What were the merchants like in the Han Dynasty?

Sima Qian enthusiastically eulogized Huo Zhi and praised outstanding businessmen, while Jia Yi, Chao Cuo and others severely criticized "the last stream" and businessmen who engaged in "the last stream". Huo Zhi, is this an advantage or a disadvantage?

In the Qin Dynasty and the early Western Han Dynasty, the social status of businessmen was very low. During the Qin Shihuang period, businessmen had to be included in the city register. At that time, the law stipulated that businessmen with urban household registration and their descendants, like criminal officials and husbands, were detained, that is, they could be taken to the frontier to serve or settle down at any time. After the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty, most of Qin Shihuang's tyranny was abolished, but the persecution of businessmen in the Han Dynasty was not only as usual, but even worse. Emperor Gaozu stipulated that businessmen were not allowed to wear silk clothes, take buses or buy land, and they had to pay double the amount of money (the main poll tax) like handmaiden. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the garrison system of the Qin Dynasty was restored, and businessmen with urban household registration and their descendants were recruited. Businessmen are not only admitted to another book, but even their descendants are not allowed to turn over because of their poor birth. At that time, few people criticized such an unfair policy, at least we have not seen it in historical books such as Historical Records and Hanshu. On the contrary, emperors, ministers, politicians and scholars all regard agriculture as their "industry" and commerce as their "last industry" and "basic industry". People engaged in business are naturally untouchable, and we can't do much for them. Restricting and persecuting businessmen can be regarded as one of the measures of "respecting the foundation and restraining the end", so it is afraid of implementation. In most people's minds, "Ben" and "End" are completely opposite. The premise of "worshipping the base" is to suppress the end, which must be promoted at the expense of the decline of the base. It seems impossible to have the best of both worlds. For example, Jia Yi put forward in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty:

The ancients said: "A husband does not plow or suffers from hunger; Women don't knit or get cold. " When you are born, but when you use it, material resources will bend. Ancient times ruled the world, taking fiber as knowledge, so its livestock were sufficient. Today, people eat too much, which is a big defect in the world. Growing profligacy is the biggest thief in the world. Few people were born, but many were destroyed. How can the property in the world not make people frown! Today's farmers who beat the people back to their hometowns are all based on this and let the world eat their own strength. If the people at the end of the road turn to nanmu, the livestock will be enough and people will be happy.

In his view, as long as people who are not directly engaged in agricultural production, whether businessmen or craftsmen, are no different from "people who eat", they are all advocating "profligacy" and are all "big disabled people" and "big thieves". Only driving them back to the ground is the way out. There is no doubt that "from birth to death, material resources will be bent" (the production of any material takes a certain time, and if there are no restrictions on its use, material resources will definitely be unbearable). That's right. The question is whether business is just using or wasting material resources.

Chao Cuo's view is the same as Jia Yi's, but the problem is more serious:

Today, the sea is one, and the land people do not avoid the Tang Dynasty. They died of natural disasters for several years, and their livestock did not accumulate. The land has its advantages, the people have the rest, the land in the valley has not been exhausted, and the people who eat have not returned to agriculture. People are poor, and evil spirits are born. Poverty is born of shortage, shortage is born of not plowing, and if you don't plow, you won't live in the land. If you don't live in the land, you will leave your hometown and despise your family. People are like birds and beasts. Although there are high cities and deep pools, you can't ban them. Big businessmen accumulate double interest, small businessmen sit in rows and sell, which is a surprise. They run around the city every day and sell twice as much when they are in a hurry. Therefore, men don't plow, women don't weave, clothes must be written, and food must be meat; There are thousands of farmers in Qian Qian who suffer from death, because they are rich and thick, and they are in charge of princes and officials, thus benefiting each other; Take the road of Wan Li, walk in opposite directions, make full use of fertility, and drag on. The businessman annexed the peasants, who were also exiles. Now the law is cheap for businessmen, and businessmen have money; Respect farmers, farmers are poor. Jin Fang's task is to make people farm.

He attributed the lack of peace and prosperity in Shang Tang and Yu Xia to "nomads did not return to agriculture", and "nomads" obviously mainly refers to businessmen. Chao Cuo wants to bind the people to the land because he thinks that once they leave their homes, they will be as hard to ban as "birds and beasts" and pose a threat to the rulers.

