Chapter 3: A Single Document

"The Xia barbarians treat commerce as warfare; I shall treat the Way of Commerce to control the Way of War."

"If the taxes on all merchants in the Hezhong region are entirely returned to the public treasury, and all usable horses of the Fan and Hu are brought under state monopoly, then although the Xia army's armor and weapons are sharp, without trade to exchange for grain, millet, and iron tools, they will surely be like rootless tumbleweeds, drifting apart on their own."

"In the past, Chao Cuo spoke of guarding the borders and fortifying the passes, emphasizing the need to populate the frontier; Jia Yi discussed the strength of the Xiongnu, placing the Five Baits first; and now, I personally believe there are three strategies for controlling Xia."

At this moment, Lu Beigu had completely entered a state of flow where "literary thoughts gushed like a spring"; let alone having one person standing behind him, even if a crowd stood there, he would be entirely unaware of them.

Before his eyes, there was only that single sheet of paper, and the thoughts he had poured into it.

Unknowingly, Li Pan had already been standing behind Lu Beigu for quite some time.

The County School's Recorder and Lecturer had also followed to stand nearby, and merely from this sideways glance, the content they saw made them unable to help but feel surprised and suspicious.

—When did Lu Beigu's policy essay reach such a standard?

However, although the beginning of this policy essay was breathtaking, ultimately, after analyzing the situation and presenting insights, one must still see whether the countermeasures are appropriate.

After all, no matter how high the tone is set, if there is no real substance inside, it is merely a showy gimmick with an empty shell.

And finally, when Hejiang County School Principal came close enough to carefully chew over these few paragraphs several times, he could not help but look this scholar, whose clothes were soaked through, up and down.

To be honest, this policy essay strikes directly at the crux; not only is the insight unique, but the analysis is extremely reasonable, completely unlike something written by a teenager!

"Among the younger generation of scholars, I fear only that child prodigy from Meishan could write such an article."

After silently pondering, the School Principal continued reading.

"The first is to use commerce to sever the sinews and connective tissues."

"Sang Hongyang's Pingzhun method gathered all profit rights under the empire; Tang Dynasty's Liu Yan's transport strategy truly controlled the lifeblood of the regional warlords."

"They treat camel and horse as their blood vessels; I shall block their vital points. They treat green salt as their lifeblood; I shall cut off their throat."

"Now, we must ban green salt from crossing borders and cut off iron tools from leaving the frontier, then establish a dedicated Tea-Horse Office in the Qin-Feng Circuit to fully absorb the trade of Qingtang and the Tibetans. Once their treasuries are empty and the tribes turn against each other, even with a hundred thousand armored soldiers, they will be nothing but hungry eagles and starving tigers."

Seeing this, Li Pan's gaze also sharpened.

The economic lifelines of Western Xia are, first, the Tangut horses, and second, green salt!

Tangut horses are not only tall but also combine endurance with explosive power, surpassing even the steppe horses widely used by the Khitans.

Furthermore, with the Hetao Plain and the Hexi Corridor, these two excellent horse-breeding regions in hand, Western Xia's warhorses, in both quality and quantity, are the best in the world today!

Green salt is the core of Western Xia's economy; the statement that 'Yuanhao's few states derive all their wealth and supplies from green salt' is by no means an exaggeration.

If one could truly sanction Western Xia's Tangut horses and green salt, and find substitutes, then one could indeed economically cripple Western Xia and make it obedient to the Great Song.

There are precedents to refer to.

During the First Song-Xia War, Western Xia achieved three great victories on the battlefield; Li Yuanhao even uttered the harsh words, 'I wish to personally go to the Wei River and seize Chang'an,' but was ultimately forced to negotiate peace because the domestic economy was on the verge of collapse.

It is just that implementing such a strategy is extremely complex; while Tangut horses can indeed be substituted by Tibetan horses, the issue of salt is more a flaw in the Great Song's economic system itself, to the point where moving a single hair moves the whole body.

Li Pan was unclear whether Lu Beigu was not well-informed about the issue of green salt, or if he was unable to expand on it due to the length constraints of the policy essay.

But regardless, the proposal to establish a dedicated Tea-Horse Office in the Qin-Feng Circuit to conduct trade with Qingtang and the Tibetans is indeed feasible.

In fact, this economic policy is precisely the Market and Exchange Office system adopted by Wang Shao in the famous 'Xihe Border Opening' several decades later in history; setting aside the hidden dangers of the 'Xihe Border Opening', bypassing Western Xia to open trade routes with Hezhong is indeed a strategy that could leave Western Xia half-dead.

And as Lu Beigu's brush moved across the paper, Li Pan temporarily put aside his thoughts and continued reading.

"The second is to establish a foundation with border defenses."

"The strength of the Xia barbarians lies in gathering and scattering like the wind; our dynasty's predicament lies in dividing troops to guard key points."

