Xiahou Ren’s face flushed red with anger. “His Majesty is still here, yet you Zhao clan people openly say the General represents the court. Don’t you have ambitions to replace him?”
“Nonsense! If the General had such intentions, she could have seized the opportunity that day at the Observatory. I think you’re the ones trying to harm the General, driving a wedge between His Majesty and the General’s sovereign-subject relationship. The most sinister are you people, who should…”
“Enough.” Zhao Hanzhang cut off Zhao Shen’s words, glancing at the several people who had argued until their faces were red and necks thick. She said, “Informing the people that disaster will descend is to let them take precautions. Tao Wu, Xiahou Ren—if you disagree, go serve as deputies to village heads outside Luoyang, where you can persuade the people to economize and store grain against disaster.”
She then said to Zhao Shen, “You were appointed to assist Zu Ti in flood prevention and disaster response. What are you still doing in the capital? Leave tomorrow.”
Zhao Shen opened his mouth, wanting to protest his innocence, but silently endured it.
After a pause, Zhao Hanzhang continued, “Everyone has a heart that seeks profit, merchants especially. Hoarding is their method, but the court doesn’t necessarily approve of their behavior.”
“Even merchants should have hearts that love their country and pity the people—how much more so scholars who have read extensively?” Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze swept over the officials below, staring until several ministers broke out in cold sweat with pale faces before continuing, “Now, in this time of national difficulty and people’s suffering, hoarding is especially detestable. From today forward, any commodity whose price rises more than fifteen percent above the five-year average for the same period will be considered price gouging. Discover it once, arrest once—redemption only through money and grain.”
Ji Yuan immediately bowed. “The General is wise!”
Others quickly followed suit.
The young emperor breathed a sigh of relief, feeling he had escaped disaster again. He looked at Xun Zu with some melancholy, very much wanting to beg him to stop trying so hard. He had been lying flat since the day he ascended the throne—why after all this time did his third uncle still not give up?
Xun Zu didn’t receive his nephew’s eye signals. He lowered his head and silently withdrew with everyone, feeling very uncomfortable.
Xiahou Ren and Tao Wu could only be considered relatively neutral members of the former ministers’ faction, their attitudes always ambiguous. With them being pushed out of Luoyang, there would be even fewer ministers in court who could speak for the emperor.
Zhao Hanzhang withdrew from court and left. Fu Tinghan walked beside her. “You’re permitting grain prices to rise.”
Zhao Hanzhang replied, “Xiahou Ren had one thing right. Because of information asymmetry, differences in transmission speed and people’s intelligence, most people in this world behave foolishly after learning of a great natural disaster. Various foolish actions will infinitely magnify damage to the public interest, so when the court responds, it needs to balance tension and relaxation, with give and take.”
“Between the court and the people, there’s a rope connecting them. Most of the time, this rope is quiet, occasionally vibrating. The people closest to the knot are most sensitive, but the realm is so vast and the rope so long that the vast majority of people are very, very far from the knot. We can’t expect them to completely keep pace with the court.” Zhao Hanzhang sighed. “When disaster comes, the rope begins to vibrate and pull tight. It’s not only the court exerting force—on the other end of the knot are the people, and they’re also pulling.”
“If we pull very tight from the start, when disaster truly descends, how much strength will we have left to hold the rope steady?” Zhao Hanzhang said softly, “Records show three months of heavy rain. After the rain, there will be disaster relief. The court needs to keep the rope taut for at least five months, so I cannot and will not exert force at this time.”
“This rope must tighten for a moment, then loosen, letting the vibrations reach farther places, telling people very, very far from the rope that disaster is coming and they need to start preparing…”
“When they truly can’t maintain their hold, only then can the court add force, letting them continue to hang onto the rope and not fall into the abyss.”
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t expect that from the start she could pacify the people, establish policy, and maintain order for over five months.
Only a strong nation could accomplish such things.
Was the Great Jin a strong nation?
Now the Great Jin had only one breath left. The state treasury was so clean even rats wouldn’t deign to visit. Not only did it need her subsidies, but it owed large amounts of money and grain to wealthy families led by Zhao Hu.
It itself had only one breath remaining. All she could do was help the people maintain one breath as well.
Fu Tinghan took her hand. “Then you’d better prepare to be cursed. With grain prices rising and fines being imposed, the people who’ll curse you won’t be just one group.”
Zhao Hanzhang laughed heartily, not minding at all. “Let them curse. What they curse about isn’t without reason. Ultimately, it’s because we’re too weak and the state treasury too empty.”
She sighed. “Grain is the real hard currency.”
Fu Tinghan thought for a moment, then said, “The copper mine newly discovered in Mei County last July has very high copper content. Quite a bit has been mined and smelted into copper ingots on-site, but no coins have been minted. I originally wanted to use it for industry…”
Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes lit up, shining brightly as she looked at him.
Fu Tinghan smiled. “If you can persuade the Secretariat and the Chancellery to agree, I’ll give you half.”
Resources like copper mines, though nominally belonging to Zhao Hanzhang now, she had always placed them under state assets, and every use went through proper channels.
However, she could exercise special authority if she wished. At this moment, Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand decisively. “It’s decided then—give me half. I’ll have the Mint Bureau collect it later. The newly minted coins can be taken to Jiangnan to buy grain. There’s still too little grain in the north.”
Fu Tinghan said, “But the Central Plains is the main grain-producing region of this era. It’s because of constant warfare and natural disasters that it’s been unstable. If it could have peace, in less than two years it could surpass Jiangnan.”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded. However, Jiangnan had been known as the land of fish and rice in later generations—fertile soil and abundant water. If cultivated well, they could even do double-cropping and produce quite a lot of grain.
So agricultural development in Jiangnan couldn’t be neglected either.
The decree was issued. Grain prices in Luoyang were somewhat controlled, beginning to rise covertly. Occasionally they would jump up significantly, then quietly drop a small amount under government scrutiny, then continue…
Rising and falling like this, grain prices still gradually increased.
Xiahou Ren and Tao Wu, exiled to Luoyang’s outskirts, watched the grain prices and secretly worried. “Even in Luoyang, under the General’s very eyes, it’s like this—not to mention other places.”
Xiahou Ren sighed. “She’s changed too. Before, she could still listen to advice. Now she’s increasingly autocratic. Once grain prices become uncontrollable, the realm will certainly descend into chaos. She… Alas.”
Xiahou Ren always felt Zhao Hanzhang was walking Gou Xi’s old path.
Could this be the curse of Great Jin’s generals?
Every regent general ultimately came to no good end.
The two were facing each other in sorrow when they heard their village head shouting to them from far away, in a thick rural accent: “Going to the villages to persuade them to plant sorghum! What are you two still standing around for?”
The two men, whose tears were about to fall, immediately couldn’t afford to be sad anymore and quickly lifted their robes to follow.