Chapter 9: A Gamble Between Heaven and Earth, One Throw of the Dice
When Zhao Zifu mentioned "difficult to take care of" again, Zhao You's face had already darkened, obviously Zhao Zifu's words did not meet the official's intention. Cai Jing coughed twice and bowed his head to report: "Although Mr. Zhao's words are reasonable, it is as people say, 'the predecessors plant trees, and the later generations enjoy the shade.' As an old minister who has been a prime minister for many years, if I don't open up the coastal borders just because of slow results, I'm afraid my vision will be too narrow."
He didn't care about Zhao Zifu's dark face, which was already a bit unbearable, and continued to say slowly, "The current dynasty respects Confucius and values benevolent governance, with policies that rival those of the Three Dynasties. The so-called prosperous Han and Tang dynasties are not even worth mentioning. Your Majesty wants to create an unprecedented prosperous era, this opening up of the vast ocean territory is an indispensable step. This presented 'Ten Strategies for Expanding the Sea' by the monitor Zhao Xingde, is also a rare talent, if properly cultivated, will certainly be a pillar of the state."
Cai Jing said, "However, after carefully reading this strategy, I see that it has a bold and heroic vision, but lacks a few points of calm and steady work. It seems that Zhao Xingde is indeed talented and well-read in poetry and books, but he is still just a monitor and lacks experience. I have a suggestion: since Tong Gong will be going to Hebei, why not order this young man to follow him as well? Let him gain some experience for a year or two, first to broaden his horizons, second to give him an opportunity to make achievements. In the future, Your Majesty can intentionally cultivate him and even entrust him with the important task of opening up the coastal frontier. It would not be said that Your Majesty's favor is excessive."
Zhuo Yu carefully considered Cai Jing's suggestion and felt that it also made some sense. The "Ten Strategies for Expanding the Sea" proposed by Zhao Xingde was an unprecedented move since the Han and Tang dynasties, which perfectly matched his desire to become a wise ruler comparable to the Three Dynasties. He originally wanted to appoint Zhao Xingde to an official position first, keep him by his side for a period of observation, and then let him take charge of expanding the sea and opening up new territories. However, after careful consideration, he thought that since Zhao Xingde had never held any official position before, although he was well-read in poetry and books, and extremely intelligent, suddenly entrusting him with important tasks might be too hasty. It would be better to let him follow Tong Guan to Hebei, gain some experience, and see how big things are done.
"Then according to Chancellor Cai's proposal, what official position should be granted to Zhao Xingde?"
Cai Jing seemed to be thinking carefully, and Zhao Zhi, who was participating in the government affairs, coughed lightly and said: "Your Majesty, all scholars of this dynasty take it as an honor to have passed the imperial examination. Although being selected for office from the Imperial Academy is also a proper path, it's still somewhat regrettable."
I think that since Your Majesty has the intention to cultivate Zhao Xingde, it would be better to let him live in Tong Da's mansion as a supervisor, and with his talent, he will definitely be able to excel in the imperial examination next year. If he is lucky enough to become a jinshi, that would also be his good fortune."
The top three in the national imperial examination are referred to as the first, second and third place. The emperor personally appoints the champion, runner-up and third place winner, which is the lifelong honor of scholars. Among those present, the three civil officials Cai Jing, Zhao Zhi and Li Bangyan were all born into scholar-official families, while Li Bangyan was not a jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination), no matter how much he was favored, he always felt inferior to these two men. Zhao You also thought that even if the third prince Zhao Ji was born with noble blood and had great talent, he would still envy the honor of being a jinshi and beg him to let him take the imperial examination again.
Zhao You couldn't help but smile and said, "This is also the nature of young people. Anyway, it's fortunate for me, Zhao Xiangde, and for the great Song Dynasty that all of you officials are willing to support newcomers. Let him stay in Daofu's mansion as a supervisor and return to participate in the imperial examination at the time of the grand comparison at the Imperial Academy."
