The top is the coal-producing Zhending Prefecture, and the bottom is close to the coal mines of Ci and Xiangzhou. For the iron smelting and handicraft industry in Xingzhou, which is rich in iron ore resources, it is the best geographical location where the top and bottom meet, and everything is close.

When taking coal to make iron, there is no need to consider fuel supply elsewhere. No wonder Xingzhou’s annual iron output is higher than that of Cizhou. If we add the iron output of Xingzhou and Cizhou in the first year of Yuanfeng, they exactly account for the iron output of the Song Dynasty in the same year.

It accounts for more than 75.3% of the total output. This is a staggering proportion, but it is indeed the product of coal and iron that are uniquely endowed in Xingzhou and Cizhou. In the case of "firewood is rare in Hebei", only

Coal allowed this small area to create this miracle of high productivity in ancient times.

Zhu Bian of the Song Dynasty once said when talking about coal: "It is everywhere in the northwest today" [76]. The northwest of the Northern Song Dynasty refers to the vast area of ​​Shaanxi Road. During the Yuanfeng period, Shen Kuo worked in the Yan'an area of ​​Shaanxi [77]. Regarding this

Regarding the coal situation in a region, he said: "The benefits of coal-making (coal here refers to the soot used to make ink) are unknown. The coal smoke is also large, and the ink people wear clothes. The play is called Yanzhou Poetry: Erlang

Snow is falling heavily on the mountain, and people are studying in the Xuanzhuo Qionglu. They are all dressed in plain clothes before they are old in winter, and the stone smoke is as thick as Luoyang dust." [78]. The last few sentences of the "Petroleum" section of "Mengxi Bi Tan" have nothing to do with petroleum.

The words are not much noticed by people, and some are confused with petroleum [79]; however, what is mentioned here is not petroleum, but coal. Shen Kuo borrowed the dust on Luoyang Road to compare the hazy coal smoke in Yan'an area.

Inspired by the smoke scene, he wanted to use coal smoke to make ink. This eye-catching coal smoke scene in Yan'an also attracted the attention of other poets at the time. "Ji Ribian" quoted an unknown poet saying that there were also poems in Yanzhou

: "Three roads in the sand, two cities in the coal smoke" [80]. The two cities are looming in the thick cloud of coal smoke, which is similar to the smoke in modern industrial and mining areas, reflecting the widespread use of coal in this area.

It is difficult to create such a thick smoke scene based on civilian cooking smoke alone. There must also be coal used in the handicraft industry. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, among the "border affairs expenses" granted to the area by the imperial court, there were "four thousand workers and 10,000 workers."

Fifty thousand kilograms of wrought iron, and tens of thousands of cow and horse hides." [81]. Obviously, these are the craftsmen and raw materials sent here to make weapons. Four thousand craftsmen started working here, creating the soot and mist described in the above poem.

It's completely understandable.

More than 20 years ago, the Yaozhou porcelain kiln ruins of the Song Dynasty were discovered in Huangbao Town, southwest of Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province. Coal was found in the fire chambers and ash pits of the ruins [82]. The archaeological community believes that Yao porcelain developed greatly in the Northern Song Dynasty during the same period.

The use of coal is closely related, and Tongchuan is an important coal-producing area, which solved the fuel problem for the development of Yao porcelain at that time [83]. One additional point that needs to be added is that Yaozhou was also an iron-producing place in the Northern Song Dynasty [84].

Regarding the coal used in the production of pottery and porcelain, in the seventh year of Xining, there is also a record in "Song Hui Yao": "The Prospecting Committee was in charge of the kilns in Beijing, and the total number of firewood was increased to 600,000 bundles within three years.

, still used with both coal and coal" [85]. Both firewood and coal were used. This was the fuel structure produced by the Kaifeng government kiln in the late Northern Song Dynasty. The Kaifeng kiln specialized in the production of bricks, tiles, bottles and vessels for the government industry of the imperial court [86]

]. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the official kiln, one of the five famous porcelain kilns, developed. Is the development of the official porcelain kiln also related to coal like Yao Ci? This remains to be studied.

Archeology and literature have proven that individual pottery and porcelain in the Northern Song Dynasty were produced with coal. Then in other coal-producing and coal-using areas, such as the famous Cizhou Kiln, the world-famous "porcelain" almost replaced "porcelain".

Famous; Huo Kiln, Yuci Kiln, etc. on Hedong Road; Ding Kiln, one of the five famous kilns, is close to the east side of Zhending Prefecture, a coal-producing area; did these porcelain kilns also resemble smelters when the supply of firewood energy was insufficient in the Northern Song Dynasty?