Jia Yi and Chao Cuo are undoubtedly right to emphasize the importance of agriculture, but it is wrong to classify businessmen as "eaters" and "people who swim for food". It is even more unrealistic to blame businessmen for rural merger and farmers' poverty and take commercial development as the main reason for the shortage of grain reserves. Trying to increase grain reserves and improve farmers' living conditions in the way of all farmers will naturally not be possible.

Their point of view comes from the traditional concept of agricultural society, that is, "never plow, or starve;" A woman doesn't knit, or she's cold. In the case that the productive forces are extremely backward and the materials produced by everyone can only support themselves at best, everyone must directly engage in farming and weaving, and there is no possibility or surplus materials for circulation or exchange. Of course, there is no necessity and possibility for professional businessmen to exist. Because of this deep-rooted concept, although the agricultural production level in the early Western Han Dynasty can provide a material basis for the development of commerce, the existence of businessmen and commerce is absolutely necessary, and people are used to thinking that people who are not directly engaged in agricultural production get something for nothing.

In fact, not only businessmen are not directly engaged in agricultural production, but also the royal family, nobles, officials, Confucian scholars, soldiers, craftsmen and some handmaiden are supported by farmers. But the royal family and nobles are natural rulers, and officials and Confucian scholars are "cannibals". Of course, there is no need to be a laborer. Although soldiers and handmaiden didn't do farm work, they were essential money for rulers and laborers in the Han Dynasty. Therefore, only merchants and craftsmen are listed as the last industry. However, handicrafts, after all, have specific products, which are the necessities of the national economy and people's livelihood and the indispensable luxury of rulers. Therefore, the status of craftsmen is always higher than that of businessmen, and unlucky businessmen can only be the representatives of the last industry and the victims of "suppressing the end".

Another aspect that arouses people's strong dissatisfaction is their life: if they don't plow or weave, they can forget their clothes and sandals, but "clothes should be excellent and food should be good" (clothes should be bright and colorful, and food should be polished rice and fish), and big businessmen must "walk the Wan Li Road, look at each other from top to bottom, use their strength to make profits and drag their feet." Moreover, what style and material clothes to wear, what standard food to eat and what size car to take are not simple economic issues, but political issues-signs of rank and status. The enjoyment of royal aristocrats comes from their noble lineage, relying on the care of heaven and the favor of ancestors; The enjoyment of officials is the regulation of grades and the need of work; Businessmen are nothing, many of them are from humble origins, many of them are illiterate, and even if they are rich, they can live a life like a prince. Not only Confucian scholars are far behind, but even middle and low-level officials themselves lament, but their hearts are always sour. They will naturally sincerely support and strictly enforce legal means to limit the "end of career".

Sima Qian's point of view is completely different. After listing the local specialties, Biography of Huo Zhi pointed out:

Therefore, it is better to wait for farmers to eat, get out of danger, and do business by industry. It is better to have a period of integration of politics and religion. Everyone is allowed to do what he can and try his best to get what he wants. Therefore, if something is cheap, it is necessary to blame it. If it is expensive, it is necessary to persuade and enjoy it. If you go underwater, you come uninvited and the people come uninvited. Isn't it a symbol of Tao, but a test of evil by nature?

"Zhou Shu" said: "Without agriculture, there will be food shortage; If you can't get out of work, you will lack things; If there is no business, there will be three treasures; If you can't get out of danger, you will have less money. " With less money, mountains and rivers can't be built. These four things are the source of food and clothing for the people. It turns out that the big one is forgiveness, and the small one is fresh. The upper class has money, and the lower class has money. The way of the rich and the poor, don't take it, the skillful one is more than enough, and the humble one is insufficient.

That is to say, eating depends on farmers, exploiting materials depends on the competent authorities, producing utensils depends on handicrafts, and commodity circulation depends on businessmen. This does not require legal means or administrative orders at all, but requires everyone to give full play to their talents and make every effort to meet their own needs. Therefore, it is a natural law for goods to flow from places with low prices to places with high prices, just like water flowing downwards. Sima Qian regards the source of agriculture, handicrafts, commerce and raw materials (the development of Yamazawa) as the basis of people's life, and thinks that only by strengthening this foundation can rich countries become rich. In Sima Qian's eyes, commerce, handicrafts and agriculture have the same status, and there is no distinction between end and end.

