1
凡貨，金錢布帛之用，夏殷以前其詳靡記云。 太公為周立九府圜法：黃金方寸，而重一斤； 錢圜函方，輕重以銖； 布帛廣二尺二寸為幅，長四丈為匹。 故貨寶於金，利於刀，流於泉，布於布，束於帛。
As for currency in trade—gold, coin, cloth, and silk—what was used before the Xia and Shang is poorly documented. The Grand Duke of Qi is said to have established for Zhou the Nine Treasuries circular standard, fixing the weight of gold first: one square inch of yellow gold weighed one jin; coins were round outside and square within, with weight measured in zhu; Textiles were likewise standardized by width and length for value exchange. Thus wealth was stored in gold, advantage lay in knife-money, circulation in spring-coin, spread in cloth, and bundling in silk.
2
太公退，又行之于齊。 至管仲相桓公，通輕重之權，曰：「歲有凶穰，故穀有貴賤； 令有緩急，故物有輕重。 人君不理，則畜賈游於市，乘民之不給，百倍其本矣。 故萬乘之國必有萬金之賈，千乘之國必有千金之賈者，利有所并也。 計本量委則足矣。 然而民有飢餓者，穀有所臧也。 民有餘則輕之，故人君斂之以輕； 民不足則重之，故人君散之以重。 凡輕重斂散之以時，則準平。 使萬室之邑必有萬鍾之臧，臧繈千萬； 千室之邑必有千鍾之臧，臧繈百萬。 春以奉耕，夏以奉耘，耒耜器械，種饟糧食，必取澹焉。 故大賈畜家不得豪奪吾民矣。」 桓公遂用區區之齊合諸侯，顯伯名。
Taigong later implemented similar principles in the state of Qi. When Guan Zhong served as chancellor to Duke Huan, he mastered the regulation of light and heavy [prices], saying, "Years have famine and abundance, so grain has high and low prices; when government orders are urgent or lax, commodities become cheap or dear; If the ruler does not regulate this, hoarding merchants roam the markets, exploiting the people's shortages and multiplying principal a hundredfold. Thus a state of ten thousand chariots must have merchants of ten thousand in gold, and a state of a thousand chariots merchants of a thousand in gold—because profit is concentrated. If one calculates capital and measures stored goods, that is enough. Yet the people may still go hungry because grain is hoarded. When the people have surplus, prices are light, so the ruler collects when prices are light; when the people lack, prices are heavy, so the ruler releases when prices are heavy. Whenever collecting and releasing by light and heavy is timed to the season, prices are level. Let a city of ten thousand households have stores of ten thousand zhong of grain and ten million strings of cash in reserve; a city of a thousand households stores of a thousand zhong and a million strings. In spring to supply plowing, in summer to supply hoeing—plows, tools, seed, and food must all be drawn from these stores. Then great merchant houses cannot violently seize our people." With this policy Duke Huan used small Qi to unite the feudal lords and make his hegemonic name manifest.
3
其後百餘年，周景王時患錢輕，將更鑄大錢，單穆公曰：「不可。 古者天降災戾，於是乎量資幣，權輕重，以救民。 民患輕，則為之作重幣以行之，於是有母權子而行，民皆得焉。 若不堪重，則多作輕而行之，亦不廢重，於是乎有子權母而行，小大利之。 今王廢輕而作重，民失其資，能無匱乎？ 民若匱，王用將有所乏； 乏將厚取於民； 民不給，將有遠志，是離民也。 且絕民以實王府，猶塞川原為潢洿也，竭亡日矣。 王其圖之。」 弗聽，卒鑄大錢，文曰「寶貨」，肉好皆有周郭，以勸農澹不足，百姓蒙利焉。
Over a century later, in the time of King Jing of Zhou, because the coin had grown too light, he planned to recast larger coins. Duke Shan Mu said, "It cannot be done. In antiquity, when Heaven sent calamity, the state then measured currency and weighed light and heavy to rescue the people. When the people suffer from light coin, heavy coin is made and put into circulation; then mother and child coins circulate by balancing one another, and the people all benefit. If people cannot bear heavy coin, then issue more light coin while still not abolishing the heavy coin; then the child coin can be weighed against the mother coin and put into circulation, and both small and great will benefit from it. Now if the king abolishes light coin and makes only heavy coin, the people lose their means—how can there be no shortage? If the people are in want, the king's expenditures will also be short; when short, he will take heavily from the people; when the people cannot supply, they will harbor distant intentions—this alienates the people. To cut off the people to fill the royal storehouses is like damming a river's source to make ponds; exhaustion will come soon. Your Majesty should consider this," he said." He did not listen, and in the end cast large coins inscribed 'Treasure Currency,' with rims around both body and hole, saying that they would encourage agriculture and relieve scarcity, and that the people would benefit.
4
秦兼天下，幣為二等：黃金以溢為名，上幣； 銅錢質如周錢，文曰「半兩」，重如其文。 而珠玉龜貝銀錫之屬為器飾寶臧，不為幣，然各隨時而輕重無常。
Qin standardized a two-tier monetary system headed by gold. copper coins were like Zhou coin, inscribed 'half-liang,' weighing as inscribed. Luxury stores of value remained outside official currency and fluctuated freely.
5
漢興，以為秦錢重難用，更令民鑄莢錢。 黃金一斤。 而不軌逐利之民畜積餘贏以稽市物，痛騰躍，米至石萬錢，馬至匹百金。 天下已平，高祖乃令賈人不得衣絲乘車，重稅租以困辱之。 孝惠、高后時，為天下初定，復弛商賈之律，然市井子孫亦不得宦為吏。 孝文五年，為錢益多而輕，乃更鑄四銖錢，其文為「半兩」。 除盜鑄錢令，使民放鑄。 賈誼諫曰：
Early Han lightened circulation by introducing smaller pod-like coins. The gold standard unit stayed at one jin. Speculative hoarding triggered extreme inflation in grain and horse markets. Gaozu used sumptuary and tax policy to politically subordinate merchants. Later easing preserved one key barrier: merchant families remained largely excluded from office. In the fifth year of Emperor Wen, because coin had grown too numerous and light, four-zhu coins were recast, still inscribed "half-liang." Private minting was legalized in an attempt to ease circulation. Jia Yi remonstrated, saying:
6
法使天下公得顧租鑄銅錫為錢，敢雜以鉛鐵為它巧者，其罪黥。 然鑄錢之情，非殽雜為巧，則不可得贏； 而殽之甚微，為利甚厚。 夫事有召禍而法有起姦，今令細民人操造幣之勢，各隱屏而鑄作，因欲禁其厚利微姦，雖黥罪日報，其勢不止。 乃者，民人抵罪，多者一縣百數，及吏之所疑，榜笞奔走者甚眾。 夫縣法以誘民，使入陷阱，孰積於此！ 曩禁鑄錢，死罪積下； 今公鑄錢，黥罪積下。 為法若此，上何賴焉？
The law nominally criminalized adulteration, with tattoo punishment for mixers of base metals. Yet profitability in private minting almost required debasement. Even slight debasement yielded large margins. Jia Yi argued the policy itself created crime incentives that punishment could not suppress. Enforcement costs exploded into mass arrest and coercive investigation. He condemned the system as structurally entrapping the populace. Under prohibition, capital cases piled up; under legalization, tattoo penalties piled up instead. Either way, legitimacy and governability were undermined.
7
又民用錢，郡縣不同：或用錢輕，百加若干； 或用重錢，平稱不受。 法錢不立，吏急而壹之虖，則大為煩苛，而力不能勝； 縱而弗呵虖，則市肆異用，錢文大亂。 苟非其術，何鄉而可哉！
Regional coin standards diverged with ad hoc exchange premiums; others rejected parity conversion entirely. Rigid forced standardization risked administrative overload and coercion. But laissez-faire produced monetary fragmentation. He concluded, "If not by this method, where can it succeed?"
8
今農事棄捐而采銅者日蕃，釋其耒耨，冶鎔炊炭，姦錢日多，五穀不為多。 善人怵而為姦邪，愿民陷而之刑戮，刑戮將甚不詳，奈何而忽！ 國知患此，吏議必曰禁之。 禁之不得其術，其傷必大。 令禁鑄錢，則錢必重； 重則其利深，盜鑄如雲而起，棄市之罪又不足以禁矣。 姦數不勝而法禁數潰，銅使之然也。 故銅布於天下，其為禍博矣。
Coin incentives were diverting labor from agriculture into mining and minting, without raising food output. Good people become fearful and turn to wickedness; the foolish fall into punishment and execution; penalties will become gravely excessive—how can this be ignored! The state knows this harm; officials will surely say, "Ban it." A poorly designed ban would cause even larger damage. Ban-induced scarcity would raise coin value sharply; which would intensify black-market minting beyond deterrence. The commodity nature of copper made repeated prohibition cycles unstable. In his view, unrestricted copper monetization carried systemic risk.
