quote:

初，秦用半兩錢，高祖嫌其重，難用，更鑄莢錢。於是物價騰踊，米至石萬錢。夏，四月，更造四銖錢；除盜鑄錢令，使民得自鑄。

Originally, the realm had been using the half-tael currency created by the Qin dynasty. Emperor Gao had disliked this currency because of its weight and had felt it was hard to use, so during his reign he had cast the lighter “elm seed” currency to use instead. However, the price of goods had risen so rapidly that a bushel of rice had eventually cost as much as ten thousand cash.

In the fifth year of Emperor Wen's reign (175 BC), in summer, the fourth month, Emperor Wen produced a standard for the casting of a new four-zhu currency to use. He even abolished the prohibition against counterfeiting, permitting the common people to cast the coins themselves.

賈誼諫曰︰「法使天下公得雇租鑄銅、錫爲錢，敢雜以鉛、鐵爲他巧者，其罪黥。然鑄錢之情，非殽雜爲巧，則不可得贏；而殽之甚微，爲利甚厚。夫事有召禍而法有起姦；今令細民人操造幣之勢，各隱屛而鑄作，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，及吏之所疑搒笞奔走者甚衆。夫縣法以誘民使入陷阱，孰多於此！又民用錢，郡縣不同︰或用輕錢，百加若干；或用重錢，平稱不受。法錢不立︰吏急而壹之乎？則大爲煩苛而力不能勝；縱而弗呵乎？則市肆異用，錢文大亂；苟非其術，何鄕而可哉！今農事棄捐而采銅者日蕃，釋其耒耨，冶鎔炊炭；姦錢日多，五穀不爲多。善人怵而爲姦邪，愿民陷而之刑戮；刑戮將甚不詳，柰何而忽！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。銅布於天下，其爲禍博矣，故不如收之。」賈山亦上書諫，以爲︰「錢者，亡用器也，而可以易富貴。富貴者，人主之操柄也；令民爲之，是與人主共操柄，不可長也。」上不聽。

Jia Yi criticized this new policy. He said, “The state already had a program of hiring out workers to cast coins from copper and tin, warning them that anyone who dared to cheat the government by mixing in lead or iron would be punished by having their face tattooed to mark them as a criminal, yet because the nature of casting coins means that not diluting the coins with other materials results in no profit while debasing them by even the slightest amount brings great returns, even doing this much meant that the law was already enticing the people to do wrong and producing terrible outcomes. Yet now you are letting just anyone among the people create currency as they like, each of them casting away while shielded from sight? Trying to prevent the people from engaging in villainy under such circumstances, when the chance of profit to be had is so generous and the likelihood of detection is so slim, will be impossible though we tattoo someone's face every single day. And even if we did attempt to do so, it would mean that upwards of hundreds of people per county would be convicted by the law and an even greater number would run away for fear of being suspected by the officials and subjected to the rod and the whip. As a matter of tricking people to stumble into the pit, what government policy could possibly be worse than this?

"Beyond that, if the people are allowed to cast currency themselves, there will be no common coinage used across all the counties and commanderies of the realm; some places will have coins so light that more than a hundred extra of them will be required to meet the weight standards, while others will have coins so heavy that it will be impractical to make change for them. Under such circumstances, it will be impossible to maintain a monetary policy. Are the officials to strive to enforce a uniform standard? That will only result in a great deal of trouble and effort without being able to fix the problem. Should they then say nothing and let things be? Then markets will be entirely arbitrary in what they accept and the nominal value of the currency will be thrown into total confusion. Why then, if we have no method to control this situation, should we permit it to come about?

“Already, every day more and more people are neglecting or abandoning their farm work while hunting for copper, tossing aside their plows and hoes and tending to their smelting fires instead; perverse currency swells by the day, while the supply of the Five Grains dwindles just as rapidly. Good people will be tempted to evil, and honest folk will run foul of the law and be subjected to punishments and executions; when so many of these verdicts will be summary judgments, how can we fail to consider the prospect?

“When the state recognizes this evil, there will surely be those officials whose solution is simply to say, ‘ban the private casting of currency’. But to simply ban the practice would be insufficient to address the problem, and great harm would still ensue. If private casting is banned, then the coins which are produced will be heavy, and as the heaviness of the coins will increase the prospect of gain, counterfeiters will still rise like clouds in such numbers that threatening them with public execution would still not be able to put a halt to them. What really facilitates the implacable villainy of the people and the repeated powerlessness of the laws is the availability of copper, and as copper is widespread across the realm, the disaster resulting from it is just as broad. Thus the best thing to do would be public confiscation of all copper.”

Jia Shan also submitted a letter of remonstration, stating, "Currency is useless in itself, yet it can be exchanged for wealth and status; as these are the ruler's handles of power, letting the people do this would let them grasp the same handles as the ruler. It would not be sustainable."

But Emperor Wen did not listen to their objections.

是時，太中大夫鄧通方寵幸，上欲其富，賜之蜀嚴道銅山，使鑄錢。吳王濞有豫章銅山，招致天下亡命者以鑄錢；東煑海水爲鹽；以故無賦而國用饒足。於是吳、鄧錢布天下。

By this time, there was a certain Grand Household Counselor who enjoyed Emperor Wen's favor and attention, Deng Tong. Emperor Wen wanted to enrich Deng Tong, thus he granted him a copper mine at Yandao in Shu commandery so that he could cast currency.

The Prince of Wu, Liu Bi, also possessed a copper mine at Yuzhang commandery. He attracted fugitives from across the realm to come to his domain in order to cast currency, and in the east he boiled seawater to produce salt. Thus he was able to dispense with imposing taxes on his people, and his domain enjoyed wealth and plenty.

Because of these things, the currency minted by Deng Tong and by Liu Bi spread across the realm.