Chapter 820: One Sheep Is Herded, a Flock Is Also Pastured

The emperor's question and the grand secretary's answer implicitly contained one answer.

The Ming imperial house had clearly profited immensely from Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Seas; in the twenty-second year of Yongle, the inner treasury held twelve million taels of silver and seventy-two thousand taels of gold, yet later, it lacked the will to invest further energy in maritime endeavors.

Aside from the obstruction by court ministers, the emperor himself was not particularly enthusiastic about this matter.

Expansion in the maritime domain inevitably led to the dispersion of power, because the emperor's imperial authority would be challenged.

The emperor and imperial authority were inherently centralized; this natural centralization caused imperial power to eliminate all potential growth spaces threatening its rule through institutionalized violence.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng's understanding of politics was entirely based on the millennia-old principle of ruler and minister; thus, he feared Gao Zhu Qiyu, using his envoy status, would ally with the Nagasaki Governor's Office to proclaim himself king in Japan.

But Zhu Zhu Yijun was not the least concerned—Gao Zhu Qiyu was abandoning his position as a Ming duke to go to Japan and become a Five-Star Heavenly Emperor; Zhu Zhu Yijun didn't care, for as he said, what mattered was silver.

Whoever ruled Japan, Ming's craving for silver would never change.

"This is utterly improper—absolutely unacceptable," Zhang Zhang Juzheng said helplessly; His Majesty showed unusual leniency on such matters—not just regarding Gao Zhu Qiyu, but also the six governor-general offices.

His Majesty's heavy investment in overseas governor-general offices sought only cost recovery and immense profit, not absolute, unconditional loyalty from these regions.

The emperor truly regarded these overseas governors as feudal lords.

"Enough. Since we've entrusted this to him, let him act freely on the front. The court does not fully understand Japan's situation; no need for excessive interference." Zhu Zhu Yijun paused the discussion, reasoning further words were pointless—wait to see what results Gao Zhu Qiyu could achieve.

"Your servant obeys the imperial decree." Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed helplessly and accepted the order.

Shen Li stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, several days ago, the Northern Surveillance Office transferred several turtle shells and animal bones as evidence; my colleagues and I from the Ministry of Rites have studied them and made some progress."

"Oh?" Zhu Zhu Yijun said with keen interest. "What have you found?"

"Your Majesty, we can now confirm that all the turtle shells and animal bones recovered were used for divination and sacrificial rites during the Shang Dynasty; the inscriptions are Shang script, dating to roughly three thousand years ago," Shen Li said solemnly. "The Book of Documents, 'Duoshi,' states: 'You know that the ancestors of Yin had records and classics; Yin replaced Zi Xia's mandate.'"

"It is generally believed that written records and classics began in the Shang Dynasty, but centuries of time have erased them; these sacrificial turtle shells and bones fill some of the gaps."

"From these findings, Your Majesty, the Shang did not worship ghosts or gods, but ancestors."

Shen Li was deeply fascinated by the inscriptions on these turtle shells and bones, studied them thoroughly, and was shocked— the Shang Dynasty, the dynasty before Zhou, was utterly unlike what he had imagined.

Because Confucianism criticized the Shang, no dynasty since had ever chosen "Shang" as its state name.

In traditional views, the Shang practiced human sacrifice to ghosts and gods—a practice of ignoring the living and appealing to spirits—that seemed alien to this land.

But Shen Li discovered that the Shang depicted on these turtle shells and bones differed entirely from the Confucian portrayal.

The discovery of these turtle shells and bones stemmed from a counterfeit medicine case: the Dissection Institute had purchased a batch of "dragon bones" to test their medicinal efficacy, but received counterfeit goods.

"Dragon bones" as medicine had long existed, typically fossilized remains of large animals; but this batch purchased by the Dissection Institute was entirely turtle shells and animal bones—not dragon bones. The Dissection Institute handed the counterfeit goods to the Northern Surveillance Office to investigate the case, and the office found various inscriptions carved on them.

Turtle shells with writing carved on them! The Northern Surveillance Office's Embroidered Uniform Guards dared not take it lightly and immediately reported it to the emperor.

"The River yielded the map, the Luo yielded the book; the sage followed them"—this refers to Yu the Great's flood control, when he encountered a divine turtle on the banks of the Luo River; the turtle bore the Luo Book and presented it to Yu, enabling him to succeed in flood control and divide the realm into the Nine Provinces.

