White-robed Minister

Chapter 232 0230 [The Ten-Year Plan to Annihilate Western Xia]

The imperial banquets were usually held in the summer and winter, avoiding the sweltering heat and the freezing cold, and were only held from February to the Dragon Boat Festival and from August to the Winter Solstice.

On the day before the winter solstice, the emperor personally ordered Xu to be the main speaker at the last lecture of the year.

Xu Lai's current post is Hanlin Academician and Lecturer. His main job is to serve as an advisor and lecturer to the emperor. He may also be given the title of "Drafter of Imperial Edicts" at any time, in charge of writing imperial edicts.

The grand banquet officially began at 1 p.m.

However, the officials arrived a quarter of an hour early. The participants included: prime ministers, privy councilors, ministers of the three departments, censors, historians, Hanlin scholars, storytellers, nobles, and high-ranking military officials.

This winter, the leadership team underwent significant changes.

Fu Bi was demoted from Prime Minister to Envoy, and exiled from the capital to serve as Prefect of Haozhou. Wang Anshi was promoted from Vice Prime Minister to Prime Minister.

The current prime ministers are—

Prime Ministers: Zeng Gongliang, Chen Shengzhi, Han Jiang, Wang Anshi.

Vice Chancellors: Feng Jing and Wang Gui.

Feng Jing also experienced several promotions in quick succession. First, due to his opposition to the Green Sprouts Act, he was transferred from Censor-in-Chief to Vice Privy Councilor. After Gong Dingchen returned to the capital to serve as Vice Privy Councilor, Feng Jing was promoted by the emperor to Vice Chancellor.

Chen Shengzhi is actually quite interesting. After falling out with Wang Anshi, although he strongly opposed the Green Sprouts Act, he implicitly supported military reforms. Furthermore, he's now constantly threatening to resign.

