Chapter 11 The Sunset of the Long River Section 46 December 26, Oak Yang. Prime Minister Li Wei, Dasi Tian Tianyu, and Shang Shu Ling Tian Chou braved the heavy snow to rush to Liyang, presented the plan, and asked for restructuring.

The facts are very serious, the financial crisis of the imperial court has reached the limit, and the national policy must be changed. If the world is stable, the current financial system can be maintained, but now that the counterinsurgency war is still going on, it is impossible to estimate the time for the reunification of the world in the short term.

If you fight like this every year, you will lose billions of money a year, or within a few years, the imperial court will have to owe huge debts.

At that time, the financial lifeline of the imperial court was completely controlled by others, and the Son of Heaven and the imperial court would soon lose their prestige, and their authority would be greatly attacked and constrained, and it was obviously difficult for the new policy to be maintained.

This year, in order to alleviate the financial crisis, the imperial court has increased taxes, but it is a drop in the bucket and to no avail.

If the increase continues next year, the wind of forced expropriation and extortion will quickly sweep through the prefectures and counties and become more and more intense. The people are destitute, and the day of turmoil and rebellion is not far off.

The eldest princess held her head in her hands, at a loss. If the world is to be unified and peace is to be restored, it is necessary to fight.

To rebuild the Han Dynasty on the ruins and make the community rich and strong again, it is necessary to strengthen the foundation of agriculture.

And if you want to achieve all this, you need money, money, and a huge amount of money. If the financial endowment is insufficient, we must find ways to open up sources and reduce expenditure, and we must revise the national policy and rebuild the system.

"How so? How could the deficit of the imperial court's wealth increase rapidly? How did we get here a few years ago? In the Central Plains War, we mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and fought for several years, didn't the imperial court survive it? ”

"Land, it is the land that has helped the imperial court through the most difficult times." Li Wei said,

"When we were in northern Xinjiang, we also borrowed a lot of credit, but as long as we recovered the prefectures and counties, we could use the recovered land, the right to mine and operate salt and iron, and the reduction and exemption of taxes and forced labor to repay the debts. In addition, in order to reduce the expenses of the imperial court, we implemented a series of new systems, such as the salaries of officials were provided by the fields of the official offices, and the salaries and pensions of the soldiers after the adoption of the military household system were also provided by the fields of the soldiers...... At the beginning of the implementation of these measures, it was indeed very effective, but as more and more prefectures and counties were recovered by the imperial court, the expenditure also increased sharply. For example, if we fight the Central Plains War, the army will cross the Yellow River, and it will only be more than 1,000 miles before and after, but when we fight the western frontier, the army will have to go on an expedition of more than 3,000 miles, and the increase in military consumption will not be a multiple, but a multiple. The same goes for other expenses. ”

"As the expenses of the imperial court increased, the credit became larger, and the princes and nobles, the family of the lords, and the wealthy merchants owned more and more land, because they had more and more salt and iron mining and management rights in their hands, and because the materials and trafficking needed for the expedition of the army and rebuilding the city became more and more large, and the wealth they accumulated became more and more amazing, and they had more money to lend to the court on credit. And what about the court's ability to repay? Lost for the time being. Because the imperial court wanted to fight the western frontier, the northern frontier, and the remote frontier wasteland, there was no land needed by these people, and there were few Yanchi Iron Mountains, so the huge deficit of the imperial court also appeared. Moreover, with the extension of the expedition route, the scale and duration of the expedition increased, and the deficit became more and more serious, so that it is now in a deep financial crisis. ”

"Success is also land, defeat is also land." Li Wei sighed,

"Now the facts are here, if this situation is allowed to develop, the princes and nobles, the family of the lords, and the wealthy merchants will gradually control the financial lifeblood of the imperial court. Once they are controlled by the financial lifeline of the imperial court, they can unscrupulously annex land and unscrupulously force the imperial court to increase taxes, what is the result? As in the past, people were displaced, people were displaced, riots broke out, and society was crumbling. In the past, the Han had a foundation of two hundred years, and it could still support it for a while, and it could still allow us to retain a trace of vitality and rebuild the Han on the ruins, but now? After twenty years of war, although the Great Han struggled and did not fall, it was fragile, and it only took a violent storm to completely destroy it.

"That's the status quo. The New Deal has been implemented for more than ten years, and it has helped the imperial court move towards Zhongxing, but at the same time, its drawbacks and contradictions have accumulated to the point of harming the society enough. The imperial court must adjust its national policy in a timely manner to alleviate this crisis in the shortest possible time and minimize the harm, so as to ensure the sustainable development of the great cause of Zhongxing. The eldest princess understands the difficult situation of the imperial court, and also hopes that the predicament of the Son of Heaven and herself will be improved, but the imperial court uses the method of suppressing business to increase income on the basis of heavy agriculture, and the lessons of history are very profound, and she cannot but be cautious.

