In China's long history, there are many dynasties that have appeared, and some dynasties can be famous throughout the ages, like the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties that we are familiar with, and some dynasties have disappeared in the long river of history after experiencing a short period of glory. But there is no doubt about the fact that if the dynasty develops very prosperously, then it must have a very good emperor.
Among the emperors we know, some of the emperors we really admire, such as Tang Taizong Li Shimin, who won power in one fell swoop after the xuanwumen revolution, and after becoming the emperor, he also worked hard to rule, and the rule of Zhenguan also made the strength of the Tang Dynasty very strong. The surrounding countries were even more active in ethnic exchanges and integration, and the surrounding tribes were also willing to submit to Tang Taizong, who was also named Tian Khan.
For Tang Taizong, I think he did not have any black spots except for the change of Xuanwumen, and in the few dynasties after the Tang Dynasty, their evaluation of Tang Taizong was also very high, quite in line with him. However, there was also an emperor whose fame was no less than that of Tang Taizong, and the promulgation of a Tui En Decree made all the feudal kings helpless, yes, he was Emperor Wu of Han.
Speaking of Emperor Wudi of Han, he can be said to have brought the Han Dynasty to the road of glory, and it can be said that during the Western Han Dynasty, it is precisely because of Emperor Wudi of Han that the Western Han Dynasty can also be called one of the most powerful empires in the world at that time. But this was Emperor Wudi of Han in his youth, and in his later years, he also listened to the rumors of the villains and there was the occurrence of the scourge of witchcraft. It can be said that even the emperor is impossible not to make mistakes, and everyone's evaluation of Emperor Wudi of Han is also mixed, so today we will take a look at the means of Emperor Wudi of Han.
First of all, we must know that during the Western Han Dynasty, because the Xiongnu forces were very rampant at that time, in order to maintain the stability of the country, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty also sent a large army to fight with the Xiongnu many times. The materials consumed by a war can be said to be money-intensive, and war is not only a contest of a country's military strength but also a contest of its financial resources. There was not only one war between the Western Han And the Xiongnu, and in order to win the battle against the Xiongnu, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty could be said to have exhausted the strength of the Western Han Dynasty.
So the question is, since the war is so expensive, then where did Emperor Wu of Han get the money from so many wars? This brings us to the means by which Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty amassed wealth. Whether it was the construction of the state or the support for the war, the treasury of the Western Han Dynasty had long been empty, so at this time Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty began to use his brain.
In fact, when Emperor Wu of han had just inherited the throne, industry and commerce at that time could also be said to have developed by leaps and bounds, and compared with ordinary people, the speed at which these merchants obtained money was far faster than the speed of farming. At that time, there were already a lot of people who were very rich. However, among the ancient classes, the status of industry and commerce was very low, so Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty also looked down on these merchants very much.
He felt that these merchants could not be of any use to the country except that they had money, and they also carried out duties to them, saying that they did not use their own money to help the people, so that the people's lives would be unsatisfactory. In fact, it shows that Emperor Wudi of Han wanted to attack these merchants. But there is some way to think of it, if you force them to hand over all their property directly, this will certainly not work, no one will give up the money they earn in vain.
And once it is not handled well, it will bring some social turmoil if it is not good, which is still what an emperor does not want to see. However, Emperor Wudi of Han, as an excellent emperor, naturally also came up with a way. First of all, through the auction of some titles, you know, those merchants also know that their social status is not high, if they can buy knighthoods, not only can their status be improved, but also can be officials, the power of this thing is the most attractive, no one does not want to get power, these businessmen already have wealth, the power is more eager.
After the release of this policy, it also successfully attracted the interest of the merchants, and a large amount of money flowed into the national treasury, because once you had a knighthood, you did not have to be conscripted or do labor, and if you bought a martial arts knight, you could not only be an official but also be exonerated, which attracted the money of the merchants.
But it has to be said that Emperor Wudi of Han was also a generous lord, and he spent money without thinking. As far as the little money in the treasury was concerned, it didn't take long for Emperor Wu of Han to spend it. Selling knighthoods cannot be used all the time, so Emperor Wudi of Han also came up with another method. And this method is also very direct, that is, to raise taxes.
This method of selling knighthoods can no longer attract more money, and Emperor Wudi of han simply showdowns and raises the tax rate. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also directly issued an edict requiring merchants to truthfully report how many houses, horses and money they had in their homes, and because of the tax increase, the tax rate was also known to reach six percent, which was more than four times higher than the previous tax.
But in the statistics here, Emperor Wudi of han also played a trick, he did not send people when counting, and he was also deliberately very loose in terms of supervision. These merchants were naturally reluctant to report truthfully, so they had the idea of underreporting, in fact, this was also the first time to win the favor of Emperor Wu of Han. Emperor Wu of Han expected them to do so, so he issued an edict that if you conceal or underreport, once it is exposed, then the government will confiscate all his property and give half of the reward to the person who denounced it.
After Emperor Wu of Han made such a move, it can be said that he cut off the careful thinking of these merchants. In order to better implement this policy, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty also specially sent a group of officials who were serious in their work and did not cheat to supervise in various places. Because the rewards are too generous, people's enthusiasm has also been mobilized, and in a short period of time, there have been various exposés and reports.
Do you think that's the end of it? Of course not, at first it was only for the merchant class, and then even the ordinary people were in this range, what is the point? In fact, it is very simple, the poor will also be sued for the wealth obtained by others after reporting, which means that if you are in the middle class at that time and have 100,000 yuan, then you will basically be sued. Because this policy also led to the bankruptcy of the middle class at that time, but what about money? Naturally, the state holds it, which is also the financial resources of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty to launch a war.
Conclusion: Emperor Wudi of Han as a very famous emperor in history, his means are also admirable, after the release of several policies, not only hit the industrial and commercial class at that time, but also alleviated the situation of the emptiness of the national treasury, but also provided rich financial support for the subsequent war, if you are Emperor Wudi of Han, in the face of the lack of money in the country, can you have a better way to resolve than Emperor Wudi of Han?