White-robed Minister

Chapter 229 0227 [The Person Abandoned by Xu Lai]

Due to the continuous impeachments by the censors, Xu Lai was demoted three ranks before he even arrived in Kaifeng.

This kind of ineffective punishment led to an increase in impeachment memorials.

Because the honorary titles were only used to distinguish the color of the clothes and accessories, and had little to do with the officials' salaries.

Before the Yuanfeng reforms, one had to reach the third rank to wear purple robes. Although Xu Lai's rank was not high enough, his official title included the note "bestowed with a purple robe and gold fish-shaped pouch."

No matter how much Xu Lai's official rank is reduced, he can still wear a purple robe and carry a gold fish-shaped pouch.

For Xu Lai, being demoted three ranks from a minor official position simply meant that when attending court, if he encountered an official whose rank, post, or assignment was roughly the same, and the other official's minor official rank was higher than his, he would have to stand behind that person.

What kind of punishment is this?

However, soon no one paid any attention to Xu Lai anymore, because someone else was attracting more attention to Li Ding!

Wang Anshi wanted to promote Li Ding to the position of Director of the Censorate, but there was too much opposition, so he promoted him to the position of Supervising Censor instead. Then he changed it to the position of Storyteller in the Chongzheng Hall. Now he has been promoted to the position of Director of the Imperial Secretariat, which allows him to write imperial edicts in place of the Director of Imperial Edicts.

A number of officials have already been demoted because they opposed the promotion of Li Ding.

This time, even the Imperial Censor Chen Jian was demoted. The other censors were so angry that they attacked Li Ding, and no one cared about Xu Lai's "embezzlement of public funds" anymore.

Judging from Zhao Xu's attitude, everyone had already realized that the emperor knew where the money had gone. They could easily impeach him a few times, fulfilling their duties as censors; there was no need to pursue the matter relentlessly.

Harem.

Emperor Zhao Xu lamented to Empress Xiang, "My teacher was perfect in every way, without a single flaw in his character. But he was too upright and completely blind to the situation. This time he was demoted and sent out of the capital, and will be recalled in two years. However, I still feel somewhat guilty towards Xu Sanlang."

"Your Majesty has only been demoted by three ranks of nobility, so why do you feel guilty?" Xiang asked the Empress.

Zhao Xu said, "He has only been in Qin and Feng for three years. Although the court and local authorities have provided him with a lot of money and grain, it is actually very little compared to what he has done. This year he made great contributions, but he was only promoted one rank in his official post and three ranks in his honorary post. Now he has been demoted to his honorary post due to impeachment. What's more, he used that money to serve the country, but he has to bear the stain on his reputation for the rest of his life. How can I bear it?"

He said to the Empress, "I have heard that Xu Sanlang is frugal. The house he used to rent in the capital was in the far corner of the outer city, almost outside the city walls. Why doesn't Your Majesty grant him a residence in the capital? This way, he can live without worry and serve the country more wholeheartedly."

"That's right, how come I didn't think of that?" Zhao Xu immediately became happy.

The following day, he summoned Yang Chong, the official in charge of managing the residences of the Tokyo store, and asked, "In the old city (inner city), is there a large residence suitable to be granted to a minister who has rendered meritorious service?"

Yang Chong thought for a moment and replied, "There is a house next to the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Jingning Ward that has been vacant for more than two years."

Zhao Xu continued to inquire, "Whose house was that before?"

Yang Chong elaborated: "During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, this residence was bestowed upon Wang Qinruo. Because it was adjacent to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Wang Qinruo felt uneasy and requested to move to Ding'anfang. It remained vacant thereafter."

"During the Qingli era, Emperor Renzong expanded this residence and renamed it Guangqin Residence, which was used to house members of the imperial family."

"Three years ago, His Majesty built the Guangqin Residence and Muqin Residence in the north of the city and moved all the members of the imperial clan to live together in the north of the city. The Guangqin Residence, which was expanded from Wang Qinruo's old residence, has remained vacant ever since."

