Zhang Cang, Chief Minister of the Han Dynasty

Zhang Cang was born in 256 BC. An outstanding politician and calendrical scholar in the early Western Han dynasty, he was an expert in musical pitch, calendars, and mathematics. He studied under Xunzi, a great Confucian master of the late Warring States period, alongside Han Feizi, a leading Legalist thinker, and Li Si, the Qin chancellor.

After the Han dynasty was founded, Zhang Cang served as Minister of Finance and Chief Auditor, overseeing audits of the nation's income and expenditure.

Drawing on his experience with official documents and archives from his time as a historian in the Qin dynasty, as well as his exceptional mathematical expertise, he established the Han dynasty's auditing system. He drafted the Regulations on Annual Accounts, setting legal requirements for commanderies and counties to prepare and submit annual financial reports through the administrative hierarchy. He incorporated audit oversight into the legal system, strengthening fiscal supervision and the evaluation of officials.

He also revised and expanded The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, providing a solid mathematical foundation for practical auditing.

With his rigorous academic framework, Zhang Cang laid a firm fiscal foundation for the Han dynasty and rightly deserves to be called the founder of the early Han auditing system.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.