It is worth noting that the words in Zhou Shu quoted by Sima Qian can't be found in Shangshu circulated today, and may have been lost, but I suspect that they were deleted by Confucian scholars with ulterior motives.

Sima Qian eloquently proved the importance of commerce with a large number of examples and recorded the achievements of some famous businessmen. If we don't take it out of context, we have to admit that it is only natural that businessmen, handicraft owners and livestock owners praised by Sima Qian get great wealth. Let's look at a few examples:

Zhuo's ancestors in Shu county were from Zhao, who made a fortune by smelting iron. After Qin Shihuang destroyed Zhao, Zhuo's family was forced to move, and there was no money left. The couple pushed the car to the resettlement site. At that time, other people who were moved bribed the officials who escorted them with a little money left by themselves in order to find a closer place, and were finally placed in Jamon. Only Zhuo said, "There is no plain and no production here. I heard that the fertile land at the foot of Wenshan produces big taro and won't starve people. People sell well and do business well. " Ask to move away from there. After Zhuo arrived, he found iron ore soon. He was overjoyed and immediately melted and cast on the spot. Products are sold to all parts of Yunnan and Shu people. The Zhuo family became a rich family, with thousands of children and a luxurious life, which was comparable to that of the monarch.

Zhuo not only mastered a whole set of iron smelting technology, but also had pioneering spirit. Under the condition of being forced to move and having almost nothing, he still did not seek peace and took risks, preferring to go to remote areas for development. His ironware products are all over Yunnan and Sichuan, which have made great contributions to the local economic development. If there were more people like Zhuo among Zhao's "immigrants" at that time, the development of southwest China would be accelerated a lot. Unfortunately, only another Cheng Zheng was recorded. His experience is similar to Zhuo's. His ironware is exported to South Vietnam, so his accumulated wealth is comparable to Zhuo.

Maybe someone will accuse Zhuo of exploiting the people of Yunnan and Sichuan, or where did his great wealth come from? However, judging from the people's willingness to buy in Yunnan, Sichuan and other places, the ironware he produced is indeed more popular than the official farm tools of "painless mowing", thus increasing social wealth far more than Zhuo's income. Why can't Zhuo get rich? Others regard Zhuo's "thousand people" as a typical example of "industrial and commercial slave owners" or "exploiting working people". In fact, there were a large number of officials and handmaiden at that time, and aristocratic bureaucrats with "thousand people" or more were not alone. For example, there are "thousands of people" in the reward given by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the swindler Luan Da, and it is not Zhuo's creation to say that there are slaves. Moreover, most of Zhuo's "children" are engaged in smelting iron, and their role in social progress is always more positive than just serving the life of the rulers. Even as far as these "servants" are concerned, they are not necessarily more exploited than government civil servants or criminals, and their living conditions are not necessarily worse than other employees. As for Zhuo's "Tianchi Hunting Music" life, although he "intended to be a gentleman", he paid for it entirely from his own pocket, which is different from the consumption of public funds and will not increase the burden on taxpayers. You can't ask Zhuo to make money without spending it, and turn it all over to the state treasury or use it for charitable donations!

Other businessmen and investors get rich on the premise of being the first in the world and taking risks on the basis of accurate judgment of the political and economic situation. For example, the stone man in Xuanqu (somewhere in Guanzhong) is the warehouse supervisor. When the Qin Dynasty perished, heroes collected treasures one after another, and only the stone man stored a lot of food. After the Chu-Han War in Xingyang area, farmers were unable to farm, and the price of rice rose to100000 yuan. The stone man made a fortune, and all the treasures the heroes got flowed to him. Other rich people show off each other, stone people live frugally and invest their assets in agriculture and animal husbandry; Others buy land and livestock, and only choose bargains. Stone men only want high quality and are not afraid to spend more money. Therefore, his family has been rich for generations. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty just opened up the territory, the frontier was vast and sparsely populated. Qiao Yao immediately invested a lot of manpower and material resources, and soon obtained more than 2000 horses, more than 2000 cows, 10000 sheep and tens of thousands of stone grains. After the rebellion between the Seven Kingdoms and Wu Chu broke out, Hou and Feng Jun of Chang 'an were drafted into the army. In order to prepare their luggage, they borrowed money from others. As the fiefs of Liehou were all in Kanto, Wu Chu and other countries rebelled in Kanto, and the success or failure was uncertain, investors were afraid that they would not receive the principal and interest and were unwilling to lend. Only the salt-free family is full of confidence and takes out thousands of dollars in loans, and the annual interest is set at 10 times. Sure enough, it took only three months for Wu Chu's rebellion to subside, and Wuyan's annual profit increased tenfold, making him the richest man in Guanzhong.

