When the sun was shining in the palace, the courtiers thought it was just a normal court meeting, but they didn't know that Liu Heng was planning to surprise everyone.
Luo Jing naturally wanted to go to court.
After Liu Heng came to the palace, the court meeting began to go through the process. After the formal process was completed, Liu Heng asked: "Do you have the memorial?"
This kind of memorial at the court meeting is basically a process. Generally, nothing is really discussed here. It is usually used as a test occasion.
But today was special. A minor official in charge of money and food arranged by Jia Yi stood up from behind and walked to the middle of the hall and said: "Your Majesty, I have this report."
This scene made all the officials look at him. Many people here didn't even know this person. They didn't know what such a small person could do to serve the emperor. The smart people had already begun to figure out who pushed this chess piece.
Liu Heng smiled and asked, "What do you want, sir?"
"Your Majesty, I give you my advice.
In the past, because the world needed a large amount of coins and because counterfeit coins were rampant and the court could not stop it, Empress Gao allowed private coins to be minted. However, after countless copper coins flowed into the country over the years, I felt that the disadvantages of this method had outweighed the benefits.
The right to mint coins is related to the fundamental safety of the imperial court. It should be returned to the imperial court as soon as possible. Private minting of coins by the private sector is prohibited and should instead be handed over to the imperial court for unified minting. "
As soon as these words came out, many people looked directly at Liu Heng who was in charge.
Couldn't this be the person the emperor was looking for directly?
In fact, the wise people in the world have long seen that the imperial court will take back the right to mint sooner or later. Not to mention the benefits to the imperial court, it is just out of the greedy perspective of human nature. How can such a huge profit from minting be possible? Have you always let the princes and powerful men earn money?
Although mainstream public opinion is that justice comes before profit, are there really people in the world who don’t love money?
Even if the emperor wants to do something, it still requires money. The emperor has the greatest power in the world. No matter what he thinks, he cannot give up the gold mine that is constantly producing coins.
The court, which had been relatively quiet just now, was immediately in an uproar, and some courtiers even came out and angrily shouted: "What a piece of nonsense!
Private coinage was allowed, which was the initiative of Queen Gao and King Luowen.
For decades, under this policy, the world has become increasingly prosperous, and the quality of the coins of this dynasty is the highest in history. Now the people do not even use the old coins of the previous dynasty.
Doesn’t this prove King Luowen’s foresight?
Are you questioning Queen Gao and King Luo Wen?
What a courageous dog!
I think you are just a treacherous minister who wants to bring cholera to the imperial court. You say these treacherous words and want to bewitch His Majesty. You are really to blame for your death.
Your Majesty, please kill this thief to set the record straight. "
They actually moved Queen Gao and King Luo Wen directly, and what they said was recognized by many people, especially Luo Xin's status and influence, which were too high for these people.
Many people know this person. He is not only a court official, but also one of the leaders of the Confucian lineage. He is a great Confucian of the world. The look of him now furious makes people have no doubt that if he had a sharp sword in his hand, he would probably directly He took his sword and stabbed the courtier who just spoke to his heart.
Let him know that Confucianism is full of force, and let him know why Confucianism and Mohism were not the two major schools in the first place, because others could not defeat Mohism, but Confucianism could!
Of course, the others would not let him go. They also came out and shouted: "Speak freely in the court. This is also a rule set by Queen Gao and King Luo Wen. What do you want to do by shouting like this?
I think it was because he made great profits by minting coins that he prevented the imperial court from taking back the right to mint coins. "
This was a direct personal attack, and the court immediately became a mess. These people pointed at their noses and cursed, and even those who were close started to use their hands.
Luo Jing looked at it from a distance, with a smile on his face. It was such a lively and energetic court.
Liu Heng was sitting at the top with a helpless expression on his face. This trend has been around since Emperor Gao's time. He glanced at Luo Jing and even smiled when he saw this kid, and said, "A Jing, let them be quiet."
Luo Jing smiled, holding the copper hammer in his hand, and then banged it hard. Such a heavy sound resounded throughout the hall, and the ministers panted and stopped their friendly exchanges.
Liu Heng rubbed his head gently, and he guessed that there would be a debate. After all, touching interests is more difficult than touching souls.
However, the controversy caused in the court was beyond Liu Heng's expectation, and it was a complete chaos. Needless to say, those who benefited from it, Liu Heng would not care about their opinions.
But the problem is that there are many opponents among those who have nothing to do with coinage.
Seeing this situation, Liu Heng temporarily stopped the court meeting.
"I know the opinions of all the noble families. If this is the case, then I will take time to discuss it with all the noble families to see which side is more reasonable."
Liu Heng was prepared to discuss it carefully. After all, it was rare to see both supporters and opponents speak plausibly.
Although he has determined in his heart that he must return to the imperial court, listening to the opinions of the opposition may be able to make some supplements for subsequent matters. After all, policy formulation is never perfect.
