Historically, Emperor Wu of Han is famous for "respecting Confucianism alone" and forcing Xiongnu , and his civil and military achievements have not fallen behind. However, civil and military achievements are superstructures and require economic foundations to support them. Therefore, when we interpret the history of Emperor Wu of Han, we must understand the question of "where money comes from".
In fact, many important economic ideas were produced during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, which had a significant impact on the imperial rule in later generations. Among them, the well-known ones are " Salt and Iron Theory ", "Mín Order" and "Biography of the Ruins".
"Salt and Iron Theory" will not be introduced in detail. The main content is the state-owned salt and iron operation. The logic behind it is extremely sensitive. Friends who are interested can analyze it themselves. " Calculation Order " and "Reporting the Law" are two supporting laws for the collection of commercial taxes, especially the impact of the "Reporting the Law" is more profound.
So, what exactly is the "Report of the Rules" talking about? What clever design does it have in human nature logic? Why is its power so great? To understand these issues, one must have a very unique and profound understanding of natural human nature.
The background and content of "Reporting the Rules"
Everything has a cost. A strong man like Emperor Wu of Han who likes to do big moves and big scenes should not even think about it, and he must be living a life of spending money like water.
Although his grandfather and his father were inactive and conquered a " Wenjing Zhizhi " to accumulate a rich family foundation for him. However, making money is like embroidery, spending money is like tearing cloth. The family foundation accumulated by Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jing of Han is not enough to be hard-working for Emperor Wu of Han. Think about it, even a mountain of gold and silver can withstand the unrestrained operation of a state machine?
So don’t look at Emperor Wu of Han’s expedition to the Huns today, and tomorrow they will open up Western Regions , and the Tiantian Ding East Vietnam . On the surface, they are domineering and free and easy. In fact, after Emperor Wu of Han’s riots for a period of time, he was actually quite depressed in his heart. The baby is so sad, and the baby has no money in his pocket.
However, as the supreme boss of the Western Han Dynasty, you cannot openly talk about it even if you have any suffering, you have to be tense! If you are the boss, the boss will have to keep his temperament alive and maintain his temperament at all times. The arrow is not turned back, and you have been running wild for decades. You suddenly say that you are not leaving and want to take a walk slowly. What do you think of those passionate subordinates who are clamoring for you below? Admitted?
So don’t think that Emperor Wu of Han spent his whole life spending his thoughts on wars. In fact, he has been trying his best to make money behind his back. Because he has no money, he can't play anything.
Salt-iron state-owned, monopoly currency, heavy commercial taxes... These are all economic policy reforms made by Emperor Wu of Han to make money. Here we will introduce his approach to heavy business tax.
yuan 3 yuan in the fourth year (119 BC), due to the large amount of money, the Han Dynasty's treasury was empty and the debt was heavy. In order to gather the economy, Emperor Wu of Han issued the "Capital Law" and "Capital Law", which were a combination of punches created against commercial taxation.
The "Calculation Order" stipulates that merchants pay taxes at the rate of paying the first calculated tax on the second property. A thousand coins are strung together and called a silk sieve. "现" means a rope, and a silk sieve means the usual money that later generations often say; and "one count" means one hundred and twenty cents. The tax rate is 6%, which doesn't seem to be high either.
However, these things are measured by us from the perspective of modern people. Under the social conditions at that time, this "Suan Ling" definitely had the effect of stirring up a thousand layers of waves in , the Western Han Dynasty, . What are the main problems with
? It lies in the irregularity of law enforcement standards and measurement standards. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate!
First of all, the accounting of commodity value at that time was quite irregular because the business was not yet developed and the commodity price management mechanism was not sound and opaque.For example, you bought a batch of goods from Luoyang to Changan . You said that this batch of goods is only worth 800 yuan, but the tax collector insisted that your batch of goods is worth 1,000 yuan. What should you do?
Secondly, the weights and measures at that time were not accurate and standardized, and it was easy to cause huge differences in the calculation of the quantity of goods. For example, you said that there was only one car of goods (the main accounting unit at that time), but the law enforcement officers insisted that you had to have two cars, what would you do?
Then, you are obviously selling some ordinary goods, but the tax collector insists that your goods are rare treasures and priceless, where can you make sense?
In short, the tax system at that time was quite rough. The dog lifts the curtain of the door and depends entirely on one mouth. How much tax you are charged and how to collect it depends on the mouth of the law enforcement officer. You can't be naughty, you can't sing the opposite, or you can't make any comments, otherwise you will be a counter-revolutionary, and you will not support the century-old plan of the Han Dynasty. What awaits you is severe punishment and law.
