Chapter 106: Selling Official Positions and Titles
Han Dynasty.

A woman walking in the countryside carrying a bamboo basket stopped.

Yi Shuo came to the mountains this time to collect medicinal herbs. She has been very interested in medicinal herbs since she was a child, and dared to go up the mountain alone when she was a teenager.

Unfortunately, her adoptive parents did not support her in studying medicine, so Yishuo could only study secretly every time.

After the sky curtain appeared, she noticed it immediately, but she was not interested in the man called Emperor Ling of Han, because no matter how ridiculous he was, he was an emperor of later generations, and a small person like her would never meet such a person in her entire life.

But later, when she heard that the "Yinchixiang" that Emperor Ling of Han squandered actually had the effect of preventing epidemics, she instantly perked up, her eyes full of envy.

If we could get this spice, perhaps we could save many people.

Tang Dynasty.

Sun Simiao, who was treating civilians, raised his head. He naturally noticed the strange spice and its ability to prevent epidemics.

If only this kind of spice could have been passed down to the present day, he would definitely find a way to buy it and research a better formula to benefit the people.

Perhaps we can find clues from those ancient books?
Thinking of this, Sun Simiao couldn't wait any longer.

...

[In fact, in addition to favoring eunuchs and indulging in eating, drinking and having fun, Emperor Ling of Han was also exceptionally good at selling official positions and titles.

He had no insights into handling political affairs, but he was quite smart and flexible when it came to selling official positions. He allowed people to pay in installments and allowed those who wanted to buy official positions to pay a deposit first to stimulate consumption.

It doesn't matter if you don't have enough money, you can pay it back slowly after you take office. Even if the harvest is not good that year, Emperor Ling of Han will lower the price according to the situation at that time to match your purchasing power.

If Emperor Ling of Han had not lived so short, he would have probably built a business empire that sold official positions, right?

Good man, it seems that the throne has really delayed him. If he were in modern times, this guy would at least be able to become a regional manager. Of course, he might also be able to work on a sewing machine.

Let's talk about the selling of official positions and titles. In fact, this behavior did not only appear during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han. The practice of the court selling official positions had already existed during the Qin and Han dynasties.

As early as the fourth year of Emperor Qin Shihuang's reign, titles were sold. When a locust plague occurred, Emperor Qin Shihuang allowed the people to offer a thousand stones of grain in exchange for titles.

Some emperors who came after them also sold official positions, but they were mostly forced to do so. After all, the national treasury was in deficit and they had to find a way to solve the problem.

The common people exchanged grain for a title to bring honor to their ancestors, and the government handed over a nominal and insignificant official position, and everyone was very satisfied.

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng snorted lightly. How could Emperor Ling of Han, who was able to buy and sell official positions at will, be compared with himself?
He had no choice but to implement this decree. Moreover, the title he sold was just a title and could not be used to do anything.

It can also be used to stimulate the people to actively grow grain.

"Your Majesty is wise. Emperor Ling of Han was just an incompetent and incompetent emperor!" Zhou Qingchen stepped forward to flatter him. "Your Majesty is the emperor who has never been seen before and will never be seen again!"

Ying Zheng glanced at him and found him quite helpful.

Early Han Dynasty.

Seeing this, Liu Bang was shocked.

"Isn't Liu Hong really good at making money through illegal means?"

"I have never thought of this kind of ability to make money."

Seeing Liu Bang's shocked expression mixed with envy and eagerness to try, Xiao He and Cao Shen were suddenly startled and quickly spoke.

"Your Majesty, this kind of money-making behavior will only alienate the subjects. Your Majesty must not follow this example."

Liu Bang licked his lips and chuckled.

"Don't tell me, my Han Dynasty is now penniless. If I could make money this way, I would actually be a little tempted."

Xiao He and Cao Shen were dumbfounded. Just as they were about to continue speaking, Liu Bang started laughing again.

"Okay, okay, do you think I'm stupid?"

"Even if I want to amass wealth, the people of the Han Dynasty must be wealthy."

After saying this, Cao Shen immediately calmed down.

After experiencing the turbulent times at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty was indeed extremely poor.

Emperor Liu Bang couldn't even get six white horses to pull his carriage.

