Chapter 1 Heavenly Jade Capital

  Zhao Xingde also told Chen Dong and others about it, and was just about to get up when he was pulled back by Zhang Biao beside him.

  "Originally, if you're short of money, just speak up and don't go borrowing from those merchants again. As a scholar-official, reputation is paramount; if word gets out, it might harm your future prospects." Zhang Biao knew that Zhao Xingde's family was struggling financially, often having to tighten their belts, and thought he was going to ask for another loan from the shopkeeper. The Zhang family were high-ranking officials residing in Bianjing, with substantial savings; Zhang Biao had a kind heart and wanted to help him out.

  Zhao Xingde was pulled by him, and he gratefully bowed his hands to him, smiling: "Zhang brother has a good heart." His face showed an embarrassed expression, and he said in a low voice, "To be honest, I have a cousin in Bianliang who is addicted to gambling and owes a lot of money. I came to see the shopkeeper just to help him turn things around, not to borrow money." Zhang Biao's face showed a sudden realization, and he let out an "oh" before releasing Zhao Xingde's arm. As the saying goes, "help in times of crisis, but don't help with chronic problems", especially when it comes to gamblers who are bottomless pits, not even one cent can be lent.

  "Zhang brother is being unreasonable, come, let's drink." Wu Zilong saw Zhao Xingde decline Zhang Biao's kindness and picked up his wine cup, saying with a hint of meaning, "I think Yuan Zhidao is fine in every way, except for a faintly discernible air of arrogance that makes people uncomfortable."

  Zhao Xingde's father, Zhao Dunxin, was a former servant of the imperial court who was listed on the Yuanyou Party Tablet. At that time, Chancellor Cai Jing was highly favored by the imperial family and held great power in the court, labeling 309 people, including the conservative former prime minister Sima Guang, as members of a clique. Not only were these individuals demoted and exiled, but their alleged crimes were also inscribed on a stele, erected outside the Duanli Gate, known as the Party Tablet. Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, it had been the custom to tolerate scholars and officials who spoke out, without punishing them for their words. This incident set a bad precedent, causing widespread outrage throughout the land. The party members dismissed by Cai Jing were scattered throughout the country, earning him the enmity of many. Many of those listed on the Party Tablet were upright and honest officials with good reputations, and scholars and officials considered it an honor to be named as a member of the party. Although Zhao Dunxin and his wife died in exile due to illness, and the Zhao family's fortunes declined, some self-proclaimed "men of integrity" still secretly admired and envied Zhao Xingde's background as a descendant of a Yuanyou Party member.

  "It's not arrogance, it's pride." Zhang Bing corrected Wu Zilong's mistake with a hint of meaning, watching Zhao Xingde's back disappear into the accounting room.

  Hua Zhanggui's face was all smiles as he rubbed his hands together and said to Zhao Xiangde, "I'm so glad you've finally arrived. If we don't get the next installment, in three days' time, our 'Fuhai Morning News' will have to suspend publication."

  Zhao Xingde's serialized novel "Xianyuan Starry Sky" was published on the back of Fuhai Commercial House's newsletter, which led to an increase in sales of nearly 80%. Although this newsletter did not bring much profit to Fuhai Commercial House, it greatly expanded its influence in the market. As a result, Huapanguan (the owner of Fuhai Commercial House) received praise from Kang Dazhang, the boss of Bianliang's commercial house. Later, Zhao Xingde was asked to write another fantasy novel, "Snow Shadow Fairy Footprints", which became very popular after its release. Unfortunately, Zhao Xingde insisted on keeping his identity as a student at Taixue Academy secret and only used the pen name "Tubianweng", which reduced Huapanguan's opportunities for promotion.

  In this era, writing lyrics for operas is ultimately a secondary pursuit, only suitable for temporary relief, but by no means can it be used to gain fame. Among the fellow students at Taixue, only Chen Dong knew that Zhao Xingde was writing lyrics, and that was because he stumbled upon the matter by chance. Zhao Xingde certainly didn't want to end up like Liu Sanbian in history, who was known for "filling words on imperial orders". However, it's strange to say that the Liu family in this world became a renowned and respected family due to their loyalty to Li Yu of Southern Tang, who should have been poisoned by Zhao Kuangyi, but instead occupied Guanzhong with the help of the Xianbei people.

