White-robed Minister

Chapter 267 0265 [The Real Wang Anshi]

Xu Lai finally witnessed firsthand what a "stubborn gentleman" was like.

He felt he had explained the reasoning very clearly, so why was Wang Anshi still unwilling to listen to his advice?

Upon returning to the Privy Council, Xu Lai meticulously researched the relevant materials, wrote articles discussing the issue of local militias, and explained the operational principles of the Shaanxi militia, Shaanxi archers, and Hebei archery societies.

The Shaanxi militia system was the same approach Wang Anshi wanted to replicate in the interior. Previously implemented only in some border prefectures of Shaanxi, it had proven extremely effective, with the soldiers fighting with great ferocity.

The Shaanxi Six Route Archers were similar to the Sui and Tang Dynasty's imperial guards; the imperial court was obligated to allocate land to them.

The Hebei Archery Society originated from the Treaty of Chanyuan. Although the Song and Liao dynasties had made peace at that time, border conflicts continued, so the people formed a society to protect themselves.

In the border region of Hebei, regardless of wealth, each household was required to send one male member. Those with substantial wealth or exceptional martial arts skills were elected as the leader of the archery club.

At that time, the people living on the Hebei border carried bows and hoes, and swords to gather firewood. They patrolled in shifts, helping and watching over each other. The rules of reward and punishment they formulated themselves were even stricter than the orders of the government.

By the Qingli era, members of the archery societies in Dingzhou and Baozhou accounted for one-seventh of the total population of the two prefectures.

Do you think the Liao Kingdom was honest and followed the rules, and that they wouldn't cross the border after signing the Treaty of Chanyuan?

It was the people of Hebei who fought back so hard that the Liao soldiers dared not engage in small-scale looting!

However, after decades of peace, as the number of Liao soldiers crossing the border decreased, the Hebei Archery Society was no longer what it used to be.

In the past, we were united in spirit to protect ourselves, our families, and our property. But once the external threats were eliminated, we naturally lost that drive.

Therefore, the sudden southward advance of the Liao army rendered the Hebei archery community largely ineffective. Even the community leaders and deputy leaders struggled to effectively mobilize their members for self-defense.

In his article, Xu Lai elaborates on these organizations and military branches, and why they are able to function.

He also focused on the reasons for the decline of the Hebei Archery Club.

Once the external threats are eliminated, the Archery Club not only loses its ability to help and protect itself, but also becomes a tool for exploitation by certain individuals.

Therefore, the lower-ranking members of the Hebei Archery Club even loathed their own club. They viewed the club's leader as a tyrant!

In his article, Xu Lai emphasized that the Hebei Archery Society should be disbanded and replaced with a militia system in conjunction with the Baojia system. Military officers from the Privy Council should be dispatched periodically to supervise the militia along the Hebei border and severely punish notorious Baojia chiefs (should be heads or deputy heads).

Several days later, the emperor saw this article of nearly 30,000 words.

Zhao Suo read it for a full hour, repeatedly reading and pondering certain details. He couldn't help but say to Chen Yi, who was writing the daily records, "There are certainly more than one person who knows about military affairs today. But no one can write such a thorough analysis of military matters except Xu Lai."

Xu Lai had previously negotiated with the Liao and Xia envoys in Kaifeng, and Chen Yi served as his deputy in the negotiations.

More than half a year later, Chen Yi had become a Hanlin Academician and concurrently an editor of the daily records of the emperor's life. The first thing he did as a Hanlin Academician was to petition the emperor to prohibit the recruitment of female entertainers to accompany banquets at the Academy.

Chen Yi seized the opportunity to say, "Vice Minister Xu is both virtuous and talented. His memorials on military affairs can help Your Majesty improve the new laws."

Zhao Xu then said to his attendants, "Send this memorial to Prime Minister Wang."

Wang Anshi was discussing with Xue Xiang, Yuan Jiang, Lü Huiqing, Zeng Bu, Deng Wan, Zhang Dun, and others how to determine whether people's property was sufficient to exempt them from corvée labor.

Since the implementation of the latest version of the Exemption from Service Law, not only in remote prefectures and counties, but even in Kaifeng Prefecture, things have become a mess.

