I don’t know if you still remember a tear-jerking commercial short a few years ago? The last transfer of Tang Tombstone, the background of the short film is that after the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion, the main force of the Tang army in the Western Regions was transferred back to Chang’an to suppress the rebellion, but only a few thousand soldiers were left to defend the Western Regions. During this period, the Tubo gradually captured Hexi, Longyou, and Competing with the Uighurs for the Northern Silk Road cut off the direct connection between the Western Regions and Chang’an. The short film tells the story of a Tang Dynasty soldier and a refugee who transported military expenses in 790 AD, when there were only two cities in the Western Regions, Qiuci and Xizhou.
So today let’s take a look at the other two coins related to the Anshi Rebellion and see what they are like. In March 1992, in the ruins of an ancient city in the Tang Dynasty in Xinhe County, Xinjiang, the Dali Yuanbao was unearthed, and the Jianzhong Tongbao coin was 3000 yuan. Many of them have caused a stir in the Chinese archaeological circle. It is said that a paper loan deed has been unearthed in this ancient city site. The book has the date of the fifteenth year of the calendar, and the incomplete loan contract unearthed is written in the sixteenth year of the calendar. , which puzzled many people.
Because the Dali was the year name used by Emperor Tang Dynasty from November 766 to December 779. It only took 14 years. How could it be possible that the Dali was 15 years old and the Dali was 16 years old. The video clip also showed a A similar scene, but the Jianzhong era is only 4 years old. In fact, it contains a little-known tragic history. The Tang Dynasty troops guarding the Western Regions lost contact with the Tang Dynasty government in the mainland and cut off foreign aid. Outside the loneliness, there has been a voice for more than ten years. On the one hand, it is necessary to maintain the social stability and economic development of the Anxi region, and on the other hand, it is necessary to raise military funds to fight with the Tubo army to maintain the Tangshanxi government’s rule over the Western Regions.
Then minting coins became the only way for Anxi’s military and civilians to save themselves during this period. However, here is a bug in the short film. When the refugees were picking up coins, the prop coins in the purse were filled with Datang Jianzhong. In fact, the text of this coin It’s not right. The only relevant coins unearthed at present are Dali Yuanbao, Jianzhong Tongbao, and single-character coins. There are currently three theories about the casting places of Dali Yuanbao and Jianzhong Tongbao. The first one According to historical data, it is determined that Dali and Jianzhong are made by official furnaces. The second type only mentions the casting time and the land, and is cautious about the casting place. The third type is that the casting place of the two coins is in Kuqa, Xinjiang. .
After all, the history books of the Tang Dynasty only recorded Kaiyuan Tongbao, Qianfeng Quanbao, and Qianyuan Chongbao three kinds of official coins. Even the Deyi Yuanbao and Shuntian Yuanbao cast by the Anshi rebels were recorded, but there was nothing about the Dali Yuanbao. The record of Jianzhong Tongbao is not an official omission, but the court did not know where these two coins were minted. From the picture we can see that the casting style of these two coins is relatively rough, and the single characters and lists are simpler and cruder. It may have been minted for emergencies, and most of these coins were unearthed at the garrison site, indicating that they were mainly used for the garrison.
Here I would like to share a point with you. In 789 AD, the eminent monk Wukong ended his quest in Tianzhu. On his way back to Chang’an, he came to the city of Qiuci, where the Tang army was holding fast. Here Wukong wrote the situation of the Tang army’s holding on to the territory of the Western Regions in Wukong. In “Into Zhuji”, in the context of the broken Hexi Road, this is the last documentary record of the Tang Dynasty’s contact with Anxi and Beiting via the Uighur Road. Just borrowing the name of this eminent monk, the history is very interesting. Looking back, due to the lack of historical data, we cannot know in detail. From the fall of Helong in 760 AD to the final fall in 792, the Anxi garrison was. How to fight against the Tubos and stick to the Western Regions for more than 30 years, but Dali Yuanbao and Jianzhong Tongbao, as well as Yuanzi Qian and Zhongzi Qian, have become witnesses of that moving history.