed justice. In the fourth year, only offenses of fifty jin or more required imperial review; lesser amounts received graded reduction.
15
景德四年，詔曰：「鼓鑄錢刀，素有程限，憫其勞苦，特示矜寬。 自今五月一日至八月一日止收半功，本司每歲量支率分錢以備醫藥。」 十二月，令鑄匠每旬停作一日。 天禧三年，詔：犯銅、鍮石，悉免極刑。
Jingde 4: "Coin minters have always faced production quotas; out of sympathy for their labor, We show special forbearance. From the first of the fifth month through the first of the eighth month, only half the quota applies; the mint bureau will allocate funds yearly for medical supplies." In the twelfth month, minters were granted one day off every ten-day period. Tianxi 3 exempted copper and brass violations from capital punishment.
16
時銅錢有四監：饒州曰永平，池州曰永豐，江州曰廣寧，建州曰豐國。 京師、升鄂杭州、南安軍舊皆有監，後廢之。 凡鑄錢用銅三斤十兩，鉛一斤八兩，錫八兩，得錢千，重五斤。 唯建州增銅五兩，減鉛如其數。 至道中，歲鑄八十萬貫； 景德中，增至一百八十三萬貫。 大中祥符後，銅坑多不發。 天禧末，鑄一百五萬貫。
At the time there were four copper mints: Yongping in Raozhou, Yongfeng in Chizhou, Guangning in Jiangzhou, and Fengguo in Jianzhou. Mints at the capital, Shengzhou, Ezhou, Hangzhou, and Nan'an Commandery had all been closed. Standard alloy was three jin ten liang copper, one jin eight liang lead, and eight liang tin per thousand coins weighing five jin total. Jianzhou alone added five liang of copper and reduced lead accordingly. Under Zhidao, annual output reached 800,000 strings; Under Jingde it rose to 1,830,000 strings. After Dazhong Xiangfu, many copper mines ceased production. By late Tianxi, minting had fallen to 1,500,000 strings.
17
鐵錢有三監：邛州曰惠民，嘉州曰豐遠，興州曰濟眾。 益州、雅州舊亦有監，後並廢。 大錢貫十二斤十兩，以準銅錢。 嘉、邛二州所鑄錢，貫二十五斤八兩，銅錢一當小鐵錢十兼用。 後以鐵重，多盜熔為器，每二十五斤鬻之直二千。 大中祥符七年，知益州淩策言：「錢輕則易齎，鐵少則鎔者鮮利。」 於是詔減景德之制，其見使舊錢仍用如故。 歲鑄總二十一萬貫，諸路錢歲輸京師，四方由此錢重而貨輕。
Iron coin had three mints: Huimin in Qiongzhou, Fengyuan in Jiazhou, and Jizhong in Xingzhou. Former mints at Yizhou and Yazhou were also closed. Large iron coin strings weighed twelve jin ten liang, equivalent to copper coin in value. Coin from Jia and Qiong weighed twenty-five jin eight liang per string; one copper coin equaled ten small iron coins, both circulating. Later, because iron was so heavy, much was illicitly melted into utensils—a twenty-five-jin lot fetching 2,000 coins' worth. In Dazhong Xiangfu 7, Yizhou prefect Ling Ce argued: "Lighter coin is easier to carry, and less iron means less profit in illicit melting." The court reduced the Jingde standard while allowing existing coin to remain in circulation. Annual iron coin output totaled 210,000 strings; as coin from all circuits flowed to the capital, money grew heavy and goods cheap nationwide.
18
景祐初，詔三司以江東、福建、廣南盛輸緡錢合三十餘萬易為金帛，錢流民間。
Early in Jingyou, the Three Departments were ordered to convert over 300,000 strings of surplus tribute coin from Jiangdong, Fujian, and Guangnan into gold and silk, releasing coin into circulation.
19
許申為三司度支判官，建議以藥化鐵與銅雜鑄，輕重如銅錢法，銅居三分，鐵六分，皆有奇贏，亦得錢千，費省而利厚。 詔申用其法鑄於京師。 大率鑄錢雜鉛、錫，則其液流速而易成，申雜以鐵，流澀而多不就，工人苦之。 初命申鑄萬緡，逾月裁得萬錢。 申性詭譎，少成事，自度言無效，乃求為江東轉運使，欲用其法於江州。 朝廷從之，因詔申即江州鑄百萬緡，毋漏其法。 中外知其非是，而宰相主之，卒無成功。
Revenue Assessor Xu Shen proposed treating iron chemically and alloying it with copper in a 3:6 ratio by weight to the copper-coin standard, yielding 1,000 coins at lower cost and higher profit. The court authorized Xu Shen to trial his method at the capital. Ordinarily adding lead and tin made the molten alloy flow freely and cast easily; Shen's iron mixture flowed sluggishly, failed often, and tormented the workers. Shen was first ordered to cast ten thousand strings of cash, but after more than a month had minted only ten thousand coins. Shen was shifty and seldom succeeded at anything. Concluding that he would never persuade the court at the capital, he asked to be made transport commissioner for Jiangdong so he could trial his method at Jiangzhou. The court agreed and ordered Shen to mint one million strings at Jiangzhou on the spot, while keeping his technique secret. Everyone at court and beyond knew the scheme was unsound, yet the chief minister stood behind it, and in the end it failed utterly.
20
初，太宗改元太平興國，更鑄：「太平通寶」，淳化更鑄，又親書「淳化元寶」，作真、行、草三體。 後改元更鑄，皆曰「元寶」，而冠以年號，至是改元寶元，文當曰「寶元元寶」，仁宗特命以「皇宋通寶」為文，慶曆以後，復冠以年號如舊。
Originally, when Taizong adopted the era name Taiping Xingguo, new coins were cast reading "Taiping Tongbao." After the Chunhua era began, he had coins recast again and personally wrote "Chunhua Yuanbao" in regular, running, and cursive scripts. Thereafter each new reign title brought new casting; all bore the word Yuanbao with the era name prefixed. When the era Baoyuan began, the legend ought to have read "Baoyuan Yuanbao," but Renzong specifically ordered "Imperial Song Universal Treasure" instead. After Qingli, prefixes resumed as before.
21
自天聖以來，毀錢鑄鍾及為銅器，皆有禁。 慶曆初，闌出銅錢，視舊法第加其罪，錢千，為首者抵死。
From the Tiansheng era onward, melting coins to cast bells or fashion copperware was forbidden. Early in Qingli, penalties for illicit export of copper cash were stiffened under the old statutes: for one thousand coins, the chief offender faced execution.
22
五年，泉州青陽鐵冶大發，轉運使高易簡不俟詔，置鐵錢務於泉，欲移銅錢於內地； 梓州路轉運使崔輔、判官張固亦請即廣安軍魚子鐵山采礦炭，置監於合州，並銷舊小錢以鑄減輕大錢，未得報，先移合州相地置監。 州以上聞，朝廷以易簡、輔、固為擅鑄錢，皆坐貶。
In the fifth year, iron production boomed at Qingyang in Quanzhou. Transport commissioner Gao Yijian, acting without imperial authorization, set up an iron-coin bureau in Quanzhou, hoping to draw copper cash inland; Cui Fu, transport commissioner of Zizhou Circuit, and his aide Zhang Gu likewise proposed mining ore and coal at Yuzi Iron Mountain in Guangan Army, opening a mint in Hezhou, and recoining worn small cash into lighter large coins. Before any answer came, they moved into Hezhou to scout a site and set up the mint. The prefecture reported the matter. The court held Yijian, Fu, and Gu guilty of unauthorized coinage and demoted them all.
23
軍興，陝西移用不足，始用知商州皮仲容議，采洛南縣紅崖山、虢州青水冶青銅，置阜民、朱陽二監鑄錢。 既而陝西都轉運使張奎、知永興軍範雍請鑄大銅錢與小錢兼行，大錢一當小錢十； 又請因晉州積鐵鑄小錢。 及奎徙河東，又鑄大鐵錢於晉、澤二州，亦以一當十，助關中軍費。 未幾，三司奏罷河東鑄大鐵錢，而陝西復采儀州竹尖嶺黃銅，置博濟監鑄大錢。 因敕江南鑄大銅錢，而江、池、饒、儀、虢又鑄小鐵錢，悉輦致關中。 數州錢雜行，大約小銅錢三可鑄當十大銅錢一，以故民間盜鑄者眾，錢文大亂，物價翔踴，公私患之。 於是奎復奏晉、澤、石三州及威勝軍日鑄小鐵錢，獨留用河東。 河東鐵錢既行，盜鑄獲利什六，錢輕貨重，患如陝西。 知并州鄭戩請河東鐵錢以二當銅錢一，行之一年，又以三當一或以五當一，罷官爐日鑄，且行舊錢。 而契丹亦鑄鐵錢，易並邊銅錢。
With the outbreak of war, supplies for Shaanxi ran short. The court first took up a plan from Shangzhou prefect Pi Zhongrong: mine bronze at Hongya Mountain in Luonan County and at Qingshui in Guozhou, and establish the Fumin and Zhuyang mints. Later, Shaanxi chief transport commissioner Zhang Kui and Yongxing prefect Fan Yong urged minting large copper cash alongside small coin, at a rate of one large to ten small; They also asked to mint small coin from stockpiled iron in Jinzhou. When Zhang Kui moved to Hedong, he had large iron coins cast in Jin and Ze prefectures, likewise at one-to-ten, to help pay Guanzhong's war costs. Soon the Bureau of Revenue moved to halt large iron coinage in Hedong, while Shaanxi reopened mining at Zhujian Ridge in Yizhou for yellow bronze and set up the Boji mint for large coins. An edict then called for large copper coins in Jiangnan, while Jiang, Chi, Rao, Yi, and Guo minted small iron cash, all of which was hauled to Guanzhong. Cash from several prefectures mingled in circulation. Roughly three small copper coins could be illegally recast as one large ten-for-one piece, so counterfeiting flourished, denominations plunged into chaos, prices surged, and officials and commoners alike suffered. Zhang Kui then urged daily minting of small iron cash in Jin, Ze, and Shi prefectures and Weisheng Army, reserved for use within Hedong alone. Once Hedong iron cash entered circulation, counterfeiting returned a profit of sixty percent; money grew light and goods dear, with woes matching Shaanxi's. Bingzhou prefect Zheng Jian proposed revaluing Hedong iron cash at two to one against copper coin. After a year he would shift to three-to-one or five-to-one, suspend daily operation of government mints, and rely on existing stock. The Khitan minted iron cash as well, trading it for copper coin along the Bingzhou border.
