White-robed Minister

Chapter 240, Chapter 0238: [Differences in Governing Ideologies]

From the fourteenth to the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, there are all sorts of activities.

For example, a husband could host a "Fragrance Opening Banquet," inviting musicians, singers, and dancers to his home to enjoy song and dance performances in the hall and express his love to his wife.

In the following days, the husband invited friends to social events, and the wife also played and had fun with other female relatives.

Women would even go out all night long, and some would go to restaurants to get drunk. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, when Confucian ethics were prevalent, this would definitely have been subject to criticism and condemnation, but in the Song dynasty, it was nothing unusual.

Xu Lai also held a welcoming banquet for Pianpian.

He is rich.

Historically, during Wang Shao's time expanding the borders, the emperor bestowed upon him a total of eight thousand bolts of silk. How could Xu Lai have received less in rewards?

At the opening banquet, the songstress sang "Green Jade Table - Lantern Festival," which Yu'er and Dingxiang envied greatly. Xu Lai felt a little embarrassed and planned to find an opportunity to copy a couple of songs for them as well.

Over the next few days, Pianpian, along with Yu'er and Dingxiang, went on outings with the female relatives of Shen Kuo, Lin Yi, Su Shi, and others. Among them were Cai Kang's daughter-in-law, Gong Dingchen's youngest daughter, and others. One day they would visit a lantern festival, the next day they would go to worship Buddha, and the day after that they would go to a brothel to listen to music.

The lives of the women in these officials' families are anything but dull; they have plenty of entertainment.

The poem "Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival" began to circulate among the families of officials, and then appeared in brothels and entertainment districts in Kaifeng. It spread wider and wider, and soon became well-known among the literati.

Even after the Lantern Festival holiday, Zhao Xu summoned Xu Lai: "Mr. Xu, have you composed a poem, 'Green Jade Table - Lantern Festival'?"

Xu Lai replied, "This work does indeed exist."

Emperor Zhao Xu smiled and exclaimed, "I only knew that you wrote excellent poems, but I didn't expect you to write such wonderful lyrics as well. The Empress also praised these lyrics endlessly when she heard them yesterday."

"It's just a game," Xu said.

Zhao Xu seemed to be in a very good mood, and said to Xu Lai with a smile: "During the Lantern Festival holiday, I received two pieces of good news. The first is that of the three major bandits in Kuizhou, one of them has been beheaded, and the other two bandits are also nearing their end. The second is the great victory in Suizhou, where Zhong E beheaded 1,200 people and persuaded more than 1,400 barbarian people to surrender."

However, three Yi tribes in Kuizhou rebelled, and a year's efforts to quell the rebellion had yielded no results. Wang Anshi then recommended Zhang Dun to suppress the rebellion. Before Zhang Dun had even left the capital, a report of victory arrived from Kuizhou, stating that one of the rebel groups had been wiped out.

Meanwhile, far away in Suizhou, Zhong E was also fighting against the Western Xia.

In order to force the Song Dynasty to negotiate peace and return the land it had occupied the previous year, Empress Dowager Liang directly dispatched the commander of the capital, Luo Wei, to lead the troops.

Du Luowei controlled the entire army of Western Xia, but due to the heavy losses suffered by Western Xia last year, he only mobilized a few thousand troops this time.

Zhong E did not use firearms at all, but led three thousand cavalrymen to launch a proactive attack, and in just over half a month, he defeated the capital of Rome.

Two reports of victory were delivered to the capital in succession. Zhao Xu was so happy that he danced with joy in the palace and listened to "Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival" with Empress Xiang.

However, the imperial court was indeed out of money.

The provinces of Hedong and Hebei were reinforcing their military preparedness to counter the military threat from the Liao Dynasty. However, the Three Departments (San Si) had no funds to spare, so Zhao Xu had to sell off his own imperial treasury treasures.

Meanwhile, in Shaanxi, military preparations were being strengthened, and several thousand ordination certificates were issued, allowing civil and military officials at the front to sell these certificates to raise funds for the army.

Xu Lai bid farewell to the emperor and returned to the Academy of Scholars, where he copied the "Rhyme Dictionary of the Ministry of Rites" in Song typeface.

