flstandardbreds Chapter 176 Ideal Reform 2.0
Chapter 176 Ideal Reform 2.0
Upon hearing this, most of the officials in the Wan Dynasty could roughly predict the outcome.
It's nothing more than the local tycoons having bulging wallets, while ordinary people are thin and weak.
Wang Mang's rule was truly incompetent! Why did he only want to restore ancient rituals?!
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"In the end, the people paid for this fiscal reform. Wang Mang himself didn't make much money; most of the money went into the pockets of powerful clans."
"Regarding loans, Wang Mang stipulated that except for funeral and sacrificial rites which were interest-free, loans generated from production would be subject to an annual interest rate of 10% (uncertain or 3% monthly)."
"At the time, this interest rate wasn't actually that high, but there was a major problem: the officials who issued the orders simply didn't follow through!"
“Local officials are not of one mind with you, Wang Mang, so it is easy for them to seek personal gain when implementing policies.”
"So this 10% annual interest rate will become a monthly interest rate, or even higher. Even if you don't need the loan, you will be told that this must be done, and thus more and more loans will appear."
"With more loans, the pressure on ordinary people will be even greater. In general, the people are being exploited again and again, but the object of their resentment may only be Wang Mang, who issued the order."
A skilled farmer in the Song Dynasty: These powerful officials are also the culprits!
An official from a certain government department in the Ming Dynasty said: "It's time for another dynastic change!"
A certain romantic scholar from the Tang Dynasty: But did Wang Mang really believe in the inherent goodness of human nature?! Didn't he realize that there was something wrong with the local officials?
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty commented: "Actually, we could have lived our lives even if we hadn't chosen him as emperor. I just don't understand why he was so popular back then!"
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"The policies Wang Mang issued were actually laying the foundation for chaos in the world. If he hadn't done these things and insisted on using ancient rituals, the world might not have descended into chaos so quickly. In a sense, wasn't he also contributing to Liu Xiu's success?"
"After discussing the previous reforms, let's talk about another one: currency. The Confucian school has something to say about currency, and one of them, Gong Yu, proposed to abolish currency."
"His views are bizarre and outrageous. He said that money is a bad thing and should be abolished. It would be best to go back to the Zhou Dynasty's system of rites. Back then, the Zhou Dynasty used barter, and those were wonderful times!"
"It is evident that the Confucian scholars of that time did indeed yearn for the Zhou rites. In other words, the currency used before was the Wuzhu coin, while Wang Mang's first currency reform consisted of three types: the Daqian coin, the Qidao coin, and the Cuodao coin."
"Compared to the Wuzhu coin, the face value of the Daqian coin was equivalent to 50 Wuzhu coins, followed by 500 and 5000 coins. However, when Wang Mang was minting this batch of coins, he was worried about counterfeiting, so he prepared anti-counterfeiting technology."
"But the people on this land are known for their skill and ingenuity, so anti-counterfeiting was not a problem. They began to melt down the original Wuzhu coins and cast them into the most valuable 'cuo dao' coins, which were indistinguishable from the real ones and could be circulated immediately after being made."
"As the number of flawed knives on the market increased, Wang Mang realized something was wrong and thus initiated a second reform."
A soldier from the Ming Dynasty: There are too many counterfeits! And the face values are so different!
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: Someone must have made a fake! But how could someone want to go back to the old days?!
A spoiled brat from the Tang Dynasty: What's eliminated is eliminated, right? Money is a good thing. I'm so glad my dad has so much secret stash of money, hehe!
The mother of a spoiled brat in the Tang Dynasty: Just you wait!!!
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Lin Ke felt that the problem of counterfeit money had never ended throughout history, not to mention that Wang Mang carried out four currency reforms in succession, which, aside from other factors, could easily cause severe economic turmoil.
However, after shaking her head and sighing for a while, she continued, "In 9 AD, Wang Mang carried out the second currency reform, abolishing the knife coins and the five-zhu coins."
"A new small coin has been introduced, weighing only one zhu and worth one wen. In addition, a large coin, worth fifty qian but weighing twelve zhu, is circulating in the market."
"This reform still hasn't eradicated counterfeiting. They melted down the abolished Wuzhu coins and the newly issued small coins to mint larger coins. After all, twelve small coins are enough to mint one large coin, so who would want to bother with the small ones?!"
"This has led to an increasing number of counterfeit large bills and a decreasing number of genuine small bills on the market, making it impossible to conduct some simple transactions. Out of desperation, people in some areas have started bartering. In a sense, isn't this a return to the ancient system that Mr. Wang hoped for?"
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: Have we all gone back to bartering?
A farming expert from the Ming Dynasty: Reforms are happening so frequently! Even counterfeiters can't keep up with the pace!
A spoiled young master from the Tang Dynasty: We're not far from the chaos that will engulf the world!
