Introduction:
Everyone knows that salt is a substance that the human body must supplement every day, while iron is a very common raw material for agricultural tools and daily living in the process of work. The essential beverages for day-time workers and farmers, under the situation of extremely low productivity in ancient times, the production and sales of such important three items will naturally be under strong control by the court, especially salt and iron. In ancient times, government offices have always set up salt affairs offices, which are responsible for the operation of salt transportation, and they have monopolized the monopoly of salt. Moreover, they will receive extremely heavy penalties for salt smuggling, and even some dynasty laws. Rule: Smuggling salt can be executed at half a catty. Iron is also a monopoly material of the imperial court, because iron can not only make agricultural tools, but also weapons and armor. As for wine, although it is closely related to people's lives, it is less controlled than salt and iron. However, there is also a monopoly authority. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used "建酒貨以赡边" to monopolize wine. , It took 17 years to lift the restrictions.
茂陵老农
I am an old farmer in Maoling, and we are now an old farmer. The body of the couple is swollen, and my son is gradually getting swollen. The only good one should be my poor grandson. His mother went to give birth to him, so we have always taken care of him very carefully, but watch Looks like, the two of us old can't watch him grow up. We just hope that his father will treat him better and make up for the lost maternal love with his father's love. Originally, my family was relatively wealthy, but I didn’t expect it to become poorer and poorer over the years. In fact, it was the salt and iron monopoly system that caused trouble.
富户移居
Back then, I lived in Maoling. At that time, although the life was a bit harder, the sunrise and the sunset took a break, male Plowing women’s weaving is also a happy thing, but not long after the good days, I heard the emperor’s order to relocate wealthy households to Maoling. In the second year of Yuanshuo (127 years ago), Emperor Wu of Han promulgated "Moving to Maoling" Order", ordering those with a net worth of more than 3 million yuan to move to Maoling .
In this way, our original life is broken. Those wealthy households originally came from all over the country. At that time, they were forced to relocate as long as their wealth was qualified. Although they were unwilling, they had to follow the imperial order. For this reason, Maoling really vacated a large area to build houses for them. They were given land, but these people were still at a loss, and they even took our land. Although they were rich, the officials in Maoling were still good, so our group went to complain, and the officials knew that the emperor moved them to Maoling. Ling is ready to clean up them, so he is relieved to deal with those wealthy households boldly. Therefore, our life is relatively peaceful.
After those wealthy households came, there were a lot more people buying and selling things in Maoling, and they opened many shops. Originally, I wanted to take advantage of the situation to open a shop, but I didn’t have too much More capital, it will come to an end. But when I went to buy salt at in a shop, I suddenly found that the price of table salt has risen by , which is even more than ten times higher than before. Why is this?
The disaster of the rich businessmen
Back then, when the Han Dynasty was just established, the people’s life was not good, The Emperor Gaozu The life of the people is better, so they have always been scornful, even the later Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing are like this , and Emperor Gaozu also let merchants manage salt, iron, and wine at will , salt, iron, Alcohol is something that people usually use, so these things are sold very quickly. Even in the East China Sea, many people use salt as their business, and salt is dried by the sea. It is easy, so they are also sold. It’s cheaper, and there are salt sellers everywhere. Whether it’s in the streets or in the bustling cities, there will be a few shouts. Of course, our group of salt buyers also take a lookThe price is cheap, and the same is true for iron and wine.
Those merchants who started by selling salt, iron, and wine began to become richer and richer. Even the most famous 吴王刘濞 was based on the state of Wu’s boiling salt. There is money for rebellion. Of course, this is the prince, or Liu's clan, but those wealthy households are getting richer and richer, and some are even richer than the enemy. Even the emperor must borrow money from those wealthy households to fight the Huns. This is for the emperor. It is a great insult, and even a great threat. In this way, the country started the monopoly of salt, iron and wine.
and In addition to the emperor's desire to attack the Huns, the monopoly order was also related to a person, that person was Sanghong Sheep.
