A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 277 Killing

On a freezing night, even the most bustling and lively neighborhood in Chang'an was frozen in place.

Chen Mo visited the residences of the Marquis of Anguo, the Marquis of Shifang, and the Marquis of Pingding one by one.

Meanwhile, an open and brutal massacre unfolded in the counties of the Han Dynasty, and an invisible net enveloped all the wealthy merchants.

Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, it has been a period of "wild growth" for merchants.

The wars at the end of the Qin Dynasty brought the social economy to the brink of collapse. After Emperor Gaozu established the Han Dynasty, he immediately implemented the policy of "rest and recuperation for the people". He not only reduced taxes and levies on the people, but also relaxed the control over commerce, "relaxing the restrictions on mountains and lakes and allowing the people to smelt iron and boil salt".

As a result, a large number of wealthy merchants and business tycoons rose to prominence rapidly.

Dao Jian of Qi made his fortune by boiling salt, amassing tens of millions in wealth. Kong Jin of Nanyang operated an iron smelting business and accumulated thousands of gold coins. The Zhuo family of Shu was even more extravagant, with thousands of servants in their household and their luxurious fields, houses, and gardens comparable to those of feudal lords.

Even a seemingly insignificant business like selling fermented black beans could support wealthy individuals like Wang Sun Daqing and Fan Shaoweng, who were "highly criticized throughout the land." Fan Shaoweng's family fortune even reached 50 million coins.

The speed at which these merchants accumulated wealth even drew the attention of the imperial court.

This is the origin of the saying, "To seek wealth through poverty, agriculture is not as good as industry, and industry is not as good as commerce."

Gradually, the wealthy merchants were no longer satisfied with making money and began to dabble in power—they annexed land, colluded with officials, and even kept chivalrous heroes, forming local forces that were essentially "private cliques."

During the Rebellion of the Seven States of Wu and Chu, Zhou Yafu saw that the rebels had not contacted Ju Meng, a powerful family in Luoyang, and immediately concluded that "the rebels are incompetent." The influence of a wealthy and powerful local merchant could actually sway the course of a major battle.

From the very beginning, the Han Dynasty court was wary of merchants. Emperor Gaozu established rules that merchants were not allowed to wear silk clothes, ride in carriages, or have their descendants become officials, in an attempt to suppress merchants through their social status.

But the power of money was irresistible. "The law despises merchants, and merchants are already rich and powerful." The balance of power between the court and wealthy merchants quietly shifted.

However, with His Majesty's ascension to the throne, this power struggle came to a turning point. His Majesty had too many important things to do: attack the Xiongnu in the north, expand into the Western Regions, and build water conservancy projects. The wealth accumulated during the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing was quickly spent, and the national treasury was so empty that "county officials were practically penniless."

Where does the money come from?
Increase taxes on farmers? At that time, there were already 700,000 starving people who fled due to the floods in Northeast China. Increasing taxes would be tantamount to forcing people to revolt. There was only one other way: to target merchants.

The vehicle and vessel tax was introduced in response to this need.

However, a few hundred coins are just a drop in the ocean for wealthy merchants; they are nothing at all.

On the contrary, a large number of small merchants and vendors suffered heavy losses from the vehicle and vessel tax, and were forced to abandon their businesses and return to farming, or sell themselves into slavery.

Several years later, in the first year of the Yuan Shou era, His Majesty began to plan for "state monopoly of salt and iron".

Salt and iron are necessities. Everyone needs salt, and farming requires tools. Whoever monopolizes these two commodities controls wealth.

Before this dynasty, the salt and iron trade throughout the country was entirely controlled by private merchants. They "monopolized the profits from mountains and lakes and managed the abundance of forests," pocketing the profits themselves, while the imperial court received not a single penny of benefit.

Your Majesty was determined to implement state monopoly on salt and iron, but Your Majesty took a risky step: instead of a "one-size-fits-all" approach, Your Majesty offered high-ranking positions and generous salaries to attract wealthy merchants.

The prominent salt merchant Dongguo Xianyang and the prominent iron merchant Kong Jin were promoted to central government officials as "Minister of Agriculture, Salt and Iron". This allowed merchants to directly manage state-run salt and iron affairs, using merchants to control merchants, in the hope of gradually bringing the profits from salt and iron back to the imperial court.

