"Gentlemen, everywhere we looked in Anhui this time, all we saw were mulberry trees and bamboo forests. Based on what we know now, the People's Party exported one million piculs of raw silk in 1911. Just this one item sold for over two hundred million Customs Taels, worth thirty million British pounds. As a result, the market purchase price for raw silk plummeted..."

Zhang Yutong had only spoken this far when the Jiangsu Assembly erupted in exclamations like a boiling pot. His voice was completely drowned out by the tide-like noise.

"How could it be that much?"

"Exactly how many mulberry trees did they plant? How many silkworms did they raise?"

...

Last year, the Jiangsu Assembly applied to the People's Party to observe how they organized production in the sericulture industry. The People's Party did not stop the Jiangsu delegation from going to the base areas to investigate. This incident made many Jiangsu assemblymen view it as a "trap." If they had a good method, they wouldn't have time to hide it, let alone let people visit and learn. Wasn't that foolish?

Now, hearing the news brought back by Zhang Yutong and his group of assemblymen, the Jiangsu assemblymen, whether they were involved in the sericulture industry or not, felt like they were going crazy. Over two hundred million Customs Taels—what a massive sum of money that was!

Customs Taels, also known as Haikwan Taels, were a unit of account used by the Customs Service in the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty. They were a virtual silver currency used for bookkeeping. During the Qing Dynasty, when Chinese Customs collected import and export duties, there was originally no uniform national standard. The fineness, weight, and names of metal silver circulating in various places were inconsistent, making conversion difficult and causing inconvenience for both Chinese and foreign merchants. To unify the standard, the "Sima Ping" (where "Ping" refers to the weight standard), also known as "Guangping," was adopted, and one tael of it was taken as the standard unit for the Customs Tael.

Historically, the virtual weight of one Customs Tael was 583.3 grains, or 37.7495 grams (later evolving to 37.913 grams) of pure silver (containing 93.5374% pure silver). When Customs collected tariffs, they exchanged according to the conversion standard between the virtual silver tael and the fine silver actually adopted locally. For every 100 Customs Taels, it was equivalent to 110 taels and 4 mace of Shanghai Guiyuan silver, 105 taels, 5 mace, and 5 candareens of Tianjin Xinghua silver, and about 108 taels, 7 mace, and 5 candareens of Hankou Yangli silver. It maintained roughly a one-to-one ratio with silver.

Many of the gentry in the Jiangsu Assembly were extremely wealthy. It was precisely because they understood what money meant that the impact of over two hundred million Customs Taels was exceptionally violent.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!* The Speaker of the Assembly struck the sounding board violently with his gavel, finally managing to temporarily calm the commotion.

The Jiangsu representatives had obtained this intelligence through personnel within the Customs Service in Shanghai. Zhang Yutong had already been shocked, so now he was finally able to maintain a minimum level of calm. But the shouting of the assemblymen below reminded him of his own feelings when he first learned this figure. From his scalp to the soles of his feet, every pore felt like it was being pricked by needles, and every hair on his body stood on end.

Zhang Yutong's family couldn't be considered extremely wealthy, but they had over five hundred *mu* of good land, and their raw silk business was doing quite well. In the peak years of the raw silk trade, Zhang Yutong's family could earn at least 60 taels of silver per *mu*. Four hundred *mu* of mulberry fields yielded over twenty thousand taels of silver a year. This income, compared to the People's Party's over two hundred million taels a year, was only one ten-thousandth. At the current scale of Zhang Yutong's family business, it would take him ten thousand years to earn two hundred million taels. Facing this number, how could he easily remain calm?

"It's not just raw silk; the People's Party also weaves silk themselves. They also grow cotton. The labor cloth and silk-cotton blends they launched in the past two years have sold quite well. Originally, Anhui and other places also produced tea. After the People's Party took power, they planted tea extensively in the mountainous areas. Although the quality of the tea varies, the good thing is that within each grade, tens of thousands of *jin* of tea are exactly the same. Plus, the volume is huge, so they can sell it even if it's cheap. Merchants purchasing raw silk and tea may have money, but it is limited after all. After buying the People's Party's goods, where would they have any remaining money to buy our things? If we want to stand up to the People's Party as equals, there is no other way than for the entire Jiangsu's raw silk and cotton to adopt such and such methods."

Zhang Yutong had been to the Anhui base area more than once. Mulberry trees were planted on the hillsides and along the field roads, and large patches of mulberry forests were planted by the water. Jiangsu's land was fertile, and the proportion of owner-farmers was relatively large; every farmer's household planted mulberry trees. It was just that compared to the People's Party's planting scale, they were completely at a disadvantage. Without mulberry leaves, the number of silkworms raised couldn't go up. Scale, scale—right now, Zhang Yutong's mind was full of these two words.