At that time, Emperor Xiaowu successfully reformed, but he killed many people and almost destroyed the merchants of the Han Dynasty. And Wang Mang failed, defeated completely, and was buried with Sheji.

The reason for Wang Mang's failure to usurp the country was, in the final analysis, that the restructuring seriously damaged the interests of the princes, nobles, and bureaucrats at that time.

Since you didn't let us live, we burned all the jade and finished together, but Wang Mang was finished, and Sheji was overturned.

And today? Today, there is also a Son of Heaven and the imperial court in Xiangyang, this Son of Heaven even violated the ancestral system and wantonly divided the princes, comparing the two, who can give these people the greatest benefits?

It is not difficult to imagine that the consequences of Chang'an's restructuring are likely to be a series of rebellions, and finally the failure of Zhongxing and the overthrow of the Han Dynasty again.

The more the eldest princess thought about it, the more frightened she became, and she was cold and shuddered. Before the general left Chang'an, he had asked himself to transfer Yan Wuxing and Fengyun Iron Cavalry to Jinyang to defend it, at that time he felt that the general was making a big fuss, and now it seems that it is not that the general is cautious, but that he is blindly confident, and he did not think of the crisis faced by the imperial court at all.

The general had apparently seen the crisis in the imperial court, and he had a premonition that the expedition of the army to the western frontier would bring turmoil to the imperial court.

The expedition to the west and the stabilization of the northern Xinjiang were the counterinsurgency strategy of the imperial court, and in order to realize this strategy and ensure the success of the great cause of Zhongxing, this turmoil was necessary, but the center of this turmoil was itself.

The key to the success of Li Wei's reform lies in his own support, as long as he agrees and the edict is promulgated and implemented, the contradictions will be completely stimulated.

The consequences of this contradiction are twofold, one is that the court kills people and kills everyone who dares to confront the court.

One is the betrayer who kills, killing the one who took their wealth. Bear the brunt of it yourself and become the one the betrayer wants to kill.

And once the conflict gets out of control and the states and counties are in chaos, the general must first protect Xiao Tianzi, followed by himself, and then keep the foundation of northern Xinjiang.

Xiao Tianzi has always been in the army, and with the personal protection of the general, he will be fine. After Yan Wuxing and Fengyun Tie rode to Jinyang, they could not only protect themselves, but also defend the northern frontier.

The general took precautions and had no last resort. Is he really the last resort? Last year's Chang'an Mutiny led to the resignation of Prime Minister Cai Yong and the ascension of Li Wei, and a large number of warriors immediately entered the court, and where did these warriors mainly serve?

State and county. Now the history of the assassin of Bingzhou is Zhang Baiqi, the history of Youzhou is Fan Li, the history of Jizhou is Yang Ming, the history of Qingzhou is Zhang He, the history of Yanzhou is Gao Lan, the history of Liangzhou is Huangfu Li, the captain of Sili is Zhang Liao, Henan Yin is Xu Huang, only Wang Ze of Yuzhou and Jingzhao Yin Yupeng are not martial artists, but both of them are officials of Northern Xinjiang.

That is to say, once the reform is implemented, as long as the imperial court issues an order to temporarily grant part of the military and political powers of the state to the state and supervise the county, then the state and county will not be in chaos.

Although Zhong Xuan, the general of Zhengnan, is in Yuzhou, the assassin of Yuzhou is Wang Ze, and the general Lei Chong has 70,000 troops stationed in Xuchang, even if Zhong Xuan betrays, it is difficult to affect the overall situation, and Yuzhou is still firmly controlled by the imperial court.

First Li Wei served as prime minister, and then there were warriors sitting in the prefectures and counties, and the society was as stable as a rock. At this time, the army went on an expedition to the western frontier, provoked a crisis in the financial wealth of the imperial court, and then robbed the wealth of the princes and nobles, the family of the gate lords and the wealthy merchants in the name of restructuring, is it all a coincidence?

Looking back, this coincidence is amazing, right? No way. The general asked me to transfer Yan Wudring and Fengyun Iron Cavalry back to Jinyang, and that was at the end of last year, and all this was arranged by the general.

He pushed Li Wei to the position of prime minister and transferred the warriors to the state and county posts, the purpose was to grab wealth, in order to make the treasury profitable, and to lay a solid foundation for Xiao Tianzi to govern.

