Chapter 18

In the eyes of the common people of Luan'an Prefecture, after the imperial envoy Zhao Junchen arrived in Luan'an Prefecture, which was already suffering from a widespread locust plague, the situation became even more chaotic.

First, Zhao Junchen was attacked with stones while inspecting the disaster area, and the government arrested many people. However, they neither punished nor released them, leaving them in custody, which caused widespread panic among the people.

Then, a few days later, all the local gentry and elders in Luan'an Prefecture received invitations from the government, stating that there was something to discuss. The attitude of the government messengers was generally very polite, but their message was clear: they must attend and could not be absent. This further fueled speculation among the common people.

Almost simultaneously, the monks, Taoist priests, fortune-tellers, and witches in Luan'an Prefecture also received invitations from Nainai Temple, which stated that the Zhang family would host a "Five Teachings Ventilation Meeting." Compared to the government's politeness, the head of Nainai Temple, Zhang Daoquan, was very domineering—“If anyone dares not to come, they will never be able to stand in Luan'an Prefecture again”—these were Zhang Daoquan's exact words.

Following this, the troops near Luan'an Prefecture began to move frequently, and the officials in charge of the nearby prefectures and counties gathered in Luan'an Prefecture. This added to the unease and speculation among the people, leading them to wonder if something significant was happening in Luan'an Prefecture.

Finally, someone with reliable information spread the news: the government was preparing to organize a large-scale locust extermination effort!

It was said that this proposal was strongly advocated by the imperial envoy Zhao Junchen and fully supported by the Prefect Liu Chang'an. Although other officials expressed doubts, they were all suppressed by the usually easy-going Liu Chang'an.

For a time, skepticism, unease, and uncertainty began to spread among the people.

The government was preparing to exterminate locusts? What if the locust god retaliated?

The people wanted to seek advice from the local gentry and elders, but they had all been invited by the government. They also wanted to seek answers from the abbots of nearby temples, but the monks, Taoist priests, fortune-tellers, and witches had all been invited to Nainai Temple.

...

Zhao Junchen paid close attention to the people's reactions, so he learned about their emotions through various channels.

However, Zhao Junchen was not concerned. In his view, even if the people were uneasy, it was a sign of vitality, better than the despair and numbness he had seen a few days ago.

Since Zhao Junchen inspected the disaster area, three days had passed. Now, the gentry and elders from all over Luan'an Prefecture had gathered at the yamen, waiting for Zhao Junchen's summons, but Zhao Junchen was not in a hurry to meet them.

This was because Zhao Junchen was preparing for something more important, which could be said to determine the success of the disaster relief efforts to a large extent.

That was the meeting with the merchants of Shanxi, more specifically, the Jin merchants.

Indeed, compared to the gentry and elders, Zhao Junchen placed more importance on these Jin merchants, and he had to do so, given their renowned status during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Not only did these merchants stockpile large amounts of grain, which Zhao Junchen would need to address the grain shortage for disaster relief after exterminating the locusts, but he also needed their support to organize the manpower for the locust extermination in Luan'an Prefecture.

According to the general view of later generations, in ancient China, the merchants of the Song Dynasty were the wealthiest, the freest, and the most dynamic. Zhao Junchen did not deny this, but in terms of status, power, and influence, he believed that the merchants of the Ming Dynasty were the most prominent.

How great was the power of the merchants in the Ming Dynasty? Without discussing the famous figures like Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Siwei, who became the chief cabinet ministers with the support of the merchants, or the many officials who were mysteriously demoted or dismissed for offending the merchants, or the famous conflict between the Donglin Party and Wei Zhongxian, which was essentially a conflict between the emperor and the merchants, a single record from Zhao Junchen's previous life vividly illustrated the power of the merchants of that era.

During the Jiajing period, there was a wealthy merchant in Wuxi named Zou Wang. After his mother's death, he held a grand feng shui ceremony. The ceremony was so grand and so many people attended that the streets were blocked. Zou Wang, with his boldness, ordered the demolition of the house opposite his residence to clear the space.

