"When the letter arrived, from now on, I ordered the county magistrate to cast money and make money according to the law."
The right to mint money is equivalent to the right to issue currency in later generations. If it is the source of wealth, it can be directly transformed into actual power. Therefore, the transfer of minting power in the Han Dynasty actually hides the game between centralization and decentralization. In Xiaowu During the period when Emperor Qiangang was dictatorial, the central government used absolute power to subdue the local governments and monopolized the right to mint money for nearly a hundred years. Until Wang Mang's restructuring, for various reasons, especially to gain the support of local powerful men for his attempt to usurp the throne, The right to mint money was returned to the local government as a sign of good relations.
Just as economic policies such as salt and iron monopoly and equalized output were abolished, once the minting power is decentralized to the localities, it will be very difficult to take it back to the central government.
Emperor Guangwu did not have the courage of Emperor Xiaowu, and he relied on the tycoons of Nanyang and Hebei to make his fortune. He was unable to weaken the tycoons of various places. He had no choice but to follow the rules created by Wang Mang and allow counties to mint their own currency. Although Jincao was established under the Taiwei, It is used exclusively for money supply and is responsible for managing local minted currency. However, it only conducts macro-control and does not directly participate in specific minting.
Emperor Guangwu and all subsequent emperors advocated the promotion of Confucianism and Confucianism in selecting officials. As a result, there were few economic talents like Sang Hongyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty who could intuitively see clearly how the right to mint money can stimulate the economic development of a country. , the importance of regulating the market and stabilizing prices.
From the emperor down to the officials, no one understood the art of economics and did not pay attention to the casting and circulation of currency. For a period of time, they even regarded it as a scourge. For example, emperors such as Xiaozhang and Xiaohuan repeatedly "sealed money". The "forbidden coinage" order cut off the minting of currency. This is why in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty, only the prosperity of Confucianism was praised by later generations, but the economic and other achievements were not as dazzling as those of the Western Han Dynasty.
Zhang Chang, the young master, listened to the emperor's eloquent explanation of the changes in the coinage rights of the Han Dynasty. At first, he thought that this was just the evolution of the past dynasties, but later he suddenly realized that the emperor wanted to imitate Emperor Xiaowu and take over the world's prefectures. The power of minting money lies with the central government?
As the emperor spoke, his eyes wandered between the chief minister Zhou Zhong and the young master Zhang Chang, and then stared closely at Zhang Chang. Now Zhang Chang controls the forbidden wealth, the mountains, rivers and ponds. , taxed hundreds of merchants and merchants, and even held the power of salt and iron. Although Zhang Chang had always followed the emperor's lead, in view of the principle of decentralization of central bank and finance in later generations, the emperor feared that even if the coinage power was taken back to the central government this time, he would not be able to hand it over to the other party. On hand.
Zhang Changhui, the young master, misunderstood and thought that the emperor's gaze meant he had great trust. His heart suddenly jumped: "Your Majesty, the law of money is now corrupted and currency is not good. If you want to make money the main thing and use grain, silk and other materials as a supplement, When taxes are levied, five baht should be newly minted and the money law should be re-established so that people can use money to trade again. However, money has always been minted by counties and counties in various places. The shape of the minted five baht is uneven, and the weight, thickness, and thickness are all uneven. The coins are chaotic and not as sophisticated as those of the previous generation. In my humble opinion, the government should take the lead in coining coins this time, and should not continue to let the counties and counties go their own way."
There is only one Jin Cao in the central court, which is the responsible department that directly manages minting matters. Although it was not directly involved in the specific minting in the past, it was only responsible for monitoring the quality of local mints. But now the emperor intends to take back the minting rights and mint five baht, so the minting It should be a matter of course that power is handed over to Jin Cao. If so, then Jin Cao's power will skyrocket, and along with Jin Cao's direct superior, the status of Taiwei Dong Cheng will also rise.
Back then, Deng Tong was favored by Emperor Xiaowen and was given the right to mint coins, making him the richest man in the world. Now Dong Cheng and Dong Feng happen to be sitting in this key position. How could they not plan for this? This was originally the story of Dong Cheng and his subordinates.
Dong Feng, who has transferred his subordinates from the cavalry general to the Jin Cao Dynasty, has been plotting these days. However, looking at Zhang Chang's appearance and the emperor's attitude, it seems that he wants the minting power to be handed over to the Shaofu like salt and iron?
This is not possible.
Dong Cheng took a deep breath and interjected: "Your Majesty, I think that the money law is not good, mainly due to the lack of regulation. It should be a new five-baht coin standard, and it should be cast uniformly. Your Majesty's gold cao is responsible for currency, salt, and iron. Your Majesty's new
Open a special business and assign the key points of salt and iron to the Shaofu. Therefore, Jin Cao is now only responsible for money and cloth, and is in charge of the money collection of past dynasties. Now it is necessary to mint five new bahts. In order to ensure the unity of power, Jin Caoxiang should handle it. "
In and out of his words, he was aggrieved that Jin Cao's power was repeatedly deprived of power by the young master. He also reminded the emperor that the power in the hands of the young master was already great enough. Even from the perspective of reasonable distribution of power, he should not give any more power.
More.
Zhang Chang relied on his good relationship with the emperor's uncle Wang Bin, so he was not very afraid of Dong Cheng, the emperor's father-in-law. Moreover, he believed that the right to mint money was given to the Shaofu by the Holy Heart, and Dong Cheng was not allowed to comment.
. So he said disapprovingly: "Jin Cao has never minted money. He only has a few coin models and no qualified craftsmen. If he entrusts it hastily, it may not be possible."
"When Ma Gong was a Taiwei, the Shaofu took over the power of salt and iron affairs from Jincao. I complained about it at that time, but I was not in charge of it and it was inconvenient to speak. Now that I am a Taiwei, how can I sit back and watch the Shaofu continue to work?
To seize the power of the Jin Cao to provide currency? If so, what is the purpose of Emperor Guangwu setting up the Jin Cao?" Dong Cheng opened his eyes angrily, straightened his waist and looked at Zhang Chang. He has been in the military for a long time and is tall, which makes him look imposing.
Lingren.
Even though there was Wang Bin's power standing behind Zhang Chang, he was overwhelmed by Dong Cheng's momentum and couldn't help but wince. He only heard Dong Cheng's heart-wrenching words: "The young man controls the forbidden goods, and the salt and iron merchants
Taxes, and now you are still thinking about minting coins. This act of taking power and infringing on your duties is too much!"
Situ Ma Rixi, who had been sitting silently for a long time, did not expect that Dong Cheng would involve him. He felt funny in his heart and couldn't help but glance at the other party. Unintentionally, he suddenly saw that the servants Yang Qi and Xun You below him were looking down in thought.
Then I realized that the two of them seemed to have been silent from the beginning, as if they were just here to fill the scene.
Xun You was humble and low-key, and was good at military affairs but not economics. It is reasonable for him to choose to hide his clumsiness in this situation. But Yang Qi has been in charge of social affairs for many years, so it is impossible for him to have no opinion on this matter, and the recasting of the five baht is
The benefits were so great that even Ma Rixi was tempted. Would Yang not care?
Could it be that Huang Wan's recent deposing was a big blow to the Yang family? But Huang Wan only suffered it on behalf of the emperor, and he will recover sooner or later. The Yang family has not broken his bones, so why is he so timid?
Are you more afraid of showing up than before?
Thinking of this, Ma Rixi's eager mind suddenly cooled down. In this flash of lightning, Ma Rixi had already carefully recalled the recent events in his mind. When he came back to his senses, he heard