I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 128 Steady Progress, Quiet Development

Zhao Zi said that he took advantage of the beginning of the year to arrange all the work in an orderly manner, and also united the internal team, fully integrated the talents at hand, and trusted people to make the best use of their talents.

When it came to implementation, everything went very smoothly, and any minor problems that arose were resolved promptly.

Three or four months passed in the blink of an eye, and the busy spring farming season of the fourth year of Xuanhe was completely over. Summer arrived in the blink of an eye. Zhao Zicheng took stock of the inspection and found that shipbuilding, military training, technological advancement, promoting cotton planting, and developing maritime trade were all progressing very smoothly.

Of these, Zhao Zicheng personally provided some guidance only in the areas of technology and maritime trade, since he possessed the foresight and technical experience of a transmigrator, and there was no harm in using it. All other tasks could be left to his subordinates.

Counting the days, with the spring plowing season over, Tong Guan was finally about to launch a full-scale attack on the Nanjing region of the Liao Kingdom from Hebei Road.

In this spring, Tong Guan's army also took the opportunity to quell the rebellion of Zhang Di in Hebei Province, which can be regarded as a warm-up before the campaign against Liao. Zhang Di is the prototype of "Tian Hu of Hebei" described in "Water Margin", and can be regarded as one of the four major bandits during the Xuanhe period.

Zhang Di couldn't cause any trouble in front of Tong Guan's army; he was the kind of person who would melt away as soon as he got in the way.

Lu Junyi's prototype, Lu Jinyi, has not yet been easily defeated by Tong Guan. This is not because Lu Jinyi is particularly strong, but because Lu Jinyi and his dozen or so heroes are based in a relatively remote area in the Taihang Mountains on the western edge of Hebei. They do not block Tong Guan's northward route, so Tong Guan has not bothered to go into the mountains to hunt them down.

In other words, if we use the more familiar novel *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* as an analogy, Zhang Di is like Zhang Jiao, who caused chaos in the plains of Ji Province at the end of the Han Dynasty; he was wiped out as soon as the imperial army arrived. Lu Jinyi's position, on the other hand, is equivalent to the "Black Mountain Army"—as long as he doesn't show his face, he can remain hidden for several years.

Historically, Lu Jinyi didn't hide for that long because he went south to join Song Jiang, and was subsequently captured along with Song Jiang. But now that Song Jiang has been captured by Zhao Zicheng ahead of time, Lu Jinyi will probably be afraid and choose to continue living a hard life in the Taihang Mountains.

If he can truly survive until the Jin army marches south to attack Shanxi, as long as he holds on and doesn't become a traitor, and as long as he upholds national righteousness and fights against the Jin army, then he will be completely exonerated. At that time, the imperial court will certainly pardon him or even give him an important position. But if he can't hold on and becomes a traitor, then he will be utterly disgraced.

However, historically, after the Jin army marched south, very few outlaws in Hebei and Shandong became traitors. They were originally against the Song Dynasty, and after the Jin people came, they became even more anti-Jin. They could even receive remote investiture from the Southern Song Dynasty, so why wouldn't they do it?

However, Zhao Zicheng has no time to care about how Tong Guan is about to fight; he has his own things to worry about and inspect.

……

"Good, it can finally run stably. How long has this loom been running without any problems since the latest improvement? Five days and five nights! So, we should be able to start mass production now. Once the cotton is harvested at the end of summer and spun into yarn, we can use this loom to mass-produce cotton cloth."

"The number of spindles that can spin yarn at the same time has increased to eight? Don't be so satisfied. It can be improved. If it can be increased to eight, it can be increased to ten or twenty. The craftsmanship is universal. The only difficulty in the future is the power."

"The cotton harvest season will be earlier than that of rice and wheat. After the first batch of cotton is harvested, we will quickly make the first batch of cotton cloth and cotton-padded jackets. We will not sell them to Goryeo yet. We will wait until the autumn grain is stored in Goryeo and the grain price is at its lowest before selling them there. Then we will buy grain and transport it back. The first batch of cotton cloth and cotton-padded jackets will be sold to Liaodong, which is controlled by the Jin people, in exchange for some cattle and horses."

"Rest assured, cotton-padded coats aren't iron; they won't strengthen the Jurchens' national power. At most, they'll just replace their own sheepskin coats, and the Jurchens have no shortage of sheep. I certainly know my limits; even if the Jurchens were our allies now, I wouldn't sell them anything that would enhance their fighting strength."

One day in late April, after inspecting the newly built cotton mill outside Yexian County, Zhao Zicheng praised it and was very satisfied with the recent achievements in agricultural technology.