The emperor has no money, he lives on credit, lives on other people's faces, and lives by selling officials, where is there still prestige?

Where can we still ZTE and stabilize the world? For the sake of the big man, Big Brother Leopard really tried his best and did everything.

I should help him, and with Big Brother Leopard's promise, I will be willing even if I die.

"If you want to do it, you have to do it, or you don't do it." The eldest princess looked at the three ministers with surprised expressions and said solemnly,

"After the restructuring according to this policy, how much income can the imperial court increase in a year? Have you done the math? ”

"At present, it is impossible to calculate the ......," Li Wei said.

"I and a group of Peng subordinates in the Prime Minister's Mansion roughly calculated the income of salt and iron. If the imperial court takes back all the mining rights and secures half of the operating rights, then the imperial court can increase its income by at least two billion to three billion yuan a year. ”

"So many?" The eldest princess was in disbelief.

"Hmph......" Li Wei sneered,

"Why is Shaofu's income so small? The money was robbed by others. After the salt and iron official camp, the income of the imperial court immediately increased, and the equalization and equalization could also play a role, so that the imperial court could also increase its income by about 500 million yuan. Li Wei continued,

"If the rent of the upper limit of land and the increase in commercial taxes are increased, the imperial court can increase its income by at least three billion to four billion yuan a year, so that the total income of the imperial court's wealth can increase to ten billion yuan." The eldest princess was very excited when she heard this,

"What about the specific plan?"

"Rebuild the "Salt and Iron Law", take back the mining rights, and rebuild the salt and iron officials, so that the imperial court can firmly control the price of salt and iron, and then hit the salt and iron merchants through the price, and take the money in the hands of the salt and iron merchants. The price of salt and iron has fallen, the price of grain has risen, and the income of farmers has increased. ”

"The Law of Equal Losses was re-established to ensure that the officials of the Great Si Nong had the necessary goods for each county to replenish the treasury. Dasi Nong had to dispatch a large number of officials to the counties, and sell the goods that should be imported to Beijing by the counties and states that were not needed by the Beijing division from the place of production, and transport the goods needed by the Beijing division to Chang'an through the exchange of goods, so as to eliminate as much as possible some unreasonable phenomena such as the complicated transportation of tribute between the counties and the state, the poor quality of the goods, and the freight even exceeding the value of the goods. ”

"Reconstruct the "Equalization Law", set up leveling officials in Beijing, Luoyang, Handan, Jinyang, Jicheng and other places, accept the average export of goods, according to the rise and fall of market prices in various places, sell them if they are expensive, and buy them if they are cheap, so as to adjust supply and demand and control the market."

In this way, the Dasi Nong controlled the production of salt and iron, and the trade of goods, and it was difficult for the merchants and tycoons to make huge profits from it, and the prices of all kinds did not rise and fall, causing the people to be poor. This policy not only allowed the imperial court to increase its income and fill the treasury, but also ensured the income of the farmers to a certain extent, so that they could live a subsistence life. The eldest princess nodded again and again, and asked worriedly, "If you want to pass this strategy successfully, how difficult is it?" Li Wei, Tian Yu, and Tian Chou looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

"It shouldn't be too difficult." Li Wei hesitated for a moment and said slowly,

"Back then, Emperor Xiaowu fought for many years, and the state was empty, and all the savings of the treasury left over from the Wenjing period were exhausted. At that time, land annexation was becoming more and more serious, and the imperial court's wealth was seriously insufficient. In order to increase his income, Emperor Xiaowu issued an order to recruit people into slaves and maids, sheep, money, and millet to worship officials or atone for their sins, and set up martial arts lords to sell them, trying to raise money. In the third year of Yuanzhan (120 B.C.), he broke the ban that merchants were not allowed to be officials, and appointed the big salt merchant Dongguo Xianyang and Daye Tiejiakong to lead the salt and iron affairs only for the big Si Nong, and appointed the big merchant Jia Sanghong Yang of Luoyang to preside over the restructuring of the big Si Nong Zhongcheng, and successively implemented a series of new policies such as salt, iron, and wine official camps, equal loss, leveling, calculation, and suing, and unified coinage, which greatly alleviated the crisis. ”

"Compared with the Xiaowu Emperor Dynasty, the situation in the world today is 100 times more serious than 1000 times, and it will not work without reform. After 400 years of the Han Dynasty, the bloody lessons are vividly remembered, and I believe that the ministers of the court and the wealthy businessmen from all over the country will not be obsessed with wealth to the point of losing their minds. Compared with life, money is just a passing cloud, not a big deal. The imperial court has done its best to take into account the interests of all parties in this restructuring, and if someone must ignore the safety of the society, then it will be unceremonious, follow the example of Emperor Xiaowu, and resolutely suppress it by thunderous means. The eldest princess looked cold, looked at the murderous Li Wei, and was silent for a long time.

