Lu Shirong

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Lu Shirong was registered as a native of Daming Prefecture. His personal name was Mao and his courtesy name was Shirong. The official histories record very little about his early life, and his year of birth is unknown. According to his biography in the History of Yuan, he advanced through bribery during the period when Ahmad Fanakati monopolized power and became Tea Monopoly Transport Commissioner of Jiangxi, but he was later dismissed for an offense. This experience gave him practical knowledge of fiscal administration, while also providing material later used against him by political opponents.

Entry into the Secretariat and Fiscal Reform

After Ahmad Fanakati was assassinated in 1282, the nineteenth year of the Zhiyuan era, many court officials avoided discussing profit and revenue, and no one could resolve the fiscal difficulties facing Kublai Khan. At this point Sangha recommended Lu Shirong to the emperor, saying that he "possessed ability and methods, could rescue the paper-currency system and increase the tax quota, enriching the state above without harming the people below." Kublai summoned Lu, and his answers closely accorded with the emperor's wishes.

On the xinchou day of the eleventh month of 1284, the twenty-first year of Zhiyuan, Kublai Khan summoned officials of the Secretariat to debate Lu Shirong at court over measures to be adopted. Right Grand Councilor Helihuosun and others "held firmly to rectitude and would not yield," but Lu prevailed in the argument. Helihuosun, Right Vice Director Masud Ding, Councillors Zhang Xiongfei and Wendihan were dismissed. Antong was restored as Right Grand Councilor, and Lu Shirong was appointed Right Vice Director. Left Vice Director Shi Shu, Councillors Bulumishi Haiya and Sadimishi, and Secretariat Councillor Baijiang were among those recommended by Lu Shirong.

On the day he assumed office, Lu received an imperial order to rectify the currency system and punish officials who failed to carry out the regulations diligently. The next day he and Antong memorialized the throne that the government should provide food and clothing for elderly, young, sick, and infirm people without support, with the senior officials of each circuit placed in charge. During the following days, he submitted a succession of proposals concerning the bamboo groves of Huaimeng, fishing taxes on rivers and lakes, and military farms in the Xiang–Huai region; many were approved. The court issued orders allowing private trade in gold and silver, abolishing bamboo monopolies in various places, opening rivers and lakes to fishing, and making the government bear postal-station expenses other than the cost of relay horses.

The Secretariat also proposed allocating two million yin of salt to merchants and distributing another one million yin among the circuits to establish Ever-Normal Salt Offices. If merchants raised salt prices, the government would sell at a stable price, both securing the people's salt supply and protecting state revenue. Kublai Khan accepted the proposal.

Government and Political Conflict

Before Lu Shirong had served ten days in the Secretariat, Censor-in-chief Cui Yu memorialized that he was unfit to serve as a grand councillor. The criticism greatly displeased Kublai, and Cui was handed over to judicial officials for questioning and then dismissed. Lu also proposed prohibiting wealthy families in the capital from brewing and selling liquor, with production and sale instead conducted directly by the government.

On the renwu day of the first month of 1285, the twenty-second year of Zhiyuan, Lu Shirong reported in the Fragrant Hall that, beyond the empire's existing annual revenue of 932,600 ding, another three million ding could be obtained without taking anything from ordinary people, simply by curbing the encroachments of powerful families. He asked to discuss the measures face to face with officials of the Censorate and the Bureau of Military Affairs before implementation. Kublai replied, "There is no need for that; simply state your proposals."

Lu then proposed following Han and Tang precedents by establishing fourth-rank supervisory offices to administer the empire's liquor taxes, collecting copper to mint Zhiyuan coins, and producing silk certificates to circulate alongside paper currency. He further proposed establishing Maritime Trade Transport Offices to monopolize overseas commerce; monopolizing ironware and using the proceeds to purchase grain for ever-normal granaries; creating Price-Stabilization Emergency Relief Treasuries to lend to the people; and purchasing textiles to exchange for sheep and horses. Kublai said the first several measures were good and should be implemented quickly, but remarked that the sheep-and-horse proposal had been attempted by his ancestors without success and required further consideration.

Lu Shirong knew that his actions had created widespread resentment and warned Kublai in advance that he feared being falsely accused. The emperor reassured him with the analogy, "Foxes do not love a swift-footed hound, but would its master not love it?" He ordered Grand Councilor Antong to increase Lu's attendants for protection.

