Diqin Designer

Chapter 504 From Minister to Emperor: The Disaster of Cai Jing (History of the Northern Song Dynasty)

"Some emperors actually knew that the ministers they appointed were not honest officials and that they were doing wrong, but they still indulged them because the treacherous ministers were easy to talk to and could do things for them, so of course they had to keep them."

"The great calligrapher is the kind of emperor who doesn't realize that while Cai Jing is helping him amass wealth, he's also helping himself to do so?"

It's possible that the great calligrapher was unaware of Cai Jing's greed at the beginning, but it's almost impossible that he didn't know it later.

"The great calligrapher was well aware of this, but he still indulged him because Cai Jing was indeed very good at making money, and Cai Jing was skilled in calligraphy, sharing the same hobby as the great calligrapher. Cai Jing also flattered Tong Guan, another member of the 'Six Traitors,' so that Tong Guan would speak well of him to the great calligrapher."

"Tong Guan was a eunuch who was not given important positions during Zhao Xu's reign. However, when the great calligrapher ascended the throne, he was given important positions because of his skill in painting. At first, Tong Guan's position was higher than Cai Jing's, but Tong Guan also needed allies. Seeing that Cai Jing was actively trying to curry favor with him, he befriended Cai Jing."

"Without Tong Guan's help, even if Cai Jing could still win the appreciation of the great calligrapher through other methods, it would definitely have taken longer."

This is truly amazing! One was highly valued by Emperor Huizong because of his skill in painting, and the other was highly valued by Emperor Huizong because of his skill in calligraphy. They were both masters of painting and calligraphy!

Both of them were treacherous officials; it just goes to show that the great calligrapher had a keen eye for talent.

Upon hearing that Zhao Ji was promoted because two treacherous officials happened to suit his tastes, Meng Tian said, "If ministers are promoted in this way, wouldn't others also be promoted if they happened to suit Zhao Ji's tastes?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "Pretty much. During the reign of the great calligrapher, those ministers who were highly regarded by him all had at least one hobby that they shared with him. For example, Cai Jing was good at calligraphy, Tong Guan was good at painting, and Gao Qiu was good at playing Cuju (ancient Chinese football)..."

Calligraphy and painting were somewhat acceptable to the First Emperor and others, but what was this "good at Cuju"?
This can actually be reused?

Feng Jie shook his head and said, "With such arbitrary and reckless behavior, Zhao Ji's reign will surely be filled with troubles."

Li Nian said, "The troubles were all brought about by the Song Dynasty itself. The great calligrapher valued Cai Jing and made him prime minister mainly because he valued Cai Jing's ability to make money. He wanted Cai Jing to make money for him to support his entertainment."

"When Cai Jing was in office, he committed all sorts of evil deeds under the guise of the New Laws, such as selling official positions. There was a saying at the time: 'Three thousand strings of cash for a position in the Imperial Library; five hundred strings for a position in the Prefectural Office.' This meant that as long as you could pay three thousand strings of cash, you could get a position in the Imperial Library, and five hundred strings of cash would get you promoted to Prefectural Office. A Prefectural Office was the deputy of a prefecture, second only to the Prefect. The position of Imperial Library was a prestigious and respectable choice for civil officials. Although it did not have much real power, it was prestigious and located in the capital."

"I would rather be a seventh-rank official in the capital than be sent to a third-rank post outside the capital, especially a position in the 'Direct Secretarial Pavilion'."

"Another example is the rampant suppression of the Yuanyou Party members. Although the Yuanyou Party members were indeed not good people and had already lost their influence at the time, they still continued to suppress them, even creating a 'Traitorous Party Stele' to inscribe the names of the 'Yuanyou Party members' on it. This stele is also known as the 'Yuanyou Party Members Stele' or 'Yuanyou Party Members Stele'."

If all the members of the Yuanyou faction were truly treacherous officials, or if Cai Jing inscribed only treacherous officials on the stele, then there's nothing wrong with doing so. It's a way to definitively condemn treacherous officials and nail them firmly to the pillar of shame.

The problem is that Cai Jing did not build this monument for the public good, but out of personal motives to suppress his political enemies. In other words, anyone whom Cai Jing considered a political enemy and wanted to suppress was engraved on the monument, regardless of whether they were members of the Yuanyou Party.

It's also problematic to say that all the Yuanyou Party members were treacherous officials. While their political leanings were flawed, they weren't necessarily corrupt officials or treacherous ministers.

Like Su Shi, he was also inscribed on the stele. Su Shi was also a corrupt official and treacherous minister.
Feng Jie shook his head and said, "Cai Jing's move was truly driven by personal motives and was not very clever. While it may seem to intimidate others, it will actually garner sympathy for the Yuan You officials on the Party Members' Stele. In fact, officials of the Song Dynasty will not be ashamed to have their names engraved on the stele, but rather proud of it!"

"Moreover, the more wicked Cai Jing is, the more people will sympathize with the Yuanyou officials on the monument, and the more they will believe that the Yuanyou officials on the monument are upright and honest good officials."

The stele was erected, but if Cai Jing had been a good official throughout his life, the people of the Song Dynasty might have actually thought that the officials on the stele were all treacherous officials.