He has been preparing technical reserves for the cotton textile industry for almost a year, and the results have been outstanding. Once the cotton is harvested in large quantities, it can be processed and produced immediately.

The large loom he was looking at was operated by two people, one of whom was seated. The two-person loom had a dedicated person to feed the shuttle and pull the weft, which meant that it could weave new fabrics with a width far exceeding that of traditional cloth. Even though it required twice the manpower, the increased width meant that the overall production efficiency would definitely be doubled.

Moreover, Zhao Zicheng's improvements did not stop there. He also paid great attention to "not doing the work of reinventing the wheel" and making the most of existing technology, much like the "industrial exploration" enthusiasts of later generations.

For example, when he read history books in his previous life, he knew that Huang Daopo, who improved cotton textile technology during the Yuan Dynasty, did not know all the technologies she had. She learned about looms and spinning machines from the local Li people when she was young, as they were more sophisticated than those of the Han people.

Although the ancient Han people had overwhelming technological prowess over neighboring ethnic groups in most times and in most fields, it is not surprising that non-Han people in the surrounding areas occasionally had one or two technological advantages that allowed them to surpass the Han people.

Knowing this, Zhao Zicheng sent ships south last year to explore and investigate, conducting business while also carrying out targeted "industrial research." Although the textile technology of the Li people in Hainan at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty may not have been as advanced as it was at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, it still had many merits that the Han people today do not possess.

Zhao Zicheng had the intention of learning from all sources, so he sent people to search for secret manuals everywhere to learn from each other and complement each other's knowledge. As a result, he made many small improvements in detail that even he, the time traveler, was unaware of.

The person who helped him arrange these things was actually Wang Chengxun, the wealthy merchant from Hangzhou whom he had subdued at the beginning of last year. This was the same merchant who, in history, later married his daughter into the palace as a concubine of Zhao Gou. Now, he was offering his younger sister, Wang, to Zhao Zicheng as a maid. In any case, since his parents had died at the hands of Fang La, Zhao Zicheng could consider it revenge for his entire family.

Wang Chengxun, being a seasoned maritime merchant who had previously sailed the route to Japan, placed great emphasis on collecting various exotic technologies after receiving Zhao Zicheng's orders. For example, although the Japanese textile technology was far inferior to that of the Han people in most cases, the Japanese did have a few commendable features that they had developed on their own.

For example, by the late Northern Song Dynasty, the Japanese Nishijin weaving technique had already developed some unique skills in jacquard brocade weaving, but these were difficult to detect and were often only useful in high-end brocades, offering little practical benefit to the daily lives of the poor. The Japanese lacquerware craftsmanship also had its advantages over the Han Chinese, although they were generally outmatched by the Han Chinese in other types of utensils.

But it's always good to be able to collect technology. Zhao Zicheng offered huge rewards to his maritime merchants. As long as they could bring back some technology from overseas, and that was slightly better than the existing technology of the Han people in some minor aspects, Zhao Zicheng would reward them handsomely.

That enlightened attitude was almost comparable to that of Peter the Great, who, upon ascending the throne, was determined to "learn from the barbarians' superior techniques."

After receiving rewards and recognition from Zhao Zicheng, the maritime merchants represented by Wang Chengxun became even more motivated. After opening up trade routes to Fusang, they did not forget to further expand trade routes with Goryeo.

With the arrival of summer in the fourth year of Xuanhe, the new heavy sand barges with better seaworthiness and a capacity of 800 liters, built by Zhao Zicheng, were put into commercial use one after another.

Zhao Zicheng first had the maritime merchants test-fly and scout ahead, using these ships to sell the products of the Central Plains to Japan, then import gold and silver from Japan to re-export to Goryeo to purchase a large amount of military supplies, including grain, and then transport them to Dengzhou and Laizhou.

Currently, the cash crops produced in Dengzhou and Laizhou have not yet reached the large-scale harvest season, and the local economic capacity of Dengzhou and Laizhou is not yet sufficient. Therefore, Zhao Zicheng still needs to advance the funds when purchasing goods, or have his trusted maritime merchants advance the funds. However, once autumn arrives and the large-scale cotton planting organized by the Dengzhou and Laizhou governments is harvested, the previously owed payments can all be settled.

More importantly, when Wang Chenghun and other merchants returned, they not only brought back goods obtained from trade with Goryeo, but also the latest military and political intelligence from Goryeo.