9
今博禍可除，而七福可致也。 何謂七福？ 上收銅勿令布，則民不鑄錢，黥罪不積，一矣。 偽錢不蕃，民不相疑，二矣。 采銅鑄作者反於耕田，三矣。 銅畢歸於上，上挾銅積以御輕重，錢輕則以術斂之，重則以術散之，貨物必平，四矣。 以作兵器，以假貴臣，多少有制，用別貴踐，五矣。 以臨萬貨，以調盈虛，以收奇羨，則官富實而末民困，六矣。 制吾棄財，以與匈奴逐爭其民，其敵必懷，七矣。 故善為天下者，因禍而為福，轉敗而為功。 今久退七福而行博禍，臣誠傷之。
He proposed an alternative promising seven concrete gains. He then enumerated them. First, centralized copper control would suppress private mint crime. Second, trust in exchange would recover as fake coin declines. Third, labor would return from minting to agriculture. Fourth, with metal monopoly the state can run true countercyclical monetary operations to stabilize prices. Fifth, copper can be allocated strategically for arms and rank-differentiated state supply. Sixth, the state gains fiscal steering capacity while curbing speculative parasitism. Seventh, monetary leverage could be used geopolitically against the Xiongnu frontier system. Good governance converts structural liabilities into strategic advantage. He closes by lamenting persistent refusal of reform.
10
上不聽。 是時，吳以諸侯即山鑄錢，富埒天子，後卒叛逆。 鄧通，大夫也，以鑄錢財過王者。 故吳、鄧錢布天下。
The court rejected Jia Yi's proposal. Wu's independent minting power enriched it to near-imperial scale and fed later rebellion. Deng Tong's private mint fortune became politically notorious. Their privately associated currencies spread widely.
11
武帝因文、景之畜，忿胡、粵之害，即位數年，嚴助、朱買臣等招徠東甌，事兩粵，江淮之間蕭然煩費矣。 唐蒙、司馬相如始開西南夷，鑿山通道千餘里，以廣巴蜀，巴蜀之民罷焉。 彭吳穿穢貊、朝鮮，置滄海郡，則燕齊之間靡然發動。 及王恢謀馬邑，匈奴絕和親，侵優北邊，兵連而不解，天下共其勞。 干戈日滋，行者齎，居者送，中外騷擾相奉，百姓抏敝以巧法，財賂衰耗而不澹。 入物者補官，出貨者除罪，選舉陵夷，廉恥相冒，武力進用，法嚴令具，興利之臣自此而始。
Drawing on Wen and Jing-era reserves, Emperor Wu turned against Xiongnu and southern threats; early campaigns involving Yan Zhu and Zhu Maichen against Eastern Ou and the two Yues drained the Jiang-Huai region. Tang Meng and Sima Xiangru launched southwestern expansion, cutting mountain passes over a thousand li into Ba and Shu, leaving those populations worn out. Peng Wu's projects through Huimo and Korea, with the creation of Canghai commandery, set off major mobilization across the Yan-Qi region. After Wang Hui's Mayi scheme failed, Xiongnu hostilities resumed along the northern frontier, producing prolonged war that burdened the entire realm. Military burden escalated daily, with campaigners bearing provisions and home communities sending them off; internal and frontier turmoil fed each other, while legal gimmickry exhausted commoners and drained treasury resources. Commerce bought office and remitted punishment, eroding selection standards and moral boundaries; with harsh law and forceful governance, profit-seeking officials now rose to prominence.
12
其後，衛青歲以數萬騎出擊匈奴，遂取河南地，築朔方。 時又通西南夷道，作者數萬人，千里負擔餽饟，率十餘鍾致一石，散幣於邛僰以輯之。 數歲而道不通，蠻夷因以數攻吏，吏發兵誅之。 悉巴蜀租賦不足以更之，乃募豪民田南夷，入粟縣官，而內受錢於都內。 東置滄海郡，人徒之費疑於南夷。 又興十餘萬築衛朔方，轉漕甚遠，自山東咸被其勞，費數十百鉅萬，府庫並虛。 乃募民能入奴婢得以終身復，為郎增秩，及入羊為郎，始於此。
Major anti-Xiongnu campaigns under Wei Qing expanded territory and frontier fortification. Southwestern expansion was logistically exorbitant, with huge transport losses and costly pacification payments. The project failed to stabilize routes and triggered recurring military retaliation. Fiscal strain forced hybrid colonization-finance schemes linking frontier grain and metropolitan payments. Eastern territorial expansion produced comparable labor-fiscal burdens. Mass frontier construction and transport drained central finances and broad provincial labor. To raise resources, the state converted human and livestock contributions into office entry and labor exemptions.
13
此後四年，衛青比歲十餘萬眾擊胡，斬捕首虜之士受賜黃金二十餘萬斤，而漢軍士馬死者十餘萬，兵甲轉漕之費不與焉。 於是大司農陳臧錢經用，賦稅既竭，不足以奉戰士。 有司請令民得買爵及贖禁錮免臧罪； 請置賞官，名曰武功爵。 級十七萬，凡直三十餘萬金。 諸買武功爵官首者試補吏，先除； 千夫如五大夫； 其有罪又減二等； 爵得至樂卿，以顯軍功。 軍功多用超等，大者封侯卿大夫，小者郎。 吏道雜而多端，則官職秏廢。
In the following four years, Wei Qing year after year led more than one hundred thousand troops to strike the Hu. Soldiers who cut off heads and captured enemies received rewards of more than two hundred thousand jin of gold, while more than one hundred thousand Han soldiers and horses died, not counting the costs of armor and transport. Fiscal accounting showed ordinary revenues could no longer sustain the war machine. The court turned to monetized rank sales and legal redemption mechanisms. A formal 'Military Merit Rank' purchasing channel was created. The ladder had seventeen purchasable grades with very high aggregate valuation. Buyers could receive probationary appointment with accelerated placement. Some grades mapped directly to established noble ranks; legal penalties could also be mitigated through purchase. Upper purchase grades reached high honorific offices. War service and purchased status together accelerated irregular promotion pathways. Institutional coherence decays when appointment channels multiply without hierarchy.
14
自孫弘以春秋之義繩臣下取漢相，張湯以峻文決理為廷尉，於是見知之法生，而廢格沮誹窮治之獄用矣。 其明年，淮南、衡山、江都王謀反跡見，而公卿尋端治之，竟其黨與，坐而死者數萬人，吏益慘急而法令察。 當是時，招尊方正賢良文學之士，或至公卿大夫。 公孫弘以宰相，布被，食不重味，為下先，然而無益於俗，稍務於功利矣。
Moralist and legalist techniques fused into a harsher prosecutorial regime, including broad guilt-by-knowledge doctrines. The next year, traces of rebellion by the kings of Huainan, Hengshan, and Jiangdu appeared. The dukes and ministers pursued the leads and prosecuted the cases through all their associates; tens of thousands were convicted and died, while officials became more harsh and urgent and the laws more searching. At the same time, the court still promoted some orthodox scholars into high office. Even under Gongsun Hong's austere personal style, court policy kept drifting toward utilitarian gain.
15
其明年，票騎仍再出擊胡，大克獲。 渾邪王率數萬眾來降，於是漢發車三萬兩迎之。 既至，受賞，賜及有功之士。 是歲費凡百餘鉅萬。
The following year brought another major anti-Hu victory by the elite cavalry command. When Hunxie surrendered with a huge following, Han mounted a massive reception logistics operation. The surrender was followed by broad distributions of reward. The fiscal cost for that single year surpassed one hundred million.
16
先是十餘歲，河決，灌梁、楚地，固已數困，而緣河之郡隄塞河，輒壞決，費不可勝計。 其後番係欲省底柱之漕，穿汾、河渠以為溉田； 鄭當時為渭漕回遠，鑿漕直渠自長安至華陰； 而朔方亦穿溉渠。 作者各數萬人，歷二三期而功未就，費亦各以鉅萬十數。
Long before this, recurrent Yellow River failures had already imposed enormous reconstruction costs. Officials kept proposing hydraulic works to cut transport burdens and expand irrigation. Another project shortened grain routes by direct canal engineering. Frontier regions likewise undertook large irrigation works. These projects were labor-intensive, prolonged, and extraordinarily expensive.
17
天子為伐胡故，盛養馬，馬之往來食長安者數萬匹，卒掌者關中不足，乃調旁近郡。 而胡降者數萬人皆得厚賞，衣食仰給縣官，縣官不給，天子乃損膳，解乘輿駟，出御府禁臧以澹之。
Military horse policy imposed heavy provisioning and manpower burdens across surrounding regions. Refugee-surrender maintenance strained local budgets so deeply that even court reserves were tapped.