"Now that we have already built interconnected forts in the various prefectures of the northwest, dredged moats and trenches, and made the various stockades support each other like pincers, we should also recruit locals as archers, grant them idle land, exempt them from rent and taxes, train them in battle formations, conduct target practice once every five days, hold a combined drill once every thirty days, and assess them at the end of the year."

"Whenever war breaks out, award silk and titles based on the number of heads severed; having innocent people guard their homes and strong men protect their hometowns is like bees and ants defending their nest; even if mole crickets burrow through, they will rise up together to sting them."

"Once trained, we can gradually withdraw the brave and sharp border garrison troops to specialize in cavalry archery and breakthrough tactics. If the Xia barbarians arrive suddenly, the stockades will be like iron chains blocking the river, simply holding firm at the dangerous passes and key points to refuse entry; the cavalry will be like the Tai'e sword drawn from its scabbard, waiting specifically for gaps in the enemy cavalry to strike with thunderous force."

Lu Beigu's brush moved like a knife, carving characters on the paper that penetrated deep into the back of the sheet.

Unconsciously, Li Pan's hands, covered in calluses, clenched tight within his official robes.

—This youth has written the concept that Zhong Shiheng failed to realize in Qingjian City so incisively!

Moreover, even though it is not explicitly stated why local archers should be recruited, Li Pan can see through the intent: it is still an economic calculation. After granting land to the locals, the military cost per soldier is far lower than sending soldiers from thousands of miles away.

By mixing locals with Song troops, without increasing fiscal expenditure, one can ensure sufficient garrison strength for the stockades while releasing field army troops, and even use the saved money to create an elite force capable of open-field combat.

Of course, this also involves a question that the most important figures in the court care about most.

That is, whether the standing garrison troops and large-scale elite field armies, created to meet actual defense needs, will escape the court's control and once again breed the evil consequences of regional warlordism.

No matter how you put it, it is still that same sentence: the strategy for controlling Xia proposed by this youth is indeed completely feasible!

"The third is to use strategy to disrupt their heart and mind."

"In the past, Zhang Yi scattered the vertical alliance of the six states, and Chen Ping sowed discord between Fan Zeng and King Xiang. Now, although the Xia ruler claims imperial authority, the Weili and Mocang tribes harbor different ambitions, and the Guasha Uighurs and the Hehuang Geshiluo have long harbored grievances; we should send eloquent men to stir up their suspicions, following the precedent of Zhangsun Sheng. Furthermore, we can emulate the Han Dynasty enfeoffing the Prince of Rixu, promising the chieftains of the Hengshan region to inherit their ancestral lands, and lure the great families outside the river to submit to the Central Plains."

"The Tang established the Protectorate General to Pacify the West not merely for the sharpness of swords and knives, but truly for the control of trade routes; the Han connected with the thirty-six states of the Western Regions not solely for the might of war chariots, but also for the strategy of commerce."

"With these three strategies, even if they possess the danger of Helan, they will ultimately become trapped beasts; even if they rely on the richness of the Hetao, they will surely become a dried-up carp."

As the final stroke fell, Lu Beigu put down the brush and only then realized his wrist was already aching terribly.

And when he looked up, he was stunned by the scene before him—

Magistrate Li Pan had, at some unknown time, stood before his desk, with the School Principal, the Recorder, and a host of other county school officials gathered behind him, all staring fixedly at the policy essay on his desk.

"What a magnificent 'Strategy for Controlling Xia'!"

This shout of praise swept through the hall like the north wind of the northwest, startling all the students in the hall to look up and gaze around.

——————

① Hezhong refers to the basins of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers in Central Asia, a crucial hub of the ancient Eurasian overland trade route, the Silk Road.

The Five Baits refer to the five measures of appeasement and conciliation proposed by Jia Yi against the Xiongnu, later coming to generally denote various strategies for winning over foreign tribes.

③ Sang Hongyang's Pingzhun method refers to establishing Pingzhun officials in the capital to handle the transportation of goods from all over the country, selling when prices are high and buying when prices are low, with the aim of maintaining price stability and preventing merchants from hoarding for profit.

④ Liu Yan's transport strategy refers to a system achieving rapid allocation of important supplies by matching specific boats to different river currents for grain transport and establishing storage depots in different regional centers.

⑤ Zhangsun Sheng successfully dismembered the Turks through methods such as befriending distant enemies while attacking near ones and sowing discord, causing the Turks to split into Eastern and Western parts.

⑥ In the second year of Shenjue of the Han Dynasty, the Right Prince of Rixu, Xianxianshan, had a rift with the Chanyu Wanyanqudi; the Han enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Guidé, and he led his tens of thousands of people to surrender to the Han.

⑦ An abbreviation for "a crucian carp in a dried-up cart rut," referring to a crucian carp trapped in a dried-up cart rut.

(End of this chapter)