I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 181 It doesn’t matter, I will take action!

Bowang Garden.

As the "co-organizer" of the state-run salt and iron reform, Liu Ju naturally saw the contents of the memorial earlier than Liu Che, and it was Sang Hongyang who delivered it to him personally.

But after watching it.

He just casually put the memorial aside, looked at Sang Hongyang and said with a smile:
"Minister Sang Nong, you don't think that a few people like these have the ability to influence the affairs of the salt and iron government, mobilize those Confucian scholars and virtuous writers of the Imperial Academy, and manipulate public opinion in the court and the country, do you?"

"I dare not make a definite statement, but this is the omission I found in the account book after using your highness's abacus and four-pillar list."

Sang Hongyang shook his head and said,
"This is enough to prove that your highness's abacus and four-pillar list are very useful. Next, I, the Minister of Fortune, will further review the previous calculation books. Perhaps we can find more omissions and catch more corrupt officials, and we will definitely be able to restore the integrity of the salt and iron industry."

"Is that what you think?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ju was quite speechless about Sang Hongyang.

Although Sang Hongyang was a genius, he was ultimately only a partial talent.

He had many clever ideas in formulating economic policies, or in other words, in generating revenue for the country, and was indeed a rare finance minister. However, when it came to handling these official affairs, he showed some naivety that was not in line with his age.

Now Liu Ju finally understood.

The ability of Liu Che, my cheap father, to judge people was indeed not to be underestimated. At least before he was fifty years old, he could always make a good judgment.

He must have seen Sang Hongyang's flaws, so when he was promoting the state-run salt and iron business, he appointed Kong Jin and Dongguo Xianyang as the leaders, and only allowed Sang Hongyang, his own companion since childhood, to assist in the planning.

Think about it carefully from the perspective of a time traveler.

In fact, Sang Hongyang's "naivety" can be seen from the "Salt and Iron Conference" during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han.

At that time, Sang Hongyang was already in his seventies, and Huo Guang was probably in his fifties.

and then?
Sang Hongyang spoke the most and longest at the "Salt and Iron Conference". He was old but still strong and was able to debate with more than 60 virtuous and literary figures without losing to them, and at one point left them speechless.

His thinking is quick and his words are sharp.

The results of it?
Huo Guang did not even attend the meeting, but simply promoted several virtuous and talented scholars after the meeting. He easily gained the support of virtuous and talented scholars throughout the world and weakened Sang Hongyang's power and influence.

Is this a battle over governing philosophies?

On the surface, yes.

But in fact, after the Salt and Iron Conference, the policies adopted by Huo Guang did not actually stand on the side of those virtuous and literati, nor did he completely negate the policies previously implemented by Sang Hongyang. He only symbolically abolished the county and state wine monopoly and the iron officials within the pass, and other policies remained unchanged.

From this we can see that the essence of the so-called "Salt and Iron Conference" was not a dispute over governing ideas, but a political means used by Huo Guang to target Sang Hongyang.

The process is not important at all.

Nor do the views of either side matter.

No matter how wonderful Sang Hongyang's words were, it didn't matter.

The moment the "Salt and Iron Conference" was held, he had already lost. The more speeches he prepared and the more reasonable his rebuttals were, it had no effect on the outcome except that it showed his "naivety".

"I think that now that we have discovered the gaps in the plan, we should focus on the plan and thoroughly explore this path."

Sang Hongyang said,

"As long as these officials are strictly investigated, it should also have a deterrent effect on other corrupt officials and change the atmosphere in the Salt and Iron Office to a certain extent."

"Do you remember what I said at the morning court?"

Liu Ju asked helplessly.

Sang Hongyang looked suspicious: "I wonder what sentence Your Highness is referring to?"

“If reform is not thorough, then there is no reform at all.”

Liu Ju said solemnly, "Now the Salt and Iron Office is probably a den of snakes and rats. If we can't completely drive out the snakes and rats that are entrenched, it will always be a den of snakes and rats. Just like a dog can't stop eating shit, snakes and rats can never change their inherent habits. How can we talk about changing the trend?"

"Then your Highness means..."

Sang Hongyang had no choice but to ask again.

"What I mean is, can you please stop bothering those judges?"

Liu Judao,
"Don't forget that the abacus is only a calculation tool after all, and the four-pillar inventory is only a set of accounting theories."

"There's no need to check the previous account books again. If there really is a problem, can't we find it out without using an abacus and a four-pillar inventory?"

"You couldn't find the missing parts before because others didn't want you to find the missing parts."

"You have found some omissions now, but that is because others need you to find some omissions."

"So thinness is not the problem at all."

"Do you understand, my Sang Nong Cheng?"

Sang Hongyang was silent for a while after hearing this, and finally asked in embarrassment:

"But if we don't check the account book, where should we start? How can we find the exact evidence of the crimes of these corrupt officials?"

"Does my father need concrete evidence of someone's crime if he wants to punish him?"

