My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 373 Coordination Meeting?
The matter of salt and iron was said to be discussed with his fifth brother, King Liu Fei of Jiangdu, but in fact, Liu Rong knew very well in his mind that this matter was more of an order than a 'discussion'.

If Liu Rong made up his mind to set up Jiangdu State and coastal areas including the former Wu State's territory as salt-producing areas, and then designated the bronze smelting areas within the former Wu State as steel production areas, then the role that King Jiangdu Liu Fei could play in it would be just a subordinate who knelt on the ground and kowtowed, respectfully listening to the interrogation.

If you are more proactive and help Liu Rong deal with everything, maybe you can even get some profit from it.

At the very least, the jobs created by the salt and iron industries can gradually improve the living standards of Jiangdu’s citizens and increase national income, thereby indirectly improving Jiangdu’s wealth and economy.

If you don't cooperate~
Not to mention that King Liu Fei of Jiangdu had no reason not to cooperate with Liu Rong;
Even if there was, Liu Rong wouldn't have a headache about it at all.

——A three-legged toad is hard to find, but Liu Rong, the King of Jiangdu, has plenty of two-legged ones!

It was no problem for Liu Rong to move whichever brother was obedient to Jiangdu and put him in charge of coordinating the salt and iron industries.

Having made up his mind, Liu Rong's first step was naturally to summon the ministers in the court who were related to the matter and, under the pretext of "discussion", reveal his political intentions.

Of course;
Since it is a discussion, we must also explore in depth the feasibility of the specific plan, as well as the obstacles that may be encountered and the issues that need to be coordinated.

Taking these aspects into consideration, Liu Rong controlled the scale of this discussion meeting to less than ten people.

The first person to bear the brunt was naturally the prime minister of the time: Liu She, Marquis of Tao.

On the one hand, the salt and iron affairs involved a wide range of issues. As the prime minister and head of the outer court, Liu Rong was the first one to clarify and unify his thoughts and form a united front.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Liu She was a little special.

It was not because Liu She was more "unprincipled" than the successive prime ministers of the Han Dynasty in the past decades, and was more willing to unconditionally obey the will of the Han emperor;

This is because Prime Minister Liu She was different from any other prime minister in the past who first served as the internal historian to govern Guanzhong, then served as the deputy prime minister as a substitute, and finally took on the position of prime minister.

——The Prime Minister Liu She was promoted from the Shaofu.

The affairs of salt and iron, in a broader sense, are major policies of the country, but in a narrower sense, or from a more realistic perspective, they are actually just a business.

At best, it is a bulk commodity business that requires state intervention.

Since it is a business, especially a business that aims to create profits, improve the country's financial situation and enrich the Shaofu's treasury pockets, it is natural that the Shaofu will be primarily responsible.

The current Shaofu is the well-known 'Wanshijun': Shi Fen.

Shi Fen was the most famous person in the political arena of the Han Dynasty. Apart from the five 2,000-stone officials in his family, he was privately called "Mr. Wan Shi" by the previous emperor. Among these five 2,000-stone officials, from Shi Fen onwards, all of them were mediocre people who followed the rules.

It may be unfair to say that they are mediocre.

After all, since the founding of the Han Dynasty, governing by inaction and recuperating have always been the national policies that the Han Dynasty has resolutely implemented from top to bottom.

In such an environment, those who can climb up to a high position step by step and hold an official position of 2,000 stones will inevitably be affected by the environment.

To put it bluntly, when the general environment tends to be radical, it is almost impossible for officials who climb up to the top to be conservative;

On the contrary, when the general environment tends to be conservative and stability is the priority, radicals are unlikely to rise to high positions in government.

Over the past fifty years or so, under the Han Dynasty's political environment of "ruling by doing nothing," there have emerged countless "mediocrities" like Shi Fen who have no subjective initiative at all and who have risen to higher and higher positions simply by executing instructions from their superiors.

From the beginning, Cao Shen, the successful Han Xiang, advised Emperor Xiaohui not to make any changes and to completely retain the policies formulated by Emperor Taizu and Xiangguo Xiao.

Later, Han Prime Minister Chen Ping and Grand Commandant Zhou Bo were given full control of Empress Dowager Lü's unreasonable plans, and were sometimes arranged into an S shape and sometimes into an M shape.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the Shi Fen family, Lord Wanshi, climbed from a minor official during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao to a high position of 2,000 stones by virtue of decades of unwavering obedience.

As a result, during the reign of the previous emperor, there was a man named Saihou Zhibuyi who became an official purely because of his high moral character and eventually became one of the Nine Ministers...

All I can say is that heroes are made by the times.

