Chapter 344: Students Suspend Classes, Merchants Shut Their Shops

Fan Sanba made a circular bow to everyone, smiling. "Sanba greets all you shopkeepers."

The merchants below all returned the courtesy; many could not suppress their inner surprise and began whispering among themselves.

They had long heard of the Fan family of Jiexiu, Shanxi — they had been trading along the frontier since the early Ming. By the time the business passed to his father Fan Yongdou, they were already renowned great merchants in the Zhangjiakou area. They were also among the earliest to trade with the Manchus; historical records say they "circulated goods and wealth with Liaodong and were long known for their good faith." They were also one of the Eight Great Imperial Merchants enfeoffed by the Shunzhi Emperor in the early Qing.

Rumor had it the Fan family possessed millions in assets, dealing in grain, cotton, salt, cloth, coal, tea, and medicinal herbs — with grain and cotton as their particular focus. The clan teemed with talent, and they had shops everywhere: Jincheng, Changzhi, Qixian, Taiyuan, Datong, Zhangjiakou, and beyond.

Their clan was versed in mathematics, abacus calculation, and accounting skills, and they also had a great many linguistic geniuses. Many in the clan were fluent in the various dialects of the Great Ming and the Manchu and Mongol tongues beyond the frontier. Later, after they began trading with Russia, large numbers of them even mastered Russian. Eventually, when their trade expanded to Europe, many in the clan also became proficient in various Western languages.

Such abilities were, in fact, commonly possessed by Shanxi merchants everywhere at the time.

As Fan Yongdou grew old, the family business was mostly managed by his son Fan Sanba. Fan Yongdou's grandson, Fan Yu, though still young, was already displaying an extraordinary mind for commerce.

The name of the Eight Great Merchants of Shanyou was like thunder in the ears of all the eastern-route merchants — the quintessential late-Ming fusion of official and merchant, where the official was the merchant and the merchant's clansmen were the officials. Among the assembled merchants were gentry families, official families, and many military families, yet everyone treated Fan Sanba's arrival with the utmost deference.

It was not just that the Eight Great Merchants had deep backing, with countless official and military connections throughout Shanyou and Xuan-Da — they even had people in the Grand Secretariat. For the Great Ming of this era, so long as you had wealth, what difficulty was there in purchasing an official rank? Take Wang Pu, the Regional Commander of Datong Garrison — his official post was bought. The Wang family, foremost among the Eight Great Merchants, also had close ties with him.

Fan Sanba greeted everyone amiably; his pride was in his bones, and he put on no airs before anyone.

After the introductions, Zhang Wanshan gave another hearty laugh and sat down with everyone, while Fan Sanba took the seat of honor among the guests.

Once all were seated, Zhang Wanshan's sharp eyes slowly swept across the gathering. He said, "At today's high assembly, I trust all of you understand the purpose. The General Who Secures the State intends to levy commercial taxes. This old man has summoned you all precisely to discuss our countermeasures…"

He smiled as he glanced at Fan Sanba. "Most honorably, this old man has secured the esteemed presence of Head Shopkeeper Fan, which greatly bolsters our momentum."

Hearing Zhang Wanshan mention his name, Fan Sanba rose again and inclined himself to those beside him. In truth, the Fan family did not have very many shops on the eastern route, but after Zhang Wanshan extended his invitation, Fan Yongdou summoned his son for a discussion, and Fan Sanba personally hastened to Yanqing Subprefecture. With the Fan family joining in, the assembled merchants were all "greatly heartened."

"This concerns everyone's business operations. Let all you shopkeepers speak your minds on how we should respond."

Having spoken, Zhang Wanshan sat steadily in his seat drinking tea, his eyes half-closed yet half-open, merely scrutinizing everyone's expressions.

The merchants below whispered among themselves for a while. Not a single one of them was willing for Wang Dou to levy commercial taxes. Though they earned gold by the bushel each day, none of them could bear to part with even a single tael of silver from their own purses.

In truth, their anxiety about Wang Dou was not limited to the commercial tax alone. The crux was Wang Dou's decision to strictly inspect the frontier passes and prohibit private trade. For them, this was even more serious than the commercial tax — it was simply that this point was awkward to openly oppose.

