Chapter 1074: Governance

The wind in the north of the desert is biting, blowing the cattle and sheep back to the shed, blowing the horse's mane up, blowing the man's eyebrows together, blowing the girls' chapped red faces. Yellow sand dances wildly, and the world is unclear.

Wang, the Direct Scholar of the Longtu Pavilion, the Court-Advising Gentleman, the Junior Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Prefect of Henan Circuit Pacification Commissioner and Prefect of Yanzhou, the Brave Cavalry Lieutenant, specially bestowed with purple clothes, wearing a purple robe, draped in a sable fur cloak, because the wind was strong, he didn't wear the official hat with wings, but only coiled his hair high, inserted a green jade hairpin, stepped on official boots, standing on the gentle slope of the hill.

His hands were tucked into his sleeves, and the north wind rolled his coat.

"Lord Fan, Lord Di, go back, the cold wind is biting, both of you are not young, it is better to avoid it."

The two old men looked deeply at the Khitan army camp opposite, really wanting to fight...

Here is the Warm Spring Peak bordering Xiazhou and Khitan, and a considerable number of troops are holding on here, and they have even fought, that is, when they were negotiating peace before.

Wang Yan repeatedly memorialized, requesting a northern expedition, cooperating with the peace negotiations. After stopping the war with Western Xia, he directly opened the army here, and without a word, launched an attack on the Khitan garrison on this side, fought a small ten-thousand-man group battle, and beat the opposite side to lose their helmets and armor. After the negotiations, the Khitan increased troops to Warm Spring Peak, the negotiations went smoothly, and they didn't want tribute anymore.

"Xu Ziyan, tell me clearly, when are you going to do it?" Fan Zhongyan asked for no reason, his expression solemn.

Di Qing on the side also looked over, waiting for Wang Yan's answer.

Wang Yan pretended to be silent for a while, and slowly opened his mouth: "If it weren't for the peace this time, we should have fought a great war with Khitan at this time. Yelu Zongzhen is dead, Yelu Hongji has ascended the throne, this is a heaven-sent opportunity. If we can't fight now, we have lost the opportunity. If we fight again, we don't need to look for any good timing, just calculate an auspicious day for the expedition and kill them directly. However, since the war has been stopped, we must manage it well. If I am still in office here within two years, I will definitely conquer Khitan."

"Yanyun has hope..." Di Qing nodded with a smile.

"Lord Fan, Lord Di must also take care of their bodies to have hope."

"Didn't you check it? It's healthy." Fan Zhongyan waved his hand, "I won't go back with you, I will go to Hedong with Han Chen to return to the capital, and I will fight with them again."

The old horse in the stable, aspiring to a thousand miles, Fan Zhongyan, who did not die and accepted Wang Yan's new reform ideas, was high-spirited and had great spirit.

Wang Yan bowed with a smile: "The student wishes Lord Fan to get his wish, and Lord Di doesn't need to worry. Before this, I have already memorialized the Emperor alone, stating the pros and cons. After returning to the capital this time, Lord Di, please resign, and stay in the capital in leisure, waiting for a useful body. In less than three years, Wang Yan will definitely start a war again, and then Lord Di will definitely be re-employed. I know Lord Di doesn't admire the power of the prominent, but is a loyal and patriotic commander. With such an arrangement, what does Lord Di think?"

"Lord Di, you are in your prime, how can you be old? With such ability, it is a pity to be harmed for nothing. It is the right reason to live a few more years and fight a few more battles that will last for ages."

Di Qing shook his head: "It's useless to say more now, let's discuss it after fighting this battle."

"That's fine. Lord Fan, Lord Di, drink tea." Wang Yan signaled, and the three of them picked up their tea and drank it.

Fan Zhongyan didn't stay in Suizhou for long. He had been investigating the people's feelings all the way from Yanzhou and almost knew the situation. Anyway, he was impressed. Before he came, he had already made a decision that he would cooperate with Wang Yan in this battle. If Wang Yan didn't have confidence, he wouldn't start a war rashly. He admitted that he was not as awesome as Wang Yan, so he simply took Wang Yan as the main one and he held the power to assist.

