I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 107: The Addiction to a Weak Person

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"Jing is a man of cunning and cunning talents, and he controls people with his wits."

For more than 900 years after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, both the official and the public firmly labeled Cai Jing as a traitor.

Wang Anshi was also labeled like this, and was even regarded as a "traitor."

But in later generations, Wang Anshi has been re-identified as a reformer in China in the mid-to-late 11th century.

Cai Jing was the successor of Wang Anshi's doctrine. He not only inherited it, but also developed Wang Anshi's ideas of reform in practice.

Cai Jing's Chongning Reform and Wang Anshi's Xining Reform were both a continuation of the same line, but also had some adjustments and deepening.

This is a relationship of inheritance and development.

Judging from the actual results, the Chongning Reforms achieved much greater success than the Xining Reforms.

At that time, politically, the old party forces had been eliminated, ending the party strife that had spread for decades during the Zhao Song Dynasty and laying the political foundation for social and economic development.

Economically, he attached importance to agriculture and encouraged land reclamation. In particular, he adjusted economic policies such as tea, salt, and money laws, which greatly increased national fiscal revenue.
Militarily, he sent 100,000 troops to the west to recover the lost territory of Qingtang, consolidate the border defense, enhance the prestige of the emperor and the court, and improve the international status of the Northern Song Dynasty;
In education, Cai Jing presided over the "Chongning Education Promotion" during the Chongning period, which established local schools throughout the country and a three-level school system consisting of county schools, state schools, and imperial colleges. He also restored medicine and established specialized schools for mathematics, calligraphy, painting, etc.
In terms of people's livelihood, Cai Jing scaled up and institutionalized social relief, and established nursing homes, Anjifang, and Louzeyuan.

Objectively speaking, the Chongning Reforms led by Cai Jing did give the Northern Song Dynasty a completely new look, and even brought the Northern Song Dynasty to its peak for a time.

Well, there is a lot of falsehood in this.

But speaking objectively, during the period when Cai Jing was prime minister, even though Emperor Zhao Ji and his ministers suffered so much misfortune and turmoil, the Northern Song Dynasty could at least be maintained.

When the Fang La Uprising broke out, the wealth that Cai Jing had accumulated for the Northern Song Dynasty was emptied. When Zhao Ji wanted to ally with Jin to destroy Liao and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, Cai Jing keenly saw the danger involved, so he firmly opposed it.

It was precisely because Cai Jing firmly opposed the alliance with Jin to destroy Liao and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun that Zhao Ji took Cai Jing down for the third time, made Wang Fu the prime minister, and forcibly pushed forward this strategic plan that led to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

When Zhao Ji and Wang Fu, the emperor and his ministers, had gotten into such a huge mess that they were unable to clean up, and the Northern Song Dynasty was on the verge of extinction, Zhao Ji called Cai Jing back to serve as prime minister for the fourth time, hoping that Cai Jing would help him turn the tide.

But at that time, Cai Jing was almost eighty years old. He was so old that he could hardly see clearly and his legs were so bad that he couldn't kneel.

However, even so, Cai Jing still chose to come out again, hoping to save the country from collapse and turn the tide.

Of course, you can think that Cai Jing is just greedy for power, but is there any intention of repaying Zhao Ji's kindness in recognizing his talent?
Cai Jing served as prime minister four times in his life and was dismissed four times.

If he had been dismissed from the position of prime minister for the third time and retired from politics to live out his life in Hangzhou, then given his extremely brilliant political achievements, he would definitely not have been portrayed as a treacherous minister in "Water Margin", and his historical evaluation would definitely not have been negative.

Even if he lost his position as prime minister for the fourth time, he would most likely not be labeled as the leader of the six thieves and become the scapegoat for the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

However, he had promised Zhao Ji that he would repay his kindness with his life, and he wanted to fulfill his promise. If Zhao Ji needed him, he would be happy to come back at any time.

Cai Jing's disciple Lü Chuanbian wrote his epitaph, one of the lines of which reads, "At the end of the Tianbao era, what crimes did Yao and Song commit?"

