Chapter 8 Floating Clouds Hanging in Mid-air Name 4

  Unbeknownst to everyone, the discussion came to an end. Xiang Bu and Li Gefei separately found old friends and acquaintances to vouch for Li Ruobing's innocence. Qin Guan and Song An went to gather information, while Zhao Xingde, a Confucian scholar, followed behind Song An and comforted Li Ruobing with a few words, but had no other abilities, and left the mansion with Xiang Bu.

  On the way from Li's mansion to Taixue dormitory, Zhao Xingde's mood was somewhat disheartened, feeling only the evening wind whistling, with a sense of desolation, and the pedestrians on Bianjing Street rushing by, all seemed insignificant and indifferent.

  Just as he was about to arrive at the Taixue dormitory, he heard someone's voice behind him. At first, Zhao Xingde was dazed and didn't notice it until the person shouted several times, then Zhao Xingde turned around and looked closely, only to find that it was Zhao Bo who sold lottery tickets by the Jinming Pond.

  This man is a cousin of Zhao Xingde in Bianliang, who had been deeply addicted to gambling and almost had his hands cut off. Zhao Xingde, thinking that he had no other relatives in Bianjing, paid off his gambling debts for him and advised him to quit gambling. Today, taking advantage of the opportunity for officials to watch dragon boat racing at Jinming Pond, he made a profit by selling lottery tickets, which was also arranged by Zhao Xingde.

  Zhao Bo had his hands in his sleeves, and when he saw Zhao Xingde turn around, he said, "Brother, wait a minute." He quickly took a few steps forward, first cautiously looking around, before lowering his voice to say, "Brother's winning method is indeed effective. In the past few days, I've sold several tens of thousands of lottery tickets. Unexpectedly, the Iron Cavalry team won the championship by defeating the Tiger Wing Water Army, and the final payout was only a tiny fraction of the total. This time, we made a profit of 1,352 guan and 70 coins." As he spoke, he pretended to take out the money from his sleeves to give to Zhao Xingde.

  "Sold so much?" Zhao Xingde took a deep breath, the second thing he didn't expect was that this guy who used to be addicted to gambling actually didn't embezzle money and escape. He raised one hand to stop him and said, "This silver money you won is also your hard-earned income, consider it as my gift to you as a farewell gift, go back to your hometown, buy some fields and houses, marry a wife, and live a good life."

  Zhao Bo said, "Brother, don't chase me away. This is a great place with all sorts of things to see and experience. I haven't had my fill yet. If you're not ashamed of me, I'd like to follow you from now on, wherever you go. I won't say no to anything." As he spoke, he took out the silver money that he had already exchanged for IOUs from his pocket and forced it into Zhao Xingde's hand. After Zhao Xingde reluctantly accepted it, he continued with a smile, "Just this Dragon Boat Festival competition has earned us so much silver. Next time, we won't need to find an excuse to sell lottery tickets. With your clever calculations, brother, even if we were to lose all our money, we could win it back."

  Zhao Xingde furrowed his brow and shook his head: "It's best if we don't do this betting business again."

  Zhao Bo was splashed with a ladle of cold water and asked in confusion: "Why don't you make money when you have the chance?"

  Zhao Xingde looked around at the busy citizens of Bianliang, then gazed at the grand mansions in the distance and sighed: "In this world, the more powerful you are, the more benefits you'll gain. We have no one to rely on in Bianjing, if we really get rich overnight, I'm afraid we won't know how to die. This time our gamble paid off and we made a fortune, but it's an ill-gotten gain. If we do this two or three more times, I'm afraid someone will get the wrong idea and even bring us great trouble."

  This era emphasizes "out of courtesy, into punishment". Broadly speaking, scholars, farmers, workers and merchants all have their own positions. In smaller terms, everyone's daily behavior has certain rules, some are clear and some are vague. The right to specific interpretation is in the hands of those above, once there is a transgression, although corporal punishment does not explicitly define guilt, "transgressing courtesy" is originally "guilty". Government officials and people with power can fabricate a crime at will, and can deal with ordinary people until they are financially ruined, making life worse than death.

  Because of this, Zhao Xingde, despite having insight that transcends the ages, after arriving in this world, could only become an ordinary person who follows rules and conventions, and had to bury himself in studying for a career as a government official. But today's events gave him a great lesson: even if you have an official position or fame, it can't stop those with more power than you from taking action against you. Under the heavens, only the Emperor is the greatest, but the position of Emperor is also the target of everyone's criticism; being the Emperor means guarding against the whole world.

  Zhao Bo was taken aback and shook his head after a long while, saying: "Brother is right."

  Zhao Xingde heard the tone of discontent in his words, and from the letter that Zhao Bo had handed over to him earlier, he pulled out a stack without counting it, and handed it to Zhao Bo: "There are countless ways to make money, no need to rush for the time being. You should find a decent job in Bianjing that allows you to gather various information, when going out, one must take good care of oneself."