"Do you have to kill? Can't you discuss it properly? ”

"If His Highness agrees, the minister plans to convene ministers, Confucians, and some wealthy businessmen in Weiyang Palace to discuss this matter in the future." Li Wei said,

"Your Highness invited a lot of people for the celebration, and the ministers invited Your Highness to change the celebration to discuss politics, and invite the people of the world to make suggestions for the rise of the Han Dynasty, which is also a great event." The eldest princess's eyes were full of doubt and worry.

So many ministers, Confucians, and wealthy businessmen have arrived in the capital, and once something happens, the consequences will be unimaginable.

"The salt and iron official camp is equivalent to the imperial court receiving a part of the salt and iron profits originally returned to the rich merchants into the treasury, which is a serious blow to the rich merchants, which is conducive to the imperial court to curb the spread of land annexation, and also protects the interests of the farmers, so that they can keep their own place of survival. However, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, in order to increase income, the price of salt and iron was set very high, even higher than the price set by the wealthy merchants, which increased the burden on the people. At that time, there were many families who could not afford salt, and farmers who could not afford iron farming tools had to use wooden plows to plow the land. The eldest princess sighed and said helplessly,

"There are pros and cons to the official camp of salt and iron, and if it is used well, it will be conducive to the stability of the society, and if it is not used well, it will bury the hidden danger of social turmoil. In the final analysis, the key is that officials cannot govern, so there have been many debates about this policy in this dynasty. There are supporters and opponents. ”

In the sixth year of Emperor Xiaozhao (81 B.C.), ministers such as Sang Hongyang, the imperial historian, and more than 60 people from various prefectures and counties debated governance issues. The great Confucians and great merchants demanded that the imperial court abolish the laws of salt and iron, wine, and equal loss in order to show frugality, and then put forward many ideas for domestic and foreign policies. Although some of their proposed strategies of 'recuperation' helped to stabilize the society, the imperial court did not adopt their proposal to abolish salt and iron. In July of the 6th year of the first century, the imperial court issued an edict to abolish the liquor monopoly and Kannai iron officials set up in each county, and the rest of the salt and iron policies remained the same, and the old system was still followed. ”

"When Wang Mang rebelled (10 A.D.), the law of five equals and six pipes was implemented (the official sells salt, wine, and iron, collects the production tax of Shanze, the official mints copper coins, and the five average loans are collectively called six pipes), and it was changed back, but the result is known to everyone."

After the death of Emperor Xiaozhang (88 AD), Emperor Xiaohe (ten years old) succeeded to the throne, and the Empress Dowager Dou was in charge of the dynasty, and the general Dou Xian took over the power. Soon after the Empress Dowager Dou came to the court, she announced that she would "strike the ban on salt and iron, and let the people boil and cast", and the imperial court has been empty of treasury since then. ”

After the death of Emperor Xiaohe, Emperor Xiao'an (thirteen years old) succeeded to the throne (1o7 AD), and the Empress Dowager Deng was in charge of the dynasty, and the general Deng Qiu was the assistant government. Empress Dowager Deng gained some experience from the failure of the Dou family, and used relatives and eunuchs. At that time, there was a war in Western Xinjiang, there was a rebellion inside, and there was an invasion of Xiqiang outside, and the imperial court was in urgent need of wealth, so it had to ban salt and iron. However, due to the great opposition from the government and the opposition, the official camp was not fully realized in the end. In the first year of Yongjian (125 AD), the eunuchs Cao Teng, Sun Cheng and other nineteen people launched a palace coup d'état, drove away the Empress Dowager Yan, and the filial piety emperor succeeded to the throne. ”

"In the first day of my father's dynasty, the general persuaded my father to reopen the salt and iron in order to defend the northern frontier, and you were the one who presided over the matter at that time." The eldest princess pointed at Li Wei, shook her head and smiled bitterly,

"Counting it, it has been sixteen or seventeen years since the reopening of salt and iron, and now the imperial court wants to ban salt and iron again, and you are the one who presides over this matter, which is really unacceptable. If there is no strife in the court, it is a strange thing. ”

"Aren't you afraid that people will kill you in a fit of rage?" The eldest princess teased. Li Wei smiled dumbly and talked eloquently.

"The salt and iron discussion has been discussed many times in this dynasty, but there has been no bloody conflict, and the minister hopes that it can be resolved smoothly this time."

"In fact, the dispute between salt and iron is, in the final analysis, a battle of statecraft."