The times will create the kind of "heroes".

When a new dynasty is established, a group of talented and brave people will emerge, who are later called the founding fathers.
When the world is at peace and the country is prosperous and the people are safe, there will emerge many "capable ministers who can govern the country", that is, famous officials and wise prime ministers.

The corruption of the bureaucracy and the weakness of the dynasty will naturally give rise to a group of ambitious people who want to bite off a piece of meat from the corrupt dynasty in order to strengthen themselves and ultimately change the world and continue a new cycle.

Over the past fifty years or so, the overall political environment of the Han Dynasty has given rise to a large number of officials like Shi Fen who abide by their duties and can fully implement the principle of "ruling by doing nothing", but therefore do not have any ability to "do anything".

Such officials can neither be described as good nor bad.

At least in the past few decades, these officials have become the most solid and powerful, as well as the most trustworthy executors of the Han Dynasty's major policies of "ruling by inaction" and "recuperation and restoration."

But by the time of Liu Rong, the overall political environment of the Han Dynasty was clearly undergoing some earth-shaking changes.

——Rule by doing nothing, so much for that;
——Rest and recuperate, and you’ll be done.

What we need to do next is no longer to develop in a low-key manner and accumulate strength in the style of "ruling by doing nothing", but to develop vigorously, take big steps forward, and rapidly strengthen ourselves.

Today's Han Dynasty no longer needs to recuperate, but has already ended the process of recuperation and is about to enter the next dynasty stage: accumulating strength and then ruling the world!
Such a transformation naturally requires corresponding changes in the overall style of the bureaucracy.

However, such a change could not happen overnight, nor could it be brought about by a mere edict from Liu Rong.

Take Shi Fen as an example. Shi Fen himself is an old-fashioned official who is "deadly ill" and has the characteristics of the "old times". He is impossible to reform.

Thanks to Shi Fen, the four second-generation sons of the Shi family were all younger versions of Shi Fen without exception.

Therefore, if Liu Rong wanted the Shi family to produce a new generation of officials with new ideas who could be used easily by him, he had to at least wait until Shi Fen passed away, the second generation of the Shi family would fade out of the court, and the next generation would not be influenced by their father and grandfather, and would grow up to be in line with the development of the times and the new ecology of the general environment.

Liu Rong obviously couldn't wait that long;

Therefore, the Shi family will inevitably face decline during Liu Rong's reign.

If they want to rise again and re-enter the court, it depends on whether the third and fourth generations of the Shi family can take advantage of the time when their fathers and grandfathers can still provide them with some political resources and produce a few capable officials.

If not, by the fifth generation, the Shi family would probably have declined to the point where even if young talents emerged, they would be unable to protect them and bring them to the court.

Back to the topic.

Liu Rong was about to start planning the salt and iron industry, and the Shaofu treasury was of utmost importance. The Shaofu Qing was a key figure that could not be avoided.

But the current Shaofu Qing is Shi Fen, the Wanshi Jun, who is submissive and only knows how to execute, but has no subjective initiative at all. Therefore, in the matter of salt and iron, Liu Rong is likely to discuss the issues related to the Shaofu with the old Shaofu, the current Prime Minister Liu She.

——Compared to Shi Fen, even though he had resigned as Shaofu for several years, Liu She was still the 'Shaofu issues expert' that Liu Rong preferred.

Liu She, the 'honorary Shaofu' in Liu Rong's mind, was present, and the real Shaofu Shi Fen naturally could not be absent.

Even if Shi Fen could not understand Liu Rong's intention, he should at least let Shi Fen know what the court was going to do next, so that when the time came for the specific operations, Shi Fen, the Shaofu, would not be able to keep up with the pace.

Except for Prime Minister Liu She and Shaofu Shi Fen, the rest are basically the most important officials in the court.

——On the one hand, the Deputy Prime Minister and Imperial Censor Dou Ying attended the meeting on behalf of Empress Dowager Dou of the Eastern Palace. On the other hand, he also participated in this high-level political discussion meeting as the Deputy Prime Minister to accumulate political experience for his future position as Prime Minister.

The Internal History Han Anguo, known as the 'Prime Minister of Guanzhong' by the common people, naturally also appeared in this discussion meeting.

At this point, among the three dukes and nine ministers of the Han Dynasty, a total of eleven people (the grand marshal was idle), the four most important ones: the prime minister, the chief censor, the historian, and the minister of the interior, had all arrived.

The remaining seven - Dian Ke, Zong Zheng, Tai Fu, Da Li (Ting Wei), Wei Wei, Lang Zhong Ling, and Feng Chang - had nothing to do with this matter, so Liu Rong did not call them.

