As in previous years, the atmosphere in Chang'an City has also become tense.
Every day, accounting officials from the county came to Chang'an and entered Weiyang Palace with a cart full of ledgers and files.
The Shaofu, Da Nong, Prime Minister's Office, Yushi Dafu Yamen and the ministers of Lantai are constantly collecting data and analyzing it every day.
The sound of dialing the abacus is endless.
However, as the emperor, Liu Che does not need to participate in it yet, he only needs to know the final actual data.
"The Anton Protectorate has begun to issue a batch of whale skin bonds called 'Dangqianqian'..." Sitting on the throne, Liu Che told Chao Cuo: "The Yamen of the Imperial Censor must do its best to keep an eye on this batch of bonds.
If there is any trouble, report it to me immediately!"
The Anton Protectorate formally submitted a letter last month to request Liu Che's permission to issue a batch of whale skin currency in large denominations to replace the five baht coins.
Liu Che rejected it.
Liu Che instead ordered the Anton Protectorate to issue this kind of bond called "Dang Qian Qian".
This kind of "thousand-dollar" bond is made of whale skin. As the name suggests, a small piece of whale skin is equivalent to a thousand-dollar debt.
Bonds are nothing new on earth.
In fact, during the Peloponnesian War in classical Greece, Athens and Sparta had already issued the first batch of primitive bonds in order to win the war.
However, in the end, all bondholders defaulted...
This made all those who bought the bonds, mainly the major temples, shed tears when they were deceived.
Since then, bonds in the Euro 6 world have long since disappeared.
However, European 6 people are good at playing and are naturally good at finance. Soon after, during the Macedonian Empire, something called the tax farming system appeared.
The specific method of operation is that the state sells the tax amount of a region, such as a certain city-state in Greece, to a private person, and then all the taxes in this city-state are collected by this person. It is up to him to collect as much as he can...
These things were foreign stories that Liu Che heard from the Roman envoy Zhao Qin.
Although whether this is actually the case, Liu Che doesn't know.
But at least, this Zhao Qin should not lie.
But now, the so-called "bond" that Liu Che asked the Anton Protectorate to play with, although the situation adopts the current bond situation in ancient Greece, is implemented by the authorities to the society.
But the procedures and definitions are completely different.
Because there are huge differences between the civilizations of the East and the West.
The European 6 countries, even Rome, which is now at its peak, are not actually a unified centralized state.
Even the so-called Roman Empire was like this.
Euro 6 society has always been a fragmented society, constantly wrangling and infighting.
The power of the lords and nobles has always been immense.
Even Caesar was hacked to death by his own Senate nobles?
Therefore, Euro 6 civilization has advocated the sanctity of private property, personal rights, and human rights since ancient times.
But in China, even your soul belongs to the emperor!
Do you still dare to say that private property is sacrosanct?
Do you want to be a traitor?
The whole world is the land of the king, and the shores of the land are the ministers of the king. That is the truth.
The unified central empire has always managed and intervened in everything since ancient times.
As for whether it can be managed well? Will there be any problems?
That's another story.
The people and the landlords, nobles, and officials have long been accustomed to a government that takes care of everything and interferes with everything.
If the country has less control and problems arise, the people will only blame the rulers: Why don't you care?
Today, even solar and lunar eclipses are still the responsibility of the emperor and his capital.
As soon as a lunar eclipse or a solar eclipse occurs, the emperor will obediently bathe and fast, go to the wall in front of his ancestors to think about his faults, confess his faults, and apologize to God and the world - these are all my fault, and my virtue is poor!
So, in classical China, it was okay if the state failed to issue bonds, but if a bank defaulted on its bonds...
The fun is great.
People, especially those who bought bonds, don't bother to care about any objective reasons or force majeure factors.
It must be your emperor who has stolen my money!
Want to default on your debt?
Can!
You are the emperor’s biggest labor force!
but……
Never again!
As long as someone is fooled once, the entire credibility of the entire country will be wiped out.
No one will believe it anymore.
Everything will be in vain.
Since ancient times, the credibility of the unified central empire has been very good in the beginning.
No matter how exaggerated things they do, there are always people willing to pay.
For example, Emperor Wu once discovered something called the White Deer Coin.
This white deer coin, as the name suggests, is a piece of deer skin one foot long.
But its value is terrifyingly high!
The cheapest one is also worth one deposit!
The most expensive one is worth three thousand gold!
But at the beginning, the value of this White Deer Coin was very strong!