So coming here, the main thing was to see Wang Yan; after all, there were always words that were not easy to fall on paper, and it was necessary to fully express understanding. Also, let Wang Yan see his body and take his pulse.

After the words were finished, the body was checked, and he stayed overnight, and set off for the west the next day. He and Di Qing's task was to suppress the Western Xia army on that side.

Drag as many enemies as possible, and if they could fight out some results, that would be even better.

In fact, the war has been fought to this point, and Western Xia has already lost, because they have no way to effectively solve the problem. Both sides together, so far, have invested fifty thousand troops, and are still continuing to increase troops.

Investing more troops in the west, the east can't take care of it, and they will lose a large amount of land and population, and many soldiers will be captured. But if they take care of the east, the battlefield on the west line will be miserable. The troops on that side are several times that of the east line, and the direction of the attack is a straight line, attacking Xingqing Prefecture from all directions, and the country will perish.

Of course, it is because of Wang Yan that such a situation can be formed. Such a situation is naturally what everyone wants to form, but others don't have his ability.

If it weren't for him, support was not timely, grain and grass were not timely, and the dispatch of all aspects was not timely, and elites wouldn't die. How could the troops increase as they fought, and become stronger as they fought? The front line, the rear, and the newly occupied territory were all top priorities. Only he integrated all forces and also engaged in political ideological work.

However, Zhong E's level was also there. After all, it was he who really led the troops to fight. Although it was according to the strategy set by Wang Yan, constantly adjusting, the decision-making was all done by Zhong E. If his brain wasn't enough and his level wasn't good, he would have finished playing long ago.

It was Wang Yan who set the general direction, as well as timely dispatching limited troops for support, counter-encirclement, logistical supplies, political work, etc., plus Zhong E's wisdom, forming the war opening method of the east line battlefield that is becoming stronger as it fights.

Otherwise, with the Great Song's current level, it would still be beaten by Western Xia, and after one battle, the tribute would double.

Now Fan Zhongyan and Di Qing have come, who are more reliable than Old Cheng, and Fan Zhongyan opened his mouth to give Wang Yan greater power, which could dispatch more troops, so the war on the east line is naturally getting better and better... ===== CHAPTER 1075 =====

Nizang Epang and the others were right; rebellions were constant within Western Xia, and all the various killings of officials and uprisings were instigated by people he had sent. Currently, among the three families of Song, Liao, and Xia, if one were to rank the exploitation, Western Xia was definitely the highest, followed by Liao, and finally Song.

Over the past two years, because of Wang Yan, the atmosphere of officialdom had been influenced to a certain extent, and the wealthy families had also restrained themselves a lot. If everyone restrained themselves a bit more and fished for less silver, social contradictions would be greatly eased.

Because they were leaving themselves a way out, any so-called "man of insight" clearly knew that even if Wang Yan couldn't be promoted, he was still a big shot who moved between various regions. With Wang Yan's current momentum, it was simply impossible for him to hold a post in the borderlands for too long; that would be a disaster for the state. Sooner or later, there would come a time when he would be an official at their doorstep, and then they would be finished. So they all tacitly left themselves a path, so they would have something to say when they were dealt with.

Now Wang Yan had crippled Western Xia again, and it was clear that he would inevitably fight the Khitan in the near future. They had nowhere to run even if they wanted to, and could only hide in the mountain gullies. But Wang Yan would still send troops to sweep the mountains, drive away wild beasts, and strike mountain bandits, so they couldn't even hide in the mountain gullies for too long...

Fan Zhongyan had no specific arrangements yet, but Wang Yan could say with certainty that Fan Zhongyan could not be reappointed as Chancellor. Because reform could only be pushed forward when it was absolutely necessary. Now that the situation had improved somewhat and a lot of land had been recovered, they would not support reform.