  After handing over the manuscript to Hua Zhanggui, Zhao Xingde received twenty round silver coins with square holes. The front of the coin was inscribed with the four characters "纹银一两" (One Liang of Silver), and the back had a dragon coiled around it, with the year and place of minting engraved on its body. This was the currency of Xia Guo that circulated freely throughout the eastern and western trade routes, as it contained a high percentage of silver, weighed enough, and was exquisitely crafted, making it extremely popular everywhere.

  The Song Dynasty government strictly prohibited the export of metals such as gold, silver, copper, and iron, but did not ban the importation of metal products. Xia Guo's silver coins were more convenient to carry than cumbersome copper coins, and they also circulated widely among merchants in the Central Plains.

  In fact, Fu Haihang could have paid with even more convenient bearer checks, but Zhao Xingde was frightened by the financial storms and inflation of later generations and refused outright. At that time, sixteen liang equaled one jin, and twenty silver coins weighed over a jin, giving him a substantial feeling when tucked into his bosom. One liang of silver was equivalent to one guan of money, so twenty guan was half a year's worth of food and clothing for a poor person. The annual expenses of a well-treated imperial guard soldier were only fifty guan.

  Huā Zhǎng Guì's and Zhao Xíng Dé had settled their accounts, both of them were beaming with joy. Just as Xíng Dé was about to take his leave, Huā Zhǎng Guì's smiled again: "There's still something else to congratulate Yuán Zhí on - Fú Hǎi Háng's bookstore in Cháng'ān is planning to publish and sell 'Xiān Yuán Xīn Kōng' and 'Xuě Yǐn Xiān Zōng Lù', two novels. According to the publishing laws of Xià Guó, three-tenths of the book price will be submitted to the government as a copyright tax, and the book number and print run will be obtained. This copyright tax will be split equally between the government and the author. Once the books are printed and distributed, you'll have more money coming in."

  Zhao Xingde was taken aback, knowing that according to the Xia Kingdom's system, book publishing did not require the author's consent. However, authors could register a copyright fee with the government, ranging from zero to 90% of the book price. For foreign authors, the Xia Kingdom government would directly set a 30% copyright fee. Since the Xia Kingdom had made literacy compulsory for its citizens and had vigorously developed movable-type printing technology, the threshold for literacy and printing costs had been greatly reduced. As a result, many ordinary people who had become literate also enjoyed reading as a form of entertainment. Therefore, the publishing industry in Guanzhong and Longyou was extremely prosperous, with many Song Kingdom scholars and writers benefiting greatly from it, including himself.

  If it's just a plain gain of unexpected wealth, Zhao Xingde cupped his hands and smiled: "Then I'll have to trouble the shopkeeper." Flower Shopkeeper waved his hand and smiled: "Everyone gets rich, no need to be polite."

  With a heavy load of silver dollars, Zhao Xingde returned to the midst of his fellow students. Before long, several classmates and friends began loudly discussing current events again.

  It is only natural for students who are to be future officials of the empire to discuss current events. As the saying goes, "Scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants each have their own place", ordinary people discussing current events would be taking a risk, so the merchants and other idlers at the next table just ate and drank on their own and did not get mixed up with these young scholars from the Imperial Academy.

  "The things that bring harm to the country, nothing is worse than fireworks and carved stones! Chen Dong was surrounded by seven or eight familiar classmates in the middle, speaking loudly and passionately, "The carved stones were taken from Lingnan, tens of thousands of laborers went deep into the wilderness, cutting through mountains and valleys, not seeing the sun for years. The stones came out and the people of Lingnan were exhausted. Lingnan is close to Jiaozhi, originally the customs were fierce, and the people's uprising was frequent, this carved stone is a great effort. The carved stones were polished in Jiangdong, one stone, one pillar, must go through years of hard work, the stones are finished and the people of Jiangnan are exhausted! The carved stones were used in Bianliang, those who have likes and dislikes, the officials, nobles, rich merchants, and wealthy businessmen all imitated each other, for this ornamental thing, they cannot eat when hungry, cannot wear clothes when cold, and the wealth of the world is exhausted!"

