The income level of urban residents during the Northern Song Dynasty

Although the social development of the Northern Song Dynasty was restricted by border wars for a long time, it was relatively long-term and peaceful. The stability of the country promoted economic prosperity, the acceleration of urbanization, the large increase in the number of cities and towns, the expansion of urban population, and the gradual expansion of urban handicrafts, commerce, transportation, and service industries, which provided residents with employment opportunities and sources of income, and also prospered the commodity economy of the cities of the Northern Song Dynasty. The official class and their families in the Northern Song Dynasty were one of the main components of urban residents. The "moon stipends" of officials in the Northern Song Dynasty included currency, grain, silk, salary, artemisia, charcoal, salt, tea, paper and other items. "Recorded from the Zaichen down to the Yue Desecration Temple Order, all forty-one rank." Among them, the monetary income of the highest "prime minister, privy envoy, three hundred thousand per month", and the lowest monthly monetary income of the lowest official is about 500 yuan. Among them, there are three hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, one hundred and twenty thousand, nine thousand thousand, eighty thousand, sixty thousand, fifty-five thousand, forty-five thousand, thirty-five thousand, thirty thousand, twenty-nine thousand, twenty thousand, eighteen thousand, seventeen thousand, fifteen thousand, fourteen thousand, thirteen thousand, twelve thousand, ten thousand, eight thousand, five thousand, three thousand, two thousand, one thousand five hundred, one thousand, seven hundred, five hundred, etc., such as: "Henan Prefecture, Henan, Luoyang County Order, thirty thousand." Zhulu Prefecture Army 10,000 households have been ordered by the county, 20,000; Book, lieutenant, twelve thousand. Seven thousand households have been ordered, eighteen thousand; Book, lieutenant, ten thousand. Five thousand households have been ordered, fifteen thousand; Book, lieutenant, eight thousand. Three thousand households have been ordered, twelve thousand; Book, lieutenant, seven thousand. less than 3,000 households, 10,000; Book, lieutenant, six thousand. ("History of the Song Dynasty - Career Officials - Fenglu System I")

For officials below the county level, 9000~3000 yuan per month is a meager income, if the family population is large, then it is necessary to "combine the benefits of agricultural business" to support the family, that is, there must be other laborers in the family, engaged in "agricultural business" and other occupations to supplement the living. Wang Anshi said in the "Book of Words of Emperor Shangrenzong": "Fang Jin's system is almost thin. Since he is not among the court attendants, he has a small number of eaters, and there is no one who can support him without the benefits of agriculture and business. The officials of the prefectures and counties under him received eight or nine thousand dollars in one month, and four or five thousand in the less, and they were allowed to keep the election, wait for removal, and keep the pass, and cover them for six or seven years, and then get three years, and the income of one month is really not four or five thousand, and the lesser ones are really not as good as three or four thousand. When Su Xun was old, he once wrote to Prime Minister Han Cheng to "beg for an official position". The purpose of "running for official positions" is to get a meager income to support the family, he said: "Xun is old and bored, his family property is destroyed, and he wants to beg for an official position from the prime minister." …… There are those who seek justice, but they really have a poor family, and they get six or seven thousand dollars, which is not enough to support, and they endure poverty and endure old age, and they cannot get evil. It can be seen that if an urban family has an income of 7,000~6,000 yuan per month, although it is not wealthy, such a family can maintain an approximate living consumption. The income of a servant can reflect the living standard of lower-class workers to a certain extent. "History of the Song Dynasty - Food and Goods - Cloth and Silk and Cao Yun" records the income level of Yuanfeng's four years of service, such as 30,000 people in Junzhou and Dengzhou, transporting military materials for Yanzhou and Yanzhou, "30 yuan per day for rice and 10 wen for firewood and vegetables, and give them first"; And the Shaanxi Metropolitan Transit Division sent a car to take a man from Zhuzhou, "two liters of rice per day, fifty dollars of money". "Continuation of Capital and Governance Tongjian Long Edition" (Volume 343) Yun: In the seventh year of Yuanfeng, "Edict: If there is a Hexing Gong Walled City on Yanyan and Huanqing Road, Xu He hires people, and the daily money is 100 and 2 liters of rice, and the forbidden army is willing to hire those who listen." "Roughly, each laborer can earn 1500~3000 yuan per month, about 60 liters of rice. However, some of the laborers involved in special engineering projects are paid more wages. For example, in the first year of Yuanyou, Su Zhe said in the recital: "The ministers saw the creation of a water mill outside the capital in recent years, so the water was shallow and astringent, and the official private boats were frustrated. …… The folk hire 200 yuan per husband per day, and the monthly fee is 2.4 million yuan, and the water is turbid, easy to fill in the silt, and it must be opened next year, and the folk are not exempt from this fee. It can be seen that when the price of rice is low (such as less than 80 yuan for rice), the income of 200 yuan per husband per day is higher than 100 yuan and 2 liters of rice per day.