24
慶曆末，葉清臣為三司使，與學士張方平等上陝西錢議，曰：「關中用大錢，本以縣官取利太多，致奸人盜鑄，其用日輕。 比年以來，皆虛高物估，始增直於下，終取償於上，縣官雖有折當之虛名，乃受虧損之實害。 救弊不先自損，則法未易行。 請以江南、儀商等州大銅錢一當小錢三，小鐵錢三當銅錢一，河東小鐵錢如陝西，亦以三當一，且罷官所置爐。」 自是奸人稍無利，猶未能絕濫錢。 其後，詔商州罷鑄青黃銅錢，又令陝西大銅錢、大鐵錢皆以一當二，盜鑄乃止。 然令數變，兵民耗於資用，類多谘怨，久之始定。 方大錢之行，有劉羲叟者語人曰：「是於周景王所鑄無異，上其感心腹之疾乎。」 已而果然，語在本傳。
Near the end of Qingli, Ye Qingchen as Bureau of Revenue commissioner joined Academician Zhang Fangping and others in a memorial on Shaanxi currency: "Large coin in Guanzhong was adopted because the state sought excessive seigniorage, inviting counterfeiting and steady debasement. In recent years officials have inflated valuations—padding prices at the bottom only to claw them back at the top. The state keeps the hollow title of adjusted exchange rates while absorbing real losses. Reform cannot succeed unless the state accepts sacrifice first. We ask that large copper cash in Jiangnan, Yizhou, Shangzhou, and elsewhere be valued at one to three small coin; small iron cash at three to one copper; Hedong iron cash at the Shaanxi rate of three to one; and that all government mints be shut down." Counterfeiters found fewer profits afterward, yet debased coin could not be eliminated entirely. Later, Shangzhou was ordered to stop minting green and yellow bronze cash, and large copper and iron coins in Shaanxi were revalued at one-for-two, whereupon counterfeiting stopped. Orders kept changing, however, draining soldiers and civilians alike, and complaints were widespread before stability came at last. While large coin circulated, a man named Liu Yisou remarked: "This is no different from the coin King Jing of Zhou minted. Surely the Emperor suffers an ailment of the heart?" And so it proved; the story appears in his biography.
25
時興元府西縣增置濟遠監。 而韶州天興銅大發，歲采二十五萬斤，詔即其州置永通監。 後濟遠監廢，儀州博濟監既廢復置。
At that time the Jiyuan mint was added in Xi County of Xingyuan Prefecture. Copper production at Tianxing in Shaozhou meanwhile surged to two hundred fifty thousand jin a year, and the court established the Yongtong mint there. The Jiyuan mint was later closed, while the Boji mint in Yizhou, once shut down, was reopened.
26
皇祐中，饒、池、江、建、韶五州鑄錢百四十六萬緡，嘉、邛、興三州鑄大鐵錢二十七萬緡。 至治平中，饒、池、江、建、韶、儀六州鑄錢百七十萬緡，而嘉、邛以率買鐵炭為擾，自嘉祐四年停鑄十年，以休民力。 至是，獨興州鑄錢三萬緡。
During Huangyou, five prefectures—Rao, Chi, Jiang, Jian, and Shao—minted 1.46 million strings of cash, while Jia, Qiong, and Xing minted 270,000 strings of large iron coin. By Zhiping, six prefectures—Rao, Chi, Jiang, Jian, Shao, and Yi—were minting 1.7 million strings. Jia and Qiong halted casting for ten years from Jiayou 4 because forced requisition of iron and coal had become intolerable, giving the populace respite. By then only Xingzhou still minted, at thirty thousand strings.
27
熙寧初，同、華二州積小鐵錢凡四十萬緡，詔賜河東，以鐵償之。 四年，陝西轉運副使皮公弼奏：「自行當二錢，銅費相當，盜鑄衰息。 請以舊銅鉛盡鑄。」 詔聽之。 自是折二錢遂行於天下。 京西轉運使吳幾復建議：郢、唐、均、房、金五州多林木，而銅鉛積於淮南，若由襄、郢轉致郢、唐等州置監鑄錢，可以紓錢重之弊。 神宗是之，而王安石沮之，其議遂寢。 後乃詔京西、淮南、兩浙、江西、荊湖五路各置鑄錢監，江西、湖南十五萬緡、餘路十萬緡為額，仍申熟錢斤重之限。 又以興國軍、睦衡舒鄂惠州既置監六，通舊十六監，水陸回遠，增提點之官。
Early in Xining, Tong and Hua prefectures held four hundred thousand strings of small iron cash in surplus; the court transferred it to Hedong and compensated with iron. In year four, Shaanxi vice transport commissioner Pi Gongbi reported: "Since value-two coin entered circulation, copper costs have matched face value and counterfeiting has waned. I ask that all remaining copper and lead stock be coined." The court agreed. Value-two coin thereafter circulated empire-wide. Jingxi transport commissioner Wu Jifu suggested that Ying, Tang, Jun, Fang, and Jin—wood-rich prefectures—could receive copper and lead stockpiled in Huainan via Xiang and Ying routes, open mints locally, and ease the cash shortage. Shenzong favored the plan, but Wang Anshi blocked it, and the proposal died. Later the court ordered mints in Jingxi, Huainan, Liangzhe, Jiangxi, and Jinghu circuits, with quotas of 150,000 strings for Jiangxi and Hunan and 100,000 for the rest, plus minimum weight standards for finished coin. Six new mints at Xingguo Army, Muzhou, Hengzhou, Shuzhou, Ezhou, and Huizhou joined the sixteen existing ones; because transport over land and water was long and arduous, additional supervisory posts were created.
28
時諸路大率務於增額：韶惠州永通、阜民監舊額八十萬，至七年，增三十萬，及折二凡五十萬； 後衛州黎陽監歲增折二凡五萬緡，西京阜財監歲增市易本錢凡十萬緡，興州濟眾監歲增七萬二千餘緡，陝西三銅錢監各歲增五萬緡。 而睦州則置神泉，徐州則置寶豐，梧州以鉛錫易得，萬州以多鐵礦，皆置監。 又詔秦鳳等路即鳳翔府斜穀置監，已而所鑄錢青銅夾錫，脆惡易毀，罷之。 然私錢往往雜用，不能禁，至是法弊，乃詔禁私錢，在官惡錢不堪用者，別為模以鑄。 商、虢、洛南增三監，耀、鄜權置兩監，通永興、華、河中、陝舊監為九，以給改鑄。 永興、鄜、耀、河中、陝去鐵冶遠，聽改鑄一年罷； 商、洛南、華、虢最近鐵冶，聽久置； 鄜州等五監候罷改鑄，並其工作歸永興等四監，專鑄大錢，所鑄大鐵錢約補及所廢偽錢，及可以待交子所用而止。
Circuits then competed to raise quotas: the Yongtong mint at Shaozhou and Huizhou and the Fumin mint had an original quota of eight hundred thousand strings; by year seven they added three hundred thousand, reaching five hundred thousand with value-two coin included; Liyang mint in Weizhou later added fifty thousand strings of value-two coin yearly; Fucai mint in the Western Capital added one hundred thousand strings in Market Exchange principal; Jizhong mint in Xingzhou added more than seventy-two thousand; and each of Shaanxi's three copper mints added fifty thousand. Shenquan mint was opened in Muzhou, Baofeng in Xuzhou, and mints in Wuzhou and Wanzhou as well—the former for easy access to lead and tin, the latter for abundant iron ore. Qinfeng circuit was also told to open a mint at Xiegu in Fengxiang Prefecture, but the alloy—bronze adulterated with tin—proved brittle and was shut down. Private coin continued to circulate in defiance of the ban. When the system broke down, the court outlawed private cash and ordered worn official coin reminted from new dies. Three new mints opened at Shangzhou, Guozhou, and Luonan, with two temporary ones at Yaozhou and Fuzhou, joining Yongxing, Hua, Hezhong, and Shaan prefectures' existing mints for nine in all, dedicated to recoining. Yongxing, Fu, Yao, Hezhong, and Shaan prefectures, being far from ironworks, were allowed one year of recoining before closing; Shangzhou, Luonan, Hua, and Guozhou, nearest the ironworks, were permitted to remain open indefinitely; When recoining finished, the five mints including Fuzhou would close and merge into Yongxing and three others, which would mint large iron cash only until enough had been produced to replace withdrawn counterfeit coin and supply jiaozi redemption.
29
八年，詔河東鑄錢七十萬緡外，增鑄小錢三十萬緡。 於是知太原韓絳請仿陝西令本重模精，以息私鑄之弊。
In year eight, Hedong was told to mint an extra three hundred thousand strings of small coin beyond its base quota of seven hundred thousand. Taiyuan prefect Han Jiang then asked to follow Shaanxi's example of strict weight and fine dies to curb counterfeiting.
