Kaifeng in early summer has ushered in the most beautiful season. Everything is lush and growing, and the air seems to be full of hope. What is more gratifying for the people of Tokyo is that food prices, which have been rising for several months, have finally slowed down.
Starting last winter, food prices in Tokyo began to gradually rise. There are two reasons. On the one hand, the Yulin Rebellion caused a large amount of food to be swallowed up by the black hole of the Northwest War. Of course, the main reason lies in the abnormal weather last year, with widespread frost leading to a nationwide harvest failure.
The price of grain in Han Dynasty has always been stable. In this regard, the control is very strict, and it has always been maintained at a low level in the past. Since the first year of Kaibao, in more than 20 years, the price of rice and grain in Tokyo has only increased by five cents.
Even at the end of autumn last year, the price of a bucket of rice was only eighteen cents, less than twenty cents. The increase in grain prices could not even keep up with the inflation of copper coins. It is precisely such low food prices that have created the prosperity of the two capitals, otherwise it would be impossible to feed so many people.
There is a very common truth. Many people know that the lower the food price, the better. The lower the food price, the lower the farmers' income, the harder their lives, and the lower their enthusiasm for production and work.
The low-level grain prices that Dahan has maintained for more than 20 years are naturally based on the exploitation of farmers. There is almost no doubt that the great development of commercialization and urbanization in Dahan in the past two decades has been the result of the two capitals. The prosperity of all cities in the world is achieved by drawing blood from the countryside.
It has been twenty and two years since Kaibao was established, and the Han Dynasty has been stable for so many years. If it is the northern Daozhou that is the basic foundation of Liu Han's regime, it will take even longer. The long-term Kangping, in addition to bringing stability, also means the accumulation of various problems and contradictions.
In the past, constant foreign wars, high military expenditures, huge administrative costs brought by territorial expansion, land annexation, the rise of nobles in power, including the northwest rebellion that has not yet completely passed, are all factors that the Han Dynasty gradually changed after entering the "Kai Bao Heyday". The problems that emerged were noticed by everyone from Emperor Liu to the central ministers, and they were adjusted according to the circumstances.
Among them, some have been alleviated and some have been improved. Although it is difficult to achieve a symptomatic effect, at least it has been contained, and the prosperous age of Kaibao has continued to this day.
The issue of farmers has always been suppressed in the past. The imperial court has always advocated a agriculture-oriented approach. The fundamental purpose is to maintain rural stability, ensure agricultural output, and ensure the supply of tax revenue and materials.
After the first year of Kaibao, the imperial court implemented some policies to benefit the people, such as gradually reducing the Ding tax. By fifteen years after Kaibao, the Ding tax had been basically abolished, which was regarded as lifting a shackles on the heads of the Han people.
However, other constraints have never been relaxed, especially for farmers. Although the court adjusted the two taxes many times, with some increases and some decreases, overall the magnitude was not large. It's just that compared to the taxation during the war, there is a relatively obvious difference.
However, the Han Dynasty has been completely out of the war for more than 20 years, and some Daozhou is even further away. The second and third generations of people have gradually grown up. They have not experienced the hardships during the war, and it is difficult to empathize with them. For the current social environment And the living conditions are naturally unsatisfactory.
Farmers in the Han Dynasty have always been responsible, but they also know how their life is going. In fact, in the past twenty years, their life has not been easy, and they have become more and more difficult.
Just one summer and autumn tax is an extremely heavy burden. Especially after the imperial court completely formulated the tax collection through silver and copper coins, the oppression of the countryside became more and more naked.
The price of grain itself was maintained at a low price, but the tax amount set by the court every year was constantly increasing. In order to pay the tax, the farmers of the Han Dynasty had to sell the grain and livestock they worked hard to produce at low prices and exchange them for copper coins to pay the tax.
In this process, it is almost inevitable that there will be another round of exploitation by officials and businessmen. Emperor Liu has been aware of this problem a long time ago, and has repeatedly sent censors to monitor and deal with it severely. However, no matter how harsh the means, no matter how perfect they are, No law can stop greedy people.