18
其明年，山東被水災，民多飢乏，於是天子遣使虛郡國倉廩以振貧。 猶不足，又募豪富人相假貸。 尚不能相救，乃徙貧民於關以西，及充朔方以南新秦中，七十餘萬口，衣食皆仰給於縣官。 數歲，貸與產業，使者分部護，冠蓋相望，費以億計，縣官大空。 而富商賈或墆財役貧，轉轂百數，廢居居邑，封君皆氐首仰給焉。 冶鑄煮鹽，財或累萬金，而不佐公家之急，黎民重困。
Widespread flood famine forced large-scale emergency granary releases. Even state relief was insufficient, requiring private credit mobilization. Mass relocation and state-supported resettlement became a core famine response. Sustained resettlement administration consumed vast funds and hollowed local treasuries. Merchant-financier power grew so great that even titled elites relied on it. Private industrial fortunes expanded while public crisis financing remained unsupported.
19
於是天子與公卿議，更造錢幣以澹用，而摧浮淫并兼之徒。 是時禁苑有白鹿而少府多銀錫。 自孝文更造四銖錢，至是歲四十餘年，從建元以來，用少，縣官往往即多銅山而鑄錢，民亦盜鑄，不可勝數。 錢益多而輕，物益少而貴。 有司言曰：「
Coin reform was framed as both fiscal necessity and anti-speculation policy. Available symbolic and metal resources enabled experimentation with new token currencies. From Emperor Wen's recasting of the four-zhu coin down to this year, more than forty years had passed. Since Jianyuan, expenditures had been small; county offices often minted coin near abundant copper mountains, and the people also minted illicitly, beyond counting. The result was classic debasement inflation: more coin, weaker value, higher prices. The officials said, “
20
古者皮幣，諸侯以聘享。 金有三等，黃金為上，白金為中，赤金為下。 今半兩錢法重四銖，而姦或盜摩錢質而取鋊，錢益輕薄而物貴，則遠方用幣煩費不省。」 乃以白鹿皮方尺，緣以繢，為皮幣，直四十萬。 王侯宗室朝覲聘享，必以皮幣薦璧，然後得行。
In antiquity leather currency was used by feudal lords for visits and offerings. They proposed a tiered precious-metal hierarchy. Now the half-liang standard should weigh four zhu, but criminals file down coin and take the scrapings; coin grows ever lighter and goods dearer, so distant regions incur cumbersome currency costs." A high-value ceremonial leather note was introduced. Use of this token was made mandatory in high-level court ritual exchange.
21
又造銀錫白金。 以為天用莫如龍，地用莫如馬，人用莫如龜，故白金三品：其一曰重八兩，圜之，其文龍，名「白撰」，直三千； 二曰以重差小，方之，其文馬，直五百； 三曰復小，橢之，其文龜，直三百。 令縣官銷半兩錢，更鑄三誅錢，重如其文。 盜鑄諸金錢罪皆死，而吏民之犯者不可勝數。
Additional white-metal denominations were issued. On the theory that Heaven's highest use is the dragon, Earth's the horse, and humanity's the turtle, they made three classes of white metal: the first weighed eight liang, was round, bore a dragon design, was called 'white selected,' and was worth 3,000; A mid-tier square horse issue was set at 500. A smaller oval turtle issue was set at 300. Legacy coin was withdrawn for a new three-zhu standard. Despite capital punishment, counterfeiting remained pervasive.
22
於是以東郭咸陽、孔僅為大農丞，領鹽鐵事，而桑弘羊貴幸。 咸陽，齊之大煮鹽，孔僅，南陽大冶，皆致產累千金，故鄭當時進言之。 弘羊，洛陽賈人之子，以心計，年十三侍中。 故三人言利事析秋豪矣。
Dongguo Xianyang and Kong Jin were made deputy grand ministers of agriculture and put in charge of salt and iron, while Sang Hongyang rose in favor and influence. Both appointees were private-sector magnates recruited for state fiscal operations. Sang Hongyang was a prodigious merchant-trained calculator elevated early. Together they brought highly granular fiscal analytics to policy.
23
法既益嚴，吏多廢免。 兵革數動，民多買復及五大夫、千夫，徵發之士益鮮。 於是除千夫、五大夫為吏，不欲者出馬； 故吏皆適令伐棘上林，作昆明池。
Legal tightening produced bureaucratic churn and purge. Rank purchase and exemption markets eroded military manpower pools. Policy tried to rebalance by limiting office conversion and demanding in-kind military support. Labor was redirected to major state works, including Kunming Lake.
24
其明年，大將軍、票騎大出擊胡，賞賜五十萬金，軍馬死者十餘萬匹，轉漕車甲之費不與焉。 是時財匱，戰士頗不得祿矣。
Another campaign brought massive expenditure and horse attrition beyond already huge reward payouts. By then fiscal strain was severe enough to disrupt military compensation.
25
有司言三銖錢輕，輕錢易作姦詐，乃更請郡國鑄五銖錢，周郭其質，令不可得摩取鉛。
A heavier anti-clipping five-zhu coin was proposed and standardized with design safeguards.
26
大農上鹽鐵丞孔僅、咸陽言：「山海，天地之臧，宜屬少府，陛下弗私，以屬大農佐賦。 願募民自給費，因官器作煮鹽，官與牢盆。 浮食奇民欲擅斡山海之貨，以致富羨，役利細民。 其沮事之議，不可勝聽。 敢私鑄鐵器煮鹽者，釱左趾，沒入其器物。 郡不出鐵者，置小鐵官，使屬在所縣。」 使僅、咸陽乘傳舉行天下鹽鐵，作官府，除故鹽鐵家富者為吏。 吏益多賈人矣。
The Grand Minister of Agriculture presented Kong Jin and Xianyang, assistants for salt and iron, who said: 'Mountains and seas are the storehouses of Heaven and Earth and should belong to the Lesser Treasury; Your Majesty does not keep them for private use, but assigns them to the Grand Minister of Agriculture to assist taxation. Proposal: licensed private operation under state tooling and controlled inputs. Unregulated intermediaries, they said, were extracting monopoly rents from basic resources. They dismissed opposition as endless and obstructive. Severe penalties and confiscation were proposed for illicit iron/salt production. In commanderies without iron output, establish small iron offices under local counties.' State takeover was executed nationwide through new offices staffed partly by former industry elites. The bureaucracy became increasingly merchantized.
27
商賈以幣之變，多積貨逐利。 於是公卿言：「郡國頗被災害，貧民無產業者，募徙廣饒之地。 陛下損膳省用，出禁錢以振元元，寬貸，而民不齊出南畝，商賈滋眾。 貧者畜積無有，皆仰縣官。 異時算軺車賈人之嬢錢皆有差，請算如故。 諸賈人末作貰貸賣買，居邑貯積諸物，及商以取利者，雖無市籍，各以其物自占，率嬢錢二千而算一。 諸作有租及鑄，率嬢錢四千算一。 非吏比者、三老、北邊騎士，軺車一算； 商賈人軺車二算； 船五丈以上一算。 匿不自占，占不悉，戍邊一歲，沒入嬢錢。 有能告者，以其半畀之。 賈人有市籍，及家屬，皆無得名田，以便農。 敢犯令，沒入田貨。」
Monetary volatility encouraged speculative inventory behavior. Then ministers said: 'Commanderies and states have suffered disasters; poor people without livelihood should be recruited to migrate to broad and fertile lands. Despite austerity and relief, agrarian participation lagged and commerce expanded. Poor households remained structurally dependent on state relief. They proposed restoring graded assessment systems on transport and merchant capital. A broad self-assessment tax base was imposed across registered and unregistered commercial activity. Industrial/rental activities were taxed at a different declaration ratio. Most groups owed one levy per carriage, with limited exemptions. Merchant transport faced double rates. Larger vessels were similarly taxed. Tax evasion triggered military penal service plus confiscation. Whistleblowers were rewarded with half the confiscated amount. Registered merchants and family members were barred from titled farmland to protect agrarian structure. Those daring violate order: confiscate land and goods.'
28
是時，豪富皆爭匿財，唯卜式數求入財以助縣官。 天子乃超拜式為中郎，賜爵左庶長，田十頃，布告天下，以風百姓。 初，式不願為官，上強拜之，稍遷至齊相。 語自在其傳。 孔僅使天下鑄作器，三年中至大司農，列於九卿。 而桑弘羊為大司農中丞，管諸會計事，稍稍置均輸以通貨物。 始令吏得入穀補官，郎至六百石。
Most elites concealed assets, while Bu Shi stood out for voluntary public contribution. Bu Shi was publicly rewarded and showcased as a moral exemplar. Though reluctant, Bu Shi was repeatedly advanced into high office. Further details are recorded in his separate biography. Kong Jin rose rapidly through the fiscal-administrative hierarchy. Sang institutionalized the 'equal transport' system to rebalance commodity flows and revenue. Office access via grain contribution expanded into mid-level ranks.