But Cai Jing himself is a mess, stinking and disgusting. The people of Zhao Song would definitely think that the treacherous party that this scoundrel carved on the stele might not be a treacherous party at all, but a good official who served the country and the people. Otherwise, why would that scoundrel Cai Jing have carved it on it?
This is truly a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own foot, and the worse Cai Jing is, the deeper this idea becomes!
"Cai Jing and his son also controlled the imperial examination system, which was an important national policy for selecting talents in the Song Dynasty. As long as they could control it, it was almost equivalent to controlling the future Song Dynasty court. Their protégés and former officials were all over the country!"

"Of course, the great calligrapher wasn't so foolish as to let Cai Jing accomplish this. If all the officials in the court were Cai Jing's protégés, would Cai Jing be the emperor, or would Zhao Ji be the emperor? Cai Jing wouldn't dare to truly treat the imperial examination as his own private affair."

Unless he was planning to risk his life to usurp the throne, Cai Jing wouldn't dare to make the imperial examination system his family's private property.

If this matter were to come to light, even if Emperor Huizong of Song had the same "benevolent" temperament as Emperor Renzong, he would still have wiped out the entire Cai family. Moreover, Emperor Huizong did not even possess the "benevolent" temperament.

"However, it is true that Cai Jing and his son interfered in the imperial examinations and used them to cultivate their own people. There was a saying at the time: 'After Cai Jing, Cai You succeeded him; after Cai You, Cai Tao succeeded him.' Both Cai You and Cai Tao were his sons!"

"Cai Jing's life was also extremely extravagant. It is said that he would eat hundreds of quails to make a single bowl of quail soup. He also loved crab roe buns, and he had a group of people specifically assigned to make them for him!"

“Each step of making crab roe buns is handled by a specialist, and these people are all carefully selected by Cai Jing. They use the best ingredients, the best skills, and the best utensils. Every step is carefully controlled. Therefore, a basket of crab roe buns that Cai Jing wants to eat costs 1,300 guan.”

How much?
Although I thought it was outrageous that Cai Jing killed hundreds of quails for a single serving of quail soup and specially arranged for someone to make crab roe buns for him, I never expected it to be this outrageous.

Meng Tian laughed and said, "One meal of crab roe buns was enough to eat the equivalent of two and a half magistrates!"

It only costs 500 strings of cash to buy a Tongpan official position from Cai Jing, but Cai Jing spends 1,300 strings of cash on a single meal of crab roe buns, which would take more than two and a half Tongpan positions to match.

Wang Ben then pointed out a problem: "If Cai Jing is so extravagant, what about Zhao Ji?"

Upon hearing this, the others felt it made perfect sense: "Yes, if Cai Jing was like this, then Zhao Ji was probably even worse."

Li Nian said, "The life of a great calligrapher is naturally more extravagant, but his extravagance is not mainly in eating and drinking, but in his love of building gardens."

This is not to say that the great calligrapher did not eat extravagantly, but rather that he spent far more on building his garden than on food and drink.

"Cai Jing was able to maintain such a luxurious lifestyle because he was greedy and very good at making money. And money doesn't fall from the sky; his greed has its reasons!"

Where else could it have come from? It must have been plundered from the people.

"Compared to the disasters that Cai Jing brought to the people of the Song Dynasty, his extravagant lifestyle, selling official positions, and suppressing dissidents were nothing. During his tenure, Cai Jing implemented a series of policies to increase the Song court's revenue, but the increase in the Song court's revenue meant that the people of the Song Dynasty had less money."

"They frequently changed the 'salt certificate law,' without prior notice, and suddenly announced that the old salt certificates were invalid. Salt merchants holding the old salt certificates had to pay extra to exchange them for new ones. Salt certificates were an essential item for salt merchants in the Song Dynasty when buying salt!"

Upon hearing this, the First Emperor and others immediately understood Cai Jing's purpose.

This is blatant robbery of the salt merchants' wealth. Whether the merchants exchange their salt or not, the Song court will profit immensely, seizing a huge share of the merchants' riches. This money comes in faster than a printing press!
However, this would damage the credibility of the Zhao Song court. After such a scheme, would the people and salt merchants of Zhao Song still dare to trust them?

Oh, Cai Jing was a treacherous minister whose main purpose was to make money. Even if he had considered the potential consequences of his methods, he probably wouldn't have cared.

As long as you actually get the money, who cares about the disaster that might follow!

"They promoted the 'ten-cash coin,' which is a coin that can be worth ten coins, but the copper content of the 'ten-cash coin' is not the same as that of a ten-coin coin."

After listening to Li Nian's explanation of currency and its carriers, Qin Shi Huang and others all realized what Cai Jing had done and what his purpose was.

If a copper coin worth one wen contains ten copper coins, then ten wen should be worth one hundred. However, Cai Jing is now promoting a new coin that is worth ten wen, but this new coin contains less than one hundred copper coins, only eighty or ninety, or even only fifty or sixty.

One consequence of issuing new coins with a value of one to ten was that Cai Jing could save more copper to mint more new coins. In other words, the copper that could originally only be used to mint one million coins was used to mint two million coins.

