Economy of The Song Dynasty - Commerce

Commerce

This arrangement of allowing competitive industry to flourish in some regions while setting up its opposite of strict government-regulated and monopolized production and trade in others was not exclusive to iron manufacturing. In the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the government supported competitive silk mills and brocade workshops in the eastern provinces and in the capital city of Kaifeng. However, at the same time the government established strict legal prohibition on the merchant trade of privately produced silk in Sichuan province. This prohibition dealt an economic blow to Sichuan that caused a small rebellion (which was subdued), yet in the Song Dynasty Sichuan was well known for its independent industries producing timber and cultivated oranges. The reforms of the Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021–1086) sparked heated debate amongst ministers of court when he nationalised the industries manufacturing, processing, and distributing tea, salt, and wine. The state monopoly on Sichuan tea was the prime source of revenue for the state's purchase of horses in Qinghai for the Song army's cavalry forces. The restrictions on the private manufacture and trade of salt were even criticized in a famous poem by Su Shi, and while the opposing politically charged faction at court gained advantage and lost favor, Wang Anshi's reforms were continually abandoned and reinstated. Despite this political quarrel, the Song Empire's main source of revenue continued to come from state-managed monopolies and indirect taxes. As for private entrepreneurship, great profits could still be pursued by the merchants in the luxury item trades and specialized regional production. For example, the silk producers of Raoyang County, Shenzhou Prefecture, southern Hebei province were especially known for producing silken headwear for the Song emperor and high court officials in the capital.