The next day, on the fifteenth day of each month, Liu Hong's royal drive returned to the long-lost Xuanmuro Hall to hold this slightly special Shuowang Dynasty.

Logically speaking, the Shuowang Dynasty's characteristic of 'all those who are in Beijing for more than 600 stone and above the marquis of Jueguan will attend the meeting' is destined to be the nature of its meeting - to talk about some ethereal rituals and religions, as well as keyboard political meetings similar to 'please Your Majesty to re-educate the rituals' and 'Please Your Majesty to re-emphasize filial piety'.

However, after Liu Hong gradually took power, Liu Hong's intentional or unintentional guidance, and the background of a series of major political events, the Shuowang Dynasty of the Han Dynasty has gradually departed from the essence of its 'mouth cannon conference', but moved towards the direction of major decision-making conferences.

This made the originally relaxed and comfortable, courtiers and nobles laughing and talking with colleagues, low-level bureaucrats and transparent marquis mixed in front of the emperor's eyes, and the atmosphere of the meeting with a sense of existence gradually became more serious.

Taking today's Shuowang Dynasty as an example, aside from those unplanned accidental factors and the routine 'Please Your Majesty' verbal cannons, the content that has been included in the agenda of the court meeting alone is enough to delay this court meeting, which started early in the morning, until the end of the evening.

Touching the slightly bulging abdomen, Liu Hong cleared his throat, and then started the procedure of Shuo Wangchao as usual: "As the proverb goes: If you listen partially, you will believe, and if you listen to both, you will understand." ”

"Today, Shuowang Dynasty, I also ask the ministers Cao Chang to speak his mind, and bluntly say that the government of our Han family is inappropriate, fallacious, or omitted, and I should listen to it to correct the hearing."

Everyone in the hall paid homage to themselves: "Your Majesty is now open up to the road, with the right dynasty, the great fortune of the world..."

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Cang, the imperial historian who was the 'Asian Minister', came out of class to speak on behalf of Chen Ping, who was ill today: "The imperial historian and the ministers died for a hundred years, in order to play Your Majesty: Emperor Xi Taizu Gao widely awarded the Mintian Jue to show the meaning of persuasion and cultivation; The Han family is based on agriculture, and it is also the foundation of the country set by Emperor Taizu Gao. ”

"Now it is the early spring, the spring ploughing is approaching, but the people are more deserted and wasted acres, making profits from the end of the business, and the market officials are also doing nothing, sitting back and watching the people do business with agricultural status; In the long run, the ministers are afraid of shaking the foundation of the country, and the people will be evil. ”

Regarding what Zhang Cang said, Liu Hong has already had a draft - under normal circumstances, whether it is the content proposed by the Shuowang Dynasty or the Chang Dynasty, in fact, few ministers pat their heads and put them directly in front of the emperor or the court.

Just like today, Zhang Cang reiterated the national policy of the Han Dynasty of 'valuing the basics and upholding the people's style', in fact, as early as a few days ago, he had already reported to Liu Hong in writing and received approval.

As for why such a rhetorical remark is made at this point in time when internal and external troubles are gathering and the political situation is unstable, it is because after the beginning of spring, Chang'an and even the entire Guanzhong have set off a crooked wind!

The price of grain in Guanzhong was naturally stabilized under the dual threat of Liu Hong's economy + dictatorship, but the subsequent special statistics made the court silent-Rao is Liu Hong, who had been psychologically prepared, was also stung in the eyes by cold numbers.

Under the double statistics of the internal officials and the imperial historian collection group, the price of grain in Guanzhong was boiling, which directly led to the death of at least 10,000 people in Guanzhong!

And that's not the main thing—in the relatively stable internal environment of the Han dynasty today, the probability of being starved to death is actually very low; Even if you commit yourself to slavery, you will not starve to death.

What really made Liu Hong's heart twist was those who were relatively smart and sold themselves into slavery in order to survive - from the winter and October to the first day of the spring and second month, in just four months, more than 30,000 homesteaders disappeared from the household registration of Neishi!

Just a 'grain shortage' that lasted no more than two months made the basic plate of the old Liu family: Guanzhong, lose nearly one-thirtieth of the hardcore supporters - the yeoman peasant class!

In other words, as long as such an incident happens thirty more times, theoretically, the old Liu family will lose the support of the entire Guanzhong!

In fact, it doesn't take thirty times at all - as long as there are three or four more times, more than 10% of the peasant households in Guanzhong go bankrupt and become slaves, and the foundation of Liu Han's regime will be shaken!

This made Liu Hong toss and turn, even when the Hun mission was about to arrive, he couldn't sleep and eat.

