Chapter 1088: Ruling the World as Chief Councilor

Just as Wang Yan had told Han Qi, governing Kaifeng Prefecture amounted to merely four tasks: training soldiers, clearing land registers, investigating the populace, and collecting commercial taxes. Once these four matters were completed, Kaifeng Prefecture would be fundamentally transformed.

Others could not accomplish this because their abilities were insufficient and they could not distinguish loyalty from treachery; it was because their courage was too small, and they dared not offend the powerful noble families of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Wang Yan was different; his actions never violated the law, so no one could topple him on procedural grounds. He himself was capable of fighting and fleeing, so no one could kill him. Once he took office, it would not take long for everyone to unite under him, making it impossible for others to undermine him. Just as he had returned from the Northwest, if he had not wished to return, no one could have forced him back.

This was the foundation upon which Wang Mou established himself.

Of course, various tasks could not proceed smoothly; there would always be those greedy for wealth and those reckless enough to risk their lives, requiring harsh measures and relying on criminal judgments and legal prosecutions to bring people to justice. In summary, training soldiers and similar matters were the objectives, while acting according to the law was the means.

Training soldiers was intended to suppress local unrest; although the capital city had the Imperial Army, Kaifeng Prefecture still maintained a quota of eight thousand Xiang Army troops. Over the previous many years, they had already begun adopting Wang Yan's methods for reforming the Xiang Army, carrying out reductions and separating soldiers from laborers.

However, clearly, what Wang Yan did was not merely a simple separation and reduction. When he dismissed personnel, he allocated them land; when he separated out the artisans, he improved their treatment, ensuring there were plenty of engineering projects requiring labor. If proper resettlement had not been arranged, it would have been merely a simple separation, only shifting the Xiang Army's rice-eaters to the Bureau of Works, which was obviously unacceptable.

Therefore, it was necessary to conduct another round of training and organization. They did not need to be trained to be highly combat-effective, merely not useless; after all, once clad in armor and equipped with bows and crossbows, possessing a numerical advantage, no matter how formidable the great noble families were, they could not escape death, whether hacked to death by chaotic blades or pierced by ten thousand arrows.

Even the offices of the Patrol Bureau needed to be thoroughly rectified; some individuals in certain leadership positions seemed tired of living, and he needed to deal with them.

As for the remaining tasks of clearing land registers, investigating the populace, and collecting commercial taxes, Wang Yan was highly proficient in these matters. He lacked neither soldiers nor grassroots clerks to handle affairs, nor did he lack personnel skilled in auditing accounts.

Because he directly suspended classes at the Guozijian and the military academies, sending the academy students to various locations to clear land, investigate people, and audit accounts, while appointing the current cohort of grassroots officers from the military academies as grassroots officers for the Xiang Army, leading the Xiang Army troops together with the Patrol Bureau's constables to patrol within designated sectors. Those committing crimes were arrested immediately, those resisting violently were killed on the spot, and those who refused to cooperate with government actions had their homes raided and confiscated.

The prosperous economic situation of Kaifeng Prefecture, which had taken over a decade to recover and flourish, was crushed by Wang Yan in less than two months. A large number of shops were sealed, and a vast number of relevant personnel were suspended from work.

However, they did not become unemployed, because although goods were no longer being sold, production continued, and wages were paid as usual. No one cared whether the shop owner's entire family was still living well.

As for the overall social condition, it was naturally even better. In fact, the number of commoners active on the streets had increased. Everyone knew that Wang Yan was a man who stood up for the common people.

Prices for various goods remained stable without the slightest turbulence. Apart from the blow dealt to commercial activities, there were no negative effects. Even the commoners of Kaifeng began to praise Zhao Shu, saying that Zhao Shu was a good Emperor who had sent a good official to stand up for the people.

Initially, some people would praise Wang Yan, and while praising Wang Yan, they would also give a nod of approval to Zhao Shu. But as time passed, the voice that "Zhao Shu is a good Emperor" became overwhelmingly loud. Instead, the situation became one where people first praised the Emperor, and then praised Wang Yan.

This situation was naturally guided by people sent by Wang Yan; how could he be better than the Emperor? That would be his fault. Even when he was in the Northwest, he had always emphasized that it was Zhao Zhen's trust that allowed him to achieve what he did at that time.

Today was no exception; moreover, Zhao Shu was the one who had heavily employed him, so he would let Zhao Shu experience what it meant to have the hearts of the people, letting Zhao Shu become somewhat bewildered.

Zhao Shu was indeed bewildered; what he loved doing most was sending people to inquire about folk matters, and on several occasions, he had even left the Great Inner in disguise to walk through the streets of Bianjing, immediately feeling contented and sensing that his headaches had diminished significantly.

After ascending the throne, he had profoundly felt the difficulties of being an Emperor. He wanted to be a good Emperor and wished to establish greater achievements than Zhao Zhen, which was naturally even more difficult.

