Chapter 5: Two Big Hands

"Mencius said: 'Governing is not difficult, provided one does not offend the great families.' What are great families? Imperial relatives, meritorious nobles, powerful clans, and families of high status. Father, with the strength of one man, initiated the great undertakings of the Wanli era, enough to leave a name in history. At this time, the country is at peace, the treasury is full, and the world is happy."

"If one were to retire at the peak of success now to enjoy one's remaining years, it would not be a bad thing."

"No, this old man is too stubborn. He won't yield an inch when it comes to power. Persuading him directly like this is definitely useless." Zhang Yunxiu shook his head, grabbed the rice paper, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it on the floor.

By this time, it was already broad daylight, and the floor was piled high with discarded paper balls.

The warm winter sun shone through the window onto Zhang Yunxiu's face. Zhang Yunxiu only felt exhaustion wash over him, his heart and mind weary.

Zhang Juzheng would die one day, and if his relationship with the Emperor did not improve before he died.

Then, the Zhang Family would not be able to escape the fate of being liquidated.

Actually, improving the relationship with the Emperor is very simple. As long as Zhang Juzheng is willing to soften his stance toward the Emperor, say a few nice words, and then honestly go home to enjoy his remaining years.

This is not defeatism.

It is advancing by retreating. As long as Zhang Juzheng is still alive, even if he is hanging on by a single breath, who would dare say a bad word about him?

But for Zhang Juzheng, softening his stance toward the Emperor and saying nice words is harder than killing him.

The older a person gets, the more stubborn they become, and the less willing they are to admit they are wrong.

Especially when that person is from his own younger generation.

If he were to apologize, all his authority would be lost. How could he possibly do that?

"Sigh, you're satisfied, but I haven't even had my fill of fun yet and I have to suffer along with you." Zhang Yunxiu thought, shaking his head with a bitter face.

Suddenly, a crisp voice rang out from outside the room: "Fifth Young Master, the Master asks you to get up quickly. After you finish breakfast, go to the study to see him."

"Understood."

Zhang Yunxiu replied, then propped himself up from the table, rubbed his cheeks, and pushed the door open to leave the bedroom.

After a quick wash, Zhang Yunxiu ate breakfast and headed straight for Zhang Juzheng's study.

Pushing the door open and entering, Zhang Juzheng sat upright in the main seat, looking at him with a stern face.

"Father." Zhang Yunxiu hurriedly bowed.

"Sit." Seeing his son enter, Zhang Juzheng pointed to the desk on the left.

Several books were placed on top of it.

Zhang Yunxiu took a look; the *Analects*, *Mencius*, and *Book of Documents* were prominently among them.

"I'm done for."

He shouted inwardly, standing still in place.

"Why don't you sit?"

"Child offended Father yesterday, I dare not sit."

"Hmph, your tongue is quite sharp." Zhang Juzheng glared at his son and continued, "Don't think you can get away with this. Pick any book; I want to test your progress this year."

Zhang Yunxiu's brain raced. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly called out: "Father, when I entered the capital, I heard people praising the tax law 'Single Whip Law' that Father reformed last year. I actually have a different opinion."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Zhang Juzheng became interested.

Seeing that he didn't have to recite books, Zhang Yunxiu let out a long sigh of relief and, following his memory, spoke eloquently: "Since the founding of the dynasty, the taxes of Great Ming have been numerous, mainly divided into two categories: Ding tax and land tax. Among them, the Ding tax is divided into three categories: Li-Jia, Jun-Yao, and Miscellaneous Corvee."

"Although there is only one type of land tax, there are many items within it, mostly paid in kind, which easily leads to damage to the goods. Father's unification of collecting silver, and the 'Measure Land and Calculate Ding', is indeed a great innovation."

Zhang Juzheng heard the subtext, gave a cold laugh, and asked: "You aren't even a provincial graduate, yet you dare to recklessly discuss state affairs? Listening to your tone, it seems my 'Single Whip Law' still has many loopholes?"

"Yes."

"Then tell me, what loopholes does this 'Single Whip' of ours have?"

"May I ask Father, was this measure first implemented in Jiangnan?"

"So what if it was?" "Then that's it!" Zhang Yunxiu walked to the table, picked up a piece of rice paper, and handed it to Zhang Juzheng. "This high-quality rice paper should sell for about ten wen in Jiangnan, but in bitter, remote places like Shaanxi, the price would likely double."

Zhang Juzheng did not understand the meaning and signaled for his son to continue.

"Five words: things are valued for their scarcity." Zhang Yunxiu held up five fingers and added, "The remote northern regions lack silver, so when grain and various goods are converted into value, for the same item, it is likely that less silver can be exchanged."