Like the iron handicraft industry, the local coal resources in the area are utilized? This also requires in-depth research. Judging from the aforementioned situation that the Xuzhou iron industry relied on the discovery of coal in Baitu Town to get rid of the firewood crisis and gain new life, the same situation in Baitu Town

As for Xiao Kiln, which is famous for its white porcelain, "there are more than thirty kilns and hundreds of potters" [87]. Their rise and fall should probably be the same as that of Xuzhou's iron smelting industry. In the above-mentioned coal-producing areas, there are still many potters.

There are some handicraft industries that use fuel as power, such as the important alum-making industry, salt industry in Hedong, and other metal handicraft industries. Do they also use coal? These all need to be studied.

4. Coal distribution points on space-time coordinates

Both the Song Dynasty and the Song Dynasty were not dynasties that were good at managing money, but a government that was good at making money. All commodities, regardless of size, had "live" and "pass" taxes. The government also used prohibition methods to make huge profits.

Commodities were included in official sales, which had exclusive benefits. In the ancient documents about coal in the Song Dynasty, there are relatively more materials about coal tax and official sales than about coal production. This situation shows that coal in the Song Dynasty was not only

It enters circulation as a commodity, and the circulation volume is not small, and the profit is very high, otherwise the government will never bother to sell it. On the other hand, relying on these tax and official sales records, we can understand the production and use of coal in the Northern Song Dynasty.

A rough outline can be found in time and space.

Let’s talk about Hedong Road first. In October of the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (AD 1009), an edict was issued: “If you hear that the people of Bingzhou are making charcoal, they will be taxed ten kilograms per pack, and they will be eliminated from now on.” [88] This was just before the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty.

For fifty years, there has been a history of coal tax in Taiyuan area. It was not until the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu that an edict was issued to exempt it. However, not long after that, Chen Yaozuo "removed the tax" [89]. The time when Chen Yaozuo transferred to Bingzhou in Hedong was

From the third year of Sheng (1025 AD) to the fifth year of Tiansheng [90]. That is to say, in the sixteen years after the Bingzhou coal tax was exempted in the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu, the coal tax in Taiyuan was quickly restored, so it was

There was Chen Yaozuo's move to avoid the punishment again. In addition, according to the first year of Qingli, Zhang Kang used "coal caves to build Dongsheng Fort" [91] in Jiaoshan, Fuzhou, the northwestmost corner of Hedong Province to resist the Western Xia soldiers.

Prefecture (the seat of government is today's Fugu County in the northeasternmost part of Shaanxi Province) is also the coal production area of ​​Hedong Road. Coal caves are mines or mining areas where coal is mined. Therefore, clearly recorded Hedong coal-producing areas include Taiyuan Prefecture, Fuzhou and the aforementioned

The three states of Jin, Ze, Shizhou and Weishengjun mentioned. From the historical map, from the northernmost part of Hedong Road to the middle of Shanxi, there were coal-producing areas in the Northern Song Dynasty in the vast area of ​​southern Shanxi. Of course, the actual situation

It may be much more than that. When historical books talk about the coal here, they often use the general name "Hedong".

The situation of Ci and Xiangzhou in Hebei West Road can be seen in the cited archaeological results and the materials of "Song Huiyao". There are the ruins of a large ancient coal mine in Hebi, with high coal output and huge profits. The imperial court adopted a monopoly mode of operation. In the fourth year of Tiansheng

(1026 AD), private individuals were allowed to intervene in the coal trade. The production and circulation of coal here seems to have started in the early Northern Song Dynasty.

Going south from Xiangzhou and crossing Weizhou is Huaizhou at the southernmost end of Hebei West Road. The Jiaozuo Coal Mine in Henan Province is located here today. It is in the same coalfield area as the aforementioned Ci and Xiangzhou coal mines. The coal in this coal area is in

It has been developed and utilized in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the first year of Xining, Shenzong, there was an edict saying: "Carbon comes from Huaizhou to Beijing without collecting it" [92]. Probably because Kaifeng was short of fuel again, tax exemptions were used to stimulate merchants from Huaizhou.

Bianjing trafficked coal. This edict not only reflected the coal tax situation from Huaizhou to Kaifeng, but also explained that Huaizhou was the supplier of coal consumption in Kaifeng. The Bianjing kiln mentioned above was used for both firewood and charcoal, and its charcoal

It is from Huaizhou. The history of this matter is as follows: "The carboniferous was collected in Wude County, Jiudingdu, Huaizhou" [93]. Furthermore, in the first year of Yuanfu, "The Si of Pai'an in the West of Beijing said: There is a shortage of carboniferous materials in Xihe."