Zeng Bu proposed, "We should investigate the land holdings. This will not only ensure the smooth implementation of the exemption from corvée labor law, but also uncover hidden land in the countryside and increase tax revenue."

Wang Anshi recalled Xu Lai's fish-scale book method, which Xu Lai had once achieved great success in Yingtian Prefecture.

There is also the "Thousand-Step Square Field Method" during the reign of Emperor Renzong.

These two methods can be combined.

After Wang Anshi put forward his idea, Xue Xiang reminded him: "The matter of land surveying will encounter great resistance and is prone to causing trouble. It would be best to try it out in some areas first."

Wang Anshi instructed: "Combining the Fish Scale Map Method and the Thousand-Step Square Field Method, compile a feasible strategy and submit it."

"Let's try it out first on the Fifth Northern Route."

Xue Xiang said, "Why not try it in Kaifeng Prefecture? The five northern routes are too far-reaching."

Wang Anshi thought for a moment and said, "First, present the strategy."

Just then, Xu Lai's memorial arrived.

The content is nearly 30,000 words long, a thick stack, quite impressive.

After reading it, Wang Anshi handed it to Xue Xiang.

The others also leaned their heads in.

Xu Lai's core argument was that the archery societies along the Hebei border had degenerated from mutual aid organizations into harassing groups because the Liao soldiers no longer raided as frequently. The inland prefectures and counties were too far from the enemy, so the people simply couldn't be motivated; forcibly training soldiers would only do harm, not benefit.

Xu Lai did not accuse anyone in the article; he simply addressed the issue at hand and offered his own opinions.

He suggested that the archer and soldier system be vigorously promoted in the border prefectures and counties of Shaanxi, Hebei, Hedong, Guangxi, and Sichuan. Supervision must be strengthened. In particular, policies regarding the distribution of land and tax reductions for archers should be implemented, and even various other measures should be taken to ensure their rights are protected.

The civilized tribes were also incorporated into this system.

The core team of the reformists were reading an article, and Wang Anshi did not disturb them, but sat down beside them and thought about it carefully.

Xu Lai was different from other officials.

It's not about blindly opposing the new law.

There were actually quite a few officials like this; they pointed out the shortcomings of the new law but couldn't come up with a feasible alternative. Or they did come up with a solution, but it wasn't enough to convince Wang Anshi.

Xu Lai not only came up with alternative solutions, but also offered more radical suggestions, such as including the border tribes in the Baojia system.

Who exactly is the reformist faction?

Up to now, Wang Anshi has not dared to establish a system of baojia (a system of mutual responsibility among local non-Han peoples), but Xu Lai wants to implement it all in one step!

After reading it, Xue Xiang said to Wang Anshi, "Xu Xingzhi's suggestion is feasible."

Lu Huiqing said, "His supplementary information can be adopted, but the training of soldiers in Neizhou cannot be stopped."

Yuan Jiang very tactfully reminded him: "The idea of ​​training soldiers in the inner prefecture is indeed debatable."

"We've been discussing this for a year, isn't that enough?" Lu Huiqing questioned.

Yuan Jiang hesitated, as if he wanted to speak.

He utterly disliked Lü Huiqing, a woman who always made outrageous remarks during discussions in an attempt to impress others, and who showed absolutely no respect for her seniors.

Zeng Bu reminded him, "My lord, the purpose of organizing and training the militia in the inner prefecture is to continue disbanding the army."

This is Wang Anshi's true intention!

He wanted to continue the nationwide disarmament, eliminating the ineffective Imperial Guards and Garrison Troops. This would save a lot of military spending and alleviate the country's financial pressure.

After the troop reduction, certain tasks that previously required the Imperial Guards and the Garrison Guards could be handed over to the Guards, who would not have to pay for them.

Take the patrol inspector for example.

Previously, the local militia were used for manpower, and soldiers (village militia) were recruited when temporary manpower was needed. If farmers were trained using the Baojia system, these militia could maintain daily security in the villages. In critical moments, they could also be directly recruited to suppress bandits. This saves both money and effort.

Historically, Wang Anshi alone reduced the Imperial Guard by half, from 116.2 million to 56.8!

Zeng Bu suggested, "Since Deputy Xu Shu said that the soldiers are unusable, then let's train them more. Instead of training once every ten days, we can change it to twice every ten days."

