A special thank you to my patrons:
—Jacob Mooe, kevin Williams, Jose Sierra, Archer, Acedia, kurtis newman, Little Sand, Kyle.S406, Alin Kadas, sediaz, Flavio Rodrigo.
You can read 50 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
————————————————————
Strictly speaking, a gold-and-silver-based monetary policy was not prone to inflation. If only gold and silver were used as coinage, the quantity of gold and silver present in circulation would depend entirely on the overall demand for currency across the realm. When societal demand rose, the quantity of gold and silver would increase accordingly, through mining and minting or by being transferred from state reserves. When societal demand fell, the same amount of gold and silver would purchase a reduced quantity of goods, and exchanging depreciated gold and silver for commodities would result in a net loss; people would then hoard their gold and silver, and the quantity in circulation would diminish correspondingly. After all, gold and silver were materials that could sit for years without issue. Thus, the purchasing power of gold and silver remained stable over the long term in most circumstances.
Regrettably, however, although Huaxia was by no means a minor producer of gold and silver, its output was not exactly scarce either. Yet for a variety of reasons, and compounded by the fact that gold and silver were the primary objects of hoarding for the ancients, a secondary metal—copper—had to serve as the currency. Especially during the Han dynasty, only the wealth of merchants was predominantly held in copper coins. The vast majority of people's wealth was embodied in the form of land, rice, silk, and other tangible goods. The quantity of copper coins one held needed only to be sufficient to cover daily expenses. Therefore, when the variety and volume of goods changed very little, the higher the velocity of money, the higher prices became, and the more severe the inflation.
This was precisely the situation now confronting Chang'an. When the common people realized that the copper coins in their hands were beginning to depreciate, they madly sought to exchange those coins for tangible goods. Those who received the copper coins were then forced to divest themselves of those coins even more rapidly. The result was that practically all the copper coinage in the marketplace became concentrated in a frantic cascade, while every conceivable commodity—whether useful or not—was swept home first.
The wooden tokens had proved so effective that, almost without realizing it, far too many had been issued. Now, when the time came to distribute the promised supplies, the vast majority of grain, fodder, and goods had already been transported by Dong Zhuo's order to Mei Fort. And Chancellor Dong, who had been so uncharacteristically decisive the last time in abandoning the Imperial Seal, this time refused utterly to authorize a second allocation after releasing a meager amount of grain. No matter what, he would not agree. Li Ru was powerless in this matter. Dong Zhuo's temper had grown increasingly perverse by the day. Sometimes even Li Ru would be subjected to a blistering scolding, only to be mollified and comforted shortly afterward, leaving Li Ru not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Another factor beyond Li Ru's control was this: the Chang'an market might ordinarily have experienced shortages, but never to the catastrophic extent it had now reached. Yet at this critical juncture, the fundamental nature of all people was laid bare with concentrated clarity. Seeing prices skyrocket, everyone, without a second thought, poured every copper coin they possessed into the market, while simultaneously slashing the supply of goods available.
Had Li Ru been present in Chang'an from the very start, he might perhaps have detected the problem early and exercised some control. But by the time he arrived in Chang'an, a vicious cycle had already taken hold. The Chang'an market was already collapsing, and the collapse was swiftly spreading to the surrounding regions. This ponderous row of dominoes could no longer be propped back up. The grain and supplies originally planned upon had been hauled away by Dong Zhuo. Now, throughout the entire city, neither the merchants nor the common people paid the slightest heed to the proclamations Li Ru posted or the officials he dispatched to remonstrate with them. They threw themselves into a mad frenzy of scavenging for all manner of goods.
Grain: ten thousand cash per shi! The grain shops, under the government's forceful coercion, were compelled to open. Yet each day, they didn't even fully remove their door panels, merely cracking open a narrow gap. After selling a mere twenty or thirty shi, they would slam their doors shut again. A single fired-clay earthenware bowl cost five thousand cash! One bolt of coarse, low-grade hemp cloth: thirty thousand cash! A single mature sheep: two hundred and fifty thousand cash! An ordinary horse had soared to one million cash! ...
The opponent Li Ru now had to face was no longer the coalition forces from east of the mountains, but precisely his own people.
It was not that there were absolutely no solutions, but calculating against an enemy had never burdened Li Ru in the slightest. Yet to turn his hand against his own people—this, Li Ru found exceedingly difficult to carry out.
Jia Xu picked up a piece of beef and said, "Put that way, how much is this morsel of meat worth now?"
Li Ru shot him a sour look and replied, "By current market prices, that platter before you is probably worth about eight thousand cash."
"Eight thousand cash? Then adding this wine, couldn't we call this a banquet of ten thousand gold?" Jia Xu clicked his tongue in amazement.
Li Ru ignored Jia Xu's sarcasm. He stared fixedly at the desk, his heart still wavering in hesitation.
On the desk lay several copper coins. Brand-new ones.
Jia Xu picked up another piece of beef, tossed it into his mouth, and, chewing, mumbled indistinctly, "What's there to agonize over... Just do it..."
Li Ru raised his head, turned toward Jia Xu, and sighed. "Yet it would be no different from drinking poisoned wine."
