Chapter 1075: That Damn Familiarity

Spring goes and autumn comes, winter goes and spring comes again.

On the land of Henan Circuit, it is a scene of spring planting of hope. The officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as people who specialize in agricultural research, are busy guiding the people to plant in various places. The people, in family units, are sweating in the fields. In some places, there are even yamen runners, soldiers from various places, helping poor households plow and sow on a large scale with human power.

In this bright spring, Wang Yan, holding a fan, with a few minor officials, was checking the spring plowing situation outside Xiazhou City.

The seat of Henan Circuit was naturally in Fushi, but for the convenience of managing the front line, Wang Yan moved the seat to Xiazhou. He had to stand at the front and couldn't hide at the back.

In this way, facing Western Xia in the west and Khitan in the east, it has advantages in information transmission, and has advantages in accelerating the prosperity of this area, population integration, etc.

Although Zhao Song is not good, although external expansion is powerless, it does not delay the scholar-officials from top to bottom not treating foreigners as people. They are not good to their own people, and even worse to the people of foreign races...

His policy here is actually questioned. However, he didn't spend the imperial court's money, and made this place prosperous, so they didn't force him too much...

The land here is relatively insufficient in fertility. In the past time, Wang Yan passed down all the agricultural methods he knew, such as composting, deep plowing, rotation, intercropping, etc.

In addition, he also got cotton for planting. In such a long time, cotton planting had actually started long ago. When he was in Hangzhou before, he found seeds, and now there are cotton clothes there.

Just because grain production is insufficient, once people are allowed to plant randomly without planning, it will be a national grain famine. On this point, officials naturally have knowledge. So they only plant some in various regions, or on the land of the officials' families, and everyone wears cotton clothes and covers with cotton quilts.

Of course, there is no lack of people with intentions to plant on a large scale, on one hand selling cotton, on the other hand disgustingly reducing grain production, and they make another profit. After Wang Yan heard about it, he handled them all. There must be people planting secretly now, but it is also within the controllable range. If it can't be controlled, it doesn't matter, just kill. Confiscate all the big families, and there will be enough grain for the national people to eat for three years.

Now Wang Yan governs a large territory, and he can regulate it himself, so he officially supports cotton planting here.

On the other hand, this expansion of territory also gave him the grasslands at the north and south ends of the Mu Us Desert, which can graze sheep, raise cattle, and raise horses. He stationed a horse supervisor here, with horse officials responsible for horse administration and professional personnel for horse breeding. The horses produced were all left in his side, and he was actively expanding the army.

It is well known that the Henan Circuit army is the number one strong army in the world, and has never lost a battle...

As for the problem of increasing grain production, it is naturally potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, etc. On this point, he had already deployed it long ago. He had a shipyard in Haiyan, which was still overcoming the construction of large ships.

Coastal sailing ships already have the ability to build, forming a fleet, trading back and forth to Southeast Asia, and also purchasing grain there, and building several flour mills there, hitting grain into flour, preserving it for a long time, and transporting it back ship by ship, repairing the corners of the Great Song, and also hoarding grain himself.

Still silently preparing and infiltrating...

Other things like road and bridge water conservancy projects, schools, academies, libraries, granaries, and other various functional buildings, as well as other brick kilns, steel plants, and cotton clothing factories supporting cotton, and various mines, etc., are industrial constructions of this era...

Even if it is spring plowing, it didn't delay much time, because the captured Western Xia garrison troops and the handled officials, rogues, and big families were still there, and they took on various construction works very well...

"Master! Master!"

From afar, came Xiao Dongliang's shouting.

Wang Yan stopped, opened the fan with a snap and fanned, waiting for Xiao Dongliang to ride over.

"Master, the two ladies and the young master have arrived."

"You are about to be a father, and you are still so reckless. It would be fine to let others run a trip." Wang Yan scolded a little, waved his hand at the officials on the left, "Disperse, go do your own things."

After saying that, he got on his horse and took a few followers to ride back to the city.