Thus, in Ming, turtle shells with inscriptions were an extremely significant matter; the emperor transferred all turtle shells and animal bones to the Ministry of Rites to decipher their meaning, which is why Shen Li reported this result in court.

Shen Li said solemnly: "I found on these turtle shells and bones that Shang kings were called 'Wang' during their lifetimes and 'Di' after death—for example, King Zhou of Shang was called Di Xin, his father Di Yi, and his grandfather Wenwu Di."

"Among the deities worshipped in these shells, the most honored was Shangjia; I infer he was Cheng Tang, the founder of the Shang Dynasty, and his ancestor."

Cheng Tang overthrew Xu Jie and founded the Shang Dynasty, and Cheng Tang had an ancestor named Shangjia.

The name Shangjia seems ordinary now, but translated, it means "Heavenly Sovereign."

"Jia" is the first of the Ten Heavenly Stems, extremely prestigious.

Shen Li discovered that the character "Shang" in these turtle shells and bones was an exceptionally honored term, nearly equivalent to "Heaven."

The deities worshipped on the turtle shells and bones were divided into Upper Deities and Lower Deities—Heavenly Gods and Earthly Gods—and the most frequently worshipped Heavenly Gods were invariably the Shang Dynasty's ancestral spirits, such as this Shangjia, the Heavenly Sovereign.

This corrected a previous misconception: the Shang did not worship ghosts and gods—they practiced ancestor worship, for the Shang's "Lord of Heaven" was their own ancestor.

"Shang" and "Di" were easily recognizable: "Shang" was two horizontal strokes; "Di" was nearly identical to the small seal and clerical script forms of "Di."

"Your Majesty, I believe the claim that the Shang worshipped ghosts and gods still holds true—based on these inscriptions, one may say the Shang worshipped ghosts and gods: the ruler, as lord of men, ascended after death to become a Di, replacing the Heavenly God and worshipping his own ancestor as deity," Shen Li thought carefully and offered a compromise.

One could not entirely deny past perceptions of the Shang, nor ignore these three-thousand-year-old physical artifacts; a compromise allowed everyone to make sense of it.

Indeed, they worshipped ghosts and gods—but ghosts and gods who were ancestors who had ascended.

"So that is how it was," Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled. "What other interesting findings did the Grand Secretary uncover?"

"Your Majesty, I found that most human sacrifices in Shang rituals were Bi Qiang people—terms like 'capture Bi Qiang,' 'attack Bi Qiang,' 'use Bi Qiang,' 'with Bi Qiang' appear frequently; at that time, the Bi Qiang were like the Xiongnu in Han times—deadly enemies," Shen Li elaborated his findings.

The Shang's human sacrifices were mostly prisoners of war, and vassal lords were required to annually tribute a certain number of Bi Qiang people; they even served as currency—some lords near no Bi Qiang had to buy them from other lords to present to the Shang king for sacrifice.

He also deciphered many characters.

For example, the character "fa"—a stick driven into the ground, with a decapitated body hung on a beam—was "fa"; the "fa" on the turtle shells and bones was nearly identical to the small seal script form.

For example, "lao"—this character appeared much earlier than imagined; on the turtle shells and bones, it depicted a cow confined in a pen.

During Shang sacrifices, domesticated livestock were brought out for ritual—proving that even then, ancestors had begun settled herding and penning, not purely nomadic grazing.

Shen Li bowed: "I believe we must immediately dispatch Embroidered Uniform Guards to the source sites to excavate these turtle shells and bones and send them to the capital for analysis."

"'Xun gu' means analyzing character forms, phonetics, and meanings to precisely understand classical texts; 'kao zheng' means tracing sources through ancient records and clarifying academic lineages; 'chou jiao' means collecting ancient texts and comparing variants to correct errors. These three methods were the Han Confucians' way of studying the classics, adopted by later generations to form their scholarship."

"As you say, dispatch Embroidered Uniform Guards to excavate and send them back to the capital for analysis. Those Confucians sit idle all day, jabbering nonsense—give them something to do." Zhu Zhu Yijun approved Shen Li's suggestion.

