White-robed Minister

Chapter 193 0191 [Current Situation of All Parties]

Compared to Wang Shao's expansion of the borders in history, Xu Lai actually saved many steps.

For example, Xu Lai was too lazy to expand Guwei Village. But Wang Shao mobilized laborers and provisions to expand Guwei Village into Tongyuan Military City.

There was also the matter of recruiting households to reclaim wasteland, and Wang Shao first applied to the imperial court for this as well. However, he was obstructed by Li Shizhong, and the imperial court sent officials to investigate the facts. The officials reported that Wang Shao was lying, which angered Wang Anshi, who sent officials to investigate again. After many back-and-forth delays, the wasteland reclamation plan was finally approved.

Xu Lai didn't care about any of that. After taking office, he immediately recruited people to reclaim wasteland, but not many people were willing to come until Yu Longke surrendered and the number increased slightly.

Xu Lai also started doing things like trading, exchanging goods, and building fortified villages without waiting for approval from the imperial court.

Step by step, step by step!

Wang Shao spent three years preparing, while Xu Lai only took less than a year and a half.

Impeachment of officials?

Then let's impeach them.

Wang Shao is honest and obedient, so why shouldn't he be impeached?

As darkness fell, the city gates of Guwei Village slowly closed.

A rider galloped in from the west, shouting from a distance: "Great victory! Great victory! We have won a great victory, forcing the surrender of Bazanjiao! Great victory! Great victory—"

The gatekeepers did not open the city gate, but instead hoisted the person up in a basket, verified their identity, and then allowed them to enter the city.

At that moment, the officials, soldiers, and civilians in the city had already finished their dinner when they suddenly heard shouts of "Great Victory!" from the streets. People rushed out of their homes to inquire about the details.

Upon learning of the surrender of Cape Bajam, the entire city erupted in cheers, sweeping away the fear of the past few days.

Why should we be afraid?

Because of the false news of Yu Longke's rebellion, even the soldiers and civilians on their side were deceived, and everyone thought that the Song army was going to fight Yu Longke.

It turns out that Yu Longke didn't rebel; instead, he went with the Song army to attack Bazhanjiao and even forced Bazhanjiao to surrender through a surprise attack. Xu Anfu Shi is truly a man of unparalleled wisdom!

"Hahaha!"

Hou Ke laughed three times.

He had just finished dinner and, in a good mood, called his son over for drinks.

Wang Shao was overjoyed, never expecting the battle to go so smoothly. The army had only set off overnight, and this evening they had already received news of victory.

Report the victory! Quickly report the victory to the imperial court!

They took the opportunity to demand more money and grain from the imperial court, and also requested that the court relocate the newly formed local troops.

Those newly formed militia were all young and strong disaster victims from last year. They were no good at fighting, but they were excellent at farming, so it was perfect to bring them here to cultivate the land.

The imperial court was certainly unwilling, but what if they continued to achieve great victories? Xu Lai kept demanding immigration, and with each successive victory, the imperial court would eventually approve it.

mm

The Moershui Ba tribe, whose territory borders Bazhanjiao, was terrified upon hearing that Bazhanjiao had surrendered to the Song Dynasty and was even recruiting smaller tribes for the Song.

While reinforcing the fortress, its leader sent someone to inform Mu Zheng and made preparations to lead his troops to escape at any time.

Several days later, Mu Zheng, who was far away in Tabai City, finally received news of his younger brother's surrender.

Enraged, Mu Zheng smashed things and cursed, then ordered all his troops to gather and sent envoys to the Western Xia for help.

The Qiang people's tribal system was very loose.

They are very enthusiastic about guarding their own territories, but it is more difficult to get them to send troops to retake Weiyuan.

Especially the tribes far from Weiyuan kept making excuses to procrastinate. What did it matter to them if Weiyuan was taken by the Song army? Even if they took Weiyuan back, they wouldn't gain anything; they would only suffer losses of soldiers and resources.

And what about the Western Xia?