  He looked up at the somewhat gloomy sky in the distance, as if speaking to Zhao Bo, yet seemingly muttering to himself: "Don't worry about being trapped for a moment, the road ahead is still wide open. Heroes and generals have no fixed fate, men should strive to be strong."

  It turned out that the aftermath was not beyond Zhao Xingde's expectations. Ten days later, all the major casinos in Bianjing City launched various lottery tickets, and in order to grab business, a bloody fight broke out, resulting in several casualties. After this matter reached the imperial court, officials Zhao You and Cai Qi were delighted that the government had found another way to make money. From then on, lottery tickets were listed as a monopoly by the government. Those who previously sold lottery tickets did not have a powerful backer and suffered imprisonment. Zhao Bo, because he struck and retreated, did not get involved in any trouble and admired Zhao Xingde even more.

  After making an appointment with Zhao Bo for the next meeting, Zhao Xingde returned to Taixue Huazhang She all the way, but was pulled by Chen Dong and called: "Yuanyi, why did you just come back? There is a big deal! The emperor personally gave the topic, and the upper house students took 'Tong Si Hai, Huai Yuan Guo' as the topic to do strategy theory. Three days later, it will be presented to the emperor for personal review and evaluation of grades."

  "It's just a routine examination, no need to make a big fuss." Zhao Xingde shook his sleeves, took up a Buddhist scripture with an air of indifference and said with a curl of his lip.

  Chen Dong shook his head and said, "This time it's not ordinary. In the past, the questions were mostly quotes from classics, which are not easy to elaborate on. This time, however, they are closely related to current events, obviously a matter of concern for the emperor. If this policy essay is done well, not only will the examination results be high, but there may also be opportunities for official appointment and even attention from the emperor himself, who knows, maybe even a meteoric rise!"

  Zhao Xingde was deep in thought, but Chen Dong said again: "In the past, when Emperor Taizu toured Luoyang, Zhang Xianqi, who was still a commoner, intercepted him on the road and presented his 'Ten Strategies for Governing the Country'. Emperor Taizu read it and praised his talent, from then on, Zhang Xianqi was remembered by the emperor. Later, he passed the imperial examination and became a high-ranking official, all thanks to this essay. We scholars read countless books and travel thousands of miles, but isn't it all for the sake of serving in the court or becoming a high-ranking official one day? This is an opportunity, a great opportunity!" Chen Dong said as he hastily walked away.

  The speaker was unintentional, but the listener had another idea. Chen Dong's words made Zhao Xingde think of another possibility. If he could attract the attention of the current emperor with his strategic ideas, and even be summoned to discuss the pros and cons, wouldn't that also mean having an opportunity to clear Li Ruobing's name? Even if it didn't work out, if he could gain recognition from the imperial court and become an official, that would still be a bit of capital for establishing himself. It was better than being just a humble scholar now, with a willing heart but no power to act.

  "What happened to the other classmates?" After a moment of contemplation, Zhao Xingde looked around and found that except for Li Wei who was still studying the I Ching with rapt attention, there was no one else.

  "They all went to the Chongwen Pavilion to borrow and read Hai Guo Fang Zhi." Li Xue smiled, "These guys don't even know a thing or two about Peng Lai, Fang Zhang, Ying Zhou, let alone those unheard-of barbarian countries."

  "Why is Dong Yan still staying in the temple?" Zhao Xingde said, taking out paper and pen as if he had something on his mind, and he had made up his mind to work hard on this thesis.

  Li He closed the book, slightly closed his eyes and said: "My ambition is not here." Seeing Zhao Xingde's attitude, he was slightly surprised and said, "Yuan Zhixian used to be not so enthusiastic about fame and fortune, how did you change your nature today?"

  Zhao Xingde shook his head and sighed, "To be honest with you, Li brother, I originally had the idea of being a carefree wanderer, and even thought about finding a secluded paradise to live in seclusion. Unfortunately, 'the tree wants to be still but the wind will not stop'."

  "Is that so?" Li Ruo nodded thoughtfully and said, "If Yuan wants to move the emperor with his writing, he should hurry up. The Chongwen Pavilion has many historical books from the Central Plains, but there are not many records of the coastal countries. Among them, there are also many that have been passed down with errors. If we act too late, we won't be able to find any books as evidence." He paused and took out a yellowed scroll from his bookcase, smiling, "In the past, when I wanted to search for the overseas immortal mountains, I happened to collect a book written by Yu Xi of Xia Guo, 'Hai Guo Tu Jing'. The book lists the names, locations, and customs of 17 barbarian countries overseas. Take a look and see if it's useful?"

