Chapter 1873: Liu Gui's Reforms

Compared with previous dynasties, the Shaofu of the Great Han had undergone great changes in its functions. Among them, the functions concerning imperial household affairs had, through continuous development and change, been largely stripped away and transferred to the various palace directorates, offices, and bureaus, while the Shaofu itself focused on managing the imperial family's private wealth and property.

Although some functions had been stripped away, this did not mean that the authority of the Great Han's Shaofu had weakened—on the contrary, it had been strengthened to a certain extent. Focusing on managing imperial industries, it was the imperial family's true money bag. When it came to matters involving money, the Shaofu could basically manage them all, and other departments serving the imperial household were, in their actual work, constrained to a certain degree by the Shaofu.

Even the Palace City Office, with its overwhelming power and fearsome reputation, derived a large portion of its operating funds from Shaofu appropriations. This was also one of the reasons Wang Ji'en did not dare to thoroughly offend Liu Gui after he had gained a firm foothold—after all, the one who holds the money bag inherently possesses powerful say.

In the Great Han court, the Shaofu had always been compared alongside the Finance Commission, jointly called the Inner and Outer Accounting Ministers, which showed its influence. Compared with the Finance Commission, the Shaofu was more mysterious, subject to fewer constraints, answerable only to the Emperor, yet the wealth it controlled was by no means less.

In these decades of the Great Han, commodity trade had flourished vigorously. Thanks to lenient policies and relatively reasonable taxation, the trend of commerce rising was obvious. The phenomenon of both officials and commoners growing rich through business was increasingly common—even if one merely engaged in trade and circulation, the speed of wealth accumulation was astonishing.

Of course, in this wave of commodity economy explosion, while some ordinary people did stand at the forefront and make their fortunes, the vast majority of the benefits were clearly seized by those meritorious aristocrats and bureaucrats who held power and say. Even those renowned wealthy merchants had, to varying degrees, the shadows of the powerful standing behind them.

Of course, in this wave, the imperial household was also a major beneficiary—one could even say the greatest beneficiary. The Great Han court's annual tax revenue was approaching the figure of eighty million strings of cash, but most of that had fixed destinations. If natural disasters or wars occurred, deficits would immediately arise. Yet the value of the various industries under the Shaofu's jurisdiction had long surpassed one hundred million strings—this had already been achieved back when Emperor Liu ordered the Shaofu to conduct a self-audit.

And if one compared treasuries, the Great Han's national treasury could only be described as poor next to the storehouses under the Shaofu's control.

In the beginning, the Shaofu basically did whatever made money. Besides the traditional high-profit industries of salt, tea, and wine, it would also stick its hand into any novel industry that appeared on the market and attracted a following. Over several decades, the Shaofu gradually developed into a behemoth that touched nearly every industry and commanded vast resources.

Bigness meant bloat, sluggishness, and even losses. Coupled with backward management and internal corruption, the Shaofu's problems had at one time been quite severe. Even though it was imperial private property, there was no shortage of bold and reckless people.

Although several rectifications had been carried out, and a large number of offending Shaofu clerks had been arrested and executed, these were merely stopgap measures that did not solve the fundamental problems. The Shaofu was dripping with fat—too tempting—and on the other hand, it was too opaque, leaving too much room for manipulation.

This situation did not change dramatically until Liu Gui took office. Liu Gui spent a full year and a half conducting research in his Shaofu post, traveling throughout the prefectures of the Central Plains, and even to Monan, the Northeast, and Jiangnan, carrying out extensive investigations. After thorough study, he submitted a memorial to Emperor Liu, deciding to carry out reforms of the Shaofu.

Emperor Liu was naturally delighted and appreciative of Liu Gui's willingness to take responsibility. After reviewing the memorial, he found that Liu Gui had studied the Shaofu's problems in depth, that his suggestions were pertinent, and that the methods were highly feasible. There was naturally no reason to refuse, so he decisively agreed. Emperor Liu had long been dissatisfied with the constantly problematic Shaofu, and he deeply loathed those thieves who always sought to dig at his walls.

With Emperor Liu's affirmation and endorsement, Liu Gui gained confidence, and so he carried out a sweeping reform of the Shaofu.

The scope was broad and the provisions numerous, but in summary, Liu Gui mainly did two things. First, he established rules and strengthened organizational procedures, making transparent the many vague issues in the Shaofu's past operations. He tried every means to restrain his subordinates and restrict the clerks. Naturally, the accompanying punishments were also extremely severe, otherwise there would be no way to awe people.

To this end, Liu Gui even personally invented some "novel" punishments. For example, a torture called "Blooming Section by Section" was aimed at those criminals who embezzled public funds or stole from the treasury. The specific method was to cut off the criminal's hand joint by joint, starting from the little finger, until the entire arm was chopped off.

After the left hand was chopped off, the right hand would follow. But generally speaking, many people died of pain before the entire hand was finished being chopped. If there were a brave one who survived having both hands chopped off, there were still the toes and both legs. During the execution process, there was not even a chance to commit suicide...

It was precisely because of these harsh measures that people came to realize that this Liu Gui was truly a ruthless man. Though talented, he was at heart still a cruel official. And Liu Gui gradually established his authority through these hair-raising measures. Within and outside the palace, countless people feared and dreaded him. Of course, toward the two great eunuchs Yan Tuo and Wang Ji'en, Liu Gui always maintained humility.

The second thing in Liu Gui's reform was to massively cut down imperial industries, slimming the bloated all-industry portfolio, reducing unnecessary expenditures, and controlling the income-to-expenditure ratio. After a full three years of reform, the slimming plan for imperial industries was finally completed.

Having shed many unnecessary or low-yield industries, the imperial family's wealth not only did not decrease but actually increased significantly. Those key industries were inherently high-profit and carried a certain monopoly nature; investing more resources and costs naturally yielded greater returns.

At the same time, during the slimming process, the Shaofu's management efficiency also improved markedly, which complemented Liu Gui's high-pressure policies. Many people were forced to behave honestly and keep a low profile simply because they feared Liu Gui and dreaded those horrifying tortures. And the rules were implemented and carried through precisely within that fear and reverence.

Under Liu Gui's reforms, the Great Han's Shaofu genuinely underwent some changes—it became more professional and more refined, while wealth accumulation further increased. "Wealth rivaling a nation" was not merely an adjective.

It was precisely because of these obvious achievements that Liu Gui received mixed praise and criticism at court. Some despised his eunuch identity, considering him a monkey wearing a hat; some resented his cruelty and coldness. But likewise, some admired his accomplishments in the Shaofu Directorate—though these were only an extremely small minority.

Of course, Liu Gui did not care about the gossip of the outer court. As long as Emperor Liu trusted him, and as long as those two old eunuchs Yan Tuo and Wang Ji'en did not cause trouble, he was as steady as Mount Tai.

Now, riding on the wind of the court's tax reform, Liu Gui was carrying out his third major reform since taking office—again concerning the land issue.

There was no doubt that no matter how profitable other industries were, land remained the pillar of imperial industry—vast in scale, high in returns, and likewise, not lacking in problems. Emperor Liu summoning Liu Gui was clearly about the imperial family's land matters...

On the land issue, Emperor Liu had been pondering it year-round. It was naturally impossible for him to overlook the imperial household's portion—it was just that the matter had not yet been exposed, and a sliver of wishful thinking still remained in his heart.

Now that the window paper had been poked through, reforming in accordance with the situation had become a necessary matter.