Especially since he had elevated Wang Yan to power, that was even, even, even more difficult.

Currently, both at the imperial court and in the local regions, there was much discussion regarding Wang Yan's rise to power. This was because Wang Yan's home raids were no longer limited to Kaifeng Prefecture; after all, the families there were great clans with extensive connections, so Wang Yan directly issued letters to local officials ordering them to raid homes and arrest people. If local officials refused, Wang Yan would gather evidence of their crimes, impeach them, and then raid their homes; this scope of crackdown was too broad for anyone to withstand.

Within a very short time, Zhao Shu felt on the imperial court that the Song Dynasty was tottering in wind and rain, hinting at signs of national collapse. But when he left the Great Inner to observe the situation in the city, his backbone immediately stiffened.

He returned to the imperial court to continue tightening his grip on power, constantly carrying out personnel adjustments.

In fact, even if the dynasty were truly tottering, Zhao Shu could not possibly kick Wang Yan out of the capital; on the contrary, he needed to rely even more on Wang Yan's abilities to rebuild the Zhao Song Jiangshan. Moreover, the current situation was merely an illusion; the Song military prowess was at its peak, hundreds of thousands of troops had not yet been recalled, and the national treasury was filled with countless funds and grain—this was their confidence.

Furthermore, there was a critically important point: Zhao Shu had ascended the throne for too short a time and held too little power in his hands. The reason he could currently speak with authority was because Wang Yan was supporting him.

It was just like when Wang Yan held office in Kaifeng Prefecture; he could speak with authority because the Patrol Bureau listened to him, and in other positions, he also had his old subordinates. Because these people listened to him, his power could extend, rather than having to engage in back-and-forth power struggles with various officials. Now, whoever disobeyed was dealt with. Zhao Shu was the same.

With Wang Yan administering Kaifeng Prefecture, whoever disobeyed, Zhao Shu would deal with them directly. His position as the Acting Administrator of Kaifeng Prefecture was already sufficient for Zhao Shu to exert his influence...

The last time he served as the Patrol Commissioner of the Military Patrol Bureau, he was kicked out of the capital, but this time, no one could kick Wang Yan out again.

As various tasks advanced steadily, the amount of cleared land and investigated population skyrocketed; as for commercial taxes, a significant portion of the businesses had been raided by Wang Yan, so it did not require much effort. As for those not raided, they were all fined large sums of money.

He even swept through the imperial clan; no one escaped.

Vast amounts of funds and grain were collected by Kaifeng Prefecture; before the Finance Commission could come to fight him for the money, he immediately launched various projects. These included the construction and maintenance of land routes within Kaifeng Prefecture, dredging of waterways, construction of ports, building of various water conservancy facilities, welfare for widows and orphans, welfare for the Orphan Compassion Institutes, helping commoners who owned their own land by lending them money to cultivate their fields, purchasing large quantities of oxen, and large-scale iron and steel smelting, among other matters.

Such item after item, each requiring massive support of funds and grain, were launched, yet they still could not exhaust the funds and grain seized from raids; from this, one could see the wealth of Kaifeng Prefecture's nobles.

Symbolically, some money was turned over to the state, a portion was retained to deal with emergencies, another part was used to improve the treatment and meals for Kaifeng Prefecture's officials and clerks, and yet another part was allocated for urban renovation in various cities.

This was done last because, relative to the current conditions of the people, urban renovation was not actually necessary. Now that there was surplus wealth, it was spent. Taken from the nobles of Kaifeng Prefecture and used for the commoners of Kaifeng Prefecture, it was reasonable and just.

Moreover, urban renovation was a long-term investment project that could drive various indicators and further prosper the economy. When commoners worked, they could earn more money. He genuinely hired people to work and even stipulated a minimum wage for laborers within Kaifeng Prefecture. No matter what work was done, the pay must reach at least that amount. If anyone dared to pay even one coin less, the consequences would be miserable.

In addition, there was a very serious issue: the trafficking of people and the existence of slaves, which was extremely egregious. Although some of those sold truly had no choice but to sell themselves willingly, there were also those who were captured, bound, and brought in.

Regarding household servants who had sold themselves, great families would frequently beat and scold them; even if they were beaten to death, it was considered no big deal, at most resulting in a fine. Such matters were truly unacceptable.

However, this issue involved a relatively high level and had broad connections; after all, if commoners could survive, how could they possibly sell their sons and daughters? If the root cause was not solved and one simply forbade human trafficking, the result would be that human trafficking would move from the open to the shadows, with prices rising continuously as crackdowns intensified, potentially causing the human trafficking industry to develop even better.

Just as Fan Zhongyan and others always advised Wang Yan, matters must be done step by step and one should not be eager for quick success. Although everything Wang Yan did was done step by step, this advice was not wrong.

