Chapter 97 Uprising
After Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin conquered Shu Han, he began to "ban the entry of copper coins into Sichuan" perhaps in order to prevent the outflow of copper coins, or perhaps he wanted to take away the wealth of Shu to reduce the ability of Shu to rebel.

In addition, the existing copper coins in the private sector would be consumed, "requiring the people to pay rent and monopoly profits, and to pay one copper coin for every ten iron coins." At the same time, anyone who dared to transport copper coins to Sichuan would be punished with a severe crime, "smuggling copper coins into Sichuan would be punished by death."

Under such circumstances, the copper coins in the hands of the people in Shu decreased rapidly, while the price of copper coins on the market soared. The exchange rate between copper and iron coins quickly rose from the initial 4:10 to 1:100.

But do the people need copper coins? Yes, because copper coins are needed when collecting taxes!
At the same time, they also wanted to save some copper coins and thus accumulate some wealth, so in the end they could only exchange the increasingly worthless iron coins for copper coins. The wealth of the people in Shu began to shrink significantly.

And this is how officials get rich.

Because the court was not very aware of the price increase of copper coins in Shu, the emperor's view on the appreciation of copper coins remained roughly around the original exchange rate.

But the officials in Shu were different. They truly experienced the terrible level of the price increase of copper coins, so they began to use the copper coins they held to make profits for themselves.

A more effective way is to guide merchants to bring copper coins here. Although there was a law that "those who smuggle copper coins into Shu will be punished by death", the collusion between officials and merchants can naturally avoid this problem. After all, court officials can use copper coins in Shu. 】

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin was somewhat silent. It was undeniable that when he decided to use iron coins instead of copper coins in Shu, he wanted to suppress the local economic situation and eliminate the ability of Shu to rebel again. In his opinion, if you have no money in your hands, how can you resist the rule of the Song Dynasty? Other regions basically use copper coins, and iron coins are almost worthless outside of Shu.

As for the ordinary people in the area, he certainly knew that they might become a little difficult, but in his opinion, it would not be too serious. If it just took more time to obtain food, that would be fine. They would not have the time and mind to think about their homeland of Hou Shu.

"I really didn't expect that the consequences of these policies would be so serious," he sighed. "My decision-making was indeed wrong, which led to the people of Sichuan and Shu suffering these disasters and making it difficult for them to make a living."

Zhao Guangmei and others tried to comfort him: "Brother, the situation has not yet deteriorated to the point where it has ... fallen to the point where it has fallen to the point where it has fallen to the point where it has fallen to the point where it has fallen to the point where it has fallen

"Yes, Dad. Besides, the imperial edict may have some omissions, but the officials in Shu failed to fulfill their responsibilities and did not report the actual situation in time. They concealed the truth from the court for their own selfish interests. These officials are also the key!"

Zhao Kuangyin felt a little relieved. Indeed, it was not too late to re-formulate the monetary policy in Sichuan and Shu and then implement it. As for the officials in Shu, they must have been corrupt, so it was just right to deal with them and replace them with some trustworthy ones.

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu Years.

Everyone in the hall sighed over the plight of the people in Shu: "There are no copper coins, but we still have to exchange them for copper coins. There is something wrong with this decree!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and snorted, "This is also the fault of those Shu officials. The emperor and the court don't know the details, but they know everything! But they don't think about reporting it, and are only thinking about fattening their own pockets! They are all guilty and deserve to die!"

Many ministers shrank their heads. It was obvious that the Emperor was thinking of their own families at this time. They could not provoke him at this time, otherwise they would have no place to cry if they were in trouble.

In addition to expressing their feelings for the people and officials of Shu, some people began to compare the situation in the Ming Dynasty, fearing that similar problems would arise in the Ming Dynasty... There was indeed one subtle point, and that was the Ming treasure notes that had been issued before!

But Zhu Yuanzhang was unhappy at the moment, and he never liked his officials to question his decisions easily. The ministers who thought of this matter looked at each other several times, but still did not dare to bring it up now.

However, even though the ministers did not dare to do so, the princes did.

King Zhu Chun of Shu said directly: "Dad, there is a problem with the Song Dynasty's sending iron coins to Shu. Should we also take a closer look at the treasure notes of our Ming Dynasty?" After all, treasure notes were not accepted when paying taxes.

Moreover, the iron coins in Shu were becoming less and less valuable. Would there be problems if the treasure notes continued to be issued? He did not understand much about this, but just seeing that his father did not seem to intend to stop issuing treasure notes, he always felt that something was wrong.