Some history books regard the Wuyan family as a typical usury, which is neither realistic nor fair. At that time, a group of people were already engaged in loan business. They were called "money-makers", which probably meant making money with their mothers' money. But normal loans will never have such high interest rates, and no such examples have been found in historical materials. Without salt, it is not an ordinary loan, but a venture capital. The greater the risk, the higher the interest rate. If the rebellion of Wu and Chu is successful, or the counterinsurgency war lasts for many years, or the fief of Hou is damaged, he may not even receive the principal. If there is no risk at all, or the risk is very small, other people who make money will not give up the opportunity to make money, and no one will accept such a high interest rate. Without accurate judgment, adventurous spirit and confidence to win, Wuyan would not dare to invest so much money. Salt-free families certainly make a lot of money, but the country benefits more. It was his funds that ensured the soldiers to join the army in time and made the troops assemble quickly. If everyone is like other people who make money, the situation of "success or failure" will certainly be prolonged. Even for the princes, although they paid high interest, they avoided greater losses because the fiefs were preserved. Therefore, the wealth of the salt-free house is completely beneficial to public and private interests, and it is not an exaggeration to call it patriotic behavior.

Tiki's Tao Jian is a business wizard who knows people well and does their duty well. He specially selected talents from slaves, especially those slaves who were regarded as unruly but capable by their owners, bought them and assigned them to run handicrafts and businesses to profit from them. Some slaves are good at public relations. With the money earned, you can buy a car and horse and make friends with local officials, so you can get the credit of the sword. As a result, the sword room became a rich man with tens of millions of assets. While working hard for the sword room, the slaves themselves became rich, so they all said that they would rather be knights than knives (rather than change their slave status and leave the sword room). Only by daring and being good at finding business talents among slaves can we see the knowledge and ability between swords and shadows. It is precisely because he can make full use of the intelligence and ability of slaves by expanding and extending management, instead of treating them as simple production tools and labor, so he can get high returns. Although he did not change the status of slaves and exploit the fruits of their labor, slaves got money and status that they never dared to expect.

Sima Qian also provided us with several examples of "from each according to his ability to get what he needs":

Ancient painting fan agriculture is not a high-yield industry, but Qin Yang is well managed and rich. Grave robbing is a disgraceful activity, but Qu Shu started from it. Gambling is a bad business. It makes you rich. Shang Hong is not a gentleman's work, but people in Yongxian County have made a fortune. Oil sellers are in a low position, while Yongbo earns a lot of money. Selling pulp is a small business, but Zhang earned 10 million; Wisdom sharpens the knife and does not miss the woodcutter, extravagant feasting; Turbid family makes small things like protecting the chest and stomach, and owns a horse with high horsepower; Live a prince's life by governing horses.

Like Zhuo and others, they "didn't get rich because they were loyal to the city", but succeeded by their own ability and sincerity (reputation and professionalism). Therefore, Tai Shigong called them "sages" and recorded their deeds "so that future generations can see and choose".

Of course, these "sages" only seek fundamental benefits. At best, they only abide by the law or business ethics, not to mention any outstanding patriotic deeds. Bo Shi, a strange man in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, made a fortune by raising livestock, but he made incomprehensible contributions again and again.

Bo Shi is a native of Henan County (now the northeast of Luoyang City, Henan Province), mainly engaged in animal husbandry. He used to have an earthen house. When his younger brother grew up, he left all the earthen houses to his younger brother, and he only distributed 100 sheep to graze on the mountain. After 10 years, the number of sheep in Bo Shi has increased to more than 1000. He also bought a farmhouse, but his younger brother went bankrupt, so Bo Shi gave his farmhouse to his younger brother more than once.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used Xiongnu to fight, and wrote that he was willing to donate half of his property to support military expenditure. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent messengers to ask him, "Do you want to be an official?" Bo Shi replied: "I have been herding sheep since I was a child. I don't know anything about officialdom and I don't want to be an official." "Is there a grievance at home, or do you want to report something in the book?" "I was not born to quarrel with people. I lent money to the poor in the village. If I can't run, I will teach them where I live and where people listen to me. What will I suffer? " The messenger could hardly understand: "In that case, what do you want?" Bo Shi said, "The emperor levied Xiongnu. I thought that a capable person should go to the front, not afraid of death. Rich people have to pay, so that the Huns can be destroyed. " After listening to the messenger's report, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty told the Prime Minister that it was not in line with human nature, and such an unruly person could not follow suit, otherwise the legal system would be chaotic, so please ignore him. After several years' delay, Bo Shi ignored the donations that Emperor Wu did not accept and went home to eat grass.