  "Thank you." Zhao Xingde took the album, flipped through a few pages, and found it to be very beneficial to himself. Before he had studied at Guozijian, he had planned to obtain a jinshi degree and then engage in maritime trade for profit. Therefore, he was familiar with the general situation of trade between Song Dynasty and foreign countries. As for the resources, customs, and strategies for managing the coastal areas of Nanyang, he had even more knowledge than others. What he needed now was exactly this kind of reference book that recorded contemporary people's understanding of foreign countries as a comparison material. After careful consideration, he planned to write a policy proposal that could move the emperor.

  Three days passed, neither short nor long. During this time, Zhao Xingde and other students in the Taixue dormitory stayed indoors and avoided going out. In the three-day period, some of his fellow students were so anxious that they bit their pens, scratched their ears, bumped their heads on the ground, or asked others to hold their knives for them. Everyone was busy and excited, but Zhao Xingde remained calm and composed. Sometimes he read "Hai Guo Tu Jing" borrowed from Li Ru, thinking deeply as he read. At other times, when inspiration struck, he would write a few lines and then throw the paper into the letter box beside him.

  His carefree appearance was too much for Chen Dong, who was also busy preparing his thesis.

  "Okay, you can be proud of your writing skills, but this time the examination is not trivial, so you should take it seriously and put in some effort to write a good article."

  Chen Dong had just finished the first draft of his thesis and was eager to discuss it with Zhao Xingde, but Zhao's calm demeanor really annoyed him.

  "Who says I didn't put my heart into writing this article?" Zhao Xingde raised his eyelids and patted the paper tube beside him, "I was just about to ask Brother Shaoyang for guidance."

  "Huh?" Chen Dong curiously opened the scroll tube, only to see that there were already eight or nine sheets of paper inside. He casually picked up a few and began to read them. The chaotic characters that entered his eyes included: "行屯垦，顺风俗，同文字，重华夷." Chen Dong laughed and said, "This has nothing to do with 'Tong Hai Road, Huai Yuan Guo'." Zhao Xingde, however, did not respond to him, but instead continued to read Chen Dong's strategy with his head down. Chen Dong had no choice but to continue reading, but unexpectedly, he discovered new ideas and couldn't stop.

  According to Zhao Xingde's strategy, since the sea route is distant and unpredictable, the court cannot directly control overseas barbarians. It would be better to use the method of enfeoffment or appointment of governors to restrain the maritime countries, which is the "strategy of restraining distant countries". At the same time, vigorously encourage the people of the southeast region with more people and less land to colonize places suitable for farming overseas, which is the "strategy of colonization".

  Due to differences in climate and resource endowments, the products of various maritime countries gradually became biased towards certain goods, while other essential goods could not be self-sufficient, making them increasingly dependent on maritime trade. This is the strategy of "different products". When a maritime country's dependence on maritime trade deepens, it only needs to control important sea-land channels, and the Song Dynasty can control the trade between various vassal states and colonies, thus dominating the rise and fall of these small overseas countries.

  If you want to control the business route, then the Song Dynasty must expand its merchant fleet and establish a powerful navy. This is the strategy of "building sea power". At the same time, the Song Dynasty can also use its superior maritime power to harass the Liao country's hinterland by sea, and once the Liao army gathers its advantageous forces for a counterattack, it will retreat by boat, which is the strategy of "exhausting the enemy state".

  Due to the diverse and bizarre customs of the barbarians in various regions, if they were forced to be educated in the Central Plains etiquette in a short period of time, it might lead to strong backlash. Therefore, Zhao Xingde proposed the strategy of "following local customs". However, he took advantage of the fact that the barbarians had no written language and made efforts to promote the use of Chinese characters and Chinese as official languages among government officials and upper-class people, which was the strategy of "unifying writing systems".

  After the implementation of the first two strategies, the vassal states bound by the Great Song will inevitably see a distinction between people who are more inclined towards the culture of the Great Song and those who tend to maintain their native culture. Zhao Xingde advocated for granting more privileges and better treatment to the former, in order to encourage the people of the vassal states to lean towards the Great Song more quickly, this is the strategy of "distinguishing between Hua and Yi".

  After the vassal states were completely controlled by the Great Song, the Great Song should not engage in unequal and seemingly prosperous but actually disadvantageous tribute trade with overseas vassal states. Instead, it should use the tributes from overseas vassal states to improve the finances of the Great Song, while also weakening the finances of overseas vassal states through "heavy taxation".

  Chen Dong read the several papers that Zhao Xingde had thrown into the letter box one by one, savoring them carefully, and felt more and more that they were unprecedented, each of the ten strategies having its own wonderful uses and being interconnected. He sighed and said: "With Yuan Zhi's 'Ten Strategies for Expanding the Sea', my writings can be burned!"