In Changle Palace, Liu Heng looked at the memorial that was presented like snowflakes in front of him, and said with some emotion: "A Jing, why do you think there are so many people opposed to it?"
Luo Jing looked through the memorials and muttered: "What these people say is not unreasonable, but there is nothing in this world that is completely beneficial and without harm. The key is to see what is needed. Back then, the imperial court needed to decentralize the power of minting coins. Now we need to take back the right to mint money, there is nothing worth discussing.”
Liu Heng chuckled softly and said: "That said, my uncle taught me in the past that I must listen to the advice of my ministers, open up my voice, and be good at accepting advice. As long as I listen, my ministers will do their best regardless of whether they follow the advice or not. , so I want to hear what they can say."
The return of coinage rights to the imperial court aroused great controversy, and this storm of controversy even directly swept all schools of thought.
Huang Lao Taoism opposed the withdrawal of the right to coin coins. Among Confucians, there were those who opposed it and some who supported it. After all, there were too many Confucian schools. On the contrary, the Legalists basically agreed to the withdrawal of the right to coin coins.
Here we must first explain that despite the Luoling practice, Legalism was not eliminated.
Because Luoling Jianfa did not beat the Legalists to death with a stick, but criticized some of their ideas.
The Legalists are profit-loving and seek glory and wealth. They are quick to kneel in the face of power, not only when facing the monarch, but also when facing the Luo family.
After they removed those techniques of controlling the people from the ideological classics, they neutralized some less extreme ideas, transformed their own doctrines, and then accepted Luo's supervision.
Therefore, there are still many Legalist students serving as officials. When Luo Xin served as regent, although he was close to Confucianism and Huang-Lao School, he was also willing to use Legalist students as long as they had both political integrity and talent.
However, there are many Legalist students who are talented, but not many who are virtuous. The Legalist educational thought that believes that benevolence, justice and virtue are completely useless is still a bit too extreme.
Over the years, I have continued to change my doctrine, learn from Confucian practices, and absorb a lot of good-sounding and beautiful words from Confucianism and the Huang family to cover myself up.
Liu Heng's speed was very fast. A side hall of Changle Palace was quickly filled with big shots from all parties. Most of those with interests did not come here because Liu Heng wanted to hear about the withdrawal of the right to mint money. shortcomings, thereby fixing their own policies.
At the beginning, a doctor from the Huang Lao School said directly: "The imperial court's taking back the power to mint coins is an act of cruelty and cruelty to the people. The suffering of the people in the world will begin from now on. I hope that your Majesty will think deeply about it."
Liu Heng said nothing, and Luo Jing asked, "Doctor please explain in detail."
The doctor said: "When the Qin Dynasty broke out in the past, the First Emperor unified the coins of all countries and issued them uniformly by the court, but soon the people began to forge them.
The same is true when it comes to Han Dynasty.
Do you think that only princes, kings and powerful men can make false claims?
The trend of counterfeiting is from top to bottom, and almost everyone is involved in it, because the cost is too low and the methods are too many.
From my understanding, the lowest method is to grind copper powder on the edge of copper coins. Grinding such a large coin will not cause any obvious change at all. These copper powders accumulate over time, and then they can be minted into new money, from which they can be obtained. profit.
What's more, copper coins are melted directly and mixed with other metals to make a small, worthless coin that almost doesn't even contain copper. Folks call it "Ye Qian", which means as light as a leaf. money.
There are countless such methods, and the Mohists must know them best. After all, they built many workshops for minting coins.
This situation will not end until the imperial court decentralizes the right to mint coins, and the world's powerful powers compete to improve the quality of coins. I can directly say with certainty that the decades from Queen Gao to King Luowen's rule have been the highest quality coins since the existence of copper coins. ten years.
Once you start to take back the right to mint money, you will definitely force the people to accept this kind of money. After all, there is no reason why the court mints money but the people do not accept it. That is contempt for the majesty of the court.
I really don’t want to see the hard-won situation be destroyed in one day, so I advise you not to take back the coins. "
These words made Liu Heng frown slightly, because in a certain aspect it did make sense. It was also because of this reason that Luo Xin let go of his control over coins.
Listening to these words, Luo Jing somewhat agreed, but also had different opinions. However, in this situation, he would not go out personally. Naturally, countless people would charge for him.
Sure enough, some people soon voiced their opposition, and from completely different aspects.
————
During the period of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, there was a fierce debate in the court regarding the ownership of the right to mint coins. Emperor Wenwen of the Han Dynasty specially held a meeting, known in history as the "Coin Minting Discussion." The remarks of both parties in this meeting were completely recorded. To be passed down to future generations through historical records, the author will translate and interpret the historical materials in detail, striving to enable every reader to understand both sides of this debate. ——"The Rise and Fall of the Han Dynasty"
(End of chapter)
