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

Chapter 61 Liquidation
In the depths of winter, the grass and trees are sparse and desolate.

Yet a vibrant life force lies hidden within, waiting for spring to arrive, when flowers bloom and willows turn green.

Therefore, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?

The days are short and the nights are long. It was only at the end of the Chen hour (7-9 AM) that the world was fully bright. Bian Tong, the chief secretary of the prime minister, arrived at the Northern Army on behalf of the prime minister.

Upon entering the main tent, Bian Tong bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Liu Ju was brewing tea when he smiled with a hint of helplessness and asked, "How is the old prime minister?"

The matter of the new policies.

The heir apparent should have been decided by the prime minister, but Gongsun Hong was too old, already eighty years old, and unable to travel back and forth between the prime minister's residence and the Northern Army.

If Prime Minister Gongsun had reliable descendants, it wouldn't be impossible for him to step forward as a father or grandfather, but what about the Gongsun family?
Tiger father, dog son, rabbit grandson.

"Your Majesty, the old Prime Minister is still in relatively good health, though his energy is somewhat lacking, but this does not hinder his ability to handle state affairs," Bian Tong said as he took his seat at the gesture.

When the strong tea was placed in front of him, Bian Tong thought of his master's instructions, and a subtle change appeared in his sincere gaze.

I cannot enter His Majesty's harem, and the Emperor's tea is not to my liking!

"Has the old prime minister given you any instructions regarding the new policies?"

“Reporting to Your Majesty, the Prime Minister said: ‘We will follow Your Majesty’s lead.’” Bian Tong replied solemnly and humbly.

The Prime Minister's residence has basically sided entirely with the Crown Prince's palace. As officials under the Prime Minister's residence, many of his advisors also understand that the Prime Minister is paving the way for his family's children and grandchildren, even if it only guarantees wealth and status.

"The old prime minister."

Liu Ju thought of the first commoner prime minister of the Han Dynasty and said with deep emotion, "I will remember the merits of the prime minister's office."

Bian Tong was overjoyed. It was the Prime Minister's Mansion's achievement, not just the Prime Minister's. He rose from his seat and bowed, saying, "Thank you for remembering, Your Majesty."

Liu Ju gestured for Bian Tong to sit down again and continued, "I am not in Chang'an, and the officials of both the central and foreign courts are too busy with state affairs to hold court discussions. The matter of the new policies can only be entrusted to the old prime minister."

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

"The first new policy is to abolish all three types of coins: the white deer skin coin, the white gold coin, and the new coins. They are prohibited from circulation. Skilled craftsmen are ordered to develop new coins that are difficult to counterfeit to replace the old ones."

The White Deer Skin Coin and the Three White Gold Coins were essentially used to plunder the wealth of the Han Dynasty's powerful and wealthy by leveraging the credibility of the emperor and the imperial court.

Unrestrained by any market rules, with prices entirely determined by the emperor's word, this brutal method of exploitation is of no benefit to the national economy and must be stopped immediately.

The way to prevent counterfeiting of new currency is quite simple: first, improve the technology for minting coins; second, increase the intrinsic value of the coins themselves; and third, increase the penalties for counterfeiters.

In other words, the idea was to allow counterfeiters to create coins that were more expensive than real coins. In addition, given the chaotic times and the need for severe punishments, Liu Ju would continue to apply the laws of the Han Dynasty, punishing counterfeiters with death. Since such a losing proposition would deter anyone from engaging in such activities.

"Your Majesty is wise and sagacious."

"The second new policy, the salt and iron monopoly, was officially implemented. The imperial court allocated salt and iron according to need, and the people purchased them according to need."

To reiterate, the Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty will never do business with merchants. All his decrees will only serve the convenience of the people, and will not deliberately create a demand gap for merchants to profit from. When the Emperor was alive, the specific implementation methods of the salt and iron monopoly could not be finalized. Now that the Emperor has gone to Ganquan Palace, the salt and iron monopoly methods can only be implemented according to the Crown Prince's ideas.

"My minister obeys."

"The third new policy is to completely abolish the support for surrendered foreign tribes, allow intermarriage between Chinese and foreigners, and transfer all financial resources to the imperial court."