What's even more terrifying is that you ask your grandfather to sue you and ask your ancestors to bless you. The law enforcement officers must not have your enemies, otherwise they will take private revenge and just take any product to ruin your family and destroy your family.
At the same time, you must also ensure that the local government can successfully complete the collection tasks assigned to them by the court. Otherwise, in order to ensure that they complete the tasks, I am embarrassed to have to distribute the task to you.
You also have to pray that the law enforcement officers you meet are not cruel officials who are full of personal pockets and are insatiable, otherwise, in order to make their pockets pop up, they will only try their best to squeeze more money from you.
In short, although "Suan Ling" does not seem to be a harsh tax system on the surface, due to the immature and immobility of the regulatory mechanism at that time, there were too many subjective and artificial factors. In fact, it was a piece of rat shit that ruined the people's livelihood and economic ecosystem at that time. Unjust, false and wrong cases were everywhere, and social unrest.
So, since "The Book of the Law" is so chaotic, can we not do business anymore? If you don’t engage in business activities, you don’t need to pay these taxes!
Do you think it's OK? Everyone is no longer engaged in commercial activities, and all kinds of daily necessities cannot be circulated. Can normal social and living order be maintained?
Therefore, under the stimulation of "The Book of the Configure Order", merchants could only raise prices, which eventually led to large-scale inflation ; or tax evasion, gradually moving towards the opposite side of the court.
However, this little trick of merchants has long been under the control of Emperor Wu of Han and others. The "Capital Law" requires merchants to declare on their own. In order to prevent merchants from falsely reporting and underreporting, Emperor Wu of Han issued a larger killer move "Capital Law".
What does "Guo Shu Ling" mean? In the game with merchants across the country, the management cost increased greatly. In order to prevent some illegal merchants from taking advantage of the policy loopholes and secretly concealing their property, the people across the country mobilized the people of the whole country to help the country take the initiative to find out these "willed businessmen". The "Reporting Law" stipulates that if someone reports that a merchant has concealed property, once verified, the state will confiscate all the merchant's property, and the informer can share half of the merchant's property.
This move is really cruel! The businessmen have no choice but to resist! The specific logic will be analyzed in detail later.
In short, what is the effect of this combination of Emperor Wu of Han? The most direct benefit of
is naturally that it greatly alleviated the fiscal crisis of the court, and was able to continue to pay funds to maintain domestic stability and external expansion, and at the same time it effectively cracked down on local tyrants and gangsters and evil businessmen.
However, its greater impact is that it directly stimulates social contradictions because it provides a protective umbrella for the dark side of human nature; it also hurts normal commercial activities, leading to shrinkage of commercial activities and economic stagnation; it also leads to commodity shortages and rising prices; it also increases the operating load of the entire bureaucratic system, because behind those large amounts of actions, personnel need to support it.
"There are few businessmen, but things are expensive" - "Records of the Grand Historian"
It is precisely because of this that "The Law of the Conclusion" and "The Law of the Conclusion" were run for three years and were abolished by Emperor Wu of Han because it would continue to be made and it would only take a while for a social riot to be caused.
Where is the ruthlessness of "Reporting the Rules"?
"Reporting the Imperial Order" is actually to ensure that the "Reporting the Imperial Order" is implemented in place, so let's talk about "Reporting the Imperial Order".
"The Book of Conclusion" is actually not a difficult policy to accept as long as it is not deformed during the implementation process. However, as explained above, under the social conditions at that time, this thing was simply uncontrollable and was judged and implemented by human factors. It would be strange if the society was not chaotic under the influence of the dark side of human nature.
But the most ruthless thing is the "Report of the Rules" that followed. This trick is actually like " Recommendation Order ", which is a naked plot. Once this move was made, there was no place for merchants across the country to stay.
When Emperor Wu of Han first issued the "Capital Order", although the merchants were frustrated and panicked, they were not yet completely collapsed. They gritted their teeth and were more cautious, and were willing to persevere with luck. After all, life still has to be lived! What good results can you get when you are right with the imperial court? Therefore, many businessmen were lucky at the time and deliberately concealed their wealth in order to retain the greatest living space - "The rich all strive to hide their wealth."
However, after the release of the "Supreme Order", merchants had no room for resistance. This move was too powerful. According to the records of "Han Shu Food and Memorials", after the promulgation of the "Report of the War", middle-class and above merchants were mostly sued for bankruptcy and family breaking their families. The court "gathered billions of people's wealth and property, tens of millions of slaves; land, hundreds of hectares of large counties, and more than a hundred hectares of small counties; houses are the same as that."
