Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 250 Salt and Iron Must Be Nationalized! (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

On the second day of the first month of the first year of the Hanxing era, civil and military officials gathered in the Jiade Hall of the Southern Palace for the first court assembly of the new year.

According to the rules, today should actually be a day off.

As the beginning of the year, the Lunar New Year is a time when all civil and military officials can take a break from New Year's Eve to the second day of the new year.

On New Year's Eve, officials could reunite with their families. On the morning of New Year's Day, they had to pay homage to the emperor, and in the evening, the emperor would host a banquet for all the civil and military officials in the capital.

The second day of the Lunar New Year is a time for civil and military officials to visit relatives and friends or go on outings in the countryside. Many officials often choose to use their leave at this time to go back to their hometown or take their families on a trip.

However, Liu Bian held the enthronement ceremony on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so the court congratulations were waived. At the same time, the third to the seventh day of the Lunar New Year were all holidays as compensation for the court officials.

As for the banquet, it was already troublesome enough to take up the officials' rest time to watch the ceremony, so Liu Bian only had a small gathering with the former Crown Prince's officials and his family. His family was also invited into the palace and received by Consorts Liu Qing and Cai Yuan.

Yes, Liu Qing and Cai Yuan were granted the title of Jieyu, with a rank of two thousand shi and a title equivalent to that of a township marquis.

The rank of Jieyu was usually awarded to those with exceptional talent or who had given birth to children.

However, having spent a long time together, as Liu Bian's first two women, she naturally held a special position.

Moreover, once she reached the rank of Jieyu, she no longer needed to live in the Yeting Palace, but could instead obtain a separate palace to reside in.
Liu Bian did not make significant changes to the harem system, basically following the regulations established by Liu Hong. Although he kept reducing harem expenses, he slightly increased the salaries of concubines of various ranks.

The Empress wore a jade seal with a golden dragon and tiger knob, the inscription of which was the same as the Emperor's, and she enjoyed a fiefdom.

A nobleman, with a rank of ten thousand shi (a unit of grain), wearing a gold seal and purple ribbon, whose title is comparable to that of a prince.

Zhaoyi, with a rank of two thousand shi, wore a silver seal and a blue ribbon, and her title was equivalent to that of a county marquis.

Jieyu, with a rank of two thousand shi, wore a silver seal and a blue ribbon, and her title was comparable to that of a marquis.

The beauty was of the rank equivalent to a 2,000-stone official, wore a silver seal and a blue ribbon, and was of the same rank as a marquis.

Palace women, with a rank of 1,000 shi (a unit of grain), wore bronze seals and ink ribbons, but had no official rank or title.

The title of Cai Nu (采女) was 600 shi (石), and she wore a bronze seal and a yellow ribbon, but had no official rank or title.

Originally, beauties, palace maids and palace servants only received annual rewards and did not have a daily salary. Their income was barely enough to cover their personal expenses, and they even needed help from their maternal families outside the palace to give rewards to the palace maids and eunuchs around them.

Emperor Guangwu's idea was to cut expenses while increasing the gap in status between the empresses and concubines. This maintained the absolute authority of the empress and the concubines, even though the imperial harem system only had five ranks of empresses, concubines, beauties, palace maids, and ladies-in-waiting.

If you can't even afford to reward your eunuchs and maids, what kind of trouble can you possibly stir up?

However, the maternal relatives of the Later Han dynasty also strengthened their ties by frequently helping the empresses and concubines, and the rise of the maternal relatives was somewhat related to this.

Liu Bian did not believe that increasing the salaries of his consorts would reduce their interactions with their maternal relatives. He simply thought that if he were to take in beauties, palace maids, and concubines in the future, he could not allow his women to rely on their maternal families for even basic necessities. That would be a disgrace to the imperial family and undermine its dignity.

The current dynasty has 7567 civil and military officials, including 1055 inner court officials and 6512 outer court officials.

