I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 172: Borrowing from the late emperor's reforms, then ascending the throne.
When Zhao Zicheng decided to use Zhao Huan's name to make the most of his remaining influence and promote some reforms that might offend some people, his first thought was to reform the content of the Song Dynasty's civil service examination.

Therefore, after Li Gang and a few other reformist ministers arrived in Bianjing, Zhao Zicheng adhered to the principle of "holding small meetings for important matters" and first brought Zhang Shuye, Li Gang and others over to discuss specific plans behind closed doors.

Zhao Zicheng believed that the examinations before the Song Dynasty produced too many corrupt scholars with unbalanced abilities in governing the country, and the scale of recruitment was too large. All the redundant officials and expenses were mainly caused by this, and everything else was minor.

Zhao Zicheng said that while it was impossible to take too big a step and directly use physics and chemistry to weed out candidates, it was still possible to fully restore the Six Arts of the Gentleman and forcibly include mathematics in the imperial examination under the guise of reviving the past.

In addition, archery and charioteering, like mathematics, are considered the six arts of a gentleman. One can slip in personal opinions, or simply use them as "pretending to lift the roof when you want to open a window," so that opponents waste their energy on opposing lifting the roof, making it easier for the proposal to open a window to pass.

However, considering that horses are too expensive for children from poor families to practice, and that riding skills are sometimes difficult to judge through assessments of the rider—there are too many confounding variables—the key to good riding performance lies in the quality of the horse, not the rider. If equestrian skills were the primary criterion, those who could afford good horses would have an overwhelming advantage.

Therefore, Zhao Zicheng decided not to rashly add "charioteering" to the exam content, but to add "archery" as a separate subject.

This decree was issued in Zhao Huan's name to damage his character and incite hatred against him.

After rumors circulated that the emperor intended to reform the imperial examination system and add mathematics, archery, and charioteering, there was indeed considerable opposition. Opposition to archery and charioteering was particularly strong, so mathematics, a relatively less unacceptable option, was ultimately approved.

Moreover, to be honest, Zhao Zicheng should thank Zhao Ji, who had already abdicated. When Zhao Ji listened to Cai Jing's advice and "abolished the imperial examination and changed the examination to the dormitory examination" during the Chongning era, mathematics was included in the curriculum of the Imperial Academy's dormitory. Mathematics was an elective subject, but not a compulsory one.

Now Zhao Zicheng has further included it in the mandatory examinations, which is not a big step, but only a half step further on the basis of Zhao Ji and Cai Jing.

To be fair, although Zhao Ji and Cai Jing were not good people, not everything they did was wrong. Expanding the scope of the imperial examination curriculum and increasing practical knowledge were good intentions.

However, the Northern Song Dynasty perished and was unable to recover for a long time. After the Southern Song Dynasty was established, it needed to find reasons and scapegoats for the "why the Northern Song Dynasty perished".

Because Cai Jing and the other six traitors had been identified as the main cause of the country's downfall, and Cai Jing was a member of Wang Anshi's faction, or at least he himself championed the New Policies, the historical Southern Song Dynasty held Wang Anshi in extremely low regard. No one in the Southern Song dared to openly mention Wang Anshi's reform proposals anymore, making internal reforms increasingly difficult in the later stages.

Not only did the Southern Song Dynasty hold Wang Anshi in low regard, but this constraint also led to a low evaluation of him in the later Ming Dynasty. Yang Shen (the same Yang Shen who wrote "The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward") commented:

"The cause of national unification, which was to be united but then to fall apart, is the fault of Wang Anshi; the cause of the fall apart and the failure to reunite is the fault of Qin Hui."

Emperor Shenzong's incompetence was a combination of that of Nan Hai, Huan Ming, and Ling Ming; Anshi's treachery was a combination of that of Wang Mang, Cao Cao, Yi Jianlian, and Wen Zhengming. Among all the treacherous ministers of antiquity, none can compare to them.

However, in this life, Zhao Zicheng restored the Song Dynasty so quickly that the official ideology of the Song Dynasty did not interpret the tragedy of "short-lived near-collapse" as so bitter and resentful, and the characterization of many issues could be more lenient.

Zhao Zicheng, of course, also had to seize this opportunity to personally set the tone, and could not repeat the mistake of Zhao Gou in the original history, who pushed all the blame onto the New Party.

This time, by "partially acknowledging that a small part of Wang Anshi and Cai Jing's measures might be correct, and not abandoning things because of people," the inclusion of mathematics examinations in the formal imperial examinations can be seen as part of setting the tone.

If this approach were to be widely adopted in the future, it could pave the way for more reforms in the Song Dynasty.

Wang Anshi is Wang Anshi, Cai Jing is Cai Jing, and Zhang Dun during the reign of Emperor Zhezong is Zhang Dun; the scope of the attack cannot be broadened.

Thanks to Zhao Zicheng's actions, mathematics was ultimately and without controversy added to the compulsory content of the imperial examinations.

The public's resistance ultimately focused on archery and charioteering.