Why is "Report of the War" so cruel? What's the effect so obvious? We analyze its logic step by step.
After the operation of "Si Jing Ling" was as fierce as a tiger, was the merchant's profit exploited by the court? What will businessmen do? Is it necessary to increase commodity prices in order to make profits and to survive? Is it the people who paid the bill in the end?
is equivalent to the wool that seems to be the court pulling out merchants, but in fact, the people will always be the people who become bald.
As the lives of ordinary people become more and more difficult, has the class contradictions in society become more acute? The simple and kind people will always accuse those evil capitalists of raising prices, which will make them live like years, so they inevitably develop hatred towards businessmen or rich people. What's more, most people themselves have a certain degree of hatred for the rich.
When the poor are unsustainable in their lives, will they go to extremes, resulting in social security being completely uncontrollable? There is nothing they dare to die in order to survive. In order to kill, kill, plunder, steal, and cheat. There is nothing they dare not do. We cannot expect those people who have not been baptized by poetry and books to have any lofty and holy awareness on life and death. If the granaries are full, they know etiquette and they have no food to eat. Can you expect them to sit up and wait for death?
On the basis of such a dangerous and enormous livelihood, the government of Emperor Wu of Han suddenly issued the "Reporting the War" saying that reporting and exposing the illegal acts of merchants can get half of the merchant's property. Let me ask, which ordinary people can resist such temptation?
First of all, these poor people hate these "unkind" businessmen who are "rich and unkind". These two classes have always been in an opposing relationship in terms of interests; secondly, this is a government call, and they cannot do anything too much, and policy basis can reduce their moral burden; finally, when life is a bit unsuccessful, reporting and exposing capitalists is also a way to make a living.
So, have you seen it? "The Order of the Rules" is a naked plot. The so-called plot is to spread it out and tell you that you have no better choice, you can only choose according to my wishes. Did the people at that time have any better choices?
Follow this logic, we continue to move forward. When the unsustainable people slowly act as free censors of the court, the entire social order suddenly became a mess.
First, in that case, as long as a businessman wants to survive, he will inevitably have illegal acts of tax evasion. No matter how everyone reports it, it will be accurate.
Second, it is simply zero cost for poor people to report wealthy businessmen. Do poor people have to do it even if they spend all their time?
Third, will this major movement similar to "beating local tyrants and sharing the land" trigger many vicious incidents of private revenge? You used to have two money, but it was a shame to you. Now that times have changed, I can't kill you to exclaim your anger? You used to bully others because my own conditions were limited. Now I have a chance, so I can't stab you to death?
Fourth, since "Reporting the Order" is a national policy, do the supervisors and executors under it have certain political tasks? Will some corrupt officials deliberately create unjust, false and wrong cases in order to complete their tasks?
Fifth, in this dilemma, are there many desperate businessmen who choose to fight against society in a way that can be defeated?
Sixth, when social relations become comprehensive and sensitive and fragile, will the court send more officials to complete daily management work? Should we send more armed forces to maintain social security stability? How many of these people are honest officials? It will only make everyone feel more and more uncomfortable! At the same time, the country's bureaucratic expenditure has also increased further. The wool is found on the sheep, so we can only find ways to get more money from the people. This has fallen into a vicious cycle.
Speaking of this, some friends may have questions. Since the routine of "Reporting the Rules" is so profound, didn't the people at that time understand? Why do you have to be a traitor for the court who will not end well?
I understand that people must have, but it’s useless! Because this is something determined by the human nature of the masses, a person or a small number of people are powerless. For example, do farmers in history who were raped into riots, don’t they know that their greatest possibility is to become cannon fodder? But what? Every time a peasant uprising, someone still raises his arms and responds to it.
Some people may also say that judging from the implementation of the "Reporting the Rules", a small number of poor people are also vested beneficiaries!
But, it's not that simple. Do you think you can get the half of the property you get when you report the wealthy businessman? Either you were reported by others not long after, or the property you obtained was taken away by the court in other names before it was warmed up. Just like the order to redeem the favor, the princes' sons seemed to enjoy and benefit a lot, but if they lengthen the timeline a little, they were destined to be useless.
To sum up, the amazing thing about "The Rebellion" is that it is linked in the logic of human nature and is strictly in line with each other, allowing those under management to involuntarily give birth to involuntary and kill each other. I knew it was drinking poison to quench my thirst, but I couldn't help but drink it all.
