I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 225 Song Jiang
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Fengqiu is very close to Bianliang, the capital of the Eastern Capital.

If you ride a horse, it will take a little over two hours to travel from Fengqiu County to Bianliang City, the capital of the Eastern Capital.

Therefore, Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers learned of what had happened in Fengqiu County immediately. The gentry of Fengqiu incited the students to intercept the county magistrate and force him to cancel the two new policies. After refusing the students' request, Magistrate Yu Li of Fengqiu sent someone by fast horse to report the matter to the court.

At the time, the reason why Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers did not react to this matter was that they wanted to let things play out and see what other trouble the gentry of Fengqiu could cause.

The key is that Zhao Yu needs a role model to make an example of someone. The gentry of Fengqiu only instigated the students of Fengqiu to intercept Yu Li and force him to cancel the two new policies. This level of action is not enough for Zhao Yu to carry out a large-scale massacre.

Furthermore, Zhao Yu also had to give other regions a chance to see if there were any even more foolish ones.

As it turned out, it was very likely that Zhao Yu and his ministers had acted too harshly before, which frightened the gentry in other regions, and they all chose to wait and see. In the end, the gentry of Fengqiu were the most short-sighted, and they chose to incite the students of Fengqiu to boycott the exam and cause a disturbance at the examination hall, in order to prevent the court from selecting officials and to force the court to make concessions.

Seeing that the gentry of Fengqiu were truly shameless and the students of Fengqiu were truly stupid, Zhao Yu issued an order: Take action.

That evening, Yuwen Xuzhong, who had been preparing for a long time, personally directed the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest everyone involved in the incident, namely, the Fengqiu gentry and their families who were behind the trouble, the Fengqiu students who led the disturbance and their families, and the Fengqiu students who responded to the Fengqiu gentry by not participating in the local imperial examinations.

The next day, Zhao Yu's imperial edict to deal with these people arrived.

According to Zhao Yu's imperial edict, all the ringleaders were to be executed on the spot at the local crossroads. That is, all the Fengqiu gentry who were behind the trouble and the Fengqiu students who led the disturbance were to be killed, and their families were to be searched and their clans searched. All the male members of their families were to be exiled, and the female members were to be sent to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution). All the Fengqiu students who responded to the Fengqiu gentry and did not participate in the local provincial examinations were to have "muddled" tattooed on their left cheek and "selfish" tattooed on their right cheek, be severely beaten with one hundred strokes of the cane, and be permanently barred from employment.

The entire town of Fengqiu was gripped by fear, instantly plunging from the previous fervent protests into a deathly silence. Every household kept their doors tightly shut, afraid to utter a sound. Even the wind seemed to freeze, leaving only the occasional mournful cawing of crows in the distance, adding to the desolation of this sorrowful place.

Under the imperial edict, no one dared to speak out. Those gentry who had once acted like local tyrants were now dead by the sword; those hot-blooded young scholars also paid a heavy price for their momentary impulses. Their families suffered even more innocently; the men were exiled at least a thousand miles away, and the women were sent to the brothels to be used by anyone, their families destroyed, their lives scattered, their fates unknown.

Yuwen Xuzhong stood on the city wall, looking down at the empty streets and the blood-stained crossroads below, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

Yuwen Xuzhong knew that this storm was not only a punishment for the gentry of Fengqiu, but also a warning to the gentry of the entire Zhao Song Dynasty.

Yuwen Xuzhong sighed softly, feeling both admiration for Zhao Yu's decisive decision and sympathy for the innocent people who were suffering.

However, Yuwen Xuzhong did not think Zhao Yu was wrong at all. He had been to those newly recovered areas and knew how much better those areas had become after the implementation of the new policies and how happy the people living there were. Therefore, he knew that Zhao Yu was not wrong. The wrong ones were the gentry and the students. They were turning back the clock of history.

News of the events in Fengqiu County spread rapidly throughout the country, causing gentry everywhere to tremble with fear. They were thankful for their own prudence in not firing the first shot to protect their interests. They also began to re-evaluate the court's determination and strength. At the same time, they realized that the court was not bluffing this time, but truly intended to completely change the privileged status of gentry who were exempt from paying taxes and performing corvée labor.

Furthermore, this made the gentry realize that directly confronting Zhao Yu, the emperor who had just achieved the recapture of Qinghai, Western Xia, the eleven prefectures of Yan and Yun, recovered all the annual tributes extorted by the Liao Dynasty, signed a peace treaty with the Liao Dynasty that was favorable to the Zhao Song Dynasty, and was governing the Zhao Song Dynasty well, was tantamount to courting death. They had to find other ways to protect their interests.

