Sanghong sheep (155 BC - 80 BC)

Western Han Dynasty politician, financial planner,. A native of Luoyang (now Luoyangdong, Henan). A merchant, with the skill of "mental arithmetic", he was appointed as a waiter at the age of 3. At the age of 45, he was appointed as the commander of Su Du to lead the big farmer (later the big Sinong), and was in charge of the country's finances for more than 20 years. He participated in the formulation and implementation of the policy of monopolizing salt, iron, and liquor, set up equalization and equalization officials to stabilize prices, cracked down on the power of wealthy merchants, increased government revenue, and laid a solid material foundation for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's cultural and martial arts. He opposed "harmony" and advocated fighting against the Xiongnu. Emperor Zhao ascended the throne at a young age, and he served as the imperial historian, and assisted the government with Huo Guang and others. Later, he was killed because of his struggle for power with Huo Guang.

The biggest feature of Sang Hongyang's financial management thought is to emphasize the prosperity of industry and commerce, and to manage the country's finances for more than 20 years, in order to solve serious financial difficulties, the implementation of a series of new financial policies such as salt and iron official camps, for the Han Wu Emperor's cultural and martial arts laid a solid material foundation.

Mr. Sun Yat-sen also praised Sang Hongyang for "the law of equalizing losses and equalizing the law, making the best use of the world's goods, selling expensive and cheap, and benefiting the country and the people."

The government-run monopoly policy once amassed a lot of wealth for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

The biggest feature of Sanghongyang's financial management thought is to emphasize the prosperity of industry and commerce. In Sang Hongyang's view, agriculture can make a country rich, but it is not only agriculture that can make a country rich. Because compared with agriculture, industry and commerce, especially commerce, are also the source of wealth, so he explicitly rejected the view that agriculture is the only source of wealth, and emphasized that industry and commerce are also the source of wealth, and even proposed that the backwardness of industry and commerce will also restrict the development of agriculture. Although according to historical records, before Sang Hong Yang, Guan Zi, Fan Li and Bai Gui had discussed the important role of commerce, but the business was regarded as the root of wealth, and clearly put forward the proposition that "why should a rich country use this farmer, and why should the people have to be well and field", but also the first to recommend Sang Hong Yang.

It is precisely because of the emphasis on the prosperity of industry and commerce that Sang Hongyang stands on the standpoint of the state and strongly advocates the adoption of a positive fiscal regulation and control policy. In Sang Hongyang's view, since businessmen can "accumulate tens of thousands of dollars" by "chasing profits and taking advantage of envy," then in order to increase fiscal revenue, the state can of course also make profits from this, and even in order to monopolize the huge profits of industry and commerce, it should also adopt a policy of government-run monopoly and control private industry and commerce to a minimum. The salt and iron official camps, equal losses, and leveling and so on formulated or presided over by him are actually the concentrated embodiment of this idea. For example, the "Historical Records•Pingzhunshu" records: "The officials of the great peasants used all the goods of the world, and sold them if they were expensive, and bought them when they were cheap." In this way, the rich businessmen have nothing to make a big profit. ”

In addition to the fact that industry and commerce can enrich the country, the reason why Sang Hongyang advocates that the state should actively intervene in industry and commerce is also based on the following three considerations.

First, there is the issue of peasants' burdens and ability to bear them. As we all know, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty began to use troops everywhere after he became in power, and at the same time overhauled the palace and patrolled many times. This not only quickly exhausted the huge wealth accumulated during the cultural and economic periods, but also increased the burden on the peasants. Although Emperor Wu basically did not raise taxes in terms of taxes, it became more and more heavy in terms of the levy of forced labor. According to the Book of Han, the Book of the Later Han, and the Six Types of Han Officials, the legal period of service in the Han Dynasty was generally 23 to 56 years old. But in fact, after the middle of Emperor Wu, there was no restriction on the conscription and distribution of conscription, and even children in their teens and elderly people in their 60s had to serve. For example, at the Salt and Iron Conference, literature from the folk criticized and said: "Today, if you are over 50 to 60, you will be able to redeem your defeat with your children and grandchildren, and you will be given conscription." Therefore, for Sanghong sheep, when the farmers have been overwhelmed, if the method of raising taxes to solve the financial difficulties is tantamount to drinking water to quench their thirst. However, if the method of government-run industry and commerce is adopted, it is completely possible to achieve the goal of increasing fiscal revenue while "the people do not benefit from it." At the Salt and Iron Conference, many officials affirmed that the policies of industry and commerce, government and management were "more than what is lost" and "what is lacking." Although this will harm the interests of merchants and some nobles and bureaucrats, it is still the best choice for financial management compared to intensifying the contradictions and thus shaking the rule of the Western Han Dynasty. Sang Hongyang once highly praised Shang Ying's practice of "not giving the people but supporting them", which actually shows his consideration for financial management to increase fiscal revenue and not increase the burden on peasants.