"squeak"

~~~, the door to the side hall was pushed open, and a blast of cold air rushed in.

Xu Lai, dressed in a purple official robe and carrying a gold fish-shaped pouch, stepped into the hall, where the ministers inside exchanged polite greetings with him.

Wu Chong, who had previously tried his best to raise money and grain to support Xu Lai's war effort, had been transferred from the position of Commissioner of the Three Departments to the position of Deputy Commissioner of the Privy Council for failing to cooperate with Wang Anshi's reforms.

The person who took over the Three Departments was Li Zhongshi (not Li Shizhong).

Li Zhongshi was a very capable man, and the emperor praised him in front of his ministers.

Fu Bi, however, asked, "Where did Your Majesty hear that he did a good job?" implying that his performance was only so-so, and that the reformists were just praising each other.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and both Fu Bi and Li Zhongshi were demoted and banished from the capital.

Heh heh, Li Zhongshi happens to be an official in Fu Bi's hometown. When the exemption from corvée labor law is implemented next year, he will thoroughly investigate Fu Bi's household registration and order Fu Bi's family to pay the same exemption fee as ordinary people. Moreover, he deliberately collects a heavier exemption fee in Fu Bi's hometown than in other places.

The Three Commissioners have been replaced again; his name is Li Suzhi. He can be described in four words: virtuous and talented.

Li Suzhi was promoted by Zhao Xu personally based solely on his political achievements. He did not belong to any faction.

Xu Lai first bowed to Prime Minister Zeng Gongliang, then to Vice Prime Minister Chen Shengzhi, and then to Han Jiang, Wang Anshi, Wen Yanbo, and others. He greeted them in the order of their court duties, ensuring he did not offend anyone.

Sima Guang was not in the capital at this time. Because he wrote resignation letters every day and opposed the Green Sprouts Act, the emperor had already sent him to Yongxing Army as a military governor. After arriving in his post, he also resigned every few days, and it was estimated that it would be some time before he could resign.

After all, Sima Guang was a man of immense fame. Just like Ouyang Xiu before him, even resigning was difficult; he had to resign gradually in stages. The emperor feared that directly approving his resignation would invite criticism for not tolerating a renowned minister.

Feng Jing was particularly enthusiastic towards Xu Lai, holding Xu Lai's hand and saying, "Your provincial examination essay from back then seems like it was just yesterday. Time flies, and you've already achieved high rank!"

Xu Lai smiled and said, "Sir, you have also become a vice prime minister."

"Hahaha!" Feng Jing laughed loudly upon hearing this, but there was a hint of bitterness in his laughter.

He was the chief examiner when Xu Lai took the imperial examination, but unfortunately, because it was an unofficial list, he did not become Xu Lai's mentor. As for this vice prime minister, he is now in a very frustrating position.

Xu Lai sat down and chatted with Gong Dingchen and Wu Chong, showing them the closest rapport. One was his former superior, and the other was Ouyang Xiu's in-law; this closeness could be interpreted as being devoid of political overtones.

Of course, this move could also be seen as politically motivated by some people: Xu Lai was a centrist who neither strongly supported nor opposed the reforms.

When the auspicious hour arrived, everyone went to the main hall and stood in two groups, one for civil officials and one for military officials.

Xu Lai is the main speaker at today's lecture. Led by the "book-displaying official," he took his place in front of the lecture table in the main hall.

The master of ceremonies announced the emperor's arrival, and music began. The emperor then emerged from the rear hall and took his seat at the imperial desk.

An official stepped forward, opened the imperial lecture notes, and flattened them with a copper ruler. He then announced the commencement of the lecture and bowed to Xu Lai.

Xu Lai bowed to the emperor and officials and began, "The lectures usually cover classics and history. I am relatively young and inexperienced, and my knowledge of classics and history is far inferior to that of the learned scholars present. Therefore, I will not presume to teach you, but will only talk about the wars related to Western Xia."

The courtiers were astonished.

Xu Lai's "Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Virtues" were still highly regarded. Everyone thought he was going to talk about that, but unexpectedly, he not only didn't talk about the Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Virtues, but he didn't even touch on the classics and history. Instead, he talked about the war against the Western Xia.

However, there doesn't seem to be any explicit rule prohibiting the discussion of military matters.

Xu Lai said, "Why was the Western Xia able to rise to power? Why did Fan Zhongyan (Fan Wenzheng) build so many fortified villages in the Northwest? It all stemmed from the same reason: provisions!"

"At that time, Li Jiqian was forced to hide in the desert. How was he able to turn the tide? After the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, the population there was depleted and agriculture was destroyed. The Song army could not supply its own food and had to transport grain from Shaanxi."

"At that time, the Song Dynasty did not build fortified villages, so grain had to be transported from hundreds or thousands of miles away to the front line in one go. First, they had to cross mountains and valleys, and then cross the vast desert. Donkeys, horses, and mules were simply not suitable. Once they could not hold on in the desert, they would die one after another, and the grain carried by the animals had to be abandoned."

"Camels also have drawbacks. First, the Song Dynasty didn't have enough camels, and second, camels eat too much. The best solution was to have laborers transport grain. But the amount of grain that laborers could transport was limited, and they also needed to eat themselves."

"If we make laborers carry grain over a distance of over 500 li, and then provide them with grain for their return journey, then the grain carried by each laborer wouldn't even be enough for them to get home. The court would even owe the laborers rations!"

Not a single grain of rice was left, and they even owed the laborers their rations?

When Xu Lai uttered these words, the emperor and his ministers present were all astonished, and even some military officials found it unbelievable.

"At that time, the imperial court's approach was to prevent the laborers from returning home. After the laborers transported grain to the front lines, they were converted into auxiliary soldiers and civilian households on the spot."

Take Yanzhou as an example; it's practically impossible to cultivate there. The more laborers who transport grain there, the more severe the food shortage in Yanzhou becomes.

"Li Jiqian didn't fight the Song army at all; he only constantly harassed their supply lines. As a result, no matter how many Song soldiers there were at the front, it was useless because they couldn't find an enemy to fight. As the number of soldiers and laborers increased, the Song front lines became increasingly short of food. The more food was short, the more food needed to be transported. The more food was transported, the more laborers were stranded at the front lines, leading to even greater food shortages —"

