"The people take food as the sky" hoards food in good years for emergencies. However, the reserve of grain cannot be too simple, which is a bit like modern finance.

Just as you can't put all your eggs in the same basket, grain reserves should be divided into different categories and stored according to different types and categories, especially for military rations.

Once Meicheng is besieged by the enemy, trapped in the city, lost contact with the outside world, and the grain transportation road is cut off, the granary can be opened immediately.

"The country's capital, food is the first".

The issue of grain reserves has a bearing on the national economy and the people's livelihood, and is a major matter of concern to both China and other countries in ancient and modern times.

In the Xia Dynasty, the warehousing system officially became an important financial system of the country, and all subsequent dynasties and generations also put the problem of grain storage in an important position in governing the country and the country.

Grain storage can be said to be one of the strategic ideas of ancient Chinese emperors. The emperors all understood the power of "accumulating grain" and understood that grain storage played a role in "stabilizing grain prices and regulating the market; disaster relief and famine preparedness, peace and security of the people; to feed the army and prepare for war".

"Dig deep holes, accumulate grain, build high walls, and slowly become kings" is the twelve-character policy when Liu Bang's strength was not strong enough.

"Dig deep holes, accumulate grain, and build high walls" is Zhu Yuanzhang's nine-character policy.

All of them understand the great significance of "accumulating grain." At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and everyone was competing for the world, and the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to achieve the final victory was related to the nine-character proverb of "digging deep holes, accumulating grain, and building high walls". Cooking for thousands of people in a few meters or two in the pot is tantamount to pulling a tiger skin to make a big flag, but it is just a fox and a fake tiger.

In ancient times, not only the two monarchs, Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang, understood the importance of grain storage, but the rulers of successive dynasties attached great importance to the construction of central storage, and also attached great importance to local government grain storage.

During the Han Dynasty, the seventh year of Gaozu of the Han Dynasty (200 BC) began to build the new capital Chang'an, and the first batch of key construction projects included Taicang.

In addition to Taicang, the granaries directly managed by the central government include Ganquan Cang in Ganquan, Huacang in Huaxian, Xiliucang and Jiacang near Zuojiao.

In addition to paying close attention to the storage of imperial grain, the successive dynasties also actively expanded other channels for raising grain. For example, in the Song Dynasty, different types of warehouses had different sources of food.

Zhengcang, also known as Guancang, is mainly the source of grain from the imperial grain; The Yicang of each state and county is mainly from the official collection of the spring and autumn two taxes, and each stone is collected another bucket of storage warehouse; The storage grain that is often closed is mainly purchased at a slightly higher market price in the summer and autumn every year, and its capital is allocated by the state finance. The source of rice in Guanghuicang is the rent collected by the government from recruiting people to cultivate the uncultivated fields; Shecang mainly provides grain for the government and collects "interest rice", and at the same time, it also raises grain for the rich people through persuasion and borrowing.

There are many problems in the warehousing system of successive feudal dynasties, which are mainly manifested as: the corruption of warehouse officials and serious deficits; Insufficient reserves and weak regulation. In order to solve these problems, the feudal dynasty attached great importance to strengthening warehouse management.

Generally speaking, the chief executive of the central financial department is the highest supervisor of warehousing in the country, and there is a special "warehouse official" responsible for warehousing matters under him. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, the household department was in charge of the country's money and grain, and the provinces were divided by the political department.

Different types of warehousing are managed in different forms. Official warehouses such as regular liquidation are mainly managed by government agencies at all levels, while private warehouses such as righteous warehouses, community warehouses, and reserve warehouses are mainly managed by private gentlemen themselves under the guidance of the government. There are two main management systems:

First, it is necessary to formulate stricter management regulations. For example, the Qin Dynasty had a special "Cang Law", which was strict; The Western Han Dynasty had a special accounting book, which recorded in detail the quantity, variety, access, handler, and verification of stored grains, and the superior officials would also check it frequently;

Second, increase the severity of punishment. For example, during the period from the first year of Yongzheng to the third year of the Qing Dynasty (1723-1725), Yongzheng issued more than 30 edicts on the inventory of money and grain shortages, and sent court officials to assist in checking the local money and grain shortages. In the process of investigation, Emperor Yongzheng issued an edict: even if high-ranking officials and nobles are involved, they will never be lenient. Corrupt officials are punished with capital punishment if they are punished with capital punishment.

However, the conditions for storing a lot of grain are far from being reached, and the food and clothing of the common people is still a big problem. It's always tough for entrepreneurs, but the rewards for the future are considerable.

Large-scale agricultural planting, as well as large-scale production, and efficient production can increase food production.

