My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 379: Lord Commandant?

Thinking of this, Liu She raised his head with anticipation and had a frequent eye contact with Liu Rong.

When Liu Rong smiled faintly and nodded barely perceptibly, Liu Shefang took a deep breath, quickly adjusted his emotions, and forced himself to quickly absorb this explosive news.

——Higher quality salt and iron!

Liu She had no doubt at all whether Liu Rong could do it.

The reason is simple: there is precedent.

Five years ago, the rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu had just been put down, and the price of grain in Guanzhong suddenly skyrocketed. An undercurrent appeared out of nowhere on the foundation of the Liu Han state, ready to shake the Han family's rule over Chinese civilization at any time.

The crown prince at that time, now Emperor Rong, was entrusted by the late Emperor Xiaojing to stabilize the grain prices.

In this matter, it may be an exaggeration to say that the late emperor entrusted the ancestral temple and the altar of the country to him;
But at least the late emperor handed over state affairs, which were of great importance and for which there were almost no good solutions in the court, to the hands of a rookie at that time.

Over the past five years, countless people have carefully broken down and analyzed Liu Rongping's entire process of suppressing grain prices, and summarized the political wisdom and tactics involved.

From Liu She's point of view, the reason why Liu Rong was able to stabilize grain prices so easily and even bite back a bite of flesh from the mastermind behind the scenes: Princess Guantao, was the most crucial point, which was Su wheat.

——The barley that was stored as miscellaneous grains in the Shaofu treasury was rarely used. Over time, it accumulated to several million dan, and was directly converted by Liu Rong into a staple food that was no less than millet with his amazing method of 'turning stone into gold'!
On the supply side of the grain market, a batch of grain reserves suddenly appeared, which was beyond everyone's expectations. This allowed Liu Rong to win a great victory. Except for Princess Guantao Liu Piao, all the scum who participated in the grain price gouging incident were sent to see Emperor Taizu Gao.

In the past few years, when people talked about the events of the past, some flattered and some sycophantic;
Even when discussing the incident itself, people mostly said that Liu Rong was tough enough and resolute enough in his attitude, so much so that he didn't even have to worry about his own aunt Liu Piao.

But as a financial professional who came from the Shaofu, Liu She knew very well that many things in this world, especially those involving political affairs at the national level, could not be achieved simply by firm determination and tough tactics.

This is not to say that determination and skill are not important when it comes to matters concerning the national level;

It’s the two cards of determination and skill, which are like the appearance conditions in the blind date market in later generations - combined with any other cards, it will be a king bomb.

But if it is played alone, it will be worthless, it is better to play three.

The same principle applies to political affairs at the national level.

To put it bluntly: Which is better, determination or skill?

——A good cook cannot cook without rice!
No matter how determined you are or how strong your tactics are, without the necessary prerequisites, they will be nothing but rootless duckweed.

It’s just like how Liu Rong stabilized the grain price back then - if there was no grain, what good would Liu Rong’s determination be?
What can a strong wrist do?

At that time, inside and outside the court, who was less determined than Liu Rong?

Among the core decision-makers who controlled the Han Dynasty at that time - the former Emperor Liu Qi and Prime Minister Shentu Jia, who was not more resourceful than Liu Rong?
Therefore, in Liu She's view, the determination and skill shown by Liu Rong in stabilizing grain prices that year only brought Liu Rong to the passing line in the big test concerning the crown prince.

That's it.

What really raised Liu Rong's test score from barely passing to close to full marks and actually solved the problem concerning the stability of the ancestral temple and the country was that Liu Rong 'turned stone into gold', or 'turned wheat into millet', and created millions of dan of grain.

Without those millions of shi of wheat, which were converted by Liu Rong into pasta for the common people to eat, the incident that year would have ended with Liu Rong's failure to stabilize grain prices. The late emperor had no choice but to resort to the worst possible strategy: bloody suppression, by slaughtering grain merchants, confiscating their grain stocks, and then stabilizing grain prices as an end.

In that incident, what really impressed Liu She was Liu Rong's ability to respond by "turning wheat into millet".

Liu She remembered it very clearly: Back then, even when the situation was the worst, Liu Rong never panicked, and always looked calm and confident.

Liu She was certain that Liu Rong had already prepared the backup plan of "transforming wheat into millet" when he first started to prepare to stabilize grain prices.

