White-robed Minister

Chapter 268 0266 [Xu Lai's First Minor Reform]

Wang Anshi was having dinner at home.

Besides himself, there was his wife Wu Qiong, his eldest son Wang Pang, his eldest daughter-in-law Xiao, his second son Wang Pang, and his second daughter-in-law Pang.

And Wang Anshi's two daughters and two grandsons.

The eldest daughter was betrothed to the son of Wu Chong, the Vice Minister of the Privy Council, but due to their political differences, the marriage was delayed. The young couple could only marry after Wang Anshi was dismissed from his post.

The youngest daughter is not engaged yet, but if no butterfly effect occurs, she will marry Cai Jing's younger brother, Cai Bian.

If the story of Wang Anshi's marriage is true, then it has nothing to do with his eldest son, Wang Pang. It was his second son, Wang Pang, who suffered from mental illness, because his remarried wife was surnamed Pang.

Wang Anshi was also thinking while eating, only picking at the dish in front of him.

His wife, Wu Qiong, would occasionally move the dishes around to place in front of her husband.

"My lord, Vice Minister Xu requests an audience!"

The servant rushed to the dining room door.

Wang Anshi, who was deep in thought, thought he had misheard: "Huh?"

The servant repeated, "Vice Minister Xu requests an audience."

Wang Anshi instructed, "Please invite him in." He then said to his wife, "Add an extra set of chopsticks and a bowl, and you two come with me to greet him."

Wang Pang followed his father outside and asked curiously, "What's he doing here?"

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"I don't know," Wang Anshi shook his head. "Since we have guests, we must not be impolite."

Xu Lai sent the twenty guards home, leaving only Chen Xiaoyi to enter Wang Anshi's residence.

He walked through the corridor to the entrance of the inner courtyard, where he saw Wang Anshi and his family waiting. He bowed and said, "I apologize for my intrusion; I hope you will forgive me, Prime Minister Wang!"

Wang Anshi smiled and returned the greeting: "In the rush, preparations were inadequate; we have only simple food at home."

"You're too kind," Xu Lai said.

Wang Anshi's family members also came to pay their respects to Xu.

"Please come in."

"Please go first, Mr. Wang."

The group arrived at the dining room and took their seats. The servant warmed a pot of wine, and the cook busied herself preparing two more dishes.

Xu Lai, not considering himself an outsider, picked up his chopsticks and started eating, casually saying, "I already understand Prime Minister Wang's profound intentions regarding the matter of protecting the soldiers."

"True knowledge?" Wang Anshi asked tentatively.

Xu Lai said, "It's just to save money. But it can't continue like this forever, otherwise the people will resent it sooner or later. Does Prime Minister Wang want to destroy Western Xia? If Western Xia is not destroyed, the court will always be short of money."

Wang Anshi put down his chopsticks and carefully examined Xu Lai.

This spring, Sima Guang wrote a long letter of more than three thousand words to Wang Anshi.

Wang Anshi's reply to Sima Guang was only a little over three hundred words. He didn't want to explain too much because he knew Sima Guang too well; the other party simply couldn't agree with his approach.

In his reply, Wang Anshi only expressed his true feelings in one sentence.

He cited the story of Pan Geng moving the capital, saying that the complaints came not only from the scholar-officials but also from the common people under his rule. But no matter how many people complained, Pan Geng did not back down or regret his decision. This was because Pan Geng moved the capital out of "justice," which the scholar-officials and common people of the time simply did not understand.

Wang Anshi asked, "Didn't Vice Minister Xu say that we could destroy Xia within ten years?"

Xu Lai countered, "What if we fail?"

"Let's think of other ways," Wang Anshi said. "I'm not gambling with the fate of the nation, nor am I purely concerned with financial management. Some reforms are necessary, and minor setbacks in the process are not a concern."

Xu Lai said, "It seems that Prime Minister Wang has forgotten the people's hearts. Confucius said: 'When there is enough food and enough soldiers, the people will trust you.' Once the people's hearts are lost, it is difficult to regain them. If this continues, there will truly be factional strife."

Wang Anshi said, "If we do not do this, we will not be able to enrich the country and strengthen its military."

Sigh, this stubborn old man.

Xu Lai hadn't expected to persuade Wang Anshi; he was just there to confirm something.

It has now been confirmed.

Xu Lai put down his chopsticks, stood up, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, saying, "If Prime Minister Wang wishes to destroy Western Xia, it would be best to leave border affairs to me. Given Western Xia's current situation, if Shaanxi has sufficient troops and supplies, it might be possible to annihilate them in three to five years!"

After saying goodbye to his family, Xu Lai turned and strode out of the dining room.

Wang Anshi did not see him off, but sat at the dinner table without saying a word.

Wu Qiong quickly saw the guest off on behalf of her husband, escorting Xu Lai all the way to the front yard.