To be honest, he underestimated the awareness of the Great Song monarchs and ministers.

Previously, he said that with his current status, as well as his personal family situation, his wife and children must be hostages in the capital. Now, just as Xiao Dongliang reported, three years after he took office at the border and had a record of using troops privately, Hualan and Shulan brought the children over.

The real situation is that the wife and children have come, and they still have to be held here for a few years...

Three years for one term, Wang Yan has been here long enough, even if he has just been promoted. On the other hand, he also misses his wife and children. These are the two main contents of the official document he sent to the Government Affairs Hall requesting to return to the capital.

Actually, he doesn't lack women; too many people flatter him. Whether it is the officials, big families, or merchants from other places who come here to do business, or other high-ranking officials. Even more, the Sheng family itself sent women to him, and Hualan also sent good-looking girls to serve him.

He just felt that the time was almost up, and he had to express his attitude, but he didn't expect to agree to his wife and children leaving the capital.

Actually, thinking about it, it is normal. He has no family ties and is alone. He is at a young age and doesn't lack women and children. Keeping Hualan and others in the capital as hostages is useless. But being able to really let go is not easy.

After all, Hualan and others are in the capital, which is having hostages. If they are not in the capital, there are none. Whether it is useful or not, having hostages in hand, the heart is always comfortable, and it is not completely useless. For example, if Wang Yan really rebelled and abandoned his wife and children, this is a big stain in life, which is also quite important for the followers who follow him.

Now that they have agreed to Hualan and others leaving the capital, it means that Wang Mouren's "Loyal Minister of the Great Song" label is completely nailed...

Back at the mansion, a large group of people were moving in and out, moving things on the twenty or so carriages that followed. Wang Yan believed that this was already Hualan and Shulan trying their best to bring less things.

Entering the courtyard, I saw Hualan and Shulan playing with the children, and the big maid beside them and the housekeeper Wang Youyin were directing, obviously having naturally taken over the mansion.

"Two ladies, was the journey okay?"

"Official～"

Hualan and Shulan's "Official" was really full of twists and turns. Hualan didn't even care about the children and rushed over directly. Shulan obviously wanted to do the same, but she stopped her movements in the end, holding the somewhat confused eldest young master, and her own second young master, moistening her eyes on the side, just looking at her good official...

After comforting the two women who missed the eldest official Wang, Wang Yan laughed and squatted there looking at the two little ones.

"Do you know who I am?"

The two little ones blinked their big eyes, didn't speak, and subconsciously retreated, looking a bit scared.

"When you were in the capital, weren't you shouting to find Daddy all day? Why are you scared now? Why don't you call Daddy!" Hualan said angrily, and even hit the little butt once.

"Daddy..."

After being beaten, the two little ones whispered and called out...

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, patted the two little heads, held one in each hand, and said: "Are you two usually at home with the children?"

"Occasionally go out, don't bring the children, let the family look at them, afraid of any accidents." Hualan said, "Official, it's just that the two little ones haven't seen you, and they will be fine after getting along for a few days. When in the capital, they were very naughty, the more you don't let them do something, the more they do it, and I have endless anger with them two a day."

"Yes, Official, Wenhua and Wenxia are very active, and if you don't watch them for a while, they will cause trouble."

Actually, these things were all said in the letters back and forth in the past, but the two of them always had to talk about it. Saying so, the meal was ready, and the family sat around the table and ate.

The three adults ate their own, and the two little ones could basically eat anything. Wang Yan didn't let the little maid serve on the side, but let them sit on the higher stools he had ordered to be made before, and let the two children eat messily. The little maid watched from behind, just don't let the two little things fall down.

Watching Wang Yan teaching his children, Hualan and Shulan held back all the words that were not in line with etiquette, and instead talked about things in the capital, as well as the affairs of the Sheng family's big house and second house.

"Official, my father was transferred back to the capital, did you receive the letter?"