29
自造白金五銖錢後五歲，而赦吏民之坐盜鑄金錢死者數十萬人。 其不發覺相殺者，不可勝計。 赦自出者百餘萬人。 然不能半自出，天下大氐無慮皆鑄金錢矣。 犯法者眾，吏不能盡誅，於是遣博士褚大、徐偃等分行郡國，舉并兼之徒守相為利者。 而御史大夫張湯方貴用事，減宣、杜周等為中丞，義縱、尹齊、王溫舒等用急刻為九卿，直指夏蘭之屬始出。 而大農顏異誅矣。 初，異為濟南亭長，以廉直稍遷至九卿。 上與湯既造白鹿皮幣，問異。 異曰：「今王侯朝賀以倉璧，直數千，而其皮薦反四十萬，本末不相稱。」 天子不說。 湯又與異有隙，及人有告異以它議，事下湯治。 異與客語，客語初令下有不便者，異不應，微反脣。 湯奏當異九卿見令不便，不入言而腹非，論死。 自是後有腹非之法比，而公卿大夫多諂諛取容。
After years of harsh enforcement, a massive amnesty was issued for coin-related capital cases. Undetected violence around minting crimes likely far exceeded official figures. Self-report amnesty participation was enormous. Even that scale implied illicit minting had become near-universal. Unable to enforce universally, the state shifted to targeted investigations of major profiteers and complicit officials. At this time the Censor-in-Chief Zhang Tang was powerful and in charge of affairs. Jian Xuan and Du Zhou served as Palace Assistant Censors; Yi Zong, Yin Qi, Wang Wenshu, and others, who used harsh severity, became Nine Ministers; and direct investigators such as Xia Lan first appeared. Senior official Yan Yi was executed amid this legal crackdown. Yan Yi had risen through reputation for uprightness before his fall. When consulted on the new leather-currency policy, Yan Yi gave candid criticism. Yan Yi said, "Now when kings and marquises come to court audience they present a jade bi worth several thousand, yet the deerskin mat is valued at four hundred thousand—the root and branch do not match." The emperor took offense. Zhang Tang exploited the opportunity through procedural prosecution. A minor gesture of disapproval became prosecutorial evidence. He was condemned for 'internal dissent' despite no formal remonstrance. This case entrenched a climate where private disagreement became criminal and open flattery became survival strategy.
30
天下既下嬢錢令而尊卜式，百姓終莫分財佐縣官，於是告嬢錢縱矣。
Because voluntary contribution failed, enforcement shifted to mass denunciation incentives.
31
郡國鑄錢，民多姦鑄，錢多輕，而公卿請令京師鑄官赤仄，一當五，賦官用非赤仄不得行。 白金稍賤，民弗寶用，縣官以令禁之，無益，歲餘終廢不行。 是歲，湯死而民不思。 其後二歲，赤仄錢賤，民巧法用之，不便，又廢。 於是悉禁郡國毋鑄錢，專令上林三官鑄。 錢既多，而令天下非三官錢不得行，諸郡國前所鑄錢皆廢銷之，輸入其銅三官。 而民之鑄錢益少，計其費不能相當，唯真工大姦乃盜為之。
A new high-denomination red-rim state coin was imposed as mandatory for official transactions. The white-metal issue failed in practice and was eventually abandoned. Zhang Tang's death drew little public mourning. The red-rim reform likewise failed and was withdrawn. Minting was recentralized under the Shanglin Three Offices monopoly. Compulsory remonetization withdrew local coin and centralized copper feedstock. The monopoly cut ordinary illicit minting, leaving only high-skill organized counterfeiters.
32
楊可告嬢遍天下，中家以上大氐皆遇告。 杜周治之，獄少反者。 乃分遣御史廷尉正監分曹往，往即治郡國嬢錢，得民財物以億計，奴婢以千萬數，田大縣數百頃，小縣百餘頃，宅亦如之。 於是商賈中家以上大氐破，民媮甘食好衣，不事畜臧之業，而縣官以鹽鐵嬢錢之故，用少饒矣。 益廣開，置左右輔。
Yang Ke's campaign implicated most middle-and-above households. Under Du Zhou, conviction rates were extremely high. Nationwide fiscal prosecutions seized enormous assets-land, houses, people, and cash-on a near-unprecedented scale. Consequently most merchant households above middling means were ruined; the people took to rich food and fine clothes and no longer pursued storing wealth through farming, while because of revenues from salt, iron, and the min-money policy, government expenditures were somewhat easier to meet. The parks were expanded further, and the Left and Right Auxiliary districts were established.
33
初，大農幹鹽鐵官布多，置水衡，欲以主鹽鐵； 及楊可告嬢，上林財物眾，乃令水衡主上林。 上林既充滿，益廣。 是時粵欲與漢用船戰逐，乃大修昆明池，列館環之。 治樓船，高十餘丈，旗織加其上，甚壯。 於是天子感之，乃作柏梁臺，高數十丈。 宮室之修，繇此日麗。
At first, because the Grand Minister of Agriculture managed many salt-and-iron offices, the Office of Waterworks was set up to take charge of them; then, after Yang Ke's informer campaign and as assets in Shanglin multiplied, Waterworks was ordered to administer Shanglin. Once Shanglin was filled, it was expanded still further. At this time Yue wanted to fight Han by pursuing naval warfare, so Kunming Lake was greatly enlarged, with pavilions built in a ring around it. Tower ships were built, over ten zhang high, with woven banners raised above them, a very imposing sight. Moved by this, the Son of Heaven then built the Boliang Terrace, dozens of zhang high. From this point on, palace construction grew more and more magnificent by the day.
34
乃分嬢錢諸官，而水衡、少府、太僕、大農各置農官，往往即郡縣比沒入田田之。 其沒入奴婢，分諸苑養狗馬禽獸，及與諸官。 官益雜置多，徒奴婢眾，而下河漕度四百萬石，及官自糴乃足。
Counterfeiters' confiscated money was divided among the offices, and the Waterworks, the Lesser Treasury, the Grand Coachman, and the Grand Minister of Agriculture each set up agricultural offices, often taking over confiscated fields in commanderies and counties and farming them. Confiscated male and female slaves were distributed among the imperial parks to raise dogs, horses, birds, and beasts, and also assigned to various offices. Government offices became ever more numerous and mixed, with many convict laborers and slaves. Four million shi had to be shipped by canal downriver, and only with additional government grain purchases was the supply sufficient.
35
所忠言：「世家子弟富人或鬥雞走狗馬，弋獵博戲，亂齊民。」 乃徵諸犯令，相引數千人，名曰「株送徒」。 入財者得補郎，郎選衰矣。
Suo Zhong said: 'Sons of great families and rich men sometimes indulge in cockfighting, racing dogs and horses, hunting, and gambling, disrupting the common people.' So offenders were summoned and implicated one another, amounting to several thousand people, called 'chain-sent convicts by clan implication.' Those who contributed property could be appointed palace gentlemen, and the quality of selected gentlemen declined.
36
是時山東被河災，及歲不登數年，人或相食，方二三千里。 天子憐之，令飢民得流就食江淮間，欲留，留處。 使者冠蓋相屬於道護之，下巴蜀粟以振焉。
At that time, the region east of the mountains suffered Yellow River floods, and after several years of failed harvests, people even ate one another across an area of two to three thousand li. The Son of Heaven pitied them and ordered that famine victims be allowed to migrate and seek food in the Jiang and Huai region; those who wished to stay could settle there. Envoys with official carriages and escorts lined the roads to protect them, and grain from Ba and Shu was sent down to provide relief.
37
明年，天子始出巡郡國。 東度河，河東守不意行至，不辯，自殺。 行西踰隴，卒，從官不得食，隴西守自殺。 於是上北出蕭關，從數萬騎行獵新秦中，以勒邊兵而歸。 新秦中或千里無亭徼，於是誅北地太守以下，而令民得畜邊縣，官假馬母，三歲而歸，及息什一，以除告嬢，用充入新秦中。
The next year, the Son of Heaven began touring the commanderies and kingdoms. He crossed east over the Yellow River; the governor of Hedong had not expected his arrival, failed to prepare, and killed himself. Traveling west across Long, the soldiers and attendants ran short of food, and the governor of Longxi killed himself. Then the emperor went north out through Xiao Pass, led tens of thousands of cavalry on a hunt in New Qinzhong, reviewed the frontier troops, and returned. In parts of New Qinzhong there were stretches of a thousand li without posts or watch stations. So officials from the Administrator of Beidi downward were executed, and people were allowed to raise livestock in the frontier counties. The government lent brood mares, to be returned after three years with one-tenth interest, and penalties from informer prosecutions were remitted, using these measures to fill New Qinzhong.