Immediately afterwards, the wind collection group under the Imperial Doctor brought back a piece of news from all over Guanzhong that made Liu Hong even more nervous: Guanzhong said a lot: farming is one year old, and the tax rations are removed, and the income is only 100 stones of corn, and the discount is less than 10,000 yuan; The price of grain once boiled, and the people's income in a year was only 20 stones!

However, when he worked, a man would get 50 dollars a day, no money for food and lodging, and more than 20,000 yuan a year; A family of five, with an annual income of 100,000 yuan, once became a middle-class family!

This made Liu Hong suddenly highly vigilant - this kind of remarks is not low in the recognition of the people!

It was only at this time that Liu Hong realized that the turmoil in food prices in Guanzhong had also happened in the original history.

Because as soon as Emperor Wen ascended the throne, after appointing Song Chang, Zhang Wu and other cronies to control the palace ban, he immediately issued the 'Xu Min Chi Shanze' order!

In the following decades, the people at the bottom were guaranteed their basic livelihood because of the opening of mountains and rivers, and gradually became rich; There are also countless wealthy businessmen and tycoons, who have flourished through the subsidiary clause of the "Xu Minchi Shanze Order": "Abolition of Tariff Order".

The princes of Kwantung, such as Liu Bi, the king of Wu, even took advantage of this to burn mountains and open copper to mint money, and developed the Wu land that was originally a border swamp pond into a rich place in the world during the Jingdi Dynasty, and its wealth was second only to that of Qi.

Liu Hong originally thought that Emperor Wen in history wanted to get the support of the people and ensure the stability of his throne after he ascended the throne, so he issued this decree that seemed to benefit the people at the bottom, but in fact benefited the local powerful and the Kwantung princes.

Looking at it now, it is Liu Hong who underestimated the wisdom of the ancients - Emperor Wen in history is only afraid to know very much about the results that can be caused by "Xu Minchi Shanze Order"!

But in the end, Emperor Wen still made this move that obviously did more harm than good, and the reason for it may be answered by the situation that Liu Hong is facing now.

- If Liu Hong's expectations are correct, after Liu Heng ascended the throne in history, grain prices also fluctuated in Guanzhong, and now the remarks of 'agriculture is not as good as Jia' in the Han Dynasty are afraid that they are also in front of Liu Heng in history.

In the face of the dissatisfaction of the people in Guanzhong, the dissatisfaction of the Kwantung princes led by Wang Liu Xiang to Liu Heng's succession to the throne, and the situation that the courtiers were in power and the jackals were waiting outside the border wall, Liu Heng finally chose to stabilize the people of Guanzhong with the "Xu Min Chi Shanze Order", abolish the customs tax to buy local powers, and plug the mouths of the Kwantung princes with mining rights, and focused all his attention on the political game against Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and other powerful ministers.

According to the political background at the time, Liu Heng's decision may not be the most correct, but it is undoubtedly wise - after stumbling over the power of the ministers, Liu Heng moved the world in the name of the emperor's mausoleum, and cut away the wealthy businessmen and giants who had grown barbarously for more than ten years!

The Kwantung princes, who were rich and powerful because of the mining rights and gradually showed a rebellion, Liu Heng could not deal with it in his lifetime, so he handed over the matter to his successor: Emperor Jing Liu Qi.

Not rigorously speaking, the sequelae of "Xu Minchi Shanze Order" took the time of the emperors of Wen and Jing to barely clean it up.

The situation faced by Liu Hong in this life is undoubtedly much better than that of Emperor Wen in history.

The fluctuation of food prices, which made the people of Guanzhong dissatisfied, was reversed by Liu Hong by coercive means, although the final result was still shocking, but through this incident, Liu Hong also made a lot of popular popularity.

Liu Heng did not hesitate to pay the price of 'allowing the local powerful forces and the separatist forces of the Kwantung princes to grow savagely', and Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and others, who concentrated all their energy on dealing with them, also gradually gained the upper hand after the Gaomiao incident.

The most important point: Liu Honggen is Miao Hong, and the source of the throne is reasonable and legitimate!

Liu Hong didn't have to be like Emperor Wen in history, in order to block the mouths of the Kwantung princes, and the next game of chess, which took more than 20 years, fell to the final killing move, and he had to let his son play for himself.

In this way, there is actually only one question left in front of Liu Hong: how should the people's distrust of farming and their yearning for commercial interests be handled?

When the grain price problem was first discovered, Liu Hong had not yet seen through the stakes, and instinctively thought of the "Xu Minchi Shanze Order", which had proved its feasibility in history.

