The Divine Edict descended like thunder!
The Imperial Edict left the Imperial Palace, then spread like the wind throughout Chang'an City. The court officials in Chang'an already knew the news, but its true targets were the various states of Shandong, where most private coin minting took place.
Liu Heng pushed his policies forward far too quickly. Before the kings and powerful gentry of Shandong could react, Chang'an and even the whole of Guanzhong had already reached agreement on this matter and dispatched the Imperial Edict to the kingdoms, commanderies, and counties.
But everyone knew that issuing an Imperial Edict to proclaim a law was only the first step. If it could not truly be implemented, the Court would ultimately have to let the matter drop in disgrace.
Thus, a new Censorate was established under the Grand Director of Commerce, one of the Nine Ministers, specifically to crack down on scoundrels who minted counterfeit coins or violated the Court's rules and regulations. This was an administrative body that would inevitably have to be established once the decision was made to return coin minting to the Court.
The Lords King, powerful gentry, and scholars of the various states of Shandong all reacted differently to the edict issued by the Court.
Some scholars declared outright, "For decades, all under heaven has flourished, and the coins have had an extremely high copper content. Why abolish such a good policy? We refuse to accept this. There must be treacherous ministers at court who have bewitched His Majesty."
"Does His Majesty know what the people of the realm are saying?"
Others proclaimed passionately, "If His Majesty knows of this yet insists on going his own way, is that not the behavior of a tyrant?"
Then, through some channel, the debate held that day in Changle Palace