In the Western Han Dynasty, the dislike for the merchant class was particularly profound: all those who were merchants had their household registrations taken out of their original agricultural registers and incorporated into separate merchant registers.

Perhaps in the eyes of later generations, this is nothing—isn't it just a change of classification of the household register?

In fact, the distinction between peasant and commercial records in the Western Han Dynasty is similar to the distinction of components at the beginning of the founding of the later dynasty; The peasant class resembles the poor peasant class, while the merchant class resembles the landlord class.

In other words, once they are included in the business register, it means that the political component is tainted, and there is basically no chance to enter the system, or even live like a normal person - those who are included in the business registration will be divided into separate residential areas by the government and live in a concentrated manner.

Therefore, merchants in the feudal era can never develop into capital - after they have money, businessmen will spend most of their wealth to go through the door, pull their household registration from business registration back to agricultural registration, and then use the remaining money to buy land in their hometown, become a rich landowner, and become a local tycoon.

For this kind of landlord Haoqiang, who made money and ran back to his hometown to exploit the peasants, the Western Han Dynasty had its own unique way of dealing with it: in the name of 'guarding the mausoleum for the Son of Heaven', the wealthy and powerful households in various counties were forcibly relocated, and the armed escort was transported to Guanzhong, and the mausoleum near the mausoleum of the Son of Heaven was monitored and controlled at close range.

To the outside world, it is said that the heroes of the world are moved to the world, and the country is solidified in order to consolidate the country.

Through such a way of cutting leeks with stubble, the state power can ensure that in terms of talent reserves and social wealth, Guanzhong will unilaterally crush Guanwai.

And the reason why Haoqiang is calling for wind and rain in the local area is naturally not because he is rich - if you really talk about it, the emperor is the richest person in the world!

They rely on the reputation they have accumulated in the local area for many years, as well as the contacts they have built up over the years.

was suddenly forced to relocate by the government, and when they arrived at the foot of the imperial city, the heroes were naturally worn off; was blackmailed by the head snake in Guanzhong again, and his family shrank significantly, and he disappeared from everyone after several generations.

However, the Han family has persevered for many years to move Haoqiang from the local area to Guanzhong, but they have not been able to avoid the best of them Even when they arrived in Chang'an, they were not torn apart by the head snake, but turned into the head of the head snake in Chang'an.

Anling Dushi is such an inspirational example.

As early as Liu Bang's death and the year Emperor Hui ascended the throne, Liu Ying's Anling was officially started, and Anlingyi was completed soon after.

However, everything that happened next shocked the local heroes of Chang'an!

The Du family was not eaten by the local Haoqiang in Chang'an like other families, but as soon as they arrived in Anlingyi, they didn't have time to live in a new home, and the contemporary Du family head found someone to entrust the relationship, contacted Chen Ping, the right prime minister at the time, and proposed to send his concubine to Chen Ping's concubine as a concubine!

Public opinion at that time believed that even if he gave a concubine to his concubine, Chen Ping, as a meritorious hero of the founding of the country, would not be willing to be involved with the merchants.

But three days later, Du's concubine was carried into the back door of Qu Rebellion's Mansion in full view of the people of Chang'an.

As for the reason, it was revealed to the people of Chang'an soon after - Du pulled all the corn in his hometown grain depot to Chang'an and sold it to the treasury under Chen Ping's command at a price of 100 yuan per stone.

It seems that Toshi is not doing anything, but in fact...

Gaozu Liu Bang only started the army at the age of forty-seven, and he had no economic concept; Finding that the treasury was poor, he slapped his head and issued three baht coins, and stipulated that the value of three baht coins was equivalent to the Qin half tael coins circulating in the market at that time.

You must know that Qin is half a tael, and it weighs twelve plants!

Liu Bang stipulates that three pieces of money and half a tael are worth the same, which is equivalent to: the state takes a piece of five yuan in exchange for twenty in your hand.

Overnight, the collective inflation of the Han family quadrupled!

As an imperial city, Chang'an City, which is already densely populated and heavily dependent on external imports for materials, has soaring prices.

When Du sold nearly 100,000 stone of grain to Chen Ping to the treasury at a price of 100 yuan per stone, the price of grain in Chang'an was 3,500 yuan per stone!

In other words, Chen Ping's treasury 'spent' 10 million 3 baht, and after buying Du's 100,000 stone corn, he sold it on the market and made a full 340 million yuan!

What's even more jaw-dropping is that the day before Chen Ping sold the 100,000 stone corn, the imperial court officially promulgated the edict of the Empress Dowager Lu: depose three baht and eight baht...

In other words, Du Shi actually donated nearly 345 million dollars to the treasury of the poor rats at that time!

At that time, the annual tax revenue of the national treasury was only 100,000 yuan.

With this money, Chen Ping was able to quickly stabilize the prices in Chang'an, and fortunately did not encounter the tragic experience of Cao Shen, who could only take an ox cart to the court.

Since then, the Anling Du clan has officially become one of the most famous families in Chang'an.

After occupying a place in Chang'an, Du Shi picked up what he used to do in his hometown: selling grain.

Up to now, eight out of every ten rice shops in Chang'an have the surname Du, and six out of every ten rice shops in Guanzhong have the surname Du.

The rest of the small and medium-sized grain merchants are basically inextricably linked with the Du family - either they married their daughters to Du's children, or their own sons married Du's daughters.

It can be said that under the condition that Neishi and Shaofu do not interfere, the grain price in Guanzhong, Du Shi said that if it costs a thousand yuan and a stone, there will be no corn of 900 yuan and a stone on the market.

Relying on this ability to 'say the same', Du's wealth has increased by almost half every year in the past fifteen years, from 3 million yuan when he moved into Anlingyi to 50,000 yuan now!

In recent years, the head of the Du family has grown older, his spirit has gradually faded, and he has tended to be conservative, and his attention has shifted from making money to buying acres.

Even so, Du's position in the Guanzhong grain market is still the undoubted leader.

As a businessman, especially a grain merchant, Du Shi has an extremely keen sense of smell whether it is the political environment or market changes.

It is rumored that every year at the beginning of spring, farmers will sow the seeds, and Du Shi will be able to predict whether the harvest of the year will be good or bad through an exclusive secret technique! ①

As for the changes in the court situation, Du Shi is the 'Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet' - if there is a wind and grass, and the people in Guanzhong are in turmoil, it is a good opportunity for food prices to soar!

Even if the price of food is doubled immediately, panicked people will hoard home without hesitation.

This year is undoubtedly the happiest year in the fifteen years after the Du family moved to Anling.

First of all, there was a great chaos in Chang'an, and the soldiers and horses galloped through the streets, and the price of grain successfully rose from eighty-five yuan to one hundred and forty yuan!

Later, the changes outside the Weiyang Palace made the price of grain rise to a historical peak of 200 yuan!

Du Shi, who was still on the sidelines before, couldn't sit still at all when he saw this!

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PS: 1. I forgot which book I read about this matter, anyway, it's amazing, but I personally guess that this is simply something that Du pretended to make in order to create panic and control food prices, and the credibility is less than zero.

The record of the Anling Du clan in the Western Han Dynasty in the text is referred to from the "Historical Records: The Biography of the Goods and Colonies".