Thereafter the Secretariat proposed abolishing the branch Censorates and placing their subordinate Surveillance Offices under the central Censorate. It also proposed establishing branch Bureaus of Military Affairs wherever branch secretariats were located. Kublai recalled that Ahmad Fanakati had once sought to give his son Huxin both provincial authority and military power, a plan that had then been set aside, but now judged the arrangement appropriate. On the next day the Secretariat also proposed raising the Six Ministries to second rank, putting the Surveillance Offices in overall charge of circuit finances, sending criminal matters to the Censorate, and having the ministries report financial affairs to the Secretariat. Kublai ordered the proposal discussed with senior statesmen before implementation.

On the xinyou day of the second month, the Censorate memorialized against abolishing the branch Censorates and against combining surveillance and transport functions, arguing that "if the Surveillance Offices also manage transport, their duty of impeachment will be abandoned." On the following renxu day, the Censorate again memorialized that all court officials considered the plan unacceptable and only Lu Shirong persisted. Kublai asked for Lu's view. Censorate officials replied that Lu merely wished to abolish them, and Kublai said, "Then follow Shirong's proposal."

The Secretariat also proposed establishing a Planning Office, ranked fifth, staffed by men skilled in commerce. When Kublai asked what the office would do, Lu replied that it would "plan matters of money and grain," and the emperor approved it. Lu further proposed re-employing people from Ahmad Fanakati's former staff who were skilled in fiscal administration. Kublai replied, "Use those who can be used." Former Fiscal Commissioner Zhang Sigang, Saduding, Buluheisan, Sun Huan, and others were consequently appointed as salt transport commissioners in Hebei, Shandong, and other circuits.

Impeachment, Imprisonment, and Death

Lu Shirong's fiscal measures harmed the interests of wealthy and powerful families. His extensive reappointment of former fiscal officials and expansion of administrative authority also provoked dissatisfaction among Confucian officials led by Crown Prince Zhenjin. Zhenjin said: "Wealth does not fall from Heaven. How can an annual surplus be obtained? I fear it will be wrung from the blood and fat of the common people. It would not merely harm the people; it would be a great parasite upon the state."

In the third month of 1285, Investigating Censor Chen Tianxiang submitted a memorial impeaching Lu Shirong. He accused Lu of earlier corruption and misconduct and argued that many of his measures after taking office had produced no results. Kublai ordered Antong to assemble officials of the various agencies, senior statesmen, Confucian scholars, and men familiar with popular conditions, and to bring them together with Lu Shirong to Shangdu for confrontation and interrogation.

During the inquiry Lu admitted several errors, including "issuing 200,000 ding of paper money without informing Grand Councilor Antong; arbitrarily raising the Six Ministries to second rank; and, without consulting the Bureau of Military Affairs, transferring 12,000 men from three branch secretariats to Jizhou and assigning Transport Commissioner Chen Rou to command them as a myriarch." Kublai then ordered Lu imprisoned.

On the yiwei day of the eleventh month of the twenty-second year of Zhiyuan, Lu Shirong was executed.

Major Activities

Fiscal Reforms

During his period in office, Lu Shirong promoted a number of fiscal measures. Their principal features were:

• Parallel circulation of coin and paper money: He advocated increasing metallic currency circulation alongside paper money, collecting copper to mint Zhiyuan coins, and issuing silk certificates to circulate with paper notes in order to ease the depreciation of Zhongtong paper currency.
• Ever-Normal Salt Offices: One million yin of salt was distributed among the circuits to establish Ever-Normal Salt Offices. When salt prices rose too high, the government would sell at a stable price to suppress inflation and protect subsistence.
• Monopoly of overseas trade: Maritime Trade Transport Offices were to be established in Quanzhou and Hangzhou, with the government supplying ships and capital. Merchants would conduct trade, while the state would take seventy percent of profits and merchants thirty percent; private maritime trade was to be prohibited.
• Liquor monopoly: Fourth-rank supervisory offices were to administer liquor taxes throughout the empire. Wealthy households were prohibited from brewing and selling liquor, which was instead to be produced and sold by the government.
• Price-Stabilization Emergency Relief Treasuries: Such treasuries were to be established in the circuits to make low-interest loans to poor people and stabilize prices.
• Ironware monopoly: Powerful households were to be prohibited from occupying iron mines. The government would operate furnaces, cast and sell ironware, combine the profits with salt revenues, purchase grain for storage, and sell it when prices rose.
• Market Exchange Offices: These were to be established in the major cities to supervise brokers. A fortieth of the value of merchants' goods would be collected, with four parts given to brokers and six parts used for official salaries.
• State-operated livestock trade: In Shangdu, Longxing, and other circuits, government funds would purchase textiles to exchange with northern pastoralists for sheep and horses. Mongols would be selected to herd them; the government would take eighty percent of hides, wool, sinew, horn, butter, cheese, and other products, while herders would receive twenty percent.