Instead, several young people were summoned by Liu Rong to attend this high-level meeting in the name of "auditing".

——The Umbrella Minister Ji An!
——Zhang Tang, the chief of the Criminal Justice Department under Dali!

And, the descendant of the "sage" Yan Hui, who had just been selected to serve as a palace attendant: Yan Yi.

It was obvious that Liu Rong wanted to use this political meeting, which was more economic-oriented, to broaden the horizons of these three new stars in the court and increase their knowledge.

But in the eyes of the other four ministers, Liu Rong's arrangement did have a different flavor...

"Your Majesty, this is..."

"Has the person in charge of the salt and iron affairs been decided?"

Once this guess appeared in their minds, the four of them felt more and more that they were right.

Look at these three!
Ji An - a descendant of an official family, whose ancestors had been officials for generations. He could summarize the twists and turns in officialdom into a book of ancestral precepts!

In addition, Ji An himself was a "moral gentleman" in his official career. He was upright and principled.

That is, he understands the ecology of officialdom, that is, the various overt and covert rules, and at the same time is highly principled - a perfect candidate for an imperial censor.

Zhang Tang is even more obvious, the answer is right on the riddle: a new generation hero of Dali (Tingwei), a legal talent!
At the same time, although Zhang Tang could be considered the son of an official, he had experienced a period of decline in his family fortunes after his father passed away. He had a very deep understanding of the grassroots, especially everything in the local villages.

A legal talent, familiar with the grassroots - he is definitely a good judge, the kind that can catch anyone accurately!

The last Yan Yi doesn’t seem to be anything special, but when compared with the previous two people, he is quite amazing.

Just imagine;
After the salt and iron issues were settled, Liu Rong sent these three people to Jiangdu.

Since the goal is to monopolize salt and iron, it will inevitably and naturally affect the existing salt and steel merchants.

Although personal safety will not be in jeopardy, there will always be attacks from both sides.

By then, according to the configuration of these three people - a potential censor, a judge, and a descendant of a sage and an academic master!
If someone really jumps out to cause trouble, Ji An will write a memorial and Zhang Tang will arrest the person. Those who should rebel will be killed!

Finally, Yan Yi, the direct descendant of Yan Hui, stepped forward to appease those academic tycoons...

"Sigh~"

"If you have made such a decision, I'm afraid your Majesty has already made up his mind about the salt and iron affairs."

"No matter how great the obstacles are, I'm afraid no one can stop Your Majesty..."

Realizing this, or coming to this conclusion through their imaginations, Liu She, Dou Ying, Han Anguo, and Shi Fen all suddenly felt a sense of solemnity.

——The matter has not been finalized yet, but Liu Rong has already arranged the people to do the work.

Even as to how to deal with things, Liu Rong had already specially found people with corresponding expertise to form the final team.

In this case, the next discussion will not involve the issue of "whether or not to establish state-run salt and iron industries".

The remaining questions are how to do it, where to do it, who to let do it, and when to start...

“Salt and iron are as important as grain and cloth—they are both related to the ancestral temples and the country, and are also important policies for the livelihood of the people.”

"When grain prices are high, the government should stabilize them so that the people can have enough food; when cloth prices are high, the government should also sell cloth at a fair price so that the people can have warm clothes."

"——Salt and iron as well."

"Since the third year of Emperor Xiaojing's reign, the price of grain in Guanzhong has been rising sharply. Later, as the crown prince, I took charge of the matter of stabilizing grain prices. Since then, our Han family has established a hundred-year policy of eating grain instead of speculating on it."

"So, the Shaofu officials managed the grain and rice, and firmly controlled the grain, which was the lifeline of the ancestral temple and the stability of the country."

...

"Five years have passed, and the grain and rice managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs may not have shown clear results yet."

"But the fundamental purpose of government-run grain management is to keep grain prices stable and ensure that the people do not suffer because of grain price fluctuations."

"And now, I am going to 'kill' the merchants again and let the Shaofu extend his hand to the salt and iron business."

"——Just like the official grain, it is still the official way of the Shaofu internal treasury, with no time limit and no limit on the purchase and sale to ensure the price is stable."

"But it is slightly different from grain: for salt and iron, the Shaofu is not only a trader, but also a hardworking farmer."

"In other words, the Shaofu's treasury is used to make salt and forge iron."

"And we will use cheap and high-quality salt and iron to force all private salt and iron merchants to go to other businesses, so as to achieve a complete monopoly on salt and iron."

"The many difficulties of this matter are the main points I wish to discuss with you today."

(End of this chapter)