But for today's Liu Hong, there is no need to pay such a huge price - whether it is a local powerful force or a princely separatist force, it is a group that Liu Hong will focus on suppressing in the future!

Now, Liu Hong does not need to show too much weakness in front of Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and other powerful ministers, nor does he need to buy the princes for the sake of the emperor, as long as the grain price is stable for a long time, the problem will be perfectly solved!

The long-planned policy of protecting the price of grain once again appeared in Liu Hong's mind.

Thinking of this, Liu Hong nodded to Uncle Tian on the left side of the court, and immediately said loudly: "What Doctor Yushi said, I deeply believe it. ”

"The Han family is based on agriculture and business; Emperor Taizu Gao once clearly ordered: Jia people are not allowed to ride in clothes, which is the meaning of strengthening the foundation and weakening the end, and persuading the people to work hard. ”

"However, many of the people today have the heart of not ploughing, putting the cart before the horse, abandoning the cultivation of corn and chasing Jia Li, this program is often subverted, and the omen of the corruption of the people's customs is also, I am very afraid!"

As he spoke, Liu Hong's face gradually became serious: "I Guangfa Imperial History collects wind in Guanzhong, and I know that the worries of the people are that the price of grain fluctuates, the grain is cheap and hurts the farmers, and the grain is expensive and hurts the farmers. ”

"Today, Shuo Wangchao will discuss this matter; All the princes are famous all over the world, and they will be able to teach me to understand! ”

Seeing Liu Hong bowing solemnly, everyone in the hall also got up in order and bowed back together: "Thanks to Your Majesty's refusal to give up, I thought that the ministers of the government, the ministers were trembling, and I didn't dare to live up to Your Majesty's expectations..."

That being said, if you really want to put forward any valuable suggestions on this matter, it is to embarrass these people who were limited in their thinking before the Western Yuan.

The grain is cheap and hurts the peasants, and the grain is expensive and hurts the peasants; Although this statement is the first time it has appeared, similar problems have appeared as early as the Warring States period and caused the thinking of hundreds of schools of thought.

The price of grain is low, and the grain harvested by the peasants cannot be sold for money; Grain prices are high, and farmers may not be able to afford to eat the grain they grow!

In fact, this is the third time that the issue of food price fluctuations has appeared in the Han court.

For the first time, when Gaozu Liu Bang was not yet the emperor and was still the king of Han, Chu and Han confronted Xingyang, the price of grain in the world was boiling, and the rice and stone were ten thousand dollars!

The Xuanqu Ren family, who controlled the granary of Qin Governor's Road, took advantage of this opportunity and earned a net worth of hundreds of millions; In the Han camp not far from the governor's road, Liu Bang, the children of Peixian and Guanzhong were all hungry and swallowed their saliva at the mountains of rice grain in the governor's warehouse.

This incident had a great impact on Liu Bang's soul; After the end of the Chu-Han hegemony, Liu Bang put forward a plan to 'set an upper limit' on the issue of grain prices for the first time.

But in the end, the matter was closed; The internal reasons for this matter have also become a mystery.

The second time, still in the Taizu Dynasty, Liu Bang issued a three-baht coin with a face value of 12 baht, and the economic order of the world collapsed, and the price of grain broke through the sky again, rising to 4,000 yuan a stone!

This time, the issue of grain prices was still only raised by Liu Bang, and Cao Shen and other founding heroes were unknown, and then Liu Bang died, and Lu Hou issued eight baht coins and declared it over.

Today, Liu Hong once again raised the issue of grain prices, and said very seriously that this matter must come up with a solution!

On the surface, the issue of grain prices was raised this time, and it was nothing compared with the previous two times - the time when Chu and Han fought for hegemony, the grain price problem directly led to the inability of the Han army to raise all the military rations, and in the end it could only repeatedly surround three and lack one, and use the tactics of Huaiyin Marquis to ambush on all sides, and the Chu army was eaten up little by little.

The second time was even more shocking - in the land of Guanzhong, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, there was a tragedy of cannibalism among the people!

Compared with those two times, this time the fluctuation of grain prices is really not a big deal - the highest is only 500 yuan, and this price will be put at the beginning of the founding of the country, and the people will be happy to die!

Moreover, the fluctuation of grain prices is also an important means for courtiers and nobles, especially the high-ranking Chehou nobles whose main income is the output of the feudal lords, to make a profit - the income of the Chehou feudal estate, like the grain tax obtained by the imperial court, is grain!

Take Zhou Bo, who has 9,000 households in the food estate, for example, the annual tax income of the Marquis of Jianghou is nearly 150,000 stone corn.

If this batch of grain is sold on an ordinary day, it will only cost 85 yuan, and the total amount will be about 1.3 million yuan.

