Disciplining Emperor Gaozu of Han

Chapter 67 Making Money in a Right Way

"Truly worthy of being called one of the Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty! Their vision is truly remarkable!" Liu Ying thought to himself, full of admiration.

The reason simplified Chinese characters were invented and promoted is because they are simple, easy to remember and recognize, and convenient to write. Traditional Chinese characters, on the other hand, have far too many strokes, making it very difficult to write even a single character.

It can be said that simplified Chinese characters are the most successful writing system reform in history.

none of them.

The character "刘" can be written in a few strokes in simplified Chinese, but in traditional Chinese it requires many strokes.

Not to mention, this period was at a crucial juncture in the reform of the written language. Qin Shi Huang abolished the written languages ​​of the six states and unified the written language with the Qin state's Zhou script, which had two forms: clerical and seal script, both of which were very complicated.

Therefore, Xiao He immediately recognized that simplified characters were practical and that promoting them throughout the country would be of great benefit.

"Xiao He, haven't you always thought I'm uneducated and incompetent? Come, let me explain it to you." It wasn't just scholars who said Liu Bang was uneducated; Xiao He was one of them as well.

Of all these people, the one Liu Bang resented the most was Xiao He.

This is also due to Xiao He. If it were someone else, Liu Bang wouldn't have just taken off his hat to urinate; he would have defecated directly on his head.

"If you could create characters, would you have waited until today?" Xiao He didn't believe it. He threw the wooden tablet back to Liu Bang and waved it away with his right hand, saying, "Go away, don't interfere with my official business."

When his attempt to show off failed, Liu Bang was somewhat annoyed: "Heh, Xiao He, that's all you're capable of. You can't even raise military funds, yet you have the nerve to laugh at me."

"Liu Ji, you think you're so capable? You try!" Xiao He roared, pointing at Liu Bang with his right hand. "Don't you even consider how much territory you can actually control? Where am I supposed to raise money for you?"

"Xiao He, let me tell you, we must raise funds even if we can't! We absolutely must raise them!" Liu Bang pointed at Xiao He, his anger flaring.

"Do it yourself." Xiao He untied the prime minister's seal from his waist. "If you think I'm not up to the task, then find someone else."

I'm about to quit again.

"Xiao He..." Liu Bang was dumbfounded.

Xiao He was his most relied-upon chief steward. Without Xiao He guarding the rear, he really didn't know what to do.

Last year, when Xiao He chased after Han Xin under the moon, Han Xin thought Xiao He had run away. He felt as if he had lost his right and left hands and was at a loss.

However, Liu Bang was reluctant to lower himself to beg.

"Uncle, I have a plan to raise military funds." Liu Ying did not think Xiao He was childish and would give up at the drop of a hat. Instead, he understood Xiao He. At present, they were really at their wits' end and had no way to raise military funds.

"You think you can do something?" Liu Bang didn't believe it.

"Good," Xiao He agreed, holding the official seal.

Although Xiahou Ying had heard Liu Ying say that he had a way to raise military funds, he did not believe it.

Lady Qi, needless to say, didn't care at all. She covered her mouth with her jade-like hand and sneered at Liu Ying.

"If we regain the right to mint coins, we can raise funds for the military," Liu Ying said.

"You unfilial son, how dare you have such wild thoughts!" Liu Bang shouted at Liu Ying.

"Take back the right to mint coins?" Xiao He's eyes lit up, and he nodded emphatically: "That's indeed a good idea!"

"Xiao He, don't think such things," Liu Bang waved his right hand, stopping Xiao He from speaking. "The reason I entrusted the minting of coins to the people was so that my old brothers who followed me from Pei County could enjoy wealth and honor. This matter is not up for discussion!"

"Then tell me, do you have any other ways to raise military funds?" Liu Ying questioned.

"Ying'er, let me tell you, you're young, don't think such things." Liu Bang's face was cold: "A bunch of old brothers followed me from Pei County, what did they want? If I become rich and powerful, and they can't become rich and powerful, who will still follow me to conquer the world?"

"You want them to enjoy wealth and luxury, so you give them the job of minting coins and let them make money? Do you even know what kind of coins they're minting?" Liu Ying said coldly.

"Of course I know," Liu Bang said, patting his chest. "I've verified the coins they minted; they're no worse than the Qin coins."

"Not inferior to Qin coins?" Liu Ying took out a Han Banliang coin from his pocket and tossed it to Liu Bang: "Open your eyes and look at this! Is this money? This is just scrap metal!"

"Shut up! How could they... uh, what kind of money is this?" Liu Bang lashed out at Liu Ying, completely unable to believe that his meritorious officials would cut corners and mint coins haphazardly. When he saw the Han Banliang coins on the ground, their appalling state, the words Liu Bang was about to utter failed him.