Zhao Xu said, "Send someone to clean and tidy it up. I want to bestow this residence upon Hanlin Academician Xu Lai."

Yang Chong pointed out, "After Emperor Renzong expanded it, this residence became quite large, covering nearly ten acres."

"It's alright," Zhao Xu said.

"As you command!"

Yang Chong bowed and withdrew.

It must be noted that when the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty bestowed residences upon members of the imperial family, princesses, or ministers, they generally only granted them the right to reside there.

The property rights remain with the royal family and cannot be bought or sold privately; the property can be reclaimed at any time.

Only in very rare cases will property rights be granted as a reward.

Of course, if the emperor doesn't take it back in time, and the official's descendants live there for a long time, it might become impossible to get it back. The elderly, women, and children would then start crying and making a scene, which would be quite unsightly.

Therefore, when officials were sent to other places (mostly demoted), the emperor would take the opportunity to reclaim the bestowed residences, thus basically preventing any crying or protests.

In other words, although the house Xu Lai has been granted covers nearly ten acres and is adjacent to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, its value is estimated to be over 100,000 strings of cash, Xu Lai cannot trade it privately or leave it to his descendants. It could be taken back by the emperor at any time.

It's just a temporary stay.

Xu Lai is not in a good mood right now.

On his way back to the capital, he encountered a large number of people, mostly elderly and young, dressed in rags. He sent Wang Hou and Chen Xiaoyi to inquire, and they learned that they were starving people from various prefectures and counties in Shaanxi.

This year, Shaanxi suffered from drought and also encountered the Song-Xia War.

The frontline officials were urging for grain supplies, so the imperial court urged the Shaanxi transport commissioner. The Shaanxi transport commissioner then urged officials in various prefectures and counties, as well as transport commissioners in other circuits. Not only did many officials forcibly requisition grain, but they also forcibly conscripted laborers to transport it, resulting in widespread famine throughout Shaanxi.

Moreover, large numbers of starving people also gathered in Henan and Hebei provinces.

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Xu Lai stood on the deck of the official ship and even witnessed starving people collapsing and dying on the shore.

Local officials were helpless in the face of famine and could only mobilize the wealthy and temples to distribute porridge while requesting the imperial court to allocate grain. However, the imperial court could only provide a limited amount of grain, so it ordered local officials to procure grain for disaster relief.

The so-called grain procurement refers to the government purchasing grain from merchants or landlords.

Censor Xue Changchao is impeaching Wu Shichang, the prefect of Shangzhou, for driving down grain prices so low that no one in Shangzhou is willing to sell grain anymore. Many people in Shangzhou have already starved to death.

"Alas, I'm opening up the front lines, and all I'm using is the hard-earned money of the people," Xu Lai sighed.

Gong Dingchen walked up to him and said, "Sometimes, an official must be hard-hearted. If you feel guilty because of these starving people, you will be hesitant and timid when you govern the border regions in the future."

Xu Lai said, "I feel guilty because of these starving people before me, and more will die because of me. I petitioned the court to have the various prefectures in Shaanxi conscript laborers to transport grain to Lanzhou to build the city, and then leave them in Lanzhou to bolster the border regions. The court has already approved this, and I estimate that money and grain are already being transferred. Officials in various places will certainly prioritize conscripting starving people to Lanzhou."

Conscripting starving people to populate Lanzhou seemed like a way to solve the famine, increase the Han population in Lanzhou, and conveniently transport grain to the front lines. However, in practice, it inevitably went awry.

The starving people were already physically weak, and they were forced to transport grain over thousands of miles. Even with the extensive use of livestock, countless people would die of exhaustion along the way!

These people died of exhaustion on the way because of Xu Lai's memorial to the throne.

Those who aspire to great things must become ruthless.

Even if Xu Lai felt extremely guilty, even if he knew this situation beforehand, he would still write the same memorial to the court. If he didn't do this, Lanzhou could not truly be absorbed by the Song Dynasty.