Administrative Reorganization

Lu Shirong promoted a number of administrative reforms while in office:

• He proposed raising the Six Ministries to second rank, increasing their institutional status.
• He proposed abolishing branch Censorates and converting Surveillance Offices into Judicial and Transport Offices with responsibility for finances. Although the Censorate opposed the measure, Kublai supported it.
• He proposed establishing branch Bureaus of Military Affairs wherever branch secretariats were located.
• He created the fifth-rank Planning Office, staffed by people skilled in commerce, to plan fiscal affairs.
• He restored fiscal officials formerly associated with Ahmad Fanakati, including Zhang Sigang, Saduding, Buluheisan, Sun Huan, and others.

Measures Concerning Livelihoods

• He proposed that the government provide food and clothing to unsupported elderly, young, sick, and infirm people, with senior officials of each circuit made responsible.
• He proposed exempting the population from three years of the silver levy, eliminating land tax in Dadu, and ending the practice of having the populace separately contribute to officials' salaries.
• He proposed opening private trade in gold and silver and bamboo goods and allowing fishing in rivers and lakes, reducing burdens on the population.

Personal Relations

Ruler and Officials

• Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of Yuan: Lu Shirong's patron and supporter, who adopted many of his fiscal proposals and protected him politically.
• Crown Prince Zhenjin: opposed Lu Shirong's rise through "speaking of profit" and denounced his fiscal policies as extracting "the blood and fat of the common people."

Recommenders and Colleagues

• Sangha: a senior official who recommended Lu Shirong to the court.
• Antong: Right Grand Councilor of the Secretariat who worked with Lu and later presided over the investigation against him.
• Shi Shu: Left Vice Director of the Secretariat recommended by Lu Shirong.
• Bulumishi Haiya, Sadimishi, and Baijiang: officials recommended by Lu Shirong for councillor and related posts.

Political Opponents and Impeachers

• Helihuosun: former Right Grand Councilor, dismissed after losing the court debate with Lu Shirong.
• Cui Yu: Censor-in-chief who was dismissed after impeaching Lu Shirong.
• Chen Tianxiang: Investigating Censor whose impeachment led to Lu Shirong's imprisonment.

Historical Assessment

Yuan / Contemporary Assessments

• Kublai Khan: "What you are doing is something I myself value; only those who are treacherous and false do not value it." He affirmed Lu Shirong's fiscal ability and personally protected him.
• Crown Prince Zhenjin: "Wealth does not fall from Heaven. How can an annual surplus be obtained? I fear it will be wrung from the blood and fat of the common people. It would not merely harm the people; it would be a great parasite upon the state." He denounced Lu's revenue-raising policies as harmful to the population.
• Investigating Censor Chen Tianxiang impeached Lu Shirong for "harsh exactions that gathered resentment against the state," arguing that his measures disturbed the people without achieving results.

Ming and Qing Fiscal Thought

• The Ming scholar Qiu Jun, in Daxue Yanyi Bu, discussed Lu Shirong's proposal for parallel use of coin and paper money when examining Yuan paper-currency policy. He considered the policy an attempt to correct abuses but held that using silk certificates alongside paper currency was ultimately not a sound solution.
• Zhao Yi of the Qing, in Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories, discussed Yuan powerful ministers and grouped Lu Shirong with Ahmad Fanakati and Sangha, saying that they "advanced by speaking of profit and all fell before long."

Modern Economic-History Research

• Wu Han, in The Yuan Dynasty Paper-Currency System, analyzed Lu Shirong's currency reforms and argued that the proposal for parallel circulation of coin and paper money was theoretically reasonable but could not be effectively implemented under the conditions of the time.
• Research such as Xiao Qiqing's Interpreters and Translators of the Yuan Dynasty discusses Lu Shirong's relationship with the Semu group and notes that his fiscal measures had a pronounced commercial character, creating tensions with both Mongol pastoral traditions and the agrarian economy of China proper.
• Chen Gaohua's Essays on Yuan History evaluates measures such as Lu Shirong's Ever-Normal Salt Offices and maritime-trade monopoly as forward-looking in conception but ultimately defeated because their implementation infringed upon the interests of powerful elites.