Doctors are also a relatively stable income group among urban residents. Wang Anshi praised a doctor surnamed Du in "The Tomb of the Priest Zhengjun", who could write poems and articles, and practiced medicine as "no rich or poor, please go to him." and wealth, not righteous thanksgiving, but not accepting". Dr. Du treats people in his apartment, "if he gets hundreds of dollars a day, he will stop at it, and he will not be more serious." It seems that Dr. Du is very ethical and does not want to charge more money, and even reduces the money of the poor, if he is willing to see more doctors, the income can be more, and the monthly income of about 6000~10000 yuan should not be a problem.

One of the important functions of the city is industrial and commercial activities, and merchants are the higher income group among the city residents, while the income of wealthy merchants is much higher than that of many officials. The consumption level of urban residents is inevitably positively correlated with the income level of urban residents. Tokyo (Bianliang), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, was the largest, most populous and most economically prosperous city in the world at that time, and it also reflected the highest consumption level at that time. Meng Yuanlao from the second year of Chongning (1103) to the first year of Jianyan (1127) the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, had lived in Tokyo for a total of 23 years, he wrote the book "Tokyo Menghualu" in the "Preface" to describe Tokyo said: "The peace is long, the characters are prosperous, the children with hanging hair, but Xi is inspired, the old man of Banbai, does not know how to fight", "raise the eyes to the Qinglou painting pavilion, the bead curtain of the ridge, the carved car competition is stationed in the heavenly street, and the BMW is competing for the royal road", "the new sound is clever and laughing in Liu Mo Huaqu, and the strings are tuned in the tea shop according to the orchestra." Eight wildernesses contend, and all countries are salty. The curiosities of the four seas are all returned to the market, and the peculiar smell of the Huihuan District is all in the blistering kitchen". Su Shi also pointed out: "Fujing Zhaofu, the world looks at the place, and the king's government is the beginning." The rush of the four directions, the intersection of the two rivers, the gathering of boats and carts, and the accumulation of gold and jade, so the people do not know that there is labor in farming and weaving. The wealth moves, and the goods are dazzled, so they don't know that there is a style of frugality and honesty. Tokyo's thriving handicrafts, commerce, transportation, and service industries not only provide consumers with high consumption services, but also bring high economic income to practitioners.

Through the commercial taxation of the Northern Song Dynasty, the scale of industry and commerce and the income level of the merchant group can be reflected from the side. The commercial tax rate of the Northern Song Dynasty was: "Commercial tax is in all prefectures and counties, and there are also customs towns; The large ones are dedicated to the official supervision, and the small ones are ordered and led by the assistants; The states still have the capital and the prisoners in the same hands. The traveler's stolen goods are called 'passing taxes', which are counted as 20 per 1,000 yuan, and the residents' market is called 'living tax', which is 30 per 1,000 yuan, and so on. In the first year of Chongning, Cai Jing pointed out: "The ancestors established the prohibition law, and the annual net profit was more than 3.2 million yuan, and the commercial tax of the states was 750,000 yuan. ("History of the Song Dynasty - Food - Tea") in the sixth year of Chongning, Shangshu Zuo Chengyu pointed out in the Wencui: "The Beijing division of commercial taxes, shop and housework, and miscellaneous miscellaneous collection of more than 1 million yuan. If the standard of "housing tax" is adopted, that is, "30 per thousand yuan" is used to measure, the scale of industry and commerce reflected in the Chongning period is about 33.4 million guan, and the scale of industry and commerce in the most prosperous period of the national economy (Zhuzhou commercial tax) is about 166.7 million guan.