More than a year later, the evil Hun Wang Kun led a mutiny, and the Kanto immigrants marched to the northwest, all with the support of the court. The warehouse is empty, but the expenditure is still not enough. When Bo Shi learned of this, he gave 200,000 yuan to the Henan magistrate, requesting that it be used to subsidize immigrants. In the list of rich households reported by Henan County, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty found Bo Shi: "It must be the person who donated half of his property to help the border last time." Emperor Wu gave him 400 exemption indicators, and he handed them all in. At that time, the rich were scrambling to hide their property, and only Bo Shi offered to donate. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty recognized him as a loyal minister, called him as a leader, and granted him 10 hectares of land to announce his deeds to the world as an example for the people to learn.

Bo Shi still refuses to be an official. Emperor Wu said, "I have a flock of sheep in Shanglinyuan. You can herd them for me." Bo Shi, as a Langguan, dressed in cloth and sandals, became a shepherd. More than a year later, Emperor Wu passed the pasture and saw that the sheep had grown very fat and the number had increased. He appreciated it very much. Bo Shi said, "We should not only shepherd sheep, but also govern the people. Let them live in time, remove the bad ones in time, and prevent them from harming everyone. " Emperor Wu felt that his words were different and wanted him to govern the people as much as possible. He was appointed as the magistrate of Gou County (now southwest of gongyi city), and the Gou people reflected his good governance. Transferred to the elevation county (now the northwest of Xingyang City, Henan Province), the water transportation in the county is the best. Emperor Wu thought he was simple and honest, so he appointed him as the teacher of his son Qi Wang and transferred to Qi Guoxiang.

News of the Lv Jia rebellion in South Vietnam came, and Bo Shi wrote to ask him and his son to lead the archers in Linzi (now northeast of Zibo City, Shandong Province) and the boatmen in Bochang (now southeast of Boxing County, Shandong Province) to the front to participate in the war. Emperor Wu issued a letter of commendation to the marquis in Guannei, with 40 Jin of gold and 10 hectares of land, which was announced to the world. However, there was no positive response from the whole country. There were hundreds of candidates, and no one asked to join the army. When the emperors paid money to help worship the ancestral temple, Emperor Wu ordered the Shaofu to inspect the "gold plating" they handed in, and found that it was either insufficient in weight or too low in color, so that he was so angry that he was relieved of the title of 100. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty felt the value of Bo Shi even more, and promoted him as an ancient scholar.

As a deputy prime minister, the imperial envoy is a senior official among civil servants, second only to the prime minister. It is a rare opportunity for a civilian from a shepherd background to be so favored in peacetime, which is the peak of Bo Shi's life. At this time, he had to intervene in the government affairs of the court, and it was inevitable that he disagreed with Emperor Wu. Bo Shi found that all localities were not satisfied with the implementation of salt and iron monopoly. Official ironware is of high quality, but limited supply forces people to buy it. After taxing merchant ships, the number of merchants decreased and commodity prices rose. Bo Shi, who didn't understand the rules of officialdom at all, didn't always sing praises for current politics and put forward his own opinions to Emperor Wu, which made him very unhappy. In addition, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was busy preparing for the retreat ceremony of Zen Buddhism, and the ancient literati who had to bear important responsibilities had no culture and did not understand etiquette. Therefore, in less than a year, Bo Shi was demoted as the teacher of the Prince, which was actually a dispensable idle post, but Bo Shi still wanted to talk about it when he had the chance. Since Sang Hongyang was in charge of finance and commerce, he vigorously promoted policies such as equal loss and leveling, and achieved remarkable results, which won the praise of Emperor Wu. During the drought that year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered hundreds of officials to beg for rain. Bo Shi wrote: "The expenses of the imperial court should depend on the people's taxes. Now Sang Hongyang lets officials sit in the market and sell goods for profit, which is really outrageous. Sang Hongyang is cooking in an oil pan, and it's going to rain. " Of course, this can't shake Sang Hongyang's position, and he was eventually promoted to an ancient scholar. However, Emperor Wu was very kind to Bo Shi, which made him die well.