However, on the other hand, Wang Yan's reform methods were effective; the successes in Hangzhou, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou were visible to the naked eye. The monarchs and ministers of Great Song were not fools who didn't know good from bad, so they would certainly find ways to slowly push it nationwide, just not as fiercely as Wang Yan, but more gently.

And this "gentleness" was Zhao Zhen's purpose in summoning Fan Zhongyan to the capital. Zhao Zhen was not yet senile; he still wanted his Zhao family's empire to be better, and he also wanted his reputation after death to be better. He had reached the age to consider these things.

Returning to the tenet that reform is about making money, Fan Zhongyan would probably enter the Three Departments as a Vice Commissioner, holding half the rank of Chancellor.

Fan Zhongyan himself also had expectations; he took a huge detour on his way back to the capital to see Wang Yan, just to discuss with Wang Yan how to be "gentle," as well as the general strategy of action.

Unlike Wang Yan, who was not well-liked, Fan Zhongyan still had great prestige, due to his years of service as an official and his age. When it comes to being an official, being young is an advantage, and being old is also an advantage. Moreover, Fan Zhongyan's reform in Qingzhou was already very gentle; although he also encountered assassination attempts, in terms of the degree of resistance, it was far inferior to the wealthy families of Hangzhou.

So Fan Zhongyan's confidence was still very sufficient; his saying that he was as disliked by people and dogs as Wang Yan was self-deprecation. Furthermore, it had been six years from Hangzhou to now, which was not short. Whether it was officials or wealthy families, they all had an understanding; Hangzhou was inevitably the direction of future reform, serving as a pilot project.

Another point, which was also quite important, was that Fan Zhongyan had a magic weapon. If it was difficult to push forward on some key issues, he would solve the problem with one sentence: "I'll release Wang Yan, oh..."

Wang Yan, in the eyes of those in high positions, was a good blade; in the eyes of those in low positions, he was an absolutely fierce vicious dog, the kind that would bite people and cost them their lives, which was very painful...

Besides discussing the method of "gentleness" and unifying the opinions on future actions, it was also to let Wang Yan check their bodies again, and Di Qing was also checked together.

It was said that when they were fighting before, the two of them were confident and didn't stay up late at all. Even in such urgent times, they were leisurely; presumably, they would be more careful in the future...

After seeing off Fan Zhongyan, Wang Yan began to focus on managing his territory in Henan Circuit.

It was nothing more than those three axes: dealing with the wealthy, dealing with hooligans, distributing land, collecting commercial taxes, and carrying out large-scale engineering construction. Coupled with the power he held to independently issue new currency, without the need to take a large amount of copper to mint coins, just like the national development a thousand years later, a certain degree of fiscal deficit didn't matter.

And the central imperial court didn't collect taxes from him either; as long as he ensured the stability of the newly acquired land and took out a portion of the border army's military funds, that was success. In fact, this was the requirement of the capital for border officials.

It's just that they didn't expect that Wang Yan would make Yanzhou rich in one year, and also train a strong army, which he directly took out to fight Western Xia. Even throughout the entire campaign, the military funds for Yanzhou did not need to be paid by the capital; they only provided a large amount of military equipment and weapons, as well as the normal expenses of the Forbidden Army and a small amount of compensation for the Forbidden Army's casualties, making up for some food shortages. The rest was all supported by the strength of Yanzhou alone.

This was the reason why people loved and hated Wang Yan; he was too good at making money, and it wasn't fishing in a drained pond. After all, Hangzhou was right there; except for the fact that the number of imperial examination talents was halved and hadn't recovered to this day, everything else was quite good.

"Flourishing" is an adjective. But in the places governed by Wang Yan, those were real, visible changes. If this time were extended to ten years, it could also be called a earth-shaking change.

With all kinds of officials fully equipped, and after Wang Yan had properly dealt with those who dared to be disobedient, the entire Henan Circuit developed steadily.