Reforms have been carried out in every dynasty and in every generation. At the time of the Western Han Dynasty. There is a character named Sang Hong Yang.

Sang Hongyang (152 BC - 80 BC), a Western Han Dynasty Legalist figure and financial planner. Born in Luoyang.

Sang Hongyang's father is a businessman, and Sang Hongyang is the son of the famous rich Sang family in Luoyang. The Sang family is the richest man in Luoyang, and Sang Hongyang is a legendary figure.

At the age of thirteen, he served as a waiter and began to work beside Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

At the age of thirty-three, he and Dongguo Xianyang and Kong only "made a good analysis of the three of them", and their analysis of the economy was very profound, so he won the trust of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

In 115 B.C., Kong was only promoted to the rank of Great Nongling, and Sang Hongyang succeeded him as the Great Nongcheng, in charge of accounting affairs.

In the first year of Yuan Feng (110 B.C.), Sang Hongyang became the commander of Sosu, and at the same time served as the Great Agricultural Order, in charge of the country's tax finance. In the last years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he served as the imperial historian and was still in charge of finance.

After the Yuanjia period, under the participation and auspices of Sang Hongyang, the salt, iron, wine official camps, equal loss, leveling, calculation, sue and other economic policies were implemented.

In addition, Sang Hongyang also organized 600,000 people to defend against the Xiongnu. These measures were successful to varying degrees, temporarily alleviating the economic crisis, and history said that at that time, "the people did not benefit the world, but the world used it".

In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the state adopted a laissez-faire policy towards the minting of coins. At that time, not only did the size and weight of the coins vary, but the weight of the coins differed greatly from the actual weights, so the trend of stealing coins prevailed, affecting the normal circulation of the economy and inflation.

In the fifth year of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty (175 BC), the government revoked the ban on private coinage, allowing everyone to mint money freely, so the currency system became even more chaotic.

Some powerful and wealthy businessmen often mix lead and iron into copper, and mint a large amount of bad money to seek huge profits.

Although the government has repeatedly banned and cracked down, it has not been able to stop a large amount of privately minted inferior money from mixing into the market and destroying the normal economic life of society because it is profitable and the money minter is mostly a few powerful figures.

In order to rectify the finances, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once rectified the currency once in the fourth year of Yuanzhan (119 BC), but the effect was not good. At that time, three kinds of currency were made: one was the leather coin, made of white deer skin raised in the forbidden garden, each one foot square, and embroidered with colorful patterns on it, each worth 400,000 yuan, it was used as a gift for the princes to pay tribute to the emperor, so it was only circulated and used among the upper nobles.

the other is white gold, which is an alloy coin made of silver and tin from the Shaofu stockpile, which is worth three thousand, five hundred and three hundred; The third is to cancel the three-baht coin that was reminted with half a tael. It was also stipulated that the thief of the coinage would be put to death. Because of the complexity of the category and the unreasonable regulations on the value of the currency, this reform was not only inconvenient to use, but also some people went to steal and mint platinum coins with a large ratio, so the following year they gave up the three-baht coin and minted the five-baht coin instead. At that time, although the government arrested hundreds of thousands of people for money theft, it still could not stop the theft of bad money, so the market and currency were still relatively chaotic.

In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty (113 BC), in order to completely rectify the currency, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the opinion of Sang Hongyang. His main opinions were: to abolish the right of the county to mint money, and the central government should appoint the three officials of Zhong Guan, Skill, and Copper Identification, who were appointed by the central government to be in charge of Shanglin Yuan, to be responsible for drum casting, engraving, and raw materials respectively; The county destroys the old money minted and sends the copper to the center; All coins minted in the past were abolished, and the five-baht coin minted by Shanglin Sanguan was the only currency in the country.

This currency reform was successful, and since then it has basically stopped the circulation of privately minted and inferior coins, thus not only increasing the state's fiscal revenue, but also stabilizing the market and circulation, and playing a role in consolidating the rule of the Western Han Dynasty.

Because of this monetary reform, the copper of the whole country was first concentrated in the central government, and it was uniformly allocated by the three officials of Shanglin, so that private casters could not get the raw materials for coinage;

Secondly, the price standard is consistent with the weight standard, and the actual weight of the five baht coins minted this time is also five baht, thus reducing the disadvantages of currency destruction and recasting;

The third is that the coinage technology has improved, and the casting process is more complicated, and it is more difficult for the thieves to make it, and it is easy to gain more than it loses.

This currency reform was the first time in Chinese history that the coinage rights were completely returned to the central government, and it finally stabilized the currency system of the Han Dynasty, making the Han Dynasty's five-baht coin a stable quality coin, which was circulated until the Sui Dynasty for more than 700 years.