In addition to these, there were various officials, including clerks, scribes, attendants, clerks, clerks, officials, attendants, soldiers, and cavalry, totaling 145419 people. In total, there were 152986 officials. Compared to this, what was the salary of the empress and concubines?
As for the officials who were not invited to the banquet, the emperor ordered the Imperial Kitchen to bestow upon officials of the rank of 10,000 shi (a unit of grain measure) eight dishes of imperial food and eight jars of imperial wine; those of the rank of 2,000 shi, 2,000 shi, and those of the rank of 2,000 shi or above, six dishes of imperial food and six jars of imperial wine; those of the rank of 1,000 shi or above, four dishes of imperial food and four jars of imperial wine; and those of the rank of 600 shi or above, two dishes of imperial food and two jars of imperial wine.

In addition to imperial meals and wine, according to the system of this dynasty, on the last day of the year, the emperor would bestow "La Ci" upon all officials, which was a year-end bonus in addition to their salaries.

The Grand General and the Three Dukes each received 200,000 coins, 200 catties of beef, and 200 shi of rice; the Special Envoy and Marquis each received 150,000 coins; the Ministers each received 100,000 coins; the Colonels each received 50,000 coins; the Ministers each received 30,000 coins; the Attendants and Grand Masters each received 20,000 coins; the 1,000-shi and 600-shi each received 7000 coins; and the Tiger Guards and Feathered Forest Guards each received 3000 coins.

The 3000 coins given to the Tiger Warriors and Feathered Guards were instead distributed by Liu Bian to all the soldiers in the central army.

Yes, even if you are the lowest-ranking soldier in the central army, your year-end bonus is 3000 coins. According to the latest grain price in the Sanhe region in the first year of Hanxing, which was 100 coins per shi, that is, the purchasing power of 30 shi of grain.

30 shi of grain is enough to feed a family of three for a year!
The Emperor has been very busy this year and has no time to visit the army to greet the soldiers. He has even had to make you work overtime. Therefore, the Emperor can only use a high year-end bonus as compensation to reward your loyalty!

The soldiers of the central army were not good with words when it came to the emperor's generous rewards, but whenever they saw the emperor, they would stomp their boots on the ground, stand tall and shout "Long live the emperor!" in loud voices.

This led Liu Bian to believe that Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Dong Zhuo, the three commanders of the Central Army, had pulled some tricks on him.

At today's grand court assembly, Liu Bian will issue the first official edict of the new dynasty.

Every year, the emperor would issue the first official edict of the new year on the first day of court after New Year's Day. This edict was not a specific administrative order, but rather a policy outline for the new year.

For example, during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, it would be stated that in the new year, our task is still to fight the Xiongnu to the death and to raise grain and fodder to fund the expedition to the northern desert for the Grand General and the General of Chariots and Cavalry. As a new dynasty, it is natural to have a new look.

Now that all the barbarians in the four directions have been subdued, apart from a certain internal threat that is close at hand, the overall situation is relatively peaceful, and the government's policy is naturally to focus on recuperation and development.

However, Liu Bian emphasized in the edict that he hoped the governors of prefectures, prefects, and magistrates would take a long-term view and take the initiative to build irrigation canals for the long-term development of the local area. If there was a shortage of funds and grain, they could request the court to allocate them. The court would not only look at the names of those who completed the dikes during their term of office.

At the same time, the court ordered local prefectures and counties to recommend skilled water engineers. The court will re-establish a formal water engineering department to assess the land suitable for canal construction in each prefecture and county. The court will then allocate funds and grain to each prefecture and county for canal construction based on the assessments.

The officials were very pleased with the first official edict from the new emperor and the new dynasty. They had finally overthrown the tyrannical ruler and replaced him with a wise and virtuous one!
Moreover, the officials still harbored doubts about Emperor Liu Bian, who had expanded the central army to 44,000 men in one fell swoop.

The main concern was that Liu Bian would emulate Emperor Xiaowu of the Shizong Emperor by indulging in excessive military campaigns and being overly ambitious. However, it is clear that this virtuous crown prince did not disappoint them, as he chose to recuperate and rebuild after ascending the throne.

Liu Bian's second edict reformed the Attendant-in-Ordinary Temple, which had been established by Liu Hong, and reassigned most of the former officials of the Crown Prince's Palace to positions within the Attendant-in-Ordinary Temple.

In fact, this edict did not cause much of a stir in the court, and even the Ministry of Personnel did not care about it.