Second, natural resources should be nationalized. In Sang Hongyang's view, the mountains, forests, rivers and rivers should have belonged to the emperor who represented the country. For example, its "benefits of mountains and seas, animals of Guangze, and the collection of heaven and earth are all suitable for Shaofu". The so-called Shaofu refers to the royal treasury in the Qin and Han dynasties. This theory of attributing all natural resources to the state actually reflects Sang Hongyang's concept of the supremacy of imperial power. In the words of Marx, "royal power is the power of private property"; To explain it in Confucianism, it is "under the world, it is not the king's land". As for the purpose, it is obvious that it is to justify and justify the state's intervention in industry and commerce, so as to fundamentally overturn the accusation of "competing with the people for profit". Of course, this is also to show that interests cannot be divided, and the state has every right to withdraw or deprive private industry and commerce of the right to operate. What's more, according to Sang Hongyang, the opening up of mountains, forests, rivers and rivers has also caused the consequences of endangering the country, such as powerful patents, "all evil groups gather, and private doors form a party".

Third, the large-scale production of government-run industry and commerce is better than that of private industry and commerce. It goes without saying that the large-scale production of government-run industries and commerce has incomparable superiority over private industries and businesses that are generally very small, in terms of capital, equipment, and personnel, in terms of reducing costs, implementing standardized production, and improving process technology. At this point, Sang Hongyang may have been vague when he was in charge of finance at the beginning, but after a period of practice and summary, he has a clear understanding of the superiority of large-scale production. As far as iron smelting is concerned, Sang Hongyang compared: "The apprentice craftsmen use the county officials (official offices) to do official business, and the money is used sparingly, and the utensils are prepared"; The private sector is a coalition of several companies, which lack technical and financial resources, and the quality of products cannot be guaranteed.

Sang Hongyang's idea of fiscal regulation and control not only provided a theoretical basis for the state to actively intervene in industry and commerce, but also achieved the goal of greatly increasing fiscal revenue in practice, and was inherited by many dynasties in later generations as a successful example. "Since the Jin, Wei, Sui, and Tang dynasties, they have all followed the law."

It is true that there have always been different opinions on Sang Hongyang's financial management, and there are even many curses. Bu Shi, a great farmer and herdsman of the same era as Sang Hong Yang, as the crown prince and the prince, one year the weather was just a little dry, and he asked Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to punish Sang Hong Yang for cooking - "Henghong sheep, the sky is rain." But this was mainly due to the fact that Sang Hongyang's financial management greatly harmed the interests of the aristocracy, bureaucrats, and merchants. Sang Hongyang's policies of salt and iron official management, equal loss, leveling and wine not only monopolized industrial and commercial operations in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, making the aristocracy, bureaucrats and wealthy merchants have nothing to profit, but also blocked the financial routes of many people because successive dynasties followed his example. Among them, the aristocracy and bureaucrats, although they repeatedly oppose "words and profits" and oppose "competing with the people for profit," in fact they have no regard for honesty and shame, and many of them are competing to run industry and commerce. It can be said that from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, this is a very common phenomenon. Because of this, they naturally have to attack and accuse Sang Hongyang fiercely. Taking Su Shi as an example, he strongly condemned Sang Hongyang, and even mentioned Sang Hongyang's name as "like maggots, flies, and dung, and words are filthy, and books are filthy", which is actually because he himself "sells salt, Su wood, and porcelain". It was nothing more than Wang Anshi's loss of the market to cut off his financial route, and in order to insinuate Wang Anshi, he cursed Sang Hongyang angrily.

On the other hand, the reason why Sang Hongyang is criticized is also because many people abide by the Confucian creed of "talking about financial gain". They stubbornly opposed any government-run policy by holding on to the ancestral teachings of Confucius and Meng: "A gentleman is a man of righteousness, and a villain is a man of profit" and "benevolence and righteousness are just a matter of profit." Because of this, although Sang Hongyang has long been ancient, they still have to severely condemn him when they trace back to the roots. Fan Zuyu, a Song man, is one of the typical examples. The reason why he asserted that "the ministers of prosperity and profit have rarely been defeated since Sang Hongyang" did not end well was to warn the promoters of the so-called "agglomeration" policy.

The positive significance of Sanghong Yang's financial management thoughts

Summarizing Sang Hongyang's thoughts on financial management, although Sang Hongyang's financial regulation and control have been influenced by Guan Zi and Shang Ying, its content and depth of thought far exceed that of his predecessors. In fact, regardless of whether they are in favor or against, people also regard Sang Hongyang as the initiator of the industrial and commercial government policy. Lu Zuqian, a native of the Song Dynasty, said: "Since Sang Hongyang has opened Likong, although there are virtuous monarchs and good ministers, most of them cannot be changed. "More importantly, whether in ancient times or today, Sanghong Yang's financial regulation and control has a positive role that is difficult to deny. Taking the present day as an example, although China has implemented the socialist market economic system and has successively abolished the monopoly system of tea, grain, and cotton, in order to ensure the government's financial revenue, as well as the stability of the market and the health of the people, it has also adopted policies such as the monopoly of tobacco and the monopoly of salt. Moreover, in order to ensure stable fiscal revenues and to effectively protect and utilize natural resources, the state has also implemented a monopoly policy on many important mineral resources and raw materials. There is another point that is precious: Sang Hongyang's financial management thinking, the so-called "the people do not benefit the world and the world uses the money", for how to reduce the burden of farmers today, so as to solve the problem of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" as soon as possible, and scientifically increase taxes, also has an obvious reference role. (The author is a professor at the Department of History, Nanjing Normal University)

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I noticed that he was one year younger than Liu Che.