"In the first six years of Emperor Xiaozhao's salt and iron discussion, the imperial historian Sang Hongyang said, 'The benefits of salt and iron, so the urgency of the people, enough military expenses, the accumulation of food to prepare for the shortage, give a lot of people, benefit the country, harmless to the people', there are many benefits. However, celebrities and merchants and others believed that the salt and iron monopoly was harmful, and accused Emperor Xiaowu of marching into the Xiongnu on a large scale, which brought a heavy burden to the people. ”

"The views of the two sides are very clear, one side advocates the imperial court's intervention in the affairs of salt and iron and other goods, and the other side advocates free development; On the one hand, it is emphasized that the imperial court should be strong and powerful, and on the other hand, it is emphasized that the imperial court should rule by inaction; On the one hand, it starts from the prosperity of the community, and on the other hand, it starts from the survival of ordinary people...... The opposition between these views has existed not only in this dynasty, but since ancient times. If the imperial court is not strong, it will be difficult to resist foreign enemies, and if it is too strong, it will inevitably infringe on the interests of the people, and it is really difficult to choose the pros and cons of this governance. ”

"The Salt and Iron Debate is to solve this problem."

"If salt and iron are not monopolized, the wealth of the imperial court cannot be guaranteed, which is a fact. Emperor Xiaowu was like this, and now it is even more so. However, if the imperial court takes too much of the interests of the people, it will incur public anger. The death of the second emperor of the Great Qin Dynasty is a profound lesson. ”

"After the salt and iron discussion of the Emperor Xiaozhao Dynasty, the imperial court still continued to implement the policy of salt and iron official camps, which shows that the strategy of establishing a strong Han still has the absolute upper hand."

"In the salt and iron debate, in the arguments between the two sides, the arguments of the imperial court were more pragmatic, while the great Confucian merchant Jia put forward the theory of governing the country with virtue, criticizing the salt and iron official camp for violating the 'benevolent government' and 'royal road', and believed that the salt and iron official camp was just 'the power of the time, all the techniques, which could not be passed down for a long time, and this was not the way of the people of the Ming Dynasty'. It sounds exciting, and it may be fine to use it to incite the people, but it is far from convincing us. The whole book of Mencius is a fascinating read, but none of the monarchs of the vassal states have adopted Mencius's suggested statecraft, and this is the reason. ”

"Without a strong dynasty, without the strength of Megatron, how can the people survive? The people can't survive anymore, what ideals and etiquette are there to talk about? Only when the Han Dynasty is strong, the people are well fed and clothed, and the society is stable, can we talk about ideals and etiquette, otherwise it is all nonsense. ”

"Of course, I'm not saying that etiquette and morality are not important. This dynasty has always attached importance to education, governing the country with virtue, and teaching the people with etiquette. Scholars have ideals and morals, and the benefits to the community are self-evident. However, many things in national politics are difficult to distinguish and judge by simple right and wrong. For any decision, the imperial court needs to discuss repeatedly, analyze and judge the situation, carefully weigh the pros and cons, and need to be careful. ”

"The actions of people like us are often despised by those who pretend to be high-minded. They often say that gentlemen do not speak for profit, and they have won the support of the people with their noble character, words and deeds. But I'll say something ugly, without the backing of a powerful man, what is he noble? What exaltation does he take? He can't even save his life, what is noble? ”

"Maybe when they enter the court and come into contact with national politics, they will understand the difficulty of governing the country, and they will know the unspeakable hardships involved, and they will find that the 'harsh government' they criticize is just a choice that the court has to choose. However, when the people see them entering the officialdom and their words and deeds are inconsistent, most of them will think that they cannot resist the temptation of officialdom and become complicit with corrupt officials. ”

In fact, many of us want to seek benefits for the world, for the people, and for ourselves, and these three purposes exist at the same time. Many people want to do something big, but reality has thwarted their ideals. As a result, many people often lose the interests of the world first, and protect their own interests first regardless of everything. Such was the case with the battle over salt and iron. ”

The later words of those great Confucian merchants fully proved this point. What do they say? They said that the imperial court should not take advantage of the people. What people? Which people? It was themselves, officials, merchants, and tycoons, not farmers, craftsmen, and slaves. ”

"They believe that 'the cattle people first enrich their business and then seek their support', 'the king does not accumulate animals, but hides them from the people', 'the people hide in their homes, and the princes hide in the country', and the Son of Heaven should 'hide in the sea'. What are these words? Should the Son of Heaven live on credit? Should the imperial court be in deficit? ”

"It's still the same sentence, only when the Han is strong, only when the country is rich, can the people get rich." Jump to