Sang Hongyang, it is a very familiar name for me. I never thought that a little child could come up with such a strategy when he grew up. 桑弘羊 was originally Luoyang people . Born in a merchant family, Luoyang City was the economic center of the Spring and Autumn Period. Economic development will inevitably lead to cultural prosperity. What's more, Luoyang was also the capital of Zhou Dynasty at that time. It should be there, and Sang Hongyang lived in that place when he was a child, so it's no wonder that he is different from other people's children. When the emperor had just inherited the throne, the first thing was 修陵睡, so the emperor chose Maoling as a place, and Sanghongyang's family was rich, so he was moved to Maoling. Sang Hongyang was still a small child, but he entered the palace because of his agility at the age of thirteen and became a trusted attendant by the emperor. He was also very good at managing money because he came from a merchant family. With the trust of the emperor, he stepped up to the peak of power and became a great farmer.
After becoming a great farmer, he started to share his worries for the emperor. After all, the emperor needed to attack the Xiongnu and needed money, and the treasury was also emptied for supporting the emperor in war. So Sanghongyang began to propose to the emperor Learn from Guan Zhong and return the benefits of salt and iron to the country. Salt, iron and wine are the daily necessities of the common people and are indispensable. so there will be big profits when handed over to the state franchise. Therefore, the emperor agreed to Sanghong in order to have money. Sheep’s recommendations.
Salt iron wine franchise
But since the salt iron wine franchise, our life has undergone tremendous changes. Starting from salt, the salt itself is allowed to be privately owned, so the price of salt is generally very cheap, but since salt was returned to the state for business, the price of salt has risen sharply, and the rich and powerful people who started from selling salt have all died down. Change to another profession, because once you do this again, it is going against the country and rebelling. There are also fewer people drying salt in the places where the salt was originally dried, and they are all arranged by the state. Under such circumstances, there is less natural salt. But salt is a must-have item for every family, so the demand is also great. Officials are still thinking about making more money for the country. Therefore, the price of salt has risen extremely quickly and grows fast, but it does not. Falling down, we ordinary farmers can't afford too much salt. We can only buy half a catty for three catties of salt this time. It was okay not to eat salt for two days a day, but the price of salt was too high. Many people in have not been able to eat salt for a long time, and their whole body was swollen and died. Originally, I could still rely on planting some fields to make some money, but I didn't expect land to be planted anymore.
The land itself is the basis for our old farmers to survive, but since the iron monopoly, our fields have been worse than each year. Iron farm tools began to increase in the 6th century BC, precisely because it is very convenient to use iron plows to plow. However, since the iron monopoly, the quality of iron plows is not as good as paper, and it is broken after a few times, which is a lot of waste. Money, which is like the iron plow before it, can't even bend a part after ten or eight years. There are also things like shovel, which are basically broken after a few times of use, but you have to buy them. Instead of making much money from farming in a year, they are all added to farm tools. When Tie Neng was privately owned before, our group used to choose from house to house, which shopIf the iron is good, you can buy it. You can even buy a good piece of iron and let the master blacksmith help build the field tools. How can you buy iron like this and get a special place to buy it, even the quality is no way. Guarantee, the price is a lot higher.
Now even if we are a group of people eat salt, it is difficult to even invite someone to drink. After a meal, the income this year is almost gone, after all, wine It is too expensive now. It is said that the Emperor specially sent him two carts of wine to celebrate the victory of Huo Qubing General , but he was poured into the spring water by General Huo for the soldiers to drink. Changed its name to Jiuquan. In fact, at that time, it would be great if I was a soldier. Wouldn’t I be able to taste the taste of wine? After all, I haven’t drunk wine for nearly 20 years. I can’t afford to eat salt at home, and there is no money left. Buy wine and drink.
Now that I am old, it is of no use. My wife and I thought that we should not eat salt and leave all the salt to our sons and grandchildren. After all, they are still young. In this way, the old lady has two servings every time she cooks, one for my son and grandson with salt, and one for my son and grandson without salt. We are both old and we eat. Alas, I hope this day will pass sooner. When it is limited to salt and iron.
Summary
In fact, this kind of monopoly system began in the Spring and Autumn Period. It was Guan Zhong of Qi State who first proposed the monopoly system. However, according to different dynasties and different economic and political conditions, different commodities State franchise is implemented, such as salt and iron wine in the Han Dynasty, vinegar in the Tang Dynasty, and tea in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Until now, the state still implements a franchise for certain commodities, and individuals are not allowed to sell them. The biggest advantage is that it can make up for the country’s finances and increase income, but to a certain extent it has also caused a living distress like "I".
References
《汉书》
《资治通鉴》
《战国策》
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