Wang Pang asked, "Sir, is he here to demonstrate?"

Wang Anshi shook his head: "He came to negotiate, and we've already finished. If I interfere too much in border affairs, he will obstruct the new laws. If I cooperate on border affairs, he will be happy to see my reforms and sufficient provisions. He wants to join me in destroying the Xia dynasty."

"Cooperation?" Wang Pang asked.

Wang Anshi said, "I have my own ideas, and he has his own opinions. It's impossible for us to truly cooperate. But at certain times, we can reach a tacit understanding."

The news that Xu Lai had visited Wang Anshi at nightfall spread throughout the Kaifeng officialdom within a few days.

Officials from all factions were speculating about what they had said.

Censor Liu Zhi submitted a memorial impeaching them.

The grounds for impeachment were: first, Wang Anshi met with guests at his private residence on a non-holiday; and second, Xu Lai paid homage to the prime minister outside the capital.

The emperor's response to this impeachment memorial was as follows: Wang Anshi and Xu Lai were each fined twenty catties of copper. Liu Zhi was demoted and banished from the capital.

Emperor Zhao Xu himself was very curious, and one day he couldn't help but ask Wang Anshi, "What did you talk about that night?"

Wang Anshi selectively told the truth: "I invited Vice Minister Xu to dinner to discuss the reforms. He ate a couple of bites of food, drank a cup of wine, and then left. He said less than ten words in total."

When Zhao Xu heard this, he thought the two had quarreled. Moreover, the reason for the quarrel was the training of the guards in Neizhou.

Xu Lai acted as if nothing had happened, studying Song Dynasty military data every day and continuing to familiarize himself with personnel matters while handling official duties.

For the next two weeks or so, there was only one thing that was really important.

Xiao Zhu, the military commissioner of Guangxi, reported that Liu Ji, a general from Jiaozhi, had led 200 soldiers across the border and appeared in Shun'an Prefecture (the territory of the Guangxi barbarians) on the Guangxi border. It seems that Ping wanted to force the local barbarian tribes to submit to Jiaozhi.

Xu Lai suggested that Xiao Zhu handle the situation as he saw fit. If Jiaozhi dared to invade again, they could cross the border to pursue and kill Jiaozhi soldiers. However, the scale of the battle must be controlled; the imperial court would not wage war against Jiaozhi, and Xiao Zhu would have to bear the consequences if things went wrong.

Wen Yanbo firmly opposed this, strictly forbidding Xiao Zhu from crossing the border to pursue the enemy. He believed that a combination of kindness and severity would appease the barbarian tribes and prevent them from defecting to Jiaozhi.

Zhao Xu, after considering the opinions of Xu Lai and Wen Yanbo, instructed Xiao Zhu to handle the matter appropriately, prioritizing the pacification of the barbarian tribes. However, the court did not address whether it was permissible to cross the border to kill the enemy.

Before the snowfall, Wang Cun came to report: "Deputy Xu Shu, there is a shortage of troops in the capital. I believe reforms are necessary."

As he said this, Wang Cun observed Xu Lai's expression.

While Xu Lai was getting to know the officials under the Privy Council, these officials were also taking the opportunity to get to know him.

Wang Cun felt that Xu Lai was a man who dared to take action, so he used the opportunity of reporting on his work to test him.

"There are plenty of Imperial Guards and Garrison Troops in the capital, how could there be a shortage of soldiers?" Xu Lai asked.

Wang Cun said, "Among the soldiers in the capital, only the strongmen of the eight eastern and western labor camps are the most useful, so they are given the highest rations and pay. The rest of the soldiers in the capital are all useless."

The so-called shortage of soldiers in the capital did not mean a lack of people to guard the city, but rather that there was a shortage of all sorts of menial tasks to be performed.

Only the engineers from the East and West Eighth Engineering Divisions are still usable; the rest of the troops are all slackers.

If you send those seasoned soldiers to work, they'll disappear in the blink of an eye, and it's hard to punish them afterwards because they're all "local bigwigs." Forget about military law; if you dare throw them in jail, their entire families—old, weak, women, and children—will come crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide.

Xu Lai asked, "How much of a vacancy is there each year?"

Wang Cun replied, "The annual shortage is about seven thousand. They are recruited from the surrounding areas to come to the capital, mainly from the Jianghuai garrison. These soldiers travel long distances and have to do heavy labor when they arrive in the capital. Many of them fall ill due to the change in environment. In winter, they are sent home. If their rations are withheld, countless people freeze to death or die of illness along the way."

"Is it like this every year?" Xu Lai asked again.

Wang Cun nodded and said, "Every year, a large number of Jianghuai soldiers die on their way home in winter."

Xu Lai asked, "How do you plan to change it?"