  Unlike what Zhao Xingde originally knew, in this era there was a much more powerful Xia Kingdom occupying the vast region west of Hangu Pass. The Xia Kingdom's influence even extended beyond Congling to Central Asia, where they received many Persian craftsmen and architects. They introduced to the Central Plains a style of architecture built with massive stones, which was very grand and majestic. In the past two generations, the exterior of the Song Dynasty palace began to extensively adopt marble corridors and relief decorations, making the entire Bianliang city widely use marble buildings. From afar, the white marble temples and pavilions, with golden powder on the roof, looked like a paradise. The high-ranking officials of the Song Dynasty government spared no effort in quarrying, grinding, carving, and transporting marble from all over the country to Bianliang, which was what Chen Dong called "Huashi Gang".

  "Shao Yang, your words make sense," Deng Su echoed. "Both the Huashi and firearms are things from Xia Guo, and they have exhausted our people's strength and national resources. The Huashi has indeed caused trouble, but the firearms are even more hateful because they render our military completely useless. These firearms cannot shoot far, nor do they have any accuracy, and they can't be used at all in rainy or humid weather. When using bows and crossbows to face the enemy, we could at least fire three arrows, but after switching to firearms, we can only fire one shot. The only advantage of using firearms is that it saves labor, but this has led to the decline of martial arts among our soldiers. Since the previous emperor, many of our imperial guards who used bows and crossbows have become unable to draw their bows and shoot arrows after switching to firearms."

  "Exactly!" Chen Dong exclaimed, "The extravagance of the flower stone has made our country's wealth useless, and the widespread use of firearms has made our country's soldiers useless." The students gathered in the study all cheered. At this time, the idea of opposing the adoption of firearms was prevalent in the Imperial Academy, but Zhao Xingde, who knew the ferocity of firearms, did not think so. He didn't want to engage in pointless debates with his fellow students, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, which unfortunately caught Chen Dong's attention. His face turned cold, and he said, "Yuanzh seems to have some unique insight, I hope you won't mind sharing it?"

  When Chen Dong suddenly attacked himself, Zhao Xingde hurriedly collected his smile and said seriously: "Although this fire gun is not usable, the two words 'saving labor' mentioned by Shouyi brother are indeed its advantages."

  Everyone in the same window looked at each other, and Deng Su was even more angry, thinking to himself: "Does Yuan Zhidao want to humiliate me?" Chen Dong immediately rebuked him, saying: "Xing De, when discussing national affairs, one must have a sincere heart and true intentions, but cannot speak such childish words." Chen Dong and Deng Su were both students of the Imperial Academy who had risen from the lower ranks to the upper ranks, and were nearly thirty years old. They still had the air of twenty-year-olds, and now they were lecturing Zhao Xing De in front of everyone, which was a completely different attitude from when they had asked him to lend them his manuscript with humility. Zhao Xing De couldn't help but think to himself that this guy was truly born to be a politician.

  Compared with the more than 20,000 idle officials living in Bianjing, the young scholars of Taixue were extremely concerned about the fate of the Song Dynasty. Seeing that many of his fellow students were looking at him, Zhao Xingde felt a chill run down his spine and had to cough, asking: "Our country has always emphasized literature over military affairs, and has adhered to the strategy of defending the interior and emptying the exterior. With its accumulated weakness, can the Song Dynasty defeat the barbaric Liao and the militaristic Xia?"

  Although the Song Dynasty claims to have 800,000 elite soldiers, it has no advantage over either the Khitan or the Tanguts. Seeing his fellow students lowering their heads in silence, Zhao Xingde continued: "The bow and crossbow are excellent, but they require great strength to draw, while firearms have many drawbacks, but an ordinary person with average strength can fire them after some practice. Compared to our country, both the Khitan and the Tangut states have strong military power, while the advantage of our Great Song Dynasty lies in its large population, with a labor force almost twice that of the combined forces of Liao and Xia. In comparison with these two countries, the labor force of our Great Song is not fully utilized, as long as we continue to improve firearms, making their power surpass that of bows and crossbows, even the iron cavalry of the Liao state and the elite soldiers of the Tangut state will not dare to invade our country lightly.

  Everyone in the same window originally only saw the decline of the Imperial Guard's strength after switching to firearms, but Zhao Xingde changed his perspective and saw that the widespread use of firearms lowered the requirements for users, thereby allowing the rich manpower of the Song Dynasty to be converted into more military resources. Some students had an expression of disbelief on their faces, while others applauded and cheered.

