My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 616 The Reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing Were All in Vain!
Of course.

Since these powerful figures have already resorted to any means necessary to make money, it's no longer limited to simply exploiting the people and violating the law.

Putting aside other matters, just consider those nobles and relatives who jumped out to oppose Liu Rong when he was in charge of stabilizing grain prices.

By jumping out at that critical juncture to oppose Liu Rong, who was about to be established as heir apparent, even with Liu Piao, the Princess of Guantao, leading the charge, their courage was undeniable.

At the time, Liu Rong didn't react immediately.

It must be because these nobles and relatives of the emperor each supported grain merchants, and Liu Rongping's suppression of grain prices touched their interests, which is why they jumped out so fearlessly.

Later, Liu Rong slowly realized that the group of nobles and relatives who jumped out at that time were not all those who were dissatisfied with Liu Rong's efforts to stabilize grain prices, but only a representative of them.

In fact, all the meritorious marquises and nobles—those who had fiefdoms and tax revenues—were dissatisfied with Liu Rong's efforts to stabilize grain prices and the Chang'an court's actions each time.

The reason is simple: the tax revenue from the fiefdom that Marquis Che received was the same as the agricultural tax received by the imperial court and the national treasury, both of which were in the form of grain.

In addition, the agricultural taxes collected by the current Han dynasty's prime minister's office and the national treasury, like the rent and taxes collected by marquises and nobles, are all collected proportionally based on actual output, that is, one-thirtieth.

This ensured that the agricultural tax revenue of the Prime Minister's treasury and the rental tax revenue of the Marquis and nobles remained at a fairly stable level.

—In Guanzhong, the average yield per mu (a unit of land area) is only a little over three shi (another unit of water).

An ordinary person owns a hundred acres of land and receives about three hundred bushels of millet annually. The agricultural tax is about ten bushels, unless it is a year of great disaster or a bumper harvest. Otherwise, the tax will fluctuate within one bushel, which is nine to eleven bushels.

Without exception, all of Chehou Xun Gui's fiefdoms were located in Guandong.

A small plot of land in Northeast China.

Compared to the large mu (a unit of land measurement) in Guanzhong, which is one step wider and two hundred and forty steps longer, the small mu (a unit of land measurement) in Guandong is one step wider and one hundred and twenty steps longer.

The actual area of ​​a small mu in Guandong is only half that of a large mu in Guanzhong.

With half the arable land area, grain production will naturally be reduced by half.

However, because the climate conditions in the Guandong region—especially the climate conditions south of the Yellow River—are slightly better than those in Guanzhong, the grain yield per mu in the Guandong region, which practices small-scale farming, can reach about two shi (a unit of dry measure).

This means that in Guandong, even if a farmer owned a hundred acres of land, he could only earn about two hundred bushels of millet after a year of hard work.

The agricultural tax was one-thirtieth of the harvest. With a grain output of about two hundred shi, the agricultural tax was less than seven shi, between six and seven shi.

Moreover, this number is very stable.

It is difficult to see significant improvement, and unless there is a war or flood, there will rarely be a noticeable decline.

This resulted in the annual tax revenue received by the nobles and relatives of the marquises being almost constant: each household in their fiefdom contributed about seven shi of tax.

A fiefdom with one thousand households yields only seven thousand shi (a unit of grain), and a fiefdom with ten thousand households yields only seventy thousand shi.

As mentioned earlier, whether for lofty ambitions or for the long-term prosperity of their families, the marquises had no choice but to stay in Chang'an as much as possible.
The high cost of residing in Chang'an was far beyond what the taxes and rents from the fiefdoms of marquises could cover.

Therefore, in addition to the steady income from taxes, which has been passed down through generations, the marquises would also go to great lengths to find other ways to "make a living through shady means".

However, engaging in illicit activities does not mean that nobles and relatives of high rank do not take their fiefdom taxes seriously.

After all, engaging in shady dealings carries risks.

Only by establishing fiefdoms and imposing taxes can meritorious nobles and their relatives receive a stable, risk-free income.

Just like the "iron rice bowl" in later generations—no matter how high the income from a side job is, the "iron rice bowl" must never be lost.

Even if the income from a secure job can't even cover the taxes and fees of a side job, it's still a secure job.

It is confidence, it is a guarantee, and it is also a way out.

Based on this long-standing and widely accepted consensus in Chinese history, the marquises still treated their fiefdom taxes with great care when dealing with various incomes.

Even a small amount cannot be taken lightly.

Among them were some families of the Marquis of Chehou who placed great importance on the taxes of their fiefdoms, or rather, who were heavily reliant on taxes for their livelihood. They were very sensitive to grain prices and had a strong tendency to dictate grain prices to the central government.