In the imperial edict, the emperor specifically stated that officials serving in the Attendant-in-Ordinary Temple could not concurrently hold positions such as the Three Dukes, the Nine Ministers, or the Secretariat. The Attendant-in-Ordinary, the Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate, and the Attendant in Charge of the Imperial Secretariat were granted the authority to handle the affairs of the Secretariat.

What is meant by the matter of Ping Shangshu?

Advisor on the affairs of the Secretariat.

It was merely a council of advisors, not even a decision-making body. It was just an advisory body to the emperor, with no real power, just a high position but little real authority.

Some even wondered if the emperor was treating his former ministers who had been raised in the princely residence too poorly.

Even Liu Tao, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, and Yang Xu, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, had not realized this problem, but Lu Zhi, who had participated in the planning of the reform of the Imperial Secretariat, could not help but shake his head.

These courtiers were used to the retired emperor delegating political affairs to the Secretariat during the later stages of his reign, but they seemed to have forgotten that the current emperor was not one to shirk his duties.

In other words, the power to make all decisions rests with the emperor!
As the emperor's advisory body, the Attendant-in-Ordinary's Office could actually influence the emperor's decisions. Their actual power was far greater than outsiders perceived!
Moreover, if officials selected for the Attendant-in-Ordinary were to be transferred to the Secretariat after serving as advisors to the Ministry of Personnel for several years, wouldn't that please the emperor and allow them to gain sufficient experience in the Secretariat?
The Emperor's strategy is clearly to cut off the source of the problem!

Before Lu Zhi could even express his feelings, the emperor's third official edict was issued.

The Emperor will take Xun Cai, daughter of Xun Shuang, the Commander of the Imperial Guard, as a Consort; Cai Yan, daughter of Cai Yong, the Grand Master of Works, as a Consort; Fu Shou, daughter of Fu Wan, the General of the Five Offices, as a Beauty; and Yin Si, daughter of the Yin family of Nanyang, as a Palace Attendant.

No one considered it absurd that the emperor had taken in four new people after ascending the throne, as this was a sign that he no longer suppressed his true nature.

The emperor's harem only had two concubines, how could any emperor throughout history be so averse to women?
If there is a true heir to the throne in this family, how could they only marry two concubines?

Xun Cai and Cai Yan's marriage was arranged by the Crown Prince two years ago. Fu Shou was arranged to enter the palace by Princess Yang'an through Empress Dowager He. Yin Si was also arranged by Empress Dowager He. So how can you say that the Emperor is absurd?

In reality, only six concubines were far from enough in the eyes of the officials, but no one dared to raise too many objections on this matter.

After all, the emperor was only fifteen years old, and it was still early. If the emperor was twenty years old and still had no offspring, then all the officials would have to jointly petition the emperor to conduct a large-scale selection process.

After the three official edicts were issued, Liu Bian prepared to discuss the salt and iron administration.

Liu Bian had always believed that since the salt and iron industries were state-run during the Han Dynasty, and he had ordered Zhen Yi, the Pingzhun Ling (official in charge of stabilizing salt prices), to lower the price of salt, the price of salt sold locally should also be lowered.

Unexpectedly, this decree was only implemented in the Central Plains region, meaning that the price of salt in the Sanhe region was successfully reduced to 180 coins per shi (a unit of dry measure).

This infuriated Liu Bian, who believed that local salt merchants dared to defy his decrees.

Then Liu Bian discovered that the salt and iron industries of the Later Han Dynasty were no longer state-run!
In the early Later Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu abolished the salt monopoly, but still set up salt officials in salt-producing areas to collect salt taxes.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaozhang in the Yuanhe era, the government-run salt industry was briefly reinstated, but Emperor Xiaohe abolished it and allowed private salt production.

This is actually not too bad, at least the price of salt is normal during peacetime.

However, Emperor Xiaohe actually delegated the power of salt and iron management to the prefects of each prefecture, who were allowed to organize their own personnel to manage the salt and iron trade!
(3052 words)
-

P.S.: I'm a minute late. This was originally supposed to be an extra 3,000 words as part of yesterday's update.

Hmm, it's alright, I can still add more chapters today. Please, dear readers, shower the author with your monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)