This time, when he commissioned craftsmen to carve movable type, he naturally couldn't take the opportunity to use colloquial characters, but he could choose the simplest form of the traditional characters. That is, for the same Chinese character, which has several traditional forms, he only chose the one with the fewest strokes.

Occasionally after get off work, he would go out for a couple of drinks with the Liao envoys.

In mid-February, Han Zhen, the chief negotiator, privately told Xu, "The Liao Kingdom has sent another group of envoys to the capital, claiming to be there to congratulate His Majesty on his birthday. After the two groups of envoys met, Xiao Xi's attitude became extremely tough, even demanding border land and attempting to redraw the border."

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"Have the Liao troops made any unusual movements?" Xu Lai asked.

Han Zhen said, "Small groups of Liao cavalry have crossed the border to raid the border, and the Liao Kingdom has also built fortified villages on the Hedong and Hebei borders of the Song Dynasty."

Xu Lai speculated, "It's probably because the Western Xia suffered a major defeat in Suizhou last month, and the Liao emperor could no longer sit still."

Han Zhen said, "The envoys from Liao and Xia are now pressing forward step by step, all clamoring to demarcate the border with the Song Dynasty."

"We can only talk after the fight is over," Xu said.

The Liao Kingdom took advantage of the chaos and even made inexplicable territorial demands.

For the next two weeks, Xu Lai did not negotiate with the Liao and Xia envoys. He simply copied the "Rhyme Dictionary of the Ministry of Rites" in Song typeface every day and occasionally inquired about the research and development progress on Shen Kuo's side.

On the Western Xia side, two more fortified villages were captured by the Song army.

On the Liao side, more and more small troop units were being dispatched. Moreover, they were all cavalry, and they did not attack Song army cities, but instead plundered the Song border people everywhere.

The Hebei army of the Song Dynasty was utterly incompetent; they hadn't fought a war in decades. Han Qi sent troops to intercept and kill the Liao cavalry, but they were ambushed by the enemy—

With a simple ambush, three thousand Song soldiers were decimated by several hundred Liao cavalry, losing more than half their number.

Han Qi had no choice but to order his troops to defend the city and to have the Song Dynasty's border residents retreat dozens of miles to avoid being plundered by small Liao cavalry units. With spring planting approaching, agricultural work on the Hebei border was severely disrupted.

"Scholar Xu, His Majesty summons you urgently!"

"I'll go right away."

Xu Lai strode quickly from the Academy and arrived at the main hall, where he found that the important officials of both the Academy and the main hall were present.

Something big is definitely going to happen.

Zhao Xu's face was very grim. He had his attendant hand Xu a report: "Mr. Xu, please take a look."

, 7

After reading the report, Xu had only one thought in his mind: Is Han Jiang insane?

Han Jiang, Wang Anshi's biggest political ally and the second-in-command of the reform faction, volunteered to take charge of Shaanxi last winter.

After arriving at the front lines, this man adopted Zhong E's strategy, intending to completely recapture the Hengshan region. He planned to take advantage of the momentum of the Song army's great victory last year, and while the Western Xia suffered heavy losses and lacked supplies, he wanted to eliminate all of the seven or eight remaining Western Xia strongholds in Hengshan.

The plan is certainly feasible; the Song army is fully capable of it.

However, Han Jiang was completely unaware of the situation at the front lines, nor did he know about the conflicts between the Han generals and the non-Han generals.

The barbarian general Wang Wenliang and the Han general Wu Kui competed for merit.

Because Wang Wenliang held a higher official position and had his own troops, Han Jiang valued him even more. Wu Kui, on the other hand, wasn't even from Shaanxi, so Han Jiang could easily manipulate him.

Sensing Han Jiang's attitude, Wang Wenliang seized the opportunity to fabricate charges against Wu Kui, claiming that Wu Kui failed to send troops to support him during the battle and that Wu Kui's rumors had shaken the morale of the army.

After receiving the false accusation, Han Jiang, without bothering to investigate or distinguish right from wrong, threw Wu Kui into prison.

Wu Kui was unjustly imprisoned for more than forty days, so naturally he refused to confess and uttered many complaints.