"Li Jiqian, who was hiding in the desert, was getting more and more grain, all of which he plundered from the Song army's supply lines. If the Song army sent a large army to protect the supply lines, it would consume even more grain, and Li Jiqian would deliberately avoid it. The Song army had too few troops to protect the supply lines, so Li Jiqian took the opportunity to plunder."

Zhao Xu, Wang Anshi, Zeng Gongliang, Wen Yanbo, and others seemed to be deep in thought. They were familiar with that period of history, but there were many things they couldn't understand. After Xu Lai's explanation, the parts they couldn't understand before suddenly became clear.

Xu Lai continued, "Emperor Taizong, in order to starve Li Jiqian, ordered a ban on grain trade. This move caused many pro-Chongqing vassal states to become dissatisfied and turn to Li Jiqian, joining him in plundering the Song army's supply lines. Li Jiqian's power thus grew significantly."

Zhao Xu looked somewhat embarrassed.

The courtiers were surprised that Xu Lai dared to speak so frankly, and some were even secretly worried for him.

This is a criticism of Emperor Taizong.

Xu Lai was unconcerned: "After Li Jiqian felt that his strength was sufficient, he sent troops to besiege Lingzhou. He neither attacked the city nor fought in the field, but just waited for the Song Dynasty to send troops to rescue him, and he kept plundering the Song Dynasty's grain transport teams. If this continues, the soldiers and civilians of Lingzhou will starve to death. Because Lingzhou is also short of food, the local water conservancy facilities have been destroyed, and the grain grown from the reclaimed land is simply not enough to support its own needs."

"Under these circumstances, neither the civil nor military officials could come up with a strategy, so Emperor Taizong personally devised a plan to attack where the enemy must defend and to encircle and annihilate them from five directions."

"But with five routes of encirclement and suppression, some far away and some near, coupled with the barrier of the desert, they simply couldn't coordinate with each other."

"Let's start with Zhang Shouen's army. He encountered Li Jiqian, but withdrew without fighting a single battle. Was it because he was cowardly and dared not fight? Not at all. He was marching in the desert, which greatly depleted the soldiers' physical strength and supplies."

"Li Jiqian doesn't need to fight Zhang Shouen at all. He only needs to rely on his familiarity with the desert and send a small force to lead Zhang Shouen in circles. As long as Zhang Shouen dares to pursue the enemy, it won't be long before his soldiers are exhausted and his supplies are depleted. At that time, Li Jiqian can win easily."

"Therefore, Zhang Shouen, after a brief pursuit, sensed the danger and hastily withdrew his troops without regard for the emperor's orders."

Upon hearing this explanation, the emperor and his ministers understood Zhang Shouen's predicament.

We absolutely cannot pursue them; if we do, we will be completely wiped out.

Xu Lai continued, "Emperor Taizong understood Zhang Shouen's predicament, so he did not pursue his crime of withdrawing troops without authorization afterward."

"Li Jilong's army disobeyed the imperial order from the very beginning because the route set out by Emperor Taizong was problematic. However, the provisions and the army had already been assembled, and Li Jilong could not wait for the court to change the route, otherwise the exchange of official documents would consume too much military supplies. Therefore, he changed the route on his own and set out on his own, and encountered the allied forces of Ding Han halfway."

"These two Song armies advanced together, searching for the enemy in the vast desert. In the end, their supplies were running out, and they still couldn't find any trace of Li Jiqian. They had no choice but to retreat."

"Of the five armies, only Wang Chao and Fan Tingzhao remained. They had marched a long way through the desert, their supplies were running low, and their soldiers were extremely hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. They fought a bloody battle with Li Jiqian for several days and successfully defeated him. However, their supplies ran out, and they had no choice but to retreat."

"Emperor Taizong's five-pronged encirclement campaign ended hastily. If we only consider the rescue of Lingzhou, Emperor Taizong achieved his strategic goal. With his stronghold under siege, Li Jiqian certainly dared not attack Lingzhou again."

"However, over a million civilians were tasked with transporting provisions for the hundreds of thousands of troops, most of whom either died or were stranded beyond the Great Wall. The people of Shaanxi and Hedong were thus impoverished and could no longer support the war effort in the Northwest. They could only allow Li Jiqian to grow in power!"

Since the "History of Song" is no longer available, to learn about what happened back then, one must consult court documents and local historical records.

Therefore, many of the ministers present today are hearing the details of what happened back then for the first time.

Even top ministers who have access to the documents will only learn the complete details for the first time if they put in the effort to study them carefully.

This applies to both Zhao and Xiang.

He had carefully studied the court documents, but his understanding was only superficial. It wasn't until Xu Lai recounted the story that he realized how difficult the Song army's situation had been.

Why did Xu Lai talk about these things?

He wanted to warn Zhao Xu not to repeat the mistakes of Zhao Guangyi. The real difficulty in destroying Western Xia lay in securing supplies and controlling the desert.

Xu Lai said, "Fan Wenzheng learned from this lesson and built many fortified villages on the northwest front. This method can, firstly, gradually erode and recover lost territory, and secondly, it can store troops and grain on the front. The hundreds or thousands of miles of military and supply routes can be divided into dozens or hundreds of miles, so that grain can be transported and stored in sections even when there is no war."

Zhao Xu asked, "Will we continue to nibble away at them like this? Can't we accumulate strength and wipe out Western Xia in one fell swoop?"

Xu Lai said, "I suggest that the destruction of Xia should be divided into three stages."

"In the first phase, we harassed and gradually encroached upon the borderlands of Western Xia. In particular, we targeted the borderlands of Western Xia, where grain could be grown, causing a constant shortage of food for the Western Xia people. Western Xia was forced to send grain to the front lines. This was the same method Li Jiqian used to deal with the Song Dynasty, and now we're letting Western Xia taste the same flavor."

"In the second phase, after Shaanxi restored people's livelihoods and stopped suffering from famine, we sent troops to conquer the border areas of Western Xia that could produce grain. Then we built fortified villages, resettled people to strengthen the border, and stockpiled grain and fodder."

"In the third phase, with ample troops and provisions, we will mobilize a large army to conquer and destroy the Western Xia!"

"It may take ten years to complete these three stages."

Zhao Xu lowered his head and pondered: "Ten years—ten years is a long time, but it doesn't seem like too long either."

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xu Lai is formulating a national policy to destroy the Western Xia.