Now, Liu Rong has come forward again, implicitly suggesting that the future Shaofu will be able to produce salt and iron products with better quality and lower prices, and thus gradually achieve a complete monopoly on the salt and iron markets through normal market competition?
Liu She could only say: If anyone else, no matter who it is, said such ignorant words, I would give him a brain explosion to wake up the fool who is living in a dream;
But since this is what your Majesty said, I can only bow my head and kowtow to you, and I will be loyal to you even if I die...

This is the importance of "precedent".

——When you do something for the first time, do it beautifully. Then from now on, no one will doubt that you will not do it beautifully when faced with similar things.

A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow, that's exactly the truth...

"Since Your Majesty has made up his mind, then I, your humble servant, will bow my head..."

He bowed to Liu Rong with undisguised admiration and said some polite words. Liu She then changed the subject and brought the topic back to the specific operating models and measures.

In the whole proposition of state-run salt and iron, the most difficult point is undoubtedly the specific implementation department...

"But there is one thing I dare to say, risking my life to make a direct appeal."

As expected, Liu Rong said "yes", and then Liu She took a deep breath, sat upright in his seat, and immediately expressed his worries.

"Back then, Your Majesty was in charge of the government-run rice. The reason why the Shaofu was able to accomplish this task so easily was because the only thing the Shaofu needed to do was to buy, store, and sell the official rice."

"Among them, the two items of buying and selling can actually be ignored - to sell grain, the common people can bring it to Chang'an to sell, and to sell grain, they can still buy it from the official grain shops in the East and West Markets."

"In terms of buying and selling, the Shaofu doesn't actually need to put in much effort."

···
"The only remaining storage problem has been solved because Your Majesty has built a granary in the southern suburbs of Chang'an."

"——The purchased grain only needs to be transported by the Shaofu for a few dozen miles from Chang'an to Taicang for storage;"

"When the grain in Taicang is sold, it will be transported to Chang'an regularly and in fixed quantities within ten days for sale by the Shaofu treasury."

"Buying and selling are effortless, and storage is just a by-product - even if there is no official grain, the Taicang is supposed to store the grain reserves of the Shaofu treasury."

"It is precisely because of the above reasons that the Shaofu official's grain and rice can be managed so easily and effortlessly."

"But salt and iron..."

It’s still the same old rule: don’t say too much, just stop when you have said enough.

Liu Rong understood immediately after hearing the hesitant "Yes, salt and iron".

After pondering for a moment, he replied, "What the Prime Minister said makes sense."

"——There is no need to worry about buying and selling, and no need to worry about storage. Even so, the Shaofu has only expanded the scope of the official grain to the entire Guanzhong area."

"The northern border, the Guandong counties and kingdoms, as well as Hanzhong, Bashu, etc., are not included in the list of official grains of the Shaofu."

"The reason is that in Guanzhong, the government-run grain and rice can be easily completed by the Shaofu with just a few granaries and a hundred grain sales points."

"But if we want to implement the government-run rice policy throughout the country, then whether it is the transportation, storage, purchase or sale of rice, it will cost the Shaofu hundreds or thousands of times more effort and energy."

"And this is something that the current Shaofu cannot accomplish."

As soon as Liu Rong said this, Liu She nodded immediately, and the emperor and his minister quickly reached a consensus on this point.

As I said before: the Shaofu is very powerful, but the burden on the Shaofu's shoulders is also frighteningly heavy.

It was just like the saying in later generations, "With great power comes great responsibility" - a Shaofu with such powerful abilities would also have such heavy responsibilities that it would make one gasp. If the Shaofu were to run the salt and iron business - or even expand the scope of the official rice business to the entire Han Dynasty, it would drain at least 90% of the Shaofu's manpower and energy.

By then, Liu Rong would not find it strange at all even if the Shaofu was shut down due to severe shortage of manpower and excessively heavy government affairs.

Since the Shaofu is unable to bear the cost, can we consider other departments?

The answer is: No.

First of all, the concept of government-run enterprises, as a prehistoric version of the word "monopoly", must be promoted with the state apparatus as the theme.

The monopoly of state-owned enterprises also involves the central finances and even the centralization of power;

Liu Rong could not hand this matter over to the outer court.

No matter whether it is grain, rice, salt or iron, as long as it has something to do with the word "government-run", it must be under the full responsibility of the Shaofu!

Apart from the Shaofu who is responsible for the specific implementation and the emperor who controls the overall situation, no third party forces will be allowed to interfere!
Secondly, even if one puts aside one's selfish motives and actually conducts a bidding within the Han court, the final winner will most likely still be the Shaofu.