38
既得寶鼎，立后土、泰一祠，公卿白議封禪事，而郡國皆豫治道，修繕故宮，及當馳道縣，縣治宮儲，設共具，而望幸。
After obtaining the precious tripod, the emperor established altars to Houtu and Taiyi. Ministers and grandees formally discussed the Feng and Shan rites, while commanderies and kingdoms all prepared roads and repaired old palaces; counties along the imperial routes readied palace stores and provisions in hopes of an imperial visit.
39
明年，南粵反，西羌侵邊。 天子為山東不澹，赦天下囚，因南方樓船士二十餘萬人擊粵，發三河以西騎擊羌，又數萬人度河築令居。 初置張掖、酒泉郡，而上郡、朔方、西河、河西開田官，斥塞卒六十萬人戍田之。 中國繕道餽糧，遠者三千，近者千餘里，皆仰給大農。 邊兵不足，乃發武庫工官兵器以澹之。 車騎馬乏，縣官錢少，買馬難得，乃著令，令封君以下至三百石吏以上差出
The next year, Nanyue rebelled and the Western Qiang raided the frontier. Because the region east of the mountains was still not adequately supplied, the Son of Heaven pardoned prisoners throughout the realm, then sent more than 200,000 southern naval troops to attack Yue, dispatched cavalry from west of the Three Rivers to strike the Qiang, and sent tens of thousands more across the river to build Lingju. Zhangye and Jiuquan commanderies were first established, and in Shang commandery, Shuofang, Xihe, and Hexi agricultural garrison offices were opened, with 600,000 frontier soldiers stationed to farm. Within the central states, roads were repaired and grain was shipped to the fronts: up to 3,000 li for distant sectors and more than 1,000 li for nearer ones, all supplied by the Grand Minister of Agriculture. Frontier troops were insufficient, so weapons from imperial arsenals and workshops were issued to make up the shortfall. Chariots, cavalry horses, and other horses were lacking, and the government had little cash, so buying horses was difficult. An order was therefore issued requiring ranks from enfeoffed lords down to officials of 300-shi salary and above to contribute by grade
40
牡馬天下亭，亭有畜字馬，歲課息。
stallions to post stations throughout the empire; each station kept breeding-marked horses and reported yearly increase.
41
齊相卜式上書，願父子死南粵。 天子下詔褒揚，賜爵關內侯，黃金四十斤，田十頃。 布告天下，天下莫應。 列侯以百數，皆莫求從軍。 至飲酎，少府省金，而列侯坐酎金失侯者百餘人。 乃拜卜式為御史大夫。 式既在位，見郡國多不便縣官作鹽鐵，器苦惡，賈貴，或彊令民買之。 而船有算，商者少，物貴，乃因孔僅言船算事。 上不說。
Bu Shi, the Chancellor of Qi, submitted a memorial asking that he and his sons be allowed to die fighting in Nanyue. The Son of Heaven issued an edict commending him, granting him the rank of Marquis Within the Passes, forty jin of gold, and ten qing of land. This was proclaimed throughout the empire, but no one responded. There were hundreds of marquises, yet none sought to join the army. At the libation ceremony, when the Lesser Treasury audited gold contributions, more than a hundred marquises lost their titles for shorting their libation gold. Bu Shi was then appointed Censor-in-Chief. Once in office, Bu Shi saw that many commanderies and kingdoms found the government's salt and iron operations inconvenient: the implements were poor, the prices high, and people were sometimes forced to buy them. A levy was also imposed on boats, reducing merchants and driving up prices; this followed Kong Jin's proposal on boat taxation. The emperor was displeased.
42
漢連出兵三歲，誅羌，滅兩粵，番禺以西至蜀南者置初郡十七，且以其故俗治，無賦稅。 南陽、漢中以往，各以地比給初郡吏卒奉食幣物，傳車馬被具。 而初郡又時時小反，殺吏，漢發南方吏卒往誅之，間歲萬餘人，費皆仰大農。 大農以均輸調鹽鐵助賦，故能澹之。 然兵所過縣，縣以為訾給毋乏而已，不敢言輕賦法矣。
Han had sent out armies continuously for three years, punishing the Qiang and destroying the two Yue states. From Panyu westward to south of Shu, seventeen new commanderies were established and governed according to local customs, with no taxes. Regions from Nanyang and Hanzhong onward each supplied, according to comparable distance, stipends, food, money, and goods for officials and troops in the new commanderies, along with relay carts, horses, bedding, and equipment. Yet the new commanderies repeatedly had minor rebellions and killings of officials. Han sent southern officials and troops to suppress them; every other year more than ten thousand men were mobilized, and all expenses were borne by the Grand Minister of Agriculture. The Grand Minister, through balanced transport and salt-and-iron adjustments, was able to sustain these costs. Still, counties through which the armies passed could only ensure that assessed supplies did not run short, and no one dared speak anymore of lightening the tax laws.
43
其明年，元封元年，卜式貶為太子太傅。 而桑弘羊為治粟都尉，領大農，盡代僅斡天下鹽鐵。 弘羊以諸官各自市相爭，物以故騰躍，而天下賦輸或不償其僦費，乃請置大農部丞數十人，分部主郡國，各往往置均輸鹽鐵官，令遠方各以其物如異時商賈所轉
The following year, the first year of Yuanfeng, Bu Shi was demoted to Tutor to the Crown Prince. Sang Hongyang became Superintendent for Grain and concurrently headed the Grand Minister of Agriculture, completely replacing Kong Jin in managing the empire's salt and iron. Hongyang argued that because offices purchased goods on their own and competed with one another, prices soared, and tax deliveries from the realm sometimes failed even to cover transport costs. He therefore requested dozens of assistant directors under the Grand Minister, divided by region to oversee commanderies and kingdoms, and in many places to establish balanced-transport and salt-and-iron offices, so distant areas could use local products as merchants formerly did when transporting goods
44
貶者為賦，而相灌輸。 置平準於京師，都受天下委輸。 召工官治車諸器，皆仰給大農。 大農諸官盡籠天下之貨物，貴則賣之，賤則買之。 如此，富商大賈亡所牟大利，則反本，而萬物不得騰躍。 故抑天下之物，名曰「平準」。 天子以為然而許之。 於是天子北至朔方，東封泰山，巡海上，旁北邊以歸。 所過賞賜，用帛百餘萬匹，錢金以鉅萬計，皆取足大農。
as tax payments according to comparative value, with mutual transfer and distribution. A price-stabilization office was established in the capital to receive consignments from all under Heaven. Artisan offices were summoned to make carts and various implements, all funded by the Grand Minister of Agriculture. The Grand Minister's offices gathered control of goods across the realm: when prices were high they sold, and when prices were low they bought. In this way, rich merchants and great traders would have no room to seek huge profits; they would return to the root, and the prices of all goods could not surge. Thus goods across the empire were kept in check; this was called 'price stabilization.' The Son of Heaven approved and authorized it. Then the emperor went north to Shuofang, east to perform the Feng rite at Mount Tai, toured along the seacoast, and returned along the northern frontier. Along the route he granted rewards, spending more than a million bolts of silk, with cash and gold counted in the tens of millions, all drawn from the Grand Minister of Agriculture.
45
弘羊又請令民得入粟補吏，及罪以贖。 令民入粟甘泉各有差，以復終身，不復告嬢。 它郡各輸急處，而諸農各致粟，山東漕益歲六百萬石。 一歲之中，太倉、甘泉倉滿。 邊餘穀，諸均輸帛五百萬匹。 民不益賦而天下用饒。 於是弘羊賜爵左庶長，黃金者再百焉。
Hongyang also requested allowing people to deliver grain in exchange for official posts, and to redeem punishments with payment. People were ordered to deliver grain to Ganquan by set grades, in return for lifelong corvée exemption and exemption from further informer prosecutions under the min-money law. Other commanderies each sent supplies to urgent places, and the agricultural offices all delivered grain; annual grain transport from east of the mountains rose by six million shi. Within a single year, the Taicang and Ganquan granaries were full. The frontier had surplus grain, and the balanced-transport offices held five million bolts of silk. The people bore no increase in taxes, yet state finances were ample. Accordingly, Hongyang was granted the rank of Left Commoner Chief and another two hundred jin of gold.