Furthermore, with other Han generals pleading for leniency, Han Jiang, as prime minister, felt that his authority had been undermined and he could no longer effectively command the army. He even planned to execute Wu Kui to establish his authority.

The news spread more and more strangely, eventually becoming the rumor that all of Wu Kui's soldiers would be punished.

Han Jiang failed to respond to the situation in time, allowing the rumors to continue to fester, which ultimately led to the Qingzhou Mutiny!

This involves the conflict between the Han and the Tibetan peoples.

Among the Song army in the Hengshan area, there were many non-Han generals and soldiers, and their conflicts with Han generals and soldiers had a long history. As the temporary supreme commander, Han Jiang actually ignored this situation and allowed it to escalate.

That's incredibly stupid!

Xu Lai couldn't help but look at Wang Anshi. What the hell were these reformists?

When Xu Lai was in Xihe, besides money, grain, and immigration, his biggest concern was the conflict between the Han and Qiang peoples. Whenever he had a spare moment, he would personally appease the generals of both the Han and Qiang tribes, fearing that something might go wrong.

Wang Anshi was speechless. Han Jiang used to be very capable, handling everything perfectly. Now that the Song Dynasty was crushing the Western Xia, with such a favorable situation, the campaign to govern Shaanxi was purely for show, so how could he have managed to instigate a mutiny?

If the border troops are forced into a mutiny, Han Jiang can expect to be dismissed from his post as prime minister!

The second-in-command of the reform faction was about to be demoted to a local post as prefect.

Fortunately, the impact on the situation in the northwest was minimal, and the Song army continued to capture fortified villages. Only five strongholds remained of the Western Xia in the Hengshan region.

Zhao Xu said, "The mutiny in Qingzhou has been quelled, and the situation in Western Xia is no longer a concern. However, the Liao army is mobilizing more and more troops, and it is said that the total number of Liao troops invading Hedong and Hebei has exceeded ten thousand. The Liao army is indeed unable to attack cities, but our Song border people can no longer carry out spring plowing. Especially in Hebei, Liao cavalry have even bypassed cities and gone deep into the country to plunder."

Wen Yanbo said, "The Liao envoy's demand to redraw the border is absolutely unacceptable. The borders established by the Treaty of Chanyuan must remain as they are; not an inch of territory can be ceded!"

Xu Lai was extremely surprised when Wen Yanbo said such a thing.

In fact, Wen Yanbo was not weak in military matters, but rather cautious and reasonable.

Why did Wen Yanbo insist on returning Suizhou to Western Xia after Zhong E devised the plan to recapture it last time?

That's because Zhong E acted first and reported later, without obtaining permission from the Secretariat and the Privy Council. Wen Yanbo must crack down on this trend! He would rather lose a province than allow the frontline generals to get out of control.

Some time ago, Wen Yanbo said he wanted to recruit the rebels in Kuizhou because they had been trying to suppress them for a year but hadn't succeeded, and the Song Dynasty's finances were stretched thin, so he chose the most cost-effective method.

To put it bluntly, Wen Yanbo was pursuing a state of "stability".

Faced with the Liao Kingdom's demands for border territories, Wen Yanbo became firm again. Just as he was willing to give up Suizhou to suppress the frontline generals, this was acting according to the rules. Dealing with the Liao Kingdom also had to follow the rules, and those rules were the Treaty of Chanyuan.

In Wen Yanbo's logic, if he agreed to redraw the border with the Liao Dynasty, the Treaty of Chanyuan would be broken, and Hebei and Hedong would face endless troubles in the future.

Wang Anshi, on the other hand, decided to wait and see.

If the Liao Dynasty continued its invasions, Wang Anshi was willing to give up some territory.

Because Wang Anshi was focused solely on reform, even in war, he prioritized fighting the Western Xia, unwilling to wage a two-front war against both Liao and Xia simultaneously. Frequent Liao invasions would inevitably lead to a sharp increase in military expenditures in Hebei and Hedong, severely impacting the progress of his reforms.

Historically, Wang Anshi did indeed cede over 500 li of land to the Liao Dynasty four years later. Wen Yanbo, however, resolutely opposed this, insisting on adhering to the Treaty of Chanyuan and refusing to cede an inch of territory!