The important officials of the imperial court even rode ox carts to court every day because there were no horses.

Xiao He and Cao Shen used the Huang-Lao philosophy to recuperate for so many years, but the Han Dynasty was still very poor.

In other words, commercial taxes have been rapidly implemented in the Han Dynasty in recent years, bringing about a wave of commercial development, which has filled the Han Dynasty's treasury.

Even so, it is still far from the situation in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Cao Shen suddenly sighed:
"I think that perhaps the wealth of the Eastern Han Dynasty has been concentrated in the hands of the nobles. His Majesty Liu Hong appears to be greedy for money. Is it possible that he is using this method to weaken the power of the nobles?"

Chen Ping blurted out subconsciously.

"How can this be?"

The hall suddenly became quiet.

After a long while, Xiao He slowly said:
"It seems like it's really possible."

Liu Bang chuckled.

"I understand. Liu Hong has never received normal education as an emperor. He doesn't know how to suppress the nobles by normal means. He can only resort to this unorthodox method."

"This conjecture of Lao Cao may sound incredible at first glance, but it does make sense if you think about it carefully."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ying couldn't help but ask:
"Father, if an emperor has received a systematic education, how should he deal with the nobles?"

Liu Bang was furious and shouted at Liu Ying:

"I was born a village headman. Do you think my father is the emperor? I haven't received any imperial education. I know nothing!"

Liu Ying: “…” Han Dynasty.

"Haha, even the First Emperor sold official positions. It seems that the Han Dynasty was the most powerful! I will never do such a thing!" Liu Che laughed.

The ministers around him nodded in agreement one after another.

[Later, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, there was also a large-scale sale of official positions. After all, Emperor Wu of Han had devoted his entire life to attacking the Xiongnu, and the amount of food and various materials consumed was incalculable. In order to ease the tension in the treasury, he had no choice but to resort to this last resort.]

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, stopped laughing abruptly. He looked at the sky with a look of deep resentment in his eyes.

Can the goddess who is now prophesying in the sky see what she is doing and know what she is saying? Otherwise, how could she be so accurate and pull herself out just after she finished speaking?

The ministers behind looked at each other. Wei Qing at the side coughed and tried hard to hold back his smile.

But Huo Qubing was different. This young man was carefree and not afraid of Liu Che at all, so he immediately shouted, "Your Majesty, you are among them!"

Liu Che: "..."

Be patient, this is my champion marquis!
...

[However, the court's previous sale of official positions was just a small-scale operation, and most of the positions sold were equivalent to honorary titles.

But when it comes to Emperor Ling of Han, it is different. Liu Hong is actually a very courageous emperor.

He didn't think much of those petty things. What was the point of just selling some titles? He couldn't make much money, and the titles without substance wouldn't attract many people.

So he decided to upgrade. What's the point of being just a "small vendor"? If he wants to be a "big businessman"!
Thus, a special trading place appeared. This place was set up in Xiyuan. Later, all the income from selling official positions was used for the construction of Xiyuan for their own enjoyment.

However, the number of official positions sold in a place was limited, so how could it be expanded? So he thought about it and started to engage in agency. After all, the power of the group is the greatest, and those groups of wives, concubines, palace maids and eunuchs can all participate in the sale of official positions.

Anyway, you can bring as many people as you want, there are plenty of official positions for you to choose from! As long as you pay enough, you can even be promoted to the highest position of the Three Dukes!

Even later on, normal official transfers, promotions, and the appointment of new officials had to be purchased with money. In a nutshell, if you want to continue to stay here, you have to pay!

Those officials had to pay one-third or one-quarter of the official position price, that is, an official needed to work hard and be like a slave for twenty-five years to be able to pay this one-third or one-quarter of the price.

Faced with such high fees, many officials were even scared to abandon their posts and flee. It would take 25 years to pay one third of the money. If they had to pay the full amount, wouldn’t they have to work hard for the rest of their lives? If they died young, they might die before they could even pay off the money. What was the point?

Without a wealthy father and mother, you can only eat dirt while holding on to this official position! 】

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng frowned and thought. He felt that what Tianmu said was becoming more and more difficult to understand. It took him a while to figure out the previous deposit and installment payments.

