Fragmentation and Financial Recentralization : The Emergence of the Four General Commands (1127-1165)

Abstract

In creating four General commands (zonglingsuo) between 1141 and 1145, at the end of the first Song-Jin war, the central government of the Song Empire hoped to marshal resources from the four areas along the new border while also controlling the military officials in charge of the armies. With the fragmentation of the monetary system, this financial organization resulted in a real autonomy of these strategic areas. Eventually, this reform induced the fragmentation of the fiscal and financial authority and, as accounting procedures became more complex, generated a new kind of technical communication between the regional and the central administrations. Lastly, it allowed high-ranking civil servants involved in this process to reinforce their institutional positions.