During the late Zhou, economic wealth began to replace noble birth as the prime source of power and influence. True False

False.

Explanation:

Neither in the Zhou period nor in any other period of ancient China's history, the wealthy people - merchants, traders - did exercise political power by themselves. In the Zhou period and in other phases, the nobility owned lands and possessed considerable wealth. During the Zhou dynasty, the central government, the monarchy, was weak. Real power lay with the regional nobles, the feudal lords, who were also very rich. So, in the period we're concerned here, being noble meant both political power and economic wealth.