The level of urban consumption in the Northern Song Dynasty

The Northern Song Dynasty lasted 202 years from the establishment of power in the first year of Jianlong (960) to the fall of Shaoxing in the thirty-second year (1162). In such a long period of time, there are turbulent and stable periods of social development, and there are harvest periods and famine periods in the year, and it is very difficult to systematically explore the consumption level of the society.

3.1 Consumption level of urban construction

Water conservancy project: In the autumn of the tenth year of Xining, the Yellow River burst in Caocun, Shanzhou, and flooded to Xuzhou City. Next year, the state allocated special funds to rebuild Xuzhou's "small city, create four wooden banks", fill in 15 huge pits formed by building embankments to hold floods and taking soil in the city, and rebuild "Lingping Si in Xuzhou, the water will not return". Su Shi's "Edict on Awards" recorded the opening of the project: "There is a decree to give 24.1 million yuan, 4,23 husbands, and 6.34 million yuan of ordinary money, more than 1,800 yuan, and 3,200 husbands." "Xuzhou water-damaged building repair and reinforcement project, should belong to the Northern Song Dynasty large and medium-sized water conservancy construction projects, the national special development of 30.44 million, more than 1,800 meters (Song Dynasty 1 Hu = 5 buckets), a total of 7,043 workers.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Qiantang River in Hangzhou was long threatened by the tide and the reefs in the river. First of all, "Zhang Xian Empress is in the sun, and the river has the risk of the emperor's heavens, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are paid to build long reeds and monks' houses to save the drowning." Later, in order to solve the "danger of Changhuai", the "Guishan River" project was built, "100,000 yuan of money, 100,000 stones of rice, and 92,000 people", although the trouble of shipping was alleviated, but the problem could not be completely solved, and there was still "the danger of floating mountains" in the river. Su Shi served as the county guard of Hangzhou, "in the past 20 years, I have seen countless drownings". Fushan stood in the middle of the river, and the ships hit the reef and sank, "the public and private are lost, and I don't know how many tens of millions a year old." On the basis of interviews and on-the-spot investigations, Su Shi proposed the project of digging the "Shimen Canal", and it will take about two years to complete the construction of the "Shimen Canal" and the east of the mountain, from the north of Dacipu to Xiaoling, "chiseling the ridge for 65 zhang", "using 150,000 yuan of money, and 3,000 soldiers from the Jiangjiang and various counties", which will take about two years to complete. The people of Fujian and Zhejiang, when they heard that they were going to "open the stone gate", "all mouths spoke in unison, thinking that it would be a great and infinite benefit". (Su Shi's "Begging to Open the Shimen River")

(2) Cultural facilities project: The construction of schools was a cultural project that was widely carried out throughout the country during the Northern Song Dynasty. In March of the fourth year of Qingli, "all the people in the world are established and the officials are placed in schools". Jizhou's old school is in the Confucius Temple, the school building is narrow, it plans to build a new school, and raises "1.5 million money" from the society, "21,000 laborers" with labor, and "223,500 for the use of good materials", after the completion of the new school, there are often more than 300 scholars. Ouyang Xiu praised the Jizhou School and said: "There is a hall for learning, a pavilion for collecting books, a place for guests, a pavilion for resting, strict wings, magnificent and magnificent, and people do not think it is extravagant." Su Shi talked about the construction of the school in the "Nan'an Military Record", he said, "The study of Nan'an, the first in Jiangxi", the construction of the school building "began in the winter of the second year of Shaosheng, and became in the spring of the fourth year", "for the house of one hundred and twenty rooms, the hall of the lecture hall, depending on the residence of the great state...... and gave the rest to hundreds of people." The project is a government-funded project, and it is said that a large amount of money has been donated by the private sector (the exact amount is not specified), while the official investment is "93,000 yuan".