Reflections on "Reporting the Rules"
Some friends may think that "Reporting the Rules" is actually very useful. It makes the two groups of people below obedient and is a good management tool.
However, I hope everyone will never use this thing easily. This kind of thing is actually a conspiracy that uses conflicts of interest and internal conflicts of others and drives to provoke hatred, which will not last long.
Emperor Wu of Han only used it for three years, and felt deeply that 's move was not a long-term stability, and would inevitably lose the credibility of the court, hurt the foundation of society, and lay the factors of social instability, so he quickly canceled it.
Later generations Emperor Yang of Sui also used this trick when he was rectifying the nobles of Guanlong , but he forced the nobles of Guanlong into the revolutionary ranks of the anti-Sui Dynasty.
All these indicate that the sequelae of the routine of "Reporting the Rules" is very huge.
If you can't understand the reason, we might as well look at this problem in another scenario.
Suppose that everyone is in a company, the boss or leader tries every means to squeeze the interests of employees in order to increase the company's financial returns. Will they directly press the employees to the ground and rub them? No, they will put various pressure on the basic managers who are between you and me, forcing them to pull out the employees' wool. What are the benefits of doing this? When employees see that the boss repaired the small management coordinated in the center very badly, they usually feel very pleased. At the same time, the basic management personnel in the center directly attacked the employees, which increased the pain of the employees, and the contradiction between these two groups was further aroused. These are all things that bosses and leaders like to see.
Slowly, some grassroots managers felt a little unbearable, so they began to perfunctory the boss and the big leader. Anyway, they didn’t work hard, so they just lived a life, which directly affected the company’s overall indicators. At this time, the boss and the leader spoke, and the employees were welcome to report the little carrot head around them who was catching fish in troubled waters. Whoever reported successfully would let him enjoy the treatment and position of the person being reported.
Originally, those bitter employees usually dislike these arrogant little managers, and they quickly shoot behind their backs when they get the opportunity. As a result, many young leaders were laid off and many "traitors" became rich overnight.
For a long time, you can imagine what the situation will be like for this company? Who can believe who? Who will work hard? Haven’t you all tried your best to push a certain wall? Haven’t you just stared at the small managers who had made grudges with me? See if you can catch who can handle it?
is a vicious cycle. As long as you take this step, you can't turn back. Of course, many people don't want to turn back.
Think about it, they were all hard-working workers, but they couldn't work together and do a good job. Instead, they tried their best to deceiving each other all day long. Who isn't walking a tightrope at high altitude? The company is like cutting leeks, cutting one after another, without any repetition, and that feels so good!
However, this kind of thing lasts for a long time, and everyone will eventually find that they are hurting each other. Either the bottom is in chaos, or the bottom is waking up and spreading anger and complaints to the company's senior management. It is worrying whether the company can operate stably.
No matter which role we are in the court, businessmen or civilians, we should not easily use the routine of "Reporting the Rules". There is no unbreakable routine in the world. The more harmful the routine is, the stronger the backlash power bursts out at the moment it is destroyed.
In addition, from the perspective of dealing with people, there is actually a two-way mirror when dealing with people. Whatever you treat others, others will treat you! And you are doing it, and God is watching, there is also a potential signal in your way of behaving, that is, telling the people around you that they can treat you in the same way.
You report others to get promoted and make money. Can’t others get promoted and make money by reporting you? If you have personal grudges towards someone, so you can frame him by any means. Then will you offend someone? Can they also do anything to retaliate against you?
Why does our Chinese history and culture over the past thousands of years emphasize morality, rules, conscience and etiquette? Because these things themselves are a stable order and constraint, only when everyone does not break out of this circle and acts randomly can everyone maintain the minimum awe and respect between each other.
If everyone ignores and does whatever they want for their own selfish desires, you can imagine how chaotic the entire society will be? What should we do if we rape, plunder, steal, abduct, and cheat?
Many friends who have very shallow experiences and experiences have not yet gotten out of the logical misunderstanding of "I will do whatever I want" and "As long as it is good for me, everything can be done", and some things cannot be affected.If you seduce someone else's spouse, is it reasonable for others to seduce your spouse? If you betray someone else, then one day if someone else betrays you, you have nothing to say? If you don’t talk about martial ethics everywhere, then if others get the chance to attack you, where will you complain?
I hope everyone can understand that life is the sum of the relationship between people and society. We cannot just live in our own world, emotions, positions and interests, but also put ourselves into others and think about things that we should not do to others what we do not want others to do to others.