Wang Youhong attended almost every assembly meeting. Hearing Zhang Yutong speak so passionately, he couldn't help but ask, "Assemblyman Zhang, although I haven't been to Anhui, as far as I know, the People's Party indeed plants many mulberry trees, but the silkworm farms are not built by the private sector. What is your view on this?"

Jiangsu had been studying the People's Party's sericulture industry for more than a day or two. This was the first time Jiangsu had openly sent a large-scale delegation, but the gentry who visited the base areas privately and the personnel sent by Wang Youhong had gone more than once or twice. The scale of the mulberry trees was naturally well known long ago. Similarly, the People's Party's silkworm farms and filatures (silk reeling factories) were state-owned. The filatures would not accept cocoons that were not sent from state-owned silkworm farms. Wang Youhong also knew this very clearly.

Zhang Yutong nodded. "Governor Wang, the reason the People's Party's silk quality is excellent is that their silkworm farms are state-owned, and the silkworm eggs used are all of one type. Unlike our Jiangsu, where the silkworm eggs used are mostly kept by the families themselves. If we want to catch up with the People's Party, we must have a charter on this matter."

Although he answered smoothly, Zhang Yutong's voice lowered quite a bit. The biggest difference between the People's Party's sericulture industry and that of Jiangsu and other places lay in the fact that the mulberry trees were all planted on state-owned land in the base area. After the People's Party implemented land reform, the people had three *mu* of land per person, and all land beyond that belonged to the state. The farms opened on this land, the various crops planted, and even the minerals underground belonged to the state. In Jiangsu, land was privately owned. The mulberry leaves grown by each family could be disposed of by themselves—whether used to raise their own silkworms or carried out to sell, no one else could interfere.

The People's Party, however, had state-owned mulberry leaves. The management of the mulberry forests was the responsibility of specialized enterprises. Maintaining the mulberry forests, picking mulberry leaves, transporting mulberry leaves—people could earn money by contributing labor. The cost of this production chain was extremely low. A load of mulberry leaves could sell for two taels of silver in Jiangsu. Even if silver was cheap and copper expensive, it would still be one thousand six hundred *wen* of copper coins.

With the People's Party, transporting a load of mulberry leaves could earn four *jin* of rice. Calculated at thirty *wen* per *jin* of rice, it was only one hundred and twenty *wen*. Including the wages of the mulberry plantation workers, the silkworm farm workers, and the filature workers, the cost for the People's Party to produce a load of cocoons was only two taels of silver. Most importantly, the common people did not pay taxes on the money they earned. Farming was taxed at only thirty percent, and money earned from any other work went net into their own pockets. It seemed that the income from working was not high, but the good thing was stability. Regardless of whether the raw silk business lost money or made money, the workers would not lose money. The common people were actually willing to contribute labor.

From what Zhang Yutong saw in the base area, the men and women working were almost half and half. There were even many old men and old women carrying loads to transport mulberry leaves or picking mulberry leaves in the mulberry orchards. In Jiangsu, if elderly people could still come out to work, they must be highly skilled; how many such old hands could there be? As for old women, it goes without saying that no one would hire them. In the investigation, Zhang Yutong found that these old men and old women could earn enough money for seventy or eighty *jin* of rice a month. Although the People's Party's paper money looked awkward no matter how one looked at it, holding this paper money really could buy things. A large number of old men and old women with no skills supporting themselves by working—this was something unimaginable in Jiangsu. If it was so for the old men and old women, the young people earned even more.

Zhang Yutong completely opposed Jiangsu carrying out land reform like the People's Party, but he wanted Jiangsu to not collect taxes like the People's Party. It was just that he didn't quite dare to say this to Wang Youhong. With over forty thousand troops and police under Wang Youhong, what would they eat if taxes weren't collected?

But as soon as taxes were collected, the cost of Jiangsu's sericulture industry immediately went up. The People's Party's mulberry leaves cost nothing, and the wages to be paid to produce a load of cocoons were actually compressed to two taels of silver. Even if producing a load of raw silk cost twenty taels, the market price for raw silk was two hundred taels. The difference of one hundred and eighty taels of silver all fell into the People's Party's pockets.

In contrast, Jiangsu needed money for every link, from mulberry leaves to silkworm eggs, raising silkworms, and reeling silk, and the government had to collect taxes on every link. Out of two hundred taels, at least one hundred taels would be taken away. In this comparison, the People's Party, which earned one hundred and eighty taels, should have been exploitative like wolves and tigers. Yet, in the eyes of the people under the People's Party's rule, the People's Party did things extremely beautifully. Everyone in the base area had money to earn, and prices were extremely cheap; the prices of many iron farm tools were actually one-tenth of those in Jiangsu. What was even more infuriating was that the People's Party provided cloth coupons. With cloth coupons, one could buy cloth at one-fourth of the price in Jiangsu. Because the price difference was so huge, Jiangsu's goods simply could not enter the People's Party's base areas.