In the more than ten years since the Mayi Plot, Grand Marshal Wei Qing has captured tens of thousands of Xiongnu and brought them to the interior. In order to encourage more Xiongnu to surrender, the emperor actually allowed these surrendered captives to not engage in production and to rely entirely on local finances for support.

According to normal war logic, the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu, and it was already good enough that they did not treat the surrendered Xiongnu as slaves. On the contrary, the surrendered Xiongnu lived better than the Han people.

It's acceptable to treat surrendered prisoners well, but they have to be our own people!
They opened up intermarriage between Han and Xiongnu people, allowing Han men to marry Xiongnu women. The Xiongnu men, having eaten and slept their fill for so long, should now make some contributions to the Han Dynasty.

The subsequent tasks, such as clearing mountains, building roads, constructing bridges, and mining, all required manpower, and people earned their living through their skills and abilities.

"I've got it." Bian Tong said, his eyes shining.

The Han-Xiongnu War began even before the establishment of the Han Dynasty. The two ethnic groups were bound by a deep-seated blood feud, and any man of courage and integrity had long been disgusted by the arrogant surrendered barbarians.

"New policy four: abolish vehicle and vessel tax for ordinary people, and increase vehicle and vessel tax for wealthy merchants."

In the sixth year of the Yuanguang reign, the emperor implemented a tax system, including a tax on vehicles and boats. The system stipulated that commoners who were not of the status of "Three Elders" or "Northern Knights" had to pay "one sum" of tax if they owned a "light carriage," and "two sums" if they were merchants. If they also owned boats that were more than five zhang long, they had to pay "one sum" for each boat.

The first calculation is 120 coins, and the second calculation is 240 coins.

The original intention of the vehicle and vessel tax was a continuation of the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce. However, a few hundred coins were not even a drop in the ocean for wealthy merchants, but for the vast number of small and medium-sized handicrafts and small merchants, it was tantamount to taking food from the hands of the starving. It was bound to force some small farmers and merchants to either abandon their businesses and return to farming or sell themselves into slavery.

In the eyes of the Emperor, there was no distinction between big and small merchants. In fact, the Emperor had dealings with big merchants like Dongguo Xianyang and Kong Jin, and they were all exploited equally.

But countless small farmers and merchants died, while the big merchants survived and then seized the vast majority of the market, forming one monopoly after another. How can this not be a benefit to the big merchants?

Abolishing vehicle and vessel taxes for ordinary people and small merchants, while increasing taxes for wealthy merchants and large corporations, is the way to benefit the social economy.

Bian Tong hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Your subject obeys."

"The fifth new policy is to abolish the suppression of all other schools of thought, to exclusively honor the Five Classics, and to allow all other schools of thought to return to their proper roles," Liu Ju said slowly.

Bian Tong's expression changed completely.

The idea of ​​"dismissing all other schools of thought and exclusively honoring Confucianism" was proposed by Dong Zhongshu, but it was deliberately misinterpreted by His Majesty in the form of "exclusively honoring the Five Classics."

These are the Five Classics: the Book of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

In the fifth year of the Jianyuan era, when Empress Dowager Dou was seriously ill and unable to manage state affairs, His Majesty dismissed all other schools of thought from the list of Imperial Scholars and established the Five Classics Doctors, which was equivalent to elevating the Five Classics to the status of national learning and elevating the Doctors who studied the Five Classics to the status of national teachers. Then, he linked the Five Classics with Confucius and had obedient Confucian scholars reorganize private schools into official schools, thus demonstrating that the Han Dynasty had returned to the era of the sage kings.

Confucianism was only established after Your Majesty twice promoted it. If this is touched, it may cause Your Majesty to have bad associations, at the very least, he will think of the powerful Empress Dowager Dou who held sway over three reigns.

In the past twenty years, apart from military achievements, Your Majesty has accomplished so much. The five new policies have almost completely negated Your Majesty's past reign.

Your Majesty need not worry about unfair evaluation of the Crown Prince after your death, because the reckoning began even before your death.

(End of this chapter)