Empress Dowager Liang and Liang Yimai of Western Xia have fallen out with the Western Xia commander-in-chief in the Lanzhou area!

While the Sinicization efforts did displease many Tangut leaders, they also benefited from them.

This year, in an effort to win over the various Tangut tribes, Empress Dowager Liang formally announced the restoration of old Tangut customs. While gaining the loyalty of many Tangut leaders, this also offended some.

Even the power in the imperial court was divided into two factions.

Li Yuanhao's cousin, Weiming Langyu, was the leader of the opposition.

This person held military power and controlled the Western Xia government while Li Liangzuo was still alive!

The Han officials who had been betrayed by Empress Dowager Liang, along with some Dangxiang leaders, gathered around Weiming Langyu and opposed Empress Dowager Liang in everything they did.

To consolidate her power, Empress Dowager Liang heavily relied on her lover, and Liang Yimai promoted many members of the Liang clan. This further exacerbated the internal conflicts within Western Xia!

Before Empress Dowager Liang killed Weiming Langyu, Western Xia was no longer capable of launching military campaigns abroad.

This is an excellent window of opportunity.

A month has passed, and Mu Zheng has still not completed gathering his troops.

Two months later, Mu Zheng was still ordering troops to be gathered and sending envoys to threaten various tribes.

Three months passed, and only half of the tribes sent troops. The rest weren't against it, but complained that they didn't have enough food. Some leaders whose territories bordered the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau said they couldn't send troops at all, as they had to guard against Dongzhan from Qinghai.

What's the point of fighting?

With the troops Mu Zheng has gathered now, if he were to launch a preemptive attack on Weiyuan, the Song army would only need to defend the newly fortified stockade to give Mu Zheng a bloody defeat!

If the Song army did not continue its advance towards Wusheng (Lintao), the various Qiang tribes would have no way to unite.

The root cause of this situation is that Mu Zheng suffered a series of defeats in previous years and was forced to submit to the Western Xia. Last year, he was even so frightened that he moved his base.

All of these factors led to a sharp decline in Mu Zheng's prestige, making him unable to control the tribes under his command.

Kaifeng.

When Xu Lai led his troops to Weiyuan, Fu Bi became the prime minister and Wang Anshi became the vice prime minister.

Wang Anshi's first action upon taking office was to establish the "Regulations for the Three Departments," which allowed the vice prime minister to control the three departments and seize financial power!

Not only that, Wang Anshi also took the opportunity to promote talented people.

For example, Su Zhe and Cheng Ti were recruited into this department, and Wang Anshi groomed them as key figures for the reform. At this stage, they did indeed support the reform and actively offered advice to Wang Anshi.

As long as the Green Sprouts Act is not enacted, many officials actually support the reform.

"Sigh, I failed again!"

Liang Wensu was distraught.

Wen Zhonghe said to his classmates, "There is really no hope in the imperial examinations. Gentlemen, I am going to Tongyuan Army to follow Xu Sanlang in opening up the border."

The classmates looked at each other, and two or three of them hesitated. They also wanted to go, but they were hesitant because of various concerns.

"Haha, I won—cough cough!"

Amidst the crowd, Chen Yanhong was initially delighted, but then became nonchalant, leisurely leaving while fanning himself with a folding fan.

Chen Yanhong finally passed the exam, and even became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the second class.

Liang Wensu secretly resolved to spend a fortune and enroll in the Imperial Academy himself. Only by entering the Imperial Academy would he have a greater chance of success.

Just as they were having their farewell dinner and preparing to leave the capital, news related to the imperial examinations arrived.

This was Wang Anshi's second action: abolishing the Mingjing examination. The content of the Mingjing examination was incorporated into the Jinshi examination. Poetry, prose, and classical texts were formally abolished, and Confucian classics and policy essays were used to select officials.

In other words, from now on, only the interpretation of classics and policy essays will be tested!

The candidates who failed the imperial examinations were all dumbfounded. They had practiced poetry and prose since childhood. How could it be canceled just like that? The classics were something that only incompetent candidates in the Mingjing examination would practice. Now, it had actually become the main content of the Jinshi examination?

