Chapter 107: A Weak Player with a Big Habit

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"Jing is by nature cunning and treacherous, wielding his wits to command men."

For more than nine hundred years after the fall of the Northern Song, whether by the official record or in popular memory, the cap of arch-traitor has been fitted firmly onto Cai Jing's head.

Wang Anshi once wore such a cap too; he was even regarded as a "rebel and traitor."

But in later ages, Wang Anshi has been re-acknowledged as a reformer of mid- to late-eleventh-century China.

Cai Jing was the inheritor of Wang Anshi's teachings; he not only inherited them but, in practice, developed the thought of Wang Anshi's reforms.

Cai Jing's Chongning Reforms and Wang Anshi's Xining Reforms are both of one lineage, yet with adjustments and deepening.

This is a relationship of inheritance and development.

Judging by actual results, the Chongning Reforms achieved far more than the Xining Reforms.

At the time, politically, the old-party forces had been cleared away, putting an end to the factional strife that had plagued the Zhao Song dynasty for decades, and laying a political foundation for social and economic development;

economically, emphasis was placed on agriculture and sericulture, land reclamation was encouraged, and especially policies on tea, salt, and coinage were adjusted, leading to a substantial increase in state revenue;

militarily, a hundred thousand troops were dispatched on a western campaign, recovering the lost territory of Qingtang, consolidating the frontier, and raising the prestige of the Emperor and the court, enhancing the Northern Song dynasty's international standing;

in education, the "Chongning Promotion of Learning" presided over by Cai Jing during the Chongning years established local schools nationwide, building a three-tiered school system of county schools, prefectural schools, and the Imperial Academy linked to one another; it also restored the medical school and founded specialized schools for mathematics, calligraphy, and painting;

in livelihood, Cai Jing systematized and institutionalized social relief, establishing Charity Homes, Relief Almshouses, and Burial Grounds for the Unclaimed Dead.

Objectively speaking, the Chongning Reforms led by Cai Jing did indeed give the Northern Song a brand-new face, and for a time even brought the dynasty to its peak.

Fine, there is a fair bit of falsehood mixed in here.

But speaking on the merits, during the years Cai Jing served as chancellor, even though Zhao Ji and his ministers were so ruinous and so reckless, the Northern Song dynasty could at least have been kept going.

When the Fang La uprising erupted and the reserves Cai Jing had built up for the Northern Song were drained dry, and Zhao Ji wanted to ally with the Jin to destroy the Liao and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, Cai Jing keenly perceived the danger involved and therefore firmly opposed it.

Precisely because Cai Jing firmly opposed allying with the Jin to destroy the Liao and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, Zhao Ji removed Cai Jing for the third time, elevated Wang Fu to chancellor, and forcibly pushed through the strategic policy that led to the Northern Song's destruction.

When Zhao Ji and Wang Fu, emperor and minister, had stirred up a catastrophe too vast to contain, and the Northern Song dynasty faced extinction, Zhao Ji once again sought out Cai Jing, reinstated him as chancellor for the fourth time, hoping Cai Jing would help him pull back the raging tide.

But by then Cai Jing was nearly eighty, so old his eyes could barely make out the characters and his leg ailment kept him from kneeling.

Yet even so, Cai Jing still chose to come out of retirement once more, wanting to hold up a collapsing hall and steady a falling wave.

Of course, you may take Cai Jing as being greedy for power, but is there not also in this the meaning of repaying Zhao Ji for the grace of recognition?

Cai Jing served as chancellor four times in his life, and was sent into retirement four times.

Had he not returned to office the third time, withdrawn from politics, and spent his remaining years in Hangzhou, then given the dazzling political achievements he had racked up, he certainly would not have been cast as a traitor in Water Margin, and his historical evaluation would certainly not have been negative.

Even had he not returned the fourth time, he most likely would not have been branded the chief of the Six Traitors and made the scapegoat for the Northern Song's fall.

But he had promised Zhao Ji he would repay the favor unto death; he meant to keep his word, and if Zhao Ji needed him, he would gladly come back at any time.