Wang Cun expressed his idea: "Recruiting soldiers from other places to serve in the capital will not only cause many deaths, but also require extra rations for travel when conscripted and released. Instead, we can recruit soldiers from the local garrison troops in various counties of Kaifeng Prefecture, the area east of the capital, and the western part of the capital. At the same time, we can also recruit light criminals who have been exiled to the capital for service."

Upon hearing this, Xu Lai immediately understood the situation.

Instead of recruiting local or nearby troops, they insist on recruiting troops from the Jianghuai region to serve in Beijing. This ridiculous and absurd practice continues unabated. What's the reason?

Originally stemming from the rotational garrison system, the garrison troops were gradually treated as menial laborers, even responsible for things like repairing city walls. These soldiers were meant to do real work, and Wang Anshi's reforms couldn't eliminate them; therefore, their rotational garrison quotas had to be retained.

Soldiers recruited from the Jianghuai region to travel to the capital were given provisions for their journey, most of which were illicit gains for certain individuals. Even a fool could tell that Xu Lai was being embezzled by the descendants of noble families who held military positions.

In order to cut back on wages and provisions, a large number of Jianghuai soldiers were killed every year!

The reform method is actually very simple; anyone with a normal IQ could come up with it. But it will definitely offend the descendants of those founding nobles.

Xu Lai said, "Give me a complete set of reform regulations, and I will be responsible for signing and submitting them to His Majesty."

"yes!"

Wang Cun bowed and left.

Wang Cun is almost fifty years old and has been doing things that offend people.

When he served as magistrate, he punished powerful local bullies who disregarded human life. The families of these bullies bribed state officials, who then used these officials to bribe officials...

The officials bribed the witnesses. They secretly altered the case files and forced witnesses to change their testimonies.

Wang Cun was dismissed from office for "wrongly judging a murder case"!

He used to have a close personal relationship with Wang Anshi, but he was unwilling to curry favor with Wang Anshi. He often criticized the content of the reforms, but he also often defended them, and now he is caught in the middle, disliked by both sides.

Xu Lai's writings and demeanor gave Wang Cun hope.

So he took the initiative to test Xu Lai today, wanting to see what he would do.

Wang Cun was very satisfied with Xu Lai's performance. He decided to work for Xu Lai from now on, but not simply to pledge allegiance or become dependent on him.

If Xu Lai changes his ways one day and can no longer govern impartially, Wang Cun will also fall out with Xu Lai.

That afternoon, Wang Cun presented his reform plan, clearly indicating that he had been preparing for it for some time.

After Xu Lai signed the document himself, he sent someone to get Wu Chong's signature.

Wu Chong did not sign it, but sent someone to report it to Wen Yanbo.

Wen Yanbo's comment: The current law is not inappropriate.

The clerk in charge of the matter handed the official document to Li Shou, the deputy chief clerk, according to procedure.

Li Shou's wife was a member of the imperial clan, and he did not want to offend those nobles, so he forwarded the message to Li Ping, the chief imperial advisor.

Li Ping was Empress Xiang's cousin, making him a member of the imperial family, so naturally he didn't want to get involved. He even knew exactly who had withheld the money and grain!

The official document eventually ended up in Zeng Xiaokuan's hands.

Xu could have handed the document directly to the emperor, but he insisted on following the official procedures. He simply wanted to see how the officials would react.

Now we see it.

A very simple reform plan has gone around in circles, but no one is willing to get involved.

Upon receiving the document, Zeng Xiaokuan noticed that it only contained Xu Lai's signature. After careful consideration, he proceeded with the process and submitted it to the emperor for a final decision.

Zeng Xiaokuan was the son of the former prime minister Zeng Gongliang, so he was naturally not afraid of offending any noble descendants, but he couldn't directly intervene in this matter. For the reform plan to reach the emperor's attention, at least a deputy privy councilor's signature was required.

Upon receiving the reform plan, Zhao Xu immediately summoned Xu Lai and asked curiously, "Is it really that simple? Why didn't you change it before, watching so many Jianghuai soldiers die every year?"

Xu Lai replied, "The reason why things that save both money and lives haven't changed before is because some people are unwilling to save money. No matter how many soldiers from Jianghuai die, it's not as important as them taking the opportunity to make money."

Zhao Xu immediately understood and said angrily, "Change it this way. Anyone who objects, I will personally persuade them!"

Xu Lai bowed and took his leave, departing from the Wende Hall.

He can save the lives of many soldiers by doing one thing now!

It's just offending Xun Gui, what's there to be afraid of?

Of course, this was also due to the benefits of Wang Anshi's reforms.

Previously, the positions of Zeng Xiaokuan, Li Ping, and Li Shou were all held by military officers. Wang Cun's position, however, was newly created by Wang Anshi specifically to supervise and correct the errors of the Privy Council.

If Wang Anshi hadn't reformed the official system, Xu Lai would have had to go through a lot of trouble to get involved. He might even have had difficulty discovering the problem!

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