  Deng Su said, "Improving the fire lance to make it more powerful than bows and crossbows is easy for you to say, but in reality, how difficult is it? The fire lance originated from Xia Guo, and until now, the Xia Guo army still only uses the divine arm crossbow and repeating crossbow, apart from cannons. Only the militia and city defense troops use fire lances. If the fire lance could easily surpass the power of bows and crossbows, how could this be?"

  Zhao Xingde had not yet responded when a loud voice said, "What Yuan Zhi said is not unreasonable." The speaker was Zhang Biao. Seeing that everyone was looking over at him, he continued, "Mr. Zhou Shan once said that in the struggle between nations, those whose methods of warfare are similar to their daily habits will win, while those whose methods of warfare are different from their daily habits will lose. The Khitan people excel at horseback riding and hunting with bows and arrows. If we simply compete with them in horsemanship and archery, we will inevitably use our weaknesses to attack their strengths. This method of manufacturing and operating fire lances is quite complicated, and the Khitan people may not have the ability to do it. On the other hand, it suits the meticulous nature that our countrymen have cultivated through years of farming."

  The Mr. Zhang Bing referred to, surnamed Huang, named Jian, styled Baishi, and known as Master Zhou Shan, was the top scorer in the imperial examination during the Yuanyou period of the Holy Ancestor, and is currently serving as a junior minister in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He can be considered a senior official with insight into both old and new parties in the imperial court. Over several decades, he has written books and made statements while in office or out of it, and his disciples are countless, with great prestige.

  At this time, Zhang Bing quoted the old man's words, and for a while, no one refuted.

  Zhao Xingde also nodded and said: "The fire lance in our Great Song has another advantage, that is, it conforms to the doctrine of guarding the inside and outside under the rule of Taizu Emperor. The saltpeter and sulfur used to make gunpowder are all official goods sold by the court, as long as we tightly control the consumption and replenishment of gunpowder in various towns and border armies, if there is no ammunition supply, the fire lance will be like scrap iron." The students thought that the court's reckless promotion of fire lances to replace bows and crossbows, and Zhao Xingde's last point was the key.

  Chen Dong also came to his senses at this time, and laughed loudly: "The Hu barbarians are stupid and careless, they must not be good at fine things like firearms. After replacing bows and crossbows with firearms, the court controlled gunpowder, and was not afraid of the governors' counterattack. The military strength of the various garrisons in Hebei and Hedong can also be doubled, and the recovery of Yan and Yun is imminent."

  The person at the next table snorted and said with a sneer, "Scholars just talk nonsense. The fire lance is treated like a treasure, but it can only be fired once when facing the enemy. To charge into battle with cavalry, just let the vanguard elite wear two layers of iron armor, use dead soldiers to heavily charge the fire lance formation, and wait for the firearms to fire once. Then, the remaining cavalry will attack from all sides, slashing and stabbing chaotically, and these rustic dogs will surely be defeated."

  Zhao Xingde and the others did not expect someone to chime in, and they all turned their heads to look. It was one of the men wearing a dog skin hat, with a square face, whiskers on both cheeks and chin, and a very rough appearance, but his age could not be discerned. He wore a cotton long gown commonly used in Central Plains during winter, which he had tucked up at the waist for convenience while hurrying along the road. On his feet were a pair of cowhide boots worn by foreigners. His eyes glared fiercely at these scholars.

  All the officials were like Zhao Kuo, who only talked about military tactics on paper and couldn't see through the origins of this group. When they heard the man say that he wanted to use heavy armor and iron cavalry to charge into the fire gun array, they didn't know whether it was true or false. They randomly agreed, but couldn't help being ridiculed. Some were tongue-tied and couldn't respond. Those who had originally questioned the effectiveness of firearms thought to themselves that iron cavalry and crossbows were the key to victory, and their faces showed a "I knew it all along" expression.

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, but Zhao Xingde smiled and said: "The cost of one cavalryman is enough to support five infantrymen. If there are 5,000 infantrymen, only 2,000 heavy armor, knife shield, long gun, and hand-to-hand combatants need to form an array at the front to block the enemy. The other 3,000 firearms can be divided into three teams: one team fires, one team waits for the enemy, and one team loads ammunition. The three teams rotate and attack in turn. Even if a thousand iron cavalrymen come to attack, it is enough to deal with them." All the students nodded in agreement.

