Golden Empire—Why was there so much gold in the Western Han Dynasty?

In Chinese history, there is no other dynasty as glorious as the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, rewards were given based on the pound of gold, gold was used for transactions, and even fines were paid in gold. Why was gold so abundant in the Western Han Dynasty?

The winter of 205 BC was very cold, and heavy snow had been falling continuously for almost a month. Like the icy air, the armies of Chu and Han were in a stalemate in Xingyang, Henan.

The overlord of Chu, Xiang Yu, was already restless. He wanted to win the war as soon as possible, so he tried every means to cut off the corridor for the Han army to transport grain. The Han army, which was constantly attacked by the Chu army on the grain road, was really unable to hold on. Liu Bang didn't want to wait endlessly in this terrible weather, so he had to take action!

One late night in December, a group of chariots and horses quietly drove out from the Han army camp and headed straight for the Chu army. The leader was named Chen Ping. His expression was serious and complicated, because the motorcade behind him contained 40,000 kilograms of gold. He was ordered by Liu Bang to use the gold to alienate the generals of the Chu army, especially the relationship between Xiang Yu, Zhong Limei and Fan Zeng.

A few days after Chen Ping’s gold was delivered, rumors spread. The soldiers said: Zhong Limei, who has worked hard and made great achievements, is beginning to be dissatisfied that King Xiang will not give him land to become king. He will fight with the Han army. Let's unite to destroy the Xiang family, and then we can divide the land of Chu and make each of them king. ?Rumors reached Xiang Yu's ears, and he became suspicious of Zhong Limei and gradually alienated him.

The effectiveness of these 40,000 kilograms of gold is far from over. In April of the next year, Chen Ping used the gold to buy cattle, sheep, and pigs, prepared a sumptuous banquet, and leisurely waited in the camp for the envoy sent by Xiang Yu. As soon as the envoy arrived, he ordered someone to bring a sumptuous banquet to the envoy's residence. As soon as he entered the door, he pretended to be surprised and said: "I thought it was Yafu Fan Zeng's envoy!" ?Immediately, people serve poor meals. After the envoy returned, he described the situation he encountered to King Xiang. King Xiang was also suspicious of Fan Zeng from then on. When Fan Zeng found out, he asked to retire and return to his hometown, but he died of illness on the way back.

King Xiang, who lost his right-hand man, committed suicide two years later by the Wu River. These 40,000 kilograms of gold, to some extent, created the Western Han Dynasty. This is also like a sign, indicating that the Western Han Dynasty will be a "rich" dynasty.

The “lot of gold” in the Western Han Dynasty is the conclusion of historians of all ages. Not to mention the above-mentioned 40,000 kilograms of gold at the founding of the People's Republic of China, which is enough to astonish people. Just look at the gold inventory of the Western Han Dynasty. Its huge amount can be said to be the largest in all dynasties.

According to the "History of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties": In the early Western Han Dynasty, the total amount of gold used was more than one million kilograms. ?According to the "An Examination of Weights and Measures in Chinese Dynasties", one kilogram in the Western Han Dynasty is equivalent to 248 grams today. A million kilograms in the Western Han Dynasty is equivalent to 248 tons today. In 2003, China's gold reserves were 600 tons, which means that the gold reserves in the Western Han Dynasty had reached 41.3% of my country's gold reserves in 2003.

In addition, if you open the "Book of Han", you will find that there are countless examples of emperors of the Western Han Dynasty rewarding gold, and the amounts were often thousands of catties. For example: Liu Bang's eldest son Liu Ying, after he came to the throne, generously rewarded those who handled the funeral of his father Liu Bang with gold, especially those who personally participated in digging graves. Generals at the level were given 40 kilograms of gold, and officials with an annual salary of 2,000 shi were given 20 kilograms. For gold, those with an annual salary of 600 shi will be given 6 jin, and those with an annual salary of less than 600 shi will be given 2 jin.

After Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty Liu Heng came to the throne, because the ministers had contributed to killing Empress Lu's relatives, he also gave Zhou Bo 5,000 jins of gold, Chen Ping and Guan Ying each 2,000 jins of gold, and Liu Zhang and Liu Jie each received a thousand golds. .

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, spent more than 200,000 kilograms of gold to reward General Wei Qing, who defeated the Hu army in consecutive years, in the fifth year of Yuanshuo (124 BC)?