The total amount of material used for minting coins remained the same, but the face value of the coins increased.

Another consequence was that if ordinary people in the Song Dynasty used copper coins with sufficient copper content to exchange for ten-cash coins, they would suffer a loss in their wealth.

Although both coins were worth ten coins, one had a high copper content, while the other had only 70-80% copper content. The people of the Song Dynasty who used the coins with high copper content would lose money, thus reducing their wealth. This reduced wealth would then be taken away by Cai Jing, who issued the new coins.

After carefully considering and understanding the intricacies of the matter, Wang Wan said, "This Cai Jing is truly a scourge to the country and its people. With each shot costing ten coins, the people of the Song Dynasty will suffer greatly!"

A certain school principal also did this. The bigwigs at the top couldn't influence it, and they could make a lot of money, but the ordinary people at the bottom suffered because their wealth was plundered in this way.

Moreover, this will trigger inflation, making life even more difficult for ordinary people as their wealth is eroded.

"Cai Jing also promoted the 'Public Field Law,' which was to take over the private lands and bring them under the control of the Song court. To be honest, if he could have made all the land in the country public and then redistributed it to the people, it would have been a good thing. But Cai Jing's Public Field Law was not!"

"In Cai Jing's public land law, it was ostensibly stipulated that land with owners would not be collected, only unclaimed land and wasteland would be collected. However, whether a piece of land was unclaimed or wasteland was not up to the landowner to decide!"

"If the landowner has even the slightest problem, his land will be immediately confiscated as wasteland or unclaimed land and taken over by the public. Even if there is no problem, the officials enforcing the public land law will find a problem to 'find'."

There was a precedent for this in the Song Dynasty. During the implementation of the Green Sprouts Law in the Xining Reform, Song officials forced people to take out loans.

“After Cai Jing confiscated these lands, he did not use them for public purposes to benefit the country and the people. Instead, he distributed the lands to the princes and officials of the Zhao Song dynasty.”

"You're mistaken. Cai Jing has already used these fields for public purposes, because in Cai Jing's eyes, the princes and officials of the Zhao Song dynasty are the 'public,' while the common people are not!"

"As long as this 'public' principle is upheld, the Song dynasty will not fall into chaos, and the music and dance can continue."

This is not only a reflection of the Song Dynasty, but also of other dynasties.

After Li Nian said this, Meng Tian asked, "What about the people of the Zhao Song dynasty who lost their land?"

Li Nian said, "What else can they do? They either become tenants of the Zhao Song Dynasty, farming for the court, and the land they farm for the Zhao Song Dynasty might very well be their own, or they become refugees."

Originally free men, they were suddenly turned into slaves who farmed for the Zhao Song Dynasty.

Meng Tian then asked, "Did the people of the Zhao Song dynasty have no complaints?"

Li Nian said, "How could there not be? After Cai Jing implemented the public land law, several peasant uprisings broke out. When the Jin army marched south, some Song people even brought food and drink to welcome the royal army!"

"If the Jurchens hadn't been so hostile to the people of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty probably wouldn't have even survived as the Southern Song Dynasty."

This reminded the First Emperor of the phrases "welcoming Liu Bang" and "fearing that Liu Bang would not become the King of Qin."

Meng Tian then asked, "Then Zhao Ji didn't know these things?"

Li Nian said, "How could a great calligrapher not know? He allowed Cai Jing to do as he pleased. He wanted to wage war against Western Xia, he wanted to recover Yan and Yun, and he wanted to build his garden. All of these required a huge amount of money. Where did the money come from?"

"Most of the money Cai Jing amassed ended up with the great calligrapher. How could he not know? I think he knows better than anyone else, he just doesn't care."

Behind the "Six Traitors" was a great calligrapher. Although the great calligrapher was not as adept at manipulating politics as the Emperor Wanshou, he was not bad either. Throughout his reign, he firmly held the core power.

Only when the Jin army first marched south did he voluntarily abdicate in favor of Zhao Heng, but that was because he wanted Zhao Heng to take the blame for his ascension; the great calligrapher still held a certain amount of power.

Cai Jing and his associates never escaped the grasp of the great calligrapher; it would be impossible for him not to know what Cai Jing had done.

"Besides these, Cai Jing also did some 'good deeds,' such as establishing nursing homes to provide care for the widowed, orphaned, and lonely elderly, and providing relief to the poor; he also established schools throughout the Song Dynasty; developed medicine, and established subjects such as mathematics, calligraphy, and painting..."

At first glance, it didn't seem like much, but when they heard "calligraphy studies" and "painting studies," the First Emperor and others understood what was going on. This was most likely to cater to Zhao Ji's wishes.

Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji) was fond of calligraphy and painting, and Cai Jing was valued by Zhao Ji because of his skill in calligraphy.

As for providing for the widowed, orphaned, and lonely, and helping the poor, how many poor people did Cai Jing create himself, and did he help them?

Moreover, if he were a little less greedy and skipped one crab roe bun meal, many people could have a full meal.

Cai Jing's "good deeds" are nothing but empty gestures and hypocrisy.

(End of this chapter)