As a result, many people began to forge White Deer coins.
Some princes even forged white deer coins to make profits.
such a pity……
Because there was no equivalent support, the White Deer coin eventually collapsed.
Since the tragedy of the Bailu Coin, the credibility of the Han Dynasty government has been reduced to zero. From then on, except for five baht coins and gold, the people no longer accepted any other currency.
The lessons from the Ming Dynasty's Baochao made Liu Che even more vigilant.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes still had a certain degree of credibility and their currency value was very strong during the first few decades of their circulation.
During the Hongwu period, the difference between Yiguanbao banknotes and Yiguan copper coins was not obvious.
People are also accustomed to using treasure banknotes.
But it's a pity...
Because of the same reason - there is no equivalent support for the treasure banknotes, and there is no reserve fund. In addition, counterfeiting is prevalent, the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes continue to depreciate in value, and eventually become a pile of waste paper!
Since the abolition of treasure banknotes, the Ming Dynasty has fallen into a deepening financial crisis, and eventually died of poverty!
Before Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, it is said that even his dragon robe was covered with patches...
Of course, in addition to countless failure cases, there are also success stories in Chinese history.
For example, Feiqian in the Tang Dynasty was a success.
The so-called flying money is actually a kind of accepted check.
Since you deposit money at a local government, the government will issue a voucher to you, and then you can use this voucher to withdraw money from another place.
The so-called "riding a crane to Yangzhou with a hundred thousand guan in your pocket" refers to the era of flying money.
Feiqian was the predecessor of Jiaozi and Huizi in the Song Dynasty.
Regardless of Feiqian in the Tang Dynasty or Jiaozi and Huizi in the Song Dynasty, there was actually no equivalent to support it at all, let alone a reserve fund as a means to deal with a run.
It is purely supported by the credibility of the country.
But because the acceptance was reliable, it was a great success.
Through these things, Liu Che naturally understood what he should do.
First, it must be ensured that every bond issued by Anton Protectorate Bank can be accepted.
Secondly, we must prevent counterfeiting.
Finally, the central government should not interfere!
Ensuring that every bond can be accepted is to protect the country's credibility, and this anti-counterfeiting work is to prevent a large number of counterfeit bonds and avoid defaults.
Finally, if the central government does not intervene, it is obviously leaving a way out.
If the worst happens, the bonds of the Anton Protectorate will be at risk of default or depreciation.
Then push Xu Jiu and Anton to protect the family as scapegoats.
Use their heads to vent their anger to all angry creditors.
Of course, if it succeeds...
Then, of course, I want to pick peaches.
"No!" Although Chao Cuo didn't understand the twists and turns and Liu Che's thoughts, he also understood that this kind of thing is no joke! Once something goes wrong, it will definitely be an earthquake!
Although China has not talked about human rights since ancient times, private property is sacred and inviolable.
In theory, the emperor, labor and capital, owns everything, decides everything, and dominates everything.
But it also means that the emperor's labor and capital bear everything, take the blame for everything, and bear everything. In this era where even if God doesn't rain, the emperor is still responsible.
There is such a big problem in society. Emperor, do you dare to say that you are fine?
Are you kidding me?
The people will not admit it.
In this world, whether people deny their accounts actually determines everything.
"Be sure to keep an eye on me!" Liu Che, who knows the way of thinking of the Chinese people, solemnly urged: "If something goes wrong, you are the only one I will ask!"
"No!" Chao Cuo said solemnly.
"Okay... put Anton's matter aside for now..." Looking at Chao Cuo, Liu Che said quietly: "The Prime Minister has already talked with me. Next summer and April, the Prime Minister will offer me his official position...
"
As Chao Cuo listened, his heart couldn't help but beat violently. He knew that the following conversation would probably determine the outcome of his life.
Did he step down from power and be torn to pieces by his political opponents?
Or go to the highest stage of the country, assist the emperor, and rule the world?
Therefore, he immediately adjusted his mentality and bowed down with an extremely humble attitude: "I will do my best to assist His Majesty and the Prime Minister, and do my best for next year's imperial meeting and the Shiqu Pavilion meeting! I will dedicate myself to it.
Just die!"
"Doctor Yushi, it's good to know..." Liu Che looked at Chao Cuo and nodded.
The smooth handover and transition of power is an extremely difficult matter at any time and in any era.
What's more, Zhou Yafu's resignation as prime minister this time was the first time since the founding of the Han Empire that a prime minister reached the term limit and took the initiative to hand over to his successor.
