White-robed Minister

Chapter 263 0261 [The Booming Publishing Industry of the Song Dynasty]

Since Wang Anshi reinstated the Imperial Academy, the "internal production" and "external production" now each have their own affiliations.

The drafter of imperial edicts was responsible for writing "internal drafts".

This included important edicts such as appointing and dismissing officials, declaring amnesty, and issuing levies. It was relatively independent of the prime minister system and directly responsible to the emperor.

Naotori was in charge of writing the "outsourced" documents.

This refers to the appointment of ordinary officials and the issuance of routine administrative orders. It was subordinate to the Secretariat and was part of the imperial administrative system.

Xu Lai's new official position, Deputy Privy Councilor, is at the level of a high-ranking official. The emperor's appointment edict needs to be confirmed by the prime minister first, and then sent to the drafter of imperial edicts to write the decree.

Wang Anshi received three imperial edicts appointing him at once.

In addition to promoting Xu Lai, Lü Gongqiang and Cai Ting also had their positions swapped.

Before Xu Lai's mission to the Liao Dynasty, the emperor had planned to promote Lü Gongbi to Vice Chancellor and Cai Ting to Privy Councilor. Both appointments were opposed by Wang Anshi.

Wang Anshi's reasoning was that the Song and Liao dynasties were at war, and Cai Ting was doing a good job in Hedong, so he could not be easily transferred back to the capital. Furthermore, if Cai Ting did not return, the Privy Council would be lacking leadership, so it was also inappropriate to transfer Lü Gongbi.

During Xu Lai's mission to the Liao Dynasty, an outrageous incident occurred in the imperial court.

As the Privy Councilor, Chang Gongbi wrote a memorial criticizing the new laws point by point, with extremely harsh wording throughout.

This memorial was written by Lü Gongbi at home.

Lu Gongbi's grand-nephew, Lu Jiawen, secretly stole a draft of a memorial from the study and took it to Wang Anshi to see.

Wang Anshi took the draft to the emperor, who was extremely displeased. Because the draft was written in a more unrestrained style than the official version, Lü Gongbi criticized the new laws as utterly worthless, and even expressed some reservations about the emperor himself.

The emperor tolerated it at the time.

Now that the peace talks between the Song and Liao dynasties have ended, there is no longer any need to fight against the Liao.

Therefore, Zhao Xu recalled Cai Ting and promoted him to Privy Councilor. At the same time, he demoted Lü Gongbi and sent him to take over the post of Military Commissioner of Hedong and Prefect of Taiyuan.

When Wang Anshi received the three imperial edicts, he was unsure whether to be happy or worried.

Wang Anshi was naturally very pleased to have Lü Gongbi demoted from the capital.

However, Wang Anshi felt somewhat worried about appointing Cai Ting as Privy Councilor and Xu Lai as Deputy Privy Councilor.

He took the imperial edict to the emperor, but turned back halfway there.

Wang Anshi had figured it out: Cai Ting had remained ambiguous about his stance on whether to support the reforms, without clearly stating his position. Xu Lai, though politically different from his own, had not yet publicly opposed the new laws. Placing these two in the Privy Council would allow them to directly oppose Wen Yanbo.

The one with a headache should be Wen Yanbo; what does it have to do with Wang Anshi?

Bachelor's degree.

Currently, only Zeng Bu remains as a drafter of imperial edicts, and he was only recently promoted.

All the other officials in charge of imperial examinations were demoted and banished from the capital by Wang Anshi.

Because they didn't listen!

Zeng Bu received an official document from Wang Anshi and was shocked after reading its contents.

With Wang Anshi's signature, Zeng Bu began drafting the appointment edict without hesitation.

Xu Lai's promotion edict was written just like that.

In the neighboring dormitory, Chang Zhi is writing his resignation letter.

Chang Zhi had failed the imperial examinations in his early years and lived in seclusion. Ouyang Xiu recommended him for office many times, but he refused. Seeing Wang Anshi implementing his new policies, Chang Zhi, who had lived in seclusion for twenty years, suddenly agreed to come out of seclusion and help him.

In less than three years, Chang Zhi rose from a commoner to the position of Right Censor and Attendant.

He advanced a full fifteen levels!

But Chang Zhi still has a sense of shame, and now he feels like he's sitting on pins and needles every day.

In the past, some people criticized Xu Lai for being promoted too quickly, but now no one says such things anymore.

