Chapter 15 Lecture 3: Reform of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: A master of top-level design

Seventy years before and after the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Han Jing of the Han Dynasty, this was the first period of great economic prosperity after the establishment of the unified centralization of power, known in history as the "Government of Wen and Jing".The emergence of this prosperity is the result of the reform of delegating power and transferring profits. The reason for delegating power and giving up profits is not that the rulers are merciful, but that they have no power to use and no profit. When the Han Empire was first established, the world had been in turmoil for hundreds of years. travel instead.Therefore, it is imperative to "release water to raise fish". Sima Qian has a very important record in "Historical Records: Huozhi Biography": "Han Xing, the whole country is one, the opening and closing of beams, and the ban of Zhang Shanze are based on the rich merchants and big businessmen. If you trade around the world, you can get what you want.” That is to say, the government has changed the comprehensive control policy since Shang Yang. "Switching beams" - release of Guanjin, "ban on Zhangshanze" - relaxation of the monopoly of mountain forest mineral resources, these are two very important policy changes, the former reduced logistics costs between regions, the Han Dynasty since then There are no additional customs duties and taxes, and the advantages of a unified market can be demonstrated. The latter opens up the most profitable resource industries to the private sector.The introduction of these two major policies has directly led to the active logistics transactions and the prosperity of industry and commerce.Li Jiannong pointed out in "The Economic History of the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties": "The early Han Dynasty was actually the first stable period when Chinese businessmen gained freedom and development."

While liberalizing business and industry, the imperial court adopted policies of "light corvee and low tax" and "rest with the people" for agriculture.Emperor Wen "removed half of the land rent tax" twice before and after, and the rent rate was finally reduced to 30 one tax. At one point, he even exempted the land rent for twelve years. This is the only time in Chinese history.At the same time, it is not easy to send troops to neighboring hostile countries, and try to "beg for compromise" to maintain peace through peace, so as not to consume national power.

This kind of loose policy - it can be said to be "recuperation", or it can be said to be "letting go" - has been implemented for seventy years. "Historical Records Ping Zhun Shu" records that during the 70 years of Han Xing, the folk and the treasury became fatter and fatter, the state reserves hundreds of millions of money, the ropes used to string money were rotten, and the grain in the central granary was even more It is Chen Gu overlapping Chen Gu, so that "corruption cannot be eaten". Both Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing advocated Taoism, and the core of their policies was to rule by doing nothing.Seventy years of great economic development has resulted in extremely drastic changes in the structure of the four major interest groups.

First, the rise of the free merchant group has become a powerful force, controlling the lifeline industries of the national economy.Sima Qian listed 21 rich men in the early Western Han Dynasty in "Historical Records Huo Zhi Biography" - he called them "those who are rich because of wise men". Among them, eight were listed separately and recorded their deeds in more detail. All of them are iron smelters, and the rest are respectively engaged in the distribution industry, grain industry, breeding industry and financial industry.In the history of the country, the pillar industries were completely controlled by the people, and there were only two periods in the early Han Dynasty and the early Republic of China.These businessmen became "powerful and powerful families". In "Historical Records Ping Zhun Shu", there are records of wealthy businessmen and businessmen running rampant all over the world, and princes from all over the world "bow their heads and look up to them".Sima Qian also gave these businessmen a title: "Sufeng" - "Those who have no official titles and lands today, but can compare with the rich and powerful in terms of enjoyment, this is Sufeng."

Second, the power of the local vassals is huge, and the centralization of power shows signs of falling apart.After Liu Bang Xing Han, the enfeoffment system was implemented, and many heroes with the same surname split the land and founded the country.When the laissez-faire economic policy was launched, the local princes took advantage of their respective resource advantages to quickly form a powerful force.Among them, the most powerful one is Wu Wang Liu Bi. He has a huge coin casting industry, and Wu is close to the East China Sea. It is not only rich in iron ore, but also rich in sea salt. The three industries of salt, money, and iron make Liu Bi rich in Jiayu. He made friends with other countries and gradually became a local powerful force capable of rivaling the central government.

Third, the powerful and businessmen formed a trading alliance, which greatly corrupted the administration of officials. In "Historical Records Huozhi Biography", Daoxian, Nanyang Kong and others "connected to the car and rode, guarded the prime minister", and interacted frequently with the local princes.Although the Han Dynasty had a decree prohibiting officials from doing business, it was not strictly enforced. In many historical books, there are records of officials colluding with businessmen to seek benefits. Therefore, in the later period of Emperor Jing, the people of insight living in the central government put forward the idea of ​​"strengthening the central government and weakening the local government".Among them, Jia Yi and Chao Cuo are the most famous.Jia Yi worried about the inequality of wealth and land annexation in his policy theory, and was indignant because the clothes of merchant women were more luxurious than that of queens. It is "divide and rule", which divides and entrusts more princes in the original fiefdoms of princes and kings, thereby dispersing and weakening their power.In terms of economy, it has returned to the road of emphasizing agriculture.Chao Cuo, the senior imperial censor (deputy prime minister) who was the same age as Jia Yi and had a higher position, was particularly radical. He submitted the "Strategy for Cutting Fans", advocating the removal of the counties of the princes and kings who committed faults, and only retaining the fiefdom of one county. The rest of the counties are under the direct control of the imperial court.Emperor Jing adopted Chao Cuo's suggestion and successively seized the counties of some princes and kings, which triggered the "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion" launched by Wu Wang Liu Bi.

The rebellion that occurred at the end of the "Wenjing Reign" most vividly shows that in the early days of the establishment of the unified centralized power system, it is difficult to balance the centralization and decentralization contradictions between the central and local governments, and it can even be said that right and wrong That is, irreconcilable.Since then, how to balance the two and make appropriate institutional arrangements has become the primary issue in governing China. The regimes of all dynasties often linger on this, and prosperity or decline also arises from this.This scene has not changed slightly since two thousand years ago.