Chapter 34 Chapter 34: The "Ahema Case" That Shocked the Yuan Dynasty

Speaking of the Yuan Dynasty established by Kublai Khan, there are naturally many topics.For example, the Yuan Dynasty was the dynasty with the largest territory in Chinese feudal history, and it was also the only dynasty that divided the ethnic hierarchy.The citizens of the Yuan Dynasty were divided into four categories: Yuan people, Semu people, Han people, and Nan people.This method of ethnic separation attempted to strengthen the dominance of the Yuan Dynasty royal family, but it backfired. After the unification of the world was completed, the Yuan Dynasty's internal governance crisis soon came.One is that the country's finances have fallen into difficulties due to successive years of wars, and the monopoly of powerful officials has also aggravated the intensification of various contradictions.At this time, a sudden case ignited all the contradictions in the early days of the Yuan Dynasty—the Ahema case.

To talk about the Ahema case, we must first introduce Ahema himself.In fact, most of the people who are familiar with this person are thanks to the classic drama "Guan Hanqing" by dramatist Tian Han.Like the description in the drama, he was a powerful official in the early days of the Yuan Dynasty. Ahema, according to historical records, does not know who his ancestors were, but he belonged to the Semu people, the second rank of the Yuan Dynasty.When he was young, he was a businessman who came to the Central Plains from Central Asia to do business. Because he was favored by Kublai Khan's father-in-law, he made a fortune.But another reason is that Ahema came from a business background and is very good at economics.After Mongolia occupied the Central Plains, it still used a predatory tax. Including the entire Yuan Dynasty, the country's taxes were quite heavy.For example, in industry and commerce, there are more than 20 kinds of taxation with clever names.The tax is heavy, and the common people suffer unspeakably. If they cannot pay the tax, the country will not be able to collect money.From the Mongolian Khanate to the Yuan Dynasty, most of the rulers of the past dynasties adopted cruel and high-pressure policies on tax collection.For example, Zhang Hongfan was almost beheaded by Kublai Khan for exempting taxes without authorization.And Shi Tianze also used his own money to pay taxes for the surrounding Han people.When the Yuan Dynasty was founded, the people faced serious exploitation.

It was at this time that Ahema appeared beside Kublai Khan, and what interested Kublai Khan was his ability to collect money.Ahema's greatest ability is to lend usury to the local people.On the one hand, the people are allowed to borrow money to pay taxes, and on the other hand, they are making interest, making endless exploitation.Therefore, in 1262 AD, Ahema took the opportunity of "serving as a transit envoy" to vigorously promote his "usury business" in the place of office.And the results are also obvious. The efficiency and speed of tax collection in the area he is in charge of is much better than other areas.It was this incident that made Kublai Khan appreciate him very much: at this time, Kublai Khan was worrying about the funds for the Southern Expedition to the Southern Song Dynasty, and the appearance of Ahema was really a timely help.

The rewards for giving charcoal in the snow are generous, and since then, Ahema's official position has been promoted again and again.Two years later, Ahema became the "Zhongshu Pingzhangshi concurrently lead envoy" and became the chief financial officer of the entire Yuan Dynasty.As an important person in charge of the national economy, Ahema made drastic reforms. He first asked Shanxi merchants to prohibit reselling the salt industry and return the power of the salt industry to the imperial court. Then he carried out the reform of the currency system. In exchange for big money, prices skyrocketed as a result.Ahema is the best at debating, and he speaks eloquently. He can always refute the big and thick Mongolian officials in the court. Unbelievably, there is nothing he can do about his memorials.

In this way, from 1265 A.D., northern China fell into a situation of soaring prices and heavy taxes. The lives of ordinary people were miserable.But Kublai Khan didn’t care about this. It was true that he got the money at the moment of the war. As a result, driven by the GDP mania, Ahema’s official fortune was prosperous. The power of personnel affairs is almost entirely in his hands.His favor has also made many of the old team members who followed Kublai Khan resentful. For example, the old prime minister An Tong once said angrily in private: If you give him all the power, why should I use it!