It is worth mentioning that, after this incident, Fengqiu implemented its new two policies very quickly and thoroughly.

After measurement, it was found that the land in Fengqiu that was hidden by the gentry and the land that was exempt from taxes totaled more than ten times the amount of land that paid taxes.

It's no wonder that the gentry of Fengqiu were desperate and resorted to desperate measures; the imperial court had indeed infringed upon their enormous interests.

In addition, after this heavy-handed approach, the gentry in the nearby prefectures and counties, and even most of the capital region, obediently accepted the two new policies.

However, Zhao Yu did not let his guard down. He was well aware of how difficult it would be to implement the two new policies, and he was also well aware of just how greedy human nature could be.

If you earn six million every year, and suddenly an order comes down to take two million from you, wouldn't you feel resentful? Wouldn't you want to get rid of the person who is diminishing your earning power?
You must understand that blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents.

Moreover, the greed of the gentry is far beyond what ordinary people can imagine. They have enjoyed privileges for generations and take it for granted that they are exempt from paying taxes and performing corvée labor. Once these privileges are taken away, their resentment and resistance are not easily quelled.

Zhao Yu knew that although the court had suppressed the Fengqiu gentry's resistance with swift and decisive measures, it had not fundamentally solved the problem. The gentry still harbored resentment, which was only temporarily suppressed by fear; given the opportunity, they would surely make a comeback.

However, after this heavy blow from the imperial court, their next act of resistance will likely not be open.

While it's easy to dodge a spear in the open, it's hard to guard against an arrow in the dark; true danger often lurks beneath the surface. Beneath the seemingly calm waters, turbulent currents surge.

To put it simply, it's hard to guarantee that these gentry wouldn't want to deal with themselves for raising the issue.

Therefore, on the one hand, Zhao Yu personally funded the further expansion and strengthening of the Imperial City Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, allowing them to place spies in all departments of the Song Dynasty, including local government offices, as well as around all officials and generals of the Song Dynasty. Moreover, these spies were placed in a cross-regional manner, without any subordinate relationship between them. In this way, the actions of those gentry, even the slightest emotional fluctuations, could not escape Zhao Yu's notice.

—The key to surveillance and checks and balances lies in comprehensive control of information. Therefore, Zhao Yu not only strengthened the functions of these three intelligence agencies, but also ensured that they cooperated and checked each other, forming an airtight intelligence network that covered every corner of the entire Zhao Song Dynasty.

On the other hand, from the moment he decided to implement the two new policies, Zhao Yu took precautions to protect himself.

For example, he built nine sleeping quarters in Yanfu Palace, and each sleeping quarter had nine rooms. He would decide where to sleep that night just before going to bed.

For example, he strengthened his control and management over what he ate. Now, almost everything he eats is prepared by Yuan Qingcheng, and the cooks who assist Yuan Qingcheng are all female physicians. Crucially, everything he eats must be tasted by these female physicians first to confirm that it is safe before it is his turn to eat.

In short, Zhao Yu did many things to prevent problems before they arose.

Zhao Yu did not think he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

After all, the game of thrones is never short of cunning players.

Moreover, it must be said that all the capable emperors of the Song Dynasty—or rather, the emperors who wanted to do things and reform—had short lifespans. Is this all just a coincidence? Of course, most of the gentry did not dare to attack Zhao Yu, because if they failed in their first strike, they would face Zhao Yu's wrath.

The saying "When an emperor is enraged, millions will die" is not just a saying.

Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers estimated that the gentry's methods of resisting the two new policies were mostly to sabotage them in secret and to outwardly comply while inwardly resisting.

For example, when surveying land, they used their clan power to threaten village officials and yamen runners to tamper with land deeds and hide the land under their names; or they colluded with local clerks to increase taxes at each level, shifting the tax burden that should have been borne by the gentry onto ordinary farmers, exacerbating the conflict between the court and the people, and attempting to incite dissatisfaction among the people with the new policies.

Some gentry, leveraging their influence in literary and academic circles, incited writers to write articles criticizing the new policies, distorting the "equal taxation for gentry" into Zhao Yu's tyrannical rule and slandering the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" as Zhao Yu's violation of ancestral laws. They also organized debates in academies across the country, using lectures as a pretext to spread dissenting opinions and attempting to undermine the foundation of the new policies through public opinion.

Even worse, they might secretly instigate unrest in various prefectures and counties, disrupting the normal tax collection order, or incite remonstrating officials to openly criticize the new policies and the officials implementing them, sowing discord between Zhao Yu and the court officials, and undermining the power to promote the new policies from within.