Xu Lai never expected that his opposition to the militia training, based on concerns about disturbing the peace, would ultimately lead Zeng Bu to increase the intensity of the training. The training time doubled, making it even more disruptive to the residents!

Wang Anshi actually listened to this.

The following day, Wang Anshi requested an audience with the emperor.

He said to the emperor, "I think Vice Minister Xu's suggestions regarding border defense troops and archers are very reasonable, and we should heed his advice. However, the training of local militias in the inner prefectures using the Baojia system should not be cancelled."

Zhao Xu asked, "But soldiers trained in this way are incapable of fighting."

Wang Anshi bluntly told the emperor, "I have never actually thought that the militia could fight. These militia are only good for capturing bandits in the countryside. If there are bandits causing trouble in the area, the militia can also be summoned to suppress them. Your Majesty, the national military expenditure is too high every year, and I plan to continue to reduce the number of local militia. After the reduction of local militia, many things will have to be done by the militia."

With that explanation, Zhao Xu understood.

Xu Lai and Wang Anshi's views did not conflict, because they were always talking past each other.

Wang Anshi's starting point was financial management, aiming to alleviate military spending pressure by reducing the army. However, local affairs such as apprehending thieves and suppressing bandits still needed to be handled by someone.

The underlying logic of training militia through the Baojia system was to partially replace the paid Xiang army with free militia.

This means sacrificing the interests of farmers to achieve the imperial court's goal of saving military expenses!

If that's the case, then why bother talking about disturbing the peace?

From the very beginning, Wang Anshi knew that it would definitely disturb the people, but he just couldn't say it outright.

Xu Lai's memorial, nearly 30,000 words long, was exceptionally well-written. It forced Wang Anshi to explicitly tell the emperor: Xu Lai was deliberately disturbing the people!

After listening, Zhao Xu fell silent.

On one hand, there was the Confucian ideology of benevolent governance and love for the people; on the other hand, there was the cold, hard reality of finance and the methods of governing the country. He had vaguely sensed this before, but he was unwilling to think about it in detail, and was simply deceiving himself.

Now, Xu Lai's memorial forced Wang Anshi to expose the truth. Zhao Xu, unwilling to admit it, had to acknowledge that in order to save on military expenses, the burden on farmers had to be increased!

Zhao Xu waved for Wang Anshi to leave, and sat alone in the Wende Hall to weigh the pros and cons.

He was in a daze for several days, but finally approved Wang Anshi's request. Not only did he not abolish the Baobing (a type of military unit), he also doubled the Baobing's training time.

This is causing even more disturbance to the residents!

Upon receiving the message, Xu Lai's first reaction was anger, followed by incomprehension, and then he began to think about it seriously.

Because Emperor Zhao Xu was a discerning emperor, and Wang Anshi was an exceptionally intelligent man. Since Xu Lai had clearly explained the reasoning in his article, why did Zhao Xu and Wang Anshi go even further?

Behind every outrageous policy and rule, there must be a compelling reason why it has to be this way.

That day, Xu Lai did nothing in the Privy Council but stared at the militia training plan of the Baojia system and pondered it.

Just before it was almost time to leave work, Xu Lai finally sorted out his thoughts: Wang Anshi had only one goal: to make money!

Xu Lai left the capital without a word and returned home surrounded by guards. His mind was filled with thoughts of the Green Sprouts Act, the Exemption from Service Act, and the outrageous events that had occurred during the reform process.

He suddenly understood and realized everything at once.

Everything Wang Anshi did was for the purpose of enriching the country and strengthening its military. When the country was in dire financial straits, the four words "enriching the country and strengthening its military" had little to do with ordinary people.

Xu Lai even speculated that Wang Anshi's medium-term goal was to destroy the Western Xia. This would save countless military expenses, reduce the exploitation of the people, and revise the disturbing aspects of the new laws.

Everything makes sense now!

The stubbornness of Wang Anshi stemmed from his overly clear and unwavering goal. To achieve this goal, he was willing to sacrifice the interests of everyone, including his own.

Wang Anshi didn't care about being betrayed or abandoned by his followers.

However, Xu Lai disagreed with this approach because it was not worth the risk.

Just as he arrived home, Xu Lai said to his entourage, "Change course. Go to Prime Minister Wang's house!"

He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Wang Anshi face to face.

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