30
初，薛向鑄鐵錢於陝西，後許彥先鑄於廣南。 既而民不便用，神宗欲遂罷之，王安石固爭，乃詔京師畿內並罷，其行於四方蓋如故。 元豐以後，西師大舉，邊用匱闕，徐州置寶豐下監，歲鑄折二錢二十萬緡，轉移陝府。
Xue Xiang had first minted iron cash in Shaanxi; later Xu Yanxian did so in Guangnan. The public soon found iron cash unwieldy. Shenzong wanted to abolish it entirely, but Wang Anshi objected fiercely. Iron coin was withdrawn only from the capital region; elsewhere it continued much as before. After Yuanfeng, with western campaigns in full swing and frontier funds depleted, a subsidiary Baofeng mint in Xuzhou coined two hundred thousand strings of value-two cash yearly for shipment to the Shaanxi capital.
31
於時，同、渭、秦、隴等州錢監，廢置移徙不一，銅鐵官多建言鑄錢，事不盡行，而又自弛錢禁，民之銷毀與夫闌出境外者為多。 張方平嘗極諫曰：「禁銅造幣，盜鑄者抵罪至死，示不與天下共其利也。 故事，諸監所鑄錢悉入於王府，歲出其奇羨給之三司，方流布於天下。 然自太祖平江南，江、池、饒、建置爐，歲鼓鑄至百萬緡。 積百年所入，宜乎貫朽於中藏，充足於民間矣。 比年公私上下並苦乏錢，百貨不通，人情窘迫，謂之錢荒。 不知歲所鑄錢，今將安在。 夫鑄錢禁銅之法舊矣，令敕具載，而自熙寧七年頒行新敕，刪去舊條，削除錢禁，以此邊關重車而出，海舶飽載而回，聞沿邊州軍錢出外界，但每貫收稅錢而已。 錢本中國寶貨，今乃與四夷共用，又自廢罷銅禁，民間銷毀無復可辦。 銷鎔十錢得精銅一兩，造作器用，獲利五倍。 如此則逐州置爐，每爐增數，是猶畎澮之益，而供尾閭之泄也。」
Mints in Tong, Wei, Qin, Long, and other prefectures were opened, closed, and relocated erratically. Copper and iron officials constantly proposed new mints, few of which took effect, while coin controls were quietly relaxed. Melting and illicit export surged. Zhang Fangping once protested vehemently: "Monopolizing copper for coinage and punishing counterfeiters with death signals that the state will not share this profit with the realm. By custom, mint output went first to the imperial treasury; only the surplus passed each year to the Bureau of Revenue for release into circulation. Yet from Taizu's conquest of Jiangnan, mints in Jiang, Chi, Rao, and Jian had poured out a million strings a year. A century of such intake should have rotted strings in the central vaults and filled every purse in the land. Yet in recent years everyone from the throne to the street has strained under scarcity; trade has stalled and hardship spread—the age of the "coin famine." Where has all the coin minted each year gone? Laws governing minting and copper monopoly are ancient and fully codified, yet the Xining 7 edict struck the old clauses and gutted coin controls. Heavy carts now rumble through frontier passes; returning ships ride low with cargo. Coin flows abroad from border garrisons, taxed at a few coins per string and nothing more. Coin is the empire's treasure, yet now barbarians use it freely. With copper controls lifted, nothing stops the people from melting it down. Ten coins smelted yield one liang of pure copper; fashioned into vessels, the profit is fivefold. To open more mints in every prefecture and raise each quota is to pour water into ditches while the sluice at the end runs ever open."
32
元豐八年，哲宗嗣位，復申錢幣闌出之禁，如嘉祐編敕； 罷徐州寶豐鼓鑄； 詔戶部條諸監之可減者，凡增置鑄錢監十四皆罷之。
In the eighth year of Yuanfeng, when Zhezong acceded, export controls on coin were restored as under the Jiayou code; the Baofeng mint in Xuzhou was shut down; and the Ministry of Revenue was ordered to review reducible mints, closing all fourteen added since the expansion.
33
陝西行鐵錢，至陝府以東即銅錢地，民以鐵錢換易，有輕重不等之患。 元祐六年，乃議限東行，有稅物者以十分率之，止許易二分，人毋得過五千。 八年，命公私給納、貿易並專用鐵錢，而官帑銅錢以時計置，運致內郡，商旅願於陝西內郡入便銅錢，給據請於別路者聽。 仍定加饒之數，每百緡，河東、京西加饒三千，在京、餘路四千。
Shaanxi used iron cash, but east of the Shaanxi capital lay copper-coin country, and exchange between the two bred inequalities of weight and value. In Yuanyou 6, regulators proposed limiting eastward export: for goods assessed at ten parts, only two parts' worth might be exchanged, capped at five thousand per person. In year eight, public and private payments and trade in the region were ordered to use iron cash exclusively, while copper coin in the treasury was periodically allocated and shipped inland. Merchants who deposited copper cash in inland Shaanxi prefectures could obtain receipts redeemable in other circuits. Premium rates were set: three thousand per hundred strings in Hedong and Jingxi, four thousand in the capital and other circuits.
34
先是，太祖時取唐飛錢故事，許民入錢京師，於諸州便換。 其法：商人入錢左藏庫，先經三司投牒，乃輸於庫。 開寶三年，置便錢務，令商人入錢詣務陳牒，即輦致左藏庫，給以券，仍敕諸州凡商人齎券至，當日給付，違者科罰。 至道末，商人入便錢一百七十餘萬貫，天禧末，增一百一十三萬貫。 至是，乃復增定加饒之數行焉。
Earlier, Taizu had revived the Tang "flying money" system, allowing deposits in the capital to be drawn in the provinces. Under the rules, merchants paid into the Left Treasury only after filing with the Bureau of Revenue. In Kaibao 3 the Convenient Cash Office was created so merchants could deposit there, have funds transferred to the Left Treasury, and receive vouchers mandating same-day payout in any prefecture on pain of penalty. By the end of Zhidao, merchants had deposited more than 1.7 million guan; by Tianxi the figure had risen another 1.13 million. The premium rates were now restored and put into effect.
35
折二銅錢又定鉤致之法。 初欲復舊，止行於本路。 議者謂：「關東諸路既已通行，奪彼予此，理亦非便。 且陝右所用折二鐵錢，止當一小銅錢，即折二銅錢盡歸陝西，不直般運費廣，猝難鉤致，且與鐵錢一等，慮鐵錢轉更加輕。」 乃令折二銅錢寬所行地，聽行於陝西一路，及河東晉、絳、石、慈、隰州，京西西京、河陽、許、汝、鄭、金、房、均、鄧等州，餘路則禁。 仍限二年毋更用，在民間者聽以輸買納，在官帑者以輸上供，即非沿流地或素無上供者，所隸運司移發輸京師。 尋詔更鑄小銅錢。 河東安撫、提刑司言：「頃絳州垣曲縣置監鼓鑄銅錢，費且不給，今已廢監，又禁折二銅錢不通行，非便。」 乃聽行使如舊。
Rules were also set for recalling value-two copper coin. At first the plan was to revert to older coin, circulating only within each circuit. Critics argued: "East-of-Pass circuits already use this coin widely. Stripping one region to supply another makes little sense. In western Shaanxi, value-two iron cash is worth only one small copper coin. Shipping all value-two copper there would cost more than it is worth and be hard to enforce. Treating copper and iron alike would only further debase iron cash." Value-two copper was therefore allowed in Shaanxi circuit; Jin, Jiang, Shi, Ci, and Xi in Hedong; and Western Capital, Heyang, Xu, Ru, Zheng, Jin, Fang, Jun, and Deng in Jingxi—while other circuits were barred. Use was limited to two more years. Coin held by the public could be paid in taxes; coin in government stores would be sent as tribute, or forwarded to the capital by the local transport commission where tribute routes did not apply. The court soon ordered new small copper coin minted. Hedong's pacification and judicial commissions reported: "A mint at Yuanqu in Jiangzhou recently cost more than it produced and has closed. Banning value-two copper there is impractical." Circulation was allowed to continue as before.
36
供備庫使鄭價使契丹還，言其給輿箱者錢，皆中國所鑄。 乃增嚴三路闌出之法。
Zheng Jia of the Palace Provision Store, returning from a Khitan mission, reported that cash paid for carts and carriers was all Chinese coin. Export prohibitions on the three frontier circuits were tightened.
37
熙、豐間銅鐵錢嘗並行，銅錢千易鐵錢千五百，未聞輕重之弊。 及後銅錢日少，鐵錢滋多。 紹聖初，銅錢千遂易鐵錢二千五百，鐵錢浸輕。 元符二年，下陝西諸路安撫司博究利害。 於是詔陝西悉禁銅錢，在民間者令盡送官，而官銅悉取就京西置監。 永興帥臣陸師閔言：「既揀毀私錢，禁銅罷冶，則物價當減。 願下陝西州縣，凡有市買，並準度銅錢之直，以平其價。」 詔用其言，而豪賈蓄家多不便。
Under Xi and Feng, copper and iron coin had circulated side by side at one thousand copper to fifteen hundred iron, without reported debasement. Later copper grew scarce while iron multiplied. By early Shaosheng, one thousand copper fetched twenty-five hundred iron, and iron cash kept losing value. In Yuanfu 2, Shaanxi circuit pacification offices were ordered to study the problem in depth. The court then banned copper cash entirely in Shaanxi, ordered private holdings surrendered, and moved all official copper to new mints in Jingxi. Yongxing commander Lu Shimin argued: "Once private coin is culled and copper mining halted, prices should fall. He asked that Shaanxi's prefectures and counties peg all market transactions to copper coin values to stabilize prices. The court accepted his proposal, but wealthy traders and hoarders found it burdensome.