Jia Xu gave a sly chuckle, put his fingers to his lips, and licked them clean. "Either you get the Chancellor to release the grain and supplies from Mei Fort?"
Li Ru shook his head. "At this point, unless we release the entire contents of Mei Fort, it would be like trying to douse a cartload of burning firewood with a single cup of water—utterly useless. Moreover, given the current situation, the Chancellor also needs to guarantee an unbroken supply of military provisions."
"Then that settles it," Jia Xu said with utter nonchalance. "Right now, you have no way to implement the Equal Transport policy, you can't impose the Wealth Calculation tax, and you're incapable of enacting Price Stabilization measures. So what is there left to hesitate about?"
The policies of Equal Transport, Wealth Calculation, and Price Stabilization were three innovative plans proposed by the great Han-dynasty merchant and renowned financial expert Sang Hongyang to stabilize commodity prices and restore economic order. Through the implementation of these three policies, the disastrous fiscal mess that Emperor Wu of Han had left behind was finally brought under control, and it was maintained all the way until the reckless Wang Mang seized power.
The Equal Transport policy meant that tribute goods submitted by local authorities to the central government were all converted, according to local market prices, into locally produced goods. Once delivered to the state, the government would uniformly transport these goods for sale in other regions where they were in short supply. The central government could thereby reap enormous profits from regional price differentials. The Wealth Calculation policy was essentially a property tax of later ages. Paired with the subsequently enacted Denunciation Order, it encouraged the common people to report those who concealed their assets. Upon verified investigation, the accused would be sentenced to one year of frontier garrison duty, with half of all their property confiscated by the state and the other half awarded to the informant as a reward. After the Denunciation Order was promulgated, families of middling means and above went bankrupt in droves, while the government plundered incalculable amounts of private wealth. It simultaneously provided a massive, cost-free pool of military conscripts—killing two birds with one stone.
After the Equal Transport and Wealth Calculation policies were implemented, the imperial court held vast quantities of goods in its grasp. Sang Hongyang then began to promote the Price Stabilization policy to control inflation. Price Stabilization was a specialized government agency established in Chang'an that used the state-controlled goods to sell high and buy low on the market, thereby stabilizing prices.
And now, Li Ru was unable to carry out any of these three measures. There was no helping it; the necessary conditions were simply not there. After all, what Li Ru currently controlled was limited to Yongzhou and Liangzhou. Even if he issued decrees, they would at most extend to these two regions. And in the Liangzhou region, the inhabitants were mostly Qiang tribespeople, who were so impoverished their poverty was smoother than their own backsides.
Jia Xu said, "Let me see those new coins."
Li Ru sighed, rose to his feet, picked up the several new coins from the desk, walked over to Jia Xu, and placed them on his desk. Then he clasped his hands behind his back and walked to the front of the hall, tilting his head up to gaze at the sky.
Jia Xu picked up the copper coins and weighed them in his hand. "Three zhu?" he said. Without waiting for Li Ru to answer, he continued muttering to himself, "Might as well make them two zhu. In any case, if you're going to do it... heh heh heh... you might as well mint a great many more..."
Li Ru spun around abruptly, his eyes fixed on Jia Xu. "...You mean... drag everyone down into the water together?"
"Otherwise?" Jia Xu tossed the undersized copper coin onto the desk. The sound it made was surprisingly dull. "Tsk, tsk... this alloy... With such an enormous, festering mess, did you intend to carry it all on your own shoulders?"
Li Ru furrowed his brow in thought, then looked at Jia Xu. Suddenly, his face broke into a smile. "Very well!" he said.
Jia Xu let out a couple of dry chuckles, then said, "...This matter—who do you plan to have carry it out?"
The corner of Li Ru's mouth curved slightly upward. "What do you think of having Grand Tutor Yuan do it?"
"Exactly as it should be!" Jia Xu burst out laughing, nodding repeatedly. Then he shook his head and added, "...But I'm afraid Grand Tutor Yuan may not agree so readily."
"He is a man tottering at death's door. Either he does it, or he hastens his own demise. What choice does he truly have?"
Jia Xu nodded and said, "Mm. Well, I'll leave that matter to you... In a couple of days, I'll be heading back. Is there anything else you need to instruct me on, Elder Brother?"
Li Ru thought for a moment, then picked up the wooden token from his desk and handed it to Jia Xu. "Take a detour and go meet someone... Ask him if he has any solution for a situation like this. And while you're at it, take a look as well..."
"Elder Brother, you mean..."
"I mean nothing in particular. Just take a look."
"...Ah, right! Then I shall take my leave for now." Jia Xu placed the wooden token into his sleeve and rose to go.
Li Ru's gaze swept over the platter on the desk, where quite a bit of beef still remained. Somewhat puzzled, he said, "...Hey, is your appetite off today? Do you want to take it with you?"
Jia Xu, swaying and sauntering unhurriedly away, waved a hand without looking back. "I left it for you... That body of yours... Eat what you should eat, drink what you should drink. In this realm under heaven..."
Li Ru stood stunned for a moment, then broke into a derisive smile. He picked up the chopsticks from the desk and lifted a piece of beef.