Tianbao was the reign title during the heyday of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Yao Chong and Song Jing were wise ministers during the Tianbao period.

Lü Chuanbian's point was, "Emperor Xuanzong himself nearly lost the country; the blame cannot be placed on the wise ministers Yao and Song."

To be honest, Zhao Ya also thought so.

Merits are merits, and faults are faults. It is not wrong to say that Cai Jing is a traitorous minister. After all, he proposed the "prosperous and prosperous" governing philosophy to Zhao Ji. Although it originated from his understanding of the rich philosophy of the "Book of Changes" and reflected his thinking and yearning for ideal politics, there is also suspicion that he indulged Zhao Ji's enjoyment. In his early years, he did help Zhao Ji buy flowers and stones, which can be regarded as the behavior of a traitorous minister.

But then again, denying Cai Jing's abilities and contributions is a bit self-deceptive, or at least a bit ignorant of this history.

Moreover, Zhao Ya still holds the original view that a person who can leave his name in history must be no ordinary person.

For someone like Cai Jing, who was able to serve as prime minister for seventeen years alone, he must have been an extraordinary person.

Zhao Ya believed that if someone with extraordinary abilities like Cai Jing was used well, he would definitely have great potential.

Therefore, all the civil and military officials in the court guessed correctly that Zhao Ya promoted Cai Jing in order to replace Zhang Dun as prime minister when Zhang Dun was no longer capable.

As for Cai Jing's love of luxury, Zhao Ya felt that as long as he did not follow Zhao Ji's example of extravagance and indulgence, and always committed to anti-corruption and promoting integrity, Cai Jing, as well as other ministers, would at most be like Kou Zhun and not be too greedy.

In short, no matter how others evaluate Cai Jing, as the emperor who replaced Zhao Ji, Zhao Ya was very confident in Cai Jing.

Compared with Cai Jing, the person who really made Zhao Ya uneasy was Zhao Tingzhi.

Zhao Ya was really afraid that Zhao Ting had great ambitions but little talent and would mess up the money law reform.

Therefore, after deciding to let Zhao Tingzhi replace Cai Jing to carry out currency reform, Zhao Ya left Zhao Tingzhi to the end and even set aside a lot of time to talk to Zhao Tingzhi about currency reform.

Ye Shiyun analyzed and summarized for Zhao Ya that there are many chaotic phenomena in the currency of this era:

The proliferation of various currencies, including copper coins, iron coins, Jiaozi, and Huizi, led to market chaos. Overissuance of paper currency (such as Jiaozi and Huizi) triggered inflation. Private coinage was rampant, leading to the prevalence of substandard currency. Monetary policy was rigid and inflexible, failing to respond flexibly to economic changes. Poor currency circulation impacted commercial activities. Currency devaluation led to reduced fiscal revenue. Frequent corruption in currency management undermined the court's credibility. A single set of financial instruments struggled to meet economic needs. Currency fluctuations led to price instability, impacting people's livelihoods. Furthermore, currency exchange was difficult in foreign trade, impacting international trade. The list goes on.

This has reached the point where reform is necessary.

Cai Jing was useful and capable, but his problem was also obvious, that is, Cai Jing only cared about the present and ignored long-term economic development.

Historically, under the leadership of Cai Jing, the Northern Song Dynasty prematurely consumed the people's strength and intensified social contradictions. In particular, the results of the economic reforms presided over by Cai Jing did not translate into the driving force for social development. Instead, they stimulated the corruption of the ruling class, including Emperor Zhao Ji and his ministers, which accelerated the decline of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Of course, this should also be blamed on Zhao Ji. It was Zhao Ji's extravagance and vanity that forced Cai Jing to make money quickly. In order to keep his power and realize his political ambitions, Cai Jing had to work hard to get money for Zhao Ji to squander.