The Goryeo people had no idea that the Song Dynasty had already set its sights on them and begun to collect intelligence in a targeted manner. As a result, the Goryeo people had a very poor sense of secrecy. They even wanted to take the initiative to negotiate with the Song Dynasty because of Song Jiang's matter, hoping that the Song Dynasty would help them to thoroughly investigate and strictly control the situation.

Zhao Zicheng's inspection of the latest technological advancements in the cotton textile and shipbuilding industries came to fruition just a few days later, coinciding with the return of Wang Chengxun's merchant fleet, which had made a voyage through Japan and Korea in early spring.

Zhao Zicheng had some business arrangements to make to Wang Chengxun, so he took the time to meet with him.

……

"This lowly official pays his respects to the Prefect."

Zhao Zicheng received Wang Chengxun at the Laizhou Prefectural Government Office. As soon as Wang Chengxun entered, he bowed twice in greeting.

Merchants were of low social status, but the commercial economy of the Song Dynasty was so developed that by the late Northern Song Dynasty, wealthy merchants often donated to obtain honorary titles but held no real positions.

Wang Chengxun did have a proper job; Zhao Zicheng had previously recommended him as the actual manager of the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Office, assisting Wei Xian, the director of the office. However, he did not forget his original position. Therefore, he still referred to himself as a "junior official" rather than a "lower official."

Zhao Zicheng raised his hand and politely chatted with him about everyday matters, a combination of kindness and firmness. Moreover, during today's meeting, Zhao Zicheng specially arranged for Wang Chengxun's younger sister, Wang Shi, to come and serve him, which also served as a way for the siblings to meet.

Wang Chengxun also secretly glanced at his younger sister, who was still young. He himself was wealthy and extravagant, with many wives and concubines and had been with countless women, so he could tell at a glance that his sister had not yet been taken as a concubine by the prefect. He was secretly a little anxious.

It seems that what his sister had secretly told him last time—that "the Lord's two wives are like celestial beings"—was probably true. His wives must be so beautiful that he couldn't stand other women. But Wang Chengxun felt that his sister was already beautiful enough. If she was still being outshone by others, he couldn't imagine how much more beautiful she could be.

As Wang Chengxun was lost in thought, Zhao Zicheng's words interrupted his train of thought: "What important things did you see and hear on your trip to Goryeo? Tell me the most important ones first." Wang Chengxun quickly replied: "The most important military intelligence I gathered on this trip to Goryeo is that Song Jiang has actually made considerable progress in Goryeo over the past six months. To this end, I even went out of my way to investigate the map situation of both sides and the comparison of military and civilian strength."

The Goryeo Kingdom originally had a population of nearly three million, divided into four to five hundred thousand households. In peacetime, one man from every twenty households was conscripted into the army, resulting in approximately 30,000 soldiers nationwide. In years of war, this number increased to one man from every ten households, reaching 50,000 soldiers. In times of national crisis, such as the struggle with the Liao and Jin dynasties for control of Baozhou, the army could be further expanded, potentially reaching over one hundred thousand in times of extreme hardship.

When Wang Chengxun mentioned this, Zhao Zicheng quickly compared the figures in his mind and felt that the numbers should be reliable.

In later generations, the southern half of the Korean Peninsula could support 50 million people, while the mountainous north, with its limited farmland, could still support over 20 million. Combined, the entire peninsula could support nearly 80 million people. Currently, with relatively low productivity, supporting nearly 3 million agricultural workers is reasonable.

It's important to understand that the eighteen provinces of Han China in later generations could support over a billion people, while the population of the directly administered territories of the Song Dynasty at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty exceeded one hundred million. It's normal for productivity and population support capacity to differ by more than ten times between ancient and modern times; the Korean Peninsula is more than twenty times less developed.

In other words, if the Korean Peninsula were to be ruled by Han Chinese in the future, it would be relatively easy to increase the total population that the peninsula could support to five million in a short period of time by introducing the Han Chinese's more advanced productivity and agricultural technology.

But this is all for later.

Zhao Zicheng compared the figures Wang Chengxun had gathered with the data and then asked, "The Goryeo Kingdom hasn't been peaceful these past two years either. During the Liao-Jin conflict, they took the opportunity to seize Baozhou from the Liao. So, they must have at least 50,000 standing troops. Have you found out how many of Song Jiang's men successfully reached Goryeo, and what the current situation is in their struggle against the Goryeo people?"

Wang Chengxun quickly admitted, "Your Excellency is truly farsighted; you guessed it all. That's right, the Goryeo people have already expanded their army once because they took advantage of the situation to seize Baozhou from the Liao people a few years ago, so they now actually have fifty to sixty thousand troops."