After all, Xu Lai's achievements in expanding the borders were undeniable, making him more convincing than many reformers who rose through the ranks by meteoric success.

Chang Zhi belonged to the reformist faction that was like a rocket taking off.

He planned to resign from his position at the Imperial Academy and become a teacher at the Imperial College, dedicating himself to teaching and nurturing students.

Besides feeling embarrassed about his rapid promotion, he also increasingly felt that there were problems with the new law.

Chang Zhi, who had lived in seclusion for twenty years, emerged from seclusion with great enthusiasm, hoping to enrich the country and strengthen its people through reform. However, after three years in the capital, reality was completely different from what he had imagined.

Chang Zhi was exhausted and felt that teaching was more suitable for him.

"Is Mr. Chang resigning again?" Another person from the Naoto-in ...

Chang Zhi smiled bitterly: "I am a hermit from the mountains, and I should not have set foot in the mortal world. Three years ago, I was just a commoner, but now I am writing imperial edicts for the emperor. There is too much criticism of this in the court and among the people, which damages the reputation of Minister Wang. I should resign."

Xu Jiang said, "I heard that Xu Tianzhang has returned to the capital. We can visit him together another day."

Xu Jiang was the top scholar in the imperial examination of the eighth year of the Jiayou era. He was formerly a student of Ouyang Xiu.

It seems that all the top scholars from Fujian were quite skilled at archery. Historically, Xu Jiang later served as an envoy to the Liao Dynasty and also hit the bullseye with an arrow.

What political stance will Xu take?

When Wang Anshi was in power, he criticized some of the new laws. After Wang Anshi was dismissed from his post as prime minister, the conservatives rejected the new laws entirely, and he stood up to defend them.

Therefore, Xu was ridiculed as a "fickle and treacherous person".

Xu Lai, Zhang Heng, and Xu Jiang were all top scholars in the imperial examinations. They shared the same attitude towards the new law: good laws should be implemented, and bad laws need to be corrected.

Now, in the Imperial Academy and the Imperial Secretariat, only Xu Lai and Xu Jiang are not reformers. Everyone else has been demoted by Wang Anshi.

Wang Anshi could not demote either of them.

How much did the emperor value Xu Jiang?

He had returned to the capital to report on his duties half a month earlier, and it was only then that he met the emperor for the first time. Zhao Xu, exceptionally, promoted him to Right Censor, in charge of compiling regulations for the Secretariat. The next day, he was promoted to Director of the Imperial Secretariat. The third day, he was concurrently appointed as Judge of the Imperial Personnel Department.

Three days, three positions!

Chang Zhi said, "I have naturally read Xu Tianzhang's academic articles as well. I admire him greatly, but it is not appropriate for me to become close to him. After all, I was recommended for office by Minister Wang. You are different; you are a student of Minister Ouyang, so it is natural for you to be close to Xu Tianzhang."

Xu wanted to advise him not to put all his eggs in one basket, but he swallowed his words back.

Chang Zhi was able to live in seclusion for twenty years without taking office, which naturally showed he was a man of principle. Wang Anshi had shown him great kindness, and Chang Zhi would never oppose Wang Anshi in his lifetime.

Therefore, Chang Zhi could only go to teach, because he had grown tired of the new laws.

The two chatted for a while, then Xu went back to his office to wait for the day to end.

"My lord, the fifth issue of 'The Sound of the Bell' has been published!"

As soon as I got home, Xiao Shi greeted me with a magazine.

When Xu was about to return to the capital to report on his duties, he did not expect to stay in the capital, so his wife and children have not yet been brought to him.

Ten days ago, he bought four issues of "Duosheng" and read the entire magazine in one go.

Xu Lai's academic articles amazed Xu Jiang, and all his ideas were to his liking!

The fourth session will discuss "the unity of knowledge and action".

The newly released fifth issue features academic articles that emphasize "seeking truth from facts." It serves as a supplement and extension to the fourth issue.

That is, how to achieve "true knowledge"!

"Unity of knowledge and action" does not mean acting arbitrarily, nor does it mean that I think it should be this way and I will go down a dead end.

True knowledge must withstand the test of practice.

No one is omniscient or omnipotent. If you don't understand something, learn it; if you're wrong, correct it. What you consider "true knowledge" when you're an official in Hebei might become "false knowledge" when you move to Jiangnan.

Xu was engrossed in reading the magazine.

He could fully sense that the article was an allusion to advising Wang Anshi.