Shen Li's point was that scholarship rested on three pillars: xun gu—analyzing character form, sound, and meaning to precisely understand classical texts; kao zheng—tracing origins through historical records and clarifying academic lineages; chou jiao—collecting different versions of ancient texts, comparing variants, and correcting textual errors;

Emphasizing empirical evidence and rigor to ensure truth.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was deeply interested in these turtle shell and bone inscriptions, primarily because he wanted to give old scholars something to do; secondly, the carvings on these shells concealed the code of Central Plains civilization.

Interestingly, the inscriptions Shen Li had deciphered so far

matched almost exactly the accounts in Tan Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Yin"—King Zhou, King Zhou's father, King Zhou's grandfather, Cheng Tang, the Shang's founding king, and Cheng Tang's ancestor Shangjia Wei—all corresponded precisely.

When Tan Sima Qian wrote the "Records," nearly 1,600 years had passed since Shangjia Wei's time; over 1,600 years after the "Records" were completed, Ming rediscovered tangible proof of Shangjia Wei's existence—a response echoing across the river of history.

"Your Majesty, I impeach Shen Shen Shixing for using literature to disrupt law and Confucianism to usurp power; I request his official position be revoked and his scholarly honors stripped," Zhang Zhang Juzheng said, after Shen Li finished his report, presenting a memorial to Feng Bao and bowing.

At these words, the Zhao Wenhua Hall fell silent.

Shen Shen Shixing was Zhang Zhang Juzheng's favorite disciple; after being appointed Prefect of Songjiang, he had made two errors, each time demoted three ranks to become a fifth-rank Director of the Ministry of Revenue—but neither error was his fault; Shen Shen Shixing had performed excellently in Songjiang.

Shen Shen Shixing's appointment to the Grand Secretariat as Chief Grand Secretary had become a general consensus; now, the Chief Grand Secretary himself directly impeached Shen Shen Shixing for using literature to disrupt law and Confucianism to usurp power—such a harsh accusation against his own disciple clearly meant Shen Shen Shixing had committed a grave offense.

Zhu Zhu Yijun opened the memorial and glanced at it; the content had been discussed with the emperor, who had clearly disapproved, yet Zhang Zhang Juzheng insisted on proceeding with the impeachment.

Shen Shen Shixing was indeed a fifth-rank official, Director of Revenue, but as a provincial official, his appointment or removal required court deliberation and recommendation—not something Zhang Zhang Juzheng could unilaterally order.

Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned: "Master, I find nothing wrong with his memorial; there is no need to attach such grave charges, nor to demand his dismissal and stripping of honors."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed again: "Shen Shen Shixing's words shake the very foundation of the state. I beg Your Majesty to examine the true nature of this treacherous minister who endangers the realm, and swiftly apply proper punishment to secure the state."

"Enough. Circulate the memorial—let the court ministers weigh in." Zhu Zhu Yijun, unable to persuade Zhang Zhang Juzheng, pulled out another memorial and had it passed around.

After reading it, the court ministers understood why Zhang Zhang Juzheng had launched such a fierce impeachment against Shen Shen Shixing.

Shen Shen Shixing had truly become audacious beyond measure!

Shen Shen Shixing's memorial boiled down to one sentence: if the New Policies continue like this, Ming will perish—directly blaming the Emperor Wanli Reforms for Ming's impending collapse; future historians would inevitably write: "Ming perished under Emperor Wanli."

Moreover, Shen Shen Shixing's arguments were undeniably sound.

To curse the Zhu family's empire to ruin was no ordinary treacherous minister; in the past, such ministers were punished by extermination of three clans—too violent; extermination of nine clans was just right.

The Zhao Wenhua Hall was utterly silent; ministers began

pretending ignorance, none dared to speak—this was a rift between emperor and grand secretary; involvement risked sudden disaster.

Wang Wang Chonggu looked nearly asleep; even Li Li Changchun, the Right Vice Minister of Rites who usually loved to stir up trouble, sensed the atmosphere was extremely tense.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng straightened and held his hands: "Your Majesty is too lenient with him."

Zhu Zhu Yijun immediately replied: "Master demands excessive severity. He speaks sense—why forbid him? Master, if he speaks nonsense, I'll have the Southern Surveillance Commander Luo Luo Bingliang slap him; if he speaks truth, and I punish him, am I not slapping myself?"