At this, Zhang Juzheng was like someone stung by a hornet; he stood up abruptly.

He widened his eyes, looking at his son in complete disbelief.

Yes, the north lacks silver, and the common people have no silver. When the time comes, they will inevitably suffer another round of exploitation by the government.

Zhang Yunxiu continued: "Moreover, these unscrupulous merchants mostly rely on the government. When the time comes to pay the silver, the unscrupulous merchants desperately drive down prices, and the common people, under pressure from the government, have no choice but to grit their teeth and sell."

"What is most hateful is that every time there is a good harvest, the unscrupulous merchants hoard grain in large quantities at low prices, and the common people have no money to earn. When a disaster year comes, the common people have no grain in their hands, and on one hand, they have to deal with the government's tax silver. In the end, the unscrupulous merchants make a fortune."

This is the biggest BUG in the "Single Whip Law": the great families have enough capital to buy low and sell high.

After Zhang Juzheng died, almost all the New Policy was abolished, except for this "Single Whip Law".

It was not because the officials had a sudden change of heart, but because it was faster to loot this way.

In the past, after collecting goods, they still had to sell them themselves; how could it be as convenient as collecting silver directly? The great families acted as both referees and athletes; how are the common people supposed to play? Zhang Juzheng felt his blood pressure rising. He had not expected that such a great disaster was hidden within the "Single Whip Law".

But he could not change it and had to bite the bullet and drink the poison.

After all, the imperial court had truly benefited from it.

Glancing at his father, seeing him stunned with a dark face and not speaking, Zhang Yunxiu cautiously probed: "Actually, if you use the two big hands well, the drawbacks of the Single Whip Law are not unsolvable."

"What two big hands?" Zhang Juzheng was stunned; it was his first time hearing such a term.

Zhang Yunxiu then remembered that the guy who wrote *The Wealth of Nations* hadn't been born yet, so he patiently explained: "They are two forces. One is the spontaneous power of the market, and the other force is the imperial court."

"Merchants and common people pursue profit. As long as there is profit, they will go wherever it is. In order to better pursue profit, merchants and common people can only continuously improve the quality of goods."

"Wait." Zhang Juzheng interrupted, "Merchants are all full of copper stench, people who see profit and forget righteousness. If the world were left to merchants, wouldn't it be in chaos? Furthermore, there are many unscrupulous merchants who use inferior goods to deceive the people..."

"This is where the other big hand comes in." Zhang Yunxiu continued unhurriedly, "The imperial court must resolutely crack down on unscrupulous merchants, create a good market atmosphere, and at the same time, forcibly handle some things."

"For example, in the 'Single Whip Law', the pricing power for grain procurement should be handled by the imperial court. It must be based on the local grain price, taking a middle-of-the-road value for procurement."

Hiss... This method is quite ingenious; it can guarantee the interests of the government while ensuring that the common people are not exploited.

Zhang Juzheng felt a surge of energy, picked up pen and paper, and began to write on the paper.

Zhang Yunxiu, standing to the side, remained silent, a trace of regret welling up in his heart.

He had originally intended to persuade Zhang Juzheng to retire at the peak of his success, so how did he end up adding to his workload instead? Zhang Juzheng was only human and naturally constrained by his era; the "Single Whip Law" already had the trend of merging the poll tax into the land tax, but he simply had not yet seen that step.

The "perpetual exemption from additional poll taxes for newly born people" under Kangxi, as well as the "merging of the poll tax into the land tax" under Yongzheng, were matters for the future.

The poll tax was a sharp blade hanging over the heads of the common people.

Ever since Yongzheng abolished the poll tax, the population across the land of China began to skyrocket; the population of the Ming Dynasty barely broke one hundred million during the Wanli Era, but by the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, it had already surpassed four hundred million.

Although the Manchu Qing poisoned China, they did indeed make an indelible contribution regarding the population explosion.

Just as he was thinking this, Zhang Juzheng had finished writing, and their gazes met.

Zhang Juzheng's thin, gaunt face twitched slightly, and he rarely revealed a trace of a smile, praising, "Since you can care about the hardships of the people, it seems you are not entirely ignorant and incompetent."

"Child... child, this is all guidance from the heavens; Father, your health really should be checked," Zhang Yunxiu replied, trembling.

"You scoundrel!" Zhang Juzheng glared again, slapped the table, and scolded, "I thought you had made some progress, but it seems your delusions are truly not minor."

As he spoke, he shouted outside, "You Qi, go and fetch a doctor for me to properly examine this rebellious son's brain!"

(End of this chapter)