Song Gexing

Chapter 164 From Ma Zheng to Imperial Examination
Sometimes people in the Song Dynasty are really strange. Dali was founded 27 years earlier than the Song Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty was founded, the leader of Dali immediately sent someone to deliver a message, hoping to have a good relationship with the Song Dynasty.

But Zhao Kuangyin ignored it at all, and then the Song army marched south to Guizhou. People in Dali were panicked, thinking that the country would be destroyed, because the Song army at this time was extremely powerful.

But Lao Zhao actually pointed to the Dadu River and said that was the end of it. What he meant was that beyond that, it would be a barbaric land and it would be useless to use it.

As a result, the Song Dynasty never took a serious look at the country of Dali starting from him. It was not until Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty that King Duan Heyu of Dali made many requests and was canonized as Jiedushi and Yinqing Guanglu Doctor.

This was the first time that the Northern Song Dynasty looked directly at the Dali Kingdom. Duan Heyu was the prototype of Duan Yu in the novel. However, although the Dali Kingdom was small, its national power was not simple.

It's just that the domestic strife in Dali was too great, otherwise it would have become a serious problem for the Song Dynasty. The Duan family in Dali was called a royal family, but in fact the power had always been in the hands of the Gao family.

In the 300-year Dali Kingdom, the Duan family has been in power for no more than 50 years. Duan Heyu is entitled, because his mother is the daughter of the Gao family, and his uncles respected his sister, so they gave him the right .

If he were Dao Baifeng's son, he wouldn't even be able to ascend to the throne and would have been killed by the Gao family long ago. Duan Zhengchun was famously afraid of his wife, and he would still be alive if he dared to go around playing tricks.

The Song people's understanding of Dali was very superficial, so they never thought about going to Dali to buy horses. Zhao Fang's words made Wang Anshi's eyes bulge in surprise.

"Do you still have horses for sale in Dali?"

Zhao Fang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and pointed at him and said: "As a minister of the Song Dynasty, you don't even know the surrounding forces well. If the Dali Kingdom is like the Nanzhao Kingdom back then, then the southwest will be in chaos."

Wang Anshi was so embarrassed when he said this. When the power of the Dali Kingdom was at its strongest, it had reached Burma, Laos and northern Vietnam. It was really a presence that should not be underestimated.

It's just that the Song Dynasty selectively ignored its existence, and officials did not pay attention to it. Except for people's contacts, the officials did not care about it at all.

In fact, there were horses sold in Yunnan into the Song Dynasty, but the number was very small, only in the southwest area. It is not that no one in the Song Dynasty knew about it, but it was true that people in the Central Plains knew very little at this time.

Zhao Fang naturally knew that there were not only horses in Yunnan, but also dwarf Yunnan horses. There were roughly three types of horses in Dali. Among them, Dali horses and Wumeng horses were dwarf varieties, but Tengchong horses were no shorter than Mongolians.

Moreover, due to regional environmental factors, horses in Yunnan are very good at walking in mountains and have excellent endurance. They are naturally not as good as horses from the Western Regions and Mongolians in the northern plains, but they are actually a good choice to deal with Xixia in the northwest.

Yunnan horses belong to the plateau horse species. The area where Xixia and Song Dynasty meet are also mountainous areas and plateaus. As far as Qinghai and Gansu are concerned, Yunnan horses can be used.

The speed of traveling sixty or seventy miles a day was completely sufficient in ancient times. Wang Anshi was excited now and tried to get a group of Yunnan horses together.

Before he entered Beijing, his official position was in the Department of Animal Husbandry, which was the department responsible for raising horses in the Song Dynasty. Due to the lack of war horses, the Song Dynasty attached great importance to the raising of horses.

They even occupied farmland just to raise horses to supplement the army. This is what Zhao Fang least wants to see, but this problem has always been unable to be solved.

Although Tubo provided [-] horses to the Song Dynasty every year, it seemed like a lot, but in fact it was not much at all.

Horses are consumables, especially war horses. After a battle, how many war horses will be consumed.

Although it doesn't mean how many people died, the requirements for war horses are extremely high, and the wounded war horses basically have to be retired, and the war caused the war horses to lose their strength, and these can no longer be used.Therefore, many war horses will not be used for a few years. Basically, they will be retired within a few years and become used as post horses, or sent to a post station to become a post horse.

Moreover, the number of horses provided by Tubo was not large enough to be used as war horses. After picking and choosing, the lack of cavalry in the Song Dynasty became a chronic problem.

However, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, there was no shortage of war horses in the Central Plains. That was because the grasslands that produced the most horses never restricted the flow of war horses into the Central Plains.

The Liao Kingdom only began to restrict the sale of war horses after the establishment of the Song Dynasty, because the divided Han people were not to be feared, but once unified, the Central Plains dynasty basically won an overwhelming victory over the northern nomads.

From the beginning of the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the Khitan people remembered this painful lesson firmly.

The Khitans worshiped the Tang Dynasty, but they were also afraid that the Han people would be as unified as the Tang Dynasty, so it was crazy to restrict war horses.

People from the Liao Kingdom who went to the Song Dynasty to sell horses privately were all beheaded when found. All traffic sections were guarded, and even small roads were patrolled from time to time.

Horses that can be sold to the Song Dynasty must be approved by the government and cannot breed offspring after inspection before they are allowed to be traded.

It's not that no one takes the risk, after all, smuggling is the most profitable, but after repeated killings, there are really very few people who dare to smuggle.

Because it was impossible to cross the border undetected in quantity, the profits could not reach the price of ignoring death, and gradually no one really smuggled anymore.

"Your Highness, I also have some ideas about the imperial examination. I wonder if Your Highness would like to hear it."

Wang Anshi was so shocked today. He was not disappointed at all because his reform project was rejected. Instead, he became more interested.

In fact, it is right to think about it. At this time, Wang Anshi was not in power, and the implementation of the new law was opposed by the majority, which caused a rebellious mentality.

Rather, after making suggestions, one measure after another was refuted by the prince, who he thought was very effective, and some were admitted to be correct. Most were rejected, but the prince gave reasons that he could not refute.

His current mentality was normal, and he only wanted to strengthen himself for the country and the people. When he met a prince like Zhao Fang who supported the reform, he was naturally willing to put everything he had in front of him to demonstrate.

After hearing his words, Zhao Fang understood that this was the most desirable part of Xining's reform. He nodded with a smile and said, "Wang Qing can speak freely. Gu Ye also wants to hear about the shortcomings of the imperial examination. Since Ouyang Qing changed the content of the imperial examination last year, Gu Jue It’s really time to change.”

Wang Anshi was delighted and said: "I have two points to make. The first is that the reform of the Jinshi subject of Senior Uncle Yong is desirable and should be continued. The Jinshi subject only tests the meaning of classics and policy theory, and abolishes poetry, parallel prose and the like. Articles that do not contribute to the governance of the country.”

Zhao Fang nodded and praised: "Yes, the imperial court wants officials who can govern a country, not poets who praise poets. Confucianism cannot be eliminated at all, and policy theory is the most important thing."

Wang Anshi nodded and continued: "I suggest that we increase the Ming Fa subject and cancel the Ming Jing subject. Officials should focus on practical matters. The Ming Jing is only for the inheritance of culture and is useless in official circles."

(End of this chapter)