46
是歲小旱，上令百官求雨。 卜式言曰：「縣官當食租衣稅而已，今弘羊令吏坐市列，販物求利。 亨弘羊，天乃雨。」 久之，武帝疾病，拜弘羊為御史大夫。
That year there was a slight drought, and the emperor ordered all officials to pray for rain. Bu Shi said: 'The government should subsist only on land-tax grain and tax cloth. Now Hongyang has officials sitting in the market rows, trading goods for profit. Boil Hongyang alive, and then Heaven will send rain.' After some time, when Emperor Wu fell ill, Hongyang was appointed Censor-in-Chief.
47
昭帝即位六年，詔郡國舉賢良文學之士，問以民所疾苦，教化之要。 皆對願罷鹽鐵酒鸾均輸官，毋與天下爭利，視以儉節，然後教化可興。 弘羊難，以為此國家大業，所以制四夷，安邊足用之本，不可廢也。 乃與丞相千秋共奏罷酒酤。 弘羊自以為國興大利，伐其功，欲為子弟得官，怨望大將軍霍光，遂與上官桀等謀反，誅滅。
In the sixth year after Emperor Zhao took the throne, an edict ordered the commanderies and kingdoms to recommend worthy and literary scholars, and asked them about the people's hardships and the essentials of moral transformation. They all replied that the salt, iron, liquor-monopoly, and balanced-transport offices should be abolished, that the state should not compete with all under Heaven for profit, and that once thrift and restraint were shown as a model, moral transformation could flourish. Hongyang challenged this, arguing that these were major state enterprises, the basis for controlling the Four Barbarians, securing the frontiers, and ensuring adequate resources, and so could not be abolished. He then jointly memorialized with Chancellor Qianqiu to abolish the liquor monopoly. Hongyang believed that he had brought great profit to the state and boasted of his achievements. He sought offices for his sons and younger kin, resented General-in-Chief Huo Guang, and then plotted rebellion with Shangguan Jie and others; he and his clan were exterminated.
48
宣、元、成、哀、平五世，亡所變改。 元帝時嘗罷鹽鐵官，三年而復之。 貢禹言：「鑄錢采銅，一歲十萬人不耕，民坐盜鑄陷刑者多。 富人臧錢滿室，猶無厭足。 民心動搖，棄本逐末，耕者不能半，姦邪不可禁，原起於錢。 疾其末者絕其本，宜罷采珠玉金銀鑄錢之官，毋復以為幣，除其販賣租銖之律，租稅祿賜皆以布帛及穀，使百姓壹意農桑。」 議者以為交易待錢，布帛不可尺寸分裂。 禹議亦寢。
Across the five reigns of Xuan, Yuan, Cheng, Ai, and Ping, nothing was changed. During Emperor Yuan's reign, the salt-and-iron offices were once abolished, but they were restored after three years. Gong Yu said: 'Minting coin and mining copper keep one hundred thousand men each year from farming, and many people fall into punishment for illicit coining. The rich hoard rooms full of cash and still are never satisfied. People's hearts are unsettled: they abandon the root and chase the branch; fewer than half remain farmers, and wickedness cannot be curbed. The source lies in money. If one wants to cure the branch, one must cut off the root. The offices for collecting pearls, jade, gold, and silver and casting coin should be abolished; coin should no longer be used as currency; laws levying taxes by zhu in trade should be removed; and rents, taxes, salaries, and rewards should all be paid in cloth and grain, so the people can devote themselves wholly to farming and sericulture.' Discussants replied that exchange depends on money, and cloth cannot be divided precisely by inch and foot. So Yu's proposal was shelved.
49
自孝武元狩五年三官初鑄五銖錢，至平帝元始中，成錢二百八十億萬餘云。
From the fifth Yuanshou year under Emperor Wu, when the Three Offices first cast wuzhu coins, to the Yuanshi era under Emperor Ping, more than 2.8 trillion finished coins were minted, it is said.
50
王莽居攝，變漢制，以周錢有子母相權，於是更造大錢，徑寸二分，重十二銖，文曰「大錢五十」。 又造契刀、錯刀。 契刀，其環如大錢，身形如刀，長二寸，文曰「契刀五百」。 錯刀，以黃金錯其文，曰「一刀直五千」。 與五銖錢凡四品，並行。
When Wang Mang served as regent, he altered Han institutions. Because Zhou coinage had mother-and-child denominations balancing one another, he newly cast a large coin, one cun and two fen in diameter and twelve zhu in weight, inscribed 'Large Coin Fifty.' He also cast the Contract Knife and the Inlaid Knife. The Contract Knife had a ring like the large coin and a knife-shaped body, two cun long, inscribed 'Contract Knife Five Hundred.' On the Inlaid Knife, the inscription was inlaid with gold and read, 'One Knife Worth Five Thousand.' Together with the wuzhu coin, these made four denominations in circulation.
51
莽即真，以為書「劉」字有金刀，乃罷錯刀、契刀及五銖錢，而更作金、銀、龜、貝、錢、布之品，名曰「寶貨」。
When Mang formally took the throne, he claimed that the graph for 'Liu' contained the elements for 'metal' and 'knife,' and so abolished the Inlaid Knife, Contract Knife, and wuzhu coins. He then created categories of gold, silver, turtle shell, cowries, coin, and spade money, calling them 'Precious Currencies.'
52
小錢徑六分，重一銖，文曰「小錢直一」。 次七分，三銖，曰「
The small coin had a diameter of six fen and a weight of one zhu, inscribed 'Small Coin Worth One.' "The next had a diameter of seven fen and a weight of three zhu, called
53
錢一十」。 次八分，五銖，曰「幼錢二十」。 次九分，七銖，曰「中錢三十」。 次一寸，九銖，曰「壯錢四十」。 因前「大錢五十」，是為錢貨六品，直各如其文。
Coin Ten." The next had a diameter of eight fen and a weight of five zhu, called 'Young Coin Twenty.' The next had a diameter of nine fen and a weight of seven zhu, called 'Middle Coin Thirty.' The next had a diameter of one cun and a weight of nine zhu, called 'Strong Coin Forty.' Together with the earlier 'Large Coin Fifty,' these formed six grades of coin currency, each valued as its inscription stated.
54
黃金重一斤，直錢萬。 朱提銀重八兩為一流，直一千五百八十。 它銀一流直千。 是為銀貨二品。
Gold, at one jin in weight, was worth ten thousand cash. Zhu-ti silver, at eight liang per unit, was worth 1,580 cash. Other silver, one unit, was worth 1,000 cash. These made two grades of silver currency.
55
元龜岠冉長尺二寸，直二千一百六十，為大貝十朋。 公龜九寸，直五百，為壯貝十朋。 侯龜七寸以上，直三百，為幺貝十朋。 子龜五寸以上，直百，為小貝十朋。 是為龜寶四品。
A prime turtle shell, one chi two cun long, was worth 2,160 cash, equivalent to ten strings of large cowries. A duke-grade turtle shell, nine cun long, was worth five hundred, equivalent to ten strings of strong cowries. A marquis-grade turtle shell, seven cun or more, was worth three hundred, equivalent to ten strings of lesser cowries. A son-grade turtle shell, five cun or more, was worth one hundred, equivalent to ten strings of small cowries. These made four grades of turtle currency.
56
大貝四寸八分以上，二枚為一朋，直二百一十六。 壯貝三寸六分以上，二枚為一朋，直五十。 幺貝二寸四分以上，二枚為一朋，直三十。 小貝寸二分以上，二枚為一朋，直十。 不盈寸二分，漏度不得為朋，率枚直錢三。 是為貝貨五品。
Large cowries, at least four cun and eight fen, two shells to a string, were worth 216 cash. Strong cowries, at least three cun and six fen, two shells to a string, were worth fifty. Lesser cowries, at least two cun and four fen, two shells to a string, were worth thirty. Small cowries, at least one cun and two fen, two shells to a string, were worth ten. Those under one cun two fen and below full measure could not be strung; each shell was reckoned at three cash. These made five grades of cowry currency.
57
大布、次布、弟布、壯布、中布、差布、厚布、幼布、幺布、小布。 小布長寸五分，重十五銖，文曰「小布一百」。 自小布以上，各相長一分，相重一銖，文各為其布名，直各加一百。 上至大布，長二寸四分，重一兩，而直千錢矣。 是為布貨十品。
Great Cloth, Next Cloth, Younger Cloth, Strong Cloth, Middle Cloth, Lesser Cloth, Heavy Cloth, Young Cloth, Tiny Cloth, and Small Cloth. Small Cloth was one cun five fen long and weighed fifteen zhu, inscribed 'Small Cloth One Hundred.' From Small Cloth upward, each grade increased by one fen in length and one zhu in weight; each bore its own cloth-name inscription, and each added one hundred in value. At the top, Great Cloth was two cun four fen long, weighed one liang, and was worth one thousand cash. These made ten grades of cloth currency.
58
凡寶貨五物，六名，二十八品。
In all, the precious currencies used five materials, six names, and twenty-eight denominations.