Also, what the superior likes, the subordinates will like even more. Zhao Ji liked luxury, and his ministers all followed his example, each more greedy than the other. They all built magnificent gardens, which led to the prevalence of flower and stone projects and rampant corruption.

It goes without saying that Zhao Ya would definitely not follow Zhao Ji's old path.

At the same time, Zhao Ya also had to guard against Cai Jing who only cared about short-term economic reforms without considering long-term ones, so as to avoid wasting people's energy too early. Otherwise, the Zhao Song Dynasty might end up going back to the old path in history.

It was precisely because of this consideration that Zhao Ya chose the relatively conservative Zhao Tingzhi to reform the currency system.

Zhao Tingzhi obviously came prepared.

When Zhao Ya asked him about the direction of the money law reform, he immediately gave his strategy, which was:
Unify the monetary system, reduce the number of currencies, establish a clear relationship between primary and secondary currencies, and simplify circulation; establish a reserve system to ensure that paper money has sufficient metal currency or physical backing to prevent excessive issuance; crack down on private minting, improve coinage technology, ensure currency quality, and maintain market order; adjust the money supply according to economic conditions to avoid deflation or inflation; establish an independent auditing agency to ensure transparency in currency issuance and circulation and prevent corruption; and maintain price stability and protect people's livelihoods by regulating the money supply...

Some of Zhao Tingzhi's strategies coincided with the countermeasures Ye Shiyun had given Zhao Ya. However, Zhao Tingzhi had given little consideration to promoting business development, increasing fiscal revenue, promoting financial innovation, and strengthening international cooperation.

So, Zhao Ya took out Ye Shiyun's outline and supplemented Zhao Tingzhi with the parts he was missing...

In fact, Zhao Ya really didn't understand much about economic reform, and he was even completely in the dark. But he had Ye Shiyun, Cai Jing, Zhao Kai, Zhang Que and others as his advisers.

Later, Zhao Ya directly called Zhao Kai and Zhang Que and asked them to serve as Zhao Tingzhi's deputies to assist Zhao Tingzhi in carrying out monetary reforms.

Ultimately, Zhao Ya and others decided that monetary reform should focus on currency unification, issuance control, business promotion, and fiscal revenue growth, while also strengthening supervision and innovation to ensure monetary stability and promote economic prosperity. This was the overarching strategic policy...

That day, Zhao Ya talked with Zhao Tingzhi, Zhao Kai, Zhang Que and others until very late.

When Zhao Ya returned to the harem, it was already late at night.

Zhao Ya went directly to Ye Shiyun and told her the problems he and Zhao Tingzhi and others encountered when formulating the money law reform strategy, and asked Ye Shiyun to help him solve them.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Ye Shiyun did not answer Zhao Ya's question immediately. Instead, she pulled Zhao Ya to bed and whispered seductively in his ear, "I will report to the emperor tomorrow morning. The emperor is also tired today. Why don't you rest early?"

Zhao Ya knew that Ye Shiyun was not trying to control him, but she was addicted to it and was still craving for it.

What Zhao Ya said is not urgent.

The key is that so many questions cannot be answered in a short time.

Besides, it’s really late now.

So, Zhao Ya gave Ye Shiyun two casual beatings, making Ye Shiyun beg for mercy repeatedly. Then Zhao Ya, who was very tired today, went to sleep.

The next day, Zhao Ya, who had developed the habit of going to bed early and getting up early, got up at dawn.

Seeing Ye Shiyun still sleeping.

Zhao Ya thought about it and did not call Ye Shiyun. Instead, he planned to wait until he and Zhang Xubai and the others finished practicing the health preservation techniques before asking Ye Shiyun to answer the questions he asked her yesterday.

But just as Zhao Ya finished washing and dressing, and was about to leave, served by Zhao Yuannu and other maids, Ye Shiyun said without turning her head, "The strategies your Majesty wants are all on the table. I am very sleepy, so I will not get up to see you off."

Zhao Ya walked to the desk and saw a stack of Yuan Dynasty paper and a book neatly placed on the table.