Merchants are merchants after all. His Majesty was calculating the merchants' ways to make money, and the merchants were also preparing to profit from the monopoly. They intended to make money by trading long distances after the salt and iron monopolies were established.

For example, the special products that various prefectures and kingdoms sent as tribute to the court were extremely expensive to transport to Chang'an, sometimes even more expensive than the goods themselves. Meanwhile, things that were cheap at their place of origin could fetch several times the price in places with food shortages. Merchants wanted to pocket all the profits in between. His Majesty was well aware of this, but he wanted to make the people suffer even more. Then, the Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty took action.

He unified the prices of salt and iron in all the prefectures and counties of the country, causing all the wealthy merchants who wanted to make a profit to suffer huge losses. However, the real losses came after the crown prince took power.

The "national enterprise" system was a prime example of exchanging power for money. Families such as the Zhuo, Kong, Ren, and Dongguo accumulated wealth over several generations to obtain a position with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain measurement) that was "equivalent to that of a prefect."

This puzzled countless wealthy merchants in the Han Dynasty. A rank of 2,000 shi (a unit of official rank) would only earn less than 200,000 shi (another unit of official rank) a year. Even if the Zhuo, Kong, Ren, and Dongguo families held official positions in the Han Dynasty for 10,000 years, they would not be able to earn back the original amount of their family wealth. Wasn't this foolish?

Reality proved who was the fool: the imperial court changed the vehicle and vessel tax and levied a "tax on wealthy merchants."

The wealthy merchants of the Han Dynasty watched helplessly as the taxes they had to pay increased from one-twentieth to three-tenths, then to five-tenths, six-tenths... and now to an unprecedented eight-tenths. What's terrifying is that there seems to be no end to it.

It can be said that for every victory the Han Dynasty achieved, both domestically and internationally, the imperial court would take advantage of the celebratory atmosphere to increase taxes on merchants.

At that time, wealthy merchants felt the malice of power and turned their attention back to state-owned enterprises. However, the state-owned enterprise system had been tightened. The court stipulated that similar enterprises could only be incorporated into existing state-owned enterprises. The original "equivalent to the position of prefect" had become "equivalent to the position of county magistrate".

The position of "two thousand shi" (a unit of grain measure) was reduced to "six hundred shi," meaning that even after ten thousand years of official service, one could not accumulate enough wealth to support one's family. Many wealthy merchants declared that they would rather die with their fortunes than submit to the imperial court.

Therefore, upon hearing that His Majesty sought to restore the monarchy and, if successful, abolish all taxes on wealthy merchants for thirty years, the wealthy merchants joined the movement without hesitation.

In Guanzhong, the Tian family was the wealthiest among the richest merchants, with the brothers Tian Se and Tian Lan leading the way, possessing immense wealth.

Old Tian suddenly woke up.

As people get older, they sleep less, but they develop a problem—they become confused as the sun sets, and after a nap, they find it difficult to fall back asleep.

Just now, while I was gazing at the sunset in a daze, a wave of drowsiness washed over me, and I fell asleep by the fireplace.

The hurried sounds outside the door startled him awake, and before he could get angry, he heard the servant's anxious explanation.

"Is there a notorious thief?"

Without saying a word, Old Tian tapped his iron cane and went out.

The powerful and wealthy of the Han Dynasty mostly lived in the cities, while the rich and powerful lived in the countryside. Guanzhong was peaceful for most of the year, but during Your Majesty's reign, there were still bandits and thieves who robbed wealthy villages.

The Tian family guards and retainers, armed with spears, were ready. Old Tian Se stepped over the crowd, gazing at the gradually gathering firelight in the distance. Without panicking, he called out loudly, "Guests have come from afar. I am too weak to greet you properly. I beg your forgiveness. Furthermore, I am ill and fear that I might infect you. So I will not leave. In my East Garden, there is gold, silver, and grain. Please go and take them."

Holding onto his wealth with humility, Old Tian was willing to spend money to avoid disaster. His voice carried far and wide, but the firelight did not stop gathering, illuminating half the sky.

As they got closer, Old Tian finally saw the newcomer's armor, long spear, and even a familiar face.

Old Tian's eyes widened, pointing at the Right Fufeng Commandant, incredulous, "You..."

"kill!"

The Right Commandant of Fufeng gave the order, and in an instant, the killing began.

(End of this chapter)