Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 173 The Story of Sheng'an Spreads to the Great Qi
When Song Shi'an became the top scholar in the imperial examination, he rode Chen Kefu on horseback through the streets. The moment the essay of the top scholar was published, a caravan traveling between the north and south set off from Jingzhao and continued northward without stopping, until it reached Nanshuo County, south of the Chishui River, where it handed a letter tube to a boatman on the riverbank.

In one day and one night, a total of eight hundred li of urgent delivery was made, and it was sent to the capital of the Great Qi Dynasty, the Leyang Imperial Palace.

In the main hall, Ji Yuan sat leaning against the dragon throne.

In the nine-zhang-wide hall of the Zichen Palace, with its golden brick floor, stood a man who looked to be under fifty. He wore a black official robe, and the seven square green jade plaques inlaid in his jade belt were as hard as iron, just like his taut jawline.

Ji Hong, the prime minister of the State of Qi.

Ji Yuan raised his hand slightly, and someone set up a seat for him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Ji Hong sat down, the eunuch beside him presented these 'intelligence reports' to him with both hands.

"Hongqing, look at them one by one," Ji Yuan said.

This intelligence contains a huge amount of information and needs to be processed gradually.

Or rather, let's discuss things one by one.

The first document covers everything that happened in the capital of Yu State within a month before Song Shi'an's release from prison.

When Wei Wusheng returned to the city, the King of Wu led his officials to welcome him.

Supply trains and military equipment were continuously transported from Sheng'an City to aid Beiliang.

As soon as Song Shi'an returned to the city, he was sent to prison and imprisoned with his father.

The two from Northern Liang confessed to their crimes and remained imprisoned until the imperial examinations.

After the imperial examinations concluded, Song Shi'an achieved first place in both categories, becoming the newly crowned top scholar, and ascended his horse upon the back of a second-rank official.

“Most of the things are related to that Song Shi’an,” Ji Hongping said calmly. “Or rather, they are all his business.”

"As I said before, all military secrets and important matters in Sheng'an should be reported to Leyang in detail," Ji Yuan said. "And it seems that since the Battle of Shuofeng, everything in Sheng'an has revolved around those two people."

"That Wei Ye is old and senile."

Based on this intelligence, Ji Hongrui commented: "At this time, Wei Wusheng has military power, land, and prestige. Instead of directly establishing him as the crown prince, we should make some preparations and reward and cultivate him as the crown prince. After his death, Wei Wusheng will definitely become a formidable enemy of our Great Qi."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan laughed: "Hongqing doesn't know Wei Ye well enough."

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty," Ji Hong said.

"After Wei Ye ascended the throne, he waged wars in the south and north to consolidate the territory. In terms of literature, he pioneered the imperial examination system, setting a historical precedent. He was more eager and dedicated than anyone else," Ji Yuan pointed out directly. "But the more pragmatic a person is, the more they yearn for the abstract."

"He's afraid that this son, whom he's neglected before, will be given a bad posthumous title after his death." Ji Hong also realized that he really was that kind of person.

“This is more painful for him than killing him.”

When Ji Yuan said this, he was also referring to himself.

Then I realized that I would have done the same thing if I were in that situation.

The legacy of our ancestors is certainly important.

But after all my hard work over the past half of my life, am I going to let my son smear and spread rumors?

The historical records compiled and passed down to future generations will be entirely distorted, buried, and based on yin and yang.
impossible.

"Then Song Shi'an is really going to be pushed out."

As for this young man, Ji Hong summarized the news about him.

“I knew Hongqing would say that.” Ji Yuan was not surprised by the Prime Minister’s reaction and said, “Next are his poems and policy essays.”

"Even if he really had talent, how could he possibly have achieved first place in two subjects after fighting a year outside and being imprisoned before the imperial examinations?"

Ji Hong felt this was too deliberate.

But Ji Yuan only smiled faintly.

He continued watching.

After reading the entire "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River," my expression shifted from relaxed to disappointed as I read through the text. Upon finishing, my expression became particularly somber because of Song Shi'an: "This piece of writing, destined to be remembered for eternity, was actually written during an imperial examination. This Song student is truly a prodigy."