38
徽宗嗣位，通判鳳州馬景夷言：「陝西自去年罷使銅錢，續追官措置錢法，未聞有深究錢幣輕重灼見利害者。 銅錢流注天下，雖千百年未嘗有輕重之患。 獨鐵錢局於一路，所可通交易有無者，限以十州之地，欲無滯礙，安可得乎？ 又諸州錢監鼓鑄不已，歲月增多，以鼓鑄無窮之錢，而供流轉有限之用，更數十年，積滯一隅，暴如丘山，公私為害，又倍於今日矣。 謂宜弛其禁界，許鄰近陝西、河東等路特不入京城外，凡解鹽地州縣並許通行折二鐵錢。 如此則流注無窮，久遠自無輕重之患。」 繼而言者謂：「鐵錢重滯，難以齎遠，民間皆願復用銅錢。 當公私匱乏之時，諸路州縣官私銅錢積貯萬數，反無所用。」 乃詔銅鐵錢聽民間通行，而銅錢止用糴買。
When Huizong acceded, Ma Jingyi, vice-prefect of Fengzhou, argued: "Since Shaanxi stopped using copper cash last year, officials have repeatedly adjusted coin policy, yet no one has thoroughly examined relative coin values and their real costs. Copper coin had circulated empire-wide for centuries without debasement problems. Iron cash alone, confined to one circuit and roughly ten prefectures, cannot circulate freely. How can trade proceed without friction? Mints across the prefectures keep pouring out coin without pause. Coining without limit for limited circulation will, within decades, pile surpluses mountain-high in one region, harming public and private interests far worse than today. He proposed easing border restrictions so value-two iron cash could circulate in Shaanxi, Hedong, and neighboring circuits—everywhere except the capital—and in all salt-distribution counties. That would allow unbounded circulation and prevent debasement in the long run." Others added: "Iron cash is too heavy to transport, and the people want copper restored. Yet at a time of public and private scarcity, circuits were sitting on enormous hoards of copper cash that went unused." The court then allowed both metals to circulate, but restricted copper coin to grain purchases.
39
建中靖國元年，陝西轉運副使孫傑以鐵錢多而銅錢少，請復鑄銅錢，候銅鐵錢輕重稍均，即聽兼鑄。 崇寧元年，前陝西轉運判官都貺復請權罷陝西鑄鐵錢。 戶部尚書吳居厚言：「江、池、饒、建錢額不敷，議減銅增鉛、錫，歲可省銅三十餘萬斤，計增鑄錢十五萬九千餘緡。 所鑄光明堅韌，與見行錢不異。」 詔可。 然課猶不登。 二年，居厚乃請檢用前後上供鑄錢條約，視其登耗之數，別定勸沮之法。
In Jianzhong Jingguo 1, Shaanxi vice transport commissioner Sun Jie, noting too much iron and too little copper, asked to resume copper minting and permit dual minting once values balanced. In Chongning 1, former Shaanxi transport aide Du Chang asked to suspend iron minting in Shaanxi. Revenue Minister Wu Juhou reported: "Jiang, Chi, Rao, and Jian mints miss their quotas. Adding lead and tin while reducing copper could save over three hundred thousand jin of copper yearly and add more than 159,000 strings of output. The new alloy would be bright and durable, indistinguishable from existing coin." The court agreed. Quotas remained unmet, however. In year two, Juhou asked to enforce tribute minting rules with rewards and penalties based on shortfalls and surpluses.
40
會蔡京當政，將以利惑人主，托假紹述，肆為紛更。 有許天啟者，京之黨也，時為陝西轉運副使，迎合京意，請鑄當十錢。 五月，始令陝西及江、池、饒、建州，以歲所鑄小平錢增料改鑄當五大銅錢，以「聖宋通寶」為文，繼而並令舒、睦、衡、鄂錢監，用陝西式鑄折十錢，限今歲鑄三十萬緡，鐵錢二百萬緡。 募私鑄人丁為官匠，並其家設營以居之，號鑄錢院，謂得昔人招天下亡命即山鑄錢之意。 所鑄銅錢通行諸路，而陝西、河東、四川係鐵錢地者禁之，第鑄於陝西鐵錢地而已。
With Cai Jing in power, he sought to dazzle the throne with profit, invoking a return to earlier policies while pushing radical changes. Xu Tianqi, a Cai partisan serving as Shaanxi vice transport commissioner, proposed value-ten coin to please his patron. In the fifth month, Shaanxi and Jiang, Chi, Rao, and Jian were told to recast small coin into value-five copper bearing "Sheng Song Universal Treasure." Shu, Mu, Heng, and E mints soon followed with Shaanxi-style value-ten coin, capped at three hundred thousand strings of copper and two million of iron for the year. Counterfeiters were recruited as official artisans, with camps housing their families—the "Coin-Casting Court"—invoking the old practice of enlisting fugitive minters. The new copper circulated across circuits but was barred from Shaanxi, Hedong, and Sichuan iron-coin zones; iron coin was minted only within Shaanxi's iron region.
41
自熙寧以來，折二錢雖行民間，法不許運致京師，故諸州所積甚多。 至是，發運司因請以官帑所有折二錢改鑄折十錢。 三年，遂罷鑄小平錢及折五錢。 置監於京城所，復徐州寶豐、衛州黎陽監，並改鑄折二錢為折十，舊折二錢期一歲勿用。 大嚴私鑄之令，民間所用鍮石器物，並官造鬻之，輒鑄者依私有法加二等。 命諸路轉運司於沿流順便地，隨宜增置錢監，俾民以所有折二錢換納於官，運致所增監改鑄折十錢。 二廣產鐵，令鼓鑄小鐵錢，止行於兩路； 其公私銅錢兌換運輸元豐庫，仍於潯州置鐵錢監，依陝西料例鑄當二錢。
Since Xining, value-two coin had circulated locally but could not be shipped to the capital, so prefectures had amassed huge stocks. The Transport Commission then proposed recoining official stocks of value-two cash into value-ten. In year three, minting of small coin and value-five coin ceased. Mints were opened at the capital office and Baofeng and Liyang restored, all recoining value-two into value-ten; old value-two coin had one year before withdrawal. Counterfeiting laws were tightened sharply. Brass utensils used by commoners were sold only by the state, and illegal casting drew penalties two degrees harsher than ordinary theft. Transport commissions were told to add mints along convenient waterways, accept value-two coin from the public, and recoin it as value-ten at the new facilities. Guangdong and Guangxi, rich in iron, were ordered to mint small iron cash for local use only; Public and private copper was exchanged and sent to the Yuanfeng treasury, and an iron mint opened at Xunzhou casting value-two coin on the Shaanxi model.
42
四年，立錢綱驗樣法。 崇寧監以所鑄御書當十錢來上，緡用銅九斤七兩有奇，鉛半之，錫居三之一。 詔頒其式於諸路，令赤仄烏背，書畫分明。 時趙挺之為門下侍郎，繼拜右僕射，與蔡京議多不合，因極言當十錢不便，私鑄浸廣。 乃令提刑司歲較巡捕官一路所獲多寡，繼令福建、廣南毋行用，第鑄以上供及給他路。 凡為人附帶若封識影庇私鑄錢者，悉論以法，毋得蔭贖。 其置鑄錢院，蓋將以盡收所在亡命盜鑄之人，然犯法者不為止。 乃命荊湖南北、江南東西、兩浙並以折十錢為折五，舊折二錢仍舊。 慮冒法入東北也，今以江為界，淮南重寶錢亦作當五用焉。
In year four, regulations were set for inspecting coin convoy samples. The Chongning mint submitted sample value-ten coin with imperial calligraphy: nine jin seven liang plus of copper per string, half as much lead, and tin one-third of the remainder. The formula was issued empire-wide: reddish clipped edge, dark back, and crisp lettering. Zhao Tingzhi, recently promoted from vice director of the Secretariat to right vice director, clashed with Cai Jing and warned that value-ten coin was impractical and counterfeiting was spreading. Judicial commissions were told to rank circuit officers by seizures yearly. Fujian and Guangnan were barred from using value-ten coin locally; they minted only for tribute and other circuits. Anyone carrying, concealing, or shielding counterfeit coin faced full prosecution without commutation. The Coin-Casting Court was meant to absorb fugitive counterfeiters, yet crime did not stop. Value-ten coin was revalued to value-five in Jinghu, Jiangnan, and Liangzhe circuits, while old value-two coin continued unchanged. To prevent illicit export to the northeast, the Yangzi was set as the boundary, and Huainan's heavy treasure coin was also rated at value-five.
43
五年，兩浙盜鑄尤甚，小平錢益少，市易濡滯。 遂命以折五、折十上供，小平錢留本路； 江、池、饒、建、韶州錢監，歲課以八分鑄小平錢，二分鑄當十錢。 俄詔廣南、江南、福建、兩浙、荊湖、淮南用折二錢改鑄折十錢皆罷，其創置鑄錢院及招置錢戶並停。 繼復罷鑄當十二分之令，盡鑄小平錢。 荊湖、江南、兩浙、淮南重寶錢作當三，在京、京畿、京東西、河東、河北、陝西、熙河作當五。 通寶錢所鑄未多，在官者悉封樁，在民間者以小平錢納換。 旋復詔京畿、京東西、河北、河東、陝西、熙河當十錢仍舊，兩浙作當三，江南、淮南、荊湖作當五。 時錢幣苦重，條序不一，私鑄日甚。 御史沈畸奏曰：「小錢便民久矣。 古者軍興，錫賞不繼，或以一當百，或以一當千。 此權時之宜，豈可行於太平無事之日哉？ 當十鼓鑄，有數倍之息，雖日漸之，其勢不可遏。」 未幾，詔當十錢止行於京師、陝西、河東、河北。 俄並畿內用之，餘路悉禁。 期一季送官，償以小錢，換納到者輸於元豐、崇寧庫，而私錢亦限一季自致，計銅直增二分，償以小錢，隱藏者論如法。 尋詔鄭州、西京亦聽用折十錢，禁貿易為二價者。 東南諸監增鑄小平錢，以待償錢，而私錢亦改鑄焉。
In year five, counterfeiting was worst in Liangzhe; small coin grew scarce and trade stalled. Value-five and value-ten were ordered sent as tribute while small coin stayed in each circuit. Mint quotas in Jiang, Chi, Rao, Jian, and Shao were set at eighty percent small coin and twenty percent value-ten. Recoining value-two into value-ten was halted in Guangnan, Jiangnan, Fujian, Liangzhe, Jinghu, and Huainan, and all new mint complexes and recruited households were shut down. The two-tenths value-ten casting quota was dropped and mints returned to small coin only. Heavy treasure coin was rated value-three in Jinghu, Jiangnan, Liangzhe, and Huainan, and value-five in the capital region, Jingdong, Jingxi, Hedong, Hebei, Shaanxi, and Xihe. Relatively little Sheng Song Tongbao had been minted. Official stocks were sealed, and private holdings were bought back with small coin. Soon the capital region, Jingdong, Jingxi, Hebei, Hedong, Shaanxi, and Xihe kept value-ten coin; Liangzhe used value-three; Jiangnan, Huainan, and Jinghu value-five. Denominations had become unwieldy, rules conflicting, and counterfeiting daily worse. Censor Shen Ji wrote: "Small coin has served the people well for ages. In antiquity, during war when pay ran short, coins were debased to one-for-a-hundred or one-for-a-thousand. That was a wartime expedient—not policy for peacetime. Value-ten minting yielded several times the profit; even gradual debasement could not check the tide." Value-ten coin was soon restricted to the capital, Shaanxi, Hedong, and Hebei. The capital environs were included shortly after; all other circuits were barred. Holders had one quarter to surrender value-ten coin for small coin at the Yuanfeng and Chongning treasuries. Private coin could also be turned in within a quarter at copper value plus two percent in small coin; concealment brought prosecution. Zhengzhou and the Western Capital were soon added; dual pricing was forbidden. Southeast mints ramped up small coin production for buybacks, and private coin was recoined as well.