But if it had been sold at a price of nearly 500 yuan per stone some time ago, it would have been worth 6.5 million yuan!

For the 'plummeting' price of grain, whether it is the courtiers who rely on the tax as their main income, or the nobles who use the feudal tax as their income, they have long been dissatisfied-when the country was founded, the price of grain was several thousand yuan a stone, and two thousand stone was a few hundred thousand yuan, that is, millions of dollars!

Right now?

Ask Chen Ping, the prime minister of Shilu Wanshi, how much money can he have in a year?

Four thousand two hundred stone corn, worth no more than 400,000 yuan!

Even Jiuqing, who has 2,000 stones in the ranks, is only 2,160 stones in his year, and his money is only 200,000!

If you don't rely on food price fluctuations to exchange more money, even if you are the Jiuqing Dynasty, it will be difficult to maintain a decent life in Chang'an.

Therefore, the biggest beneficiary of food price fluctuations is actually the courtiers who hold power and can control food price fluctuations, the entire bureaucratic class, is the interest group of food price fluctuations!

This can be seen from the closed mouth and eyes in the hall, envious of the courtiers and nobles who closed their eyes and recuperated their spirits, especially the faces of Zhou Bo, Guan Ying and others who had nearly 10,000 stones.

In this regard, Liu Hong has long been mentally prepared and has already had a solution.

"Uncle Shaofu, I would like to play Your Majesty."

The long silence came to an end in Uncle Tian's abrupt departure from Bannabai.

Watching Uncle Tian slowly take out a roll of bamboo slips, Liu Hong glanced at everyone in the hall with a little disappointment, shook his head helplessly and sighed.

Uncle Tian is the trust prepared by Liu Hong.

To be precise, it is Liu Hong's emergency plan prepared for the worst outcome.

However, on the issue of food prices, which is of vital concern to the interests of the people and related to the stability of the country, these powerful people who claim to be the pillars of power have chosen to pretend to be ostriches for their personal interests; Liu Hong's last precautionary measure was forced out at the very beginning of the topic.

This made Liu Hong a little unhappy, but he did not feel pressured or pessimistic about the prospects of the grain protection price policy.

Because the Shaofu named Jiuqing is completely isolated from the entire political center, and it is not responsible for the court, including the prime minister, at all!

I saw Uncle Tian slowly spread out the bamboo slip in his hand, and in Liu Hong's indifferent gaze, he told the famous strategy and theory.

As Uncle Tian's voice spread to every corner of the Xuanshu Hall little by little, the courtiers and nobles in the hall finally walked out of the state of 'retreat and meditation', and their faces solemnly savored the information implied by the strategy.

Putting aside the theoretical basis that Uncle Tian quoted from the classics and found from the hundred schools of thought, the central idea of this piece is actually very simple: macroeconomic regulation and control.

Uncle Tian's words are also very beautiful: in order to ensure that Shaofu can provide enough materials when needed in the forbidden, Uncle Tian proposed that in the future, Shaofu will buy corn at a price of 80 yuan per stone for any time and unlimited time.

At the same time, in order to avoid the deterioration of the stored grain, Shaofu will sell the old rice at a price of 85 yuan per stone, for any time and in unlimited quantities.

As soon as the words came out, hundreds of courtiers and nobles in the palace immediately turned their heads to each other, and they all talked about what kind of changes this matter would bring if it was done.

Looking at the panicked courtiers in the palace, Liu Hong raised his head a little proudly: "Do you think what the Shaofu said is a good policy?" ”

Even putting aside the interests of the courtiers on the fluctuation of grain prices, from an objective point of view, avoiding the fluctuation of grain prices was not something that the courtiers before the Western Yuan could solve.

In the context of the limitations of the times, as well as the fact that Huang Laoxue was in power and pursued the principle of 'if the law does not prohibit it, there is no blame', when faced with the problem of grain price fluctuations, the thinking of courtiers generally stays at 'the law does not limit the price of grain sold by merchants, how to blame?' '.

If Liu Hong followed this logic and issued a law that set the upper and lower limits for grain prices, then the courtiers and officials, who were the profit-making groups, would have tacitly acknowledged that this law did not exist.

- There is no one who knows how to avoid legal risks and look for legal loopholes better than bureaucrats.

For example, if Liu Hong stipulates that the price of corn cannot exceed 90 yuan, then the courtiers and nobles can completely avoid legal risks by bundling sales: one stone of corn and one hay can be sold for 200 yuan!

Don't buy?

Then I won't sell it yet!

It is impossible for Liu Hong to make a law: as long as someone buys grain, it must be sold! I can't refuse to sell!