Therefore, Wang Yan did not crack down on human trafficking, nor did he abolish slavery. However, a heap of human traffickers were killed off; this was not intentional on his part, but rather collateral damage from the aftermath of clearing land, investigating people, and collecting commercial taxes.

But to address human trafficking and protect the human rights of slaves, Wang Yan established two requirements.

First, all traded people must have clear and verifiable household registration information, and it must be ascertained whether the sale was voluntary. Of course, there would be forgeries, but as long as investigations were genuine and executions were real, it would still be very effective. Even if it was only slightly useful, that was better than doing nothing.

The second point was to register all slave populations within Kaifeng Prefecture. Theoretically, slave status was also a form of registration; having slave status meant having registration, but clearly, if the world truly operated on such logic, it would be far more harmonious.

Registering them in catalogs was not enough; Wang Yan's minimum wage also applied. Selling oneself was one thing, but personal dignity still had to be protected. Whenever there were instances of withholding wages, beating or scolding without cause, or even beating someone to death and other egregious behaviors, any report would lead to punishment, punished to the death.

Of course, matters could not proceed smoothly; countless overt and covert confrontations occurred, and there were no accurate figures for the dead. Wang Yan encountered four assassination attempts: one poisoning, one arson, one close-quarters stabbing, and one long-range volley of arrows; he narrowly escaped them all.

His family was very safe; everyone understood one principle: unless Wang Yan was killed, nothing else was useful. Since Wang Yan was in his prime and did not lack a wife or children, truly killing Wang Yan's family would only drive Wang Yan into a frenzy, making their own fates even more miserable; death by a thousand cuts would be considered light. Nowadays, Wang Yan had devised even more punishments and even invited court officials to watch the execution process on-site, which was quite brutal.

Regardless, this time all the various policies Wang Yan implemented within Kaifeng Prefecture were being executed; nothing could block the steps of Wang Yan's reform. Even leveraging his current power, he had already begun tax reforms within Kaifeng Prefecture. Building upon the foundation laid by Fan Zhongyan and others, he further reduced various miscellaneous taxes, implementing this first within Kaifeng Prefecture.

Two years passed, and Wang Yan's governance of Kaifeng Prefecture was visible to the naked eye.

The roads were wider and better; the waterways were also wider and modified to be more reasonable, making the transport of supplies sustaining Bianjing much smoother. The streets were renovated and widened, making walking more comfortable. On the Imperial Street, twelve bronze zodiac animals, each about two meters tall, were erected.

The markets were planned; surrounding houses were demolished and relocated, expanding the scale of markets within the city and making them more prosperous. In the counties near Bianjing, many factories were built to produce various goods.

There were more schools than before; even in every county town within Kaifeng Prefecture, a library was added, filled entirely with books. The officials and clerks had become darker and thinner, yet their spirit and energy were better than ever.

The commoners were naturally the biggest beneficiaries; after two years, any commoner family with land had surplus grain. Many families had been distributed seeds for crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes, which they had already planted for a year.

The harvest was abundant, much higher than the yield of traditional grains. By the third year, the commoners kept seeds and planted some themselves. This was exponential growth, which would slowly become even better.

It was impossible to wait until the cultivated yield per mu reached an exaggerated level before promoting planting. Instead, cultivation and planting had to proceed simultaneously, with continuous improvement. Currently, families who had planted potatoes and sweet potatoes were distributed livestock and poultry by the government. Since their grain had a surplus, they naturally began to raise meat animals.

The commoners of Kaifeng Prefecture felt over these two years as if every day were like the New Year; taxes were reduced, earnings increased, and no one bullied them anymore. This was something they would not have dared to dream of in the past, but now it had become a reality.

Compared to the commoners, the Emperor and various ministers were even more astonished.

They had long known that Wang Yan was formidable, but many had never been to places governed by Wang Yan and had not truly experienced it firsthand. The only place paying money to the court was Hangzhou. For the rest, what they had witnessed was only how ruthless Wang Yan was in dealing with people, lacking a direct concept of his administrative achievements.

This time they saw it; despite their attempts to drag his legs, Wang Yan used two years to govern Kaifeng Prefecture into a completely new state, simply blinding their dog eyes with its brilliance.

But those who opposed reform still opposed reform; no one was willing to cut into their own flesh, as these were wealth accumulated over generations and wealth they were accustomed to earning over generations. A sudden reduction was something no one could withstand.

But Zhao Shu could endure it; he could endure it all too well. In two years, he had consolidated his power. Truth be told, his grip on the state was no weaker than that of Emperor Taizu or Emperor Taizong. Of course, that rested on one premise: Wang Yan had to obey him.

Zhao Shu did not doubt Wang Yan's loyalty, for with the affairs of the Northwest as precedent, he trusted Wang Yan completely and secretly rejoiced in Wang Yan's foolish devotion.