"Master, isn't that the truth?"

"Your Majesty…" Zhang Zhang Juzheng sighed helplessly; the emperor was arguing nonsense!

The premise was fundamentally wrong—could emperor and minister be equated?

A minister's right or wrong could be slapped; an emperor's right or wrong—no one could slap the emperor. To speak ill of the Son of Heaven was punishable by strangulation—this was the millennia-old framework of ruler and minister.

But if one stepped outside this framework, the emperor's words were simple, honest, and profoundly reasonable.

Shen Shen Shixing's memorial began with commodity economy.

Present-day Songjiang Prefecture, especially Shanghai County, due to its position as a hub of nine provinces, had completed its transformation into a commodity economy—highly developed, turning Songjiang into a glittering pleasure district more dazzling than the famed red-light quarters.

Walk into any merchant shop in Songjiang, and the goods displayed were dazzling, abundant, overwhelming; in a commodified world, profit wielded astonishing power, driving every person toward every profitable corner.

Contradiction told Shen Shen Shixing: every thing has two sides. The highly commodified economy brought Songjiang boundless vitality, yet also generated countless bizarre phenomena—profit's immense power turned everything into a commodity, as long as profit could be made.

Human beings themselves, human flesh, sex, knowledge, political activity, power, law, morality—all were commodities under the commodity economy.

For Ming, this was terrifying.

Shen Shen Shixing explained this phenomenon in two ways: first, Songjiang had become a gathering place for countless courtesans—women from ten thousand nations, Yangzhou's slender horses, Datong's wives, Taishan's nuns, West Lake's boatwomen; pleasure boats, literary houses—all drew high officials and wealthy merchants from afar.

Shen Shen Shixing repeatedly banned it, yet failed to eradicate its decadence.

Beyond this, human beings themselves were a commodity; selling labor was not new to Shen Shen Shixing, but this time he did not repeat old arguments—he spoke of impoverished laborers in Songjiang who sold their blood to survive.

The

Ming Dissection Institute had discovered blood types and transfusion; medical officers in local public clinics prepared blood of various types to treat patients—postpartum hemorrhage, trauma, etc. —but soon, clinics began buying blood; some impoverished laborers, with no food or clothing, could only survive by selling blood.

This was something Shen Shen Shixing absolutely would not allow—even without invoking filial piety's doctrine that body and hair were received from parents; in his view, selling part of one's body for money out of desperation was an act of great impiety.

This was undoubtedly the state's failure—forcing people to sell part of their bodies to fill their stomachs was the court's dereliction of duty.

Moreover, even morality had become a commodity; Zhao Zhao Nanxing, after returning to the Southern Surveillance Office, loudly proclaimed he had been struck by the Marquis of Marquis Ningyuan, and wherever he went, he was greatly admired.

The old order was collapsing; a new order was being built.

The high development of commodity economy had created two coexisting systems in Songjiang—a dual-structured world.

One was the Ming court's ruler-minister bureaucratic system; the other was the system under commodity economy.

The rules of commodity economy were escaping court control, becoming self-consistent, economically self-sufficient, self-organizing institutions handling specific affairs; compared to past clans, these workshops, merchant houses, merchant guilds, and merchant alliances were tighter and did not rely on blood ties to expand.

The commodity economy's rules, now independent and self-established, were growing stronger, even capable of replacing and further dominating the old order.

If Ming as a whole transformed from small-farmer economy to commodity economy, these self-established commodity rules would completely replace the old order.

Where should the Ming court go? Where should the supreme emperor position himself? If, to preserve his authority, he reversed this change, would he provoke widespread opposition?

Shen Shen Shixing's memorial stated this one thing: the day the Emperor Wanli Reforms fully transform China's subsistence agrarian economy into a commodity economy will be the day the Ming Dynasty effectively dies.

The emerging bourgeoisie now widely support opening the seas, yet they will also sound the horn signaling the Ming Empire's collapse.

Fifty years may not be enough, but in a hundred years, this force will be strong enough.

(The full text of "The Memorial on the Dual Mirrors of Bai Yin Waves Eating Through the Bones of Reform" is viewable on mobile devices.)