Wang Yan was also silently pushing for his new banknotes to circulate and spread in the borderlands.

With official support, coupled with Wang Yan's vigorous development of trade and his tough requirements, within the territory of Henan Circuit that he governed, and at the two trade markets in the east and west, transactions had to be made using the new banknotes he issued.

With the unfolding of commercial exchanges, merchants naturally discovered the convenience and strength of the new banknotes, and would inevitably accept them slowly. The anchoring of the new banknotes was calculated by Wang Yan based on all taxes, GDP, etc., and was not simply anchored to one point.

And to tell the truth, in fact, the new banknotes were anchored to Wang Yan's personal prestige. In reality, he didn't print new banknotes according to the calculated data; that was just the explanation he gave to the merchants.

In reality, he issued them based on the population within the spread of the new banknotes. He roughly synthesized the data, and then based on experience, guessed a number that wouldn't explode, which was basically at the limit. As everyone knows, without taking on debt, there is no way to quickly pull up construction.

And as for the adjustments to Western Xia and Khitan, that was going on all the time. He was now sending troops out to fight one-on-one, wanting to display some biochemical warfare, but no one was taking the bait. Summarizing the experience of war was a necessary thing; whether it was Western Xia or Khitan, they all believed that Wang Yan's previous dispatch of troops to fight one-on-one and kill many elites was an important factor affecting the war.

But it didn't matter; he would send people to both sides to secretly promote his policies here, saying how good it was here, and so on. And because of the proximity, they had actually heard about the good life here long ago; such news couldn't be blocked. Their own people were spreading it among themselves, and he would send people to promote it, so the effect was still there.

Some people chose to move their whole families to Wang Yan's side to live, while others, after hearing the methods of Wang Yan's envoys on how he made the people rich—which was killing the wealthy, killing corrupt officials, and how good life was—had their eyes reddened, and with a burst of blood and spirit, picked up their knives...

These were all things that people loved to see.

In fact, it wasn't just Western Xia and Khitan; people in other neighboring prefectures and counties were also secretly running here, all wanting to live a good life, which was understandable...

Just like this, the entire Henan Circuit developed steadily and flourished.

And Fan Zhongyan, unsurprisingly, became the Vice Commissioner of the Three Departments. The first thing he did was to collect commercial taxes, starting in the capital. Because Fan Zhongyan discovered that there was a Cleaning Department in the Patrol Office of Kaifeng Prefecture, he suddenly realized that if Wang Yan hadn't been driven out of the capital at that time, he would probably have been collecting cleaning fees in the capital next.

So he naturally continued the cause that Wang Yan hadn't finished. Anyway, he could also dispatch the Patrol Office, and Wang Yan even told him that the Patrol Office had a little notebook...

Fan Zhongyan was really not in a hurry; he already knew that as long as commercial taxes were increased and some miscellaneous taxes on the people were reduced, it would immediately become much more stable. So he very calmly started from the capital and slowly radiated to the surroundings.

Also in this process, he used various supervisory means to deal with wealthy families and officials who colluded and concealed, solving other problems. To this day, this was already unstoppable; this was the general trend stirred up by Wang Yan, because of its "correctness." But land was still not okay; that was the lifeline, and he didn't dare to move it on a large scale.

During this period, a major event also occurred, which was that Xiao Dongliang got married. She was not a daughter of a wealthy and noble family, but a daughter of a fallen, poor family. Her brother was a fallen scholar who became a minor official because of Wang Yan's policies, and in his spare time, he taught his sister to read and write.

Wang Yan had seen her; the girl was very delicate and had a big butt, which was very much in line with Xiao Dongliang's aesthetics. He still remembered Xiao Dongliang's lingering thoughts when he mentioned it to him.

It's also interesting to say that this girl was also spotted by Xiao Dongliang on the street. Ever since Wang Yan told him to get married, he had been wandering outside all day, just like when Wang Yan spotted Hualan back then...