However, because the argument for the Six Arts of the Confucian Gentlemen was there, no one dared to directly oppose it. Many disgruntled scholar-officials discovered that the emperor actually preferred to add only "archery" while excluding "charioteering," so they argued that "if the Six Arts are to be comprehensive, either archery and charioteering should be included, or neither should be included," attempting to use a binding tactic to obstruct the passage.

From the perspective of the wealthy scholar-official class, having both archery and horsemanship was clearly more advantageous to the propertied class than having only archery. After all, archery training required far less money, while horsemanship training required a lot, thus eliminating competition from the poor.

Fortunately, Zhao Zicheng also had a solution. He instructed several trusted civil officials to submit a memorial to debate the issue, stating that "the 'Yu' that Confucius spoke of was driving a chariot, not riding a horse. Furthermore, there was chariot warfare during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, but chariots are now obsolete, replaced by cavalry warfare. Therefore, the social and military basis for 'Yu' no longer exists, and it cannot be compared with archery."

Riding a horse doesn't count as riding an imperial carriage; only driving a horse-drawn carriage counts as riding an imperial carriage.

The academic arguments were quite good, and the opposition finally found it difficult to refute them directly, so they had to change their attack direction.

Subsequently, some experienced and prudent court officials felt that including archery, which was only tested in the military examinations, in subjects that were clearly only for the civil service examinations, while not exactly "disgracing the culture," was unfair to older candidates.

Because you don't have to worry about your knowledge declining as you get older when you study, but horseback riding and archery are sports, and they depend on your physical strength.

Scholars experience a noticeable decline in physical strength after the age of forty. If an archery exam is added as a threshold, candidates over forty might still have some hope, but those in their fifties or sixties will definitely fail. Wouldn't that cut off the livelihood of all the old men who haven't yet passed the imperial examinations?
Zhao Zicheng was very firm on this issue, directly using Zhao Huan as a shield to forcefully push forward without any explanation.

What he wanted was to reduce the problem of redundant officials and expenses in the Song Dynasty as much as possible. Previously, the scale of the annual selection of officials and appointments in the Song Dynasty was too large. Even though Zhao Zicheng had previously used the excuse of "half of the country has fallen" to take the opportunity to cut half of the number of candidates for the imperial examination, he still felt it was not enough.

Adding archery this time might discourage the old men who have been trying for a long time without success, which isn't a bad thing.

They're all so old, they're not cut out for studying and they keep repeating grades every year, what's the point?

Moreover, he had long realized that in this era, it was impossible for Liu Bang to emerge from among the old men who had failed the imperial examinations for a long time. Liu Bang had been a hoodlum until he was 47 years old because the Qin Dynasty did not have the imperial examination system. People with real skills could only rely on mingling in society and at most become minor officials, such as village chiefs.

After the imperial examination system was established, those who repeatedly failed the exams but still managed to cause big trouble, like Huang Chao and Hong Xiuquan, were all men. Let alone those who repeatedly failed the exams, even those who rose from humble beginnings, like Li Zicheng, were all men; none of them were old.

The times are no longer conducive to producing a Liu Bang. An old man who can't pass the exams and lacks military prowess poses no threat to Song Dynasty society. It's better to let them recognize the realities of society and find another path, rather than wasting their lives on futile efforts.

Of course, Zhao Zicheng felt that in the future, he could give them a sweet treat after the initial blow, and provide them with more tiered treatment.

Before the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system had one major problem compared to the later Ming and Qing Dynasties: the title of "Juren" was not a lifelong qualification. It was merely a threshold qualification to participate in the Jinshi examination, and it had a time limit. It did not come with the qualification to be a candidate for officialdom.

Therefore, in the future, candidates who passed the imperial examinations could be given the right to queue up, and those who couldn't wait could be given priority for official appointments.

Archery exams can be subject to stricter supervision only during the provincial examinations. Previously, the township and local examinations could be optional, used only to let candidates know their level, not as a rigid criterion for screening and eliminating people.

In this way, becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) required archery skills, but only a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial imperial examinations) did not. This provided an alternative path for older scholars, allowing them to quickly recognize reality while also providing a channel for their development. Of course, these are all matters for later discussion and not something to be rushed into now. The benefits would be gradually released after scholars across the land had been somewhat suppressed and disciplined, and had endured considerable hardship.

The things that would offend people should be done while the late emperor is still in power, so that "all the bad news is out of the bag".

Once he ascends the throne, he can then implement a "positive pullback" strategy, thus maximizing Zhao Zicheng's personal influence.

……

In addition to the subjects for the imperial examinations, Zhao Zicheng also prepared several minor reforms in civil administration.

This includes minor adjustments to the performance evaluation methods for local civil servants, and the addition of some of the technical means used in Zhang Juzheng's Single Whip Law for performance evaluation.

Or perhaps it involved some adjustments to the details of the Song Dynasty's original "civilian control over the military" system, abolishing several internal constraints that particularly affected combat effectiveness. The Privy Council's authority would then become more focused on major issues while delegating less specific ones, strengthening management of troop deployment and equipment logistics, but controlling less of the army's actual combat operations.