44
折十錢為幣既重，一旦更令，則民驟失厚利。 又諸路或用或否，往往不盡輸於官，冒法私販。 始令四輔、畿內、開封府許搜索舟車，賞視舊法增倍。 水陸所由，官司失察者皆停替，而受納不揀選、容私錢其間者，以差定罪法。 又以私錢猥多，不能悉禁，乃令外路每一私錢，計小平錢三，以小錢易於官，在京以四小平錢易之。 京師出納及民間貿易，並大小錢參用，而私鑄小平錢輒行用。 立搜索告捕罪賞，越江、淮入汴錢至京者，一依當十錢法。 御史張茂直請嚴私販當十之令，綱舟載卸，皆選官監索，保無藏匿，舟車兜擔，即疑慮私販者，並聽搜索； 而福建民或私鑄轉入淮、浙、京東等路者，所由州縣官司皆治漏逸之罪，不以赦免。 法滋密矣。
Value-ten coin had become a lucrative denomination; the policy reversal suddenly stripped the public of those gains. Some circuits still used value-ten coin, others did not, and many withheld holdings for illicit trade. Officials in the Four Adjuncts, capital environs, and Kaifeng were authorized to search boats and carts, with rewards doubled from prior law. Route officials who failed inspections were removed. Accepting payment without screening for private coin drew graded penalties. Private coin was too abundant to ban outright, so the court offered exchange: three small coins per private coin in the provinces, four in the capital. In the capital, official payments and private trade mixed large and small coin, and counterfeit small coin circulated freely. Search-and-report rewards were instituted. Coin brought from beyond the Yangzi and Huai to the capital faced the same value-ten rules. Censor Zhang Maozhi urged stricter anti-smuggling rules: convoy boats were to be searched under appointed officers, and porters on boats and carts suspected of smuggling could be searched on sight. Fujian counterfeiters who moved coin into Huai, Zhe, and Jingdong circuits were prosecuted for smuggling without amnesty. The legal net tightened further.
45
大觀元年，張茂直復言：「州縣督捕加峻，私小黃錢投委江河，不敢復出。 請令東南州縣置水匱封鍵於闤闠中，聽民以私錢自投，如自首法。 當三、當五錢，舟船附帶者，亦多棄之江河，請下諸路撈漉。」
In Daguan 1, Zhang Maozhi reported: "Harsh enforcement has driven holders to dump private small coin into rivers rather than risk detection. He asked that sealed chests be placed in market squares across the southeast so people could surrender private coin as under amnesty law. Value-three and value-five coin was also being thrown overboard. He urged circuits to dredge rivers for recovered coin."
46
時蔡京復相，再主用折十錢。 二月，首鑄御書當十錢，以京畿錢監所得私錢改鑄。 尋興復京畿兩監，以轉運使宋喬年領之，用提舉京畿鑄錢司為名。 喬年鑄烏背漉銅錢來上，詔以漉銅式頒行諸路。
Cai Jing had returned as chief minister and again pushed value-ten coin. In the second month, imperial-script value-ten coin was minted first from private coin seized at capital mints. Two capital mints were reopened under transport commissioner Song Qiaonian as the Metropolitan Coin-Casting Supervisory Office. Song Qiaonian submitted black-back filtered-copper coin, and the alloy formula was issued empire-wide.
47
京之初為折十錢，人不以為便，帝亦知之。 故崇寧四年以後，稍更其法，及京去位，遂詔諭中外。 京再得政復行之，知盜鑄者必眾，將威以刑。 會有告蘇州章綖盜鑄數千萬緡，遂興大獄。 初遣李孝壽，又遣沈畸、蕭服，末以命知蘇州孫傑、發運副使吳擇仁。 綖坐刺流海島，連坐者十餘人，時皆冤之。 於是頒行大觀新修錢法於天下，申命開封府尹少、外路監司，各分州郡舉行，按舉能否，月檢會法令，使民知禁。 用孫傑言，盜鑄依淮東重法地，囊橐強盜之家，籍其財以待賞，居停鄰保並均備告驗； 私錢依私茶法； 給隨行物； 州常樁盜鑄賞錢五千緡，州縣稽於施行，監司失察，不以赦原。 是歲，京畿既置錢監，乃專鑄當十大錢，而小平錢則鑄於諸路。 既而當十錢少，復置真州鑄錢監，以本路所換錢不依式者及諸司當二見緡，用舊式改鑄當十錢。
Cai Jing's original value-ten coin had never pleased the public, and the emperor knew it. After Chongning 4 the rules were gradually revised, and when Cai fell from power an edict addressed the empire. Restored to power, Cai revived value-ten coin, expecting widespread counterfeiting and intending to crush it by force. A tip that Zhang Tuan of Suzhou had counterfeited tens of millions of strings sparked a major prosecution. Li Xiaoshou was sent first, then Shen Ji and Xiao Fu, and finally Suzhou prefect Sun Jie and transport vice commissioner Wu Zeren took charge. Zhang Tuan was tattooed and exiled to an island; more than ten others were implicated, and many regarded the case as a miscarriage of justice. The revised Daguan coin code was issued empire-wide. The Kaifeng prefect, his deputy, and circuit commissioners were told to enforce it locally, report performance monthly, and make prohibitions plain to the public. Following Sun Jie's advice, counterfeiting was placed under Huaidong's harshest statutes: robbers' assets were seized for rewards, and landlords and mutual-responsibility neighbors were bound to report and verify; private coin was punished under private-tea law; informants were rewarded with goods seized in transit; Each prefecture maintained five thousand strings for counterfeiting rewards. Delayed enforcement or supervisory negligence was not pardonable. That year capital mints produced only large value-ten coin; small coin was minted in the provinces. When value-ten coin ran short, a mint opened at Zhenzhou to recoin nonstandard exchanged cash and offices' value-two holdings into value-ten on the old dies.
48
明年，令江、池、饒、建州錢監，自來歲以鑄當十五分鑄小平錢。 申嚴私鑄之法，即托權要事勢，度越關津，拒捍搜索者，雖輕以違制論，載禦物者同之。 初，崇寧五年，始禁陝西鐵錢行於興元府等界。 至是，又以鐵錢猥多，禁陝西鐵錢入蜀。 有董奎者，為走馬承受，遂令以鐵錢三折銅錢一。 事聞，責奎以妄肆胸臆，致幣輕物重，奎遂即罪。
The next year Jiang, Chi, Rao, and Jian mints were told that from the following year, five-tenths of output would be small coin. Counterfeiting laws were tightened again: using influence to cross checkpoints or resist search drew edict-violation charges even for lesser offenses, as did carrying imperial goods improperly. In Chongning 5, Shaanxi iron cash was first barred from Xingyuan Prefecture and neighboring borders. Iron cash was now so abundant that Shaanxi iron coin was barred from entering Sichuan. Mounted courier commissioner Dong Kui ordered iron cash revalued at three to one against copper. When the report reached court, Kui was blamed for arbitrary policy that debased coin and inflated prices, and was punished immediately.
49
三年，申當十錢行使之令，益以京東、京西，而河北並邊州縣鎮砦、四榷場及登、萊、密州緣海縣鎮等皆禁。 時蔡京復罷政矣。 四年，詔：「鼓鑄當十錢多，慮法隨以弊，其止鑄舊額小平錢。」 張商英為相，奏言：「當十錢為害久矣。 舊小平錢有出門之禁，故四方客旅之貨，交易得錢，必大半入中末鹽鈔，收買告牒，而餘錢又流布在市井，此上下內外交相養。 自當十錢行，以一夫而負八十千，小車載四百千，錢既為輕齎之物，則告牒為滯貨，鹽鈔非得虛抬之息則不行。 臣今欲借內庫並密院諸司封樁綢絹、金銀並鹽鈔，下令折十錢限民半年所在送官，十千給銀絹各一匹兩，限竟毋更用。 俟錢入官，擇其惡者鑄小平錢，存其好者折三行用。 如此則錢法、鈔法不相低昂，可以復舊。」
In year three, value-ten coin was extended to Jingdong and Jingxi, but barred from Hebei border posts, the four border markets, and coastal counties of Deng, Lai, and Mi. Cai Jing had fallen from power again by then. In year four an edict declared: "Value-ten minting has grown excessive and threatens to ruin the system. Mint only the old small-coin quota." Chief minister Zhang Shangying wrote: "Value-ten coin has done harm for years. Small coin once could not leave the circuit, so travelers' trade proceeds mostly went into salt-note deposits and certificate purchases, while surplus cash circulated in markets—a system that sustained court and countryside alike. Value-ten coin made cash easy to transport—a man could carry eighty strings, a cart four hundred—turning certificates into dead stock and forcing salt notes to rely on artificial markups to move. I propose borrowing sealed silk, gold, silver, and salt notes from the Inner Treasury and Privy Council stores and ordering value-ten coin redeemed within six months wherever people are located; for every ten thousand cash delivered, one bolt of silk and one of satin would be paid; once the period closed, those coins would cease circulating. Once the coin reached the treasury, the worst would be recoined as small cash and the soundest kept circulating at triple value. That way coin and note systems would no longer work at cross purposes, and the old order could be restored."