He now fully acknowledges the significance of Song Shi'an's first-class ranking in poetry and prose.

There's nothing to criticize.

"Read the next chapter," Ji Yuan said.

Afterwards, Ji Hong turned the page to read the final policy essay.

The Wealth of Nations.

These three words immediately focused the prime minister's attention.

rich!
The article's sharp, vicious, straightforward, and imaginative description of the invention of the "Jiangnan Textile Bureau" made Ji Hong stand up and pace in place as he read. Then he suddenly stopped, looked at Ji Yuan, and said with a sinister look, "If I had known this would happen, I would not have retreated from Shuofeng back then. Even if tens of thousands of people had died, I would have strangled this boy!"

When the Battle of Shuofeng ended in failure and they returned home with heavy casualties, the public opinion in the Great Qi was in an uproar.

There are several mainstream viewpoints.

Ji Bai felt that His Majesty was not in good condition this time.

Tongmen Pass has been captured, Wuwei has been captured, and Zhao Xiang has been defeated in one fell swoop. How could they be forced to a draw by a scholar in his early twenties?
It must be that our emperor's war has dragged on for too long and he's exhausted, which is why he didn't perform well this time.

Ji Hei, however, believed that His Majesty's previous victories were largely due to luck.

The fact that Tongmen Pass could be captured was the work of an inside agent.

If Zhao Xiang can win, it's purely because Zhao Xiang is too useless.

Wuwei was only captured because its food supplies were cut off. If it had had three more months' worth of food supplies, would it have been able to win?

Then, when Song Shi'an, a complete novice, was defeated, tens of thousands of elite soldiers died. That's the normal level!

Whether it was Ji Bai or Ji Hei, they both consciously overlooked one point—Song Shi'an's own strength.

Now, Ji Hong knows that this guy is powerful.

"In this battle against the north wind, I didn't lose unjustly, did I?" Ji Yuan joked.

“Your Majesty did not lose; at most, it was a miserable draw. Moreover, most of the laborers who died were from the State of Yu.” After saying this, Ji Hong murmured as if reflecting on himself, “Of course, if the ultimate goal is to unify the world, then there should be no distinction between people from the State of Yu and people from the State of Qi.”

The Northern Liang we've captured is our resource.

A lost population is a lost population.

"First place in both categories, only slightly lower." Ji Hong retracted his earlier contempt for Song Shi'an, offering a somewhat absurd affirmation. First place already? Where did he even go if he only got slightly lower?

"Hongqing, do you really think this imperial examination can discover talented people?" Ji Yuan asked with a hint of curiosity. "Does our Great Qi have such talents?"

“Scientific expeditions will surely be able to recruit truly talented individuals, but it’s too late for us to start now,” Ji Hong said.

A new policy is bound to face resistance in its early stages, and the unstable situation can cause a temporary decline in national power.

This policy will definitely change its nature and lose its original meaning in the later stages.

The most beneficial time is the middle of its peak after maturity.

If Ji Yuan were to act now, it would only create turmoil in the current court and undermine the policy advantages of the Great Qi.

Why do so many aristocratic families in the State of Yu have a biased view of Ji Yuan and yearn for the State of Qi? It's because they all believe that the State of Qi doesn't conduct imperial examinations, has good governance, and is very civilized!
In reality, the local aristocratic families didn't feel that Qi was any better than the Great Yu, which had established the imperial examination system, or how much they had benefited from the state's policies. They simply considered it a basic requirement, not a bonus.

In summary, the elite class is incapable of being loyal to the emperor and loving the country.

"That Song Shi'an, that Song Shi'an," Ji Hong shook his head repeatedly, extremely displeased. "He deserves to die."

When it snowed and the north wind was blowing, he wholeheartedly agreed to withdraw the troops.

Because continuing to play will make it less and less profitable.

With Tongmen Pass, Wuwei, and half of Shuojun, that's already enough.

However, if the entire nation were to mobilize its resources to besiege him for another month, Song Shi'an would surely die.

"The current situation is that he is still alive, and having become the top scholar, he will definitely lead the reforms," ​​Ji Yuan said seriously. "And in your opinion, Hongqing, are these reforms possible?"