Last year, Song Jiang suffered repeated defeats at the hands of the Prefect, eventually fleeing to Goryeo. He first occupied Baengnyeong Island off the coast of Ongjin as his base, and then used small boats to plunder and loot along the coast to obtain military supplies. At that time, the Goryeo forces were all on the Baozhou front guarding against the Jin army, leaving their rear vulnerable. Therefore, for the first month or two, they were unable to launch a counterattack against Song Jiang.

Song Jiang then successively occupied Wengjin, Haizhou, and Fengzhou. It wasn't until the end of winter that the Goguryeo forces recalled 20,000 to 30,000 troops from the Baozhou front, barely managing to curb Song Jiang's growing power.

Zhao Zicheng couldn't understand even listening to this, so he asked Wang Chengxun to bring a map of Goryeo so he could compare it with the map.

Place names like Ongjin and Haeju haven't changed much since then, roughly referring to the Ongjin Peninsula area. Further east from Haeju is Pyeongju, and beyond Pyeongju lies the capital of the Goryeo Kingdom, which is now known as Kaesong.

This place is close to the heart of Goryeo, so it's no wonder that the Goryeo people would concentrate a large force to wage a war of attrition.

"Have you found out how much damage Song Jiang and the Goryeo people have suffered? Does Song Jiang still have the strength to continue the offensive?" Zhao Zicheng asked after thinking for a moment.

"According to the information we have gathered so far, although Song Jiang's combat strength is not as good as that of our Song Dynasty's official army, when fighting for survival in foreign lands, he is far superior to the Goryeo people. In particular, Song Jiang has several brave generals under his command who are extremely fierce in open battles against the Goryeo people, and once defeated the Goryeo army, annihilating thousands of enemies."

Characters like Wu Song, Li Kui, and Hua Rong are said to have achieved numerous victories and are now feared throughout Goryeo. Apart from Hua Rong, who was originally a government officer and served under Qin Ming and Huang Xin, the rest were all of humble origins.

The other generals, though not as formidable as these three, were nonetheless known for their fierce reputations. Before returning to my homeland, I had the opportunity to meet several high-ranking officials of Goryeo. Knowing I was not a high-ranking official of our Great Song, they refrained from formally meeting with me to discuss state affairs, but instead hinted that upon returning to the Central Plains, I should petition the court to devise a plan to join forces with the Goryeo to eliminate the rebels…”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zicheng couldn't help but laugh.

The Goryeo people couldn't eliminate Song Jiang quickly on their own, so they came to the Song Dynasty for help. They certainly have a thick skin.

Zhao Zicheng then commented: "Ha, that Song Jiang is nothing but an 'outcast of the Celestial Empire.' He couldn't survive in the Central Plains as a bandit and pirate, so he went overseas. What does it have to do with the Great Song Dynasty! The Goryeo people can't even handle such a small matter. They even had the nerve to obstruct the Great Song Dynasty's alliance with the Jin against the Liao!"
When you return this time, take the information you have gathered and contact the Dengzhou Pinghai Army. From now on, whenever armed escort is needed, contact the Dengzhou Pinghai Army. If any Goryeo ships are spotted attempting to contact the imperial court, Huyanqing will naturally deal with them.

If you return to Goryeo and the Goryeo people ask about the whereabouts of those people, you should say you don't know. If you absolutely must say something, say they were intercepted and killed by Song Jiang's pirates, and that the court had never heard of it.

Zhao Zicheng felt that the time was ripe to completely sever official ties between Goryeo and the Song Dynasty.

When the Koreans tried to send ships to make contact again, Zhao Zi said he had the ability to make them "read but not reply," and when asked, he said they were killed by Song Jiang, not him.

Yang Zhi, Lin Chong, and Lu Da, the naval commanders of Liangzhe Road in the south, were Zhao Zicheng's men.

Hu Yanqing and Li Jun, from Pinghai Army on Jingdong East Road in the north, were also Zhao Zicheng's men.

This is the source of Zhao Zicheng's confidence in completely blocking the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, preventing even a single plank of Goryeo people from crossing the sea.

Unfortunately, the Liao Kingdom has now been completely cut off from its land connections with Goryeo. Otherwise, Zhao Zicheng could have tipped off the Liao people, letting them know that "most of the Goryeo troops on the front line of Baozhou have been transferred away. If you want to settle scores, hurry up and take action," so that they can fight amongst themselves.

Three years ago, when the Goryeo people seized Baozhou from the Liao people, they consulted the Jin Dynasty. At that time, the Liao people still had a little territory on the Liaodong Peninsula, and the Jin people were happy to see the Goryeo people help share some of the pressure of fighting against the Liao. So they tacitly agreed that "as long as the Goryeo people can defeat the Liao soldiers in Baozhou, the Goryeo people will be allowed to occupy Baozhou themselves."