After all, ever since the Anda tribe submitted to the Later Jin in the seventh year of Chongzhen, the Great Ming court had ordered the border markets closed and strictly forbidden frontier trade. Though the prohibition was a mere paper dead letter and smuggling remained rampant in every garrison, Wang Dou was flying this very banner, and on the surface no one could easily oppose it.

But this commercial tax was different. Whether the gentry class or the merchant class, both could fiercely resist it under the banner of "fleecing the people." If they could force Wang Dou to back down, perhaps not only would he not dare levy the tax, but even the strict frontier enforcement would fizzle out.

After the merchants below exchanged glances, a rather refined-looking merchant stood up — it was Wu Yue, a clansman of Wu Zhi, the Department Magistrate of Yanqing. Ever since Magistrate Wu assumed his post in Yanqing, his chickens and dogs had ascended to heaven; his clan's sons had flocked in, buying up land, opening shops and storefronts, unwilling to be left behind in any of the many money-making "trends."

Wu Yue wagged his head and declaimed, "The General Who Secures the State's action is fleecing the people. Has he not heard of the calamity of the commercial taxes in the Wanli reign? The tax commissioners were more urgent than shooting stars; the search-and-seizure orders were as dense as ox hairs. Ruffians and outlaws attached themselves like wings to tigers and wolves. The eastern route is impoverished to begin with; it is no easy matter for you shopkeepers to do a bit of business. If the General Who Secures the State begins levying commercial taxes, I fear he will covet Long after seizing Shu — today he levies ten cash, tomorrow a hundred cash, the day after a hundred taels. By then, the ruin of your families will be upon you that very day. This move must absolutely not be allowed."

The merchants below all voiced their agreement. Seeing he had everyone's approval, Wu Yue paused with a show of modesty, gestured to the crowd, and then a flash of cold malice passed through his eyes. "The General Who Secures the State is, after all, young and impetuous, acting without due consideration, and has undertaken this move that makes the people seethe with resentment. I hear that the scholars of the eastern route are all filled with righteous indignation over the impending commercial tax. They will jointly submit a petition to the Military Intendant and contact the Confucian schools throughout the eastern route. They will collectively suspend classes to denounce this, to demonstrate their will to chastise!"

Like a thunderclap, the assembled merchants buzzed with excitement. That the scholars were taking action was excellent; as members of their clans, they too ought to show their stance.

Fan Sanba sat upright in his seat, observing everyone's expressions and movements all the while. Now he rose with a smile, cupped his hands toward Zhang Wanshan, and then addressed the crowd. "Gentlemen, this junior has a word to say, though I know not whether it is fitting to speak."

Seeing him so courteous, the merchants hurriedly said, "Please speak, Head Shopkeeper Fan. We are all ears."

Fan Sanba smiled faintly. "The great name of the General Who Secures the State has reached even this junior's ears in Shanyou. His holding the eastern route, suppressing bandits, and opening military farms — these are good things. The common people praise him, and we can all do business in peace. It may be that petty men have egged him on, and the General Who Secures the State, in a moment of muddled thinking, has undertaken this deed that incurs heaven's wrath and the people's curses!"

He continued, "The learned scholars have already begun to act; we merchants must not fall behind. For the future peace of the eastern route, this junior proposes that all merchant houses collectively shut their shops, to demonstrate our indignation and our will to denounce."

"Seeing the surging tide of popular feeling, the General Who Secures the State will surely come to a sudden awakening, and thereafter all you shopkeepers can once again conduct your business in peace."

The crowd cried out in approval, all saying that Head Shopkeeper Fan was indeed seasoned and strategic. To them, a united merchant shutdown was a devastating weapon.

During the Jiajing reign, the government once banned the private minting of coins everywhere. The result was that merchants everywhere jointly shut their shops, commodity prices soared, the government was helpless, and the ban was abandoned. In the Wanli reign, and in the current Chongzhen reign, whenever the authorities sought to collect taxes from the merchants, as soon as the merchants shut their shops, the authorities were powerless.

