How did the financial tycoon of the Western Han Dynasty make huge profits through the investment war？ ｜ China Ancient Commercial History

Lead: Business has always been an important part of human society. There were many outstanding business figures in ancient China, but they were rarely known by the world. In order to summarize these business wisdom from ancient ancestors and enlighten the present, Lishi Business Think Tank has planned a series of "Business People in China’s Ancient Business History" for readers. This issue shares the financial magnate Wuyan who made a profit through the investment war in the Western Han Dynasty.

Liu Liping | Author Lishi Business Think Tank | Produced by

War is a matter that consumes human life and money. The former is the so-called "one will make a great effort and ten thousand bones will wither away", "poor bones along the river are still in a dream", and the latter is what Sun Tzu said in the Art of War: "Take a hundred thousand armour and feed food thousands of miles away". If more than one hundred thousand soldiers are used, they will be transported thousands of miles away, and there are also "internal and external expenses, guests’ use and glue.

In a word, fighting is a costly thing.

This is already a common sense.

However, we may not realize that the economic cost of war is not only paid by the state, but also by individuals. The personal contribution mentioned here is not to pay taxes for the country to use in the war, but as an individual, he should buy his own military supplies and use his own money to go to the battlefield.

This is actually in ancient China and foreign countries.

There is another point that many people may not realize. In ancient times, there were financial lending institutions that profited from the war and made huge profits.

What’s going on? Let’s take a look at the financial industry of the ancient investment war by resuming the chaos of the seven countries in the Western Han Dynasty.

one

The governors of the Western Han Dynasty dared to rebel because of money.

As we all know, since Qin Shihuang, China has implemented the county system, depriving the sons and grandsons of the right to hereditary territory and titles, and the political pattern of feudal society in China, as well as the central and local patterns, has been determined.

However, history is moving forward in a roundabout rhythm, moving forward, retreating a little, and moving forward again.

The Qin Dynasty was short-lived. Many people think that it was because Qin Shihuang implemented a thorough county system and did not set up descendants as vassals as barriers. So after the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, in addition to continuing the county system established by the Qin Dynasty, it was still mixed with the vassal system, and Liu Bang enfeoffed his sons and nephews to become princes everywhere, forming a pattern in which the county system and the enfeoffment system crossed.

Liu Bang was uneasy about this situation in his heart. For example, when he made his nephew Liu Bi the king of Wu, he saw that Liu Bi was strong and couldn’t help feeling a twinge in his heart, so he stroked Liu Bi’s head and said, "Your boy must be loyal to my big fellow, and there must be no infidelity." Liu Bi was also frightened and trembling by this uncle who killed the snake uprising and put down the overlord, and said, "I will obey you."

With Liu Bang gone, it is not necessary to obey.

With the passage of time, the honeymoon period of the county system and the enfeoffment system passed quickly, and two different blood types could not coexist in the body of a dynasty and began to repel each other.

By the time of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Jia Yi, a famous scholar, urged the emperor to end the system of enfeoffment.

When Emperor Han Jingdi arrived, Chao Cuo, the minister, explicitly proposed to cut the vassal.

Thus, in 154 BC, the contradiction between the imperial court and the princes was irreconcilable. Headed by Liu Bi, the king of Wu, the king of Chu, the king of Zhao, the king of Jinan, the king of Zichuan, the king of Jiaoxi and the king of Jiaodong, they launched a rebellion in the name of "Qingjun side".

On the surface, the rebellion of the seven countries was to kill Chao Cuo, and Emperor Han Jing really believed it and killed Chao Cuo. However, the rebellion did not stop. It turned out that all the governors wanted not Chao Cuo’s life, but the life of the Han Dynasty.

I don’t need to repeat too much about the process and ending of the war. It only took more than three months, and the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms was quelled by Zhou Yafu. Since then, the governors of the Han Dynasty no longer have the ability to confront the central dynasty by force.

The angle we cut in is the economic angle.

When the rebellion just started, how did the wealth and power of the two sides compare?

Everyone must be familiar with Emperor Han Jingdi’s side. It was the prosperous time of the rule of Wenjing. It is said that the grain in the treasury rotted into red, and the money strings were scattered, but they were not used.

And the vassal state side, do you think it is very weak?

Not only not weak, but even stronger than the central dynasty.

The State of Wu under the rule of the King of Wu, Liu Ying, was a giant consortium, which not only had a lot of money, but also implemented a wartime economic system.

The biggest advantage is that the prince of Wu has mines at home.

Yuzhang County, within the jurisdiction of Liu Bi, has a huge copper mountain, which can be used to cast coins; On the east side of the jurisdiction, there is a boundless sea where salt can be boiled.

There is money and salt, and there is no need to pay taxes.

Under this innate advantage, Wu was fully capable of waging war with the Central Committee of the Han Dynasty, and the advantage lay in Wu.

Liu Bi also attaches great importance to the welfare in China. The people live a good life and enjoy extra care. Once the local people are recruited by the central government for military service, the local government of Wu will also pay the employment fee for these people. One person is serving in the military service for the government, so the whole family life need not worry.

The imperial court recruited soldiers, and the local government gave them living expenses. It was clear that it was to buy the hearts of local people.

There are rich mountains, salt seas, manpower, people’s hearts, and princes fighting against the imperial court. The odds are really great. I really don’t know how to write the history of the national movement of the Western Han Dynasty if it weren’t for the military genius Zhou Yafu left by God.

On Wu’s side, the king of Wu paid the bill for participating in the rebel war.

On the central side of the Western Han Dynasty, those who fought had to buy equipment from their own pockets.

What’s more, major financial institutions in Chang ‘an City are reluctant to lend because they are bearish on the war prospect of the central dynasty.

