Merchants boast that their wisdom and ability are such as to give them a free hand in affairs. They believe that they know all the possible transformations in the universe and therefore can calculate all the changes in the human world, and that the rise and fall of prices are under their command. These merchants do not know how insignificant their wisdom and ability really are. . . .
. . . “If farmers do not work, there will be an insufficiency of food; if craftsmen do not work, there will be an insufficiency of tools; if merchants do not work, circulation of the three necessities will be cut off, which will cause food and materials to be insufficient.”
Foreigners are recalcitrant and their greed knows no bounds. . . .
As to the foreigners in the Southeast, their goods are useful to us just as ours are to them. To use what one has to exchange for what one does not have is what trade is all about.
What does Zhang believe about merchants?
Merchants transform the economy by interacting with foreigners.
Merchants are greedy, insignificant, and boastful.
Merchants hold a lower position in society, but trade can be valuable.
Merchants are wise and command the economy.