"I think Inspector Shen is overly optimistic," Zhu Zhu Yijun said firmly to Zhang Zhang Juzheng. "To reach that day in a hundred years would require the united effort of ten thousand men, acting as one. Only if policy does not undergo massive change could it happen—but history always repeats itself. Inspector Shen still thinks too simply."

What's there to fear? The emperor of the Zhu family isn't afraid—yet Zhang Zhang Juzheng is!

Zhu Zhu Yijun did not find it terrifying; rather, he thought Shen Shen Shixing was excessively worried.

No need to cry wolf—the Ming will hardly see that day.

Under a commodity economy, profit may indeed replace imperial authority, but profit completely replacing imperial authority is impossible.

Guided by profit, commodity economics can pose a fundamental threat to imperial power—this is the core theme of the yet-unwritten fourth volume: the inevitable collapse of feudal monarchy.

It's not that Zhu Zhu Yijun disbelieves the immense power of profit—he simply cannot believe the Ming will reach that day. The Ming is simply too conservative.

Whenever a minister showed signs of rebellion, the emperor would remind him: who is the number one rebel in all the land?

"Master, look at land equalization: Qin won the realm by granting land based on military merit; later, land consolidation fell into the hands of aristocratic clans."

"The Sui and Tang established their dominance through the fubing system; by Emperor Xuanzong's Kaiyuan era, the fubing system had decayed and been abolished, and all land passed into the hands of scholar-officials."

"When the Emperor Hongwu Emperor seized power, land went to military colonies and garrisons; today, land has returned once more to local gentry, powerful clans, and influential families."

"The realm suffers under consolidation. The Emperor Wanli Reforms have raged on for sixteen years, yet only five maritime customs offices have issued land-return memorials—and even those are only being implemented in Zhejiang."

"History always repeats itself. I think Inspector Shen overestimates me. If in my lifetime I can understand land-return, implement the Dinghai education system and the official selection examination, it will already be thanks to ancestral blessings."

"He certainly dreams big," Zhu Zhu Yijun said with ease.

Shen Shen Shixing was dazzled by the dazzling spectacle of the Emperor Wanli Reforms and became overly optimistic. Even under repeated cycles, the Ming may not complete the full transition to a commodity economy in two hundred years.

Zhu Zhu Yijun continued: "Self-renewal by the meat-eaters has its limits. Once an urgent crisis is resolved, they grow complacent. 'The meat-eaters are vulgar'—this saying has endured for a thousand years for good reason. What do you think, Master?"

Zhu Zhu Yijun delivered another blow: in his view, the Emperor Wanli Reforms were still merely self-renewal by the meat-eaters—they could never truly transform heaven and earth.

"Your Majesty is wise," Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed, withdrawing his impeachment against Shen Shen Shixing.

He did not know how to answer the question the emperor had posed.

To say it will surely be achieved is to deceive the throne. Your Majesty speaks of land-return, the Dinghai education system, and the official selection examination—these three great halls are: all Ming people eating their fill; children of the poor and laborers attending school, or else being arrested by officials; a flawless talent selection system ensuring no talent is buried; expressways stretching in all directions, making travel cheap and mobility free.

This is the Great Unity world—an ideal state forever out of reach, like the horizon.

To say it cannot be achieved—then what becomes of the efforts of emperor and ministers alike in the Emperor Wanli Reforms?

"Your Majesty, I believe Shen Shen Shixing—

This memorial has some merit. Indeed, on the surface, the entire memorial seems treasonous," Shen Li held the memorial and stepped forward to bow. "But its merit lies precisely in its treason."

"Inspector Shen's meaning is actually simple."

"In the age of subsistence agriculture, households were small, businesses tiny, and the court could still manage affairs in detail. But with commodity economics, households grow large, businesses expand, and the court can no longer manage at all."

"Before this overwhelming tide, the court must understand how to govern more efficiently—then this worry resolves itself."

Shen Li stepped forward, attempting to play peacemaker.

Zhu Zhu Yijun paused, curiously asking: "Grand Secretary, what is your view?"

Shen Li carefully considered before speaking: "As Inspector Shen wrote in his memorial, in this dual-track age: court regulations and the laws of profit run side by side; official decrees and merchant contracts fly together; the way of commerce has formed its own system. Its logic is as self-consistent as yin and yang; its momentum is as entangled as roots and vines."