  However, Zhao Xingde said this was a trick. With just two thousand elite heavy infantrymen forming an array to wait for the enemy, even if a thousand iron cavalry came to attack, they would not be afraid, let alone with three thousand fire guns in the back to bombard them, it was almost a winning situation. Although the Imperial Secretariat had a saying that one cavalryman was worth five infantrymen, but the cavalry would never dare to charge against an elite infantry array five times their own size. The ferocity of the Liao people's iron cavalry lay in their sudden appearance and disappearance, making people tired from running around, unable to defend themselves. That man did not expect Zhao Xingde to be so cunning, but he had previously proposed the method of iron cavalry charging into formation, and now his face was red with shame, his eyes wide open staring at Zhao Xingde, the veins on his face bulging, as if he wanted to jump up.

  Zhao Xingde was about to leave, but saw that one of the people sitting at the same table as the rough and bold man seemed to have said something in a low voice. The man's face showed joy, and he said loudly: "The great enemy of the Song Dynasty is the Khitan, and within the Liao State, there are countless tribes skilled in archery and hunting. The number of cavalry that can be used nationwide is no less than 400,000. If we use the method of scholars, five infantrymen would be needed to counter one cavalryman. Would the Song Dynasty really need to train 2 million imperial guards? Haha, haha, it's really formidable!"

  At this time, the Great Song Dynasty's army was said to have 800,000 troops, plus the auxiliary army, with a total of over one million soldiers nationwide. The cost of maintaining these troops had already made the imperial court anxious, and training two million troops was simply impossible. Many officials saw that this rough and simple man had been reminded by Zhao Xingde's words and continued to speak, directly pointing out the major flaws in the Song Dynasty's military and financial system. They couldn't help but look at him with a higher regard, seeing that he could jump from a simple battle array to the imperial court's financial economy, showing that he was not just a rough and simple man who only knew how to fight bravely.

  Zhao Xingde smiled slightly, bowed his hands and said in a low voice: "After going around in circles, we are back to the beginning. As I have already made clear earlier, firearms save labor and do not require years of maintenance and practice like bows and crossbows. If Song and Liao were to go to war, all that would be needed is to recruit local militiamen, give them some basic training, and they could serve as gunners, replacing bowmen. With a population of over 10 million in our great Song dynasty, we can mobilize more than 20 million able-bodied men. If it really comes down to it, what's the difficulty in training 1 million gunners?"

  That burly man was taken aback, recalling that Zhao Xingde had indeed said something about how easy it was to train firearms. Not knowing how to refute him, he subconsciously glanced around and saw the person next to him writing a character on the table with chopsticks dipped in water. His face relaxed, and he patted his head, laughing: "I almost got tangled up by this bookworm! With just one thing, I can scatter your infantry formation." He paused, savoring the suspense, and looked at Song Guo's scholar with a smug expression.

  Zhao Xingde gazed intently at the companion beside the burly man, only to see that he had an ordinary face and was quietly drinking tea with his head down, not even glancing in their direction, as if he were detached from the situation. However, it was clear that he had twice lent a hand to assist his comrade. Zhao Xingde fell into deep thought, his fingers tracing a subtle pattern on the table, before looking up at the burly man and his companion: "Where there is an advantage, there must also be a disadvantage. The object you rely on may be useful for breaking through formations, but it's somewhat cumbersome; if cavalry were to carry it into battle, they would be hampered, making it a mixed bag in terms of benefits and drawbacks. As for who will emerge victorious when the two armies clash, that remains to be seen!"

  That man did not expect Zhao Xingde to guess what he was saying, and looked at him incredulously. The two of them were talking in riddles, but the nearby Imperial Academy student, Chen Dong, couldn't help but ask: "What kind of military equipment is it that's so powerful?" He leaned over to take a look at the character Zhao Xingde had written on the table with wine, and saw that it was a character for cannon, but not the usual one with the stone radical, rather one with the fire radical on the left side.

  The man sitting next to the rough and hearty Hanzi carefully pondered Zhao Xingde's words, sighed softly, and stretched out his hand to wipe away the character on the table. It was also a "pao" character, but it was written with the stone radical that was commonly used at this time. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with these monitors making noise in the inn, she did not want to cause trouble, and earlier reminded her subordinate just occasionally. Seeing that there were also capable people among the Song Dynasty's monitors, she did not continue to entangle herself, but instead lowered her head to drink tea and eat food. The rough and hearty Hanzi saw that his master was no longer speaking, so he too remained silent. More than a dozen people ate and drank in silence, and before long they got up and left the inn.