Cai Jing's disciple Lü Chuanbian composed his epitaph, which contains the line, "At the end of Tianbao, what crime did Yao and Song commit?"

Tianbao was the reign title of the flourishing age of Emperor Xuanzong; Yao Chong and Song Jing were the worthy chancellors of that era.

Lü Chuanbian's meaning was: "It was Emperor Xuanzong himself who nearly ruined Jiangshan; the worthy chancellors Yao and Song cannot be blamed."

Honestly, Zhao Yu thought the same.

Merit is merit, fault is fault; calling Cai Jing a traitor is not wrong—after all, he had proposed to Zhao Ji the governing ideal of "Feng Heng Yu Da." Though it sprang from his grasp of the rich philosophy of the Book of Changes and reflected his reflection on and longing for an ideal polity, it also carries the suspicion of indulging Zhao Ji's pleasures, and in his early years he did indeed help Zhao Ji procure the Flower-and-Rock Convoys—these can all count as the deeds of a traitor.

But then again, denying Cai Jing's ability and achievements would be deceiving oneself, or at least betraying some ignorance of this stretch of history.

Moreover, Zhao Yu still held his original view: anyone who can leave his name in history is certainly no ordinary person.

And someone like Cai Jing, who single-handedly served as chancellor for seventeen years, must have had extraordinary qualities.

Zhao Yu believed that a man of such outstanding ability as Cai Jing, if used well, could accomplish great things.

So the court officials guessed right: Zhao Yu promoted Cai Jing precisely so that, when Seeing Zhang Dun could no longer carry on, Cai Jing could replace Seeing Zhang Dun as chancellor.

As for Cai Jing's taste for luxury, Zhao Yu felt that, so long as he himself did not follow Zhao Ji into boundless extravagance and remained committed to fighting corruption and promoting integrity, Cai Jing—and other ministers too—would at most be like Kou Zhun, and would not grow overly greedy.

In short, no matter how others judged Cai Jing, as the Emperor who replaced Zhao Ji, Zhao Yu felt quite at ease with him.

Compared with Cai Jing, the one who truly left Zhao Yu less at ease was Zhao Tingzhi.

Zhao Yu truly feared that Zhao Tingzhi, with grand ambitions but meager talent, would botch the coinage reform.

Therefore, after deciding to have Zhao Tingzhi replace Cai Jing in carrying out the coinage reform, Zhao Yu kept Zhao Tingzhi for last and deliberately set aside considerable time to discuss currency reform with him.

Ye Shi Yun had analyzed and summarized for Zhao Yu the many disorders besetting the currency of this era:

a bewildering variety of currencies in parallel use—copper coins, iron coins, jiaozi, huizi and so forth—causing market confusion; over-issue of paper money (such as jiaozi and huizi) triggering inflation; rampant private minting and the flooding of inferior coinage; rigid monetary policy unable to respond flexibly to economic change; poor circulation of currency hampering commerce; currency depreciation reducing fiscal revenue; frequent corruption in currency management damaging the court's credibility; a lack of financial instruments unable to meet economic needs; currency fluctuations destabilizing prices and affecting livelihoods; and, in foreign trade, inconvenient currency exchange hindering international commerce…

Things had reached a point where reform was imperative.

Cai Jing was easy to use and capable, but his problem was also plain: he cared only for the present and not for long-term economic development.

Historically, under Cai Jing's direction, the Northern Song dynasty prematurely exhausted the people's strength and intensified social contradictions; in particular, the results of the economic reforms he led were not transformed into a driving force for social development but instead stimulated the corruption of the ruling class, Zhao Ji and his ministers, and this hastened the dynasty's decline.

Of course, this must also be laid at Zhao Ji's door: it was Zhao Ji's boundless extravagance and love of grand achievements that pressured Cai Jing to make money fast, and Cai Jing, to keep his power and realize his political ambitions, had no choice but to scramble to raise money for Zhao Ji to squander.