The reason why Bo Shi became rich is not recorded in more detail in the history books, but what is certain is that he did not farm, but herded sheep. But he can't accumulate so much property by herding sheep. It seems that he must be an expert in raising sheep or running a business part-time. The biggest possibility is both. The value of Bo Shi lies in loyalty and patriotism. He donated money again and again, and even prepared to go to the front to fight, but he had no personal motivation, even if he was not understood by the court for a while. As a senior official, he didn't think about how to keep Jue Lu at all, and no matter what consequences it would bring to Emperor Wu, it directly reflected the opinions of the people. If all the ministers at that time had been like this, some wrong policies pursued by Emperor Wu might not have lasted for so many years. Another valuable feature of him is his correct understanding of the functions of state institutions. He not only realized the way of herding sheep to govern the people, but also opposed the integration of government and business. Obviously, he advocated that the court only collected taxes, so that the people could do business legally and get rich, but those who made a fortune should take the initiative to think of the country like him.

If businessmen or people who made a fortune were like Bo Shi, Emperor Wu might not need a series of policies to deal with businessmen when he came out. Unfortunately, Bo Shi is a unique model. Among the merchants in the Han Dynasty, only a few were full of "sincerity" spirit and pioneering consciousness as praised by Sima Qian. In fact, this is the case in any dynasty. The basis for formulating policies is aimed at most ordinary businessmen, among whom there are naturally many profiteers, official businessmen and semi-official businessmen.

Sima Qian's enthusiasm for Huo Zhi didn't produce any response at that time. In the fourth year of Yuanshou (1 19), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued the order of "counting" and "informing" to fully control and search for businessmen. The so-called "calculation" mainly includes the following aspects: all businessmen and people engaged in goods manufacturing, lending, buying and selling, renting houses for commercial activities, storing goods and other commercial activities, whether citizens or not, first estimate their operating income and pay taxes at the tax rate of 2,000 yuan (120 yuan, the tax rate is 3%); Engaged in metal smelting and other handicrafts, hoarding and selling related goods, the turnover is levied at every 4000 yuan. In the northern border areas, except for officials, civilians and military personnel, all cars (cars) owned by others shall be collected and counted; Businessmen's cars are charged twice each; There is a charge for every ship with a hull length of more than five feet. Those who fail to declare voluntarily or declare falsely will be fined for one year and their property will be confiscated. It is also reiterated that businessmen registered in cities and their families are not allowed to occupy land, and offenders will be confiscated. In order to encourage exposure, it is stipulated that half of the property confiscated by the defendant should be regarded as the reward of the prosecutor, which is called "confession". In six years, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty appointed Yang Ke to be in charge of "remonstration" throughout the country, and publicly executed Right Neishi (Chief Executive of the Capital Special Administrative Region) who opposed the move on the charge of "abolishing the law" (resisting the implementation of the law). From then on, the wind of "confession" spread all over the country, and in the second year of Ding Yuan (before 1 15), it achieved brilliant results: due to the full mobilization and high enthusiasm of whistleblowers, the court confiscated hundreds of millions of property and tens of thousands of handmaiden; Counties confiscated hundreds of hectares of land and houses; Most of the middle class and above went bankrupt, but the state treasury was suddenly enriched.

In the fifth year of Yuanshou (1 18), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered the monopoly of salt and iron, that is, all the salt and iron smelting in various places were brought into the government management, and all the proceeds were used to supplement taxes. The government recruits salt households, provides certain production tools and living expenses, and pays for other expenses. These products are underwritten by the government. Anyone who cooks salt with cast iron without permission will be punished by cutting off his left toe and the products will be confiscated. Set up small iron officials in counties that cannot produce iron to manage the monopoly of iron.

This suggestion was put forward by Yan Yi, an old farmer. The concrete operation was carried out by his subordinates, namely Xianyang, Kong Wei, Shi Zhong and Sang Hongyang. Dong Guo and Kong were both salt and iron merchants, and Sang was the son of a merchant in Luoyang. He has a strong mental arithmetic ability and can work out the result without calculation. Letting them deal with businessmen can be described as "fighting poison with poison", and businessmen can only obey. Mr. Dong Guo and Mr. Kong probably won't have such a high level of consciousness, which is forced by the situation.