Guo Shen, who was from Qingyuan County like Xu Lai and had also passed the imperial examination for the state school, found Wen Zhonghe, who was about to travel west, and said: "I'll go with you. I can't take the imperial examination again."

Wen Zhonghe was overjoyed: "We're a perfect match, we can travel together."

Guo Shen said, "I've already written home and asked my classmate to take it back. I've also borrowed some money from my classmate, so I should have enough for the journey. Let's get going; I don't want to stay in this capital city for even a day longer."

The cancellation of the poetry and prose examination directly shattered Guo Shen's resolve to follow the Dao.

At that very moment, far away in Yangzhou, the Ding siblings were changing boats. They brought two personal servants and a full twenty Tanka warriors to escort them to Tongyuan Army.

The situation at court became increasingly tense.

Fu Bi, who was recalled to the court to serve as prime minister, was caught in the middle. He needed to ease the conflict between Wang Anshi and other ministers, but Wang Anshi was too radical and there was no way to ease the tension.

Fu Bi could only repeatedly try to dissuade the emperor and Wang Anshi, but his efforts were in vain, which left him full of resentment.

Having served as prime minister for only a month, Fu Bi already wanted to resign.

During this period, Wang Anshi argued with Han Qi and Sima Guang again.

The incident stemmed from the Yellow River breaching its banks last year, during which Wang Anshi suggested constructing a second river flowing eastward.

Han Qi is currently stationed in Beijing (Damingfu) and is very clear about the current situation of the Ergu River. He firmly opposes the eastward flow project.

Sima Guang supported Wang Anshi's Eastward Flow Project, but believed that it should not be rushed and should take at least four or five years to complete.

The water conservancy officials of the Song Dynasty were also divided into three factions, each supporting Han Qi, Wang Anshi, and Sima Guang.

Subsequent events proved that Sima Guang's suggestion was the optimal solution, but at this stage it was the least desirable option because it consumed the most manpower, resources, and time!

The emperor and his ministers either refused to act or were too eager for quick success and instant benefits, so not many people supported Sima Guang.

Sima Guang was also furious, believing Han Qi and Wang Anshi to be complete idiots. Unable to directly criticize Han Qi and Wang Anshi, he instead targeted Zhang Gong and others in charge of flood control, indirectly criticizing them: "—They are all only concerned with their own survival, disregarding the nation's strength and the suffering of the people."

These words were, of course, a sarcastic jab at Wang Anshi.

Sima Guang believed that Wang Anshi was completely recklessly messing things up in order to seize power, treating the millions of people along the Ergu River as a joke.

"My lord, a great victory! A great victory for the Tongyuan army!"

"What great victory?"

"The Tongyuan Army, with only two thousand soldiers, launched a surprise attack on Tongwei overnight. In just one day, they forced the Qiang chieftain Bazhanjiao to surrender and gained control of his one hundred thousand followers!"

The claim of 100,000 followers was obviously an exaggeration, meant to deceive the imperial court.

Sima Guang sighed with deep emotion, "Xu Xingzhi was so carefree! Expanding territories was so enjoyable, without having to stay in the court and argue with those people. I even want to become an official in Tongyuan Army!"

Sima Guang was deeply troubled. In order to stop Wang Anshi from recklessly controlling the Yellow River, he decided to side with Han Qi and join him in opposing the eastward-flowing project.

But Han Qi had already been marginalized, so how could he possibly control Wang Anshi?

Amidst the repeated arguments among his ministers, the emperor had already sided with Wang Anshi's faction. However, due to the overwhelming opposition, the emperor dared not issue an order yet.

Even if Xu Lai had stayed in the capital, he still wouldn't have been able to stop Wang Anshi.

Wang Anshi's impatient and opportunistic approach perfectly suited the emperor's desires. Both the emperor and his minister were damnably impatient. (The number of horses pulling the cannons in the previous chapter has been corrected; thanks to readers for pointing out the error.)