50
利州路提刑司言：「舊銅鐵錢輕重相尋，以大鐵錢一折小銅錢二； 今大鐵錢五止當一銅錢，比舊輕十倍。 又流入川界，錢輕物重，頗類陝西。 欲將折二大鐵錢以一折一，雖稍減錢數，錢必稍重。」 詔許陝西鐵錢入蜀仍舊，盡釋其禁，且命以今物價量宜裁之。
The Lizhou judicial commissioner reported: "Under the old system, copper and iron cash traded at set weight ratios: one large iron coin counted as two small copper ones; Now five large iron coins buy only one copper coin—one-tenth the old weight in value. They also flooded into Sichuan, where coin was debased and prices inflated—much like Shaanxi. He proposed revaluing double iron cash one-for-one, which would reduce the quantity in circulation but increase each coin's effective weight. An edict allowed Shaanxi iron cash into Sichuan again, lifting all restrictions and ordering an adjustment suited to current prices.
51
政和元年詔：「錢重則物輕，錢輕則物重，其勢然也。 今諸路所鑄小平錢，行之久而無弊，多而不壅，為利博矣。 往歲圖利之臣鼓鑄當十錢，苟濟目前，不究悠久，公私為害，用之幾十年，其法日弊而不勝。 奸猾之民規利冒法，銷毀當二、小平錢，所在盜鑄，濫錢益多，百物增價。 若不早革，即弊無已時。 其官私見在當十錢，可並作當三，以為定制。 尚慮豪猾憚於折閱，胥動浮言，可內自京尹，外逮監司、郡縣，悉心開諭。」
A Zhenghe 1 edict observed: "Heavy coin lowers prices; light coin raises them—that is the natural tendency. Small coin minted in the provinces had circulated for years without trouble—plentiful yet not stagnant—to great benefit. Profit-minded officials had minted value-ten coin for short-term relief without regard for the long term, harming government and private alike; after decades in use the system grew daily more unsound. Speculators melted down double and small coin and counterfeited everywhere, flooding the market with debased cash and driving up all prices. Without early reform, the debasement would never end. All value-ten coin held by government or private parties would be revalued at triple face value as the permanent rule. Fearing wealthy speculators would resist the devaluation and spread rumors, the capital prefect, circuit commissioners, and local officials were told to explain the change carefully."
52
政和元年，錢輕物重，細民艱食，詔：「應陝西舊行使鐵錢地，並依元豐年大鐵錢折二，公私通行，夾錫錢同之，毋得分別。 見存鐵錢，毋改更鑄夾錫，河東官私折二、夾錫錢同之。」
In Zhenghe 1, debased coin and high prices left commoners struggling to eat. An edict declared: "All former Shaanxi iron-cash zones would revert to Yuanfeng double iron cash, circulating alongside tin-mixed coin without distinction. Existing iron cash would not be recoined as tin-mixed; Hedong's double and tin-mixed coin would follow the same rule."
53
童貫宣撫陝西，以詔亟平物價，帥臣徐處仁切責其非，坐貶。 錢即經略鄜延，抗疏言：「詳考詔旨，謂鐵錢復行，與夾錫並用。 慮奸民妄作輕重，欲維持推行，俾錢物相直，非欲以威力脅製百姓，頓減物價於一兩月之間。 今宣撫司裁損米穀、布帛、金銀之價，殆非人情。 徐處仁言雖未盡，所見為長，望速詢其實。 如臣言乖謬，願同處仁貶。」 詔即妄有建明，毀辱使命，謫置偏州。 尋亦罷行夾錫錢，且禁裁物價，民商貿易，各從其便。 繼而童貫復請與舊法鐵錢並折二通行。 知閿鄉縣論九齡俄坐以銅錢一估夾錫錢七八，並知州王寀、轉運副使張深俱被劾。 時關中錢甚輕，夾錫欲以重之，其實與鐵錢等，物價日增，患甚於當十。
Tong Guan, the Shaanxi pacification commissioner, rushed to enforce the edict and stabilize prices. Military commissioner Xu Churen sharply criticized the policy and was demoted. Yan-Yan military commissioner Qian Ji memorialized: "The edict's intent is to restore iron cash and circulate it alongside tin-mixed coin. It aims to prevent manipulators from distorting exchange rates and to keep coin and goods at parity—not to force prices down overnight by imperial threats. The pacification office's cuts to grain, cloth, gold, and silver prices defied common sense. Xu Churen had not said all that needed saying, but his view was correct; I ask that the facts be investigated at once. If I am wrong, I ask to share Churen's punishment. The court replied that he had presumptuously challenged policy and insulted the imperial mission, and banished him to a remote prefecture. Tin-mixed coin was soon withdrawn, price controls were lifted, and trade was left to find its own level. Tong Guan then asked that tin-mixed coin circulate alongside old iron cash at double value. Wenxiang magistrate Lun Jiuling was soon impeached for pricing one copper coin at seven or eight tin-mixed coins; prefect Wang Cai and transport vice commissioner Zhang Shen were impeached as well. Guanzhong cash was badly debased; tin-mixed coin was meant to restore weight but proved no better than iron cash, and prices rose daily—a worse plague than value-ten coin.
54
二年，蔡京復得政，條奏廣、惠、康、賀、衡、鄂、舒州昨鑄夾錫錢精善，請復鑄如故。 廣西、湖北、淮東如之，且命諸路以銅錢監復改鑄夾錫，遂以政和錢頒式焉。 夾錫錢既復推行，錢輕不與銅等，而法必欲其重，乃嚴擅易抬減之令。 凡以金銀、絲帛等物貿易，有弗受夾錫、須要銅錢者，聽人告論，以法懲治。 市井細民朝夕鬻餅餌熟食以自給者，或不免於告罰。 未幾，以夾錫錢不以何路所鑄，並聽通行。
In year two Cai Jing returned to power and reported that tin-mixed coin minted at Guang, Hui, Kang, He, Heng, E, and Shu was of excellent quality, asking that minting resume. Guangxi, Hubei, and Huaidong followed suit; provincial copper mints were ordered to switch to tin-mixed coin, and the Zhenghe standard was issued. Once tin-mixed coin was restored, it was lighter than copper yet the law demanded it trade at par; unauthorized markups and discounts were sternly forbidden. Anyone trading goods for gold, silver, or cloth who refused tin-mixed coin and demanded copper was subject to informants' lawsuits and legal punishment. Street vendors who sold baked goods and cooked food for a living were sometimes prosecuted. Soon tin-mixed coin from any mint was allowed to circulate regardless of origin.
55
陝西用「政和通寶」舊大鐵錢，與夾錫錢雜。 慮流轉諸路，四年，詔毋更行用，致令諸監改鑄夾錫錢，在民間者赴官換納。 鄭居中、劉正夫為相，以為不便，令淮南夾錫錢期三日官私俱禁不用，仍罷鼓鑄，夾錫錢悉輦樁關中。 尋詔河東、陝西外，餘路並罷； 俄詔並河東罷鑄夾錫錢，止用舊法鼓鑄。 重和元年，權罷京西鑄夾錫錢，繼以關中糴買，用之通流，復命鼓鑄，專給關中。 夾錫行，小民往往以藥點染，與銅錢相亂，河北漕臣張翬等嘗坐貶焉。
Shaanxi still used old large Zhenghe Tongbao iron cash alongside tin-mixed coin. Fearing these would spread to other circuits, in year four the old iron coins were withdrawn, mints recoined them as tin-mixed cash, and the public was ordered to turn holdings in. Chief ministers Zheng Juzhong and Liu Zhengfu found the policy impractical and gave Huainan three days to stop using tin-mixed coin, halted minting, and shipped all tin-mixed cash to Guanzhong for storage. An edict soon ended tin-mixed coin everywhere except Hedong and Shaanxi; Soon Hedong too ceased minting tin-mixed coin and reverted to the old iron-cash standard. In Chonghe 1 Jingxi tin-mixed minting was briefly halted; when Guanzhong grain procurement needed the coins, minting resumed to supply the region alone. In circulation, commoners often dyed tin-mixed coin to pass it off as copper; Hebei transport commissioner Zhang Hui and others were once demoted over the problem.
56
先是，江池饒州、建寧府四監，歲鑄錢百三十四萬緡，充上供； 衡、舒、嚴、鄂、韶、梧州六監，歲鑄錢百五十六萬緡，充逐路支用。 建炎經兵，鼓鑄皆廢。 紹興初，並廣寧監於虔州，並永豐監於饒州，歲鑄才及八萬緡。 以銅、鐵、鉛、錫之入，不及於舊，而官吏稍廩工作之費，視前日自若也，每鑄錢一千，率用本錢二千四百文。 時範汝為作亂，權罷建州鼓鑄，尋復舊，泉司供給銅、錫六十五萬餘斤。
Previously the four mints at Jiang, Chi, Rao, and Jianning cast 1.34 million strings yearly for imperial tribute; Six mints at Heng, Shu, Yan, E, Shao, and Wu cast 1.56 million strings for circuit expenses. War during the Jianyan reign ended minting entirely. Early in the Shaoxing era Guangning Mint was merged into Qianzhou and Yongfeng into Raozhou; annual output fell to eighty thousand strings. Copper, iron, lead, and tin supplies fell short of former levels, yet official salaries and labor costs stayed as high as before; minting one thousand coins now cost 2,400 cash in materials. When Fan Ruwei rebelled, the Jianzhou mint was briefly shut down but soon reopened; the Coin Office supplied over 650,000 jin of copper and tin.