The stack of papers was densely covered with the solutions to the questions Zhao Ya asked Ye Shiyun yesterday.

Ye Shiyun wrote in great detail, analyzing and answering each point one by one, without missing a single one.

Judging from the number of papers in the stack, Zhao Ya estimated that Ye Shiyun must have not slept all night.

Zhao Ya finally understood why Ye Shiyun hadn't answered him last night. If she had, he might have had to stay up all night too.

And that book is "Basic Economics".

Zhao Ya opened it and read it, and found it was full of useful information.

Ye Shiyun used simple and straightforward words to explain what economics is, how to apply economics, and provided answers to many economic problems that Zhao Ya had never understood before.

Zhao Ya guessed that Ye Shiyun was afraid that his IQ was not high enough to understand the economics she had explained so clearly, so she was considerate enough to give him some simple examples.

Zhao Ya walked to the bed and sat down, then kissed Ye Shiyun on the pretty face: "My beloved concubine, you have worked hard." Then he promised: "I will come to my beloved concubine's place to rest tonight."

It was unknown whether Ye Shiyun heard what Zhao Ya said, but she replied perfunctorily, "Okay."

After Zhao Ya left, Ye Shiyun slept until the afternoon before getting up.

Seeing Ye Shiyun getting up, Zhao Yuannu quickly brought over a bowl of bird's nest and said attentively, "Your Majesty, you are well. This is the bird's nest that the emperor specially instructed the imperial kitchen to prepare for you. It has been kept warm. Come and have a bowl while it's hot."

Although bird's nest was not as widely known and used during this period as it was later, people of this era already had a preliminary understanding of bird's nest.

However, before this, bird's nest had not yet become a very popular or common food ingredient. It was more in the stage of being initially discovered and recognized.

It was Ye Shiyun, the foodie, who specially asked Huang Jingchen to find bird's nest for her. She also asked Yuan Qingcheng for the cooking method of bird's nest and taught it to the imperial chef in the imperial kitchen. Only then did bird's nest gradually become a popular dish in the diet of Zhao Ya's harem concubines.

At this stage, bird’s nest is not expensive. In fact, it is not as expensive as the side dishes used to cook it.

But this is not a question of whether it is expensive or not, but the fact that Zhao Ya specially asked the imperial chef to make this bird's nest for Ye Shiyun.

The key point is that Zhao Ya said that he would come to Ye Shiyun's place to rest tonight.

In the eyes of Zhao Yuannu and other women in Ye Shiyun's palace, Ye Shiyun is gaining favor.

More importantly, who among them didn't know Ye Shiyun's fighting ability? As long as Ye Shiyun was favored, they would get to drink the soup sooner or later.

In addition, Ye Shiyun has a good personality and is generous to her servants.

Zhao Yuannu and others are quite supportive of Ye Shiyun.

Seeing that Zhao Ya still thought of asking for a bowl of bird's nest to nourish her, Ye Shiyun thought sweetly, "Not bad, it's worth my best efforts to help you."

Just as Ye Shiyun was eating bird's nest and thinking about what new things to do with Zhao Ya tonight, Li Lin, Ma Xiaojiao and Yuan Qingcheng came over.

Seeing that Ye Shiyun hadn't gotten up yet, Li Lin asked, "How many times did Zhao Ya torture you last night, leaving you unable to even get out of bed?"

Ye Shiyun said casually: "Not much, just seven times a night."

Li Lin snorted, "I hope he really has the ability you say."

Ye Shiyun knew that the strong Li Lin must know Zhao Ya's background. She would definitely lose if she argued with Li Lin on this point, so she wisely changed the subject: "What's the matter with you coming to my place so early in the morning?"

No one bothered with Ye Shiyun. It was already afternoon, not morning. Ma Xiaojiao directly stated the reason why they came to see Ye Shiyun: "Is Sister Chun a little too hard lately? I heard from Li Shishi that she hasn't left the house for more than a month. I think we should go over to check on her and make sure she doesn't get hurt..."

……

(End of this chapter)