Wang Hou suddenly asked, "Master, when Zigong asked about governance, Confucius spoke of food, military strength, and trustworthiness. If one of these three must be eliminated, why eliminate military strength first? And in present-day Shaanxi, why must food be eliminated first?"

Zigong asked Confucius how to govern a country. Confucius replied that there should be sufficient food, sufficient military strength, and the court should maintain its credibility. Zigong then asked, "If one must be sacrificed, what should it be?" Confucius answered, "Military strength." Zigong further asked, "And if both must be sacrificed?" Confucius replied, "Food. Since ancient times, death has been inevitable, but a nation cannot stand without the people's trust. The state must maintain its credibility with its people."

Xu Lai countered, "Do you know why the Western Xia grew so powerful?"

Wang Hou shook his head blankly.

Xu Lai said, "Emperor Taizong's five-pronged attack on Li Jiqian failed, leaving Shaanxi without food, soldiers, and trust. The people of Shaanxi had long since lost faith in the court when it came to warfare. They not only bore heavy taxes due to the war, but also frequently died far from home as laborers transporting grain. Confucius was right: a nation cannot stand without the people's trust. For governing a country, credibility is paramount. How can we gain credibility in Shaanxi?"

Wang Hou said, "Should we appoint virtuous and capable officials, reduce taxes and corvée labor, and improve people's livelihoods?"

"You're so wrong," Xu said. "Li Shizhong is such a capable official, able to reduce taxes and improve people's livelihoods. But if he's allowed to serve as an official in the border regions, he will surely bring disaster to the country and its people."

Wang Hou bowed and said, "Please enlighten me, sir."

Xu Lai said, "To govern Shaanxi, the imperial court must first establish credibility. This credibility is not ordinary credibility. It is credibility that the people of Shaanxi must believe that the imperial court can win battles. It is credibility that the soldiers and laborers who died in war did not die in vain. As long as the imperial court can continue to win battles and continuously recover lost territory, the people can even endure suffering and death. What they lack is faith—hope. They themselves have no hope, and even their descendants have no hope!"

Wang Hou seemed to be deep in thought.

Xu Lai continued, "In Shaanxi, we must boost the people's confidence. To build confidence, we must expand our territory and win battles. Therefore, the first priority is to have enough soldiers, followed by enough food. Trust is the last thing to be done, because there is no trust here anymore. If we don't have enough soldiers, the people will also be unable to get enough food once the Western Xia invades."

Wang Hou suddenly realized: "So this is exactly the opposite of what Confucius said: first ensure sufficient military strength, then sufficient food, and finally establish trust."

Xu Lai said, "That's one way to understand it, but we can't just apply it blindly. We must strive for sufficient troops, sufficient food, and established trust at the same time."

Only as a last resort can we abandon one or two aspects. Such abandonment is only temporary. After the war ends, we must immediately restore people's livelihoods.

Xu Lai then looked at the starving people on the shore: "Some of them are the ones I abandoned. Hundreds, maybe even thousands or tens of thousands, might die along the way. I owe them tens of thousands of lives. A benevolent person extends their love to those they do not love."

The last quote is from Mencius: True benevolence is not just loving those you see before you, but extending that love to a wider and farther place.

If Lanzhou city is not built and people are not relocated to populate the border regions, future battles with the Western Xia will not only result in some starving civilians dying on the way, but also many more soldiers dying in battle and many more civilians being killed, exhausted, or starving due to the war.

"This disciple has learned much!"

Wang Hou bowed respectfully.

As early winter approached, a north wind began to blow, and the flags of the official ships fluttered in the wind.

The starving people on both sides of the strait moved silently. They had received their rations and were gathering in groups in a certain place, waiting to be recruited by the government as laborers.

Zhang Heng and Yang Shu are in for a long time to work. By the time these people finally reach Lanzhou, they will probably be half-dead. Those who survive will not be able to build a city immediately; they will need to be given provisions and allowed to rest for a while.