Politicians are complex individuals, and it is difficult to judge a person as simply tough or weak.

After careful consideration, Xu Lai offered the emperor some general advice: "The Hebei army is weak and can only maintain the status quo for now. More firearms, especially cannons, need to be transported to Hedong to attack the newly built Liao fortresses. We must rely on the terrain and firearms to inflict heavy losses on the Liao army in Hedong. At the same time, we should continue to attack the Western Xia fortresses and completely drive them out of the Hengshan area. As long as we do these things, neither Liao nor Xia will dare to be so arrogant anymore."

After listening, Zhao Xu looked at the two high-ranking officials.

Zeng Gongliang said, "Scholar Xu's plan is feasible."

Wen Yanbo surprisingly agreed with Xu Lai: "The Treaty of Chanyuan must not be broken in the slightest. We should retaliate in this way! Otherwise, the Liao Kingdom will demand a hundred li of land today and another two hundred li tomorrow, and we will never be able to satisfy this jackal."

Xu Lai has finally seen through Wen Yanbo; this old minister also has his own principles.

Despite Wen Yanbo's current firm stance, agreeing to attack the Liao's newly built fortresses, if the Song army in Hedong achieves a breakthrough and captures Liao cities or strategic passes, Wen Yanbo will propose to voluntarily return them. He would rather abandon strategic passes than compromise the Treaty of Chanyuan, thus maintaining peace with the Liao.

Wen Yanbo considered the Song Dynasty's finances and military strength and chose the safest approach.

If one day the Song Dynasty has enough financial and military resources, Wen Yanbo will probably become a proponent of war again, constantly advocating for the destruction of Xia and the attack on Liao.

Wang Anshi, who was willing to cede 500 li of land to the Liao Kingdom, would also send troops to crush the Liao Kingdom if his reforms succeeded.

Alas, this truly reflects a difference in governing philosophies.

Moreover, one's position determines one's perspective.

Xu Lai had many reflections today. He wondered if, if he were in the same position as Wang Anshi and Wen Yanbo, he would become like them because he thought too much.

Of course, they will definitely be different.

Xu Lai could neither agree to appease the bandits of Kuizhou nor cede territory to the Liao Dynasty. Sometimes, you have to fight, even if it means selling everything you own; you have to inflict serious damage on the enemy to make them behave!

Xu Lai's proposal was quickly approved.

Prime Minister Chen Shengzhi (Chen Xu) is not here today; he is preparing to return home to observe mourning for his parents.

Chen Sheng was in mourning for his father, and Han Jiang was about to be dismissed from his post as prime minister.

Zeng Gongliang had been trying to resign, as he didn't want to cause any more trouble with Wang Anshi. The emperor had tried to persuade him to stay several times and was planning to accept Zeng Gongliang's resignation.

In other words, by next month, Wang Anshi will be the only prime minister left.

There were two deputy prime ministers, and Wang Gui did a very stable job, avoiding conflicts with anyone.

Xu Lai took his leave and returned to the Academy to write in Song typeface.

However, the fact that his proposal was supported by the senior officials of both the government and the capital quickly spread throughout the officialdom of the capital.

Moreover, Wang Anshi was detained by the emperor and took the opportunity to recommend Xu Lai as the Deputy Privy Councilor. Although this matter was still under discussion and had not even reached the stage of public announcement, everyone felt that it was a done deal.

In no time, many people rushed to Xu Lai's house to give gifts, and the song "Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival" became a popular topic of singing.

A twenty-five-year-old deputy privy councilor!

Xu Lai paid no attention to this and began to compile the Chinese character statistics results from Zhu Hou and others.

On a ten-day break, Shen Kuo paid a visit, and upon meeting him, he said with delight, "Xingzhi, come with me quickly."

"Have you finished making the movable type with lead or ink?" Xu Lai asked.

Shen Kuo laughed and said, "They've all been made, and several kinds have been made. Actually, it's not difficult; it's just a matter of constantly adjusting the proportions of the lead movable type. The ink is even simpler; you select many kinds of oils, boil them until they become viscous, and then add tobacco ash to make ink."