A few words between the monarch and his ministers settled the arrangements for Zhao Xingde, and they went on to discuss how to increase taxes in the southeast to raise funds for the expedition against Yan. The prime minister reported that by using the "interval frame" method to assess and tax houses in cities like Bianjing, the court could increase its revenue by 20 million guan this year, and by using the "land purchase" method to buy land, the court could also increase its revenue by 13 million guan. The total of these two amounts would not only be enough to cover the expenses of the large army and numerous officials, but even if the tax rate were increased, it would still be sufficient to meet the costs of the expedition against Yan and the expansion into the coastal regions.
This discussion continued until the evening, during which Zhao Yu specially had a royal banquet with six officials, and after the banquet, they watched songs and dances. After watching the songs and dances, they also discussed many state affairs. The official was quite tired, and the ministers retreated.
The emperor, somewhat tired, rubbed his temples and the Censor-in-Chief, Liang Shizhong, respectfully presented a cup of tea and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty has been diligent in governance. Do you still want to see those officials waiting in the Mingguang Hall?"
"Ming Guang Temple?" Zhao You repeated unconsciously, a wave of fatigue washing over him. "Let's not see anyone today. Those who have matters to report can leave their memorials, I'll look at them in the morning." He took a sip of ginseng tea and, holding onto the armrests of his throne, stood up shakily, feeling only waist pain and leg ache. It was said that the Emperor of Xia had entrusted all state affairs to his ministers, spending most days reviewing memorials and rarely making direct decisions on state matters, having a somewhat "governance by the prime minister, worship by the emperor" style. He himself rather enjoyed this way, but feared that within five years, the world would no longer be ruled by the Zhao family.
Zhao Xingde almost fell asleep several times, and like the officials waiting in the Mingguang Hall, he had not eaten a single grain of rice from morning to evening, only drinking over a dozen cups of imperial ginseng tea. He even went to relieve himself more than ten times. In the end, seeing that the surrounding officials were all calm and composed, he also closed his eyes, placed his hands on the mat, and began to practice the technique of concentrating his spirit and regulating his breath that he had learned from Li Ru, slowly inhaling and exhaling until someone patted him on the shoulder.
"His Majesty is tired today, please go back." The eunuch in charge of the Ming Guang Hall said to him with a condescending attitude, mixed with a hint of disappointment, and he thought Zhao Xingde was a newly favored one.
Zhao Xingde looked around in a daze, seeing that the waiting officials had slowly stood up. Some familiar ones were bidding each other farewell with clasped hands, while others took out their memorials from their sleeves and handed them over to the duty eunuchs.
When he arrived, the four-horse carriage he had ridden in was nowhere to be found. Zhao Xingde had no choice but to follow the eunuchs out of the palace through the right side gate of the Xuanhe Hall. In fact, the Imperial Academy was not far from the Donghua Gate outside the palace city, it's just that officials who came to pay their respects always left by the right side gate. The right side gate is on the south side of the palace city, and one has to circle around half a circle outside the palace city to get back to the Imperial Academy.
Zhao Xingde was yawning and his head was spinning, all he could hear was the rumbling of his stomach. Looking down the imperial street, he saw that the 200-step wide street seemed empty and desolate. In the middle of the imperial street were two rows of vermilion-painted forked poles, with the imperial path in between. Normally, pedestrians could only walk outside the vermilion-painted forked poles. Outside each row of vermilion-painted forked poles was a row of black-painted forked poles, and the space between the two rows of forked poles was called the imperial corridor. In the imperial corridor were two brick-and-stone paved imperial rivers, with lotus flowers planted in the river and peach, plum, pear, and apricot trees planted on the banks. At this moment, it was the intersection of spring and summer, and looking around, he saw a beautiful scene of purple and red colors. However, Zhao Xingde had no heart to enjoy the scenery, and as a gentle evening breeze blew by, his stomach growled even more.
Originally, this imperial corridor allowed small vendors to sell inside, but unfortunately, it was banned during the Zhenghe years due to its impact on the city's appearance. Zhao Xingde cursed as he walked along the imperial corridor, thinking about how to make up for his losses after passing the Prefectural Bridge, Wanglou Mountain Cave's plum blossom buns, Wang Popo's meat pie shop, and still Li Sifen's tea house.