In the eyes of these people, engaging in shady dealings is risky, and not just anyone can succeed—it requires both boldness and meticulousness, as well as certain abilities and skills.

However, the grain produced by the taxes of the fiefdoms could be easily sold for much higher, or even several times, more, prices by these nobles simply by using their connections and clever minds.

For example, nowadays, the price of grain has been basically fixed by Liu Rong at less than thirty coins per shi. A marquis with a fief of a thousand households can only get seven thousand shi of rent and tax per year, which is equivalent to only two hundred and ten thousand coins.

But just eight years before Liu Rong had stabilized grain prices and started to monopolize grain production, the same fiefdom of a thousand households and the same rent of seven thousand shi could be sold for more than four hundred thousand shi at a price of about sixty qian per shi!
In the early years of Emperor Taizong, the price of grain in Guanzhong was generally around 100 coins, so 7,000 shi of grain would cost 700,000 coins.

During the reigns of Emperor Xiaohui and Empress Lü, grain prices fluctuated between 200 and 300 coins, so the value of these 7,000 shi of grain would have ranged between 1.4 million and 2.1 million coins.

Even earlier: During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Ming Dynasty, the price of rice in Guanzhong reached as high as 8,000 coins per shi!
A marquis with a fief of a thousand households, who received seven thousand bushels of grain in taxes, could still sell his property for a sky-high price of fifty-six million!

From a peak of 56 million coins at the beginning of the dynasty to 210,000 coins during Liu Rong's reign—as grain prices declined, the income of nobles and marquises shrank by more than 99% without anyone noticing.

—Fifty-six million coins, even one percent of that is still fifty-six hundred thousand!
This historical trend was clearly beyond the control of the powerful figures.

However, before Liu Rongping suppressed grain prices and took over the government's grain reserves, the small fluctuations in grain prices were still within the scope of what these meritorious marquises could "manipulate".

To put it simply, the original price of fifty-five coins per shi was slightly 'adjusted' to around sixty coins. For these meritorious marquises, it wasn't even a matter of asking for permission—the official in charge of grain prices could simply bid for the horses himself.

If they were greedy, the marquises could unite and, with a flick of their fingers, control the grain market supply, and a price of around seventy coins per shi (a unit of dry measure) wouldn't be out of the question.

Although doing so might displease the emperor, as long as it wasn't too excessive, it wouldn't cause too much of a problem. In other words, given that the tax revenue of their fiefdoms was generally fixed at 'seven shi of grain per household per year', the meritorious marquises had both the ability and the willingness to manipulate grain prices to increase their actual tax revenue from their fiefdoms.

In other words, when Liu Rong took charge of stabilizing grain prices, he inadvertently set an example for government-run grain trading, which did not only offend a small group of nobles and relatives who supported grain merchants and invested in the grain market.

Rather, it touched upon the most fundamental and core interests of every meritorious nobleman.

As for why the marquises did not launch a full-scale attack against him, but only a small group of representatives stood up to oppose Liu Rong, that is a relatively complex question.

Firstly, Liu Rong's power was already established, and he was about to be established as the heir apparent;

The late emperor seemed to regard stabilizing grain prices as the final test for whether Liu Rong could be established as the heir apparent.

At such a critical juncture, rather than risk making enemies of the future crown prince or preventing Liu Rong from being successfully established as crown prince for a little bit of petty gain, the meritorious marquises would rather give up this part of the benefits and do Liu Rong a favor, or rather, do him a favor.

—Your Highness, look;
—This was originally our most important investment, but in order for His Highness to become the Crown Prince smoothly, we are willing to give it up!
—In the future, Your Highness must not forget our unwavering loyalty.

Investing in royal properties has always been a project with extremely high returns.

If one can gain the favor of the monarch, even a temporary loss will eventually be compensated many times over.

Most of the nobles and marquises at that time had this in mind.

In terms of practical benefits, the short-term extra income from the loss of grain prices that year can likely be compensated in other ways in the long term.

In terms of personal relationships, it can also make the crown prince remember you for "helping me get established as the crown prince," which is also beneficial to the future of the family.

The nobles and marquises are well aware of this.

Secondly, the nobles who had achieved great success that year were already extremely wealthy.

The Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu was a disaster for the common people and a huge expense for the central government in Chang'an, but for the nobles and marquises, it was a grand feast!
The vast wealth accumulated by King Liu Bi of Wu and King Liu Wu of Chu over decades became readily available spoils of war for the pacification army after the Wu-Chu Rebellion was quelled.

In the final stages after the Battle of Suiyang ended and the Wu-Chu Rebellion was basically quelled, Zhou Yafu's army even set aside a portion of its personnel to pack up the soldiers' 'spoils of war' and send them back to Guanzhong, so that the soldiers could focus on quelling the rebellion!
Even Zhou Yafu himself!
Looking back, when Zhou Yafu was about to set out to quell the rebellion, he borrowed money everywhere to raise funds for the army. In the end, he had no choice but to borrow a thousand gold coins from Wu Yan, a moneylender in Chang'an.