By the late Ming, the industrial and commercial class had already become extremely arrogant; the local economy was completely beyond central control, and the government itself was filled with their interest-representatives. It can be said that the late-Ming central government had already lost all fiscal control over the local economy.

The frontier garrison regions in particular were even more dependent on these merchants. After the "Kaizhong Law" collapsed in the mid-Ming, the authorities switched to using commuted silver to recruit troops and pay military wages.

Having silver did not mean one could eat or drink; vast quantities of grain and fodder still had to be purchased. The transport of the relevant grain and fodder was monopolized by merchants everywhere. If the merchants shut their shops and the various armies lacked provisions, it would cause immense upheaval.

In the fifth month of the eighth year of Chongzhen, when Zu Kuan and other reinforcing troops, by imperial decree, were separately stationed at Chadao, Yulin, Huailong Xiguan, and other places on the eastern route, the then Regional Commander of Xuan-Da, Yang Sichang, issued a special strict order that the troops must not cause disturbances and the residents must not shut their shops — otherwise both would be uniformly and severely disciplined. Such was the power of a merchant shutdown.

Once this mighty momentum — the scholars suspending classes and the merchants shutting their shops — was built up, they would make that Wang Dou pay dearly and regret ever having entertained the notion of levying commercial taxes.

Zhang Wanshan stood up and said, "Good! Head Shopkeeper Fan's words are most reasonable. We shall choose a day to collectively shut our shops. All merchant houses must unite in purpose and share this hardship. During this period, no one may privately conduct business, or they shall face severe punishment from the guild. May the General Who Secures the State, after the shutdown, hear the voice of the myriad people and turn back from the brink — turn back from the brink."

"We merchants still welcome the General Who Secures the State to guard the eastern route. His troops' resistance against the Tartar slaves — this old man also admires…"

Leaving aside how Zhang Wanshan and the others plotted the shutdown and its specific execution, at that moment within the Guanshan Academy in Yanqing Subprefecture, a wave of indignant voices also rang out: "The harm of the commercial tax was already made utterly manifest during the reign of the Illustrious Emperor. Every item, every person, taxed and taxed again, marrow sucked from the bones — the people could not endure such a fate…"

"The eastern route is a land of poor soil and impoverished people. How can it bear such bone-scraping, marrow-sucking exploitation? Should this come to pass, commerce will surely wither, the people will scatter, and the people's livelihood will decay. The calamity of the Wanli era is before our very eyes!"

The speaker was a young man dressed as a scholar, in a full Confucian gown and square scholar's cap, his features rather handsome and refined. It was Wu Lue, son of Department Magistrate Wu of Yanqing Subprefecture, who had clashed with Wang Dou in the tenth year of Chongzhen. His graceful bearing was unchanged, but the arrogance that had once been on his face had largely vanished, replaced by an expression that seemed to seethe with deep resentment.

These past two years, Wu Lue had suffered heavy blows. That year he had placed first in the provincial examinations and was at the height of pride and satisfaction. Perhaps influenced by Ji Junjiao throwing herself into Wang Dou's arms, he had failed the metropolitan examination the following spring — a crushing blow to someone who prided himself on his talent and looked down on the world.

His family's disappointment, his "love rival" Wang Dou's step-by-step rise, smooth sailing all the way from a mere Guard Commander back then to his current post of Assistant Regional Commander in charge of the defense zone — how could this not wring Wu Lue's heart with envy and hatred? That the beauty, little Miss Ji, had thrown herself into Wang Dou's embrace pained him even more bitterly.

Wu Lue had also married by now, but his current wife, whether in talent or appearance, was worlds apart from Ji Junjiao.

Whenever he thought of the woman he adored yielding and pleasuring herself beneath that boor Wang Dou, waves of fury and hatred surged in Wu Lue's heart.

Wu Lue was now living very unhappily. Relying on his father's influence, he had secured a teaching post in the Yanqing Subprefecture Confucian school. In truth, as a Provincial Graduate, he could have been appointed county magistrate somewhere. But the Great Ming now had a surplus of officials and a shortage of substantive posts; how easy was it to secure a real vacancy?