"In my view, this is good. The principles of commerce and profit can self-regulate and self-manage—equivalent to slicing the state into countless fragments."

"We Ming are familiar with this—this isn't just the conflict between 'lines' and 'blocks'?"

Lines and blocks were the Ming's fundamental political ecology.

Each Southern Yamen was a block; countless yamens formed the blocks. Related yamens formed a line: the Ministry of Justice had its Beijing office, the Henan Surveillance Commission, the prefectural judge, and the household office handling criminal matters in the county—these six ministries and their local offices were the lines.

The officialdom of every dynasty has always struggled with the conflict between lines and blocks. The Ming knows this intimately—its experience is extraordinarily rich.

Historical political lessons are essentially summaries of human game theory experience.

"Hmm?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng paused, leaning forward toward Shen Li. "Grand Secretary, elaborate."

Shen Li carefully weighed his words: "The rise of merchants and the flourishing of commerce have created a dual-power structure in state governance. This is inevitable. Under commodity economics, profit possesses immense power—frightening, yes, but if properly guided, it may make the Ming even stronger."

"The people form merchant guilds and self-govern; all industries flourish, each managing its own affairs. The court need only oversee the essentials—not micromanage everything, for trying to manage all means managing nothing well. Managing these guilds well, however, improves efficiency."

"The larger the household, the greater the business, the more people in the city, the harder to govern. Wang Wang Xiyuan, Deputy Prefect of Shuntian, has gone white-haired from exhaustion."

"Under the Emperor Wanli Reforms, if the bureaucracy drowns in trivial tasks, efficiency will stagnate; if freed from redundancy, it can move mountains with a feather. But simplification is not negligence—it must still supervise industries, like a ship sailing the ocean: shed its burden, raise its sails, yet hold the compass to guide its course."

Shen Li felt he had not made himself clear enough, and bowed again: "Your Majesty, from Shen Shen Shixing's memorial, I see one thing: commodity economics is no magic pill that cures all."

"The essence of commodification lies in the word 'degree.' Nothing must be allowed to become a commodity—that will inevitably lead to national ruin."

"For example, human beings are not commodities. Turning people into commodities is alienation—it exceeds the degree, and the court must forcefully intervene to correct it. The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is secure."

"Grand Secretary speaks wisely," Zhu Zhu Yijun pondered deeply and agreed wholeheartedly.

Shen Shen Shixing was not exaggerating. If commodity economics grows unchecked, the price of rice in Songjiang will soon equal that of Japan today!

Rice in Songjiang now costs four wen per jin—already higher than during Zhejiang's most desperate wartime. This trend cannot be allowed to continue.

"Grand Secretary is truly learned, well-versed in the classics—I am deeply impressed. Now I see—it's merely a lines-and-blocks issue, nothing to fear," Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed respectfully to Shen Li. "I humbly accept your teaching."

The disagreement between Zhang Zhang Juzheng and the emperor was extremely dangerous.

This impeachment was not because Zhang Zhang Juzheng disliked Shen Shen Shixing personally—it was because Zhang saw the terrifying power of profit. When the people chase profit above all else, morality collapses, and the state ceases to be a state.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng wanted to punish Shen Shen Shixing because he was preparing to reverse course, to counterattack the Emperor Wanli Reforms—he believed the Ming was strong enough already.

But the emperor believed there was no need to fear—press forward! He sat at the front of the carriage; the first to be crushed would be him—the emperor, the imperial authority—full speed ahead.

This was a fundamental ideological split—a terrifying one. Court ministers dared not take sides.

But Shen Li stepped forward, transforming this conflict into the very domain the Ming court excelled in: managing the lines-and-blocks conflict. Thus, it entered the realm most familiar to Ming bureaucrats.

Dogfights like this have been going on for thousands of years.

"Indeed. Previously, blocks were carved out by various yamens; now, they are carved out by merchant firms, guilds, and alliances. But the land has always been divided into blocks—one sheep is herded, a flock is herded too."

"If commodity economics succeeds, the court will find it easier to intervene locally," Wang Wang Chonggu, awakening from his nap, strongly agreed with Shen Li.

A flock is easier to herd than a single sheep, because a single sheep has no competition.

A flock of sheep is easier to herd than a single sheep, because a single sheep has no competition.