Zhao Zicheng himself climbed his way up from there, and he knew all too well how much the Privy Council's management system before the Song Dynasty damaged the army's combat effectiveness. It was entirely designed to prevent military generals from seizing power and establishing their own independent regimes, but this choice between two evils sacrificed combat effectiveness.

However, Zhao Zicheng also knew that with the advent of cannons, future armies would become increasingly technologically advanced and professional. Before the advent of firearms, the central government could not control local armies by manipulating equipment and logistics.

As long as the local area has money, the feudal lords/regional governors can raise their own military funds to maintain their finances, and they can use the money to privately manufacture weapons.

However, after the advent of firearms, the technological threshold for military industry was greatly raised. At least the emperor could forcibly prohibit the private manufacture of firearms in local areas through administrative orders, and once discovered, it would be treated as treason and severely punished.

Therefore, the future Privy Council could add an office similar to the Equipment Department, but should abolish and merge departments that originally interfered with specific combat command.

Alternatively, the departments that are being cut could have some young, quick-learning employees reassigned to new positions. As for the older, incapable, and incompetent scholars, let them retire early to make room for them.

Zhao Zicheng implemented three to five such minor domestic and official reforms in one go.

Time passed by unnoticed, and the year was drawing to a close.

Just as Zhao Zicheng was planning his ascension to the throne and the abdication of his elder brother, a piece of bad news indirectly helped him.

It turned out that bad news had come from Goryeo: the Emperor Emeritus's health had deteriorated greatly due to the brutal treatment he had suffered at the hands of the Jurchens. Although the physicians had done their best to recuperate in Goryeo, their condition did not improve.

Knowing his death was imminent, the retired emperor was so excited to hear that his nephew had recovered Bianjing that he insisted on returning to the Central Plains despite his illness.

The imperial court dispatched the most stable sea vessel possible to escort Emperor Huizong, but after seven or eight days of rough seas, his health deteriorated further upon arrival in Dengzhou and Laizhou.

He even sent a messenger on an urgent mission, pleading with his son Zhao Huan to let him return to the capital as soon as possible, regardless of his health, as he only wanted to return to his hometown.

After discussing it with Zhao Zicheng, Zhao Huan also approved it.

Unexpectedly, when the Emperor Emeritus's carriage slowly reached Caozhou, he succumbed to his injuries and died on the way. Upon hearing of his father's death, Zhao Huan ordered the news to be kept secret and the convoy to speed up, traveling for several more days until they finally arrived in Bianjing.

When Zhao Ji's body returned to Bianjing, it was around the end of the twelfth lunar month.

Seeing his father's death, Zhao Huan, who had harbored so much resentment in life, suddenly felt an emptiness in his heart.

They fought for so long, but in the end, it was all for nothing.

If it weren't for the infighting between father and son, the country wouldn't have been so caught in this cycle of mutual restraint, with neither side able to let go, ultimately forced to watch helplessly as the Jurchens stormed into Bianjing and captured both sides involved in the infighting.

The disciples of the Hall who remained uninvolved claimed to have reclaimed the world; perhaps this was destiny. Just like Emperor Yi and Xiang Yu tearing each other apart, destroying each other's legitimacy, ultimately benefiting a newcomer with no prior record.

Later generations of Americans also succeeded because the two factions of the establishment to tear each other apart and ruin everyone's reputation, which allowed a complete novice who had never been in politics to enter the field successfully.

After gazing upon his father's remains for a while, Zhao Huan felt he had never experienced such profound enlightenment.

He kept vigil for three days, then issued an edict of self-reproach, promising to abdicate in favor of his younger brother, Prince Xiu, the regent, and Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces of the Realm, Zhao Zicheng, on the first day of the following year.

After abdicating, he devoted himself to cultivating Taoism as the master of Taiyi Palace, observed three years of mourning for his father, and reflected on his past misdeeds and the loss of the country.

Although Zhao Huan did not implement any good policies during his years as emperor, his final edict of self-reproach garnered considerable support.

Most of the court officials privately felt that Zhao Huan had managed to preserve his integrity in his later years.

Although he is only about to turn thirty years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning) – he will only be thirty years old on the first day of the Lunar New Year next year, which is 1129.

In ancient times, people were expected to establish themselves at thirty, but he was going to abdicate at thirty and pass the throne to his twenty-six-year-old cousin.

Zhao Zicheng immediately sent people to secretly begin preparations for the grand ceremony.

Take advantage of these last few days of the twelfth lunar month to go through the etiquette of three refusals and three concessions.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, he was enthroned and the reign title was changed.

Everything went smoothly, and the Taiyi Palace, where Zhao Huan stayed during his mourning period, was quickly renovated. It was converted from a Taoist temple that had been left over from Genyue.

Before he knew it, it was the first day of the Lunar New Year. Zhao Zicheng made all the preparations, put on his dragon robe, and prepared to ascend the throne.

(End of this chapter)