Wang Anshi was a man who believed in "unity of knowledge and action," but he was unable to "seek truth from facts." Therefore, Wang Anshi's unity of knowledge and action unfortunately turned into stubbornness.

Xu Jiang was so fond of "The Sound of the Bell" that he even read several of the jokes carefully.

He planned to find some time to get to know Xu Lai better.

One more like-minded person.

Half a day later, Xu Lai finally moved out of Ban Jing Guan.

He rode the BMW gifted to him by Yelü Hongji, and slowly returned home accompanied by Chen Xiaoyi.

This is a "modified horse".

The term "gaima" does not have a specific, fixed origin. If we interpret it literally, it should refer to a superior breed of horse bred through crossbreeding in the Liao Dynasty.

In any case, the Liao people called it "Gaima" and it was the main horse breed of the Liao's elite cavalry.

It has a small head and slender neck, a well-developed waist and back, strong limbs, and extremely strong endurance, and also has a touch of wildness.

Unfortunately, we've been fooled and can't use it for breeding.

"My husband is home!"

The servant shouted, and the house erupted in commotion.

Pianpian, accompanied by Yu'er, Dingxiang, Dou Niang, two children, and a group of servants, opened the main gate to welcome Xu Lai home.

Wang Hou, Chang Anmin, and Xie Liangzuo were also present.

Wang Hou has moved out of the Xu family's house and is now sharing an apartment with Chang Anmin. Xie Liangzuo often visits the editorial department to see them, where they review, edit, learn, and discuss manuscripts together.

In the recently released fifth issue of "Duo Sheng," only the article "On Seeking Truth from Facts" was written by Xu Lai. The rest of the articles were submitted by them for review and editing, or even written by them personally.

Of course, the quality of the articles written by the three of them has clearly declined.

Perhaps out of embarrassment, the three men offered a further explanation. They said that when Xu came on his mission to the Liao Dynasty, there was a shortage of certain types of manuscripts, and they had to take the liberty of supplementing them.

These days, sending money through official post offices isn't safe, so it's difficult to process royalties for submissions from other regions. Authors have to come to Beijing in person to collect them.

The main source of manuscripts for "Duosheng" is still submissions from the two capitals of Beijing (East and West).

There are now four academic journals, as well as several poetry publications.

The four major academic journals are:

Xu Lai's "The Sound of the Bell". Wang Anshi's "New Voice". Wen Yanbo's "The Correct Voice". Cheng Yi's "The Principles of Heaven".

The first three books, collectively known as the "Three Voices," are clearly competing against each other.

Authors who want to submit articles now have more options, allowing them to submit specifically to those that align with their own beliefs.

Wang Anshi's "New Voices" received the most submissions, but also the lowest quality. This was because many opportunistic individuals, who hadn't even finished reading the Nine Classics, tried to curry favor with Wang Anshi through their writings.

Wen Yanbo's magazine, *Zheng Sheng*, primarily received submissions from conservative bureaucrats. Its first issue featured scathing criticism of the reform movement, nearly drawing the emperor's order to shut it down. Wen Yanbo managed to salvage the magazine by purchasing the already sold copies at a high price. The second issue featured articles that were drastically different, ranging from purely academic writing and poetry to subtle allusions through fiction and jokes.

Xu Lai's "Duo Sheng" was mainly contributed by young scholars, with a very small number of serving or dismissed officials also contributing.

As for Cheng Yi's *Tianli*, it is currently only published in the Luoyang area, and only academic articles and poems are published. Its influence is relatively small.

In the two capitals of Kaifeng and Luoyang, poetry societies became increasingly numerous.

They hold poetry gatherings every now and then, publish their own collections of poems and give them away for free, and select the best pieces to submit to poetry journals.

The foundation for all of this was the improvement of movable type and the invention of ink.

Similar phenomena are spreading, centered around the two capitals.

In Nanjing Yingtianfu (Shangqiu), people are already preparing to launch a poetry journal, because Nanjing booksellers have already bought up movable type and ink.

Next, it's estimated to be Daming Prefecture, Yangzhou, and Chang'an.

Then come Jiangning, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Jiangling, and Jiangzhou —

The printing and publishing industry of the Song Dynasty is about to usher in an unprecedented period of prosperity.

The booming publishing industry will in turn drive improvements in papermaking and ink technology. Book prices will continue to decrease, and more and more children will be able to afford to read.