The result of offending the Mongolian nobles is uncomfortable.Soon after, Ahema wanted to recommend his son Hu Xin to be an official in the court. Many Mongolian nobles strongly opposed it. Ahema felt ashamed. After knowing that the Mongolian nobles are not easy to mess with, Ahema once learned to be obedient and was extremely humble to the Mongolian nobles.In 1279 AD, the Yuan Dynasty completely pacified the southeast region.Ahema began to act badly. He was optimistic about the prosperity of the southeast region, so he asked to set up a transshipment department in the southeast region to collect commodity tolls.The number of transshipment divisions was 10 times that of the Northern Song Dynasty and 5 times that of the Southern Song Dynasty, almost reaching the point where there was one post at five steps and one post at ten steps (it was later abolished by Zhu Yuanzhang).A large amount of money is of course pouring in, but the commodity economy in the southeast has suffered an unprecedented blow.At this time, Ahema had already coaxed Kublai Khan into elation, so Kublai Khan said to the minister: "The prime minister is the only one, and Ahema is in charge of it." That is to say, Ahema is the head of all officials.With the support of the emperor, Ahema felt confident and began to ostracize dissidents, especially those veteran Mongolian ministers with military exploits.Jianghuai Pingzhang Alibo opposed Ahema's taxation method, but was killed by Ahema Luo Zhi.

During Ahema's most arrogant period, not only the Mongolian heroes were greatly excluded, but also the Han courtiers of the Yuan Dynasty were often suppressed by him.Moreover, Ahema tried his best to reject Hanfa and vigorously promoted his usury policy.While increasing taxes, lending to the private sector, every time the state raises taxes, the result is that Ahema earns a lot of money, and the people go bankrupt.But something fatal happened.Kublai Khan's son, Prince Zhenjin, was a young man with a high degree of Sinicization, so he naturally had a disagreement with Ahema, but Ahema was confident because he had Kublai Khan's favor.

The dictatorship of Ahema has aroused public indignation in the Yuan Dynasty for a long time.Originally, during the Yuan Dynasty's pacification of the Southern Song Dynasty, the relationship between the Hanchen generals and the Mongolian nobles was once tense.Relying on Kublai Khan's favor, Ahema offended both parties.Ahema's taxation policy was mainly aimed at the Han handicraftsmen and industrialists and merchants at that time, both merchants and ordinary people suffered greatly; and the currency reform made the common people all over the world suffer from soaring prices.Ahema is very arrogant towards the nobles of Mongolia, especially towards important ministers such as Boyan and Antong, he does not regard them as cadres, and regards himself as the "head of officials" all day long. It's not far away.

Let's talk about this real golden prince here.In the early days of the Yuan Dynasty, the real gold prince was actually the actual leader of the Han Confucianism sect. He was the second son of Kublai Khan and had good friends with many Han officials.This person is extremely smart, proficient in three languages: Mongolian, Chinese, and Tibetan, and loves the culture of the Central Plains very much.After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Han intellectuals always hoped that the Yuan Dynasty could implement Han law, but Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, preferred to find a balance between the Mongolian nomadic system and the Han system.The conflict between the Han-Fa faction and the old-fashioned faction has never been broken, and Ahema is a minister who firmly opposes the Han-Fa faction, so he is deeply hated by Prince Zhenjin.But at the same time, he also offended the old-fashioned faction among the Mongolian princes. Because of his status as a pervert, the Mongolian ministers were unwilling to be under him. came his end.

The person who got rid of Ahema was a Han named Wang Zhu.There are still many unsolved mysteries about the origin of this person. Various historical materials say that Wang Zhu is a "thousand household" in Yizhou, and his ancestors were heroes who helped the Yuan Dynasty conquer the world.This man has a forthright personality, makes a living as a merchant, and has a lot of friends in Dadu. Whether it is a Han official like Liu Bingzhong, or a famous pear gardener like Guan Hanqing and Wang Heqing, they all have a close relationship with him.In March 1282, Wang Zhu conspired with a monk named Gao Monk to infiltrate Dadu under the false name of the prince to do Buddhist ceremonies.Then, Wang Zhu pretended to be the prince's entourage to meet Ahema, and lied that the prince wanted to see him. As expected, Ahema was deceived and tricked out of the palace. Then Wang Zhu killed Ahema on the spot with a sledgehammer in his hand, and shouted "Get rid of this thief for the world".Afterwards, Wang Zhu voluntarily surrendered himself. This was the assassination of Ahema that shocked the government and the public in the early Yuan Dynasty.