"Assemblyman Zhang, does your delegation have any plan on how to set this charter?" Wang Youhong didn't know Zhang Yutong had so many thoughts. He was extremely interested in the matter of the People's Party earning over two hundred million Customs Taels a year. The People's Party had the territory of four provinces. Even if Jiangsu had lost Northern Jiangsu, if Southern Jiangsu's output could be one-fifth of the People's Party's—forty million Customs Taels—Wang Youhong would be very satisfied. Even if he could get half of such a sum, Wang Youhong could get twenty million taels.

The expense of raising an army of forty thousand was huge. Southern Jiangsu was a wealthy place, which was a good thing financially. From the military aspect, it might not be a good thing. Jiangsu people were unwilling to serve as soldiers. An ordinary soldier in the Beiyang Army cost nearly a hundred taels a year. According to the Beiyang Army's standards, Jiangsu's forty thousand troops would cost four million taels of silver a year. Adding the operation of government officials, this would take nearly ten million.

Wang Youhong firmly believed that without his own military industry, it was impossible to guarantee his own safety. Nanjing had the Jinling Arsenal, but to maintain the annual operation of this arsenal was another expenditure of nearly a million taels of silver. Besides these, factories had to be built and schools opened; twenty million taels was already the minimum expenditure. If any natural or man-made disaster happened casually, the annual expenditure would probably double. Now seeing that the assembly was preparing to do something big in the sericulture industry, Wang Youhong decided that on the basis of facilitating this matter, he also had to keep the tax revenue firmly in his hands.

Zhang Yutong's delegation had indeed discussed a charter. At this moment, he braced himself and said, "Governor Wang, our delegation's charter is to establish our Jiangsu Silk Industry Company and bring all industries related to silk into this silk company for operation. From silkworm egg distribution, cocoon purchasing, and silk reeling to sales, all will be operated by this silk company."

Wang Youhong had his own people in the delegation, so he also knew this plan. However, Wang Youhong was an outsider after all, and it had only been a little over three years since he truly took power in Jiangsu. Even with the so-called "confidants" he sent, Wang Youhong himself didn't dare to trust them completely. He said, "Assemblyman Zhang, speak about this charter in detail."

"Yes, Assemblyman Zhang, since this sericulture industry has great potential, hurry up and tell us." Other assemblymen also clamored.

Although there had been discussions and even some networking beforehand, and Zhang Yutong knew the responsibility he should bear, he could only brace himself and say, "Currently, the People's Party has the largest sales volume in raw silk, and foreigners use their price as the standard. The People's Party representative also said that this is called 'negotiated pricing.' It means the biggest buyer and the biggest seller negotiate a price, and after the price negotiation, other buyers and sellers follow this price. So no matter what, our price cannot be higher than the People's Party's. Since the price is set, the profit of this sericulture industry is also set. The assemblymen we represent believe that we might as well adopt a fixed tax in terms of taxation. First set a tax ratio; the silk company only pays tax once, and other levies and taxes will not be collected."

As soon as these words came out, the originally buzzing assembly hall quickly quieted down. Everyone's eyes fell on Zhang Yutong's face. The assemblymen never expected that the primary content of the charter formulated by Zhang Yutong and others was not how to organize production, but went straight for taxation.

It took Zhang Yutong great courage to say these words. After finishing, Zhang Yutong looked at Wang Youhong, wanting to see some changes on Wang Youhong's face to judge his thoughts.

Wang Youhong's expression did not change. He said nothing, looking at Zhang Yutong thoughtfully. This unfathomable behavior made Zhang Yutong feel immense pressure. After staring at each other for a while, Wang Youhong frowned slightly, which immediately made Zhang Yutong nervous. Because of the nervousness, Zhang Yutong's face couldn't help twitching a few times.

"Why don't you continue? Is this charter just this one paragraph?" Wang Youhong asked in puzzlement.

Only then did Zhang Yutong realize he had lost his composure just now. He cared too much about Wang Youhong's reaction and instead completely failed to notice what he should be doing. "Oh, there's more below, there's more below." Zhang Yutong said repeatedly, but found that he had forgotten the remaining content of the charter completely. Scrambling to open the charter draft, Zhang Yutong couldn't find which paragraph he should read. After struggling for a while, he realized that what he wanted to say was on the first page he had scrambled to open.

Having finally started reading the charter, the assemblymen listened for a while. Some began to nod slightly, while others showed impatient expressions. These specific details were about the structure of the various levels of the future silk company covering all of Jiangsu. This stuff was only of interest to assemblymen whose main business was sericulture; assemblymen from other industries were not so enthusiastic.