That house belonged to the hometown of the current Minister Gu (Note 1), who had just returned to Wuxi for mourning. Despite knowing this, Zou Wang did not take the Minister Gu into account at all!

Minister Gu, naturally, was furious and had Zou Wang arrested. However, this caused a major problem.

On the day Zou Wang was arrested, the merchants in Wuxi went on strike, and the Wuxi Prefect received continuous threats. Under duress, he had no choice but to release Zou Wang the next day.

However, the matter did not end there. Although the merchants resumed business, under Zou Wang's arrangement, the Gu family in Wuxi could not buy any vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, cloth, or even needles and paper, no matter how much they paid. The servants and maids of the Gu family were also bullied by local ruffians whenever they left the Gu residence. Minister Gu tried to seek protection from the government, but the officials all claimed to be sick and took leave.

In the end, the Gu family could not survive in Wuxi and had to leave.

A high-ranking official, a Ming Dynasty second-rank minister, could not even defeat a local wealthy merchant. This was the situation in the Ming Dynasty.

The reasons for this situation were varied, but in essence, it could be summarized in one sentence: "Officials cannot compete with clerks, and clerks are controlled by merchants"!!

After the Song Dynasty, China experienced a situation where "officials were not feudal, but clerks were." Officials were dispatched from outside, while clerks were locals. Officials had to rely on clerks to handle affairs. However, the income of clerks was very low, and they often needed to accept "funds" from local merchants. As a result, local merchants became the bosses of the clerks, and the clerks became the employees of the merchants. This is why, for most of the Ming Dynasty, merchants had the ability to influence local politics.

Zou Wang was just a local wealthy merchant in Wuxi, yet he had such influence. The famous Jin merchants of the Ming and Qing dynasties were even more influential. Although the Jin merchants were low-key and did not act as recklessly as the Huizhou and Zhejiang merchants, their power, influence, status, and wealth were higher and stronger.

In this timeline, although the merchants' power was suppressed due to Emperor Chongzhen's reforms, their influence was still significant.

Therefore, whether it was for disaster relief or locust extermination, Zhao Junchen thought of them first in his planning.

The invitations sent to the Jin merchants were not only the first to be sent out but were also written by Zhao Junchen himself, with a very polite tone.

The Jin merchants also gave Zhao Junchen face, and since Luan'an Prefecture was their base, they all arrived as quickly as possible.

Zhao Junchen's meeting with them had two purposes: to address the grain shortage for disaster relief and to gain their support for the locust extermination effort.

Persuading the gentry and elders to support the effort was difficult. Apart from their outdated ideas and the influence of the "locust god theory," these gentry and elders, though respected in their local areas, were mostly landowners. After the locust plague, with the people displaced, they would be the biggest beneficiaries. Therefore, to some extent, although the locust plague would also cause them losses, they were still pleased to see it happen.

In fact, throughout history, after major disasters, it was the most active time for landowners to consolidate land.

Therefore, Zhao Junchen planned to first persuade the Jin merchants and then work with them to pressure the gentry and elders. This would make the task much easier.

After all, the Jin merchants had deep roots in Shanxi, and the gentry and elders mostly relied on them. As long as the Jin merchants and Zhao Junchen worked together, the gentry and elders would not dare to defy them.

Compared to the gentry and elders with strong land ownership concepts, the Jin merchants, as the most dynamic thinkers of the era, were much easier to persuade.

...

"Master, all the guests have arrived."

Just as Zhao Junchen was contemplating his strategy for the meeting with the Jin merchants, Xu Qingyan entered Zhao Junchen's room and reported softly.

Zhao Junchen nodded, tidied his clothes, and then, accompanied by Xu Qingyan, walked towards the living room.

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Note 1: The story of Minister Gu and Zou Wang is recorded in many unofficial histories and biographies of the Ming Dynasty, but the name of Minister Gu is nowhere to be found. Therefore, the author simply refers to him as Minister Gu. Please bear with me.

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