57
六年，斂民間銅器，詔民私鑄銅器者徒二年。 贛、饒二監新額錢四十萬緡，提點官趙伯瑜以為得不償費，罷鼓鑄，盡取木炭銅鉛本錢及官吏闕額衣糧水腳之屬，湊為年計。 十三年，韓球為使，復鑄新錢，興廢坑治，至於發塚墓，壞廬舍，籍冶戶姓名，以膽水盛時浸銅之數為額。 〈（浸銅之法：以生鐵鍛成薄片，排置膽水槽中浸漬數日，鐵片為膽水所薄，上生赤煤，取刮鐵煤入爐，三煉成銅。 大率用鐵二斤四兩，得銅一斤。 饒州興利場、信州鉛山場各有歲額，所謂膽銅也。）〉 無銅可輸者，至熔錢為銅，然所鑄亦才及十萬緡。
In year six private copperware was confiscated; unauthorized copper casting was punished with two years' penal servitude. The Gan and Rao mints had a quota of 400,000 strings; intendant Zhao Boyu found minting unprofitable and closed them, pooling charcoal, ore, salaries, and transport costs into a single annual budget instead. In year thirteen commissioner Han Qiu resumed minting, reopening mines and smelters—even opening graves and demolishing homes—and registered smelter households against gall-water leaching quotas at peak season. (The leaching method: raw iron was hammered into thin plates and soaked in gall-water troughs for days until the iron thinned and red precipitate formed; the precipitate was scraped off and smelted three times to produce copper. Roughly two jin four liang of iron yielded one jin of copper. Raozhou's Xingli works and Xinzhou's Qianshan works each had annual quotas—this was gall-copper.) Those who could supply no copper even melted down coin for ore, yet output still reached only one hundred thousand strings.
58
二十四年，罷鐵錢司歸之漕司。 二十七年，出版曹錢八萬緡為鑄本，歲權以十五萬緡為額。 復饒、贛、韶鑄錢監，以漕臣往來措置，通判主之。 殿中侍御史王珪言泉司不可廢，復以戶部侍郎榮薿提領，許置官屬二員。 二十八年，出禦府銅器千五百事付泉司，大索民間銅器，得銅二百餘萬斤，寺觀鍾、磬、鐃、鈸既籍定投稅外，不得添鑄。 二十九年，令命官之家留見錢二萬貫，民庶半之，餘限二年聽轉易金銀，算請茶、鹽、香、礬鈔引之類，越數寄隱，許人告。
In year twenty-four the Iron Coin Office was abolished and its duties returned to the transport commission. In year twenty-seven the Board of Revenue released eighty thousand strings for mint capital and set a provisional annual quota of 150,000 strings. The Rao, Gan, and Shao mints were reopened under transport commissioners who supervised in rotation, with vice-prefects in charge. Palace censor Wang Gui argued that the Coin Office must not be scrapped; Vice Minister of Revenue Rong Yi was reappointed to head it with two authorized staff. In year twenty-eight 1,500 imperial copper vessels went to the Coin Office and a sweeping collection of private copperware yielded over two million jin; temple bells and gongs already on the tax rolls could not be recast. In year twenty-nine official households could keep 20,000 strings in cash and commoners half that; surplus cash had two years to be converted to gold and silver or used to buy tea, salt, incense, and alum certificates; hoarding beyond the limit was reportable.
59
以李植提點鑄錢公事，植言：「歲額內藏庫二十三萬緡，右藏庫七十餘萬緡，皆至道以後數也。 紹興以來，歲收銅二十四萬斤，鉛二十萬斤，錫五百斤，僅可鑄錢一十萬緡。 諸道拘到銅器二百萬斤，附以鉛、錫，可鑄六十萬緡。 然拘者不可以常，唯當據坑冶所產。」 下工部，權以五十萬緡為額。 又明年，才鑄及十萬緡。 今泉司歲額增至十五萬緡，小平錢一萬八千緡，折二錢六萬六千緡。 歲費鑄本及起綱糜費約二十六萬緡，司屬之費又約二萬緡，東南十一路一百一十八州之所供，有坑冶課利錢、木炭錢、錫本錢，約二十一萬緡，比歲所收不過十五六萬緡耳。 歲額：金一百二十八兩，銀無額，以七分入內庫，三分歸本司，銅三十九萬五千八百斤，鉛三十七萬七千九百斤，錫一萬九千八百七十五斤，鐵二百三十二萬八千斤，比歲所榷十無二三。 每當二錢千，重四斤五兩； 小平錢千，重四斤十三兩； 視舊制，銅少鉛多，錢愈鍥薄矣。
Li Zhi was appointed coin intendant and reported: "The Inner Treasury quota was 230,000 strings and the Right Treasury over 700,000—figures dating from the Zhidao era onward. Since Shaoxing, annual intake was 240,000 jin of copper, 200,000 of lead, and 500 of tin—enough for only 100,000 strings. Two million jin of confiscated copperware from the circuits, with lead and tin added, could yield 600,000 strings. But seizures are countless on permanently; only mine and smelter output is reliable. The memorial went to the Works Ministry, which set a provisional quota of 500,000 strings. The following year output reached only 100,000 strings. The Coin Office quota was now 150,000 strings—18,000 in small coin and 66,000 in double-value coin. Minting and transport cost about 260,000 strings yearly, office expenses another 20,000; levies from 118 prefectures in eleven southeastern circuits—mining taxes, charcoal fees, and tin subsidies—brought in only 150,000–160,000 of the expected 210,000. Annual quotas called for 128 taels of gold (silver had none; seven-tenths of gold went to the Inner Treasury and three-tenths to the office), 395,800 jin of copper, 377,900 of lead, 19,875 of tin, and 2,328,000 of iron—but collections typically reached only two or three tenths of quota. One thousand double-value coins weighed four jin five liang; one thousand small coins weighed four jin thirteen liang; compared with the old standard they contained less copper and more lead, and the coins grew ever thinner.
60
孝宗隆興元年，詔鑄當二、小平錢，如紹興之初。 〈（乾、淳迄於嘉泰、開禧皆如之。）〉 乾道六年，並鑄錢司歸發運司，尋復置。 八年，饒州、贛州復名置提點官。 以新鑄錢殽雜，提點鑄錢及永平監官、左藏西庫監官、戶部工部長貳官責降有差。 九年，大江之西及湖、廣間多毀錢，夾以沙泥重鑄，號「沙尾錢」，詔嚴禁之。 淳熙二年，並贛司歸饒州。 慶元三年，復禁銅器，期兩月鬻於官，每兩三十。 湖州舊鬻監，至是官自鑄之。 〈（二年，禁銷錢為銅器者，以違制論，爐戶決配海外。）〉 復神泉監，以所括銅器鑄當三大錢，隸工部。
In Longxing 1 Emperor Xiaozong ordered double and small coin minted as in early Shaoxing. (The same held from the Qian and Chun reigns through Jiatai and Kaixi.) In Qiandao 6 the Coin Office was merged into the transport commission, then soon restored. In year eight Raozhou and Ganzhou intendant posts were formally reestablished. Adulterated new coin led to demotions for the coin intendant, Yongping Mint staff, Left Treasury West Depot officials, and vice ministers of Revenue and Works. In year nine west of the Yangzi and across Hunan and Guangdong, worn coin was mixed with sand and mud and recast as "sand-tail cash," which an edict strictly forbade. In Chunxi 2 the Gan prefecture office was merged into Raozhou. In Qingyuan 3 copperware was banned again; owners had two months to sell it to the government at thirty cash per liang. Huzhou's former Yujian Mint was taken over for official coining. (In year two, melting coin for copperware was punished as an edict violation; smelter households were exiled overseas.) Shenquan Mint was restored to cast triple-value coin from confiscated copperware under the Works Ministry.
61
舊額，內帑歲收新錢一百五萬， 〈（江、池、饒、建四監。）〉 而每年退卻六十萬，三年一郊，又以一百萬輸三司，是內帑年才得十一萬六千餘緡，而左藏得九十三萬三千餘緡。 今歲額止十五萬，而隸封樁者半，內藏者半，左藏咸無焉。
Under the old quota the Inner Privy took in 1.5 million strings of new coin yearly, (from the four mints at Jiang, Chi, Rao, and Jian.) But 600,000 strings were returned each year, and every three years a suburban sacrifice took one million for the Three Departments—leaving the Inner Privy only about 116,000 strings annually and the Left Treasury about 933,000. The quota was now only 150,000 strings, split evenly between sealed reserves and the Inner Treasury, with nothing for the Left Treasury.