Liu Ju asked back. This shocked Sang Hongyang, who quickly said:
"Your Highness, don't dare to speak nonsense. Your Majesty has always been clear about rewards and punishments. If he wants to punish a criminal, he must have solid evidence."

"Slander?"

Liu Ju only used two words to make Sang Hongyang open his mouth in shock for a long time, and he couldn't say a word to refute.

Then Liu Ju said slowly:
"Okay, listen to me. You don't need to check the accounts anymore, and you don't need to take the previous accounts seriously. Now just formulate the 'standardized assessment' system I proposed earlier."

"Remember to involve all aspects, from the assessment system for officials, to the process of smelting iron and boiling salt, to the inspection and storage of finished products... In short, every step of the process and responsibility must be detailed, and try to prevent the salt and iron government offices below from making decisions manually."

"In short, don't treat the salt and iron officials as human beings. Just treat them as bricks and stones used to build a house. They should stay where they belong."

As far as Liu Ju knows, the rapid economic development of the Celestial Empire in later generations had a great deal to do with the introduction of "standardization".

Although he didn't know whether this thing would work for the big man whose information transmission was delayed.

However, it can be tried as a last resort for the Salt and Iron Office to be destroyed and then rebuilt. The specific effect remains to be seen. Even if it is not very effective, Sang Hongyang, a financial genius, should be able to draw some inspiration from it.

When formulating policies in the future, we must ensure that they can be implemented smoothly, rather than allowing the original intention of policy making to go in the opposite direction with the results.

This is the advantage of living in the reign of Emperor Liu Che, when "the Han Dynasty was most talented". Liu Ju might not understand many things, but as long as he gave a hint, corresponding talents would emerge to draw inferences about other cases and understand ten things.

Yishuo is a good example...

Also.

This "standardized" refinement of responsibilities can also curb corruption to a certain extent, or at least delay its development to a certain extent. After all, wherever there is a problem, we can find the corresponding responsible person, so we always have to be careful.

At least it won’t be like now, where we know that there are problems with the salt and iron industry, but we don’t even know which link is wrong and who to arrest and hold accountable...

of course.

These are all later stories. The current focus is still on the "destruction and then reconstruction" of the Salt and Iron Yamen.

Liu Ju saw that Sang Hongyang was a bit unreliable, so he did not continue to embarrass him. After all, he still had a trick up his sleeve and had already sent Du Zhou and the court judge's men, so he asked again:
"By the way, if I remember correctly, the policy of calculating and reporting the amount of silk that is still under discussion today seems to have been proposed by you and the late Imperial Censor Zhang Tang, right?"

"Exactly."

"Have these salt and iron merchants who entered the Salt and Iron Office paid their taxes and been affected by the accusation of taxes?"

"The tax on the amount of money paid was aimed at merchants. When it was officially implemented, these salt and iron merchants had already been conscripted into the salt and iron government and became court officials, so they were not included in the tax on the amount of money paid."

"Okay, I understand..."

"..."

……

Next month.

Except for a few salt and iron officials who were found to have problems in the account book, Emperor Liu Che personally issued an edict at the morning court to execute them in the market and abandon them with the public.

Everything is calm and peaceful with the Minister of Agriculture.

As for the "reform" of the state-run salt and iron industry, no substantial progress has been made...

However, judging from the information sent back from various places, it seems that the prices of iron farm tools and salt purchased by the people have indeed dropped slightly, but it is still hard to say about the quality.

In other words.

The execution of those salt and iron officials did have a slight effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, at least making other salt and iron officials restrain themselves a little.

But this is far from the "reform" proposed by Liu Ju...

The civil and military officials in the court no longer had any expectations for this matter. Many of them even had already developed a mentality of watching the fun, waiting to see how Liu Ju, the ignorant prince, would end up.

But at most they just think about it in their hearts or joke about it in private with people close to them.

At the morning court session held every five days, no one would dare to bring this bad luck, and everyone tacitly chose to avoid talking about it.

However, they don't want to bring bad luck.

Liu Che was already beginning to feel a little impatient.

He really wanted to ask Liu Ju in public how far the "reform" had progressed, and then see this rebellious son lose face in public, admit that he was too young, and lower his ugly face of a fatherless and unruly person.

This has nothing to do with the royal family's reputation.

After all, Liu Ju was only seventeen years old. It was understandable that he was young and full of vigor, that he spoke wildly, and that he had naive ideas.

As a benevolent father, allowing his son to make some mistakes and giving him some opportunities to grow only shows his deep love for his son.

Anyway, he was ready to take action, just waiting for Liu Ju to fail and surrender!
So when today's morning court was about to end.

Liu Che finally couldn't help himself and deliberately asked Liu Ju about this matter in front of all the officials:
"Liu Ju, it has been more than a month since you were ordered to reform the salt and iron industry. How far have you progressed so far?"

"!!!"

Hearing this, all the civil and military officials in the hall pricked up their ears instantly.

Quietly, he and Liu Che waited for Liu Ju's answer.

(End of this chapter)