Prince Zhu of Jin thought that some businessmen would want to profit from it: "Yes, father. In the Song Dynasty, officials and businessmen colluded with each other and went to Shu to trade in copper coins. We have to be on guard against the Ming treasure notes." Not to mention anything else, just the recycling of treasure notes according to the reverse banknote method, there is a lot to be done here.

Zhu Yuanzhang was of course very unhappy, but because it was his son's words, and he was a little worried after seeing the situation in Shu, he finally agreed to this matter and agreed to review and discuss the situation of the treasure notes.

Ming Dynasty, Yongle period.

Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Finance, was also talking to Zhu Di and his men about the problem of the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes: "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty's treasure notes have long been unable to maintain the exchange rate set by Taizu. The value of the treasure notes has long fallen, and taxes are not paid with treasure notes. The court only prints and issues treasure notes, but rarely recycles them. The situation of the flood of treasure notes among the people is difficult to change."

The implication is that Baochao is no longer useful.

Zhu Zhanji asked: "Minister Xia, is the devaluation of the banknotes due to the excessive quantity?" He did not know much about this aspect before, and of course, he was not very clear about it now.

However, seeing that the copper-iron exchange rate kept rising due to the scarcity of copper coins in Shu during the Song Dynasty, he could probably figure out something. For example, if the number of Ming treasure notes increased, but the number of people weaving cloth and growing grain remained the same, then the treasure notes would be worthless.

Seeing Xia Yuanji nod, Zhu Zhanji asked again: "Why does the court rarely recycle treasure notes? I remember that during the reign of Emperor Taizu, there was a method of reversing notes to recycle discarded old notes."

Xia Yuanji nodded first, then smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, there is indeed a bill reversal law. But in fact, the bill reversal law is not implemented on a daily basis. During the reign of Emperor Taizu, after the bill reversal law was established, old banknotes were only recycled intermittently, for a total of only five or six years. In order to reduce losses and avoid being taken advantage of by merchants and clerks, the people often want to exchange the banknotes in their hands before the recycling requirements are met; as for merchants and clerks, they also use the bill reversal law to make a profit at a discount."

[But this was not the end of the disaster for the people of Shu, nor was it the peak of the local officials' wealth.

After Zhao Kuangyin passed away and Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he took new tax measures in Shu.

He demanded that the residents of Shu should pay taxes with copper coins from now on, and that the amount should increase by one tenth each year; and the imperial court would also increase the proportion of copper coins issued in Shu to one tenth, and that the amount of copper coins issued should also increase by one tenth each year.

It sounds beautiful, as if the imperial court finally found its conscience and realized the difficulties faced by the people of Shu.

But this is of course not the case. Of the two regulations, the Song Dynasty only achieved the first one. As for issuing copper coins, that was never the case.

In this way, officials were more happy to make money, while the lives of the people in Shu became increasingly poor and their wealth became less and less valuable.

By the fifth year of Taipingxingguo, the ratio of copper to iron coins in Shu had risen to 1:400, and the local people had a hard time making a living. In order to get copper coins to pay taxes, many people even robbed tombs or melted Buddha statues. "The people found it increasingly difficult, and some dug up ancient tombs and destroyed Buddha statues and utensils to get only four or five copper coins, and many were convicted." The officials were very happy, and their wealth grew rapidly; and the court and the emperor were probably also very happy, because by this time, it was not just to prevent the outflow of copper coins, but more to plunder the wealth of Shu, so that this place, which had rebelled when it was just recovered, would no longer be able to pose a threat to the central government. 】

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Kuangyin felt speechless: "Why does Zhao Guangyi always come up with new situations? My decisions have already had some omissions and deviate from the actual situation. Why can he be more careless than me?" Just like when I suppress the military generals, he can directly come up with the method of controlling the military with civil power.

"Ah, Uncle probably wants to change the situation in Shu..."

"The fifth year of Taiping Xingguo. I remember that Taiping Xingguo was his first reign title, right?" It had only been five years since he ascended the throne, but the copper-iron coin exchange rate in Shu was already so alarming. The local people were able to endure until the Chunhua period before rebelling. It was indeed a long time.

"After changing the taxation plan in Shu, why did he establish the Bo Mai Bureau in Shu!" Under the new taxation policy, the wealth of local people was already decreasing, and with the addition of the Bo Mai Bureau, the local people couldn't even support themselves.

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Yuchi Jingde looked down on the Song Dynasty's methods: "I know that if you want to prevent the people from revolting, you can't do it this way. You must ensure that the people have food to eat and can survive. Is the Song Dynasty doing this because they are afraid that Shu will not rebel?"

