The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

Two hundred billion?

Liu Bang felt that his hands were not enough.

He couldn't figure out for a moment how much silver this was roughly equivalent to.

"Three or four hundred million taels of silver!"

"You bastard, you really did wipe out all the money the Qing Dynasty had paid out!"

Despite the fact that the Qing Dynasty paid out billions of taels of silver, Emperor Wu of Han only paid out three or four hundred million taels.

However, the two sides lived in different eras by thousands of years!

Over these thousands of years, the population and the productivity of the people have increased immeasurably.

If we eliminate this gap, the money the Qing Dynasty paid out might not actually be as much as the money Emperor Wu of Han paid out!

Liu Heng was so angry that his hands were trembling uncontrollably.

He lived a frugal life, truly embodying the spirit of loving the people like his own children!

Who would have thought that his frugal habits wouldn't even be passed down for three generations?

When the list of wise rulers was compiled earlier, the words on the sky had already indicated that Liu Che had spent a huge amount of money.

But before this figure was actually released, who could have imagined that this spendthrift would be able to spend so much money!

It should be noted that the entire annual tax revenue of the Han Dynasty was only five billion coins.

Two hundred billion is equivalent to using up all of the Han Dynasty's tax revenue for forty years to wage war, leaving nothing for other areas!

Liu Heng dared not even think about what would happen if a natural disaster struck the people during this period, causing the harvest to fail and how the people would survive!

"That's not right, where would the national treasury get so much money?"

"If we only rely on annual taxes, there wouldn't be enough money to pay you, would there?"

Liu Heng may still have some expectations for the national treasury, but Liu Qi knew very well how much money he could retain.

Compared to those two hundred billion coins, the money in the Han Dynasty's treasury is now just a drop in the bucket.

In Liu Qi's view, the biggest problem now is not that Liu Che spent so much money, but where did he get the money from?

"You bastard, what have you done?"

Liu Heng immediately realized what was happening.

Why did the Qing Dynasty have so much money to pay indemnities?

That's because they didn't treat the people as human beings at all; the people all over the world were actually slaves of the Manchu Eight Banners!

The vast majority of ordinary people did not own private land or property, and their life's efforts were all dedicated to contributing to the Qing Dynasty and the Eight Banners.

That's why they were able to come up with so much money when it came to paying reparations after their defeat in the war.

But why did Liu Che have so much money?

Proportionally speaking, the three or four hundred million taels of silver during the Han Dynasty were no less than the billions during the Qing Dynasty!

Where did this money come from?

"You wouldn't exploit the people like the Qing Dynasty, would you?"

Liu Qi's gaze gradually became more doubtful.

Although he didn't consider himself a good person, if Liu Che really did such a thing, he would definitely be on the list of wise rulers among the immortals. He would have to carefully consider whether or not to let him succeed to the throne!

"No, you can rest assured. I have no interest in exploiting the common people."

Liu Che pursed his lips.

Exploiting the poor? How much money can you make by working yourself to death?

"You disdain exploiting the common people? Then what about you...?"

"Of course, we'll make money off whoever has the most money!"

"But you can all rest assured that I never forcibly took anything from them; they all gave the money willingly."

"Whatever official position without real power, or symbolic title, whatever they want, they just buy it with their own money."

"As you know, those rich people don't care about money; they care more about the reputation of their family line."

"They care about their reputation, I want money, you see, isn't this a perfect match!"

Liu Che explained.

Exploiting the people?

That's only a few dollars!

Even if he were really rich, he wouldn't stoop to doing it!

Everyone: "..."

Liu Bang: “…”

"To be honest, the Liu family has really produced quite a few talented people."

"The practice of selling official positions at the end of the Han Dynasty was started by you. How can you say such a thing without feeling the slightest bit ashamed?"

"And if you really rely entirely on selling official positions, you'd probably have to sell off every single official position in the court that's still breathing to raise that much money, right?"

"Besides, even if you dare to sell it like that, where would you find so many people to buy it?"

Liu Bang was somewhat puzzled.

He always felt that the numbers didn't add up.

“Grand Ancestor, I didn’t spend these two hundred billion in a year. If we follow the immortal’s words, I should have fought for forty-four years to spend these two hundred billion.”

At this point, Liu Che couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

When the five armies attacked the Xiongnu, that one battle alone cost over 10 billion.

Forty-four years, and only two hundred billion—can we really stop here?

But instead of expressing his confusion, he explained.

"So on average, only five billion is needed each year to fill this gap."

"Whether it's selling official positions, confiscating all the salt and iron from the imperial court, or using other means, it's incredibly easy to fill a gap of 5 billion taels a year."

"Moreover, if that's still not enough, we can collect taxes that haven't been levied before, such as those from merchants..."

When it comes to accumulating wealth, he truly has countless ways better than exploiting the people!

At the beginning, he did consider raising money by increasing taxes on the people.

But then I thought about it, and the money left over after working ourselves to the bone and exploiting the people all year round might not even be as much as buying a few more official positions!

There are so many ways to make money in this world, so why fixate on the poor?

Why not just make money off the rich?

"Although I don't want to admit it, it seems to be true. Just like in my Great Tang Dynasty, most of the wealth of the common people circulates in the hands of the top aristocratic families or local gentry. The common people really don't have much money, just enough to maintain their own food and clothing."

“Exploiting the people is indeed a time-consuming and unprofitable option that is also prone to causing major problems.”

Li Er nodded in agreement.

This further confirms that after the Manchus entered and ruled the Central Plains, they did not feel any sense of accomplishment, but rather a deep sense of inferiority.

Therefore, even though ordinary people in the Central Plains didn't have much wealth, the Manchu Eight Banners still sought to maintain their pitiful sense of self-esteem by suppressing them.

"Wait, is their reason for preferring to pay reparations rather than arm themselves still the same?!"

Upon hearing Li Er's words, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly realized what was going on.

self-abasement!

That's right, it's low self-esteem!

Even after ruling the Central Plains for more than two hundred years, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu slave owners were still afraid that the people of the Central Plains would seize their throne!

This explains why they would rather pay compensation than resist!

They might perceive the people under their own rule as a greater threat than enemy nations!