He bent down, picked up a few half-ounce coins, held them up to his eyes, and examined them closely, his shock growing stronger: "Where did you find these?"

"Pick it up?" Liu Ying sneered.

"Your Majesty, this wasn't picked up by Liu Ying; it was money he gave her when buying linen from the Lu family's shop," Xiahou Ying replied on Liu Ying's behalf. "I witnessed this myself, and there's no doubt about it."

Liu Bang had no doubt about Xiahou Ying's character, and anger flashed across his face: "Lu Wan, is this the kind of money he uses for business?"

"What's so special about this?" Liu Ying sneered. "Lu Wan's shop assistant used these twenty coins to buy a bolt of linen from the woman. When the woman wanted to buy salt, he refused the money and asked for half a tael of Qin instead."

"Shut up, that's impossible." Liu Bang didn't believe it at all: "Lu Wan, who grew up with me, would never do such a thing."

"Absolutely true!" Xiahou Ying said with certainty, "I witnessed this myself."

"How...how dare he act so recklessly?" Liu Bang looked at Xiahou Ying again and again, no longer daring to doubt.

Xiao He picked up a few copper coins, held them up to his eyes for a close examination, and said angrily, "They are getting bolder and bolder. These coins are getting worse and worse with each casting. They don't even weigh half as much anymore."

With a gentle toss, the Han coin flew up like a kite, reaching a height of four feet before wobbling and landing on the ground.

"So thin?" Liu Bang was shocked when he saw it.

"You'll know once you flip it," Liu Ying reminded her.

Liu Bang gripped the Han coins with both hands, and with a single forceful movement, the coins snapped in two. His anger intensified: "How dare they!"

"Take a step with your foot," Liu Ying said again.

Liu Ying threw the half of the Han coin on the ground, lifted his right foot, and stomped hard on the half of the coin.

"Crack." A crisp sound rang out as Liu Bang's right foot left, revealing that half of the Han coin had turned into copper dust.

Liu Bang's face twitched, and his expression was ashen.

"Do you know the prices of goods?" Liu Ying asked again.

Liu Bang had no idea about any of this, and looked at Xiao He.

"Eight thousand coins yesterday." Xiao He was very knowledgeable about prices.

"How...how much? Eight thousand coins?" Liu Bang was stunned, his mouth agape, wide enough to fit two eggs.

"There's more and more money in the market, and prices change every day. This is yesterday's price; I haven't checked today's yet." Xiao He was about to inquire.

"Uncle, no need," Liu Ying stopped Xiao He. "I just came back from the market and I know the prices very well. It has reached 10,000 coins per shi of rice."

"How...how...how much?" Liu Bang jumped up and down.

"Ten thousand coins?" Xiao He was shocked.

"It is indeed ten thousand coins." Xiahou Ying nodded heavily. "I asked him myself, and it has been confirmed. Liu Ying said that prices have skyrocketed, so the common people are all using Qin coins."

"Prices have skyrocketed?" Xiao He clapped his hands loudly in agreement: "That's an apt description! Absolutely apt!"

"How could this happen?" Liu Bang found it hard to accept.

"Liu Ji," Xiao He said, "I advised you against it when you repeatedly forged edicts to mint coins. If you wanted to repay your meritorious officials, you would have foreseen this day." He continued, "When people mint coins, everyone wants to mint more, fearing they'll mint less than others. How can you allow the order to mint coins?"

"This..." Liu Bang was speechless.

"Excellent!" Liu Ying echoed, "Back then, your frequent orders to mint coins were mainly intended to allow meritorious officials to do so. But once the door was opened for the people to mint coins, it wasn't just meritorious officials who were minting coins; unscrupulous people also profited from it, leading to the current situation."

"Great! Excellent!" Xiao He agreed.

"Great! Excellent!" Xiahou Ying agreed.

Liu Bang's frequent "edicts on illegal minting" meant that minting coins required state permission; otherwise, it was illegal. However, these edicts ultimately proved ineffective, as anyone could mint coins.

During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, the ban on illegal minting was abolished, allowing the people to mint coins freely. The sheer number of coins and the deterioration of the monetary system were unprecedented in history.

Note:

The Book of Han, Treatise on Food and Commodities records: "In the fifth year of Emperor Wen's reign, because the coins were becoming increasingly numerous and light, he recast four-zhu coins with the inscription 'Half Liang'. He also abolished the law against illegal minting of coins, allowing the people to mint their own."

This was strongly opposed by Jia Yi, who wrote to Emperor Wen of Han: "The use of money by the people varies from prefecture to prefecture: some use light coins, with a hundred taels plus a certain amount; others use heavy coins, which are not accepted evenly. If the legal currency is not established, and officials rush to impose uniformity, it will be extremely burdensome and beyond their power; if they are allowed to impose uniformity, then the market will use different currencies and the currency will be in great chaos."