"Perhaps they were blinded by the wealth they plundered from Shu." Fang Xuanling sighed, and felt that the Song Dynasty's approach was not very smart. "Moreover, if it was to prevent unrest in Shu, then their focus was too much on preventing rebellion against the old dynasty, or in other words, rebellion under the banner of the old dynasty."

After all, the rebels who need a lot of money are usually those who are not from the lower classes, such as the survivors of the old dynasty.

But, in reality, if Shu was being treated this way, the people who were rebelling could not possibly be a group seeking to restore the old country or to yearn for the old one. On the contrary, those who would do this were ordinary people who wanted to survive.

[But can the facts really be as they think?

If, as they think, a large-scale rebellion requires money, this does make sense. But what kind of rebels are they targeting? Those in the middle who have some power.

For ordinary people who are already at the bottom of society and struggling to survive, do they need money to rebel? No, they rebel precisely because they have no money.

For the lowest level of peasants to revolt, all they need is some people.

The harsh policies of the Song Dynasty over the years provided enough people for this place.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

"Indeed, I was limited. I didn't think of it..." Zhao Kuangyin recalled his various decisions. In addition to coveting the wealth of Shu, he also wanted to prevent Shu from having another full-scale rebellion similar to Quan Shixiong's. He also thought about the peasant uprising, but he never thought it would have much of a impact.

Originally, there was no guarantee that there would be any big changes!
However, the various problems that Zhao Kuangyin pointed out in detail in Shu, including land, taxes, gambling, copper coins, corruption... all of these added together had a huge impact.

The accumulation of these problems means that those who decide to raise the banner can mobilize a very wide range of people and types of people, from a large number of side households, to farmers with their own land, to various small vendors...all ordinary people who are not officials or big families can be included.

They might all be willing to join a rebellion.

Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

"I will never implement harsh policies!" Zhao Guangyi was determined not to let himself be labeled as having anything to do with harsh policies. He would never allow himself to have anything to do with harsh policies. He was a king who wanted to be remembered in history for his virtuous policies. "I have issued an edict to change various policies as much as possible according to the situation in Shu, to ease the suffering of the people, so that they no longer have to struggle for survival and join the rebels."

The ministers below naturally agreed: "The emperor has implemented benevolent policies and is wholeheartedly for the people. The problems in Sichuan and Shu are all caused by the officials in Shu not knowing how to carry out the emperor's orders and deceiving their superiors and subordinates, which has caused the people to suffer."

"You are willing to change the imperial edict for the sake of the people. This is the act of a benevolent monarch. It will save the people of Shu from the dire straits. What does this have to do with harsh policies?"

[After years of oppression, the people of Shu have reached their limit.

At this time, natural disasters occurred frequently in Sichuan and Shu regions, but many government officials did not try to provide relief to the victims, but continued to do as they pleased, collecting taxes and engaging in gambling.

Thus, the fuse of the Sichuan powder keg began to be lit.

In the second year of Chunhua, the rebel army led by Ren You attacked Changzhou and Hezhou. In the third year of Chunhua, peasant uprisings broke out in Rongzhou, Rongzhou, Zizhou and Fushun.

The powder keg really exploded in the fourth year of Chunhua.

In February, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun started an uprising in Qingcheng County, Yongkang. The largest peasant uprising in the early years of the Song Dynasty broke out.

Song Dynasty, the fourth year of Chunhua.

Zhao Guangyi felt like a fake emperor, or that his ears and eyes were cut off from the outside world - why didn't he know that so many uprisings had taken place in Sichuan?

Why did the Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun uprising happen in February, but now it is already past February and I have not received any news at all?

An official racked his brains and tried to explain: "Your Majesty, the previous few incidents of riots were not large-scale, so the local officials did not bother you with these small matters. As for Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun, these two thieves may not have become a big force yet, so we did not mobilize troops and report them to you."

Zhao Guangyi was not persuaded, but felt even more angry: "Don't want to alarm me? Maybe, they didn't report the wars for several consecutive years to me because they were afraid of alarming me and letting me find out about the shady things they did in Sichuan and Shu!"

He paced back and forth, his anger gushing out: "I have worked hard for many years, taking the benevolent and holy emperors and ancient sages as my role models, and I also hope that the Song Dynasty under my rule can become a sage country in the classics. But what about you? What about these Shu officials? You can't understand the emperor's intentions, you can't be of one mind with me, but instead you try to block the emperor's eyes and ears, and hinder my way of being a sage!"

The ministers were speechless. The emperor had said so much, what else could they say?
(End of this chapter)