At the same time, copper coins continue to depreciate, food prices are difficult to boost, farmers' annual income from farming naturally continues to decrease, and the cost of living continues to increase. How can this life be better?
That is to say, the imperial court was still extremely vigilant about land annexation, restricting land sales with high land transaction taxes, and punishing officials and merchants who violated the law with severe penalties. In this way, the process of land annexation by the Han Dynasty has been slightly curbed, leaving a lot of room for ordinary farmers to cultivate.
However, this is only a containment, and the fundamental problem has not been solved. Land transactions are still allowed. With the enthusiasm of the Han people for land since ancient times, even if the price is higher, as long as they have the opportunity and capital, they will still be keen to buy land. Farming.
In the past ten years, the number of land sales in various parts of the Han Dynasty has increased significantly, including nobles, bureaucrats, and merchants. This is not essentially different from the land mergers that have occurred in previous dynasties.
Previously, a large number of Han people went to Southeast Asia to explore. The fundamental reason was that those people had no land or property, or lost their land and property. They had to risk their lives in order to make a living. Otherwise, the mortality rate of going to sea is so high, and no matter how attractive the benefits are, it will be difficult to form a wave of going to sea on that scale.
As for the difficult situation of the farmers, the imperial court was not unaware of it, nor could it not see it, nor did it completely turn a blind eye.
At least, in good years, the government would also spend money to purchase grain from the private sector at a price slightly higher than the market price for use in official warehouses. However, overall, this proportion is not too high. However, this method is still cutting leeks in essence. After all, the court has too many cheap copper coins, and food supplies are real.
On the other hand, during disaster years, tax reductions and relief are provided to people in disaster-stricken states and counties.
The above two points cannot change the nature of the hardship of Han farmers' life. In view of this situation, both Emperor Liu and Zhengshitang have realized that farmers' agricultural problems have reached a point where changes have to be made. Otherwise, if they are allowed to ferment and conflicts break out, turmoil will inevitably occur.
This is the law of the cycle of chaos in the past dynasties. Even with the strength of the court, it will not be easily overthrown, but this situation will also shake the rule and needs to be avoided at all costs.
In fact, long before Zhao Pu left office, he was already planning to change agricultural policies to benefit farmers and stabilize the largest group of Han people, farmers.
Of course, tax reduction cannot be implemented easily, especially agricultural tax which still accounts for the majority of the court's tax revenue. However, food prices are a good starting point.
Last year's poor harvest and the rebellion in Yulin affected the food supply in Beijing and Beijing, causing food prices to continue to rise. By February 22, the price of food in Tokyo had reached as high as 40 cents per dou of rice. By the end of March, it was By sixty, it had more than tripled.
The food prices in Beijing and Beijing have always been the benchmark for the world. Even if the response is slower, food prices across the country will also rise, and then the entire agricultural products will be affected.
In the past, when food prices were unstable, the imperial court often took measures to balance it. However, this time, it did not act rashly. Instead, it kept suppressing it and allowed the market to adjust, even if there were some cases of hoarding and even national disaster. The financial chaos was not rectified immediately.
Take the price of rice as an example. With the wealth accumulated by the court over the years, there is no problem at all in using part of it to stabilize the price. However, under the advice of Zhao Kuangyi and Shen Yilun, the court chose a wait-and-see approach.
As a result, the scholars and people in the two capitals and the people in the cities suffered, but the farmers felt like rain, the price of food rose, and they could sell more money, so their situation could naturally be alleviated.
Of course, if food prices are too low, problems will obviously arise if they are too high. And if it has tripled in half a year, this is not normal and cannot be healthy. Therefore, when the price of food in Tokyo remained high, the livelihood of the scholars and the people was difficult, and the poor people could hardly make a living, and the city was full of complaints, the imperial court finally took action to stabilize the price of food.
(End of chapter)