"No one can do it; it's too difficult. Let alone in the pseudo-Yu state, even in the more centralized Qi state, it would be difficult to accomplish."

Ji Hong genuinely thought so, but then, recalling Song Shi'an's actions in Shuofeng, he added, "But this matter is indeed something that can be accomplished."

Theoretically possible.

The key is the person who does it.

And Song Shi'an could very well be that person!

"Moreover, let alone accomplishing everything, even if only one aspect, such as the successful completion of the land reclamation project, is achieved, the power of the pseudo-Yu will far surpass that of my Great Qi," Ji Yuan said.

“Yes, once the military settlements are fully successful, many hidden households will inevitably be uncovered.” As the prime minister, Ji Hong understood this best. “It’s equivalent to increasing the population for no reason.”

When calculating population in ancient times, one should not be fixated on the exact number of people.

Since they were hidden households, it meant that they could not collect money, could not send troops, and could not carry out corvée labor.

This is equivalent to having no population.

“We must interfere with him,” Ji Yuan said.

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Ji Hong asked tentatively.

"Prime Minister, what do you think?" Ji Yuan asked in return.

In response, Ji Hong stated frankly: "Our army has already been weakened by the north wind. If we want to disrupt Song Shi'an's reforms, we can only form alliances with other states."

They were trying to provoke the Northern Yan Kingdom.

“However, the Northern Yan has always been difficult to tame, and besides, Kang Xun has nominally submitted to the false Yu.” Ji Hong felt that this matter would be difficult.

“Make a copy of this policy essay and send it to Xiangcheng by envoy,” Ji Yuan said. “Song Shi’an’s reforms directly affected small countries like Liaodong.”

"Indeed." Ji Hong nodded, fully agreeing with this reasoning.

Liaodong was even worse than Yu State, so naturally they didn't want to see Song Shi'an complete his plan to enrich the country, leading to its peaceful evolution.

"Actively establish trade relations with Conson and withdraw troops under this pretext."

In response, Ji Yuan proposed a substantive solution: "Qi and Northern Yan have a total of 50,000 border troops stationed on the border. Qi has 30,000 and Yan has 20,000. We can withdraw our troops and send officials to supervise each other, leaving only 5,000 soldiers each. Then, the remaining 40,000 troops can be deployed to the defense lines of Northern Liang and Eastern Liang respectively."

“If we add 40,000 elite border troops, then Wei Ye will need to add at least 40,000 border troops, 40,000 auxiliary soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of civilian laborers for defense…”

After considering all the factors, Ji Hong solemnly said, "If this move is truly feasible, then Wei Ye will be unable to hold his head high for three years, let alone devote any energy to reform!"

Each side left 5,000 soldiers, which was equivalent to withdrawing each other's defenses.

A unified precaution against the Great Yu.

And Dayu suddenly had to bear the deterrent power of two countries.

Compared to submission, a more solid relationship emerged—a military alliance.

"I will send Ji Xin to Kangxun as a hostage, and ask him to send a son over as well."

Military alliances always require sacrifices.

This is a common practice.

“Your Majesty, the prince is too precious… I can send my son as a hostage,” Ji Hong said.

“Uncle, there’s no need for that,” Ji Yuan said almost coldly. “As my son, you should be prepared to relieve my worries.”

"Looking up at the heavens, it is impossible to praise even a fraction of it."

Ji Hong bowed deeply to Ji Yuan, showing him great respect.

This is the demeanor of a monarch capable of unifying the world.

"The alliance is of paramount importance," Ji Yuan demanded. "We must do everything we can to disrupt Wei Ye's mission."

"Your Majesty, rest assured, we know the North better than he does," Ji Hong said forcefully.

"Hongqing, how much gold is left in the national treasury?" Ji Yuan asked.

“…” After a brief silence, Ji Hong said, “Eighteen thousand gold coins.”

"Take out ten thousand gold coins," he decided directly.

"Your Majesty intends to take most of the national treasury?" As the prime minister, he began to feel the pinch.

It hurts!

"Give ten thousand taels of gold to the State Intelligence Bureau."

Looking south, Ji Yuan said coldly, "As long as Song Shi'an is killed, the rest will all belong to them."

(End of this chapter)