Monastery construction. Xuzhou recommended Cheng Zen Temple, built with "Tiefutu ten has three levels, one hundred and twenty feet high". Then build "five hundred Arhats", spend "five million money", the average cost of each Arhat is 10,000, Su Shi specially made "Recommend Cheng Zen Monastery Five Hundred Arhats", think: "On the first, it is difficult to do things; It's hard to be the first to get things done. "Those who must do and do must be successful, their fame is not less!" The "Qian's Tomb Temple" under the management of Qiantang and Lin'an counties was "damaged by wood plants" and "has not been repaired for more than 100 years", and the cost of the restoration project was "12,890 and 999 Wen". (Su Shi's "Begging Pile Management Qian's Geographical Advantage Fang Qian Xiu Table Zhongguan and Tomb Temple-like") Xiangtan County Pharmacist Institute built "Buddha Shakya, Eighteen Arhat Statues", Ouyang Xiu said "Where money is used 200,000". ("Xiangtan County Pharmacist Academy's Buddha Hall Record (Jing Yu Three Years)")

(3) Repair project of the office and barracks: When Su Shi was the prefect of Hangzhou, the Hangzhou Office "destroyed a large section of the warehouse of the city gate building of the official house", "made the house and the building slit, but it was supported horizontally and diagonally with small wood, and every time it passed, it was chilling", "the military armor and the treasury were particularly damaged", "the courtyard house collapsed, and the two people who were crushed and the two hands were crushed", "the drum corner tower was destroyed and the family of four drummers were crushed"...... Su Shi asked to repair "27 warehouses in the gate tower of the official house", and it was necessary to open "more than 40,000 pieces". (Su Shi's "Begging for the Temple")

In October of the eighth year of Yuan You, the Dingzhou garrison built four barracks: first, "a total of 4,117 barracks were built, and according to the estimate of the combined timber and plant materials, the estimated price was 17,699 and 680 Wen Province"; The second is "to build a total of 3,720 barracks, and according to the estimate of the combined timber and plant materials, the cost is 15,500 and 281 provinces"; The third is to "build 118 barracks, and add boreholes, according to the estimate of the combined timber and plant materials, the price is 558 and 167 provinces"; Fourth, "there are 16 barracks, and according to the estimate of the combined timber and plant materials, the price is 74 and 612 provinces". The cost of each barracks is roughly 4.63~4.03 yuan. (Su Shi's "Begging to Descend to Repair the Barracks of the Forbidden Army in Dingzhou")

(4) City outline construction project: "Since the Tang Dynasty, Luocheng in Suzhou has been small, and most of the residents are outside the city. Su Shi proposed the project of "building the outer city", that is: "There are more than 11 miles of exhibition and construction of the outer city, and there are 570,000 surplus workers for conscripts and hired men, and each husband saves 70 money, recruits hired men and materials, and uses more than 19,000 yuan of money, and the work is completed in about five years." (Su Shi's "Begging Suzhou City Repair")

(5) Cao ship project: In order to ensure the grain supply of Bianliang in the capital, the Northern Song Dynasty needed to allocate Jianghuai rice, and the transportation of grain from the south to the north depended on the Cao Yun industry in the south of the Yangtze River. Caoyun is generally based on "ten ships as a guideline, and Yangzhou will send troops to Heyin". For a boat with a carrying capacity of "1,000 stones", "every time a ship is built, the cost is 1,000 yuan, but the actual cost is less than 500 yuan." (Su Shi's "Discussion on the Outline of the Under-discounted Benefits")