The matter is of great importance, and if it is not handled well, the consequences will be extremely bad!
Think about it, why did the Li and Tang dynasties fall into the tragic cycle of mistrust between father and son, and fratricide between brothers?
It was because of the Xuanwumen Incident that a big problem arose in the handover of power!
From then on, the emperor and the prince were always suspicious of each other, and the prince's brothers were also wary of each other.
The internal strife and fighting in the royal family broke out one after another, leaving behind a mess.
Liu Che doesn't want any problems to arise during this handover of the Prime Minister!
"The Prime Minister talked with me..." Liu Che sat on the throne and said to Chao Cuo: "The Prime Minister recommended Aiqing to me as a candidate for the next Prime Minister..."
"I was frightened. I was flattered by the Prime Minister's recommendation, but I was so confused that I thought your Majesty was just a servant..." Although Chao Cuo already knew about this, he was still so excited that his body even trembled with excitement.
In the past decades of history, 80% of the successors recommended by the previous prime minister eventually succeeded.
For example, Xiao He recommended Cao Shen, Cao Shen recommended Wang Ling before his death, Fan Kuai recommended Chen Ping before his death, and Chen Ping recommended Zhou Bo. All recommendations were approved.
Only those prime ministers who were dismissed halfway were unable to recommend their own successors.
But now, in Chao Cuo's view, Zhou Yafu's recommendation to the emperor was actually a sure thing.
The relationship between Zhou Yafu and the Emperor was extremely close.
Moreover, the Zhou faction is so powerful that it is almost unrivaled!
Not long ago, Zhou Yafu resigned as the head of Wuyuan Mountain, and his recommended successor Cheng Bushi was unanimously approved in the court meeting.
With Zhou Yafu's recommendation, basically no one would embarrass him or criticize him during court discussions.
Because doing that would be equivalent to slapping Zhou Yafu in the face!
Zhou Yafu's disciples and grandsons, especially his son-in-law Chariot General Dongchenghou Yizong, no matter how good-tempered they are, they may get angry.
But Liu Che was not so optimistic. He looked at Chao Cuo and said, "Aiqing, don't be happy too early!"
He stood up, put his hands behind his back and said: "The ancestral system of the Han family means that you can't get the title without merit, and you can't worship the prime minister unless you are a prince! If you want to be the prime minister, you must first be a prince!"
Chao Cuo quickly bowed down and said: "I have always been stupid and do not know how to behave in the world. I have offended many people and even brought trouble to Your Majesty. I have to protect you. Even if I die, I will not be able to repay Your Majesty's kindness..."
When Liu Che heard this, he laughed, waved his hands and said: "Don't put gold on my face. I protect you because what you do is for the world and the country..."
"Now, although I intend to worship you as a marquis, but..." Liu Che took two steps, stopped, and said: "I will not be rewarded for my merits, and I can't just talk about it and make you a marquis!"
As for Liehou, the highest title in the Han Dynasty, after Liu Che came to power, he tightened the edicts on Liehou.
There are almost zero cases of relatives waiting in vain.
Only a few uncles of the Su family were granted the title, and it was Liu Che who had no choice but to compromise in order to save his face.
Even so, Su's maternal relatives are basically dead today.
As for other relatives?
Except for Wei Qihou, Zhangwuhou, Nanpihou and other princes from the late emperor's period, none of the members of the Dou family's relatives had any ennoblements.
Among the Bo family's relatives, only one Bo Shi was granted the title.
And Bo Shi's achievements are real.
As for Yi Zong, a relative of the Yi clan, he even had to tie his head around his waist to get a Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!
There are other Cheng, Zheng, Zhuo, and Zhao families, not even the Guan Neihou!
So, Chao Cuo wants to be granted the title of Marquis?
That depends on his merit!
Of course, Liu Che also hopes that Chao Cuo can take over. After all, he is actually the most suitable person now.
Others, after all, are a bit off.
Therefore, he patiently pointed out a glorious road to Chao Cuo: "Aiqing, now, the Wei River water transportation project has encountered some problems. Aiqing, would you like to take charge of solving them?"
As soon as Chao Cuo heard this, he immediately heard the elegant meaning of the song and quickly bowed down and said: "I would like to issue a military order! Within three months, the water transportation of the Wei River will be opened. If it cannot be done, I will raise my head to see you!"
Liu Che smiled slightly and said: "Good! I am very relieved that you can understand my intention clearly!"