However, now, the Liaodong land opposite Baozhou has no Liao people's influence left. It has all become Jin territory. Now, there are only two years left before the Liao Kingdom is completely destroyed. Naturally, the Liao people have no ability or way to take advantage of the situation and plunder the Goryeo people.

However, after this thought flashed through Zhao Zicheng's mind, he naturally began to make new variations of associations.

"Although we can't send a message to the Liao people to let them settle their scores, is it possible to find an excuse to inform the Jin people and make them abandon their principles and fight the Goryeo people for profit? Although the Jin people are the biggest enemy of our Song Dynasty in the future, as long as we can ensure that we gain the lion's share of the benefits, it doesn't count as strengthening the enemy."

Moreover, for the Jurchens, gaining one or two more states of Goryeo territory would not strengthen their national power. The Jurchens were still in a nomadic, hunter-gatherer state, and what mattered most to them was their population and the number of warriors. If the Jurchens were to fight Goryeo, even if they only lost a few hundred or a thousand Jurchen warriors, it would be a good thing.

In contrast, the Jurchens lacked seafaring capabilities and navigation skills. Even if they occupied a portion of Goryeo's territory, they lacked the transport and management capacity to channel these resources back to the Central Plains battlefield. This is a good deal; the more chaos we create in Northeast Asia, the better. Furthermore, if the Jurchens gain an advantage by attacking Goryeo first, my subsequent invasion would be to 'stop the bleeding,' preventing Goryeo from falling completely into Jurchen hands, not because our Great Song Dynasty coveted foreign lands.”

Zhao Zicheng quickly conceived a plan similar to the one that allowed Dulu to divide up the **wave. The invading side always claims that "given that the original rulers of the area have lost their actual control, our country has no choice but to allow our army to enter the area to maintain order and protect the local people."

The land between the Yalu River and the Chongchon River belonged to the Balhae Kingdom at the end of the Five Dynasties period and when Goryeo was founded. Later, in order to attack Balhae from both sides and share the spoils with Goryeo, the Liao Dynasty promised Goryeo that if they sent troops to fight Balhae together, they would give Goryeo the original Boju region of Balhae, which is the land south of the Yalu River and north of the Chongchon River.

From this perspective, the Liao Dynasty could be considered a traitor to the Han people, or more precisely, a "traitor to the Central Plains," because the Liao people ceded Chinese territory to the surrounding barbarian tribes.

Now, all we need to do is use Wang Chengxun's maritime trade fleet to spread the message that "Goryeo's internal strife is about to collapse" to the Liaodong Peninsula. This will provoke the Jin people's greed to take advantage of the situation, cause them to fight with the Goryeo people, attract more of the Goryeo army's main force, and then we can attack the Goryeo people from the south by landing and launching a pincer attack.

With Song Jiang in Goryeo, the Jurchens in the north, and Zhao Zicheng in the south, wouldn't it be a complete disaster?

The Jin people are currently in a period of rest and recuperation after their war against the Liao, and they have nothing better to do than wait.

According to the "Maritime Alliance" between the Song and Jin dynasties, the Song dynasty should have launched a northern expedition to recover Yan and Yun last year. However, the Fang La Rebellion held back Tong Guan, causing the operation to be delayed for a year.

As for the Jin Dynasty, they had already crushed the Liao people in the Liaodong direction long ago, and within two years they successively captured the Liao people's Shangjing and Zhongjing. Now they were just waiting for the Song Dynasty to capture the Liao people's Nanjing, so that they could continue to divide the spoils.

Therefore, while waiting for the Song people to capture Nanjing, the idle Jurchens had a great opportunity to take advantage of the situation. After all, the Jurchens had no sense of morality or etiquette, and the Goryeo people had indeed left behind a lot of evidence, such as Goryeo's collusion with the Liao people and opposition to the Song and Jin forces jointly attacking the Liao.

These excuses might not matter in peacetime, but in a time when the Koreans themselves are experiencing internal strife, they could very well be brought up and used against them.

Thinking of this, Zhao Zicheng gave Wang Chengxun some instructions: "I have another matter to ask you to make a trip. After you come back this time, quickly unload the grain, put on cotton-padded clothes and cotton cloth again, and go to Liaodong. While doing business, reveal these messages to the Jin people... Also, be mindful of your identity. You are just a businessman who is pursuing profit, not some envoy of the Great Song Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)