This story became famous because after the war, Zhou Yafu repaid Wu Yan's family 10,000 gold coins, including interest.

One unit of capital, ninety percent interest!

People admired Wu Yan for her investment skills, especially her ability to recover the principal and interest of the high-interest loans she had made from Zhou Yafu, the Grand Commandant at the time.

Few people noticed that Zhou Yafu, who couldn't even afford a thousand gold coins before the expedition to quell the rebellion and had to borrow from loan sharks, was able to return ten thousand gold coins effortlessly after the expedition.

Where did Zhou Yafu get so much money?
If it was a reward, when Zhou Yafu pacified Wu and Chu, the late emperor and Empress Dowager Dou of the Eastern Palace each only gave him a thousand gold coins before the battle, and Zhou Yafu used them for military expenses.
When rewards were distributed after the war, Zhou Yafu's main reward was the newly conferred fief of Marquis Che, plus the political benefit of being promoted from Grand Commandant to Chancellor.

Zhou Yafu did not obtain much of the truly valuable wealth he could actually acquire.

In this way, the truth becomes obvious.

—During the suppression of the Rebellion of the Seven States in Wu and Chu, Zhou Yafu, as the commander-in-chief of the rebellion, also acquired an extremely large fortune.

This fortune was so enormous that Zhou Yafu didn't even blink before returning 10,000 gold coins to the merchant Wu Yan without feeling the slightest bit of pain.

As the commander-in-chief, Zhou Yafu needed to consider the impact, and as he was about to become prime minister, he needed to be careful about his behavior. Yet he was still able to take so much.
Not to mention those noble marquises who lead troops into battle, win easy victories, pick up heads, and don't need to worry about their behavior at all.

Leaving aside everything else, there's just one point to mention.

—Before the outbreak of the Rebellion of the Seven States, the Embroidered Uniform Guard brought back information from the Wu Kingdom that King Liu Bi's treasury contained at least tens of thousands of gold coins, plus "millions" of copper coins that could not be counted by manpower.

Before raising his army, Liu Bi traveled among the various kings of the Qi faction, using large sums of money to bribe them and their subordinates.

After raising his army, Liu Bi saw an even greater bounty than any other in Chinese history, or even in human history.

—Whoever can kill the general of Chang'an will be rewarded with five thousand gold pieces and be enfeoffed as a marquis with ten thousand households!
For beheading a general, the reward is three thousand gold pieces and a fief of five thousand households!
Slay the deputy general, reward him with a thousand gold pieces, and grant him a fief of two thousand households!

What is a subordinate general?

—Captain!
—He commanded no more than a thousand soldiers!
The rank of general was nothing more than a captain in charge of five thousand soldiers.

Not to mention that no one actually managed to cash out this reward from King Liu Bi of Wu—the fact that Liu Bi dared to make such a promise is enough to demonstrate how wealthy he was.

However, after the Wu-Chu Rebellion was quelled, the Chang'an court ultimately obtained only a little over ten thousand taels of gold and three hundred million copper coins from the treasuries of the Wu and Chu states.

According to Liu Rong's conservative estimate, even after deducting the expenses for raising troops in the Wu and Chu treasuries, more than 80% of the copper coins and more than 95% of the gold originally stored in the treasuries became spoils of war for the army that quelled the rebellion.

Among them, the majority were undoubtedly the nobles who accompanied the army on expeditions and fulfilled their KPIs.

After the war, every Marquis who went on the expedition made a fortune without exception.

Having just made a fortune, these powerful figures naturally no longer cared about the extra income from inflating grain prices and selling grain.

Thirdly, the grain prices that year were already somewhat outrageous.

As mentioned earlier, the marquises would inflate grain prices and then sell the grain obtained from their fiefdom taxes at even higher prices. As long as it wasn't too excessive, the court and the emperor would often turn a blind eye.

The imperial court might even actively cooperate!
But the problem lies precisely in the phrase "not too excessive".

That year, grain prices in Guanzhong had gone too far.

And it wasn't just a little excessive!

From the middle age of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, the price of grain had never risen above seventy coins, but before the autumn harvest that year, it actually reached the threshold of one hundred coins!
It almost returned to the level at the beginning of Emperor Taizong's reign, when the Lü Clan Rebellion had just been quelled!
What would it mean if grain prices were to return to over 100 coins per shi (a unit of dry measure)?
— This means that Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, who reigned for 23 years, and his son Emperor Xiaojing, who had been on the throne for 3 years, had wasted 26 years of their lives!
The reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing were all in vain!
(End of this chapter)