, please follow the law of Xihe Chaitan Gang and follow it."[94]. Where does Xihe Chai Tan Gang come from? From the system of Dongdong in the Song Dynasty mentioned in "Wenwen Tongkao", "Yongji, Yongfu Ercang, Shouhuai,

Judging from the situation that "it was transported by Meng and other prefectures and was called Xihe" [95], Xihe Carboniferous should come from Huaizhou and Mengzhou (the administrative seat is now Meng County, Henan Province, which and Jiaozuo City belong to the present-day Xinxiang area). However, according to the time,

Du Da patrolled the Huimin River King, and Keji said: "The Huimin, Jing, Suo River is shallow and small, originating from the boundary of Xijing, Zheng, and Xuzhou", "The Jing, Suo River flows down to the Xi River, Hu River", etc. [96]

There is also a specific Xihe here, which connects the Jing and Suo Er rivers. This Xihe is not included in the sixth volume of the "Chinese Historical Atlas", and the Jing and Suo Er rivers are also too low and are only in Zhengzhou.

.According to Wang, Kejiyuan comes out of Zheng and the boundaries of Xuzhou. It seems that the Jing and Suo rivers should extend southward from Zhengzhou into Xuzhou (called Yingchang Prefecture after Yuanfeng), and then merge with the Xihe River. And today

The Pingdingshan Coal Mine in Henan is located here. It is almost surrounded by Xuzhou (Yingchang Prefecture) to the north, east and south (see the sixth volume of "Chinese Historical Atlas" edited by Tan Gongxiang). Is the Xihe Carboniferous Map of the Northern Song Dynasty related to this place again?

Is it related to coal? I’m afraid this still needs in-depth research. Today, Henan Province’s coal reserves rank among the top of all provinces and regions in the country. The coal fields are distributed in the area west of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, starting from Hebi and Jiaozuo in the north, and reaching Pingxiang Mountain in the south. Now

, let’s go back to Zhending Mansion at the northernmost end of Hebei West Road. As mentioned before, the coal mining industry of Zhending Mansion was abolished in the first year of Ming Dynasty (1032 AD). This shows that before 1032 AD, the coal industry here was

It is also monopolized by the government. Commodities with government monopoly value are often those products with large production and consumption volumes. From this point of view, Zhendingfu’s coal output will not be small. Based on the above-mentioned situation on Hebei West Road, it can be

It can be seen that the location is Hebei West Road in the North China Coalfield District, from Zhendingfu in the north to Huaizhou in the south. The coalfields in this vast area have been developed and utilized since the early Northern Song Dynasty.

The coal taxes of various roads in Shaanxi are different. In the sixth year of Tiansheng (AD 1028), Du Zhan, the transfer department of Shaanfu West Road, asked the commercial taxes of various places near this road to be directly sent to the nearby state army for military expenses, including coal.

The record of the tax is: "Pizhou Yongchang, Hancun, Qindian, Zuosheng, Honghe, Long'anzhuang, Caogongzhuang, Fanlingcun, Licun Maipu Shitan, Dingping County Zhangcun, Lingtou Village and other villages were merged

Go to Ningzhou" [97]. These villages and small towns were probably located in remote areas, where coal taxes were scattered, and tax officials were unwilling to go there, so the imperial court simply used merchants such as Buyu to pay taxes.

This coal tax was collected. It is worth noting that Pizhou was also an iron-producing place in the Northern Song Dynasty. Ironware was very famous. Fire bars and scissors were listed as offerings [98]. Based on the aforementioned Yan'an area and Yao porcelain

Looking at the Tongchuan coal mine where the coal was obtained, we can find that the coal consumption in areas such as Shaanxi Road in the Northern Song Dynasty is basically consistent with the situation that coal fields in Shaanxi Province are distributed in the northern part of the province and north of the Weishui River. The Tongchuan area is also the main coal source in Shaanxi Province today.

base.

The area that used coal later in the Northern Song Dynasty was Xuzhou, located in the Huaibei coalfield area of ​​my country. It started to use coal after coal was found in the first year of Yuanfeng as mentioned in "Carboniferous Poetry".

Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, although the coal tax and official sales of coal were abolished and exempted from time to time, the general trend was to increase. Especially since Chongning, Emperor Huizong, “more towns and gates were created along Bianzhou County to make tax profits. The official sales of coal increased.

There are more than 20 coal tax collection points and more than 20 government-sold coal yards in the Bianhe River area.

"Officials sell charcoal themselves", and officials sold charcoal all over the country. This situation, on the one hand, exposed the greedy nature of the ruling class's excessive expropriation; on the other hand, it also showed that in the late Northern Song Dynasty, coal consumption also increased sharply, and the rulers

Only then will they feel that the benefits are huge. On August 18, the second year of Chonghe (AD 1119), when the Ministry of Personnel was "selecting people to be appointed to the vacant official positions in Beijing", they mentioned that "the first to tenth carboniferous rocks in Henan"

coal mines, Hebei No.1 to Tenth Coal Mines, Jingxi Soft Coal Mines, Buy Coal Mines, Fengji Coal Mines, Beijing New Coal Mines" [100] and so on. The situation of some coal mines sold by the government is as follows.

Judging from the dispatch and selection of officials in the capital, and the fact that "Tokyo Menghualu" also mentioned the "Ten Charcoal Fields in the North of Henan" when describing the Kaifeng warehouses [101], the distribution of the above-mentioned more than twenty government-sold coal fields should be

In Kaifeng or the Gyeonggi area. This shows that in the late Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng had become the largest coal consumption area for civilian use at that time. As mentioned earlier, "the towns and gates were created along Bianzhou County to make tax profits, and the government sold coal, and there were more than 20 sales."

, which is related to the coal consumption in Kaifeng. Therefore, people in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "In the past, there were millions of families in Biandu, all of whom relied on coal, and there was no one who could earn a living." [102]. Although "no one could earn a living" here is an exaggeration.

However, in the late Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng did have a strong admiration for coal.

The court's profit from coal taxes and official sales of coal will inevitably affect the consumption interests of the vast number of coal consumers. During the Yuanfu period of Zhe Zong, there was already a saying among the people that "near the official government to sell coal, the market price increased rapidly, but there was no

Reflection of "convenience to the people" [103]. At that time, the official coal sales and carbon taxes of the Zhezong Dynasty were far less bad than those of the Huizong Dynasty "since Chongning" and still disturbed the people. Then, by the Huizong era (1101 AD)

——1124), its bad consequences can be imagined. Although in the third year of Yuanfu (1100 AD), the Song Dynasty once made a euphemistic explanation and a touching promise: "Shitan has been bought from the officials in recent years, and the purchase of

It was sold on the market, and later the market price increased, which was really inconvenient for the people. After the edict was over, the government will no longer buy coal and sell it.” [104]. From this explanation, it is not difficult to see that the official price of coal is low.

The essence of plunder is to buy in at a high price and sell out at a high price. As for the promise that "from now on there will be no more official purchases of coal and coal for sale", in less than two years, it was exposed by the so-called facts "since Chongning" and was nothing more than an empty talk that could not be fulfilled.

Conclusion

"Coal came out from the west of Hebei, Shandong and Shaanxi in this dynasty, and then reached the capital. When Chen Yaozuo moved to the east of Caohe River, he began to remove the tax. In the first year of Yuanfeng, it started from Xuzhou, and Dongpo wrote a poem to record the event" [105]. This is

Zhu Yi, a native of the Southern Song Dynasty, made an overall summary of the use of coal in the Northern Song Dynasty, which is basically consistent with the entire situation discussed in this article. Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, the coal-producing and coal-consuming areas were basically in China's Qinling Mountains and some major coalfield distribution areas north of the Huaihe River.

Inside. Coal was not only used as a civilian fuel at that time, but also mainly used as a fuel for handicraft industries. It can be clearly confirmed that the handicraft industries that use coal as fuel include: iron smelting industry, weapons manufacturing industry, iron currency foundry industry, ceramic industry and shipbuilding industry, etc.

. Among them, coal is most widely used in the iron smelting industry. And the places where coal is produced and used are often important iron-producing areas in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the southern region, when Gaozong fled south, the Jiangnan area was still "thinking about the benefits of coal but not thinking about it."

During the Northern Song Dynasty, coal was not as widely used in the south as in the north [106]. At that time, the national fuel usage situation in the Northern Song Dynasty was as summarized by Lu You, that is, "the north has more coal, the south has more charcoal, and Shu has more coal."

There is bamboo charcoal" [107]. This is the different structure and characteristics of fuel use in the northern and southern parts of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Chapter completed!