What should Chang ‘an government do next?

two

In the case of sparing loans, how did the Western Han military get out of the predicament?

Re-examine the situation in Chang ‘an before the war.

It can be said that people are in a panic. The financial industry is a barometer of politics and military affairs. At that time, the financial institutions in Chang ‘an basically refused to give it to the "Central Army" of the Han Dynasty because they thought the chances of winning were too low.

"Biography of Huo Zhi" in Historical Records records: "Zi Qianjia thought that Hou Yi’s country was in Kanto, and the success or failure of Kanto was undecided, so he refused to cooperate."

The so-called sub-money family is the kind of lending institution and folk. They thought that the vassal state was east of Chang ‘an, and the success or failure was uncertain at that time, so they refused to lend.

Who will you lend it to?

To those who went to the front to fight.

These liehou ancestors got some enfeoffment because they worked for the Han Dynasty, mostly in the form of land. In return, liehou had to provide their own equipment, buy their own weapons and pommel horses and go to the front at their own expense when the country had military operations.

This situation existed in ancient China and abroad.

For example, "Mulan Ci" said: "The east market buys horses, the west market buys saddles, the south market buys bridles and the north market buys whips." Before Mulan joined the army, she bought equipment all over the market, and probably went to the front at her own expense.

Another example is Dumas’ novel The Three Musketeers. The French cardinal launched a war against Spain, and the members of the King’s Musketeers had to prepare their own armor, horses, knives and guns and follow the cardinal to the battlefield. One of them had to please the ladies and borrow money because he was short of money.

This is the situation faced by the Western Han Dynasty.

The assets given by the imperial court are either idle or gambled away, and maybe some of them are still negative assets.

It is necessary to serve the court. But you can’t go to the battlefield on foot with a bamboo pole with bare arms.

They first thought of loans, and maybe they are already frequent customers of these financial lending institutions.

However, all over Chang ‘an, financial institutions are either closed or pushed. Sorry, we financial predators are not optimistic about the war prospects of the imperial court, so we can’t borrow this money.

At this time, the strong men of the Western Han Dynasty were in a desperate situation.

The cross-flow of the sea shows the true colors of heroes and financial institutions.

I am greedy when others are afraid.

This greedy financial institution finally came out. At that time, it was not a financial crocodile, but it was ambitious.

The boss of this financial institution, surnamed Wu Yan, put up a signboard and was willing to lend money to the soldiers who were about to go to the front.

Soon, the empty-handed Hou people rushed in.

The Wuyan family made a written statement with the heroes who were about to go out, and the money was immediately available, but there was a harsh condition, that is, the interest was ten times.

"Its interest rate is ten."

It’s a total usury.

However, without thinking about it, the Hou immediately took money and bought brand-new equipment, and went to the front line without hesitation.

The so-called ten times interest rate is not a threat to them at all.

Because there are only two endings.

One is to die, and people don’t have to pay their debts when they die.

First, victory, once there is a trophy, this interest of ten times can only be described as "mere".

And there are only two endings of salt-free financial institutions.

First, defeat, defeat is defeat, nothing more than losing all one’s money, and the imperial court and country will be lost. What is there to say?

One is victory. Needless to say, we have everything.

The nature of capital is profit-loving, aggressive and adventurous.

Let the capital fight with the soldiers of the crusade.

three

Borrowing capital gained ten times in the war of seven countries.

The Seven Kingdoms Rebellion in 154 AD eventually became a large-scale dying struggle of local governors. The Han Dynasty continued its life for more than a hundred years, and the supreme military commander of the imperial court, Zhou Yafu, must be the most grateful person in the world. He used Han Jingdi’s uncle Liang Xiaowang as a fortress to attract the rebels’ fire, so that the rebels were exhausted here, and then he broke the back road of the seven countries by himself, and finally put down the rebellion in three months.

It was Liang Xiaowang who was not under Zhou Yafu’s credit. Although he didn’t take the initiative, he clung to his territory and resisted the fierce attacks of the rebels of the Seven Countries. Liang Xiaowang repeatedly asked Zhou Yafu for help, but Zhou Yafu just ignored it. Others were unreliable and had to ask for help, so the defensive ability was greatly stimulated, which led to great damage to the troops of the Seven Countries at the gates and made it impossible for Zhou Yafu to send troops.

There is another point that many people may not think of, and that is the lending institution-Wuyan’s Qianjia.

The bold lending behavior of the Wuyan clan actually retained the military backbone for the Western Han Dynasty, greatly released their fighting capacity and stimulated their desire to fight. There is money in your hand and you don’t panic when you go into battle. This is one of them. If you are in debt, you must fight bravely and win, so that you can earn your money back and look forward to the future. This is the second.

It can be said that the financial institutions without salt made a key contribution to the victory of the Western Han Dynasty.

Finance not only provides capital, but also provides confidence.

After the victory, the survivors came back with a huge amount of trophies, and their profits exceeded ten times the interest, which made everyone happy.

As for those who were buried in the battlefield, the debts they borrowed were of course bad debts, but they were completely washed away by rich returns.

The ultimate winner is the Han Dynasty.

The biggest winner is the Wuyan family.

Compared with before the war, its assets have increased tenfold.

"At the age of one, the interest rate of the salt-free family is ten times."

Biography of Historical Records of Huo Zhi, a short historical material, shows us the richer structure of ancient wars. It is not only the correct decision of the rulers, the level of the commanders’ use of troops, and the bravery of the soldiers that determines the outcome of the war to quell the rebellion of the Seven Countries, but also closely related to financial lending. It became an integral part of the fighting capacity and fighting confidence of the Han Dynasty.

From a financial point of view, Sima Qian may be the first person in China since ancient times.

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