At the beginning of the incident, Kublai Khan was extremely furious and ordered a strict investigation.Wang Zhu was imprisoned, and monk Gao, Zhang Yi and others who were with Wang Zhu were also captured.Kublai Khan ordered Prince Zhenjin to interrogate, and the actual interrogators were Yushi Zhongcheng and Li Huosun at this time.Heli Huosun was very efficient in handling affairs, and the case was finalized within a few days, saying that the Han people hated Ahema for raising taxes, so they killed him to vent their anger, and then Wang Zhu and others were hastily executed.Then, when Heli Huosun reported the case to Kublai Khan, he began to drug Ahema. Kublai felt very sorry at first, but Heli Huosun said: Ahema is really guilty.At first, Kublai Khan couldn't bear to investigate Ahema, but then the wall fell and everyone pushed, and many Mongolian princes and ministers joined in the discussion, enumerating Ahema's crimes. The public discussion was fierce, and Kublai finally ordered a thorough investigation of Ahema.The result was jaw-dropping. In addition to a large amount of gold and silver, there were more than 500 concubines alone. What made Kublai Khan even more annoyed was that a human skin was found in Ahema's house. His concubine confessed that he did it every day. For cursing.Kublai Khan thought that Ahema was cursing himself for an early death, and immediately flew into a rage. The rest of the matter was simple: Ahema’s family was confiscated, Ahema’s body was dug out from the grave, and the wolf dogs ate a piece of it. There is no meat left.The first power traitor in the early Yuan Dynasty ended in such a miserable way. At the same time, the Yuan Dynasty traced Ahema's accomplices at the request of Prince Zhenjin.A total of 714 members of Ahema's party were found out, and almost all of them were demoted.The court hall of the Yuan Dynasty suffered a huge earthquake. Speaking of this muddled "assassination of a horse" today, it is mostly said that Wang Zhu killed Ahema out of righteous indignation, but if you look closely, it may not be that simple. In the whole trial process of Huo Li Huo Sun, he was always quick and strict, almost convicted quickly, and then executed hastily.According to the confessions of Wang Zhu and Gao Monk, the two of them used the name of the real gold prince, falsely entrusted the real gold prince's edict to mobilize Zhang Yi's army, and successfully got rid of Ahema.But the problem is, Ahema is not a 3-year-old child, how could he be so easily fooled? The entire trial process was also strict and speedy. Heli Huosun and other Mongolian ministers all applauded Ahema's death, and then desperately prescribed medicine.In just a few days after Ahema's death, a large number of memorials exposed Ahema's crimes.It is obviously unbelievable that there was no prior collusion. Therefore, Ahema's death was probably planned by Prince Zhenjin.Given the good relationship between Prince Zhenjin and Han scribes, and his desire to promote Han law, it is not difficult to achieve this.But Wang Zhu achieved the death of a confidant, and eradicated a great disaster for Prince Zhenjin in the future.If Ahema continues to run rampant and continue to fight against Prince Zhenjin, as Kublai Khan's favor for Ahema deepens, the status of Prince Zhenjin will inevitably be affected.Therefore, it is the best choice to act first. Ahema died, but this earth-shattering murder did not change the domestic and foreign policies of the Yuan Dynasty.After Ahema's death, Lu Shirong, an official of the Han nationality, succeeded Ahema.Lu Shirong originally got an official by bribing Ahema. In the early days of Ahema's liquidation, he was also designated as Ahema's party by Prince Zhenjin and was demoted.However, after the death of Ahema, the Yuan Dynasty had no capable minister of financial management, and the fiscal revenue dropped sharply. When employing people, Lu Shirong, who was good at financial management, was re-appointed. As Ahema's accomplice, Lu Shirong also has the same characteristics as Ahema -- he can speak.He talked eloquently and eloquently in the court, and like Ahema, he stunned many ministers.Kublai Khan was worried about Lu Shirong at first, but he was also moved by his speech.Then he was promoted, and Lu Shirong reached the sky in one step, and suddenly became the right prime minister of Zhongshu Province, that is, the "deputy prime minister" in charge of the economy of the Yuan Dynasty at this time.Heli Huosun, who tried the case of Wang Zhu's assassination of Ahema, was very worried, and told people privately that there was only one wolf and another fox, and the country would have no peace. Compared with Ahema's "hungry wolf method", Lu Shirong is indeed a fox.His main method is to rectify the Shibo Department, raise tariffs, and increase taxes from Mongolian animal husbandry in the northern grasslands, which offended a large number of Mongolian bureaucrats.As a result, Lu Shirong was impeached within a few days of working.As for Prince Zhenjin, the worst consequence was that Lu Shirong's appointment showed that Kublai Khan had no trust in him as the crown prince at all, and the party he had just dismissed was promoted in a blink of an eye.After that, the benevolent prince was hit hard and sighed all day long.Later, Kublai Khan was asked to prohibit the harem from intervening in politics because of Jiangnan Yushitai Memorial. Kublai Khan suspected that the memorial was instigated by Prince Zhenjin, so he sent an evil fire at his son.Who would have thought that the real golden prince had poor resistance, so he was so frightened that he couldn't get sick.In 1286 AD, the prince who had cherished the ideal of "practicing the Han law" died young at the age of 43.His death also marked the fall of the banner of the "Han-Fa faction" in the Yuan Dynasty. Since then, the power of the Han-Fa faction in the Yuan Dynasty has gradually declined.