So Dongguo Xianyang and Kong were only sent to all parts of the country to implement measures, set up dozens of monopoly agencies-salt officials and iron officials, and selected people with assets and expertise as competent officials. The result of the state monopoly on salt and iron is to seize the rich profits of businessmen.

In the first year of Yuanfeng (1 10 years ago), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty carried out the equal loss leveling method throughout the country, further controlling the circulation field, that is, setting up full-time officials in various places to be responsible for purchasing materials and adjusting them according to the distance and traffic conditions, and setting up a "leveling" institution in Beijing to exchange and buy goods imported from various places and officially manufactured products as capital to stabilize prices. Because the official administrative agencies have far smoother channels and richer assets than private businessmen, businessmen can't compete with them, and the court has benefited a lot. It is said that the burden on the people has not increased. However, the main financial resources of the imperial court were obviously confiscated directly from businessmen and handicraft owners.

Nine times out of ten, the salt, iron, equal loss and equal rank of ancient literati were original businessmen, which should be said to be handy, but once they became officials or officials and businessmen, new disadvantages appeared. For example, iron officials produced "big tools" in order to achieve production goals, but the daily needs of the people were in short supply. Jerry-cutting makes the quality of products inferior, so that farm tools are "painless" and even mow constantly. It should have been bought when the price is low and sold when the price is high, but officials and businessmen often do the opposite. What's the purpose? Because there is no record in historical materials, we can only rely on speculation. As for the social effects caused by this monopoly of purchase and sale, monopoly of officials and businessmen, and general bankruptcy of private businessmen, we can easily imagine.

Some historians praised Emperor Wudi's policy of strengthening centralization, cracking down on unscrupulous businessmen and restraining land annexation. In fact, it is not businessmen who can really "spare mountains and rivers", but aristocratic bureaucrats like Deng Tong, a favorite (given money by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty) and Liu Ying, the prince of Wu (Fengzhong owns copper and iron salt fields). Mines and saltworks owned by businessmen are either bought with money or completely developed by themselves and can never be used for free. The threat to centralization that has existed since the Western Han Dynasty has never come from businessmen or craftsmen, because even if they only consider their own industries, businessmen will not approve of separatism. Of course, there will be lawless people among businessmen, but all businessmen above the national average are "illegal", and the meaning of "illegal" is self-evident. Land annexation is not monopolized by businessmen, nobles, bureaucrats, eunuchs and powerful landlords all merge, and most of them are plundered by power, unlike businessmen who pay for it. Moreover, businessmen will not cultivate their own land after buying it, nor can they charge their employees higher taxes than landlords such as bureaucrats and powerful men.

The main reason why businessmen are keen on buying land is the discrimination and restriction of laws and social customs on businessmen at that time. If a businessman wants to change his humble social status, the only way is to become the owner of the land, from "the last business" to "his own business", just as Sima Qian said, "Make money from the last business and keep it from now on". In fact, the biggest harm of businessmen buying land with capital is not to aggravate land merger, but to reduce commercial capital and affect commercial development. Until the Ming and Qing dynasties, successful businessmen also spent a lot of assets on donating officials, buying land, building houses, building gardens, providing education for their children, raising diners, collecting paintings and calligraphy, or wasting money, but rarely on expanding investment.

In a word, suppressing commerce and cracking down on businessmen's wealth actually destroys the normal commercial circulation of the country and has no less negative impact on the economy than agricultural crop failure or natural disasters. However, from the traditional point of view, as long as the number of businessmen and commercial activities decreases, more people will certainly farm and the grain output will increase. However, economic laws are not based on the will of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty or anyone else. After the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the policy of restraining business began to loosen, and most of the original regulations had been written. In the late Western Han Dynasty, consorts and bureaucrats set foot in the business world, and more and more officials and businessmen became richer and richer. In the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (the first 44 years), Yuan Di cancelled the monopoly of salt and iron, which was once restored, but it was completely cancelled in the end, and it was never restored in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The method of leveling or even loss is gradually out of date. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, landlords, bureaucrats and dignitaries were engaged in business more and more, and they were no different from businessmen. At this point, the humble position of businessmen has become a thing of the past, but the hat of commerce as the "last business" has never been taken off. Even today, this is still a controversial topic in the field of history.