These subtle attacks, though bloodless, are more difficult to defend against than open resistance, and they also put Zhao Yu and his ministers to a greater test of their wisdom and skill.

Zhao Yu gazed at the candlelight on his desk, its flickering flame reflecting in his deep eyes, which held both resolve and worry. He knew that to truly reform, he had to challenge the vested interests of those who had already amassed power, and these people were often the most difficult to shake. The gentry class, as one of the cornerstones of the Song Dynasty, wielded deeply entrenched influence, which could not be completely subdued overnight; this was bound to be a protracted war.

really!

The concerns of Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers soon became a reality. The Jingdong East Road, Jingdong West Road, Jingxi South Road, and Jingxi North Road, which were closest to the capital region, were the first to send back feedback on the implementation of the two new policies.

Zhao Yu showed Zhang Chun and Ye Shiyun the measured land areas reported by local officials, and they immediately concluded that the gentry in these areas had concealed a large amount of land.

In fact, the data was so outrageously wrong that Zhao Yu could see it without Zhang Chun and Ye Shiyun even looking at it, or with the ministers trying to calculate it. There was a lot of something fishy going on.

The problem is, there are just too many shady dealings involved.

Moreover, local officials from various places submitted memorials reflecting that they encountered great resistance during the land surveying process.

Some gentry threatened and intimidated the village head and yamen runners who were surveying the land, claiming that if they dared to report the land situation truthfully, they would make it impossible for their family members and friends to stay in the area.
Some gentry also bribed the village heads and yamen runners who were surveying land, making them willing to risk being punished by the imperial court to conceal land for the gentry;

Even worse, the village heads and yamen runners who measured the land were often relatives or retainers of the gentry. Their positions were obtained for them by the gentry, so naturally they would side with the gentry.

As the saying goes, the law does not punish the masses.

Faced with this overwhelming and complex resistance, and the endless fraud and defiance, Zhao Yu frowned deeply.

After discussing the matter with Zhang Dun, Cai Bian, Su Shi, and Lü Huiqing, who had just been transferred back to the court as a prime minister due to his rich experience in implementing the two new policies, Zhao Yu found that none of them had a good solution. He then summoned Zhang Chun, Li Lin, and Ye Shiyun, his three "helpers," and told them about the trouble they were facing.

The three women fell silent after hearing this.

Reform has always been difficult.

Implementing the new policies and measures is even more difficult.

Historically, although Emperor Yongzheng successfully implemented the policy, it only lasted for a few decades before his son, Emperor Qianlong, abolished it.

The reason for this was simply that the resistance from the gentry was too strong. This policy challenged a thousand-year-old tradition, touching upon the interests of scholar-officials and bureaucrats. Since the implementation of the imperial examination system, the exemption of those who passed the exams from corvée labor and taxes had been a fundamental principle. The implementation of this policy posed an unprecedented challenge to the imperial examination system.

Therefore, it is difficult to completely solve this problem using conventional methods.

To be honest, Zhao Yu had also considered learning from Emperor Qianlong and abolishing the "Equal Grain Payment by Gentry and Scholars" system, retaining only the "Equalization of Land Tax and Labor Service" system, and appropriately restoring the privileges of the gentry to balance the interests of all parties and reduce social conflicts.

Zhao Yu also considered completely abolishing land tax in the future, vigorously developing commerce and foreign trade, and only collecting commercial tax and customs duty.

But these things must be done step by step. First, the new policies must be implemented to abolish the poll tax that has oppressed the people for thousands of years. Then, depending on the development of the Zhao Song Dynasty, tax revenue can be gradually shifted towards commercial tax and customs duties, and land tax can be reduced little by little until it is completely abolished.

The key point is that, throughout history, whenever the imperial court became increasingly impoverished while local gentry and powerful families became increasingly wealthy, the dynasty was not far from its demise.

Now, the Zhao Song Dynasty was facing a situation where local gentry and powerful families were too rich and were getting richer, while the court, especially the court before Zhao Yu ascended the throne, was so poor that it was almost urinating blood.

This must change.

The three women remained silent for a while before Zhang Chun spoke up, saying, "There is someone who might be able to solve the Emperor's urgent problem."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu asked Zhang Chun, "Who possesses such skill?"

Zhang Chun said in a deep voice: "Saving the country is like building a house, while fighting is like drawing water from a river. The thirty-six provinces are vast, and my deeds are evident in Shandong."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu was stunned: "Song Jiang?!?"

……

(End of this chapter)