"Received. It was quite coincidental, and you finally saw your family. Otherwise, I don't know how long I would have to stay in the northwest before I could go back."

Hualan sighed: "My father also said that the official is looking for trouble himself."

"Everyone has a way of living. I am looking for trouble myself, but this official is also comfortable. Now that our family is reunited, it doesn't matter if I am allowed to return to the capital or not. The northwest is also good. When you are rested, I will take you to walk around and see."

"Now the official is in charge of a circuit, so don't delay the big things because of private feelings." Shulan said very considerately.

"After a year of operation, just follow the plan. Just like in Hangzhou back then, I

Wang Yan waved his hand and turned to ask, "How is Changbai? He is twenty this year, and there is no movement in his marriage? I remember you even told me that many people wanted to marry into the Changbai family and be related to me, so many people didn't take a fancy to him?"

"It's just that he is preparing for the imperial examination; it's better to look for a marriage after passing the Jinshi. Changbai has ambition and doesn't want to rely on the name of his brother-in-law, the official. But he didn't pass this time, and he was very depressed for a while."

"He is still young, and there is plenty of time."

"Official, don't say this to Changbai, otherwise I'm afraid he will be even more depressed." Hualan shook her head with a smile.

Wang Yan passed the top scholar exam at nineteen and became the Pacification Commissioner of Henan Circuit at twenty-six, a high-ranking official in charge of military and political affairs in one region. It was impossible to compare with him, as he could make everyone from the emperor to the ministers collectively choose to suppress him...

Changbai certainly had a future; he was already doing quite well as an official.

As for Sheng Hong, stability was the priority. He only cared about his own family's interests and didn't dare to oppose the wealthy families, so all he got were superficial political achievements. This time, when he was transferred back to the capital from Dengzhou after his term expired, it was Wang Yan who helped operate it, transferring him to the Ministry of Revenue under the Three Departments to cooperate with Fan Zhongyan on the collection of commercial taxes.

This matter was the general trend, and it didn't affect anything. If it was done, there would be merit. Moreover, Sheng Hong himself was capable; after all, he was a Jinshi and had many years of experience in local governance, with very rich practical experience. He didn't reform because he didn't dare, not because he didn't know good from bad or didn't understand the reasons.

As for the messy things in the Sheng family's back courtyard, Hualan just mentioned it briefly and didn't say much. Lin Qingshuang was of course fighting back and forth with Wang, and the surviving Wei was guarding her son and daughter honestly; they were all quite good...

The family was eating and laughing, talking about messy gossip. After eating and washing up, it was naturally the long-absent thunder and fire, forcefully and wantonly telling of their longing...

After Hualan and Shulan brought the children over, life was no different, nothing more than having more time to communicate with the children in the morning and evening.

He himself was still as free and easy as ever, in charge of the overall situation, doing a good job of supervision, and the rest had nothing to do with him. He even started to take time to lecture to scholars again, and also published the third volume of "Wang Yan's Sayings."

Compared to when he was a military patrol officer in the Kaifeng Prefecture Military Patrol Office, he was obviously even more awesome now, belonging to the kind of awesome that reached the sky. He had civil achievements when he needed them, and military achievements when he needed them.

Using the saying of the three immortalities of the sage by Shusun Bao, he educated the people, made the people rich, and made life stable, which was establishing virtue. He solved the accumulated ills of the Zhao Song, crushed Western Xia, and forced Liao to seek peace, which was establishing merit. He published three volumes of "Wang Yan's Sayings," promoting his political aspirations, teaching methodology, and encouraging people to cultivate themselves and seek welfare for the people, which was establishing words.

And he was only twenty-six. The achievements he had made today were already unmatched. If he could wipe out Western Xia and Khitan in his lifetime and create a prosperous age that Great Song had never had, then without a doubt, he would be a sage.

Now, he had to be a semi-sage.

It was no longer the time when he had to go everywhere to preach; now it was others who took the initiative to seek learning, and any scholar had read his books. In today's Great Song, and not just Great Song, including Western Xia, Khitan, and Dali, it was already a shameful thing for cultural people in these places not to have read his books.