He truly could not understand why Zhao Zhen had suppressed Wang Yan, preventing him from ascending to high office. Had Wang Yan risen early, what heights might the Great Song have reached?

But it mattered not; he would ensure Wang Yan's ascent.

In the spring of the third year of Zhiping (1068), Zhao Shu decided to pacify the various barbarian tribes of Lingnan. He dispatched Han Qi south to command the campaign, appointed Ouyang Xiu as Chancellor, and concurrently promoted Wang Yan to Participating Administrator of Affairs.

Wang Yan had been promoted, becoming Wang, Meritorious Official of Loyalty and Collaborative Strategy Assisting the Fortune, Silver Light and Green Luster Grand Physician, Right Deputy Director, Same as Chancellor of the Secretariat and Chancellery, Participating Administrator of Affairs, Great Scholar of the Hall of Collecting Worthies, Supervisor of National History Compilation, Pillar of State, Duke of Guangling Commandery with a fief of three Battalion Commander and an actual enfeoffment of fifteen Company Commander, bestowed with a purple gold fish purse—Yan; his official title had grown even longer.

One could tell from his titles that he was not merely one among many 'Participating Administrators of Affairs,' for he held the posts of 'Same as Chancellor of the Secretariat and Chancellery' and 'Great Scholar of the Hall of Collecting Worthies,' the standard credentials of a Chancellor. Nominally, he was the vice civil prime minister.

But in reality, everyone knew he was the Chancellor.

Once again, at the grand court assembly, Wang Yan declared his resolve, looking down upon the multitude of officials with pride.

After the grand court dispersed, Wang Yan followed Ouyang Xiu and the others back to the Hall of State Affairs. Zhao Shu sat highest, Ouyang Xiu next, and Wang Yan third. This time, precedence was determined not by age, but by official rank.

"Minister Wang has always harbored the ambition to reshape the Jiangshan of the Great Song; now, at last, you have achieved your wish..." Zhao Shu said with a chuckle, gesturing for Wang Yan to preside over the small council.

Wang Yan cupped his hands and bowed: "It is entirely due to the Sovereign's trust and esteem; this subject is filled with trepidation, fearing any misstep that might harm my Great Song."

"Minister Wang is too modest. Let us dispense with pleasantries and begin deliberating affairs."

"To govern the state, one must first govern the people; to reform the laws, one must first reform the officials. Now that the New Laws are being implemented nationwide, unlike when they were confined to Kaifeng Prefecture alone, we must employ capable men to travel to various regions and supervise, preventing local officials from colluding to resist the court. Therefore, our first task today is to identify suitable individuals for this purpose. What do you gentlemen think?"

"If Chancellor Wang wishes to transfer someone to the capital, just say it outright," Fu Bi said with a smile from the side.

"I prefer speaking directly; I fear you gentlemen have grown so lukewarm for so long that you are no longer accustomed to it." Wang Yan smiled, drew a list from his sleeve, and handed it to Zhao Shu, saying, "Wang Wang Anshi, Feng Jing, Fan Chunren, Fan Chunli, Ouyang Fa, Zhang Dun, Lv Huiqing... Zhong E, Zhang Da... and others are all men of exceptional ability, capable ministers and diligent officials, fierce generals of the state. They can serve as our vanguard to supervise the implementation of the New Laws..."

The first order of business upon ascending to power was naturally to exclude dissidents and purge the court. If Wang Yan filled every position with his own people, then of course he would be invincible.

But seizing every key position was impossible; aside from the factional interests of the officials, Zhao Shu himself would not allow it, after all, that would truly make Wang Yan second only to the emperor and above all others, hollowing out imperial authority. What if Wang Yan grew cold one day, and some attentive subordinate draped a robe over him?

Thus, for the rest of that day's meeting, no other matters were discussed; all work was set aside solely to vie for various positions. Of course, it was others vying against Wang Yan.

Wang Yan would appropriately retreat a few steps, only to deal with them one by one later; the priority was first to install his own people.

As for the other reforms, there were established precedents; they could be implemented directly. It merely involved expanding further into grain transport, salt and iron, and so forth. His ascent to power had one purpose: to kill.

This was a consensus.

From ancient times up to the Zhiping era, powerful ministers, reformist officials, and harsh bureaucrats of every dynasty had never met a good end.

Wang Yan had already assembled all the necessary elements, intervening in both military and civil affairs; he had even directly transferred the majority of the Western and Northern Armies southward—otherwise, how could he have brought men like Zhong E along with him?

His intent was to forcibly implement various policies; for those who refused, he would suppress them with great armies, while simultaneously carrying out more detailed reforms within the military...

He had ascended to power; for Zhao Shu and the others, this was just the beginning, but for him, it was already over...