The Research About The Northern Song Dynasty Purchases Food Supply For Armies

In the Northern Song Dynasty,grains levied by revenues in summer and revenues in autumn were far from enough to meet all grains for local authorities,especially for military supplies.In order to solve this problem,the central government took food purchasing though market as an important national policy,formulated a set of complete purchasing system,making it convenient for the whole country to take advantage of the power of market to serve some strategies of running a county.The main body of this thesis is composed of four chapters as follows:Chapter one mainly introduces national security crisis and food need in the Northern Song Dynasty,whose foundation witnessed the situation of domestic trouble and foreign invasion.The central government was defeated by foreign hostile forces again and again,making it lose the initiative and border defense become worse.In order to eliminate border defense crisis,safeguard and consolidate the regime,the government maintained armies to strengthen its military power and protect border defense security.These armies were primarily distributed in frontier areas,which caused large increase in food consumption.Chapter two illustrates how food for armies was supplied in the Northern Song Dynasty.Revenues in summer and in autumn have become the most basic way of supplying food for armies.Besides,local authorities also organized armies to reclaim and cultivate lands to produce food.However,both of them cannot become main way to solve food supply for armies.Taking coins as the medium and market as a means,the central government adopted Hedi(a kind of behavior that local authorities spend coins buying food from people.)to balance food need.Chapter three illustrates the official current price assessment concerned with food purchasing.As a frequent national expenditure,food purchasing occupied a great amount in central finances and taxes.The central government recruited food traders to assess the food price in advance so as to confirm it,which was used as guide price to settle in real trade.In this pricing mechanism,the official current price assessment held the initiative and traders controlled the price owing to have a good knowledge of the food market,thus forming a gaming and comprising relations with the central government.Chapter four expounds the source of funds using for purchasing food for armies.In the earlier Northern Song Dynasty,Sansi(a common name by three respected and illustrious official positions)was person in charge for national finance and was mainly responsible for the allocation of purchasing funds.During Yuanfeng period,the Emperor Shenzong of Song conducted the reform of official system and established a new central administrative system in which Board of Revenue replaced financial function of Sansi.Board of Revenue became main department responsible for annual budget and allotted purchasing funds for food.Based on the original fiscal administration,Wang Anshi's Political Reforms formulated FengZhuang Finances and Taxes(a fiscal system in the Song Dynasty that stored the rest of expenditure at the end of a year for emergency.)dominated by prime minister in feudal China to manage national daily expenditure including funds for food purchasing.In addition,the Emperors with surname Zhao monopolized a storing warehouse with a large amount of finance and tax,which,however,was just for reserve use and did not burden the responsibility for national expenditure.But if other appropriation institutions could not allot funds,the storing warehouse would provide financial assistance by debit and credit.Besides,it would actively allocate funds for food purchasing.Although different appropriation institution had different features of administration,they embodied the unity of opposites between centralization and decentralization upon the issue of financial ownership in the Song Dynasty.