——Shaofu is already the least busy department in the Han Dynasty with the most abundant human resources.

Take a look at the Prime Minister’s residence?

What about working overtime and 996 - they get busy around the end of the year and don't go home for ten days or half a month. When they are hungry, they eat while working, and when they are tired, they fall asleep as soon as they lie down. This is completely the daily routine of the Xiangfu.

The Shaofu, which has the least administrative pressure and the most abundant human resources, cannot cope with an official business of this scale, not to mention other departments that are already busy and work 996 or intermittent 007.

The last point, and also the most important one, is that the Shaofu is already the largest and most capable department of the Han family.

Even the ability of the Xiangfu to "take charge" is not as good as that of the Shaofu who is working at full capacity.

If there was a department in the Han Dynasty that could accomplish a major task, it would definitely be the Shaofu;

If even the Shaofu cannot accomplish it, then there is no way the Han family can accomplish it.

In this case, the problem is very simple.

——The Shaofu has other things to do, and a lot of other things, so he can’t spare the time to run the salt and iron business.

After all, Liu She could roughly guess without Liu Rong saying it: the state-run salt and iron business could not be limited to Guanzhong like the grain business.

And there was another sentence that Liu She didn't say clearly just now.

——Official grain rice has three steps: buying, storing and selling;

In addition to the same three steps, the state-run salt and iron industry has an additional step of "making".

This extra step can almost double the complexity of the whole matter and the effort required!
After all, buying, storing and selling only require controlling the buying and selling prices and ensuring warehousing safety.

There are too many things to pay attention to.

Especially for iron, before it can be made, there is even an extra process of "mining"...

Combining all these factors, we can easily draw the conclusion that the state-run Salt and Iron Industry needs a department as powerful as the Shaofu - at least not much weaker than the Shaofu, and without any other active departments under his command to be in charge.

But the Han family does not have such a department now.

Since it doesn't exist, we can only create it.

Create a department like the Shaofu, which is wealthy, powerful, and has control over countless human and material resources, but does not need to take care of anything else but only need to run the state-run salt and iron departments well.

How easy is that?
This is no less than creating another Shaofu No. 2 in addition to the Shaofu!
Just like when the country was founded, there was the Minister of Grain in addition to the Minister of Internal Affairs, and there was the Minister of Crafts in addition to the Minister of the Treasury - should we also have another Minister of Salt and Iron?
"Your Majesty, could you discuss this matter with the East Palace?"

Instinctively, Liu She asked about the "legality" of this matter.

But after seeing a fleeting hint of displeasure in Liu Rong's eyes, Liu She immediately lowered his head and returned to his previous frowning and thoughtful state.

Liu She was very clear that Liu Rong was deliberately showing his unhappiness to him.

It was that deliberately expressed displeasure that reminded Liu She in time: the Taohou family had been the most loyal henchmen of Emperor Liu Han since the day it was born.

The ancestral motto of the Taohou family is: swear allegiance to the emperor of Han until death, and be loyal to whoever is the emperor;
Rather than: Swear allegiance to the Queen Mother of Han, who is the Queen Mother...

"During the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, Chao Cuo proposed 'donating titles by paying for grain', allowing the people to exchange the titles they wanted for the price of delivering grain to the northern border."

"In order to handle this matter, Emperor Taizong Xiaowen once established a position called the Lieutenant General of the Imperial Court."

"——Initially, the lieutenant in charge of all matters related to the donation of grain and titles was in charge, with a rank of two thousand stones."

"Then Emperor Xiaojing changed the system and promoted the lieutenant of the chief nobility to the rank of two thousand stones, and was also in charge of the inheritance of nobility and imperial edicts for the sons of kings and marquises."

...

"My opinion: change the title of lieutenant to the title of captain."

"——Advance to the rank of middle 2,000 koku!"

"——Silver seal and blue ribbon, the nine ministers of the Han Dynasty!"

"It has a big farm under it, and the main grain rice is government-run;"

"The Salt and Iron Bureau was established to manage the salt and iron business;"

"They also set up warehouses for money, grain, salt, and iron, all separate from the Shaofu."

Liu Rong finally revealed his true colors: Lord Commandant!
However, Liu She fell into a long period of shock and a tremor from the depths of his soul.

"Captain of the Lord..."

"Middle 2,000 koku..."

...

"Silver seal and blue ribbon..."

"Nine... ministers?"

"Jiu Qing..."

(End of this chapter)