His father tried every means, but could only tell Wu Lue to wait patiently. Frustrated in both career and love, Wu Lue was full of grievances. Priding himself on his talent and looking down on others, he did not get along very pleasantly with his colleagues in the Confucian school either; everyone merely treated him politely for his father's sake.

But no matter what, Wu Lue was the son of Department Magistrate Wu Zhi, and his literary talent was outstanding. He still commanded considerable rallying power among the eastern-route scholars, and the recent shared "crisis" had brought them together.

Scholars gathered in force. Besides the various instructors, proctors, and students of Guanshan Academy, there were also scholars from elsewhere on the eastern route, as well as instructors and students from the various city guard schools — several hundred people in all.

Only Fu Mingqi, the Instructor of the Baoan Subprefecture Confucian school, and a few others were nowhere to be seen. In the words of Wu Lue and his faction, Fu Mingqi was willing to be a "running dog" for a military man, a complete disgrace to the scholarly class. It was just as well he did not come, lest he "defile" the "sacred and pure" assembly and deliberations of the scholars.

The head of Yanqing Subprefecture's Guanshan Academy, Ceng Youxian, was an old Imperial Student by background who had spent decades at the academy and was considered "of lofty virtue and high prestige." Even Department Magistrate Wu of Yanqing had to respectfully address him as "Venerable Ceng" when they met. His family had toiled painstakingly, scrimping and saving, and had finally acquired several dozen qing of good land and over a dozen related shops.

Ceng the Imperial Student ordinarily treated himself harshly, scrimping and saving as much as possible. Though his family assets grew ever larger, he could not bear to indulge in even a slight luxury. A man like him was strict with himself and his family, and even less willing to hand money outward. When he heard that the General Who Secures the State was going to levy commercial taxes, he was instantly filled with righteous fury.

Wu Lue's proposal exactly suited his wishes. With his prestige, he easily assembled the scholars from all over the eastern route to jointly deliberate their countermeasures. After Wu Lue's impassioned speech, he too sighed in a trembling voice: "The calamity of the commercial taxes during the Wanli reign — this old man still remembers it vividly. A thousand war chariots on the roads, calamity streaming across the four seas — it did not afflict the merchants, but afflicted the people. The Sage said: seizing the people's wealth is not the way to generate wealth. The way to generate wealth is to produce it and to conserve it — these two things alone. The harm of surcharges is calculated by the tax period; the harm of commercial taxes is calculated by the day. Levying commercial taxes is seizing the people's wealth. This deed incurs heaven's wrath and the people's curses. The Great Ming is plunged into darkness without daylight; the eastern route will be ruined and wither away!"

At this point, he broke into a fit of coughing.

Everyone present chimed in, one after another, their words all full of pained urgency. Which of the scholars and students present did not have a family that ran shops? Which merchant on the eastern route was not a clansman or relative of theirs? For Wang Dou to levy commercial taxes was to snatch food from their very mouths — they would never agree to it.

Of course, there were also many impoverished scholars among them whose families ran no shops, and since Wang Dou was establishing garrison villages on the eastern route, they had thoughts of entering the villages to seek a clerk's post. In their hearts, they felt that Wang Dou's commercial tax had nothing to do with them.

But with "public sentiment so inflamed" at the moment, how would they dare speak up for Wang Dou? If they did, the label "disgrace to the scholarly class" would certainly be unavoidable, and they could forget about ever mixing in scholarly circles again. So they resolved to help neither side. Wu Lue proposed that all the eastern-route scholars suspend classes; they would simply follow along and absolutely not stick their necks out.

At last, everyone unanimously concluded that Wang Dou's move was a wicked deed that incurred heaven's wrath and the people's curses, utterly lacking popular support. They, these scholars and students steeped in the books of the sages, these pillars of the court, had a duty to take concrete action to admonish Wang Dou — to suspend classes!

This would be a movement of immense momentum: the students suspending classes, the merchants shutting their shops, all sectors of society responding in unison, ten thousand hearts as one, bringing pressure to bear upon General Who Secures the State Wang Dou — and in the end making him retract his mistaken action, come to a sudden awakening, and turn back from the brink.