After Cai Jing returned to his residence, he instructed the servants to set up a small banquet. In an instant, the crystal lanterns were hung high, illuminating the room as if it were daytime. The freshly cooked pigeon porridge, steamed buns, salted mustard greens, and Western-style three-layered cream were served in the fragrant flower hall. Although these few dishes seemed simple, a single plate of steamed buns was worth over 100 taels of silver, made with crab roe as the main ingredient. In Cai's kitchen, there were specialized cooks for chopping scallions, making crab roe, kneading dough, and steaming. Once you left Cai's residence, you would never taste such a delicious dish again. The pigeon porridge was cooked over low heat in multiple pots, and once it was done, the cook would discard the pot and start anew. Whenever Cai wanted to drink porridge, there was always a fresh batch ready. The salted mustard greens were a tribute from Jiangxi officials, made with the yolks of yellow sparrows. One cake of salted mustard greens required the lives of hundreds of yellow sparrows. The three-layered cream was a specialty sent by Xiao Bing, an envoy from the Summer State, using thirty-year-old wine lees stored in a white jade bottle placed inside a double-layered silver box with ice to keep it chilled even in the sweltering summer heat. Xiao Bing also thoughtfully sent an ice cellar. In recent years, the ruling officials of the Song Dynasty had all advocated for a northern campaign rather than a western one. Xiao Bing was one of those who had made great efforts in this regard.
The small banquet had just been arranged, and the officials Wang Fu, Li Bangyan, and Tong Guan arrived to disturb them. As soon as they sat down in the flower hall, Cai Jing dismissed his attendants, and Li Bangyan smiled, saying: "Zhao Zhi got promoted with Cai's support, but instead of showing gratitude, he defected to Prince Wei and opposed Cai. This time, he thought he was clever, trying to win back the emperor's favor by inciting the crown prince to leave the capital and inspect Hebei, which will surely make him regret it so much that his intestines turn green."
Li Bangyan's words were light and frivolous, and he was a double-dealer. He had privately shown good intentions to the Crown Prince Zhao You several times, but on the court, he appeared not to be in the same boat as Cai Jing. Therefore, when Zhao Zhi wanted the Crown Prince Wei Wang to take over the inspection of the Hebei military camp, he first found Li Bangyan and asked him to jointly propose it to the Emperor, while using the promotion of Tong Guan as the commander-in-chief of the Hebei military camp as bait to gain his support. As a result, three out of the six most trusted ministers in the imperial court agreed with the Crown Prince's inspection of Hebei, Shen Yun had always not intervened in the struggle for the throne, Wang Fu was young and did not take charge, even if Cai Jing opposed it, he would be isolated and powerless. If this matter succeeded, in the future when Crown Prince Zhao You inherited the throne, he would definitely repay Li Bangyan's secret help.
Li Bangyan agreed on the surface, but secretly informed Cai Jing of Zhao Zifu's offer immediately. Cai Jing planned to support Tong Guan in taking control of the Hebei campaign headquarters, and all he needed was for Tong Guan to make some small moves during his inspection tour of Hebei, causing the Crown Prince to lose face. In the capital, there would be members of the Cai faction stirring up trouble, ensuring that the imperial court changed its mind about the Eastern Palace. The struggle for the Eastern Palace was a matter of life and death for the Cai and Zhao factions. As long as the Crown Prince lost power, Zhao Zifu would inevitably be implicated, and the Zhao faction would naturally collapse. Cai Jing wasn't afraid that the Emperor would appoint another vice-minister to balance his own power; newcomers would always be weaker than him. As long as the third imperial son, Zhao Ji, inherited the throne, he would be an old minister of two dynasties, with the merit of having supported the new emperor. His power and influence would only continue to grow, but he didn't want to usurp the throne; all he wanted was to reach the pinnacle of wealth and honor in his lifetime, which would be enough.
Zhao Zifu, unaware of the plan, obtained the promise of Li Bangyan and Tong Guan, and was overjoyed. The three men formed an alliance to support the crown prince Zhao You. Zhao Zifu also took the opportunity to reconcile with Shaowu and Li Tong, putting aside their past grievances. Li Bangyan and Tong Guan agreed not to promote the construction of ships for overseas expeditions, which would compete with the interests of the southeastern coastal merchants.