Moreover, when the ruler likes a thing, the ministers outdo him—Zhao Ji loved luxury, and the ministers under him all imitated him, each more greedy than the last, each building gardens of dazzling beauty, so that the Flower-and-Rock Convoys flourished and corruption ran rampant.

That Zhao Yu would not tread Zhao Ji's old path goes without saying.

At the same time, Zhao Yu also had to guard against Cai Jing's tendency to care only for the present and not for the long term in economic reform, to avoid prematurely exhausting the people's strength—otherwise, after all the twists and turns, the Zhao Song dynasty might just end up walking the old historical road again.

It was precisely out of such considerations that Zhao Yu chose the relatively conservative Zhao Tingzhi to carry out the coinage reform.

Zhao Tingzhi had clearly come prepared.

When Zhao Yu asked him about the direction of the coinage reform, he immediately laid out his strategy, namely:

unify the currency system, reduce the number of currency types, establish a clear relationship between the primary and subsidiary coinage, and simplify circulation; set up a reserve system to ensure paper money was backed by sufficient metallic currency or goods in kind, preventing over-issue; crack down hard on private minting, improve minting technology, ensure coin quality, and maintain market order; adjust the money supply according to economic conditions to avoid deflation or inflation; establish an independent auditing body to ensure transparency in currency issuance and circulation and prevent corruption; regulate the money supply to keep prices stable and protect the livelihood of the people…

Some of Zhao Tingzhi's strategies coincided with the countermeasures Ye Shi Yun had given Zhao Yu.

Only Zhao Tingzhi gave little thought to promoting commercial development, increasing fiscal revenue, driving financial innovation, or strengthening international cooperation.

So Zhao Yu took out the outline Ye Shi Yun had drawn up and supplemented Zhao Tingzhi on the parts he lacked…

In truth, when it came to economic reform, Zhao Yu really did not understand it well—indeed, he was completely in the dark—but it helped that behind him he had Ye Shi Yun, as well as Cai Jing, Zhao Kai, Zhang Que and others serving as advisors.

Later, Zhao Yu straightforwardly summoned Zhao Kai and Zhang Que, appointing them as Zhao Tingzhi's deputies to assist him in carrying out the coinage reform.

Ultimately, Zhao Yu and others established that the currency reform should emphasize monetary unification, issuance control, commercial promotion, and fiscal revenue growth, while strengthening oversight and innovation to ensure monetary stability and drive economic prosperity—this overarching strategic guideline…

That day, Zhao Yu discussed late into the night with Zhao Tingzhi, Zhao Kai, and Zhang Que.

By the time Zhao Yu returned to the inner palace, it was deep night.

Zhao Yu went directly to Ye Shi Yun's quarters and laid out the problems he had encountered while formulating the currency reform strategy with Zhao Tingzhi and the others, asking Ye Shi Yun to help him resolve them.

But after listening, Ye Shi Yun did not immediately answer his questions; instead, she pulled him straight onto the bed and whispered seductively in his ear: "Your humble concubine will report to His Majesty tomorrow morning. His Majesty is exhausted today—why not rest early?"

Zhao Yu knew she wasn't manipulating him—she had developed a taste for it, was mediocre at it, yet had an insatiable appetite.

The matters Zhao Yu raised weren't urgent.

The key was, so many problems couldn't be resolved in a moment.

Besides, it was truly very late.

So Zhao Yu casually took her twice, making Ye Shi Yun beg for mercy repeatedly; then, equally exhausted, he fell asleep.

The next day, Zhao Yu, who had long developed the habit of rising early and sleeping early, woke at first light.

He saw Ye Shi Yun still asleep.

Zhao Yu thought for a moment, chose not to wake her, and planned to wait until after he finished practicing the health cultivation art with Zhang Xubai and the others, then ask Ye Shi Yun to answer the questions he'd posed yesterday.