Even many people from wealthy families who didn't take the imperial examination had to read them, trying to see their own future from Wang Yan's theories...

Moreover, in many places, scholars spontaneously organized academic society activities to collectively study and discuss his theories, which had already caused quite a big response. Scholars spontaneously named Wang Yan's learning "New Learning." It was originally going to be called "Wang Learning," but it was obviously not very appropriate, as it more or less violated some taboos.

It's just that "New Learning" had not yet been accepted by the officialdom, and it was only a trend of thought in the folk, with the shadow of a "movement." When the examination questions of the official imperial examination appeared with the content of his theories, then it would truly begin to sweep Great Song. In the final analysis, it was still serving the imperial court.

Time passed like this, in the blink of an eye, to the second year of Jiayou, 1057 AD. The so-called first dragon and tiger list of the millennium, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Zeng Gong, Zeng Bu, Lv Huiqing, Zhang Dun, Wang Shao, and a large group of celebrities all took the exam in this year. Ouyang Xiu was the examiner; he had finished his mourning period and had already returned to the capital for three years.

Others like Han Qi, Fu Bi, and others had also returned to the capital one after another, and the current capital was still quite lively.

It was a pity that in this year, Wang Yan's tenure in the Northwest was heading toward five years. If there was any harvest, it was probably that he had another son and a daughter.

The third son was born to Hualan, named Wenfou. The fourth daughter was naturally born to Shulan, named Wenshu.

Wang Yan didn't care at all about naming the girls differently, directly adding the middle name of the boys in the family; anyway, he had the final say.

As for other matters, it was nothing more than the fact that the lives of the people in Henan Circuit had become better in these years, and the new banknotes he issued were now being used throughout the Northwest. There was also the fact that the war horses he bred, bought, and robbed added up, and his cavalry force had expanded to twenty-five thousand, and he had also expanded the number of garrison troops, bringing the total number of troops stationed in Henan Circuit to one hundred and seventy thousand.

He couldn't expand the Forbidden Army, but he could make the decisions for the garrison troops. And he also directly traded with prefectures, hoarded a lot of food and grass, and also dispatched and produced a lot of military equipment under various names.

If it weren't for the title of a loyal minister of Great Song, and people knew what he was going to do, I'm afraid they would have thought he was going to rebel.

He was a person who was focused on, so how could his actions be hidden? So people thought he was secretly preparing to start a war, and he was cooperating with them to secretly prepare to start a war. Everyone saw through it but didn't say it, and still had to cooperate, waiting until the time came to talk about it.

But if they wanted to cause trouble for Wang Yan, they would absolutely not do it. Because if they didn't let Wang Yan fight, they would have to transfer Wang Yan back to the capital. The current capital was already lively because of the reunion of Fan Zhongyan and others. If Wang Yan went back and had the support of Fan Zhongyan and others, wouldn't that be completely finished?

So they could only watch and silently cooperate.

Wang Yan never disappointed everyone who had expectations for him; he never let people down.

In September of the second year of Jiayou, after the autumn harvest, Wang Yan wrote to the emperor, saying that the Khitan border army had shot arrows into our territory for no reason, shooting a sheep to death. The people asked our Great Song border army for help, and the officers went to the other side to ask for an explanation. The Khitan side not only didn't give an explanation but also wantonly insulted our Great Song border army.

The generals were all indignant and asked for instructions level by level. It was already difficult to suppress, and it could trigger a war between the two countries at any time, so he requested instructions from Zhao Zhen and the Political Affairs Hall...

After receiving Wang Yan's letter, the first person to see it was Cheng Kan, who had been transferred back to be a Consultant of the Political Affairs Hall after the Zhihe peace agreement.

Looking at the long document, looking at the murderous handwriting that was written in one go and jumped off the paper, Old Cheng's hands trembled a little.

Damn it, this damn sense of familiarity...