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"This reform did not last long. The following year, Wang Mang was going to carry out another currency reform. It was probably not long before this financial collapse occurred."
"It is said that in ancient times people traded with tortoise shells and seashells. Based on this, Wang Mang, this 'little genius,' invented another type of currency system: six types of goods, including money, gold, tortoise shells, etc."
"And among these six types of currency, there are twenty-eight grades. Not only are the materials used for currency different, but the conversion between these currencies is also extremely complex! Even now, it might not be easy to calculate quickly, let alone for people more than two thousand years ago."
"Moreover, there was a rather fatal problem: literacy rates were very low at the time, let alone the ability to handle such complex algorithms. As a result, the new currency introduced by Wang Mang never circulated, and people even started using the Wuzhu coin again."
"It must be said that the Wuzhu coin has its reasons for being in circulation for over a hundred years."
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: Isn't this a different kind of "ancient ritual"? Hahahaha!
General Judy, the Northern Expeditionary Army: If he can't even calculate it, why bother?! What was he thinking?!
In another timeline, the First Emperor told Fusu to watch the live broadcast carefully. He argued that relying solely on Confucianism was not enough to govern a country, let alone implement unrealistic and idealistic policies.
Fusu: Who understands! Not only do I have official duties to attend to, but now I also have some thoughts to share!!?
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"Under Wang Mang's reckless and chaotic actions, the entire market was on the verge of collapse. Even though people started using the Wuzhu coin again, Wang Mang soon announced that anyone who used the Wuzhu coin instead of his newly issued currency would be exiled to the border."
"But because these six commodities were inherently problematic and could not circulate in the market, people's desire to consume decreased, and the market shrank accordingly. In the end, Wang Mang had no choice but to reinstate the two types of currency, large coins and small coins."
"However, Wang Mang was not yet convinced of defeat. In 14 AD, he carried out the fourth currency reform."
"This time, he didn't bother with any different denominations of coins or the six types of currency. He simply issued two types of currency: the cloth currency and the coin currency. The coin currency weighed five zhu, and one cloth currency was equivalent to 25 coins. This currency reform was Wang Mang's last reform."
"If Wang Mang looked back from here, he would find that he had changed the whole country beyond recognition. He was also a rare emperor who had a lot of complaints about him from powerful families to ordinary people."
"In other words, people at this point are completely exhausted and might actually be starting to miss the Han Dynasty again because of his mess!"
First Emperor Qin Shi Huang: This guy really knows how to cause trouble...
General Judy, the Northern Expeditionary General: I bet she deeply regrets choosing him as emperor! Life was actually quite peaceful before!
A wealthy merchant from the Ming Dynasty: But isn't his currency quite collectible? Hahaha! One of a kind!
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“In other aspects, Wang Mang also carried out antiquated reforms. For example, he renamed the prefectures and counties, changing the number of prefectures from 106 at the end of the Han Dynasty to 116. Among them, the names of 91 prefectures were changed. At least half of the more than 1500 counties were changed by him.”
"And the changes he made were quite funny. For example, Nanyang County was changed to the front team, Henan County to the rear team, Yingchuan County to the left team, Hongnong County to the right team, Pei County to Wufu, and so on."
"In Wang Mang's vision, the dynasty he established was based on the teachings of ancient sages. What was the glory of the Western Han Dynasty compared to that? He believed that the new dynasty he established would be stronger than the Western Han Dynasty. Therefore, after he finished dealing with the domestic situation, he began to set his sights on foreign countries."
"Before usurping the throne, Wang Mang forced the Qiang people to voluntarily surrender the land around Qinghai Lake and established a region called Xihai Commandery there."
"Time Traveler" Wang Mang: Don't ask! The answer is that we have the East, South, and North Sea Commanderies! We're just missing the West!
"Wang Mang went to great lengths for this place. He first made criminals and able-bodied men 'voluntarily' migrate to Qinghai, a place that was very poor at the time and the land could not produce much."
"You all know what the ultimate outcome will be if people don't have food, so Wang Mang forcing these people there was tantamount to sending them to their deaths."
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: Is he still going to cause trouble?!
An old farmer from Dahan said: I can't live like this anymore!
A bystander from the Ming Dynasty commented: "These Qiang people are quite unlucky; they were forced to leave their homes after only a short period of peace!"
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Emperor Xuan of Han
Upon hearing this, Liu Xun fell silent, a rare occurrence. It seemed that Wang Mang was making a mess of things. Didn't he realize that the people under his rule were not doing well?
Were reforms such as currency reform, the abolition of slavery, and land liberalization truly suitable for the Central Plains at that time?
If the teachings passed down by ancient sages and worthies were truly suitable for governing a country, then someone would have already tried it, and there wouldn't have been people like Wang Mang who promoted it.
Thinking of this, Liu Xun couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
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