But just as Zhao Yu, attended by Zhao Yuannu and other maids, had finished washing and dressed, preparing to leave, Ye Shi Yun, without turning her head, said: "The strategies His Majesty sought are all on the desk. Your humble concubine is exhausted—she will not rise to see His Majesty off."

Zhao Yu walked to the desk and saw a stack of Yuan paper neatly laid out, along with a book.

The stack was densely covered with solutions to every question Zhao Yu had asked Ye Shi Yun the previous night.

Ye Shi Yun had written them in meticulous detail, analyzing and answering each point one by one, leaving none unaddressed.

Judging by the volume of paper, Zhao Yu estimated Ye Shi Yun had stayed awake all night.

Zhao Yu understood why she hadn't answered him last night—if she had, he'd likely have had to stay up all night too.

The book was *Basic Economics*.

Zhao Yu opened it and found nothing but pure substance.

Ye Shi Yun explained in simple, straightforward language what economics was, how to apply it, and answered many economic questions Zhao Yu had never understood before.

Zhao Yu guessed Ye Shi Yun feared his intellect wasn't sufficient to grasp her already clear explanations, so she kindly added a few simple, accessible examples.

Zhao Yu sat on the edge of the bed and kissed Ye Shi Yun's lovely face: "My beloved concubine, you've worked hard." Then he promised: "I'll return to your quarters tonight to rest."

Whether Ye Shi Yun heard him or not, she replied vaguely: "Mm, okay."

After Zhao Yu left, Ye Shi Yun slept until the afternoon.

Seeing Ye Shi Yun awake, Zhao Yuannu hurriedly brought a bowl of bird's nest and said eagerly: "Your Highness, you've risen! This bird's nest was specially ordered by His Majesty for you from the Imperial Kitchen—it's been kept warm. Please eat it while hot."

Although bird's nest was not yet as widely recognized or used in this era as it would become later, people of this time already had a preliminary understanding of it.

Before this, however, bird's nest had not become a popular or common ingredient—it remained in the early stage of discovery and recognition.

It was Ye Shi Yun, the food enthusiast, who specifically ordered Huang Jingchen to find bird's nest for her, then obtained its preparation method from Yuan Qing Cheng and taught it to the Imperial Kitchen chefs, gradually making bird's nest a popular dish among Zhao Yu's concubines.

At this stage, bird's nest was not expensive—it was even cheaper than the accompanying ingredients used to cook it.

But this wasn't about cost—it was that Zhao Yu had specifically ordered the chefs to prepare it for Ye Shi Yun.

Crucially, Zhao Yu had said he would return to her quarters tonight to rest.

To Zhao Yuannu and the other women in Ye Shi Yun's palace, this was clearly a sign of favor.

More importantly, they all knew Ye Shi Yun's stamina—if she gained favor, they'd eventually get their share of the leftovers.

Moreover, Ye Shi Yun had a good disposition and was generous with her servants.

Zhao Yuannu and the others strongly supported Ye Shi Yun.

Seeing Zhao Yu still thought to send her a bowl of bird's nest for nourishment, Ye Shi Yun felt sweetly content: *Not bad—not all my efforts were in vain. *

As Ye Shi Yun ate her bird's nest, thinking about what new games she'd play with Zhao Yu tonight, Li Lin, Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qing Cheng arrived.

Seeing Ye Shi Yun still in bed, Li Lin asked: "How many times did Zhao Yu exhaust you last night that you can't even get out of bed?"

Ye Shi Yun replied casually: "Not many—just seven times, the usual."

Li Lin snorted: "I wish he really had that kind of ability."

Ye Shi Yun knew Li Lin, with her formidable physique, was fully aware of Zhao Yu's true capabilities; in this matter, she'd always lose a verbal sparring match with Li Lin, so she wisely changed the subject: "Why are you all here so early?"

No one corrected her that it was already afternoon, not morning; Ma Xiao Jiao stated outright why they'd come: "Has Zhang Chun been pushing herself too hard lately? Xi Duo heard from Li Shishi that she hasn't left her room in over a month. I think we should go check on her—she might be in trouble…"

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(End of Chapter)