Jiangsu Assemblyman He Sui's face was very calm, showing neither support nor impatience. But this did not mean his heart was as calm as his face. First of all, He Sui was very disappointed in Zhang Yutong. Although as a Jiangsu citizen and a Jiangsu Assemblyman, he dared to speak up at critical moments to maintain his own interests, his ability ended there. This panic after saying the key words in the assembly, compared to the heroic manner of patting his chest and guaranteeing to handle things well when taking on this task, proved that Zhang Yutong was still just a local rich landlord.

Since the late Qing Dynasty, as the imperial court suffered defeat after defeat, indemnities came one after another. The Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the princes, and ministers, and those Manchus couldn't shit gold or piss silver, so this money could only be levied on the common people. Because Jiangsu was wealthy, the Jiangsu gentry, as the monied class, suffered deeply from it.

This time, when the assemblymen talked about establishing a silk company, they all believed that this silk company couldn't be government-run; at least it had to be a joint government-merchant venture. The gentry assemblymen naturally hoped not to pay taxes, but everyone knew that was unrealistic. So, controlling taxation through a government-merchant joint enterprise would at least avoid various exorbitant levies and miscellaneous taxes. If this start could be made in the silk industry, then the same could be done for others. If such government-merchant joint companies could be built in various industries, eventually driving the tax collectors out of the countryside controlled by the gentry, that would be best.

He Sui was the initiator and second-in-command of the newly established Jiangsu Citizens Party. At that time, He Sui strongly persuaded Zhang Yutong that Wang Youhong would not make an example of him. After all, the status of an assemblyman was honorable. According to the assembly charter, even if an assemblyman committed a tangible crime, an application had to be made to the assembly first to strip him of his assemblyman status before he could be arrested. Since Zhang Yutong was speaking for everyone, the assemblymen would ensure Zhang Yutong's safety no matter what.

Zhang Yutong had indeed spoken boldly. If he had continued to speak openly and candidly about the silk company's charter, this speech could have been perfect. It was just that Zhang Yutong cared too much about Wang Youhong's performance and instead showed fear.

However, things had already reached this point, and there was no meaning in blaming Zhang Yutong anymore. He Sui was quite surprised by Wang Youhong's breadth of mind. He didn't think Wang Youhong failed to understand the meaning implied in the tax proposal. And Wang Youhong's attitude of being completely unaffected was truly awe-inspiring. Had someone leaked the news to Wang Youhong, or had Wang Youhong expected this long ago?

Although he complained in his heart that Zhang Yutong's performance was a bit lacking in composure, He Sui knew that he was also fearful in his heart. Wang Youhong was able to sit firmly in his current position because of the soldiers in his hands. The gentry were extremely opposed to the land reform in the nearby People's Party base areas and were also full of distrust towards the Beiyang faction that had seized power from the Manchu Qing. In the chaos of the late Qing, the Jiangsu gentry had no choice but to support a Jiangsu Governor who hailed from Tianjin.

In these few years, Wang Youhong had been quite respectful towards the assembly, and more and more assemblymen had a good impression of him. Respect was one thing, but when it came time to collect taxes, Wang Youhong never collected a single coin less. The heavy taxation made assemblymen everywhere feel the hardship. Launching an attack over the sericulture matter this time was also because many assemblymen truly couldn't bear it anymore. In these past few years, they had finally understood that the Jiangsu Assembly was the organ of power in Jiangsu, and Jiangsu's leader should be elected by the Jiangsu Assembly, not self-appointed like Wang Youhong. Since the Jiangsu Assembly inherently had such power, it was naturally the most reasonable thing for the assembly to fight for its own interests.

Thinking about these things, He Sui only came to his senses amidst a round of applause after Zhang Yutong finished reading the entire charter of the silk company. He participated in the applause with a calm face, but his eyes involuntarily scanned toward Wang Youhong.

Wang Youhong was not in a hurry to speak. He already roughly understood what Zhang Yutong wanted to say. What lay before him now was a dilemma. If the silk company matter couldn't be done, the tax problem couldn't be solved. Similarly, if he couldn't immediately slap down this bunch of assemblymen who were attempting to start a rebellion, Wang Youhong wouldn't be able to keep his seat either. The best method would be to achieve both goals simultaneously. But exactly how to do it, Wang Youhong hadn't thought it through yet. Various books of the People's Party he had read and various lectures of Chen Ke he had excerpted turned over in his mind like a revolving lantern.

Many things in politics have similarities; many things seem right but are actually wrong, and upon careful thought, are completely different. Plus, there were many people in the assembly, and many speeches. Being disturbed like this, Wang Youhong's attention was completely scattered and couldn't be concentrated.

Finally enduring until the noon recess, Wang Youhong took a sedan chair directly back to his home. He didn't plan to attend the afternoon meeting. Despite lacking relevant experience, Wang Youhong had an inexplicable vigilance that if he couldn't immediately think of a solution, a great chaos might be imminent.