62
淮南舊鑄銅錢。 乾道初，詔兩淮、京西悉用鐵錢。 荊門隸湖北，以地接襄、峴，亦用鐵錢。 六年，先是，以和州舊有錢監，舒州山口鎮亦有古監，詔司農丞許子中往淮西措置。 於是子中以舒、蘄、黃皆產鐵，請各置監， 〈（舒州同安監，蘄州新春監，黃州齊安監。）〉 且鑄折二錢。 以發運司通領四監。 〈（江之廣寧監，興國之大冶監，臨江之豐餘監，撫之裕國監。）〉 子中所領三監，歲合認三十萬貫，其大小鐵錢，令兩淮通行。 七年，舒、蘄守臣皆以鑄錢增美遷官，然淮民為之大擾。 八年，以江州、興國軍鐵冶額虧，守貳及大冶知縣各降一官。
Huainan had once minted copper cash. Early in Qiandao iron cash was ordered for all of the Huai region and Jingxi. Jingmen in Hubei, bordering Xiangyang and its approaches, used iron cash as well. In year six—Hezhou still had an old mint and Shuzhou's Shankou town an ancient one—Agriculture Vice Director Xu Zizhong was sent to organize minting in the Huai west. Xu Zizhong reported that Shu, Qi, and Huang prefectures all had iron and asked for a mint in each, (Tong'an at Shuzhou, Xinchun at Qizhou, and Qi'an at Huangzhou.) They would mint double-value iron coin. The transport commission was given general oversight of all four mints. (Guangning in Jiangzhou, Daye in Xingguo, Fengyu in Linjiang, and Yuguo in Fuzhou.) The three mints under Xu Zizhong were assigned a combined annual quota of 300,000 strings; their iron cash, large and small, was to circulate throughout the Huai region. In year seven the prefects of Shu and Qi were promoted for exceeding mint quotas, but the people of the Huai region were gravely troubled. In year eight, after Jiangzhou and Xingguo failed to meet iron-smelting quotas, the prefect and vice-prefect of each and the magistrate of Daye were each demoted one rank.
63
淳熙五年，詔舒州歲增鑄十萬貫，以三十萬貫為額； 蘄州增鑄五萬貫，以十五萬貫為額。 如更增鑄，優與推賞。 御史黃洽言：「興天下之利者，不窮天下之力。 舒、蘄歲鑄四十五萬不易為也。 又有增鑄之賞，恐其難繼。」 詔除之。 八年，以舒州水遠，薪炭不便，減額五萬貫。 明年，又減十萬貫，與蘄州並以十五萬貫為額。 十年，並舒州之宿城監入同安監。 十二年，詔舒、蘄鑄鐵錢，並增五萬貫，以「淳熙通寶」為文。
In Chunxi year five an edict raised Shuzhou's annual minting by 100,000 strings, setting its quota at 300,000; Qizhou's minting was raised by 50,000 strings, with a quota of 150,000. Officials who cast still more were to receive generous rewards and promotions. Censor Huang Qia said: "Those who seek profit for the empire must not exhaust the empire's resources. An annual output of 450,000 strings from Shu and Qi together would not be easy to sustain. With bonuses offered for further increases, I fear the policy could not last. An edict cancelled the bonuses. In year eight Shuzhou's quota was cut by 50,000 strings because its distance from water made fuel and charcoal hard to obtain. The next year another 100,000 strings were cut, leaving both Shuzhou and Qizhou with quotas of 150,000 each. In year ten Shuzhou's Sucheng mint was merged into Tong'an. In year twelve Shu and Qi were ordered to mint iron cash, each adding 50,000 strings bearing the legend "Chunxi Tongbao."
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光宗紹熙二年，減蘄春、同安兩監歲鑄各十萬貫。 嘉泰三年，罷舒、蘄鼓鑄； 開禧三年，復之。
In Shaoxi year two of Emperor Guangzong, annual output at the Qichun and Tong'an mints was cut by 100,000 strings each. In Jiatai year three minting at Shu and Qi was halted; In Kaixi year three it was restored.
65
嘉定五年，臣僚言江北以銅錢一折鐵錢四，禁之。 時銅錢之在江北者，自乾道以來，悉以鐵錢易之，或以會子一貫易銅錢一貫。 其銅錢輸送行在及建康、鎮江府。 凡沿江私度及邊徑嚴禁漏泄，及於邊界三里內立堠，如出界法； 其易京西銅錢，如兩淮例。 京西、湖北之鐵錢，則取給於漢陽監及興國富民監，後並富民監於漢陽監，以二十萬為額。
In Jiading year five officials reported that north of the Yangzi one copper cash was traded for four iron and asked that this be forbidden. Since Qiandao, copper cash in the north had all been exchanged for iron, sometimes one string of huizi for one string of copper. The copper was shipped to the court, Jiankang, and Zhenjiang. Private crossings along the river and smuggling routes were strictly barred, and within three li of the frontier beacon posts were set up under the laws against export; Copper in Jingxi was exchanged on the same terms as in the Huai region. Iron cash for Jingxi and Hubei came from the Hanyang and Xingguo Fumin mints; Fumin was later merged into Hanyang, with a quota of 200,000 strings.
66
前宋時，川、陝皆行鐵錢，益、利、夔皆即山冶鑄。 紹興九年，詔陝西諸路復行鐵錢。 十五年，置利州紹興監，鑄錢十萬緡以救錢引。 二十二年，復嘉之豐遠、邛之惠民二監，鑄小平錢。 二十三年，詔利州並鑄折二錢，後又鑄折二錢。 淳熙十五年，四川餉臣言：「諸州行使兩界錢引，全籍鐵錢稱提，止有利州紹興監歲鑄折三錢三萬四千五百貫有奇，邛州惠民監歲鑄折三錢一萬二千五百貫。 今大安軍淳熙、新興、迎恩三爐，出生鐵四十九萬五千斤，利之昭化、嘉川縣亦有爐，新產鐵三十餘萬斤。 乞從鼓鑄。」 嘉定元年，即利州鑄當五大錢。 三年，製司欲盡收舊引，又於紹興、惠民二監歲鑄三十萬貫，其料並同當三錢。 若四川銅錢，淳熙間易送湖廣總所儲之，後又交卸於江陵。
In earlier Song times Sichuan and Shaanxi had used iron cash, with Yi, Li, and Kui circuits smelting on the spot from local ore. In Shaoxing year nine an edict restored iron cash in Shaanxi. In year fifteen the Shaoxing mint at Lizhou was established to cast 100,000 strings and relieve the qianyin notes. In year twenty-two the Fengyuan mint in Jiazhou and the Huimin mint in Qiongzhou were reopened to cast standard small cash. In year twenty-three Lizhou was also ordered to mint double-value coin; double-value coin was minted again later. In Chunxi year fifteen the Sichuan supply commissioner reported: "Prefectures circulating qianyin notes for both zones depend entirely on iron cash to back them; only the Shaoxing mint at Lizhou produces about 34,500 strings of triple-value coin annually, and the Huimin mint at Qiongzhou about 12,500 strings. The three furnaces at Chunxi, Xinxing, and Ying'en in Da'an produce 495,000 jin of pig iron, and furnaces in Zhaohua and Jiachuan in Lizhou have recently yielded more than 300,000 jin. We ask leave to begin minting. In Jiading year one Lizhou at once began minting five-for-one large coins. In year three the Pacification Commission sought to retire all old notes and ordered the Shaoxing and Huimin mints to cast 300,000 strings annually, all using the same alloy as triple-value coin. Sichuan's copper cash, during Chunxi, had been exchanged and stored at the Huguang general depot and later transferred to Jiangling.
67
淳祐四年，右諫議大夫劉晉之言：「巨家停積，猶可以發泄； 銅器鉟銷，猶可以上遏； 唯一入海舟，往而不返。」 於是復申嚴漏泄之禁。
In Chunyou year four Right Remonstrance Grandee Liu Jin said: "Hoarding by great families can still be drawn out; melting copperware can still be checked from above; only ships that sail overseas depart and never come back. The prohibition on export was then enforced anew.
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八年，監察御史陳求魯言：「議者謂楮便於運轉，故錢廢於蟄藏； 自稱提之屢更，圜法為無用。 急於扶楮者，至嗾盜賊以窺人之閫奧，峻刑法以發人之窖藏，然不思患在於錢之荒，而不在於錢之積。 夫錢貴則物宜賤，今物與錢俱重，此一世之所共憂也。 蕃舶巨艘，形若山嶽，乘風駕浪，深入遐陬。 販於中國者皆浮靡無用之異物，而泄於外夷者乃國家富貴之操柄。 所得幾何，所失者不可勝計矣。 京城之銷金，衢、信之鍮器，醴、泉之樂具，皆出於錢。 臨川、隆興、桂林之銅工，尤多於諸郡。 姑以長沙一郡言之，烏山銅爐之所六十有四，麻潭鵝羊山銅戶數百餘家，錢之不壞於器物者無幾。 今京邑鍮銅器用之類，鬻賣公行於都市。 畿甸之近，一繩以法，由內及外，觀聽聿新，則鉟銷之奸知畏矣。 香、藥、象、犀之類異物之珍奇可悅者，本無適用之實，服御之間昭示儉德，自上化下，風俗丕變，則漏泄之弊少息矣。 此端本澄源之道也。」 有旨從之。
In year eight Investigating Censor Chen Qiulu said: "Some argue that because paper notes are easy to move, coin is left idle in hoards; and that repeated changes in backing have made the coin system useless. In their haste to prop up notes they incite thieves to pry into private stores and apply harsh law to force out hidden hoards, yet they never see that the problem is shortage of coin, not accumulation of it. When money is dear, goods ought to be cheap; now both goods and money are costly—the whole age shares this worry. Foreign merchant ships, huge as hills, ride the wind and waves deep into distant seas. What they sell here is useless luxury; what leaks abroad is the very leverage of the state's wealth. The gain is slight; the loss is beyond reckoning. Gilding in the capital, brassware in Quzhou and Xinzhou, musical instruments in Lizhou and Quanzhou—all consume coin. Copper smiths in Linchuan, Longxing, and Guilin outnumber those in other prefectures. Take Changsha alone: sixty-four copper-smelting sites at Wushan and several hundred smelting households at Matan and E'yangshan—little coin escapes being made into goods. Yet brass and copper goods are now sold openly in the capital's markets. Apply the law first in the capital vicinity and extend it outward; once example is made, those who melt coin for vessels will fear to offend. Exotics such as incense, medicines, ivory, and rhinoceros horn have no real use; thrift shown in dress and ceremony, transforming custom from above, would lessen the evil of export. That is the way to treat the root and clear the source. The throne approved.