An exchange can be barely understood. It is a place for trading where things can be bought and sold.

But what is an agent? Can those palace maids and eunuchs who recruit people be considered agents? This is really a new word.

Xianyang.

Ba Qing was sitting on a bamboo chair in the yard basking in the sun. She was very old now, with gray hair. She was no longer the ambitious Ba Guafu Qing who expanded the family business, had a sharp mind and was good at seizing opportunities.

I just want to spend the rest of my life in peace and stability, live my own life behind closed doors, and let go of all the ups and downs outside.

Moreover, the assets accumulated by the family, plus the hundreds of millions of taels of silver and tens of millions of pure gold that he had earned over the years, were more than enough for the younger generations to spend. He would let them worry about the future.

Anyway, she couldn't run away, so the First Emperor took her to Xianyang to spend her remaining years in peace. Wasn't this another form of surveillance?
This supreme courtesy is not only the greatest honor for Ba Qing, but also a cage.

Just as she was dozing off while listening to Tianmu's narration, she suddenly heard the description of the legendary merchant at the end and could not help but open her eyes.

She only needed to listen to the words like deposit, installment payment, and agency once, and then combined with what Tianmu said about what Emperor Ling of Han had done, she quickly understood.

Those slightly cloudy eyes bloomed with unprecedented brilliance.

It turns out that you can do business this way. Although Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, was not a very good emperor and was dissolute every day, if he had become a businessman, he would indeed be a rare talent!
How could such a person be reborn into an imperial family?
If it was her junior, Ba Qing felt that she could take him in and train him to cultivate his character.

Han Dynasty.

Liu Che held his forehead with his hand, he had no idea what to say.

How desperately needy are you, Liu Hong, that you don't even care about the backbone of the emperor, and you can even sell such an extremely important official position as one of the Three Dukes?
The emperor who could sell official positions to such an extent was the first person in history. Why be an emperor? Just be a businessman and save yourself from embarrassment.

[As for Emperor Ling of Han, he was indeed a bastard, but as for his humanity, he did have some humanity, but not much.

For example, there was an honest official named Sima Zhi. When he went to take up a post in another place, he should have paid 20 million yuan.

But for an honest and loyal official, it is good enough to be able to support himself and his family. How can he afford such a sky-high official salary?

Emperor Ling of Han seemed to feel that the money was too much, so he very humanely gave him a discount and reduced the amount by 3 million coins.

He was the first emperor to force the sale of official positions and give discounts to others.

Even so, Sima Zhi could not afford to pay the debt, so he had to commit suicide on his way to take up his post. If he did not commit suicide, he would have to extort money from the people.

In fact, in this situation where selling official positions is common, officials need to pay a lot of fees to be transferred and promoted normally. Where do these fees come from? Isn't it just to plunder the people?
Sima Zhi didn't want to plunder the people, so he could only use this method to persuade the emperor and prove himself.

However, his death was just an insignificant splash. The emperor continued to enjoy himself as he pleased and sell official positions as he pleased. Later, in order to make more money, he even shortened the tenure of officials.

For example, Cao Cao, a famous hero in the Eastern Han Dynasty, his father spent "100 million coins" to buy the position of Taiwei.

In fact, the normal price for purchasing the position of Taiwei is only 10 million, but this is not an ordinary position. It is one of the Three Dukes, and many people want to buy it, so it is very popular.

So Cao Song had no choice but to spend a large sum of money and "bid" for it.

As a result, he bought the position, but he hadn't even sat firmly in it yet. Maybe he hadn't even gotten to know all the "colleagues" around him. Only one month later, the position was replaced again.

How much was 100 million coins worth in the Eastern Han Dynasty? If converted into gold, it would be 10,000 kilograms of gold.

Taking into account the different purity of ancient gold and modern gold, it can only be equivalent to about 2.5 kilograms, or tons, today.

The gold was in tons, but he just sat there for a month. Bang, someone else was replaced! I don't know if Cao Song was so angry that he cried.

The various officials during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han were just a passing fancy, one after another, and it was all thanks to this legendary businessman that they were maintained! 】

(End of this chapter)