59
鑄作錢布皆用銅，殽以連錫，文質周郭放漢五銖錢云。 其金銀與它物雜，色不純好，龜不盈五寸，貝不盈六分，皆不得為寶貨。 元龜為蔡，非四民所得居，有者，入大卜受直。
All coins and cloth-money were cast in copper alloyed with lead and tin, with inscriptions and rims modeled on Han wuzhu coinage. If gold or silver was mixed with other substances so that its color was not pure and fine, or if turtle shells were under five cun or cowries under six fen, they could not be used as precious currency. Prime turtle shells belonged to the state treasury and could not be held by the four classes of people; anyone possessing them had to submit them to the Grand Diviner and receive their value.
60
百姓憒亂，其貨不行。 民私以五銖錢市買。 莽患之，下詔：「敢非井田挾五銖錢者為惑眾，投諸四裔以御魑魅。」 於是農商失業，食貨俱廢，民涕泣於市道。 坐賣買田宅奴婢鑄錢抵罪者，自公卿大夫至庶人，不可稱數。 莽知民愁，乃但行小錢直一，與大錢五十，二品並行，龜貝布屬且寢。
The common people were bewildered, and this currency failed to circulate. People traded privately using wuzhu coins. Wang Mang worried over this and issued an edict: 'Anyone who dares to criticize the well-field system or keep wuzhu coins is misleading the masses; cast them to the four frontiers to ward off demons and spirits.' As a result, farmers and merchants lost their livelihoods, food and goods systems both collapsed, and people wept in the marketplace roads. Those convicted for buying and selling fields, houses, slaves, or minting coin ranged from dukes and ministers down to commoners, too many to count. Mang knew the people were distressed, so he allowed only Small Coin One and Large Coin Fifty to circulate as two types, while turtle, cowry, and spade currencies were suspended.
61
莽性躁擾，不能無為，每有所興造，必欲依古得經文。 國師公劉歆言周有泉府之官，收不讎，與欲得，即易所謂「理財正辭，禁民為非」者也。 莽乃下詔曰：「夫周禮有賒貸，樂語有五均，傳記各有斡焉。 今開賒貸，張五均，設諸斡者，所以齊眾庶，抑并兼也。」 遂於長安及五都立五均官，更名長安東西市令及洛陽、邯鄲、臨甾、宛、成都市長皆為五均司市稱師。 東市稱京，西市稱畿，洛陽稱中，餘四都各用東西南北為稱，皆置交易丞五人，錢府丞一人。 工商能采金銀銅連錫登龜取貝者，皆自占司市錢府，順時氣而取之。
Mang was by nature agitated and restless, unable to let things be; whenever he launched something new, he always wanted classical textual proof. State Preceptor Liu Xin said that Zhou had an Office of Springs that took in unsold goods and supplied them to those who wanted them; this was what the Changes called 'ordering finances and rectifying terms, forbidding the people to do wrong.' Mang then issued an edict: 'The Rites of Zhou contains lending, the music traditions contain the Five Equalizations, and the transmitted records each contain balancing mechanisms. Now we open lending, expand the Five Equalizations, and establish balancing offices in order to even out the common people and restrain annexation by the powerful.' He accordingly established Five Equalization offices in Chang'an and the five capitals, renaming the market chiefs of East and West Chang'an and of Luoyang, Handan, Linzi, Wan, and Chengdu as 'Market Masters' under the Five Equalizations. Chang'an's East Market was called Jing, its West Market Ji, and Luoyang Zhong; the other four capitals each used East, West, South, and North as designations. Each had five Exchange Assistants and one Money Treasury Assistant. Artisans and merchants able to mine gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin, or to gather turtle shells and cowries, all had to register themselves with the market and money offices and obtain these goods in accord with seasonal qi.
62
又以周官稅民：凡田不耕為不殖，出三夫之稅； 城郭中宅不樹藝者為不毛，出三夫之布； 民浮游無事，出夫布一匹。 其不能出布者，缈作，縣官衣食之。 諸取眾物鳥獸魚鱉百蟲於山林水澤及畜牧者，嬪婦桑蠶織紝紡績補縫，工匠醫巫卜祝及它方技商販賈人坐肆列里區謁舍，皆各自占所為於其在所之縣官，除其本，計其利，十一分之，而以其一為貢。 敢不自占，自占不以實者，盡沒入所采取，而作縣官一歲。
He also taxed people per Zhou offices: any field left uncultivated counted as nonproductive and paid tax equal to three adult males. In walled cities, house lots without trees or crops counted as barren and paid cloth tax equal to three adult males. Idle drifters with no occupation paid one bolt of cloth per adult male. Those unable to provide cloth performed labor service, with government providing food and clothing. All who took resources from mountains, forests, waters, and marshes, or from livestock raising; women engaged in mulberry, silkworms, weaving, spinning, and mending; craftsmen, physicians, shamans, diviners, ritual specialists, other technicians, merchants, traders, shopkeepers, and inn operators all had to register their occupations with the county office where they were located. After deducting principal and calculating profit, one part in ten was paid as contribution. Those who failed to self-register or registered dishonestly had all collected goods confiscated and had to labor for county offices for one year.
63
諸司市常以四時中月實定所掌，為物上中下之賈，各自用為其市平，毋拘它所。 眾民賣買五穀布帛絲綿之物，周於民用而不讎者，均官有以考檢厥實，用其本賈取之，毋令折錢。 萬物卬貴，過平一錢，則以平賈賣與民。 其賈氐賤減平者，聽民自相與市，以防貴庾者。 民欲祭祀喪紀而無用者，錢府以所入工商之貢但賒之，祭祀無過旬日，喪紀毋過三月。 民或乏絕，欲貸以治產業者，均授之，除其費，計所得受息，毋過歲什一。
Market offices, in the middle month of each season, regularly verified the goods under their administration and set upper, middle, and lower prices for them, each using its own local market standard without being bound to other places. When people sold and bought grain, cloth, silk, floss, and similar necessities, and goods useful to the people did not sell, equalization officials examined the facts and purchased them at base price, without forcing discounted cash conversion. When prices rose above the standard by one cash, the office sold to the people at the standard price. When prices fell below the standard, people were allowed to trade freely among themselves, to guard against hoarders waiting for high prices. If people needed funds for sacrifices or funerals and had no means, the money office lent from the industrial and commercial contributions it had received; sacrifices could not exceed ten days, and funerals could not exceed three months. If people were in hardship and sought loans to manage their livelihoods, the equalization offices issued them; after costs were deducted, the interest charged could not exceed one-tenth per year.
64
羲和魯匡言：「名山大澤，鹽鐵錢布帛，五均賒貸，斡在縣官，唯酒酤獨未斡。 酒者，天之美祿，帝王所以頤養天下，享祀祈福，扶衰養疾。 百禮之會，非酒不行。 故《詩》曰『無酒酤我』，而論語曰『酤酒不食』，二者非相反也。 夫詩據承平之世，酒酤在官，和旨便人，可以相御也。 論語孔子當周衰亂，酒酤在民，薄惡不誠，是以疑而弗食。 今絕天下之酒，則無以行禮相養； 放而亡限，則費財傷民。 請法古，令官作酒，以二千五百石為一均，率開一盧以賣，讎五十釀為準。 一釀用麤米二斛，麴一斛，得成酒六斛六斗。 各以其市月朔米麴三斛，并計其賈而參分之，以其一為酒一斛之平。 除米麴本賈，計其利而什分之，以其七入官，其三及纸酨灰炭給工器薪樵之費。」
Xihe official Lu Kuang said: 'Famous mountains and great marshes, salt, iron, coin, cloth and silk, the Five Equalizations, and lending are all under state control; only liquor sales remain uncontrolled. Wine is Heaven's fine bounty, used by emperors and kings to nourish all under Heaven, make offerings, pray for blessings, support the weak, and treat illness. At every gathering of rites, nothing proceeds without wine. Thus the Odes says, "Do not retail me wine," while the Analects says, "Bought wine he did not drink" - these are not contradictory. The Ode speaks from an age of order, when wine sales were in government hands and the quality was harmonious and suitable, so it could be consumed with confidence. In the Analects, Confucius lived when Zhou was declining and chaotic, with wine retail in private hands; its quality was thin, poor, and unreliable, so he suspected it and would not drink. If wine is completely prohibited across the realm now, there will be no means to conduct rites and mutual care; if it is released without limit, wealth will be wasted and the people harmed. Please follow antiquity and have officials brew wine, taking 2,500 shi as one unit and opening one shop for sale, using fifty brewings as the standard basis. One brewing uses two hu of coarse rice and one hu of yeast, producing six hu six dou of finished wine. Using each market's first-day monthly price for three hu of rice and yeast combined, divide it into three parts and take one part as the standard price for one hu of wine. After deducting the base cost of rice and yeast, calculate the profit and divide it into ten parts: seven go to the state, while three cover paper, ferment, ash, charcoal, labor, equipment, and fuel costs.'
65
羲和置命士督五均六斡，郡有數人，皆用富賈。 洛陽薛子仲、張長叔、臨菑姓偉等，乘傳求利，交錯天下。 因與郡縣通姦，多張空簿，府臧不實，百姓俞病。 莽知民苦之，復下詔曰：「夫鹽，食肴之將； 酒，百藥之長，嘉會之好； 鐵，曰農之本； 名山大澤，饒衍之臧； 五均賒貸，百姓所取平，卬以給澹； 鐵布銅冶，通行有無，備民用也。 此六者，非編戶齊民所能家作，必卬於市，雖貴數倍，不得不買。 豪民富賈，即要貧弱，先聖知其然也，故斡之。 每一斡為設科條防禁，犯者罪至死。」 姦吏猾民並侵，眾庶各不安生。
Xihe then appointed command aides to supervise the Five Equalizations and Six Controls, with several in each commandery, all chosen from wealthy merchants. Men such as Xue Zizhong and Zhang Changshu of Luoyang and Xing Wei of Linzi rode relay routes seeking profit and crisscrossed the empire. They colluded corruptly with commandery and county offices, widely padded empty ledgers, and made treasuries' holdings false, while the common people suffered ever more. Mang knew the people suffered and again issued an edict: 'Salt is the commander of flavors in food; wine is the chief of medicines and the joy of noble gatherings; iron is the foundation of farming; famous mountains and great marshes are storehouses of abundance; the Five Equalizations and lending are what the people use to obtain fair prices, and when prices rise they supply deficiencies; iron, cloth, and copper smelting circulate surpluses and shortages and prepare what the people need. These six are not things registered commoner households can produce at home; they must depend on the market, and even at several times the price they cannot avoid buying them. Powerful clans and rich merchants then coerce the poor and weak; the former sages knew this, and so they controlled them. For each controlled sector, rules and prohibitions are set; penalties for violators extend to death.' Corrupt officials and crafty commoners encroached together, and all the populace lived without security.
66
後五歲，天鳳元年，復申下金銀龜貝之貨，頗增減其賈直。 而罷大小錢，改作貨布，長二寸五分，廣一寸，首長八分有奇，廣八分，其圜好徑二分半，足枝長八分，間廣二分，其文右曰「
Five years later, in the first Tianfeng year, he again promulgated gold, silver, turtle, and cowry currencies, somewhat increasing or decreasing their set values. He abolished the large and small coins and instead made the Huo Bu: two cun and five fen long and one cun wide, with a head a little over eight fen long and eight fen wide; its round hole was two and a half fen in diameter, and the foot branches were eight fen long with two fen between them. On the right, the inscription read "Huo
67
貨」，左曰「布」，重二十五銖，直貨泉二十五。 貨泉徑一寸，重五銖，文右曰「貨」，左曰「泉」，枚直一，與貨布二品並行。 又以大錢行久，罷之，恐民挾不止，乃令民且獨行大錢，與新貨泉俱枚直一，並行盡六年，毋得復挾大錢矣。 每壹易錢，民用破業，而大陷刑。 莽以私鑄錢死，及非沮寶貨投四裔，犯法者多，不可勝行，乃更輕其法：私鑄作泉布者，與妻子沒入為官奴婢； 吏及比伍，知而不舉告，與同罪； 非沮寶貨，民罰作一歲，吏免官。 犯者俞眾，及五人相坐皆沒入，郡國檻車鐵鎖，傳送長安鍾官，愁苦死者什六七。
," and on the left, "Bu." It weighed twenty-five zhu and was worth twenty-five Huo Quan. Huo Quan had a diameter of one cun and weighed five zhu, with 'Huo' on the right and 'Quan' on the left. Each coin was worth one, and it circulated alongside Huo Bu as a second denomination. Because the large coin had been in circulation for a long time, he feared that once it was abolished people would continue to hold it. So for the time being he ordered people to circulate only the large coin together with the new Huo Quan, both counted at one each; after six full years of parallel circulation, holding large coins would no longer be allowed. Each time the currency was changed, people lost their livelihoods, and many fell deeply into criminal punishment. Mang had previously imposed death for private coin casting and exile to the four frontiers for criticizing or obstructing the precious currencies. Because offenders became too numerous to punish fully, he reduced the law: private minting of Huo Quan or Huo Bu brought confiscation of the offender, wife, and children as government slaves. Officials and neighborhood-group members who knew but failed to report were punished as accomplices. For opposing or obstructing precious currencies, commoners were penalized with one year of labor, and officials were dismissed. Offenders grew ever more numerous. Once five people were mutually implicated, all were confiscated. The commanderies and kingdoms sent them in prison carts and iron chains to Chang'an's Bell Office, where six or seven in ten died from misery and hardship.
68
作貨布六年後，匈奴侵寇甚，莽大募天下囚徒人奴，名曰豬突豨勇，壹切稅吏民，訾三十而取一。 又令公卿以下至郡縣黃綬吏，皆保養軍馬，吏盡復以與民。 民搖手觸禁，不得耕桑，繇役煩劇，而枯旱蝗蟲相因。 又用制作未定，上自公侯，下至小吏，皆不得奉祿，而私賦斂，貨賂上流，獄訟不決。 吏用苛暴立威，旁緣莽禁，侵刻小民。 富者不得自保，貧者無以自存，起為盜賊，依阻山澤，吏不能禽而覆蔽之，浸淫日廣，於是青、徐、荊楚之地往往萬數。 戰鬥死亡，緣邊四夷所係虜，陷罪，飢疫，人相食，及莽未誅，而天下戶口減半矣。
After the Huo Bu had been in use for six years, Xiongnu raids grew severe. Mang massively recruited prisoners and privately held slaves from across the realm, calling them 'Boar-Rushing Braves,' and imposed a blanket levy on officials and people alike, taking one part in thirty of assessed property. He further ordered all officials from ministers down to county yellow-ribbon clerks to keep and rear military horses, and the officials in turn shifted the entire burden to the people. At the slightest movement people ran afoul of prohibitions; they could not farm or raise silkworms, corvee and service were oppressive, and droughts and locusts came one after another. Because the institutions and regulations were still unsettled, everyone from nobles and marquises down to petty clerks went unpaid, so they imposed private exactions; bribes flowed upward, and lawsuits went unresolved. Officials used harsh violence to establish authority and, taking advantage of Mang's prohibitions, squeezed and carved up the common people. The rich could not protect themselves, and the poor had no way to survive; they rose as bandits and took refuge in mountains and marshes. Officials could not capture them and even covered for them, and the spread widened day by day, with forces often numbering in the tens of thousands in Qing, Xu, and Jing-Chu. With battle deaths, captures by the Four Barbarians along the borders, criminal convictions, famine, epidemic, and cannibalism, even before Mang had been executed the empire's households and population had already been reduced by half.
69
自發豬突豨勇後四年，而漢兵誅莽。 後二年，世祖受命，盪滌煩苛，復五銖錢，與天下更始。
Four years after the Boar-Rushing Braves were first raised, Han forces executed Mang. Two years later, Emperor Guangwu received Heaven's mandate, swept away burdensome harshness, restored the five-zhu coin, and gave the realm a fresh beginning.
70
贊曰：《易》稱「裒多益寡，稱物平施」，《書》云「楙遷有無」，周有泉府之官，而孟子亦非「狗彘食人之食不知斂，野有餓驿而弗知發」。 故管氏之輕重，李悝之平糴，弘羊均輸，壽昌常平，亦有從徠。 顧古為之有數，吏良而令行，故民賴其利，萬國作乂。 及孝武時，國用饒給，而民不益賦，其次也。 至于王莽，制度失中，姦軌弄權，官民俱竭，亡次矣。
The appraisal says: The Changes says, "Reduce excess and increase deficiency; weigh things and distribute fairly." The Documents says, "Diligently transfer what is lacking and what is abundant." Zhou had the Office of the Treasury, and Mencius likewise condemned a ruler who let dogs and swine eat people's food without collecting stores, and let starving corpses lie in the wild without opening the granaries. Therefore Guanzi's light-and-heavy policy, Li Kui's balanced grain purchases, Hongyang's balanced transport, and Shouchang's ever-normal granaries all had precedent. In antiquity such measures had proper limits, with good officials and enforceable orders; therefore the people benefited from them and the myriad states were well governed. By Emperor Wu's time, state expenditures were amply supplied while the people did not bear additional taxes - that was second-best. By Wang Mang's time, institutions had lost the middle way, treacherous men manipulated power, and officials and people were both exhausted. That was the worst case.